Blessed Week...

Aaahhhh.... Thank You O Lord for this beautiful week!  This has been the best school week that we've had so far this year- and it's only Wednesday!  Thank You, Lord, for giving me a vision for what You want for our school days, and for what is best for each of our boys-they are so different.  I'm so in awe of You and Your love and tenderness for your children!

I was wondering how long it would last...

It was great at the beginning... I've never really known what it was like being included, but it felt really nice.  I actually felt like I was liked a little bit, worth something... but I wondered just how long it would last.  It was nice while it did, I had that warm fuzzy feeling - you know the one I'm talking about.  And actually, it lasted longer than I thought it would.  I tried to, in my way, contribute what I thought you wanted or needed, never really knowing if it was right, but trying anyway without trying too hard (I mean, if I tried hard, then it would be even more painful when it was over).  It seemed to me as if you searched me out because you thought I was 'somebody' and therefore had an expectation of what you could get from me/I could contribute... I'm sorry to disappoint.... I'm just me, plain and simple (or not so simple as the case may be).  Now you've grown weary of that plainness & simplicity with all it's issues and have moved on... maybe I shouldn't have let down my guard quite so much, and tried to be the 'somebody' you thought I was... but probably not.  I was created by our heavenly Father uniquely, and though I don't say things in a way that truly expresses my heart- well, actally, I guess it does- it expresses my fear of people & their judgment/expectations of me...
Well, anyway, even though you've moved on, and I've felt badly about that, I thank you, Dear One, for teaching me to guard my heart, even when with trusted brothers and sisters in Christ, to not let my guard down for even a second no matter how comfortable I am, but to seek giving Him glory every moment, for teaching me to just be who God created me to be, and not seek to please man, but please Him and not succumb to my natural, fleshly fears of man.....  for all this I thank you.... I still love you and will continue in prayer for you and maybe someday the Lord will bless me with what I am seeking in His perfect time...

The American Patriot's Almanac... Review

Which president was born with the name Leslie Lynch King Jr.?  Hint: he was born July 14, 1913, in Omaha, Nebraska...
Who was Betty Zane? 
What was the Lost Colony of Roanoke? 
Don't know? 
You'll find the answer to this question and many others in "The American Patriot's Almanac" by William J. Bennett and John T.E. Cribb.  An amazing devotional-style book, there are 365 daily readings with special sections at the end of each month featuring songs of American Patriotism, the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address, Emancipation Proclamation, Prayers for the American People, State Flags, Facts, and Symbols and much much more!  Interwoven in these stories of great Americans and events is the heart and soul of America... Andrew Jackson, the National Park System, D-Day, the kite that helped freedom fly of 1752, Phillis Wheatley, and 9/11 are just a few.  I can't say enough about how excited I am to have this resource for our family, it will aid ours - and all - families in instilling a sense of true American Patriotism in their children during a time when the original heart of America is being lost with each generation, as well as remind adults of the true spirit on which America was built...

Disclosure: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

How Long...

How long, can you hide behind your smile...
How long?
How long before your sorrow seeps through...
How long?
How long will you keep up your deception...
How long?
How long before your secret is exposed...
How long?
How long before you realize that though man may not know your deception, God does...
How long?
How long before you turn your heart back to the Lord who can heal your brokenness...
How long?
He's waiting for you...

Covenant...

I just finished Kay Arthur's study on Covenant this week.  I've done a few Precept studies by Kay Arthur and have always loved them- they've all challenged me spiritually and academically- but there's something different about this study.... The leader of the study asked what everyone has gotten out of this study, something I'd been pondering for a little bit, and though it took me a while to really be able to communicate this journey (which isn't over, by the by), here's where I've been, and here's where I am... 

With this study I've gone from one side of the spectrum to the other.  I entered the study with great anticipation, certain of my salvation, looking forward to a deepening of my knowledge of and relationship with my Lord and Savior.... then was perplexed to question my salvation- because of the depth of my sin and the ongoing nature of it.  I've questioned God's grace upon a covenant broken, for the times I've made wrong choices (sinned) when I've known I shouldn't, wondering if God's judgment should/would be upon me.  Then, by God's amazing grace and healing power, because of His enduring love for me, being reassured that NO sin-  my sin included- is not beyond the redemptive, cleansing blood of Christ.  He's shown me that  I can No Longer live in such a way as to cheapen the work Christ did on the cross- the covenant He cut with Me- and You- No Longer cheapen the grace God has poured out upon Me - and You- to take away my sin- and yours- for all time: past, present, and future. 

"The truth of covenant is in accepting that although we are not all we ought to be, we are in process."  (2Corinthians 3:16)*

Through it all, the Lord has shown me that I've left my First Love and had begun at some point to live under the Law vs. living under the new covenant of Grace...  I'm so very thankful for God's grace and desire to draw me unto Himself continually, to not let me live under the condemnation of the Law, but to bring me to living in Freedom...  a Freedom that can only come from Him!

"Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever, Amen." ~Hebrews 12:18-13:21

*Covenant, God's Enduring Promises by Kay Arthur.  pg 187 pp4

Judgment: It's a Delicate Balance

Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye. Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Matthew 7:1-5

 

It is a delicate balance as a Christian between 'charitably' judging another and 'critically and negatively' judging them... If you make such judgments are you doing so as unto the Lord or as unto yourself......

 

If you are making such judgments as unto the Lord, you are compassionate, standing on His truths, understanding, building up your brother/sister in Christ in an encouraging way so that you part ways both being the better for the confrontation...

However, if you are making such judgments as unto yourself, you are condemning, critical, defensive, tearing your brother/sister in Christ down, discouraging them, you display a lack of understanding and compassion...

So, I ask you as I ask myself, where do you fall in this delicate balance?

Captured by Grace- Dr. David Jeremiah

Until you have betrayed a loved one and cannot bring him back.  Until you have befriended every darkness and are  desperate for the light.  That's when God's relentless, amazing, very personalized grace finds you.  It reached a slave trader onboard a ship raiding Africa's coast in March 1748.  He later gave the world its most beloved hymn.  It struck the Christian church's most treacherous enemy on a Damascus road in AD 45, and he became the gospel's greatest messenger.

And it can free you too... of any shameful memory, open would, unthinking mistake, or willful choice.

It is God's grace.  It changes lives.  In his book, "Captured by Grace-No One Is Beyond the Reach of a Loving God," Dr. David Jeremiah chronicles the lives of two men whose lives were forever changed by the overwhelming power of God's grace.  In this book, Dr. Jeremiah bridges the span of time by connecting the lives of John Newton, a slave trader in the 1700's, who penned the hymn, "Amazing Grace," and Saul, later called Paul, who was chief in murdering the Christians of his day in AD 45.  In so doing, he illustrates the depths of God's grace all the while challenging his readers to seek Him, deepen their relationship with the Savior, and understand more fully the extent of the grace of God.
All in all, Dr. Jeremiah takes his readers on a wonderful journey, though it was at time a little tedious going back and forth between Newton's and Paul's lives.  But if you're looking for taking your relationship with the Lord deeper, this book is a great resource, and I would recommend it.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”"