I’ve been feeling beaten down of late.  Each day with its unique and some not-so-unique challenges make me grow weary.  There were days where I went to bed feeling dejected and not looking forward to another day of challenges.  Let’s face it, taking care of five little ones, homeschooling, and managing a household are just hard.

Rather than wallowing in depression, I’m reminded of God’s mercies being made new for each day:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

(Lamentations 3:22-23)

God is faithful and even though we mess up, his mercies are extended for another day to make amends.  Whether you’re feeling beaten down by your work, school, home life, or whatever, God’s mercies are renewed day by day.  This is the truth we can trust in.

At least, that’s how many days it’s been since we posted on our blog.

What can we say?  We’ve been afflicted by summer, a development spurt from our now-7-month-old daughter, and a lack of inspiration for great blog entries.

Otherwise… I’ve been picking up a few books at the same time, as usual, two of which have been especially helpful.

When People Are Big and God is Small by Ed Welch is a book that looks into how all of us suffer to some degree from a fear of man, or desire for man’s acceptance; instead of a fear of God and desire to please Him alone.  Where I initially had some other folks in mind when I picked it up (don’t we all? =-p), it’s been helpful for me already to see areas where I succumb to looking to gain the acceptance of others instead of being “God’s man.” Things may get even better should I progress to chapter two and beyond…

The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges is a book I read through over a decade ago in a men’s study and prayer group.  It’s remarkable how time has changed my perspective on life, on God, and on obeying God.  So it’s with new eyes, of a sort, that I picked it up a couple of days ago to start reading it again.  And I was struck anew by his helpful thoughts on the importance of grace — and how easily we forget its necessity in every Christian’s life.   He sums it up well in the first chapter with this memorable quote: “Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace.  And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.”

I’m hoping to redeem a good amount of my limited spare time this summer by stealing moments to read a book here and there.  Wifey is reading Tim Keller’s The Prodigal God, which I speed-read a few months ago and appreciated some of the key points within.  Lord willing, I may also get myself to pick up John Owen’s Overcoming Sin and Temptation as well, difficult though the prose is to work through at times.

So it seems our kids set the pace again.  Even as the local public library, various bookstores and restaurants are offering kids incentives to read; it appears we have our own opportunity to do some summer reading.

To close, some new (and old) photos of the kids in gratitude for your energies slogging through my prose:

Do you casually say “I will pray for you” when someone just shared a struggle or a trial with you?  You want to comfort them so you promise to pray for them, which is a good thing.  However, do we merely say it because it sounds right?  It sounds quite spiritual as well.

But in actuality, do you pray like you said you would?  Too often we make the promise too casually and forget to pray.  I admit that I’ve been guilty of this in the past.  We need to be reminded that a promise is a promise and we need to be true to our words.  The recipient of the promise may not know whether you prayed or not, but God does.  Nowadays when I say “I will pray for you,” I really do make a point to pray.

Let’s make sure our offers to pray are not mere “words” of false comfort, but a promise to offer up intercessions on others’ behalf to the King of all creation.

I know quite a few eligible, godly, and attractive young ladies who want to get marry and start a family, but feel frustrated by the apparent absence of mature and godly men interested in pursuing them.  In the meantime, they are waiting patiently and anxiously, but the process of waiting is difficult at times.  I came across Nancy Wilson’s recent posts about this specific subject that I know will benefit my single female audience.  In Wilson’s Unmarried and Fruitful post, she writes:

In your thinking, do not let marriage become an end rather than a means. Marriage is a means of glorifying God, not an end in itself. Determine to use your unmarried state as a means of glorifying God as well, and don’t allow marriage to become something other than what it is in the created order. In other words, don’t let it become an idol, something that has way too much importance to you, so that you believe you are only half a person or that you are being held back spiritually because of your unmarried state.

Read more…

I’m attempting to better redeem my time by renewing the practice of reading good books, when I can squeeze it in each day.  I certainly have enough candidates awaiting my attention on my bookshelf.  So after speed-reading Tim Keller’s provocative and excellent book, The Prodigal God, I’ve decided to begin reading a modernized (but unabridged) collection of three classic works by Puritan John Owen (1616-1683), in a book titled Overcoming Sin and Temptation.

As I began a couple of days ago (in the introduction), I came across an eloquent insight on overcoming temptation.

“Let a soul exercise itself to a communion with Christ in the good things of the gospel—pardon of sin, fruits of holiness, hope of glory, peace with God, joy in the Holy Ghost, dominion over sin—and he shall have a mighty preservative against all temptations.” — Works of John Owen, 6:144

Do you struggle with temptations?  I sure do.  Every day.  In areas I expect, and in ways that surprise me.  And I often feel helpless.  So it was of great encouragement that I read the above reminder on how to best battle against temptation.  When I face temptation, especially of “old” sins that keep cropping up, I find myself tending to dwell on that sin: how come I haven’t defeated it, why it keeps recurring, etc.

Owen’s point is simple.  It is not through that sort of ongoing self-introspection that we best battle remaining sin.  Rather, it is through frequent and regular meditation upon and relating to God through the graces of His gospel.  A focus not on self, but on God in Christ and the glories of the gospel, is the surest weapon in our struggle against temptation and sin while we remain on this earth.

An analogy comes to mind.  What’s the best way to keep weeds out of a lawn?  Wheelbarrows of weed-killer every day?  I think not.  The best way to keep weeds out of a lawn is to keep the grass healthy and thriving through ongoing mowing, water and nutrition.  Yet when I attempt to defeat sin by focusing on temptation and sin and self, I’m essentially trying to kill the weeds of sin in my life solely through ongoing weed-killer.  Instead, to overcome sin and temptation, I ought to be primarily focused on sustaining a healthy, thriving communion with Christ, grounded in and dwelling on the gospel and its promises.  And what do you know… that also “happens” to be the best way to keep sin from taking root in my life.

And surely this is a crucial strategy to grasp, for, as Owen has also said: “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.”

Earlier this year I made a commitment to read through the entire Bible in a year.  Too often many of us begin with gusto reading Genesis and keeping up with Exodus.  Once we hit the book of Leviticus, we’re starting to wonder why all the repetition and rules for cleaning and sacrifices.  After a while, all the chapters sound the same.  If you persevere through this book, the book of Numbers will be the hill to die on, figuratively speaking.  As the name of the book suggests, there are a lot of numbers.  In addition, the repetition of whining and complaining from the Israelites become annoying.  Again, all the chapters sound the same.  I hope I’m not the only one who feels this way.  Perhaps I’m the only one bold enough to admit it?  So, what is one to do?

I began listening to Mark Dever’s overview sermon on the book of Numbers and have found it to be tremendously helpful in understanding the background, the context, and the theme of the book.  Rather than thinking the book to be dry, Dever’s message gave me the encouragement and the inspiration to read with much anticipation and excitement.  If any of you feel the same as I did, I’d encourage you to listen to Dever’s message.  Not only did he preach through the book of Numbers, he preached through all the books of the Bible (which you can find here).   I’m planning on listening to the corresponding message when I read through each book of the Bible so as to better understand the context, background, and the theme.

I was recently motivated to re-visit the subject of humility, and decided to re-read C.J. Mahaney’s small book on the subject, which I read and reviewed on this blog 3.5 years ago (was it that long ago?!).

One of the strengths of the book is C.J.’s very accessible style, which is coupled with very practical suggestions for cultivating this grace of humility.  I’ll leave it as an exercise for you to read the book, which is abounding in useful Biblical references and quotes from other excellent authors on why cultivating humility is so essential.  But as I was reflecting on the book this evening, I thought it would be profitable to highlight (for myself and others) key suggestions C.J. puts forth as ways to cultivate humility on a daily basis.  Here they are:

1. Reflect on the wonder of the cross of Christ.  This is by far the most important and fundamental of all the practices that is commended by the author.  There is nothing more essential to mortifying the sin of pride than recognizing that in the cross is the most vivid picture of the ugliness of our pride.  This is perhaps best said by Isaac Watts in his classic hymn:
   

   When I survey the wondrous cross
   On which the Prince of Glory died,
   My richest gain I count but loss,
   And pour contempt on all my pride.
   

   As C.J. writes:

   “Fill your affections with the cross of Christ,” wrote John Owen, “that there may be no room for sin.” And that includes no room for pride.

2. Begin your day acknowledging your dependence upon God and need for God.  Here C.J. insightfully notes that most of us wake up with little purpose, mostly groggy, and with no sense of vigilance against sin (including pride) which is never at rest.  He says, “instead, you can declare war on pride by speaking the truth to yourself and set the right tone for your day by mentally affirming your dependence upon God and your need for Him.”
3. Begin your day expressing gratefulness to God.  He notes,
   

   “Thankfulness,” Michael Ramsey reminds us, “is a soil in which pride does not easily grow.”  That’s exactly right and we want to cultivate that soil.  So from the outset of the day, I want to greet my Savior with gratitude, not grumbling.

4. Practice the spiritual disciplines — prayer, study of God’s Word, worship.  He writes, “I’ve learned that regardless of how I feel when I’m finished reading my Bible in the morning, I can know that I’ve made the statement, ‘I need You, I’m dependent upon You.’  By quietly pausing to study and read and pray before launching my workday, I can be confident that I’ve taken a step to weaken pride and strengthen humility.”
5. Seize your commute time to memorize and meditate on Scripture.  Here C.J.’s advice is simple.  Consider listening to the Bible, with a view to meditating upon it, and memorizing it, in the so often otherwise wasted minutes in the car going to and from work.
6. Cast your cares upon God.  C.J. writes, “The humble are genuinely care free.  I’ve discovered how true that is myself and my soul.  Where there’s worry, where there’s anxiousness, pride is at the root of it.  When I am experiencing anxiety, the root issue is that I’m trying to be self-sufficient.  I’m acting independent of God.”  So he encourages the believer to daily cast his anxieties on God as a way to acknowledge our dependence on Him, and avoid the prideful attitude of self-sufficiency.
7. “Transfer” all glory to God. C.J. quotes Thomas Watson who wrote, “When we have done anything praiseworthy, we must hide ourselves under the veil of humility and transfer the glory of all we have done to God.”  He adds the helpful metaphor of “cosmic plagiarism” to refer to when we take credit for that which God deserves ultimate credit.  Whatever successes we may experience, we need to immediately transfer the glory to God for that success.
8. Receive the gift of sleep from God and acknowledge His purpose for sleep.  As I am a father of five young children, including a three-month-old infant, sleep is a precious commodity.  But C.J. points out that it is not just a physical commodity, but a spiritual one, for our need for sleep should remind us of our place.  “Each night,” he writes, “as I confront my need again for sleep, I’m reminded that I’m a dependent creature.  I am not self-sufficient.  I am not the Creator.  There is only One who ‘will neither slumber nor sleep’ (Psalm 121:4), and I am not that One.”

The above are the “daily habits” that C.J. commends.  He goes on in the book to suggest more “long-term” practices to integrate into one’s life in order to cultivate humility.  These are more drawn out, so for the sake of this post, I’ll simply list them and commend you to read the book for more details.  The practices he suggests are:

• Study the attributes of God.
• Study the doctrines of grace.
• Study the doctrine of sin.
• Identify evidences of grace in others.  This means actively looking for ways that God is at work in the lives of other people.
• Encourage others each and every day.
• Invite and pursue correction.
• Respond humbly to trials.

As I have begun re-reading the book, I’m finding encouragement and conviction to be more disciplined in the mortification of pride and pursuit of humility in my life.  And I am so thankful that God is for me in this pursuit and I am not on my own.