Growing in Grace

It is nice to be still under the care of St. Mary Magdalen. . . The allegorical sense of her great action dawned on me the other day. The precious alabaster box which one must break over the Holy Feet is one's heart. Easier said than done. And the contents become perfume only when it is broken. While they are safe inside they are more like sewage. All very alarming. -C.S. Lewis

It is idle to say that men are of equal value. If value is taken in a worldly sense - if we mean that all men are equally useful or beautiful or good or entertaining - then it is nonsense. If it means that all are of equal value as immortal souls then I think it conceals a dangerous error. The infinite value of each human soul is not a Christian doctrine. God did not die for man because of some value He perceived in him. The value of each human soul considered simply in itself, out of relation to God, is zero. As St. Paul writes, to have died for valuable men would have been not divine but merely heroic; but God died for sinners. He loved us not because we were lovable, but because He is Love. It may be that He loves all equally - He certainly loved all to death - and I am not certain what the expression means. If there is equality it is in His love, not in us. -C. S. Lewis

There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done', and those to whom God says, in the end, ' Thy will be done.' All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened. -C.S. Lewis

In her book "Breaking Free", Beth Moore writes about five benefits God intends "to be the daily experience of every child of God." (p. 23) The first benefit is to know God and believe Him . Beth Moore writes that "one of your chief purposes on this planet is to know God intimately and with reverent familiarity. That intimate relationship begins, but was never intended to end, with what we call the 'salvation experience.' So the first question to ask yourself is, Have you received Christ as your personal Savior?" "One of the most beautiful elements of salvation is its simplicity. Christ has already done all the work on the cross. Your response includes four elements: 1) Acknowledge that you are a sinner and that you cannot save yourself. 2) Acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and only He can save you. 3) Believe that His Crucifixion was for your personal sins and that His death was on your behalf. 4) Give Him your life and

I needed this reminder today. . . I am so often in a hurry to get to the next thing. . .  "Mommy, do we have to hurry?" my four-year-old-daughter asked as we walked out of the house on our way to the store. My first thought was, Of course not, we are just going to get groceries . Then it hit me: I often tell her to hurry. She wanted a heads-up. I tell my daughter to hurry and clean her room. I tell my boys to hurry and get in the car to go to school. I tell my son to hurry up and finish his dinner since the rest of us are already done. I tell my daughter to buckle her car seat quickly so we can go. And I always seem to be in a hurry when I'm driving. Perhaps I need to learn to slow down. I challenged myself to keep patience at the forefront of my mind one day as I took my daughter on several errands. As usual, she took her time getting in and out of the car, tiptoeing on the curb in each parking lot, walking into each store and looking around at whatever sparkly o

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. -C.S. Lewis (p. 48) I will be happy when. . .  And I filled in the blanks with a list of events I had built up in my mind, which I was certain would fulfill my life. . . The list marched subconsciously through my mind each day of my discontent. And with each passing day, my dissatisfaction and expectations grew. . . I didn't realize that I mistakenly believed I needed these things to be happy because I was basing my experience on worldly temporal values. . .  Finally, I came to the end of myself. At some point in life, it dawned on me that this is the "broken place." Earth is the temporary place where Satan rules and where all people are sinful and subject to the disappointments of a fa

In our day-to-day experience it is sometimes difficult to determine the source of our adversity. Adversity related to our personal sin is usually easy to identify. Beyond that, though, things begin to run together. We certainly do not want to rebuke the devil for something God is behind. Neither do we want to just grin and bear it if there is something we can do to put an end to our suffering. The Bible does  not give us three simple steps to aid us in determining the source of our adversity. This used to really bother me. For a long time, when I faced adversity, I would pray and pray for God to give me some indication as to why I was suffering. Then I realized why those kinds of prayers rarely seemed to be answered. There was and is a much more important issue at stake. Far more important than the source of adversity is the response to adversity. Why? Because adversity, regardless of the source, is God's most effective tool for deepening your faith and commitment to Him. The a

Do we know Him? Do we know that God of Jesus Christ? Maybe we think that there are other things more important in the Christian walk than knowing God - like loving God, praising Him, thanking Him, keeping the commandments, living a good life. There are many things that make up a truly Christian life, but all of them are rooted in authentic knowledge of God. Perhaps we think that because we are Christians and read the Bible and know a great deal about God, that therefore we know God. Nothing could be further from the truth. It does us little good to memorize chapter and verse, to master the language of the Bible, if we have nothing to share in that language, no experiential knowledge of God in our lives. Maybe that doesn't happen because we pray so little, so infrequently, and so poorly. For everything else we have plenty of leisure time. Visits, get-togethers, movies, the Olympics, concerts, and evening with friends, an invitation we can't decline - and these things are goo

Real change is an inside job. You might alter things a day or two with money and systems, but the heart of the matter is and always will be, the matter of the heart. Allow me to get specific. Our problem is sin. Not finances. Not budgets. Not overcrowded prisons or drug dealers. Our problem is sin. We are in rebellion against our Creator. We are separated from our Father. We are cut off from the source of life. A new President or policy won't fix that. It can only be solved by God. That's why the Bible uses drastic terms like conversion, repentance, and lost and found. Society may renovate, but only God re-creates. Here is a practical exercise to put this truth into practice. The next time alarms go off in your world, ask yourself three questions. 1. Is there any unconfessed sin in my life? 2. Are there any unresolved conflicts in my world? 3. Are there any unsurrendered worries in my heart? Alarms serve a purpose. They signal a problem. Sometimes the problem is o

Citizenship of the Kingdom looks beyond this life. When this life comes to an end, when we die, life is not finished. There is a life to come. And the kind of life we have lived here will make all the difference to the kind of life we'll live in the world to come. In school we cannot move up to a higher class until we have faithfully done the work of a lower class. Unless we had faithfully done the tasks of the lower class we would not be fit for the higher tasks of the higher class. Life is like that. To die is like moving up to a higher class. . . In that world to come we will be very directly in God's presence. That must mean that we can be happy there only if we have done God's will. And so to do God's will is not only the thing which brings us happiness in this life; it brings us happiness also in the life to come. That is why it is so important to become a citizen of the Kingdom. It is worth much to be happy in this life. It is worth still more to be useful to oth

Jesus said that out of the nature of the heart a man speaks. There's nothing like a good thump to reveal the nature of a heart. The true character of a person is seen not in momentary heroics, but in the thump-packed humdrum of day-to-day living. . . Begin by thanking God for thumps. I don't mean a half-hearted thank you. I mean a "rejoicing, jumping for joy" thank you from the bottom of your heart. Chances are that God is doing the thumping. And he's doing it for your own good. So every thump is a reminder that God is molding you. . . Beware of "thump-slump" times. Know your pressure periods. For me, Mondays are infamous for causing thump-slumps. Fridays can be just as bad. For all of us there are times during the week that we can anticipate an unusual amount of thumping. The best way to handle thump-slump times? Bolster yourself with extra prayer and don't give up. Remember, no thump is disastrous. All thumps work for good if we are living fo

"Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad. - 1 Chronicles 16:10" (p. 23) "I am convinced that David's story shows us a life that can be danced and celebrated by everyday people like me and you. With 'heart' eyes, we learn to see God's power. . . David danced before the Lord with all of his heart because he loved God; his dance poured out of the overflow of his relationship with God. . . David did not base his joy on his circumstances but on his perception of God's daily companionship. And his inner life and love for God grew stronger. . . " (pp.24-25, 27) "Then David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their relatives the singers, with instruments of music, harps, lyres, loud-sounding cymbals, to raise sounds of joy. -1 Chronicles 15:16" (p. 27) "'You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever' (Psalm 16:11). . . David&#

Music very often speaks all that is in my heart. Recently, this song by Casting Crowns is the cry of my heart To know You is to never worry for my life To know You is to never give into compromise To know You is to want to tell the world about You To know You is to hear your voice when you are calling To know You is to catch my brother when he's falling To know You is to feel the pain of the brokenhearted 'cause they can't live without you More than my next breath More than life or death All I'm reaching for,  I live my life to know You more I leave it all behind You're all that satisfies To know You is to want to know you more To know You is to ache for more than ordinary To know You is to look beyond the temporary To know You is believing that you'll be enough 'cause there's no life without you More than my next breath More than life or death All I'm reaching for,  I live my life to know You

1 Samuel 18:1-20:42 Though Saul was king and his son Jonathan first in line for succession, God had appointed David as the next king of Israel. David waited for God's timing and did not try to dethrone Saul or eliminate the heir to the throne. Saul's goal was to protect his family line at any cost. Saul chose jealousy over God's will. Jonathan chose obedience to God's plan and friendship with David over jealousy. Though Jonathan was not given the throne - despite his obedience and godly attitude - he did have peace of heart and knew his priorities were straight. - The Inspirational Study Bible ; Max Lucado I saw a man in the supermarket yesterday using a new sporty wheelchair. When he zipped down the aisle, his chair didn't make a squeak. I looked down at my big clunky twenty-year-old model with dirt on the frame and threadbare padding. Little wonder I looked with envy at his high-tech wheels. I'd like a trade-in on my wheelchair. Perhaps you would lik

I read and re-read the book Dancing with my Father by Sally Clarkson. It was wonderful. I have been neglecting my 1,000 gift posts so have decided to include my reading of this book with my list since the book was also about how to find joy in the everyday. "On with the dance! Let joy be unconfined. . ." Lord Byron (p. 14) Sally Clarkson wrote "we are not to look for temporal happiness, to have our own way; instead we are to look for the true, authentic joy that comes from God, the Source of joy." (p. 15) You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, that my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever. -Psalm 30:11-12 "Dear Heavenly Father, Please move in my heart. Teach me to live in the fullness of your joy. Show me through your Word and by your Holy Spirit how I might learn to dance my life with you as my lead, following your steps, lis

John 15 is one of my favorite chapters in this Gospel. In this chapter Jesus teaches about abiding in Him, growing fruit, loving others and the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Verse 1 begins with Jesus' statement that He is the vine and His Father is the gardener. In Scripture, "the vine" referred to Israel. God "transplanted" the people of Israel from Egypt to the promised land of Canaan. Jesus Himself is the "True Vine". Warren Wiersbe writes that "our union with Christ is a living union, so we may bear fruit; a loving union, so that we may enjoy Him; and a lasting union, so that we need not be afraid." Branches are referring to mankind. Wiersbe writes that alone, "a branch is weak. . . The branch cannot produce its own life; it must draw. . . from the vine. It is our communion with Christ through the Spirit that makes possible the bearing of the fruit." The key idea in this analogy is the word "abide". This wo

In his book, "Surprised by Joy", C.S. Lewis chronicles what he calls his search for "Joy". I loved reading about his journey and wanted to remember how he shared his progressive faith. C.S. Lewis shares how he had three experiences in his childhood that he called Joy. The first was "a memory of a memory." He writes how he "stood before a flowering currant bush on a summer day (and) there suddenly arose in me without warning, and as if from a depth not of years but of centuries, the memory of that earlier morning at the Old House when my brother had brought his toy garden into the nursery. . . It was a sensation, of course, of desire; but desire for what?. . . and before I knew what I desired, the desire itself was gone, and the whole glimpse withdrawn, the world turned commonplace again, or only stirred by a longing for the longing that had just ceased." (p. 16) His second glimpse of this "Joy" was found in a Beatrix Potter book, &q

Although we need to be saved from eternal separation from God only once, Christ continues His saving work in us for the rest of our lives. In Isaiah 61:1-4, Beth Moore points out the following truths: 1) God hears the cry of the oppressed. He even hears the cries of those whose oppression is a result of sin and rebellion. 2) God fulfills these verses in Christ alone. Christ set us free by the power of His Spirit; then He maintains our freedom as we learn to live from day-to-day in the power of His free Spirit. 3) Christ's ministry is a ministry of the heart. Like Beth Moore, I often think of the unsaved as being in bondage to something. But my eyes are being opened to the fact that even the saved can be in bondage; that I remain in bondage in some areas.  As she writes, "a Christian is held captive by anything that hinders the abundant and effective Spirit-filled life God planned for him or her." I know that I desire to live an abundant and effective Spirit-fill

"If our liberty in Christ is going to be a reality in life, we are going to have to learn to walk in the freedom of Christ, independent of everyone else we know." This quote from Beth Moore's book "Breaking Free" came to light as we were watching "Prince Caspian". As the children are trying to find their way through the woods, Lucy sees Aslan. She believes he wants them to follow him. The others don't believe her, and so they follow Peter's lead. When it turns out to be blocked by King Miraz's army, they go back to where Lucy said she saw Aslan, and they find their way. When Lucy finds Aslan later, she tells him that she had seen him, but the others didn't believe her. He asks why she allowed that to keep her from coming to him. Lucy admits that she was afraid. I think that is what Beth Moore is talking about in this quote. We cannot let others keep us from following Christ. We must follow what we know to be true even if it means

A Christian is held captive by anything that hinders the abundant and effective Spirit-filled life God planned for him or her. Pride can lead to captivity (Jeremiah 13:15-17). . .  Pride will be an obstacle every believer must face on the freedom trail. . .  To be free in Christ, our high places will have to fall. We must be willing to take a stand against idolatry. We have a crippling tendency to forget what God has done for us. For a while, we're humbled. Then, if we do not guard our hearts and minds, we begin to think we must have done something right for God to have been so good to us. Therein lies another road to captivity. It is the road to legalism. . . We may be afraid to ask God on a daily basis to keep us humble because humility involves discomfort. We may have to suffer some embarrassment, even some failure. Why are we not far more frightened of what pride can do? Pride can cost us - and probably those after us. Pride, idolatry, unbelief, legalism, these will prove