Your Weakness Should Drive You to Christ

This short sermon clip by Paul Washer was such a blessing to me tonight. 

 May we all run to Christ and cling to Him!

~Breanna

Waiting with Patience ~ Resting in the Lord

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him (Psalms 37:7).
Have you prayed and prayed and waited and waited, and still there is no manifestation? Are you tired of seeing nothing move? Are you just at the point of giving it all up? Perhaps you have not waited in the right way? This would take you out of the right place the place where He can meet you.
"With patience wait" (Rom. 8:25). Patience takes away worry. He said He would come, and His promise is equal to His presence. Patience takes away your weeping. Why feel sad and despondent? He knows your need better than you do, and His purpose in waiting is to bring more glory out of it all. Patience takes away self-works. The work He desires is that you "believe" (John 6:29), and when you believe, you may then know that all is well. Patience takes away all want. Your desire for the thing you wish is perhaps stronger than your desire for the will of God to be fulfilled in its arrival.
Patience takes away all weakening. Instead of having the delaying time, a time of letting go, know that God is getting a larger supply ready and must get you ready too. Patience takes away all wobbling. "Make me stand upon my standing" (Daniel 8:18, margin). God's foundations are steady; and when His patience is within, we are steady while we wait. Patience gives worship. A praiseful patience sometimes "long-suffering with joyfulness" (Col. 1:11) is the best part of it all. "Let (all these phases of) patience have her perfect work" (James 1:4), while you wait, and you will find great enrichment.
--C. H. P.
Hold steady when the fires burn,
When inner lessons come to learn,
And from this path there seems no turn
"Let patience have her perfect work."
--L.S.P.
~ Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman for February 21st

~Brittany

In their Christian graces

no one virtue should usurp the sphere of another,

or eat out the vitals of the rest for its own support.

Affection must not smother honesty,

courage must not elbow weakness out of the field,

modesty must not jostle energy,

and patience must not slaughter resolution.

So also with our duties,

one must not interfere with another;

public usefulness must not injure private piety;

church work must not push family worship into a corner.

It is ill to offer God one duty

stained with the blood of another.

Each thing is beautiful in its season, but not otherwise.

-Charles Spurgeon-

~Brittany

"Strength made perfect in weakness bears up with patience under it all."  -Charles Spurgeon

~Brittany

Parenting In Weakness~ A post especially for mammas with little ones! :)

A friend shared this post from GraceLaced blog on facebook.  It was such a blessing to me to read, and I thought of several mom's that we know that I thought would be encouraged by reading this as well.  Thus this post is dedicated especially to you precious mammas with small kiddos!  

May the Lord bless and strengthen you!

 

God makes two year olds absolutely adorable because it’s right around that age that you can feel like you’ve had it with this parenting gig. You look in the mirror to find that the sweet gentle mama that rocked her baby to sleep has disappeared, and a fire-breathing adult child with anger issues in her place. At the very least, it can feel that way.

Between the tantrums, the defiance, the messes, and the emotional manipulation, sometimes a mother is left feeling like she’s dealing with a giant foe rather than the pipsqueak that is her child. Rather than feeling in control and decades older than her little person, she finds herself tempted to succumb to foolishness; tantrums, defiance, and manipulation–adults can play that game too.

And mamas– mamas who have forever aspired to the calling of motherhood and mamas who have been thrust into it reluctantly alike– all find themselves inadequate for the task. Sure, we may have read parenting books, watched others parent before us, babysat for countless hours, and listened to advice from many many other moms, but nothing blunts the overwhelming fact that our weakness as moms plus their foolishness as children, equal the potential for great despair.

And we mamas begin to wonder if we are simply not right for the job…that God missed the part about us being impatient, angry, selfish, and unwise in our records?  How does he expect me to not ruin my kids if he knows I’m so messed up? 

We might even make a plan to speak and act nicely, starting tomorrow.
We may confidently proclaim, “I will NEVER do that, like my mom did.”
We might promise to do our very best.

But playing nice and making promises leave us disappointed and despairing when we come up short, and incapable of even doing what we set out to do just the night before. That ugly tone of voice still spills out. That condescending look takes over our face even when we try to hide it. Our best is simply not good enough. 

Our best was never meant to be good enough.

Motherhood is not some cruel joke through which God seeks to highlight your failures, and leave you feeling helpless because of poor upbringing, unhealthy examples, and lack of personal growth and self-control.

Motherhood is the loving vessel through which God seeks to highlight his sufficiency and ability, and grow your sense of his faithfulness because of his pure and sinless life, his provision on the cross, and his substitution of your dead end with his new beginning.

Jesus did not save us so that we could do motherhood on our own, apart from him; he saved us so that we would be forever connected to him, forever dependent on him– on the sustenance that flows through the cord of his unending love. Jesus was cut off from the Father that we might not be cut off from him.

Because we were not meant to do it apart from his enabling, we can set aside our deficiencies as mothers, as well as our pride…

If we parent consistently and show patience, it is God’s grace.

If our children obey, it is God’s grace– that it is his sanctifying work in us that enables and instructs us in faithfulness as mothers.

If our children defy us in disobedience, it is God’s grace– that we might have the opportunity to show the gospel to our children once again.

If we struggle to be the mamas we desire to be, it is God’s grace– that we would be reminded once again of the price paid on our behalf, the worthiness of Christ bestowed on us.

It is grace from start to finish.

And so, motherhood is not for the qualified; none of us are. Motherhood is for those he qualifies through Christ. He did indeed see your record, friend…and he erased it. He knows your weaknesses…and he transforms them.

And if, today, you are crying out in helplessness, he replies with open arms, “Now, child, you are ready for what I have for you. You are ready to become the mama I will make you to be.”

~Posted By Breanna

Encouragment from Christian artist Jason Gray~ Blessing in being broken and weak

I was so blessed this morning as I was listening to one of my favorite Christian singers share his precious and powerful story about how God has worked in his life through weakness.  Christian recording artist Jason Gray has always had a speech impediment, and even though it's been really hard for him to live with, he can see how it's been a blessing. It has helped him depend on God more and grow in compassion for others.  In these video clips he shares about how through this handicap in his life he taps into the mind of God, and how he has learned that through our weaknesses, His strength is perfected.  And he also encourages those that feel broken and weak that God's grace and power flow strong through our brokenness and weakness.  I hope you will be as blessed and encouraged as I was by listening!  Each video clip is only about 1-3 minutes long...well worth taking the time to listen through!  :-)

And for your added encouragement and enjoyment, here is the link to my youtube playlist of some of my favorite Jason Gray songs.  :-)  CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE PLAYLIST!

Jason Gray: Weakness is a Blessing

Jason Gray shares his struggle with finding strength

Jason Gray talks about his speech impediment

Jason Gray encourages the broken and weak

~Posted By Breanna

Excellent Paul Washer Quotes

"Even our failures can bring forth good if they crush our independence, drive us closer to Christ, and make us more aware of our need of grace. The greatest need of true saints is a greater revelation of the love of God in Christ."  -Paul Washer

"Since you and I are pitiful, we should not find it difficult to show pity. Our shared weaknesses should unite us in tender fellowship." - Paul Washer

~B.A.A.

Correction and the Love of God

Posted by: Brittany

“When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth:  surely every man is vanity.”  -Psalm 39:11

“My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction:  For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.”  -Proverbs 3:11,12

“And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.  Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;  And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.”  -Hebrews 12: 5-13

“How is it with your heart this morning? Are you in the lowest depths of sorrow? Does corruption rise within your spirit, and grace seem like a poor spark trampled under foot? Does your faith almost fail you? Fear not, it is neither your graces nor feelings on which you are to live: you must live simply by faith on Christ. With all these things against us, now—in the very depths of our sorrow, wherever we may be—now, as much in the valley as on the mountain, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God." "Ah, but," you say, "see how I am arrayed! my graces are not bright; my righteousness does not shine with apparent glory." But read the next: "It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him." The Holy Spirit shall purify our minds, and divine power shall refine our bodies, then shall we see Him as He is.”

-Charles Spurgeon

In order for us to be filled with the righteousness and beauty of Christ, the Lord will first strip of us our own goodness, and show us our total worthlessness and helplessness.  Until we see this, we cannot experience the grace and freedom of Christ.

I truly believe that the Lord brings us to the point of failure and humiliation to show us how worthless we are in ourselves, and how utterly dependent we are on Him.  He does not want us walking in our strength to be the good and upright person we know we should be, and even desire to be.  If we are doing that, He will bring us down.  I struggled for years, wanting to be someone and something I knew deep down I was not.  God had to bring me to a breaking point.

He wants it to be His righteous goodness that shines forth in our lives.  That only comes as we surrender in utter helplessness to Him; seeking His forgiveness for the sinful creatures we really are deep down that no one else sees, and asking Him to change us and fill us with Christ. Then He has created a vessel that He can use to honor Him!

So if you feel that you are being severely chastened by the Lord, take joy!  He is purging the dross from your life, so that He can fill you with Christ!  You are His beloved child.  He will not leave you to struggle on your own in your own efforts.  He wants to empty you of self and fill you with Christ.  The purging process is not enjoyable at the moment, but when we come to see it for what it truly is –the love of our Father at work in us- it will bring us comfort and courage, and more quickly bring us to the point of being empty vessels before Him.

There is an initial breaking point, but this process is life long.  Every rod and trial is a blessing and instrument of love from our Lord.  He will be faithful to complete the good work He has begun in each of us.  He will fill us with Christ.  He will use us for His glory.

Is He truly our master?  Are we trying to walk in ourselves or are we on our knees in His loving, molding hand?  He will direct the paths of His children.  He will continue to purge us.  And as He does His transforming work in us, He will show us how to serve and love Him by serving and loving those He places around us.  Then we will shine as lights before men, and they will see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.  

 “..out of weakness were made strong…”  -Hebrews 11:34

“Now when they saw… and perceived… they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”  -Acts 4:13

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”  -Matthew 7:7,8

Trials lead to opening the door to God's endless supply

Trials reveal our weakness. 

Weakness reveals our need. 

Need moves us to pray. 

And prayer opens the door to God's endless supply.
-Paul Washer