This is what I long for our church to be...

WORLD | Living lives in mid-spin | Andrée Seu Peterson | Nov. 13, 2012

Encouragement to Continue Steadfast in Prayer!

WORLD | A collection of prayers | Andrée Seu Peterson | Oct. 30, 2012

Mary, Did You Know...

Mary, did you know

that your baby boy will one day walk on water?

Mary, did you know

that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?

Did you know

that your baby boy has come to make you new?

This child that you've delivered

will soon deliver you.

Mary, did you know

that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?

Mary, did you know

that your baby boy will calm a storm with His hand?

Did you know

that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?

And when you kiss your little baby

You've kissed the face of God.

Mary, did you know? Mary, did you know?

The blind will see

The deaf will hear

The dead will live again

The lame will leap

The dumb will speak

The praises of The Lamb

Mary, did you know

that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?

Mary, did you know

that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?

Did you know

that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?

This sleeping child you're holding

is the Great I Am.

For the mind-boggling, heart-warming, life-transforming mystery of the Incarnation, I give you thanks, O Lord. Amen.

"Mary, Did You Know?" lyrics by Mark Lowry, music by Buddy Greene. Copyright © 1991, 1993 Word Music, LLC (a div. of Word Music Group, Inc.), Rufus Music (Admin. by Gaither Copyright Management).

Love these words from David Jeremiah...

Full Circle I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.

John 16:28

Recommended Reading John 16:28-33

The life of Jesus is a perfect circle of symmetry. His conception and birth brought Him into the world. His resurrection and ascension took Him out of the world. At the beginning of life, He was conceived in a womb from which never a child had been born. At the end of life, He was placed in a tomb in which never a man had been laid. In this virgin womb, He was hidden for nine months; in the virgin tomb, for three days.


He left Mary's womb with a baby's cry and Joseph's tomb with a victor's shout. He was born to give us a life that's forgiven, and raised to give us a life that's forever. His body was sown perishable, but was raised imperishable. It was sown in dishonor but was raised in glory. It was sown in weakness but raised in power.

Because of His sacrifice, we can claim the words of the hymnist as our own: "Living, He loved me; dying He saved me; buried He carried my sins far away; rising He justified freely forever; one day He's coming -- O glorious day" (Wilber Chapman, 1908).

I agree with Ravi Zacharias' response to the Sandy Hook nightmare...

Tragedy at Newtown

Psalm 130

A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.

¹ From the depths of despair, O Lord,
    I call for your help.
² Hear my cry, O Lord.
    Pay attention to my prayer.

³ Lord, if you kept a record of our sins,
    who, O Lord, could ever survive?
⁴ But you offer forgiveness,
    that we might learn to fear you.

⁵ I am counting on the Lord;
    yes, I am counting on him.
    I have put my hope in his word.
⁶ I long for the Lord
    more than sentries long for the dawn,
    yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.

⁷ O Israel, hope in the Lord;
    for with the Lord there is unfailing love.
    His redemption overflows.
⁸ He himself will redeem Israel
    from every kind of sin.

Advent

Isaiah 40

Comfort, O comfort my people, 

    says your God. 

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, 

    and cry to her 

  that she has served her term, 

    that her penalty is paid, 

  that she has received from the LORD’S hand 

    double for all her sins.

A voice cries out: 

  “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, 

    make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 

Every valley shall be lifted up, 

    and every mountain and hill be made low; 

  the uneven ground shall become level, 

    and the rough places a plain. 

Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, 

    and all people shall see it together, 

    for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Behold, The Lord God comes with might,

   and His arm rules for Him;

behold His reward is with Him,

   and His recompense before Him.

He will tend His flock like a shepherd;

   He will gather the lambs in His arms,

He will carry them in His bosom,

   and gently lead those that are with young.

Revelation 7

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
"Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
 the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every
tear from their eyes."

We eagerly wait for the second coming of our Shepherd Savior even as we prepare to celebrate His first coming!

Operatio

Back on January 1 of this year I posted four elements needed for a Joshua 1:8 kind of successful year.  They are: Lectio (reading); Meditatio (meditation); Oratio (prayer); and Contemplatio (contemplation).  Now, as we near the end of the year, I find myself needing to be reminded of this simple plan.  My how I tend towards the complicated!!  Upon the advice of a dear friend, I am adding one more - Operatio (resolve to act!). I need to make and act upon practical resolutions by which I cooperate in the process to conform my life to Christ.  This is a much-needed step to move from good intentions to right actions, and so often where I fall short.

"Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God."  -2 Corinthians 7:1. Operatio!!!

True Woman | Walking Away from the Church

True Woman | Walking Away from the Church

God Is in Your Most Desperate Situation | Programs | Revive Our Hearts

This broadcast was a convicting gift from God to me today!  I tend to be an analytical person, and I see how easily that crosses the line into cursing people!  By His grace, I desire to be a wife, mom, grandma, daughter, sister, friend...who blesses with her tongue.  Dear God, please nudge me, hard if you have to, each time I even come close to that line.  Death and life really are in the power of the tongue!  Thank You that You don't give up on me!

God Is in Your Most Desperate Situation | Programs | Revive Our Hearts

True Woman | An Idol Hunt

True Woman | An Idol Hunt

Faces of Faith

Atheists pride themselves that they don’t have “faith.” But look at how two founding-fathers of modern atheism base their whole life’s philosophy on a blind faith. Bertrand Russell “believed” that when he died, his body would corrupt and that nothing else would live on. That was his belief. That’s where he placed his faith…having nothing to base it on, unless he had some sort of unique insight into the afterlife:

“I believe that when I die I shall rot, and nothing of my ego will survive. I am not young and I love life. But I should scorn to shiver with terror at the thought of annihilation. Happiness is nonetheless true happiness because it must come to an end, nor do thought and love lose their value because they are not everlasting. Many a man has borne himself proudly on the scaffold; surely the same pride should teach us to think truly about man's place in the world. Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own.”

Professing atheist, Isaac Asimov, also had a blind faith:

“I don't believe in an afterlife, so I don't have to spend my whole life fearing hell, or fearing heaven even more. For whatever the tortures of hell, I think the boredom of heaven would be even worse.”

With no evidence upon which to base his faith he said that he didn’t believe in the afterlife. That was his belief. He was so full of faith that it got rid of his fear of Heaven. His fear needn’t have been of boredom. If Heaven exists, then God exists, and if God exists, Mr. Asimov, like the rest of us who die without a Savior, is in big trouble.

Borrowed this post from Ray Comfort's blog.  No one, absolutely NO ONE goes through life without exercising some form of faith!!!  I choose to put my faith in my Creator God Who loves me beyond my understanding.  By the way, I'm very thankful that both my God and His love are beyond my understanding!  A god who is small enough for me to understand would be very small indeed!

For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  -Ephesians 2:9-10

Psalm 16:11

"You make known to me the path of life; in Your Presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore!"

In God's Presence is the only place there is fullness of joy!  The only place where pleasures are forevermore!  It is so true that all other pleasures are incomplete and quickly end.  When I was young, I did not see that so clearly.  As I age, my vision is sharpening.

Thankfully, God has given us many glimpses of joy and pleasure, but on this Earth, there is nothing that has not been ravaged by The Curse.  Even though I am (again thankfully) invited into His Presence, even that is hampered by sin and a thousand not-necessarily-sinful distractions.  The fatalistic view of "all good things must end" appears true.  But only for a time!  One day my salvation will be complete!  One day I will "know even as I am known"!  One day I will be able to bask fully and completely unhindered in His amazing Presence!  Think on it!!  FULLNESS of joy!  Pleasures FOREVERMORE!

In the meantime, there is much that needs doing on this cursed Earth.  There is much darkness, and sometimes Evil appears to be winning.  But NO!!  Always there are glimpses of Psalm 16:11, and always I keep my eyes on the day when the glimpses become the only reality.  I wait and long for that day - when my faith is made sight, when joy is truly full, and pleasures never end!

"God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there.  There is no such thing!"

"Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret?  There are better things ahead than any we leave behind!"

Both quotes by C.S. Lewis

Benjamin May

"Here lies the body of Benjamin May
Who died defending the right-of-way.
He was right, dead right, as he sped along,
But he's just as dead as if he were wrong!"

I need to remember that there's a right way and a wrong way to be right.  The wrong way can certainly lead to death - of dignity, of relationship, of influence...

May I be strong enough to stand for what is right, but humble and wise enough to do so graciously.  May I strive to be more like Jesus Christ, the perfect example of grace and truth.  My tendency is definitely to swing, sometimes wildly, towards one or the other.  And that can often happen within the same sixty seconds!  May it be Truth that offends and not my foolish, prideful actions.  So help me, God!

True Woman - Spoiler Alert!

Lord, help me to remember this!  The end of The Story has already been written!

True Woman | Spoiler Alert! What God Is Teaching Me Through the Olympics

Two Aurora Shootings: One Widely Known; the Other Ignored

Two Aurora Shootings: One Widely Known; the Other Ignored

Lee Strobel: Why Does God Allow Tragedy and Suffering?

Lee Strobel: Why Does God Allow Tragedy and Suffering?: Why did God allow the gunman to spray the Aurora movie theater with gunfire? The only answer I can honestly give consists of four words.

Why Are You So Afraid? - Feature Articles - Leading The Way

Why Are You So Afraid? - Feature Articles - Leading The Way

I Walked a Mile With Pleasure

I walked a mile with Pleasure;
She chatted all the way;
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And ne’er a word said she;
But, oh! The things I learned from her,
When sorrow walked with me.

-Robert Browning Hamilton

True Woman | Books That Will Help You Love the Lord with More of Your Heart

True Woman | Books That Will Help You Love the Lord with More of Your Heart

Living the Surrendered Life

Living the Surrendered Life

The High Price of Redemption

At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" -Mark 15:34

On the cross, Jesus took our sin upon Himself, enduring the wrenching consequence of broken fellowship with the Father - the One He adored, the One from whom He had never experienced a moment's separation. I cannot understand the agony behind His words because I have never known truly perfect relationship.

Now, if I have a distant cousin, someone I barely know, and for some reason even the scant ties that we do have are broken, I may experience some distress. Ah, but when I experience broken relationship with my spouse, with whom I interact intimately on a daily basis, my distress level rises greatly. The amount of pain felt in a severed relationship is in direct proportion to the health, intimacy and endurance of that relationship.

Christ's words on the cross expressed the distress of a perfectly whole, intimate relationship - that had been that way from eternity past - being ripped apart. I will say again, as I have in the past, the physical suffering was only a small portion of the cost of my salvation. Perhaps when I am fully redeemed I will look upon my Savior's sacrifice with the awe and thankfulness that I desire to have now. Perhaps then I will comprehend perfect relationship and what it meant for Him to give that up...for my redemption...for His glory.

Until that time, Holy Father and Son, accept my feeble "thank you!" Thank you for the enormous price you paid for the forgiveness of my sin.

How Can a Good God Allow Evil? Does Life Have Meaning? - Dr. Ravi Zacharias

When I watched the movie, "The Passion of the Christ," the scene that affected me the most was Gethsemane.  I was thinking about this during Passion Week, and when I read the following words by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, it set me to contemplating my Lord's time in the Garden.  I finally took the time to put my thoughts down...

It Required Gethsemane 

“It should stir us to our very core to see just how outrageously costly the forgiveness of our sins was to God.  Our redemption hurt Him more deeply than any human has ever suffered.  It drew blood.  It required Calvary.”  -Nancy Leigh DeMoss 

I am so very thankful for Calvary!  But before Calvary there was Gethsemane. 

I have no doubt that all the forces of Hell were present there, in the Garden, battling with all their evil strength to take Christ down.  After all, if The Plan could be stopped there…  The anguish of soul was beyond our comprehension.  “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.” (Matthew 26:38) 

The battle between spirit and flesh raged at Gethsemane.  “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41) 

The disciples, though they boasted of their loyalty, had already defected.  While Christ toiled in prayer, they slept, completely disengaged from their Friend’s pain.  (Matthew 26:40)  Luke states that an angel from Heaven appeared and strengthened Him, but the walk on that lonely road of suffering had begun in earnest.

I have known true anguish only a few times in my life.  It hasn’t been because of physical pain, but it has had a fierceness to it that has made me physically ill.  It has always involved broken or damaged relationships.  It has always involved sin – mine and/or someone else’s.  And not just anyone else’s… Only people we love dearly can cause us the deepest anguish.

Christ’s anguish in Gethsemane, I believe, was like that – only infinitely greater.  It involved a broken relationship with One He loved dearly.  It involved sin, not his own, but of ones He loved dearly.  It made Him physically ill.  It drew blood! (Luke 22:44)  While His physical suffering truly was horrific, the agony of soul was infinitely more piercing.  Words fail…

“…though some may insist you need to ‘forgive and forget,’ the truth is, forgiveness at its best requires that you face how badly you’ve been hurt.” –NLD   Gethsemane is forgiveness at its best!  Though the words were not uttered until Calvary, it was at Gethsemane that the hurt was faced and the choice was made.

Yes, our redemption hurt Christ more deeply than any human has ever suffered.  It drew blood.  Both at Calvary and at Gethsemane!

The Nature of Sin | Programs | Revive Our Hearts

The Nature of Sin | Programs | Revive Our Hearts

Don't Lose Your Reverence

Don't Lose Your Reverence: One of the greatest threats to the things we love is the curse of familiarity.

Why does God allow Satan to live?

Why does God allow Satan to live?

True Woman | Prayer Stroke

True Woman | Prayer Stroke

What to Do If You Wake Up Feeling Fragile

What to Do If You Wake Up Feeling Fragile

Labor Pains

I've mentioned before my dear friend, Maggie, who has been battling a horrific form of breast cancer for well over two years now. The pain has been indescribable, I would say unbearable, but she has been, with the aid of meds, bearing it. Until last weekend. She is ready to be done with it. Her body appears to be shutting down.

It occurs to me this morning that Maggie is in the final stages of labor before her birth into real life. It has been a long and indescribably painful labor! But new life is ALWAYS worth it!! Once born she will never want to return to the dark womb of life on sinful earth. She will be free!! She will know LIFE as she has never known before! In many respects she will know life for the very first time!

And we will rejoice with her as we always rejoice over new life! But there will also be an emptiness. She will be separated from us in a way that feels just a wee bit uncomfortable, a little bit unsafe. There will be times when we miss that "movement within us" that was Maggie. But we will never truly wish her back, in the same way that we would never truly wish a newborn back into the "safety" of the womb. In the womb, although it is a SAFE place, that child will never become who he was meant to be, never fulfill his purpose. He will never experience life as it was meant to be experienced.

And we find ourselves not looking forward to the labor, a bit apprehensive about the parts we don't fully comprehend (after all, it's not like we get a lot of practice at this thing called death), but we long heavily for the birth! LIFE!!! When we "shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is"! And all the labor pains will be instantly forgotten!

I really like Randy Alcorn's thought that heaven should not be called the "after-life," but life here on earth should more accurately be called the "before-life"!

Something from Heaven - Life Action Revival Ministries

Something from Heaven - Life Action Revival Ministries

C. S. Lewis on the Danger of Love

C. S. Lewis on the Danger of Love

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ephesians 3:10

Just two more days down here in Florida. Each time I come, I enjoy my time with my family more! And each time goes by too fast, although I will admit I am missing my northern family, especially my husband!

When I'm planning for the trip, I always think I will have lots of down time to read and even perhaps journal a bit, but when I'm here, I find that other things call for my attention and the days fill up quickly. That is good, though, because those other "things" are usually people related, and that's the main reason I visit. I LOVE my Florida family!

My friend's husband posted on facebook today a question that he says he's been wrestling with a lot lately - "What is the Biblical definition of church"? That got me to thinking not about the definition so much as a verse in Ephesians that talks about an important, and frankly, quite mind-boggling, function of the church - (3:10) "so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places".

I can't really wrap my mind around that! How in the world can we - frail and sinful - human beings make known anything to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places??? But once again I must remind myself that it's not about us; it is about HIM! Perhaps it takes "frail and sinful" for God's wisdom to be fully displayed. After all, how does One show the wisdom of mercy without something (or someone) requiring mercy? Same with the wisdom of grace, long-suffering, forgiveness... All those attributes of God require a recipient in order to be displayed. Our God is so beyond comphension! So other! "What is man that You are mindful of Him"?

I need to remember this verse in Ephesians and more consistently do my part in making known God's manifold wisdom to the rulers and authorities. Still MIND BOGGLING!!!

Right now I am sitting on the porch experiencing some of God's wisdom of grace - the skies are pouring down rain on a sandy land very much in need of moisture. And my heart is filled with thankfulness!!!

Bitter Ingredients, Tasty Products

I am continually intrigued by how many physical things in life are pictures of spiritual realities.  Randy Alcorn is especially adept at bringing those things to light.  I'm reading in his book, "90 Days of God's Goodness", and his devotional thought is based on Psalm 71:18-23, especially the verse, "Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again."  He gives just a slightly different, but important, perspective to the Romans 8:28 truth that "all things work together for good." He says, "There is an all-inclusiveness In the 'all things'...  No translation says each thing by itself IS good, but that all things work together FOR good, and not on their own, but under God's sovereign hand.  Romans 8:28 declares a cumulative and ultimate good, not an individual or immediate good".

Then he goes into the analogy of how each individual ingredient of a cake (well, with the exception of sugar, I suppose) tastes horrible by itself, but "put together in the right amounts and baked together, a remarkable metamorphosis takes place.  The cake tastes delicious!  Yet judging by the taste of each component, I would never have believed the cake could taste so good.

"In a similar way, the individual ingredients of trials and apparent tragedies taste bitter to us.  Romans 8:28 doesn't tell me I should say 'it is good,' if my leg breaks, or my house burns down....  But no matter how bitter the taste of the individual components, God can carefully measure out and mix all ingredients together and regulate the temperature to produce a wonderful final product."

As his wife, Joy, underwent cancer treatments, C. S. Lewis wrote to a friend, "We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be."

It is extremely important to the health of our faith to remember this truth!  Life is not just random happenings.  Our Creator God is intimately involved in our lives, and He is all wise, all powerful, and all good!  That's an unbeatable combination!!!

God vs. god

He who makes little of God makes much of himself, They who forget adoration fall into adulation. The eyes must see something, and if they admire not God, they will flatter self.

Charles Spurgeon wrote these words in his book, Treasury of David, I know they are true because they come straight from Scripture (Psalm 36:1-2) and because they often play themselves out in my life. As soon as I take my eyes off God, I put them on me. Whether I am bemoaning circumstances, relationships, or whatever, it becomes all about me - my way, my hurts, my comfort, my pleasure, my, my, my! Me, me, me!! What a pathetic god I make!

Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O LORD. How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light. Psalm 36:5-9

Heavenly Father, continue doing your refining work in my life. Even though it's often painful, who I am without it is unbearable! Both to myself and to those who know me!

A New Year's Plea: Plan!

A New Year's Plea: Plan!

Fail to Plan = Plan to Fail

It has dawned on me today that a Sunday well invested is key to a fruitful, well-invested week. As John Piper says, "Sunday is the first day of the week, not the last day of the weekend!" And fruitful weeks lead to months, lead to years, lead to a lifetime. And I long to get out of the "busy" rut and truly be fruitful! Life is going by very quickly!

Another thing I've realized recently - for years I've been so busy that the demands on me have served to be my disciplinarian; and anything that was left undone? Well, I had the excuse that I'm so busy - something has to give. That has changed, and at least for right now, I find myself with a much less demanding life. The trouble is that without my crazy, busy life dictating my time, I find myself prone to waste it. I'm finding out that I'm not nearly as disciplined as I thought I was! This is showing itself in many areas of my life - I won't list them here.

This is the first day of a new week, a new month and a new year!  I love new starts!! I am asking my Teacher to help me to remember my Sabbath Day and keep it holy. I want to plan my week well, which does not just mean plan the things I need to DO. I want to plan the things I need to BE. That will go a long way towards success in the process of "working out my own salvation with fear and trembling."

Here's my first plan, the ancient art of lectio divina, or sacred reading. This is adapted from Conformed to His Image by Kenneth Boa, but was introduced to the West by the Eastern desert father John Cassian early in the fifth century.

It consists of four elements:

1. Lectio (reading). Select a very short text and ingest it by reading it several times.

2. Meditatio (meditation). Take a few minutes to reflect on the words and phrases in the text you have read. Ponder the passage by asking questions and using your imagination.

3. Oratio (prayer). Having internalized the passage, offer it back to God in the form of personalized prayer.

4. Contemplatio (contemplation). For me, this will be the most difficult part, since it consists of silence and yieldedness in the presence of God. Comtemplation is the fruit of the dialogue of the first three elements; it is the communion that is born out of our reception of divine truth in our minds and hearts.

This is a simple, gracious plan. I will also need my Teacher's help to keep me from making it complicated and legalistic!

Here's to a Joshua 1:8 kind of successful year!