Glory

The glory of the Lord is my strength???  That's not how that goes.  It's "the joy of the Lord is my strength".  But all morning I was thinking the glory of the Lord.  What is glory anyway?  It is defined as "praise, worship, and thanksgiving offered to a deity".  I've also heard it defined as anything that points to the revelation of the Lord.  These thoughts have been running through my head  as I've reveled in the glorious colors of fall here in our mountain state.  How magnificent is it that trees that were once a lush green can turn into gold, red, orange and yellow seemingly overnight?  Only God!  There is glory in that!  And joy, too! 

What I Learned from Her...the Series

Post #1

This is going to be a fun blog series about some of the things I've learned from some of the women that have been in my life.

It seems only fitting that the first post be about my mom, the first woman in my life.  One of the things I learned from her is ingenuity.  I remember a day that was storming.  It must have been during summer break because my brother, sister and I were all home and we were bored.   I don't recall how old we were.  I think I was probably about 10 years old, which would have made my brother around 7 and our sister a toddler.  So, what's a mom to do with three young kids on a stormy day?  Mom made us a picnic!  It wasn't anything fancy.  I know that for a fact because we didn't grow up with "fancy".  And I remember that she packed it all into a dutch oven size pan and put the lid on.  We carried our "picnic basket" to a side of the house that was undergoing some construction and we sat on the plywood floor and enjoyed our picnic.

Ingenuity= the quality of being clever, original, and inventive.  In other words, thinking outside the box.  Or the picnic basket, whatever the case may be.  :-)

Hank

His name was Hank.  This elderly gentleman sitting at the bar, eating his dinner.  I hadn't really noticed him at first.  Quite frankly, I was not pleased that the waitress had sat us in the bar area anyway.  It was cold and noisy.  My attitude quickly changed once I became aware of Hank.  I'm not quite sure what drew my attention to him.  I think it was a God thing.  He gave me a glimpse into what had just transpired and it made me smile.  There was a middle-aged couple sitting beside Hank.  There were people all along the bar.  But this particular couple had just told the waitress they wanted to pay for Hank's dinner.  The waitress told them that was not possible because another couple at the other end of the bar, already had.  Both couples, Hank, and a few people in between got caught up in the goodness that was going on.  There was laughter and smiles.  I heard words like blessing and friend.  At one point, I even heard the bartender ask one of the couples to pray for a situation in his life.  I would have missed all of it if I'd let my bad attitude rule and had  the waitress seat us some place else. 

Men, Umbrellas and the Women who Help Hold Them Up

Does your man own an umbrella?  He may not own a physical umbrella but God has given him an umbrella of authority and protection to hold over his family.  This umbrella is the wisdom and discernment that God has made available to men.  It's their job to use what God has given them to protect and lead their wives and children.  Wives, it's our job to help and encourage our men to hold those umbrellas.  Their umbrella is held higher by them spending time with God through prayer and reading His Word.  When men falter in these areas, the umbrella falls, leaving the wife and children unprotected to some degree. Wives, when you fight against the godly leadership of your husband, you're stepping out from under the umbrella.  Stay close to your man.  Support and encourage him to be the man, the husband, the father God has called him to be.  Men, BE the man, husband, father that God has called you to be.  We need strong, godly men in our lives.  We need men who will lead.  We need men we can count on; men we know are praying for us and seeking God's best for us.

I know this can be considered controversial.  Some would balk at the idea of man's authority over his wife.  But that's the way God designed it to be.  It's not a bad thing.  It's a very, very good thing.  When the husband is seeking the Lord and following His leading, he's going to love and care for his wife in a way she could never imagine.  When the wife is supporting and encouraging  her husband the way the Bible tells her to, he's going to be even more eager to be the kind of husband she needs.  It's a win, win situation.  It's God's perfect plan. 

And when children grow up in this type of home, they model their marriage after their parents'.  They understand the concept of mutual respect and love; of sacrifice and giving.  These traits carry over into their other relationships as well.

I think if more men would take hold of their umbrellas, homes and families could be repaired and things could be different in this world.

What if your husband isn't an umbrella wielder?  Do the things you know to do!  Keep praying and reading and doing what you can.

A Pastor's wife shared this scripture with me many years ago:  1 Peter 3:1  "In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives".

That means, no nagging!  It means quietly, humbly doing the things you know God wants you to do and let Him do the work on your husband.  Then one day, before you know it, you'll notice there's an umbrella over your head that wasn't there before.

Forgiving Ourselves???

Recently I heard "God loves you.  He forgives you.  You must forgive yourself".  This got me to thinking...Do we really need to "forgive ourselves" if we have accepted the forgiveness of God?  What does forgiving ourselves do for us if we haven't accepted His forgiveness?  And if we have accepted His forgiveness there's no relevance to forgiving ourselves...there's no point. 

I've come to the conclusion that it's one of those things where we accept what God offers and try to add to it.  He's offered us salvation, so now we have to (fill in the blank).  He's forgiven us but we have to (fill in the blank).

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:3 that our minds could be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

The simplicity that is in Christ!!!!  Not complications.  Not a list of rules/regulations.  Simplicity.

In this day and age, we as a culture, crave simplicity in all areas of our lives.   Yet, we don't know how to obtain it.

The simplicity is in Christ.  Forget your to-do lists and your self-help books, even the ones by Christian authors.  Yes, I said it.  And seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt 6:33).  How do you do that?  By loving God and loving others (Mark 12:30-31).

Simplicity in Christ.

A Shepherd Looks at the Good Shepherd by Phillip Keller

"If in truth I am God's person; if Christ has in fact entered my life, my body belongs to Him: He resides there. My right to do with it as I choose has been abdicated. It is now the residence of His gracious Spirit who is entitled to be sovereign in it's conduct and care. I no longer have any right to misuse or abuse it. It is not to be overworked, overstressed, overfed, overindulged with drink, nor overcharged with sex. As the sheep of Christ's care this body is to be under His management. It is to be put out of the confining, restricting, damaging environment of just four walls and cramped quarters. It is to be exposed fully and freely to the benefits of fresh air, sunshine, clean water, wholesome food, moderate exercise, and adequate sleep. These are provisions made for it by God. I should be willing to be put out to see they are met. This will benefit not only myself, but also my family, friends, and anyone else who encounters this healthy, wholesome, energetic, vigorous person.

My Utmost for His Highest June 29th