Sssh

photo source: realsimple.com

'A full gives full vent to his spirit,

but a wise man quietly holds it back.'

Proverbs 29:11

...'How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!

And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.

The tongue is set among our members,

staining the whole body, 

setting on fire the entire course of life, 

and set on fire by hell. 

For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature can be tamed

and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue.

It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

With it we bless our Lord and Father,

and with it we curse people that made in the likeness of God.

From the same mouth come blessing and cursing, 

my brothers, these things ought not to be.' 

James 3:5b-11

Today I will intentionally try to say less and pray more. 

I will go to knees on behalf of my spouse...my children...my friends...

before I speak words of counsel, correction or rebuke. 

I will seek forgiveness for the careless words rashly spoken,

arrogant words proudly spoken,

foolish words mindlessly spoken.

Today I will love God and what God loves. 

I will speak words of kindness before I give voice to irritation or criticism. 

I will write the words of Proverbs and James upon my heart and allow them to speak truth and restraint and self control to my hasty spirit. 

When I succeed I will remember the power of God at work within me and the blessing of restraint upon my tongue. 

And when I fail I will humbly seek grace and remember that I am nothing without Jesus Christ. 

Today I will remember that a fool gives full vent to his spirit

but a wise woman quietly holds back. 

Oh sweet Jesus, 

that I may be a woman of wisdom and quietness!

<><tce

Remember

'When the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 

"Take twelve stones from her out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests feet stood firmly,

and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight."

Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. And Joshua said to them,

"Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, 

that this may be a sign among you. 

When your children ask in time to come, 'what do those stones mean to you?' then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be the people of Israel, a memorial forever.'

Joshua 4:1-7

God calls us to remember. 

God commands us to remember. 

God allows us to remember. 

As God's chosen people had finished crossing the Jordan river, God knew the nature of man and the nature of man to forget which is why He commanded them to select memorial stones. 

All over Scripture, we see people building altars before the Lord as a memorial of what God has done, and still today we erect memorials, declare national holidays and celebrate anniversaries all in the honor of remembrance. 

Taking the time to remember is critical, not to mention Biblical. 

I believe that God allows us to--commands us to-- remember, not only for our own sake but for the sake of those that come after us. 

Joshua told the people to tell their children of the great things that God had done for as time moves forward, it is easy to forget the great and wonderful things that God has done in the past. 

Far too often we forget that which we ought to remember and remember that which we ought to forget.  When it comes to extending mercy to another, it is easy to forget the dark pit that God rescued me from and the mercy He extended and continues to extend to me. When it means walking in liberty and freedom, it is easy to forget that Christ broke the chains of sin and I am no longer a slave to it (Galatians 5:1).  

In Psalm 51, David begs God to restore to him the joy of his salvation. Sweet Jesus, can I relate! I see this in my marriage, in my parenting, in my walk with God....the need to remember His goodness and savor His faithfulness. As I walk with God, it is so easy to get sucked into the day to day, allowing the joy of my salvation to slip away and allowing my heart to become consumed with what I expect from God all the while forgetting who God has always been thus clouding my vision of who God is at this time. The joy of marriage is replaced with the unmet expectations of marriage. The joy of parenting is replaced with the arduous task of caring for, teaching and training these sinful little ones. The joy of life is weighted down by the insecurity of self and the focus of self. Oh God--that you would restore to us the JOY OF OUR SALVATION! 

Just as Joshua selected twelve memorial stones, Moses held onto his staff, and God created the rainbow, my prayer today as I journey through life today is that I would remember. When I look at my children that I would not see the flaws in their character or the downfall of sin, but rather that I would remember God's faithfulness in my fertility and that I would teach them who God is and who God has been to me. 

Today I will remember and take joy in what God has done. 

Today I will tell of the wonderful things He has done. 

Today I will allow the memory of what God has done for me to impact the way I serve others. 

Today I will allow the memory of God's unmerited mercy towards me to change the way I extend mercy to others. 

Today I will teach my children how great God is rather than expect someone else to do it. 

Today I will share a story of God's faithfulness with someone in spite of heart ache, hurt or disappointment. 

Today I will take a moment to remember who God is, who God has been and who God has promised to be. 

Today I will remember. 

in due time.

'Fret not yourself because of evildoers;

be not envious of wrongdoers! 

For they will soon fade like grass and wither like the green herb.

Trust in the Lord, and do good;

dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord,

and He will give you the desires of your heart. 

Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in Him, and He will act.

He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

and your justice as the noonday.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him;

fret not yourself over the one who prospers in His way;

over the one who carries out evil devices!

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!

Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

For the evildoers shall be cut off,

but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit that land.'

Psalm 37:1-9

I love the relevancy of God's Word! 

No where do we hear that we need to act as though everything is fine and dandy and happy and lovely. There are blessed moments when this may be so, but there may be other moments--seasons perhaps--where the darkness is heavy and weariness and fear and anger are near companions. 

There are evildoers in this world--of which you and I are one! 

Although I don't murder and I don't steal, I do struggle with dislike, discontentment and disagreements. When I remember that I too am a sinner and God's righteousness has redeemed me and will sustain me, my perspective is challenged and if I will allow--my perspective will be changed. 

There will be unfairness in life. 

There will be the 'underserving' who will prosper in their ways while we are still waiting for God to fulfill the desires of our hearts. The barren woman waits to love and nurture a child while the wild woman conceives and conceives again only to abort, abandon or mistreat. There are evils in this world to which there is no other response other than the heavy curse of sin that covers the earth and those in it. 

While all of these issues of unfairness are undoubtedly present and real and relevant...

so is the steadfast love and faithfulness of our sweet Savior. 

When my eyes turn from the world around me, 

to His sanctuary;

from the hurt I carry to the cross He carried in my place;

from my idea of blessing 

to the abundance of blessing already lavished upon me...

it is then I begin to see His face, 

experience His love and faithfulness

and understand what it means to truly delight myself in the Lord. 

When in my weariness, I take hold of Scripture and claim its truth over my life,

when I commit to trusting in the Lord, doing good, dwelling in the land that He has me in at this moment rather than wishing for something different...

when I befriend faithfulness and commit my way to the Lord

knowing that in His perfect timing He will act...

it is in that place I will find gratitude. blessing. hope. peace. 

and to those things

I will cling to. 

I will let go of the bitterness and no longer allow it to rob and ravage my relationships, my mind and my future. 

I will let go of envy and resentment.

I will instead take up joy and thanksgiving.

Hope and rest. 

Knowing that in due time, my righteousness will shine like the sun and my justice as the noonday. 

In due time. In due time. 

<><tce

a servant to someone

'Therefore

since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, 

let us also lay aside every weight, 

and sin which so easily entangles and clings so closely, 

and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,

who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,

despising the shame, 

and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.' 

Hebrews 12:1,2

Who am I surrounded by? 

Do I surround myself with people that not only love me for who God is making me to be, but love Him and have a desire to be the people that God wants them to be? Who I allow into the sacred recesses of my heart and life will determine the kind of race I run and how well I run the race set before me. I want to run well, so I will surround myself with others that want to run well also. 

I can not run and carry the heavy load of sin, shame, pride, and self righteousness. 

Just as I backpack through the woods and consider every ounce going into my pack, knowing I will have to bear its weight as I traverse rocky terrain and cross through wooded lands, I too will give thought to the heavy weight of sin that weighs me down, tangles me up and turns my eyes from the Perfecter of my Faith toward myself and others. I will live a life of surrender, acknowledging before God and others, the sin that entangles, and will seek accountability as I desire to live righteously--not to my own glory, but for the sake of running this race of life well, unencumbered by the sin that holds me down. 

I will turn my eyes away from myself and set my gaze upon Christ Himself. He walked this earth. He played by the rules that we play by. He is God and He dwelt among us. He was the least of these. This world was not His home and He refused to set His eyes on that which was temporary and allow that to rule the eternal. If He would have, He would have never endured the cross or despised its shame--He would have denied His cross, sacrificed the eternal glory of God and all of creation would have paid the penalty. He knew that this life on earth is but a drop compared to all eternity. He lived accordingly. I will strive to do the same. 

I will take joy in the misunderstandings. I will seek His strength as I strive to live for Him among those that don't believe. I will seek to understand before I make effort to be understood. Rather than pray my cross be lifted, I will pray for the strength of character to carry it well. 

With the cross before me and the world behind, I will follow Jesus. 

I will love those that God loves. 

I will live these fleeting moments with intentional love and mercy, remembering my own need for love and mercy. I will seek to bless others before I expect blessing. 

I will set my eyes on Christ, the One who is writing my story, the Author of my faith, as He weaves this tapestry of my life that I will one day present before His throne as I bow in humble adoration, thankful for the life He gave and the cross He carried on my behalf. May it be a tapestry of beauty, woven with threads of grace and surrender, mercy and freedom, hope and love and purity. 

'Anyone who might feel reluctant to surrender his will to the will of another should remember Jesus' words, "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin" (John 8:34). 

We must of necessity, be servant to someone, either to God or to sin.

The sinner prides himself on his independence, 

completely overlooking the fact that he is the weak slave of the sins that rule his members. 

The man who surrenders to Christ exchanges a cruel slave driver for a kind and gentle Master whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light.' 

The Pursuit of God

A.W Tozer 

surrendered. 

tiffany 

the call of a shepherd

'So I exhort the elders among you,

as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, 

as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed:

Shepherd the flock of God that is among you,

exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;

not for shameful gain, but eagerly;

not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.'

1 Peter 5:1-4

Often, shepherds were overlooked. under appreciated. uneducated. 

and by all worldly standards, contributed very little to society as a whole. 

And yet, this is what Peter is exhorting the Jewish and Gentile Christians scattered throughout Asia Minor to be? 

Of course Peter is being allegorical here, using the very words his personal Mentor, Friend and Savior used throughout His time of teaching here on earth. 

Peter is not telling us to go and start herding sheep.

He is telling us to disciple others. 

This is not a suggestion or a good idea. This is a command for anyone in the fold themselves. 

"But Tiffany!" you say... "I don't have the gift of teaching or writing or speaking or...." 

and I smile and say, "neither do I friend. Neither do I." 

I teach and I write and I speak as the Spirit moves. It is God at work through me to act and encourage and disciple and teach. I am merely walking in obedience not to my own credit but to the credit of the One who requires nothing but willingness. That is what I do have. 

This does not mean that we must sell everything we have and exchange our lives for one in a foreign land speaking a foreign language and living in a grass hut. While this may be the call for some, this is not the call for all. But we are all called to disciple, mentor and shepherd others for the sake of Christ. 

God has called us to a personal relationship, not a private one. 

This is no small call. There will be times we are overlooked, under appreciated or feel ill equipped and inadequate for the task as hand. As we walk faithfully with our Shepherd however, it will become less about us and all about Him. 

If you have not yet accepted His personal invitation for a personal relationship, I can't encourage you enough to meet Him at the Cross. He longs to be gracious to you (Isaiah 30:18) and free you from the bondage that holds you. 

If you do have a personal relationship with Christ, I encourage you to walk faithfully with Him and intentionally set out to encourage another today. I pray that we as fellow heirs with Christ, would have a desire to love well today. As I raise my children, I will set forth to intentionally teach and train them to take hold of that which God has for them. The stage of life I am in, my home is my primary mission field and this is a great blessing to me. 

Where ever you are today, whatever your 'pasture', I pray that you would be an eager example of Christ and His redemptive love. Please pray the same for me. 

loved. 

tiffany  

Earth Day

Photo courtesy of visibleearth.nasa.gov

When I think of the most precious gifts I have been given, the first 'things' to come to mind are my husband, my children, my salvation... If I were to think in terms of earthly things, I would think of my engagement ring, my Bible, a handmade quilt... These things were intended specifically for me and for them I am eternally grateful.

When I stop to think about gifts, I realize that everything I have is a gift. The light in my eyes...the sounds that penetrate my eardrums and register in the auditory part of my brain for processing...the expanding lungs in my chest...the effective communication between my brain and my muscular system making movement and physical response a possibility... the list goes on and on.
I think of the gift of parenting ability, the ability to understand cause and effect of human behavior so as to effectively teach and train my children. The gift of fertility. The gift of laughter. The gift of music.

Everything I have, everything I am...every moment I have left on this blue planet...every breath left to take...every song left to sing....is a gift.

There are many times however that this truth fails to penetrate my heart and I live contrary to this critical understanding. I live ungratefully, critical of others, hard on myself, discontented and unhappy. When I forget that life is a gift, my eyes turn from the eternal to the temporary and I am quick to see the shortcomings and the things I think I lack. When I forget that what I have is a gift, I become a poor steward of that which I do have as I am always striving to attain that which I don't. 


Yesterday was Earth Day.
In society today, it seems as though the pendulum swings heavily one direction or another.
Either the human soul is bent in worship of this planet--sacred environmentalism and glorified animal rights are the hymns to which the heart sings--holding in highest regard, above all else, this temporary planet we are blessed to call home. It seems as though the rest of humanity finds their place in a spirit of indifference, figuring that 'my little efforts' will actually do little to nothing, so we continue to live in a state of poor stewardship and indifference.

I must admit that I have fallen into the latter. "At least I am not worshipping the created rather than the Creator" I self righteously think to myself. This is where the Spirit stops me.
Yesterday He spoke truth to me through the words of our pastor--words so aptly and appropriately spoken that I wished everyone could have heard.

I have never sat through a sermon entitled "Earth Day" and truthfully have always felt as though that is not really a topic for the pulpit. But as the moments ticked by and the Spirit spoke truth to my heart, I realized I was completely wrong. Our relationship with God will directly impact our relationship to this earth. As we look at Genesis 1, take careful note to see that the first words the Creator spoke to His creation were words regarding the gift of environment and the gift of Earth. 

'And God blessed them.

And God said to them, 

"Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over

the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and 

over every living thing that moves on the earth."

And God said,

"I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth,

and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.

And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens

 and to everything that creeps on the earth, 

everything that has the breath of life, I have given every plant for food."

And it was so. 

And God saw everything He had made and behold, it was very good.

And there was evening and there was morning, 

the sixth day.'

Genesis 1:28-31

First, take note that God gave. This makes His creation a gift to us. A gift is meant to be cared for, appreciated and managed well. 

Be careful to not allow this appreciation and heart for stewardship turn your heart to worship, for how does one worship that which is he called to manage and have dominion over? Worship sets the soul in a place of submission--not dominion. Therefore, we must be careful to not worship, for by so doing, we are unable to have dominion over this earth and the affections of our hearts are being compromised. They are to be reserved for the Creator and the Creator alone. 

As Christians, as children of the Creator, ought we not be examples of stewardship? 

And yet, I often find my heart indifferent to throwing plastics in the trash, using plastic bags upon plastic bags and so on. 

As I live my short breath of a life on this earth, I refuse to allow my heart to worship that which is created, but I refuse to allow my heart to find its place in mediocrity and complacency. I will do my part in living a life thankful for that which I have been given...the Earth being one of them. 

So, to you on this beautiful new day...I pray that your heart will bow in humble adoration before the Creator and Sustainer and Giver of all good things. I pray that your heart will see the incredible gift of life and love and salvation that you have been given. I pray that your heart will cry out, 

"Be Thou glorified!" as you live your moments today. 

I pray that your gratitude will be reflected in good stewardship...of your relationships, of your resources, of your time and talents and of your small piece of this blessed gift of Earth. 

grateful. 

tiffany 

disappointed? a little....

"Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, 

because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

perseverance, character;

and character, hope.

And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out His love in our hearts

by the Holy Spirit whom He has given us." 

Romans 5:3-5

As the miles rolled by and the distance between me and home grew shorter and shorter, I felt my prayers becoming more desperate, more weighted by the battle between good and evil, peace and dissension, joy and self pity. 

I found myself wishing that things were different, and initially, I found myself praying for the outcome that I wanted and the one I desperately hoped for. As I prayed however, I felt myself falling prey to cynicism and thinking, "Stop praying like this, you're only setting yourself up for disappointment." 

As I thought through this, with my husband's book on tape steadily filling our car with the even hum of the story teller's voice, I thought about what prayer is: prayer is the essence of hope. As I pray, I am surrendering before God in full hope that He hears and He will respond. I come away from prayer hopeful and yet, when He doesn't respond, the disappointment that follows can be a heavy weight to carry. Because I dread this heavy weight, my self preservation mode kicks in and tells me to just accept that things will always be this way and to stop praying for anything different. 

As much as that sounds fine to my cynical ears, the Spirit quietly calls my heart back to obedient prayer. 

Herein lies my struggle. 

I want to pray by faith, and I want to believe that God hears and answers and yet my prayers continue to return void and I am continually found reeling from disappointment angry with myself for even thinking to hope for something other than what has always been. 

For those of you still following this jumbled rambling session, 

I will first say thank you for listening. I appreciate your kindness. 

I will secondly tell you that my marriage and my children are greatly blessed and this post is in no way insinuating anything different. 

As I withdraw to my quiet closet of prayer, where my faithful God is gracious to meet me in spite of the baggage I drag in with me, 

He is just that, faithful. 

Paul writes in Romans that hope does not disappoint and at a cynical first glance, I would politely beg to differ. If only Paul knew how many times in my life, the well spring of hope and hopeful expectation has left me hurt and disappointed.... 

But, I believe God's Word is without error and so, I go back to the black words on my white, worn page and ask my faithful and gracious Lord to speak in a way that my disappointed heart will understand. 

I see my answer there, but it doesn't come until I have surrendered my own agenda of hearing from God what I want to hear and rather with a willing spirit, ask to hear what I need to hear. 

Where does my hope come from? 

As my eyes scroll over the words in verse four, I see that my hope does not come from prayers answered favorably. No, no...something much better, something not of this earth. My hope comes from character--HIS character--being developed within me. Here comes the part that I love and hate all at the same time--His character does not come through a peaceful walk in the park as I stroll through life savoring answered prayers according to my expectations. No, that would develop a self centeredness that would only lead to arrogance and He has something much better for me. My hope comes from the character that He develops within me as I walk with Him through the fire of suffering and disappointment. 

It is in knowing that although my sin nature dies hard, God is still at work and He loves me enough to say no to me. He loves me enough to walk me through the fire so that the very thing I am praying for--hope--will become my companion as I see evidence of His character growing within me. 

So...with my disappointed and yet hopeful heart, my prayer turns from

"please Lord....change this...." 

to

"thank you for the cross I carry. Grant me strength of character that I may carry it well and leave the fragrance of my Risen Lord in my wake. 

Amen" 

hopeful.

tiffany