Happy Reformation Day

In honor of Reformation Day I thought that it would be appropriate to make a book recommendation to all of you dear readers.

 

"Pierre Viret: The Angel of the Reformation"

 

This book is written by R.A. Sheats about one of the foremost leaders of the reformation in French Switzerland.  Viret, along with William Farel and John Calvin, was one of the mighty instruments that the Lord used to draw His people back to the Truth. He was known for his gentle spirit even when boldly defending the truth of Scripture, and respected by his comrades and opponents alike.

 

I'm only a few chapters into the book, but have already been impacted by the life of this gentle follower of Christ. I'm sure that the rest of the book will be equal to the beginning, and I can't wait to learn more about how God worked through one of His servants.

 

Click here to buy the book, "Pierre Viret: The Angel of the Reformation".

 

What I Have Just Re-Discovered

We cannot do anything righteous or holy without the Lord.  This is such an obvious fact, yet I had forgotten it.


I have been failing miserably the last couple of days to behave in a gracious and loving manner, and I couldn't understand why. Tonight, I do.  I have unintentionally been trying to "be good", without God.  I have been saying, "Lord help me do what is right", but then going back to my plan of doing what was right without truly thinking that the Lord would provide the needed grace. 


I am coming to realize more and more that God is sovereign though. I've always known that He is sovereign, that He is controlling everything, that He is never taken by surprise or helpless, but I now understand that He even knew and planned for me to get caught up in myself and how much I can take care of being Godly on my own to show me how much I need Him in every area of my life if it is to be holy at all. What grace!!! What love and mercy He has shown to me, a sinner.  How gently He has dealt with me, calling me back to Him, and showing me how great His love is for me. Showing me that I can do nothing righteous in and of myself, but that I only need call upon Him, in faith, and He will provide the needed grace, and will make me holy even as He is holy.  He will clothe me in His righteousness.

A Precious Jewel To Me

The ladies of our local congregation just had a tea party to celebrate and share about the lives of some amazing women in history.  Some of the ladies of interest were: Sarah Edwards, Fanny Crosby, Corrie Ten Boom, Amy Carmichael and Priscilla Mullins.  These are all well known women in Christian history and worthy to be remembered and honored, yet there are some women that will never be famous as these are. Women like my Granny.  

My great-grandmother, Granny, recently went home to be with our Lord, and has been on all of our minds a great deal lately.  She, as well, is a woman worthy to be honored and remembered. She served the Lord diligently from the time of her conversion at age 16, to the time of her death at age 98.  And over the course of her 82 years of Christian service touched and ministered to countless lives. Hers was a life of self-sacrifice. At her funeral there was a great deal of rejoicing, and there was a great deal of remembering. Most of the memories had a common theme: "Granny loved me. Granny prayed for me. Granny showed me how to live for Christ". 

Granny and me in 2009. She was 95.

Granny was always reaching out to people. You could not come into her home without her trying to feed you physically and feed you spiritually. If you sat down to her table, you were going to enjoy some delicious food and hear about the one true God who provided it. Whenever Granny would share her personal testimonies of what the Lord had done for her--that was my favorite way to learn about the Lord from her.  Sitting at the kitchen table, twisting a napkin all the while, she would tell me and everyone else stories of how the Lord had performed miracles in her life, given her peace or dropped a verse on her heart for her to meditate upon.

And if you needed prayer, she was the first one you went to. She would pray for you immediately, wherever she was. Many times friends would call her and have her pray with them right then over the phone. She never doubted that the Lord was listening to her, and she never doubted that He would answer. She was the kind of prayer warrior that I want to become.  

Granny loved the Lord. She loved hearing praises sung to Him. She loved being with His people. She loved telling other people about His goodness. She loved quoting His word to you.  She loved talking to Him. She loved the life that He had given her and she loved that one day she would be with Him forever.  

We loved her, and she caused us to love Him more.  

I want to be like my Granny. I want to be someone who is hospitable, caring, always sharing the love of Christ, always seeking His face in prayer, always telling of His goodness, never living a day without thanking Him. I want my life to be a life lived for Christ.

Do you?

Granny's verses: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7

"For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God". Colossians 3:3

He Cares About Our Health

My family has been health conscious for as long as I can remember. Every month when I was a little kid, I remember co-op day. Several mothers would get together to distribute bulk organic items they had ordered as a group. I remember our incredible delight, when my siblings and I opened the boxes to find that Mum had ordered organic sodas, cheese puffs or chocolate sandwich cookies on occasion. We were pretty "healthy" back then. Mum really limited the amount of sugar we were taking in, made baked goods from whole wheat that we had ground ourselves, and made sure we drank plenty of water. But, as the years went by, the co-op group dispersed and we fell into a pattern of buying groceries with an attitude geared more towards convenience than health. It was just easier to buy everything at Wal-Mart for a good price. But easier is seldom better. Anything worth having is usually worth working hard for. And keeping the temple that the Lord has made us stewards of nourished and strengthened is definitely something worth working hard for. I have been very convicted about this lately. I want to be healthy, truly healthy, and not just for the physical benefits, but to please my Lord. He is the One who created my body, and the food that will nourish it. He has given me a mind, and He wants me to use it to discover the best ways to please Him through my eating. I want to hunger for good, wholesome food as much as I have for the artificial junk in the past. But, more than anything else, I want to hunger more and more every day for Him.

Here are some guidelines I am going to try to go by (and hopefully get the family to implement as well):

1) No dairy products with added hormones or chemicals

2) Organic produce as much as possible

3) No refined sugar

4) No bleached/enriched flour

5) Grow/Make as much of my own food as possible

6) Support my local Farmer's Market

7) Eat way more vegetables

8) Drink water

I recently went on an eight week fast from refined sugar and wheat products. It was amazing. I had more energy, and had more peace of mind over what I was putting in my body that ever before. I broke my fast for my birthday, and completely blew it. I was half afraid that I wouldn't like sugar anymore, and half hoping that that would be the case. It wasn't. I still love the taste of sugar, but I don't love the feeling it now causes me. I was sick to my stomach and felt depleted after eating it. So, it was kind of nice while it lasted, but I am getting back to my honey/maple syrup sweetened life now. I'm not going to avoid wheat as much as I was before, but I do want to cut back on it. I'm still going to make my cauliflower crust pizza and spaghetti squash, but I will have a whole wheat muffin every now and then.

Have any of you been convicted about your health lately?

What This Is Really About

I haven't blogged in seven months.  I have thought about it often, but have not made the commitment to sit down and write a post of worth. I don't want this blog to be what I did originally. I am ashamed of the goal stated in my very first post:

 "I hope that this blog will be, at the least, entertaining. Maybe even uplifting every now and then".

Entertaining is a word closely tied to amusing. Amuse means, "No think". The last thing I want to cause you to do is to intentionally "not think".  As followers of Christ we are to keep our minds actively engaged in advancing His Kingdom. 

 That being said, I want this blog to be an outlet for me to share what the Lord is doing in my life. How He is teaching me, growing me and ever showing Himself faithful to me, an unworthy wretch whom He has gloriously transformed into a child of the King through His son, Jesus Christ.

I don't want to exalt myself, but the Lord who is the very reason for my existence.  

The name of this blog is "Damsel in Delight", and that is what I want you to leave this blog doing, delighting in the Lord.

I have been terribly unfaithful in the area of consistent posting. I want to change that, but I am not going to set a highly unrealistic goal.  I will try to post monthly (probably towards the end of the month).  

I hope that you will keep an eye out for each post and I pray that each post will be pleasing to God. 

So, Lord willing, I will post later this month on the subject of health. 

"Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ."

Loving Our Parents

I put this together for a girl's Bible study last year.  I just discussed this with some great friends yesterday and we had such a wonderful time sharing ways to serve our parents.  I pray that it encourages you to honor your parents all the days of your life. 

Becoming a Good Daughter

The sole purpose of everything we do should be to glorify God (John 15:8-10). If this is true (and it is), then our relationships should also bring glory to God. With this in mind, let’s talk about being a good daughter.

Before we can be a good daughter to our earthly parents, we must first be a good daughter to our heavenly Father. We are commanded to serve the Lord with every gift, talent and ability that He has given us with the intent of loving Him with our whole hearts, serving the brethren and advancing the Gospel to unbelievers. This must be our focus if we are to be a good daughter. 

Our fathers are our protectors. This means that everything we do should be under their oversight and guidance. We must submit to them by including them in our everyday decisions. I know personally, my father loves it when I come and ask him for permission to go somewhere rather than telling him I’m leaving. It solidifies his masculinity and builds him up rather than tearing him down by assuming that he will let me do as I please regardless of his opinion. We must also protect our fathers’ reputations by being competent and therefore giving proof for our Godly raising. If we are asked something about our faith and can only reply, “I don’t know. I’ll have to ask my dad about that,” then we are not exemplifying Godly daughters. We must dig into the Word ourselves and learn from our fathers how to articulate our beliefs with Biblical back-up.  Here are some practical ways to be a help to your father: know his vision, be available to him, don’t wait to be told everything you need to do and don’t shy away from what he asks you to do if it’s unappealing to you. Talk to your father about the things of the Lord, pray for him, always be looking for ways to help him and you will be a daughter worth praising.

Each of our mother’s should be our “Titus 2 woman“. She should be the one that we spend the majority of our time with. She is the person that will have a great impact on the woman that we will become. Keep in mind when helping your father that your mother is his primary helpmeet.  Before doing something for your father, make sure that you are not usurping your mother’s role. Remember that your parents’ marriage is the most important relationship and the foundation of your home. Show your mom that you appreciate her. Get to know her. Honor her. Show her respect. She is just as important as your dad. Cultivate a relationship with her by sharing your heart and knowing hers, by blessing her through acts of service and obedience, by working with her to keep the house running smoothly, and by thanking God every single day for a mother who diligently leads you in his ways.

One of our goals should be to help the whole home run smoothly, not just focus in on one parent.  They are both so important. Remember God gave you the parents you have for a reason. He knew who you would need to help you grow. Whenever you start to think about how something your parents do drives you crazy, think about how God could be using that very thing to make you a more mature follower of Christ. You’ll come to find that God uses the strangest things to teach us the greatest truths. Ephesians 6:1-3

It all comes back to bringing glory to God. Glorify God by respecting your parents. Honor Him by honoring them (Exodus 20:12). Bless them as the Scripture directs and He will bless you (Deuteronomy 28:1-2). 

Concluding Scriptures: Mark 12:29-31, Ecclesiastes 12:13

I Agree

This is an amazing quote that I ran across in my reading last night:

‎"The modern challenge to mortherhood is the eternal challenge--that of being a godly woman. The very phrase sounds strange in our ears. We never hear it now. We hear about every other kind of women--beautiful women, smart women, sophisticated women, career women, talented women, divorced women, but seldom do we hear of a godly woman--or a godly man either, for that matter.
I believe women come nearer fulfilling their God-given function in the home than anywhere else. It is a much nobler thing to be a good wife than to be Miss America. It is a greater achievement to establish a Christian home than it is to produce a second-rate novel filled with filth. It is a far, far better thing in the realm of morals to be old-fashioned than to be ultramodern. The world has enough women who know how to hold their cocktails, who have lost all their illusions and their faith. The world has enough women who know how to be smart. It needs women who are willing to be simple. The world has enough women who know how to be brilliant. It needs some who will be brave. The world has enough women who are popular. It needs more who are pure. We need women, and men, too, who would rather be morally right than socially correct." -Peter Marshall

Because It's Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

With Christmas being only two days away I thought I would share a few of my thoughts on the subject.

What a blessing for Christmas to fall upon a Sunday this year.  What better way to thank the Lord for coming to earth than to spend the day resting and meditating solely on Him?  I know it's easy to get caught up in the traditions of the season rather than focusing on the One who made this season even possible, but the Lord has provided a way of escape from this predicament by having it on the Sabbath.  I cannot wait to spend Christmas day celebrating and remembering the birth of Christ Jesus.  But, let's also remember the reason that Christ came in the first place.

 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS:

 for he shall save his people from their sins.

 Matthew 1:21 

It is Finished!

The complete and revised book list. This is going to be a challenging and amazing experience!

Hannah’s 52 Books of 2012

 

Systematic Theology Vol. I- RJ Rushdoony


Systematic Theology Vol. II- RJ Rushdoony


Institutes of Biblical Law Vol. I- RJ Rushdoony


Institutes of Biblical Law Vol. II- RJ Rushdoony


Institutes of Biblical Law Vol. III- RJ Rushdoony


Sovereignty- RJ Rushdoony


God’s Plan For Victory- RJ Rushdoony


The Messianic Character of American Education- RJ Rushdoony


To Be As God- RJ Rushdoony


Law and Liberty- RJ Rushdoony


Tithing and Dominion- RJ Rushdoony


Thy Kingdom Come- RJ Rushdoony


Queen of the Home- Jennifer McBride


Loving The Little Years- Rachel Jankovic


Missionary Patriarch: John G. Paton


Adventures in Missionary Heroism


The Beauty of Modesty- David and Diane Vaughan


Be Fruitful and Multiply- Nancy and Colin Campbell


The Sovereignty of God- A.W. Pink


How God Wants Us To Worship Him- Dr. Joe Morecraft


A Hunger for God- John Piper


Aunt Jane’s Hero- Elizabeth Prentiss


A Bride Goes West- Nanny Alderson


The Little Boy Down the Road- Douglas Phillips


Ten P’s In A Pod- Arnold Pent


Idols of the Heart- Elyse Fitzpatrick


Elsie Dinsmore- Martha Finley


Beloved Bride- Bill Potter


Created for Work- Bob Schultz


So Help Me God- Judge Roy Moore


The Revolution- Ron Paul


Dominion Covenant- Gary North


Large Family Logistics- Kim Brenneman


The Second Mayflower- Kevin Swanson


Homemaking- J.R. Miller


God and Government- John Weaver


War Between the States Vol. I- Alexander Stevens


War Between the States Vol. II- Alexander Stevens


Institutes of Christian Religion- John Calvin


American History- Alexander Stevens


Bound For Glory- R.C. Sproul Jr.


Tithing and the Church- Gary North


Last Days Madness- Gary DeMar


Theonomy in Christian Ethics- Greg Bahnsen


Always Ready: Directions for Defending the Faith- Greg Bahnsen


By This Standard- Greg Bahnsen


Economics In One Lesson- Henry Hazzlit


The Great Christian Revolution- Otto Scott


1776- David McCullough


The Genesis Flood- John C. Whitcomb and Henry Morris


Foxe’s Book of Martyrs- John Foxe


Refuting Evolution- Ken Ham

 

2012 Book List

"Are you gonna do the 52 book challenge next year?"

My brother and sister casually asked me this question. I had no idea what they were talking about. So, they explained that Doug Phillips (founder of Vision Forum) had challenged his church to read 1 book a week for the entire year of 2012. I was reluctant at first, but now I'm so excited!!! I really think that this will help me to focus my spare moments in gaining more wisdom rather than wasting it idling about. 

That said, here is the beginning of my tenative book list for the upcoming year. I more than welcome any suggestions.

52 Books of 2012

1. Institutes of Biblical Law- Vol. III
2. The Messianic Character of American Education
3. Missionary Patriarch: John G. Paton
4. The Beauty of Modesty
5. Ten Ps In A Pod
6. The Little Boy Down the Road
7. Idols of the Heart
8. Beautiful in God's Eyes
9. The Seasons of Motherhood
10. Large Family Logistics
11. Be Fruitful and Multiply
12. Dominion Covenant
13. Created for Work
14. Tithing and Dominion
15. The Sovereignty of God
16. A Hunger For God
17. To Be As God
18. Law and Liberty
19. How God Wants Us To Worship Him
20. The Revolution
21. So Help Me God
22. Thy Kingdom Come

I haven't yet filled the remaining 30 slots. Any recommendations?