He is Good

Our little Lennox is now 10 months old.  Ten months ago I was getting ready to give birth.  A little less than twenty months ago, I found out I was pregnant with him. I was scared to get pregnant again- but he will lovingly come along side his children and remind us of his wisdom and his goodness. His ways are higher than our ways and he is a merciful God who remembers our frame. (Psalm 55:9 & 103:14)  Why would God choose to take the lives of 7 of our babies and commission us to raise Dylan and Lennox?  Because he is God and he knows what he is doing when we do not.  

While I am so grateful that he has blessed us with Dylan and Lennox,  I want to be perfectly clear about this: even if he had not granted us a single child, and though I may have 2, 5, or even 10 more miscarriages in my lifetime;  God is infinitely good, incredibly wise, and perfectly sovereign over every single moment in my life.  Nothing is far from his hand.  Tested and proved.

We need to be reminded, a lot!

I finished up my reading of Joshua this morning and was struck by how profound and yet so simple these exhortations were.  We need to be reminded...




Be very careful, therefore, to love the LORD your God. -Joshua 23:11


and...


And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. -Joshua 23:14


We are a forgetful, unfaithful people.  Our God, however, never forgets and is always faithful.


These words reminded me what I needed to be reminded of:


Stay near to him and love him.  My heart is prone to wander. He is faithful and does not forget his promises- and it has been proven time and time again in my life.  He is good! Amen!

Be Intentional

This is the greatest advice I can give myself.  I have found much joy and much contentment in the last few weeks by purposing to be intentional in everything I do.  What are my intentions, you might ask?  To glorify God.  Wow, Sunday School answer, right?  Wrong!  I have a terrible habit of meandering through life half awake, blindly doing menial tasks with no purpose other than the fact that they need to be done.  I am guilty of not taking pride in my roles, and when I do take pride in them, it's the selfish, self-exaltation kind of pride- the kind the God of heaven abhors.  Not the pride a blood-bought redeemed child of God ought to take in serving others and serving her Lord- so that others will glorify my Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).  So, I have tried very hard lately to not just do what I have to do because it needs to be done, but do it all as unto the Lord. (Colossians 3:17 & 23, 1 Corinthians 10:31)  Scripture doesn't suggest this principle, it commands it!

I have awakened to a joy in doing what I was made to do.  Not just as a human: to glorify God.  But as a wife: to serve my husband, to be his helper, to submit and trust him, as he submits and trusts our Lord; and as a mother: teaching Dylan about the Lord, homeschooling her, caring for Lennox; as an employee: serving my family, my father- who is my employer; as servant of God's Church and even very important as one who keeps a home organized and resourceful. 
When I know these are my God-given roles to fulfill and I am either being a false witness of His grace in me or I am being a purposeful servant of the Lord- it matters greatly!  If I will only begin a task with the mindset, "What I do matters greatly today- it matters to the Lord where my heart is when I complete this task and when I do this I am bearing His name,"- I can find great joy and contentment in even the smallest thing!  Sounds fantastic, doesn't it?

 So, why then, is it so easy to fall back into walking my blind little circles, just milling around completing tasks (or sometimes not even completing them!!)? It's. That. One. Word. Sin. Sin. Sin.  My old nature likes to fight hardily with my new identity.  We will fight this fight until we are with the Lord in glory.  I can not wait for that day!  In the mean time, being mindful, intentional and being self-aware and brutally honest with myself- that I can easily fall into that rut- is the best way for me to fight. I have written about the same thing here. I can't kid myself- and neither can you.  We have to be on guard against the ease of sin, the ease of idleness, and the ease of letting ourselves run on auto-pilot.  I think we can soundly say that if we are meditating on God's Word, meeting with him regularly in prayer, and surrounding ourselves with brothers and sisters that would spur us on to good works (Hebrews 10:24-25), and actually listening and taking care to meet the needs of others- as in our spouses and being careful to seek out ways to serve those in our body and in our community, we can beat this thing with the strength and power of the Spirit that lives in us.  This is the God of the universe- he made me, and he deserves to be the center of everything I do.  I am purposing the make that the truth in my life.  How about you?

David Miller

You are invited to come hear solid, biblical preaching from
Bro. David Miller: "Country Preacher at Large"
of Line Upon Line Ministries.

August 26, 27, 28, and 29, 2010 at
First Baptist Church of Briar
200 W.N. Woody Road
Azle, Texas 76020

On August 26, 27, 28 at 7 p.m.
and
Sunday Morning, August 29th at 10:45 a.m.

"Evangelist David Miller from Heber Springs, AR. David suffers from a degenerative muscular disease called peroneal muscular atrophy, however, he remains one of the most powerful preachers today – from his wheel chair. It has been said about David Miller that although he is forced to sit down in his wheel chair to preach these days, he still stands head and shoulders above most preachers in our present day.

David Miller enjoys spending time with his son Josh and grandson Malachi “Chi” outdoors at their deer camp. David and Josh (along with Chi) are extremely competitive deer hunters. Although he has had to overcome many challenges to deer hunt from his wheel chair, it still does not stop him from getting out there each year! In fact, when he is not traveling to preach, David looks forward to time at the deer camp all throughout the year.

David takes his calling as a preacher very seriously. He has been gifted with an unusual ability to memorize the Bible, and he uses that gift to preach the Word all across the Country. With a brilliant mind, David is often invited to large conferences and even chapel services at the Seminary. Although David has enough invitations to last the rest of his life and a well known name across the Country, he still prefers the title, “Country preacher at large." -cornerstone mcminville.com

To hear sermons by David Miller:

Sermons by David Miller on Sermon Audio

To view a few video excerpts from his preaching at the Anchored in Truth's True Church Conference:

David Miller on the Gospel and Regeneration

David Miller on Sanctification

David Miller on Positional Holiness

David Miller on Hymns and Songs

David Miller on his Disability and the Scriptures

David Miller on the Spirit's aid in Holiness/Sanctification

Baby Momma

The other night I was getting Dylan out of the tub and she looks at me with her sweet doe eyes and says, "Mommy,  I love you and you are always gonna be my Mommy."  So, my heart totally melted.  I look at her and told her that no matter how old she gets, she will always be my baby girl.  And that's when she turns to me and says, "You are always going to be my baby Mommy, and Daddy is always going to be my baby Daddy."  Oh, good heavens!  She had no idea why I was laughing, but she laughed with me!

How Will They Know if No One Tells Them?

 But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  Romans 10:14

A few months ago, Dylan and I were snuggling in bed one early morning. She said to me in a voice filled with distress, “You know, I was talking to Hannah* about God, and she don’t really remember him.”

Dylan isn’t converted, and I pray that God would truly open her eyes to himself soon, but I am thankful that she has an understanding of who God is, not because we are some great parents, but because he has helped us understand the magnitude of our high calling as parents.  

I want Dylan to see her father and mother savor Christ.  I want her to be able to close her eyes and picture his character in her mind based not only on Scriptures she has been taught by us but by the vivid picture we paint of him in our lives, by stories we tell her of his faithfulness, discipline, love, omnipresence, and holiness.  I want her to see me at my wits end- and I want her to see me turn to him.  I want her to remember when things get tough and her heart is aching that her parents went through heartache and trials and rejoiced in them because, by God’s Spirit, they were able to recognize that those afflictions were blessings from God to make them more like Christ.  I want to know that though she may not KNOW him now, she knows about Him, she can in no way doubt his existence, his presence and his faithfulness in the lives of her parents.  I don’t want to fail her in this.  I pray that I would point her to Christ when she’s being disciplined, that she may know that these commands she has been given are impossible to keep apart from a change in her very nature,  I pray that God’s mercy would be reflected at times in me when I can show her that though she deserves much punishment, I will show mercy to her as the Father has shown much mercy toward me.  I pray that I show her humility and my own need of Christ when I deal with her wrongly and must ask for her forgiveness.

"And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:6-9

I think that these verses speak of what our goals as mothers, parents should be.  We should be breathing Christ to our children.  It shouldn’t always be like this, ‘Now sit here, open this bible and study this memory verse until you know God.’  Though, there is a time and place for that most certainly.  But Christ should be on our lips, in our hearts, in the way we speak to our children, the way we play with our children, the way we discipline them, how we drive in traffic, how we love our husbands, the way we pray, and how we serve our church.  I think in “writing them on the doorposts of your house,” it’s more than an actual written word, but a declaration by the life of your home,  “We are God’s people, we speak of him, we live for him; he is our identity.” 

May our children never say to us, ‘Why did you not tell me about God?”  May it never be said of our children, “They don’t really remember him.” 

We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord , and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments. Psalm 78:7

It's your turn... all what, 5 of you?

Okay,  I want to write more actively,  and I do have a few more "According to Dylan" subjects, but I would like to ask you, yeah- all 5 of you, what would you like me to write about?  You can give me a subject, ask me a question, whatever, I need some subject matter, people!  Just post a comment below with your suggestion.