baby bump contest

my sister, Esther, entered a baby bump contest on parents.com, so i'm asking if you'll visit her link and vote for her!! her husband took these pictures and they are so beautiful, especially the one with her hands lifted in thanks to the Lord. baby Isaac is 4 months old now. he loves his mama's milk, his daddy's silly voices, and his aunt's sweet lovin' on. he likes to take long walks in the mornings and hates alone time. he cannot get enough face time. i get to take care of him for twelve days next month while his mom and dad go to ireland and i am counting down the days!!! everyone loves you, bonkdy wonks!!
  

Volunteer Slaves

by Elisabeth Elliot

"Slave" is not a word most of us nowadays feel comfortable with. It is significant that most modern Bible translations use "servant" instead. For a slave is not his own, has no rights whatsoever, is not in charge of what happens to him, makes no choices about what he will do or how he is to serve, is not recognized, appreciated, thanked or even (except by his absence) noticed at all.

Once we give up our slavery to the world, which is a cruel master indeed, to become Christ's bondslave, we live out our servitude to Him by glad service to others. This volunteer slavery cannot be taken advantage of--we have chosen to surrender everything for love. It is a wholly different thing from forced labor. It is in fact the purest joy when it is most unobserved, most unself-conscious, most simple, most freely offered.

Lord, break the chains that hold me to myself; free me to be your happy slave--that is, to be the happy foot-washer of anyone today who needs his feet washed, his supper cooked, his faults overlooked, his work commended, his failure forgiven, his griefs consoled, or his button sewed on. Let me not imagine that my love for You is very great if I am unwilling to do for a human being something very small.

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man, have i been in a funk lately. i can't (or maybe just don't want to) put into words the thoughts and feelings that i have had over the last month. elisabeth elliot seems to put into words exactly what i need to hear most days, so i post her devotionals so i can go back and read them when i need a life lesson refresher. i have been asking, seeking, and knocking of the Lord, "what in the world do you want me to do with my life?!" i am so frustrated! and then i find this devotional about being a bondservant, and it all becomes clear to me: this is exactly what i want to do with my life. i'm tired of living for my own happiness, constantly telling God who i want, what i want, when i want it, where i want it, and how i want it. in the words of Dr. Phil "how's that workin' for ya?" IT'S NOT!!! so from here on out, i am a volunteer slave. it doesn't matter what i want. i am not here for my happiness, for my glory, or to collect as many words of affirmation as i can. i have no rights whatsoever. i am not in charge of what happens to me. i am making no choices about what i will do or how i am to serve. i will serve whether i am recognized, appreciated, thanked, noticed... or not.

"...whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:43-45

Immunity--No. Grace--Yes.

by Elisabeth Elliot

Someone asked last week, "When Jim died was your walk with the Lord close enough that His love and comfort and presence were sufficient at all times--or did grief and sorrow at times overtake and overwhelm you?"

My answer is yes to both questions. It is not an either-or matter. The psalmist, overwhelmed, prayed, "Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I" (Ps 61:2 AV).

Paul, plagued by a thorn, besought the Lord three times to remove it.

Jesus, "horror-stricken and desperately depressed," prayed "O My Father--if it be possible..." (Mk 14:34,36).

Of none of these--the psalmist, the apostle, the Lord--could it be said that his walk with God was not close enough. There was human suffering and divine sufficiency. This is the story of our life. The promise is "My grace is sufficient" (2 Cor 12:9 AV), not "My grace will abolish your thorns."

The Lust for Security

by Elisabeth Elliot

Once we have set ourselves to be pilgrims and strangers on the earth, which is what Christians are meant to be, it is incongruous for us to continue to insist upon the sort of security the world tries to guarantee. Our security lies not in protecting ourselves from suffering, but in putting ourselves fully into the hands of God. The desire for physical and material security makes us sly and hard. No. We must be like little children. The child in its father's arms is not worried. It lies quietly at rest because it trusts its father.

We disobey sometimes because we say it is impossible to do what God asks. Impossible? Perhaps what we mean is impossible to do that and keep our security, impossible to obey without tremendous cost, or at least tremendous risk. Where, then, will we find safety? Is it likely that we will find it elsewhere than in the arms of the Father?

Teach me to rest in your everlasting arms. Make me know that all other security is illusion.

Nothing is Lost

by Elisabeth Elliot

Paul was a man who suffered the loss of everything, according to his own claim. Yet any loss he counted pure gain. The key to this transforming of earthly losses into heavenly gains is love. What do we love? If our hearts are set on people and possessions and position, the loss of those will indeed be irreparable. To the man or woman whose heart is set on Christ no loss on earth can be irreparable.

It may shock us for the moment. We may feel hurt, outraged, desolate, helpless. That is our humanity. But the Lord can show us the "long view," the incalculable gain in spiritual and eternal terms, if we love Him above all. Everything that belongs to us belongs also to Him. Everything that belongs to Him belongs also to us. What, then, can we finally lose? If we lose not Christ Himself, we have finally lost nothing, for He is our treasure and He has our hearts.

Christ is Message and Messenger

by Elisabeth Elliot

Every word spoken by Jesus must be understood by the life of Jesus. The one cannot be separated from the other. If we attempt to understand what He said without reference to what He did, we do violence to God's revelation of Himself. Here are some examples:

"Give up your right to yourself." Can this mean self-destruction, masochism, obliteration of the personality? See the perfect Son of God, exercising his human will in the fullness of its God-given power, as He offers Himself, pours out his soul unto death. What life streams from that giving up. What strength springs from his weakness.

"The truth shall make you free" (Jn 8:32 AV)--words often wrested away from their context ("lf you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free") and also away from the Man who spoke them. His life, his every act, was perfectly free. It was free because He heard the Word of the Father, did what He saw Him do, and knew Him. His freedom was the result of his obedience. There is no shortcut to our freedom. We must live the life Christ lived--a life of faith, a will offered to the Father, daily obedience.

Content to be Weak

by Elisabeth Elliot

What weakness are you feeling today? The inability to manage circumstances that cry out to be changed? Helplessness in the face of another's deep need, or of evil you have to watch perpetrated on others you love? A sense of inadequacy for some task laid upon you? Physical weakness or pain? The need for power to forgive an injury or keep silence about unjust accusations against you?

Christ has been there before you. Every form of human limitation He knew, and out of that utter poverty we have been made strong. Yet, again and again, in the life of each disciple, comes the experience of weakness in order that we may live His life for others.

"We who share His weakness shall by the power of God live with Him in your service" (2 Cor 13:4 NEB).

This sharing of His weakness is one aspect of the death of the cross, one of the conditions of our discipleship, and hence cause for joy rather than bitterness. For we walk the road, not alone, but with Christ, "well content to be weak at any time if only you are strong" (2 Cor 13:9 NEB). The mystery is constantly being worked out--strength out of weakness, life out of death.