The Spirit's Flame

Recently our boys were playing at friends' house and they took some ashes from their fire pit and were dumping them here or there and unbeknown to them the ashes were still smoldering. We quickly put a stop to this and explained to them that when ashes are still smoking there is still a potential for a fire. If we hadn't noticed them doing this it could have been a dangerous situation but as it was it was a teaching moment!

Today it has been on my heart to study two scripture passages.

“Here is my servant whom I have chosen,

the one I love, in whom I delight;

I will put my Spirit on him,

and he will proclaim justice to the nations.

He will not quarrel or cry out;

no one will hear his voice in the streets.

A bruised reed he will not break,

and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,

till he leads justice to victory.

In his name the nations will put their hope.” ~ Matthew 12 / Isaiah 53

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good.  ~ 1 Thessalonians 5: 16 - 21

As Christians I think sometimes we all underestimate the important of God's Spirit in us. It's quite strange that we do that since there is no way we can navigate a life in this world as 'sin addicts' without the Spirit. 

As I have been considering this text in Isaiah, foreshadowing the coming of Jesus and the Christian life thereafter with the Holy Spirit I'm starting to understand more and more how God desires His Spirit to be a burning fire in us. It's helpful when reading these verses to know that the word justice here translates to the gospel or good news.  Jesus proclaimed His gospel to us by not only speaking it but living and dying it and therefore justifying us before God. Jesus didn't come like the great King or Prophet that the Pharisees were expecting, but rather humbly and quietly, but that didn't make His gospel any less of a victory!

The promise I am focusing on most here though, is that Jesus, filled with God's Spirit will not break us when this life leaves us bruised and broken. He will not allow the potential for our flame to go out in fact He will help it to burn ever brighter. This is such a wonderful promise, particularly if you've ever felt bruised, as I have, by this life. 

After Jesus left he promised we would have Him with us always in the form of His Spirit. So we are left here on this broken earth with the promise of everlasting life, with God's Holy Spirit and with the Scriptures. Sometimes it still seems impossible to navigate! I need to remember that I can depend on God's Spirit of Truth. The person of the Spirit lives in God's people and He wants to burn brightly in us and guide us through the struggles and joys of life. He wants to be joyful always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances so that He can burn ever brighter! We have to listen though, we can't be determined to ignore this Spirit because we have our own different ideas. I think of the folly that following in their expectations brought the Pharisees. Because Jesus wasn't what they expected Him to be they missed out on His promises. The refused to see things any way but the way they'd always seen them. 

I am working hard on allowing the Spirit to lead me through Scripture and show me God's will for my life. I don't want to miss out on wonderful things because I have different expectations. It's a constant battle but I want the fire of the Spirit to consume me so I no longer walk in old ways but in new ways.

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. ~ Galatians 5:16

Whose am I?

A few weeks ago, while visiting Ryan's parents, we heard a sermon on Lord's Day 1. The minister said something that I've heard before but was still great to hear. He said that the world often asks "Who am I?" but the Christian should ask, "WHOSE am I?" Once we answer this question it will be much easier to define "Who am I?" Shakespeare says "To thine own self be true." While this can be a very worldly saying, if I find my identity in Christ, than being true to me means being true to him too.  Life is filled with difficult decisions that affect us a great deal in our daily life, it's often hard to remember to define ourselves in Christ to say, "I am not my own but was bought at a price!"

Sometimes when I look at this blog I think it's a bit of a downer name I've given it, but I did it to remind myself and you that we must be humble. We are slaves to our evil nature, and if we're honest we all feel the constant battle within us. The Spirit with in us fights with our desire to go our own way. I'm looking forward to being complete in heaven, to knowing that I am doing what I was created to do, and to no longer be held back by the limitations of my sinful nature!

I have a tendency to try to please others. I want people to agree with me so I can come across argumentative but sometimes I think it's my blundering -bull in a china shop- way of trying to be persuasive. I am the perfect example of someone who 'means well'. These are traits that actually rob ME the most of my own contentment. I want to be confident and comfortable in my decisions. I have to do what's best for me and my family, what will nurture my faith and make me into a better christian wife, mother, sister, friend, and neighbour. I feel this need to explain myself when I make decisions, almost to 'defend' myself. I don't know where that comes from! Maybe because I'm the youngest and was always subjected to lots of advice -- lots of it good :) Maybe it's to do with easily I am intimidated and how easily my confidence in myself is shaken. I'm gonna work on it this  year though. I'm going to be praying lots for God to give me the confidence to rest securely in the choices I make. I'm going to pray that he gives me the wisdom to make the right choices, and the courage to recognize and fix the wrong choices I make.

Thank the good Lord he did not leave us in our own hands. If he had done so our demise would be unavoidable, but he bought us, paid the price for us, and lifted us out of the pit we had no way of getting out of on our own.Through Christ I can do all things, through Christ I can be true to God's Spirit and also to my own spirit.

So Whose am I? I am not my own. I belong both body and soul, in life and death to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. ~ Romans 8:9a

What about the other side of Modesty?

So this summer I've read several Christian blogs about pool and beach wear. While I sympathize with a lot that is being said and I agree fully that modesty is important (I have three boys and a husband I'd be nuts not to agree!!!) I'm not totally against two piece bathing suits. I actually take more offense at skimpy church wear!
So that is the issue of 'sexual' modesty, what about another side of modesty? Is modesty only about clothing and the covering up of one's body? Here's the definition of modest: Unassuming or moderate in the estimation of one's abilities or achievements. So we know that means clothing, and it also means talents as we're supposed to be humble, but what about money? Oh, oh, here's where the rubber meets the road and I hope I don't step on too many toes.
Sometimes I wonder about these sweaters that proclaim "BENCH" down the sleeve. And clothing with the "Lululemon" symbol, I can already hear the onslaught coming. What if I got it second hand? What if it was on sale? Is it okay when the skimpy skanky bikini is on sale? Why do you want clothing that is obviously very expensive? Really? I think that's a good motive to examine. Are we running after the world wanting 'brand name' stuff? I know many say they are so comfortable, I can tell you I think I'd be very UNcomfortable in a hoodie I paid a hundred bucks for. It's all relative though. I mean some might buy very expensive shoes and have the real excuse that they are on their feet all day as a nurse. There's always different good 'reasons'. Like I said I just want to examine our motives. Sometimes I see two year olds running around in brand name hoodies and I wonder....
What about vehicles? Do we 'need' a vehicle with a name basically proclaims... "I have money"? Do we all need the fanciest SUV we can get? Here in central Alberta a rusty van is an embarrassment!
When God blesses you with a beautiful body you should not show it all, and when God blesses you with talents you should show them humbly, when God blesses you with obedient children you should not look down your nose at the struggling mother in the grocery store. Right? So...when God blesses you with money is it ok to flaunt it?
It's easier for me I know, I don't have the body, or the obedient kids and my talents are a bit limited, and we are blessed financially but not 'Coach Purse" blessed. Course I've never been interested in designer anything so I guess I'm blessed not to be coveting those things. Not that I don't covet. Oh I would LOVE a bigger house and yard, a vehicle that would pull a little trailer, a trailer to pull, and many other wonderful things that money can buy! Satan waits around every corner to tempt us hey?
Well,I just wanted us all to remember when we judge the skimpy bikinis at the beach that modesty does not end with clothing.
I hope you all have a blessed week, and forgive me for speaking my mind... I know you are used to it! ;)

 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.~ Philippians 4:12,13

Bring On the Sunshine....

It's one of those sultry summer nights that you hear about in country songs and read about in books. I love it. I feel like I'm in Manitoba again.

It's warm in the house to be sure, I just had a cold-ish shower, and have one of those big square fans that sounds like a helicopter propped up in my window. Growing up on the farm I remember how mom would work at keeping the house cool, all the curtains were drawn, and she'd constantly check the the inside and outside temperature in the evening so the moment they were the same everything was thrown open and the fans were going. I used to talk into the fan. Back in the day we didn't all have a WII or whatever else so we had to entertain ourselves!

Oh how I love a hot summer! I love the endless summer days filled with blue skies, laughing kids running through sprinklers. I love the evening walks with the dog, the sounds and smells of lawn mowing, and those crazy thundershowers that spring up after a few hot days.

Nights like this get my creative juices flowing. They seem like the perfect backdrop for a story. I like to write I've always thought it would be great to write a book but as anyone who knows me can tell you I don't have a whole lot of patience and book writing is patient work.

My last two summers have sucked, to put it mildly. I was dealing with too much, physically, spiritually and emotionally. In some ways I feel I've been set free from some of that and thank the good Lord He's giving us lovely sunny weather to boot. By no means have I completely healed but then, I'm not sure I ever shall, and I'm learning to accept that and strangely that is my healing.

Well reading back I'm not sure what my 'life lesson' was this blog post but I'm cheery and I hope you'll all find that contagious! I hope your summer is bringing you the energy and rejuvenation you need too.

Enjoy the heat wave!

 The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
~ Proverbs 4:18


 

Mijn Genade Is U Genoeg

From the time I was a little girl until I was a teenager my Oma had a wooden plaque in her living room that said 'Mijn genade is u genoeg.' It means "My grace is sufficient for you," and it's a quote from the apostle Paul.  I asked my mom once to translate it and what makes me chuckle now is when she told me what it meant it I understood it little more than I had in dutch! I had no idea what it was referring to nor did I have the drive at the time to figure it out. My mom's answer was 'genoeg' then.

My Oma lived to me 90 something years old. I remember her to be kind and I always loved her. I was 19 when she died and I was sad, but we were rejoicing because she lived so long and she had some strokes in the end that paralyzed her partially. She was ready to go.

Recently my mom wrote us kids a book about her life as a immigrant family from Holland to Canada and having read it I think my Oma must have looked to that precious plaque carted all the way from the Netherlands many times her life and she must have known exactly what it meant. When she felt lonely for her family and country, when she couldn't speak or understand the language when life was eked out of a hard land with hard work, she always knew that God's grace was enough. Even before that in Holland when she lived through the war and buried her child and later when she buried another child and her husband.... A life of 90 years carries many joys but also many sorrows of this broken world.

If God's grace was sufficient for her, than it will be for me too. Right? I've been thinking of the sign often lately and in the past years it's like God translated it for me! My mom gave me the English version and now God made me understand. "My grace is sufficient for YOU, Amy, it's genoeg, enough." It isn't too much, it isn't too little, it's "enough".

I'm thankful for Oma, for my heritage that has taught me daily of God's grace for me and even for the trials in which God has brought the true meaning of His grace home to me. My doubt in His sufficiency doesn't change that it is enough. Nothing changes God, if His grace was sufficient for Oma, it is for me too.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 1 Corinthians 12:9

Jesus, I Come

1. Out of my bondage, sorrow, and night,
     Jesus, I come! Jesus, I come!
   Into Thy freedom, gladness, and light,
       Jesus, I come to Thee!
   Out of my sickness into Thy health,
   Out of my want and into Thy wealth,
   Out of my sin and into Thyself,
       Jesus, I come to Thee!
2. Out of my shameful failure and loss,
     Jesus, I come! Jesus, I come!
   Into the glorious gain of Thy cross,
       Jesus, I come to Thee!
   Out of earth's sorrows into Thy balm,
   Out of life's storm and into Thy calm,
   Out of distress to jubilant psalm,
       Jesus, I come to Thee!
3. Out of unrest and arrogant pride,
     Jesus, I come! Jesus, I come!
   Into Thy blessed will to abide,
       Jesus, I come to Thee!
   Out of myself to dwell in Thy love,
   Out of despair into raptures above,
   Upward for aye on wings like a dove,
       Jesus, I come to Thee!
4. Out of the fear and dread of the tomb,
     Jesus, I come! Jesus, I come!
   Into the joy and pleasure, Thine own,
       Jesus, I come to Thee!
   Out of the depths of ruin untold,
   Into the flock Thy love doth enfold,
   Ever Thy glorious face to behold,
       Jesus, I come to Thee!

Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/1050#ixzz1lFnzxpXi