A Misinterpreted Verse

This weekend my husband and I are in New Hampshire visiting family. Being out here reminds me of how the Lord has worked in my heart to make His desires my desires

Psalm 37:4 is one of the most misinterpreted verses in the Bible. The verse says:

 Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.

We often take that to mean that if we are delighting ourselves in Him – aka loving and following Him – then He will give us what we want.

No. That is not what it means. It does not mean that you get whatever you want. Delighting yourself in the Lord is not some means of manipulation to get God to give you what you want.

Delighting yourself in the Lord is submitting yourself to God’s will. And when you submit yourself to the Lord He often changes what you want to be what He wants. So He does give you what you want. But because you have delighted in Him and submitted your will to Him, His desires become your desires.

So delight yourself in the Lord by submitting to His Word and loving Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and He will give you the desires of your heart by conforming them to His will.

Happy Lord’s Day!

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Countering Selfishness

When I am tempted to fuss and fret,

Because all my “needs” have not been met,

Or when I am prone to great despair,

Despite working hard life isn’t fair.

I realize I’ve come to believe the lie,

That the most important person in the world is, I.

My anger or my wallowing sorrow,

Results from the selfish attitude that I borrow.

When I let self my conscience cloud,

Fleshly rule has been allowed.

But to counter my naturally sinful bent,

I have a help that’s heaven-sent.

I dwell on His most precious blood,

And to my heart the joy does flood.

How can I help but praise and sing,

When dwelling on the selfless King?

 

 

Monday Morning Mantra

Monday Morning. It is another week – another day. I don’t know about you, but sometime I feel more tired after the weekend. My weekends are spent catching up on chores and cramming in some social time. This weekend was particularly crazy with our car breaking down. Fun times!

After a busy weekend, it can be hard for me to get going with everything again. I have been realizing more and more my weakness and my total dependence upon Christ. The Lord has been showing me that I need to take time every day to cry out to Him and ask Him for strength. If I don’t do that, I end up getting frustrated with myself and what I didn’t get done or I focus on how I failed.

So my “Monday Morning Mantra” and really my every day mantra, is to preach the Gospel to myself. I recall the truths of God’s Word and the work He did on the cross for my sins.

Why do I do this? I preach the Gospel to myself for the following three reasons:

1. Remember His Faithfulness – Lamentations 3:22-23
When I am tempted to doubt God’s goodness or be frustrated by His timing, I recall His faithfulness. He has always done what He has said. He promised to send His son and He did. He has promised to make me more like Him and He has. Great is His faithfulness!

2. Repent of My Folly – Psalm 69:5
When I remember His faithfulness, I am ashamed of my lack of trust in Him. I foolishly think I can handle things, but I can’t. Only the Lord knows what is best and He is working things out according to HIS perfect will.

3. Reap the benefits of Filling My Mind with Truth – Philippians 4:7
When I have remembered what God has done and repenting of my lack of trust, then I can reap the benefit of preaching the Gospel to myself. The promises of His Word and a restored relationship with Him fill my heart and mind with peace.

What do you preach to yourself on Monday mornings? What promises of God are comforting to you in times of doubt?

New Blog Look Coming Mid-August!

New Blog Look Coming Mid-August!

Mid-August I will be launching my new website! Click on the link above to check out my Facebook page for a sneak peek of what it will look like! If you haven’t done so already, like my page on Facebook. Thanks, friends! Happy Saturday! 

For Your Husband’s Eyes Only // Modesty Pt. III

Am I dressing in a way that is honoring my {future} husband and Heavenly bridegroom?

Modesty.  We always hear the argument for modesty from the perspective that immodest dressing causes men to stumble. And while I do believe that is true, this week I am taking a look at why we have a biblical command to be modest aside from the fact that immodest clothing causes men to stumble. Here is a summary of what we have looked at so far:

1. God created clothes to cover nakedness – God symbolized our need for Christ to cover our sins by making clothes out of animal skin. This was the first sacrifice. Genesis 3:21

2. God created us to be worshippers – God intended that we dress in such a way that reflects that we are His worshippers and that we are not distracting others from worship. 1 Timothy 2:9

“Clothing is an outward symbol of an inward spiritual reality.” ~ Mary Kassian

And last, but not least, we will look at the final principle:

3. God created us to be temples of the Holy Spirit and we are not our own. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.

As a Christian, you have heard this principle many times. You know that when you were saved that you relinquished your life to the Lord’s control and that you are to live for Him. But do you think about the fact that you are to dress for Him? I know that when you get dressed in the morning it feels like you are in control of what you do, but you are not. You are under the divine control of the Holy Spirit and you have to submit to the standards that He calls you to. To disregard God’s call for modesty is to disobey Him. You are not your own.

Think about this. When you get married, Scripture tells us that your body is now your husband’s and your husband’s body is yours. Do you want everyone seeing what should be for your husband’s eyes only? How would your husband feel about that?

“But I am not married!” You might protest. It does not matter! Proverbs 31:12 says that the wise woman does her husband good and not evil all the days of her life. All the days of your life start before you are married and before you have even met your husband. Are you doing your future husband good by saving your body for his eyes only?

Likewise, when you become a Christian you are the bride of Christ. You are to dress in a pure manner that pleases the Bridegroom. You are to dress in a way that says that you are His.

Ladies, I am so passionate about this because I want to see you live holy lives before the Lord.  Matters of straps and hemlines and cultural modesty expectations are secondary. Those things do not deal with the heart issue. Let me end with this quote from the book Disciplines of a Godly Woman; 

“So there’s the challenge – to dress in a way that is feminine, appropriate, and modest. We gospel women must begin with our hearts, allowing God’s Word to search out the thoughts and intentions that influence our wardrobe. We must also turn our attention to the beauties that God values most in us – beauties that have little to do with clothing.”

I beg you ladies to think critically today about what priorities you are screaming, what beauties you are drawing attention to, and what clothing honors your husband.

For further study, here are a few resources that you might enjoy: 

“Modesty” a sermon by Pastor Rick Holland 

“God’s High Calling for Women, Part 1″ a sermon by Pastor John MacArthur

“The Naked Truth about Clothing” a video blog by Mary Kassian