In any case, I’ll share a little of what has been rolling around in my head. Hopefully I can keep my tone under control.

We seem to need a more robust (i.e., biblical) idea of sanctification. That’s safe, isn’t it? We can all grow in our understanding of sanctification.

Lately, I’ve been disturbed by this fad of addressing all our failures by lamenting the need for more gospel-centered this or that. I’m not opposed to being gospel centered! But I am opposed to making gospel centered be a required part of every conversation. (It feels like a grammarian banning pronouns. I’m not sure if this makes sense to anyone but me.) The gospel-centered people don’t want me to feel guilty when I sin. They are especially worried about legalism (a term that should be excised from our Christian vocabulary– we have better Bible words that are far more precise and useful). Remembering the gospel is almost a panacea for overcoming sin. When God’s commands are discussed, in order to be “gospel centered,” every exhortation must contain “gospel centered” language. Otherwise, it’s obviously not gospel centered. Of course. I’d like to be friends with the gospel-centered people, but I don’t think I’m on the approved list.

Peter says it this way:but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. (II Peter 3:18)

Paul (ehem, the writer of Hebrews) says it this way: For everyone who partakes only of milk isunskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. ¹⁴ But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is,those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Hebrews 5:13)

Growing in patience or wisdom or discipline takes a lot of time. A lot of practice. Sigh. If I could master patience in a year, anger in eleven months, love (since its so basic) in a month or two, and so on, I’d be perfect by the time I was forty. What fun! I’d love to be perfect for a few decades. Seriously, I do need to serious about sin. I need to be diligent to add a whole lot of things to my faith. But I can take heart in knowing that growth (i.e., failure and success) is an expected and blessed part of life. Can God be pleased with my life when I’m full of failing? Not just seeing Christ’s righteousness, but actually pleased with me?

I think how we answer that question reveals a lot about whether we really possess the joy of the Lord.Similar Posts:

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That’s the question I’ve been asking myself. You need to know that I fall short in many ways. I wrestle with selfishness as a mother. I am often reminded of areas where I fall short (i.e., sin). Yet, I really do want to please God. I am reading his word, and working on teaching it to my children. I want them to know how good God is. I think as I look over the last few years I can see spiritual growth. Yes, I do believe I am pleasing the Lord, because I am free to do right. It is an encouraging thought.

Here is the passage I’ve been thinking on. It speaks of my position in Christ:

 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. [this is a description of the Believer, not a condition. See verse 9!) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ⁶For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. ⁷ Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. ⁸ So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
⁹ But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. ¹⁰ And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:1-9

Clearly, Paul is making a distinction here: God condemned sin. There is no condemnation for Christians. Even though we do sin, it has been paid for. The trick, as Paul says elsewhere in Romans, is to take sin seriously, even as we rest in joy that we can please God in spite of our sin.

If you are a believer, and you know of sin, you must make it right. But God is faithful to restore the fellowship we enjoy.

If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 6-9

There is no condemnation! Let the joy of the Lord be your strength. Strengthen your weak knees, self! Get up! Run! Looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.Similar Posts:

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• I asked them if they knew what the most important commands were in the Bible. (I figured they wouldn’t know this)
• I asked them if they could find a place where someone wanted to know why we needed to be born again. (Bethel and David both went to John 3– I want them to feel successful at using their Bibles, so I asked them a challenge I knew they could get.)
• I asked them if they could find a place where the Bible tells us something to think about. (Bethel went to Phil 4:8 and then Psalm 1. I sent David to Psalm 119 and he found a few verses in that chapter.)
• We also read Psalm 103 together, and I asked them if they could find some verses that might help a child who was afraid that God was always mad at him.

Sometimes as I listen in church or read my Bible, I think “Oh, that would be a good verse for my children.” On Sunday I had a whole bunch, all at once, so I had to write them down. On Monday, I really wanted them to get the most important command– love the Lord your God with all heart soul and mind– because of its importance to salvation. For a child who is pretty good at being good– helpful and kind, obedient, listens in Sunday school, really, every teacher’s dream child– he needs to know that without salvation, he is breaking God’s most important command. I want to communicate that being good might assuage our guilty feelings, but it isn’t salvation. I also wanted to balance the command, with an understanding of God’s love and mercy. That’s why we read Psalm 103.

(Btw, I had a good followup conversation in private. I really want salvation conversations to be serious and pleasant, but not oppressive. We are on the same team with our children!)

I have a feeling I’ll be asked to have another silly putty conversation today.Similar Posts:

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We’ve done all of those thanksgiving activities in the past, but this year, Lee is in the middle of a busy month, and I decided I had one goal: for Lee to be able to spend the most time with his mom and dad, who came for a few days to visit. Lee’s mom has a disease called post cortical atrophy, and we’re thrilled with every moment we have with her.

Would all of the other activities have been good to do? Yep. We have done them before, and will do them again. But they didn’t get done last week, and grace upon grace, I’m thankful that the span of my life as daughter-in-law, wife, and mother is not defined by a single day. I’m so thankful that from year to year, I have freedom to adjust to the demands that are unique to that point in time.

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The King of Assyria is threatening God’s people, and good King Hezekiah is badly outnumbered.

And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: ‘This day is a day of trouble and rebuke and blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth. It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’” Isaiah 37:3-4

Hezekiah recognized he was unable in his own strength to meet his powerful enemy. He compares his inability to a woman who has labored and is depleted of strength, before her baby has been born. Happily, Hezekiah didn’t stop at bemoaning his insufficiency. He says “It may be that the Lord your God will hear…. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.” Hezekiah calls on the Lord, and God miraculously intervenes.

I love the imagery here. I understand it! Now, today, what I’m thinking is that labor pains give us another point of comparison in the spiritual life.

Last night, Lee and I talked a bit about how a mother’s memory for pain diminishes after she gives birth. If you asked me today, I’d tell you that childbirth is no big deal, with or without pain meds (I’ve done it both ways). But I know that’s not exactly true. What is true is that the result of the pain was something gloriously exciting: the babies God gave us on those days.

I was thinking how our circumstances seem large and looming sometimes. Our children aren’t learning to be respectful as quickly as we expect. They still haven’t learned to pick up after themselves. They are easily overwhelmed and quick to take offense. We’re trying to teach them God’s Word, and even when we tell them how happy God is when they love each other, they inexplicably choose to please themselves instead!

As our children go through these bumpy stages, I’ve noticed that the memory of how challenging each stage was diminishes. It’s encouraging to me today, in the midst of today’s challenges, to know that my perception of these challenges will diminish. It will be worth it all, says the song, when we see Jesus.

Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’? ²⁰ Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. ²¹ A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. ²² Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. John 16:19-22

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The children were all stymied. “Children obey your parents”? We talked about some better possibilities.

Then I asked, “Can you think of a Scripture that reminds us about something good that God has done?”

Again, the answers came, but they were slow. It was interesting to me that although they have many verses of God’s Word memorized, they aren’t as skilled seeing the connection between “real life” and the Bible as I would expect. Especially since we talk about certain verses like “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another” on a daily basis.

After a short lull, my David (!) asked for more questions like this, and I asked some more.

What should I read if I am discouraged?

What should I read if my brother or sister is mean to me?

I tried to ask questions that related to verses that I knew were fresh in their minds. It was fun, and I want to do it again.

What I learned was that I need to do better at getting my children to draw on their knowledge. I am too quick to give the answers, give the verses, throughout my days. It was a good reminder that I need to cut back on lectures. I think I can at least ask a few questions before I give the answers, don’t you think?

I’ll keep you posted.Similar Posts:

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You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. James 4:3

Not getting an answer for wisdom helps me to ask for the right thing. I might ask God to remove a difficult situation affecting my children. I might ask God to fix a child whose personality is incomprehensible to me, but then I would be missing the reason God created that child in the first place. Instead, I have to look for God’s purpose. I don’t always see it, but as we learn in Proverbs, asking is a part of wisdom. It’s a good thing to realize how much I really need wisdom. I don’t always get that until I’m asking God in desperation for it. I think it’s all about the answers, and God wants to teach me something bigger.

Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.Psalm 37:4

For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. Psalm 84:11-12

Not getting an answer for wisdom helps me to avoid a helpless mentality. Often when I’m asking for wisdom, I really want God just to tell me what to do. God gave me a mind, and wisdom of necessity uses it. So when I ask for wisdom and don’t get an direct answer (“Dear Michelle, Your child will finally learn to keep her room clean when she is twelve. In the meantime, you must begin each day from now until then by helping her clean it. Here are three easy steps that will certainly help her….”) I realize that I must make a decision myself. Today I helped the girls with their room first thing in the morning. It was the right decision for today. Did God give me that wisdom, or did I figure it out myself? I am learning that it is both.

Him [Jesus] we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. Colossians 1:28-29 (Isn’t this a great parenting verse?)

When God doesn’t give wisdom, I learn patience. I discover that the things I thought were urgent weren’t. I learn that God has given provision in unexpected ways. When I look backwards, I see that God’s guidance came at the right time, sometimes years after I have been praying for wisdom in a certain situation. The trying of my faith does bring patience, and so I’m motivated to keep searching and asking. Often I’m praying for an ongoing situation and I have to remind myself that I know God: he loves my family more than I do. He will do what is best for them, and he will accomplish everything he desires in their lives. It is no accident that James talks about patience and wisdom in nearly the same breath.

Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. James 1:3-5

God is faithful! He loves it when his children come to him in need of wisdom. He loves to give it! If we don’t see it, there’s a reason, and it is good.

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But God’s timetable is not ours. He always has a reason for not giving wisdom, and it is always loving. Today I’m thinking through some reasons I’ve experienced and observed.

First, I’ve discovered that God likes us to actually want what we’re asking for. He wants us to seek for wisdom like treasure, often. Think about how casually we can pray about things: “It would be really nice to have wisdom. I wouldn’t feel so lost all the time.” One evidence that we care too little for spiritual things is our forgetfulness. We pray for something and forget that we even asked for it. When God doesn’t give wisdom, I remember that I asked for it and I still need it! Another evidence that we care too little is our actions: I say I want wisdom, but I get discouraged too quickly looking for it, because it doesn’t come easy.

It helps me in these times to consider my own children and their requests. Have you ever been given your child a gift or experience that they really didn’t value? Awhile back some neighbor children had these scooters that wrote with chalk when you stepped close to the back. Lee and I laughed because our children wanted one. Sure enough, they stopped asking because it wasn’t as exciting as they once thought it was. Over the years, I’ve learned that waiting to see what requests are regularly recurring gives me a better sense of what to look for for Christmas or Birthday presents. An offhand request might be simply because they saw an advertisement for a toy or item, but if I keep hearing about the item, I get a better sense of what is really important to my children. When God doesn’t give wisdom, I feel it. I’m motivated to think about it more, to look for it more. I can’t forget it when I’m regularly at my wit’s end. I have to come again to the throne of grace and find the help I need. I read my Bible more faithfully, and when I read it, I’m looking for answers. I want wisdom more desperately. You promise, God! Where are the answers you promise?

And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; ⁶ for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; ⁷ and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? ⁸ I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. ¹¹ If a son asks for bread^[d] from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Luke 11:5-13

When God doesn’t give wisdom, I’ve on occasion realized later that God did give wisdom and I didn’t recognize it. Perhaps I thought wisdom was like knowing the future, or at the least a definitive answer to my questions. How could wisdom be so tentative? Maybe I’m not alone in not always recognizing wisdom. I’m always amazed when women are discouraged about not having the wisdom they’ve been asking for, but I can see as we talk that God has indeed been answering. Maybe we need to be encouraging others in this way, more, and maybe we need to be praying that when he gives wisdom, we’ll know what it is! We learn wisdom inductively: this is wisdom, and so is this. Here is another part of wisdom. And so on, until we really do know what wisdom is. The next time you read Proverbs, put wisdom in that framework, and you may find wisdom making more sense.

Tomorrow, we’ll talk about a few more reasons.

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Why are there grapes in your bed?

For what purpose did you take cherries upstairs?

Are these raisins in this cup? How did they get here?

Is this a pile of powder on the bathroom sink? How did it get here?

When you are tired, you must pay attention to be quick to hear,  slow to speak, slow to anger.

Were you quick to hear, or quick to anger?

Did you ask your sibling to stop, or did you just start screaming?

NO! You cannot wear that to bed!

No, you cannot wear tennis shoes to church.

It’s okay to get a bandaid without telling mommy, but… how did you cut your toe with a hanger?

If you swept the floor, why are there papers, pencils, and toys on it still?

Life doesn’t have to be fair.

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However, distractions can be frustrating for a mother who wants to feast on God’s Word, including me. If a mom has had the experience of enjoying the Bible before she had children, she might despair of ever regaining the luxury of blocks of time in God’s word, on a regular basis. She knows that she needs the Bible, but she may wonder how God expects her to read and obey her Bible when she may not be able to put two rational thoughts together at once!

A woman’s personality plays a role in her approach to reading Scripture. Each personality has strengths and weaknesses, and it can be a challenge to improve our weaknesses, but not try to become someone we were not created to be. Some organized mothers may read this post, and the previous one, and be completely bewildered at my wrestling with distraction, at my difficulty reading systematically every day of the year. Nevertheless, if you have ever found yourself wrestling too, perhaps seeing what someone else has done can help you examine your own strategies for learning and obeying God’s Word.

Besides using limited time wisely (and not demanding extended time when it doesn’t exist as I’d like it), I’ve found a few other things that have been helpful.

• Remember God’s Grace and Mercy! Sometimes I’ve felt embarrassed to read my Bible for such a little time. Or I’ve been dismayed when I haven’t read profitably in awhile. In these times, it is especially helpful for me to remember that one cannot come to God without believing that he exists and that he delights to reward those who seek him! We can approach him boldly, knowing that he desires our fellowship, confident that he knows our weaknesses, our individual circumstances and how we got there, and loves us just the same. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble!

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵ For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all pointstempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16

But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
“ God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6

• Listening to the Bible. Especially when there doesn’t seem to be an awake time where I don’t also have children running around, I’ve found that listening to the Bible has been helpful. It adds another way for a toddler to understand that his mommy is doing something important. Listening helps me tune out happy playing noises when reading alone cannot. I’m not normally a listener, but during days when I cannot keep my thoughts straight, this has been very helpful.
• Meditating on the Bible. Meditation is one thing that any busy mom can do well. When we take a verse that is helpful for us, and remember it throughout the day, thinking about it like a new bride thinks about her sparkling wedding ring, we don’t need extended blocks of time. We don’t need a vast knowledge of the Bible. We don’t need to be spiritual giants.

From the end of the earth I will cry to You,
When my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Psalm 61:2

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
³ He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper. Psalm 1:2-3

• Singing the Bible. I’ve also found it amazingly helpful to sing Scripture songs when my thoughts are unyielding to order. The Steve Green Scripture songs that my children like are good for ME. I have certain CDs I listen to because they remind me of the very Scriptures I need to be thinking on. Singing them puts them in my heart when reading alone doesn’t seem to do as well. This is a form of meditating, and it has been extremely helpful for me. The added benefit is that your children start singing those same songs at the most convicting times!
• Putting the Bible on a Child’s level. We sometimes forget that the same Scriptures we are teaching our children are important for us, too. As I repeat the same lessons, I’m often challenged to realize I’ve not been obeying like I should. I realize that the instruction I’ve been giving hasn’t always been useful or realistic (I expect my children to be more mature than I expect myself to be.) In any case, the discipline of teaching my children is a benefit that I don’t consider when I’m bemoaning the lack of time I have to study. This is study, if I use it that way to examine my own life. It keeps me humble to see how I don’t always trust God like I’m telling my children to, or obey right away with a happy heart as I expect from my children. It is a good thing to learn this way.

I recently discovered that practice really does make a difference even in learning to absorb Scripture with distractions. I never thought I was good at reading the Bible with distractions until my husband was home one morning, trying to read his Bible, and he said “How can you read your Bible while they’re playing like that?” I guess all the practice did make a difference, because even though I still like to read the Bible when it is quiet, I really can read when they’re busy and somewhat noisy.

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