Category Archives: My_Thoughts

Continue and Be Watchful.

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©Katie Lloyd Photography

A new year is at hand and the reminder that our lives happen in cycles, in seasons is at the door. I take a time to consider how I have lived this past year, a year purposely “lived in the Sacred.” A year of laughs and many tears; a year of sharing so much with my family, a year of big changes, of great gains but also with many hard providences. Living in the Sacred, open before the face of God, knowing that He is Holy and Sovereign, has deeply changed me.

But I am not where I should be… I am fragile; so many times this past year I woke up feeling fragile, so vulnerable to my own sin. So blind.

I have quietly prayed, and have considered this verse over and over:

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. Col.4:2

Holding fast to what I have attained, continuing in the progresses that I have made, persevering to the end; Oh to finsh the race by God’s grace is something that I want to do. And I pray I will with God’s help. This coming year, 2012, will be a year, God willing, of continuity and watchfulness. Prayer and thanksgiving will be my bread.

James Smith said it well,

“Pray without ceasing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17

How important is a spirit of prayer! It is . . .
the proof of regeneration,
the manifestation of grace in our hearts, and
the evidence our title to mansions in the skies!

Prayer is . . .
the breath of the renewed soul,
the beating of the sanctified heart,
the effect of the life of God within us.

O that I had prayed more!

Prayer should become a habit with us — then everything would furnish us with matter for prayer. Prayer should mingle with our pleasures and our pains, with our labor and our rest. O for more prayer!

We should never do — what we cannot pray God to bless.

We should never go — where we cannot ask God to go with us.

If we would hold fast our profession,
if we would adorn the gospel,
if we would honor Jesus,
if we would enjoy our mercies,
if we would get good by our trials,
if we would see all things working together for good,
if we would conquer Satan,
if we would overcome the world,
if we would crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts
— we must pray!

Prayer, if it is believing prayer . . .
opens Heaven to us,
unveils the glorious face of God, and
brings down foretastes of the joys of paradise,
makes us a match for all our foes,
enables us patiently to carry every cross, and with perseverance to climb and pass over the loftiest hills we meet with on our heaven-bound pilgrimage!

Those who pray, will, by deriving strength from Heaven, by drawing down wisdom from above — withstand every storm, and shout God’s praises at last.

If I want to be watchful, I must continue to live in prayer, like the Children of Light are called to live; there is simply no other way to do this.

“But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.” I Thessalonians 5:4-6

Puritan Thomas Brooks said:

The best way to be safe and secure from all Satan’s assaults is, with Nehemiah and the Jews, to watch and pray, and pray and watch. By this means they became too hard for their enemies, and the work of the Lord did prosper sweetly in their hands…

Our whole life is beset with temptations. Satan watches all opportunities to break our peace, to wound our consciences, to lessen our comforts, to impair our graces, to slur our evidences, and to dampen our assurances. Oh! what need then have we to be always upon our watch-tower, lest we be surprised by this subtle serpent. Watchfulness includes a waking, a rousing up of the soul. It is a continual, careful observing of our hearts and ways, in all the turnings of our lives—that we still keep close to God and his Word.

Watchfulness is the heart busied and employed with diligent observation of what comes from within us, and of what comes from without us and into us.

May God give us grace to keep pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

May our soul’s strength be renewed as we continue to watch and pray.

Under His sun and by His grace,

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On Disagreeing with Spurgeon

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I have been thinking and praying for weeks (maybe months now?), trying to find an easy way to write what is in my heart. This is a sensitive post, I know. I know many will agree and many will not, but it is burning deep within me, and I have decided to click the “publish button”.

I will use a few examples of one of the men who has been a very important and strong influence not only in my life, but in the lives of many of us, to try to explain what is in my heart, the man is Charles Spurgeon.

What would you think of a preacher today whose chief project at a certain time in his ministry would be raising money for a new church building? Well, Spurgeon did this. The estimated cost to build the new Tabernacle was very high, so he started to accept more invitations to preach in many different places to receive more offerings.(1)

“Just before the building was ready to be opened, since the entire costs had not yet been met, a great bazaar was held to raise the remaining amount. This action caused questioning in many evangelical minds then, and it will do the same today.” (2)

I am sure, that if this were happening today, the next day we would see many, many bloggers pointing harshly at him.

The Tabernacle was a huge building with seating for about 3,600 people.(3) Yes, that is the number; a big one, right? Please, just imagine what many of us (and me too, probably) would be thinking of this today. We love the local church and most of us do not believe in mega-churches. Spurgeon, the man we all love to quote, however, pastored one.

OK, if by now you are surprised, read the next:

“People who wished to attend regularly paid for a seat on a three-months’ basis and were admitted by ticket. Others remained outside till five minutes before the beginning of the service, at which time the restriction was removed and the crowd rushed in and filled the rest of the building.” (4)

I dare to say I don’t agree at all with Spurgeon on these practices. However, I must also admit that he has been a man that through his written word has influenced my life tremendously. I have learned so much from him, his teachings have been, without a doubt, a blessing to the Church of Christ.

So what is it that is in my heart?

I want to be free in this space to say, for example, that John Piper’s teachings have been (and still are) a strong pillar in my faith. Do I agree with everything he does and with all the friends he has? No. But I would never dare to say that he is not a godly man. God forbid.

Mac Arthur, Carson, Horton, Tim Challies, The Pyro-Team, The Gospel Coalition, The Resurgence, my beautiful friends on the blogsphere, the Puritans, my dearest friends in another country, my sister, all of them have taught me something, and no, I don’t always agree with every one of their words; but I am willing to learn from them, and even change my points of view when Truth demands so.

My family has been blessed greatly by Douglas and Nancy Wilson, by their ministry, their books, and the Church he pastors. We have not seen, anywhere, a church that practices the gospel in such a vivid way as theirs. They are an example to us on how to live the Christian life in obedience to the Word, with joy, practicing hospitality and living in community. Do we agree then with every single word we have read in their books/blogs? No, not necessarily; but we count it as a wonderful gift of the Divine Providence that our son is a member of their church.

I love Ann Voskamp, she is my friend, and has been a blessing to me many times; I always give thanks to God for her. I don’t agree with some of the things she has written, but again, I cannot, no matter what, dare to say that she is not a child of God. Each one of us is still short-sighted; each one of us is still in the process of Sanctification, and each one of us will give account of our own words before the Lord.

I have a few friends who are passionate about contending for the truth, and I love them and respect them very much. I too was in the wrong church under false teaching for many years, but I do not always agree with their tone of voice. Does that mean that I love them less? Not at all; I need them as part of the body of Christ in which we belong together.

Let me come back to our dear Spurgeon again. He knew that none of us in infallible, and he dared to say,

“I am a great lover of John Bunyan, but I do not believe him infallible…” (you may read the rest here)

Note please, that I am NOT, NOT, NOT (yes, I want to make this clear) advocating for pluralism or relativism. Certainly not. I love doctrine very much and I believe in contending for the faith. At the same time, I pray I will grow in discernment every day, because the Bible says that the days in which we are living are evil. I read the Word, study it, memorize it in order to have the Truth well planted in my heart; I long to live by it and be obedient to it. Borrowing the words of Erik Raymond I say: “While I believe that in some cases controversy is not only helpful but essential (see the recent Rob Bell firestorm), I don’t believe a steady diet of it is.” (emphasis mine)

Friends, I, too, once read the wrong books. I, too, listened wrong teachings for many years, but God had mercy on me when I did not expect  it. His grace reached my stubborn and prideful heart and granted me the gift of repentance. It is my prayer that God will reach deep into my heart even now, and change me more and more. I pray I will always have a teachable heart, humble enough to say, “I am still learning, I do not have it all right.”

We are still of this fallen world, and that is one of the reasons I long for Jesus to come. I long for the New Creation, because on that day, the children of God will be sharing one table. We will be able to see clearly, and we will feast and rejoice in the One who is the Author of our Faith. And those wolves who have deceived many while hiding among the sheep will be judged by the Only One worthy to open the seal of the Book, and He will cast them out into the eternal fire.

Meanwhile, let us be ready, abiding in the Word, spending more time in the Word than anywhere else; the only book that is infallible is God’s Word.

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” I Timothy 3:16- 17

God help us,

Becky

(1) Spurgeon, A New Biography by Arnold Dallimore, Banner of Truth p.94
(2) ibid. p.97
(3) ibid. p.98
(4) ibid p.98

Lessons Learned in the Quiet

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The morning has come, and with it the first frost on our yard. The pretty, gay green will soon perish. Seasons come and go,  and the only thing than can sustain us through all these inevitable changes is the Word of God.

Shiloh Photography @ Used with permission

I am still meditating on Psalm 4, the Psalm I prayed this past Lord’s Day, but specially on verses 3-5:

“But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;
the LORD hears when I call to him.

Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.
Selah

Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the LORD.”

It seems to me that sometimes, the hardest lessons to learn are the ones God teaches us when we are lying on our beds at night, pondering in our hearts in silence; when the Spirit speaks to us by string our consciences, and bringing back to our hearts His Word that pierces deep into our soul.

Becky

Blogging About Your Kids

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From what we live with our children day by day we learn so many things, so many lessons that could not be learned in another different way. However, I have seen that many women like to share too much on their blogs (or Facebook) about these lessons in a very “specific and detailed” way; and I am sure it is neither wise nor God-honoring to be sharing every one of our children’s faults and mistakes, and the way we react to each one of them, just to “bless others with our experience”.

Maybe your son is 10 yo; and he doesn’t even read your blog right now; maybe if you ask him, he will say that he doesn’t really care if you write about *that* specific situation between you and him. BUT, he will grow, and he will read, and the most probable thing is that he will not be happy with what he’ll see on your blog. Be careful.

This doesn’t mean that you are being a hypocrite; it means that you are being prudent and wise. We all agree (I hope!), that it would not be correct to sit on a coffee shop with your friends to talk about the latest “terrible things” your children have done, and how mad you got, and how you managed to control your temper. Why then, we don’t feel uncomfortable when we read these stories? Or when some of us decide to write them?

“When words are many, transgression is not lacking,
but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.
The tongue of the righteous is choice silver;
the heart of the wicked is of little worth.”
Proverbs 10:18-20

You and I are not perfect, our families are not perfect; we all know that,  and even though it is OK to write about the lessons we learn in our daily life; and about the grace we have found in those difficult day-to-day circumstances, we must be very wise and prudent, because we don’t  want to share unnecessary details that others might find “encouraging”, but at the end will harm our children’s heart.

“Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets,
but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.”
Proverbs 11: 13

The easiest way to relate to this is to think… “What if my husband had a blog, and he decided that he would write about those words I said to him last night, and the way he lost his patience with me and how the Lord helped us through?” Yes, I am sure you would not enjoy that. Let us think on what we write about our children. Our children are more important than our readers; and we need to remember that must keep certain, many things under our roof, covered because we love them so much.

Happy blogging!

Becky

>Thinking as Christians so that We Can speak as Christians

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Today I am sharing about the connection between our thoughts and our words over at Desiring Virtue.

Read my contribution here…

“Maybe you will see what I have seen: The thoughts we think affect the words we speak.”

Thank you to Jessalyn for giving me the opportunity to share in your wonderful blog today. I have been truly blessed by your desire to bless God in all.

Under His sun and by His Grace,

Becky

 

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>When Living in the Moment may Distract you from Living for the Eternal

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It has been some years now that with the help of the Lord, I have been learning how to live fully every day, every minute. I remember when my children were little and we were in that season of our lives when we ran all day to all those extra classes. We used to live under the pressure of the clock, the constant tic-tac that steals away moments of joy.

But living in the moment, enjoying the minutes, living fully each one of them, is not necessarily a godly thing to do. Actually, it may keep us from seeing beyond the minute and into eternity.

When our children were little I had to teach them about time, time-lines were hanging all over our walls, and we had to teach them about the calendar, the months, days, hours, minutes. Now they are older and we must teach them to live with their eyes fixed on what is not in that time-line. We are teaching them that what matters the most is not the moment, per se, but eternity.

Before I keep on going, please don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe that how we live every minute counts. I believe that our lives are made of minutes, and for the life we live in that sequence of minutes we will give an account to God.

But when we live only with eyes for the moment, we may find ourselves believing that we are the main character in God’s story.

Remember Martha and Mary and how they responded when their brother Lazarus was ill and then died (John 11 please read it all.). They were living in the moment, and for a moment they thought that because they were Jesus’ friends, and Jesus loved their brother, they were the main character in the story and Jesus had to come and help them. But Jesus didn’t live for the moment, He lived with His eyes fixed on eternity, on his Heavenly Father; He says on verse 4:

“This illness does not lead to death, It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it”

Having this goal in mind “when he, {Jesus}, heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was”. 

Michael Horton says,

“In terms of the unfolding plot, Lazarus is a character in Jesus’ story, not vice versa. The glorification of the Son as the Messiah is the real “show” here, as was the case with all of the miracles. They are signs, not ends in themselves.”

“Lazarus had to die in order for the greater miracle to occur. There is something more important than the healing of his friend. Jesus knew the great work he would accomplish in the power of the Spirit when he came finally to Bethany. It is like Elijah pouring water on the fire pit, just to make sure God’s glorious power will be obvious. As the greater Elijah, Jesus was engaged in a cosmic contest between Yahweh and the serpent. That was the larger story behind all these other stories. “

How many times do we live “in the moment”, forgetting that each one of those moments, good or bad, are not an end on themselves? All those moments are part of a larger story that has not been unveiled before our eyes, a story that ultimately will bring glory to our Triune God. He is the main character of the story.

When I give thanks for the little things that make up my day, when I see a beautiful sunset, or beautiful bees playing in a fountain; when I see my sister carrying a baby in her womb, and my son coming from behind to kiss me; when I see how my husband loves me every minute, and how blessed I am to have a full pantry, I need to raise my eyes and look beyond the moment, beyond the time-line and remind myself that all these blessings come to me, not because I am the main character, but because in all these, God will be glorified. It all happens “so that the Son of God may be glorified through it”.

And the same is true, when the moments we are going through are more like those moments that Martha and Mary went through, moments of confusion, pain, uncertainty. When we expect Jesus  to come because He is our Lord, our Saviour, our friend, and He doesn’t and we don’t know what to think. Let us keep in mind, sisters, that those moments are only part of a whole story that is beyond our sight, beyond our minutes. Those moments are part of God’s grand plan to bring all things subject to Him, and to bring glory to His name. We are not the main character. Our moments, our times are in His hand.

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky