Seek Jesus!

C. H. Spurgeon*** August 23*** Love and Seek True Wisdom*** I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. (Proverbs 8:17) Wisdom loves her lovers and seeks her seekers. He is already wise who seeks to be wise, and he has almost found wisdom who diligently seeks her. What is true of wisdom in general is specially true of wisdom embodied in our Lord Jesus. Him we are to love and to seek, and in return we shall enjoy His love and find Himself. Our business is to seek Jesus early in life. Happy are the young whose morning is spent with Jesus! It is never too soon to seek the Lord Jesus. Early seekers make certain finders. We should seek Him early by diligence. Thriving tradesmen are early risers, and thriving saints seek Jesus eagerly. Those who find Jesus to their enrichment give their hearts to seeking Him. We must seek Him first, and thus earliest. Above all things Jesus. Jesus first and nothing else even as a bad second. The blessing is that He will be found. He reveals Himself more and more clearly to our search.... Happy men who seek One who, when He is found, remains with them forever, a treasure growingly precious to their hearts and understandings. Lord Jesus, I have found Thee; be found of me to an unutterable degree of joyous satisfaction.

God's Elect

I love the following excerpt from Spurgeon's devotional because it is so clear and concise.  I remember my own days of wrestling with this truth, and I have heard of so many who say they are not believer's because they know they are not chosen.  May it encourage you!

C. H. Spurgeon

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"Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God."—1 Thessalonians 1:4.

ANY persons want to know their election before they look to Christ, but they cannot learn it thus, it is only to be discovered by "looking unto Jesus." If you desire to ascertain your own election;—after the following manner, shall you assure your heart before God. Do you feel yourself to be a lost, guilty sinner? go straightway to the cross of Christ, and tell Jesus so, and tell Him that you have read in the Bible, "Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." Tell Him that He has said, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." Look to Jesus and believe on Him, and you shall make proof of your election directly, for so surely as thou believest, thou art elect. If you will give yourself wholly up to Christ and trust Him, then you are one of God's chosen ones; but if you stop and say, "I want to know first whether I am elect," you ask you know not what. Go to Jesus, be you never so guilty, just as you are. Leave all curious inquiry about election alone. Go straight to Christ and hide in His wounds, and you shall know your election. The assurance of the Holy Spirit shall be given to you, so that you shall be able to say, "I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to Him." Christ was at the everlasting council: He can tell you whether you were chosen or not; but you cannot find it out in any other way. Go and put your trust in Him, and His answer will be—"I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." There will be no doubt about His having chosen you, when you have chosen Him. "Sons we are through God's election,
Who in Jesus Christ believe."

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Oxymoron?

I was reading John 13 earlier this week partly because Patti wanted it read at her memorial service (which was amazing and deserves its own post) and also because it's one of my favorite passages in the Bible. 
This time I was struck by verse 3 and the first part of verse 4.  Its says, "Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper."
I don't have too much to say about it, but look at it!  Read it again.  Verse 3 says some amazing things about Jesus.  It point out His diety and it talks about where He came from and the place He was returning to shortly.  It tells us that Jesus is God and that everything belongs to Him!  My measly words can't even begin to explain it, my little mind can't even comprehend what that place is like. 
And then it says that He "rose from supper."  Such a mundane thing compared to the profound truth right before.  It's something you and I do every day.  We get up after we eat a meal. 
I don't know, it just reminded me again of the amazing truth that Jesus is God and man.  And that He became a man so that we can one day be with Him in that amazing place. 
So thankful!

Him hath God exalted

I read the excerpt below from Spurgeon's Morning by Morning and halfway through I started thinking about my dad and missing him. Just how I love my family still...but. It is not wholly complete without him. I just miss how we all interacted as a family. How we all joked around or had some our deeper meaningful conversations at the dinner table. I miss his counsel. But then I finished the Spurgeon devotional and I couldn't be sad anymore. He is in Heaven with Jesus and pretty soon we will be too. I can't wait!

"Him hath God exalted."

-Acts 5:31

Jesus, our Lord, once crucified, dead and buried, now sits upon the throne of glory. The highest place that heaven affords is his by undisputed right. It is sweet to remember that the exaltation of Christ in heaven is a representative exaltation. He is exalted at the Father's right hand, and though as Jehovah he has eminent glories, in which finite creatures cannot share, yet as the Mediator, the honors which Jesus wears in heaven are the heritage of all the saints. It is delightful to reflect how close is Christ's union with his people. We are actually one with him; we are. Members of his body; and his exaltation is our exaltation. He will give us to sit upon his throne, even as he has overcome, and is set down with his Father on his throne; he has a crown, and he gives us crowns too; he has a throne, but he is not content with having a throne to himself, on his right hand there must be his queen, arrayed in "gold of Ophir". He cannot be glorified without his bride. Look up, believer, to Jesus now; let the eye of your faith behold him with many crowns upon his head; and remember that you will one day be like him, when you shall see him as he is; you shall not be so great as he is, you shall not be so divine, but still you shall, in a measure, share the same honors, and enjoy the same happiness and the same dignity which he possesses. Be content to live unknown for a little while, and to walk your weary way through the fields of poverty, or up the hills of affliction; for by-and-by you shall reign with Christ, for he has "made us kings and priests unto God, and we shall reign forever and ever." Oh! Wonderful thought for the children of God! W have Christ for our glorious representative in heaven's courts now, and soon he will come and receive us to himself, to be with him there, to behold his glory, and to share his joy.

New Year, New Feature: The Art Corner

The Sleeping Gypsy

by Henri Rousseau

Well, this may be the snootiest thing I have done on my blog yet, but I have decided to start The Art Corner.  I like art, but I was never really into art history before, but doesn't everyone need a little more culture in their life?  Well here you can get a little taste.

The idea came to me when I was helping my mom clean out a bookcase this weekend.  I came across a book she bought when she lived in New York.  It's called something like, 50 Paintings to see at the Modern Museum of Art.  I decided to look at one ever so often and actually read about each painting. 
The Sleeping Gypsy is the first one I came across.

I must admit, I was not a huge fan at first glance.  But as I read about the painting, I came to appreciate it more.  For one thing, the book actually had some quotes from Rousseau describing the painting himself.  I would much rather hear the actual artist's explanation rather than some art student's interpretation of it.
What do you notice about the painting?

Did you see that the lion is passing by the gypsy?  Yeah, I didn't catch that either. But here is Rousseau's quote: “A wandering Negress, a mandolin player, lies with her jar beside her (a vase with drinking water), overcome by fatigue in a deep sleep. A lion chances to pass by, picks up her scent yet does not devour her. There is a moonlight effect, very poetic.”

Apparently, when he tried to sell it to the mayor of his hometown, he was rejected.  The paiting did not receive any true recognition until around 20 years later!  Pablo Picasso was among the first admirers.

I personally think Rousseau was stinkin' good for being self taught.  The more I look at it, the more I love his use of color and the strong lines.  It also reminds me of what life will be like in the Kingdom, when the lion will lay down with the lamb.  That sure isn't the case nowadays.  There is a sense of peacefulness here and a sense of danger.  I like how the two contradicting feelings are present.  Okay now I'm at least on the verge of sounding like a pretentious art student myself.  (No offense to art students out there!!!)

What do you think?  Do you like it or hate it?

Ten Reasons Why My Grandpa Was the Coolest

(Can I just say how much I love this picture? I think it's so funny the way my Grandpa is holding my arm.)

10. He always wore turquoise. Whether it was a ring, a string tie, or a belt buckle. He couldn't get enough of the stuff.

9. He used the word paw instead of hand, claws instead of fingers and fangs instead of teeth.

8. He drove this rad retro yellow van with only one seat in the back. The rest was open and so we got to sit on the floor whenever we went anywhere, which is super fun for a kid.

7. He was a fly fisherman and he tied his own flies. He had a room in his basement with a desk where he tied the flies and there were tons of little compartments all over the room that stored them. He and my Grandma retired to Bozeman, Montana because of the fly fishing.

6. He always wore cowboy boots.

5. He would write me letters. And I loved his handwriting. He often put a P.S. that would say, "When you come visit us, I will rock you to sleep."

4. He loved kids. He was really good with Em, Jeremy and me. He even drove a school bus for awhile when he was older.

3. He had good taste in music. He liked a lot of the big band stuff.

2. After he got saved, (which was late in life but before I was born), he treated my Grandma like an angel. My mom said he used to embarrass her when people came over because he would just stare at my Grandma and say, "Isn't Frances wonderful?"

1. He was just so loving and loveable. One time, after my Grandma died and when his health had really declined, we went to Montana and Em, Jeremy and me were at his neighbor's house playing with their dog. The owner's were gone but they let us go in the back. My parents and aunt and uncle were all gone so my Grandpa was the only one at home. Jeremy decided to hang from the door frame and I copied him and fell and landed on my back on the raised door jam on the ground. It hurt really bad and I was crying when we got back. My Grandpa felt so bad for me but didn't really know what to do. He was almost in tears as he lay me down on the couch and put a blanket over me. For some reason I will never forget that. He died when I was in 9th grade but I love him so much and can't wait to see him in Heaven!

Oh and one more thing, his name was Jack! I love that name!

The Wells

At my dad's memorial service I read a poem that he wrote long before he was ill with Valley Fever, about four years before he was married. I think it might have been before or right around the time he came to Grace.

A couple people requested that I post it somewhere, so here it is. It wasn't titled, so I gave it one. :)


The Wells

My soul is troubled, I do not see them!
My heart is full, but there is no release.

The end of my journey is near,
But my legs are weary from striving.
I would crawl if I could
But my hands burn on the dust of the ground.

My eyes are caked with dust and sweat.
Faith is my only hope.
Hands of the masters have ripped my clothes,
The sun scorches my skin.

The birds of the dead circle in the sky,
But still I seek for the living water.
But the heat of the world is so oppressive
That I long to return to its dust.

My body collapsed, my soul cried out,
“I can’t go on, I have to stop!”
My senses are numbed, my sight destroyed,
And I despair for all is lost.

The tears of my heart washed clean my eyes
And I beheld the wells at my side!
For I received the promise in ages past
That when all was lost, the wells I would find.
They were overflowing with the water I sought.
I had trusted in God, and He was sight.

Mike Taylor
April 21, 1979

In the Clouds

When I was little, my thoughts of heaven were obviously pretty limited. Hold on, I'm going to capitalize it like Randy Alcorn because it is a very real place and proper names of places are capitalized in correct grammar. Like I was saying, my thoughts on Heaven were not very profound. I loved the song that went, "When I get to Heaven gonna walk with/talk with Jesus, when I get to Heaven gonna see His face..." Actually, I still love that song. I pretty much assumed that I will be able to fly in Heaven and that I would feel no pain. Those three things along with seeing my grandparents again were the main things I focused on. I remember hoping the rapture would happen as a little kid. One day in particular, I was being carpooled home from school and I remember that the sky looked particularly amazing. (Much like this morning, as I was driving to work.) There were all these clouds and the sun was streaming through and everything was golden. It's funny, a lot of my memories as a kid are golden. Anyway, I thought, "Jesus HAS to be coming back right now!" Obviously I was wrong.



This morning, the morning of the election, I woke up with the funniest feeling. It was unusual. On Sunday night, Jeremy, Emily, Michelle and I were talking about the importance of using our time wisely because we could be meeting Jesus in the clouds very soon. (This was spurred on by what John was talking about Sunday night.) I don't know what's going to happen in the election. I don't know what's going to happen as a RESULT of the election. But I do know, that we are closer to seeing Jesus now than we ever have been. It could happen in a week, it could happen tomorrow, it could happen TONIGHT. I never felt that reality like I did this morning when I woke up.
If Jesus came tonight, who cares if my unsaved friend from high school is offended if I send her an email about the gospel? Who cares what I wear to work? Who cares whether or not "that guy" is interested in me (there's not anyone specific I am referring to :0) just to satisfy anyone's curiosity out there). None of that stuff matters if Jesus is coming tonight. My unsaved friend or relative NEEDS to hear about our loving Savior and what awaits her if she rejects Him, what anyone thinks about my appearance or whether or not I get married some day isn't really relevant because those are transient things.
What DOES matter is whether or not I live my life for God's glory because He IS truly worthy of my worship and He IS real and He IS returning. SOON! If I don't start living right now with the thought that the rapture could happen at any moment, when am I ever going to live that way?

1 John 2:28
"And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming."

1 Thessalonians 4:17
"Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord."

Changes

***I wrote part of this post the other day, but I don't want to change it, so I'll leave the beginning as is. Part of it is from right now though.***

6/30/08
Well, I just got back from my lunch break at my new job, Grace School Receptionist/Secretary. Yes, that is the official title. To tell you the truth, I don't even exactly know the difference between a receptionist and a secretary, but I am both apparently. Anyway, before I left for lunch I had a general idea of what this post would be about, now, due to unforseen circumstances it will be changed a bit, oh...there's the title of the post again...but I'll get to that later.
I've been struck recently by all the changes that are happening in my life. There are big things and then there are all these small things too that didn't immediately come to my mind, but nonetheless, they are changes.
One big change is obviously my job. I was working the last five months as a teacher aid in a second grade classroom, now I am at a different school working as what I stated above. I've always somewhat enjoyed when the unexpected happens, at least for the most part, and I definitely didn't expect to become a recep./sec. (My own little made up abbreviation there.) I thought I might have my own classroom this year, but, so far, God had a different plan for me.
***Actually, it's kind of funny. When I was little Emily and I sometimes pretended that we were secretaries in a doctor's office. She hated the game after five minutes, but I loved pretending to schedule patients for doctor's visits. I was telling some people last night that I was making some appointments for people the other day at work, and it was like a dream come true. :0) ***
Anyway, another big change is that I left Crossroads. My old roomie (another change that I will get to in a minute) and I are checking out different fellowship groups at church. People keep asking me why I am leaving...to tell you the truth I could have stayed in Crossroads, there's no exact reason necessarily, it just seemed like time to move on since I've been there for six years. I guess a part of the reason is another change, my Bible study leader and his wife, Eric and Leslie Davis moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to plant a church, (eventually) and they took a group of people with them from the Bible study. My old roommate, Melissa, is one of them. Which leads to another recent change. I moved back to my parents house.
Melissa went to Jackson and at the time we found out that she would move, Megan wasn't sure if she might move back to Minnesota (thankfully she didn't). Jen heard about the possiblity of both of them moving and she decided to move in with some girls from her Bible study. I decided to move back home and save some money.
All of these changes have happened within the last week, although I was anticipating a couple of them for awhile now. For the last three weeks we have had some South Africans staying with us. Clint and Kim Archer came as well, primarily because Clint was asked to teach at the Junior High Summer camp this year. They were able to come early enough to go to the Resolved Conference and a group of people from their church in Hillcrest decided to come too. We met Jen, Warren, Vicky, Liz and Lyle when we went on our trip to South Africa last year. Jen and Warren are staying with us. Because of all the busyness of the last couple of weeks, all these changes haven't really hit me yet. And it's weird. I haven't really had time to contemplate anything that is going on. While I often enjoy the unexpected, change normally freaks me out a bit at the beginning. But not yet...so I'm waiting...

7/2/08
After lunch I was thinking about a completely different change that one day we as believers will experience. While Emily and I were eating, a man named John, who used to be one of the ushers at Grace, approached us on his wheelchair and proceeded to proclaim the excellencies of God to us for about twenty minutes. The thing he kept coming back to the most was that we will be changed when we see God. "We will sin no more" as he put it. I was greatly encouraged and convicted by this man as I was sitting there listening to him. I have never seen John without hearing about how wonderful God is. Not a single time. I remember every Sunday morning, waiting to walk around the corner of the church and hear him say something along the lines of "Praise the Lord, our King!" He was telling us on Monday how he is at the church almost every day with the purpose of reminding seminary students and anyone else he sees about how we need to keep our focus on things above and not on the earth because it is so easy to be distracted by things of this world. He was saying how we have a mission to tell others about Him until He returns, and I think that it is so cool that he doesn't stay at home, which he could easily do, and probably no one would think the less of him. But instead he is out being faithful to encourage other believers, reminding them of the gospel and what we have to look forward to! I want to be like that someday, only it has to start today. My prayer is that God will help me to understand how glorious He is and that He would make me faithful to proclaim His excellencies as well.
We have a huge change coming and it's not that far away!