Psalm 116:15

When it's so painful to us, we can trust it's so precious to him. And they shall see him as he is.

It's the Chemo For Your Cancer

Read Your Bible More and More

Above is a link that is a short blog entry on reading our Bible even when we don't feel like it.

Blue Yarn Love

 

The start of a future blanket to be wrapped around our sweet little joy baby. I went down the yarn aisles with glee to pick out the perfect color, with Ernie by my side.

Coffee

I love two things in the morning: walking into a clean kitchen and the smell of coffee.

Saturdays with Spurgeon- Simply Look

I woke up early today...Ernie had to be somewhere by 6am, and it didn't take long for me to feel wide awake. These days each morning is so unpredictable, my body can be ready to go at 5:30, or needs extra sleep until 10. But today was a great day to begin early, I began my new goal of gradually making my way through all of Charles Haddon Spurgeon's sermans, with the first chapter of our volumes.

The first chapter was based off of Isaiah 45:22 “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth!

For I am God, and there is no other."

Spurgeon talked about 2 things: How God makes it clear to man that "I am God and there is no other", and "Simply Look to me, and be saved." The sermon title was Sovereignty and Salvation. 

As I was reading I was reminded that I have fear of other leaders, religions, and idols who claim to be gods to other people and really have a grip on them. Sometimes it seems like their lies are so powerful, and their followers are many. But Spurgeon mentions God teaches that he is God alone to idols, empires, monarchs, wise men, and even the church of God.

Where can we find the "ancient gods of the heathen?" asks Spurgeon. "Where are those false deities before whom the multitudes of Nineveh prostrated themselves?....ask the moles...or the mounds beneath which they are buried...walketh through a museum -see them there as curiosities and smile to think that men would ever bow before such gods as these.  Others such as the gods of Greece, Persia, or Rome. Are there any now that bow before these gods? No, they have lost their thrones. God teaches that he alone is God, and beside him, there is none else.

God teaches empires. Many empires claimed to be great, eternal cities. Spurgeon pointed out you could go to Babylon, covered in sand, it's sand of it's own ruins. Or go to the empty theaters of Rome and "hear a voice in the wild wind amid those ruins- "I am God and there is none else, oh city, thou didst call thyself eternal; I have made thee melt away like dew..."

God teaches Monarchs and Kings. Spurgeon uses Herod as an example here. Herod called himself a god, thought himself to be above man, yet he was eaten by worms. "Ah! Monarch! Thou thoughtest of being a god, and worms have eaten thee!"

God teaches the wise men of this world. "The wisdom of man will not see God...wise men have become fools. These men...who have devised systems of philosophy, saying they will last forever...wrote their sayings on enduring parchment...but once man is done gazing at one system, his eyes sparkle at another.  Another century later, their words are wood, hay and stubble.

Once Spurgeon has shown us the many ways God has made himself to be God alone, he points to how God tells us to be saved. Spurgeon was using the King James, which says Look unto me and be saved (from his passage in Isaiah 45:22)...He explains how simple it is. Yet it is the most difficult thing for man to look to Jesus instead of looking to themselves to be right with God. Some say in their despair, they cannot see Jesus. Spurgeon says it doesn't require for you to see but only look! People think righteousness is what qualifies them to come to Jesus, Spurgeon says: "Sin is the only qualification for a man to come to Jesus...the more sin I have the more cause I have to hope for mercy...the more vile a man is, the more eagerly I invite them to believe in Jesus." "So if a sinner only looks to Jesus, he will save him; for Jesus in the dark is as good as Jesus in the light; and Jesus, when you cannot see him, is as good as Jesus when you can. It says only 'look!'"

Comparison and Jealous Are Ruthless Masters

Below is a blog post from my friend Courtney, I struggle with this topic and really found her post helpful.

  Thanking God for Grace in Others
It’s a vicious cycle. You see a woman who does something really well, let’s say cooking, and you initially admire her and praise her for her kitchen prowess. The admiration might turn into inquiring how she became so proficient at making meals for her family. Then a little voice begins speaking, “You can’t cook like that. Your dinners always turn out bland and uncreative. You are lucky if you don’t burn dinner. Stop trying, she is just better than you.” What was once admiration has now turned into discouraging comparison, and now you are just straight-up jealous.

It’s hard, isn’t it? There is always someone who is more creative, more organized, more physically fit, more kind, more whatever than us. If we let ourselves, we can easily spiral out of control with discontentment, jealousy, and discouragement over what we are not and what we wish we could be. And as the proverbial saying goes, the grass really is always greener on the other side. When we believe these lies of comparison we will never truly be satisfied, primarily because we are disobeying God’s word and allowing the sin of discontent to rule our lives.

One of the things I’ve done in the past when I’ve seen a character quality or evidence of grace I admire in someone is to thank God for that grace and ask for the same measure of grace in my own life. When I see a wife lovingly serve, respect, and submit to her husband, I’ve prayed that God would give me that same gracious spirit. When I see a marriage thrive in love and grace, I have asked God to be pleased to work that same outcome in my own marriage. When I’m tempted to wallow in self-pity when I see my life in comparison to hers, my mind is filled with thoughts like “why can’t I be ____?” “I wish I was ____.” Questions like this inevitably lead me to despair. I can’t make myself do anything. I can’t change my personality. I can’t change my sinful tendencies on my own. So instead of looking to the faithful giver of grace to change, I’m ruled by my longing for something different. God is the giver of all good things and the grace to change. Instead of sinfully comparing myself to everyone else, I should be thanking God for the gracious gifts he gives, and ask him for the same work in my own life. The truth is, it’s really hard to be jealous of someone when you are thanking God for them.

Peter faced this same tendency towards comparison (John 21:18-22). Instead of allowing Peter the indulgence of his sinful comparison to those around him, Jesus turned his statement on its head and told Peter to follow him, essentially saying that Peter’s inquiry about them didn’t matter. The same response is true for us. After thanking God for the evidence of his work in the life of another, we must then look to the giver of grace and follow him alone. A gaze set directly on Christ will not afford us the opportunity to look around and compare because we will be so captivated by the treasure that he alone is for us.

What I need is a reoriented mindset. Comparison and jealous are ruthless masters. They keep us believing that we are never good enough and that someone else always does it better. They probably do, but that’s not the point. The point is that it doesn’t matter. Christ has called us to himself and only asks that we follow him. “Don’t look at the people around you and despair over your life,” he says. “Follow me and me alone.”

We are prone to compare and we will probably fight this temptation until we see Jesus face to face. But until that day, I resolve to fight my own sinful temptation to compare and despair by thanking God for the gifts in the people around me and following Christ alone. 

You can follow Courtney at: http://cdtarter.blogspot.com/

Coming Soon Each Saturday

While Ernie and I were dating, he gave me 5 volumes of CH Spurgeon's sermons for our first Christmas together. I was blown away at such a cool gift, and we've spent a lot of time together reading those, as well as time by myself. A nice cup of coffee and a selection from one of these volumes makes a great morning. However, I've never read through all of them straight through, I just sporadically read them from time to time, picking out whatever section I want to read. So, I thought I'd pick out a couple days a week we're I read a sermon from these books, starting from the beginning until I reach the end of the 5th volume. I don't know how long this will take, maybe a year or two, but I think I'll love it.
So, as I read, I'll pick out a section from my week and I'll blog about it, calling it Saturdays With Spurgeon. Hopefully they will encourage you as much as they encourage me.

Introducing Our Second Son

UPDATE:) If you're reading this post for the first time we changed our son's name and used Ernie's name, it's Ernie Brooks. You can read that wonderful story HERE

But I didn't want to delete the post I had before, so here's what I wrote before we made the change:

Today was an exciting event. We went to go see if we were having a boy or girl. Well, Ernie and I are so proud to introduce you to our second little boy, Judson. He made sure we could tell who he was. His middle name is still up in the air, but it might be Brooks. The day began with Ernie coming home from a night shift, he was going to sleep until 12:30...which was already earlier than he should be getting up. But Ernie trotted out of the bedroom at 10am, apparently sleeping maybe an hour all morning, saying "I can't sleep I'm too exited." We soon ventured to the doctor's office, thankful to God as we watched our little boy move around on the screen. I'm so in love already.

Judson's name comes from a great Missionary to India in the early 1800s, Adoniram Judson. We've been encouraged by how he treasured Heaven more than this life, the lengths he went to reach a lost people and plead for them to know Christ, leaving the comforts of America. If you're looking to read a biography, there's a great one on his life called To The Golden Shore.

 Thank you to our friends who decorated my house blue today:)

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us to trust God with this baby.