Archive for May, 2013
Thanks to Matt for sharing these.
My wife and I are going to be hanging these prayers on our walls! Read them, pray them, and enjoy the life God has for you … no matter what may come! (Keep in mind that, as you pray these, you may be asking for difficult times in your life!)
Wisdom is found in reading the thoughts from Proverbial Thought!
I am posting this a little earlier in the week than usual, because I wanted people to start seeing it on Memorial Day.
I originally wrote this for Veterans Day 2012. I liked it enough that I felt it could be shared again.
May we remember those who have sacrificed everything for the sakes of freedom and life.
This past weekend saw celebrations in many nations for those who have served in the military. Whether it is called Veterans’ Day, Armistice Day, or Remembrance Day, this is a time to recall those heroes who have served, fought, and even died in the service of country and/or freedom.
This is good. We should remember those who have gone before and fought for freedom.
But, dear Christian, there are more who are at least as deserving if not more deserving of remembrance.
Hebrews 11 reminds us of some heroes:
These were people who stood firm for God and laid the framework for the coming Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.
Yet, there are more!
The New Testament has a list of heroes:
Notice there are even women listed! If we dug through the Old Testament we would find more women, such as Ruth, Esther, and Deborah, to name but a few.
We need to also remember history since the end of the First Century, those who have carried the Church forward:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Hebrews 12:1-8
Love God? Seek some of His wisdom over at Proverbial Thought.
He moves
He moves our Spirits
He is in us
His power moves in us
O Lord
O God
You move our lives
when we give them to You
this is more than an action
it starts with a choice
it is our life inside
You taking control
because we respond
we give You control
where it belongs
You are the Lord of it all
You shake the foundations
You disrupt our lives
You want them to be Yours
My Lord
change my life
shake my foundations
remove my false foundations
be my foundation
send me through
through Your refining fire
make me pure
get me to the point
the point of reflecting
Your glory
purify us all
O God
make us Your children
You are God
we are not
we are not
help us realize
You are our God
Do not forget to find wisdom at Proverbial Thought!
This past weekend I performed my first wedding, and it was for my wonderful sister-in-law and her new husband!
Because I know tiredness and exhaustion is big after a wedding, especially when the ceremony and reception last eight hours plus all of the prep-time before and clean-up after, to save myself some time this week I am posting the message from that wedding!
Now all of you beautiful readers get to feel like you were there! (It really did end up being a wonderful ceremony!)
I hope you enjoy:
Ephesians 5:21-33 tells every married couple:
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
To submit to each other means to live life together.
The greatest examples of living life together can be taken from Jesus and His disciples.
John 2
In John chapter two, we read of Jesus’ first miracle: turning water into wine. This is also the time Jesus first went with His disciples somewhere, and it was a wedding! Working together with each other and those around them made life more enjoyable.
As you start your marriage, learn from Jesus and His disciples: start by having some fun. This is why we are all here! Take this as a reminder to have fun with each other throughout your marriage. It is also a reminder to have fun with your loved ones, your family and friends.
Matthew 14
Speaking of reasons to celebrate, Matthew chapter fourteen shares the story of Jesus and His disciples feeding dinner to about 5,000 men plus women and children with five loaves of bread and two fish. That would be cause for celebration! (Perhaps another reason we are all here: to be fed!)
Instead, as soon as everyone was done eating, Jesus sent His disciples across a choppy lake in the only available boat while he went off to pray. Before the sun came up, Jesus walked out across the surface of the lake – with waves and all – to the boat.
The disciples were scared at first, but Peter yelled out to Jesus. Jesus called Peter out onto the water, and he went and walked on the water with Jesus!
Peter soon remembered the wind and waves, and he began to sink. And Jesus reached out to grab his hand, pulled Peter up, and the two of them walked back to the boat.
As you build your lives together, you will encounter those times when life is hard. Yet, when one of you gets distracted by the troubles you face, the other can be the support. You can take turns lifting each other up as you walk together.
You never face this life alone. The good and the bad will come in varying degrees, but when you face them together you may find the good in the bad. Submitting to each other is listening to and helping each other continually, that you may grow deeper in love and happiness.
Keller
Timothy Keller also compared marriage to a journey, saying that it is:
“. . . a journey that includes shared experience, setbacks, challenges, knowledge, and many many things that make you crazy as well as [the] things that make you happy. If marriage is to endure over time, it has to be because both people within it have tacitly acknowledged something that young lovers might find preposterous: it’s bigger, and more important, than both of us. It’s love, sure, and inside jokes and conversational shorthand. But it’s also families, friends, traditions, landmarks, knowledge, history.”
Find honor through wisdom over at Proverbial Thought.
We serve a great God. He deserves all praise and glory.
Your Wisdom is perfect
Your love beyond comprehension
You orchestrate our lives
while managing all of creation
how could a God so great
Who is bigger than everything
be content with a little speck
or love such tiny beings
You have planned out our days
and know all we could say
before we ever speak
or even finish to conceive
Your ways can seem ominous
the events in life strange
but it all works to Your glory
and i must give You the praise
You made me before time
and knew all of my ways
You counted all of my hairs
and mapped out all my days
i bless Your Holy Name
and offer You my life
in praise of Your greatness
for You i will live until i die
Do not stray from knowledge; rather find wisdom through Proverbial Thought!
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.
Philippians 2:12-18
Needing to Go for a Walk
Last week I wrote about my dog and God’s control over our lives. I return to the topic of my dog this week.
My little puppy is a joy to have around . . .
. . . especially when he begins to make a lot of noise.
. . . especially when he nips at our hands and heels.
. . . especially when he tears at furniture and furnishings.
. . . especially when he destroys things.
Usually, there is a simple fix: he just needs to go for a walk!
When all he does is get fed and hang around the home, eventually things build up inside that must be released. He needs to walk around, meet with others, and “release” all that is locked up inside. Only then does he behave well.
Needing to Go for a Walk
We can get the same way in the Church.
Many people grumble and make a lot of noise about what they do not like or how they think things should run.
Many people complain about others, and they begin to gossip and fight.
Many people tear apart relationships and congregations over meaningless squabbles.
Many people destroy their own or their families lives.
You may already know where this is going:
The biggest problem with many in the Church is that they do not get out of the Church enough.
They sit in their chairs and get fed, and they are surrounded by (and even help) others who are constantly being fed. Yet, they almost never step outside to meet others and share what they have been fed and thus lead them to salvation.
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
Jude 1:14-23
When we hold onto all of the good things God has given us, even attempting to keep His Holy Spirit to ourselves, what really builds up inside is our own selfishness and pride. We build our sin instead of righteousness.
Then we lash out and complain.
All we need to is go Walk.
Be wise and head over to Proverbial Thought for some wisdom!
HAPPY MOTHERS’ DAY! You are appreciated and loved through this blog! Thanks for all of your hard work and love mom’s. You have shown us freedoms through your teachings, warnings, and devotion.
We all desire freedom from something.
We are all a slave to something in this life, and we want freedom.
Ironically, freedom can be found when we fully give ourselves over to one thing, allow it to control the way our lives will run.
To what do you give your life over? To Whom do you give your life over?
free yourself
we all live in bondage
a slave to something
we are born slaves to
our wickedness and sin
free yourself
there is no need to suffer
our lives stuck in place
we may be happy here
but joy has no place
free yourself
there is a way to be free
to remove the weight sin brings
turn away from the sin
and make Jesus your King
free yourself
when a slave to the King
true freedom is released
with Jesus Christ in control
there is real joy and peace
so
free yourself
It is a sad story that could have been a tragic story but became an amazing story.
Thanks to Jason for sharing the video. The girls are as amazing as their mother. WATCH THE VIDEO!
Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.”
Proverbs 31:28-29
Happy Mothers’ Day, all you beautiful and amazing mothers!
Mother’s Day is only a few days away and I wanted to say to my mother and wife, a huge “HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!”. You guys are the best!
I came across this video today and just wanted to share with everyone.
Be counted among the wise and go read the wisdom found at Proverbial Thought.
Out for Walkies
I currently live in an apartment, for a couple more months, at least. We eagerly await the day we can move into our new home.
Living in an apartment with a dog requires taking many walks for exercise and “potty breaks”.
As we walk along together, I let my puppy scamper around wherever he wishes in the grass and rocks, even letting him choose where he “does his business” on our mini-journey.
Sometimes, he gets a hold of a bone of some sort, a plant with spines or bad fluids inside, or a piece of garbage. I have to take his “treat” out of his mouth, even though he does not care for me doing so and would rather keep this seeming “prize”.
Sometimes, he rolls through something, such as another dog’s waste or some mud. This requires taking a bath as soon as we are back at the apartment, even though he does not care for it at the time and seems to prefer his new smell.
Sometimes he begins to stray into the parking lot, driving lanes, or even the road. I have to pull him back, even though he does not care about it nor necessarily understand why.
No matter what, though, I give him some freedom to choose where he goes on our path. However, I am the one ultimately in control of the path we take. He chooses some of his stops, but I am the one leading the way (even if it sometimes looks like he is!) to get him where I want when I want. When we eventually move into our new home, he will have more freedom to choose when he goes outside.
Human Walkies
In their hearts humans plan their course,
but the Lord establishes their steps.
Proverbs 16:9
This is not a debate about theologies. Many of the soteriological theologies agree with what I am about to express.
God treats us much in the same way.
While we live on this Earth, God gives us some freedom of choice in many areas.
We often choose to put things into our minds and bodies that harm us, make our minds, bodies, and souls sick. Sometimes, God has to help us, but it can hurt, be uncomfortable, or even be embarrassing. It is for our benefit to be made healthy and whole.
We often choose to put ourselves in situations that sully our character or reputation. Sometimes, God has to wash us, but it can hurt, be uncomfortable, or even be embarrassing. It is for our benefit to be made clean and pure.
We often choose to stray from the path of righteousness. Sometimes, God has to pull us back to save us, but it can hurt, be uncomfortable, or even be embarrassing. It is for our benefit to be made holy and righteous.
Every step of the way, though we make some choices, God is leading the way. He knows our choices before we make them, but He is in the business of redemption and grace. He leads along the path of life, until He finally takes us to our new Home with Him.
Find some hope through the wisdom discovered at Proverbial Thought.
A major problem with most of us is that we feel like we have to do things right, clean things up, and live rightly before God can use us or change us. We feel like we have to fill our lives with so many things to help us grow and be better.
If there is one thing Eastern religions have right, it is that we need to clean out. We need to clear out all of the rubble, all of the frustrations, all of the things.
Where those religions fall short is that we must then be filled again.
in emptiness
in emptiness
He can be found
when you feel empty
He fills you up
in times of need
He is there
empty hearts
are where He lives
empty souls
His best friends
in emptiness
He draws you close
in emptiness
He calls out to you
in emptiness
He fills youwith Himself
a simple man of God 