This sweet friend and I are just days apart in our delivery due dates. We used to live in the same apartments in Louisville and enjoyed a sweet friendship. So excited they now live in my home state and are about to bring much joy to their family by adding one little member. Here are some photos from our day at the Grand Floridian at Walt Disney World. Many blessings, Sarah and Chuck!
Are you ever at a point in your life where you don’t need any wisdom? I would venture to say the answer is probably “Kim, you are so funny, I always need more wisdom!” Whether it is in how to live in your relationships, serve in your home or ministry positions, how to get along with your boss, how to parent your children, how to manage conflict which seems to creep up, etc. There is always room for more wisdom in your life.
The reason I chose Lydia Brownback’s book A Woman’s Wisdom for my Crossway book to review was because my hubs and I are going through James – which some people say is the NT book of Wisdom (matching Proverbs). This book is definitely that, as her subtitle says “how the book of Proverbs speaks to everything.”
This handy guide to everything in life is chocked full of Scripture that has the power to change and mold your life to what Christ would want it to be – more like Him. Chapters include such topics as words, financaes, sexuality, friendships and more. The book of Proverbs (as well as the rest of the Bible) speaks to EVERY area of our life. I love how Lydia writes directly to women and doesn’t just spout off her own life advice (like so many secular authors do), but points her readers back to the TRUTH of God’s Word.
Here are some fave quotes from it:
“Wisdom is the realization that He is everything.” (pg 23)
“Wise women are governed by the principles of God’s Word, not by their feelings, hormones, or enjoyments.” (pg 28) – I loved this one because it is SO pivotal in my life right now, being in my third trimester and its the middle of the summer!
She helps us guard against pride by saying this: “Each one of us is, in some way, a foolish woman.” (pg 51)
As I had the chance the meet Lydia at the TGCW Conference in June, I found her to be delightful and personable, welcoming conversation by us “normal folk”. And she has to be into health because she was eating a granola bar! 🙂
This is a post written really to my single brothers in Christ (because I found the following status update on a friend’s FB page). But, girls – ladies, I pray that you would pray for your brothers in Christ that they would treat their sisters in Christ as just that – sisters in Christ.
Here was a recent FB post on a believer’s FB page:
(so on Saturday I called up my ex-girlfriend)
her: what do you want?
me: it’s hot, and I miss your icy stares, your cold shoulder, and your generally frosty demeanor.
I know, it is st a joke Kim, but seriously – this isn’a type of joking that should come from Christian brothers – the Bible says to not let any coarse joking come out of your mouths (Eph 5:4)
Brothers, friends:
1. I don’t know of too many women who desire to be joked about like this, to their faces or behind their backs.
2. This kind of joking does nothing to build up the body of Christ (Eph 4:29)
3. This would definitely not be the kind of joking that would be gracious to tell your wife in marriage, so why have the practice now as a single guy.
4. Men who are married, please lead your single brothers to treat and think of women better than this.
I am married to a gracious man who never once joked with me like this – that is one of many reasons I knew he was marriage material. He was respectful of me from day one.
Ok – rant over! Back to your regularly scheduled blogging already in progress!
Do we really live our lives in such a way that we would be considered Trinitarians – not Bi-nitarians. Definition: living life in such a way that we are in community with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, not just Father Son.
In the biblical communities (ie churches) that I have been a part of for my whole life, the majority of the talk is either on God the Father or God the Son, Jesus. Not many of the traditions I’ve been in focus in (if at all) on the Spirit. I’m not necessarily talking about the “charismatic gifts” such as prophecy and speaking in tongues or lifting your hands and dancing in the aisles during a church service.
But, for many believers there is an error on either side:
1. We don’t recognize the role of the Holy Spirit enough: whether in our prayers or our experiences
2. We over emphasize the role of the Spirit in unbiblical ways.
“Spiritual experience that does not arise from God’s Word is not Christian experience. But when we study God’s word we should pray that the Spirit of God will not only inform our heads but also inspire our hearts.” – Total Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis, pg 31
I’ve heard many folks say: God led me to do this, God is calling me into this profession, etc. The only thing wrong with statements like these is that in the instances I am thinkig about – the object of what God said for them to do does not line up with the perfect authoritative Word of God. The Holy Spirit of God will NEVER contradict what is said (what God breathed) in His Word.
God has said that we have all we need for life and godliness. The Spirit brings to mind what is written in the Word that can enable us to ive a God-glorifying life in every way. That is His role (John 15-17). He is our Helper and our Comforter.
So, while not living in one error – how do we not live in the other error:
1. Pray for the Spirit to bring to remembrance Scriptures that can light your path (John 15-17, Psalm 119). When you are in a situation that you need counsel on, first go to the Word. He will guide you.
2. Put every action or decision up against the authority of God’s Word. It is perfect and will never lead you astray. It is sufficient for leading us and for directing your life in perfect wisdom. It has no errors.
3. Read the Word and what it says about the Holy Spirit. Find a concordance or look in a study Bible or even pick up books like Wayne Grudem’s Bible Doctrines, the Holy Trinity by Robert Letham, or Francis Chan’s Forgotten God (I’m sure there are plenty of others). Study who the Holy Spirit is. Strive to know Him just as well as you know the Father and the Son.
Happy July 4.
I love being an American. Really.
But, as I heard this weekend, from “sea to shining sea” isn’t all that God has planned for this world. His glory extends beyond this melting pot of humanity to the far reaches of the globe. May we see the world with His eyes.
Picture taken in 2011 in Charleston, WV.
