Vision Forum

   Two posts in one day, I'm a real blogger now! No, actually, since I kinda bashed media in my last post, I wanted to share with you all some media that has actually encouraged my walk with God and has helped me to redeem my time here, as I am also entertained. My mom and I found Vision Forum a few months ago through a blog and we have made several purchases that we are very pleased with. They have a HUGE array of Christian books, toys, homeschool curriculum, and movies. Some of our favorite products in the movie department are: The Runner from Ravenshead (Lacey's all-time favorite!) and The Widows Might. These are two wonderful family movies that have great christian values as well as super cute story lines. So, hop on over, and before I forget, they are having a ginormous sale so you had better hop quickly! Happy shopping!


P.S. They are also having a great giveaway for gift certificates worth $100, $200 and $300!!! so run over to A Wise Woman Builds Her Home  to get your name in!

Eternity Perspective

¹⁷ For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,
¹⁸ while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 
                                                                     2 Corinthians 4:17-18

    I wonder how often we see our daily lives as eternal, as vessels to impact eternity, as Paul does in these verses. Knowing the American way of life as I do I would venture to guess that few of us do. I know that I don't. I get caught up in myself, and what I want to do -whether that be watching television, reading a book, or just sitting around- and totally miss out on the fact that God has a plan for this moment of my life! So, often we quote Jeremiah 29:11 and use it to soothe our worries for the future, without realizing that it also applies to us now. It applies not just in a passive way either, this thought that God has a plan should spur us to action now!
    Step back with me for a moment and lets take a look at our lives. I once read that the average person spends approximately 4.5 hours a day on the computer and television. (This does not include texting, or videogames which can cause some people to easily rack up 10, 12, and ever 16 hours using some sort of media!) Now if Mr. Average keeps up the 4.5 hours a day thing, he will have, by the time he dies at 75*, have spent 14+** years on the computer and television!
   Oh, my friends, life is so short already, how can we justify squandering the time that we do have in such a manner? This time is not given to us, that we might spend it for ourselves, but that we might spend in the service of Him who gave it to us. We have not been placed here haphazardly, nor has our allotted time been given us randomly. We have been placed in our families, in our churches, and in our generations, that we might impact certain people. The time that we have is to be used as a tool to further this end, please, let's don't squander it on the temporal things of this world. I don't know about you, but it would absolutely break my heart if on judgement day, Christ asked me what I did with the time He had given me, and all I had to give Him was dust, when He deserves all that I am. We only get this one chance, this one gift of time to work for Christ, may we spend it with eternity in mind.



* This, of course, is assuming that you began seriously surfing the web at 2 months. (hehe)
** This is according to my very faulty math skills, and it does not take into account the other forms of media that are popular today (i.e. texting, videogames, etc...)

Dead Prayers

   There are no possibilities, no necessity, for prayerless praying; a heartless performance, a senseless routine, a dead habit, a hasty, careless performance - it justifies nothing. Prayerless praying has no life, gives no life; is dead, breathes out death. Not a battle-axe, but a child's toy, for play, not for service. Prayerless praying does not come up to the importance and aims of a recreation. Prayerless praying is only a weight, an impediment in the hour of struggle, of intense conflict, a call to retreat in the moment of battle and victory...
   The process of hindering prayer by crowding [it] out is simple and goes by advancing stages. First, prayer is hurried through. Unrest and agitation, fatal to all devout exercises, come in. Then the time is shortened, [and] relish for the exercise palls. Then it is crowded into a corner and depends on the fragments of time for its exercise. Its value depreciates. The duty has lost its importance. It no longer commands respect nor brings benefit. It has fallen out of estimate, out of heart, out of the habits, out of the life. We cease to pray, and cease to live spiritually.

                                            - E.M.Bounds in Purpose in Prayer

Beautiful Dreamer

   The crescendo and diminuendo rise and fall within me as if a part of me. The lilting melodies lift my feet and spin me around the room, while the haunting strains expand until I think that I will burst. Through this all, a picture is forming in my minds eye; I see it as if through a fog, always taunting, always just out of reach, always perfect. It creates in my chest an ache. If I could only get past this mist that is clouding my view, if I could only find myself in this breathtaking, unearthly, land. I chide myself for my discontent spirit, and then I wonder. I wonder if it is wrong to dream of this place that will never be. 'Or perhaps', the whisper comes, 'perhaps it will.' What if, this is how I am to long for my true home, what if, it is my true home. I am a pilgrim after all, and as such, is it wrong to dream of going home? Can I be called discontent for fixing my eyes on what is ahead as I have been commanded? No, I won't thrust this to the side. I will instead embrace it, and allow it to renew my world-worn soul. I will allow it to lift my heart and mind to higher and nobler things, as I look to that which is ahead. Yes, this is a beautiful dream, one to be kept guarded and sacred. Kept until the day that my Father makes it come true and I live happily ever after!

Rak Chazak

Ellerslie's latest BraveheartedTHOT!
Very powerful, and convicting!

In the Wilderness

 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness
                                                         -Mark 1:12

   There is an important principle that is mentioned in three of the gospels, but is often overlooked by many of us today, and that is the principle of preparation. In our society today we can cook a meal in 5 minutes or order one in two. Unless the battery is dead, our cars start when we turn the key (no more of this hand cranking business). And instead of having to "prime the pump" water comes out of the faucet with the slightest push on the knob. This mindset seems to have crept into our walk with Christ, and we expect to become 'fully equipped' Christians within minutes of our salvation. We discard seasons of waiting on God's direction as "wasting time", and we jump headlong into Christian ministry without the slightest particle of preparation. Jesus Christ, the son of God, perfect, sinless, and "fully equipped unto every good work", spent forty days in the wilderness in preparation for His ministry. It wasn't because He was second guessing God's call, or postponing the inevitable, it was that He understood the importance of spiritual, physical, and mental preparation.
   I like to think of this in relation to the Sabbath. Did God really need to rest on the seventh day, or was He setting a precedent for us? Likewise, how much of Jesus' time in the wilderness was necessary and how much was for our benefit?
   Our world has changed in the last 100-200 years. We no longer live the simple, slow paced life that our ancestors did, and we expect God to adapt to this. In reality, He is the same "yesterday, today and forever" and He is calling us to adapt to Him. He is to be found not in the hustle and bustle of every day life (though He is most certainly there) He is instead to be communed with in the quiet place. Are we listening to His direction, and allowing Him to sanctify and prepare us each and every day?
   Yes, that idea for an orphanage in Zimbabwe is a wonderful and God given idea, but have you spent time allowing God to prepare you and to give you His directions? Yes, that is a wonderful, godly person, and you feel God wants you marry them, but have you spent a season in prayer, waiting on His timing? Yes, going to church on Sunday is an excellent thing to do, but have you prepared your heart for the sermon?
   God sanctifies and refines us through the little things He places in front of us, the small daily tasks or steps of faith. But if we are too busy  jumping into the next big thing, then we may miss the simple yet essential lessons, or the small but beautiful truths that come to us in the wilderness. Do you have a wilderness where you can retreat for quiet and rest, or do you only know the bustle of the city? Christ is calling us to "come away" with Him. Will we listen, will we respond?