Encouragement for the Journey . . .

"Christ be with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ deep within me. Christ below me. Christ above me, Christ at my right hand, Christ at my left hand, Christ as I lie down, Christ as I arise, Christ as I stand, Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me."--The Prayer of Saint Patrick

"O, my strength, I watch for You;

You, O God, are my fortress, my loving God,

You will go before me."

Psalm 59:9-10

Pursuing Excellence or Mediocrity ~ our choice

I'm re-reading a great book right now by Cynthia Heald called, "Becoming a Woman of Excellence", put out by Navpress. The first chapter talks about pursuing excellence as a believer in Christ and what that looks like. It made me examine my own life as a believer. Do I strive for excellence or mediocrity as a wife ~ mom ~ grandmommie ~ homemaker ~ friend ~ singer ~ writer, etc. Do I pursue excellence in everything I do, or do I settle for mediocrity????? Excellence ~ giving my all with the God-given abilities that I possess or mediocrity ~ ordinary, average, doing just enough to get by. "What say you" as a national TV host says, with the many hats you wear as a woman?

The first example of a woman of excellence mentioned in the book was Ruth, the daughter-in-law of Naomi, a young Moabite woman who had recently become a widow of Naomi's son. Although encouraged by her mother-in-law to return to her own family, faithfully demonstrated her friendship, love and loyalty by choosing to stay. "But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." Ruth 1:16-17. God blessed Ruth's loyalty as she took refuge in Him and gave her a new husband named Boaz who described her as a woman of noble character or excellence. (see Ruth 2:11-12; 3:11; 4:13) God also blessed her with a son from whom His only Son would be a descendant. (see Matthew 1:5)

As I read this beautiful story of the life of Ruth and how she consistently chose what was best and gave her all, I had to admit, I fall far short. My desire is to be a woman of excellence, but I can do quite a mediocre job at times. Like most of us, I make TONS of excuses for not doing my best. Here are a few excuses I thought of for not doing my best:

• too tired
• too busy
• blame it on my circumstances
• apathy, don't care, don't feel like it.

I'm sure you can come up with your own list. What kind of example are we setting for our families? For instance, when you ask your children to complete a task, what do you expect from them? Their best or mediocrity? This is NOT about setting unrealistic goals, but helping your kids be the best they can be for their age and abilities. When we allow them to do what we've asked with the mind set of "doing enough just to get by", are we enabling them to set a pattern that will last for the rest of their lives? Something to think about for all of us.

Rather than try to come up with my own ideas of living a life of excellence, I found a few verses that describe how we can be women who give our best and teach those around us how to do the same. The best way we do this is to show them by example in our daily live and in our spiritual growth.

• 1 Corinthians 10:31
• Philippians 1:9-10
  
• Philippians 4:8
• Matthew 22:36-39
• Romans 12:1=2
• Colossians 1:9-10
• 2 Timothy 2:15-16
• Philippians 3:12-14
• Hebrews 5:11-6:1
  

Keeping a your house in order is one thing, but how would you describe the way you take care and teach those around you to take care of their "spiritual" house? Are you teaching them excellence or mediocrity? Anne Ortland says in Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman, "Your body is the flesh that clothes His Presence." What do you do to daily nourish your body? We wouldn't think of not eating physical food, but how often do we neglect feeding our "spiritual" bodies with the Word?

Don't wait, don't delay, make reading the Bible a part of your daily routine. Your kids will follow what they see. We never had to teach our sons to have a quiet time with the Lord. They saw us and followed our example. That doesn't mean we always did everything perfectly either. In fact, I wish I knew then, what I know now, but I didn't, so I'm not going to beat myself up over it and neither should you. Start where you are and begin today to treasure God's Word and make it a part of your daily routine ~ reading it ~ praying it ~ memorizing it? For me the most effective way I've found to memorize scripture is to turn it into a prayer.

One of my favorite verses is Psalm 40:8. "To do your will, O my God, is my desire; your law is within my heart." I would encourage you to take this verse and pray it for you and your family.

Lord, give me and my family (pray by name) the desire to do your will, doing the things that bring You glory. Help me (us) read your Your Word today and make it a natural part of my (our) life. Not something I (we) do out of obligation, but out of a sincere love for You. Lord, seal Your Words in my (our) heart.

--

Reflecting the Radiance of God's Glory

In one of the earlier posts, (May 24, 2008) I told of a young girl named Anna who, by the age of nine, had learned how to reflect God's glory to all she came in contact with. Anna was continually filled with the light of God's presence because she had learned, like Mary, even at an early age, to "sit at His feet". (Luke 10:38-42) Have you? Although her life ended at nine, it was complete. Now she is in the presence of the One whose glory she reflected.

There was a song written in 1998 by Brenton Brown; Mercy/Vineyard Publishing entitled, "Lord Reign in Me". The second verse says, "Over every thought, over every word, may my life reflect the beauty of my Lord. 'Cause You mean more to me than any earthly thing. So won't You reign in me again". How often do we sing songs like this on a Sunday morning, raising our voices with LOUD praise, yet the rest of the week, those words are only a whisper at best.

As I think about those words, it makes me wonder how are we, as believers, day in and day out, reflecting the beauty of the Lord. How would others describe our appearance? Would they say we are radiant and represent Him well? I'm not talking about our outer beauty, the clothes we wear or the latest hair style. I'm talking about our inner beauty. Psalm 34:5 says, "Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame." And in 1 Samuel 16:7 when God chose a new King for Israel because of Saul's disobedience, it says, "But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. (Saul) The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." I heard it said some time ago, that we need to be very careful, making sure that there isn't the look of holiness in one place and reigning or prevailing sin in another. As Jesus is looking at our hearts, what does He see?

Here are a few practical questions that we need to ask ourselves:

• Do I, like Mary, who chose what was best, radiate and reflect His glory because I too choose to spend time with Him daily?

Psalm 119:11; Proverbs 2:1-3, 5-6; Jeremiah 15:16; Ephesians 1:15-20; Colossians 1:9-14; 2 Timothy 2:15; James 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19

• How do I reflect His glory in my home, cleaning, cooking, washing the same laundry for the 900th time and/or in your job at work, especially with that co-worker who drives you nuts, etc? Do I have a servant heart like Jesus?

Psalm 86:1-4, 11-13; Philippians 2:2-7a

• Do I have an attitude of gratitude or a grumbling, complaining heart?

Psalm 19:14; Philippians 2:14-16

• What kind of example am I setting? To my spouse, children, and those around me at work when they hear me complaining? Do they hear or see a life that is filled with praise regardless of my circumstances?

Psalm 51:15,17; Ephesians 4:29-32, Ephesians 5:1, 8,15-16,20; Hebrews 13:15-16;1 Peter 2:11-12

• In my home, how does my complaining attitude affect my kids when I ask them to clean their room, etc? What affect does my complaining have on my co-workers? Does my attitude cause others to stumble? How does that affect my witness?

Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 4:22-24

• How do I react when I'm not chosen, asked to be a part of a group, lead, teach or get that promotion at work, etc?

Deuteronomy 31:8; Psalm 25:1-2; Proverbs 16:9, Proverbs 19:21;
Jeremiah 29:11-12;Philippians 2:13; Philippians 4:6-7; 1 Timothy 4:16;
1 Peter 5:6-7

• Do my thoughts, actions and desires bring glory to God?

Jeremiah 17:10; Romans 8:5-8; 2 Corinthians 19:5; Philippians 4:8;
Colossians 3:1-17; 1 Thessalonians 4:7; 1 Peter 1:13-16; 1 Peter 2:4-5.9


In Hebrews 1:3, the writer paints a glorious picture of Jesus, the One who truly reflected God's glory in all He did, in every situation and to all He came in contact with. "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He has provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven."


JESUS is . . .
R = Radiance of God's glory
E = Exact representation of God
S = Sustainer of all things by His powerful Word
T = The purifier of our sins

Because of what Jesus did, we can fully REST in Him and His promises and KNOW that through Him we too can reflect God's glory and represent Him well to our family, friends and co-workers in our: attitudes, desires, thoughts and actions.

~ ~ ~

"Great and marvelous are Your deeds,
Lord God Almighty,
Just and true are Your ways,
King of the ages.
Who will not fear You, O Lord, and bring glory to Your name?
All nations will come and worship before You, for
Your righteous acts have been revealed."
Revelation 15:3-4