Dearest Sisters,

“...Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe He is precious...” 1 Peter 2:6-7 Greetings in Christ, my sweet friends! I pray this letter finds you rejoicing in the greatness of our God and praising Him for the truly precious Savior we serve.

…I was eagerly anticipating this issue’s topic, “A Joyful Servant’s Heart,” as the call to serve the Lord is one which He has deeply impressed upon my life. Isaiah 49-50 are beautiful passages to me, outlining a servant’s call and obedience. Although I believe these are prophecies of our Lord Jesus, are we not admonished to walk in His steps?! What a beautiful example He has set before us. “And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to mnister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:27-28

Dear Sisters,
One thing the Lord has reminded me lately is, in the words of Proverbs 14:26, “In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and His children shall have a place of refuge.” One of my goals in life is to have peace rooted in my Savior, Jesus Christ. There are certain spiritual weaknesses that will hinder this peace in my life. For example, fear and anxiety will cause me to worry and will not allow me to keep my thoughts stayed on Christ; self-pity will cause me to be dissatisfied; pride will cause me to concern myself with what others think of me (fear of man); and disobedience will cause me to have a guilty conscience.

Dear Sisters,
Even though it is easy right now to feel discouraged with the current events in our country, I want to remember that Christ is Victor! His will must prevail! I love the wonderful hymn, “Faith is the Victory.” Even when negative things are happening in our nation, we can rejoice in the unspeakable gift of salvation and live victoriously in Christ. We must trust Him; He will never leave or forsake His own.

The Lord is reminding me to seek His face. A friend and I are memorizing Psalm 27, and as I have pondered this beautiful chapter, God has revealed so many truths! One thing do I desire of the Lord! When He asks me to seek His face, my heart cries out that His face—and His face only—will I seek. “When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face; my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.”—Psalm 27:8 

    You see, when we are seeking the Lord, we cannot be seeking anything else. Looking into His face causes us to be awed by His power, His grace and mercy, His love, and His justice. 
    What sort of things snatch our attention and shift our focus away from the Lord? The list is endless as it is anything that is not God Himself. Here are a few examples:
    Fear. Fear is a very real feeling that grips and penetrates our hearts and lives. When we are fearful, we are focusing on things, people, doubts, situations, or the unknown rather than seeking the Lord. Psalm 9:10 brings me peace during frightening circumstances. “And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee: for Thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee.” This ties in beautifully with Psalm 27:8.
    Wants. We all have something we want in life. It could be money, friends, material things, fashionable clothes, easier school or work, etc. But Psalm 27:4 reminds us that we should only seek our Lord’s face. “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple.”
    The World. What a distraction! Fads, attitudes, pleasures—they pull us away from our responsibility to seek the ways of Christ. Nothing, however, is comparable with the rewards and blessings of being devoted to our Lord. “Teach me Thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.”—Psalm 27:11
    What does it mean to seek, anyway? I think it is a yearning, burning desire to have something. All of our energy is put into seeking it. We search, we persist. We “hunger and thirst” after it. Is this how we seek after Christ? Are we passionate about abiding in Him, loving Him, and being devoted to His work? He will always accept those who long to know Him better, so start seeking Him today!
    “But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.”—Deuteronomy 4:29

Seek His Face,
​Tiffany

The secret of life
Is letting go.
The secret of love
Is letting it show
In all that I do,
In all that I say,
Right here in this moment.
 
The power of prayer
Is in a humble cry.
The power of change
Is in [yielding] my life
And laying it down,
Down at Your feet,
Right here in this moment.
 
This songwriter beautifully, truthfully captures the secret to Christian living. It applies to all of us across the spectrum of life—young and old, women and men, followers and leaders, daughters, mothers, sisters, wives. Amy Carmichael puts it this way:
 
But all through life I see a cross,
Where sons of God yield up their breath.
There is no gain except by loss;
There is no life except by death.
 
What does surrender to God ultimately mean? What concepts does it carry into our lives as we seek to walk it every day? It’s helpful to lay groundwork at the start of our discussion. Please muse with me for a moment. Read slowly and ponder.

“Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of Thy countenance. In Thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted. For Thou art the glory of their strength: and in Thy favor our horn shall be exalted. For the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our King.” ~Psalm 89:15–18~
 
My sister’s diligent efforts in studying for the local Bible Bee competition culminated in a grand vacation to Bible Bee Nationals which our entire family was able to enjoy. Thus, on this particular November day, I found myself in a dazzling hotel in Schaumburg, Illinois, surrounded by godly, likeminded believers who truly treasured God’s Word.

I was in the process of running an errand when I overheard a conversation between two young men on the hotel elevator. One of them, having noticed the other’s Bible Bee contestant shirt, asked, “How is your test day going?” When the contestant replied that all seemed to be going well, the young man continued, “Are you ready to dominate the Bible?”

I felt stunned. Immediately, my heart was filled with grief and disappointment at the sound of one esteeming God’s Word in such an irreverent manner. As if any mere human could possibly supersede God’s holy, inerrant, immutable Word! How I longed to lovingly but firmly refute his statement! Before my mind could collect a response, however, the contestant spoke up, smiling in obvious earnestness: “I don’t believe the Bible can be dominated.”

Visibly embarrassed, the other young man made feeble attempts to rectify his original statement. “Well, yeah,” he stammered, “but, well, be dominated by the Bible . . . you know what I mean.”

As the elevator reached its destination, the contestant thought for one brief moment before he said, “I do want my life to be controlled by God’s Word.”

​[I want to clarify that the National Bible Bee in no way endorses or facilitates inappropriate attitudes toward God’s Word. Rather, the contestant’s response in this story is a more accurate picture of what God is using the Bible Bee to work in families all across the nation. The person who made the other statement was not even enrolled in the Bible Bee, and I do believe that he did not intend to be irreverent toward God’s Word. He seemed caught up in the excitement of the event, and simply used the wrong words. However, the object lesson I gained from the situation became the foundation for others, including this article.]

What do you think are the most desired qualities in a wife and mother? That she can cook a mouth-watering roast? Or bake up scrumptious scones? Or maybe keep the home neat as a pin? Maybe running a household of ten smoothly? Or maybe being able to knit a cardigan, teach seven homeschoolers, and feed the baby all at the same time?! All these skills are wonderful and would be greatly appreciated by a husband :), but the most important thing as we prepare to be a godly wife and mother is…

our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

I was sorting some paperwork and ran across my sermon notes from a series of messages preached by my pastor about “Five Crossroads of the Christian Life.” One of those crossroads was Satisfaction—Giving Thanks. I thought perhaps the following thoughts from the sermon would be an encouragement: