Journey On, Sweet Sisters...

Earlier this year, a dear sister and I hosted a women's book study in hopes to encourage and to fellowship amongst God's people in our community. By God's grace, our small group consisted of women from four different churches with varied backgrounds, experiences and trials. Our commonality you might wonder? It was that, as redeemed women of God, we are in constant need of His grace to trust in His covenental promises, to be guided and led by His Word, and to be comforted knowing it is God who works in us, "both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13 ESV). By the end of the study, we witnessed God doing a work in each of us. He softened our hearts to love and trust Him more and knitted our hearts together so we could love on and care for one another (Luke 10:27, Col. 2:1-2). Praise be to God!

I miss studying and fellowship-ing with my sisters. We each have been called to different ministries for a season, but for now and until we meet again, I pray the following prayer for them and for me to journey on.

"JOURNEYING ON"

LORD OF THE CLOUD AND FIRE,
I am a stranger, with a stranger's indifference;
My hands hold a pilgram's staff,
My march is Zionward,
My eyes are toward the coming of the Lord,
My heart is in thy hands without reserve.
Thou hast created it,
redeemed it,
renewed it,
captured it,
conquered it.

Keep from it every opposing foe,
crush in it every rebel lust,
mortify every treacherous passion,
annihilate every earthborn desire.

All faculties of my being vibrate to thy torch;
I love thee with soul, mind, body, strength,
might, spirit, affection, will,
desire, intellect, understanding.

Thou art the very perfection of all perfections;
All intellect is derived from thee;
My scanty rivulets flow from thy unfathomable fountain.
Compared with thee the sun is darkness,
all beauty deformity,
all wisdom folly,
the best goodness faulty.

Thou art worthy of an adoration greater than my dull heart can yield;
Invigorate my love that it may rise worthily to thee,
tightly entwine itself round thee,
be allured by thee.
Then shall my walk be endless praise [-- praise to thee!].

(The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, 108 -- emphasis mine)


Soli Deo Gloria!

- Sonia

"She Laughs at the Time to Come..."

"Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come." Proverbs 31:25

               In times of unrest and uncertainty, our natural inclination might lead us down a path of fear and worry. Some of us struggle with this for many years, while others do not. So begs the question. How do we come to a place in life where we are able to laugh in the face of difficult times? Do we follow the latest seven steps to faith and happiness program, or do we look ourselves in the mirror each morning repeating positive thinking mantras? A Proverbs 31 woman is described as a God fearing woman; does she look to self-help books for answers? I am confident the Proverbs 31 woman is able to laugh at the time to come because she is at peace; she rests on the promises of God's Word that assures her of her position as a redeemed daughter and from Whom her strength and dignity comes.

For most of my childhood years, I lived on eggshells. I was constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. Don’t get me wrong. I have many happy childhood memories for which I thank God. Behind the scenes in the day-to-day, however I constantly lived without a sense of security and it was never okay to talk about it. Naturally, I grew up struggling with fear, worry and anxiousness. So much so, that it would cause me to hyperventilate. It was debilitating and embarrassing, to say the least.

In my late teens, I poured over self-help books for meditation and breathing techniques to cope in stressful times. It was around this time that I also felt a prick, a gnawing feeling each time I heard someone talk about their faith. My fiancé and I both grew up with nominal religion, yet we believed it was important to have 'religion' in our married lives. So he and I began to regularly attend a few different Roman Catholic churches for a couple of years. For us, we found that we had more questions than answers. And, I still continued to struggle with fear and worry inwardly.

A few years after marrying my fiancé now husband, I began my journey to understanding the peace that would eventually replace my debilitating fears and worries in the summer of 1995. One afternoon, a pastor came to visit my younger brother. I was so leery of his motives that I tried to shoe him out of our home. He asked if I had any questions about what was written in the Bible. I said, yes. After a few hours of him patiently answering questions and explaining who Jesus Christ is, what He did, and what He really offers the world -- straight from the Bible, my husband and I accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior. I'm not going to say that my world went from dull grey to sunshiney color; however, he shared truths about God, His promises, faith and trust in a way that neither my husband nor I were ever taught. And, for the first time in my life, I truly felt hopeful and peaceful as if I no longer had a load of burdens to carry alone.

 

            As I began to study God's Word, I found a passage in the book of John that brought it home for me. Specifically, there's a verse where Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid" {John 14:27}. Whoa! What freedom that brought me! For when I bought into the world's promises to a seven step to faith and happiness plan, philosophical or newest new age book, they never really worked, especially not the ones that 'mixed' in a Scripture verse or two. The temporal fixes the world offered only misled and confused me, and they cost me too much money, frustration, and tears. Yet, it was nowhere near what Christ Jesus paid with His life to redeem me and for the peace I now have in Him {Gal. 3:13}.

That night, God transformed my heart to: understand His Word, believe who He said He is, and trust in Him for my salvation. Trust did not come easy for me, but over the years He has shown me how to trust Him daily. He continues to grant me the grace and faith to persevere on this side of heaven. It has been a journey for which I can only give God all the glory.

As a redeemed daughter, I now have the peace of Christ to rest in Him and His promises. He renews my mind each day and transforms my heart more and more into the image He created me to be. He clothes me with His strength and dignity, so I too can laugh at the time to come. {2Cor. 4:16, Isa. 26:3, Ephe. 1:2-14, 1Tim. 1:12, Prov. 31:25} Trials and difficulties will happen in life. I must choose to gird myself with His Word and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ, the prince of peace {1Peter 1:3-9, Titus 3:4-7}.

 

Soli Deo Gloria!

- Sonia

Redemptive Love

As I continue to study Titus 3:1-8, it reminded me of our Redeemer's love.  It was our Redeemer's “goodness and loving kindness” that caused Him to pour out His grace over a fallen, corrupt, lustful, and sinful woman like me.  He came to save us, "not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit!"  Now, that's love ~ redemptive love!

It is with this in mind that I sing:

"Amazing Grace
How sweet the sound
Amazing Love
Now flowing down
From hands and feet
That were nailed to the tree
As Grace flows down and covers me

Chorus
It covers me
It covers me
It covers me
And covers me"

[And, it can cover you…]