by Kimberly | Jun 23, 2013 | Uncategorized
I love the Psalms. It is one of the books of the Bible that always brings me comfort when I read it. I’m thankful that God orchestrated and breathed every word of the book of Psalms. As my worship pastor husband said to me: these words of the psalmists weren’t only read in ancient churches but also sung, there were notes and melodies and harmonies. Singing is something that usually comes from deep within us and stirs up great emotion. There is great struggle and great rejoicing in the Psalms – anywhere from lament to generational jubilation. I love it all!
Psalm 16:11 (ESV):
“You make known to me the path of life, in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
I’ve been thinking on this particular Psalm much over the last 10 years, but as soon as a friend tweeted it the other day, something new stood out to me. I love the depth and the richness of the Word of the Lord. Find hope in this Psalm.
Ultimately, this Psalm is a Christological Psalm – meaning it refers to Christ. We find hope from knowing how Christ lived. He was a human much like us (though without sin) and found his ultimate pleasures on this earth in communion with His Father. That pleasure, that closeness, is being revealed in heaven now at the throne of God that Christ is standing at the right hand of the Father, interceding for His own, even when we don’t know how to pray. He prays for our pleasure to be found only in Christ. He prays for us to be satisfied with Him and Him alone.
How do we find that pleasure? The only way we find pleasure in God, forevermore (which includes today), is by His covenantal nature. He will not forsake His own. WE can have covenant with our pleasure-giving God because He has made a covenantal promise of faithfulness to those who are found in Him. He didn’t forsake Christ to the depths of Hell – and He won’t forsake us either.
We do ourselves harm when we find ultimate pleasure in anything else besides God. Sure, God gives us many gifts, callings, jobs, to enjoy for His glory and with His blessing – but not to find our ultimate, final pleasure. As the great author and masterful writer/theologian said it (paraphrase) – if we look at the mud and mudpies and are content with those, than we are wrong in doing so. Don’t fix our eyes on the mudpies.
One of the ways we continue to dwell in the pleasure before our final resting place in His true and glorious presence, is by staying close. I’ve heard it said stay “clean and close”. Here are some ways to stay close to our God:
1. Renounce sin. Not saying that you will never sin, because even though we have the righteousness of God imparted to us, we still live in the flesh and are at war with our Enemy who delights to see us sin.
2. Hope in God. When we do sin – find joy in the fact that Gospel prevails. Christ has conquered the grave. Our sin is not ours to bear anymore.
3. Read and love. When reading the Word – love the Word. It will be of great benefit to you – even in your discouraging times, even in the hard times (read Piper’s When I Don’t Desire God). There are times when I don’t, and from the words of my mentor as well as many of the psalms, read anyway, praying the Spirit would refresh your heart toward His righteousness.
Live and dwell in His presence, there finding all your pleasures.
by Kimberly | Jun 21, 2013 | parenting, Women
I really think this will be the last one of this series (some of you might be glad). I hope this series has been helpful.
Let me clarify a few things that were pointed out to me by talking with my husband and then turn our eyes to the point of this part 3.
We are all created differently and uniquely. We all have different gifts, talents, and callings. We all should use those to God’s glory. I know many women who have only longed to be a wife and a mother from the time they could hold a baby doll. Some of them are dear friends and struggle with a period of singleness because they just want to fulfill these desires. If that is you – praise God. I pray that He either has given you your heart’s desire or will fulfill it soon.
I know some other women who may have gotten married later (or right out of high school/college) who have other plans and desires other than to be a wife and a mother. But, along the way, that woman gets married and its the best thing that has happened to her. Then she must figure out a way to make that calling (a wife and maybe a mom one day) a priority in her life without hopefully dying to everything else. I fit into that category.
Since we all fit somewhere in either of those categories – I trust that we can all believe the best from each other and not try to force the other life on every woman. Encourage them women in your life to live every minute of their days to God’s glory – not their own. It will look different for each woman.
Here is the main point of this post: when I struggle – how do I find hope in the gospel? My husband and I have many conversations about how Christ is found at the center of the Word – so how is Christ found at the center of my life and my struggles. I am very thankful for the psalmists. These psalms were read aloud to the people of God as part of their worship services. They weren’t just read to one person. I’m so glad the God-breathed book tells us of the struggles that even “a man after God’s own heart” faced at times. What did he do? He wrote those down as God commanded him to. He let his struggles be known. He wasn’t looking for validation for those strggules or wanting to be told that he was ok in those struggles. He may have just wanted a listening ear or someone to say “I’ve been there too”. But, then at the end of it, maybe even days later when the psalmist was able to hear it and receive it – say God is here. He is bigger. The psalmists weren’t perfect – just like we aren’t perfect. I believe that we can share life with others and share our struggles and hopefully in doing so come back to the gospel.
It is hard to hear from “perfect” people. You don’t think you have anything in common. But, those people that say, “I have a hard time submitting, or I want something more out of this life, or raising my kids is tough at times” – then turn it back to say God is good in it and He will be there every minute to sustain you – those are the people I want to hear from. God doesn’t require perfection from us – because He knew we could never fulfill it. That is why He sent Jesus.
Jesus even struggled with the cross. He said take this cup from me – but not my will but yours. Obedience came even from great struggle and distress. He was a perfect High Priest who is able to understand our struggles and empathize with us. He endured.
So can we. Endure well – even in the struggles. Don’t be afraid to share those struggles – and to point people to the hope of the Gospel.
by Kimberly | Jun 20, 2013 | Books, Women & Books Together
Jesus. What’s in a name?
This is the most important name to us Christians – the one that our entire Hope lies in. Begg and Ferguson, some of my favorite preachers, have teamed up to write a fabulous and readable book that studies some of the positions/names of Jesus.
I chose this book from Crossway this month because of the authors, but I was afraid it was going to be over my head or not really readable and applicable. I was wrong on both acccounts. They have made this book not only applicable but funny in places.
One of the underlying messages throughout this book is that Jesus is the center message of the entire Bible – and Jesus needs to be the center of your life.
So what about this special book study coming? In the past I’ve had a full-time job writing curriculum for a church. This is the book we are starting with! This will be a 7 week series, so it should finish by the time some schools/home schools start back. It will begin JULY 15 so it gives you plenty of time to get the book. We’ll read a chapter per week and then have study questions here, some thoughts from my reading, and opportunities for you to comment on the blog and join in on the study. This is sort of like Tim Challies’ Reading the Classics together. I hope to have a blog button up soon so you can have it on your blog or facebook. I’m really looking forward to studying this book together with yall and see how we grow in our knowledge of the Savior. Oh, and this will be geared toward women only).
So, go buy the book and get ready to learn more about our Great Savior!
by Kimberly | Jun 19, 2013 | Women
Take a look around your church next time you are there? What do you see? Hopefully, if you are in a typical (and healthy church IMHO) you will see women of all ages: you’ll see women with blond hair that includes a pink streak. You’ll see women who are tired and weary from life walking with a cane but with a big smile on their faces from years of traveling with joy with The Lord. You’ll see women who are tired from being up all night wondering if their teenage son or daughter is going to make it in by curfew. You’ll see some with spit up on their shirts because of the babies they are caring for. Women in our churches come from every walk of life and are from every generation.
I’m writing this post from the voice of a women’s ministries director or someone thinking in terms of conferences for a whole church of women. If I were writing this from a personal note as an individual then I would say bring it (and I so want to go) – because it would be a blast of a girl’s weekend with some of my best buddies. But, as far as the church ministry goes – older women in the church are vital for ministry and mentoring!
There have been many women’s conferences I’ve attended over the years, some I’ve spoken at. One of the needed concepts in planning these conferences is planning for something that appeal to all women. One aspect that I appreciate about the TGC Women’s Conference that happened in 2012 (and will happen again in 2014) is the wide range of ages who attended. I loved snapping photos of moms rocking their babies to sleep and gray-haired ladies taking notes in a worn Bible.
What about this trend of appealing to only a set age-range? Is there value in that? YES! But, is it IDEAL – No.
Value: Some of these women are going to be going through the same things as you are. Most of them will be instagramming and tweeting and have a ton of hair products and wear the latest style – and really cool bags and shoes – and plenty of iPhones and iPads. Most will have to find babysitters for older children. Some will probably locate the coolest coffee shop near the conference. Most will have families, young families at that, even the speakers – I would love to know how the speakers handle young children and a thriving ministry (because that is honestly where I would love to be). Also, the topics of interest most women will want to know/learn about will be similar. You can have a variety of breakout sessions and it might even be hard to choose which one to go! Happy problems!
NOT Ideal: If you are planning on bringing a group of women from your church – you can only bring one set. This may be a good getaway for a small group of friends from you church, talk about ministry and how it can work better or get a fresh new perspective, but you couldn’t bring your whole team (in most churches). The women’s ministry team at my church couldn’t all go because some of them are older. And I love the conversations that might happen with older women seeing their wisdom in life that has come from years of doing ministry and family.
Titus 2 does talk a lot about teaching the younger women about how love their husbands and be keepers of the home and knowing how to LOVE the Word (not mis-aligning the Word of God). And as I get older I realize I tend to look for people my same age (give or take ten years) but for those who are at different spaces in life (older kids, more years married, single, etc). I think I would actually LOVE to go to a generational conference because I love coffee, ipads, cute clothes (much easier when I’m not pregnant), and relevant messages. And if I were thinking of it as a getaway with friends from around the country that would be perfect – late night chats, makeup everywhere, interesting conversations over great food/desserts, and phone calls to check up on our kids. But, if I were to plan a conference for the women of my church to attend, I think I would opt for a multi-generational one.
I would not make this a determining factor for attending a conference – just one factor to include when planning!
by Kimberly | Jun 16, 2013 | Uncategorized
This weekend coming up holds a special holiday. It is definitely not as highly promoted as Mother’s Day – but that is a fault of the American public. I hope by now you have bought cards, planned meals, and bought gifts as a way to show appreciation to the Father in your life.
As I was at Target the past few weeks, I’ve been highly disappointed in the types of Father’s Day cards out there to choose from. The above display will show you a great majority of them and what their common theme is.
The aobve card should not be the sentiment of Father’s Day. Fathers get a bad rap out there due to some of the population living up the cards and also the television shows that depict fathers as dead-beats, uninvolved, lazy bums. This is not who God designed Fathers to be.
There are three overarching commands that Fathers (and husbands) need to be that God set up as a design:
1. Protector. I feel this greatly in my relationship with my husband and the father to our children. I remember the way he drove us to the hospital before Elijah came along and the first ride on the way home from the hospital with eli. He also is our protector here at home, protecting us not just from harm from the outside, but also harm from within (by what we watch, do, and listen to.
2. Leader. Men are commanded to lead in a Christ-honoring way. This is a self-less leadership but one that knows that it his job to lead our family. My husband/father to our children does this by choosing what we read, sometimes how we spend our time, and how he leads our family in financial matters.
3. Provider. My husband/father of our children is a great provider for our family. He is a hard worker and has a strong work ethic. I had that in my Father as well. E not only provides for our family financially, but provides a strong Christian-spirit for our home.
Bodily noises and beer should not be the focus of our celebration of our fathers. But, unfortunately for so many of us, that is where we are because that is the type of father we know or have. If this is the case for you, I pray you would ask your perfect Heavenly Father to redeem the time that you have with your earthly father and ask Him to work a good work in your Father’s life and heart.
