Quips and Quotes
"We do not earn or merit anything by taking refuge in God. Hiding in something makes no contribution to the hiding place. All it does is show that we regard ourselves as helpless and the hiding place as a place of rescue." John Piper

Saturday, September 9, 2017
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Think On These Wondrous Things! And Have a Joyous Christmas!
"But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart." (Luke 2:19)
Mary Had a Mindset Beyond Her Difficulties
Regardless of the stigma society placed on Mary for having been pregnant out of wedlock, and the shame that others connected to her as the babe grew within her, regardless of the scorn she received from onlookers, she choose not to think on those things.Rather Mary treasured in her heart what was true - she had given birth to Messiah and was now seeing God confirm for her, through the shepherds, that it was indeed so. She was thrilled at what God was bringing to pass. She thought on these miraculous and marvelous happenings which were unfolding before her very eyes.
What About Me?
Should it be any different in my own life? Should I not ponder and treasure how God is at work within me to sanctify me, to change me daily into the image of His Beloved Son? Everyday, every moment, Christ is abiding in me. The Holy Spirit teaches me the things of God and comforts me in any affliction. Everyday, my Triune God speaks truth into my life. Everyday He walks with me and tells me that I am His own. He is actually my Father; Jesus is my friend, brother, Savior and Lord; the Holy Spirit dwells in me and reveals these glorious details to me. Everyday He is proving Himself to be more than I ever dreamed or imagined.
A Mindset That Leads to Worship
These are the things that I should be thinking on and when they are, worship just happens. With every thought that Mary treasured, her mind was taken upward to behold her amazing God. This is worship. This is adoration. This is pure delight in the Lord's presence!
A Mindset That Reveres Scripture
And this treasuring of the things of God as they unfold in my life is exactly what I am commanded to think on in Philippians 4:8. "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is just, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."
Certainly we can say, "God is truth (John 14:6). He is just, Who died for the unjust (1 Peter 3:18). He is right and righteous altogether (1 John 3:7). He is pure and holy without any taint of sin (Habakkuk 1:13; 1 Peter 1:15-16). He is the loveliest of ten thousand and more (Psalm 135:3). He is of the most glorious repute, having been bestowed with the Name which is above every name (Philippians 2:9). He is excellent in greatness (Psalm 150:2) and in name (Hebrews 1:4). And is there anyone or anything more worthy of praise than our gracious and kind God (Psalm 146:1)? Absolutely not!
A Mindset That Becomes a Way of Life
The command in Philippians tells us to dwell on these things, to let our minds be governed by what is true, etc. So when are we to think in this way? Is it to be just at Christmas time? We see Mary dwelling on these things at her Son and Savior's birth, but did that mindset change once Jesus was walking, growing older, becoming a man?
In Luke 2:51-52 we see Jesus at the age of 12. He had grown and was now considered a man by Jewish culture. He had gone with His parents to Jerusalem for Passover. When they left to go back home to Nazareth, He stayed behind at the temple, unbeknownst to them. Luke 2:46 tells us, "...after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions."
After finding their Son, they left with Him to travel back home. Once more in Luke we read, "And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men."
Twelve years after His birth, we find Mary still pondering on the wonderful workings of her God as they unfolded in her life. This mindset had become her habit.
This mindset would be the very thing that would enable Mary to face the crucifixion of her Son and continue to trust God when her life would otherwise have fallen apart.
A Mindset That Speaks of the Very Heart Of Christmas
And so it should be for me and anyone else who knows the Savior. He is so very personal to His beloved ones, to those who trust and revere Him. How can we fail to let our minds think on those things He shows us? And then how can we not worship this precious One who came, as a lowly babe in human flesh, the Just One, Who died for the unjust so that we might know and love Him and be loved by Him?
Surely this is the true meaning, the very heart and essence of Christmas!
"Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth." (Colossians 3:2

Tuesday, May 13, 2014
God is Not Only Able, He is Also Willing
A. W. Pink
Who was this woman?
How and what did she know about Jesus?
It is quite amazing then that she would even approach Jesus. In reading the story, Jesus seems to be very reluctant to respond favorably to her and her request. She seems to be a bother to Him, in fact. But this is simply not the case, as we shall see.Somehow this woman knew some very basics facts about Jesus. She must have seen Him healing others and heard the many accounts about Him that swirled about the region - accounts of those who had not been refused by Him.
What made this woman so confident in approaching Jesus?
Am I as confident and persistent as the Canaanite woman?
Our understanding of the Lord's willingness is crucial to actually receiving what we ask for. In this story, it is a foregone conclusion that if this woman had not persisted in her asking, had she walked away dejected because of what seemed to be a refusal by Jesus, she would not have been commended for her faith, nor would her daughter have been healed.Moving Mountains
We don't believe You're able.
SKK
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Teach Me, My Lord, to Pray! Yes, Teach Me to Pray!
And the book of James tells me, "You do not have because you do not ask" (James 4:2b). There is far too much truth in that. So once again, this morning, I am asking of the Lord, as did the disciples, to teach me to pray (Luke 11:1). Notice that they did not ask Jesus to teach them "how to pray", but simply "to pray". I am asking Him to increase my faith so that in my asking, I know He will answer since He is not only able, but also so very willing because of His great goodness, mercy and love.
I am asking Him to burden me with His purposes and call me to pray for those very things that He has determined will be accomplished through prayer (Matthew 6:10). I am asking Him to call me to pray without ceasing (1Thessalonians 5:16-18) so that I may see Him and His answers also without ceasing and be filled with joy in glorifying Him in those prayers (John 16:24; John 14:13).
Yes, and I am asking Him to teach me to pray so that I may behold His beauty (Psalm 27:4). Sitting at my Savior's feet I am thereby made rich all the day with His presence and His unbounding joy. I am asking Him to teach me to pray so that, by beholding Him, I may become transformed into His likeness and be less like myself (2 Corinthians 3:18). I am asking Him to teach me to pray because, most of all, I want more of Christ, I want more of my kind Father and I want more of the sweet Spirit filling me with their fullness each and everyday.
I want more of this incomprehensible Triune God, who, out of His great heart of love, mercy and grace has poured out upon me such a kindness that can never be known apart from Him. It is not possible to describe the love I find in His presence when I commune with Him. He is love! So my heart swells with great waves of His affection heaped so generously within me and upon me that I am filled to overflowing with Him and all that He is.
And yet, with this effusive beneficence found at my Savior's feet, I can actually get so distracted in the wee hours that I miss out on Him. I can listen to the demanding needs of the day and forsake time spent at the throne of grace for the sake of doing some menial task, which is soon undone, only to have to be done again. And can I not do that task after I meet with the Lord? Will it not be there for me then? Of course it will!
By neglecting time with my Lord, I remain in my poor, forgetful, drowsy state for the remainder of the day. I am not rich with His love or kindness toward others, especially in my thoughts. Since I have not partaken of His wisdom (James 1:5), I will be prone to my own discretion, which is simply moral and so ordinary and most of the time just plain wrong. Any ethical unredeemed man or woman could produce and does produce this lowly wisdom. But I want the wisdom from above that "is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere" (James 3:17). This is not ordinary earthly wisdom, which is all I am capable of without having invited Wisdom Personified into my day.
And what else will I lack having had no time for my Lord? When temptation confronts me, I may not even be aware (sleepy, as were the disciples in the garden with Jesus) for I have not watched and prayed with Him. I will cave in or at best, I will crave that which is set before me (though I will probably say "no" to it), instead of possessing a passion and love so significant for my Savior that nothing touches my joy in Him. Temptations loose their power when I abide with Christ and He with me.
Of course joy will be absent, as will peace, contentment, patience, a soft answer, assuming the best of someone, thoughts that honor Christ. But most of all, I give up the sense of His sweet, empowering presence and my overarching love for Him.
So I continue to ask, "Lord, teach me to pray!"
Father, how good You are! You give Your child Your ear so graciously and freely. You have nothing but good ordained for me. And as You said, Lord Jesus, as a parent, I delight to give my children what they ask for. How much more, then, do You delight in giving me that which I request, for You are completely free of any heart defect. You are perfect and holy and the very definition of LOVE. It is to You that I pray; it is to You that I come; it is in You that I trust; it is You that I want.
Teach me, my Lord, to pray! Yes, teach me to pray!
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
"If I am Being Perfected in Christ, Why do I Keep Sinning (So Often)?" Or, "I Just Keep Getting So Dirty While Camping Here Below!"
So, I am beginning to understand (after much perplexity), why I just cannot seem to get this Christian life together. After all, I’ve been a Christian now for 39 years. By now, I should have figured it out - you know, “practice makes perfect”, right? WRONG!!!
Camping in the Dirt
Before I go any further, you must know about a camping trip I went on with my entire family 31 years ago. This story will help both of us (you and I) sort out the spiritual truths I’ll be referring to later in this post.

We camped up in the mountains, surrounded by beauty. You know the scene - an infinity of pungent pine trees in countless shades of green, a beautiful glassy indigo lake, big billowy white cotton-like clouds. You’ve been there, right? But there was more dirt, more fine brown powdery, yet clingy earth than there was anything else. Dirt was absolutely everywhere - on the ground, in our tents, in the trees hanging over our heads, in our shoes, on our picnic tables, and all too often on us as well.
The three two-year olds had a ball. Laura, my brother’s daughter, was the oldest. The next oldest was our daughter, Bethany, and the youngest was my sister’s daughter, Stephanie.

But one of the three decided she wanted to explore. Can you guess which one? Of course, it was my munchkin! Bethany was all over the place. As a result, dirt followed her everywhere. Cute, demure little thing - blond hair, blue eyes, button nose, sweet smile, dressed in pink - covered in dirt!
So I gave her a bath, as difficult as that was in a place that had no showers. But scrubbing the dirt off only gave her new opportunity to redecorate herself with grub all over again. Off she’d go, tumbling to the ground, and of course that meant the front and back of her clean clothes, her hands, face and other surrounding body parts were once again gritty and grimy. She reminded me of “Pig Pen”, the Peanuts character that has the “air” of dirt always floating about him whenever he walks. Dirt followed my toddler too. It hung like a dark cloud above her. But she had fun, and she also had so many baths!

Bethany and I got to know each other more on that camping trip than in the previous two years since her birth. She was continually in my arms as I scrubbed her clean all over again. She loved to explore and discover and I wanted that for her as well. But I also wanted to her to be clean, though I knew a little dirt wasn’t going to hurt her. After all, we were camping and dirt happens when you camp. It is just so very prolific.
Living Below in This Old Sinful World
Now that you have that picture of my toddler daughter, you’ll also have a picture of me, here below in this sinful world. Not only am I surrounded by sin (dirt), but I still have a remnant of sin within me - a propensity to sin, buried deep in the recesses of my heart that is inextricable. Though Christ has delivered me from a lifestyle of sin, which I loved, I do still sin. And I sin everyday.My Sin is Different Now That I Know Christ

My sin is different now. Though I sin as much as I did before, my sin is much more inward than outward. (Of course, lest you get the wrong idea, I also sin outwardly. Just ask Robert. No don’t, on second thought!) Now my sin consists mostly of grumbling about some silly thing that has annoyed me; or an attitude toward my husband that is disrespectful (there, I said it); I am ungrateful; and pride rears it’s hideous head everyday in my heart. When I am obedient, I congratulate myself - pride. When I worship in song with the saints, my thoughts are elsewhere, not on the Lord. Or, worse, I am thinking how others, hearing me sing, must be so blessed. (Oh! I said that too - so prideful and blasphemous!). Oh, how I hate that! So even my obedience is tainted with sin. (As I write this post, I must continue to confess the pride that tells me how admired I will be by those reading it. Yuk!)
My sin is different now. It seems so much worse than ever before. Shouldn’t I be sinning less and less? I always thought so, but my experience tells me otherwise. So am I not a Christian? These kinds of thoughts can even become sinful when I choose to focus on me, instead of on my redeeming Savior.
My sin Is different now. Though it seems like I sin more than ever, I also confess more than ever and quicker. Quick to sin, quick to confess and be cleansed from all my unrighteousness. Then, clean, like my two-year old munchkin camper, I go and get dirty again. Ugh!!! It seems like the cleansing I experience is just a new opportunity to get dirty all over again. Oh, may it never be!
But my sin is different now. I no longer make so much of my sin, though I take it seriously. My sin never has the last word. My Savior and his matchless grace always have the last word to my heart. Where sin abounds, God’s grace much more abounds! How that gladdens my soul! I make much over His grace, not over my sin. My sin simply points me all the more to God’s love, patience, mercy, forgiveness, grace and compassion for me.
Sinless Perfection - Not God’s Will for His Child

NOT!!!

So What Hope Do I Have of Freedom From Sin?
Oh, I am just a camper here below. God continues to bathe me, clean me, and show His glorious, compassionate face to me in those cleansings. And then I get dirty again. And again my Savior cleanses me. He is so precious. He is so close.
Freedom comes through our Lord Jesus Christ! Freedom from the guilt of sin. How I used to beat myself up over my sin, so depressed because I could not change. But each time I sin, His grace for forgiveness shines and I see Him more clearly. I do not sin because of that, but when I do sin and confess my need for Him, He becomes even more precious to me. Seeing Him in that way, I apprehend more grace and strength by His Spirit to combat my sin. In that “depending” process of leaning on the Everlasting Arms, I am becoming more like Him. He is my hope alone! And He is working my sin together for my good (Christ in me) and for His glory.
Second Corinthians 3:18 says it so well: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
Humility, Dependence and Gratitude
So, obedience or the “victorious Christian life” is not what I am focusing on now, or more importantly, that is not what God is focusing on for my sanctification. How proud I would be if, setting my mind to be obedient, I actually was (fat chance!). No, God’s broader desire for me is humility, and a greater and greater sense of my dependence upon Him, and a heart of gratitude. That comes by me beholding my Savior.

Set Free to Worship Without Disturbance
One day, when I see Him face to face, His glory will permanently cleanse me from all remaining sin. He will wash me whiter - inside and out - than any garment can be bleached in my washing machine. Oh, oh, oh, what a glorious day that will be! No more will the hindrance of sin interrupt worship! No longer will obedience be a struggle. No longer will I sing, “I long to worship Thee”. I will worship without any disturbance to my soul. Never again something I long for, worship will be realized - effortless and glorious when I behold His precious face. What a Savior!!!But for now I am camping here below, keeping my eyes up, off the dirt and on the beautiful scene of my Savior’s love, grace, mercy, compassion and forgiveness for me at the cross. And oh, what a magnificent view it is!

Posted by Sharon K at 8:47 PM 1 comments
Labels: Attributes of God, Biblical Womanhood, Daily Life, Devotional, Family, God's Grace, Humility, Love, Repentance, Restoration
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Be Thirsty! Be Satisfied!
God is a mountain spring, not a watering trough. A mountain spring is self-replenishing. It constantly overflows and supplies others. But a watering trough needs to be filled with a pump or bucket brigade.
If you want to glorify the worth of a watering trough you work hard to keep it full and useful. But if you want to glorify the worth of a spring you do it by getting down on your hands and knees and drinking to your heart’s satisfaction, until you have the refreshment and strength to go back down in the valley and tell people what you’ve found.
My hope as a desperate sinner hangs on this biblical truth: that God is the kind of God who will be pleased with the one thing I have to offer — my thirst. That is why the sovereign freedom and self-sufficiency of God are so precious to me: they are the foundation of my hope that God is delighted not by the resourcefulness of bucket brigades, but by the bending down of broken sinners to drink at the fountain of grace.
But what I've found, as I am sure you have too, is that though I am satisfied when I drink, it isn't long before I am thirsty again. So, I come to drink, again and again.
Jesus said that if we embrace Him, He will be a spring of living water and we will never thirst again, which is true. We will have discovered what quenches our thirst - the thirst that made us run after a thousand watering troughs that we found empty and stagnant and that could not come close to satisfying our thirst.
Now, we no longer thirst like that. We know the One Who satisfies. Yet we remain thirsty for Him, so we drink Him in over and over. We must, for we live in a lowly, barren land. But now we know where that Mountain Spring is and have become springs of water ourselves - Christ overflowing through us - to those around us who are still so desperately thirsty.
"...whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14)
Saturday, May 25, 2013
This Morning With the Lord in Prayer - A Ballad of the Soul
This Morning With the Lord in Prayer - A Ballad of the Soul
Posted by Sharon K at 7:28 AM 1 comments
Labels: Biblical Womanhood, Devotional, God's Grace, Poesie (Poetry), Prayer, Repentance, Worship
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