Thankful for friends

As part of Rebecca's Thanksgiving-fest, today, I am thankful for my two friends, J. and E. I won't use their names because they are both the type who shun the spotlight or being fussed over.

These two women are my closest friends. These are women who love the Scriptures, who love doctrine and who desire to live according to their knowledge of God's word. They encourage me, sharpen me, and challenge me. They are both devoted wives and mothers. Our times are precious, because they are not frequent, and their lack of frequency is because they are such devoted wives. They love their husbands and I never heard either of them say a negative word about their husbands. They both know how to use their time well, and don't waste it if they can avoid it, yet both have a deep love of study and reading, and they find time for that, too. Quite co-incidentally, both of these ladies are excellent cooks and can work with their hands.

My friend J. grew up in a very poor circumstance. Her father died when she was 11 years old and her mother struggled to support their family. J. is not bitter about some of the things that happened as a result of her childhood, but rather looks at it through the eyes of God's sovereignty.

My friend E. had a very busy time when her children were young. The nature of her husband's employment took him away quite frequently. There were many occasions when she and her four young ones would get stuck in their very long lane on the way home from church. She always carried a container in her vehicle full of mitts and scarves for such occasions. She made taking her children to church a priority, and she took them alone many, many times, and it was a long drive.

Both of these women encourage me not to complain about my circumstances.

I am blessed by these ladies.

Putting down our doubts

In the chapter entitled "Looking At the Waves," Dr. Lloyd-Jones discusses an incident in the fourteenth chapter of Matthew (Matt. 14:22-33). In this account, the disciples were in a boat on a stormy sea and they were afraid. Jesus had gone off to pray. Later, when the boat is still on the waves, Jesus walks on water to the boat. Peter, in his usual haste, asks Jesus to help him walk out to where he stands on the water. Once on the tossing sea, Peter becomes fearful again and starts to sink. Jesus pulls Peter up and says, "Oh thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"

Lloyd-Jones points out that spiritual depression can be a product of allowing our doubts control us and take our eyes from Jesus. He points out that Peter knew the water was tossing to and fro; he'd been sitting on wavy seas for quite some time already. However, once on the water, when he took his eyes from Jesus and looked at the waves, his doubts took over.

LLoyd-Jones says something I find quite profoundly true:

We all tend to fail ultimately at our strongest point.

He says this with regard to Pete's impetuous, energetic personality. There are many people who are like this; energetic, moving ahead without regard, and they do end up stumbling on the very fact of that temperament. I, myself, have a strength in using words, and it is always, always, always, in the use of words where I fail the most miserably when I do fail. I tend to be a little like Peter.

The good Doctor comments further on this type of personality:

... this energy, this capacity for decision, this impulsiveness tends to make them do things intuitively instead of thinking them right through and understanding and grasping them; and the result is that there are these violent alterations in their spiritual life; now this is a very common cause of spiritual depression and that is why we are dealing with it.

I must confess how easily I saw myself in this as I read. Thinking things through demands that I focus on what I know, not entirely on my "intuition." I can be a very intuitive person, and at times, that is good, but it is much better for the most part to reflect on what I know to be true. Lloyd-Jones emphasizes this focus on what we know:

... the great antidote to spiritual depression is the knowledge of Biblical doctrine, Christian doctrine. Not having the feelings worked up in meetings, but knowing the principles of the faith, knowing and understanding the doctrines.

This book continues to edify, encourage and convict on a regular basis.

In All Things Give Thanks

Well, the month is drawing to a close, and there are only a few more days to participate with Rebecca and many others in a month of thanksgiving. That does not mean to say that you can't be thankful every day, though!

Today, I am thankful for my sons' report cards. This past week saw them bring home their mid-term reports for this first semester. Both boys have averages over 80% and that makes me happy. My oldest has consistently had an 80+ average every semester of high school thus far, and I anticipate when he graduates in June he will have managed to have accomplished that for his entire high school time. He is a maddening sort; he does very little work but he gets good marks, anyway. The thing I liked most about his report was that his law teacher (he's taking Canadian Law this year and really enjoys it) said that his comments are always very "insightful." That shows that he is thinking. I was also pleased to see that his English teacher said that his written work is excellent; my son actually loathes that class so doing well in it is good.

The thing that made me happy with regard to my younger son's report card was that three of his four teachers commented that he shows good leadership in class. That makes me happy. And he was also commended for his written work and has also achieved an over 80% every semester thus far. I am thankful that all three of my children are good communicators and good students.

Memories from school

In my last year of high school, I read the chilling story "The Machine Stops" by E.M. Forster. When I watch the dependence we have on the internet, especially our blogs, Twitter and Facebook, I am brought back to my memories.

Check it out.

The Machine Stops

In All Things Give Thanks

I would like to wish all my American blog friends a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving Day! I'm sure many are going to gather with family and friends, and what a joyous thing that is!

Today, as part of Rebecca's continuing month of thanksgiving, I am thankful for the mild November we have had.

Yesterday afternoon, around 3:30, I went for a walk. It had rained earlier, but the sun was working its way out of the clouds, and that late afternoon light was playing around with the cloud cover, so it was quite nice. It was brisk and fresh. I was listening to Cara Dillon on my iPod, and it was so nice to walk in November without having to bundle up!

In All Things Give Thanks

Today, I am thankful for struggles.

When I was growing up, I had a very average childhood. We were not well off, but we always had food to eat and a place to sleep. There were things that were painful, but I don't think it was anything nearly as bad as some people. The one thing I struggled with growing up, right up into my adult years, was a feeling of being an "outsider." I never really felt part of the crowd at school or even now, within, my local church. That as been difficult at times. But now, I am learning that God wants me in a position where I don't feel too comfortable. He knows that if he lets me get too comfortable, it may not be good for me. I may become too wise in my own eyes, too confident in my own abilities, too reliant on people.

Sometimes, I watch other women, with their groups of friends, doing the things that women are supposed to like doing together, and I feel "left out." Then, I am reminded that belonging to God and learning to daily walk in His ways is much more important than "fitting in" anywhere.

Once, again, I encourage you to visit Rebecca for more thankful thoughts!

Poetry Wednesday

Nativity, from "La Carona" by John Donne:

Immensity cloistered in thy dear womb,
Now leaves His well-beloved imprisonment,
There he hath made Himself to His intent
Weak enough, now into our world to come;
But oh, for thee, for Him, hath the Inn no room?
Yet lay Him in this stall, and from the Orient,
Stars, and wisemen will travel to prevent
The effect of Herod's jealous general doom.
Seest thou, my soul, with thy faith's eyes, how He
Which fills all place, yet none holds Him, doth lie?
Was not His pity towards thee wondrous high
That would have need to be pitied by thee?
Kiss Him, and with Him into Egypt go,
With His kind mother, who partakes thy woe.

In All Things Give Thanks

Once, again, I am participating in Rebecca's month of thanksgiving, and today, I am thankful for the works of the Reformers, in particular Luther and Calvin.

Every Tuesday, I try to write something about what I'm learning about in my church history reading, and at the moment, I am reading about the life and theology of Calvin. There is simply too much about Calvin to zero in on just one thing. That being said, the thing that struck me this morning is that Calvin was a very different sort from Luther. Luther was trained in a monastery, and Calvin was trained as a lawyer. I think Calvin's training was part of the reason why he was able to write such a profound work as the Institutes. Legal training indicates a facility with reasoning and argumentation, which would have served him well in presenting his Institutes. Luther wrote a lot as well, but Calvin was known more for being the systematician. Justo Gonzales describes the Institutes in this way:

The entire works shows a profound knowledge, not only of the Scripture, but also of ancient Christian literature - particularly the works of Augustine - and of the theological controversies of the sixteenth century. there is no doubt that this was the high point of the Protestant systematic theology in the time of the Reformation.

Calvin was a pastor and preacher, but he was also an exegete, and what he actually longed to do was retire to a scholarly life. After being banished from Geneva, he spent the years 1538 to 1541 in Strasbourg. Gonzales says:

The three years Calvin spent in Strasbourg from 1538 to 1541 were probably the happiest and most peaceful of his life.

Calvin returned to Geneva eventually and returned to his preaching.

Calvin's dedication to scholarship is part of the heritage that we in the church enjoy today, having access to his commentaries as well as his devotional writing and his Institutes. Luther, as well can be partaken of through his commentaries, devotional writing and his Table Talk. Despite the two men being very different, i.e. Calvin was much more reserved and introverted than was the expressive and often gregarious Luther. It is interesting to see how their personalities and the backgrounds from which they come influenced how they wrote and what they focused on. Despite their different approaches, they both had the same desire to teach and promote Reformed teaching. It is through their writings that we benefit. I am so thankful for these men from whom we learn so much.

In All Things Give Thanks

This morning, I am thankful for simple pleasures.

I was listening to A Celtic Sojourn recently, and the name Cara Dillon came up a few times, and I heard some of her songs. This morning, I stumbled upon her rendition of "She Moved Through the Fair." This woman has a beautiful voice. I just loved it. I have a busy day today, but I took a few minutes to listen to this. Simple pleasures are something to be thankful for.



Join with many of us who are regularly participating in Rebecca's month of thanksgiving.

Where is your Father?

In this chapter of Spiritual Depression, Lloyd-Jones refers to Luke 8:22-25. In the context of this incident in the gospel of Luke, he discusses the fact that some people go through a spiritual depression because they don't put their faith into practice. He first discusses the crisis of faith, the nature of faith, and finally the value of a weak faith.

As he discusses the nature of faith, he makes the point that faith must be applied; it is the nature of faith that it must be applied by us once we have been given that faith. He first establishes that "Faith is a refusal to panic," and then he elaborates:

Having taken that first step, having pulled yourself up, you then remind yourself of what you believe and what you know. That again is something these foolish disciples did not do. If only they had stopped a moment and said: 'Now then what about it? Is it possible that we are going to drown with Him in the boat? Is there anything He cannot do? We have seen His miracles, He turned the water into wine, He can heal the blind and the lame, He can even raise the dead, is it likely that He is going to allow us an Himself to be drowned in this way? Impossible! In any case He loves us, He cares for us, He has told us that the very hairs of our head are numbered!' That is the way in which faith reasons. It says: 'All right, I see the waves and the billows but' - it always puts up this 'but'. That is faith, it holds on to a truth and reasons from what it knows to be act. That is the way to apply faith ... Faith reminds itself of what the Scripture calls the 'exceeding great and precious promises.' Faith says: 'I cannot that believe that He who has brought me so far is going to let me down at this point. It is impossible, it would be inconsistent with the character of God.' So faith, having refused to be controlled by circumstances, reminds itself of what it believes and what it knows.

In the past number of weeks, I have been reminded of the necessity to know certain things in order to apply my faith. It is a crucial truth to understand.

There was so much in this chapter that could have shared. You just have to read the book for yourself.

Privileges

O Lord God,

Teach me to know that grace precedes,
accompanies, and follows my salvation,
that it sustains the redeemed soul,
that not one link of its chain can ever break.
From Calvary's cross wave upon wave of grace
reaches me,
deals with my sin,
washes me clean
renews my heart,
strengthens my will,
draws out my affection,
kindles a flame in my soul,
rules throughout my inner man
consecrates my every thought, word,work,
teaches me thy immeasurable love.
How great are my privileges in Christ Jesus!
Without him I stand far off, a stranger, an outcast;
in him I draw near and touch his kingly sceptre.
Without him I dare not lift up my guilty eyes;
in him I gaze upon my Father-God and Friend.
Without him I hide my lips in trembling shame;
in him I open my mouth in petition and praise.
Without him all is wrath and consuming fire;
in him is all love, and the repose of my soul.
Without him is gaping hell below me,
and eternal anguish;
in him its gates are barred to me by his precious blood.
Without him darkness spreads its horrors in front;
in him an eternity of glory is my boundless horizon.
Without him all within me is terror and dismay,
in him every accusation is charmed into joy and peace.
Without him all things external call for my condemnation;
in him they minister to my comfort,
and are to be enjoyed with thanksgiving.
Praise be to thee for grace,
and for the unspeakable gift of Jesus.

From The Valley of Vision