An Unusual Recommendation

You are about to read a CandyceLand first - a recommendation to watch a particular movie.  (At least I don't remember doing this previously, but I just did some research and having written 499 articles I suppose it's remotely possible I have written on this topic.) In general, recommending films is a tricky business since one never knows what another person's sensitivities or preferred genres are that best suit their interests. But even if I have done a movie review before, I am 100% sure I haven't encouraged my readers to watch a movie I haven't yet seen. 😂

In my defense, I haven't viewed Minari because I have thus far refused to pay to do so. COVID has changed the entire way that films are rolled out to the public. The norm now, since theaters have been closed, is to charge 'movie-goers' to stream movies on various services, like Apple TV +, Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. The going rate seems to be $20 for a 48 hour rental. This primarily applies to new releases, especially those that are expected to garner Oscar nominations, which was the case for Minari. The price will go down eventually, although after reading this review written by a contributor to The Gospel Coalition, I am beginning to weaken my resolve to be patient. I want to watch it NOW. 

Here are some snippets of the review written by Eugene Park to pique your interest:

Chung (the Director and Screenwriter for Minari) wanted viewers to resonate with a desire to return to Eden. “Of all texts, Scripture was most likely the biggest reference for the script,” he told me. “The Bible includes many stories about gardens and farming, and the entire arc of its narrative seems to place key moments of betrayal and redemption within gardens. Minari is a story of immigrants, but at its heart, it’s about a family trying to find a new life. They’ve left one garden and are in search of another.”

Minari reminds us of the truths of Hebrews 11: 13-14, that we are “strangers and exiles on [this] earth . . . seeking a homeland.”

I’ve experienced various expressions of faith and faithlessness myself, and I wanted to try working the way Dostoevsky approached faith in his books, by allowing different characters to express or wrestle with a facet of the author’s own internal life. He gives his characters free rein to do this and lets them find grace and redemption in surprising, unorthodox ways.

Every human is a gardener at heart, haunted by a longing for Eden, as Minari masterfully shows. Yet no earthly place we’ve settled in—or migrated from—will ever satisfy our desire for a better country, the “heavenly one” where God’s people will dwell forever with Christ (Hebrews 11:16). That’s where we’ll find Eden again. Every human is ultimately a migrant farmer, always restlessly seeking for that place. Let’s help each other on that journey—pointed in the right direction and rooted in soil fed by living water.

These quotes are just a small portion of this great review. If anyone has seen the movie already, please let me know your thoughts. And maybe I'll write again too - if I give in and watch it soon!

For a synopsis of the plot and further commentary on the entirety of the film, Read here!

The "Apple of HIS Eye"

Do you ever read verses in the Bible without really studying them?  I certainly confess to doing so. Sometimes the Scripture in question might seem fairly understandable so we just pass by it. But I have learned over the years that a Study Bible is such a help in taking "understandable" verses and showing us that there really is so much more to be learned than from a very cursory glance when we think we know what is being communicated. 

Case in point: "Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings, from the wicked who do me violence, my deadly enemies who surround me."  (Psalm 17:8)

This is a beautiful image that makes us feel safe and special, right?  As humans we all long to be the "apple of the eye" to someone we love. How wonderful is it that God feels that way about us? He will love us, protect us, and restrain our enemies. That would be my simple summary. 

But bring on someone like Charles Spurgeon to explain this passage, and I feel foolish for my almost casual assessment of that one verse. Listen to his explanation and encouragement, and realize how much God really does think of us as the "apple of HIS eye." Very lovely!

"In the providence of God, the pupil of the eye is defended with peculiar care and transcendent skill; those who have studied the formation of the pupil itself will tell you with how many coats the retina is preserved. The most common observer knows how the eyebrows, the eyelashes, and the eyelids are formed as outworks, fences, and barricades to protect the pupil of the eye, which is thus made to dwell securely like a citizen within the entrenchments of a fortified town. Being one of the tenderest organs of the physical frame, the eye should be well preserved, in view of its exceeding sensitiveness. Nor is it merely sheltered in its own fortification, but sentries keep watch lest it should be exposed to peril. Whenever it is threatened with even the appearance of danger, no time is lost in consultation with ourselves; but with agility so brisk that it seems almost involuntary, the arm is lifted up and the hand is raised to screen it from harm or to resist attack. And if we are about to stumble, we naturally put out our hands to save our eyes. Instinct seems to teach us the value of eyesight, and our whole strength is put forth to preserve it. In fact, all the members of the body may be regarded as a patrol for the safekeeping of the eyes, and all the incorporated human powers are in constant vigilance to guard and protect that precious orb. Likewise the Lord has been pleased to surround his people with the strong bastions of his providence. And just as our eyes are protected and cared for even in our sleep, so the Lord's care and protection of us is constant."  

In another place Spurgeon uses this same verse to speak of the attributes of God. (Emphasis mine.)

"The one who prays intelligently must have some knowledge of the God to whom he prays. He has learned the uselessness of all other sources of protection. The invocation is addressed to God, for he is well aware that no other can respond to his call or intervene for his aid. He who uses the prayer intelligently perceives the omniscience of Jehovah, who, better than a hundred eyes, can see all his foes from whichever quarter they may come. He believes also in God's omnipotence, that no assailant is so strong as he who is Israel's refuge and fortress. or is there any danger so imminent that he cannot anticipate and avert it. He relies, moreover, on the love of God whose willing heart will support his interests; he relies on the faithfulness of God to show the mercy promised to the fathers and on the unchangeableness of God who will never turn back but finally achieve the salvation of his servant and protect him to the end."  

 

 

Quotables #10

A couple of days ago I was shocked when I noticed that on my phone are stored 7,920 pictures and 1,278 videos. YIKES!  So I spent a couple of hours scrolling through the phone app and started deleting - about 724 were deemed by me to be not useful anymore - so they have been permanently removed. In order to downsize even more, I'm doing another Quotable post based on the screenshots of terrific quotes I have found. You all know the drill: Please let me know your favorites! 😉

Mine are #6, 8, 12, 13, and 14. 

1. "We forget that God's primary goal is not changing our situations or relationships so that we can be happy, but changing us through our situations and relationships so that we will be holy."  Paul Tripp

2. "God never withholds from His child that which His love and wisdom call good. God's refusals are always merciful - 'severe mercies' at times but mercies all the same. God never denies us our heart's desires except to give us something better."  Elizabeth Elliot

3. "There is no pit so deep, that God's love is not deeper still."  Corrie ten Boom

4.  "Prayer is not magic. God is not a celestial bellhop ready at our beck and call to satisfy our every whim."  R.C. Sproul

5.  "Never pass up the opportunity to keep your mouth shut."  Elisabeth Elliot

6.  "The irony of the Gospel is that the only way to be worthy of it is to admit that you're completely unworthy of it."  Tim Keller 

7.  "Solitude with God repairs the damage done by the fret and noise and clamor of the world." Oswald Chambers

8. "Satan loves to fish in the troubled waters of a discontented heart."  Thomas Watson

9. "It is a good rule never to look into the face of a man in the morning till you have looked into the face of God."  Charles Spurgeon

10. "God's grace means God moving heaven and earth to save sinners who could not lift a finger to save themselves."  J.I. Packer

11. "Be humble, talk little, think and pray much."  George Whitefield

12. "Where there is no holy living, there's no Holy Spirit."  J.C. Ryle

13. "Consider how precious a soul must be, when both God and the devil are after it."  Charles Spurgeon

14.  "Modern religion focuses upon filling churches with people. The true Gospel emphasizes filling people with God."  AW Tozer

15. If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me."  Robert Murray M'Cheyne

Divine Interruptions

Dietrich Bonhoeffer's thoughts: "We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions. We may pass them by, preoccupied with our more important tasks, as the priest passed by the man who had fallen among thieves... When we do that we pass by the visible sign of the Cross raised across our path to show us that, not our way, but God's way must be done... But it is part of the discipline of humility that we must not spare our hand where it can perform a service and that we do not assume that our schedule is our own to manage, but allow it to be arranged by God."

Candy's thoughts: Ouch! As confessed just two weeks ago here on CandyceLand, I am addicted to all things list-related: the making of them, the organizing of them, and finally the doing of them. So when my schedule goes askew, so do I.  My mind gets flustered and frustrated, and I overcompensate by scrambling to do ALL THE THINGS ON MY OWN LIST instead of calming down and doing ALL THE THINGS ON GOD'S LIST. 

The good part of this story is that through sanctification I have become much better at dealing with scheduling snafus than when I was younger. These days (meaning now that I'm much older... 😉) I am more relaxed when the unexpected happens. Years of experience have shown me that more often than not the divine interruptions that come my way are delightful gifts from God. I'm referring to surprise calls or emails during the day from people that make me stop for a smile or laugh; an opportunity to care for my grandsons; a call for help from someone who ends up blessing me much more than the other way around.

If as believers we truly believe in the sovereignty of God, then we should be looking for these 'God Moments' and rejoice that He is sending a gift to us through them - not to discourage us - but to bless us. Praise God From Whom All Blessings (And Interruptions!) Flow! 😇

Two Inspiring Music Videos

I'd like to share two music videos that I've been listening to repeatedly. I have found them rich in theology and hope. Please let me know what you think. 💜

The first is by Shane and Shane called "Though You Slay Me" and features verses from the book of Job and an exhortation by John Piper on the topic of suffering and pain. If you'd like, click on the CC (Closed Captioning) feature at the bottom of the video screen in order to read the lyrics while the musicians are singing and Piper is speaking.

Here is "Though You Slay Me."

The second is by Andrew Peterson entitled "Is He Worthy?"  This particular version was part of Keith and Kristyn Getty's Music Worship Conference. 

Here is "Is He Worthy?"

Index Cards

When I was a young girl my parents had a real-estate business in North Adams, MA. I really enjoyed functioning as the receptionist and errand girl and overall 'gal Friday.'  About once a week I was sent downtown (15 min walk) to the local stationery store to pick up miscellaneous supplies. This was the highlight of my week! I would purchase what was needed but then roam around the store looking at all the fancy papers and pens and gadgets, running my fingers over them as if they were mine. I'm sure this is the reason behind my love, to this day, of index cards and steno pads and sticky notes.  Because of this minor obsession of mine I have always been a list-maker and a note-taker. As I am typing this blogpost my desk is even now littered with remnants of reminders and notes and random ideas I have written down.

So it was with great delight yesterday that I found the old index cards I used while writing a book review in 2018. One night Steve and I had dinner with Rev. Greg Reynolds and his super-wife Robin (Hi, Robin! 😉).  I was expressing excitement for a book I had purchased entitled Prayers of the Bible by Gordon Keddie.  Much to my surprise, Greg knew Mr. Keddie personally but had not yet seen his book. He glanced at the volume and was favorably impressed. At that point I was only on page 27 or so when Greg asked if I would be willing to write a review for Ordained Servant of which he is the editor. BIG GULP: I had never written anything for a publication so I was very overwhelmed with the idea of doing so. But more than that, I also squirmed because the book itself was 764 pages long, including Endnotes. YIKES! 

As it turns out, Prayers of the Bible was very much worth spending 6 intense months of reading and taking notes on file cards. It truly is a remarkable book and I would recommend it to everyone. (Local friends can take a peek at my copy if interested.)  

Here is the link to the actual review in Ordained Servant.

And now back to the index cards that I recently found in a desk drawer. Here are some fascinating facts I had discovered:

1. Where in the Bible was the first prayer meeting noted?  Genesis 4:26

Keddie's answer: "Only after the birth of Adam's grandson Enosh do we have the first record in the Bible of a public meeting for worship and prayer. There were now two growing families serving the Lord - those of Adam and Seth. It appears that they were moved to meet together for praise and prayer, This was when "men began to call on the name of the Lord."  

2. Where in the Bible was the first recorded prayer mentioned?  Genesis 15:2

Keddie's answer: "Lord God, what will You give me, for I continue childless?"  "God promptly promises a child... God also promised life beyond measure. In the end, Abraham would have descendants as uncountable as the stars in the night sky. This takes the promise to a higher level because this obviously vastly transcends the natural descendants of Abraham.

3.  What is the shortest prayer in the Bible?  Matthew 14:30

Keddie's answer: "But when Peter saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, 'Lord, save me.'  It is surely no accident that the shortest prayer in Scripture is about the largest problem in human experience - that of life or death for both time and eternity. After all, people in desperate situations do not have much time to pray."

4. What is the first intercessory prayer?  Genesis 18:23

Keddie's answer: "Then Abraham drew near and said, "Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?""  This surely challenges us to pray for lost people - for even the most outwardly wicked lost people. If we have a love for souls, as did Abraham, than we will surely desire to see people saved by the free grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.  This is the vital test of our own love for Jesus, because saving grace for the notoriously wicked cuts against the grain of human nature and the natural desires we have for justice and even sheer vengeance. Anyone can love his friends."

These are but four of the hundreds of index cards I used to research and review Prayers of the Bible. What I have listed above may seem like trivia points, but Keddie's book was full of theological insights that I found very worthy of study. 

A Foretaste of Heaven

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” (Hebrews 12: 22-24)

There is something about this passage that makes me excited and glad and grateful and amazed all at once. It seems as though this is written to present day believers - even though it says that we have come to the heavenly Jerusalem now, as in today! How can that be? It must have something to do with worship - that somehow when we enter into that activity here on earth, we are also simultaneously entering into worship in Heaven. If that is the case, then our fellow worshippers are those that have gone ahead of us, namely our loved ones. Could it be that when we sing and pray and read God’s Word that the person sitting next to us in the pew is the very one that has departed from us and we are missing so much?

My theory here seems to be supported by the ESV Study Bible, which states:

“This (passage) draws on extensive OT imagery of a new heavenly Zion/Jerusalem to say that Christian believers have access, in the invisible, spiritual realm, into the Heavenly Jerusalem, and therefore participate in worship with innumerable angels and the great assembly of those who have died in faith and are already in God’s presence.”

Certainly the language of these verses confirms the reality of existence for those who have gone before us. The “assembly of the firstborn,” for example, while initially referring to Christ, has been expanded to include all the heirs of salvation. Those “enrolled in Heaven” probably refers to the Book of Life referenced in several places in the Bible. And finally, “the spirits of the righteous made perfect” clearly refers to believers who were made righteous on earth because of Christ’s work on the cross, but were made gloriously perfect upon their entrance into Heaven.

Of course, as wonderful a concept as it is, we should not be overly fixated on the fact that our family and friends in Heaven are worshiping together with us on Sunday mornings. The most important person we should be focusing on is Christ, “the mediator of a new covenant,” who made all this possible. Without His sacrificial life and death, we wouldn’t be excited and glad and grateful and amazed at all.

Thanks be to God for the incredible privilege of entering into Heavenly worship while we are still living as sojourners here on earth. Better still, one day we will experience the fullness of worship that we now know by faith alone; in just a little while, our faith will be sight!

(From the Archives)

Searching for a Great Novel?

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to read. I've written before in this blog that it was my mother who started me off. I frequently contracted bronchitis while a little kid and one day she brought me a huge stack of library books and placed them on my bed. WHA?!?!  I couldn't believe that SHE believed that I could read these huge chapter books... but as usual I was wrong and she was right. And then and there my life-long journey began to seek out and find good fictional novels.

So of course a recent article entitled "25 Great Novelists Who Affirm Faith" certainly piqued my interest. Along with the name of the author a brief description is given of the type of literature written by each. Although I was originally discouraged to find that I had only read 14 of these great novelists, I finally realized YAY!  I have many more books to read!

If you want to read an amazing set of books, start with Marilynne Robinson. Steve has read her most famous book series 3 times, and we just got the latest in that collection delivered to us a couple of days ago. They truly are a delight to read. Start with Gilead (which won a Pulitzer Prize in 2005.) 

As an aside: Steve and I are now on the hunt for good movie adaptations of the classics that we love. To that end this week alone we enjoyed Anna Karenina by Tolstoy and Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky. We have watched all the Jane Austen novels several times each and of course The Lord of the Rings trilogy by Tolkien multiple times (although not all this week!) 

Have fun with this list, and let me know if you would recommend any of these books.  👍

Here is the list

Heavenly Gifts For The Here And Now

I recently read an amazing article entitled "Ordinary Life Is Crammed with Heaven." It is an interview with an author who has written Sensing God: Experiencing the Divine in Nature, Food, Music, and Beauty. (And yes I've ordered it already. 😉) I was immediately drawn to this because of my previous study on the realities of heaven which culminated several years ago with the writing of my book Heaven's Comforts for the Grieving Soul. 

My interest in this topic has not diminished since that time. While I still rely every day on the promises of God that will find their greatest fulfillment in the coming of the new heavens and the new earth, a different focus has emerged over the years, a desire to experience 'a little bit of heaven' here on this side of eternity. 

Of course this 'taste' of heaven can come in many different common gifts of daily experience. The observation of a beautiful sunset or the exploration of an ocean beach with grandkids or the birth of a newborn babe certainly come to mind. So do various expressions of music and food and art and scientific endeavors or contemplating how our bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made. There truly is an endless list of gifts that God provides for us to marvel at and enjoy. If you would like to explore that idea further, please read this article mentioned above. 

How did I get to the place where I can say with certainty that heaven even exists? It was not without a lot of angst and fears and doubts. I'll include here part of the introduction to my book which explains my journey. I give all praise to God for causing me to come to a settled understanding of the joys that await us because of the work of His son on the cross. 

I have been assigned the duty of writing an Introduction to my book on Heaven after struggling for more than two years with doubts about its very existence. Fortunately, I am in good company. C.S. Lewis also found himself fighting disbelief: "You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you." This is my experience; this is my challenge. 

So how did I come to write Heaven's Comforts: A Guide to the Grieving Soul? I lost someone very dear to me, my twenty-two year old son. It wasn't until the initial shock of his death wore off that I could even begin to process what I believed or did not believe. Spiritual anesthesia is a wonderful mercy, but it doesn't last forever. Little by little and in various ways the notion of life after death crept into my consciousness. Did I believe in Heaven or not? Was this concept real or a figment of my imagination? Everyone around me assured me of Heaven's existence, and that my son was surely there, but was it true? I desperately needed to know. I needed to feel the truth, not just know it. And therein was my first problem. 

Over the last few years I have often said that I experienced a real disconnect between what I knew to be true, in my mind, and what I felt to be true, in my heart. This mind/heart barrier was so painful to experience. On the one hand, I have studied the Bible continuously for nearly twenty-five years and believe it to be God's handbook for doctrine and living. On the other hand, my heart was so sorrowful that I felt no comfort because I couldn't actually experience Heaven while I still lived here on earth. In the words of C.S. Lewis again, "Only the locked door, the iron curtain, the vacuum, absolute zero." What to do? 

But then something curious happened. I began to study what Scripture said about heaven, and found that there is so much contained in the pages of the Bible that was previously hidden from me until it "...became a matter of life and death." Surprisingly, I realized that the only times I really 'felt' the truths of heaven were when I was teaching them to someone else, particularly to the wonderful, caring women of my church. Is it possible that convincing others of the comforts of heaven brought me comfort as well? Could it be that God really does reward those that diligently seek Him? (Hebrews 11:6)

Schadenfreude

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..." (Matthew 5:43-44)

Have you ever realized that your own thinking is really flawed, really foolish? I have often read the above verses from the Bible and thought "I don't have a problem with that."  And why would that be? Because I have always reasoned that I don't have 'enemies' like the ones that are in Bible stories. I am not David OR Goliath, responding to one another with frightening threats of impending death. I am not a fighter in Israel's army going into battle against an opposing army. I just don't have any enemies.  I'm not fearful that someone will hurt me physically, maybe even take my life. If ever I get a real enemy, then I'll take that particular Scripture more seriously.

WOW. 

So what would be the next level down from 'enemy' be? Someone I don't like or someone who doesn't like me? A really annoying person? Is it a person that I find judgmental or whose views I very much disagree with? Hmmm... maybe I do have a few of those 'types' of people around me. If I need to love my enemies, surely I should have a merciful disposition toward the merely annoying.

I recently read a blog post that helped me to see the ugliness of rejoicing at the misfortune of another. Our friend, Bob Bjerkaas, a PCA minister in California, wrote about the book of Job and something called "schadenfreude." Bob's insights can help all of us to learn the beauty of mourning with those who mourn and rejoicing with those who rejoice. You can read his entire post here.

May the Lord be our help as we seek to be more like Jesus, who died for us when we were still His enemies.

Car 54, Where Are You?

I love to laugh. Actually, I thrive on laughter. In fact I may have primarily married Steve for his sense of
humor! (Well, truth be told, I also loved him. 😉) But as we have gotten older, Steve and I have realized how important it is to laugh at ourselves in daily life. We try to turn our 'senior moments' into 'moments of mirth' in order to lessen the disappointment that our brains are not what they used to be. 

But I digress ...

This 'funny' article was written by Andrée Seu Petersen who has a weekly column in World Magazine. As always, Andrée combines humor with theology in a wonderful way. She is able to honestly assess the underlying fears that often debilitate her (our?) witness to a watching world. 

This particular blog post hit home for me: How about for you?

Concerning Attitude Adjustments

Now that I've captured your attention through the use of a humorous meme, I'm going to turn serious once again. 

😀

The subject today is one that is familiar to many of us: being 'moody' or having a 'bad attitude.'  It seems to be the default feature for most humans to occasionally (or frequently!) get ourselves into a state of unhappiness, fear, grumpiness, and irritation. The trigger for these emotions can be large or small. We're driving behind a very slowwww car; we can't find the necessary ingredient we need to make our meal; OR, we're writing a blog post at this very moment as someone we live with (no names mentioned) spills seltzer water all over my planning book ruining it for future use (true story!). HA!

It would be easy to blame our 'moods' on those around us, but we are reminded by Elizabeth Elliot that "The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances." The truth is that it is our reaction to the events of life -- the sin within us -- that causes us to grumble and murmur. 

I recently read a helpful article that encourages us to identify and examine biblically the thoughts that are behind our feelings. As the author says, "We are not, however, victims of these moods, and we certainly must not make others victims of them, either. Instead, we must develop the skilled habit of challenging them, ruling over them (Romans 6:12), and laying them aside so that they don’t weigh us (or others) down in the race of faith (Hebrews 12:1)."

Perhaps we can take advantage of opportunities in our own lives to fight against bad thinking by rejecting what is plainly false and embracing the truth. This is what God urges us to do when we are told to "take every thought captive" to Jesus Christ. His way of thinking is right. Our way may need an occasional adjustment. 

Here is the link to the full article. As always I would love to hear your thoughts, either below or via email.

Look, Look, Look

 

"Early in the morning Abraham went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw that smoke was going up from the land like the smoke of a furnace." (Genesis19:27-28)

Imagine what it would have been like for Abraham to return to the very place where he had asked God to spare the city, and to see the destruction that came from the Almighty on a very wicked group of people. What did Abraham think about this devastating scene? What should our thoughts be when we read these verses today? More generally, how are we to feel about the day of judgment that will come upon the whole earth when our Lord returns? 

Spurgeon's thoughts: "What must Abraham's meditations have been? What should be the meditations of every godly man as he looks toward Sodom and sees the smoke of its destruction? It might do some men great good if they would not persistently shut their eyes to the doom of the wicked. Look on that place of darkness and woe where every impertinent and unbelieving spirit must be banished forever. Look till the tears are in our eyes as we thank God that we are rescued from so terrible a doom. Look till our heart melts with pity for the many who are going the downward road and who will eternally ruin themselves unless almighty grace prevents." 

May God guide us to look, look, and look some more at passages such as this one. Let us feel sadness, thankfulness, and pity, and then resolve to live our lives with a present awareness of His eternal justice and mercy. 

"Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you and therefore exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him."  Isaiah 30:18 

Quotables #9

Here are the last few months of quotes that I've collected from modern and not-so-modern theologians. I'd like to hear from you as to which ones you found most inspiring, memorable, convicting, or thought provoking. 

My favorites are #2, 5, 7, and 9.  Which are yours? I'd love to hear from you in the comments section below this post, or by email if that's easier.

1. "Never, never, let us forget that children for whom many prayers have been offered, seldom finally perish... Such prayers are heard on high. Such prayers will often bring down blessings... Let us pray more for our sons and daughters."  J.C. Ryle

2.  "Anxiety is living out the future before it gets here. Faith is trusting that when the future comes, our Father will be there to give us what we need."  Kevin De Young

3. "There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge; that is curiosity. There are those who seek knowledge to be known by others; that is vanity. There are those who seek knowledge in order to serve, that is love."  Bernard of Clairaux

4.  "How great is the blessing which the soul obtains by trusting in God and waiting patiently." George Muller

5. "You can draw near to God even though you cannot say a word. A prayer may be crystallized in a tear. A tear is enough water to float a desire to God."  Charles Spurgeon

6.  "Our heart is restless until it rests in you."  Saint Augustine

7.  "There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice." John Calvin

8.  "God has a right to take from us what He will, for all our joys and treasures belong to Him and are only lent to us for a time. It was in love that He gave them to us; it is in love that He takes them away. When we cease our struggle, and in faith and confidence submit our will to His, peace flows into our heart and we are comforted."  J.R. Miller

9.  "If you are in the hands of Him who is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent, there are no legitimate reasons to worry."  Elisabeth Elliot

10.  "The highest degree of faith is to be able to wait, sit still, and not complain."  J.C. Ryle  

11.  "Most of us go through life worrying people will think too little of us. Paul worried people would think too much of him."  D.A. Carson

12.  "He who counts the stars and calls them by their names is in no danger of forgetting His own children."  Charles Spurgeon

13.  "It is not the experiences of our lives that change us; it is our response to those experiences."  Elisabeth Elliot

14.  "Most men need patience to die, but a saint who understands what death admits him to should rather need patience to live."  John Flavel

15.  "I don't always feel His presence, but God's promises do not depend upon my feelings; they rest upon His integrity."  R.C. Sproul

59 Minutes Of Truth and Encouragement

Many of my CandyceLand readers know my favorite authors by now: Nancy Guthrie, Paul Tripp, Alastair Begg, Randy Alcorn, and various Puritan writers. In the past few years I have added a new name to this list: Vaneetha Rendall Risner. I was first introduced to her years ago through GriefShare - she was a contributor to the videos and her story was (is!) so compelling that I purchased her first book, published in 2016, entitled The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us In Suffering. I found it to be so readable, so authentic, so honest about her struggles with faith through many horrible sufferings she has experienced in her life. I have gifted this book to others that needed inspiration and comfort.

Last Tuesday she released her 2nd book, Walking Through Fire: A Memoir of Loss and Redemption.  She also put together a one-hour online event that same evening featuring interviews with Joni Eareckson Tada, Paul Tripp, Randy Alcorn, and someone new to me, Katherine Wolf. Perhaps it was because I had never heard of Katherine that I was particularly blessed by her story of affliction.

Although the video is 59 minutes long, I can assure you that you will not regret listening. Steve and I were blessed watching the live event, but I plan to listen again. I know you all are super busy, but perhaps you can listen while doing the dishes or driving in the car?  There are also a couple of technical issues in this recording, but they are very brief. 

Enough said - I'd rather you spend time with Vaneetha and her friends than read what I have to say! 

Click Here To Watch Video

Our Adoption Into An Eternity Of Love

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved."  Ephesians 1:3-6

Adoption has always held a special space in my heart, and only increased with the adoption of a precious nephew from Romania by my brother and sister-in-law about 30 years ago. Steve and I then tried for 3 years to adopt a sibling group of 5 from Romania, one with special needs. It's a long and complicated story, but while every step of the process seemed blessed by God, we were literally "shut down" by both the American and Romanian Embassies at the last moment. In fact, my only trip to see these kids (known by Steve for several years) was to tell them in person we could not, in fact, make the adoption happen. Steve and I were devastated, but they were okay with the news, having already experienced many disappointments in their young lives.

These precious memories were rekindled this morning as I came across a quote by J.I. Packer in Knowing God. It is perhaps the finest and most encouraging definition of adoption I have personally ever read, and so I wanted to share this with my CandyceLand readers as well. Packer writes:

"Adoption, by its very nature, is an act of free kindness to the person adopted. If you become a father by adopting a child, you do so because you choose to, not because you are bound to. Similarly, God adopts because he chooses to. He had no duty to do so. He need not have done anything about our sins save punish us as we deserve. But he loved us so; he redeemed us, forgave us, took us as his sons and daughters, and gave himself to us as our Father.

"Nor does his grace stop short with that initial act, any more than the love of human parents who adopt stops short with their completing of the legal process that makes the child theirs. The establishing of the child's status as a member of the family is only a beginning. The real task remains: to establish a genuinely filial relationship between your adopted child and yourself. It is this, above all, that you want to see. Accordingly, you set yourself to win the child's love by loving. You seek to excite affection by showing affection. So with God. And throughout our life in this world, and to all eternity beyond, he will constantly be showing us, in one way or another, more and more of his love, and thereby increasing our love to him continually. The prospect before the adopted children of God is an eternity of love."

Candy's final thoughts: My response to this is to increase my prayers to our Heavenly Father, first in gratitude for his adoption of me as a daughter. Secondly, we can all pray for others around us who do not appear (yet?) to know God, that they would, through saving grace, become a part of his family. Finally, the doctrine of adoption reminds me to intercede continually on the behalf of Monica, Ionel, Mihai, Elena, and Vasile, that they too may be adopted by God into an "eternity of love." 

The Lord's Prayer and Christian Identity

"Therefore you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

Spurgeon's thoughts: "These verses come from the Lord's prayer, and each element can be divided into most instructive heads.

"Our Father in heaven" - I am a child away from home.

"Your name be honored as holy" - I am a worshiper.

"Your kingdom come" - I am a subject.

"Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" - I am a servant.

"Give us today our daily bread" - I am a beggar.

"And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors" - I am a sinner.

"And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" - I am a sinner in danger of being a still greater sinner.""

Candy's thoughts: WOW - I have studied the Lord's prayer many times, and even taught a book on it years ago during Women's Bible Study. Only God knows how many times I have prayed this prayer and yet just recently I read these comments of Spurgeon's on the Lord's prayer and continue to be amazed at how simply, briefly, and beautifully this man of God can cut to the core of any passage of Scripture. 

Much of our present world is obsessed with identity politics to the point of absurdity. But above all that there is a much more basic and satisfying of all identities: to be a Child, Worshipper, Subject, Beggar, and Sinner, redeemed by the Lamb. Amen to that!

What's Your Plan?

For the past 25 years or so I have read through the Bible every year. A few years ago I decided to skip the formal reading-through-the-Bible plan and just concentrate on accomplishing the task of actually reading through the stack of what I call "God Books" that I have collected through the years. This idea was short-lived, though, because it just didn't feel right to NOT read the Bible daily, and so I changed my mind and in March of that year started back on January 1st and had lots of reading to catch up on!

So I've worked out a new plan for 2021 and here it is: I will read 3 chapters of the Bible daily, one Old Testament chapter, one Psalm (twice through the Psalter per year), and one New Testament chapter as well. This year I will use the The Spurgeon Study Bible and will read all the accompanying notes of Spurgeon's which are taken from various sermons he preached on those particular passages. (Last year I used the Prayer Bible.) The second part is that I have chosen to read two "God Books" and do one chapter each day of those. I will also read one prayer from Piercing Heaven: Prayers of the Puritans. Lastly I will be reading one of Jonathan Edwards' Resolutions which should take under 30 seconds each day. And for journalistic integrity I did indeed time myself to come up with 'under 30 seconds.' 😉

I've done the math and if all goes well I will still go through the Bible in 396.333 days - so a little bit more than a year. The potential benefit is that hopefully I will read more 'devotionally' each day plus I will be finally reading the books that have been calling to me from every table and nightstand in our house for a long, long time. Plus who wouldn't benefit from reading one resolution each day from someone with a much bigger perspective on the Christian life? My thanks to one CandyceLand reader who has agreed to keep me accountable by reading Edwards with me. (I won't mention Doris's name because I don't want to embarrass her.)  😂

Finally, I would LOVE to hear of all of your plans to stay connected to God through the reading of the Bible and other writings!  What have been your plans in the past? What is your plan for 2021? Whatever you decide, remember to enjoy your time with God. After all, "the joy of the Lord is your strength."  Paul writes, "Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I say, rejoice!" So find the great blessing that God has for you as you spend time in His Word.