psalm 13

thank you Jesus.

hope

i'm in a waiting time in my life. i came across how the CEV translates psalm 27.14:

Trust the LORD!

Be brave and strong

and trust the LORD.

times of waiting on the Lord can be hard, especially in an instant gratification society. this translation brings hope to my heart. may it bring hope to yours today.

a puritan prayer

The All-Good

MY GOD,

Thou hast helped me to see,
that whatever good be in honour and rejoicing,
how good is He who gives them,
and can withdraw them;
that blessedness does not lie so much
in receiving good from and in Thee,
but in holding forth Thy glory and virtue;
that it is an amazing thing to see Deity
in a creature, speaking, acting,
filling, shining through it;
that nothing is good but Thee,
that I am near good when I am near Thee,
that to be like Thee is a glorious thing:
This is my magnet, my attraction.

Thou art all my good in times of peace,
my only support in days of trouble,
my one sufficiency when life shall end.

Help me to see how good Thy will is in all,
and even when it crosses mine
teach me to be pleased with it.

Grant me to feel Thee in fire, and food and every providence,
and to see that Thy many gifts and creatures
are but Thy hands and fingers taking hold of me.

Thou bottomless fountain of all good,
I give myself to Thee out of love,
for all I have or own is thine,
my goods, family, church, self,
to do with as Thou wilt,
to honour Thyself by me, and by all mine.

If it be consistent with Thy eternal counsels,
the purpose of Thy grace,
and the great ends of Thy glory,
then bestow upon me the blessings of
Thy comforts;

If not, let me resign myself to
Thy wiser determinations.

an excellent wife

eye-opening & wonderful read here on what being an excellent wife means.
i reposted the article below. may His Spirit work in your heart as you read it:

An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. -- Proverbs 31:10

I often believe my husband has not found an excellent wife. When he tells me I have been short with him lately, overreacting and snapping unneccesarily, I am discouraged at my lack of excellence. Impatience and disrespect have brought embarrassment to him on several occasions.

My task-oriented, performance-driven heart attempts to fix itself by making a list: An excellent wife cooks with organic food (not Velveeta), sews her own clothing (or at least irons her husbands shirts!), speaks only words dripping with grace (and not sarcasm) and reads her Bible for hours on end (okay, minutes?!)).

The list brings more condemnation; concrete evidence that I cannot be an excellent wife on my own.

Forged not Found

While all of these things can be signs of excellence, they are definitely not requirements. Turning to Scripture for comfort and conviction, I am reminded: An excellent wife is not found but forged. No man goes out and finds a woman that is pure wife perfection and marries her. Neither of them truly know what that even looks like yet!

“It is the character of God, and not our husbands, that can be fully and firmly trusted. Our core identity must be anchored in Christ alone.”

A godly woman becomes an excellent wife as she understands she is made in the image of God, re-made in the image of Christ and formed over a lifetime of repentance and redemption. Excellence is not measured by a to-do list; it is manifested in the life of a wife who knows Jesus intimately.

Bringing Shame

An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones. -- Proverbs 12:4

When I humbly and honestly assess the times I bring my husband shame, I am sobered by its destruction. To bring rottenness to his bones means mine are already disintegrating with unbelief and bitterness. We bring shame as wives when we:

1. Focus on our husband’s sin
2. Think our way is better, prioritizing ourselves over him
3. Speak harshly to him or derogatively about him to anyone
4. Withhold blessing, prayer, sex, or encouragement of any sort in an effort to punish, manipulate, or “get the message across”

The wife who brings shame to her husband is the daughter who does not truly know and trust her heavenly Father.

If the wife’s identity is centered around her man, she will certainly deliver shame when he disappoints – as he will inevitably do. It is the character of God, and not our husbands, that can be fully and firmly trusted. Our core identity must be anchored in Christ alone.

Made Precious by Jesus

We are made precious by Jesus. This heart transformation is the basis for any preciousness that our husbands experience in us. It is not about what we do but what our precious Savior has done for us that graces us with the power to be excellent wives. We are helpless on own own.

“Excellence is not measured by a to-do list; it is manifested in the life of a wife who knows Jesus intimately.”

A godly wife understands that she is nothing outside of the saving grace of Jesus Christ and has no excellence apart from Him. Christ’s grace and love are precious to her. Fueled by his riches, she will become a glorious crown to her husband as she helps, nurtures and loves him from the depths of Christ’s righteousness in her.

It takes a 10 minute ceremony to become a wife. It takes a lifetime to become an excellent wife – one who understands that Christ’s shed blood on the cross is needed to offer excellence to our husbands.

hymn

i've recently been reading wayne grudem's systematic theology. fabulous, fabulous read! i'm loving this verse from an old hymn i found in his book.

chosen not for good in me, wakened up from wrath to flee, hidden in the Savior's side, by the Spirit sanctified, teach me Lord on earth to show, by my love, how much i owe. // r.m. mccheyne

waiting time

jim elliot wrote this during a 'waiting time' in his life, before he was a missionary or martyred for his faith. it's so encouraging to me, as i am in a 'waiting time' in my life. may i have faith like jim elliot! hope this encourages you during those 'waiting times' in your life.

His promises

Blessed is she who has BELIEVED that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her! // luke 1.45
our God is so incredibly faithful. i hope this encourages you today.