But you...

<sup>Jude.


The other weekend our friend and Pastor Troy taught on the book of Jude.  I have never looked much at this book but was touched by a few things.  


This whole book is an exhortation to a group of people following Jesus to fight against false teaching.  The part that struck me was at the very end of book that in light of all this false teaching, what they themselves should focus on.




"20</sup>But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. ²²And have mercy on those who doubt; ²³save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

Doxology

 ²⁴ Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, ²⁵to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." (emphasis mine)


This past week I was feeling off.  Everything felt a lot harder than it normally does.  Even doing laundry felt overwhelming and all I have to do is turn a knob.  I can so quickly forget that my emotions don't need to dictate how I live.  Mine often do!  Hearing these words gave me hope to focus on building myself up in faith.   I forget so quickly that it is a fight to renew my mind in what is true.  


I loved the part that says "keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life."  Often I just assume being in God's love will just happen to me.  But Jude taught the early church that they must KEEP themselves there by reminding themselves of God's love found in Jesus.  I want to dwell there but it is a fight at times!


After some strong words about false teachers I am so moved by how God desires mercy.  "Have mercy on those who doubt."  Some weeks it's me that needs the mercy.  I am so moved by how God loves mercy and is so patient with me and humanity.  He is always at work wanting people to know His love.  I'm still in awe that Jesus was and is real and that He walked on this earth.  Everything I learn about God makes me wonder more about how deep He is and yet how a child can know His love.


So thankful that verse 24 reminds me that it is Him who is able to do all of this.  My sustainer.  I need one. 

Easy Child Sized Teepee $20 or less

I'm so excited after coming home from Joann's Fabric today.  I'm going to attempt making this child sized Teepee.  You actually don't even have to sew it at all!  We'll see how it goes:)

Fresh Bread - Yummo!

Thanks to my cousin (via marriage) Lauren I have discovered an amazing bread book! Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads is absurdly delicious!

 There is something about making bread that makes every sensory bone in my body come alive!  I've checked this book out from the library and hope I can keep renewing it:)

Today I'm going to try the Blue Ribbon Italian loaf that Lauren made for a family Christmas.  It was amazing!!!  I just might need to ask for my very own copy for my birthday... November seems so far away;)  Waiting is good for my character (i'm going to repeat this to myself many times today).

Free Art work for your home:)

Thanks to my friend Zach Gilbert (his blog) I've found the best web site ever!  Drew and I were wanting to fill some frames with artsy pictures.  For obvious reasons most photographers charge you for their pictures, on top of printing costs.  Well not at Stock.xchng!  It might take a while to find some photos your really love but they are there royalty free!

I've personally loved Walden Photo here in Ames!

Drew teaching on Romans 12:1-2

Drew at salt 3-31-11 from The Salt Company (Iowa State) on Vimeo.

Flying soon?

I just found this little tid bit in the newest Money Magazine.

Old Rule:  Shop one of the major online travel agencies, like Expedia or Orbitz.

New Rule:  Instead start your search with Kayak.com, Fly.com, and Trip Advisor.com, metasearch engines that aggregate fares from a number of sources and direct you to sites where you can buy them.

Also if you go to Bing's web site they will predict for you if the price is likely to rise or fall.  If it is more than a 70% that fares will fall you might want to wait to order your ticket. 

Thanks Money Magazine:)

Submission.

Being a Gospel Wife: I am his bride…

2011 at 6:36 pm   |   by Carolyn Mahaney
Filed under Marriage Series Current Series

“Marriage was designed by God most deeply, most importantly, to be a parable or a drama of the way Christ loves his church and the way the church loves and follows Christ.” John Piper

Being a bride means--above all--that we imitate THE bride, the church. We are to respect, follow, love, and submit to our husband as the church does to Christ. "As the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands (Eph. 5.22)." That's a pretty tall order, for sure.

We have to admit, though, that our husbands might have the tougher assignment: they are to imitate Christ who "gave himself up for us" (Eph. 5.25). We have to follow, but they have to die! This series is not about the husbands, though. We want to focus on God's calling for us as wives.

Submission (Eph 5.22) and respect (Eph. 5.33) comprise the primary role of a bride, and that's who the command is addressed to. Submission was not our husbands' idea, and neither are they responsible to enforce it. This command is not divine permission for husbands to assert authoritarian leadership. Nowhere in Scripture does it say, 'Husbands, see to it that your wives submit.' That's our job.

The requirement to submit to our husbands comes straight from God to us as wives. And we are answerable to Him for our obedience. We cannot blame our husbands for our lack of submission. The responsibility is entirely ours!

And notice to whom we are to submit. As married women, we are not called to submit to all men (and neither are single women, for that matter), but rather to our husbands. Conversely, we should not seek leadership from other men, apart from our husbands, no matter how worthy they are of honor or respect. We are to follow our husbands.

But as I said, this isn't always easy. We'll talk about why, next time. Stay tuned.

(adapted from Feminine Appeal)