One Hundred and Ten Percent

About 9 1/2 months ago, I wrote a post about my "amnesia" tendencies that like to attack and knock me down for the count. Throughout the months that followed, God faithfully provided and saturated my memory with unforgettable blessings to suffocate my amnesia episodes. He really hit home promises in His Word, such as Be anxious for nothing (Phil 4:4), Fear not for I am the One who helps you (Is 41:13), and one of my favorites, how MUCH MORE will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matt 7:11). 

In so many ways God has proven to me that when He gives these promises to His children, He means them. REALLY means them. If his wisdom and love provided a way to meet my greatest need ever- to be saved from His wrath and reconciled to Him-- then He can surely handle the details of a month with little to no income. Or a broken down car. Or a struggling marriage. Or a knee surgery...

Straight Paths: Thoughts on Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, 

and do not lean on your own understanding. 

In all your ways acknowledge him, 

and he will make straight your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

The Scripture verse above is one that is quite familiar to our ears and frequently repeated from memory by many. It only takes a few moments of walking the aisles of retail stores to see it decoratively reprinted onto coffee mugs and greeting cards. Most of us enjoy the way these particular words easily roll off our tongues to offer wise-sounding advice. Many people often gravitate towards positive-sounding verses like these in Proverbs as a quick self-esteem boost, while others may use them as an explanation for undesirable circumstances in their life. Once we cast aside our flawed glasses of self and put on the lens of the good news of Christ, we can then see that these two verses are much more than a simple formula for worldly success, but actually a heavenly calling for eternal life. 

His Common Grace

Yesterday I was reading about the doctrine of common grace for a theology class that I've been taking for the past 7 months. The reality of those truths washed over me like a tidal wave of both conviction and worship. Did you know that the only reason we all woke up this morning-- believer and unbeliever-- and are breathing each breath is ONLY by God's grace?

God's Word tells us that the ONLY thing we deserve is death (Romans 6:23). Each moment we continue living, experiencing thousands of indulgences each day, is because of His astounding grace. A tweet from Paul Tripp this morning hit this truth further home for me:

Even pleasure preaches God's grace. Every day we all enjoy a symphony of pleasures we could've never earned the right to enjoy.

As humans, and especially as Americans, we are bent towards a happiness paradigm that distorts our motives and actions. We are so clouded by our sense of entitlement that we spend most moments of each day mistaken that we deserve all these pleasures and then foolishly covet the ones we don't have.

Lord, may your abundant and undeserved kindness lead us all to repentance today. Give us eyes to see that all of these blood-bought gifts are pointing to You and your glory. Your grace is truly amazing...

Promises for Hurting Wives- Love

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; 
he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; 
he will exult over you with loud singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

Holy God,

My prayers go out to hurting women today... Women whose Valentine's Day will be marked with tears and pain. I ask you to quiet them by your love. May your message overshadow every lie that they'll be fed today by the media. May they hear you singing loud, love songs to their hearts. Help them hear and believe your promises of joy and hope.

Help all of us today to view our relationships through the price of a suffering Savior on the cross, not the price tags of fleeting, material gifts. The greatest of all that remains is love-- YOUR love. Give us the courage and desire to love others the way you did. To love sacrificially, in spite of how we feel. Help us put US to death and truly love others today.

Thank You for being forever faithful to your promises. Thank You for hearing this prayer.

Read the introduction to this series HERE.

Promises for Hurting Wives- Hope

Lamentations 3:21-24

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

In the midst of our pain and brokenness, it seems easiest to dwell on our failures. To wallow in our regret. To sink down into the pits of depression for fairytale dreams gone wrong. "But..." we don't have to stay there. "But..." there is a powerful antidote to our defeated thoughts. "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope..." What is the this that offers such hope?

Promises for Hurting Wives- Joy

Read the introduction to this series HERE.

When looking back down former roads of marital pain, what stands out the most to me is a chronic condition of disappointment. In my mind, my husband was always dropping the ball and consistently falling short of my self-enthralled kingdom. Sure, I prayed for change to come... but just for him. Not me. I had my life together. It was too bad that no one else around me was as self-sufficient and capable as I was.  **insert eye roll**

Now with a regenerated view, my eyes can look past those days of struggle which I foolishly thought were birthed by a premature decision to marry. That entangling thread of disappointment and bitterness had been weaving itself through every life event that had already occurred. I wasn't being unfairly denied the treasures of marital bliss that both television and movie screens had promised throughout my life. This religious do-gooder was missing THE Treasure.

Promises for Hurting Wives- A Series

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 

who comforts us in ALL our affliction, 

so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, 

with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Hi, my name is Carmen. Maybe you know me in "real life," or maybe you've just been a follower of my blog for a while. One major thing I'd like for people to know about me is I have a hard-core passion for wives who are hurting. Admittedly, I've been on both the receiving end of the hurting and I've shamefully gone over and above to issue the hurting. Almost two years ago, God took this angry, religious, hurting woman on a permanent detour from her high (and lonely) road of self-preservation and ran her smack into a Savior. THE Savior. He miraculously saved me, then my marriage, and now grants me the grace to share this eternal hope with others.

Remember Your Destiny

Well, it's the last few days of January, which means that the majority of New Year's Resolutions that were made for 2013 have probably already been thrown out the window for most. I'm always fascinated to see the surge of do-better chatter that strikes up the first week of each new year. The fact that the same few items top most lists repetitively (ie, lose weight, exercise more, eat healthier, save money) can even be pretty humorous... because, let's face it- these things usually do not change. And I'm not chuckling at everyone else while I'm sitting back proudly admiring my accomplished list of try-agains. Nope. I laugh mostly at myself and the fact that I honestly can't recall a single year that I've actually seen any of my resolutions all the way to completion.

It's because of this repetitive pattern each new year that I've decided to end my perfect "crash and burn" record. I didn't make a list of things I wanted to change, try, lose, or do-over. This time my approach was much different. There were no specific goals set but there was a simple commitment made to three words:

Necessity of Scripture

Today we find ourselves in the midst of a significant period of time. It is an era that has popularly come to be known as the “Information Age.” At the push of a button, click of a computer mouse, or a touch of a device’s screen, we have more information instantly accessible to us than at any other point of history. Hundreds--even thousands--of books are available for any person to gather information, whether true or false, on any given subject. Even for those who deem themselves part of the Christian population, there are multiple publishing companies and retail stores that offer information on any topic or doctrine. As valuable as this wealth of information can be, these instant resources unfortunately have a tendency to lead us into believing that the written Word of God is no longer a vital resource for followers of Christ. In this particular post, I would like to share a few brief points from Scripture itself that I believe prove that not only will Scripture always be necessary, but that excluding it from our personal lives and ministries is eternally dangerous.

A Gracious Thing

For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 

1 Peter 2:19-20 

A lesson that seems to stay on repeat in my life: 

Learning to embrace those circumstances that force me to confront the promises given in God's Word.

Seek it Like Silver

If you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, 

if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, 

then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. 

Proverbs 2:3-5

A simple explanation of the word “theology” goes like this: the word we use to refer to what we know about God. In our culture today, this term is often a topic to be avoided, even among a majority of Christian circles. Unfortunately, it has mainly been seen by many to be only divisive, irrelevant, and confusing. Once we allow for the smoke of contention to clear and then grasp onto a proper, non-complicated definition of what theology actually is, we are then able to discover many reasons why studying theology is vital to our lives, both personally and relationally.

Amnesia

This Monday has been rocked by some major amnesia. Not the familiar type of amnesia that affects the human memory. Nope. The kind I've been hit with today is of my soul: spiritual amnesia.  Temporarily forgetting what the Lord has done in my life and the way He has proven Himself time and time again over the past year. Anxiety and worry showed up bright and early today, ready to throw an ugly party in my thought life.

Recently, I've noticed that many of my severe bouts of spiritual memory loss seem to be triggered by financial hardships more than anything else. And that was the case again this morning. It all began with an early trip to a physical therapy appointment followed by another visit to the orthopaedics clinic. The past 4 weeks I've seen these guys often as I seek treatment for a chronic overuse injury in both of my knees. Even though I've been able to experience some mild relief from the pain that I've dealt with for 8 months, I was advised this morning that surgery would more than likely be recommended if I don't improve significantly in the next 4 weeks. As much as I long to have relief from this awful pain, these are the only things I could see dancing around before my eyes when I heard those words: