Marsha's Musings: Prayer is Work & Thankfulness is A Mindset

Col 4:2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;


Even when the situation looks hopeless, we are to continue in prayer and we are to be thankful.  This tells me that thankfulness isn't necessarily a feeling but a mind set of the will.

Devotional: Stewardship

Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

In reading the book, "Respectable Sins" by Jerry Bridges, he ends the chapter on discontentment with this statement:

May all of us, with the help of the Holy Spirit, move from negative attitudes of discontentment to a positive attitude of being stewards of the difficult and disappointing circumstances God has given us so that we may somehow glorify Him in all of life.

This statement is pregnant with meaning. I am just as guilty as the next person of having a bad attitude when things don't go my way. But take a look at this statement with me. Jerry talks about difficult and disappointing circumstances as being given to us by God! Think about that for a minute. We thank God for the good things He gives us and the good things He does for us. But what about the difficulties of life? Where do those come from? I grew up thinking the good came from God and the bad came from the Devil. The Devil got blamed for an awful lot! Take a look at this verse:

Amos 3:6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

Job said, "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." He said this after all his children had died.

So, we see that God is sovereign over all. He is the giver of the good and the giver of the bad in life. Sometimes Satan has a hand in the bad that happens, but only in so much as God gives him leash to do it. God is still in control.

If God is the One who ultimately plans out our lives (Psalm 139:16) and He is the one who gives us stewardship over what He has given us, then it stands to reason that we are to be good stewards of the difficult circumstances that He allows to come into our lives. One way of exercising good stewardship over these things is by having an attitude of contentment and thankfulness. An attitude that says like Paul, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."

Thanksgiving Week: What are you thankful for ?

This past month, God has impressed upon my heart how unthankful I am at times as evidenced by when I grumble and complain. This is Thanksgiving week. Let's focus on being thankful. In the comments section, post what you have to be thankful for. I'll start it out by listing what I am thankful for. This comes from my Christmas letter that I wrote this weekend:

• This has been a good year at our house. God has been good to us in many ways. He has blessed us with friends and family like you! We are grateful for each one of you.
• 
  We are grateful to God for providing for our needs. Rick still has a job with the State of Washington and is able to bring home the bacon each month. We are still able to put food on the table and have a roof over our heads. We have much to be thankful for.
• 
  We are grateful to God for our health. Our kids are healthy and Rick and Marsha have their health issues but overall we are doing great and able to do what we need to do. God’s grace is sufficient.
• 
  We are grateful to God for the body of believers that He has put us with at church and for the faithful teaching of God’s Word that we hear each Sunday.
• 
  We are grateful for our dog, Daisy. She has irritating habits, but she is also a sweet pug-dog and she makes us laugh.
  
• We are grateful for our children. It blesses us to see that they get along so well with each other and missed each other enough to talk for 30 minutes or more each night when they were separated for three days. We were blessed by their happy laughter when we were all reunited again. Homeschooling pays off big dividends.
• 
  We are grateful for the lessons God teaches us each day as we study the Bible and pray individually and each night as a family.
• 
  We are grateful for God’s wonderful provision of two free nights stay at the Coeur d’ Alene Resort and free admittance to the Family Life Marriage Conference. It was beyond our expectations.
• 
  We are especially grateful for God’s gift of salvation through His only Son Jesus Christ. This is the reason we celebrate Christmas! Without Christ in Christmas there is no Christmas. So as we exchange our gifts this year, remember the best Gift of all, God’s gift of salvation through the Babe in the Manger.

Add what you are thankful for in the comments link below!

Marsha's Musings: Thankfulness...again

Last night as a family were watching a DVD of old I Dream of Jeannie reruns. Major Nelson becomes unhappy with the way Jeannie acts and wants to change her behavior. He buys her a book about the Arabian Nights and tells her to read it and learn from it how she is to behave as a Jeannie. He has never read the book and doesn't realize it's all about how Jeannie's can torture their Masters. He insists that she do what the book says and she is upset because of what she will have to do to him. So she obeys him and he gets tortured in many ways...beds of nails, being barred out of his own bedroom and having to sleep on a cot, hanging by his hands from a rope suspended over a crocodile pit etc.

Major Nelson finally decides to sit down and look at the book with Jeannie and realizes what he has made her do and why he was being tortured. He apologizes to her and explains that he was not thankful for her as she was. He says he realizes now that love means accepting the good with the bad and not trying to change the one you love.

I am a sentimental person and I have to admit I teared up with this scene. But what touched me most was the message. So often I am not thankful for what God has given me and I want something different and "better". Many times what I want that I think if better isn't. When we are not content with what we have, then we are being unthankful. This is an insult to God Almighty. We are basically telling God that He doesn't know how to provide for us. Life is filled with good and bad. We need to learn to take the good with the bad and be thankful for what we have. So much of Hollywood and advertisements are aimed at making us unthankful.

Marsha's Musings: Giving Thanks

The following quote is from Jerry Bridges. It really hits me where I live.

Lamentations 3:38 says to us, “Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?” That is, God is in sovereign control over the difficulties and the pain just as much as he is in control over what we would consider to be the good things, the blessings of this life. Now we should thank God for the good things of life. We are to be thankful people. But what about the bad things, the things that we would not choose to have in our lives?

Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 to “give thanks in all circumstances,” and then he adds, “for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” That is to say, it is the moral will of God that we give thanks in all circumstances....How do we do this? We do it by faith. We don’t just grit our teeth and say, “Lord, I don’t feel thankful, but you said to give thanks, so I’m going to give you thanks even though I don’t feel thankful.” That’s not giving thanks. We do it by faith. We do it by trusting in the promises of God. We do it by faith in the words of God through Paul in Romans 8:28–29, where he says “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love him.”

And then he defines the good in verse 29 as being conformed to the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what God is after. He wants to conform us to the likeness of Christ; so he brings or allows these various circumstances, circumstances that we ourselves would not choose. He brings them into our lives because he wants to use those circumstances in his way to conform us more and more to the likeness of Christ.

And so by faith we can say, “Lord, I do not know what particular purpose you have in this difficulty or this pain, this trial. But you said that you will use it to conform me more and more to Jesus Christ, and for that I give you thanks.” So we give thanks by faith.

Gluten Intolerance & Sugar Blues

I had some kids over Thursday for smores around our fire pit. I had a giant Hershey's Bar open, along with Graham Crackers and Marshmallows.

First off, I didn't have the good sense to stay out of the Hershey's Bar. Chocolate affects me later in the month even it I eat it earlier. So I shouldn't have even been drooling over it in the first place.

Secondly, I never even thought about the fact that the kids would drop cracker crumbs on it while fixing their smores. So when I ate some of the chocolate bar, I got glutenized.

Thirdly, I didn't have the good sense to eat only one or two roasted marshmallows, I ate five of them!

So Saturday morning I woke up at 5am in a mess. My head was pounding with a sugar hang-over, I was having a low blood sugar episode and nearly fainted in the kitchen and I had canker sores on my tongue.

Did I learn my lesson??? No! Last night I saw the remainder of the Hershey's Bar sitting on the counter and I rationalized that if I didn't eat it my husband would and he didn't need the soy. The thought never even entered my mind that it was contaminated with gluten! I woofed it down when no one was looking. As a result, I didn't sleep all too well last night. The canker sores on my tongue have gotten more painful and I was being awakened every time I had to swallowed. It was not a good night. I am so frustrated with myself for being so careless and for succumbing to the temptation to eat it! I craved it. It was like I couldn't control myself as long as that chocolate was staring me in the face! I am paying for it now, but I'll pay for it again big time when that time of the month comes. It's a double whammy and it is all my fault. UGH. I hate that.

I think sin is like that. Perhaps this was sin! It looks you in the face and it is so inviting. It looks so good! You just start to feel like you can't do without what ever it is. Then when you give in to the temptation, the results are far less than desirable and you wish you had never even considered it in the first place. It causes you all kinds of grief and trouble in the long run.

Man, I think this goes back to the issue of unthankfulness that I have written about in other posts. When you want something so badly, that you just HAVE to have it, perhaps you need to step back and ask yourself, "Am I content with what I have? Why do I have to have THIS thing so badly that I'm willing to compromise my health (or reputation, relationship with God, etc.) to have it? Am I thankful for what I have? If so, why do I think I need this other thing?" Why do I have to learn these lessons the hard way so often???

Marsha's Musings: Ever feel so tired you could drop?

I am exhausted tonight. Two road trips in less than two weeks and over four days gone from my home, three and half to help my mom and dad recover from recent medical problems and an evening and a whole day traveling with my husband for his work to help keep him awake on the roads plus all the daily stuff....it all adds up to just being plain too tired to move.

I really long for just five days in a row where I don't have to go anywhere, but that won't happen for at least another six years or more.

Yesterday while I was sitting in a supervisor's office in some strange CSO in another city miles away from home, trying to entertain myself and my son while my husband was in his meetings, I read some more in Jerry Bridge's Respectable Sins book. I read the chapter on Unthankfulness. Wow. It hits me where I live. He says we are commanded to be thankful in all circumstances.

This is difficult for me when I am so exhausted. But that's what Scripture says. "Give thanks in all things, for this is the will of God..." This might be a paraphrase as I don't have my Bible handy right now. But that is the meaning of it if not the exact words.

Ok, so what I can I give thanks for....

1. My husband has a job and supports his family faithfully
2. I have a husband
3. That I homeschool and it affords me the flexibility to be able to travel with my husband so he can attend his meetings
4. That God gives me the strength I need to travel with him.
5. That I can get all kinds of reading done while sitting at the office waiting...reading that I normally do not have time for at home
6. That sometimes while waiting for him I am able to find good bargains at nearby thrift shops or dollar stores on things I will use and need.
7. That it gives me a break from the monotony of the daily grind
8. That God teaches me new things about Him and my relationship to him in the reading I bring along.
9. That God has kept us safe on the roads
10. That we get to stop in and visit my parents regularly to see how they are doing.

Marsha's Musings: Just Have to Share

I've had some good Quiet Times with God lately and I just have to share.....
Psalm 107:8-9 "Oh that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness."

Even in pain, when things aren't going right I can still give thanks to the Lord because He satisfies my soul and fills it with goodness. That is far more important than temporal health and wealth.

Psalm 107: 22 "Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing."

Here is the idea of thanksgiving being a sacrifice and indeed it is! When I'm feeling bad or things are going badly, it is a sacrifice on my part to set aside my negativity and complaining and to find reasons to be thankful to God.

Marsha's Musings: A Matter of Perspective

This week has been quite a week. It has been a mixture of good and bad, kind of a roller coaster ride all week. It was our vacation week, our 25th Anniversary and my birthday (tomorrow, but celebrated tonight. I am writing this from my parent's home on Friday night).

It's easy for me to focus on everything that went wrong with the week. From getting stranded with two flat tires, to bad weather, to coming down with a cold...and many other things that went wrong, but as I was reading my Bible last night, the verse was from Psalms 107:8 "Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men."

I realized I have a choice. My perspective can either be negative, thinking about how many things didn't work out the way I had planned them and feeling sorry for myself or my perspective can be positive, thinking about all that God has blessed me with instead. My natural tendancy would be the negative side, but with God's help, I am learning to think on the positive side. Something that has been flashing in my mind a lot this week when things have gotten tough is the phrase from the verse at the top of my blog. "My (God's) strength is made perfect in weakness". Many times this week, I've been praying, "Give me Your strength for my weakness." He has come through for me.

I have many blessings from this week I can praise God for:

• A loving family to celebrate with & spend time with
• Time out to relax in a nice hotel with gluten free food I could enjoy
• A husband who has been faithful to me for 25 years
• Two great kids
• A funny Pug-dog
• Fun in Couer d'Alene
• My sister and her husband who took our kids for part of a day and entertained them for us and gave my parents a break while my husband and I went to the Hotel for the night.
• The sun came back out again today
• God loves me and has given me eternal life and a home in heaven
• Friends who love us and also celebrate with us
• I have so many blessings that I can't count them all...

Book Review: Sufficient Grace for Homeschool Moms

Here are some lessons that I've learned in the writing of Sufficient Grace for Home-school Moms, I have a long ways to go on these but this is what God is teaching me:

Plan flexibility into your school year

Be flexible with the curriculum--it's there to serve you...don't be a slave to it.
Be flexible with the schedule
Pray!

Pray your children's salvation
Pray about character issues
Pray for wisdom

Work on spiritual/character issues first, academics second

Cut off contention before it gets a good start.

Teach your kids by example to give glory to God and deflect it from themselves.

Be quick to confess your sins

Strive for patience and calmness in teaching

Take time out when starting to feel frustrated with your children. When calm come back and deal with the situation.

Spend time studying the Bible. Send you roots down deep so the tough times don't topple you over spiritually.

Do what you can no matter how small. Every little bit counts.

Schedule "Mom time"

Evaluate your priorities & revise if needed

Live with your eye on the goal--the high calling of God in Christ Jesus

Don't look around at your circumstances & allow them to distract you with fear

Don't compare your homeschool or your life with anyone else--it will only make you focus on your shortcomings or envy others and cause you to dispair

Watch your tongue--your family and others are listening and learning habits from you.

Keep your focus on Jesus

Remember the blessings of motherhood

Remember that the difficulties of raising, training and teaching your children may come with the reward of children who later bless you.

Look for the good things in your circumstances

Remember God will never leave you or forsake you

Cling to God in the storms of life

Be assured God has a good purpose for what He is allowing

Don't dwell on how big the task is--break it down into baby steps

Take one day at a time

Persevere through the tough times

God is accomplishing His good purposes

Thank God for the difficulties because they give you the opportunity to grow the fruit of the Spirit.

Exercise your faith even when God seems distant and silent

Take measures to manage stress in your life

Do not fret or become anxious over the stress--this only adds more stress

Let the difficulties drive you to God and His Word

Don't strain against the wind of adversity

Turn toward the wind of adversity and let it propel you forward toward Christ

Take time to relax

Depend on God and His grace

Remember that God is already in the future--He goes before you and has a good purpose for all that He allows.

Let the chaos that goes with home-schooling & raising a family remind you that God makes order out of what seems chaotic to us

Rejoice and look forward to the day when God will make all things perfect

Listen to uplifting music

Run your own race--not someone else's

Do what God has shown you to do

Don't try to live up to other's expectations

Say no if it isn't in keeping with the path God has put you on

Know your limits and live within them

See Christ in your circumstances instead of your circumstances

Don't push your kids so you can be proud & brag about what you have accomplished with them

Don't get so busy you neglect time with God

Be careful of complaining

When God sends a trial your way check to be sure it's not for correction due to some neglected area of your life.

Adjust your perception of success to match God's--truth, do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God, keep God's word, don't deny His name, keep God's commands, persevere

Seek to do all to the glory of God

See complaining as disbelief

Give thanks in all circumstances

Find the positive in your circumstances and give thanks for it.

Ask God's guidance in what you should do each day

Realize you are not invincible--pace yourself

Write stuff down

Temper your temper

De-clutter your life

Get adequate rest, nourishment and water

Remember you are not alone

Be still before God

Find hidden blessings in the trash and other unpleasant tasks of your day

Set fewer goals

Work for 15 minutes then rest if you need too

Play praise music to help your frame of mind

Be responsible and teach your kids to be too

Work on organization

Be diligent--don't get sidetracked if possible

Watch for discontentment

Discipline your children consistently

Never take for granted what God has provided

Marsha's Musings: God's Grace IS Sufficient for Me

Ah, yes! God's grace is sufficient! It is sufficient in the good times and in the bad times. He bestowed grace on me this past week in the form of a suggestion from my doctor. An IV infusion of vitamins has helped me tremendously and God has enabled me to feel so much better and be so much more productive this week as a result.


I realize that I can not put my trust in this, however. My trust must be always in God's sufficient grace and goodness. If I put my trust in this medical intervention and then I suddenly begin to have some bad days, I will come crashing down in despair. My trust must be squarely in God's goodness and grace no matter what the circumstances of life may be. He is in control and He knows what He is doing. I can trust Him no matter what. I praise Him for giving me this extra boost of strength and productivity this week.

Devotion: Two Bible Cures

Two Bible Cures
by Marsha Iddings

Thessalonians 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Ephesians 5:18-20 ... be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Luke 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

I have been impressed by two Bible cures I've learned, one from my personal devotions and the other from a sermon preached in church.

Bible Cure #1: The cure for self-righteousness is to know ourselves rightly. The publican knew he was nothing but a sinner that needed God's grace and mercy. The key to knowing ourselves rightly is to compare ourselves not with other people, but with God's law. Then we will see that we come up short in need of God's mercy and grace and we will fall before Him in humility asking for His mercy to save us.

Bible Cure #2: The cure for non-medical depression for the Christian is being thankful always for all things to God, and using music to praise God. God will be pleased and your sacrifice of thanksgiving will lift your spirits.

I see a balance here. On one hand, we are to know that in us there is nothing good (compared to God's standard of goodness) and we can not be saved from God's wrath apart from God's mercy and grace. But on the other hand, we are not to spend all our time in self-flogging and depression, but we are to be thankful for all things and praising God with music and spiritual songs for the mercy and grace He has bestowed on us. These are two sides of the same coin.

Have you experienced Bible Cure #1? It is the most important cure there is. Cure #2 doesn't really mean anything unless you have cure #1.

Marsha's Musing: Quote to Remember

This is really a challenging article. I would encourage you to go to the link and read the whole thing. It was a spiritual kick in the pants for me. Marsha

The Blessed Rich in Spirit
by R.C. Sproul Jr.

We do not need to have our circumstances changed. We do not need
another lecture on sound thinking. What we need is to give thanks.