Goodness

A familiar psalm revisited...

"Psalm 23." When I hear that I immediately think of a green field (I think only farmers and psalmists really call those fields "pastures") with little white lambs resting in the grass or drinking out of the babbling brook that runs through the field. It's a nice warm-fuzzy feeling.

Last week I read Psalm 23 to a friend who was hurting. I read it slowly to let the Word of God sink into my friend's heart and mind. And as I did, it sunk into mine.

Read it again, as if for the first time. Take your time. Read it out loud. Let the Word of the Lord work in you.

__________

Psalm 23

¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

² He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

³ he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

⁴ Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

⁶ Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

________

Ah, surely goodness and love with follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Thank you God!

*Jon Foreman has recorded this psalm beautifully.

Commendations

I live with two amazing women. They are women of integrity and honor whose first desire is to glorify God in all they say and do.

One of them just posted a blog that I wanted to pass on to you. Below is an excerpt.

"You know it’s not very often that a man will commend a woman for her modesty. In fact, it is not often that women hear spiritual praises of any sort from the men in their lives. Instead, women will hear about the importance of being pretty and having a good body or a good sense of humor or not being high maintenance. Even in the company of men who have an active relationship with the Lord, women will still find themselves hearing about how hot or cool the other girls are, often feeling completely overlooked.

Commendations about our own modesty, passion for the Lord, or prayer life–those come few and far between.

I’m kickin it back old school today with an excerpt from the writings of Gregory of Nazianzus. Gregory is a Church Father who lived in the 4th century, and he wrote the below words in memory of his sister, Gorgonia, a valiant woman of the Lord. She managed to navigate the potential distractions of the world, and submit every aspect of her life to Christ in an exemplary way."

You can read the whole thing here.

Always Assume

Always assume the best of others.

That phrase echoes in my head on almost a daily basis. About a year ago our pastor said it to us in a staff meeting. If you would have asked me a week before that if I assumed the best of people I would have told you, "Yes, of course." But as soon as those words came out of my pastor's mouth my heart sank as negative assumptions of other people came to mind one by one.

What do you think when someone is late?
... when someone hasn't called you?
... when someone hasn't returned an email?
... when a job isn't finished?
... when a seemingly unkind word is spoken?
... when someone doesn't speak to you?
... when someone speeds around you or cuts you off on the road?

When these circumstances come up I sometimes find it hard to assume the best about the other person. Instead, I may assume the worst.

We make tons of assumptions about other people. The question is, are they positive or negative assumptions?

Cheap

Holiness by JC Ryle

“There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity in this day, which many have, and think they have enough- a cheap Christianity which offends nobody, and requires no sacrifice-which costs nothing, and is worth nothing.”*

*a friend sent this one to me because he knows this is how I feel about a lot of "our Christianity"

Heard

One of the girls asked a question that led us to talk about general revelation and special revelation. It was an amazing discussion and teaching time for them. I got pretty teary at one point as I thought of all of the people who have NEVER heard the gospel and explained to the girls that without hearing the truth of the gospel they cannot confess Christ as Lord. It is my prayer that some of the girls who were a part of our group this week will be burdened with that and will go to a people group who have never heard and speak the words of truth to them.

Here's what we read.

Water

I was a part of a conversation in which this phrase came up: "Evangelism is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread." It's a phrase I've heard before (which is apparently attributed to D.T. Niles). We talked about how that statement could lead others to think that getting bread is a one time thing. That the gospel is only for salvation. Instead, we know that the gospel is for life, your whole life long. Praise Him for the gospel of your salvation that is the same gospel you return to for daily living!

This quote from John Piper goes so well with that,

"God pictures himself as a mountain spring of clean, cool, life-giving water. The way to glorify a fountain like this is to enjoy the water, and praise the water, and keep coming back to the water, and point other people to the water, and get strength for love from the water, and never, never, never prefer any drink in the world over this water. That makes the spring look valuable. That is how we glorify God, the fountain of living water." pp. 33-34, When I Don't Desire God

Firebrands

<sup>Proverbs is pretty straight and to the point, eh?

18</sup> Like a madman shooting
firebrands or deadly arrows

¹⁹ is a man who deceives his neighbor
and says, "I was only joking!"