Good morning! The Lord be with you today.
(Yesterday on the blog: A Mother’s Bible)
Faithful in Obscurity
I’m so thankful for all those who are willing to be faithful in obscurity (which, after all, describes the great majority of us). “You may be a busy mom of little ones, a secretary stationed at her desk, a cashier at a counter, a caregiver tucked away in a lonely room, or in any number of occupations where you feel unnoticed. Don’t be concerned if you don’t get as much attention or response as other people.”
If They Hate You
There are some helpful insights about persecution in this article. “John Stott draws a helpful distinction between what he calls spasmodic and systematic persecution. He sees spasmodic persecution as personal persecution; maybe, unwarranted opposition from family members, antagonism from work colleagues or even intellectual condescension towards us because of our ‘naïve faith’. Systematic persecution is that which is deliberately targeted at Christians for their faith.”
Why God Is Justified in Sending Sinners to Hell (Video)
Todd Friel explains why God is justified in sending sinners to hell.
God of the Garden
Pierce Taylor Hibbs: “Black earth has a sanctity to it. The color calls to us from a damp, ancient place where life comes from death. It’s the call of richness, of fertility, of potential. Black soil is the home of all things green and godly. And that makes perfect sense. All that’s green and godly comes from the soil because God is a gardener. He was the first to wet his fingers with earth, the first to plant, the first to tamp and tend. When no one was watching, God was gardening.”
Self-Denial Leads to Happiness
The link between self-denial and happiness shouldn’t surprise us, but somehow it often still does.
How to Pray for Your Teen When You’ve Run Out of Words
“For one short season of our parenting journey, my husband and I felt as if we were hanging on to the reins of a runaway horse. Daily battles over curfews and negotiations around boundary lines had taken the place of warm conversation and laughter around the table. We mourned the loss as we searched for words to pray over family life in what felt like a war zone.”
Tips for Students Facing Doubt in the Real World
Michael Kruger offers some tips for students who may have gotten out into the real world and begun to encounter some doubt.
Flashback: Success that Exceeds Sanctification
God loves me enough to not give me more than my character will allow me to handle. If he were to give me more, it might harm me and my pride and envy might just drive me away from him.
Sin will not long seem great or heavy unto any to whom temptation seem light or small.
—John Owen
