“There is no comfort in anything apart from enjoying thee
and being engaged in thy service.”

The Valley of Vision, p. 4

This line is from a sixteenth century Puritan’s prayer. The book Valley of Vision is full of some incredible prayers to and devotional reflections on God. This one stood out to me and I go back and read this line often because something about it really resonates in my heart.

It is easy to get mechanical in a routine of life, and not really feel a lot of satisfaction about the details of the day. But I’ve been convicted at this ungodly attitude in my own life because apathy can creep in or complacency take root in my heart and keep me in a joyless robotic fulfilling of duties.

What I love so much about this quote is the intense wording used. No comfort in anything apart from enjoying thee and being engaged in thy service. What a great example this is for me, that I shouldn’t just maintain and get by. I need to be focused, wholeheartedly clocked in all hours for Him each day.

Last week my husband wrote a blog called “24/7 Christianity”. This is something Bobby talks about often seeing the danger of viewing Christianity as a “part-time job.” 1 Corinthians 15:58 says,

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that you labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Bobby wrote about this verse:

“Always” means with 100% of our time. “Fully” means with 100% of our hearts and effort. The Lord’s work demands everything that we have.

When I read this I went back and looked up the Puritan quote because I remembered that was the heart in the quote above–engaged in service. We are to be 100% pledged, 100% involved in laboring to serve the Lord. If this is what God wants from me, I want to do it! The greatest enjoyment and comfort is found in obeying Him.

When Bobby was on his recent trip in Israel, he and the team documented the ten days with daily videos. There was one part of one the videos that Tyler loved and we would watch it over and over again. In the clip there is just a few seconds of a walkie-talkie exchange between our good friend Brad Smith and Pastor Pete:

Brad: B-dog reporting for service.
Pastor Peter: B-dog, you are all about service.
Brad: Copy that.

Let’s report for service as a way of life and not try to be on and off duty. Always giving ourselves fully to His work!

Bring joy to your servant,
for to you, O Lord,
I lift up my soul.

You are forgiving and good, O Lord,
abounding in love to all who call to you.

Psalm 86:4-5

A couple of things stand out from these verses, mainly who God is–forgiving, good and abounding in love toward those who call on Him. The other part that stands out is what I must do–to be lifting up my soul, calling on Him.

I think the reason I can get discouraged or complacent in my day to day life is I lose focus of who God is. Every day I sin and am in need of His forgiveness. Every day things are happening all around me and I am in need of God’s goodness to me which causes all of those things to work together to sanctify me to be like His Son. To think that every day God isn’t just loving, He is abounding in love. He is fully supplied with love that is perfect and always acts for the benefit of His children. I am definitely in need of that!

This is who God is. Why in the world would I not be lifting up my soul continually and calling on Him at all times? He is trustworthy. He has a perfect track record of caring for His children. He can forgive sins. He has created all things. He is God! Knowing Him and being known by Him is the source of all joy!

Psalm 86 has totally ministered to me by drawing me to worship God and lift up my soul to Him in prayer all day long. I hope you will take some time to read it and that you will be encouraged to have joy in your heart today!

Whenever we are apart I am reminded how I need to always entrust my husband (and anyone) to the Lord. I wish I would remember to have this attitude on a daily basis. I guess when he is gone it seems easier to worry about circumstances yet to unfold or be anxious that I cannot determine the details or be scared about all of the “what-ifs”. But it is so foolish to act this way if he is home or away when I know that I can entrust him to the Lord, because He has planned every detail and will bring it to pass for His glory.

This morning a friend sent me Psalm 91:1-2

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

I love this picture of the intimate protection we have when we trust God–dwelling in His shelter and resting in His shadow. That’s where I want to be!

If you would like to follow the Compass Israel trip with me, Bobby will be posting blogs, pictures and videos daily at the Compass Bible Church website. I would also appreciate your partnership in prayer for the group, that it would be an enriching time for them all to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Dr. Street was so helpful in explaining why saying “I apologize” or “I’m sorry” are not Biblical forgiveness.

• Apologize comes from the word “apologia” which means “to throw up a defense”. Really apologizing is a form of personal defense, passing the blame to something outside of self.

• Saying “I’m sorry” shows sorrow but really just says “I feel bad about this.” Stopping here will not accomplish forgiveness.

Forgiveness is not the end goal, but is “one small slice of the pie of reconciliation.” Biblical forgiveness occurs when a Christian owns responsibility for a sin committed toward another Christian, acknowledges it as sin against God and the person, seeks that person’s forgiveness, and when it is granted they make restitution where needed and seek to rebuild the relationship to be honoring to the Lord. Then he explained that Biblical forgiveness makes a three fold promise–

1. I won’t bring this up to you. I will not hold this against you.
2. I won’t bring this up to anyone. It is a dead issue.
3. I won’t bring this up to myself. I will not dwell on it in my heart.

We do not forgive and forget, but we can forgive to forget. Because if we were enacting these three things toward the one asking for forgiveness eventually we will forget about it because we will not be rehearsing the sin in our hearts or talking about it with them or others.

As Christians we must always be ready to forgive others because we are right in our hearts before God. If you are sinned against you must settle the issue in your heart before God, and that makes you ready to grant automatic forgiveness right when the offender seeks it.

When we encounter someone who refuses to forgive someone there is a question mark about their faith because Christians are forgiven people in Christ, therefore we forgive others. Dr. Street spent a good amount of time expounding on this from Ephesians 4:32.

Be kind and compassionate to one another,
forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

If we have truly been forgiven by God, we will be forgiving people. I thought a lot about how putting Biblical forgiveness into action would radically change the life of the church. People wouldn’t be nursing bitterness in their hearts, talking to others about the wrongs done to them or continually reminding each other of past sin. Instead forgiveness, reconciliation and the rebuilding of relationships would be on ongoing process building each other up and building unity together in relationships that are a model of the gospel.

That sums up just about one hour of the seminar, which was pretty eye opening for me and will definitely affect how I seek and grant forgiveness from now on. It is critical that we understand and put into action Biblical forgiveness. I hope this brief recap has been helpful!

My heavenly Father does not offer a “cafeteria plan” for obedience. I needed to respond to all of His instructions with an obedient spirit. I am not to merely pick and choose those that appeal to me.

Pat Ennis in Designing a Lifestyle that Pleases God, p.45

In keeping with my Spring Reading goals I’ve picked up Designing a Lifestyle that Pleases God, and when I read the above quote it stung because I know that I am tempted to do this. To heartily go after obedience in these areas and then when it comes to some I kind of just struggle and make excuses and tell people, “I’m working on it.” I was convicted. The book of James nails us on this many times, especially in chapter 2:8-11 where it says that there is no such thing as a “cafeteria plan” for God’s commands and then in chapter 4 we see so clearly that this wrong thinking about obedience cannot coexist with the truth of James 4:17!

Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.

I’m starting to hear people say that if someone challenges them to obey all of God’s Word that is legalism. They think that they can be a Christian and somehow be allowed to remain unchanged in the areas they choose and obey only the commands that are convenient for them. Then, if anyone says that I should be seeking to be fully obedient to God’s commands, that person is legalistic.

Last weekend, Pastor Mike was extremely helpful on this when he said “If you’re into keeping God’s commandments and telling other to do the same you will be called a legalist. That is not legalism. That is called, according to John 14:15 and 1 John 2, love! If you love God you will keep His commandments, what you are accusing me of is asking you to love God!”

When we talk about obeying all of God’s commands we don’t mean to earn salvation, we mean because of our salvation. Obedience is a response to salvation not a means to salvation.

How can I obey God in loving others but not being willing to forgive a wrong done against me. How can I obey God in His command for me to be faithful to my husband but then say I’m not willing to submit to my husband? This doesn’t even make sense. If we are going to obey God, we must obey all that He says. We can’t pick and choose. This is not up for a debate.

“If you love me, you will obey what I command.”

John 14:15

After thinking through that quote from my book I re-listened to Pastor Mike’s sermon (which you can listen to by clicking here) and it was really helpful as I tried to list out commands I try to exempt myself from. I pulled our my notebook and wrote down commands that came to mind that I tend to cringe at. I also write down any ways I know that I try to bend the rules. For example, acting like gossiping about a certain person is valid at this time with this situation, right? Wrong! Just seeing that written down was a good exercise because it helped me brainstorm ways I need to go out and obey those commands today.

We need to have a joyful and eager attitude about obedience. I love it when I ask Tyler to do something and he responds with his little sing-song-voice, “Okay, Mommy.” We need to put the cafeteria trays away and just say “Okay, God!”

That was the question in Bobby’s sermon from Titus 2 yesterday. People can put a great deal of thought and energy into physical health–dieting and exercise. You might not think that high school students are into health, but I’ve met many girls for meals and they order their cheeseburger “protein style”, so they can skip the carbs. One girl always gets salads but only with the dressing on the side. Another always chooses the 90 calorie “skinny lattes” when we meet at Starbucks. I’m amazed at the dedication some people have to going to the gym–they get up before dark, or won’t end their day till they’ve put in their minimum 30 minutes of sweat and agony. It is sad how we can be so careful to do what it takes to physically train our bodies and then treat our spiritual growth like an afterthought. Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 4:7-8 that

“…Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.“

There is no debate, godliness is of much greater and lasting value that physical health. But most Christians don’t have a plan for their spiritual health– no spiritual diet, no spiritual workout regimen, no concern for their spiritual calorie intake. They just react to life as it happens and try to do their best to remember to live out the sermons Sunday to Sunday.

Bobby and I use a tool in our ministry called The Spiritual Growth Chart. It has five categories–Bible Reading, Prayer, Meditation, Church Service, Witness. Starting out with where you were last week, you then write out a goal for each category. The chart has four weeks in between to help you pace yourself to be disciplined in those areas. It is meant to be used with your “personal trainer” or “nutritionist”–basically a mentor, someone farther along than you in the faith who will keep you accountable.

I hope you will even consider using The Spiritual Growth Chart for just the next four weeks. Just writing out how you are doing at training yourself to be godly and goals you should be working toward can be clarifying and motivating. Click here to download a PDF you can print to get started! Feel free to personalize it to make it your own. On my chart I’ve added “Bible Study” and “Memorization”–you can customize yours for areas you need to work on.

So, when I saw this book pop up on my Amazon suggested products page I was excited, especially because Caroyln wrote it with her three grown daughters who all contribute to the GirlTalk blog. That same week I visited the local Christian bookstore and bought it and after reading this review, I hope that is what you will do too!

Shopping for Time helped me think through my days and how I spend my time and I easily saw how I need to readjust a few priorities, step-it-up in some areas and completely overhaul others. I know that I don’t always manage the time God has given me with the intensity and purpose that I ought to, so as I read this book I began to see that even though I thought, “I’m doing my best” managing my time, I really wasn’t.

What I enjoyed most about this book were the five practical tips to help me evaluate and accomplish the things that God has called me to do as a Christian woman. Too often we are harried, frazzled and overwhelmed as we run around trying to get done all that we think we need to do each day. This book is not a “system” or 5-step plan to life success. It is simply the disciplines the Mahaney women have exercised over the years that have greatly maximized their usefulness for the Lord. Here is a glimpse at the 5 Time-Saving-Tips:

Tip #1–Rise early, they propose that you join the “5 AM Club” to reap benefits both for your spiritual life and the good of your family.

Tip #2–Sitting at Jesus’ Feet, making reading and studying God’s Word, prayer and meditation top priority.

Tip #3–Taking a Personal Retreat, a time to study God’s Word, read pertinent books to where you are in life, devise solutions to some of our problem areas and make goals and plans that are thought out and Biblical for the upcoming months.

Tip #4–Consider People by evaluating relationships carefully. Do your friends sharpen you? Do you have a mentor and are you a mentor to someone? Are you reaching out to others by being a friend? Are you evangelizing those who need salvation?

Tip #5–Plan to Depend: being productive in daily life. One thing in this chapter that has really helped me is what they call the “15:4 rule.” Fifteen minutes of planning in the morning, saves four hours of your day. When I read this chapter I started doing this the next morning and have found each day to be so productive because I wasn’t wasting time trying to nail down what I needed to do next.

I hope reading these five ideas that you have some ideas about how you may need to change your schedule tomorrow! This book is simple, easy-to read and short, only 94 pages! What made this book so helpful is that it’s not about teaching us how to perfectly execute our daily plans, but to make sure our heart is wholly God’s, focused on Him and His priorities, relying on Him to accomplish each task and being intentional about living every day for His glory!

What stands out to me most from remembering Christ’s resurrection this year is a sermon that Pastor Mike preached on Palm Sunday called “The Real Jesus.”

Christianity is not just about trusting but who I’m trusting in.

In Matthew 21 we see that the crowds waved palm leaves as Jesus entered Jerusalem and they shouted “Hosanna” which means “Save us now!” Five chapters later this same crowd is before Pilate shouting “Crucify him!” (Matthew 27:22)

Pastor Mike pointed out that it isn’t that the crowd was fickle as many people say, but really the problem was that they didn’t want the salvation that Jesus offered. They wanted to put their trust in a savior who would deliver them from the Romans by rising up politically. This same problem is happening today. So many people would say Hosanna–Save us now! But what kind of savior are they talking about?

When Hosanna means “relieve my pain” or “better my life” the one asking for that salvation will not find that in Jesus Christ because true salvation is from sin, not the pains and ills of life. Many people evangelize by saying that God is going to make life wonderful, but when Christianity becomes something about you, it is not Biblical.

The only right way to say “Hosanna” is when that means “Be my King!” This means that for better or for worse we are devoted to following Him. It is easy to say that we trust Him as our King, but this is seen in how we live, always striving to obey Him.

We need to make sure that we trust in the real Jesus, not who we wish He was or what we want Him to do for us. He isn’t a pain reliever or a life improvement program. He is Lord and we desperately need the salvation that He alone offers.

My favorite books to read are about the Christian life. I have found that they can serve a real purpose because they either spurred me on in my own faith or they sharpened my discernment by sending me back to Scripture to examine the book’s message.

This last Fall I read five books in a row and none of them were very good after that I had lost some of the excitement and definitely momentum of burning through books and have been trudging through a couple for the last few months. Then I saw a blog entry called the “Spring Reading Thing”…

Katrina from “Callapidder Days” has challenged bloggers to set goals for reading in the Spring (from March 20th to June 19th). It isn’t a club you have to join with rules and dues, it’s simply an opportunity to provide motivation to read.

This was the kick start I needed to get back to reading! I loved her idea of getting all your books together and making a stack on your desk or bedside table. I even went to the bookstore this week and bought one that I wanted to add to my stack! I’m not going to make a list of book titles or post a picture of how tall it is but I wanted to encourage any of you who maybe haven’t been reading much to take her suggestion.

If you need some ideas for some worthwhile books to read I hope you will check out my “Book Reviews” section (click HERE). Over the next couple of months you will see new book reviews here as I read through the stack I’ve made for Spring!

I started reading the gospel of Luke yesterday and in chapter 1, after Mary visits Elizabeth and the two talk about what God was working in them, Mary has an amazing song.

And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.”

Luke 1:46-55

We need to regularly remember God’s goodness in the past and present. Maybe you even want to have a song like Mary did, actually sit down and put some thought into how you have seen God work. Or maybe you just need to remember to give credit where it is due when you are sharing about something in your life. Our verbal assent to His goodness is such a small praise of His majesty. Let’s remember to glorify God for His goodness!