Gleanings of Wheat

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:4-5) Perhaps what is most interesting to me right now, is the hope...the basis for our santification does not begin and end with Christ's atoning work on the Cross. Oh, it most certainly starts there! But it continues on through His resurrection. Christ is not in that tomb, rather He is at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us - and it is that fact that should give us our hope for today. We come boldly because our King bids us come. We cry "Daddy" because our Savior is risen. We make war because we have armor and strength that is not our own. We have hope because of an empty tomb! When I feel as though I will never have victory over my sin I can...

I just finished reading through Helen Roseveare's " Enough " (very brief book, easy to read, encouraging) and as I read chapter 6 it occurred to me how shallow my trust is. Even though I know God is huge, and powerful, and endlesslessly merciful, somehow I still manage to have this poor view of God's sufficiency for me in Christ. As I read the chapter (really the whole book, but it clicked particularly in this chapter) I realized that when I hear the word "enough" I think of it as something like "skimping through, enough to get by...but barely" rather than what Ephesians 3:20 says: Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think , according to the power at work within us, Immeasurably more than I could ever imagine. Enough. That's what Christ is for me. He Giveth More Grace He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater, He sendeth more strength as our labors increase; To added afflictions He addeth...

This was my reading from Spurgeon's Morning & Evening devotional today. So encouraging! Morning “Faultless before the presence of his glory.” (Jud1:24) Revolve in your mind that wondrous word, “faultless!” We are far off from it now; but as our Lord never stops short of perfection in his work of love, we shall reach it one day. The Saviour who will keep his people to the end, will also present them at last to himself, as “a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but holy and without blemish.” All the jewels in the Saviour’s crown are of the first water and without a single flaw. All the maids of honour who attend the Lamb’s wife are pure virgins without spot or stain. But how will Jesus make us faultless? He will wash us from our sins in his own blood until we are white and fair as God’s purest angel; and we shall be clothed in his righteousness, that righteousness which makes the saint who wears it positively faultless; yea, perfect in the sight of...

I've been in the midst of a trial for some time now - I think in large part to the fact that I just don't learn. Though God has provided in huge ways yet I am prone to worry, I am still prone to try and control situations on my own...at the bottom of it I'm still prone to unbelief, to distrust. It is easy for me to be discouraged by this, but I'm also aware of the fact that I've grown (by the grace of God) a lot in the past few years. I know I'm more aware of my sin, I see it better than I used to, and that gives me great hope because I know that I would not see it if it were not for Him...I see these things because He loves me. It is my hope to fight my flesh, to see these trials as tender mercies from His hand, to grow more deeply in love with Him. I've been reading a lot of Spurgeon lately; I've always loved what I've read by him, but it seems like my reading plan has me going through a lot of things dealing with trials. I thought I'd share ...

Belief is not merely an agreement with facts in the head; it is also an appetite for God in the heart, which fastens on Jesus for satisfaction. (pg 86) Pride does not like the sovereignty of God. Therefore pride does not like the existence of God, because God is sovereign. It might express this by saying, "There is no God." Or it might express it by saying, "I am driving to Atlanta for Christmas." James says, "Don't be so sure." Instead say, "if the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall get to Atlanta for Christmas." James point is that God rules over whether we get to Atlanta, and whether you live to the end of this page . (pg 92-93) [The] happiest moments are those when we forget our precious selves and have neither [self-regard and self-approval] but have everything else (God, our fellow humans, animals, the garden and the sky) instead... (pg 93, quoting C.S. Lewis) Boasting is the response of pride to success. Self-pity is the resp...

I purchased Future Grace by John Piper sometime ago and haven't been very good about actually reading it. It isn't that I haven't want to, well that's not entirely true b/c I'm sure if I wanted to read it badly enough I'd actually have done it, but I've lacked the discipline to do so. Anyhow, I'm reading it now - a chapter a day along with my regular Bible reading (I'm in Mark right now, today's reading was the crucifixion - I'm reading about God's grace toward me while recounting His greatest act of mercy, if my heart doesn't burst with wonder I'm going to think something is wrong!) and thought I'd post a few quotes of what stood out to me yesterday and caused me to stop and think a bit more deeply about God's grace. You can't deserve to be created. You can't deserve, as a non-being, to be put into a lavish garden where all your needs are met by a loving Father. So even before they sinned, Adam and Eve lived ...

I've been hearing this song from Starfield a lot the past few days and I've just been super encouraged by it. What mercy was revealed What tenderness and peace My fate was surely sealed Until he rescued me His pardon for my sin His bounty for my need From slavery and chains I am redeemed Chorus: And heaven can’t contain The glory of the son Jesus is the Christ the saving one His love has made a way The grave is overcome Jesus is the Christ the saving one Verse 2: No fear can hold me down Nor darkness steal my joy For blood has been poured out The enemy destroyed Death could not hold him down The cross was not enough To steal away his throne For he is god Chorus: And heaven cant contain The glory of the son Jesus is the Christ the saving one His love has made a way The grave is overcome Jesus is the Christ the saving one And anyone who calls upon his name They will be saved, they will be saved And anyone who calls upon his name They ...

I'd like to direct you over to my left side bar - if you're reading this via RSS or on an imported Facebook note, please click over, it's worth it. There you'll find the RSS feed for my church's sermons , always good biblical stuff over there, but in particular I'd like to point you over to our Family Life Seminar 2010 series. Really good stuff. If you want to be challenged, check it out. Oldest to newest in the series w/ a brief description when needed: Portraits of Glory: A Wedding Picture - How marriage can help you see and treasure Christ that you'd otherwise miss as a single Picking Fights: Knowing when to Confront and when to Overlook Respectful Love: The Role of the Husband Nothing More than Feelings: Living by What is Real vs What You Feel - Aimed particularly at women, an examination of how the inner man can effect how we think, feel, & act A Father's Love A look at how being a parent can help you see how the Father relates to us a...

A few years ago Rebecca St. James was part of a Veggie Tales' project - VT redid A Christmas Carol, but spun it for Resurrection Sunday/Easter. It still wigs my kids out a bit, so we don't really watch it, but in the video Rebecca's character sings a song that has stuck with me since the first time I heard it. This morning as I was praying and reflecting upon Christ's birth the song popped in my head again, so I thought I'd share it. There’s a story that started on Christmas When a baby was born in the night And those who came far, who followed the star Were seeing a heavenly sight ... a heavenly sight. Well the years hurried by, and the boy, now a man Could make the blind see with a touch of his hand He was born to be King -- he was Rabbi and Priest But the best that he had, he gave to the least ... He gave to the least. He was born and he died, almost 2,000 years ago He laughed and he cried, he felt all the fears we know But what does it matter? A...

I found this over at Rebecca's this morning - she posted it about 10 days ago and I missed it then. Love it. Happy Thanksgiving! What Shall I Render to My God What shall I render to my God For all His mercy’s store? I’ll take the gifts He hath bestowed, And humbly ask for more. The sacred cup of saving grace I will with thanks receive, And all His promises embrace, And to His glory live. My vows I will to His great Name Before His people pay, And all I have, and all I am, Upon His altar lay. Thy lawful servant, Lord, I owe To Thee whate’er is mine, Born in Thy family below, And by redemption thine. Thy hands created me, Thy hands From sin have set me free, The mercy that hath loosed my bands Hath bound me fast to Thee. The God of all redeeming grace My God I will proclaim, Offer the sacrifice of praise, And call upon His Name. Praise Him, ye saints, the God of love, Who hath my sins forgiven, Till, gathered to the church above, We sing the song...

It is no secret to the people who know me IRL that I generally don't enjoy Christmas. Until today I would have told you I hated it, in fact. I'm not going to try and explain why, b/c that's not really what this post is about and frankly I can't explain it well enough to bother trying. This semester I started an internship that requires me to work on site three days a week - it is the first time in about three years that I've been surrounded by unbelieving coworkers, and it's been a bit of an adjustment. Not to say I don't enjoy the work, or the people, it is just a major shift from working in a Christian bookstore. Anyway, with Thanksgiving upon us (Happy Thanksgiving everyone in the US!) and Black Friday just around the bend - I've been faced with the fact that Christmas is just weeks away. If you've read my posts this month you see that I'm trying to be more intentional about being thankful, and I've been thinking lately that while I m...

The days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: (Jer. 31:31)

On Sunday my pastor had post it notes in the bulletin (go listen to the sermon , it'll make more sense) for us to write things that we were thankful for on. Today he emailed us all what was written. It was a nice reminder of the things God has done in the lives of my church family. I am Thankful For: My Family the women that serve so faithfully with our children, for their prayers and care in helping shepherd the kids the people in this church the life and people that God has given me. For God’s precious gift of Jesus! For my family and friends always coming through God allowing me to have a house This church my family and friends going to bed The church Everything I’ve been through this past year Prayer and for my prayerful church family My house and family Letting me go to Northland Camp For my Family The birth of our daughter God bringing us back to Calvary because we (our family) have been blessed by the good teaching That God gave my older son a job Chu...

“Outside of Christ we are slaves, the best of us are all slaves. In Christ, the lowest of all is a free man and a king.” - Richard Sibbes, Glorious Freedom, 28 From here . Today I'm thankful for this truth! Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. (Romans 5:9-11) For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:...

Confession time? I used to be a huge Angelina Jolie fan...that pesky Tomb Raider movie did it, mainly b/c I loved the video game in high school...when Notes from My Travels came out I purchased it in part b/c she wrote it and in part b/c I had heard she was getting involved with UNHCR and relief work. Honestly, aside some rough times in middle school I never really had to worry about not having a home or food. I remember reading her book shortly before I got pregnant with my daughter and being shocked at how little some people had...sure I knew poverty like that existed , but somehow it never really hit home for me until then. These people weren't just out there, they were real people with real names and real (often heart breaking) stories. Though her book wasn't written from the perspective of a Christian, I got brief sense of God's heart for the destitute because of that book. A couple years later as my home crumbled and my heart broke I read the book of Ruth for th...

Recently I realized that my Google Reader LOST the RSS feed to one of my favorite blogs. I don't know how long I've missed reading posts, and I can't fathom why it didn't occur to me to look into it. I guess this might be the reason one blog slipped through the cracks could be this: Maybe? No? Ok, then. This morning as I read a post I realized just how blessed I've been by a number of bloggers. It has occurred to me that I may/ probably will never meet these men and women until we're in heaven, and yet through the technology that we have access to I can peak into their lives and learn from them and see how God is moving in their lives. It is an amazing thing. Re the image: I've actually unsubscribed to some blogs in the past b/c it was just to time consuming keeping up with them all, and I think I'm at that point again. PS: Thanks, Rebecca , for investing the time in putting together the Thankfulness round ups. It has been wonderful.

On Sunday my pastor was continuing our study in Luke and preached a sermon entitled " Watch Yourselves " on about how we ought to live in light of the glorious promise of Christ's return. Today I'm thankful that this good news is true and faithful, our King is coming - how should that impact me today?

Do you ever wish you could do big things for God? Do you ever feel like what you can contribute (monetarily or otherwise) isn't that great, and so you don't get involved? Me too. Yesterday I joined in and watched brothers and sisters in Christ raise $30,000 in 18 hours in order to build a school . There were some bigger gifts (and praise God for them!) but I want to show you the total of the gifts that were $30 or less. The total raised as of 1:10pm Central time today was $33,385.00 - that's insane. Amazing. Awesome. Inspiringly insane. Of that about $5350 was from gifts of $30 or less . Roughly 1/6th of what was raised came from people giving $30 or less. That's huge, guys. HUGE. God can do big things with a lot of people who are willing to do what they can - even if it is only $5. God does big things through people like me and you every day.

Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it. (Isaiah 45:8)

There are a number of people who do Thankful November posts, and I'm officially joining their ranks. I've had a rather dry month or so spiritually, and I know a lot of it has to do with the fact that I'm not reflecting on God's goodness in my life as much as I should be. So in an effort to be more intentional about this I'm going to be blogging daily for the remainder of November (at least) with things God has done/ is doing in my life that I am thankful for. If I don't post, yell at me. Day One 1. I'm thankful for coffee. I'm serious! I'm pretty much always tired, and unfortunately at this point in my life I don't have time for a nap, so coffee has become a staple in my diet. In fact, I'm drinking a cup as I type this! 2. I'm thankful for the fact that my Sunday school class is currently working though John Piper's "When I Don't Desire God." I've only managed to be for two of the sessions between my kids being...