To admit the existence of a need in God is to admit incompleteness in the divine Being. Need is a creature-word and cannot be spoken of the Creator. God has a voluntary relation to everything He has made, but He has no necessary relation to anything outside of Himself. His interest in His creatures arises from His sovereign good pleasure, not from any need those creatures can supply nor from any completeness they can bring to Him who is complete in Himself…

So lofty is our opinion of ourselves that we find it quite easy, not to say enjoyable, to believe that we are necessary to God. But the truth is that God is not greater for our being, nor would He be less if we did not exist. That we do exist is altogether of God’s free determination, not by our desert nor by divine necessity.

-A.W. Tozer, Knowledge of the Holy, p.52-53

First, let me say that Brian made it safely to Atlanta for his business trip late yesterday afternoon. (Didn’t want to scare any of you who knew that!)

After we heard from Daddy that all was well, Mom piled the three kiddos into the van to head to Sonic for dinner. On the way there, from out of nowhere, three deer ran across the street in front of me. Thankful for my new tires, I braked as hard as I could brake safely on the wet road, but I managed to hit the third one in his back thigh as he attempted to jump over the hood. I think the deer will be bruised, but okay. He didn’t seem to have any trouble continuing into the field! A quick inspection of the hood and front of the van when we arrived at Sonic showed no damage to the van, but it did raise a few eyebrows from the lady next to me!

After all of this, I’m hopeful that I won’t need to create a “Near Miss” category! Again, I find myself thankful for the many ways that God holds us in the palm of His hand - some seen, most unseen. I just happen to be fortunate enough to be able to see more clearly for the last couple of days. Maybe one day such clarity will come without all the near misses!

Near miss #1: We discovered a worn hole in one of the tires on our van. It was obvious that it had been there for a while. Two days earlier I had driven a friend, her daughter, and A6 to Chattanooga for a field trip. (And on Wednesday I’m planning to bring the kiddos to Grandma, 2 hours away!) After 4:00 pm on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, we found that our tire shop was indeed open and could replace the tires before Monday when Brian leaves for a business trip.

Near miss #2: While I was watering the flowers last night, Brian heard a different sort of sound coming from basement. When it didn’t go away, he took a moment to investigate. He found water spraying into the basement, which is unfinished, but is used as the kid’s play area and for storage purposes. For some yet-to-be-diagnosed reason the pipe that brings water to the outside spigot had sprung a leak. I had only been watering for around 15 minutes, so even though it took a couple of hours to clean up it could have been so much worse. I think we acted fast enough to save the rugs. They are currently airing out in the garage. The only real casualty might be the Christmas tree. When it dries out completely, we’ll have to plug it in to see if the lights still work.

Near miss #3: While in the middle of the clean-up process, Brian walked outside to check on the kids, who were remarkably helpful, btw. They had been staying out of the way by playing outside. Brian steps outside and sees that they have resourcefully tied a jump rope between the two Power Wheels vehicles. He watches as one vehicle circles around the other, effectively making a noose around A8’s neck. Thankfully, no one was injured because of Dad’s quick reaction time. Needless to say, the jump rope has been banned from all future usage with Power Wheels vehicles!

Today, we are taking it easy and counting our blessings. We certainly have a lot to be thankful for!

A8: “I like the smell of books…”

:big grin:

The gospel of justifying faith means that while Christians are, in themselves still sinful and sinning, yet in Christ, in God’s sight, they are accepted and righteous. So we can say that we are more wicked than we ever dared believe, but more loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared hope — at the very same time. This creates a radical new dynamic for personal growth. It means that the more you see your own flaws and sins, the more precious, electrifying, and amazing God’s grace appears to you. But on the other hand, the more aware you are of God’s grace and acceptance in Christ, the more able you are to drop your denials and self-defenses and admit the true dimensions and character of your sin.

-Timothy Keller, Paul’s Letter to the Galatians: Living in Line with the Truth of the Gospel (Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2003), 2.

HT: Of First Importance

Molly had a recent post on discipline and the “s” word which garnered quite a few good comments along the way. And someone inevitably brought up the passage from Hebrews(quoted below) which reminded me of a post I did a long time ago on a blog far, far away. So in lieu of something new I’m going to repost it here.

The question, of course, is can we use the Hebrews passage as support for the physical discipline of our children. See what you think.

Heb 12:1-11 ESV
(1) Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
(2) looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
(3) Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
(4) In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
(5) And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.
(6) For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
(7) It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
(8) If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
(9) Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?
(10) For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.
(11) For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

And here’s my exposition of sorts…

The writer has just finished talking about the nature and power of faith in chp 11 and how that faith expressed itself in the lives of many in the past. He then uses that as a platform to start exhorting others to apply those same principles in their own lives.

We are to cast off every weight and sin which drags us down, looking to Jesus, who has already endured the same hostilities from sinners that we will go through. We should keep our focus on Jesus so that we will not become “weary or fainthearted” - remembering that we have not yet suffered trials as severe as they could be.

So, in all of these trials and sufferings, do not lose faith. Remember those who have gone before you and the faith they exhibited. Remember Jesus and what he endured. With all that in mind, do you think that your current trials mean that God does not love you? Of course this cannot be true. The endurance of the trials is in itself the discipline. God is treating us as sons by letting us undergo persecution, hardship, etc. because He loves us.

If we did not undergo trials, it is a sign that we are not really God’s sons. And the discipline is ultimately for our own good - so that we may share in God’s holiness. Even if it does seem painful at the time, the ultimate result of the training is righteousness.

Conclusion : It’s easy to lose sight of the overall thrust of the passage when looking at single verses. The passage is meant to be an encouragement to not lose faith in God’s goodness in the face of trials. Do we really want to use it as support for the idea that we have approval to physically discipline our children? I think to do so is take away from the author’s intended meaning and lose the full impact of this wonderful passage.

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of the kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously - no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinners - no mere tolerance, or indulgence which parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbor, he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ vere latitat, the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden.

-C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

I’m not sure if I’ve posted this quote here before or not, but if I have, it’s worthy of repeating. I have a lot of disjointed thoughts when I read and meditate on Lewis’ words, the least of which is that I find this to be one of the most challenging realities of living a gospel-centered, Christ-honoring life.

(sigh)

I needed this reminder today.

We were downtown last weekend at one of those downtown, festivally things when out of nowhere appears a late 60s Mustang fastback - with the hood up. S3 needed no encouragement to appreciate one of the finer things in life. The girls kinda liked it too.

Rebecca is comparing gas prices this month. As you can see, gas here in Middle Tennessee costs around $3.45/gallon. I was lamenting this fact until I followed this link provided by Dorothy that compares US prices to international prices. Yikes!

Are you always on the look-out for the cheapest gas in your area? Visit this site, enter your zipcode and find the cheapest gas in your neck of the woods along with a handy map so you don’t use up even more gas trying to find the place. I’ve been told this site is updated daily.

How much are you paying? Add your price at the pump to the list over at Rebecca’s place.

Have you ever had so much on your mind that it is simply impossible to settle into a restful sleep? At this moment, it is 1:15am and I have so many unrelated thoughts swirling around in my head that I can barely think straight.

[Warning: the next paragraph is where I retch every last "issue" out of me. Feel free to skip it entirely.]

Attempts to “take my thoughts captive” are evading me. There are laundry and dishes to be done, groceries to buy, a field trip to prepare for and arrange carpooling for. And then there’s the landscaping guy who might be coming this week to do some major work, but he hasn’t returned any of our calls in the last week and a half. There are multiple responsibilities with the Bible study group I’m involved with including preparing dishes and table decorations for the end of the year bash, as well as my regular weekly duties dealing with childcare for the group. And then there’s the fiasco that occurred at church this morning: conflict with no immediate resolution, having to settle for being misunderstood, being told that asking questions is the same thing as complaining, all leading to less than ideal circumstances in which we will probably have to verbalize some things to church leadership we have been hesitant to verbalize.

Throughout all these thoughts, interwoven and set to music (because that’s about the only way that I can memorize them), has been flowing Scripture:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -Phil. 4:6-7

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. -Hebrews 12:1-3

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose….What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? -Romans 8:28, 31

Somehow, in the midst of this cacophonous symphony of thoughts and prayer and praise, I am directed back to the One who has grace for it all. The One who holds it all in His hand and is not threatened by my questions, but simply thanks me for bringing them to Him. The One who gently helps me release my death-grip on my day and gives me the gift of another one with the hope that I will give this one back to Him more completely, for His glory not mine.

…

Okay, it took me a while to get here (for those who keep track of such things, it’s now 2am). Thanks for listening. (Yawn.) I think I’ll be able to get a little sleep now…