_Ode to Myra for Her Birthday_ (An Application of Prov 31)

My wife Myra is truly an excellent wife.
I am so happy that the Lord has enabled me to find her.
She is truly worth more than anything I have besides my faith in Christ.
My heart fully trusts her with everything she has responsibility over.
She brings me great gain in growing my character, raising children, frugality, and love.
She constantly does good to me in word and deed.
She works with her hands at cleaning, preparing meals, homeschooling, playing taxi, and millions of other things.
She almost always has a sunny disposition and is delighted in Christ.
She gathers our groceries from Publix, Walmart, and Costco.
She rises early to pray, read, prepare meals, make coffee, or prepare homeschooling.
She takes care of whatever household decisions need to be made including buying a home.
She works out to stay strong and in shape.
She stays up late at night making sure that everything necessary for the next day is covered.
She reaches out to help people in need through discipleship, fellowship, encouragement and special needs.
She makes sure her family is prepared for various seasons with clothing.
She keeps herself pretty for me.
My best reputation is that I am married to her.
She encourages me greatly by her strength, dignity, and optimistic outlook for the future.
She has great wisdom to share and is my valued counselor.
She is always kind in her teaching of the kids and other ladies.
She is always a hard worker who takes care of her home well.
Our children sing her praises and think that she is cute and beautiful.
I praise her, saying:
“Many daughters have done nobly, But you excel them all.”
It is true that: “Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.”
My wife is truly a woman who fears the Lord.  This is because of her love of the Gospel and her camping daily at the foot of the cross.
Signed - Brian

Peacemaking in our Marriages

"So how do we begin to restore our relationships?  How do we overcome the sinful desires that are causing fights and quarrels in our marriages?  If we are to restore and overcome, if we are to become people who desire God above all, it will be by hearing again and again the glorious story of God's pursuit of us!  The call to love (Eph. 5:1-2) and the call for husbands to love their wives (v. 25) both follow the announcement that Christ has and continues to love us (v. 2)."
                                                                                   The Peacemaking Pastor by Alfred Poirier

Fight for Purity in Heart

Romans 8:13 says, "If you put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit, you will live."

This means that when you are struck with some type of impure thought of any kind (not just sexual, it could be gossip or hatred) you need to fight with your mind to say "no" to the image or thought!  Then mightily labor to fill your mind with counter-images or counter-words that kill off the temptation.  Scripture is a good replacement. Too many people think they have struggled with temptation when they have prayed for deliverance, and hoped the desire would go away.  That is too passive.  Yes, it is true that God works in us to will and to work for His good pleasure. But the effect is that we must "work out our salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12-13).  Gouging out your eye in Matthew 5:28-29 may be a metaphor, but it still means we should do something very drastic.  Our minds are "muscles" to be flexed for purity, and in the Christian they are supercharged with the Spirit of Christ.  Don't give impure thoughts even 5 seconds before you have mounted a violent counter attack with the mind.  Cry out "no!" Pray! And fix your mind on counter-images and thoughts. Demand of your mind to fix its gaze on Christ on the cross.

A Study on Mercy

"God's mercy is his tenderhearted, loving compassion for His people.  It is His tenderness of heart toward the needy.  If grace contemplates man as sinful, guilty, and condemned, mercy sees him as miserable and needy. The psalmist said, "As a father pities His children, so the Lord pities those who fear him." (Ps. 103:13)  Similar ideas are found in Deuteronomy 5:10; Psalm 57:10; and Psalm 86:5.  The attribute of mercy is seen in the pitying concern of Jehovah for the people of Israel who were in bondage to the Egyptians.  He heard their cry and knew their sufferings (Exod. 3:7).It is also seen in the compassion which Jesus felt when people suffering from physical ailments came to him (Mark 1:41).  Their spiritual condition also moved Him.  (Matt. 9:36).  Sometimes both kinds of needs are involved.  Thus, in describing the same incident, Matthew speaks of Jesus having compassion and healing the sick (Matt. 14:14), while Mark speaks of His having compassion and teaching many things (Mark6:34).  Matthew elsewhere combines the two ideas.  When Jesus saw the crowds were helpless like sheep without a shepherd, He had compassion on them.  So he went about "teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity"  (Matt. 9:35-36)."

                                                                         from Christian Theology by Millard J. Erickson

Personal Devotions and Purposeful Study

I want to encourage you today to pursue having daily prayerful meditation where you seek personal application of God's Gospel truths to your own heart and life.  I also want to encourage you to regular study in a class, or with a book, where you learn from teachers who have seen and lived things that that you may not have and can give you insight in 30 minutes that might otherwise take you ten years to see.  I encourage this because I care about you and want you to find ways to sustain the joy we have in Jesus.