~Pearls~

"I wish, brothers and sisters, that we could all imitate "the pearl oyster"--A hurtful particle intrudes itself into its shell, and this vexes and grieves it. It cannot reject the evil, but what does it do but "cover" it with a precious substance extracted out of its own life, by which it turns the intruder into a pearl! Oh, that we could do so with the provocations we receive from our fellow Christians, so that pearls of patience, gentleness, and forgiveness might be bred within us by that which otherwise would have harmed us."

~Charles Spurgeon

Our Words...

"People who are loved the way we are loved should have lives marked by extreme thanksgiving and laughter because of the mercy and generosity of our King. If we've got this kind of joy resident in our hearts, we won't have to resort to the kind of crude joking and filthy talk that marks the hearts of those looking for happiness in a world devoid of grace. Walking in His love is not so much an issue of which words may or may not be spoken, but a realization that His love is so astounding, so overwhelming, that it precludes complaining (the primary use of swear words) and crudities. This kind of speech is fueled by revenge or boastful self-love and a desire to be thought clever, edgy, funny, a man or woman of the world. Paul's imperative is that we avoid this kind of speech because it is "out of place." It's "out of place" because we no longer have to struggle to make a name for ourselves, nor hope that someone will love us, give us what we think we need, or find us clever. We're freed from this pursuit because we've been immeasurably loved by God, and our résumé has already been written; we're more sinful and flawed than than we ever dared believe, but more loved and welcomed than we ever dared hope."

~Elyse Fitzpatrick

Foundation stones of greater happiness...

"When you think He (God) is farthest from you, or has even turned against you, the truth is that as you cling to Him, He is laying foundation stones of greater happiness in your life."

~John Piper

He leadeth me beside still waters...

Friday afternoon, during my receptionist duties at the PRC, I had an opportunity to babysit my friend's sweet, smiley baby while she met with a client. :-) So I wrapped up a few of my projects in the office and slipped my sunglasses on as I took Nora on our little expedition in her stroller.

We walked along a beautiful scenic river-way, discovering so much beauty. The birds were singing, the water rushed by, and the trees shadowed the beautiful plant-lined trial.

Psalm 23 came to mind... and I went over it in my mind...

The Lord is my Shepherd; 
I shall not want. 
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: 
He leadeth me beside the still waters. 
He restoreth my soul: 
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. 
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 
I will fear no evil: 
for thou art with me;
 Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. 
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
 Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: 
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.          

The Lord used this time to remind me of His great faithfulness, goodness, and trustworthiness. I can put my life in His hands. He is enough. He knows what's best. Mercy and goodness are following His children every day.

And? He included a happy baby into this wonderful time of praising Him. :-) He always knows what we need and somehow sees fit to give us extra... <3

~Where joy is~

Picture credit goes to my sister, Alyssa. 

"You make known to me the path of life;

    in Your presence there is fullness of joy;

    at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

~Psalms 16:11

I've always loved this verse, but sometimes it's easy to read the Bible without application, isn't it? Well, I was recently encouraged to daily remind myself of this verse and apply it to the moment...

~That in the presence of the Lord we find fullness of joy.

~At His right hand we will find pleasures that last forever and ever.

Such precious and amazing reminders of where to focus our eyes on through the daily hustle of life!

~Our Treasure~

Yes! I love this quote:

"When God's forgiveness and acceptance have freed us from fear and pride and greed, we are filled with a zeal to love others the way we have been loved. We risk our possessions and our lives since we are secure in Christ. When we love others like this, our behavior is contrary to human self-enhancement and self-preservation. Attention is thus drawn to our life-transforming Treasure and Security, namely, God."
~John Piper

A summer update... =)

With a little sweetie at a Run for the PRC!

Hello, friends!

These summer days have been filled with so much learning... so much is going on, and getting my thoughts together for a blog post hasn't been the easiest! (I am doing well though...)

And here's a quote I just ran across. So good.

"In this life, there will be plenty of reasons to worry. But we have more reasons to trust. God has been more than faithful in the past. Because He sent Jesus to rescue us from our sin, we can trust Him with all our worries and fears, today and every tomorrow. When life’s unexpected challenges and overwhelming tasks tempt us to worry, when our to-do list gets long and sleep evades us, let us look to the cross and believe, trusting in what God has already done, and what He said He would do."
~Christina Fox

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And if you would like to contact me, I would love to hear from you anytime and will for sure make a point to write back! My address is: whitefrosting8 (@) gmail (dot) com

Blessings! 

~Jesus Paid It All~

I hear the Savior say,

“Thy strength indeed is small;

Child of weakness, watch and pray,

Find in Me thine all in all.”

For nothing good have I

Whereby Thy grace to claim,

I’ll wash my garments white

In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.

And now complete in Him

My robe His righteousness,

Close sheltered ’neath His side,

I am divinely blest.

Lord, now indeed I find

Thy power and Thine alone,

Can change the leper’s spots

And melt the heart of stone.

When from my dying bed

My ransomed soul shall rise,

“Jesus died my soul to save,”

Shall rend the vaulted skies.

And when before the throne

I stand in Him complete,

I’ll lay my trophies down

All down at Jesus’ feet.

Jesus paid it all,

All to Him I owe;

Sin had left a crimson stain,

He washed it white as snow.

~Inexhaustible grace~

"Grace,... allows me to hear the hardest things about my flaws and patterns of sin because I know, by grace, that there is no flaw I can discover nor any sin I can unearth that can ever decimate my life. I cannot be any more loved and accepted than I am by the Lord who loves me with the full knowledge of what I have done, am doing, and will do; I have unshakable confidence that nothing can reduce His love for me. Therefore, I am free to admit my desperation. In so doing, I can experience real change, which is the very power of the kingdom of heaven in my life.

What marks kingdom people as genuine Christians is that they keep coming back to this one thing - the inexhaustible grace of God, knowing that it is all we have and all we need."
~Elyse Fitzpatrick

The Lord is good...

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;

Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!"

Psalm 34:8

~New mercies for each day~

I have been learning lately the value of focusing on one day at a time... focusing on God's great love for me... and focusing on His sovereignty.

There is something within each of us, that wants to control our lives, isn't there? But it is a fruitless pursuit. It is a road filled with worry and anxiety. No matter how hard we try we are incredibly insufficient to plan our life out.

And to add a little note: I'm not necessarily saying we shouldn't plan or have dreams and goals, but that we should focus on today and eternity mostly and hold those dreams/plans for the future lightly. As Corrie Ten Boom aptly puts it: "Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open."

So here comes faith. God IS indeed in control. And that is good news... yet, I find there's a daily surrender I have to do to refocus my mind on His majesty and my dependence. Placing hopes and dreams on the Lover of my soul, who has planned life out.

So I'm learning to refocus on the truth. Trust in Him. Because fretting "only causes harm"... (Psalm 37:8b).

And what does the Bible tell us to do instead?
Let's look here:
"Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in Him, and He will act.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him..."
~Psalm 37:3-7

There's so much direction packed into those verses, isn't there?

His mercies are new for each day. They're happening right now. They're not for tomorrow yet...

Our loving Father holds our lives in His hand. Nothing can stop His sovereign plans!

Take heart with me, and let's delight in our God and His mercies for today! =) =)

~Jesus Christ is so much better~

"Jesus Christ is so much better than getting what you think you want right now... every situation that comes into our lives is meant to make us more like Christ and to bring Him glory."

~Elyse Fitzpatrick

Jesus has overcome...

I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” 

~John 16:33

Ah, friends!! I hope you are all doing well...
These have been busy days... and somewhat challenging days for me.

God is showing me the value of moment by moment dependence on Him. Refining me. Causing me to press into Jesus, the sovereign One. What a trustworthy Savior He is! He loves His children more than we can fathom!

When the way seems unclear and anxieties want to thrive, I'm learning that moment by moment, when I turn my eyes on the Lord, peace comes.  Anchoring myself in God's goodness!

He is faithful.

He is all powerful.

He has everything in His hand.

We are not alone...

So I turn and listen to Him...

And His words bring comfort.

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

~Psalm 46:10

He created *all* things. Every human heart. Everything. It's by His will that they exist and were created. Nothing escapes His notice. 

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
    to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
    and by your will they existed and were created.”

~Revelation 4:11

He is so worthy of our praise! He is working all things for our good and making us more like His Son.

We're more than conquerors through Him! So let's be still and know that in every moment God is working all things His glory!!

When life seems overwhelming may we run to Jesus who has overcome the world!

A quote for the day...

"...God is gracious and sovereign even when He is silent." ~John Piper

Words of life...

This morning as I read in the Bible I came across these verses in Philippians 4:

"...do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
 verses 6-7

These verses never fail to point me in the right direction! What an amazing promise of peace we have when we earnestly pray and give thanks to the Lord. Giving Him our burdens.

It's so easy to become anxious, isn't it?  But praying shows our dependence on the faithful One ~ Jesus! God's grace is here for each moment...

~~~~

Do you have any Bible verses you would like to share? Life verses or recent portions that you've come across that have blessed you?
Leave them below in the comment section! I would be encouraged to read them! Thank you! :-)

Keep resting in the Sovereign One, friends!

Things to be thankful for...

Recently I read a small book about the sovereignty of God in the sweet and bitter times of life. What a blessing that was to read...

To remember that God is working all things for good. Anxiousness adds nothing to our lives. It only takes away. It drains us. But if God cares for the grass and lilies of the field {and He does}~ what have we to worry about?

Aren't we showing that we don't believe there is a God in those moments? Could worry show a momentary atheism?

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. {Matthew 6:31-33}

What if, instead of worry, I were thankful for each moment God gives. Seeing that He is everything we need.  And knowing that He loves His beloved far more than we can imagine. His sovereign hand is ruling everything... and it is all for our good and His glory.

That truth gives hope, yes?

I found this in A Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent (yes... I'm enjoying this book so much! :-) )...
This is a wonderful list of things we can be thankful for.

1. My God is immense beyond imagination. He measured the entire universe with merely the span of His hand. {Isaiah 40:12}

2. He is unimaginably awesome in all of His perfections, absolutely righteous, holy, and just in all of His ways. {Deuteronomy 32:3-4}

3. He has also been unbelievably good and merciful to me as the Creator and Sustainer of my life.

4. Every breath, every heartbeat, every function of every organ in my body is a gift from Him.

5. Every legitimate pleasure I experience is a gift from His loving hand to me. {1 timothy 6:17, Acts 14:17}

6. All that I am and all that I have I owe to Him and to His goodness. {James 1:17}

7. My life in every way is, and will continue to be utterly dependent upon Him in whom I love and have my being. {Acts 17:28

8. This wonderful God is the most supremely worthy Object of admiration, honor, and delight in all of the universe; {Psalm 96:3-7, Revelation 4:11, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 37:4}

9. And He has created me with the intention that I might glorify Him by finding my soul's delight in Him and by living in joyful obedience to Him in all of my ways.{Psalm 37:4, Deuteronomy 5:28-29}

We have a great God. We have a sovereign God. And we have much to be thankful for, friends!!

~All Things Crucified~

This morning I sat at the end of my bed before joining my family at the breakfast table. Picking up a new book I recently bought called A Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent. I read. Read until my eyes rested on these words:


"... When called to do something I don't want to do, I must die. When I wish to be selfish and serve no one, I must die. When shattered by hardships that I despise, I must die. When wanting to cling to wrongs done against me, I must die. When enticed by allurements of the world, I must die. When wishing to keep besetting sins secret, I must die. When wants that are borderline needs are left unmet, I must die. When dreams that are good seem shoved aside, I must die.

"Not My will, but Yours be done," Christ trustingly prayed on the eve of His crucifixion; and preaching His story to myself each day puts me in a frame of mind to trust God and embrace the cross of my own dying also."

I know that could sound gloomy, but it was exactly what I needed to read. And I have had many opportunities to put this in to practice today. What peace it brings!

Saying yes to all my Father brings me each day... saying no, to the road of ease.


I could write on, but this is something I'm learning and grasping. Instead of writing more I'll leave you with this verse to ponder along with me...

"...He said to all, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me." ~Luke 9:23

Caring, loving, and speaking for those who cannot.

It was late 2012. I sat in church listening to a missionary share about her mission work in Brazil.

I was at a point in my life of desperately wanting to get into something mission related. The desire to see shackled souls freed, and spread the joy and peace that the gospel brings and rescue and care for the orphan...

As this missionary talked and answered questions, it lead to the topic of children that go missing in the streets of Brazil. Children who go missing from child sacrifice in black magic. My heart broke and the urge to rescue these precious children bubbled within me...

And then it occurred to me. Right here, right now in my own country and in my own backyard thousands of innocent lives are being slaughtered on the alter of pleasure. How can I turn a blind eye to this? Should I not be faithful to combat the evil that is at hand, right where I am?!

That's when the Lord showed me something that He cared about deeply and something He wanted me to care about as well. He patiently took me through misgivings and fears and in an amazing way lead me straight to volunteering at a pregnancy resource center.

The facts of abortion and the extent of it is staggering and incredibly grieving...

"America, as a nation, is highly committed by law and by practice to a form of mass murder…. This nation, which certainly prides itself on its humanitarianism, is in a murderous cycle of violence that makes the Nazi Holocaust look mild by comparison. Nearly 2,000,000 babies are aborted a year in America. Every third baby conceived now is being murdered. Among teenage women there are 736 abortions for every 1,000 births. Among married women abortions now exceed births! More babies are killed than are born. Some would tell us that there is an abortion about every 15 seconds in America." -John MacArthur

So I share all of this for a few reasons...

To encourage any of you with a heart for reaching out to the hurting, to pray specifically for God to show you ways to help. God will answer your prayers for direction even if you don't think the road He's taking you on is exactly what you had in mind at first!

Remind yourself of the promises of God so that  fear and your feeling of inadequacy won't grip you and hold you back from the joy of serving. Over and over God uses weak people in the Bible. He still does. His grace is sufficient.

Ask God to open your eyes to the cry of the innocent. There are so many ways to reach out. Not only is abortion a huge issue, but modern day slavery is sweeping this world with injustice and cruelty like never before. There are many ways to help right in your near surroundings. May our hearts beat for what our heavenly Father's heart beats for, and may we each in our sphere of influence be the hands and feet of our Savior to spread His immeasurable joy and the good news of the gospel to all!

Open your mouth for the speechless, 
In the cause of all who are appointed to die.
⁹ Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And plead the cause of the poor and needy. 
~Proverbs 31:8-9

After writing this I listened to a talk given by David Mathis on Mission and Disciple Making. I highly recommend it!! Super encouraging and goes along the lines of the "heart" of this post. :) 

Alive!

"But He was pierced for our transgressions;

He was crushed for our iniquities;

upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with His wounds we are healed."
~Isaiah 53:5

Happy Resurrection Sunday, my friends!! :)

I'm awed at the amazing love we find at the foot of the cross. All of our filthy sin, Jesus took upon Himself and we are washed ~ washed as white as snow.

The cross is empty, the stone is rolled away from the tomb and Jesus is no longer there! No longer dead.

He. is. alive! 

Triumphing gloriously over death and over sin! He is completely victorious ~ Hallelujah!

"Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations..."
Luke 24:46-48

A time of learning and growth...

Well, time has flown and I haven't yet shared about my time at the Counseling training I went to in the Twin Cities two weekends ago!!

It was so, so good!! God worked in amazing ways.

I had the joy of sitting through 10 hours of Biblical teaching. Sometimes it was overwhelming but it was a good kind of overwhelming! ;)

Notes in my notebook!!

Peace and joy have flooded my heart so many times since then, as I reflect on the truth I learned. Truly, the word of God is sufficient for helping our deepest needs. I wish I could share everything I learned from it with you all, but I'll just share a few things that "hit home."

Some highlights:
~ Jesus alone satisfies our deepest desires and needs for love, approval, hope, etc...
~As children who are in Christ we have all the approval we will ever need! And in the end it's the voice of our Savior that matters. Approval from man is "like garbage."
~When we can fix the root problem (the sin issue), and then apply the Word of God to it and repent, good fruit will come.
~The goal God has for us is to become more like His son. It's not that our goals for ourselves are inherently wrong, but they can become a distraction to what His goal is for us (pleasing Him).

I have two more weekends left of training!!

Oh, and I don't normally share personal pictures here but I thought it would be fun to post a few.... :)

With my friend Breezy who went to the same sessions! 

Over the training weekend I stayed with my friend Amy and her parents  What a joy that was! And I had so much fun playing her harp! :-)

With Amy! :-)