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Enduring Joy From Our Immutable Father

My dear sister,

This past month I have been using my quiet time to pray through the attributes of God. (Praying the Attributes of God by Rosemary Jensen) One of my most cherished attributes of God is that He is immutable. It is not a word used much in our modern English language, but for some odd reason I really like the way it sounds when saying it. It means unchanging! Our God is unchanging! What a profound truth in a day and age where life’s pace is constantly changing. Staying up to date with the latest technology is just one example of this constant state of flux.

I want to share with you how deeper still my thoughts go when I stop to consider that my Heavenly Father, who never changes (James 1:17), has purposed me to be saved. And not just saved but sanctified as well. In fact; God’s plan for saving me was set in motion (determined) before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). The whole purpose for saving me was so that God would change me (Romans 8:29-30)! I’m not sure about you, but I need to repeat that.

God is unchanging (the same today as yesterday and for all eternity) and His whole purpose for my salvation (as is for all who trust in His Son’s perfect sacrifice) is to change me more and more into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. Sometimes that is hard to swallow. However, my point in writing to you sweet sister in Christ, is not to confuse you but to encourage you. My hope is that the beauty, indeed the completeness, of this truth is sinking in to your heart as you read this.

This truth of who God is; and what He has purposed for you and I in light of that Truth, is what brings us enduring peace and joy. Knowing that our immutable God has an unchanging plan- to save us and to sanctify us (change us- set us apart from the rest of the world) so that when we arrive in heaven with Him we will bear the image of His perfect Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior!

Your joy, like Christ’s (Hebrews 12:2) is set before you! Can your heart see it? Can you taste it? Your joy is complete and everlasting. Nothing has happened since the foundation of the world that has changed His plan to save you. Nothing has happened or will happen to undo your salvation. Nothing can happen that will change His plan to sanctify you until He brings you to glory.

Can you sense the fullness of this Truth? Is it filling up your soul as you contemplate it? Does not your heart overflow with joy in the knowledge that you belong to this Immutable God? This joy is everlasting because it comes from your everlasting Father. This joy will always remain despite your circumstances, despite your problems, trials or errors of judgement on your part. Take courage in that; Today, your joy is complete and it will remain for eternity!

My prayer for you as I close this letter, is that the joy of your salvation will shine brightly into your world, that all men may see it and Praise God’s Holy name. (Matthew 5:16)

“Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”
Psalm 51:12

Your sister,
Susan

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Choose Joy

Dear sisters,

“What makes you happy Colleen?”  My husband asked.  I thought for a second.  After a tough day of the constant training of a tenacious two year old, I do find respite in a frothy latte and a bowl of cookies and cream ice cream.  A smile comes to my face as I lounge and indulge in the smoothness of both on my tongue.  The delicate delights of this special treat may last that night, but the doleful doldrums of training a sinful heart return in full force the next morning.  I feel like in this world I often seek immediate happiness in my circumstances, but what I really desire is a deep lasting joy.  But what is joy?

Joy is not contingent on a dessert or massage.  As a believer, the Lord commands me to have joy in all circumstances…even ones that are difficult and painful.  James writes to dispersed Christians to “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.”

But how do we do that, sweet sisters?  How do we have joy when all our children are crying at once?  When a loved one dies?  When we have another miscarriage?  When our adoption falls through?  When we feel as though our marriage is falling apart?  Oh, it is tough.  It is so tough to choose joy.  Yet we are commanded to throughout scripture.  The hope we have is that scripture tells us from where true and lasting joy comes.  It comes from Christ!  When we find our joy in the fact we have been forgiven of our sins and saved from the eternal wrath of God because of what he did on the cross, we have joy!  We are thankful Jesus took our ultimate fate of death and gave us eternal life in heaven!  That means our trials on earth get put in the proper perspective so even in the sadness of our circumstances, we have a deep joy in our hope in Christ!  Even in our disappointments and hardships, we know this world is not our home.  Our home is yet to come and sadness, death, tears, fears, and disappointments will all be forgotten!

If that is not encouraging enough, scripture also tells us we find joy in trials as we realize the Lord is drawing us to Himself during these times.  He is near to the broken hearted and hears all our cries.  He is making us more dependent on Him which is where we want to be.  He is shaking off the chaff of our lives, making us more like Christ.  He loves us so much that our trials bring us closer to Him, rather than further away.  Our trust in the goodness of our Sovereign God in difficult times brings us unadulterated joy!

Oh, live here sister!  Choose the joy that only comes from Christ!  Don’t settle for the fleeting happiness of a latte or ice cream.  Don’t live in the despair of circumstances.  Lift your eyes to the heavens where your help comes because in our weakness, He is strong.

Your sister,

Colleen

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On the Waves of Patience

Beloved Sisters in the Lord,

Would that I had the patience of a saint, as some of you think! Indeed, patience is a precious gift of the Holy Spirit, following the flow from LOVE, JOY AND PEACE! (22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23). Patience, in the biblical sense, means slow to anger, long-suffering. What a definition—slow to anger. Only God is slow to anger and, therefore, truly patient with an impatient world. What a gift to have God’s word remind us of His patience with us! Read, Dear Sisters, from Psalm 103: 8-14.

8″The Lord is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father pities his children,
So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
14 For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.”

In human nature, patience is cultivated through the trials and setbacks that we experience during our lifetime. As the children of God, our patience should result from trusting Him, our Father in Heaven. It is when we pocket our trust in God that we become quick tempered, easily angered, and yield ourselves to fret and challenge and forget the blessed new creation that we are. (Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17) The very fact that we are saved for eternity should be something that completely overwhelms us with patience to endure any and all infractions on what we deem most important—in our perfect little world, for our perfect little agenda!

No, Dear Ladies, I do not possess the patience of a saint, but there is someone who modeled it for me. Having recently taught a Bible study on Noah and God’s Covenant with him, I began to wonder about the eight people in the ark who were saved through the awful forces of water surge and down pour of the wrath of the holy, holy, holy God on a completely sinful world. Has anyone given much thought to Mrs. Noah as possessing the patience of a saint?

As far-fetched as this may seem, think for a moment of this sinner saved by grace, and what she endured while her husband constructed an ark, a huge building that was to house animals and plants and his family for many, many weeks. Think of her patience as they were ridiculed while this vessel was being built in the middle of dry land. Until then, people had not known rainfall, let alone a deluge, and they could not understand what Noah was doing because they had refused any relationship with God, their Creator and Provider.

But Noah was chosen by God to know Him. And so, what could she have done, other than patiently be his helpmate, feed him, keep him company, and give him encouragement from the very Gospel she received from him. Then they entered the ark and there she was with Noah and her sons and in-laws, locked in a floating box of gopher wood, listening to the bleat of sheep, the moo of cows and the chirp of birds…and these are only the sweet sounds! Think of her patience as she feeds the two elephants and two camels, the two frogs and the two dogs, and, possibly being food herself for the two mosquitoes, that were being kept alive for the restoration of the natural world that was being devastated by our most patient God!

My Sisters, patience requires us to endure—to put up with—the most uncomfortable situations: the surroundings, the sounds, the smells, the selfishness and, yes, even the silliness that we may not like. Even dealing with family dynamics had to cause more stress as they all wondered what was going on outside!

In the end, this patient lady emerged from the ark to observe a totally destroyed world, and to be God’s chosen one, among the 7 others, who were saved. She and the others had much work to do, clean-up, rebuild and evangelize the new ones to be born for the repopulation effort. That had to be an unspeakable challenge to her patience. But, oh, what grace and mercy she and her family had been given—they were saved by God!

If, indeed, we contemplate our own salvation, through the mercy of God Who, through His Son, Jesus Christ alone we are spiritually restored to Him, then we can begin to enjoy Heaven now! What could possibly irritate, annoy, attack and consume us when we are already in Heaven? Like Mrs. Noah, trust God and patiently ride the waves of each day within the ark of His sovereign grace!

With thankfulness for His Grace alone,
Mimi

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The Battle is Won!

Dearest sister,

I sense the pain you feel over the thoughtless words you have spoken and I want to encourage you to go to the Father. I have felt that pain: watching the faces fall of those you love, as your words pierce deeply, causing brokenness and distance between you, and also in your walk with the Lord. I had thought I would spend our time discussing the many reasons why we should strive for godly speech, knowing the power of life and death we carry with our words…but I see now that your heart is penitent for your sin and you simply need to be reassured of not only Christ’s love and work on your behalf, but how his perfect speech covers over your many imperfections.

“As for God, his way is perfect: The LORD’s word is flawless; He shields all who take refuge in him,” Psalm 18:30. Find your refuge in the Lord, even as our enemy seeks to accuse you for your many failures with your words. May I encourage you to also take comfort in the fact that as you stand before God, He sees your words as perfect in the perfect standing you have in Christ. I hope this will give you courage to get up from the pit into which you have fallen, and live the holy life you are called to, knowing you have the flawless words of Christ as your refuge, living inside you.

I’d encourage you to dig deeper into this chapter, Psalm 18, where this verse comes from. This is such a precious passage to me, as I have often seen God powerfully come to my aid in a time of need, as he does here for David, and will do for you. Do you feel as I do, when the evil thoughts and words come? Take comfort that you can cry out to the Lord as we see here: “The ropes of death were wrapped around me; the torrents of destruction terrified me. 5 The ropes of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. 6 I called to the Lord in my distress, and I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears,” Psalm 18.

I do not mean to excuse your sinful speech, as I do not condone mine, either. “I tell you that on the day of judgment, people will have to account for every careless word they speak,” Matthew 12:36. But I also know that we can claim the righteousness of Christ as our own when we stand before God. Take heart as you listen to this powerful song, and fight your battle against careless thoughts and speech, with the power of Christ within you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2X2Kh4Sn0Y

Your sister,

Ruth

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The Heart’s Tongue

My Dearest Sister,

​For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a bit of an obsession with words. Their various meanings, spellings, and contexts have always fascinated me. Even though there are only twenty six letters in the English alphabet, when they are combined in different ways they can create over a quarter of a million words, each one unique. And when these words are combined again into sentences they create something that allows for the expression of thoughts and communication. Twenty-six letters structured in specific ways create language, without which we could not exist in the same capacity as we do today. Words, you see, are immensely powerful things. It is no wonder that God advises us to be careful with our words. After all, He is the One who gave us the ability to speak, so He more than anyone knows the capability of our tongues, both for good and for evil.

​Because words and sin often go hand in hand, there are many instances in which God warns us about the potential danger in our tongues. Proverbs 10:19 says that “in the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” Words just fly out so easily sometimes don’t they? Even the ones we didn’t mean to say. That’s the problem with words; Once we speak them, they can’t be unspoken. This is precisely why the Lord warns us against not restraining our lips. He would rather us be silent and righteous than chatty and sinful. James 3:5-6 tells us a little more about just how dangerous our speech can be: “Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things… [It] is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.” The enemy loves it when we we are nasty with our words because it can have such a broad effect in every area of our lives. Sinful speech is pervasive, like a forest fire, and once it spreads it is incredibly hard to control. That’s why we are warned so strongly against letting our tongues run wild. What’s more, our fiery words have lasting consequences. Jesus tells us in Matthew 12:36-37 that we will be held accountable in the judgement for every idle word we speak. “By your words you will be justified,” He says, “and by your words you will be condemned.” Our words, no matter how trivial they may seem in the moment, will stick with us until we meet God face to face. We will then have to answer for everything we have spoken, both the good and the bad. That may be something to think about the next time you find yourself tempted to say something that you know won’t please the Lord.

​So we see that God is very adamant about having control over our words. But why has He made them so important that they touch our very souls? Why are the consequences so great and the dangers so high? Our words mean a lot to God because they are directly related to the state of our hearts. In Matthew 12:34-35, the same passage mentioned above, Jesus says the following: “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” So it’s not so much about the words themselves, sister, as it is about the heart behind the words. If we are good and godly, as God says we are to be, then shouldn’t our words be filled with good treasure? If not, then what does that say about the state of our hearts?

​The only way to fix a sinful tongue then, is to fix the sinful heart first. How do we accomplish such a monumental task as that? Well, if what is coming out our hearts are sinful, evil things then it stands to reason that what is going into our hearts are sinful, evil things. We have to change the input to get a different output. This is why God’s word instructs us in Philippians 4:8 to meditate on all things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, everything of good report, of any virtue, and that are praiseworthy. We can’t expect our words to glorify and please the Lord if what we are exposing our hearts to isn’t glorifying and pleasing to Him as well. This kind of meditation on all things good is not an easy task. The world can very easily fill our hearts with all kinds of nasty, rotten things that displease the Lord if we don’t pay attention. That’s why we are admonished as followers of Christ to be set apart, to be in the world and not of the world. Sometimes this requires a lifestyle change. Maybe it means you need to find a different job, or a new circle of friends, or give up a certain television show or listen to more uplifting music. The point is, if it’s not pleasing to the Lord, then we shouldn’t be focusing our thoughts on it. Instead, we should seek out ways to fill our time with things that are glorifying to the Lord, like studying the Word, earnestly praying at His feet, fellowshipping with other believers, and ministering wherever God has placed you. Only when our hearts are full of God’s good treasure will our tongues follow suit.

​I encourage you, dear sister, to really examine the way you have been using your words. Are they uplifting and glorifying to the Lord? Or are they a symptom of a larger heart problem? If you see any area that needs work – as I know I have – please don’t get discouraged. Remember that we have all fallen short, repent of your sinful speech, and seek out the grace God so willingly provides. Then ask Him to examine your heart, removing any evil treasure, and show you how to fill it with His good treasure instead. I pray that you will leave those sinful, impulsive lips behind and embrace the words of Psalm 35:28: “And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness, and Your praise all the day long.”

​With much love and encouragement,
​~ Lauren Titcomb