I'll Be Back . . . This Blogger has. . .

Gone Fishing!

Summer in Minnesota is so short . . .
I'll be back blogging soon enough.

Have a GREAT SUMMER, Friends!

In Other Words . . . So What if I Fall?The Heart of Diety Never Takes His Eyes Off of Me . . .

“What if I stumble, what if I fall?

What if I lose my step and I make fools of us all?
Will the love continue when my walk
becomes a crawl?
What if I stumble, and what if I fall?”

Chorus from the song, "What if I stumble?"
Artist: DC Talk / Album: Intermission

It's a phenomenon I've noticed often in Contemporary Christian Music:
So much use of the word "I."

Why so much focus on ME? So what if I fall? It's a given that I will. And yes, His Great Love will go on even when my walk becomes a crawl.

See, there is not a soul since the beginning of the world that has not stumbled. We all fall and make fools of all mankind. It's our nature. Yet God sees each and every one. Every time. Everywhere. He's the Creator!

It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord our God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.
- Deuteronomy 11:12

What land? What year? It was around the year 1400 B.C. It was the Land of Milk and Honey: The Promised Land. And in the context of this passage in Deuteronomy, the Israelites are being equipped to set out and possess the land. They did not yet physically control the land – their right to the territory hadn’t yet materialized. Yet they already seemed to have power over this land through eyes of faith.

I'm fairly certain they were not listening to DC Talk on thier IPods.
They were not worried about "falling."

And guess what? This same beautiful illustration is -- should be -- ours in 2009: God’s caring and attentive eyes are always looking upon us. And we - like the Israelites - can put our concerns and uneasiness into God’s hand of infinite grace and possess strength to face the yet-unseen future.

“The eyes of the Lord…” What precisely does that mean? Surely it is more than just Omniscience. I don't know for certain. But let’s just envision the delight and enchantment in the eyes of a loving and devoted parent as they watch their young child achieve something for the very first time. Let's say: walking! (Lots of stumbling and falling here.) Do you see in your mind's eye the deep love of God’s eyes as He watches His creation stumble and fall . . . and learn?

This looking-after is not delegated to some other heavenly creature. The Bible does not tell us that the eyes of the angels are watching over us. God Himself watches us! The heart of Deity looks after us! And he never stops watching after us. This special watch-care is unbroken. It’s continuous. This unwearied power of God toward His people has been uninterrupted since the creation of the world! No human effort, no lyricist, no gifted writer, no dramatist could ever sufficiently make plain or explain God’s watch-care over His own.

He watches each of us with personal interest and He absolutely sees us stumble and fall-- knowing full well that the ensuing bruises only teach us better how to walk when we get up and continue on . . . .

It’s time we switched to the flip side of all the songs and lyrics that focus on "I." We need to take an honest look at our eyes.

If God is ceaselessly and unwarily watching us, should not our eyes be upon Him? Constantly?!

Sad thing is I’m afraid we don’t even come close. We get caught up in our days -- setting our sights on the temporal and the frivolous – and we don’t look for Him or see Him at all. And that's when we ask,

"What if I stumble, what if I fall?"

~ Esthermay V. Bentley-Goossen
© 2009 The Heart of a Pastor's Wife

This installment of InOtherWords is hosted by Miriam on her blog, Miriam Pauline's Monolouge.

Problems or Pearls . . .

The little pearl oyster receiving accidentally into its shell a rough fragment of rock or sand tries in vain to expel the intruding and irritant substance and only suffers in the struggle until rasped and bleeding it gives up in agony and helplessness. Then a new force comes into play. From its peculiar physiological system the little mollusk sends forth a crystal fluid which covers and coats the rough piece of rock with a soft crystalline cushion and as this grows and hardens it becomes a beautiful pearl. It ceases to irritate and soothes and rests the wounded side of the little creature until the curse has become a blessing, and some days later the pearl fisher discovers the hidden treasure, opens the shell and takes forth a gem of purest luster and boundless value which is worn in the coronets of kings and adorns the highest rank and grandest occasions. So someday our sorrows, irritations and wrongs, having first been sweetened by the Holy Spirit into heavenly virtues, will become the jewels of an immortal crown and will shine in the diadem of Jesus and adorn our brow forever!

~ A. B. Simpson

A.B. Simpson’s words are tender and poignant. The pearl oyster embodies so many human problems, sorrows, and emotional suffering. Like the oyster, we encounter “irritants,” but we have a tendency to try and avoid them. We’re human – it’s inborn.

Christian counselors will tell you that the basis of almost all mental illness is the tendency to avoid problems and the emotional suffering inherent in them. It was renowned physician Carl Jung who said, “Neurosis is always a substitute for legitimate suffering. “

The tragedy, of course, is that the substitute for our suffering ultimately becomes more painful that the original suffering we are trying to avoid! Does this explain why the wisest saints among us are often the people who endure pain rather than escape it? These saints are men and woman who are “acquainted with grief.” I believe this describes Job. How about our Savior Jesus Christ?

“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows,
and acquainted with grief."
~ Isaiah 53:3

“…yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.”
~ Hebrews 5:8

Are you trying to avoid problems and the suffering that comes with them? Maybe you have several dozen problems today. If you listen to the voices around you, you’ll search for a substitute – an escape route. You’ll miss the fact that your problems are God-appointed – fashioned to stretch you and challenge you and deepen your walk with Him. Growth and wisdom come with each irritating-piece-of-sand-kind-of-a-problem. And what emerges is an exquisite gem of purest luster and boundless value!

- Esthermay V. Bentley-Goossen
© 2009 The Heart of a Pastor's Wife

In Other Words: Find me Faithful. . .

“Mordecai understood that it is not failure that brings despair, but unfaithfulness and idleness.”

~Dorothy Patterson, Editor
Women’s Devotional Bible Devotion:
Service Through Providence

I recently celebrated a birthday; and like most people my age, I no longer count years. Not so much because the numbers is too high, but because the years don't seem to match-up with my successes. While I have succeeded at things that I had never set out to accomplish, I have also failed at many more.

Yet, despair is the very last word I would use to describe my life!

Faithfulness. Now there's a word I might use.

And let me think . . . idleness. Hmmmmm. . . . Here's a word with which I'm really not familiar. Perhaps Mordecai was on to something here. . .

I don't write this post to flatter myself. Not at all. I write because there is much truth to be found in Ms. Patterson's quote. It is not physical or earthy accomplishments -- or the lack of them -- that determine our state of mind. And I think most of us would have to agree: Faithfulness is a good thing. Faithfulness (i.e., faithfulness to God, our Creator) is a sustaining force that overcomes any physical or earthly pursuit.

Unfaithfulness in even its slightest form is hateful to God. Unfaithfulness often stems from unbelief; and unbelief destroys the soul. It hinders God's work in us. Which, of course, leads to despair!

But what is faithfulness to God?

Some think of faithfulness as simply living without lust and getting victory over sinful habits. Others think it means being constant in Bible reading, prayer, giving of tithes, and church attendance. Still others think of it as going about doing good, or keeping pure by avoiding all that is evil and wicked. But these things can never make us faithful to God. Never. These are works.

". . . not by works, so that no one can boast."

~ Ephesians 2:9

These are wonderful things indeed and are certainly commanded in God's Word - and we will do them if we are faithful. But they in themselves are not the essence of faithfulness. You see, faithfulness to God is impossible unless it springs from a trusting, believing heart!

"Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God."
~Hebrews 3:12

This verse is not written to unbelievers - but to Believers! The writer of Hebrews was saying, "You! Christians: Beware. Watch out. Make sure you don't have an evil heart of unbelief."

Unbelief must have been a problem back in 80 A.D. And unbelief is most definitely a problem in 2009 A.D. We are surrounded on all sides by unbelief in the world today. Our culture is steeped in skepticism and unbelief. And you'd be lying to yourself to think that unbelief does not also live in Christian circles.

I want to be the kind of Christian who does not need the reminder of Hebrews 3:12. I want to be the kind of Christian who believes God's Word is sufficient for every human need. I want to be the kind of Christian who believes that God's Word will guide and sustain me regardless of the future. I want to be the kind of Christian whose faithfulness knows nothing of idleness - neither idle talk nor idle thoughts. I want to be found faithful -- even in my failures.

"So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
~ Romans 10:17

“Mordecai understood that it is not failure that brings despair, but unfaithfulness and idleness.”

And I understand that my faithfulness to God's Word
is my greatest insurance policy against despair. . . .

~ Esthermay V. Bentley-Goossen
© 2009 The Heart of a Pastor's Wife

This installment of InOtherWords is hosted by Patricia on her blog, Typing One Handed.

God's Purpose, Platitudes & Silver Linings ♫ ♪ Que Sera Sera ♪ ♫ . . .

“Give yourself permission not to know and be satisfied knowing the One who does.”

~ by Joyce Meyer, I Dare You

Because ". . . we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) In context, the Apostle Paul wrote these words to Christians in Rome who had to have been beside themselves wondering whether God was really even hearing their prayers in the midst of some very real suffering and affliction.

Doesn’t every Christian sometimes wonder that same thing? Yet, Romans 8:28 is very clear: in everything God works for good. Paul wanted the believers to give themselves permission not to know -- not to understand their suffering -- and simply be satisfied knowing the One who does know and does understand?

Period. End of explanation. But I’d be quite a foolish teacher and writer to stop there.

So here we go: It would do us well to skip verse 28 entirely until we fully understand verse 29. When you start with Romans 8:28 -- or worse yet, use it as a solo verse -- you run the risk of turning profound Biblical truth into a trite piece of conventional wisdom.

I’ve heard many Christians mumble Romans 8:28 as a capsule of encouragement for life’s problems – sort of a theological version of the proverbial saying that “in every cloud there’s a silver lining.”

To reduce Romans 8:28 to conventional wisdom would be to do a terrible injustice to Paul’s teaching and to rob God’s Word of its truth. Open the door with me to a better understanding:

Romans 8:29: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…” See, God is at work among us -- He has been for centuries -- and He is in absolute control. He will bring about His intended purpose. The eternal plan will unfold. But make no mistake; this does not mean that God plays with our lives like puppets for His Divine amusement. Neither does it mean that God is “letting be what will be.” (♫ ♪ Que Sera Sera ♫)

Not at all. God has an eternal plan and He is working to bring about his saving purpose -- that is, to conform Christians to the image of his Son Jesus.

Think about the life of Jesus. He died a cruel death between two criminals for me. And for you. And THAT is the journey on which the sovereign God is taking us . . . a Death to Self.

Becoming in Christ’s image is by no means a glorious thing -- only light and love and good thoughts (good grief!). Rather becoming in Christ's image is something that happens in the everyday depths near which we always always find ourselves: stressed out, sick, facing tragedy, suffering, confused, brokenhearted, hopeless, helpless . . . .

True: There's really not a lot of optimism here. It’s not as if “all things work together for good” means that there is some small increment of good that is always being worked out in spite of appearances. (A silver lining behind every cloud . . . ) That would be false hope. God’s Word does not do that.

When we start with Romans 8:29 and know that it is the image of Christ to which we are being conformed, it keeps us from reducing 8:28 to the idea that there is a hidden good in our present suffering and the evil that surrounds us. It prevents that “every cloud has a silver lining” kind of thinking.

God’s eternal purpose is infinitely wider and deeper than silly platitudes that everything will be all right. God’s eternal purpose is not separate from but encompassing of our suffering and confusion. God’s eternal purpose uses even the worst that sin, death, and Satan have to give us in order to bring about His eternal purpose.

What sustains us in our present suffering and confusion is to know our prospect of a future glory and to know for certain that God is fulfilling His eternal purpose in our lives yet today. . . but in His time.

“Give yourself permission not to know and be satisfied knowing the One who does.”
~ by Joyce Meyer, I Dare You

~ Esthermay Bentley-Goossen
© 2009 The Heart of a Pastor's Wife

Printable Version

This installment of InOtherWords is hosted by Nina on her blog, Mama’s Little Treasures.

Whisperer, Gossip, Blabbermouth . . . Not So Pretty!

The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of a life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men [and women], who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers [and sisters], this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?

~ James 3:6-11 (NIV)

For a long as I can remember, I have avoided deep relationships with other women. Women can be the cruelest of creatures. Really I think it dates back to Genesis Chapter 3. There is something in us that broke that day. Something we continually have to struggle against. It seems to be in the very core of our being to pit one another against each other. And what is so very sad is that we see it in churches as readily as the secular workplace.

Women have always been the most deadly critics of other women. They know how to wound with precision. They know how to judge. They know how to look another woman over from head to toe, inside and out, and then make a diagnosis of all the ills they have found. Why do we do that? Is it so that we don’t have to look at ourselves? Is it because we are jealous creatures? Is it because we have not learned how to love one another? [Read More . . . ]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Join me at the Cafe'
I am a Guest Contributor today at
Christian Women Online's Devotional Blog.

Printable Version

Never Never EVER Judge a Book by its. . . . . . Well, you know

May I always see those around me through the eyes of God.
May I always hear them through the ears of God,
And love them with the heart of God!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Susan Boyle Stuns Crowd with Epic Singing - Watch more Videos

It's Not About My Failures. In Fact . . . It's Not About My Performance At All!

"God’s promises are never affected by our failures.

He can use us at any age."

~ Michael Youssef
from Leading the Way.

It' s interesting. . . When I read a quote like this, my mind immediately begins functioning in the realm of performance. After all, the very definition of "failure" implies performance . . . .

I'm thinking of all the different "religious" activities that Believers can perform in the various stages of life using their gifts, talents, resources. . .

At age eighteen:

God's Word tells us,
"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young. . . " (I Timothy 4:12)

. . . We use our youthful energy and excitement to engage in spiritual activities and programs that we know will advance His Kingdom. Regardless of our failures, God uses our performance. We are in His favor.

At age forty:

God's Word tell us,
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations. . . " (Matthew 28:19)

. . . We use our education to instruct others and we tithe regularly, knowing that our money will help advance His Kingdom. Regardless of our failures, God uses our performance. We are in His favor.

At age seventy:

God' Word tells us that our
“age should speak; advanced years should teach wisdom.” (Job 32:7)

. . .We use our lifetime of education and wisdom to witness to everyone we meet and we pray hard, knowing that our works will help advance His Kingdom. Regardless of our failure, God uses our performance. We are in His favor.

However, from God's perspective (and what He tells us in His Word), our performance at any age is irrelevant. Probably laughable in His eyes -- if not pitied.

Why do we do this? Why does my own thinking go immediately towards the idea of performance?

An excerpt from The Journal of John Woolman (1720-1772) answers the question:

"But many others, having their religion chiefly by education and not being enough acquainted with that cross which crucifies to the world, do manifest a temper distinguishable from that of an entire trust in God."

Most of us are legalistic by nature, we innately think so much performance by us earns much favor and blessing from God. After all, this is how society works. Is the Christian life any different?

Peter had this attitude when he said to Jesus in Matthew 19:27, "We have left everything to follow you. Therefore what shall we have?" Peter had already added up his merit points, and he wanted to know how much reward they would buy. Jesus answer to him was, "many who are first will be last, and the last first."

Galatians 3:3 tells us this:

"Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal through human effort?"

Ephesians 2:8-10 teaches us this:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves;
it is the gift of God. . . "

"God's promises are never affected by our failures." Absolutely! But if we base His promises on performance -- regardless of our success or failure rate -- His promises can never ring true in our lives. Ever!

"He can use us at any age." Absolutely! But God uses us based on our readiness to accept His Grace -- Not our readiness to perform.

Do you understand grace?

A professor at a Christian college in Missouri once gave his students a penetrating, unforgettable picture of grace. A student from his class wrote this in an e-mail:

In the spring of 2002, I left work early so I could have some uninterrupted study time before my final exam in the Youth Ministry class at Hannibal-LaGrange college in Missouri. When I got to class, everybody was doing their last-minute studying. The teacher came in and said he would review with us before the test. Most of his review came right from the study guide, but there were some things he was reviewing that I had never heard. When questioned about it, he said they were in the book and we were responsible for everything in the book. We couldn't argue with that.

Finally it was time to take the test.

"Leave them face down on the desk until everyone has one, and I'll tell you to start," our professor, Dr. Tom Hufty, instructed.

When we turned them over, to my astonishment every answer on the test was filled it. My name was even written on the exam in red ink. The bottom of the last page said: "This is the end of the exam. The reason you passed the test is because the creator of the test took it for you.All the work you did in preparation for this test did not help you get the A. You have just experienced . . . Grace."

Dr. Hufty then went around the room and asked each student individually, "What is your grade? Do you deserve the grade you are receiving? How much did all your studying for this exam help you achieve your final grade?"

Then he said, "Some things you learn from lectures, some things you learn from research, but some things you can only learn from experience. You've just experienced grace. One hundred years from now, if you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, your name will be written down in a book, and you will have had nothing to do with writing it there. That will be the ultimate grace experience."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"God’s promises are never affected by our failures.

He can use us at any age."

~ Michael Youssef

"God uses us based on our readiness to accept His Grace
-- Not our readiness to perform."

~Esthermay Bentley-Goossen


© 2009 The Heart of a Pastor's Wife

This installment of InOtherWords is hosted today by Karen on her blog, In Love W.I.T.H. Jesus.

Resurrection PowerI Can Only Imagine . . .

Jesus said,"I am the resurrection and the life:
he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."
~ John 11:25

O Glorious Easter morning,
Christ's work on earth complete.
He left us Blessed Hope,
That in Heaven we'll with Him meet
And side by side, our Loved Ones greet.
I Can Only Imagine!

~Esthermay

YOUR Ransom, MY RansomPaid in Royal Blood . . .