One Friday

by Susan Sampson

It’s 1:39 pm on Friday and I am still not out of my pajamas.  I’m sure much of the world might consider this a failure of a day.  I am tempted to.  What have I gotten done?  Not what I had hoped or planned for.

What have I gotten done?

I have spent time with the Lord in His Word.  Pleaded with Him and praised Him.  Battled my flesh.  Battled the enemy.  Battled my children’s sin.  Cried.  Prayed some more.  Texted Laurie to ask for prayer.  Shared the gospel with my youngest son who is 10 and was struggling to believe this morning.  Worked on training my older son in his responsibilities at home.  And somehow managed by God’s grace to work from home for the ministry.

Except for beginning my day with the Lord and doing my work for the ministry, none of the rest was on my agenda for the day.  God is good.  He knows.  He knows better than I do.  Lord, have mercy and enable us to rest and trust in your unfailing love for us.  Thank you for loving me right where I am in the midst of the battle; for catching me when I’m falling and for upholding me by your righteous right hand.

It’s clearly not a coincidence that we had our lecture Thursday and then the Lord decided that I would need to learn what was taught by experience the next morning.  Thank you, Lord, for loving me and knowing my needs better than I know my own.  Help me submit to you and rejoice in you!

May I encourage you all as I encourage my own soul, to not give in to the feelings of being overwhelmed or to the resistance you are experiencing from your children (remember that means we are doing something right).

Renounce all fear of man — all fear of my children’s reactions to what I am requiring of them or what they think of me.  Put this to death.

Yes, the morning has taken far longer than I hoped it would.  But the Lord is calling me to train my children and not just entertain them.  The instruction Laurie gave us to “do life with them” was so very helpful to me!  My way has always been to “do life for them.”  But that is not God’s way.  That has always seemed like it is loving and what it means to be a good mom, but in reality it is only handicapping them.

As their loving shepherd, I must put aside my agenda, my plans, and my time frame and come alongside of them to show them the way.  Some of my children wander far more easily than the others.  I’m reminded of the movie Up when they yell “squirrel” and the dog whips his head around every time.

God knows all things, He sees all things.  He sees the state of our hearts and loves us still.  He made His enemies His friends.  He reconciled us to Himself.  His banner over us is love!  Unfailing love.

The truth is that discipline is loving.  The bible is clear on this point.  May we receive His truth and make it a part of our lives. May He bring about a harvest of righteousness for His glory. “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” (Heb. 12:6). 

“…but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness” (Heb. 12:10b).

“…for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14b).

Let us go forward by faith, trusting in God’s unfailing love.  His perfect plan and perfect timing.  Submitting ourselves to His will and coming up under His Word.  May we not grow weary in doing good.  He has promised to continue the good work He has begun in us.  May we now continue to follow in the truth He has taught us this summer and not put it aside, but continue the work He has created for us to do in Christ.

“Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s” (2 Chron. 20:15). 

Even in my pajamas.

 

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Weak

by Dottie Ryan

“Blessed arethe poor in spirit, fortheirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:3-5).

I’m wondering if the truth of the Sovereignty of God is becoming clearer, and possibly, more comforting to you.  Have you been able to take in the fact that He chose you — called you by name — and that He has orchestrated and allowed all the circumstances of your life to show you just how much He loves you and to what lengths He will go to sanctify you?  He has chosen us to be vessels for His glory.

God’s Sovereignty is not an easy thing to grasp.  But, as Proverbs 3:5 says, we must trust Him. We must not lean on our own understanding or attempt to make sense in our human minds of God’s ways and His thoughts, because we are not able.  Even though if we are His we have the mind of Christ, we must never forget that we are still mere man and He is so “Other.” His ways are so much higher.  Yes, we are but dust that God chose to mold into man and breathe His life into.  This is something huge to celebrate — that He spoke life into these dead, earthly vessels. Yet, the more we walk with our Creator — our Savior — our Redeemer — the Lover of our souls, the more we are bound to come to the conclusion that, we are weak and He is strong. And this, out of necessity; it is by His design.  It is in our weaknesses that He stands out especially in our lives.

Have you been able to acknowledge that you are weak? Poor in spirit?  “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” those having nothing to bring to the Lord but their sin and their human frailty, “…for they shall be comforted.” O, the comfort of God in exchange for our weaknesses.  Only a loving, caring, Shepherd would do something so drastic — so awesome!

Laurie reminds us that we should “be reassured in our weakness and inability” because in them we will cling more to Jesus.  He humbled Himself — He made Himself nothing by being born in the likeness of man. We are also to be humble if we are to follow Him. I must confess that I often don’t know how to follow the Lord — what that looks like — what that will require of me.  So my only recourse is to call out for help to ask Him to show me how.  I’m reminded of a song by Chris Rice called “Come to Jesus.”  This will always be our only course of action in everything we do for the rest of our life.  Some of the words to this song are: “Weak and wounded sinner / Lost and left to die / O, raise your head for Love is passing by / and come to Jesus.”

We are hopefully coming to realize that we are totally dependent on Him.  May this awareness move from the pages of Scripture into our minds, into our hearts, and into our daily walks.  That by His grace we are able to cry out: “O Lord, I am weak — help me.”  And calling out to Him in prayer, knowing He hears our cry.

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What’s the Root?

by Susan Sampson

The Lord has been kindly showing me that much of my frustration stems from fear. I realized that I’m afraid of not getting it right and of my children not “getting it” or not “doing the right thing.”  I confessed to the Lord that I want to “get it right” more than I want Christ.

Our battle is not against flesh (our children) but against the cosmic powers of this present darkness (Eph. 6).  Praise God for Christ who died for my sins of unbelief, fear, and idolatry.  By His wounds we have been healed!  Lord, please give us the grace to trust you and rest in the finished work of Christ on the cross!

When we fall and began to sink as Peter did in the water when he took his eyes off Christ, may we all do the only thing that can save us — immediately cry out to Jesus!  He alone can lift us out of the miry pit and set our feet back on firm ground.  Let’s not shrink back in shame and condemnation as the enemy wants us to do, but run to the One who has already paid our debt with His blood.

Only you, Lord, are mighty to save.  I cannot change my children’s hearts, I can only come alongside them in this journey and keep pointing to the One who laid down His life to save theirs.

So the truth is that Jesus is a friend to sinners. Praise God!  He delights in us today, wherever each one of us may be.  May the voice of the Lord be a sweet blessing to your soul from Isaiah 62:4: “You shall no more be termed ‘Forsaken’ and your land shall no more be termed ‘Desolate,’ but you shall be called ‘My Delight is in Her’, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married.”

I want to encourage us all to really ask the Lord to continue to search our hearts and reveal to us the root sins that are bringing about the sinful fruit (not being afraid of what is down in there) so we can bring it into the light and confess it and receive His grace and forgiveness.

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