The children played on their own while I cleaned the house. I had to stop and observe for a little bit when I saw my oldest “cooked” and “served” food to his brother. He filled a bowl with “food” and placed it on the table. Then he had him sit right next to him. After this command, he held hands with him and told him that they have to pray for the food. He uttered this prayer: “Dear God, thank you for this food. Amen.”

How delightful it was for me to see this. As we go about each day doing the seemingly mundane and uninteresting tasks, the children are watching and learning. I’m reminded that my duties and sometimes burdensome work are not in vain. Once again I’m reminded of Galatians 6:9:

Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

For our morning devotional time, the kids and I read the Bible and then a chapter from Susan Hunt’s Big Truths For Little Kids. Today, after reading the story in the book, I asked my almost five year old son how the little boy Daniel in the story felt about his sin. Matthew replied, “He feels lucky.” Lucky? I was so dumbfounded. Where did he get that? We have been going over the Westminster Catechism with him for a while now and certainly he knows the answer ain’t feeling “lucky!”

I was very relieved to know that what he actually meant was “yucky” as indicated in the book. For some reason he heard “lucky” when I read it. Whew! I certainly don’t want my boy to view sinning as a stroke of luck!

A couple of years ago, dear friends gave us a book titled The Squire and the Scroll.  This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of a kingdom which lives in decay and fear since the time a dreadful dragon has stolen the “Lantern of Purest Light.”  Many brave knights have been lost in pursuit of the lantern, and nearly all hope is lost.  The story focuses on the journey of the bravest and last knight — and his young squire — and how they are sent as a last hope to retrieve the Lantern from the dragon’s lair.  As the title of the book suggests, the story revolves not around the knight, but rather around his squire and his precious scroll.  The scroll was given to the squire by his parents prior to entering into the service of the king, and contains instructions for living.

The primary lesson of the tale is the same as that principle expressed in Psalm 119:9:

How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.

We enjoy reading this story frequently, with its “fairy tale” styled illustrations and engaging prose.  Our oldest has enjoyed this since he was 3, and we expect to enjoy it together as a family for years to come.  We highly recommend it for both family reading and independent enjoyment (children and adults alike!).

For part one of this post, see here. Continuing now my summary and reflections on Carolyn Mahaney’s message:
Peter learned that the purpose of his eventual death by crucifixion was to glorify God. How did he respond to this and what can we learn from him? The answer is found in John 21:20-22:

Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who had been reclining at table close to him and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”

Here we see Peter turning away from Jesus and looked to John and asked, “What about him?” In other words, what about John? How is he going to die? What kind of assignment will he receive from the Lord? The biggest temptation in experiencing our own personal trials is to take our eyes off the Lord and compare ourselves to others. The grass always seem greener on the other side.

What did Jesus do? He rebuked Peter. In verse 22, Jesus said it was not Peter’s business to inquire about John’s situation. Peter just needed to follow Him, and nothing else. Jesus did not allow room for self-pity. So often self-pity is what we want as we trudge through our trials. Carolyn explains:

The act of sinful comparison is a futile and destructive exercise. It robs a person of his joy, destroys his peace, plunges him to despair and self-pity. Jesus didn’t want this to be Peter’s experience. He wants him to be able to face his death. Peter needs to stop looking at John, but to look to Jesus. The Lord will rebuke us the same way if we compare ourselves to others. When we compare, the Lord will say, “What is that to you? What I assigned to the other person is none of your business.” We must never treat sinful comparison as acceptable, or understandable practice in our lives. It’s not a not a harmless activity.

I can personally attest that sinful comparison is destructive. Usually when I’m having a bad day, I start to compare myself to others. How come this friend’s kids are so obedient and smart and quiet? Another friend’s life is so exciting whereas mine is simply mundane. Once I start on this path, it usually spirals down until I become totally dissatisfied and fall into despair.

Jesus, once again, said to Peter, “Follow me.” Carolyn further explains:

This is what Peter needed to hear from the Lord. In fact, this is all he needs to hear. There’s nothing he needs to do. This command is all sufficient for Peter. The Lord will give us the same command. For every unwanted experience we face in our lives, the Lord will say to us, “You must follow me.” Just as these words are enough for Peter, they are enough for us. We need to hear this command again and again.

In summary, when we are faced with unwanted circumstances, we should resist every temptation to compare ourselves with others. Instead, we need to heed the Lord’s command to “follow me.”

Peter lived about 30 years after this command was given, and he faithfully served the Lord to the glory of God and bore much fruit. He heeded the Lord’s command which we could clearly see as he penned these words in 1 Peter 4:12-13:

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

Let’s be reminded that every trial is from the Lord and that it is for the glory of God.

I finally got around to listen to Carolyn Mahaney’s talk “What To Do About the Things We Can’t Do Anything About.” My husband posted the link a while back so feel free to peruse and download this and other messages that may interest you.

I needed to hear this message so much so that I listened to it twice just so that I would truly understand it. This message is about what we are to do when we face difficulties in life but lack the ability to change the situation. Below is my own summary of the message including my personal reflection and thoughts. The main text of this message is from John 21:15-22.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who had been reclining at table close to him and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”

Having just told Peter that he would die by crucifixion, the command “Follow me” did not seem the most logical nor sympathetic thing for Jesus to say. Why then did Jesus utter these two words? Imagine yourself in this situation, how do you even go about thinking of your own gruesome death and the command of “follow me.” Jesus knew that telling Peter to follow Him is the most helpful and caring thing to say at this moment. Following Jesus is the only way Peter will be able to face various trials. Jesus is the one who is able to enable Peter to persevere. Mahaney explains that “So often it’s the pity we want when we’re experiencing something difficult. Yet, it is God’s words that we need to hear. It’s the most helpful counsel we can receive and give to others.”

In verse 18, Jesus makes a contrast between youth and old age. In his youth, Peter was able to dress and go wherever he wanted whereas in his old age, someone else would dress him and carry him to where he didn’t want to go. In other words, there are circumstances in life where you are able to make choices that you want and difficulties where you didn’t choose nor want to be in. We all have unwanted experiences in our lives such as not having the perfect health, or the right look, or the right marital status, or the perfect house, etc. Peter was assigned a martyr’s death, and he had no choice in this matter. Likewise, we have no choice in many circumstances in our lives (by virtue of choices we’ve made, or choices others have made, and all under the sovereign hand of God).

The purpose of these divinely appointed trials, whether in Peter’s or our lives, is found in verse 19, which is to glorify God. In essence, our trials have been assigned to us by God in order to glorify God. In Carolyn’s words:

Think about something in your life that you don’t want but you can’t change. Consider this: God in His providence specifically assigned this experience to you in order to glorify Him. If you grasp this truth, this can change your whole perspective. Rather than view it as an unwanted experience, we need to see this as an assignment from God. It’s been specifically assigned to us so that we might glorify God. If we can only keep this truth fixed in our hearts, we can then respond to every unwanted experience in faith and with joy, knowing full well that it’s a divine given opportunity to glorify God.

This main point is very powerful. I certainly have many unwanted experiences in my life, whether in the past or present. At the present moment it is natural for me to whine and complain about my situation. I am told that my current trials are not something random, but are divinely appointed assignments from God with the goal of glorifying Him through it all. I need to be reminded of this truth on a continual basis.

In part two of this message, I will write about how Peter responded to this truth and how Jesus rebuked and directed him. Stay tuned as we have much to learn from this message.

My oldest saw the pinwheel cookies recipe in our FamilyFun magazine and requested that we made these fun looking cookies. The recipe was complete with photos and it seemed relatively easy to make at the time. Half way in I realized it was slightly more complicated and time consuming than expected. This was one of those projects that seemed fun and easy at the moment, but proved to be more than meets the eye. With the kids’ eager expectation, we had to press on with finishing the process. The finished product were cool looking and yummy tasting. Like my husband said, how could something not taste good with butter, sugar, and cocoa. Very true!

I just discovered today that Desiring God has a blog that was started in January.  A quick perusal of the blog shows many audio and written resources that are very helpful.  What I really appreciate about Desiring God is that they make many resources readily available free of charge.  The Pastor’s Conference is currently taking place in Minneapolis, and Abraham Piper is rapidly uploading the audio messages and notes online as soon as they become available.
So many wonderful sermons . . . . . so little time to listen.