old guys who said it well...

just thought i'd share a couple of quotes that were included in the chapter "wielding the Word in the fight for joy" from "when i don't desire God." these were especially helpful, because i was reading them as the new year dawned (or like within a week of it... it's not like i was up that early on new year's day reading to greet the daylight). the new year is a good time for me to refocus, revise my growth plan and to work at redeveloping good habits. anyhow, to the quotes...

"it is blessed to eat into the very soul of the Bible until, at last, you come to talk in scriptural language, and your spirit is flavored with the words of the Lord, so that your blood is Bibline and the very essence of the Bible flows from you."
charles spurgeon

...i think he made up the word "bibline" - but it's cool and descriptive, so that's ok

"now... i would give a few hints to my younger fellow-believers as to the way in which to keep up spiritual enjoyment. it is absolutely needful... we should read regularly through the Scriptures, consecutively, and not pick out here and there a chapter. if we do, we remain spiritual dwarfs. i tell you so affectionately. for the first four years after my conversion i made no progress, because i neglected the Bible. but when i regularly read on through the whole with reference to my own heart and soul, i directly made progress. then my peace and joy continued more and more. now i have been doing this for 47 years. i have read through the whole Bible about 100 times and i always find it fresh when i begin again. thus my peace and joy have increased more and more."
george mueller

"Bible memorization is absolutely fundamental to spiritual formation. if i had to choose between all the disciplines of the spiritual life, i would choose Bible memorization, because it is a fundamental way of filling our mind with what it needs. this book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth. that's where you need it! how does it get in your mouth? memorization."
dallas willard

"my beloved... work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life..."
philippians 2:12-16

hey steve, go for it in 2008, get back to the basics. <--- subliminal message to me

(i'm back at memorizing psalm 119 - 10 days in 40 verses down :) - 132 to go - so rich!!!)

john steinbeck

yeah, i just wanted to make a joke about the best laid plans...

actually, it's such a release to just rest in the fact that God is in control - to trust Him and to watch where He takes me. i'm really trying to be consciously immersing myself in the Word as 2008 starts, as well as trying to be sure to be reading good stuff. it all becomes "good spillage."

the crazy part becomes the "who." just thinking about the ones that i'm getting the opportunity to minister to (or more accurately to be used as a conduit for ministry - a pen in the hand, as we've discussed). perhaps not the ones that i'd planned, or even the "big numbers." lemme tell ya, though, i'm excited to see where God's taking me!

God, help me to have an awareness of Your leading. make me an instrument useful for Your service!

just a short "PRAISE THE LORD"

or Bwana Asifiwe for you swahili speakers...

i'll probably have more detailed thoughts later... and probably a whole "new year's" post (with lots more ellipses), but for now i just want to praise God for a wonderful family time over the weekend - celebrating the oneness that we have in Christ - may God use us mightily in the coming year!

revealed by fire

in my move, i've been sorting through a lot of stuff. having a woodburner makes it easier to dispose of a lot of it... old papers, junk mail, etc. etc. i'm kind of a packrat.

well, last night i was making a lot of progress, but as i was burning an old birthday card... the moment really struck me and 1 corinthians 3:13 came rushing to my head. "each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done." how fleeting this life is. how much i treasure and hold onto stuff that is all doomed to fire.

Lord, help me to keep my mind on eternity and eternal things. Help me to treasure what truly lasts!

david crowder

i am full of earth, You are heaven’s worth
i am stained with dirt, prone to depravity
You are everything that is bright and clean
the antonym of me, You are divinity
but a certain sign of grace is this
from a broken earth flowers come up
pushing through the dirt

well, the random gardener ring is coming to a close... right where it began... david crowder. (did you know that was what was playing in my head as i thought through all of these thoughts? haha sistrina, it was right there all along, maybe you didn't realize it...)

(yes, i do use the ellipses too much)

grace.
beauty that rises from dirt.
God's work.
happening even when i can't see it.

but the harder i try, the more clearly can i
feel the depth of our fall and the weight of it all.
and so this might be could be
the most impossible thing;
Your grandness in me, making me clean.
glory, hallelujah! glory, glory, hallelujah!

God, help me to always remember that YOU are in control. remind me of perspective.

glory, hallelujah - He is working out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will!

sowing and reaping

so yeah, i've been collecting acorns from all over this fall... the idea being to plant them so that oak trees might be produced... why oaks? well, they're slow growing and long lasting... a tough tree. (with some significance being in planting something that will outlast me) why acorns? well, duh, cause that's where oaks come from... and hence the point:

"do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked, a man reaps what he sows." galatians 6:7

just thinking about what results i want to see from my life - what God wants to see from my life... whatever i may WANT to see - it will wind up being a result of what i do... it takes time and intentionality... small first steps for big results... (related cool quote: "when saturated by the Word, more surely will our prayers be heard." - only way to saturate is through being in it!!!)

oh yeah, and i'd probably better check about getting the bags of acorns out of mom's fridge soon - cause they've been there more than a month!!!

of streakiness and spurts

after watching how poorly ohio state has shot in the second half of each of their last two games, perhaps i fit with them...

LOL - it's been a long while since i've posted anything on here... just seems that i get busy with other things sometimes...

wow, not only do i use a lot of the (dot dot dot), but i've also left several good blog ideas hanging. the acorns are in bags in the fridge and may perhaps be sprouting by now - of course, i may never have spoken of them here before. in such case, never mind the previous sentence - someday it will all become clear. what progress then? well, we've got halfway up the addition sided and the big new window installed. i've moved out - and into the apartment house by pap and gram - all quiet except for the radio... hours and hours of sorting and arranging and burning OH THE JOY of having a woodburner again! it makes for a fun way to rid myself of some of the extra junk mail, etc. lying around - it also provides for heat. which is nice.

yesterday, i spent quite a while meditating on acts 2:28 You have made known to me the paths of life; You will fill me full of gladness with Your presence. kinda thinking about the idea of paths being plural... like - He shows me the path of eternal life through Christ, but i was also asking Him about the everyday, here and now path... WISDOM, o God! - also it's just cool to think the thought of being FULL of gladness with His presence... i want that to be true of me!