Live as in the sight of God

“Do nothing that you would not like God to see. Say nothing you would not like God to hear. Write nothing you would not like God to read. Go no place where you would not like God to find you. Read no book of which you would not like God to say, "Show it to Me."  Never spend your time in such a way that you would not like to have God say, "What are you doing?”
- J.C. Ryle

Burn For You

 

  I heard this song for the first time on Sunday.  Incredible!  

Break my heart, take my dreams, they’re only in the way
Of what’s better than I ask or imagine
You’re my home, You’re my place, each and every word You say
Set me on fire, fire for You, fire for You

Set my heart on fire so that I can burn for You
Set my heart on fire, let them see me burn for You

A face like stone, a heart like wax and a passion for the dead
Unfailing love is what You’ve asked, You’ve imagined
The offered lives of the weakest ones are known to change the world
You set them on fire, fire for You, fire for You

Burning, having a passion for serving our God - this is something that I have been pondering lately.  Again, these thoughts were sparked by reading Foxe's Book of Martyrs. 

I love the line in the song "The offered lives of the weakest ones are known to change the world".  That is so, so true!  Not only physical death, but offering our lives in service each and every day while we live.

 

I remember a conversation I had recently, as I was sharing my thoughts about Foxe's Book of Martyrs with a friend.  We asked the question as a challenge - whether we would be strong and even willing if/when the time comes.  In my mind, of course I would.  But, being willing to give up my life for Christ when, at times, I am hardly willing to show my love for Him by doing the dishes, or cleaning the bathrooms?  These little sacrifices.  If I am unwilling to give of myself in the little things, will I be faithful in the larger things (Luke 16:10)?  This is something that I have thought of so much during the past weeks. 

 

Another conversation I had in a group setting a few weeks ago, the young people were talking about spectacular ways to die.  It really got me thinking.  If I could choose a way to die, what would it be?  Truly, the conclusion I came to was that I would wish to die as a martyr.  I have prayed for God's will in this.  I do not know when or how I will die, but He holds me in His hands, He cares for me.  He knows when and how.  He knows when I will be going home. 

 

Charles Spurgeon said that "Death is but going home."  That is so true for the Christian!  Death is only the beginning of life!

 

Revelation 14:13

Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’”

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”

 

 

 

 

1 Corinthians 15:51-58 (these verses from Sunday's sermon - the best I've heard in a long time.)

 

"Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.  So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
 

“O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
 

The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

Here is a quote from Charles Spurgeon.  I read it yesterday, and it is a great reminder that "every good and perfect gift is from above." (James 1:17)

"Whatever thou art, thou hast nothing to make thee proud.  The more thou hast, the more thou art in debt to God; and thou shouldst not be proud of that which renders thee a debtor."

I want to burn for Him, be consumed with Him, have a passion for my Lord, a burden for lost souls. I am indebted to Him, and He is alone worthy. 

Psalm 86:11
"Teach me Your way, O Lord..."

Life These Days {Blessed!}

 

Crazy, amazing, beautiful life and an unknown future...so grateful that I have a God, and not only a God, but God Almighty, my Heavenly Father, in control of my life. 

 

I have been reading through Foxe's Book of Martyrs lately.  Great conviction, blessing, and encouragement in those pages!  I read about John Hooper today and this beautiful quote gave me shivers as I read it:

 

"I have taught the truth with my tongue, and with my pen heretofore; and hereafter shortly shall confirm the same by God's grace with my blood."

-John Hooper

 

Then I finished the chapter.  As I read of Mr. Hooper's martyrdom, I was crying my eyes out! Never in my life have I cried while reading a book. I've come close before, but I couldn't hold it in today. I absolutely can not wait to meet this man someday!  Perseverance of the Saints constantly comes to mind as I read this book.

 

Another favorite quote from John Foxe:

 

"Wherein, if the power of man had prevailed, what could they not do?  Or what could they do more than they did? ...And yet, notwithstanding, to see how no counsel can stand against the Lord, note how all these be gone, and yet Christ and His Church doth stand."

 

In other unrelated news, I am getting better at multi-tasking!  I organized two drawers in my bathroom while brushing my teeth and listening to some of my favorite music.  Ok, so maybe not a big deal, but I thought it was funny.  :)  (To tell you the truth, though, I am horrible at multi-tasking and trying to work on that!)

 

While looking up some music from "The Hobbit" I came across "Leave No Man Behind" from "Black Hawk Down" (never seen the movie).  Oh. My. Goodness.  Definitely a new favorite here!  Very slow, but oh so beautiful.  Listening to it a lot these days.  :)

 



So now to bomb you with some pictures.  But don't worry.  There's not actually very many this time.  :)

These little cuties enjoyed a swim in our pond on a warmer day.  Love watching them splashing around!  It's the little things in life. 

Annnnd....now for the big warning:

Stay off the roads!  We now have three student drivers in the Armour home! 

Friday was a tough, looonnnggg, stressful, final-exam-taking kinda day.  After my exam was over, I baked gingersnaps, made some vanilla ice cream, and created this delicious little guy.  That made my evening a whole lot better! 

Soooo...Elijah and I decided to name one of the squirrels "Peterkin" after Ballantyne's humorous character in "The Coral Island". No one else likes the idea very much... :)

I'm thinking "Ralph" (another Ballantyne character in "The Coral Island", this name is also not going over very well...) for the other little guy, and we are having an impossible time coming up with names for the two little gals.  Help, please? 

We spent a sweet Sunday afternoon in the very spot my parents married nearly 24 years ago. Praise God for His incredible faithfulness! They are such a beautiful testimony of His grace.

 LOVE these awesome guys! They make me laugh like no one else can, and encourage me each day. Praise God for brothers! 

Super fun shot!  I love the genuine smiles.  They were having a ton of fun - Elijah pretending to dump Christian off his shoulders and Christian covering Elijah's eyes with his hand.  Sweet, sweet memories! 

Glorious spring day! 

Bye, y'all!  Have a blessed week full of joy in the Lord.  Worthy is the Lamb!!!

Psalm 63:1, Scotland, and an Evening Walk

Psalm 63:1

"O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water."

 

I was absolutely delighted to find this gorgeous little spot about 5 minutes from our home. This is how I imagine Scotland must look, in a way..... :)

It is just a dream, but, oh I would SO love to visit Scotland someday!

I wanted to go for a walk on a wet, c-o-l-d, windy evening, and Elijah went with me.  He is so, so good to me!  Praise God for the immeasurable blessing of godly, gentlemanly brothers!  I am so undeservedly blessed. 

 

Some Random Beauty and Cuteness from the Past Week

What a blessed life I have.  I must be honest and confess that I do not always see my life as beautiful, but it is.  I have a gracious God who forgives me, a beautiful Saviour who died for me, and the Holy Spirit working in my life, conforming me more to the image of Christ.  That is the hard part, the sanctification.  But I am grateful for my life, even if it is not what I, in my finite foolishness, would have chosen. God, in His infinite wisdom, had my life planned before He created the world, and He has known me since forever. :)

 

I read Psalm 36 this morning.  Verse 5 "Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, and Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds." struck me and reminded me of Isaiah 55:9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts."  I may not understand His ways, because they are infinitely higher than mine, but His faithfulness and mercy reach just as high.  He loves me, He treasures me, and He forgives my weakensses.  What a GLORIOUS thing it is to be a child of the one true God!  This is why life is beautiful!  I am redeemed, and nothing can seperate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:39).

 

I didn't mean to get into all of that, but it just kind of happened.  :)  I'm listening to some gorgeous classical music - Vivaldi's "Four Seasons".  There is something special about having some favorite music playing, windows open to the beautiful, fresh, delicious smelling Spring breeze, thinking grateful thoughts, and watching my little brothers riding their bikes up and down the driveway.   See, I told you my life was blessed!  :)  :)

 

I would like to share a few (a few to me is more than 3 when we are talking about pictures) :) random pictures from the past week.  I love glorious sunsets, my brothers, our dogs, our new pet cat, Archie (who is actually a girl - whoops!), my awesome Mama who did something for me that you will see near the end of this post, and my Papa who works so hard and encourages me especially on the hard days. I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures as much as I loved taking them.

 

I was practicing my puppy cry, and Teddy thought I was nuts! :)

This is "Archie", named after Sir Archie Forbes in G.A. Henty's wonderful book, In Freedom's Cause.  I named the cat, and the boys don't particularly like my choice.  Hmmm.

Jeremiah built a house for Archie and is planning to put metal siding and shingles on it. It has two levels, a bedroom, and a "front porch".  Spoiled cat!  :) Is that not the sweetest thing!?! 

This is one of my favorite expressions! 

Little Mr. Bright Eyes.

A sunset as viewed over our pond earlier this week.  I thought of a line in Matt Redman's 10,000 Reasons as I was photographing it:

"Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes!"

Cutie pie!

And here's what my awesome Mama did for me.  She's the best!

Love, love, love sitting on the edge of the dock and dangling my feet over the water below.

Have a blessed and beautiful week, y'all!  Find something to be super grateful for today, like...doing the dishes!  :)

"Being thankful for everything conquers a self-pityig spirit"

~Kim Brenneman (from Large Family Logistics)

Quick Update

Hello everyone, and happy new year (ummm...really late!).  :)  I hope to begin posting more faithfully, and sharing little bits and pieces of my life with y'all.  So much is happening, has happened, and, I know, will happen in this glorious new year.  I'm grateful that my God is in control, and that He is leading me.  I have so much to share with y'all but for now, I just wanted to share a quote that made me laugh so hard earlier today:

"Photographers are violent people.  First they frame you, then they shoot you, then they hang you on the wall." 
And Elijah says that after we photographers shoot them, we sometimes blow them up too.  Oh, I do sound like a horrible person!  :)

I hope y'all have a blessed week!  I'll be posting again soon, Lord willing!  :)
Psalm 145

The Duty of Prayer

The neglect of the duty of prayer seems to be inconsistent with supreme love to God, and is against the will of God so plainly revealed.  Living in such a neglect is inconsistent with leading a holy life.

How is a life, in a great measure prayerless, consistent with a holy life?  To lead a holy life is to lead a life devoted to God, a life of worshipping and serving God, a life consecrated to the service of God.  But how does he lead such a life who does not so much as maintain the duty of prayer?  How can such a man be said to walk by the Spirit, and to be a servant of the Most High God?

A holy life is a life of faith.  The life that true Christians live in the world, they live by the faith of the Son of God.  But who can believe that that man lives by faith who lives without prayer, which is the natural expression of faith?  Prayer is as natural an expression of faith as breathing is of life; and to say that a man lives a life of faith and lives a prayerless life is every whit as inconsistent and incredible as to say that a man lives without breathing. A prayerless life is so far from being a holy life that it is a profane life.  He who lives so lives like a heathen who does not call on God's name.  He who lives a prayerless life lives without God in the world.

-Jonathan Edwards in his book The True Believer

Prayer



I can't tell you how much I love seeing this every Sunday!

John Knox defined prayer as "An earnest and familiar talking with God."

Today, I found this quote in a book that I am currently reading called A Scottish Christian Heritage.

"Prayer begets and maintains holy courage and magnanimity in evil times.  When all things about you tend to discouragement, it is your being with Jesus that makes you bold (Acts 4:13).  He that uses to be before a great God will not be afraid to look such little things as men are in the face."

-John Flavel

Infinite

Here is a poem that a dear friend sent me during a difficult time in my life.  It blessed me more than she will ever know!  I hope that you are encouraged by it as well.

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase,
To added affliction He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half-done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father's full giving is only begun.
His love has no limit, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men,
For our of His infinite riches in Jesus,
He giveth and giveth and giveth again.
- Annie Johnson Flint

Boys Wanted

Boys of spirit, boys of will,
Boys of muscle, brain and power,
Fit to cope with anything,
These are wanted every hour.

Not the weak and whining drones,
Who all troubles magnify;
Not the watchword of "I can't,"
But the nobler one, "I'll try."

Do whate'er you have to do
With a true and earnest zeal;
Bend your sinews to the task,
"Put your shoulders to the wheel."

Though your duty may be hard,
Look not on it as an ill;
If it be an honest task,
Do it with an honest will.

In the workshop, on the farm,
At the desk, where'er you be,
From your future efforts, boys,
Comes a nation's destiny.

 

Rules Of Holy Living

Rules Of Holy Living

By Adoniram Judson

1. Be diligent in secret prayer, every morning and evening.

2. Never spend a moment in mere idleness.

3. Restrain natural appetites within the bounds of temperance and purity.  "Keep thyself pure."

4. Suppress every emotion of anger and ill-will.

5. Undertake nothing from motives of ambition or love of fame.

6. Never do that which, at the moment, appears to be displeasing to God.

7. Seek opportunities of making some sacrifice for the good of others, especially of believers, provided the sacrifices is not inconsistent with some duty.

8. Endeavor to rejoice in every loss and suffering incurred for Christ's sake and the gospel's, remembering that though, like death, they are not wilfully incurred, yet, like death, they are great gain.

God, Wretchedness, and the Balance

I have recently been reading Pensees by Blaise Pascal, an apologia for the Christian faith.  I haven't gotten very far, but I have found it to be very interesting and I wanted to share a quote with you that I really liked:

"Knowing God without knowing our own wretchedness makes for pride.

Knowing our own wretchedness without knowing God makes for despair.

Knowing Jesus Christ strikes the balance because He shows us both God and our own wretchedness."

Christopher Love

  
 Is Christ the author of this glorified life?  Then live in magnifying the riches of the grace and mercy that is in Jesus Christ.

   Here is grace beyond compare, that Christ brings life to you who brought death to Him!  That Christ gives glory to you who brought shame to Him!  Christ gives a heaven  to you who thought the earth too good for Him!  Christ pleads to His Father for you who contradicted Him, Hebrews 12:3, " He suffered the contradiction of sinners."   Jesus Christ crowns you with a crown of glory to your honor who put a crown of thorns upon Christ's head to His disgrace.  O magnify this grace that shows you kindness for your unkindness, love for your hatred, good turns for the ill turns you have done Him.  You have great cause to magnify the greatness of this mercy.  The patience of a man would have been worn out long ere this with the many and deadly provocations which you have offered to Jesus Christ.  Had not His patience been infinite, it would  have worn out before this day.  O magnify Christ, that He should be the author of eternal life for such unworthy creatures as we are!

- Christopher Love
- The Works of Christopher Love

Redeem the Time

 I do not consider lateness to be merely impolite;

as far as I am concerned, it is a sin against God! 

This is His work and He has called us to it. 

To steal His time is to blaspheme against what He is trying to accomplish here!

--John Winthrop--

Ephesians 5:15-16

 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Hebrews 12:1-2

 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.