O give us homes built firm upon the Savior, Where Christ is head and counsellor and guide; Where every child is taught His love and favor And gives his heart to Christ, the crucified: How sweet to know that tho his footsteps waver, His faithful Lord is walking by his side!
O give us homes with godly fathers, mothers, Who always place their hope and trust in Him; Whose tender patience turmoil never bothers, Whose calm and courage trouble cannot dim; A home where each finds joy in serving others, And love still shines tho days are dark and grim.
O give us homes where Christ is Lord and Master, The Bible read, the precious hymns still sung; Where prayer comes first in peace or in disaster, And praise is natural speech to every tongue; Where mountains move before a faith that's vaster, And Christ sufficient is for old and young.
O Lord our homes are Thine forever! We trust to Thee their problems, toil, and care; Their bonds of love no enemy can sever If Thou art always Lord and Master there: Be Thou the center of our least endeavor- Be Thou our guest, our hearts and homes to share.
We are starting a new series at church about what Jesus had to say about families, and this hymn will be our "theme hymn" throughout the series. It's a beautiful prayer that I pray and sing for my own family as we delve into this topic. I can't wait for next Sunday to hear more about what Jesus says to families!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Time Alone With God
Do you have trouble finding time to be alone with God? I sure do! American life is so busy, with so many demands on a woman's time. How on earth can we juggle all we need to do in a day, and still find time alone with God? I struggle with this reality of American living. I already get up EARLY to make breakfast for my husband, get the kids up and ready for school, work all day at school, come home to a fire that needs fixing, supper needing to be cooked, then cleaning up supper dishes, feeding the critters, trying to straighten up the house, laundry, baths, paying bills, and on and on it goes.
We all have an endless to do list, don't we? So where does God fit into this busy schedule? Too many times, I'm afraid He doesn't. We send up a brief prayer for the safety of our loved ones, or for His help throughout the day, and then we collapse into a heap of exhaustion, falling asleep while finally trying to really pray.
Sometimes I wonder if our "busy-ness" isn't one of Satan's greatest tools that he uses against Christians. In Ephesians 6 we find the passage about our weapons of warfare. Our most offensive weapon against Satan is the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. How can Satan best stand against that one? By seeing to it that Christians don't use it! If he convinces us or causes us to be too busy to spend time in the Word, we'll he's pretty much won any battle he chooses to wage against us. We may have some defensive weapons in our arsenal...our helmet of salvation, our breastplate of righteousness, our shoes of peace, but those things will only keep us from being destroyed in an attack. They are NOT a Sword that we can use to actually fight the enemy.
So this year, while I'm not making a "New Year's Resolution," I have asked God to work in my heart to cause me to desire to spend time in the Word so much, that I can't even imagine going through a day without it. In my own strength, I know that I will fail, but if God is working in me, I can trust Him to make the necessary changes in my heart. I'm asking for this God-improvement beginning in 2010. Care to join me?
We all have an endless to do list, don't we? So where does God fit into this busy schedule? Too many times, I'm afraid He doesn't. We send up a brief prayer for the safety of our loved ones, or for His help throughout the day, and then we collapse into a heap of exhaustion, falling asleep while finally trying to really pray.
Sometimes I wonder if our "busy-ness" isn't one of Satan's greatest tools that he uses against Christians. In Ephesians 6 we find the passage about our weapons of warfare. Our most offensive weapon against Satan is the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. How can Satan best stand against that one? By seeing to it that Christians don't use it! If he convinces us or causes us to be too busy to spend time in the Word, we'll he's pretty much won any battle he chooses to wage against us. We may have some defensive weapons in our arsenal...our helmet of salvation, our breastplate of righteousness, our shoes of peace, but those things will only keep us from being destroyed in an attack. They are NOT a Sword that we can use to actually fight the enemy.
So this year, while I'm not making a "New Year's Resolution," I have asked God to work in my heart to cause me to desire to spend time in the Word so much, that I can't even imagine going through a day without it. In my own strength, I know that I will fail, but if God is working in me, I can trust Him to make the necessary changes in my heart. I'm asking for this God-improvement beginning in 2010. Care to join me?
Friday, January 1, 2010
New Year's Resolution
We often make a New year's resolution and find ourselves about 10 days down the road having given up because we failed already at accomplishing what we started. Thus the problem with New Year's resolutions is that they are not attainable, and they set us up for failure from the start. Most resolutions start out with " From now on, I'm going to ....." You know the deal, "lose weight," "eat healthy," "exercise every day," "read my Bible everyday," "quit smoking." Why is it that we as imperfect people always think that starting the new year, we can change ourselves? We can't! Any attempt at changing ourselves in our own strength is doomed for failure. We end up frustrated, angry with ourselves, and depressed that we "failed" once again.
Does that mean we should just give up on "self-improvement." Well...yes, in a way. How about if we use the new year to embarq on a "God-improvement." That is to say that we allow God to work in us to improve those areas that need help. The works of the flesh will never accomplish a change from the inside out...that is God's territory, not ours. And if we're honest with ourselves, most of us need a change to happen inside in order to affect the outside, whether it's to lose the weight, eat better, exercise, or be more faithful in Bible reading.
I am challanging myself and others this new year, to be more willing to hand over our shortcomings to God. Tell Him what we need (He already know anyway), make ourselves willing to be changed by Him, and then watch Him work in our lives. THAT will be guaranteed success in the new year!
Does that mean we should just give up on "self-improvement." Well...yes, in a way. How about if we use the new year to embarq on a "God-improvement." That is to say that we allow God to work in us to improve those areas that need help. The works of the flesh will never accomplish a change from the inside out...that is God's territory, not ours. And if we're honest with ourselves, most of us need a change to happen inside in order to affect the outside, whether it's to lose the weight, eat better, exercise, or be more faithful in Bible reading.
I am challanging myself and others this new year, to be more willing to hand over our shortcomings to God. Tell Him what we need (He already know anyway), make ourselves willing to be changed by Him, and then watch Him work in our lives. THAT will be guaranteed success in the new year!
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