My Father's Daughter

I know many people (myself included) who take after their dad in more ways than one.  I often find myself thinking, "Oh, he talks just like his father.", "Wow, she looks like her dad!"   "They all have his smile."  etc.  and I am sure you have done the same at some point.  I myself resemble my dad in many ways - in our personalities, sense of humor, mannerisms, looks, height (!) and the list goes on.  (In saying that, however, I have people swear to me that I look just like mum and they can't get over the resemblance!  Honestly - some people!  :)  )
Why do we look for resemblances anyway?  I think it is because we like to identify people.  I look like my dad and have similar mannerisms, so people know that I am his daughter and associate me with him.

Remember that Amy Grant song "Father's Eyes"?  The chorus goes:

She's got her father's eyes
Her father's eyes
Eyes that find the good in things
When good is not around
Eyes that find the source of help, when help just can't be found
Eyes full of compassion, seein' every pain
Knowing what you're going through, and feelin' it the same
Just like my father's eyes 

Obviously, she is not singing about her biological father - she's singing about her Heavenly Father.  That's how we need to be.  We need to resemble our Heavenly father so much that there can be absolutely no doubt - when people look at us, all they can see is Him.  How awesome would that be!

But, I'm afraid, it is a process of growing in His grace, and at times the way will seem abnormally and exasperatingly slow.  Be encouraged!  We are all on the same road and we have all been in that place of slow growth; that place where things are painful and even seen to be going backwards. It is in these times that our faith is tested and if we stay close to our Lord, we will come through stronger and more mature in our faith than ever before. It is like a bone that, having been broken, has healed crooked and is now disfigured.  It kind of works, but it is flawed.  What must be done to such a bone?  It must be re-broken, reset, and allowed to heal.  It is a painful process and rather slow, involving surgery and hospital visits.  But what is the result of the pain and the waiting?  Once the cast is removed, the arm is as good as new again.  It is strong and is no longer disfigured, but whole, resembling the other arm.  Yes the process was long and hard, but it was worth the strengthening and 'rebirth' of the arm.
2 Corinthians 3:18 says "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."  We are being transformed into the same image of our Lord, from glory to glory!  Let me say it right here, right now:  if you are a born again believer washed clean by the blood of Jesus, you are a glorious being!  Yes you!  The Bible  says 'from glory to glory'.  Not from rags to riches, or "maybe one day, you will achieve Mayfair - collect 200 as you pass go."  No, it says from glory to glory - we are glorious in the sight of God, and we need to reflect that glory where ever we go.

Remember Moses, when he asks to see God's glory?  God passes before Moses with His back turned and Moses hidden away in the cleft of a rock.  Yet when Moses descends from the mountain, his face is shining with the glory of God because he just had a 'God-moment'.  The people cannot look at him because he reflects the glory of God and the resemblance is too much for their sinful heart to bear.

And as we increase in glory, people will look at us and say, "She is her Father's daughter."  "He is his Father's son."  There will be no doubt. 

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.  (Matthew 5)

My love to you all in the Lord Jesus,

Emily

How's your week been?

Sorry I've been a bit slow this last week.  We have been rather busy lately, as I am sure you can all relate to.  :)  How has your week been?

Topmost on my daily list has been my diploma in Liberal Arts which is all the academic arts (maths, science, history, etc. as well as other subjects like philosophy and world view.)  Currently, I am in the middle of modern history and am using Sonlight's Core 300 as my selected program of choice.  :)  To try and hasten the process a bit, I have started tackling double the amount of work each day.  That means (on average) 6-8 pages of history with 12-15 questions to write the answers to; 20-30 pages of Labor's untold Story (the most boring book I have ever come across); as well as Robert Frost poetry, literature, chemistry, maths, writing assessments, and the devotional book Sonlight assigns with the program.  Whew!  As you can probably guess just by reading this, it takes me a LONG time to do all of this and I am usually still studying well after 5:00 pm.  I don't know about you, but when my eyes get tired, my whole body follows suit and needless to say, my eyes are very tired.  :) 

What horrible weather we are having at the moment!  Today, less than four weeks into spring, was over 33 degrees Celsius - YUK!  It's going to bee a long summer... :/  :)  In that however, today is just three months until Christmas - I can hardly believe it!  Mum calls it quarter of a year: Dad calls it twelve weeks.  It's the same thing, but it sounds so very different!

I finished Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie today.  I have read it before, but it blew my mind once again.  I only have one word for it - BRILLIANT!!!  I loved it and would highly recommend it.

Will try to post again soon - God bless you richly and sustain you through your week.  :)

Love from your sister in Christ,

Emily

Who are You?

After my last post  "Who an I?"  I was thinking about who we are in God and I was wondering why we are all that to Him.  Then it came to me:  We are all that to Him because of who He is.  Who is God?  We know He's there and He's all around us, but who is He?  What is He?  What is His nature?  Who is God?

Moses asked the same question in Exodus 3.

¹¹ And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
¹² And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.
¹³ And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
¹⁴ And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.

I think it is really interesting that when Moses asks "Who am I?"  God replies, "I am with you."  We are nothing without God.  We cannot make any difference for eternity without Him: indeed we wouldn't even be capable of existence without Him.  It is Him Who sustains you.
But then Moses asks the obvious question.  "Well if you're with me, God, who are you?"  God says "I AM THAT I AM."  This was such a gracious answer from God because it reveals so much of His character.  There are several angles to look at it.


-God always is, always was and always will be.  By just saying "I AM"  God is placing Himself in  the present tense, and since He is outside of time, He can see all that has happened and all that will happen.  And He can see you right now.  What an awesome thought!  Psalm 121 says: 

¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains— 

    where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth. 

³ He will not let your foot slip—    he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

⁷ The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;
⁸ the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.  

- God is all that we ever need.  I think of God as "I AM - "  (fill in the blank).  If I am tired I am reminded "I AM your strength".  If I am frustrated, I am reminded "I AM your peace".  Take time to remind yourself of who God is, because He delights in filling your needs so perfectly.


I could spend forever listing the names of God - every one of them has significance and reflects back to Who He is - I would highly recommend you do a study on it: it will grow you closer to Him Who loves you more than anyone ever will!

Hope this encouraged you!  With love in Jesus always,

Emily  :)

A job Well done!

Recently, some good friends of mine entered a Christian film competition - and won the first-time entrents award!!  They have done so well!  I couldn't download the clip here, but the link is:

http://www.ignitefilmfest.com/2013-winners.html

Their clip is called "The Colour of Joy."

Well done David and Nicole!!!!

Who am I?

It can be so easy to get down on yourself, can't it?  What makes us do that?  Here's what I put it down to:

One word:  COMPARISON.

Comparing yourself to others is an extremely dangerous game - it make you discontent and just downright miserable.  I know because I went through a 'valley' recently when I was playing the comparison game and I spent about two weeks in tears because I couldn't live up to what I thought I should be.  Not that we shouldn't grow - I don't mean that, - but we shouldn't try to be who we're not.  I was comparing myself to my sisters who always seem to have it all together and can fit any number of things into their day with time to spare.  I'm not like that.  But I have time for people that my sisters have to work on making time for.  It just come naturally to me, and I was for getting that.
There is one comparison that is beneficial to us, however.  And that is comparing ourselves to Jesus.  And we shrink back in horror as we realize that we will never, ever live up to his standard of who He is.  That is why He came to earth.  We couldn't live up to Him, so He came down to us, and became our sacrifice.  "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."  (2 Corinthians 5:21)  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:"  (Galatians 3:13)  Not only did Jesus come down to our level to save us, He is gentle and compassionate.  "Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.  He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea."  (Micah 7:18-19)
If all this is true, why do we still get the blues about ourselves?  I believe that if we forget who we are in Christ that we forfeit the  power that is inside of us, so satan tries double and triple time to make us forget.  I was amazed when I started making a list of who God says I am.  Are you ready to be encouraged by the Lord?  Here we go!  :)

• "...in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. (Romans 8:37)
• “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people…”  (1 Peter 2:9)
•    “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!”  (1 John 3:1)
• “So God created man in His own image…”  (Genesis 1:27) 
• “The Spirit Himself bears witness… that we are children of God… and joint heirs with Christ…” (Romans 8:16-17)
• “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”  (Ephesians 2:19) 
• ...but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.  (I Corinthians 6:11)
•  ...I am fearfully and wonderfully made... (Psalm 139:14)

These are just some of the wonderful identities God gives to us as His beloved children.  So stand tall and whether you have a good day or one that beats all other shockers,  know that you are a child of God and nothing you are going through will ever change His love for you or who you are in Him!

My love to you in Christ Jesus,

Emily  :)

Weekend

Sorry I've been so slow this week, everyone!  This week has been crazy and I am finally getting a breather for ten seconds to be able to post something.  :)

Starting on Friday night, our church had it's annual women's conference called Rise: Extend your reach.  We were blessed with speaker Ps. Margaret Stunt preaching and some amazing periods of worship.  God did some amazing things.

We also started our 'reno-swap-around'.  For those of you who don't know, we have small bedrooms that only fit two people comfortably, but we have a huge study where we do home-school.  This week end, we did a swapper so that us five older girls are now sleeping in the study - now the girl's dorm :) - and James who is nine has his own room.  Rose and Ann share a room up stairs.  So last night was our first night all in together and it wasn't too bad once Joy and Elise stopped giggling.  :)  We still have HEAPS of sorting to do (actually I am procrastinating now...) but it is coming together and I can't wait for it to all finish.

So that's what my weekend has been like - hectic.. :)  Hope you are all well in Jesus name and that you grow in His love and grace this week.   :)

Dad's race

Yesterday was Dad's biggest ride so far.  He was really excited to prepare his bike and his riding gear and pumup up the tyres.  60 km.  Quitre frankly, we were pleased he had the opportunity to do it, but we were a bit concerned for him because the second biggest ride he's done was 47 km. 

He left our house at about 6:00 am, the race starting at 8:30.  The rest of us stayed at home, Mum and I ducking out mid-morning for an 'adults only field trip' (voting!). 

Dad got back at just past 2:00 pm.  He had completed the race in 3 hours 46 minutes.  We are so proud of him!  He was soooo sore and started cramping, but hopefully it won't last too long.


Sorry I haven't been posting much lately, and I know this one isn't much, but I hope to get back on top of it shortly.  God bless!

Take My Life

This poem was written by a young girl named Frances R. Havergal.  Now a hymn, the words have been playing around in my mind a lot lately and it has become one of my preyers that I sing to our Lord.  How hard it is to truly give up everything we have to our very selves, but of how very much worth it is.  A lovely friend of mine once told me that no one has ever regretted surrendering themselves wholly to the Lord and I know she was right.  It is difficult, but it is only once we give up the struggle for control that Jesus can truely shine out of our lives for the world to see.

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.

Hillsong has released an absolute gem of a song this year:  Glorious Ruins.  The chorus is so beautiful. I pray you are encouraged.

Let the ruins come to life
In the beauty of Your Name
Rising up from the ashes
God forever You reign

And my soul will find refuge
In the shadow of Your wings
I will love You forever
And forever I'll sing