Wisdom from Job

and these are but the outer fringe of His work;
how faint the whisper we hear of Him!
Who then can understand the thunder of His power?
Job 26:14

Praise to our gentle and fierce, amazing and powerful God!!

More from "Sacred Friendships"

Teresa of Avila has some good words on dealing with each others sin.

"Some seem to think that a constant style of frank, combative disruption that takes little thought for the soul or gives little heed to empathy is what God uses to crush sin. Unfortunately, what often happens with such harsh, unsympathetic confrontation is that Satan uses it to crush souls."

She refers to Gal. 6:1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.

...she (Teresa) did not stop at reconciling. Her goal was to guide the soul toward a state of rest in God's infinite love.

What a difference it might make in our fellowships if we practiced such gentle, loving help to one another.

God is Good

Randy Alcorn focused a chapter of If God is Good, on a present day heresy and concludes with a very good statement and question:

Fortunately, God will always remain who he is. The question is, as we try to modify him, what will become of us?

In chapter 17 he makes the following thoughtful statement:

When I am not convinced that God is good, I will quietly--but with tight-lipped resolve--take over responsibility for my own well-being.

God's Holy Love

Yesterday I read about Julian of Norwich, in the book Sacred Friendships by Kelleman and Ellis.
This woman understood God's love in a very real and wonderfully encouraging way.
She said:

In salvation, God acts as a Judge justifying and forgiving us, as a Creator and Physician regenerating and healing us, as a Champion and Warrior redeeming and empower us, and as a Father reconciling and comforting us.

He is our clothing, wrapping and enveloping us for love, embracing us and guiding us in all things, hanging about us in tender love, so that he can never leave us... He is everything that is good for us.

But God gives us you generously when he so wishes, and sometimes allows us sorrow, and both come from love.

Love is nearest to us all. And this is the knowledge of which we are most ignorant; for many men and women believe that God is almighty and has power to do everything, and that he is all wisdom and knows how to do everything, but that he is all love and is willing to do everything--there they stop. And this ignorance is what hinders those who most love God.

Only by intimate relationship with our God of loving holiness can we survive in and thrive above earthly suffering.

This gives me much to meditate on.

the Wonderful Blessing of God's Sovereignty

For Valentines day Tim gave me a copy of Pipers book on Ruth, A Sweet and Bitter Providence, along with some good dark chocolate.
The chocolate was great and the book even better, as usual I was challenged and encouraged by Piper. A few of the comments that spoke to me are:

There is a kind of inactive righteousness that simply avoids evil. But strategic righteousness takes the initiative and dreams of how to make things right. (his idea of righteousness is a zeal for doing what is good and right)

Our hope is based on the confidence that a sovereign God is for us.


When you believe in the sovereignty of God and that He loves to work mightily for those who trust Him, it gives a freedom and courage that isn't abandoned in hard times.

One of the great diseases of our day is trifling.

God is at work in our darkest times--for our good, and Christ's glory.

and finally:

In all the setbacks of our lives as believers, God is plotting for our joy.

Soul care and spiritual formation are receiving renewed interest in the Christian community, yet it is often hard to understand just what these terms mean. In "Beyond Suffering," by Kellemen and Edwards, these terms are described in a way that helps me understand them and shows their relevance to our Christian community.
In simplified form, he says:

Soul Care is about the evils we have suffered
"God is good even when life is bad."
It's normal to hurt--it's possible to hope

Spiritual direction is about the sins we have committed
"God is gracious even when I am sinful"
It's horrible to sin, but wonderful to be forgiven
It's supernatural to mature

He shows how the African believers helped each, other in their suffering, to continue to trust in God's goodness, in spite of man's evil and to care for each other.

It's a hard book to read, the slaves were treated horribly, but it is also a book of hope and comfort.

A High View of God

I just finished another book by Dale Cramer, one of my favorite fiction authors. The book is Levi's Will.

The book covers about 40 years in the life of an Amish man who left the fold. It shows the harshness of legalism, which we find in the church too unfortunately, and the freedom of grace and enjoying God's gifts, which is Amish family had learned.

Towards the end of the book his son makes a great observation. Comparing a character in a favorite book, who lived a life in excess, seeking whatever would bring him pleasure and in the end finding that none of it gave him life, and what he had just witnessed of the grace and simple trust of the Amish, he said of them, "They hold their God very high."

I pray that others will see this same quality in my. I want to "hold my God up very high," and live in simple faith and trust, and extravagant grace.

Breathing Grace

In his book, Breathing Grace, Dr. Harry Kraus gives a great definition of grace:

Grace is a positive characteristic that determines God's posture towards His children whereby He generously and freely loves, forgives, favors and exalts undeserving sinners into sonship.

He spends the book expanding on this idea using the medical idea of ABC. As a medical student he explains you learn the importance of A-airway, B-breathing, C-circulation in diagnosis; in the Christian life he compares this to A-acknowledging your weakness, B-believing God's word, and C-communication and uses these to help us understand our needs in learning to live moment by moment in grace.

He has a good thought of what faith is on pg. 55:

Faith is a conviction that the gospel is true and a way of thinking that stimulates action which places our lives in God's hands.

A conviction that the gospel is true is the recognition that we are not in control. We didn't earn it, work for it, or deserve it. So we rely on Christ. We lean on Him. And believing that the gospel is true brings grace into our lives.

Good things too ponder on and enjoy. He also uses some interesting examples of medical patients and situations he's been in to illustrate what he speaks of.

On my first night in Glasgow I found my mind thinking on way too much, this is what my mind does when I can't sleep.
I found myself remembering, again, an incident that took place about 30 years ago. On a family vacation we had stopped of for a view and stretch. Jenny was a bit slow getting in the car, Tim started it up, and she thought we were leaving without her. She brought this up through the years as, "Remember the time you left me." I always assured her we would never have left her, but she wasn't assured.
It was just recently that I found out she remembers sitting on a ledge as the car started, I remember seeing her at the door of the car getting in. Two perceptions, both very real, but both can't be right, can they? Which is right?
This is so true in our perception of our lives and God's perception of them. His perception is obviously right but that doesn't always help us in viewing it. Our perception seems so real. That's where trust comes in. For some reason Jenny thought we'd leave her behind, she didn't trust in our goodness and love for her. How often is that the case with us? If I know my God and trust in His goodness and love I won't be anxious about situations or how things look, or hold on to seeming injustices.
This incident has turned into a good reminder to me of God's trustworthiness and to not trust in my perceptions.

Long time no blog....

I'm reading "If God is Good" by Randy Alcorn. It's a great book. I love the following from pg. 60.

While God assures us that He will one day remove all suffering and sorrow, He will do so as a by-product of His highest purpose for us: "The Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory" (Isaiah 60:19). If we come to see the purpose of the universe as God's long-term glory rather than our short-term happiness, then we will undergo a critical paradigm shift in tackling the problem of evil and suffering.

The world has gone terribly wrong.
God is going to fix it.
First, for His eternal glory.
Second, for our eternal good.

Amen!!!!

It's not about me!

On pages 84-85 of Paul David Tripp's book "Broken Down House," he speaks of the skilled builder that we can trust in as we live in the broken down house of our world. He concludes this section by saying,

"You are never in a better place than when you give up on you and begin to trust what is sure: the life-shaping wisdom of the One who built the house in the first place."

I am at a place where I need to continue to remember this. I can't fix the mess of this "house." But God is redeeming it and I can trust in what He is doing.

What a wonderful, freeing truth.

to love God and hate sin

I am reading More Precious than Gold by Sam Storms. It’s a book of meditations on the Psalms. This weekend what I read focused on the imprecation Psalms, those are the ones where David shows his anger at sinners and desire for God to “sic ‘em.”

We as Christians struggle with the anger in these Psalms, it seems to go against the message of the NT to love our enemies, turn the cheek, etc. And yet Jesus showed real anger at the Pharisee’s, I’m sure when He was welding the whip in the temple He was a bit fierce about it.

How does this all fit together?

Peter C. Craigie says, of these Psalms,:
“these passages are the real and natural reactions to the experience of evil and pain and thought the sentiments are in themselves evil, they are a part of the life of the soul which is bared before God in worship and prayer.”
“The psalmist may hate his oppressor; God hates the oppression. Thus the words of the psalmist are often natural and spontaneous, not always pure and good.”
He sums up by saying, “ these Psalms are not the oracles of God.” I would add that they are the true cry of the soul.

Same points out that, “They are calculate petitions, not spontaneous explosions of a bad temper. Certainly there are examples in Old Testament history and prose narrative of actions and attitudes that are sinful and not to be emulated. But the Psalms are expressions of public worship to be modeled.”

Sam made a statement that has challenged me and given me much to ponder:
“Imprecations are expressions provoked by the horror or sin. David prayed this way because of his deep sensitivity to the ugliness of evil. Perhaps the chief reason why he wasn’t bothered by prayers of imprecation, and we are, is that he was bothered by sin, and we aren’t! It is frightening to think that we can stand in the presence of evil and not be moved to pray as David did.”

I am pleased to say that the next meditation deals with what it means to delight yourself in the Lord, which is all part of this amazing thing of loving God and hating sin.

God's love

Sam Storms has a book of devotionals on the Psalms. "More Precious than Gold."

In his words on Psalm 32, after talking about the total forgiveness of confessed, sin he says:

"God's love is the bulwark of our lives, the bodyguard of our souls, the atmosphere of immutable affection in which we move and live and breathe."

As I am learning to enjoy God's love more I found this a beautiful picture to hold on to.

He Sees the Downcast

I found a new book that is going to be one of my favorites. The Sheep of His Hand by Suzanne Davenport Tietjen.

She and her family are modern day shepherds in Illinois and she uses their sheep as examples of following, or sometimes not following too well, our Shepherd.

One of the sheep is Deborah, very heavy with child and stuck on her back. That position is called being cast down and this gave me a new understanding of David's words in Psalm 42 "why are you downcast O my soul." This poor sheep was stuck and would have died in that position if the shepherd hadn't driven by and seen her. He tenderly and gently helped her on to her side and then on her feet, holding her the whole time. He held on to her until she was sturdy on her feet again and OK. What a wonderful picture of God tenderly and gently holding on to us while He uprights us when we are "downcast."

And we don't have to wonder if He will drive by and see us, His eyes are always on us!

Sacrificial Love

From Meet Me at the Well by Virelle Kidder:

"I soon learned that sacrificial love isn't fun. It's like standing still and getting beaten up. I wanted to defend myself. How did Jesus keep doing that? He loved us with supernatural power, especially when He got beaten up. Could ordinary people love like that?"

"Nowhere is perfect love more clearly seen than in Christ's love at the cross. He showed a spiritually dead world what love really is when He died on our behalf.
Has anyone ever loved you more?"

We have His Spirit within us and thus can love the same way, when we rely on Him, not our own ability. I'm so thankful for this because my love quotient is quite limited.

The Unfinished Soul

I've been enjoying Calvin Miller lately. I read his memoir and then the Unfinished Soul. It's a collection of allegories and poems for believers today. Some I didn't get, but that's not unusual, most were good hit the mark.
I enjoy his writing and his honesty about faith.

In his preface he said:
“..life is rarely an orderly architecture built from large blocks of time. Rather, it is more often a jumbled blueprint: a collage of little events, a composite of small scrapes and brushes, a day-to-day gathering of our significant collisions with ideas.”
And:
“Jesus stands over all of life reminding me that He has ordained the course to take the “happen” out of my happenstance. He stuffs His great purposes in the haphazard, which is always as much a hazard as a happening.”
And last:
“…true pilgrims always understand each other. All of them know that the pilgrimage will always be the main thing, and that every apparent tumble is a tutor whose lessons are free but never cheap.”

I liked the reminders that we can't always make sense of things and are often surprised at the things that turn out to be major and those that don't, mostly that God is in the midst of it all and He is working out His plan for each of us, His masterpieces.

Praise to our amazingly creative and sovereignly detailed God.

In Spirit of the Disciplines," Dallas Willard asks, "Why is it that we look upon our salvation as a moment that began our religious life instead of the daily life we receive from God?" pg. 29

Christ learned obedience and we must too. This implies it won't just happen, we have to be attentive and make choices to obey.

...we can become like Christ by doing one thing--by following Him in the overall style of life He chose for Himself. pg. IX

The secret of the easy yoke, then, is to learn from Christ how to live our total lives, how to invest all our time and our energies of mind and body as he did. pg. 9

...spiritual growth and vitality stem from what we actually do with our lives, from the habits we form, and from the character that results. pg. 21

So what am I doing to learn to live daily as He did?

On Killing Sin

To effectively protect our inner sanctuary, we must not wait until sin has already begun to take over, but instead, learn to immediately and aggressively respond to every hint of temptation with what I like to call the “sudden death” technique.

Sudden Death

The only effective way to deal with temptation toward sin is to immediately and completely kill it, giving it absolutely no opportunity to take hold of our mind or heart in the first place.
…temptation quickly suffocates and dies the moment we refuse to give it life within us.
Sin must be cut off at the source. There always comes that crucial moment of decision—and that’s when we must choose whether to allow temptation to live or die. Pg. 134-5

Feminine Mystique

I've read several things lately that give definitions of the feminine mystique from a Christian perspective, but this one is the best. It comes from the book Authentic Beauty by Leslie Ludy.

Feminine Mystique—the steady, unyielding strength and confidence that flows from knowing our Prince intimately and protecting our relationship with Him at all costs. Pg. 161

Some of her insights are:

We must learn to walk through our days with Him, not merely trying to represent Him. Pg. 206

To understand our Prince in His fullness, we must learn to meditate on His Word and make His Truth an inseparable part of who we are as we study it, carefully examine it on multiple levels, mull it over in our minds and hearts, diligently pray about it, and practically apply it to our lives. Pg. 214

Primary focus of life can be determined by the thoughts we have each night as we drift off to sleep. Pg. 203

God is in control:)

I found a wonderful book a few weeks ago called Whisper of His Grace by David L. McKenna, (you can get it on Amazon used books for .08 plus postage).
Not everyone loves Job as I do, but any that have struggled with questions and pain usually find their way to this book and find truth, encouragement, and comfort in our amazing God.

On page 36 of McKenna's book he says:

"Evil may appear to be having its day, but God sets the time and draws the boundaries."

"Whether in riches or poverty, sickness of health, calm of stress, comfort or persecution, it is absolutely essential to remember that we live under the protection of God and are never abandoned by the presence of God."