I am too busy!

I have come to despise the word "busy". And it is at this time of the year that I seem to hear it and say it the most. What am I truly busy with? I ask myself, not just have I forgotten the reason for Christmas, but more.....have I forgotten the purpose for which I am created? I am created to bring glory to God and not to myself. I have to wonder if all the things that I am busy with are truly for His glory or mine? I can't help but think of Mary and Joseph and the fact that there was no room for them....or for Christ, the Savior of the world. Were the citizens of the town so busy that they did not notice the baby to be born that night in Bethlehem? Forbid that I would be like them! As Spurgeon said, "Oh! sinner, if thou hast room for him let him be born in thy soul today." Consider your busyness and who is it for. Contemplate Christmas and the treasure of Christ dwelling among us.

New Beginning

This excerpt is from Valley of Vision:

Incomprehensible, Great, and Glorious God,
I adore thee and abase myself.
I approach thee mindful that I am less than nothing,
a creature worse than nothing.
My thoughts are not screened from thy gaze,
My secret sins blaze in the light of thy countenance.
Enable me to remember that blood which cleanseth all sin,
to believe in that grace which subdues all iniquities,
to resign myself to that agency
which can deliver me from the bondage of corruption
into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.

Conviction

I can think of 100 other things that I could be doing with my life right now. Things that wouldn't bring such controversy. However, the key word is "my". It is not mine to have. I was created for His glory, therefore, I will stand for truth and righteousness at whatever the cost. I'm not seeking approval from others or trying to win their affections. I seek to exalt Christ and encourage others who claim His name to live by His standards. I don't want to be doing 100 other things....I want continue to point young people to truth and to have enormous care for the condition of their eternal soul. This is my conviction and my calling.

Remind me, Lord.....

.....of what my purpose is while in this world. The song is true, how my heart is prone to wander from You and Your purposes. I become so distracted by the world around me. I covet so much and how easily discontentment finds me. I find my pursuit is for my own happiness and not Your glory. Thank you for reminding me that it's not about me. One of the prayers in Valley of Vision says,

When I desire worldly possessions,
help me to be rich toward thee;
When the vanities of the world ensnare me,
let me not plunge into new guilt and ruin.
May I remember the dignity of my spiritual release,
never be too busy to attend to my soul,
never be so engrossed with time
that I neglect the things of eternity;
thus may I not only live, but grow towards thee.

Is God enough?

Forgive me for my laziness in posting this last few weeks. I have been contemplating this lie that Satan tells us, "God is not enough". I am quickly realizing that I am not enough, no matter how hard I try to be. I've tried to consider in what ways was I believing this lie, although my mind says I'm not, but my actions speak otherwise. I find that often I put an addendum on God: all is well when this is like this, or when I have that, instead of "all is well when it's just God". Consider.....what do you try to add to God? It all breaks down to your own happiness, that's a given, but try to be specific. Is it good grades, a peaceful homelife, the right image, a certain relationship, etc. As I thought about Job this week and how God was enough for him, I wonder if He is enough for me? Oh, how my mouth wants to shout out a "YES" but I will pause and check my hands to see what am I still holding on to....

Enslaved

I've been reading recently the Old Testament and specifically about the bondage of the Israelites in Egypt. It truly is a fascinating story of how God delivered them out of slavery but that tends to be all that we focus on. The deliverance is only sweet when you recognize the bondage they were in. For a moment, compare their bondage to the bondage we're often in here in the present time. Quoted by Andrew Peterson in his song "Deliver Us".....

Our enemy our captor is no Pharaoh on the Nile,

Our toil is neither mud, nor brick, nor sand.

Our ankles bear no callouses from chains yet, Lord, we're bound,

Imprisoned here we dwell in our own land.

Our sins they are more numerous than all the lambs we slay,

Our shackles they were made with our own hands.

Our toil is our atonement and our freedom Yours to give

So, Yahweh break this silence if you can.

When he sings about our shackles being made with our own hands, WOW! Consider....what shackles have you made? What is keeping you in bondage or enslaved to sin? For some, it is image. For others, it is pride. For me it is ______________(fill in the blank for yourself).

May you recognize your shackles and your Deliverer. And may the Truth set you free!!

What are you using God for?

While studying God's Word today and reading a little from John Piper, I realized that Christians often times use God for their own gain. John 17:3 says, "This is eternal life, that they know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." This is the Gospel, plain and simple. We may think eternal life is freedom from pain or being with loved ones or freedom from sin. Then we allow that kind of thinking to permeate our actions and responses here on earth. We may want forgiveness in order to feel relief from guilt. Or, we may want direction and guidance so we can make it further in the corporate world. Maybe we want healing so we can stay longer with our loved ones. Whatever it is that you desire, are you using God in order to achieve it? We are guilty of savoring the creation and not the Creator. John Piper says it best, "God will not be used as a currency for the purchase of idols." Remember, all things were created by Him, through Him, and for Him. It's all for Christ and the glory of God................what are you using it for?

The stranger I live with.....

.....is my own heart. Anthony Burgess said, "Men are great strangers to their own hearts." I've been deeply considering this lately as I have been reading a book on Jonathan Edwards (one of my favorites).

Jeremiah 17:9 states it clearly that "the heart is deceitful". So what does a deceitful heart look like and why am I considered a stranger to it? Quoted from the book I'm reading, William Whately says, the heart of man "is the devil's storehouse, an heap of odious lusts; his tongue is a fountain of cursing and bitterness, and rotten communication; his hand is a mischievous instrument of filthiness, deceit, violence; his eyes great thouroughfares of lust, pride, and vanity...In his soul and body there lies the spawn of all wickedness: of atheism, of pride, of unbelief, of hypocrisy, of rebellion, of impatience, of hatred and contempt of God, and of His Word, of indevotion, of profaneness, of ambition, of wrath, of filthiness, of worldliness, of arrogancy, of self-conceitedness, of murders, of whoredoms, of thefts, of perjuries, and whatsoever thing besides, is hateful to God, and contray to His most holy law."

If you can't understand how the heart works then you will never understand your need for a Savior. The reason we are strangers to our own hearts is because we deny the power of sin and the depravity of our soul. Our actions originate in and come from the heart (Matt. 15:18). Consider your heart and the condition it's in that you may no longer be a stranger to it.

*Quotes taken from Knowing the Heart: Jonathan Edwards on True and False Conversion edited by William C. Nichols

New to blogging.....

Yes, I am new to the blogging world. New to writing one but not new to reading and following them. Mainly because, as you listen to the first song on my playlist, I have nothing to say....about myself, that is. But after reading so many and following some, it soon became very obvious that many Christian blogs (and other internet spaces) were self-glorifying. I was deeply bothered by this and desired to have my "own space" where I don't make much of myself but of God.

Who I am is simple: I am a redeemed wife and mother. God has blessed me with a beautiful family, although you won't find them being paraded here. Instead, you will find beautiful pictures of God's creation. I have always been drawn to gardens for they showcase His creation and it is breathtaking. And the things I have learned through my journey with Christ I will share here, therefore calling it "my garden of grace".

May you smell the sweet aroma of Christ, see the beauty of His creation and hear His tender call as you walk with me through my garden of grace.

My first post

Since here and now matters so little and eternity matters so much, the question we should be asking ourselves is how much of today's investments impacted eternity, and how much were wasted on just here and just now.