When Sinners Say "I Do"

Yesterday evening we began reading "When Sinners Say 'I Do'" by Dave Harvey. In the preface he makes the following statement:

"We must not ignore our sin, because it is the very context where the gospel shines brightest".

That is so very true. The closer I grow to God, the more I realize how sinful I truly am. I am a wretched sinner that deserves only hell for all of eternity. There are times that I express impatience; irritableness; anxiousness; fear; and selfishness (among other things). These things may sound pretty trivial, but they are not just simple mistakes ... they are flat out SIN. God utterly despises it! Why? Why would God hate my impatience? Why does God hate it when I'm antsy? At those times it is showing my lack of trust in God, my unbelief, and my discontentment. At those times I am not keeping God first, nor am I glorifying Him. At those times I am calling God a liar because I am doubting His promises. Those are some serious offences against the Almighty Creator. And yet, 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). The closer I grow to God, the more I realize how sinful I truly am. The more I realize how sinful I truly am, the more amazing God's grace is to me. God has granted me salvation. He has opened my eyes to the Truth. He has put in me a new heart. He has promised me that He will never leave me, nor forsake me. God is sovereign; God is in complete control of all things; He knows the perfect time for everything. He has ordained everything that I am to go through in this life. He has designed each circumstance exactly for me. And He promised to give me enough mercy and grace to make it through. We must not ignore our sin or treat it as something trivial, because it is the very context where the gospel shines brightest!!

A Woman's Beauty Regimen

Displaying a Gentle & Quiet Spirit
This message was given by Carolyn Mahaney and these are my notes...

Every woman has a daily beauty regimen that they follow. Holy Scripture prescribes a beauty regimen that we as women are to follow. It is guaranteed to make us beautiful. 1 Peter 3:3-4 God is not opposed to women making their selves beautiful. This is detailed instructions of how to make ourselves beautiful. God is not opposed to beauty; He delights in beauty. Look at the beauty He created all around us. 1. We see what God condemns 2. What God commands 3. And what God commends.

1. What God Condemns: God informs us what we shouldn’t do. Do not let your adorning be external. It is a straight forward command. What is God forbidding? Braiding of the hair, gold jewelry, and clothing. They’re not forbidden, but they should not be used in abuse. They shouldn’t be the main focus, dependency, etc. These things don’t make us truly beautiful. They’re not the source of genuine beauty. We need to be reminded of this often. It’s not sinful to wear stylish clothing, makeup and jewelry. It is wrong to place too much value on them.

2. What God Commands: We are to adorn the hidden person of the heart—habitually. This is where the main focus should be; on our regenerated heart. We must priority attention to what is on the inside. What is a gentle and quiet spirit? Notice how it is described: it’s an imperishable beauty. Webster’s describes imperishable as “not subject to decay, indestructible, enduring permanently”. A gentle & quiet spirit is not referring to a woman with a quiet personality. A gentle & quiet spirit is a inner disposition of humble contentment and quiet tranquility, rooted in an unwavering trust in God and His purpose. Gentle carries the idea of humility (not thinking of oneself as too important) and contentment. Quiet is the idea of calmly trusting in God and patiently accepting wrong from persecutors and unbelieving husbands. How are we to apply this when someone wrongly mistreats us and sins against us? A gentle & quiet spirit is a steadfast peace because of a steadfast trust in God. How do we react in these situations? Usually we respond with a complaining crusade, anger, pity party, a sinful funk, evil thoughts, lashing out on the person, bitterness, selfishness, etc. That is not the description of a gentle and quiet spirit. We should display a peace that cannot be shaken. How is that possible when we are being wrongly treated? 1 Peter 2:21-23 … Christ also suffered for you… He committed no sin… He continued entrusting himself to him you judges justly. That is how it’s possible; we must continue to entrust ourselves to God who judges justly! This is what drives a gentle and quiet spirit - a steadfast peace from a steadfast trust in God. There is no wrong committed against us where God is not sovereignly involved. God ordains these things to happen specifically to us for our good!! We need to repent and look to God. And when you do, God will restore peace to your soul. Isaiah 26:3 (use as my banner verse for my quest for a gentle and quiet spirit) you keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. This is not a physical beauty, but a beauty that is outwardly evident. These women actually grow more attractive as the years go by.

3. What God Commends: A gentle and quiet spirit is very precious to God. No doubt it’s because God delights in being trusted. Hebrews 11:6 says when we trust God, we please Him. Trust calls attention to the One being trusted. We can acquire a steadfast trust, because we have a steadfast God; a God who is completely trustworthy. Our sins against a holy God (which is the most serious offense that has ever occurred) have been forgiven through the death of Jesus Christ. Now, if God is trustworthy to provide forgiveness for the most serious offences (our sins against Him), then surely He is trustworthy to provide all we need for any lesser offences against us. And He does provide. He directs any sin against us for our good and for His glory! He imparts His power and grace to us so that we do not have to sin in return. 1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. This enables to adorn our hearts with a gentle and quiet spirit which is very precious in His sight. 1 Samuel 16:7 …the Lord looks at the heart.

Being a Woman

Today I re-listened to Carolyn Mahaney's message on the topic of - What does it mean to be a woman? And these are my notes:

In the very first book of the Bible we discover the biblical definition of femininity. Here is woman at her best; before the fall, sinless and godly in every respect (Genesis 1:27, 2:21-22). Woman was God's idea; His creation. Woman was the finishing design of all that He created. God created woman, this requires us to look to Him to discover our identity and purpose in life. I must not accept the cultures view on womanhood. I am to look to God and everything I do must be rooted in Him. My gender is not accidental, I was intentionally born a woman by God's sovereignty, wisdom, and grace. My birth is an absolute miracle of God. :)

In Genesis 1:27 Woman was intentionally created by God as distinct from man, different from man, and complimentary to man. He created male and female. Men and women together are created in the image of God. We are fellow image bearers. Though we reflect his image differently, we must never forget that we share that status equally. Human beings are more like God than anything else in the universe - we must remember this when we are talking to and about other people.

How do we reflect the image of God as a woman? In Genesis 2 we learn that man was created first, signifying his role as leader, provider, and protector. In verse 18, God declared that something was not God is his creation; it is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him. We are designed to be man's helper. Each of us has been strategically designed to help those around us. The role of helper is not confined to marriage. We are all called to live out our helper design, during all seasons of our lives.

How can I help?

Application to the teenage girls: You were born feminine and expressly created to be a helper. You are in a season of growing into the roles and responsibility. You are a helper in training. Now is the time to prepare for future womanly excellence. Your parents are the primary individuals that God has appointed to train you in biblical womanhood. Be joyful! How can I help around the house? Around the church? At school? How can I help my friends? etc. Study God's Word and read sound books on the topic of womanhood. Study the example of your mom. View your mom as your personal femininity trainer. And where appropriate encourage and correct the guys in your circle.

Application to the single woman: Carolyn McCulley's book "Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye?" addresses this issue very well. Utilize the question - How can I help? Family, church, friends, school, work? Be careful with your conduct and interactions with men. Allow the guy to pursue and win your heart, and if he doesn't want to, then why would you want him too? Trust God! Encourage Godly men to lead. You will be cultivating the habit of making room for the leadership of men in your life. Refrain from men bashing with your girlfriends. The true helper doesn't criticize, but humbly and gently offer assistance.

Application to the married woman: We are our husbands helper! That is our primary duty. He is called to the task, and she called to help him. Every day of our lives is to be oriented to helping and assisting our husband. This is my delightful duty to our sovereign, wise, and gracious God. Elisa Pinkney (a founding mother of this country) said: "To make a good wife to my dear husband, I am resolved to make it my study to please him." We must study our husband and find out what most helps our own husband. Ask him often how can I help you today? What is one thing that I can be doing for you right now that will help you the most? Don't let your calendar fill up with things that do not help your husband. Joyfully assume the responsibility to manage our homes well.

We are uniquely designed to be man's helper. As we all know, Adam & Eve sinned. While our call to be helpers hasn't changed, because of sin we are incapable of fulfilling this call apart from our savior. Never lose sight of calvary. Because of calvary there is forgivness of sin; for every time we have been self-absorbed, self-centered, self-seeking, rather than seeking to help others. There is forgiveness for every time we have been a burden rather than a help to others. There is forgivness for the all the times we have grumbled, complained, and lazy. There is power to weaken sin. There is grace to fulfill our role as helpers.

I'm claiming the resolution. To make a good wife to my dear husband Tony, I am resolved to make it my study to please him. Lord, please help me and teach me to be a good helper to my beloved husband.

I'm a Mrs.

I am Mrs. Tony Denham! Yay!

6am

May 21st of this year, we made a change in our morning routine. Before this, we had got in the habit of waking up at 6:45am, Tony would get dressed quickly, eat breakfast quickly, brush his teeth quickly and be out the door by 7am. Then I would have approximately 50 minutes to read my Bible, pray, get dressed, eat breakfast, and leave the house for work at 7:50. It was just a really rushed routine and we wanted to be able to spend some quality time together before we went our seperate ways. We wanted to have time for prayer and Bible reading. We wanted a more relaxed routine that brought glory & honor to God.

May 20th, was our first Sunday at White Oak Presbyterian Church. Pastor Gene gave us a book entitled "The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment" by John Owen. He told us that he and his wife will usually read some in the morning together. So that evening we set our alarm clocks for 6am and got up Monday morning, read from God's Word and started reading the book by John Owen (Which is an excellent book). The transition was a little tough, and there are still some mornings that we somehow manage to sleep through the various alarms going off. Maybe we'll start working our way up to joining Carolyn Mahayney's "5 am Club". :-)