Month: January 2015

Thoughts

The Thessalonian Example

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When earthly desires and dreams beg for our focus and distract us from “pure devotion to Christ,” (2 Corinthians 11:3, 1 Corinthians 7:34) remember that the answer is not to try to somehow minimize earthly desires, but to maximize heavenly ones! I especially love how William MacDonald describes this in the Believers Bible Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 1:9 – something I was reading yesterday as I’m working on the Will Our Generation Speak Study Guide.

“Notice that they turned to God from idols, not from idols to God. It wasn’t that they had become fed up with their idols and then decided to give God a chance. No, they turned to God and found Him so satisfying that they dropped their idols.

It’s that look that melted Peter,
It’s that face that Stephen saw,
It’s that heart that wept with Mary,
Can alone from idols draw.
—Ora Rowan

Let us never lose the sense of thrill and awe that is implicit in this account. Two men go into a heathen city with the word of the Lord. They preach the gospel in the power of the Spirit. The miracle of regeneration takes place: men and women become so enraptured with the Savior that they abandon their idols. Next you have a local assembly of believers praising God, living lives of holiness, bravely enduring persecution, and winning others to Christ. Truly the Lord’s service is the prince of callings!”

If any of you are not familiar with William MacDonald’s Believers Bible Commentary, I highly recommend you get one. =) It’s definitely a favorite of ours!

I’d also recommend you reread 1 Thessalonians 1, enjoying the beautiful conversion story of the Thessalonian believers!

Picture from Snoqualmie Falls (Washington)

Thoughts

Girls and Beauty

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As girls, we have a natural drive to do what we can to make ourselves beautiful. This can be pride, but it certainly isn’t always. For example, is it prideful for a bride to do her best to look beautiful on her wedding day? Of course not. It’s not pride—it’s a gift to her husband!

When Peter instructed women in 1 Peter 3, he didn’t say “Now, you wives, stop trying to be beautiful.” No, he simply instructed them to channel their God-given drive to be beautiful correctly. He explained that there is something much, much more beautiful than our outward adorning—it’s a meek and quiet spirit.

But what Peter says next is actually stunning when you think about it. We have the opportunity and privilege to be beautiful in the eyes of God Himself!

“but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.” 1 Peter 3:4

This is an amazing gift given to us — and certainly a motivating goal to be driven by (1 John 2:28)! Of course it’s only by God’s power that we can be changed and cleansed from the filthiness we once were to something beautiful in His eyes, as Ephesians 5:25-27 explains,

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.” (Ephesians 5:25-27)

So I believe what Peter is ultimately saying is more like this: “Women, seek to be beautiful in the greater way (your spirit) in the eyes of a greater Person (Jesus Christ Himself!)”

Let’s use our God-given “drive” to be beautiful to remind and motivate us to seek to be beautiful in the eyes of our Heavenly bridegroom. This happens as we let Him “cleanse us by the washing of water with the Word,” as the verse above from Ephesians explains.

One more thought: this topic of beauty doesn’t start in 1 Peter 3, it starts backs in 1 Peter 2:13 when it begins talking about submission in the face of unjust suffering. This is following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ who submitted to His Father even to the point of death. THAT is the pinnacle of beauty. The more like Him we are, the more beautiful.

“And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us … ” Psalm 90:17

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” Jude 24-25

Family News/Miscellaneous/Witnessing Stories

Eclectic Reports

This past month has been a busy time for us, as I’m sure it has been for most of you!

IMG_3094 Our Christmas began right after Thanksgiving when we took our friend Manish (from Nepal) with us to cut down a tree … which led to an interesting discussion on the way home about the tree of life in the Garden of Eden and what that means. =) Manish was a student at a local college and has become a good friend of our family. Even though he lives in another town now, he’s able to visit often.

IMG_3223 We had an encouraging time Christmas caroling with our Bright Lights group, and this lady told us that our caroling made her whole Christmas season! She said she used to carol as a girl, but she didn’t know anyone did it anymore. Praise the Lord for how He directs to the right houses.

IMG_3435 My mom arranged a little Christmas celebration with Joan, our friend in a nearby nursing home.

IMG_3471 Often when you have an opportunity to talk with someone about the Lord, others are also listening! After my dad read the Christmas account to Joan, we began talking to the lady in the other bed whose name was Jill. She hadn’t heard the story very well, but wanted to. We explained that the main point was that God sent His Son, Jesus, to come to be our Savior! Sarah then went back a few days later to talk to Jill more. She read the Christmas story to her again, and they had a nice talk.

IMG_3505 On Christmas Eve, several international friends joined us along with my grandpa and a few from our church. The paper crosses on our Christmas tree provided an opportunity to explain to our guests the purpose behind them: it’s something that many believers are doing this year to remember to pray for the persecuted church. This led into a good discussion about persecution, and I was reminded of the value of having “objects” in our homes which can be used as springboards into conversations.

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IMG_3550 We all thought Grandpa looked great in his new hat!

IMG_3567 Brad and Lindsay Sturm and their six adorable children joined us (along with Christa and Nickie) for dinner after church a week ago Sunday. It was such an encouragement to hear of the church they started in Mexico which is now filled with young, growing believers … the harvest truly is plentiful but the laborers are few! Brad also preached the sermon for our church.

I love it when people take a portion of Scripture and present a perspective I hadn’t seen before. Brad did this with the story of the father of the demon possessed boy in Mark 9:14-29. I was really blessed by it and have listened to it twice.

IMG_3593 A family from Mexico (friends of some of our friends there) were visiting Cedar Rapids to stay with some friends of theirs here. These friends of theirs in Cedar Rapids are also friends of ours (haha, this is sounding confusing!) Okay, let me start over. Due to a complicated connection of mutual friends in both Mexico and Iowa, we were invited to dinner to meet this special family. As we got acquainted, we learned that they are part of a Bright Lights group in Mexico! It was so encouraging to hear how they’d been praying for something for the girls in their church and then they found the Bright Lights curriculum. At the same time they read Will Our Generation Speak? in Spanish, not knowing the origin of the book, but shared how God was using it in their lives. We had a wonderful evening of fellowship. Praise the Lord for how He arranges circumstances to meet the needs of His children.

Thoughts

What Are You Thinking About?

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We remember the things that we think about a lot. Thoughts and events that are often reviewed stick in our memory. Meditating on our own mistakes or achievements usually makes us either discouraged or too self-confident. But look at what the Psalmists say they were thinking about:

“On the glorious splendor of Your majesty and on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.” Psalm 145:5

“I shall remember the deeds of the Lord; surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will meditate on all Your work and muse on Your deeds.” Psalm 77:11-12

“… I meditate on all Your doings; I muse on the work of Your hands. I stretch out my hands to You …” Psalm 143:5-6

These verses were an encouragement to me today. As we reflect on another year gone by, let’s follow their example and contemplate the ways we saw God work last year: Answered prayers. People we saw changed by His power. Special encouragement that the Lord gave us in needed times. God’s direction of our paths. People He used in our lives. And, of course, all that God has done in history before 2014. [smile] (2 Peter 1:9!)

Our thoughts directly affect our emotions and actions, so it is vitally important we think about what Scripture tells us to think about! (Also see Deuteronomy 11:18, Josh 1:8, Psalm 1:2, 119:97 Philippians 4:8, 1 Timothy 4:15.)