A Father's Dominion
"Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen." (1 Peter 5:5-11)
Motherhood is hard. It is full of little daily trials - bickering children, runny noses, spilled milk, stains on a freshly-laundered shirt, fatigue. It is also often full of bigger, harder trials - Christmas Day trips to the ER, car accidents, rebellious children, severe financial stresses, breast cancer, miscarriages, deaths in the family.
But how thankful we can be that in the midst of all these trials, we serve the God who is King over the universe, Ruler of the nations, Sovereign over every detail - big and small - of our lives! How thankful we should be that we are not in control, that our good does not depend on us but rather sits on the shoulders of the Governor of all the earth.
1 Peter 5:5-11 was written to give hope and help to suffering Christians, and it is no mistake that Peter ends this passage with a doxology praising God for His dominion, His sovereignty, His eternal kingship.
It is God's kingship that informs every promise of 1 Peter 5, and it is God's kingship that should motivate us to obey every command of 1 Peter 5.
We seek to submit to those in leadership over us - both in the church and in our home - because we know that they are in those positions of leadership by the sovereign placement of God. We do not proudly trust our own understanding, but listen to their wisdom because we trust that God uses His leaders in carrying out His plans for us.
We desire to be humble in share our struggles and needs with other believers, serving them and allowing them to serve us, because we acknowledge that we are not in control; we are not the rulers of our lives. We are not proud, because the King of the Universe opposes the proud, but gives grace to those who are humble, and we desperately need the grace of our Sovereign Lord. And God has ordained to give us grace through His Body when we humbly share our lives with them.
We are content under the mighty hand of God`s kingship, because we know that in His sovereignty, He dispenses both trials and blessings to work out His good plan for our lives. We do not assert an ability to decide what is best for us, but rather joyfully entrust both our pleasant days and our excruciating days to the Mighty King of all.
We are not anxious about anything, but in everything present our requests to Him who sits on the throne, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving that He is sovereignly working all things to our good. We need not be anxious, because our lives are not under our control, but under the control of the powerful King who cares for us.
We are alert to the devil`s prowling, fully aware that he opposes the reign of our King and would like nothing better than to destroy His kingdom and people. But we have a confident alertness because we know that our King has already won the victory over Satan, and that Satan must submit to His authority. We resist the devil, firm in our faith in the Master of all things.
We are comforted by the fellowship of suffering with other believers, thankful that our caring Sovereign has not left us to manage this world and the devil on our own as individuals, but is building a kingdom of comforted sufferers who work together by His Spirit to build each other up in Christ.
We are full of hope in all circumstances because our eternal future is in the hands of the Ruler of history who has called us and promised to wipe every tear from our eyes as He restores, confirms, strengthens and establishes us in His eternal glory in Christ.
God's hope for every mother is much more than a life of enduring, grinding existence until her sad life is done and she goes to her grave. Much more! And 1 Peter 5 gives us wisdom to walk in and hope to cling to, so that we can be joy-filled, humble, confident, loving, serving mothers who glorify our God and Saviour, to whom be the dominion forever and ever. Amen!
Monday, April 30, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
After the Last Tear Falls
When it's been a long day, the song "After the Last Tear Falls" by Andrew Peterson from his album Love and Thunder is always an encouragement to me. I love the thought that there will be a last time for every bad thing and God's love will outlast them all.
After the last tear falls
After the last secret's told
After the last bullet tears through flesh and bone
After the last child starves
And the last girl walks the boulevard
After the last year that's just too hard
There is love, love, love, love
There is love, love, love, love
There is love
After the last disgrace
After the last lie to save some face
After the last brutal jab from a poison tongue
After the last dirty politician
After the last meal down at the mission
After the last lonely night in prison
There is love, love, love, love
There is love, love, love, love
There is love
And in the end, the end is oceans and oceans of love and love again
We'll see how the tears that have fallen were caught in the palms
Of the Giver of Love and the Lover of All
And we'll look back on these tears as old tales
Cause after the last plan fails
After the last siren wails
After the last young husband sails off to join the war
After the last "this marriage is over!"
After the last young girl's innocence is stolen
After the last years of silence that won't let a heart open
There is love, love, love, love
There is love, love, love, love
There is love
And in the end, the end is oceans and oceans of love and love again
We'll see how the tears that have fallen were caught in the palms
Of the Giver of Love and the Lover of All
And we'll look back on these tears as old tales
Cause after the last tear falls
There is love
Meadow green and river wide (love, love, love)
Valley deep and mountain high (love, love, love)
(copyright 2003 Provident Label Group LLC, used by permission)
Friends, there will be a last SIDS death, a last back-talking child, a last bout of the flu, a last load of laundry, a last tired day... Let us hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope (Hebrews 5:6)!
After the last tear falls
After the last secret's told
After the last bullet tears through flesh and bone
After the last child starves
And the last girl walks the boulevard
After the last year that's just too hard
There is love, love, love, love
There is love, love, love, love
There is love
After the last disgrace
After the last lie to save some face
After the last brutal jab from a poison tongue
After the last dirty politician
After the last meal down at the mission
After the last lonely night in prison
There is love, love, love, love
There is love, love, love, love
There is love
And in the end, the end is oceans and oceans of love and love again
We'll see how the tears that have fallen were caught in the palms
Of the Giver of Love and the Lover of All
And we'll look back on these tears as old tales
Cause after the last plan fails
After the last siren wails
After the last young husband sails off to join the war
After the last "this marriage is over!"
After the last young girl's innocence is stolen
After the last years of silence that won't let a heart open
There is love, love, love, love
There is love, love, love, love
There is love
And in the end, the end is oceans and oceans of love and love again
We'll see how the tears that have fallen were caught in the palms
Of the Giver of Love and the Lover of All
And we'll look back on these tears as old tales
Cause after the last tear falls
There is love
Meadow green and river wide (love, love, love)
Valley deep and mountain high (love, love, love)
(copyright 2003 Provident Label Group LLC, used by permission)
Friends, there will be a last SIDS death, a last back-talking child, a last bout of the flu, a last load of laundry, a last tired day... Let us hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope (Hebrews 5:6)!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
A Mother's Hope Continued
"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you." (1 Peter 5:10)
Yesterday, we went through the first part of 1 Peter 5:10, and noted three things that give us hope to sustain us in trials: the brevity of our suffering, the fact that God is gracious, and the fact that we are called by God to His eternal glory in Christ.
But as if all that weren't enough, Peter also offers us the hope that to some measure now, and for certain on that day when our earthly suffering comes to an end, God Himself will restore, confirm, strengthen and establish us. Now to get a little technical for a minute, the verb "confirm" in the Greek is somewhere in between "strengthen" and "establish" in a nuanced way that I don't understand (and commentators weren't much help there either). So I'm going to separate those 4 verbs into 3 categories and briefly meditate on how each one gives us hope for the longings that rise out of our earthly trials.
1) He will RESTORE you. When we suffer, we long to be made whole, to be made fully and finally free from all temptations to sin, and fully able to love and worship God as we ought. That is what we were made for. But our experience on this earth is often one of not doing what we want to do, of falling short, of being torn down, of dying. We live in a broken world and we are broken people. And mothering frequently exposes our brokenness and sin. We get anxious, we are proud, we get annoyed over little requests of our time, we don't love our children and husbands as we want to.
We need to cling to the hope that when Christ became a curse for us on the cross, he redeemed us from the curse of brokenness and death that was proclaimed over man after his fall in the Garden. And the day is coming when God Himself will fully restore us to the position of Adam and Eve in the Garden before they fell in sin. Sin and sorrow will be no more; our bodies will be made whole, no longer given to pain and aging and death; fatigue will be replaced by boundless energy; boredom will be replaced by enthusiastic worship; time will no longer tick away; refreshment and joy will be our continual experience.
What is more, that restoration process has already begun. If you are in Christ, sin no longer has power over you. If you are in Christ, your inner self is being renewed day by day. In fact, the very trials that make you long for restoration are being used to make you more like Christ, as you were intended to be, if you will only hold steadfast and hope in the God who has full restoration in store for you.
2) He will STRENGTHEN you. We long for strength for each day - for physical energy to tackle our tasks, for emotional strength to face the day's turmoil, for mental strength to answer a million "whys", for spiritual strength to cling to our Saviour and keep away from sin. And yet we are so weak, so easily laid low by illness or lack of sleep. Our emotions turn on a dime and we cry or get angry for reasons we don't understand. Our kids ask questions we cannot even remotely begin to answer, or we can't remember our own phone number, or why we went upstairs in the first place. And we forget God, we give in to temptation, we stumble in sin again.
The fall stole our strength, but we endure the trials of weakness with the hope that part of our future restoration will involve the redemption of our physical bodies. God Himself will give us strength beyond what we've known on our healthiest days. Our minds will be clear and focused, and we'll worship God with our whole heart and soul, without any wavering.
We receive this strength in part now as God sustains us, gives us hope and the power to endure joyfully as we go through the trials of this life. In this life, God's strengthening manifests itself most clearly in our hours of weakness. But we can go through those hours with the sure hope that the God who called us WILL sustain us by His perfect strength until the day that He grants us perfect strength.
3) He will ESTABLISH you. Life is ever-changing. We never know what the next moment will bring. Our emotions are constantly fluctuating, and the smallest of trials can seem to derail our morning. Our children go from dancing around the room happily to wailing uncontrollably in a matter of minutes. Our finances fall apart. We have to move to a new house and set up shop again. People we lean on for help and encouragement move away or die. We long for stability and security.
1 Peter 5:10 assures us of the hope that God will establish us. The God who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, in Whom there is no shadow of turning--this God will set us in a firm place, a place where nothing ever changes for the worse, a place where moth and rust do not destroy, a place where the work we do will last forever and ever as a testament to His glory and grace, a place where we cannot be moved and where there will never be need to flee, a place where we will have an eternal home.
Even now, in this world so full of fluctuation and instability, we have the very present hope of a solid rock on which to stand. Psalm 121 tells us that those who look to the Lord for help will not be moved. Psalm 46 tells us that in the midst of the turmoil and upheaval of this world, God is our refuge and fortress who keeps us stable. Psalm 18 tells us that God is our rock and stronghold in distress. And I have always loved the imagery of Psalm 63:8, where it describes our soul clinging to God (I have a picture in my head of hanging over a cliff, holding on for dear life), and yet all the while God's hand is underneath, holding us up.
Note also that Peter doesn't say God is going to send an angel or someone else to do all these things. He is going to do it HIMSELF. He himself will personally wipe every tear from your eyes, and will personally restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you. He himself is currently holding you up, sustaining you through long days and long nights until that great Day when "long" will be fully replaced by "eternal", and hope will finally be sight.
So when you're having one of those days that seems like it will never end - even if it's the kind where your husband calls and says he's going to be home late - be faithful to your responsibilities with the strength God provides for you, in the joy that you are no longer a slave to anger and discontentment if you are in Christ, resting firmly on the rock that is Christ, clinging to the hope of 1 Peter 5:10.
Yesterday, we went through the first part of 1 Peter 5:10, and noted three things that give us hope to sustain us in trials: the brevity of our suffering, the fact that God is gracious, and the fact that we are called by God to His eternal glory in Christ.
But as if all that weren't enough, Peter also offers us the hope that to some measure now, and for certain on that day when our earthly suffering comes to an end, God Himself will restore, confirm, strengthen and establish us. Now to get a little technical for a minute, the verb "confirm" in the Greek is somewhere in between "strengthen" and "establish" in a nuanced way that I don't understand (and commentators weren't much help there either). So I'm going to separate those 4 verbs into 3 categories and briefly meditate on how each one gives us hope for the longings that rise out of our earthly trials.
1) He will RESTORE you. When we suffer, we long to be made whole, to be made fully and finally free from all temptations to sin, and fully able to love and worship God as we ought. That is what we were made for. But our experience on this earth is often one of not doing what we want to do, of falling short, of being torn down, of dying. We live in a broken world and we are broken people. And mothering frequently exposes our brokenness and sin. We get anxious, we are proud, we get annoyed over little requests of our time, we don't love our children and husbands as we want to.
We need to cling to the hope that when Christ became a curse for us on the cross, he redeemed us from the curse of brokenness and death that was proclaimed over man after his fall in the Garden. And the day is coming when God Himself will fully restore us to the position of Adam and Eve in the Garden before they fell in sin. Sin and sorrow will be no more; our bodies will be made whole, no longer given to pain and aging and death; fatigue will be replaced by boundless energy; boredom will be replaced by enthusiastic worship; time will no longer tick away; refreshment and joy will be our continual experience.
What is more, that restoration process has already begun. If you are in Christ, sin no longer has power over you. If you are in Christ, your inner self is being renewed day by day. In fact, the very trials that make you long for restoration are being used to make you more like Christ, as you were intended to be, if you will only hold steadfast and hope in the God who has full restoration in store for you.
2) He will STRENGTHEN you. We long for strength for each day - for physical energy to tackle our tasks, for emotional strength to face the day's turmoil, for mental strength to answer a million "whys", for spiritual strength to cling to our Saviour and keep away from sin. And yet we are so weak, so easily laid low by illness or lack of sleep. Our emotions turn on a dime and we cry or get angry for reasons we don't understand. Our kids ask questions we cannot even remotely begin to answer, or we can't remember our own phone number, or why we went upstairs in the first place. And we forget God, we give in to temptation, we stumble in sin again.
The fall stole our strength, but we endure the trials of weakness with the hope that part of our future restoration will involve the redemption of our physical bodies. God Himself will give us strength beyond what we've known on our healthiest days. Our minds will be clear and focused, and we'll worship God with our whole heart and soul, without any wavering.
We receive this strength in part now as God sustains us, gives us hope and the power to endure joyfully as we go through the trials of this life. In this life, God's strengthening manifests itself most clearly in our hours of weakness. But we can go through those hours with the sure hope that the God who called us WILL sustain us by His perfect strength until the day that He grants us perfect strength.
3) He will ESTABLISH you. Life is ever-changing. We never know what the next moment will bring. Our emotions are constantly fluctuating, and the smallest of trials can seem to derail our morning. Our children go from dancing around the room happily to wailing uncontrollably in a matter of minutes. Our finances fall apart. We have to move to a new house and set up shop again. People we lean on for help and encouragement move away or die. We long for stability and security.
1 Peter 5:10 assures us of the hope that God will establish us. The God who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, in Whom there is no shadow of turning--this God will set us in a firm place, a place where nothing ever changes for the worse, a place where moth and rust do not destroy, a place where the work we do will last forever and ever as a testament to His glory and grace, a place where we cannot be moved and where there will never be need to flee, a place where we will have an eternal home.
Even now, in this world so full of fluctuation and instability, we have the very present hope of a solid rock on which to stand. Psalm 121 tells us that those who look to the Lord for help will not be moved. Psalm 46 tells us that in the midst of the turmoil and upheaval of this world, God is our refuge and fortress who keeps us stable. Psalm 18 tells us that God is our rock and stronghold in distress. And I have always loved the imagery of Psalm 63:8, where it describes our soul clinging to God (I have a picture in my head of hanging over a cliff, holding on for dear life), and yet all the while God's hand is underneath, holding us up.
Note also that Peter doesn't say God is going to send an angel or someone else to do all these things. He is going to do it HIMSELF. He himself will personally wipe every tear from your eyes, and will personally restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you. He himself is currently holding you up, sustaining you through long days and long nights until that great Day when "long" will be fully replaced by "eternal", and hope will finally be sight.
So when you're having one of those days that seems like it will never end - even if it's the kind where your husband calls and says he's going to be home late - be faithful to your responsibilities with the strength God provides for you, in the joy that you are no longer a slave to anger and discontentment if you are in Christ, resting firmly on the rock that is Christ, clinging to the hope of 1 Peter 5:10.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Hope and Help for the Trials of Motherhood: Part 7
A Mother's Hope
"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you." (1 Peter 5:10)
Have you ever had one of those days that seems like it will NEVER end? You know, the kind that starts at 4:00 a.m. with a bed-wetter and you being unable to go back to sleep, and continues into 3 cups of milk spilled in one breakfast. Then, as you realize that you forgot to pay the phone bill again, the baby spits up all over himself and the play gym. You go to clean him up and discover that the toddler has clogged the toilet with some toy and it is overflowing all over the bathroom floor. And right now, she's colouring on the living room wall. Oh, and there goes the 4th cup of milk... on the carpet this time. Of course, this is also the day that your husband calls and says he has to work late. You want to go back to bed and hide under the covers.
Would it make any difference in your attitude that day if instead of calling and saying he had to work late, your husband called and told you that your sister was coming over with dinner for the kids at 5, and he was taking you out for a quiet evening at your favourite restaurant and had picked out a special gift for you, just for all the hard work you put into taking care of the kids all day every day? Would you be motivated to clean up all the messes with a little more energy and a smile? Would the day suddenly feel a little shorter? Would you be remembering with each new task that your evening of quiet and refreshment and time with the one you love most was coming soon?
How different our outlook on trials and suffering is when we have the hope of good things to come! And God is gracious to give us promises of future glory to cling to when our world feels like it is falling apart. He has not left us in the dark about what is coming. Of course, we don't know all the specifics, but the Bible is clear that whatever it looks like in the specifics, the future of every believer is GLORIOUS - empty of condemnation, full of rewards and an eternity of loving and worshiping our Saviour without any hindrances!
Sometimes our days feel long. Sometimes our LIFE feels long. But Peter assures us in 1 Peter 5:10 that after we have suffered a little while, there will be glory. He holds this forth as a truth to sustain us and give us joy even in the midst of the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day... or month... or year.
First, he says that our suffering is really only for "a little while". Though it may seem like an eternity to us, our earthly suffering is actually only very brief. The Bible continually refers to man's life as a vapour, a flower that is here today and gone tomorrow. From the view of eternity, 70-80 years is VERY short. You suffer here for fewer decades than you can count on your fingers, and then you get forever and ever and ever, world without end of glory. So when your days feel long, hope in the eternal joy that will be far, far longer than you can even imagine!
Then Peter points us to the "God of all grace". When our earthly suffering is long and hard, we need to hope in the God who is gracious to save us from all eternal suffering through the death and resurrection of Jesus, who took the suffering for our sins in our place. We need to hope in the God who is gracious to care for us even through suffering, the God whose grace is sufficient for us, and whose power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9-10; See the end of Dear Mothers of Newborns for more on that). We need to hope in the God of all grace, who has such a future of grace and eternal glory planned for us that it is beyond the scope of our imagination!
Furthermore, we have hope in the fact that we've been "called to his eternal glory in Christ". This is not a wishing kind of hope, like when we say, "I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow." This is a hope that is sure, because is dependent on God's call, not on our dreams or effort. And while we who are called should work out our salvation with fear and trembling, our hope is in the fact that God's gifts and His calling are irrevocable (Romans 11:29), that those whom He has called, He also justifies and glorifies (Romans 8:29-30), that He who has called you is faithful and will sustain you to the end (1 Corinthians 1:4-9). God has promised, God does not lie, and He has already shown His faithfulness in sending Christ to be our high priest, and therefore we have a sure and steadfast hope, an anchor for our souls on those long days of trial (Hebrews 6:17-20).
There is, in fact, even more hope to be found in this one little verse, but in order to keep the post size manageable (I really am trying to do that!), I will write on the last part of the verse tomorrow.
"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you." (1 Peter 5:10)
Have you ever had one of those days that seems like it will NEVER end? You know, the kind that starts at 4:00 a.m. with a bed-wetter and you being unable to go back to sleep, and continues into 3 cups of milk spilled in one breakfast. Then, as you realize that you forgot to pay the phone bill again, the baby spits up all over himself and the play gym. You go to clean him up and discover that the toddler has clogged the toilet with some toy and it is overflowing all over the bathroom floor. And right now, she's colouring on the living room wall. Oh, and there goes the 4th cup of milk... on the carpet this time. Of course, this is also the day that your husband calls and says he has to work late. You want to go back to bed and hide under the covers.
Would it make any difference in your attitude that day if instead of calling and saying he had to work late, your husband called and told you that your sister was coming over with dinner for the kids at 5, and he was taking you out for a quiet evening at your favourite restaurant and had picked out a special gift for you, just for all the hard work you put into taking care of the kids all day every day? Would you be motivated to clean up all the messes with a little more energy and a smile? Would the day suddenly feel a little shorter? Would you be remembering with each new task that your evening of quiet and refreshment and time with the one you love most was coming soon?
How different our outlook on trials and suffering is when we have the hope of good things to come! And God is gracious to give us promises of future glory to cling to when our world feels like it is falling apart. He has not left us in the dark about what is coming. Of course, we don't know all the specifics, but the Bible is clear that whatever it looks like in the specifics, the future of every believer is GLORIOUS - empty of condemnation, full of rewards and an eternity of loving and worshiping our Saviour without any hindrances!
Sometimes our days feel long. Sometimes our LIFE feels long. But Peter assures us in 1 Peter 5:10 that after we have suffered a little while, there will be glory. He holds this forth as a truth to sustain us and give us joy even in the midst of the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day... or month... or year.
First, he says that our suffering is really only for "a little while". Though it may seem like an eternity to us, our earthly suffering is actually only very brief. The Bible continually refers to man's life as a vapour, a flower that is here today and gone tomorrow. From the view of eternity, 70-80 years is VERY short. You suffer here for fewer decades than you can count on your fingers, and then you get forever and ever and ever, world without end of glory. So when your days feel long, hope in the eternal joy that will be far, far longer than you can even imagine!
Then Peter points us to the "God of all grace". When our earthly suffering is long and hard, we need to hope in the God who is gracious to save us from all eternal suffering through the death and resurrection of Jesus, who took the suffering for our sins in our place. We need to hope in the God who is gracious to care for us even through suffering, the God whose grace is sufficient for us, and whose power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9-10; See the end of Dear Mothers of Newborns for more on that). We need to hope in the God of all grace, who has such a future of grace and eternal glory planned for us that it is beyond the scope of our imagination!
Furthermore, we have hope in the fact that we've been "called to his eternal glory in Christ". This is not a wishing kind of hope, like when we say, "I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow." This is a hope that is sure, because is dependent on God's call, not on our dreams or effort. And while we who are called should work out our salvation with fear and trembling, our hope is in the fact that God's gifts and His calling are irrevocable (Romans 11:29), that those whom He has called, He also justifies and glorifies (Romans 8:29-30), that He who has called you is faithful and will sustain you to the end (1 Corinthians 1:4-9). God has promised, God does not lie, and He has already shown His faithfulness in sending Christ to be our high priest, and therefore we have a sure and steadfast hope, an anchor for our souls on those long days of trial (Hebrews 6:17-20).
There is, in fact, even more hope to be found in this one little verse, but in order to keep the post size manageable (I really am trying to do that!), I will write on the last part of the verse tomorrow.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Friday Miscellanea
It's been a busy week, with not much time for writing. We're in the last big push for school, trying to finish up some major projects before the (hopefully) nice downward slide to the end of the year.
Part 7 of Hope and Help is coming on Monday, and there will probably be several follow-up posts next week.
But today, I have just enough time to share a couple helpful links:
Good post on kinds of "guilt" women feel and whether they're legit or not, over at Femina Girls.
If you haven't listened in on any of the sermons from Together for the Gospel 2012, they're all available online, and the ones I've heard have been very good. I especially recommend Kevin DeYoung's message on faith and effort. It has challenged me on to make a real effort to grow in godliness, even as I seek to rest in faith in the power of the Spirit for real change.
We've got books to glue and masks to paint and clay to sculpt today (at least it's all "fun" stuff), so that's it for today. Back on Monday with more in-depth stuff.
Part 7 of Hope and Help is coming on Monday, and there will probably be several follow-up posts next week.
But today, I have just enough time to share a couple helpful links:
Good post on kinds of "guilt" women feel and whether they're legit or not, over at Femina Girls.
If you haven't listened in on any of the sermons from Together for the Gospel 2012, they're all available online, and the ones I've heard have been very good. I especially recommend Kevin DeYoung's message on faith and effort. It has challenged me on to make a real effort to grow in godliness, even as I seek to rest in faith in the power of the Spirit for real change.
We've got books to glue and masks to paint and clay to sculpt today (at least it's all "fun" stuff), so that's it for today. Back on Monday with more in-depth stuff.
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