Tag: prayer

Measuring Disunity and Modesty by the Standard of the Gospel

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This is part of a series in 1 Timothy. My piece is taken from 1 Timothy 2:8-10. 

I grew up in a church that handed out a modesty checklist to young girls. Some of the rules were:

  • You can’t wear shirts with spaghetti straps unless you wear something under it or over it.
  • You cannot wear any prints or fabrics that drew attention to your chest.
  • Your tank top straps should measure four fingers wide or else pitch it.
  • You must always wear board shorts over the bottoms of any bathing suit (even a traditional one piece).

We tried to follow and enforce these rules. And it all bred severe criticism, judgment, legalism, and self-righteousness. We began to assess ourselves and other girls through the narrow lens of externals, believing it to be the standard of a godly woman. From this list, it seemed as if this was the norm of a godly woman. The list above was not a biblical standard, but a man-made one. If only godly womanhood and gospel living were as easy as checking off a list that some church ladies made up. But it’s not. Godly womanhood and gospel living stem from the heart, and only God can change hearts. We can only change our outfits.

Putting on certain outfits or behaviors does not make someone godly. Only when the gospel changes our hearts can there be practical, visible change. The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 1, when God awakens our hearts to the power of the gospel, our outward behavior changes.

You can read the rest at Servants of Grace >>

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Missional Motherhood Study: Week 4

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This last Monday in group we mainly talked about Gloria’s take on mothering being a ministry of the priesthood. She references the Old Testament priesthood. The old sacrificial system involved one man, the High Priest, entering the Most Holy Place once a year to make atonement for the people’s sins (and is own) using animal sacrifices. This was the basis for the old covenant God made with his people. It was the provision God enabled so his people could draw near to him in a limited way. But this old way of sacrifice was also a foreshadowing of God’s ultimate plan to make final atonement for his people through the perfect life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He instituted a better covenant and his sacrifice was more effective. Since Jesus was a perfect High Priest he could sacrifice himself, and his death would be sufficient for all eternity.

It is on this basis that now we each have direct and unlimited access to God through our great High Priest Jesus. And because of this we are all priests ourselves:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. – 1 Peter 2:9

Now God calls each of us a priest; he qualifies us for the priesthood through Christ’s priesthood. This is where Gloria brings our everyday mothering into perspective as an act of the priesthood we are apart of. In her book, Gloria connects the incense offered by the priest in the tabernacle to the prayers of a mother being a fragrant offering to the Lord. We go before God on behalf of our children to offer up our incense of prayers. God has had mercy on our children by providing a priest in the next room offering up prayers for them. Mothering is part of our priesthood.

Two ways to be Rich Everyday

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There is a show on TLC called Extreme Cheapskates. Each episode shows people using bizarre tactics to save a buck. A few episodes I happened to see awhile back showed cheapskate millionaires as well. They fearfully hoard their wealth in a feeble attempt to control their lives, and in the process they make themselves and others suffer needlessly.

In the same way we can be spiritual cheapskate millionaires. We have abundant riches at our disposal daily, but don’t plunge ourselves into the waters of our inheritance.

Ephesians 1:7-14 says,

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.  In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

Christ is our rich inheritance, given to us by the Father. He lavished the riches of his grace on us through the gospel. Yet, it didn’t stop on the day when we first believed in him. The riches of his grace are available daily to us. We must not selfishly hoard them. We must use them for ourselves and others.

How do we tap into our spiritual wealth? What does this mean in our daily lives?

1.) Read and Hear Truth

What are you soaking in? Are you soaking in your own personal thoughts, feelings, mood, and emotions? Are you soaking in full daily doses of media and worldly philosophies? If we steep in those things too long without truth we’ll become bitter. If we want our life brew to taste more palatable we need daily doses of truth in our lives.

The first place to find the capital T truth is God’s Word. Yet, we can also find glimpses of truth in creation, art, music, and literature, but they must be informed by the capital T truth. God’s Word is the baseline we look to to judge everything in our lives. When we do this we are delighting in and using the riches God has given us in Christ.

We need to know truth in order to deal with our daily circumstances: a demanding boss, catty co-workers, needy children, and even housework. If we don’t have truth anchoring our lives we will get swept away in whatever current comes our way.

2.) Pray for Help

We all hear about (or know personally) the newfound independence of toddlers. “No, me do it,” can commonly be heard in a household with small children. Are we doing this with our heavenly Father? He has given us his riches in order to help us daily; avail of them through prayer.

If my toddler son gets frustrated with something I tell him to use his words and ask me for help. I tell him to say, “Help, mama!”

It’s that simple. Say to God, “Help, daddy!” And he will help you. You don’t have to say a special prayer with a certain number of words that sound fancy and smart. Just say, “help!” You don’t have, because you don’t ask.

Christ became poor in death, so we could have the riches of life daily. We can now approach his throne of grace with full confidence, and know he will answer any prayer that is aligned with the truth of his Word.

As it says above in Ephesians, the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance. We are not left alone without the power of the Spirit’s help. God will deliver on his promise through his Holy Spirit, until we fully acquire possession of our inheritance in heaven.

Weary moms need lots of help, so ask for it daily. Pressures in the workforce can be stressful, so ask for help. Life can be mundane and unsatisfying, so ask for help. We are rich, so let’s use it in our aid.

Through truth and prayer we can put our riches to work daily. We are too easily content with substandard conditions; replacing our royal robes with paupers rags. We’ve been given so much, so let’s not turn our backs on it like the Prodigal Son. Don’t exchange pig slop for the rich food at our Father’s banquet.

Wendy Horger Alsup sums this up well:

“Do not be content to simply read through these thoughts and then tuck them away like a miser. Your spiritual inheritance is useful right now in the issues you face daily in life. Spend your inheritance hour by hour of each day, raising your children, loving your husband, adjusting to co-workers, supporting your roommate, dealing with your family, dealing with your church. Your inheritance in Christ is of infinite value and relevant to what you are facing right now. You will never spend it all.”

Mother Adrift

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Have you ever been swimming in the ocean, and once you looked ashore realized you were drifting?  I grew up in Florida, so I’ve experienced this many times on many trips to the beach. It’s easy to get lost in the waves and the current. The sandy shore is the only constant at that point; it’s a guide.

I don’t need to be at a Florida beach to have this experience though. I simply need to be a mom. For a mom the current that sets us adrift is the endless daily routine of our lives. It’s hard enough to find time for a shower, let alone reading our Bible. We can get lost in housework, to do lists, meal planning, even fellowship, and serving in Church. All great things! All things deemed excellent in the Bible for sure. But even good things can set us adrift.

My To Do List Before Christ

I recently realized how badly adrift I am. There are so many things throughout my day competing for my attention, and for many months now I’ve consistently chosen those other good things over my relationship with Christ. Yes, in my efforts to be a Proverbs 31 woman I lost the true meaning of the Proverbs 31 woman: a woman in love with her Savior. I was neglecting the foundation of being a virtuous woman in the home. How can I love my husband and my son well if I am not loving Christ?

I’ve been telling Christ that my to do list is more important than him, making sure the house is in order and clean is more important than him, healthy eating and cooking every dog-gone thing from scratch is more important than him.  Maybe you are choosing different things than me, but we always are choosing something over Christ.

The American Dream

It’s easy to choose other things over time with the Lord when I don’t see my need for him. Here’s my secret: I’m very independent and self-sufficient. Two things praised and sought after in our society. Isn’t that what the American Dream is all about? Just work really hard and you can get (and be) whatever you want. The American Dream is not the same as Christ’s dream for us. He wants us to know we are actually weak and not as strong as we think. That we can’t do it all. We can’t be it all. But He can be it all and do it all for us. The American Dream falls flat on its face at the cross, because that is where Christ proves he did it all and not us.

Our need for Christ doesn’t end at the cross though. We need Him everyday. He is sustaining us everyday anyway, why not acknowledge it by giving him the time of day?  I’ve finally seen the shore, and I know I need Him more than I need to get things done.