July 2012 Devotional

Fret Not!

I recently spent a week meeting with the Lord in the comforting words of Psalm 37. If you’ve never read or studied this Psalm, I highly encourage you to do so. The theme of the entire Psalm is that the righteous will win in the end and those that do evil will lose. Read carefully the words of the first four verses:

Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

The Psalm continues in that same truth for forty verses! The phrase “fret not” is repeated three times in the first eight verses.

I must confess that I was (unexpectedly) convicted upon studying this Psalm – actually, within studying the very first verse. I often fret because of evildoers. I fret about the evil being done in this country. I fret about evil being done to the church at large, as well as to our church. I fret about evil being done to my husband or to my children. But I must admit that I fret most often about evil being done to me. I am so inclined to give in to the urge of my flesh to get my eyes off the Lord and onto people. And people are oh, so sinful! Their sin affects me. So how do I respond? I fret.

The second phrase of the first verse goes on to say, “be not envious of wrongdoers!” Conviction upon conviction. I realized not only that I fret because of evildoers, but I am also often envious of wrongdoers. The realization of that truth crashed into my consciousness like a lightning rod. Not only do I fret, then I envy those that do wrong.

Jesus said that “in this world we would have trouble.” Trouble is a fact and often trouble is due to evildoers. We live in a sin-fallen world with sin-fallen people and we will encounter evildoers, often on a daily basis. We must remember that every single person is either surrendering to the Lordship of Christ, or pursuing the lust of their own flesh, which is evil. There are only two paths. Therefore, when those of us that are surrendering to Christ encounter those that are not, we are encountering those that do evil and often that evil is directed to us.

Tom and I are movie people. We love many different kinds of movies and Tom is constantly quoting lines from movies to me. One of his favorites is, “Good will overcome. Trust in that.” That is an accurate analysis of Psalm 37.

So, the next time you encounter an evildoer, what will be your response? What should be your response? Fret not!

Happy Independence Day (2012)

July 4, 2011

July 4, 2012 

I am very thankful for the freedom we have in this country.

But I am so much more thankful for the complete freedom we have because of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; His truth is marching on.

June 2012 Devotional

Fixed

We have had a lot of sickness passing through our house the last few weeks, nothing serious, just the typical for a family with little people. Because of that, Peter (age 3) has been doing a lot of talking about being “sick” and getting “fixed.” When Tom was having his turn with the stomach virus, Peter kept telling him to get fixed. He was very concerned that his daddy was sick.

Ever since Peter’s life hung in the balance when he was a newborn, I have known that if he lived, I would spend the rest of his life telling him about the miracle that he is, beginning with his earliest understanding. Sometimes at bedtime, Peter likes to talk with me for a few minutes and I’ve used the opportunity of having a household of sickness to share his story with him. I’ve kept it very basic with no details, just the facts that when he was a baby he was very sick and God healed him. I’ve only told him about this a couple of times because I’ve wanted to be careful not to lay something too heavy on him yet. It’s important for Peter to know his story, but also important that it be on a level he can understand.

Tonight, as we were having our usual few minutes of conversation at bedtime, Peter said, “I was sick and God fixed me.” No one has been sick for awhile and we haven’t talked about this in a few weeks, so obviously what I shared with him has stuck in his head. When he said those words, I was stunned – stunned that he understood so completely, stunned that he remembered, stunned that he has been thinking about it. Most of all though, I was filled with praise to God. To understand being sick and being fixed is basic to the good news of the gospel.

The same can be said of me. I was sick, actually dead – dead in my sins. And my sovereign God fixed me. He gave me new life in Christ.

How about you? Have you been fixed – really and truly fixed? Once dead and now alive in Christ? The course of your life changed completely?

We need the good news of the gospel in our lives every day. We constantly need to be reminded that we were dead in our sin, and then we have been fixed by Christ. This message is not just for the moment of conversion. This is the message that needs to sink deep into our souls. This is the message that makes life worth living. This is the message that should cause us to continue and carry on in faith. This is the message of hope and joy. We were once dead and now alive. Praise be to God!

Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved. – Ephesians 2:5

Scripture Memory - June 15, 2012

I'm running a bit behind, but better late than never....

Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! - Psalm 37:1

I'm going to build on this verse for the next few weeks.

Isaac's Birthday - Cake

I don't think these pictures need any commentary!

Our little food-lover enjoyed EVERY SINGLE BITE of his first birthday cake!

Peter wanted me to take a picture of his "cake-face" too. 

I can't believe Isaac is one.

Isaac's Birthday - Entertainment

After Isaac observed us opening his birthday presents (all the while never letting go of the red balloon), we moved the party outside.  We spread out Isaac's pool on the ground and let him sit there with his red balloon and pack of 100 balls.  We didn't even blow up the pool or put any water in it!  He was quite happy to sit and watch Alana and Peter play with his new slip-n-slide:)

Isaac is quite easy to please.  (I adore those dimples!)

Isaac's Birthday Party - Presents

I went round and round with what to do for Isaac's birthday party.  I struggled because we did a "big" party for Alana and Peter for their first birthday parties, but Isaac is so content with just his family that I knew he could care less about a big party.  He has also been struggling with a cold/teething for the last couple of weeks and I knew that was likely to make for a grumpy first birthday.  I was right too.  Isaac grumped and whined all day yesterday while his nose ran continuously.  His mood improved greatly for his small party, but I'm so glad I kept it small and simple.

My parents came over and I made baked ziti (something Isaac loves).  We gave him this balloon first thing and Isaac was THRILLED!  We really didn't need to give him anything else.  He barely stopped holding it the whole night.

Knowing that anything we got for Isaac would probably be played with by all the kids, we decided to go with a blow-up pool.  Fun for everybody.  As you can see, Isaac was still captivated with the balloon. 

My parents got Isaac a bag of balls for the pool.  He did finally let go of the balloon for those balls.  He will have so much fun sitting in that pool on hot summer days with 100 balls surrounding him. 

All night, Isaac kept saying "ball" over and over and over and over.

More to come.