As in a Mirror

Hey, y’all, I don’t know if this little corner of cyberspace has been forgotten or not, but here I am anyway. Hi!
Yikes, I know I’ve been away for several weeks; this section of the school year finds me pretty busy, so between studying, a lot of writing, and chores, I’ve kinda been losing my creativity for now A couple times I thought to myself, “Oh, I could post this or that,” but never got around to it, bummer. Several times I would read through my own past posts (what I write is basically me speaking to myself) and be stirred again and think, “Oh I should post that little snippet, just to share it again,” but again never got around to it. The Gospel in the Gospels series is really neat for me, helping me to cross-reference and get the bigger picture through the whole Bible. I love reading the Bible and seeing not just lifestyle instruction or topical discourses or isolated stories, but a Story as a whole. What is that Story? The Glory of God. All things of Him, through Him, for Him, for His glory. But alas, I just haven’t had the creativity to put anything together. A lot of my oomph has sunk into a deep hibernation, unwilling to be awakened.

But anyway, I didn’t return to merely share my bloggy woes; I have good news, the first of which is that it is not freezing cold even though it’s almost the end of November! Woohoo! I’m sure thankful for that. Maybe it is the slow advent of cold, though, that’s giving me a serious cooking/baking bug. Whenever I can find the time and energy, I’m making something. I made my first scones just a few days ago–yummy! Totally homemade! I got the recipe online and took pictures of the process, but again never got to editing them or writing the article. Yesterday we had a great Thanksgiving dinner, although a lot of it was out of cans and bags. It was delicious, but I did miss the charm and quality of homemade. We had plenty of leftovers, though, so no cooking today!

Well I was given a pair of Maxell Wooden Ear Buds (yah, I had no idea there was such a thing either!) and they are very nice! The cable is braided nylon, another awesome feature. Also received a treasure indeed: my very own copy of The Shadow of the Almighty: the Life and Testament of Jim Elliot, 2008 edition. It’s something I’ve wanted for some time. I borrowed the original publication from the library a few times and to say it had a profound impact on my life would be an understatement. Re-reading it now is beautifully nostalgic– the sweetest nostalgia I can ever remember having. What else can I say? Now it’s my own! Thanks to my Mom and Dad. Food passeth away, but treasures from learning from a fellow mortal whose heart was bonded to Christ don’t. Maybe you get an idea just how dull I am right now because I’m not even crying! (Quick! There’s something wrong with Alice!) “One generation shall praise Your works to another.” That’s what I feel like when I read books like this.

Well, Thanksgiving Day was good and quiet for us. Psalm 145 and Romans 3 were two good chapters to read that day. I hope y’all had a wonderful time of food, fellowship, and continue to this week. Remember to take life in stride, as sometimes we Yankees forget the value in that. Value little things, and thank God for it all. “Don’t worry ’bout nothing; pray about everything.” And tell somebody else about God’s goodness, eh?

Well, I stayed up past my bedtime to write this, so “Night All!”

You’ll want to check this out; it’s the testimony of David Wheaton, a Christian author/speaker/radio host, but also a famous professional tennis player. It is very concise and very relevant to young people but perhaps especially to young men; you will want to take a moment to read it and ponder it.

There are things we don’t understand as of now, but we know Him who knows all things, and we cling to what He has revealed to us. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.” Deuteronomy 29:29

Psalm 119: In the midst of David’s suffering, he exclaims how he loves the Law of the Lord.

Is it a “purpose-driven life?” is it our purpose we are trying to find? Romans 6:10 says that we died with Christ, and He died to break the power of sin. But now that He lives, He lives FOR THE GLORY OF GOD!

Matthew 7:17-20 Notice that the trees do not control which fruit they bear; depending on what kind of tree it is inherently, that is the kind of fruit it inevitably bears. Different kinds of trees also produce different fruits at different times.

Matthew 3:9: Now we read something like this, and say, “Okay, so just because you’re Jewish doesn’t mean that you will go to heaven.” But we need to take the word of God and apply it to ourselves on every level. In places like this, where it is appropriate hermeneutically, we need to fill in “Abraham” with our personal context. Do we think that just because we go to a certain church we’re saved? Because we grew up in a Christian home? Because we believe the right stuff and are not ‘one of them’?” We see that John’s point was that the people he was speaking to leaned back on their ancestry or their position to make them feel safe. Do we do the same in something? These things are written for us to learn from.

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6:32-33) Men do not work signs and wonders; God does.

When I die, and I stand before the judgment seat of God, I am not going to say: “Lord, I was faithful” or “Lord, I did my best.” My defense alone is, “Lord, Your grace was enough. Your Son’s sacrifice was enough.” He became my sin (though He did no sin) so I became His righteousness (though I did no righteousness)

Today’s tweets all come from the book of 1 Peter– what a great letter!

Do you find yourself in the midst of sore trials? Fear not; these trials will show that your faith is genuine. (1 Peter 1:7)

We, who love God without seeing Him, are blessed because we trust Him; we wait for Him with joy. (1 Peter 1:8)

We are strangers on the earth, and conduct ourselves with reverent fear during our stay. (1 Peter 1:17)

Was God shocked when Adam sinned? Nope. “God chose [Jesus] as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed Him to you in these last days.” (1 Peter 1:20)

When we have tasted the Lord’s kindness, we desire to grow in sanctification and in doctrine. (1 Peter 2:2)

We have been called out of darkness into light. Now what do we do? Announce God’s goodness to others. (1 Peter 2:9)

When we suffer, oh that we followed in the steps of Jesus! (1 Peter 2:21-23)

Hey, y’all! Sorry I haven’t been around for a while. Last week we went up to the Adirondacks, and it was SO BEAUTIFUL!!! We’ve known for a loooooong time that we’ve needed to go up there, but now we are enamored with the place. We went up at the perfect time of year, too, just as the leaves are starting to turn color, before the bitter cold sets in. So, you could say we’re having post-vacation-readjustment-syndrome. Gah! Normal suburban life! Sorrow…

I also watched Ray Comfort’s new film about the Holocaust, abortion, and morality, the 180 movie, at the beginning of this week. It was quite astounding! There is quite a big buzz about the film now, and I’m certainly glad, and hope the good buzz grows. It does have a warning for graphic content; in an instrumental section in the film is where they show the Holocaust pictures; I watched it online, so just minimized the window as soon as it started. Hopefully, I’ll have a review up soon; but it sure is a hard kind of film to review, just because the content is something you have be engaged in for yourself. Hence, I highly recommend you watch it for yourself, and seriously consider its propositions.

I take notes while reading the Bible, and set them aside as pithy thoughts. Most of them are too brief to suffice as a blog post, so I had the idea of putting a handful of them in one post, as if they were a bunch of “tweets,” since they are all random and unrelated, but still worth sharing (and I don’t have twitter). What do y’all think of the idea?

Colossians 2:11: Our circumcision is the cutting away of our our sinful nature.

Acts 10:4: The angel said to Cornelius that his prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by… God!

Luke 6:35-36: We are to be of a compassionate spirit, as our Father is. He is kind to the unthankful and wicked. Is this our attitude, or do we instead boast against them as if we are more deserving of His favor, or deny our own imperfection?

John 7:7: Jesus was hated by the world. Why? Because He testified that their works were evil. If we are followers of Christ, we will be hated by the world. Why should the world hate us? Because we testify that its works are evil.

John 15: If you feel like parts of you are being cut off, don’t fear. The Vinedresser is pruning you so that you will produce even more fruit.

Are we to seek the signs, the wonders, the miracles and great “power of the Spirit”? 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12: “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

Are signs and wonders God’s key to revival? Mark 13:22: “For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones.”

Love: it proves to the world that we are disciples of Jesus.

BTW, yes, I will continue the Gospel in the Gospels series; I’ve got a few quick sketches that I’ll finish soon.
How was your week?