A Smorgasbord of Timeless Truths

Not having to reinvent the wheel all the time can be such a liberating concept. Some things have been said (written) so well that it really isn't necessary to write anew about them. Recently I've come across some very good articles on other blogs. I couldn't have said these things better if I tried. Please take some time to feast - to be reminded, encouraged and challenged by the following smorgasbord of timeless truths:

Growing in Gratitude: A 30 Day Challenge (this is a printable download, intended to cultivate a more grateful heart over a period of 30 days) 

The Marriage Bed (a biblical guide to sexual intimacy - a helpful excerpt)

A Shout Out to Moms Everywhere (a great article to encourage moms in their calling)

Seven Ways Parents Unfairly Provoke Their Children by Tim Challies. This article is quite an eye-opener and very helpful for examining yourself as a father or mother who strives to be more like the very best parent - our Heavenly Father.

Finally, a wonderfully encouraging video from John Piper about the Holy Spirit's ministry of interceding for us when we're weak.

 

Posted by Sharon Kaufman

A Smorgasbord of Timeless Truths

on August 10, 2010 2 comments

The Rock Beneath the Mist

There is nothing, indeed, which God will not do for a man who dares to step out upon what seems to be mist; though as he puts down his foot he finds a rock beneath him. F. B. Meyer

The ROCK Beneath the Mist

When your love for God is put to test

And you fear the thing required, 

Look child to His promises, 

Believe Him in the fire.

Like Abraham with Issac,

When his hand had grasped the knife,

To put to death his only son

Through whom God promised life.

That father's faith held tighter to,

God's long and promised truth

That like the stars of heaven

His offspring would take root.

But now that promise seemed to die

With Issac's life required;

Though Abraham obeyed God's voice

He wondered all the while...

"Will God raise up to life again

The son of promise dear?

He cannot lie, His promise stands,

Believe and do not fear.

His son was spared, God stopped the knife,

That patriarch's faith made clear:

His love for God supreme above

All other loves so dear.

On faith he stepped, believing God

Though it seemed he stepped on vapor.

And there he found beneath that mist

A ROCK that never wavers.

So saint take heart when God requires

Your love be put to test.

You'll find when you step out on faith,

The ROCK beneath the mist.

Copyright 2010 Sharon Kaufman

Posted by Sharon Kaufman

The Rock Beneath the Mist

on July 16, 2010 0 comments

A Cloud of Witnesses - Daughters of the King: Eliza Spurgeon

A cloud of witnesses: Mini-glimpses of Godly women as helpers
A while back I had a thought to compile a collection of mini-biographies of Christian mothers whose lives might inspire us to live godly in this present age, provide wisdom for relating to our children whether grown or still at home, and motivate us to pray for our children whether saved or not. That list, I can see now, is going to take awhile to compose. Originally, I wanted a list of women that would span the alphabet from A to Z. That might happen, but if it does, it will not be intentional.

As I thought this through I decided that the biographical collection should not only be of godly mothers. Rather, it should be a larger cloud of witnesses that included any and all of the divinely created helper functions godly women have historically fulfilled. Hence the title of this post and others to come, A Cloud of Witnesses - Daughters of the King. This collection will include women as helpers: wives and mothers, women as workers in the church whether single, widowed or married, and women ministering through mission work at home and abroad, again whether single, widowed or married, etc. The posts featuring such women will be but little glimpses, just enough information to whet the appetite to delve deeper into their characters, if desired.

Though this compilation of biographies is a goal for me, I will not actively seek it out. As I go about reading various books it will come together. Such is how the first glimpse of Eliza Spurgeon came about:

Eliza Spurgeon, mother of C. H. Spurgeon
Eliza Spurgeon, mother of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, will occupy the honor of being the first godly woman featured for this ongoing compilation. Most of the following information concerning Eliza is penned by her son, Charles, in his autobiography. Any other sources will be noted.

Eliza's son James said of her, "She was the starting point of all the greatness any of us, by the grace of God, have ever enjoyed." Both James and Charles were most thankfully indebted to their mother who devoted herself to praying for and actively pursuing the salvation and spiritual welfare of her eight children. (Seventeen children were born to John and Eliza Spurgeon. Of these seventeen, only eight lived past infancy.)

Charles gratefully wrote, "I cannot tell how much I owe the solemn words of my good mother...I remember on one occasion her praying thus: 'Now, Lord, if my children go on in their sins, it will not be from ignorance that they perish, and my soul must bear a swift witness against them at the day of judgment if they lay not hold of Christ.' That thought of my mother's bearing a swift witness against me pierced my conscience...How can I forget when she bowed her knee, and with her arms about my neck, prayed, 'Oh that my son might live before Thee!' "

In another excerpt from his autobiography, Charles wrote in the third person about himself and his siblings as young children in the Spurgeon home: "As the children were growing up, the father, like many professional and public men, feared his frequent absence from home would interfere with the religious education of the little ones. But happily for him he had a true help-meet to cooperate with him in this important work, and happily for those children they had a noble mother who lived for them, and sought to build them up in true Christian character. Nor has she lived unrewarded for her pains. Oh, that all mothers learned the lesson well! Hear the good man speak thus of his wife:

'I had been [away] from home a great deal, trying to build up weak congregations, and felt that I was neglecting the religious training of my own children while I was toiling for the good of others. I returned home with these feelings. I opened the door and was surprised to find none of the children about the hall. Going quietly upstairs, I heard my wife's voice. She was engaged in prayer with the children; I heard her pray for them one by one by name. She came to Charles, and specially prayed for him, for he was of high spirit and daring temper. I listened till she had ended her prayer, and I felt and said, 'Lord, I will go on with Thy work. The children will be cared for.' "

Finally, Charles awarded his mother great honor when he said of her, "Mrs. John Spurgeon...has been known and esteemed for her sincere piety, her great usefulness and humility... The prayerful solicitude with which she trained her children has been rewarded by each one of them making a public profession of their faith in Christ. Two of her sons occupy foremost places in the metropolis as preachers of the gospel; and one of her daughters, the wife of a minister...assists her husband in the preparation of his sermons.."

What can we learn from Eliza? 

As I discovered Eliza Spurgeon in the pages of Spurgeon - A New Biography by Arnold Dallimore, I marveled at her dedication to her calling to be both a helper to her husband, John, himself a preacher of the gospel, and an advocate for her children. It was, in fact, her advocacy for her children that reveals her husband's great confidence in her as his helpmate. Because she willingly carried the burden of her children's salvation before the Lord, her husband was freed up spiritually, physically and emotionally to do the work God called him to do.

Her devotion to the children, however, was tempered by her supreme love and commitment to her King, seen by her willingness to "bear a swift witness against them" if they rejected Christ as their Lord and Savior.  Of course, her prayer, as stated above was an earnest, heartfelt plea to her Heavenly Father that such a calamity would never happen.

Kingdom praying
Could you pray thus for your children? I never did for my own children and thinking back, know I could not have. They occupied too high a place in my heart, sadly a place higher than Christ. I spoke often to them of the Savior, but in that speaking I was overly confident in my own ability to turn them toward Him. My method of training my children was everything to me and I reasoned that because of my commitment to that method, God was obliged to do His part in saving them.

Because of my self-confidence, I lacked the finely tuned spiritual eyesight that Eliza Spurgeon had. Though I spoke often to my children about Christ, I spoke infrequently to Christ and my Heavenly Father about my children. And when I did it was without the desperation and fervency that characterized Eliza's praying. I preached far too much and prayed far too little.

Thankfully, God showed me my sin, but not without cost for the willful independence that characterized me during that time. From that day of freedom and grace to this, I pray for my grown children the way Eliza prayed for her youngsters:

With supreme love for Christ - I pray as Eliza did, with my priorities as they should be for one who follows Christ. He is my first and foremost Love. Though my children no longer occupy that place in my heart, it is for this very reason that my love for them is deeper, more powerful and more demonstrative than when they were small. It is my love for Christ and His love for me that continues to put me before the throne of His grace on their behalf. It is His very love in me that empowers me to pray thus.

In humility of mind - I pray with Eliza's humility, knowing that it is the Spirit of God alone who can journey into the regions of the heart and create Light where there is darkness.

With confidence - I pray with Eliza's confidence, knowing that God is kindly disposed to do such work and, in fact, salvation is the very work He desires to do above all else, the work that cost His Son's blood on the Cross.

In surrender to God's will - I pray in total surrender to God's will and to His Kingdom, as did Eliza, knowing that He is not obligated to do my will, the things I would like to see Him do. Though I know this is true, I also know that my Father delights in giving His children good gifts. I also know that when I pray according to His will He hears and gives what is requested. And one more thing I know to be true, it is His will to save sinners. So that is how I pray.

In desperation - I pray in desperation, as did Eliza, knowing that should my children continue in their choice to be self-governing the calamitous day will come when there will be witness born against them before their Judge. Therefore, I pray fervently, as one desperate for His grace for them.

An extraordinary challenge
Living each day, doing the same mundane things over and over again and failing often at what God puts before us, causes us, at times, to wonder how we could ever be an encouragement to others, let alone leave a legacy of love for Christ. Though this is how we live our lives, God uses the mundane to bring about His eternal purposes. He uses our failings to break anew His grace and mercy to us. As a result we come to walk humbly before Him and His grace always has the last say.

Eliza Spurgeon’s life was really no different than ours. She had to learn to walk by faith in God’s grace and mercy just like we do. She served the same God we offer ourselves to, was indwelt by the same Spirit we own and loved the same Savior we now adore.

It is Christ’s life lived out through us that transforms our anthology of ordinary days into an extraordinary and eternal legacy of love worthy to pass onto other women, some of which will be our own daughters. May I challenge you to pursue the ordinary made extraordinary?

My prayer for these posts

As these mini-biographies unfold, I am praying that God will use them as a cloud of witnesses for our equipping to live out our days as apt helpers in His Kingdom. If there is any woman in particular that you would like to see featured, please email me with your idea.

Posted by Sharon Kaufman

A Cloud of Witnesses - Daughters of the King: Eliza Spurgeon

on July 14, 2010 2 comments

"Let Them Come Home" - Encouragement for the Parents of Prodigals

Abraham Piper has written a great article about loving and winning your prodigal to Christ. Let Them Come Home is a stunning piece by John Piper's son which includes the younger Piper's own experience of being away from "the father's house" and his return home. Take time to be encouraged, especially if you have a prodigal daughter or son or simply want to minister to a friend or loved one that is out in the "far country".

Find the article here.

Posted by Sharon Kaufman

"Let Them Come Home" - Encouragement for the Parents of Prodigals

on June 17, 2010 0 comments

Christ - the Lifter of My Head

The picture above is such a reality for me. It seems the older I get the more aware I am of my failings in following Christ. It seems I really should be more mature than I am by now. It seems...I could go on and on. But there is an over-reaching reality for the Christian and that is the grace of God. If it weren't for that I could very well be frozen in a such a "pity-party-posture" as is the lady in the picture. Instead, the Lord of mercy, grace and pardon is the Lifter of my head (Psalm 3:3). How kind He is!

And sometimes His kindness is manifested to us through other men and women who blog for God's glory. Tim Challies is one. I just visited his blog and was so moved by the piece he posted today, called, "I Failed Him". How I can relate.

Oh...but for the grace and mercy of God. John of Kronstadt so aptly expressed these thoughts: "Our wickedness shall not overpower the unspeakable goodness and mercy of God; our dullness shall not overpower God's wisdom, nor our infirmity God's omnipotence."

If it weren't for that mercy, goodness, wisdom and omnipotence where would we all be? His grace, not our sin, will always have the last say for the child of God. How thankful I am for that!

If you need to be encouraged today, please take time to read Tim Challies' post and let Christ lift your head!

Posted by Sharon Kaufman

Christ - the Lifter of My Head

on June 07, 2010 0 comments

Buy Up the Time by Reading This Dynamic Little Book

This morning I read a portion from a small book that I've found to be most encouraging - Shopping for Time by Carolyn Mahaney and her three daughters. The premise of the book is founded on the text in Ephesians 5:15-16, which says, "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil."

Carolyn writes about this verse, "This phrase, 'making the best' means to 'buy up, rescue from loss, or improve' the use of time. It is a metaphor taken from the merchants and traders of the ancient Near East, who aggressively pursued the best deals when they would buy, sell, or trade." Hence the idea of "shopping for time".

The book's subtitle is How to Do It All and NOT Be Overwhelmed. But really, the book focuses on how to have a vibrant time daily with the Lord. I have been convicted, encouraged, enlightened and exhorted through this little dynamo of a book that is less than one-hundred pages long.

I've written several posts about using a Bible reading plan in order to have direction in God's word on a day-to-day basis and even though I follow a specific reading plan on the days when I am not preparing to teach the women's Bible study that I lead, there are times when I just do not "connect" with the Lord. I may have been in the word and prayer for an hour, yet I walk away with an emptiness.

In Shopping for Time, Carolyn takes it one step beyond the reading plan. For your encouragement here is an excerpt from Shopping for Time regarding getting the most from God's word and the time you spend with the Lord daily:

 "...take time to listen - meditate - on the words in front of you. One simple method is to write down two sentences, one beginning with "God" and the other starting with "I". To complete your "God" sentence, ask yourself, "What do these verses reveal about God? For your "I" sentence, you can ask two questions: "What do I learn about myself in relation to God from these verses?" and "What do I resolve to do in response to God's revelation of Himself in these verses?" Oh, and you're not limited to one "God" and "I" sentence each - write as many as you like!"

"Then spend time in prayer. Worship God for the aspects of His character that He's revealed in the verses you've just read. Thank Him for the many facets of His grace you've glimpsed in the passage. Ask for His assistance to respond in obedience to His word. And likewise, pray for others."

I Hope you've been as encouraged as I was. I plan to start tomorrow morning with the three questions as I look into God's word.

How do you deal with those times when you just can't seem to "connect" with the Lord? Do you have a tip for vibrant Bible study that you could pass along? 

Posted by Sharon Kaufman

Buy Up the Time by Reading This Dynamic Little Book

on May 26, 2010 2 comments