Saturday Morning Reflection

"People Do Not Drift Towards Holiness" by Josh Etler and DA Carson

Hard work is not the opposite of grace, it is the result of experiencing grace. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated. 

Milk versus Solid Food

I would like to attribute my lack of blogging to the alert I received that I am out of space on Picasa, but really I have just been plain busy. I am still doing school, cooking, playing, and everything else as usual, but too much of it to have time to record it all! So, as I am working out my space issue for photos, here is a post minus the usual pictures...

As BSF and Bible study comes to a close for the year, I am overwhelmed by the blessing God has given me to be in a place that presses me to press on to maturity (key word= press on...I have a long way to go)! In Hebrews, the writer calls this solid food.  He goes on to make an analogy between the physical growth of a child and the maturity of a Christian. A mature Christian should crave solid teaching that moves beyond the basic steps of faith, just like a mature child has an appetite for solid food. (We must not confuse this analogy with the one mentioned in Matthew 18:2-4 when Jesus commends having the attitude of dependency and humility of a child. It is important to hold on to this!)

Hebrews 5:13-14 "Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." and then he names the basics of faith in 6:1-2 "Therefore, let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgement."

These are the foundations of faith (and are very important!), but it doesn't stop here! There needs to be understanding of the reality of Jesus and the gospel message and application of it. This passage tells us that solid food is the teaching of deeper things beyond the basic truths above. This includes sound judgement and discernment, distinguishing good versus evil, and moving from the knowledge of truths to the application of them.

1 Peter 2:2 "Like new babies, crave spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." -The milk (basic truths) is only a taste!

Ephesians 4:12-14 tells us the goal of the body of Christ is to "reach unity in the faith and in knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. THEN we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming."

James 2:17 "Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

Maturity doesn't just develop on its own over time in a believer. It takes time, effort, accountability, and prayer...and in my experience, lots of it! I am thankful to have people in my life to encourage me to press on to maturity when I don't have the desire, energy, time, etc. Bible study has been a huge help in this way! This will always be a challenge and there will always be room to grow because complete maturity is only attained in the fullness of Christ. If you are a believer in the basic truths of Christ, ask yourself these questions that I am continually asking myself.

Am I living in the comfort of just drinking milk?

In which of the "milk" areas am I ready to move on to "solid food"? 

What disciplines are needed in my life to mature?

What am I actively doing right now to press on to maturity in my faith?

What blessings has God provided for me to know, share, and apply these truths?

A New Commitment and My Favorite Bible Story

Since reading the book Radical (see my post on this book here) and several other events, I have been convicted that I have never read the entire Bible. Oh, but have I attempted! It's the usual new year's resolution until I get to about Leviticus and decide that reading the Bible, much less in year, is just too lofty a task. Sound familiar?

Well, all excuses aside, this time is it! I have prayed over this decision and am now 100% committed. I have put off every excuse that I have used before, and there are lots, and am counting them all as loss compared to knowing Jesus, my Lord and Savior, through reading of His Word (Phil 3:8).  I started the last week in July, so hopefully by our anniversary next year it will be complete! Cole is doing it with me too. With any commitment of this nature I need accountability and encouragement, and he is so great at that! After looking at 1,000,000 a few plans, we decided that the ESV Bible Reading Plan fits us best.

On that note I guess I should give you my updated reading list:

1. Heaven is For Real
2. And the Shofar Blew by Francine Rivers
3. Radical by David Platt
4. The Moon and the Mango Tree by Pamela Ewen
5. What Did You Expect? by Paul David Tripp
6. Desiring God by John Piper
7. Let the Nations Be Glad by John Piper
8. The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis (on book 4 of 7)
9. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
10. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
11. Peace Child by Don Richardson
12. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (just got it from the library so this is my next one!)
13. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
14. Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
15. Operation World
And now... 16. The Bible. 


I can't believe I read this many books on a regular basis, but have never completed the Bible?!


Operation World is a prayer guide that gives you all the information to pray specifically and intentionally for a nation of the world each day. Cole and I want to mimic God's passion for the nations and develop a deeper burden for the lost people around the world. We believe that prayer can impact the nations for Christ, so we want to be a praying unit that pleads before God on behalf of the church, the lost, and the poor. We want to pray boldly for the purposes of God to be accomplished. We want to believe that God answers big prayers and see them be answered. We want to be sensitive to the Spirit's calling on our lives as we pray for the world. This book has been instrumental so far in helping us do that! Click here for their website where you can order the book or sign-up to receive daily emails. I encourage you to check it out!

So, The Bible and Operation World are both books that will be on my list for at least a year!

One of the books of the Bible I am reading this week is Luke, and I came upon an account of one of my favorite Bible stories. It is the story of the sinful woman with the alabaster jar. You can read the account in Luke 7:36-39, Matthew 26:6-13, and in John 12:1-8. This sinful woman takes oil in an alabaster jar and pours it over Jesus' body, washes his feet with her tears, and wipes his feet with her hair. This oil was special and only used for solemn acts of pure devotion and would have cost nearly a year's worth of wages. The disciples see this as a waste, but Jesus calls it a "beautiful thing". I love this woman's undivided devotion to Jesus as she bows to Him in awe and thankfulness. May I not forget to sit at the feet of Jesus and truly worship Him for who He is as I take on the task of reading through the Bible. May I be like the lady with the alabaster jar, knowing that I do not deserve Him, be able to feel the presence of God and honor Him. 

You have to read this book #2

My first post titled "you have to read this book" can be found here. 


I have just finished reading this book. 

And, you have to read it.


I can't begin to describe the depths of this book and what it has taught me. Platt made a clear distinction of the church in America today and the biblical picture of Jesus, as well as the American dream and our purpose in life. He answers, through pointing you to Scripture, hard questions like...What happens to people who have never heard about Jesus? How do I manage my money specifically? How do I gain more from dying than living? What is God's will for my life? and many more...Most of all, the Holy Spirit uncomfortably targeting me with this convicting statement, "All too often we view heaven as the default eternal state for humankind." I should let go of all my selfishness and make my life about God's redemptive plan. 


The book closes with this statement, which will give you a good sense of the overarching theme of the book. "When that day comes, I am convinced we will not wish we had given more of ourselves to living the American dream. We will not wish we had made more money, acquired more stuff, lived more comfortably, taken more vacations, watched more tv, pursued greater retirement, or been more successful in the eyes of the world. Instead we will wish we had given more to ourselves to living for the day when every nation, tribe, people, and language will bow around the throne and sing the praises of the Savior who delights in radical obedience and the God who deserves eternal worship."


Whew! I will admit that it was very challenging. There were times when my selfish and sinful self did not even want to keep reading because the truths of the gospel were very clear and convicting. So, expect this book to radically change your perspective on life, the future, and the world in which we live. 


It is a short book and an easy read!! Do it!!


Updated Summer Reading List (in no particular order)
1. Heaven is For Real
2. And the Shofar Blew by Francine Rivers
3. Radical by David Platt
4. The Moon and the Mango Tree by Pamela Ewen
5. What Did You Expect? by Paul David Tripp
6. Desiring God by John Piper
7. Let the Nations Be Glad by John Piper
8. The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis (on book 4 of 7)
9. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
10. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
11. Peace Child by Don Richardson
12. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
13. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
14. Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
15. Operation World