Preached in San Antonio

Clint Leiter, Advice for Singles

Help in Temptation

This was an extremely helpful message!  It was encouraging in so many ways, especially in looking at the life of Christ and trusting that He has been through the trials that I must also pass through.  He can fully sympathize with me and is not insensitive to what I am struggling with.  It was also convicting seeing Christ overcome trials and temptations far greater than mine, and yet remain without sin.  Why do I cave so easily when I come up against adversity?  Why not struggle more fiercely as He did?  No matter what season of the Christian life you are in, this will prove so valuable.

Do All to the Glory of God

Today I came across this poem, and as a disclaimer I have no idea who the author is.  But it was a good reminder that no task, if done for the glory of God, is mundane.  As long as we are where God wants us to be, doing the work He wants us to do, there is no task too low for a Christian.

"...whatever you do, do all to the Glory of God."   1st Corinthians 10:31

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jesus Savior, dost thou see

When I'm doing work for Thee?

Common things, not great and grand,

Carrying stones and earth and sand?

I did common work, you know,

Many, many years ago;

And I don't forget.  I see

Everything you do for Me.

~Author Unknown

Four Marriage Tips

High maintenance wives and low tolerance husbands can make for much "distress at the address."   While conflict resolution isn’t always possible in marriage, conflict diminution is.   Here are a few suggestions from the Apostle to husbands:

       First, in order for husbands to understand their wives, they must first undertake to live with them.   Desert lands and house corners (Prov. 21:9) may provide sanctuary when times are rough, but they’ll never produce understanding.   You must live with your wife -- eat her food, sleep in her bed, carry her groceries, put up with her quirks.   Our children will come and go, but our wives are a part of us (Eph. 5:28).

       Second, husbands must understand only their wife.   What makes someone else’s wife mad, sad, or glad is irrelevant.   Another man’s wife might be prettier, smarter, holier, more organized -- but those are not cisterns he drinks from (Prov. 5:15), nor chides his wife to become like.   He accepts her as she is -- not as he thinks she should be or once was.   A woman who marries thinking her husband will change, and a husband who marries thinking his wife never will, are in for an education.

       Third, understanding wives requires knowing they’re wired to think different.   A weaker vessel isn’t an inferior vessel; only a finer one.   Sterling crystal isn’t pewter.   If a husband can’t be gentle in his speaking and patient in his listening, then his prayers will be treated accordingly.   Hindered prayers come from hindered carefulness.

       Lastly, granting honor to wives controls granting answers to prayers.   The initiative in this granting is the husband’s.   He must promote the honoring, which means if there are conflicts, he should promote the reconciliation.   Christ did for His bride.

       How we live with our wives tells others how Christ lives with us -- a true husband who doesn’t live in a desert because of our astronomical maintenance.   He understands our frame, that we are but dust -- a dust cherished enough to die for (Eph. 5:25) and to be made a fellow heir with Him.

~The Bottom Line, by Mark LaCour

Maximum Growth

Tonight while praying with a friend, she said something that was really helpful to me.  She said "you have put us in this place, with these people, to produce the most growth possible at this point in our lives."  Of course I've thought about growth before and recognized that there are different degrees.  But this time it was made so fresh and real.  Thinking about God orchestrating circumstances and moving people in and out of my life in order to produce maximum growth is so precious to me.  It's such a testimony of His sovereignty.  And it creates such conviction when I'm not content with how things are.  If I could grow more as a married person, I would be married right now.  If I could grow more with pleasant coworkers, no more homework, and no spiritual struggles, then that's what my life would look like.  But God in His sovereignty has decided that I will grow more as a single girl with unpleasant coworkers, loads of homework, and a different spiritual struggle for each day of the week.  He decides how to fashion the right environment for my growth.  It is my responsibility to be content and to be eager for opportunities to continue growing.

Recovering Biblical Womanhood - Paul Washer

Psalm 92:12 & 13

"The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green." I read these verses tonight and thought about what an important thing it is to always be seeking to grow and flourish. We should not fall so easily into complacency or stagnancy. Even for those who are "old" Christians, it is important that they still bear fruit.

A Command and a Promise

My cousin Nathan Rages preached this message in Kirksville today and joy was just radiating off of him. It was obvious that he delights himself in the Lord! His exhortation was to obey the command in the beginning of the verse, then reap the benefits of the promise at the end of verse.

The Compassion of God

Yesterday in my reading I was covering Psalm 78. This Psalm begins as if an older, wiser man was telling the younger generation a story. He begins with the glory and might of the Lord, telling how He "established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel." (verse 5) He goes on to tell of the shortcomings of Israel in spite of God's goodness to them. They forgot His works, they sinned against Him repeatedly, they were terribly ungrateful, and they spoke against God. After a rather depressing start to the Psalm, a real blessing came to me when I reached a special phrase in verse 38. It says "Yet He, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them..." It was a perfect reminder of two very important things. First it was a reminder of what every Christian deserves. We deserve to be eternally punished for our iniquity by an infinite stream of destruction. We had offended a righteous God by repeating offenses without remorse. Here is the second reminder: He chose to be compassionate! He took totally undeserving sinners and looked on them with compassion. That compassion compelled Him to send His only and dearly beloved Son to atone for our iniquity. The depth of that compassion and mercy should never cease to overwhelm us. It should compel us to spend the rest of our lives serving a merciful, compassionate God. It should also drive us to tell the coming generations of the unmerited mercy that we have received at the hand of God.