Gospel Moments for Every Day Motherhood & Podcast

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Motherhood is hard. In a world of five-step lists and silver-bullet solutions to become perfect parents, mothers are burdened with mixed messages about who they are and what choices they should make. If you feel pulled between high-fives and hard words, with culture’s solutions only raising more questions, you’re not alone.

But there is hope!!!!

Today, I talked with Emily and Laura from Risen Motherhood about the ups and downs of motherhood and how to bring the love and grace of God into each moment. This is what they have to say?

You might think that Scripture doesn’t have much to say about the food you make for breakfast, how you view your postpartum body, or what school choice you make for your children, but a deeper look reveals that the Bible provides the framework for finding answers to your specific questions about modern motherhood.

Emily Jensen and Laura Wifler help you understand and apply the gospel to common issues moms face so you can connect your Sunday morning faith to the Monday morning tantrum.

Discover how closely the gospel connects with today’s motherhood. Join Emily and Laura as they walk through the redemptive story and reveal how the gospel applies to your everyday life, bringing hope, freedom, and joy in every area of motherhood.

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• Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

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Become What You Behold & Podcast

Ruth Chou Simons

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Become What You Behold

I so enjoy having friends who inspire me and who have messages that fill my heart. Ruth Chou Simons is such a friend. Her art, her words and her friendship always help to fill some of the dry places of my spiritual heart. We recently recorded a podcast together of some of the issues we have both experienced in this long journey of life as a woman, a spouse, a working writer and a mother. I hope you will be encouraged by our time together. I also am excited to share her new book with you because it is so beautiful and so encouraging.

You are in the process of becoming. Every day is an opportunity to be shaped and formed by what moves your heart…drives your thoughts…captures your gaze. Is it any wonder that where you direct your eyes and your heart matter in your day-to-day?.

Ruth shared: We become what we behold when we set our hearts and minds on Christ and His redemption story here in the details of our daily lives. Not just on Sunday, not just on holidays, not just when extraordinarily hard or wonderful things happen…but today.

Bestselling author and artist Ruth Chou Simons invites you on a new journey to Beholding and Becoming. With more than 850 pieces of intricate, original artwork, Ruth encourages you to elevate your gaze to the One who created all things.

Today is an opportunity for God to demonstrate His love and His faithfulness in the midst of your mundane. No circumstance is too ordinary or too forgotten for Him to meet you there in worship. His transforming grace turns your “everyday ordinary” into a holy place of becoming.

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• Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

• Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!

Exchanging Duty for Delight: Dancing with my Heavenly Father 9 and Podcast

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"I feel like God is so disappointed in me," my friend whispered between sobs. "No matter how hard I try or how much I give, it never feels like it's enough, and I don't know what to do."

At thirty-two years old, she found herself empty and worn out. After serving for many years as a counselor to troubled teens, she married a pastor of college students and opened her home to hundreds of youth who were looking for answers to life's questions. Then, in five years she had three boys and little sleep. The guilt and inadequacy that had been bubbling in her heart for many years was finally boiling to the surface.

She'd grown up in a wealthy home, where the expectations for her and her two brothers had been very high. She lived under constant threat of disappointing her demanding parents and longed for their approval. When she was seventeen, after many years of fighting ,her parents got a divorce. The foundation of love in her life was further shaken. The devastation she had experienced prepared her to respond to Christ's love when she first heard the message at a youth rally.

Even though she became a solid, faithful Christian, she still carried the baggage from her youth. She believed that God, like her father, was demanding and expected perfection from her. She held on to the lingering suspicion that she was in some way responsible for her parents' divorce, since she often overheard them arguing about her siblings and her. So she entered adulthood with an intense drive to please everyone— her husband, her children, her parents, and anyone she met.

"There are so many needs in the world, and I find myself feeling responsible for all of them! No matter how often I read the Bible or have quiet times, God seems far away, and I know it's my fault. I don't know if I'll ever be adequate enough or understand him," she said. Then she laid her head on her arms and cried quietly.

I didn't mean to be distracted from her sorrow, but next to her was her three-month-old, squishy, rosy-cheeked little baby boy smiling and grinning at me every time I glanced down at him. It was almost impossible to ignore him—and he engagingly called for a response as he grinned and did a jig with his little feet hanging off the end of his car seat.

"Kathryn," I said as I gently touched her arm. "Look at your darling, irresistible little boy." He unwittingly drew a sheepish grin from her tear- stained face. "How do you feel about him?"

"He's a bundle of fun and joy for all of us," she answered. "He brings so much pleasure to my life every day."

"Why do you love him and stay up with him and nurse him and change his diapers? Is it because he has been useful to you or worked for you or accomplished great things?"

"I would do anything for him just because he's my precious little boy and I adore him."

"That's exactly how the Lord feels about you. He has given you the gift of this child to show you how much he adores you. You are his, and he deeply loves you and will always care for you. It's not because you deserve it or have accomplished any great thing. It's simply because he is your heavenly Father." She nodded slightly.

"Think about what David wrote in Psalm 103:13," I continued. just as a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has com- passion on those who fear Him.' He doesn't love you for your service. He responds to you because you are his child and he delights in your smiles. He is all loving, and he can't notl ove you—it's part of his nature."

How often I have felt as my friend did, weighed down by my emotional baggage, an inadequate view of God, and guilt from my own failures. I have met so many women who live out of fear and inadequacy. They trans- fer their feelings about themselves to God and then feel distant from him.

Julian of Norwich, a saint from church history, said, "This is the cause why we be not all in ease of heart and soul: that we seek here rest [and joy] in those things that are so little, wherein is no rest, and know not our God that is All-mighty, All-wise, All-good. For He is the Very Rest."'

No matter how hard we try, how many achievements we make, or how many ideals we keep, we will never be able to do enough to earn God's love. Such attempts lead us down a dead-end road paved with feelings of life-depleting guilt and condemnation. Only the grace and love that God gives freely through his merciful nature can provide us with that which we long for: peace and joy.

Psalm 103:13-14 says, "Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust."

According to this verse, is God aware of our fragility and limitations? Does he expect more from us than we can give?

What kind of compassion do you think a good father would have for his children?

In what ways have you tried to earn God's acceptance?

Make sure to get your copy of Dancing, here!

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• Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

• Leave an iTunes Review These are so important as they help our podcast reach more women with messages of encouragement.

• Follow on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news and updates.

• Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

• Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!

Learning to Linger in the Simple, Everyday Miracle Moments

This summer, I am teaching myself to linger. It is not natural for me, one who is and has been in a hurry for so long. But I have learned that if I am too much in a hurry, I can miss the miracles to be found in everyday moments.

I am more aware than ever now that every day with my children is a gift. They are vibrant, strong, idealistic, godly, loving, fun, and wonderful. They still make messes and even sin once in a while, but oh, what life and beauty permeates my home with their presence! We live spread about the world now, but when we are able to share moments and days together, I am blessed.

Learning to Linger

I learned this lesson many years ago, on the occasion of a birthday.

For Joy's fifth birthday, I planned a party I thought I would please her. I spent so much time cleaning the house so the moms of the kids I invited would see an orderly house, I wasn’t able to really focus on my precious birthday child. I was Martha-ing about, setting out cake, tying up balloons, preparing favors, making finger sandwiches, and planning what I thought she would like--all the while looking at the day through the grid of my adult eyes.

The children came and in just two hours, they had fought over the toys, spilled red punch on one little girl's favorite dress, threw a toy across the room hitting another little girl in the head. It was a memory of messes, crying, friction, and stress, and Joy was unhappy the whole time.

When all the guests finally left, I heard the pound, pound, pound of feet running across our deck. I walked out the kitchen door and glanced into the afternoon shadows playing tag with the fading sun over our mountain, and there was sweet Joy. Dressed in her old, slightly stained and torn ballet costume, she was running, giggling across the deck with a bubble wand. I stopped and sat on our picnic bench and just gazed at her as the sun went down. For an hour she played and ran and delighted in the beauty of her own bubble parade. I took it in, cherishing the picture in my mind, chastising myself for missing the glory of her beauty and youth in the busyness of my expectations of the party I had thought would make her happy.

Beauty in Everyday Moments

"Oh, Mommy!" she exclaimed, "This is my favorite time of my whole day! I am having sooooooooo much fun. Thank you for giving me such a wonderful present."

She climbed into my lap with a milk mustache sprinkled with cupcake crumbles and sticky bubble-juice on her hair, and snuggled up with a happy sigh. And so, I melted into her little body, breathing in the atmosphere of her pure-hearted, innocent love. I finally slowed down enough to cherish the moment and took the time to take a soul photograph whose imprint will be there forever.

And so this summer, as they all visit and then return to their own places, I will live in every moment, celebrate all the sweet fellowship that is right in front of me, no matter how many dishes they use, or how much noise they make. All of it will be precious and priceless, and I will redeem the moments for memories to visit when they are all gone once again.

Surviving Dark Nights of the Soul & Podcast

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"Darkness was slowly permeating my bedroom, chasing out the last few rays of daylight, as evening fell. As the sun slipped behind the horizon, I felt that the light left me as well. I felt a oneness with the gathering darkness, as though it was an expression of my own dark thoughts and feelings. For a long time, I lay there quietly, staring up at the ceiling, which was rapidly disappearing from my sight. I could easily turn over to turn on my bedside lamp, but I didn't want to. After an emotionally draining, tension filled day at home, I felt I deserved this moment of darkness. But I also didn't want to be found. I just wanted to be left alone."

~from Seasons of A Mother's Heart, A Light in the Darkness

So many times in life, the sweeping feelings of fear or desperation or despair, increased by being alone or lonely,  have blown over my heart and soul. Often, worry would strangle my heart, making it difficult to breathe the reality of His freedom and grace. Too many children, too many bills, difficult relationships, an insurmountable work load, unanswered questions and unanswered prayer, often felt like too much for me to bear or carry.

Feeling as though my "labor was in vain," or that God had forgotten me, I had to push through the darkness to sit still and picture Him as I read about Him--that He was faithful, righteous altogether, that He loved me, that he answered prayer, that I was not invisible.

And then, in spite of my feelings, I would timidly offer Him my love gift. "I believe you even though I can't see you right now. I want to thank you that darkness is not dark to you, but that you are with me, working, loving me and taking care of my problems and worries, even though I can imagine how. I love you, God. I have faith in your faithfulness."

As I look back now, I can see that God usually had bigger purposes than just meeting the demands of my immediate prayers. He was building character, forming hearts, leading in a new direction, protecting me from my own temporal idols of quick fix, which would leave me more empty if I were given them.

As a matter of fact, when I see where I am now, and where my children are now, I often think He was doing far more than I even asked him. But even as a toddler doesn't understand the discipline, love and protection of a wise parent, so in my limitations and ignorance, I was tempted to think He was not there. He was not taking care of me.

I was reading in my quiet time today, "Those who hopefully wait for me shall not be put to shame." He promises that when we wait on Him, praise Him, rest in Him, believe in Him, that we will not be embarrassed or put to shame for our faith.

Malachi 3: 13-14 tells us of the wickedness of choosing to believe that God is not active. "Your words have been arrogant against Me, " says the Lord. "Yet you say, what have we spoken against you?"

"(This) is what you have said, It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of Hosts?"

God considers us arrogant  when we shake our fists in his face. He is at work.

Finally, Hebrews 3: 12, "Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you and evil and unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God."

God equates evil with an unbelieving heart.

When these tests come upon us, it is our one moment when we can look at our circumstances, feel our feelings of despair, and then choose to say, "I don't understand, but I believe and I will wait, and I will rest, as an act of my will, because you are the Lord of Hosts and you are my Father."

How precious to a parent, when a child looks into reaches for his hand and looks up into his father's or mother's eyes and says, "I love you. I trust you because you are faithful. I will submit to you, because I believe in you."

And so, when we look into the eyes of our father, not with arrogance, but with humility and trust, we must bring a smile to His face and be pleasing to His Father heart.

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Finding Selah: The Simple Practice of Peace When You Need It Most

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• Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

• Leave an iTunes Review These are so important as they help our podcast reach more women with messages of encouragement.

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• Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

• Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!

Be Wild And Free: Ainsley Arment & Podcast

I loved speaking at Wild and Free in Stratford on Avon with my sweet friend, Ainsley.

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Several years ago, I was in Virginia Beach and contacted Ainsley Arment, founder of Wild and Free Community and said, “Mutual friends have said we should meet.”

Dining at a local restaurant, we talked and talked and talked and closed down the restaurant and so started a friendship that has been a gift over the past few years. I have loved speaking at several of the Wild and Free conferences, including the one above in Stratford on Avon this past spring. I love being with Ainsley. I love her heart, her humility, her gentleness, her vision and powerful influence and her love for her people and so much more. She is launching a book soon with amazing giveaways. I wanted to tell you about it and also we have a podcast together. We had a few sound glitches but I hope you can enjoy it and be encouraged by our conversation. Enjoy! Here is her story!

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Five years ago, my friend Ainsley Arment started a community of mothers who want to give their children a quality education, but also a childhood full of wonder, freedom, and curiosity.

This community, called Wild + Free, began on Instagram but has spread into real-life gatherings all over the world. I’ve spoken at several of her conferences, and she’s just written a book called The Call of the Wild + Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child’s Education.

It provides practical insight and encouragement for families considering homeschooling, as well as those who have been in the trenches for years.

It's available on September 3rd but if you order by September 2nd at midnight, you can get over $150 in pre-order perks on her website.

To learn more, buy the book, and claim your pre-order perks, visit bewildandfree.org/book

There are so many pre-order perks if you order soon, before the book comes out on September 3. Order today and be blessed.

Pre-Order Perks

If you order the book by September 2nd at midnight, you can get $150 worth of Wild + Free resources.

Simply pre-order the book from any bookseller and upload your receipt. After we validate your purchase, we'll send you these digital resources:

• Pioneer magazine by various contributors

• Whole Families book by Jodi Mockabee

• Learning to Love Science by Greta Eskridge

• How to Host a Handcraft Fair by Jen Naraki

• Wild + Free Day Sheet planner in PDF

• Our Daily Rhythm by Hannah Mayo

• Handcrafts 1.0 book by various contributors

• Print Collection 2 by various contributors

• Fathers in Homeschooling by Jessica Telian

• Song MP3s by musical friends of Wild + Free

• Finding Your Tribe by Brit Chambers

• Homeschooling Simplified by Jillian Ragsdale

• Honeybee Nature Study by Kristin Rogers

• Homeschooling Through Hard Times MP3

• Poetry Night by Rachel Kovac

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• Leave an iTunes Review These are so important as they help our podcast reach more women with messages of encouragement.

• Follow on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news and updates.

• Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

• Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!

Resting In God's Love: The Secret of a Peaceful Life

"Let the children come to me." Matthew 19:14

“If you love me, you will keep My commandments.” John 14:15

There is something in our flesh that wants to try to earn God's love. We love to check off mental lists of what we have done for Him to be good little Christians. We measure ourselves by others who do not look as "Christian" or do as much as we do. We feel guilty when we misbehave and do something that makes us feel "bad" or sinful.

The truth is, because we could never be holy or perfect on our own, He had to save us. We could never attain to His high standards. And so, "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8.

What About The Need to Live an Excellent Life?

But, you say, someone claiming to walk in holiness must exhibit an excellent life. Yes, I agree. Yet holiness—being willing to be set aside for God's purposes, to make Him known, to proclaim His kingdom and kingdom ways—is not a set of behaviors we put on from the outside, but ways of being which spill over into our behavior from a loving heart. It happens when our heart is so grateful to God for His gentle, humble mercy on all of us who are so likely to be selfish and sinful, His redeeming grace that wipes our faults and sins away as though we have never sinned, His affirmation of our worth because He has adopted us, that we can't want anything but to please Him.

It is significant to me that it was Peter, the wonderful, outspoken, imperfect, passionate lover of God who so publicly failed, who admonishes us to do as Jesus said: "Be holy as I am holy" (1 Peter 1:6.) Peter was not in any way telling us to perform holy deeds, but from our hearts to be His, to love His ways, to serve Him wholeheartedly.

When one understands that it is God who created this beautiful place for us to live; the stars, the vast and powerful oceans, the thousands of flowers that bloom in the spring, the vibrant reds, oranges, yellows of dying leaves in the fall, then worship is a natural response.

Of the woman weeping and washing His feet with her tears, Jesus said, "She who is forgiven much, loves much." Why do we stay moral and pure in marriage? Because we know it pleases Him. He calls marriage sacred because it is a picture of our bridegroom Jesus loving and serving and committing Himself to preparing us for the wedding feast. Out of a desire to honor this sacred picture, we love and serve and give of ourselves generously in our marriages, so that our lives can reflect to others the beauty of committed, gracious love.

Holiness in the Home

We serve our children and give up our own time to sacrifice for them, not out of works or duty, but because Jesus Himself gave His love and blessing to children, even after the harsh-hearted response His disciples had given the children who came to surround Him. We understand that God said children are a blessing and the fruit of the womb is a reward, and so we cherish them and serve them as Jesus served His disciples, because we deeply revere Him, love Him, and want to honor Him.

A holy life will reflect the character of Christ because it springs out of the heart whose life flows out from knowing Him. And so excellence, sacrifice, hard work, loyalty, love, joy, peace, patience, and so on, will be the virtues that grow in and through our holy lives. Holiness will come from being connected to Him, the Vine, the Source of all goodness. Loving Him will produce service to Him from a grateful heart, and the process of holiness will overtake our character as we seek to know and love Him.

Holiness spills out of an overflow of a heart in love with God.

Real Marriage 2: The Need for Hedges as Well as Light in Our Relationships & Podcast

God’s Word is a hedge of protection for our marriage relationship. We can beautify the inner circle of our marriage but we must avoid the dangerous things outside His hedge of protection that would threaten or cause danger to this sacred relationship. Hope you enjoy the podcast.

Bumping along a rough country road, our view from the upper level of a double-decker bus was breathtaking in the late afternoon sun. Passing the ruins of empty convents and monasteries left as ghosts of a by-gone era brought a sense of mystery. But quite amazing to us was something we had never before seen--rows and rows of hedges, sometimes for miles without a break in the walls of greenery.

The 6 foot thick, 12 feet high walls of bushes cultivated over years, kept everything on the outside from getting in, while protecting everything within its borders. Cattle were kept inside, safe from wandering or the harm of attacking animals. Hedges guarded the borders of land, one family's home boundaries separated from another-a literal hedge of protection.

When we pulled into an ancient town, we peered out our window before disembarking and saw the most gorgeous flowering garden in view beside the bus. When we were down on the ground, the tall hedge blocked our view of the garden and we could no longer see what was inside.

Just as we began to pass by,  a small, white-headed woman opened the front gate of the garden and came out into the road. I walked up and told her how lovely her garden appeared from our second-story view on the bus.

"Oh, come in for a first-hand look! I love to share its beauty."

Dozens of rose bushes in full bloom aglow with yellow, coral, reds of all shades, and pink filled every corner of the garden. Tiny delicate blossoms of honeysuckle, full sunflowers towering, a rainbow of mums clustered together filled the air with perfume as the autumn breeze swept gently over the plants.

"What is your secret to this splendid garden?"

"Honestly, I think the most profound but often invisible strength of my garden is the thick hedges that define the boundary. They protect all that is beautiful inside these walls from pests and predators that would destroy it.  Wind and storms do not sweep away the plants or diminish the leaves and growth, deer do not munch on the bulbs or eat the flowers down to the stubs, natural storms and threats at every point are kept at bay because of the protection of my hedges. Hedges protect the beauty and growth, and give me a safe place where my plants can grow over time."

Marriage needs to be protected, It needs to be hedged about by God's word and design, so there is accountability to living and choosing the right commitments and attitudes when temptations to compromise come. 

Recently, I was thinking about how this image so clearly portrays how important hedges are to a strong marriage. The hedges of protection for my marriage have been holding my bond with Clay for many years. This hedge is a wall of safety that has kept me from going outside its walls into the danger of the world, into the predators that would destroy marriage--adultery, a promise that perhaps happiness awaits outside the walls of marriage, there is a more perfect man--lover--somewhere else, vain imagination that promises happiness anywhere else, but provides only long-term scars.

But my marriage hedge was built around our sacred relationship by vows made before God. The borders of our hedge, created by scripture itself, kept us both within the boundaries of our marriage relationship, even when we would be tempted to discontent or a feeling of despair. Vows, scripture, and idea of God's desire for marriage, and strong intentions built the borders of our protective hedge.

"To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

Sincerely, if naively, I had made these vows and intended to keep them forever.

My vows became a hedge that protected me from the danger of leaving the walls of safety that held our commitment together.

I made a vow before friends, family and most importantly, before God--and I knew from scripture that God holds us to our vows.

I wanted my integrity to match my words.

"If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth." Numbers 30:2

I also knew that God said, "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." Matthew 19: 6

To build anything great and strong requires time. But a hedge of strength, protecting, guarding the beauty inside is a safe-guard from destroying the sacred trust. Marriage is one of the most profound ways God designed for us so that we could slowly learn and develop in our own lives, the very character of Christ, learning to serve, love, and give ourselves as He did for us.

We hope you’ll enjoy this podcast today, as Kristen and Misty are again joining me to talk about marriage!

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• Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

• Leave an iTunes Review These are so important as they help our podcast reach more women with messages of encouragement.

• Follow on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news and updates.

• Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

• Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!

Joy Through Suffering: Dancing with my Heavenly Father 8 and Podcast

Many years ago, when I was first married, I had an experience that was both devastatingly sad and eternally impactful in helping me to always have in my mind, “This is not the end. This is not my final home. I need to live for the kingdom to come.”

I hope you will give yourself time to really ponder the podcast today and to breathe in the beauty of this story. We only have this life, today, to choose to celebrate the reality of God in the presence of others and we never know when this opportunity will be over. Let me know your thoughts after you listen.

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How To Live Through Deep Sadness and Move to Mature Joy

One of the biggest puzzles for me has been understanding how to deal with suffering and yet have joy at the same time. This is a big subject and hardly one I can deal with comprehensively in one small chapter, but I do want to at least touch on this important question.

Being born with a strong sense of justice has made it difficult for me to understand why so much suffering happens to good people at the hands of bad people. Yet in reading Scripture and pondering life, I have realized that in order for me to have joy and hold God's hand in this dance of life, I have to mount up over these questions. The seeming inconsistencies of unanswered prayer, sickness, broken relationships, sin that corrupts and destroys, and all those consequences of life that tear our hearts apart are not to be dealt with in this world. If I am to dance, I do so by holding God's hand in faith, celebrating that he will, in time, judge the world and all its peoples and issues and bring justice for his children.

So as I began to examine joy in this context, I was not seeking to deal with the "why" of difficulty. That was a given. Instead I was seeking out the reality of how to live with joy in the midst of the sadness and death.

In Hebrews this very issue is the centerpiece. Consider these verses from Hebrews 12:1-2:

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The writer of Hebrews compared our lives to a race of endurance, a race in which joy is connected to what lies ahead, not to what is here right now. Just before these verses, in chapter 11, he called us to remember all of those who have gone before us who ran their race and finished well. The author listed the "Hall of Faith" and recounted the stories in Scripture of people who lived lives of faith and succeeded in pleasing God—the heroes of the faith. They are the cloud of witnesses who have gone before us. His admonition was for us to lay aside every encumbrance and sin, which so easily entangles us, in order to run this race of life with endurance.

Next he admonished us to fix our eyes on Jesus. Jesus is our target— the focal point of our lives and the finishing line of our faith. In other words, if we are to run well, we need to look at what Jesus did, follow his example, and run with his presence every step so that he can perfect our faith. Jesus endured the suffering of the cross because his eyes were on the "joy set before Him." I believe that the "joy set before Him" was the ultimate redemption of mankind through his sacrifice for us on the cross. He also took joy in knowing that he would soon be back with his Father, ruling and honored in the heavenlies as the Prince of peace, when he would once again "sit down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Jesus, once again our model for joy, endured the suffering because he knew that redemption and reward were coming. This must be the motivation of our lives if we are to experience internal joy in the midst of suffering: the certainty that we will be rewarded and justified in heaven because of our faith in his promise to make a place for us, the confidence that one day we will be in a place where there are no more tears. We can fix our eyes on Jesus, the One who is cheering us on, praying for us, waiting to greet us at the finish line of life.

I love the passage in Revelation that describes a part of the reality of heaven for us: "And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.' And He who sits on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.' And He said, 'Write, for these words are faithful and true'" (Revelation 21:4-5).

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What Does it Mean to Be Holy?

I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy. Leviticus 11:45

… it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY." I Peter 1: 16

Today's culture gives us permission to do pretty much whatever we feel like doing. "I'm okay, you're okay," we posit, even in Christian circles. Compromise is everywhere— moral compromise, behavioral compromise, an "It must be okay--everyone does it. It's not that bad" mentality.

Holy: Set Apart for God’s Purposes

One of the goals I have in my life is to search out people, books, and places that will cause me to want to love God more, to live a more excellent life, to want to devote myself to ministry. I want to focus on those areas that cultivate in me a desire to be holy, to be set apart for God's purposes. I have three older friends I specifically spend time with because they are stalwart, seasoned, mature women. I know that when I am with them, I will hear something from the Word. I will be challenged by their thoughts, their lives, their convictions and the ways they are living.

I am far from perfect. But I am an idealist and I can imagine and desire far more than I am able to live. I regular disappoint myself and as Paul said, “ I do the very things I do not wish to do.” And yet, the more time I spend pondering Christ, His creation, His ways, the more deeply I desire to live the way He designed life to be—set apart for Him. This is what holiness means—to be dedicated, to be set apart for God and HIs purposes.

I know from many years that God wants me to push through the self-condemnation and move forward the habit of moving forward, taking one step at a time toward Him, in spite of the bumps in the road when I am either hurt or distracted by the disappointments of others in my life or when I fall short of what I would like to be or do.

Yet, I have learned to have walk with God for many years and to have been challenged to hold fast to Him, amidst all of my struggles. Jacob, in the old testament, is a picture of what it looks like to hold fast to God. He wrestled with God over a night of God’s presence and wrestling with him, and yet, steadfastly, he would not let him go until God blessed him,. This has been my heart's desire, to hold fast to Him until I see Him face to face—a choice to keep going, keep holding on, keep following one step forward at a time.

I seek to find others who are also seeking to please Him, to learn from Him, to walk with Him. It is a rare privilege to meet someone who has determined to be holy--truly set apart for the Lord. A holy person listens to His voice, seeks His word, and prays for His guidance. I believe that God is so willing to work in great ways in and through the lives of any person, but the requirement is a heart set on holiness.

Some of the Requirements of One who is Holy

1. A person who is set apart for God's purposes has learned to view their lives in light of eternity.

Seek first the kingdom of God … lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven and not on earth … teach us to number our days that we might present to Thee a heart of wisdom … Two commandments--love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor.

2. We must put away the sin inside our hearts where no one but God can see.

Is there an idol in your life? It could be money, television, Facebook, Twitter, acceptance from others, popularity, romance novels, food, the need to be right,— anything that replaces God in our hearts as our primary source of satisfaction or joy is an idol. God will not tolerate idols.

Is there any bitterness, insecurity, fear, anger, condemnation of others, critical attitude, judgment, involvement with pornography, lust, etc. that we are holding onto rather than repenting of? God and sin cannot dwell together in the same space—our hearts. Whatever we practice, we become--we cannot love God and practice bitterness or hate or fear; we must choose our master and yield our heart to Him when the Holy Spirit puts His finger on an attitude or practice. The more we ignore His voice, the more we train ourselves in listening to the wisdom of the world which is all around us.

3. One who is focused on pleasing God must spend time in His word.

I am surrounded by people who say, "God told me this or that" or “Why did God do that to me?" Lots of God talk with no basis in scripture. I look for those who are listening to the voice of God. Psalm 1 says, "How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the path of sinners or sit in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in this law He meditates day and night.”

4. A holy person is humble--meek, compassionate, and giving grace to others and admits faults and wrong doing when they have offended others..

Jesus said, "I am humble and meek. Learn from me." A proud person cannot be used by God. He gives grace to the humble but is opposed to the proud. I have not met an older person who is godly who has not been humbled in her own eyes over the years.

Humility leads a person to say, "Life is not about me or my pleasure or my happiness. It is about Him and His ways. Be it done to me according to your will, Oh God." As I look at all the obstacles of my life, all the difficulties and deeply painful times, I see that God was leading me on a course to train my heart, so that I would understand the struggles of others, have more compassion for them, and learn to extend His grace to them. A holy person says, "God, have your way in my life, and I will look at everything that happens to me as a lesson or place where I might be faithful to You or where I might have something to learn about ministry."

5. A person who is holy is committed to growing in love, because this is what pleases God.

Loving means putting away anger and harshness toward the one you love. Love means seeing the other person with the intention of serving and encouraging them, not asking what the person can do for you. Love means generously pouring out life-giving words and messages--I believe in you. I appreciate you. I accept you. I will help you. I love you and let there be no doubt, I will be committed to you and seek your best my whole life.

Love does not come easily, but matures over time. But without love, we cannot please God. He cares not so much that our theology is perfectly in line, but that we serve others in love. (The Good Samaritan is one example.)

6. Holiness requires that we choose to believe in God's presence, purpose, and attention in every moment, every day.

Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. We believe in the dark times of life. We worship and sing to Him every day. We wait as long as it takes to see His answer to our prayers. We wait on God and God only.

I want to be faithful and holy until I see Him face to face. All of life, it seems, works against my faithfulness--I am weak and vulnerable. I am surrounded by voices of the world. I am tempted regularly. I am lazy and tired and undisciplined at times. But I have made commitments that are at the front of my mind to call me to my ideals. These commitments speak to my heart, call to me to keep going, and give me personal accountability.

What commitments have you made that keep you going? What are your ideals, your hopes, your goals that keep you going? No one can make you be faithful or strong, but God is cheering for you, hoping you will be one of those who stands fast, holds on, chooses Him, desires in your heart to be holy and faithful to Him.

To be set aside for God’s purposes and to follow Him in obedience also provides us with the deeply satisfying fruit of soul satisfaction, deep fullfillment from finding a centeredness in life. in I What will you choose today?