Lesson for Lent

Today during lunch I listened to Chuck Swindoll's message. It was perfect for today, Ash Wednesday. Go here and click on "Listen to Today's Message" You can also download his notes and listen to past messages if you missed this today.

In This Very Room

Today in church my pastor spoke a wonderful word based on 1 Corinthians 13. Dr. Wilder ended his sermon with a beautiful paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13. You can go here to read his beautiful and thoughtful words.

I am in the choir and we sang, "In This Very Room." The words were wonderful and simple: In this very room there is quite enough love - joy - hope - power for all that I need for the Lord Jesus is in this very room. It is a quite and thoughtful song and as I sang the tears flowed because I was reminded of all the times that I have met Jesus in that very room. I remembered my wedding and watching the children sing in Christmas musicals and say Bible drill verses, hanging the green and so many joyous times. I remembered all the times that no one knew about that I went running to that sanctuary to fall on my knees in despair and pain only to find Jesus there waiting. I remembered saying good-bye to dear friends who have gone home to be with the Father in that room. There is so much in that room. And tears roll down my face again - there is enough here, there is all I need here for my Lord Jesus Christ is here. He has always been here and will always be here, in the very room where I am.

How lovely is your dwelling place Lord Almighty
My soul yearns, even faints for the courts of the Lord
my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God
Even the sparrow has found a home and the swallow a nest for herself
where she may have her young -
a place near your altar
Lord Almighty, my King and my God
Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.
Psalms 84: 1-4

For My Daughter and Her Friends On Missions

This post is for my daughter and her friends that are going to Scotland on a mission trip and also for her friends who are currently studying abroad. I came across this while I was working on "To Live is Christ" Bible study by Beth Moore today.

Our lesson was on Paul's visit in Athens where he gave this great sermon about the Athenians who had a monument to the unknown God. Paul wasn't very successful here. A few people believed but most just thought his sermon was interesting and only wanted to know it intellectually, not make a real commitment to it. He was also not persecuted here as he had been almost everyone else he had been so far on his mission trips. It seems the people of Athens were very tolerant. Here are Beth's words that made me think of you all.

"I can not count the times I have asked God to crumble the spirit of opposition and persecution in many nations where Christians are a small fighting force. I will still continue to ask God to strengthen and project those facing opposition and persecution. However I now find my heart drawn across the map to places where a quieter dragon of perhaps equal force has made his den - the spirit of indifference. Christianity can grow and flourish under some of the most difficult opposition but it will prosper very little where people refuse to be changed by it. Join me in praying for nations full of people like the Athenians:

• People who don't acknowledge the uniqueness and completness of God
• People who see the True and Living God as just another philosophy"
  

1st and 15th Scripture Memory Challenge

Here is my new verse and my previous verses for the Siesta Scripture Memory Challenge:

Ephesians 5: 19-20
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

James 4:7-8
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.

Isaiah 43: 18-19
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wasteland and streams in the wilderness.

Philippians 3: 12-14
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But this one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

A Theme as Big as Life

This morning I am home and not at church. My husband has the stomach flu and I don't want to leave him alone. Aunt Doris is in the hospital also and I may need to get to her quickly. Robert is looking after her now.

I was reading in the Psalms while listening to the Our Daily Bread Symphonic Hymns CD that came from my mom - beautiful words and beautiful music in the sun room. I was reading the commentary in my bible about Psalm 119. This is the longest chapter in Psalms. If we could read Hebrew we would see that it is a acrostic poem where the verses of each stanza begin with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet and there is a stanza for each letter. This Psalm, unlike many of the others, was meant to be read and studied rather than sung. It was probably written by a priest as a teaching device. Here is the part from the TNIV Study Bible Commentary that touched me: "The author had a theme that filled his soul, a theme as big as life, that ranged the length and breadth and height and depths of a person's walk with God. Nothing less than the use of the full power of language would suffice, and of that the alphabet was the most powerful symbol."

I thought how much I want that, a theme that fills my soul and is as big as my life and is my life. I want that theme to be the love of God.

I also thought about my beautiful daughter, an English major, who loves words and writes so well and I was very grateful for the power of words in her life. I pray she may always use that gift to serve you. Oh Lord may I not ever take that power for granted and use words with little thought. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14

Peace

We will never experience peace until we accept the authority of Christ in our lives. He is the Prince of Peace. In our culture that values so much personal freedom we have a hard time understanding that true freedom and peace come from submitting to the authority of the Prince of Peace. James 4: 7-8.

Oh, Lord and Master, teach me everyday to submit to your authority. Fill my life with your peace.

Working Together

In my Bible study this morning (Beth Moore's To Live is Christ) I was reading about the split between Paul and Barnabas over whether John Mark should accompany them on their next mission. This is a very hard scripture. It is hard to think of two people who were such followers of Christ disagreeing so strongly. As always though, God used this to further his kingdom. Paul and Barnabas had experienced a lot together and scripture tells us that there were strong emotions between the two. Paul had been mentored by Barnabas, but had now grown so strong that he could disagree with his mentor. It is not that one was right and the other was wrong. It was that the Holy Spirit gave them different answers for a reason. Without the split Paul and Barnabas would have been content to serve together the rest of their lives, but there was John Mark and Timothy who both needed mentors. By their division the work of Christ was multiplied.

It is interesting that Paul always works with someone. His letters have much to say about relationships. I wonder how many of the things he had to learn the hard way. Of course some of the most beautiful inspired words of the Holy Scriptures are found in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, a letter written about Christian conduct in the church:

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast. It is not proud.
It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,
It is not easily angered, It keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.

Oh Lord, Teach us to love each other.

Three Generations

I have spent the day working on my movie of the Philadelphia trip I took with my students last semester. WOW, how wonderful is having a sabbatical - time to do this kind of work. I saw pictures of my student Sara, who now teaches in Philadelphia, and my current students, teaching a lesson to Sara's class and I was struck by the way God works things out. There were three generations there - me, my student, and her students, and the potential for so many more generations that I will never know.

It seems that when you are most discouraged, God sends you messages to let you know that you matter. We all have an impact on the people around us. While it is not always the quality that we want and we wish we could do better, you do see the difference God made through your life at those times when you followed him.

Thank you for Sara and my students. May they, by following you, make a difference in their students.

Great People

"Greatness is revealed by attitude." Chuck Swindoll. This was the last line from my devotional book today"Great Days with the Great Lives." The great life we are thinking about now is Joseph. I have come to see Joseph as one of the greatest lives in the bible. There is so much to be learned from his life.

Great does not necessarily mean famous. When I think about the great people in my life, they are not famous. My dad is the first great man in my life. All the things about his attitude make him great. He is a man of integrity, never seeking honor for himself. He loves with action not words, giving generously to all of us. My husband is great. He is kind and good. He is also a man of great integrity. Always helping others at work and everyone without fanfare. He is an accomplished pianist and music professor but at church he accompanies the first and second grade choir and has for many years. He doesn't say a lot but when he does speak everyone listens. I have so many other great people in my life. All of them do bear out what Dr. Swindoll writes. Greatness is revealed by attitude. While there are some great people who are famous, most great people aren't famous, but their influence is felt in many lives for many generations.

Dear Lord, Thank you for all the great people in my life.

Snowy Day, Warm Fire, and Hot Chocolate

It is snowing, the ground is covered white and you can't see much beyond the neighborhood. I have the fireplace on and a cup of peppermint hot chocolate. What a wonderful day to sit and read and write.

Memory Verses So Far

Here is my new verse and my two previous verses for the Siesta Scripture Memory Challenge:

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:7-8

Isaiah 43: 18-19
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wasteland and streams in the wilderness.

Philippians 3: 12-14
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But this one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.