Gleanings of Wheat

So, I tried for two days to find a nice, concise way of explaining just how wonderful God has been to me and my kids lately but I just can't do it. Every time I sit down and start typing the post ends up really long. Like really long. My attempt today shall be bullet point format! Providing a home for our lovable basset hound where she'll have room to run and play and grow Getting us out of a not great situation where we were previously living Providing a wonderful apartment (2 bedrooms, 1.5 bath, private deck, TONS of kitchen space Providing us with a ton of furniture and stuff for the kitchen we needed that I couldn't afford to buy after paying the deposit and first month's rent Showing me just how much I wasn't trusting Him in this situation Loving me anyway Loving my church members and thus causing them to care for my kids and I in super overwhelming ways Providing a new tire and windshield wipers for the van The kids are doing wonderfully at their new s...

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 ...