Category Archives: Call to the Cross

Hadassah’s Words

18 Tuesday Jul 2017

Posted by in Call to the Cross, Testimony, The Christian Home

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“I am young in years, and you are old; that is why I was fearful, not daring to tell you what I know. I thought, ‘Age should speak; advanced years should teach wisdom.’ But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding. It is not only the old who are wise, nor only the aged who understand what is right.”        
Job 32:6-9   
We all must bear the cross in our lives, as our Lord carried His for us. Perhaps we are not always given the choice as to which one we are willing to bear; but God, in His great mercy, knows what will bring about the greatest transformative work in our hearts, and I think that is what He is after. I would never have chosen my cross. I could not choose it. But I thank God with all my heart for using heartbreak and loss to teach me just how kind, loving, and gracious He is to all who reach out to Him from the darkest, lowest places.

My daughter, Hadassah, died when she was 18 years old. In her short life, the Lord took her on a high adventure that was fraught with peril and uncertainty; but as He promises, He swooped down at just the right time to rescue a dear heart who cried out to Him for mercy. His love, indeed, never fails.

And an incredible surprise awaited us on the other side of our daughter’s death. A gift of infinite comfort and grace. A hidden jewel that had been in the making for years. A month or two before Hadassah died she told me that she had felt compelled to write all her life. But no one had ever seen the treasure that she called her journals. They were carefully guarded so that no one would see them until the appointed hour. At first we thought that perhaps they were intended for us alone, her family, as a gift to aid us in our grief. But the more we read, the more we were sure that this hidden legacy was an offering of love from Hadassah to the One who said, “I’ve got you, my dear. I could never let a little one like you fall. And I will show you just how much I love you by what I will allow you to do for my kingdom and for my glory.”

That is when Hadassah’s Words were born. She tells her story, the story of a God who seeks to save that which was lost, who restores all that a dreaded enemy meant to steal, and who fights the final battle until the victory is won. Here are Hadassah’s Words. Here is the triumph that is found in God alone.

Hadassah’s Words

Bettie’s Testimony

14 Sunday Aug 2016

Posted by in Boasting in Weaknesses, Call to the Cross, Christian Love, Cross-Bearing, Family, Marriage, Testimony, The Believing 21st Centruy American Woman, The Christian Home, The Glory of God, The Kindness of God, The Sovereignty of God

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“And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” Revelation 12:11

The testimony of God’s work in the lives of His dear children is a source of great encouragement to me- especially, the testimonies of the older saints that have walked with God for a long time. I love to listen to His beloved ones testify to God’s faithfulness to them through the decades. Bettie is one of those older saints who has walked with God for many years. Her story is one of the most remarkable testimonies of God’s sustaining grace that I have ever heard in my life.

Here, Bettie shares the hard truth about her painful marriage. She tells about the decades of her life that were full of rejection, loneliness, and longing. She even shares about her own personal struggle with the temptation to find some way out of her marriage commitment- either by suicide or divorce. And, then she shares about the abounding grace and the astounding providence of God that kept her from both of these things. She shares about how after 58 years of marriage, God answered her prayers and gave her the desires of her heart by blessing her relationship with her husband beyond her wildest imagination. Most importantly, Bettie shares how God used the severe mercy of a painful marriage to conform her into the image of Christ, teach her to love her husband selflessly, and trust God with her marriage, her emotional needs, her very life.

At this time, Bettie is a model of beauty, elegance, and dignity. When I met her, her husband had come to the faith, and their marriage was a testimony of God’s abounding grace for all to see. Bettie shared this testimony at a woman’s retreat that I was part of last year- I share it with her permission. I wanted to post this testimony here because I believe with all my heart that as Christian women we need to be assured of God’s abounding grace to us in the midst of adversity. Really, this testimony is for every believer that would be reminded of the sovereign abounding grace of God. It is, especially, for every Christian woman that needs to know that God is working in her life for her greatest joy and His greatest glory, even through the severe mercy of a difficult marriage.

God’s Grace Abounds in My Life-To God be the Glory

“I became born again a Billy Graham crusade in 1952. Shortly after that, I met my husband, fell in love, and became a Catholic in order to marry him. During our courtship, he was very attentive to me. We married in 1953. I loved my husband more than I loved Jesus.

From the very beginning of marriage, God took me by the hand and led me on a life changing journey. I did not realize it at the time, for many times did I say, “But Father, I do not understand.” In due time God showed me and I now understand. It took my life time to do it.

My husband changed after we married. He would not look at me, talk to me or even say my name. When he came into a room where I was, he acted as though I was not there. There did not seem to be any way that I could please my husband. He always seemed angry. I became a non-person. When I confronted him and asked him why he was treating me that way, he denied he was doing so.

I began to read everything that I could on how to have a happy marriage. I was told on the one hand that if I was not happy in marriage- it was up to me to change it. I was also told not to accuse, but to express how being treated like that made me feel. My husband’s reply was usually, “Why should that bother you? It would not bother me.” He wanted me to live my life, he would live his life, and we would just be friendly with each other.”

As time went on and four children later, I thought of suicide. I remember driving and coming into town at the top of the hill and thinking I could just drive over the cliff with the four children (because I knew that my husband would not care for them). Suicide- the thought gave me energy. For a whole week I tried to decide how to do it. By the end of the week, I knew that I could not and would not do it. (God’s grace!)

Years went by, and somewhere about the fifteenth or sixteenth year of our marriage, God led me to a Bible study. (God’s grace, yeah!). I knew attending the Catholic Church something was seriously wrong. I did not know what it was. I found out by studying the Bible. The Bible, the precious Word of God, was like (and still is) sweet, sweet water to my parched soul and spirit. I felt like a dry sponge soaking it up.

I began to search the word for a way out of my marriage commitment. NO WAY! What I found were two very important commands for me. I was to be submissive and respectful to my husband. There were no pre-existing conditions, such as a loving husband. No. Those commands were from me from God. I did my best to obey.

Time went by. By this time, we had 8 children. We went for counseling. The counselor at this time, wanted to see us separately. First, he saw me, then he saw my husband. The counselor called me and said that I should divorce my husband. The counselor asked if I had a lawyer. I said, “No.” He said that he would help me get one. I said that I had to think about it. I sat for a long time thinking, going back and forth in my mind, weeping over the whole situation. I did not really want a divorce, but I did not want to continue to live as we were, either. That night there was a fire in the house where the counselor lived. The house burned down and he died in that fire. Thoughts of divorce were gone (God’s grace!) I do not mean to imply that this was God’s grace- that the man died in the fire. It happened, you must take it for what it is. I only know, from then on, I did not think of divorce again.

I continued in Bible studies every week. I learned that we are to pray for our enemies. So, I thought, if I am to pray for my enemies, then I most assuredly had to pray for my husband. I started praying for my husband.

We went to counseling again, together, to a Christian this time, for several months, then stopped. Things did not change, in our marriage. We started again, and stopped, but our marriage remained the same.

I continued to pray for wisdom and guidance for myself, and I continued to pray for my husband.

In Bible study, I was learning that my life, as a Christian, is a struggle; a constant battle between my old nature and my life in Christ. Through all of this, God was helping me to get my priorities straight. I began to want to be more like Jesus. Over time God would reveal my besetting sins- sins of self-pity, bitterness, and the terrible sin of envy. I envied other people’s marriages that I thought were happy. Over and over again, I had to run to God and cry out, “Lord, help me!”

God was teaching me how to be obedient, how to persevere and endure, how to forgive, and how much He loved me. I slowly began to realize that it did not matter if my marriage was happy or not. What began to matter to me was my relationship with God.

By this time, I knew my marriage was not going to change.

I submitted the last vestige of myself to God, and said, “It’s okay. I except this, if this is to be my life, then it’s okay. Help me to be the woman You want me to be.” (God’s grace.)

But wait! God had something more wonderful than I could have imagined for me. By this time, I am 77 years old, and my husband is 80 years old.

God led my husband and me to another Christian counselor. It started out as we were attending counseling for one of our grand-daughters, who was struggling with behavior issues. God led this counselor to see that something was seriously wrong with our marriage relationship. In this Godly man’s counseling, my husband began to see things differently. My husband began to change. He now treats me with love and respect.

I know that were it not for my marriage situation, it would have been something else that God would have used to each me and correct me. Jesus says in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” Also in John 14:14, “If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” I asked God to renew my love for my husband, and He did it! After 58 years of marriage, I did not expect this. (Grace abounds in my life.)

I thank God for my life, and the lives of my children that I did not destroy. I thank Him for not allowing me to destroy our family. I thank God for not allowing some other man to come into my life. I was so vulnerable, so lonely, so starving for love, if someone had treated me with the least bit of kindness, I would have succumb, I believe. Thank God, He spared me that temptation!

Through this whole marriage God has become more and more BIG! And, I have become more and more small.

I cannot stress enough how important God’s Word is to me. God’s Word is food for my soul, my very being. I see my own sins. When they were revealed to me, (thank the Lord, not all at once!), the struggle to overcome them made me realize I could not do anything apart from Jesus in my life.

I began to see that I did not really need my husband’s love. I want my husband’s love, but I now know that I am loved far, far greater than I can even put my mind to. This, God’s love for me, truly is everything to me. Jesus does meet all my needs. Through what God has done in my life through Jesus, my love for my husband is different now. My love for him is cleaner, more pure, and unselfish.

This weeding out and fine-tuning that God does takes its time, sometimes a long time, but for me, it was worth it- the suffering, the obedience, and waiting! I like the way Spurgeon worded it- “No, our master’s experience teaches us that suffering is necessary, and the true-born child of God must not, would not escape it if he might.”

Death by Public Confession and Life by the Grace of God

24 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by in Call to the Cross, Confession of Sin, John Owen, Repentance, Sanctification, Sin

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“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  On account of these the wrath of God is coming.  In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.  But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” Colossians 3:5-9

The other day I posted a prayer of confession. In it I detailed some of the specific out-workings that the fear of man has had in my life. Some may wonder why I did that. Someone might ask a question like, ‘Isn’t it humiliating to publicly own such a low and cowardly sin as that of man-fearing?’ Or, someone might wonder “Doesn’t she feel any shame or embarrassment about admitting that her fear of man has given birth to a multitude of other sins in her life- sins like those of sulking, self-pity, murmuring, complaining, and gossip?” And, the answer to that question is, well, yes, actually, it is very embarrassing to publicly confess my sin- and, in large part, that is why I posted Confessions of a MAN-PLEASER.

John Owen wrote, “Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.” The public confession of my man-fearing was one of many personal attempts to kill my sin of people-pleasing. For me, embarrassment is a very effective tool in the practice of the mortification of sin. When I feel embarrassed by something- I want to get away from it. Or, to put it in Bible language, embarrassment over my sin makes me want to “…put off the old self with its practices…” and to “…put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” I have also found that for me, genuine intentional self-abasement is a pre-curser to humbleness of mind; and humbleness of mind prepares my heart to receive the grace of Christ- His grace to overcome my sin; His grace to walk in the new life that He has called me to; and His grace to receive more of His grace.

Grace empowers me to “…put to death whatever is earthly…” in me (like, my fear of man), by teaching me how to “…put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”  That is, grace enables me to put on the life of Christ, and be renewed by the promises of the Word of God which reveal all of the perfections of Christ; His person, His character, His image, and His glory.

The following are four verses that I am praying over in the continuing effort to put my man-pleasing tendencies to death, so that I can live in the joyful, victorious freedom of living in the fear of God. I might be battling this particular sin for the rest of my life. Although, Monday’s public confession proved to be a decisive victory in the on-going battle with this particular sin. No less, I am certain that John Owen was right. I need to “…make killing sin my daily work – I better be always at it while I live; and cease not a day from this work. I better be killing sin or it will be killing me.” So, in the end, I am okay with feeling the shame of my sin. Actually, I welcome it. If by feeling it more acutely, I can more earnestly welcome and more powerfully experience the grace of God – why wouldn’t I?

“The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.” Psalm 18:10

“Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?” Isaiah 2:22

“Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them.” Jeremiah 1:17

 “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10

Jonathan Edwards: Living for the Glory of God and Family Bible Time…

10 Tuesday Feb 2015

Posted by in Boasting in Weaknesses, Call to the Cross, Edification, Encouragement, Jonathan Edwards, Reformed Theology, Testimony, The Believing 21st Centruy American Woman, The Glory of God

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For several years now, my husband and I have been meeting with our kids for Bible Study on Monday nights. I take the girls and we have a “Ladies Theological Society Meeting” -complete with Bible Study, prayer, and chocolate. And, my husband takes the boys to another room in the house, and does “Men for the Lord” (which, by the way, was quite an undertaking for those years when some of Dan’s ‘mighty-men’ were still in feety-pajamas and needed to be in bed by 8:00 PM). Anyways, I share this about our home study time with the kids, because Jonathan Edwards’ Resolutions are a regular part of study time with my girls. We have read the Resolutions together, talked about them, and prayed over some of them for each other. Last week, one of my girls asked me to pray that she would be like Jonathan Edwards- that she would be resolved to live her whole life for the honor of the Lord. It’s for this reason that I decided to post Jonathan Edwards’ first resolution. I figured that maybe some one would read it- and (just like my girls and I have begun to do) catch the passion and intensity of Jonathan Edwards’ intentionality in living for the glory of God!

Resolved, That I will do whatsoever I think to be most to the glory of God, and my own good, profit, and pleasure, in the whole of my duration; without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved, to do whatever I think to be my duty, and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved, so to do, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many soever, and how great soever.

One more thing! Here is a link to the Christian Classics Ethereal Library where you can read all 70 of Jonathan Edwards’ life changing Resolutions for free. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/edwards/works1.i.iii.html

 

Using Social Media to Get an Education About Yourself

05 Thursday Feb 2015

Posted by in Boasting in Weaknesses, Call to the Cross, Chastity, Confession of Sin, Edification, Education, Encouragement, The Believing 21st Centruy American Woman

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A while back, I began reading The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had by Susan Wise Bauer.  In the first chapter of the book, she talks about the importance of keeping a record of self-education- of writing down important ideas, truths, thoughts, or anything else that the self-educating person may want to remember.

She calls this record a  “Journal of Self-Education” (that makes sense), and she compares it to something called a “Common-Place Book,” which was apparently a 19th and 20th century “...loose-leaf or bound blank book in which readers copied down quotes and snippets that they wanted to remember.” † Through out the last year I have thought about how this blog is essentially my “journal of self-education”- it’s just a 21st Century American version of the olden time common-place book. For, I pretty much post quotes, ideas, truths, thoughts, songs, sermons, sermon-jams, epiphanies (that’s a scary thought), links, and other forms of “mental fodder” that have been helpful to me in my walk with Christ. So in a way, my blog is my “journal of self-education”- it is my “common-place book.” Granted, it isn’t a loose-leaf or bound blank book, and anybody in the world can read it, add to it, comment on it, or think about what I post- but it is a record of “…quotes and snippets…” that I want to remember.

Anyways, as I thought about this recently- I was thinking that, in a way, Face-book, Twitter, Linked-In, and all the other modern social-media outlets that I use are kind of like the same thing. I don’t always think about my emails, my instant-messaging, my tweets, my linked-in account, and  my news-feed- which, by the way, I always share with my husband (HINT, HINT) as my journal, at least not like the journal that I keep at my bedside and share my “deepest-secrets” with (joking). But, in essence that is what social media does- it records what really matters to me, who really matters to me, attitudes that I have had, and the beliefs that I hold to be true. Taken collectively, these accounts are, in reality, a running journal of my daily life.

So, it follows that if I want to do a self-inventory- get an honest look at what has mattered to me, who has mattered to me, and what I really believe- (and, not just what I tell myself that I believe) – I can review my social-media accounts. And, although I never intended to use social media as my “Journal of Self-Education”- in so doing- I might just find that I get quite an “Education about Myself.”

 I suppose this could be true for all of us.

†Bauer, S. Wise, The Well- Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, INC., 2003. p. 35.

Endure in Faith by Looking to Jesus

31 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by in Boasting in Weaknesses, Call to the Cross, Edification, Encouragement, Exhortation, Faith, The Believing 21st Centruy American Woman

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“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 5:10-11

Jesus lived and died believing God, and so should we. Jesus lived by the truth that “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). For example, it was His belief in the faithfulness of His Father to answer His prayers, that motivated Him to forego the luxury of sleep, in exchange for hours of uninterrupted prayer with God (Luke 6:12). It was also the Lord’s faith in God that sustained Him for forty days of fasting and testing in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-2). It was Jesus’ trust in God’s wisdom to ordain His cross-suffering and His trust in God’s power to deliver Him through resurrection, which gave Him the ability to submit to God’s will and endure the horrors of Roman crucifixion for His people. Jesus endured all of the afflictions of His earthly life and especially the afflictions that He suffered on the cross by believing in the promises of God.

The promises that Jesus relied upon throughout His life are found in the Old Testament Scriptures. All the books from Genesis to Malachi (the Old Testament) contain promises that God specifically made to the Messiah, who was the long awaited suffering servant of God (Isaiah 52:13- 53:11). For an example in Psalm 16:10 we read, “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.” In this verse, we see that God had promised Jesus He would neither abandon His soul to Sheol; that is, the grave, hell, or the pit; nor allow His Son’s physical body to decay in the grave after He died physically. It was Jesus’ belief in God’s ability and willingness to keep this promise (and other promises similar to it) that enabled Him to humble Himself in faith and become “…obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8).

When Jesus was on the cross He was thinking about God’s word. We know this because while on the cross, Jesus quoted from the Scriptures. Eyewitnesses of His crucifixion reported that when Jesus was being crucified, He cried out with a loud voice “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34). This quote is taken from Psalm 22:1 where the death, burial, and resurrection of the Christ was foretold. From this, we learn that when the Lord felt most troubled in His Spirit, He held most tightly to His Father’s promises. We should be mindful that Jesus’ confidence in the faithful fulfillment of the promises of God did not diminish the painful realities of His crucifixion. Jesus really bled, really hurt, and really died on the cross. His trust in God to raise Him from the dead did not belittle His cross-work. Conversely, it magnified it. Christ’s reliance on the promises of God throughout His life, and especially on the cross, magnifies the truth that we also can rely on God’s Word throughout the duration of our lives, and especially in the midst of our own afflictions. Since the Son of God was enabled to endure the agonies of the cross through His faith in the promises of God; we are assured that we will be enabled to endure in the obedience of our own faith, in the midst of our lesser trials, by trusting God and by relying on His promises.

If we truly desire to see God transform our lives, we must endure in our faith in God. We need to look to Jesus “…the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross…” (Hebrews 12:2); and be strengthened in our resolve to believe God. We must choose to persevere in our belief in God’s power to transform us, regardless of the many complex difficulties- which may be present in our lives. We need to rely on God’s ability and faithfulness to do all that He has said He would do for us, in us, and through us. God has commanded His people to believe Him. In all things- throughout the trials and afflictions of our live-  we must remember the promise of God that “…after you [we] have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” And, it is for this reason that we can all say, “To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen“

We Must Be Firm in Our Faith

30 Tuesday Dec 2014

Posted by in Boasting in Weaknesses, Call to the Cross, Exhortation, Faith, The Sovereignty of God

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“If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.” Isaiah 7:9

“We must endure in our faith; in our belief and our trust in God. For the Scripture says, “…My righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in Him” (Hebrews 10:38). We must endeavor to believe God and trust that He is always working all things (i.e., all the circumstances, all the relationships, and all the events of our lives) out for our good and His glory, even when this is difficult to do. We must trust God all the time – in the midst of seemingly overwhelming personal weaknesses, broken relationships, and even shameful pasts. We must stand on the solid rock of the promise of God: that He causes “…all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose…” (Romans 8:28).

Believing that God will cause all things to work out for our good and His glory can be difficult when those all things include abandonment, abortion, abuse, addictions, betrayal, chronic pain, divorce, mental illness, the shame of sexual and physical assault, or the insecurity that results from prolonged emotional abuse. But, regardless of how difficult it may be for us to understand how God will overcome our painful realities and transform us through them; the Lord still calls us to believe that He can and that He will do all that He has said He would do for us. Only He expects that we believe in Him. For we know that He has said, “…without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). Therefore, we must discipline ourselves to trust God and rely on His ability to work out His good will in our lives – no matter how impossible this may seem to be to us. In other words, we must be firm in our faith. For Isaiah 7:9 warns us, “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.”

Taken from Walking in Newness of Life: Experiencing the power of God in Resurrection by Identifying with Christ in His Death and Burial, pp. 95-96

Video

I Asked The Lord – Indelible Grace

08 Saturday Nov 2014

Posted by in Boasting in Weaknesses, Call to the Cross, Confession of Sin, Cool Christian Tunes, Edification, Encouragement, Good Poetry, Music, Testimony, The Believing 21st Centruy American Woman

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Totally where I am at today. Found the hymn by a “providential-accident” (that is an intentional oxymoron). I haven’t heard this hymn for a while, but I needed to hear it today.  I needed to be reminded that coming to grips with the wickedness and treachery of my own heart (at deeper and deeper levels) is a necessary prerequisite to true holiness. I also needed to be reminded that when I do become painfully aware of my sin- it is a blessed gift of grace that shouldn’t cause me to despair of any hope for true holiness. But, instead, that awareness is intended by God to drive me to Him, and seek Him for more of the gracious blood-bought sanctifying work of the Lord in my life.

If you are feeling the “hidden evils of thine heart” or as though the Lord has allowed “the angry pow’rs of hell” to “assault thine soul in every part,” then perhaps this hymn is totally where your at too.

Happy Saturday.

John Newton wrote this hymn. The following paragraph gives the nut-shell testimony of his conversion experience. You can read the entire biographical sketch by following the link at the bottom of this post. I have also included the words to the hymn on the bottom of the page.

Newton, John, who was born in London, July 24, 1725, and died there Dec. 21, 1807, occupied an unique position among the founders of the Evangelical School, due as much to the romance of his young life and the striking history of his conversion, as to his force of character. His mother, a pious Dissenter, stored his childish mind with Scripture, but died when he was seven years old. At the age of eleven, after two years’ schooling, during which he learned the rudiments of Latin, he went to sea with his father. His life at sea teems with wonderful escapes, vivid dreams, and sailor recklessness. He grew into an abandoned and godless sailor. The religious fits of his boyhood changed into settled infidelity, through the study of Shaftesbury and the instruction of one of his comrades. Disappointing repeatedly the plans of his father, he was flogged as a deserter from the navy, and for fifteen months lived, half-starved and ill-treated, in abject degradation under a slave-dealer in Africa. The one restraining influence of his life was his faithful love for his future wife, Mary Catlett, formed when he was seventeen, and she only in her fourteenth year. A chance reading of Thomas à Kempis sowed the seed of his conversion; which quickened under the awful contemplations of a night spent in steering a water-logged vessel in the face of apparent death (1748). He was then twenty-three. The six following years, during which he commanded a slave ship, matured his Christian belief. Nine years more, spent chiefly at Liverpool, in intercourse with Whitefield, Wesley, and Nonconformists, in the study of Hebrew and Greek, in exercises of devotion and occasional preaching among the Dissenters, elapsed before his ordination to the curacy of Olney, Bucks (1764).

Link to Hymnary.org: http://www.hymnary.org/person/Newton_John.

I Asked the Lord  (Words taken from Cyberhymnal.org)

“I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek, more earnestly, His face.

’Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust, has answered prayer!
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He’d answer my request;
And by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry pow’rs of hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

Lord, why is this, I trembling cried,
Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?
“’Tis in this way, the Lord replied,
I answer prayer for grace and faith.

These inward trials I employ,
From self, and pride, to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”

Link to CyberHymnal.org: http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/a/iaskedtl.htm

 

The Christian and Self-Examination

08 Wednesday Oct 2014

Posted by in Call to the Cross, Confession of Sin, Edification, Encouragement, Exhortation, Repentance, Salvation, The Believing 21st Centruy American Woman

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Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! 2 Corinthians 13:5.

We all need to check the quality of our professing faith against the fruit of salvation in our lives. We can do this by comparing our lives with the Biblical description of what the Christian life is supposed to be like. We can ask ourselves Bible-based questions that help us measure the genuineness of our faith by the objective standard of God’s Word. For example, we can ask ourselves questions like: Do we find joy in God? Do we want to be with other people who find their joy in God? Are we sinning less than before we came to faith in Christ? Do we feel conviction when we do sin? Do we want to obey God’s word? Do we even want to read God’s Word? Do we love God more than we love ourselves?  All this to say, we must obey the admonition of Scripture, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (2 Corinthians 13:5).

None of us should foolishly buy into the false belief that salvation from sin is accomplished because we give verbal assent to the truth of the Bible. Even demons do that! James 2:19 says, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” Real Christians – those who are being saved – experience the power of the cross to save them from sin more and more every day of their lives. We experience God’s power in real-time as God destroys our deadly sin patterns and gives us new life through our relationship with Jesus. We experience God’s power through the message of the cross every time that we are kept from fulfilling our sinful desires, we are enabled to deal with our messed up pasts, or we receive God’s grace to accept our own frailties, and love others despite their frailties. The power of the cross is a present-tense reality; it is not just a future hope. For the power of the cross is the power of God to put us on a new path, walking in newness of life. The longer that we walk on that new path, the more we will experientially know that, to those of us who are being saved, the message of the cross really is the very power of God.

On Being Saved

06 Monday Oct 2014

Posted by in Call to the Cross, Cross-Bearing, Edification, Encouragement, Repentance, Sin, The Believing 21st Centruy American Woman

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The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18

First Corinthians 1:18 says that the message of the cross is the power of God to those that are being saved. Those who are being saved are those who are daily experiencing God’s resurrection-power in their lives; not those who just say that they believe the gospel message. There are some people who think that they are in the group of those who are being saved, but they have no real relationship with Jesus Christ; they have no personal experiential knowledge of the power of the cross to save them from sin. The Word of God warns us about these people saying, “They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly.” And also warns us, “Stay away from people like that” (2 Timothy 3:5, NLT).

People that think they are being saved, and yet, never seem to experience any of the fruit of saving faith (conviction over wrong-doing, hunger for God, love for God, joy in God, a desire to be with other Christians, etc. etc.); are self-deceived: they are not really being saved. People who are being saved experience the power of the cross of Christ to save them from sin’s power every day – not just judgment day. Unfortunately, there are some people that do not even realize that they do not know God (Matthew 7:21-23, 25:31-46).