“He takes his children in his arms when they come into deep waters; when they lose ground and are having to swim, then his hand is under their chin. I do see
that grace grows best in winter.”

“Since He looked upon me, my heart is not my own. He hath run away to heaven with it.”

“If your Lord calls you to suffering, be not dismayed; there shall be a new allowance of the King for you when you come to it. One of the softest pillows Christ has is laid under his witnesses’ head, though often they must set down their bare feet among thorns.”

“O, mercy for evermore, that there should be such a one as Christ Jesus – so boundless, so bottomless, so incomparable in infinite excellency and sweetness, and yet so few to take him! O, you poor dry and dead souls, why will you not come here with your vessels and your empty souls to this huge well of life and fill all your vessels? O, that Christ should be so large in sweetness and worth and we so narrow and void of happiness, and yet men will not take him! They lose their love miserably who will not bestow it upon this lovely One.”

“Every day we may see some new thing in Christ. His love has neither brim nor bottom.”

]]> http://stillnearer.com/2012/01/22/grace-in-winter/feed/ 1 jovanajean winter_im_dorf boston common at twilight winter scenery blume-e-two-children-bring-home-a-barrow-load-of-firewood-for-the-christmas-fire Winter-in-the-country--a-cold-morning-PGA---Currier-&-Ives--Winter-in...-painting-artwork-print http://stillnearer.com/2012/01/19/ruth-naomi/ http://stillnearer.com/2012/01/19/ruth-naomi/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:03:34 +0000 Jenny http://stillnearer.com/?p=1902 Continue reading →]]>

She was grouchy, negative, resentful. She was unpleasant to be around. She was angry with God, embittered about her life. Naomi was the kind of person I want to run away from and avoid. And yet Ruth moved toward Naomi. I can imagine that the suffering of her own loss, grieving for her husband and entering a strange new country, Ruth longed for the support and comfort of friends. But even in her own suffering, she saw the needs of another, this irritable old woman named Naomi. She persevered in faithfulness, serving her in love and gentleness.

What do you do with the “Naomi’s” in your life? When I encounter a “Naomi,” criticizing and complaining about life, I just want to run away. I want to cover my ears or leave the room. I want to go find some friends to laugh with.

I want to go back to Moab.

But I have been bought with a  price. God has brought me out of Moab, out of my old slavery to sin and selfishness, and transferred me to His kingdom, the kingdom of His Son. Like Ruth, I have a new life and a new mission. My life is not my own. I belong to the Faithful One.

I cannot forget – I was once angry with God. I was once bitter and resentful. When I was a sinner, Christ died for me. And every day, when I forget Him, He does not forget me. I spurn Him, but He pursues me. He is always with me. He has promised to never give up on me, but to hold me in His strong hand.

Only in the ridiculous blindness of my fallen mind can I want to give up on my “Naomi’s.” In the true light of His grace, I find the love to be faithful.

What does this mean? To be faithful to “Naomi,” we will be on the alert to see God’s activity in Naomi’s life, even in the smallest of ways. God is working and His work is unfolding in beauty. We will trust Him, and we will watch for Him, and when we see Him, we will share it with Naomi.

We will walk alongside “Naomi.” We will enter the details of her world as Christ entered our world. Sometimes we will patiently sit with her in quietness. Sometimes we will serve her by “gleaning the barley,” or by bearing some of the weight of her own heavy loads.

Most importantly, we will pray. We will bring the needs of “Naomi” to the Father. We will pray Scripture and ask Him to make it real in Naomi’s experience. We will rely on the One who loves Naomi, and trust Him to work His redemption through me and through her, for His glory.

Are you treasuring God’s Word?

How are you sharing this precious Word with others?

Tackling the difficult exams, He’s right there with me, whispering strength.

Walking through the grocery store, He’s right there with me,  inspiring me to share a smile with the weary clerk.

Driving in the car, He’s right there with me, listening to my dreams and my desires.

What an amazing God, that He would care and enter into even the dullest of my moments. That He would pour out grace everywhere I turn. That He would want to talk with me all day long.

I am literally surrounded by Him. I cannot get away from Him. I am covered and I am flooded. Everywhere I go, I am embraced by His tender love. {Psalm 139:4-5, Acts 17:28}

It was at Christmas that He came. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” {John 1:14}

What a marvelous gift. He’s the Gift of all gifts, the fulfillment of all our desires. “In him thou hast given me so much that heaven can give no more.” {Valley of Vision}

Emmanuel, God with us.
For this I give thanks and celebrate Christmas.

Hark! the herald, angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King, Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.”

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her king; Let every heart prepare Him room and heaven and nature sing.

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant. O come ye, o come ye, to Bethlehem. Come and behold Him, born the king of ages.

These sweet twin sisters brought us into their basement to see their dried flowers!

God rest ye merry, gentlemen, let nothing you dismay, Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day; To save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray.

You can see in this picture that it was snowing lightly while we caroled!

 Silent night, holy night, All is calm, all is bright Round yon virgin mother and Child. Holy Infant, so tender and mild, Sleep in heavenly peace, Sleep in heavenly peace.

It’s a good thing I stumbled across that beautiful big purse at Macy’s this past fall, because when you throw a few seminary courses into your already busy life, you’re throwing a few books into your purse. Running to and fro this past semester, I’ve stuffed a good many books into my purse for reading in airports, cafes, car rides, and parking lots. In between my lipstick, cellphone, and sunglasses slips Augustine’s Confessions and Hagglund’s History of Theology and Van Til’s Defense of the Faith. Preferably not all at the same time.

It’s been busy, but it’s been good. It is too easy to stop reading. To get caught up in the busy activities of life and neglect the strengthening of our minds. To be distracted by details and forget to feed our souls. But the Lord uses His people to encourage His people. And when we take the time to quietly listen, we are strengthened.

Here are a few of my favorite strengthening quotes from the books I’ve been studying:

“Our Life himself came down into this world and took away our death.” ~Augustine, Confessions p. 82

“Why do you mean so much to me? Help me find words to explain. Why do I mean so much to you, that you should command me to love you? And if I fail to love you, you are angry and threaten me with great sorrow, as if not to love you were not sorrow enough in itself. Have pity on me and help me, O Lord my God. Tell me why you mean so much to me. Whisper in my heart, I am here to save you. Speak so that I may hear your words. My heart has ears ready to listen to you, Lord. Open them wide and whisper in my heart, I am here to save you. I shall hear your voice and make haste to clasp you to myself.” ~Augustine, Confessions, p. 24

“Never was a natural man engaged earnestly to seek his salvation: never were any such brought to cry after wisdom, and lift up their voice for understanding, and to wrestle with God in prayer for mercy; and never was one humbled, and brought to the foot of God, from anything that ever he heard or imagined of his own unworthiness and deservings of God’s displeasure; nor was ever one induced to fly for refuge unto Christ, while his heart remained unaffected.” ~Edwards, Religious Affections, p. 146

“For, quite clearly, the mighty gifts with which we are endowed are hardly from ourselves; indeed, our very being is nothing but subsistence in the one God. Then, by these benefits shed like dew from heaven upon us, we are led as by rivulets to the spring itself.” ~Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 37

“There is nothing less in accord with God’s nature than for him to cast off the government of the universe and abandon it to fortune.” ~Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 48

“Light may seem at times to be an impertinent intruder, but it is always beneficial in the end.” ~J.G. Machen, Christianity & Liberalism, p. 1

“I hold that belief in God is not merely as reasonable as other belief, or even a little or infinitely more probably true than other belief; I hold rather that unless you believe in God you can logically believe in nothing else.” ~Cornelius Van Til, Why I Believe in God

“The Bible is thought of as authoritative on everything of which it speaks.  Moreover, it speaks of everything.  We do not mean that it speaks of football games, of atoms, etc., directly, but we do mean that it speaks of everything either directly or by implication.  It tells us not only of the Christ and his work, but it also tells us who God is and where the universe about us has come from.  It tells us about theism as well as about Christianity.  It gives us a philosophy of history as well as history.  Moreover, the information on these subjects is woven into an inextricable whole.  It is only if you reject the Bible as the word of God that you can separate the so-called religious and moral instructions of the Bible from what it says, e.g., about the physical universe.” ~ Van Til, Christian Apologetics

“[M]an’s actions have their place… But they are not ultimately determinative; they are subordinately and derivatively important. Hence the idea of human autonomy can find no place in the truly Christian system any more than can the idea of chance. The human being is analogical rather than original in all the aspects of its activity. And as such its activity is truly significant.” ~Van Til, Defense of the Faith

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down
from  the Father of lights…” (James 1:17).

I’m thankful to my Father for…

Really long sister talks

Red covered bridges

The book of Ruth

The Piano

New York bagel shops

Laughing

Unmerited favor

My church

God’s faithfulness to answer prayer

These 5-year-olds from New York City:

My friends who give me courage to pursue my dreams for God’s glory

Missionaries who are sharing Jesus’ Name with unreached peoples around the world

The opportunity to learn and grow and be stretched at Westminster Theological Seminary

Desiring God ministries

5K runs with my sisters:

My job working for such an upbeat, innovative, eternity-focused company like CollegePlus! and the opportunity to meet my wonderful coworkers in Texas

My students, each of whom inspire me by their perseverance and enthusiasm

An endless supply of books to read

Scripture songs

The way my parents support me with grace

Wildflowers growing in the cement along the highway

Sunday worship with the community of believers

The perfect, unfailing providence of God

The prayers of eight-year-old girls

Christian biographies

Long car rides alone with Jesus

Norman Rockwell picture books after a long day:

Sunshine

People who are willing to take a risk in loving others

Birds singing outside my window

Psalm 139

Phone calls with Grandpa

The Joshua project

Long family walks

Baby smiles

The wonder of belonging to Christ, the Lover of my Soul.

“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns
you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so
that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” ~Psalm 103:1-5

The young man left to mourn was named Augustine and he tells his story in his Confessions. How does he handle the earthly friendship and loss of his youth? By talking to God. In the spirit of Psalm 62:8, he opens his heart before the Lord and confesses to Him, “See these memories of mine, for you are my hope” (78).

Augustine shares the story of his life with his Lord, His true friend. Like two old friends talking about days gone by, Augustine reminisces with the One who has been with him from the beginning of time. Though once unacknowledged and unseen, with new eyes Augustine looks back and sees that God was indeed always present, sovereignly and wisely working His love. In the shadow of death, mourning the loss of his friend, Augustine praised His eternal Friend, saying, “You follow close behind the fugitive and recall us to yourself in ways we cannot understand” (75). The Lord is with us, using even the deep trials of life to draw us closer to Himself and to strengthen His friendship with us. He longs to hear your voice. What amazing love!

Augustine reminds me that as beloved children of the heavenly Father, we are never alone. We can talk to God. We can share our feelings and questions and details with Him. In talking with God, there is healing and refuge. In talking with God, our earthly friends become greater and truer treasures. In talking with God, we find our heart’s fulfillment. “You made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you” (21).

What memories do you have to share with Jesus today?

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” ~Psalm 37:7

“Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD!” ~Psalm 27:14

“Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.”
~Psalm 33:20

“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from
him.” ~Psalm 62:5

What are you waiting for?

The other night as I was meditating on these verses, I realized that I was waiting for the wrong things. Sure, it’s easy to say, “I’m waiting on the Lord” but in my heart what I really mean is, “I’m waiting for him to provide something,” or “I’m waiting for Him to reward me.”

The Scriptures call us to wait patiently, but not for things or for people. Not for all the dreams that we’ve wished to come true. Not even for the gifts and works of the Lord. We are called to wait for the Lord Himself.

His person, His character.

His love, His mercy, His holiness, His righteousness.

This is where we are to rest all our hope – in Him. In who Jesus is. In our friendship with Him.

There is deep longing in every human heart. The Bible says that all creation and “even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our
body” (Romans 8:23). Waiting implies lacking. Restlessness. Expectancy.  Sometimes, even groaning.

In my restlessness on this earth – my longing for creation’s renewal and the final victory of Christ – what will I do? I will wait for the Lord. The things of this earth will pass away –they cannot satisfy the deep longings of our hearts. But Jesus is the hope that
does not disappoint us (Romans 5:5).

“I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.” ~Psalm 130:5-7

So what are you waiting for?