Current Series

Fighting Laziness & Pursuing Holiness

This morning we received an email from one new club member, Kristin. Here’s a snippet:

Today is the second day for me in the 5 AM Club. By God's grace, I have not hit the snooze yet, and that is a HUGE deal for me...seriously. I was so excited about this club that I sent out the idea to the women at our church. As of now, we have 17 college girls that are joining the club and waking up early to meet with Jesus. Praise God! It's so encouraging to know that there are women all over the place fighting against laziness and pursuing holiness. Thanks SO much for initiating this club!

“Fighting laziness and pursuing holiness” might seem to be getting harder as the week goes on. The snooze button never looked so inviting as it did this morning!
 
We’re not sleep experts, but in our experience, you’re at the most difficult point right now. The initial adrenaline has worn off and your body is rebelling against the change. But our experience (again, we’re no experts) is that if you push through, it will get easier soon. Your body will adjust to the new routine. In the meantime, we recommend an extra long nap or an early bedtime!
 
But just because rising early (or fasting) is hard, doesn’t mean we can’t do it or that it isn’t worth it. J. Alec Motyer explains in his comments on Philippians. 1:9-11 Read it carefully. Then read it again:

“And this is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

“Our obedience, discipline and hard graft are not insignificant or optional. On the contrary, they are the God-intended context for growth. But something else energizes the growth till the fruit is ready for harvest: all is done through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God (verse 11)….In this setting the daily task of obedience remains hard, but not fruitless. We are often neglectful, frequently failing, ever inadequate; yet the end is secure, for God is at work.”

Getting up early to sit at Jesus’ feet is hard, but not fruitless. We may fail, but the end is secure: God is at work. So let’s persevere in this “context for growth” to the glory and praise of His name!

How to Stay in the Clubs

So it’s day three of the 28-day challenge. How’s it going? Are you on your third cup of coffee and thinking about getting an espresso machine? Is your stomach complaining so loudly you can hardly hear yourself pray?
 
Do you wonder how you can keep this up for 28 days, much less a lifetime?
 
John Piper explains how, in his comments on 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12:

“To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul prays for us—and I pray for you even as I write this—that God will “fulfill every resolve for good” that we have. This means that it is good to have resolves. God approves of it. It also means that our resolving is important, but that God’s enabling us to “fulfill” the resolves is crucial. Paul wouldn’t pray if God’s help weren’t needed. “The heart of man plans [resolves!] his way, but the Lord establishes [fulfills!] his steps” (Proverbs 16:9).

But it matters how we resolve. When Paul says, “every resolve for good and every work of faith,” he is not describing two different acts. He is describing one act in two ways. It is a “resolve for good” because we will it. It is a “work of faith” because we depend on Jesus to give us power to fulfill it. That’s how we resolve—by faith in Jesus.

So Paul says that the fulfilling of the resolve is “by his power.” That’s what we are depending on. That’s what we are looking for when we resolve. We are looking to Jesus who promised to be with us and help us. “I know that through . . . the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance” (Philippians 1:19).

We are praying for YOU that God will fulfill these resolves for good and that you would depend upon Jesus’ power to do them. So, I guess we know how things will turn out. We’re confident that, by His power, you can stay in the clubs!

Thanks for Joining Us!

When we called each other at 4:45 am yesterday morning to prepare to open the clubs, we didn’t know what to expect. “What if it flops and no one signs up?” we wondered.
 
“And why do we always launch new stuff so early?” Janelle asked in her groggy morning voice (I wish you could hear what she sounds like at 5 am!). No one answered her.
 
I mean, if you didn’t know better, you might think we were trying to sabotage our own blog. Why else would we start two clubs with such unappealing membership requirements as less sleep and less food, and then kick them off at 5 O’Clock in the morning?
 
But you all began to sign up before 5 O’Clock! We tried to keep pace—accepting each request as it came in; but we soon fell hopelessly behind and the site was so overwhelmed that we could no longer access the management page. By late afternoon our site designer came to the rescue, and accepted your requests in one large batch. We are working hard this morning to add the newest members.
 
As of right now, The 5 O’Clock Club has over 600 members and The Fam Club has over 250—and both are growing! (By the way, you’ll notice the names are sorted alphabetically, but we have a record of the order of signup and will be contacting the Starbucks card winners shortly.)
 
What’s exciting to us is not that we have a lot of names on our rolls, it’s what your eagerness to join these clubs represents—your hunger for God’s Word, your passion to grow in prayer, your longing to see the lost sinners in your family come to Christ, your awareness of your desperate need for God’s grace, your determination to sit at Jesus’ feet each morning.
 
These themes echoed throughout your comments. We wish we could post them all here, but our site—already creaking under the heavy load of traffic—simply doesn’t have the space. But here’s how a few of our fellow club members answered the questions:

“Why do you want to join The 5 O’Clock Club?”
 
Maria
To join women from around the world in pursuing godliness in this discipline of rising early and sitting at His feet.

Janell
To help me get a spiritually healthy habit started and doing it together makes it that much sweeter

Cara
I have three little ones who seem to be conspiring to wreck my quiet time in the mornings: a nursing baby, who wakes up at a different time each day, and two preschoolers who are making a rocky transition to sharing a room. I want to get up earlier so that I will be able to meet with God for a few minutes, at least, BEFORE I begin nursing the baby and intervening in the hey-get-out-of-my-bed arguments.

Esther
By God's mercies & grace, your blog has been a means of grace to help me start & spur me to seek the Lord daily 1st thing in the morning... ever since then, (it's been 1 year & 7 months already!), I've been enabled to enjoy doing it every morning. Praise God!

Stacey
My sweet 5 AM friend Valerie and I have been alternating calling each other each week since the beginning of January to wake up and it has blessed us so much to be in the Word first thing each morning. It has definitely gotten easier and look forward to see how the Lord will continue to use it for His glory in our lives.

Misha
My husband and I have been waking together at 5 for about 2 years now.  My parents made this a regular practice as well.  It has been such a blessing to us in our spiritual growth as individuals as well as a couple.  We want our boys to benefit from this practice as well.

Rachaelle
I am the wife of one and the mother of ten children- ages 10 mo. - 10yrs. The Lord has been urging me to rise early for some time. This sounded like a beautiful way to encourage me to do just that. My godly mother was always such an example and encouragement in my life to get up early to spend time sitting at the feet of Jesus. Since she has gone to be with the Lord, it has been a battle to get up early with consistency. Thank you for this encouragement. God bless you all.

Molly
Because I think its good reading the Bible and I'm doing it with my Mum! (I'm seven years old)
 
Shauna
My mom asked me to join the club along with my sister, aunts, and grandmother. I already spend time with God, but I would like to be more deliberate in my time with Him. I also think it would be great to do this together as a family.

Kara
I have three little kids- 4, 2 and 10 months.  I will not get a moment to read the Bible if I don't get up early!  I have been part of the "6 o'clock club" of my own since I read your book "Shopping for time."  I used to think I would get a time to read the Bible during the day, but day after day I would not get to it, promising my self and God I WOULD do it tomorrow for sure. Something had to change.  When I started getting up before my kids and enforcing the "don't get up before 7am" rule for my early riser my bible reading got consistent and profitable!  It has been a blessing ever since!  For the first few months my sister called me every morning. Now my husband and I wake up together so it is easier to get up!  It is my favorite part of the day. Thanks for the encouragement on this blog and for us moms to make time with the Lord.

Amy
For the encouragement of knowing others are waking up at the same crazy time that I am

"Why do you want to join The FAM Club?”
 
Karla
I'm wanting to enter for my four grandchildren!
 
Margie
To lock arms with others that are crying out to the Lord on behalf of family members.
 
Jennifer
God has called us to adoption so we have a lot of kids.  Some of our kids come with special needs and also some pretty significant scars, some visible and some invisible.  I want to pray for them that God will do some amazing work in their hearts that will show His glory and His work in their lives that they will be an amazing testimony of God's grace and mercy.
 
Mikel
I am the first Christian in my immediate and extended family that I know of and long for the rest of my family - mom, dad, brother, uncles, aunts, etc - to know Jesus in a real way!

Sara
I would desire not much more in life than to see my siblings..[five younger brothers] saved by the Lord Jesus in my lifetime
 
Laura
How important my role is as a mother to do everything I can to win my children's hearts to Christ. I teach them, train them, and pray for them, but have not fasted for them. The stories that you have posted have struck deep, and what better what to get on my knees for my girls than with fasting. I hope I can keep this up until all my children are saved, and then fast for their children... so until the day I die!
 
Vanessa
My husband is not saved. We have 5 children ranging in age from 2 years old to 20 years of age. Obviously the little ones haven't received salvation but neither have the big boys. I would love to take a day and a meal a week and spend it in prayer for them. (If not more!) My greatest hope and prayer is one day my whole family can share a love of Christ together.
 
Nicole
words cant even begin to explain what something like this means...I just want to SEE GOD WORK in the LIVE OF THOSE I LOVE!!!!
 
Jennifer
My mother passed away in August and my father was just recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.  My mother had made a profession of faith, but my father never has...I want to truly commit to praying for his and my brother's salvation.
 
Betsy
What a joy, honor, privilege, and blessing to be able to fast and pray for my family, my church, Sovereign Grace, and other needs I hear about.  I agree with David Brainerd who wrote: "Blessed be God that I may pray."!  Thanks you four for providing this opportunity to pray and fast with and for others!
 
Britiney
To pray for my mom.
 
Anna
I have been concerned about my younger brother's salvation.  He is a young teen that is in a Christian home, but I don't see a heart that yearns for God.  I have prayed for him off and on, but now I want to make the commitment to fast and pray before the Lord for him.
 
Sarah
My immediate family has been awakened to the beauty and delight of God in Christ, but our relatives are still far off and constantly mock and ridicule us. I LONG for them to love the light and be saved! This will help me to regularly pray for them - especially my Gram, whom I love dearly.

Join Our Clubs

UPDATE, 9:00 am: Wow! We’re thrilled that so many of you are joining the clubs! Due to the overwhelming traffic on our site, we’ve experienced a few technical glitches. Unfortunately, only a small fraction of entries are showing up at the moment. We’re so sorry! But signup is working and we are receiving all registrations. We’re seeking to resolve the problem and hope to have it fixed very soon; so check back to find your name in the order it was received. And if you won a Starbucks card, we’ll contact you shortly via email!

It's club day, girls--let the fun begin! Check out our new clubs page and officially become a member of The 5 O'Clock Club and The FAM Club. You can share a testimony and read the testimonies of others. You can also read past posts on both clubs and see which of your friends have joined. And if you are one of the first 28 people to join (after the four of us) or in the 28th slot after that, we'll send you a Starbucks card.

Our hope and prayer is that these clubs encourage you as you seek to rise early to meet with God and pray for those you love!

"To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worth of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power." 2 Thessalonians 1:11

Janelle for the girltalkers

Two FAM Club Stories

First, to clarify: sign up for the clubs begins on Monday, along with the 28-day challenge. Monday morning we will direct you to a new page on the site with a sign-up form and all the information. Of course you can sign up for the clubs any day after Monday as well. Until then, we hope you will review our posts on The 5 O’Clock Club and The FAM Club and prayerfully consider joining one or both come Monday.

The FAM Club is all about praying and fasting one meal a week for the salvation of family members—whether they be children, parents, siblings, nieces or nephews. To encourage your participation, we have two stories to share with you. The first we received just the other day from Rachel:

My mom was a great mom. Loved God, her husband & her 4 kids. God in His wisdom took her home sooner than anyone would have expected, instantly in a car accident during my freshman year of college (1996). She was 44. I was 18. At her funeral service, several ladies contributed to her eulogy, most of the things they shared to honor her I already knew being her daughter. I was surprised when a close friend who lived with us shared something none of us kids ever knew!  I'll spare the long details of how our houseguest discovered the secret, but my Mom spent every Monday lunch for years fasting & praying for us kids & my dad. Once the friend discovered Mom's secret, she was sworn to secrecy too. It was the best inheritance anyone could have handed me at her funeral. Many times as I see God at work in my life and my siblings, I wonder how many prayers my Mom didn't know the answers to but prayed anyway and I am so glad she served us in that way! I can't wait to "catch up" with her on the details!

What a legacy this godly mother left for her children! Rachel, thank you so much for sharing her story with us. I want to follow her example!
 
And I want to emulate the faith and faithful prayers of this mother, who prayed and fasted for her daughters’ salvation:

In a seaport town of New England lived a pious mother of six daughters. At the age of sixty, she had been for many years subject to disease and infirmity, which confined her to her house, and almost to her room. In an interview one day with a friend, she said—"I had not for many years enjoyed the pleasure of going to the house of God with his people, and taking sweet counsel with them. But I have another source of grief greater than this—one that weighs down my spirits day and night! while disease and pain bear my body toward the grave." Her friend tenderly inquired the cause of this peculiar grief. She replied, "I have six daughters; two are married and live near me, and four are with me; but not one of them gives any evidence of piety. I am alone. I have no one for a Christian companion. O that even one of them were pious, that I might walk alone no longer." Such was her language. Yet she seemed submissive to the will of God, whatever it might be, having strong confidence, that in his own good time, he would answer her daily prayers, and in a way which would best advance his glory.

Not long after the above interview, a revival of religion commenced in the town in which she lived. Among the first subjects of this work were four of her daughters. A fifth was soon added to their number, but the other, the eldest, remained unmoved. One day one of the young converts proposed to her mother and her converted sisters to observe a day of fasting and prayer for the sister who remained so insensible. The agreement was made, and a day observed. Of this the subject of their prayers had no knowledge. But on the same day, while engaged in her domestic concerns at home, her mind was solemnly arrested; and she was soon added to the Christian sisterhood.

The praying mother lived a few years to enjoy their Christian society. They surrounded her dying bed, received her last blessing, and unitedly commended her spirit to God.

Our hope and prayer for The FAM Club is that God would mercifully grant us many such testimonies of His saving power in the lives of family members. We hope you will join us!

A 5 O’Clock Club Story

In preparation for our 28-day challenge on Monday we want to introduce you to Julie, a long-time member of The 5 O’Clock Club. See if you can relate to her experience:

“When my sons were three years and nine months old, I reached a point of desperation. I was exhausted all the time, often getting up in the middle of the night to care for one or both boys. My morning wake-up time happened only when the boys were no longer quiet in their beds. At best, my passion for Christ was lukewarm. I was not enjoying the Holy Spirit’s presence on a day-to-day basis in my own home. Sinful attitudes such as anger and judgmentalism were at an all-time high, and my desire to fight sin was weak. I was not quick to humbly receive my husband’s counsel. I was not pursuing biblical fellowship. I felt isolated and alone. I had lost perspective on what my priorities were. In short, I was in emergency mode, and my time alone with the Lord was not in its proper place. Always so much to do—and never enough time to stop and give attention to my soul.”

In emergency mode. So much to do. No time for the Lord. Desperate. Alone. No doubt every woman—whether you are a mom, a student, or a businesswoman—can identify. We all want to be consistent to sit at Jesus’ feet. And yet it can seem impossible to find a slot in the schedule that we can maintain.

Dramatic action is needed. Enter the 5 O’Clock Club. For many of us, the only cure for our starving souls is to wake up early—or at least earlier than we currently do. It doesn’t have to be 5 O’Clock to join the club, just early enough to secure a regular time to sit at Jesus’ feet.

Here’s Julie again:

"I knew I needed to wake up earlier, but I kept telling myself that I’d never be able to do it. I dreaded the thought of failing yet again. Then it occurred to me that I made time for other things I considered important such as grocery shopping, showering, doing my makeup, eating, date night with my husband, spending time with friends. Was my love for God truly my highest priority? The realization: MY daily schedule was not reflective of a heart set on seeking God first. I needed to take radical measures. If I was going to have consistent and quality time with the Lord. It would need to happen before the rest of the family was up and before the day was rolling. If I waited until the boys always slept through the night or until everything was ideal, it would never happen."

The consequences of a lackluster spiritual life and the advantages of rising early to seek God finally motivated our friend Julie to take action. She began having her husband nudge her awake and having a friend call her:

"Here we are, three years later, and I’m still waking up early—which for me is quite a miracle. I’ve never once regretted the days I’ve risen early. The boys are not five and three, and I am still aware of my desperate state, yet more aware of God’s grace. Having my early morning time with the Lord doesn’t eliminate my sin or guarantee the day will go as I have planned. But having received fresh perspective and vision, the day starts more peacefully. I now have a much richer understanding of the gospel of grace that transforms me, and I love Christ Jesus more today than every before."

What a transformation! From desperate to dependent, from sporadic to consistent, from anger and anxiety to peace and perspective, from lukewarm affections to growing love for Christ—only because, by the grace of God, she chose to rise early and sit at Jesus’ feet.
 
So what radical measures do you need to take to consistently sit at Jesus’ feet? Maybe it’s time to take the 28-day challenge and join our crazy club on Monday! Together let’s develop a habit of rising early that can last a lifetime.

Coming Soon…

To cap off our sitting series, we’re excited to announce a new feature here at girltalk. Next Monday, February 1, we will officially launch our two clubs: The 5 O’Clock Club and The FAM Club.
 
The 5 O’Clock Club is for those who want to rise early (it doesn’t have to be 5 O’clock, that’s just the name of the club) to meet with God.
 
The FAM Club (Fast A Meal) is for those who want to fast one meal a week to pray for a family member’s salvation.
 
You will have the chance to put your name on the rolls, to share testimonies, and to read about God’s grace through these spiritual disciplines. We hope these clubs will provide encouragement and accountability to keep sitting at Jesus’ feet long after the sitting series is over.
 
Many of you are long-time members of one or both of these clubs. Or maybe you’ve let your “membership” lapse. Some of you have never heard of these clubs! But all of us need reminding and refreshing. So for the next few days we’re going to post information, encouragement, and the stories of two women who experienced the grace of God to rise early and to pray eagerly for unsaved family members. As you read, we hope you’ll prayerfully consider joining one or both of our clubs.
 
Next Monday we’re going to kick things off with a 28-day challenge, one that we will take ourselves: to rise early and/or fast one meal a week for the entire month of February.
 
You don’t have to take the 28-day challenge to join our clubs, but we hope it will help all of us—by God’s grace!—turn a good intention into a consistent practice. We’ll try and provide encouragement along the way and you can do the same for us through your testimonies.
 
And of course there will be fabulous prizes! The first 28 people to join each club and every 28th person after that will receive a prize.
 
So grab your mom, sisters, cousins, and friends and get them to join our clubs with you (oh, and did I mention they are free?).
 
Together, let’s rise early to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen eagerly to his teaching. And let’s bring unsaved family members before His throne of grace.

(P.S. - Tomorrow we’ll post the Pick One Spot contest winners. Yep, you read that right: We couldn't pick just one!)

Place and Method

"Most Christians neglect their Bibles not out of conscious disloyalty to Jesus, but because of failure to plan a time and place and method to read it" John Piper
 
Now that we’ve talked about time, let’s consider place and method for sitting at Jesus’ feet.
 
What’s the best place for reading our Bible? If at all possible, pick a secluded place. A quiet place. A place where you won’t be distracted.
 
And prepare your place. Have all your “sitting stuff”—your Bible, journal, commentary, book, pen, highlighter, Kleenex, etc.—readily accessible. Maybe even put everything in one basket. That way you won’t have to spend the first ten minutes (like I have before) wandering around the house to collect everything!
 
Finally, we need a method for reading our Bible. If we don’t have a good plan for reading and studying God’s Word, we will likely become discouraged or even disinterested—which can hinder us from keeping this discipline in place.
 
If you don’t have a good plan or know how to create one, let me encourage you to ask a godly friend or pastor for help. But here are two links you might find useful.
 
Bible Reading: Justin Taylor links to ten different Bible reading plans offered by Crossway Books and other sites and gives an overview of a few of them. I personally am using the Discipleship Journal plan in my devotions.
 
Prayer: This website contains Matthew Henry’s method of prayer which is simply praying the Bible. This site has been a wonderful help to me in my prayer life.
 
I hope these simple thoughts will spur you on to develop a good plan for sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to his teaching.

Plan a Time

To choose to sit at Jesus’ feet we need to deal with distractions and develop a plan.
 
“Many good things do not happen in our lives for the simple lack of planning” explains John Piper. “Most Christians neglect their Bibles not out of conscious disloyalty to Jesus, but because of failure to plan a time and place and method to read it.”
 
So do you have a time, a place, and a method?
 
Let’s talk about time.
 
There is no law in the Bible that dictates when to have a quiet time. In fact, we are to meditate on God’s Word day and night! However, there is biblical encouragement for rising early to seek the Savior.
 
Consider the psalmist who directs his prayer to the Lord in the morning and then watches for the answer (Ps. 5:3). The Proverbs 31 woman is famous for rising “while it is yet night” to provide food for her family. Finally, and most notably, Jesus himself rose early to pray. Mark 1:35 records, “Rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”

Referring to Bible reading and prayer, John Piper again offers this advice:

“I earnestly recommend that it be in the early morning, unless there are some extenuating circumstances. Entering the day without a serious meeting with God, over his Word and in prayer, is like entering the battle without tending to your weapons.  The human heart does not replenish itself with sleep.  The body does, but not the heart.  We replenish our hearts not with sleep, but with the Word of God and prayer.”

Compelling logic, is it not?
 
We don’t want to head unprepared into the daily fray. By rising early we can secure much-needed refreshment for our souls.
 
More on place and method this week…
 
(Portions of this post adapted from our book, Shopping for Time)

Dispensing with Distractions

Mary chose to sit at Jesus’ feet by deliberately ignoring distractions--namely, Martha and her anxious busyness.

But we need to be alert to what distracts us from keeping our daily appointment to read God’s word and pray.

Maybe it’s a hobby, the newspaper or a magazine, watching TV, listening to your ipod, staying up to late at night, loving sleep too much, blogging, keeping up with facebook, following twitter, texting, etc.

We must do whatever it takes to say “no” to the distractions that keep us from the one thing that is necessary: sitting at Jesus’ feet.

A while back, I found that the Internet was becoming a distraction. I was using the five minutes it took for my coffee to brew each morning to quickly check my email, or headline news, or maybe a blog or two, before starting my devotions.

I’d check a headline and then I just had to read the story; or I’d check a blog I enjoy, and I just had to check out the link they recommended, or I’d get caught up not just looking at my email, but answering it.  

Before I knew it, five minutes would turn into twenty minutes and then my quiet time would be cut short.

So, I knew I needed to make a choice. I had to choose to say no to this distraction! I resolved to not look at email or blogs or headline news until after my time of Bible study and prayer.

What about you? Is there a distraction in your life that you need to say "no" to?

Whatever it takes ladies, let’s be ruthless about not allowing anything to distract us from seeking God through His Word and prayer.

How We Sit

To recap our “sitting” series, we’ve considered:
 
WHAT we are to sit and listen to: Jesus’ teaching. It is the one thing that is necessary.
 
WHERE we are to sit and listen: at Jesus’ feet, with humble hearts, eager to listen and learn.
 
WHEN we need to sit: even in busy seasons we must consistently seek God through His Word and prayer.  

WHY do we sit: because we need God's grace, not as a way to earn His approval.
 
The final question is HOW. How do we sit at Jesus’ feet?
 
Then answer is in Luke 10:42: “Mary has chosen the good potion.”
 
Mary didn’t just think about sitting and listening or talk to others about it. She chose to sit and listen. We must choose to sit and listen.
 
“It’s easier to serve than commune” observed the great preacher Charles Spurgeon. It’s easier to do what Martha did than what Mary did. So we need "great grace" to follow Mary’s example—to choose to sit and listen.
 
Two things will help us to choose the good portion:
 
1. eliminate distractions
2. develop a plan

More to come...

Do not sit at Jesus’ feet…

…as a way to earn God’s approval. It can’t be done. No string of quiet times in a row can meet the standard of a holy God. No amount of Scripture reading or prayer can earn His forgiveness.
 
Jesus Christ is the only person who ever met with God’s approval. He lived a perfect life and died in our place, receiving the wrath of God that we deserved. He rose again, and stands “before the throne of God above”—the perfect, spotless righteousness of those who trust in Him.
 
As believers we are justified—declared righteous, forgiven, and accepted by God—through grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone. We do not earn or forfeit our justification before God based on our performance.
 
Our good works, our faithfulness to sit and listen, our diligence to seek the Lord through prayer and Scripture do not add to Christ’s finished work.

Ephesians 2:8-9 sets the record straight: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

We must keep this truth ever before us as we resolve to sit at the Savior’s feet. It is necessary and beneficial; but it is never, never, never a means to earn God’s forgiveness or acceptance.
 
 B.B. Warfield empathically hammered home this point when he said:

“There is nothing in us or done by us, at any stage of our earthly development, because of which we are acceptable to God.  We must always be accepted for Christ’s sake, or we cannot be accepted at all.  This is not true of us only when we believe.  It is just as true after we have believed. It will continue to be true as long as we live…It is always on His ‘blood and righteousness’ alone that we can rest.”

Are you discouraged or condemned by your failure to sit and listen?
 
Then revel in this truth: We have a Savior who died for our sins. His blood and righteousness alone makes us acceptable to God.

Try Again This Year

When CJ leaves for work at the end of the day, he tells Tony, his assistant, and Nora, his secretary: “We’ll try again tomorrow,”
 
That’s short for: “Well friends, we worked hard today, but once again we failed to accomplish everything we hoped. Maybe we even made mistakes, used poor judgment, or experienced setbacks. We are frail and finite creatures. Only God gets His to-do list done. And only God does it perfectly, every day. So, let’s humbly acknowledge our weakness and insufficiency in contrast to His strength and sovereignty. But let’s not give up in despair. If God wills, let’s come back tomorrow and by His grace, do our best to serve Him faithfully, for His glory!”
 
Let’s try again tomorrow.
 
I think CJ’s little phrase can help us in the New Year.
 
Are you discouraged by unfulfilled resolutions from years past? Maybe you’ve already failed to keep your resolutions for 2010.
 
I can easily get discouraged when I consider this past year: My recipes remain half-organized on my computer. My reading list is only two-thirds completed. Certain relationships I wanted to invest in remain untended. My unbelief still dogs me.
 
But I read more books this year than if I’d never resolved to read at all. I’ve taken more initiative with people, even if not as much as I would have liked. And the recipes are half way-organized instead of one big mess! By God’s grace, I think I’ve even grown in faith, however slow my progress.
 
I may not have completed my to-do list for 2009. But I’ve done more than if I never tried at all.
 
So, I’m going to try again this year. I’m going to make new resolutions to glorify God. I’m going to seek to make them humbly—recognizing my weakness and inability to complete them all perfectly.
 
But in the words of Paul: “one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14). I want to press on to be more like Jesus and be with Him more often in 2010.
 
As we bid goodbye to 2009, I say to you: “Let’s try again this year.”

Sitting in the New Year

We’ve all made our New Year’s resolutions: Spend (a little) less money on shoes, organize the kitchen cabinets, dig out the exercise DVD from under the bed, check the facebook feed fewer times per day.
 
But wait. Have we resolved to do the one thing that is necessary in 2010?
 
Donald Whitney, in a timely sermon at CLC yesterday, challenged us to pursue holiness: “without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14).
 
"Our purpose in life—if we have the Holy Spirit” he says, "is godliness: you want to be like Jesus, and you want to be with Jesus.”
 
And there’s only one way for that to happen.
 
By practicing the spiritual disciplines.
 
By sitting at Jesus’ feet.
 
"Godly people are godly people primarily because they are disciplined people. And it has always been that way” insists Dr. Whitney:

"You can go all the way back through the history of the church and all the famous heroes of church history. You can be sure that all those men and women became godly men and women – not because God zapped them in some way that he hasn’t zapped you….Those great men and women of faith became more like Jesus the same way you and I do: by means of sustained, unspectacular, routine discipline. Godly people are godly people because they are disciplined people. It’s always been so."

To help us be more disciplined, godly people, we have an exciting new feature coming soon to girltalk. So stay tuned.

But today, I want to urge you to listen to this message by Dr. Whitney. It will strengthen your desire and resolve to be more like Jesus and be with Jesus more often in 2010.
 
Let’s sit in the new year together. 

A Good Meal

“Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:42

This week, I’m planning Christmas dinner. I went to the grocery store yesterday. I’m going again today. And tomorrow. And Christmas Eve.

Actually, it’s a dinner that Jesus is referring to in Luke 10:42. The Greek word for “portion” here means “meal.”

He tells Martha--who is busily preparing a meal that fed the body--that Mary has chosen the good meal. Mary was eating a meal that fed the soul.

But not only that—Jesus said it was a meal that would not be taken away from her. Wow! Now that’s a really good meal!

It might take us twenty minutes to eat Christmas dinner. It will take our body 24-32 hours to digest that meal. The benefits won’t last for long.

But when we make the Lord’s teaching our meal, when we feast on His Word, the benefits from that meal will last for a very long time.

So long in fact, that Jesus said, it will not be taken away from us.  Not in 24 hours, not in 24 years, not even in eternity.

Think about that. Every time we read, study, meditate or memorize God’s Word we are ingesting truth that will never be taken away from us.

That’s astounding!

That’s a meal we don’t want to skip!