At the Heart - Part 2

In light of the post I wrote regarding some struggles we Christians have with exercising spiritual disciplines, I thought it might be helpful to follow up with some practical ideas on how to focus our hearts and our minds heavenward. C.J. Mahaney proposes that these will help to cultivate a heart of humility.

First off I would recommend reading the above mentioned book, Humility by C.J Mahaney, and Shopping for Time by the Mahaney women. Both of these books offer a number of suggestions to help you actively pursue Christ in the day-to-day. Some of the ideas that I write can be found in more detail in these two books. I thought I'd just share what I like my day to look like. Obviously each day has its own trials and may not always be conducive to doing all of the things I'll list, but this is what I strive for...and this helps keep my heart focused on the best things!

1) Rise early. I used to find this task quite overwhelming as it was often hard to focus my mind so early in the morning, and I just found that I had too much I wanted to read, or too much to pray. The book Shopping for Time gave me a good idea to as to how to structure my time in the word and I have found this to be most helpful. I read my planned chapters for the day and write down three sentences (or more), by asking myself three questions:

a)What does this passage reveal about God? (ex. God....)
b) What do I learn about myself in relation to God? (ex. I....)
c) What do I resolve to do in response to God's revelation of himself in these verses?

2) Pray throughout the day. I like to pray for my church family during the day, so I generally reserve my morning prayer for other things. This also makes my morning prayer time less daunting. I like to pray through one page of our church directory each day. I can just pray for a particular family at any point, whether I'm washing dishes or doing laundry etc.

3) Walk and pray. When the weather is nice take advantage of it and get outside. I love to pray while I walk, I find it much easier to keep focused. This breaks up the day for the kids as well.

4) Memorize scripture. Pick a verse from your morning reading and write it on a cue card. Leave it in the room you spend the most time in. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so I leave it above my sink.

5) MP3s and sermons. After the kids go to bed at night, I usually have my final tidy of the house to do...put things away, get ready for the next day and all that. I have found that this is a good opportunity to put my MP3 player on and listen to a sermon or even worship music.

6) Go to bed and be thankful. Thank God at the end of the day for his grace and mercies and also for the gift of sleep. C.J. Mahaney proposes that sleep in itself should be a reminder to us of our humble state. We are not God, we need sleep. So thank him and sleep.

Also Christian, don't get discouraged if you weren't able to wake early one morning (maybe your children were up in the night or something else disturbed your sleep). Wake up, acknowledge your need for God, thank him and start your day, in dependence on him and relying on his grace. The rest of the day is not a write-off. Redeem it, draw close to him in prayer and in meditation. Recognize your blessings and give him praise in all things. Reflect on the cross. Preach to your heart. Confess your sin. Steep yourself in the Saviour! May your mind and heart be constantly turned towards God.

Psalm 84:5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion

Passing It On

My husband, Julian, posted this on his blog this morning, and I wanted to share it with you. Here it is, in its entirety.

An old professor of mine used to say 'The teacher's questions become the students' dogma.' In other words, what the teachers fancies with, the students accept and develop.

Don Carson puts it a slightly different way. He relates the American Mennonite experience as somewhat paradigmatic of what can happen in any church setting. He says, roughly, that the first generation of Mennonites believed the gospel, and saw that it had certain social entailments. The next generation assumed the gospel and believed in the social entailments. The third generation denied the gospel, but was committed to the social entailments.

Every Christian parent and every Christian teacher I know wants to pass gospel-belief on to the next generation. But how do we do that? I would suggest, based on the above insights, that the way to pass the gospel on is to be excited about it.

As Carson has often related, he understands that as a teacher, most of what students hear will be forgotten. But what do students remember? Ultimately, students remember what excites their professors. Children will have impressed on their hearts and minds what was most important to their parents.

Do you want to pass gospel-belief on to the next generation? Then let me ask: What excites you? What occupies your thoughts? Your time? Your imaginations? Do you spend more time on hobbies than on developing gospel-passion and gospel-living?

Everyone laughs when children first begin to imitate their parents and do things we unwittingly do, but they clearly see. It's funny. They are observant, they notice what we do, even when we don't. Why would we expect any less when it comes to our spirituality?

What do you speak about most at home? What issues get you most passionate? What causes get you to get excited at the drop of a hat? What habits in your life are the most consistent? What priorities are evident in your home?

These are the things you will pass on... whether we are intentional about it or not.

So let's be intentional! May it never be said of us that we passed on causes or diets or health-awareness or gender equality or views on parenting or anything that is less important and less eternally significant than the gospel of Jesus Christ.

At the Heart

Lately I've been thinking through my own struggles to read my bible and pray each day. I foolishly assumed that once I was home all day with children I would have more time and be easily devoted to these things. Not so I realized, in fact it has become more difficult. So, in light of my struggles and the recent grace I've experienced, I wanted to share some ideas as to why it's often a challenge for some Christians to read their Bibles and pray. I'll be speaking from the context of a young mom but I'm sure it applies to other situations as well. This is most definitely not an exhaustive list but rather just some of the reasons that I've been thinking through lately.

As the lists proceeds I believe the reasons will strike closer to the root of the sin that is in our hearts. In fact, all the reasons that I will list prior to my last point will prove to be merely symptomatic of the fundamental cause of our struggles.

And so we begin!

One obvious reason we struggle is that, as moms we have pretty full plates, we're busy, and trying to sit and be still seems an insurmountable task. There are mouths to feed, diapers to change, houses to clean etc. Trying to shut down from busy mode and read/pray is to say the least, a difficult task.

Another reason is that we're tired. Being a mom is a wearying job. Often there are long days and sleep-deprived nights. The ability to focus our minds on anything is an accomplishment in itself.

Thirdly, it's hard work! Rising early after a short night of sleep and directing our minds and thoughts amidst various demands is not easy. It requires discipline which is why we often refer to the reading of our Bibles and praying as spiritual disciplines. Good ol' Charles Spurgeon uses some wonderful imagery which paints a great picture of the work involved in learning the truths of our God. I stole this quote from my husband's blog.

We ought to muse upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutriment out of them. Truth is something like the cluster of the vine: if we would have wine from it, we must bruise it; we must press and squeeze it many times. The bruiser’s feet must come down joyfully upon the bunches, or else the juice will not flow; and they must well tread the grapes, or else much of the precious liquid will be wasted. So we must, by meditation, tread the clusters of truth, if we would get the wine of consolation therefrom. Our bodies are not supported by merely taking food into the mouth, but the process which really supplies the muscle, and the nerve, and the sinew, and the bone, is the process of digestion. It is by digestion that the outward food becomes assimilated with the inner life. Our souls are not nourished merely by listening awhile to this, and then to that, and then to the other part of divine truth. Hearing, reading, marking, and learning, all require inwardly digesting to complete their usefulness, and the inward digesting of the truth lies for the most part in meditating upon it. Why is it that some Christians, although they hear many sermons, make but slow advances in the divine life? Because they neglect their closets, and do not thoughtfully meditate on God’s Word. They love the wheat, but they do not grind it; they would have the corn, but they will not go forth into the fields to gather it; the fruit hangs upon the tree, but they will not pluck it; the water flows at their feet, but they will not stoop to drink it. From such folly deliver us, O Lord, and be this our resolve this morning, “I will meditate in thy precepts.”

It is not only hard work because of our mental state and lack of discipline, but it is also tough because a lot of times we don't feel like we're meeting with our God. He seems quiet or distant. In his book, titled Humility, C.J. Mahaney writes "One morning I'm profoundly aware that God is near to me, while the next day I can sense only His absence. In a matter of hours I go from what seems to be an effortless experience of pure joy to asking, 'Where are You? Where did You go?'"

So here we find ourselves. Is this to be it? Will we always struggle? Do we just need to exercise more discipline and find more time? Would we be better off if we just had more favourable circumstances? Would we then read and pray more? I don't think so, because I think our struggle reveals a deeper heart issue altogether, that is twofold. We don't take the time to meet with God, because we don't believe that our ultimate joy is in him alone and because we are proud.

What do I mean when I say we don't believe? I mean that at the root of our issue is an underlying lack of belief in who God is and in what he says about himself in his word. Scripture testifies to the joy that is found in God alone. To list a few: Psalm 16:2 I say to the Lord, 'You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.' Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy ; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 19: 7-11 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

If we really believed that unsurpassable joy and the only true life was to be found in meeting with God, in learning about him, in communing with him, then would we not do everything in our power to obtain this? Busyness, fatigue, even hard work would not succeed in averting us from this grace! If we could truly say with the apostle Paul that 'For me to live is Christ... ', we would not so easily cast aside the means of grace which he has so freely provided. We would pursue him with relentless zeal and passion, we would cast aside all hindrances to acquire this joy. But alas, we do not believe.

Finally we do not believe, because we are proud. We do not take God at his word, we presume to know otherwise. We think we can manage the day to day on our own. We claim by our actions that we are self-sufficient. We may not consciously think these things but search your heart Christian. What does your life reveal?

Lord, help our unbelief!

Pray to that end Christian, and then pursue him, in his strength. Start reading, start praying, and you will long for more of him.

Now as much as I suggested that our true problem lies in our unbelief, it does not negate the fact that our days are still busy and tiresome and it is often hard work to search the Scriptures and meditate on God. So if I do believe and I am yearning for God, how can I practically overcome some of these obstacles? I'd like to offer some suggestions that I've gathered from various Christian authors and other Christians in my life, in another post.

Until then and always, delight in him, to his glory.

A Love Like This

I've recently started reading the biography of Elizabeth Prentiss, author of the well-known fiction novel Stepping Heavenward, and the much loved hymn "More Love to Thee."

I'm not far into the biography, however I have been very blessed thus far. I wanted to share an excerpt from a letter written by Elizabeth's father, Edward Payson, that has touched my heart:

I have sometimes heard of spells and charms to excite love and have wished for them, as a boy, that I might cause others to love me, but how much more do I now wish for some charm which would lead men to love the Saviour. Could I paint a true likeness of him methinks I should rejoice to hold it up to the view and admiration of all creation, and be hid behind it forever. It would be heaven enough to hear him praised and adored. But I cannot paint him, I cannot describe him, I cannot make others love him. Nay I cannot love him a thousandth part so much as I ought myself. O, for an angel's tongue, O for the tongues of ten thousand angels to sound his praises.

To hear of the love that this man had for Christ, excited my heart and stirred up a deep longing for a love of this depth. To desire the exaltation of Christ above all things, more than what others think of me, more than my physical comforts, more than material possessions, more than anything! This would be glory for me.

On his deathbed, not long before he passed on to be with his Saviour, Payson writes the following:

Oh what a blessed thing it is to lose one's will. Since I have lost my will I have found happiness. There can be no such thing as disappointment to me, for I have no desires but that God's will might be accomplished. Christians might avoid much trouble if they would only believe what they profess, that God is able to make them happy without anything but Himself. They imagine that if such a dear friend were to die, or such and such a blessing removed, they should be miserable, whereas God can make them a thousand times happier without them. To mention my own case, God has been depriving me of one blessing after another, but as every one was removed He has come in and filled up its place, and now, when I am a cripple and unable to move, I am happier than ever I was in my life before or expected to be, and if I had believed this twenty years ago I might have been spared much anxiety.

I pray this love and this faith for my own heart and I pray this for yours, Christian.

The Genesis of a Blog

Why this blog?

I have begun this blog to reflect on what God is teaching me so that I might increase my delight in him in order that he might receive greater glory in me.

What will I write about?

Most often, I will be writing about what I am learning through my devotions and other christian reading. I'd also like to share words of wisdom and practical advice that I have received on how to be a godly wife and mother. I'll probably also throw in some of my favourite recipes and other household ideas along the way!

What is my hope?

It is my hope that as you follow along, something in here would stir you up to love Christ more as well. In this blog, as in all things, this is my prayer: 'More love to thee, O Christ, more love to thee.'