Christmas tree? Check! In the stand, in the living room, all ready for lights and ornaments.
Hot apple cider? Check! Simmering on the stove, with a whole orange and cloves and cinnamon sticks, filling the house with a delightful aroma.
Christmas music? Check! After playing it sporadically for the last month and a half, we are now in full-blown Christmas music mode. Right now it's David Archuleta filling the house, one of my new favorite voices.
Fire in the fireplace? Check! Cheery, crackling, and only the second one we've had so far.
Christmas decorating? Check! After finishing enough homework to give myself a free day yesterday and today, I'm so excited to be able to actually participate in the decorating this year.
My heart is filled with joy. There is much to be thankful for. God is gracious, kind, and pours out His love upon us. I am so blessed.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Little procrastinations
Talk about convicting... !
~*~
“Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and they want as an armed man.” – Proverbs 24:33, 34
The worst of sluggards only ask for a little slumber; they would be indignant if they were accused of thorough idleness. A little folding of the hands to sleep is all they crave, and they have a crowd of reasons to show that this indulgence is a very proper one. Yet by these little [indulgences] the day ebbs out, and the time for labor is all gone, and the field is grown over with thorns. It is by little procrastinations that men ruin their souls. They have no intention to delay for years—a few months will bring the more convenient season—tomorrow if you will, they will attend to serious things—but the present hour is so occupied and altogether so unsuitable, that they beg to be excused. Like sands from an hour-glass, time passes, life is wasted by driblets, and seasons of grace lost by little slumbers.
Oh, to be wise, to catch the flying hour, to use the moments on the wing! May the Lord teach us this sacred wisdom, for otherwise a poverty of the worst sort awaits us, eternal poverty which shall want even a drop of whatever, and beg for it in vain. Like a traveler steadily pursuing his journey, poverty overtakes the slothful, and ruin overthrows the undecided: each hour brings the dreaded pursuer nearer; he pauses not by the way, for he is on his master’s business and must not tarry. As an armed man enters with authority and power, so shall want come to the idle, and death to the impenitent, and there will be no escape. O that men were wise betimes, and would seek diligently unto the Lord Jesus, or ere the solemn day shall dawn when it will be too late to plough and to sow, too late to repent and believe. In harvest, it is vain to lament that the seed time was neglected. As yet, faith and holy decision are timely. May we obtain them this day.
~Taken from Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening
~*~
“Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and they want as an armed man.” – Proverbs 24:33, 34
The worst of sluggards only ask for a little slumber; they would be indignant if they were accused of thorough idleness. A little folding of the hands to sleep is all they crave, and they have a crowd of reasons to show that this indulgence is a very proper one. Yet by these little [indulgences] the day ebbs out, and the time for labor is all gone, and the field is grown over with thorns. It is by little procrastinations that men ruin their souls. They have no intention to delay for years—a few months will bring the more convenient season—tomorrow if you will, they will attend to serious things—but the present hour is so occupied and altogether so unsuitable, that they beg to be excused. Like sands from an hour-glass, time passes, life is wasted by driblets, and seasons of grace lost by little slumbers.
Oh, to be wise, to catch the flying hour, to use the moments on the wing! May the Lord teach us this sacred wisdom, for otherwise a poverty of the worst sort awaits us, eternal poverty which shall want even a drop of whatever, and beg for it in vain. Like a traveler steadily pursuing his journey, poverty overtakes the slothful, and ruin overthrows the undecided: each hour brings the dreaded pursuer nearer; he pauses not by the way, for he is on his master’s business and must not tarry. As an armed man enters with authority and power, so shall want come to the idle, and death to the impenitent, and there will be no escape. O that men were wise betimes, and would seek diligently unto the Lord Jesus, or ere the solemn day shall dawn when it will be too late to plough and to sow, too late to repent and believe. In harvest, it is vain to lament that the seed time was neglected. As yet, faith and holy decision are timely. May we obtain them this day.
~Taken from Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
The approach of real "Christmas weather" means it's time for:
- Scarves. Lots and lots of scarves.
- Boots.
- Soft and cuddly fleece jackets.
- Crackling fires.
- Early Christmas shopping.
- Blankets for doing homework.
- Space heaters at the office.
- Hot chocolate.
- The occasionally-played Christmas music, to become much more frequent after Thanksgiving! =]
And best of all? The countdown to a beloved brother and sister-in-law's visit. YAY!
God is gracious. May He smile down upon you today.
- Scarves. Lots and lots of scarves.
- Boots.
- Soft and cuddly fleece jackets.
- Crackling fires.
- Early Christmas shopping.
- Blankets for doing homework.
- Space heaters at the office.
- Hot chocolate.
- The occasionally-played Christmas music, to become much more frequent after Thanksgiving! =]
And best of all? The countdown to a beloved brother and sister-in-law's visit. YAY!
God is gracious. May He smile down upon you today.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
"I have graven YOU"
“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.”
Isaiah 49:16
No doubt a part of the wonder which is concentrated in the word ‘behold’ is excited by the unbelieving lamentation of the preceding sentence. Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, and my God has forgotten me”. How amazed the divine mind seems to be at this wicked unbelief! What can be more astounding than the unfounded doubts and fears of God’s favored people? The Lord’s loving word of rebuke should make us blush; He cries, “How can I have forgotten you, when I have graven you upon the palms of my hands? How dare you doubt my constant remembrance, when the memorial is set upon my very flesh?”
O unbelief, how strange a marvel you are! We know not which most to wonder at, the faithfulness of God or the unbelief of His people. He keeps His promises a thousand times, and yet the next trial makes us doubt Him. He never fails; He is never a dry well; He is never as a setting sun, a passing meteor, or a melting vapor; and yet we are as continually vexed with anxieties, molested with suspicions, and disturbed with fears, as if our God were the mirage of the desert.
“Behold” is a word intended to excite admiration. Here, indeed, we have a theme for marveling. Heaven and earth may well be astonished that rebels should obtain so great a nearness to the heart of infinite love as to be written upon the palms of His hands. “I have graven thee.” It does not say, “Thy name.” The name is there, but that is not all; “I have graven thee.” See the fullness of this! I have graven your person, your image, your case, your circumstances, your sins, your temptations, your weaknesses, your wants, your works; I have graven you, everything about you, all that concerns you; I have put you altogether there.
Will you ever say again that your God has forsaken you when He has graven you upon His own palms?
~ Taken from Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening, November 7
Isaiah 49:16
No doubt a part of the wonder which is concentrated in the word ‘behold’ is excited by the unbelieving lamentation of the preceding sentence. Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, and my God has forgotten me”. How amazed the divine mind seems to be at this wicked unbelief! What can be more astounding than the unfounded doubts and fears of God’s favored people? The Lord’s loving word of rebuke should make us blush; He cries, “How can I have forgotten you, when I have graven you upon the palms of my hands? How dare you doubt my constant remembrance, when the memorial is set upon my very flesh?”
O unbelief, how strange a marvel you are! We know not which most to wonder at, the faithfulness of God or the unbelief of His people. He keeps His promises a thousand times, and yet the next trial makes us doubt Him. He never fails; He is never a dry well; He is never as a setting sun, a passing meteor, or a melting vapor; and yet we are as continually vexed with anxieties, molested with suspicions, and disturbed with fears, as if our God were the mirage of the desert.
“Behold” is a word intended to excite admiration. Here, indeed, we have a theme for marveling. Heaven and earth may well be astonished that rebels should obtain so great a nearness to the heart of infinite love as to be written upon the palms of His hands. “I have graven thee.” It does not say, “Thy name.” The name is there, but that is not all; “I have graven thee.” See the fullness of this! I have graven your person, your image, your case, your circumstances, your sins, your temptations, your weaknesses, your wants, your works; I have graven you, everything about you, all that concerns you; I have put you altogether there.
Will you ever say again that your God has forsaken you when He has graven you upon His own palms?
~ Taken from Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening, November 7
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