"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is

right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if

anything is excellent or praiseworthy— think about such things."

(Philippians 4:8)


Perhaps your day began like mine. When I awoke, I thought about how

my body hurt and where - neck, low back, left leg - I took my usual

inventory. It was a restless night anyway, so I should have expected

it to continue into morning. After taking pain medication, I turned

on the news. I learned, after watching about murders, rapes,

political controversy and traffic jams, that today (October 15)

is "National Grouch Day". "No wonder!" I thought.


With frustration, I turned to my daily scripture reading in

Philippians Chapter 4. I quickly realized that it wasn't what was

wrong with the world and with me that was the problem, it was my

attitude.


Philippians 4:8 tells us to focus on what is "lovely, admirable,

excellent and praiseworthy" . As a person with chronic pain, it can

be difficult to focus on what's right, instead of what's wrong. It

truly takes conscious effort, especially when the pain and our lives

seem unbearable.


But God gives us His power and strength to deal with our difficulties

(II Corinthians 12:8-9) and He gives us love so great and deep and

perfect that we can be filled with it if we only seek it (Ephesians

3:16-19). Surely these are things that are excellent and worthy of

praise to reflect on often!


And with His perfect love, I can spread it to others - a kind word to

the widow next door; a heartfelt prayer for the little girl with

cancer; a card to the friend who had surgery. God gives us the

ability to change our thoughts to good, giving us things that He

would have us think on, even in the middle of difficulties. If we ask

Him, he will show us those ways to reach out to others with His love.


So may your day tomorrow begin differently if it began like mine did

today. "Rejoice in the Lord Always. Again I say

Rejoice!"(Philippians 4:4).


He Loves You!


Let us start there tomorrow!


I received this in my email and wanted to share....

Do you feel yourself groaning for the time when we will be in our Heavenly home?  Do you think you have to "help" God out to make it faster? 

Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
Rom 8:24  For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Rom 8:26  Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.


The Cross was at once the most horrible and the most beautiful example of God's wrath. It was the most just and the most gracious act in history. God would have been more than unjust, He would have been diabolical to punish Jesus if Jesus had not first willingly taken on Himself the sins of the world. Once Christ had done that, once He volunteered to be the Lamb of God, laden with our sin, then He became the most grotesque and vile thing on this planet. With the concentrated load of sin He carried, He became utterly repugnant to the Father. God poured out His wrath on this obscene thing. God made Christ accursed for the sin He bore. Herein was God's holy justice perfectly manifest. Yet it was done for us. He took what justice demanded from us.

- RC Sproul, The Holiness of God (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1998), 121

Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen Lord for your free gift of eternal life♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

"The answer to the problem of evil does not lie in trying to establish its point of origin, for that is simply not revealed to us. Rather, in the moment of the cross, it becomes clear that evil is utterly subverted for good. . . . If God can take the greatest of evils and turn them for the greatest of goods, then how much more can he take the lesser evils which litter human history, from individual tragedies to international disasters, and turn them to his good purpose as well."

- Carl R. Trueman, "Luther's Theology of the Cross"

With the economy in the gutter and who knows who is going to get elected, I think we need to trust God for the outcome of all of this. 

Psa 20:7  Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
Psa 20:8  They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love

God, to them who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28

NIV)


One of the toughest questions to answer is: "Why do I have to deal

with so much adversity?"


One of the best answers to this question I have ever come across was

written by C.S. Lewis in his book, Mere Christianity. Lewis likened

God's use of adversity to walking a dog. If the dog gets its leash

wrapped around a pole and tries to continue running forward, he will

only tighten the leash more. Both the dog and the owner are after the

same end: forward motion. But the owner must resist the dog by

pulling him in the opposite direction than he wants to go.

The "master," sharing the same intention, but understanding better

than the dog where he really wants to go, takes an action precisely

opposite to that of the dog's will. It is in this way that God uses

adversity.


None of us like being pulled and corrected by the Lord - but when we

understand there is a greater purpose involved, then we can pass

through adversity with hope, expectation and steadfastness knowing

these events are for our greater good.


We need to learn from the trials and tribulations we go through

because God has a purpose in them. We may not enjoy it, but there is

a purpose to it. We can trust God because He loves us and He knows

the direction we need to go. He also knows exactly how to get us

there.


Denny Dowd

I received this in my email devo box this morning and I thought I would share.

—John Calvin, commenting on Rom 4:20, in Thomas Schreiner and Ardel Canaday, The Race Set Before Us (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001), 282


What do we do then, when we repent of our sins and still feel very sinful?  Have you felt that you cannot even come to God and ask for more forgiveness for the same sin over and over again?



Rom 4:13  For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
Rom 4:14  For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.
Rom 4:15  For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
Rom 4:16  That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring--not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,
Rom 4:17  as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations"--in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
Rom 4:18  In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, "So shall your offspring be."
Rom 4:19  He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb.
Rom 4:20  No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
Rom 4:21  fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Rom 4:22  That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness."
Rom 4:23  But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone,
Rom 4:24  but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,
Rom 4:25  who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

The surest and only foundation

—Walter Marshall, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 1999), 150  

I for one am ecstatic that His mercies are new every morning....

Only Christ can Cleanse the Guilty Conscience

"There is no greater burden in this world than the guilt of our sin. Other burdens weary the feet or the back; this burden wearies the soul. People who abhor the idea of a blood-shedding God may write platitudes about the goodness of man. People may say that we are finding our destiny out of a Darwinian soup. Perhaps we are not yet what we might be, but we are certainly not guilty, they insist. But in a moral universe ruled by a holy God, such words will not wash away the reality of the things we have done.

If you come to recognize how your words have torn the hearts of others as knives tear the flesh; if you think for just a moment how your neglect of duty and selfish pursuit of gain have meant sorrow and woe for real people; if you merely ask how many men and women in this world have real cause to resent you, to wish you had never crossed their paths; if you take stock of God's holy and unyielding law and your incessant violation of it, then your conscience will speak against you about what you really are and deserve. You will crave a cleansing such as Christ alone can give."

- Richard D. Phillips, Hebrews: Reformed and Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2006), 305.

God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.

~Eric Liddell






I hope you all know who this is....his life was portrayed in the movie "Chariots of Fire".  What a great thing...to feel His pleasure. 

I feel God's pleasure when I worship Him in spirit and in truth.  I feel His pleasure when I am the wife He has made me to be.  I feel His pleasure when I am the mom He has made me to be.  I feel God's pleasure when I am the friend He has made me to be. 

When do you feel God's pleasure?

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world!