This and that

This:  I just wanted to drop in and say that Dustin wrote about some good stuff on his blog last night. I'm plugging this as suggested reading not just because he is my husband and I love him (which of course I do!), but he really has seen some good stuff in the Word that is worth hearing.

You can read it here and here.

And....
That:

Yes, we did it.  Finally put up our home for sale.  (Shameless plug inserted here) It's a great house, in a great location (Res-Brandon area), renovated (we've put a lot of sweat into it!- and I don't even like to sweat!) and if you'd like to know more about it...please let me know!
Now the waiting game has begun.


The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
he fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb .  Psalm 19:7-10

What matters

"How are you going to impact the world with your one life?"


Last week, I was thinking on the hard fact that I've got one life...it'll be over quickly (James 4 calls my life a mist, and Job 7 calls it a vapor)...and it's got to count.

So how do I make my life count?

D. and I recently listened to this (video below), and I think it will answer every bit of that question. 

(fyi, this is David Platt,  at brookhills church.)

(warning, this is only the audio, with cheesy pictures popping up over it...so ignore the cheese factor.)







Make. Disciples. "this is Jesus' plan to impact the nations for His glory."

It's not get a great job...marry a great man...be a good wife...raise successful children...get a nice house...go to a big church...run big programs...be busy all the time...give lots of money to the poor...stash up a large savings account...
He made it pretty simple for us... make disciples...all the time... everywhere... teach them My Word.  That's it.

(The rest of the message is posted on youtube if you'd like to hear the rest of the series.  It's broken up "david platt make disciples #1", #2, #3, #4, etc).

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”    Matthew 28:18-20

On my way...

So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom. Ps. 90:12

I feel like every time I sit down to write, I can say "well, not much has been going on with us."... and then I realize we sound kind of pathetic.  We have had stuff going on, I just don't want to bore you with the mundane details.  But then again, isn't that was this whole blogging thing is about...my two readers to seem to seemingly care about those details.
Oh, and speaking of people who care...one of my newest blog world converts is Dustin.  I know he cares about my mundane because it's his too...I'm married to him.
So check out his blog Burningforrevival.blogspot.com. 

On to more meaningful things.  I wanted to let you in on what I have been thinking on for the last few days.
I have been thinking about a part of the song Hosanna.  If you have never heard it, you should, and you can listen to it below.



"Heal my heart and make it clean, open up my eyes to the things unseen. Show me how to love like you've loved me.  Break my heart for what breaks Yours.  Everything I am for Your kingdom's cause. As I walk from earth into eternity."  Those are the words of the bridge of the song, and these words have been resounding over and over again in my head.
Pretty much a prayer of surrender.

But the part that has been getting at me is the last phrase as I walk from earth into eternity.  I'm on my way to eternity.

I took this and ran with it in two different directions.

One, being that there will be a moment in time where we all are brought up to be with the Father forever.
"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed." 1 Corinthians 15:52

'Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." 'John 14:6

"And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done."  Revelation 20:12

I pray that you are prepared for this moment...there is nothing more important than this in the world.  We will stand before the Father either covered and justified by the blood of Christ or we will stand on our own- and face the wrath of a holy God.  (Revelation 20:12-15, Romans 10:9)

Second and the main thought that I've been chomping on: being that with every step I take, I am one more step closer to eternity.  Every minute, every day that goes by is one that is done and will never be back.  Every morning I get up, I'm not younger, I'm older (ha.  even despite the ways we try to stop or slow it!) So, in light of the fact that with every moment that goes by I'm getting closer to the end, am I living like I know this?

"Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." James 4:14

"For my days pass away like smoke.."  Psalm 102:3

“Remember that my life is a breath..." Job 7:7

I promise I'm not trying to be a downer...I'm just trying to be real.  This is reality whether I like to think about it or not.  My  life, my time here, is very short compared to the time line of history past and present.
So, if my life is just like a shot of air freshener, here for just a second, and then never seen again... what am I doing that will make a lasting impression?  Forgive me for the weird analogy, but what fragrance will I leave behind?  I'm not saying that I'm going to to go out and do things to get people to like me.  Not saying to make sure people miss me and say nice things about me when I'm gone.
I am saying... Am I living with eternity in mind?  Am I living every day thinking that I've got to be living for what matters...this is my one shot.

Will your life stand the test?  Will what you have done stand when tested by fire?  "Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done." 1 Corinthians 3:12-13

I read through some of Ecclesiastes today where the writer is discussing what truly matters in life...you should check it out. (way too much to discuss here, now, i've  already made this the longest post ever.) But he ends it by saying basically here's the bottom line...
"The end of the matter, all has been heard.  Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.  For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil."  Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

And by the way... the God that created the universe loves you!  That's a comforting thought...
"But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him..." Psalm 103:17

Snow Day

Well, the weatherman was actually right this time.  Over night and during today we got just about 4.5 inches of snow at our house!
Here is a look at our snow day...

 

When we finally ventured outside, we found this branch about to pop.  So D. braved the elements and shook most of the snow off, so that we wouldn't have half a tree down in the drive way.

 

 I look pretty athletic, don't I? ha.  (the seriously dumb moment I had after this picture was taken... I decided to throw the snowball at D.- well, I didn't think twice about where I was aiming, and ended up not hitting D. but smacked my camera... and then I freaked out... not good.)

Attempt at a snow angel.  

 

 

Gotta love the self timer when it's just the two of us.

"O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens...

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?"  Ps. 8:1-4

nothing much

Not much has been happening with us. Well, except for kleenex. Our lives have been filled with kleenex, cough medicine, and lots of sleep for the last few days. I picked up some lovely virus last week (oh, the joys of working in retail among lots of people) and passed it on to the hubs.
I'm not going to call him a high maintenance patient, because I think I am probably one as well.

On another note, the buzz around here is that snow might actually arrive tomorrow night. Maybe 4 or 5 inches (and you might as well have said 4 or 5 feet to us deprived southerners). And yes... if it does, you can count on life as you know it in central ms. will cease to exist and we will all just sit and look at the pretty white stuff. I'll admit it...I'm a sucker for it.
Here's my cute sister the last time we had a decent snow that stuck (last year I think)(she's gonna kill me for putting this up)



There's something about snow that genuinely freaks us true blooded southerners out. I mean, it's like we don't know how to function.
Most kids love it.
I love just looking at it. (Does that make me old?) Well, I love looking at it as it has freshly fallen. It is so clean. So pretty. Untouched. It gives everything a new look.
And then, the snow starts to melt, and kids play in it... and I don't enjoy it as much. It's not so clean anymore, not so perfect looking.

Thinking about snow...the picture that the Lord lays out for His people here is cool to think about:
"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool." Isaiah 1:18

How thankful I am for the blood of Jesus, that when I was a disgusting sinner, He cleaned me up! I can stand spotless before the Father now. He has made me clean...pretty...untouched...new.

"But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

bandwagoners

I'm a bandwagoner...and I'm ok with admitting that. I think.

We had a quiet, rather boring Friday evening and Saturday. I won't bore you with the details.

But, Sunday did get a little more interesting. This is where me being a bandwagoner comes in.
Football. I love it. That fact hasn't always been true of me. But at this stage of my life, I do love it. Sec football mostly.
I digress... I don't think I need to mention anything about who was in the Superbowl, or who won. As long as you haven't been living under a rock for the last week, I'm pretty sure you've heard.
Though I'll admit I was surprised and was excited and nervous during the entire game. I joined the majority of good southerners to the cheer on the little underdog who could.
We ate.
And we cheered.
Got nervous.
Ate more.
And more.
And then we won!
I can't say that I jumped on the "who dat" bandwagon far enough to purchase the pricey official gear...
but I did jump on far enough to create my own.



*please forgive us for looking like such goobers.


"For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, who gave Himself as a ransom for all..." 1 Timothy 2:5

testing.

It's been a pretty uneventful week around our house... no kitchen fires, meal disasters...
I did successfully pull off hosting some friends for dinner. And made these incredible molten lava cakes for dessert. I highly recommend that you try them! Especially if you are in love with chocolate.

For the last few days, I have been thinking on this verse: "Test all things; hold fast to what is good." 1 Thess 5:21
The command is clearly- test everything. So, I'm not just supposed to test things I have questions about. I'm supposed to test everything. It is pretty obvious that God doesn't want His children to be deceived in to believed something that is not from Him.
And then I see something else... In light of that, there are going to be false teaching and things with God's name on it that are not from Him. (See Matthew 24:23-27, 2 Peter 3:3, and Jude 17-18)

While I was reading in Exodus last week, God clarified this for me even further. In Exodus 7-11, the plagues are sent by God upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians, because he would not let the people go.
God sent terrible things... their water turned to blood, frogs covered everything, then gnats, then flies... and it just got worse from there.
But here's the crazy part. After God sent the first plague, Exodus 7:11 (and 7:22) "Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts." And it happened like this over and over again.
Obviously here, there are people, not of God, and clearly working by darkness, were able to re-create (or copy) something God had done.
That's kind of sobering isn't it?

And that is why we are told to test everything. There will be false teachers. There will be people, places and things with God's name on it that has nothing to do with Him.

I really desire to be more like the group of people, the Bereans, that Paul said, "They received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so." Acts 17:11
That's testing everything- being in the Scriptures daily, to see if what we see, hear and learn are lining up with what God has laid out for us in the Word.
Yes, it'll take a little extra effort. But I'm pretty sure God doesn't want His children to be a group of people who just take in anything and everything and swallow it as truth. He desires us to test it and make sure it lines up with His Word.

So yes- test everything. That's even...your pastor, the guy you watch on tv, the one you listen to on the radio, the article or blog you read on the internet, the friend's advice they gave you today... it's everything.

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. That the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17