Archive for the 'Practical Christian Living' Category

Ranking Your Priorities

Published by Nancy Ann on August 30, 2010 in Practical Christian Living. 13 Comments

I’ve been thinking about priorities lately, and since I spoke to some college girls about the topic, I thought I’d go ahead a whip up a little Femina post about it.

When we try to navigate through the many things we each have to do and the many decisions we have to make, we need to have some kind of thoughtful grid in place to help us make wise choices about how we spend our time. Keeping priorities is not some wooden thing that we just enforce on our schedule in an external way, but is rather a perspective that requires ongoing wisdom, discernment, and self-discipline.

For the Christian woman, whatever her age, her first priority is obviously to love and serve God. That means living like a consistent Christian, staying anchored to the Word, worshiping each Lord’s Day, and being a woman of faith and prayer. This helps keep us centered on the important things.We don’t make commitments that would take us away from regular worship, and we don’t quit reading our Bibles because we have so much other reading to do for school.

Secondly, we are women. This means we are wives or daughters or mothers, so we have obligations related to these family ties. Daughters must consider their relationship to their parents, keeping connected and continuing to Continue reading ‘Ranking Your Priorities’

An Open-Book Assignment

Published by Nancy Ann on July 27, 2010 in Practical Christian Living. 4 Comments

My father-in-law writes a monthly newsletter for Community Christian Ministries, and I thought I would share the contents of his July issue. He called it “an open-book assignment.” Here it goes.

1. Read chapters 1 through 3 of Ephesians several times, listing everything that the believer has in Christ. Thank God for each of them.

2. Do the same thing with Colossians 1 and 2.

3. After you are fortified with all of this wonderful truth and are rejoicing in it, then read Ephesians 4-6 and list all of the commands.

4. Repeat with Colossianss 3-4.

You will find that the commands are not impossible because of where you are in Christ.

Review, Review, Review

Published by Nancy Ann on May 17, 2010 in Practical Christian Living. 11 Comments

I’ve been whacking away on a review sheet for the upcoming final I’ll be giving my ninth-grade students, and it struck me that I could use some review as well. Who couldn’t? The Christian life requires constant review of the truths and promises of God; otherwise we forget His goodness to us, and this invariably leads to some slip up or fall.

Whenever my husband and I travel for a speaking event, I always come back refreshed. Not only do we have the opportunity to hear other speakers, but we have to prepare and deliver our own. My talk will usually be a new arrangement of much of the same material I have spoken on before, but it is stimulating for me to review and rearrange. I always sit in on my husband’s talks, and they may be covering material that I have heard him address many times before. But it is always a blessing to go over it again and to hear it again. Why? Because it is not simply information; it is food.

It’s always good to be reminded again of the basics: things like confess your sins, respect your husband, love your kids, etc. Paul said he didn’t mind going over the same material again, and that it was good for the hearers (Philippians 3:1). But the reason it’s good to be reminded is because it is nourishing. When I hear a talk about basic Christian living, I may not actually learn anything startlingly new (though it may be framed in a new way), but I am edified and built up because I am being fed. When I sit down to dinner, it may not be a new recipe, but it nourishes me all the same.

So if we skip out on the review sessions (I’ve heard all this before….), it is no wonder we are not prepared when the test comes (and it always does come). Without review we get weak and even foolish. And of course there are applications of this principle for mothers. Little kids need review, review, review. It would be nice if we could just tell them the rule once: “Be nice to your sister. No hitting.” But they need to hear it said lovingly (and sternly) many times a day, year after year, just like we do. And they are not the only ones who are slow learners!

Spurgeon Spot On

Published by Nancy Ann on April 15, 2010 in Practical Christian Living. 6 Comments

God’s people need lifting up. They are very heavy by nature. They have no wings, or , if they have, they are like the dove of old which lay among the pots; and they need divine grace to make them mount on wings covered with silver, and with feathers of yellow gold. By nature sparks fly upward, but the sinful souls of men fall downward. O Lord, “lift them up forever!” David himself said, “Unto Thee, O God, do I lift up my soul,” and he here feels the necessity that other men’s souls should be lifted up as well as his own. When you ask this blessing for yourself, forget not to seek it for others also. There are three ways in which God’s people require to be lifted up.

They require to be elevated in character. Lift them up, O Lord; do not suffer Thy people to be like the world’s people! The world lieth in the wicked one; lift them out of it! The world’s Continue reading ‘Spurgeon Spot On’

Ten Things to Do on a Rainy Day

Published by Nancy Ann on March 29, 2010 in Easter and Practical Christian Living. 17 Comments

Our ten-day forecast is cold and rain, rain, maybe some snow, and more rain. Though the farmers are doing a victory dance, it can still be hard on the rest of us, especially you moms who have to call off the springtime walks for the week. But even if it’s a downpour outside, that’s no reason to let it start raining inside too. So here are a few ideas to keep the rainy day out in the yard where it belongs.

1. Pick up the house.  A tidy house is lots more fun to be in than a big mess. Plump up the pillows and shine up the coffee table. Put fresh sheets on the beds. And don’t forget to make sure you are looking cheery. Fix your hair and put on some earrings and a cute bright sweater. Now we’re talking.

2. Bring in some flowers. The grocery stores have plenty of selections. Get a bright colored flowering plant or a bunch of tulips (or daffodils) and put them on the table. Of course an Easter lily is the perfect choice right now.

3. And speaking of the table, put on a cheery runner or tablecloth. Look around in your linen closet and pull out something fresh, preferably bright yellow!

4. Fill the house with some cheery music.

5. Turn on the lights! No reason to fumble around in the dark. Change all the burnt-out light bulbs and surprise yourself with how bright your house can be!

6. Fill the house with some yummy smells. Make some bread or cinnamon rolls.

7. Put some bright throw pillows on the sofa and ditch those dingy tan colored things.

8. Make some play dough with the kids and get them busy with their hands. Easter is coming, so color some eggs!

9. Write some thank-you notes, call your mom to say hi, wrap a birthday gift.

10. Invite some friends over for soup. Shine the silver for the big Easter dinner.

Okay, so that’s probably more than ten. But you get the idea. Most importantly, in all these things, overflow in gratitude to God. Count your blessings. Rejoice!

Blessedness

Published by Nancy Ann on March 19, 2010 in Book Plugs and Practical Christian Living. 4 Comments

Here’s a gem from Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ collection of sermons entitled Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled:

“The classic statement of this was made by our Lord in his Sermon n the Mount, when he said, ‘Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after’ —happiness, joy, peace? — Not at all —  ‘blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled’ (Matthew 5:6, emphasis added). In other words, if you make happiness or joy or peace your one aim and object in life, it is certain you will never find it; but if you put righteousness as your main aim, and if you become so concerned about righteousness and true living that you can be said to be hungering and thirsting after it, well then, says our Lord, you will be filled with happiness. It will follow.

“This, I think you will agree with me, is something that is absolutely vital and fundamental. If you come to the Christian faith merely because of what you want it to do, you will never get that thing, nor will you get anything else. The Bible must be taken in its own way; it must be accepted on its own terms. There are no shortcuts once you begin to deal with God. God demands something that is central from us — He demands total allegiance. You cannot take things out of the gospel of Christ. You must take the gospel as it is without any modification or qualification. So if you want blessedness, you must start with righteousness; otherwise you will never know it.”