Archive | November, 2007

Treasuring God in our Traditions

By on November 8, 2007 in building the family, learning at home

Treasuring God in our Traditions by Noel Piper is an excellent resource to refer to in planning and preparing for your holiday celebrations and not only that but also the meaning and purpose of it all. Why do we have traditions? Noel Piper believes that by our traditions we can help the next generation treasure God, and at the same time deepen our love for him. Only God can give our children a taste for his sweetness. He uses God-centered traditions and Bible-saturated family patterns and grace-laden heirlooms.

She talks about the importance of having every-day traditions such as family devotions together, worshiping Christ together, praying together over your meals, etc. Secondly, she dives into the “especially” traditions, that of the birthdays, weddings, and planning of the holiday traditions.

“The things we do regularly that help us in our deepest being to know and love and want God, the things that help our lives to be infiltrated with God–those things are tradition. And then if there are children in our lives, pass these God-focused activities to the next generation–that’s what tradition is for a Christian.”

Deuteronomy 11:19 says, “You shall teach [God's word] to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”

God is the reason we have anything to celebrate. He is the ultimate source of any of our celebrations. As we read in James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

How will we seek to make Christ our treasure this holiday season? How will we strive to teach God’s word to the next generation through our traditions? How can we be purposeful during this busy and often overwhelming time of year? What are our children and the world around us seeing as the center most focus in our homes? Do others see why we celebrate?

May this time be a reflection of what our lives are–gratitude for the promises that were fulfilled when God gave us the gift of his Son and anticipation of and preparation for Christ’s coming again. ~ N. Piper

Comments { 3 }

thankfulness = contentment

By on November 6, 2007 in faith & womanhood

I have been dwelling frequently on the topic of contentment. Why is this such a great struggle for women? Young, old, single, married, we all battle this feeling of desiring something more.

“It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.”
Proverbs 21:9

What does it mean to be quarrelsome? Contentious, argumentative, nagging spirit…What is the root? I was talking with my husband about this and his response was that the root cause of this contentious spirit is lack of contentment. A woman can so easily walk down this path when she lacks contentment. It all begins as she looses her thankfulness for the blessings that have been bestowed upon her. Instead of focusing on the blessings, she focuses on the negatives, her circumstances, the shortcomings of her husband or family, etc. One little thing upon the next, until finally her husband cannot stand dwelling with her. Instead of nagging her husband it would be so much more profitable to take it to the Lord in prayer. That way she leaves it in the Lord’s hands. Men can so easily loose their confidence with a nagging woman.

We must exchange the spirit of contention with the spirit of thankfulness.

The first thing that Paul always seems to focus on at the beginning of his epistles is thanking God for the church, for the believers and their faith. 1 Thessalonians for example says:

“We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; contantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ…” (1:2-3).

Even though throughout the remainder of the book he is dealing with problems in the church, his first and foremost focus is on thanking God for the work that He is doing in their lives. He focuses on the positive! He always saw past the circumstances in view of God’s mercy at the cross, as he continues in verses 4-5:

“knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you; for our gospel did not come in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction…”

There is always something to be thankful for! The other evening I was struggling greatly with some issues my little girl was having and my husband asked me, “what are you thankful for?” It was hard at first to switch gears but the sooner I did it and began making my list, the more joyful and happy I became. The heart of discouragement was replaced with joyful delight in the mercies of my Savior.

In light of this I decided to post on my bulletin board (see my previous post on this topic), “what am I thankful for today?” That way each and every day I can be reminded of the bountiful blessings that Christ has bestowed upon me.

Pursuing thankfulness instead of discontentment for the glory of God!

Comments { 0 }

posting truth around the house

By on November 5, 2007 in faith & womanhood


The Lord has really been inspiring me lately to post not only the Scripture around my home, but also reminders to pray and labor on behalf of those who are on the mission field. This has been so effective in reminding me of the importance of storing up the truth in my heart in addition to praying for others. Having a little one on my hands makes this challenging, but if I take advantage of the times when my mind can easily wonder away…those times would include changing a diaper and cleaning those dishes. That is why I have taken hold of these locations in my home and posted the truth where I can meditate upon.

Above shows a picture of my bulletin board that I have hung above my changing table. It includes index cards with verses to memorize, pictures of friends on the field that need prayer. I also added some worship songs with the lyrics so that I could sing songs to my baby. I have the hardest time remembering the words, so I thought this might help solve that problem. My prayer is that she would grow to treasure worshiping the Savior.

Here are a few close ups:
Lastly, here is a picture of above my kitchen sink. I have a few verses and a monthly prayer bulletin I receive for the Persecuted Church. This has been amazingly helpful in using my time wisely!

Comments { 7 }

Knowing God = Sanctification

By on November 1, 2007 in faith & womanhood

“Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.”
~1 Peter 1:3

Isn’t that an awesome truth? God has supplied us with everything we need! Sanctification, or growth in Christ-likeness is completely a gift and enabled fully by Him. He supplies every aspect, every purifying agent, to work out likeness in us! Every trial, every heartache is a vessel in His hands. It has a purpose. He supplies it, we must walk in it. We are still responsible to be obedient as He prunes and purifies us. Each step must be done in faith, examining ourselves to see if we are walking in the truth and uprightly before Him.

We grow in sanctification as we pursue knowing God! Life and godliness come about through the true knowledge of Him! This is how it is achieved: the more our hearts and minds are tuned in on pursuing true knowledge of Him, the more our life will line up with His.

How does this happen? Study Jesus! Study his life, his ways, his sayings, his character! Read and re-read the gospels on a continual basis. Never stop reading about Him! Combine reading a gospel chapter with another chapter in the Bible each day.

Secondly, always depend on the Father for the ability to pursue sanctification and the knowledge of Him. It cannot be done on our own ability.

Lastly, walk in faith and trust that He will reveal Himself to you! We must be faithful to pursue Him…

Praising God for the amazing privilege of knowing Him!

Comments { 0 }