Rethinking Success

Paul Tripp's thoughts: "You and I don't live by instinct. We are value-oriented, goal-oriented, purpose-oriented, and importance-oriented human beings. We are constantly rating everything in our lives. We all have things that are important to us and things that are not, things that mean a lot to us and things that mean very little. We willingly make sacrifices for one thing and refuse to sacrifice for another. We grieve the loss of one thing and celebrate the loss of another.

In the center of this value system is our definition of success. No rational human being wants to be a failure. No one wants to think that he has wasted his life. No one wants to think that in the end she will look back and realize that she invested in things that just didn't matter. Everyone wants to think that his or her life is or will be successful. But what is success? Is it judged by the size of your house, the prominence of your friends, the success of your career, the power of your position, the size of the pile of your possessions, the perfection of your physical beauty, the breadth of your knowledge, or the list of your achievements? The problem with all of these things is that they quickly pass away, and because they do, if you have lived for these things, you will eventually come up empty.

Contrast that view of success with the success of God's work in and through you. God offers you things of supreme value (his forgiveness, his presence, welcome into his kingdom, a clean conscience, and a pure heart). These things will never pass away. They are the eternally valuable gifts of divine grace. This leaves you with this question: "What do I really want in life: the success of God's agenda of grace or the fulfillment of my catalog of desires?" At the end of the day, what do you long for: for God's grace to do its work or for more of the stuff that this physical created world has to offer? Be honest. What kind of success are you hooking your heart to and how is it shaping the decisions you make and he actions you take?"

Candy's thoughts: This was the excerpt that I read this morning from Paul Tripp. As soon as I put his book down, I opened another: Contentment: Seeing God's Goodness by Megan Hill. Here is the Scripture reference on which she based her writing for today:

"Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain! Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things: and give me life in your ways."  (Ps. 119:36-37)

I immediately scrapped what I was going to post today in favor of the one you are now reading. Could there be a better Bible verse to follow upon Tripp's exhortation for us to examine our thoughts on success? I was amazed at the timing and nearly identical topics of these two devotional messages. Wow. God works all things for our good and for His glory. Let us train our desires, then, to be in complete union with God's desires. May we do this with an ever increasing eye toward the blessings of His grace, and a decreasing obsession upon our own longings that are too often shaped by the world, our flesh, and the devil.

Nancy Guthrie and Her Babies

Here is a very touching, sad, and yet strangely encouraging video of Nancy Guthrie discussing the death of her two little babies. After these profound experiences, Nancy and her husband David founded GriefShare, a Bible-based grief recovery program that is now available nearly everywhere in the USA and even in some churches around the world. She then went on to author many books and devotionals related to grief, but also then turned her attention to writing Bible studies in general.  Over the past few years our women's study groups at Exeter Presbyterian Church have used three of her books: Hoping For Something Better: Refusing to Settle for Life as Usual (based on the book of Hebrews),  The Word of the Lord: Seeing Jesus in the Prophets, and presently The Wisdom of God: Seeing Jesus in the Psalms and Wisdom books.

I thought it would be good for those new to EPC and for those not part of EPC to hear the story of how God has used this incredible woman and her painful experiences for her good and His glory.

Have I mentioned that Nancy Guthrie has hugged me twice? I am definitely a Guthrie Groupie. 😀

https://vimeo.com/178598283

God Can Change Our Loved Ones' Hearts

"I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God's reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace."  Romans 11:1–5

Candy's thoughts: Here is a sermon excerpt (4 mins 55 secs to view) from John Piper's exposition of Romans 11. In this section he is speaking from his heart particularly about his two children who have not (yet) come to faith, but the message is applicable to any of our family members and friends that we desire to see in heaven. Let us bring our sincere petitions to the Lord with confidence that those we love will be part of the "...remnant, chosen by grace."  Amen!

On Reading Well

It's not often that I read books about reading books. Literary criticism, while sometimes amusing, is just not what I prefer to study when I curl up on the couch to spend some quiet time. But something in the title of a book I stumbled upon online caused me to order it. It's called On Reading Well: Finding The Good Life Through Great Books by Karen Swallow Prior.

The basic premise is this:

"Literature embodies virtue, first, by offering images of virtue in action and, second by offering the reader vicarious practice in exercising virtue, which is not the same as actual practice, of course, but is nonetheless a practice by which habits of mind, ways of thinking, and perceiving accrue."

In order to accomplish this goal, one must follow some simple advice:

1. "To read well, enjoy. Read books you enjoy, develop your ability to enjoy challenging reading, read deeply and slowly, and increase your enjoyment of a book by writing words of your own in it."

2. "Great books teach us how (not what) to think. Here Prior quotes Thomas Jefferson: 'While the ethical component of literature comes from its content (its ideas, lessons, vision), the aesthetic quality is related to the way reading - first as an exercise, then as a habit - forms us. Just as water, over a long period of time, reshapes the land through which it runs, so too we are formed by the habit of reading good books well.'"

After this introduction, Prior then lists 12 virtues corresponding to 12 books that best exemplify that virtue. Each book in this list has a chapter of its own as Prior helps us to understand the virtue being examined. Here they are:

The Cardinal Virtues:
Prudence: The History of Tom Jones, Henry Fielding
Temperance: The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Justice: A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
Courage: Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

The Theological Virtues:
Faith: Silence, Shusaku Endo
Hope: The Road, Cormac McCarthy
Love: The Death of Ivan Ilych, Leo Tolstoy

The Heavenly Virtues:
Chastity: Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton
Diligence: Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan
Patience: Persuasion, Jane Austen
Kindness: “Tenth of December", George Saunders
Humility: “Revelation” and “Everything That Rises Must Converge”, Flannery O'Connor

Final thoughts: Having previously read only 7 of these titles, I cannot vouch that any of these recommendations will fit everyone's standards for "good books."  We all have drawn our own "lines in the sand" when it comes to reading fiction. While Steve and I are going to attempt this year to read Prior's book and the other novels she recommends, please use your own discretion if this type of reading project appeals to you.  If you do decide to read one or more of these great works, please let me know. Part of the fun of a project like this is sharing it with friends.