Category Archives: Weekends

Saturday’s Six

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%r%XwMN7SNqjtI+r+G3xcAHere are six things for you on this Saturday:

1. The first one is a little anecdote that happened to me and my husband this weekend. We were in a large business dinner with people we were just getting to know, when, a few minutes into the conversation with the couple across the table, the gentleman asked my husband, “So, from what I know of you, and what you are saying, I am assuming you are Christian, Christian, Christian, right?”  To which we answered, “Yes, we are Christians.”

This made us chuckle afterwards and think how if in your head there exists room for someone to be a Christian or a Christian, Christian, Christian, then something is off in yous definition of Christian.

2. On our ongoing series of Faithful Obedience we have been reading of Christian women living out their faith in the “here and in the now.” Well, a dear family from our church, the Boyds, recently received the news that Liz has breast cancer. Her response to the news has been such a powerful example to all of us of what it means to live in faithful obedience. You can read it here.

3. Looking for books on contentment? These are the best 6 (the last two books are heavily inspired on the first three books):

1) The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by J. Burroughs
2) All Things for Good by Thomas Watson
3) The Mystery of Providence by John Flavel
4) The Quest for Meekness and Quietness of Spirit by Matthew Henry
5) Learning Contentment: A Study for Ladies of Every Age by Nancy Wilson
6) The Power of Christian Contentment by Andrew M. Davis

4. I love what these guys do. Check out their store here.

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5. On this week’s email -that we send to the women who are doing the Bible Reading Challenge, I hope to encourage them not to skim through the hard books of the Bible, but read diligently and intentionally. You can read it here.

6. Here is a wonderful resource to memorize and sing the Psalms. Our church has now a Spotify playlist with the Psalms of Dr. Erb that you will love. Find it here.

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Have a wonderful Sabbath!

Under God’s sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego

 

 

 

 

One Link, One eBook, One Seminar

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Happy Saturday, Friends!

One link: I want to suggest to you this article by R.C. Sproul in which he explained -in his very clear and biblical way- what living “Coram Deo” means. It is a short read with much to think about.  Find it here.

One book: Monergism is offering for free The Bruised Reed by Puritan Ricard Sibbes (eBook), which is one of my favorite books and one I try to read once a year. Take advantage of this gift the kind people from Monergism Books are offering now.

One seminar: My friend Rachel Jankovic will be teaching a Live Webinar which consists of 4- sessions entitled, Spiritual Spring Cleaning. Check it out, and I can assure that you will find it super helpful and fun. Find all the details here.

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky

 

 

 

Walking the Christian Life

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Walking is not that simple. It takes practice.

Walking like the world… that looks easy.
You create your own truth
and then you live by your own standards
always trying to choke back guilt.

Walking like a nominal Christian… that is not so easy.
You choose what to believe from the Truth,
and then you live by your own
standards most of the times trying to suffocate the Truth.

Walking like a Christian… that is not easy.
You don’t get to define Truth,
and then you are called to live by its standards
and proclaim Truth, never drown it.

I think of my children when they were little, and how their brains and legs knew how to walk. I loved to be there to hold their hands, and push them a little bit, and  hug them happily whenever they took a step. I was there too when they were insecure and fell, and cried, and were afraid to take a new step. And this is how our Christian life is.

We, Christians, are born of the Spirit. We can walk in Truth, our new nature is built for that, but it is also true that we need help and encouragement, someone to hold our hand and teach us. Someone who will hold us tight when we want to avoid the Truth. Someone who will pray with us whenever we are afraid to take another step.

Our Father in his goodness provides us with relationships that help us walk this Christian life; but more importantly, He has given us His Word and the Holy Spirit to teach us and encourage us to walk in the Faith.

Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gave us some instructions on how our walking should look like. As I read his epistles to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, I marked down these verses, and I encourage you to read the whole epistles (not only the verses! That would be like cheating 🙂 ) to find them, meditate on them, pray about them, and put all diligence to walk in them:

Ephesians 2:1-2; 2:10; 4:1-3; 4:17; 5:1-2; 5:8-10; 5:15
Philippians 3:17
Colossians 1:10; 2:6-7; 4:5
I Thessalonians 4:10

Today is Saturday and maybe it is a good time to do this; read the epistles in one sitting, just like your favorite book, that one that is hard to put down, and find your delight in abiding in the Word.

I will be digging in the rest of the epistles this weekend to search more about how this walking in the Lord should look like.

We must be ready, this walk is not always easy, let us hold tight to the Father’s hand and depend on Him.

“Growth in grace is to know more of Christ, His excellence, preciousness, and fullness, through the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Growth in grace is to know more of our wretched, lost condition, our helplessness and unworthiness.” Mary Winslow

Have a most blessed weekend,

Becky

Salt, Light, and the Fulfillment of the Law

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@Shiloh Photography

Yesterday was a long traveling day for us which was rewarded with lots of hugs at the airport, and a delicious dinner with our friends in NC. I am sure we’ll be flooded with many opportunities to give thanks to God this week as we enjoy the fellowship with our brothers and sisters here.

Yesterday I also learned how long traveling days, and long lines at the immigration post in Miami (2hrs of line) are perfect to catch up with your memorization project. So no complaints here.

Meditating on what it means to be salt of the world and light of the world has been good and challenging. Leslie has shared on her blog some thoughts that are important to consider on how salt can lose its taste and what it means to be trampled under people’s feet.

“[W]e Christians lose our saltiness when we bind ourselves to sin, when we sacrifice our purity and potency on the altar of pleasure and worldly pursuits.”

 

“I suppose the good news is that we are not trampled under God’s feet. Though worthless salt, we are still salt. But we are trampled under people’s feet when they see us caught in sin.”

The verses 17-18 of Matthew 5 are wonderful. As I repeat them and learn them, I am drawn, every time, to give thanks to Jesus for fulfilling the law. It is so powerful to understand all that is encompassed there! You can read a few articles from the Table Talk magazine to help you understand
this: here and here and here.

My friends, may God be glorified in us as we salt the earth and give light to those around us (starting at home) this week as we’ll have lots of opportunities to interact with our extended family and friends.  And let us be drawn to give thanks for the work of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.

Becky

Saturday’s Seven -Our Favorite Breakfast Cake and Some Book Recommendations-

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My friend Hollie is sharing today on her blog a list of seven things –happenings– in her family, I decided I will jump in and share the Saturday’s Seven around here…

1. Today is one of those quiet, slow Saturdays in which we had breakfast at noon.

2. Talking about breakfasts, a favorite breakfast cake in our home comes from Alexandra’s kitchen: Buttermilk-Blueberry Breakfast Cake. Note that I always double the recipe and we eat it all during the weekend. I also like to make scrambled eggs with pesto,  or with goat cheese and herbs, or chives and cream cheese, or even with sun-dried tomatoes and grated manchego cheese. Bacon or breakfast sausages on the side are most welcome.

Coffee, of course, is always ready when the sun starts to come in through our windows.

3. I have been enjoying the new blog that some of my friends started a while ago. It is called Out of the Ordinary, I would like to encourage you to subscribe to it and read it on a regular basis. There is so much that I have to learn from God-fearing, Word-loving women like them.

4. It is really sad to see how many young evangelical women are embracing feminism. Some of my friends and I have been seeing this problem in our different countries, which tells us that it is an issue that we need to be ready to address no matter where we live. Feminism is a disease that is creeping into the church and we need to stand firm against it.

I just finished reading Women, Slaves, and the Gender Debate: A Complementarian Response to the Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic by Reaoch. This is a book that you don’t just read, it is a book that you study. You need to sit down with a notebook, a pen, and your Bible. I recommend this book to those women  who really want to understand the gender debate and are willing to go deeper.

This week I started reading, The Feminist Mistake by Kassian, I will perhaps, write a review (only if time permits it). Some other books on this topic that are highly recommended are:  God’s Good Design: What the Bible Really Says About Men and Women by Claire Smith; What’s The Difference: Manhood and Womanhood Defined According to the Bible by John Piper, and Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World by McCulley.

 

5. A wonderful book for children that I am loving is Wise Words: Family Stories that Bring the Proverbs to Life.  The description says (and I agree),

“In the tradition of Grimm’s fairytales, Peter Leithart has produced a wonderful collection of whimsical, yet meaningful, bedtime stories. The characters in each story are as varied as the biblical proverbs they reveal. Meet a chatty squirrel with a secret, or find out what happens when you run up against the Ministry of Nasty Smells. Sure to delight children ages five and up, but no promises they’ll be asleep by the time the story’s over.”

6. I can’t believe I am already on day 52 of my photography challenge “100 Days of Books.” It has been so much fun!  Many of you have been visiting me there… Thank you!

7. I am thinking about having someone redesigning my blog. I have an idea in my mind that I know you all will love. Sometimes changing the look of a place is good, don’t you think? We’ll see if it happens soon.

Happy Weekend, my friends!

Becky

 

@ The Dermer Family

Praying the Psalms -Psalm 20-

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A prayer of intercession.

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!
May he send you help from the sanctuary
and give you support from Zion!
May he remember all your offerings
and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices!
Selah

May he grant you your heart’s desire
and fulfill all your plans!
May we shout for joy over your salvation,
and in the name of our God set up our banners!
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!

Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy
heaven
with the saving might of his right
hand.

Some trust in chariots and some in
horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord
our God.
They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright.

O Lord, save the king! May he answer us when we call.

Father, I come boldly before you in the name of Jesus. It is because of Him and through Him that I can come before you and be assured that you hear the voice of my prayer.

Your steadfast love, O Lord, is forever sure and your mercies new every morning. This morning, therefore,  I come before you to pray for my neighbor. That she might see your steadfast love and mercy anew in her life this day.

Answer to my friend’s prayer.  In the time of trouble she has seek your face and has not hidden from you. Her heart, her thoughts, her fears are before you. Oh Father, hear the voice of her prayer today.

She is troubled, her soul is heavy, she cries herself to sleep, and her troubles surround her day and night. Be her comforter. Be her protection, her support, her strength, her hiding place. Please, O God, answer her prayers according to your good will; she is your daughter, the apple of your eye, your child. Be with her today.

Lord you are full of mercy, and I pray that in your mercy you will remember her, remember all her prayers, her tears, her service to others, her love for your Word. Lord, let her know that you have not forsaken her. That you know the number of the hairs on her head.

Father, my friend has poured her heart before you many times. Her heart’s desires and plans are before you. Show her the way she should go. Bless her steps, and give her wisdom to decide the best in every circumstance. Lord, answer her. Please, Father, grant her the petitions of her heart, help her to wait patiently on you. May she shout for joy over your salvation and your glorious name.  May her rejoice in the God who hears!

Lord, I pray today for my friend. Some trust in so many things that are vain, but we know You. We know who is our only hope. We know that you hear the prayers of your children. We know that you will never leave us or forsake us. We know in whom we have trusted. We trust in You. We trust in your name, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Strong Tower, Jesus, Wonderful, Counselor.  We trust in every aspect of your name. We trust in You, in all of You, Oh Lord.

Rise my friend from the ground, Father,  help her stand upright. Be her victory. Be her song.

Blessed be your name, O Lord of Hosts.
Blessed be the King of kings who hears the plea of his servants.

Amen