Grace To Stand

I subscribed to BlueLetterBible.org's daily Bible reading (chronological order).  Made it through the flood and met Abram - now we're in Job.  Cool to think that Abraham and Job were contemporaries.  Makes me feel really silly to admit...but not until about 3 years ago did I realize the Bible is not written in chronological order from Genesis to Revelation!

Enough about my naivety!  Back to the book of Job. The absolute devastation the enemy was allowed to rain down on Job makes me shiver.  The enemy wants nothing more than to bring down the faithful followers of the one true God.  So thankful for Job's faith...and his transparency.

As I was reading through one of Charles Spurgeon's commentaries on the first chapters of Job, this quote practically leaped out of my screen:  "Oh may God grant us grace, as a Church, to stand against the wiles of Satan and his attacks, that having done his worst he may gain no advantage over us, and after having considered, and considered again, and counted well our towers and bulwarks, he may be compelled to retire because his battering rams cannot jar so much as a stone from our ramparts, and his slings cannot slay one single soldier on the walls."

Rainbows, Promises, and Faith

When Noah was 601 years old, 10.5 months after the flood began, Noah lifted back the cover of the boat to look. Two more months went by and at last the earth was dry!  Noah and his family were in the boat for an entire year!


Ten generations into the life of the earth, God was so frustrated with the people that He flooded the entire planet, wiping out every living thing except Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their sons' wives.  How frustrated, how angry, would God be with us, had He not sent Jesus Christ to pay the penalty price for our sins?  God promises in Genesis 8:21-22:  "I will never again curse the earth, destroying all living things, even though people's thoughts and actions are bent toward evil from childhood.  As long as the earth remains, there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night." We can trust God's promises! He's kept this one for thousands of years!

In chapter 9:13-16, God makes this covenant with Noah (and all of Noah's descendants), "I am giving you a sign as evidence of my eternal covenant with you and all living creatures. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my permanent promise to you and to all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will be seen in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with everything that lives. Never again will there be a flood that will destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth."


From Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham & Japheth, come all humans on earth today.  Shem's branch of the family tree includes Abram.  Abram (later known as Abraham) is shown to have immense faith.  I look forward to reading again the story of his life.  David Guzik, in his commentary on Genesis 11 says this: "If you despair in knowing you do not have Abram’s faith, take comfort in knowing you have Abram’s God. He can build in you the faith of Abram, because He built it in Abram himself."  What a blessed thought!

I Want Nothing More

Random observations from Genesis 4, 5, 6, and 7

I'd never really thought of this before...Adam & Eve lost both of their sons in one day.  After their eldest son, Cain, killed his only brother, Abel (thus taking one son), God sent him away...to restlessly wander all his days.  Adam and Eve quickly felt the sting of that first sin.  I find it interesting that God curses Cain to be driven from the ground that he had worked, to wander the earth the remainder of his days. Yet, in Genesis 4:17, we see Cain building a city.  It's as if he's defying the curse of God, thumbing his nose at God like a snotty-nosed brat saying, "I'll show you..."

Cain's descendants were quite the entrepreneurs.  Within 8 generations (Adam - Lamech), we have amazing craftsmanship/business/invention.  Serious proof that flies in the face of the theory of evolution.  To think that so quickly after the first man arrives on the face of the planet, we already have musical instruments and iron tools.  Gen 4:19-22 show us a listing of their accomplishments:

• Jabal:  the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock 
• Jubal: the father of all who play the harp and flute
• Tubal-Cain: who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron

I know God could have allowed these things to happen in a nomadic culture...but I find myself wondering if, because Cain settled and built a city if these inventions were quicker to arrive on the scene.  Of particular interest to me, though, is the complete absence of any mention of God or their worship of Him.  It appears that Cain and his family completely turned their backs on the Lord and focus instead on the accomplishments of their hands.

Random observations from Adam's Family Tree

I love genealogy...God's word is chock-full of them.  In his online commentary, Chuck Smith points out that the genealogy in Genesis 5 shows that Noah's father and Adam were alive at the same time.  I just had to check it out for myself.  So, I took pen and paper and sketched out Adam's family tree to Noah.  Sure enough, Noah's dad very likely sat at Adam's feet and listened to first-hand accounts about life in the garden of Eden and the fall of man - directly from the mouth of the man who'd been there...the man who took the fruit from his wife and ate.  Since writing had likely not been developed at this time, it was very important to have first-hand accounts being passed from one generation to the next.  Adam had the privilege of telling these same stories to his sons, grandsons, great-grandsons, great-great-grandsons, and his great-great-great-great-great-great-grandsons.  What would we know of our own families if we'd been granted the same privilege to sit at the feet of our ancestors and listen to their stories?  We have the gift of the written word...may we use it for the benefit of those who come after us.

Enoch & Noah
Enoch was Noah's great-grandfather.  It is said of Enoch (in Gen. 5:24), "He enjoyed a close relationship with God throughout his life. Then suddenly, he disappeared because God took him."  In Gen. 6:9, similar words are written about Noah:  "...Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless man living on earth at the time.  He consistently followed God's will and enjoyed a close relationship with Him."  I pray these same words will be true of me, that my children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren would be able to say "she consistently followed God's will and enjoyed a close relationship with Him."  I want nothing more.

"And God said,..."

I've decided to blog about my observations as God takes me on this adventure of reading through His entire Word in one year.  It's easier for me to put fingers to keyboard than it is pen to paper...and much faster (not to mention spell-checked).  So...the thoughts are likely to be random...but I often find the thing that jumps out at me from the text I read for the day is often the very thing that speaks to my life or causes me to think deeper about my own spiritual journey.

"And God said,..."

That's all...  "And God said..."  With those three words, all of creation came into being.  What a marvelous, awe-inspiring, creative, masterful, audacious God we serve.  All things were created by the words He spoke and crafted by His hands.  You and I were created by the same God who spoke all of creation into existence.  We can rest securely in the palm of His hand, trusting in His divine plan for our lives.  To think...the creator of all things, has written an important part for you and I to play within His-Story.  Wow!

"...and God saw that it was good."  Upon the closing of each day, God looked over the day's work and noted that it was good.  Then, we come to the final day of creation, and God looks at everything He had made (that includes mankind) and said, "It was very good."  That means you and me.  God created us to be "very good."  That thought comforts me and reminds me that He still sees me as "very good" through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Radical Experiment

I'm in the final chapter of the book, "Radical - Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream" by David Platt.  To say I've been challenged doesn't even come close to describing the whirlwind of thoughts, emotions and at-the-core unsettledness this book has stirred up within me.  God has used Platt's book to strip away the rose-colored glasses, the American-dream-filter through which I view the world.  I no longer see myself as I did a few weeks ago. I have come face-to-face with my severe lack of radical compassion for the poor, the lonely and the lost of the world, and I don't like what I see.  Pair all of this with the sermon series we're in at Faith E-Free right now on the book of Galatians and I'm a confused ball of questions.  

Platt calls into question the "true Christianity" of those who don't reflect a radical desire to reach the lost with the gospel and irradicate poverty around the world. On page 111 of his book, Platt says this:  "More pointedly, if our lives do not reflect radical compassion for the poor, there is reason to wonder if Christ is really in us at all."

I know that I am saved by grace through faith.  Yet, this comment shook me to the core.  Is it an inroad for the enemy to whisper his lies?  Or is it the not-so-gentle-nudge of the Spirit calling me to move out in faith into a life of radical compassion I have yet to experience.

In Galatians 1:9, Paul writes:  "As we have already said, I say again:  If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!"  Is Platt adding to the gospel?  Or, is our response to the gospel supposed to be one of radical compassion?  I'm leaning toward the latter...but where do I go with all of this?  Sell everything we have and move to the poorest, most unreached part of the world? What is God calling me to do?  We have so much...yet at times, it seems so difficult to be content with what God has lavished on us.  And, then I read a quote like this:  "Today more than a billion people in the world live and die in desperate poverty.  The attempt to survive on less than a dollar per day.  Close to two billion others live on less than two dollars per day.  That's nearly half the world struggling today to find food, water, and shelter with the same amount of money I spend on french fries for lunch."  (Radical, p. 108)

Platt goes on to say, "Suddenly I began to realize that if I  have been commanded to make disciples of all nations, and if poverty is rampant in the world to which God has called me, then I cannot ignore these realities.  Anyone wanting to proclaim the glory of Christ to the ends of the earth must consider not only how to declare the Gospel verbally but also how to demonstrate the Gospel visibly in a world where so many are urgently hungry.  If I am going to address urgent spiritual need by sharing the Gospel of Christ or building up the body of Christ around the world, then I cannot overlook the dire physical need in the process."  (Radical, p. 109)

So, that's where I am today, standing totally convicted, completely confident that the Gospel is compelling me to do something more.  I am staring the blind spots in my life straight in the face and daring to allow the Spirit to shine the light of God's truth into the voids created by the ideology of the American Dream.

I feel called to take the first "dares" set out by Platt in the final chapter of Radical.
1.  Pray for the entire world in one year.
2.  Read through the entire Word in one year.

These are safe...within my control...but because they are within my control, I also know the weakness of my flesh.  I cannot do this alone!  Father, Son and Holy Spirit,  I pray that you will keep me on track.  I also ask that You protect me from the "ritualistic" rules these could become.  Use this "dare" for good in my life and the lives of those around me.

The next dare is to "Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose."  Hmm...I get to that in my reading tomorrow.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Laundry Monster - TAMED!

I believe we have successfully tamed the laundry monster at our house! We started on July 10th. THIRTEEN days later, and I haven't done a single piece of laundry for the girls! Considering that I used to find the girls' laundry sorter overflowing 5 days after finishing the laundry, I'd say the game worked!

Megan and Hannah tied for 1st Place - with 9 articles of clothing in the laundry (not including undies and socks). They're splitting a pack of "wall stickers" I found at Dollar Tree awhile back. Grace came in a close second with 11 articles of clothing and has her sights set on winning the next round of the LAUNDRY GAME!

I'd highly recommend trying this at your house and see if you can tame your laundry monster!!

Mom's Encouragement Night - Book List

I meet with a wonderful group of women each month (well, when Alpha doesn't meet on Tuesday nights, that is!). The purpose of this meeting: to encourage one another as we walk together on this home school journey we've all been called to. I am so thankful for the group's leaders, Eryn and Mindy. Their ability to create community amazes me. I pray that God will richly bless them both for all that they pour into this group!

This month, each mom brought a book or two that inspired her in some way over the past year (funny, the timing, right? I've been obsessed with finding good books lately - so this was right up my alley!)

As you look through this list, if a title intrigues you, click on it and I'll take you to Amazon.com or RainbowResource.com where you can learn more about each book.

Mindy Salts

• All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew

Jessica Sheltrown

• The ABC Herbal by Steven Horne
• Prayers God Always Answers by Nancy Kennedy
• First We Have Coffee by Margaret Jensen
• The Creative Family by Amanda Soule
• The Sense of Wonder by Rachel Carson (photography by Nick Kelsh)

Tracy Emery

• A Hive of Busy Bees by Effie Williams
• Another Hive of Busy Bees by Beverly Soderholm
• Read for the Heart by Sarah Clarkson (this is the book that inspired my booklist obsession)
• Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt

Renatta Welsh (who apologizes for the grumpy kid on the cover - but encourages you to read the book anyway!)

• Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining and Bad Attitudes by Scott Turansky & Joanne Miller

Judy Clark

• Take Four by Karen Kingsbury (and anything else written by Ms. Kingsbury)
• Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney

Eryn Smith

• Don't Make Me Count To Three by Ginger Plowman
• Shepherding A Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp
• The Joy of a Word-Filled Family by Dr. John Barnett

Britt Reid

• Who Is God? And Can I Really Known Him? by John Hay & David Webb
• The Swimsuit Lesson by Jon Holsten

Carrie Beyer

• Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
• Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry
• The Unsettling of America by Wendell Berry
• Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose
• The Marriage of Megotta by Edith Pargeter
• Noah by Patricia Lee Gauch
• The Quiltmaker's Gift by Jeff Brumbeau
• Animals, Animals by Eric Carle
• Boxes for Katje by Candace Fleming

Amy VanDorn

• Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian
• Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian

Tricia Kvasnica

• O Ye Jigs and Juleps by Virginia Hudson
• This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti
• O The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss
• LIFE: Our Century in Pictures for Young People by Richard Stolley

Traci Bowman

Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson