Author: Colleen Craig

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Jesus Is Our Delight

My dear sisters,

Annabelle, my three-year-old daughter, loves the Muppets. She was watching a part of the “Muppets take Manhattan” this morning and my heart lightened as my own childhood memories rushed colorfully through my mind. The wonder of creativity, the awe of how each Muppet changed costumes, how they rode bikes and got wet without getting wet, and the intertwining humor with memorable stars. Add my brothers watching beside me each night at 7, and I felt the feeling of delight well up.

Why do certain things give us delight? In fact, what is delight and why do I get it with the Muppets, for heaven’s sake?!

Scripture says that all good things come from above, so I decided to look up “delight” in a concordance rather than a dictionary. I found that we are to delight in the Word, in the law of the Word, in righteousness, in the Saints…we are to delight to draw near to God, delight in God, delight in truth, and in righteous works. The list is actually pretty long, but do you see the same theme that I am seeing? We are to delight, or be satisfied, in all that God is for us in Jesus. Perhaps the Jesus part is not as clear, so lets look a bit closer.

We delight in the law because that is the Word of the Lord. If we delight in what He says and commands, then we are delighting in God because that is how He expresses Himself. When we delight in righteousness, or right things, we are delighted in the Lord because all that He does is right and good! When we delight in the Saints, we are delighting in the Lord because what draws us to saints is their Christ-likeness. Jesus is the Word, He fulfilled the law perfectly, and He is the God-Man that shows us the perfect character of God. So when we delight and are satisfied in all that He is for us, it brings joy.

So what about the Muppets? Well, God is a creative God. He made amazing, exotic, and funny looking creatures in land, air, and sea. He gave us food that tastes bitter, sweet, sour, and salty. He gave people talents to paint the Mona Lisa, write symphonies, sing to melt our hearts, write words that bring us to places we’ve never been, and imagination to come up with animated, talking stuffed animals! I delight in the Muppets because it is a picture of God’s creativity and imagination! I delight in my brothers’ company because God made us for fellowship and company.

Sweet sister, delight in the Lord today. He, in His kindness, gives common grace to all mankind to see pictures of Himself each day. We delight in his character, and the many forms we see it displayed on this earth and in His Word.

Your Sister in Christ,

Colleen

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An Odd Equation

Dear Sister,

A Riddle: Job’s came in the form of destruction, loss of life, complaining wife, thoughtless friends, and illness. Israel’s came in the form of years of slavery in Egypt. Moses’ came with a stubborn people who desperately wanted to worship and trust anything but God. The prophet’s came with people not believing the Word that came from God. The new church had it come from the Roman’s, persecution, and fights amongst themselves. Have you figured it out what it is yet?

Affliction: Affliction is not a new thing. In fact, just after Adam and Eve took a bite of the forbidden fruit in that perfect gift of a garden, affliction entered the world for evermore. The worldwide church experiences it today by being put in jail, being put to death, chastised, and being abandoned by friends and family. Each one of us experiences affliction as well, in one form or another.

 

Yet the words that Paul penned to the Corinthian’s so many years ago have not changed for us today: “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself (2 Cor 1:8).” Wow, despaired of life! Have you ever felt that? I have! Yet just a few chapter’s later, Paul writes: “In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy (2 Cor 7:4).” How can this be? How can we have joy in the midst of the affliction that we have had, have, and will have in this life? The Bible has an answer for this too. The Lord has given us an historical account of how to live with affliction.

 

“If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer (2 Cor 1:6).” We are not alone! We have a history of people before us who have been afflicted like we have and God has brought them through! In fact, Paul writes that “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair (2 Cor 4:8).”

 

Why are we not crushed oh sister? Because Jesus has crushed Satan’s head! We win! Even in death, we win! We have Christ! We have heaven FOREVER! He took the ultimate affliction of sin and death on the cross so that when we trust in Him, believe in Him alone, our affliction ends with this earthly life. We are not crushed! In fact, the Lord uses the affliction in this life for our good and His glory! Look at Job! After all of his affliction, he came out knowing the Creator God in a deeper way. He trusted the Lord with everything in his life, holding everything loosely with an open palm knowing that all things are a gift from God. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1:21). His joy was increased through his suffering! What an odd equation for us! Suffering in = Joy out! Why? Because we grow in our trust of our sovereign Lord and we know that we have Christ in Heaven forever.

 

May we trust the Lord more in whatever form affliction comes to us sister. May we trust that we will not be crushed, that God has us, He knows what its like to be afflicted, and through Jesus, we have hope of no more affliction after this life.

Your Sister in Christ,

Colleen

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The Glory of the Cross

Dear Sister,

This may seem like an unlikely music video for glory, especially its beginning, but please take the five minutes or so to watch the entire thing. The New Testament cannot speak of glory without Jesus and the cross. Jesus was crowned with glory because he suffered on the cross, “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (Heb 2:9). And we get our glory because of what Jesus did on the cross, “To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thes 2:14).”
There are two heart swelling moments for me in this video that have visualized for me the glory of the cross. The first comes when the wrath of hell is being blocked by the cross and the second is the man RUNNING to Christ in heaven. Oh how I glory in the cross because my wrath was taken by Jesus! Oh how I glory in the cross because it enables me to run to Jesus forever more! Glory!

All I have is Christ

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Counsel From The Cross

Dear sister,

We have all given counsel. Most of it is never done officially in an office, yet we do it everyday. We have given it to countless strangers, friends, and family. We have been helpful and probably not so helpful, done it well and done it poorly.

Sisters, we love to talk and share our stories and opinions to others. Think about a time when someone told you of a person with a particular health issue or someone who was pregnant, what did you do? If you are like me, you replied with a story of someone YOU knew of that had/has the same thing and what the outcome was. Then I told the person what they should or should not do based on this account. Look back this day or week and just think of the counsel you have given your husband, child, friends, or stranger. How did it go? Was it biblical counsel?

As believers, we all are called to give biblical counsel (Acts 20:20, Rom 15:14, Col1:28). We are to instruct, teach, admonish, and encourage people to live their life to the glory of God. But how do we do that? Crazy enough, the Bible actually shows us how to give Godly, biblical counsel for any and all circumstances. The Lord inspired Paul and others to write letters to many Christian churches who were struggling with every day issues and questions and Paul gave them biblical counsel. But that begs the question: how did he counsel? From the cross.

Paul starts almost all of his letters with rich theology. He reminds the believers of their history, how they were dead in their transgressions and deserved God’s eternal wrath. That their good works done in righteousness got them no where and are like filthy menstruation rags (that’s the picture the Greek word paints). Then at the right time, Jesus came and bore their sin debt on the cross and granted them forgiveness for all time and put His perfect righteousness on them! Now they are seen by their creator as perfect and adopted into His eternal family as a son complete with all spiritual blessings and inheritance. In light of this theology, he then gave counsel on how they should behave and convicted them of any sin that was seen. He counseled them to love their wives as Christ loves the church, for wives to respect and submit to their husband, for children to honor their parents. He told fighting people to make up, to not get drunk, to always work hard, to not quarrel about what spiritual gift the Lord has given you. He tells believers to rejoice always, to be humble like Christ, to think on right things and not to gossip or speak ill of others. He tells them to love God and love their neighbor. Not to earn favor, but out of thankfulness and joy from what they have in Christ.

Oh sister, the Word is full of counsel for us to give and take. It says that we have an active-responsible heart and not a passive-reactive-victim heart. It says that we may have things that have contributed to our lives but they have not determined our lives. It says we are sinners that need to be forgiven not a being that simply needs more self-esteem. It tells us to repent, have faith, renew our minds, and that we are being sanctified, not that we need our inner needs met or to have more self-worth and confidence. Our worth and confidence need to be in Christ alone (remember what our own righteousness looks like)! Scripture tells us that our Lord is sovereign over all things and to get to know Him and trust Him, not to think that He doesn’t care or see us in some of our most sticky situations.

Can you see and feel the difference? Our counsel should be full of hope! We can face anything because of Christ! There is an answer and ultimate cure for every situation…the Bible says so! Counsel at the heart level…where we think and what we believe…is wise counsel. And wise counsel comes from scripture. Can you see how daily reading of the Word helps with our counsel? Can you see being overwhelmed with Christ’s grace and mercy helps view circumstances differently? Can you counsel someone in light of the sovereignty and character of God? This is discipleship in action. We are commanded to give it. Oh sister, read your Bible, pray, go to a Godly church, feed your mind on spiritual meat so when people come to you for counsel, you can give counsel based on the cross.

~Colleen

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Coffee and the Psalms

Dear sister,

Wait…before I start I need to get myself a cup of coffee. I’m a bit of a coffee snob. I need to grind the beans, preferably a dark roast that hasn’t been open for more than a week, then boil water for my French press. I let it steep for a little more than five minutes to get a full body flavor without the bitterness. Then I need a glass or ceramic mug that I can hold with two hands as I shrug my shoulders together to savor the richness. I have to drink it while it’s fresh to be able to enjoy the heat, smell, feel, and taste of each sip. Ahhhhh, that was a good cup. I implore you to go make this aromic, delectable treat for yourself…I’ll wait.

Now, what was I doing? Oh yes, writing about praise. Praise is a proper response to something and/or someone you enjoy. You give credit where credit is due and call others to enjoy it with you. As you can see, I REALLY enjoy a cup of coffee while reading or writing. It’s calming and helps me relax in my task. In fact, I enjoy it so much that I tell others about it and proclaim its glory! I have even worked at Starbucks to learn more about it and upon traveling to Ethiopia, I bought beans that were roasted before my eyes and filled with such flavor I have never forgotten the experience. My husband has even become a coffee snob as a result of the praise I have for coffee. My individual praise of a simple thing of a good cup of coffee has led others to praise and enjoy it too.

I find as a believer though, it is sometimes easier for me to praise the things that are set before me rather than the Creator who made all things. I praise my husband, Annabelle, a good meal, a riveting and clean TV show, or a good book, but I forget to first praise the Creator who is responsible for every good and perfect thing. The Psalms are full of praises to the Lord for military victory, His creation, His salvation, His provision, His Word, and life. The Psalmist often finds his spirit lifted after searching for ways to Praise the Lord. I also find my heart lifted when I praise the Lord in song or in fellowship with other believers. I know He is praiseworthy and giving Him praise fills me with joy, does it do that for you, sweet sister?

Praising our children, husbands, and a good cup of coffee is not bad, but let us not lose sight of who deserves the ultimate praise for giving us these things. Let us, like the psalmist, draw others to praise the Creator who has blessed us with senses, emotions, and a lifetime to enjoy His vast and variable creation. Let us call others to praise and enjoy our Father who adopted us in Christ with full inheritance for eternity! Let us praise and boast of the only Being who truly deserves all our praise! Let’s start now:

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
 The King of creation

O my soul, praise Him 
For He is thy health and salvation

All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near
Praise Him in glad adoration



Praise to the Lord
 Who o’er all things so wonderfully reigneth

Shelters thee under His wings
 Yea, so gladly sustaineth

Hast thou not seen how thy desires e’er have been

Granted in what He ordaineth



Praise to the Lord 
Who doth prosper they work and defend thee

Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee

Ponder anew what the Almighty can do

If with His love He befriend thee



Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him

All that hath life and breath 
Come now with praises before Him

Let the ‘amen’ sound from His people again

Your sister,
Colleen