Destroyed for Lack of Knowledge

This week began our Domestic Day Camps. What a joy to be in a room full of mothers and daughters that are seeking to be Godly women twice this week!

While preparing my lessons I thought of the verse below that we are all familiar with and how it is applied to so many situations. The part that we hear so often in the first part:
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:" Then I read the rest of the verse and it really shook me up.

Hosea 4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:
because thou hast rejected knowledge,
I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me:
seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God,
I will also forget thy children. (KJV)

If you look at the KJV (which should always be the standard when studying) it says if we reject God's laws, He will reject us and our children.

Now, I understand that we live under grace, but that does not excuse a heart of disobedience. Yes, we will fail, we will sin, and that is covered under the blood of Christ, for there is no condemnation for those that are in Him, BUT to have a heart of *rejecting* God's law is a totally different issue. We are not free to obey only the parts we like.

John 14:15
"If you love me, you will obey what I command.

May we SEEK knowledge, SEEK understanding, SEEK grace to obey, SEEK strength to stand firm and not give into temptation. May God never forget us or our children. We need to study, to keep learning so we will not be ignorant of God's Truth!

Hosea 4:6
You priests have rejected me,
and my people are destroyed by refusing to obey.
Now I'll reject you and forget your children,
because you have forgotten my Law. (ESV)

Calvary Love

If I am perturbed by the reproach and misunderstanding
that may follow action taken for the good of souls
for whom I must give account;

if I cannot commit the matter and go on in peace and in silence,
remembering Gethsemane and the cross,

then I know nothing of Calvary love.

~Amy Carmichael

How often to we share the gospel, or just live out the Christian life and people misunderstand us and we take offense or feel frustrated? How often do we plead with loved ones to turn to the Lord only for them to continue in the way of the transgressor, and we wring our hands in worry? If we could just simply share the truth in a spirit of love and leave the results at the foot of the cross and remember that it is all Him, and not us.

I love Amy Carmichael, her words are so convicting. If you do not have a copy of her little book If I strongly encourage you to get one.

With ALL Diligence

From our family reading last night:

Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.

Put away from you a deceitful mouth
And put devious speech far from you.

Let your eyes look directly ahead
And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.

Watch the path of your feet
And all your ways will be established.

Do not turn to the right nor to the left;
Turn your foot from evil.

Proverbs 4:23-27

Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. All of Scripture is powerful, but last night this verse brought on a good conversation about keeping your heart with "ALL DILIGENCE".

Dil"i*gence\, n.

1. The quality of being diligent; carefulness; careful attention; -- the opposite of negligence.

2. Interested and persevering application; devoted and painstaking effort to accomplish what is undertaken; assiduity in service.

-Webster's Revised Dictionary

This Proverb is for all of us, especially for the young. As our children become wiser and gain more independence, they begin to question, "Did God really say...?" Especially those brought up in Christian homes, they will wonder and question, and that is good. We want them to be able to THINK on their own. They need to sometimes wrestle with the Holy Spirit so that their convictions are THEIR convictions.

As our oldest child is wrestling with the Holy Spirit, and we watch our two youngest changing into women before our very eyes, I just want to say to them CONSTANTLY, "Watch over your heart with all diligence!!!!!!!!" There is so much that pulls at them. So much that says "Come over here, I'll make you happy, I'll make you beautiful, I'll make you popular, I'll make you important, etc..."

In the beginning of this chapter (Proverbs 4) it says:

My children, listen to me.
Listen to your father's instruction.

Pay attention and grow wise, for I am giving you good guidance.
Don't turn away from my teaching.

For I, too, was once my father's son,
tenderly loved by my mother as an only child.

My father told me, "Take my words to heart.
Follow my instructions and you will live.

Learn to be wise, and develop good judgment.
Don't forget or turn away from my words.

The sad truth is they don't always listen to their parent's instruction, just as we don't always obey our Heavenly Father, and THAT is when you have to remember that God is faithful to finish what He has begun in them (and us).

The only way to keep your heart with all diligence is to WORK at it, painstakingly devote yourself to the Lord, die to yourself and live for Him. Then and only then will you have true beauty, true peace, true importance in this world. Watching over your heart doesn't just happen, you have to work at it!

Die Quickly

Elizabeth Elliot:

To hold onto something with a desperate grip is not the way to die. Death is a painful process, and restoratives offered to the dying wretch bound to his wheel only prolong his agony. There are times when the thing to do is simply to die. I am thinking, of course, of dying to the self. We clutch so tenaciously to our rights, hopes, ambitions, something to which God has perhaps said a plain no. If would-be comforters offer us consolation and sympathy, if they assist us to strengthen our grasp when it should be loosened, they do not love us as God loves us. The way into life is death, and if we refuse it we are refusing Him who showed us that way and no other. The love which is strong as death is not only willing to save the beloved, it is willing to seem, if necessary, pitiless, insensitive, unloving, if that is what will help the beloved to die--that is, to be released from the bondage of self, which is death, and thus enter the gateway of life.

Archbishop Fenelon wrote to the countess of Montberon, "You want to die, but to die without any pain.... You must give all or nothing when God asks it. If you have not the courage to give at least let Him take."

It is Well With My Soul

The song says It is Well With My Soul, not it is well with my circumstances.

The other night I was watching Jennifer Rothschild
on TV and was so blown away by her wisdom. I think I will buy her book next. She became blind as a teenager. Her father was a pastor (not that that makes a difference). She never became bitter about her blindness. She is now married and has children. Towards the end of her interview she said that she would never want to trade her life of blindness for one of sight, that she has learned so much about God that she would have never learned if she had not been blind.

After being told that she was going blind, at age 14 I think, she went home and played It Is Well With My Soul on the piano. She said, 'It is about things being well with your soul, not being well with your circumstances'.

I can't tell you how convicted I felt. I have sat in the pit of self pity off and on for years over not being able to have more children, for having a rebellious teenager, and a dozen other situations. In all of these situations God has taught me so much about Himself. And the in most painful situations I have learned the most. Especially with children that disobey or rebel. How heart wrenching it is to love someone so much and have them reject the Truth and believe lies. God must experience the same (well worse) heart ache when we rebel against what is Truth.

Yesterday during our sermon I was crying out to God in my heart..."Lord, I love him so much, do you understand how much I love him (my not-so-little stinker right now)?" It was almost like God laughed at me! Reminding me that HE loves him more. Then I felt conviction about MY rebelling on a daily basis in one form or another. Then being the silly person I am I asked God, "Do You love ME this much?"

You see, this was another step in me learning more about God and the depths of His love that I would not have learned if I have not experienced the heart ache of a rebel, or a closed womb, or all the other struggles He allows me to have. Just as He allows others.

It's all for a reason, and only He knows. My job is to submit, learn, and trust Him. I need to thank Him for today's stripping away of my pride, thinking I do not deserve to suffer or be inconvenienced.

God is good, ALL the time.

Nothing But the Blood

We sang this this morning during worship (I also installed it on my sidebar). It all boils down to the blood of Jesus. Without Him there is no forgivness of sins, no peace, no hope!

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

For my pardon, this I see,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Nothing can for sin atone,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

This is all my hope and peace,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
This is all my righteousness,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Now by this I’ll overcome—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
Now by this I’ll reach my home—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Glory! Glory! This I sing—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
All my praise for this I bring—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Faithfulness? Obedience?

We have just returned from a BEAUTIFUL trip to Virginia, how can anyone doubt God is real when they see such beauty?

We listened to some beautiful music as we drove 600 miles north, and listened to an outstanding history tape by Steve Wilkins about Robert E Lee, which we have listened to before, but seeing as we were going to Virginia to soak in it's RICH history we thought we should listen to it again.

~~~~

Have you ever poured your whole heart and soul into doing something that you KNOW God has called you to do and yet the results seem as though you failed? THIS is how I have felt for the past couple of years, the past year especially. I have no doubt that God wanted me to be a wife and mother. I have no doubt that we are to teach our children as we walk and sit beside them, no doubt that He wanted us to homeschool.

Then things happen that were not part of the plan, that I know HE wanted me to do. For example, a rebellious teenager. The past couple of years I have been in kind of a spiritual shock, because this was not part of the plan...at least not how I was seeing it. I have asked God OVER AND OVER AND OVER..."WHY? What did we do wrong???" Not that we have done everything perfectly...far from it, but we have tried to be faithful. But I have to admit, God has purified tons of PRIDE from me, pride I did not even realize I had... I wonder how much more He needs to squeeze from me?

So back to our trip. While listening to this tape about Robert E Lee (one of our favorite men of all time), Pastor Wilkins brings up a VERY important point. This is not an exact quote but it is the jest of it. General Lee was asked after the war about loosing and his reply was (paraphrase):

'I did what I felt I was called to do to the best of my ability,
the results were up to the Lord.'

God used this to minister to my heart with such freedom and healing. I have spent so long searching for ways to fix a rebellious heart that was not mine to fix. I want to be faithful to God and part of that faithfulness is trusting HIM with the results. I'm sure Lee did not know he was going to loose the war when he started out, but he was faithful. His life is still impacting others today (like mine). I'm sure when he took his last breath here on earth that he then met God face to face and heard the words we all long to hear, "Well done, good and faithful Servant."

We must put on the full armor of God, be faithful, and stand firm, even when our circumstances look out of control, knowing that HE holds them all in his hands.

Therefore, take up the full armor of God,
so that you will be able to resist in the evil day,
and having done everything,
to stand firm.
Ephesians 6:13

Our obedience cannot depend on our current circumstances!

The Wage for a Wife and Mother

What is the wage for being a Godly wife and mother, a keeper of your home?

There are times it is hard to be a stay at home wife and mother. You are on duty 24/7 and sometimes without anyone noticing your constant sacrifice. You may have seasons (sometimes LONG seasons) of potty training, character training, or a rebellious child. You may have a husband that is demanding and ungrateful. But God does notice. He knows your heart. He knows if you are willing to serve Him regardless of the pay. The key is to focus on Christ not the circumstances. So much easier said than done..I know!

So is it worth it? YES! It is worth it because this is why God created us. Our goal is to please Him. We please Him by laying ourselves down as a living sacrifice. He has given us MANY promises in return.

One promise is:

Her children arise up, and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praiseth her.
Proverbs 31:28

They may not do it daily, they may not always do it in word, and it may take years before you hear it from your children, but if you are faithful, no matter the *current circumstances*, this will come to pass. God does not lie.

The Place of Exaltation

My Utmost for His Highest is probably my favorite devotional. You can go HERE to read it each day. The following is the devotion for Oct 1st.

. . . Jesus took . . . them up on a high mountain apart by themselves . . . —Mark 9:2

We have all experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things from God’s perspective and have wanted to stay there. But God will never allow us to stay there. The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain. If we only have the power to go up, something is wrong. It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley (see Mark 9:14-18 ). We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life— those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength. Yet our spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mountain. We feel that we could talk and live like perfect angels, if we could only stay on the mountaintop. Those times of exaltation are exceptional and they have their meaning in our life with God, but we must beware to prevent our spiritual selfishness from wanting to make them the only time.

We are inclined to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching. In actual fact, it is to be turned into something even better than teaching, namely, character. The mountaintop is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something. There is a terrible trap in always asking, "What’s the use of this experience?" We can never measure spiritual matters in that way. The moments on the mountaintop are rare moments, and they are meant for something in God’s purpose.

Quilted Bible Cover

Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to your word.
Psalm 119:37

***

It is so easy for me to spend my day doing things that really don't amount to a hill of beans, and then neglect the things that do make a difference. The quickest way to get distracted is to ignore God's Word.

Picture above:
Last year Olivia, Emma and I took a watercolor quilting class. Each of us made a wall hanging of a cross. Olivia gave hers to Grandma, I have Emma's hanging in the sewing room and then I used mine to make a cover for my Bible.

Stubborn Self Will

I saw this posted on Mommy Life and thought it was WONDERFUL!!! Reprinted with permission from KS Milkmaid, the author of the post and picture. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. I think I'll post it on my frig to remind me of MY stubbornness.

Farming brings you close to creation. I pause when doing chores and listen to the creation speak about the wonders of God. Often I observe the animals and note profound lessons about my own humanity in the context of God’s majesty. For example, look at this picture of Marco.

We just separated him from his mother. We were trying to move him to a different paddock on the farm. Marco just wouldn’t cooperate. We decided we would have better luck with a halter. However, he had never been on a halter before. Marco did not want to budge. We desperately tried to lead him to the lush green pasture. As a farmer, I knew it was time for him to rely more on solid food, to grow and develop. But, Marco wanted his mother’s milk. He locked down with all the stubborn self will a Jersey steer can muster.

When I looked at this picture of Marco, I thought of my own stubborn self will. Christ often attempts to lead me to green pastures. He is encouraging me to grow and mature, but I lock down and won’t budge. I think the status quo is better. I don’t want change and I don’t want to be refined either. I lock down just like this stubborn Jersey steer. I can’t remain on milk forever. I need solid food.

Hebrews 5:13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Udderly His,

The Kansas Milkmaid

Loving Prodigals

Barbara of MommyLife.net posted my email to her on her website. She shared some encouraging words in response I thought I'd share. You can go HERE to read it.

Before I go any further I want to say that I live a VERY good life, God has given me more than I could ever hope for. I know that He alone is God and that none of our trials come as a surprise to Him, in fact He is the One that orders my footsteps. I am ashamed when I question His providence in my life.

All that being said, I don't know if there is a pain deeper than the pain of a grown child going wayward. (by the way, I have suffered the pain of a child dying) When a parent spends the majority of their blood, sweat and tears with a child and then when given the chance that child turns away from Truth, the pain is almost unbearable. It is a constant struggle not to let this pain consume your every thought of every day. But as the hours turn into days, and days into weeks, God slowly brings YOU into repentance. Repentance of the sin of 'idolizing' the creation, rather than the Creator. It is Christ alone that our joy must depend on. If we have to have comfortable, ideal situations to walk in peace and joy then we have no idea what suffering for Christ is all about.

Parenting adults is HARD! When I say parenting I do not mean controlling, I mean loving, nurturing, guiding etc... As our son is making bad choices (that is putting it mildly), he has completely broken our hearts. I've had days that I have felt like I would never see day light again, but I am. I am not my son's Holy Spirit, neither is his Dad, we are only his parents. He is now under direct care of OUR Heavenly Father, who does NOT fail. I know in time that God will make Joshua's faith real and strong. I don't understand why we have to travel down this road, and I don't have to understand, I simply have to trust the Lord.

God gave us a job of loving and training our children, and we have (and still are) poured every ounce of our being into this God given task. I have to constantly remind myself that the story is not completely written yet, there are always dark times before before the glorious resurrection of God's power in our lives.

I struggle with showing love when I am hurt or angry. I live under a family curse of running from problems and writing people off when wronged with the slightest offense and I am determined to break that curse with God grace.

This morning I read:

If someone forces you to go one mile,
go with him two miles.
Mathew 5:41

I feel like Joshua is forcing me go two miles with him. This should be the time of our lives when we should be enjoying the fruit of our labor of his raising. It should be an exciting time as he begins his young adult life and establishing himself...but I guess not. So as he is FORCING me to go down this road that I DO NOT want to travel, I will go with him....loving him, praying and fasting for him, yet keeping my eyes on the only One that can save!

Lord, use me according to your will, not mine, where ONLY YOU can receive the glory!

My Favorite Scene

OK, so I drive my family a little nuts always taking pictures...of EVERYTHING! But one day they will be glad they have thousands and thousands of pictures to look back on. The other night I snook up behind Jeff and took this picture. This is my absolute favorite scene to see in my home, my husband feasting on God's word. You can give me a one room shack and it would be OK as long as I have a husband that loves the Lord!

Yesterday, Olivia and I were out for our walk and we walked past a house of a friend of ours that recently died. Olivia commented on how sad it was that he was always working on that house, making it so nice, and now it just sits there empty and neglected. I reminded her what is even more sad is that he spent all of his time working on that house, but he did not build his spiritual house. This earthly house will one day be ashes, it is our spiritual house that is everlasting.

And how guilty I am of doing the same thing, getting distracted doing THINGS, and not spending enough time at the feet of the Lord.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,

where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

"But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,

where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;

for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Mathew 6:19-21

The Waiting Game

We all have situations that we want to fix but we cannot. The only thing we can do is pray and wait, trusting the One that has created us, that He will be faithful to keep His promise.

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish,
but everyone to come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:8-9

I've Got a Gun!

This is the blog of a daughter-in-law of a friend, of a friend of mine (some of you know them):

Resolved To Worship

She has the most BEAUTIFUL pictures posted regularly! This morning I read this NEAT POST from her. What a great reminder not to fear but live boldly for Christ. You really need to go read the whole thing.

"Life is not about making sure we only go to a church where people homeschool, or wear clothes like we do, believe all the same things that we do... or any other thing like that. It's not about getting in our little cliques and only hanging with those who think like us... rejecting others.

"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel!" That is our call. It doesn't say go into all the world and preach about 5 steps to this or 10 points to that to be godly... it says to preach Christ and him crucified. To tell of His love and of the wrath to come -- to give HOPE to the hopeless...

And there is no hope unless you've been hit by a "mack truck," as Robert puts it -- that's where Christ comes in and your life is forever changed."

What He Has Done

...but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Joshua 24:15

And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua,
and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua,
and which had known all the works of the LORD,
that he had done for Israel.
Joshua 24:31
~

We are to serve and worship God for what He has done, NOT for what He can do for us. Although He does delight in giving good gifts to His children.

Todays goal, an attitude of thanksgiving, focusing on what God has done, His faithfulness, the promises He has fulfilled in the past.

The Heart of the Matter

God pays no attention to the insignificance of the work being done, but looks at the heart which is serving him in work. This is true even of such everyday tasks as washing dishes or milking cows.

Martin Luther

The wise in heart accept commands,
but a chattering fool comes to ruin.
Proverbs 10:8

~

From heaven the LORD looks down
and sees all mankind;

from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth

He who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.

Psalm 33:13-15

A Smooth Path~E.Elliot

Life is all about trials and how God uses them in our lives to refine us and to bring glory to Him. Sometimes it is hard to remember that when you keep crashing into huge boulders that are in our path. :o)

This was my devotion this morning by Elizabeth Elliot:

A Smooth Path

The work of heavy highway equipment is to smooth the way for travelers by exalting valleys, making low the mountains and hills, straightening the crooked. Obstacles--trees, rocks, houses, even mountains themselves--are put out of the way. This is what the Lord can do for his travelers (it is promised by the prophet Isaiah), but He does it without fuss, and in response to the one who simply thinks of Him:

"Think of Him in all your ways, and He will smooth your path" (Prv. 3:6 NEB).

The mind can build barriers, produce huge obstacles, collide with boulders of impossibility. Strangely and wonderfully, when we turn our thoughts to Him with whom nothing is an impossibility (and to turn thoughts takes an act of will), He smoothes the path for us. We find it possible, maybe even easy, to move forward.

Don't waste time, energy, perhaps sleep-time, thinking of all those rocks in the way. Think of Him. Think of Him! You may find your path suddenly smoothed.

***
About a week ago I was so frustrated with circumstances that I was ready to give up. SERIOUSLY, I was ready to check out, not die, just run away. I was so tried of dealing with the same rocks in my roadway that I felt as if they will never be removed. To be honest, I hadn't had these feelings since my early 20's. I was even to the point that I didn't care if my actions pleased the Lord or not...scary I know! I knew what my REAL problem was, it wasn't the rocks, it was my perspective, I didn't even want to be on the path any more. :o(

Then out of pure desperation I decided to pray and fast, which also meant fasting from the phone and computer. I went about my duties all day, praying. The only one I told was Olivia so she could handle the kitchen for me.

By the end of the day it was truly remarkable how God changed my hard heart and gave me eyes to see the real problem, the problem of forgetting why I am here, what my purpose is. It's all about Him!

I shared this trial with a friend, and I was surprised that she too had been having the same struggle. As godly wives and mothers our pride keeps us from sharing our burdens with each other, not that we should whine to each other about every struggle, but I think we do need to be open enough to let others know when we are feeling overwhelmed. We NEED to be able to encourage each other to remember what our purpose really is. Sometimes when you are hurt or angry it is easy to loose site of that!


So PRESS ON dear friends!

Apportioned Limitations

I for one, always feel like I don't do enough, or wonder if I am missing something bigger that I should be doing for the Lord, etc... Here is a devotion from Elizabeth Elliot that is so fitting.

Apportioned Limitations

The God who determined the measurements of the foundations of the earth sets limitations to the scope of our work. It is always tempting to measure ourselves by one another, but this easily leads to boasting or despair. It is our business to find the sphere of service allotted to us, and do all that He has appointed us to do within that sphere, not "commending ourselves."

Paul said, "We will keep to the limits God has apportioned us" (2 Cor 10:13 RSV). Jesus did that--willing to become a helpless, newborn baby, to be a growing child, an adolescent, a man, each stage bounded by its peculiar strictures, yet each offering adequate scope in which to glorify his Father.

Lord, glorify yourself through me and in the place You've set me. Let me not covet another's place or work or glory.


~~~~~~~~~~~~
AMEN!

The Resurrection

CHRIST IS RISEN INDEED!