I’ve been praying for you today. Actually, I’ve been praying for everyone who comes to CHK to read and comment.

My prayer is that you will be prosperous and blessed in the new year. Prosperous in the way that God wants you to prosper, blessed in a way that only God knows you need. And that those blessings will draw you closer to Him.

We’ve had a good year here. The two youngest are doing well in school. Its hard to believe that I have just 5 more years of homeschool and I’ll be done forever. This is our 21st year and we’ve graduated three.

In the coming year my goals are to spend longer times in prayer, write more and to be more ready to obey the Lord whatever He may ask of me.

I hope you’ll keep coming to read here, and comment too! Comments let me know what you’re thinking and I like that.

God bless you. God bless your New Year.

I’ve been searching around for books I’d like to read in 2012. 

So far, I’ve only come up with a few. As I find more I’ll post them.
A Meal with Jesus: Discovering Grace, Community, and Mission around the Table by Tim Keller

Tempted and Tried: Temptation and the Triumph of Christ by Russell D. Moore

The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God by Tim Keller

Notice they all have subtitles. I have no idea why. I don’t think I chose them because of it.

The Medieval Theologians, edited by G.R. Evans

The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler and Jared Wilson

As I find more I’ll list them and I’ll review them for you as I read them.

 

The approaching new year is a good time to do all kinds of inventory and searching. Its good to start new, clean and ready to hear the Lord’s direction for your life.  Even the most upright and honest of women need some soul searching and cleansing on a regular basis. 

When I think of being clean I can’t help but think of homemade soap.

The first time I made it by myself, it was mighty strong. When the soap hardened, it had a pink cast. I called my Grandmother and asked her about it. She said, “That means it has a a good scald. It will clean real good.”

What that really meant was that there was considerable lye left in the soap that didn’t saponify along with the fats. And it did scald, it burned my hands!

Real cleaning sometimes scalds. It can burn. It can hurt and break you down. But when its done you know you’re clean. You can focus on the important things in life. You can live a life that is pleasing to God.

Psalm 12  talks about how people don’t tell the truth and how they just don’t believe the Lord is true. You and I could probably agree that people who don’t tell the truth need  some cleansing.

Its about how they act like they love the Lord and have faith while being untruthful to others and how God’s word is always truthful and pure. It also talks about being two-faced toward God when we believe that God is not truthful and pure.

“Every man speaks deceit…”

I’d say every woman too, the Bible includes all of mankind in most place where it mentions “Man” in general. So from here on out I’m going to say, “women” and “woman”.

What this means is that women cover themselves with hypocrisy and lies and hide their true intentions.  What we say is so important to God. He is concerned with what women speak because that is how we communicate with other people.

“The words of God are pure words … purified seven times … “

What the psalmist is tell us here is that God always speaks truth, His words are always pure. And later in the psalm we’re shown that women who go right on praising God and worshiping Him until the time when God’s promises are delayed and then assume that He isn’t keeping His promises because He hasn’t answered yet,  are in actuality accusing God of not hearing their prayers and not being truthful.

Can you imagine accusing God?  That’s what the psalmist says we do when we say to ourselves that He isn’t keeping His promises to us.

John Calvin said, “There is no truth which is more generally received among men than that God is true; but there are few who frankly give Him credit for this when they are in the midst of adversity.”

So the questions I want us to ask ourselves are these:

*Do I realize that God really is good all the time, or do I quietly, silently accuse Him of not caring about me when I don’t get the things I think I need?

*Does my faith go up and down with what I have and the blessings I receive from God? Or is my faith steadfast and strong no matter what is happening in my life?

*Is my speech sincere?

*Is my heart upright?

Something that really can help us to grow in faith is to recount the times that God has helped us in our need; the times when God has shown us the way or has filled a need in our hearts. When we recount these things, we can look back and see how God has been truthful and faithful.

I know women who would say that God hasn’t done a thing for them … they would say that God has not been faithful in their lives. I always counsel these women to look at their lives and see if they have been living for God and to see if they have disobeyed God in some way.  If there is disobedience in their lives then He is waiting for them to come to repentance.

God is highly concerned about our spiritual state, more so than He is concerned that we are “happy”.

Don’t misunderstand me here. When you need to teach your own children an important life lesson, are you concerned at that moment that they are happy … or are you concerned that they are obedient?

Repentance must come first. Apply the harsh soap of repentance. Your relationship with God must be restored so that God can speak His truth into your life.

Start your new year off right. Pour your heart out to God. Repent of what ever He is calling you to repent of. Stop being wishy-washy about your faith in Him.

Lord, I want to live a life where I speak truth and a life that honors You. I want to worship You out of a full and pure heart.  Help me to see any area where I need to repent so that I can continue in fellowship unhindered with You.  Help me to recount the ways You have helped me and sustained me in the past. Cause me to start afresh, brand new with a clean heart and willing spirit. Help me trust You to provide for me and take care of me in the future. Amen.