Ponderings

"But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart." Luke 2:19

Ponder: to weigh in the mind; to think about; reflect on; to think or consider, especially quietly, soberly and deeply.

Welcome to the Norway Women's Ministry Blog, "PONDERINGS". This blog is a new and exciting adventure for our ministry. We will begin by posting monthly and we hope to grow to weekly posts. I am so excited to read posts written by my fellow sisters. If you would like to write a post for this blog, please just let me know. I think this is going to be a great way for us to share things we have pondered from God's Word during our quiet times or Bible study and our time in prayer. 

I would like to ask you to cover this in your prayers. Pray that God will be glorified in every post. Pray that this will give our sisters an opportunity to share the things they have pondered or treasured up in their hearts. Pray that the words we share will bring encouragement to all. 

My pondering: One verse that I find I ponder on a lot is Philippians 4:8. I find great treasures in this verse.

"Finally, my brothers (sisters), whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

I like how The Message puts it, "I'd say you'll do your best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious--the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse."

When I "4:8-it" with my mind, which means choosing to meditate on the things that Paul lists in this verse I find that the following things happen:

•  Rejoicing in the Lord
•  I am not anxious about things
•  Praying about everything to God
•  God's peace guards my heart and mind and surpasses all my understanding
•  I can do all things through him who strengthens me
•  Philippians 4:4-7,13

My dear sisters, God loves us and He wants us to know His joy and peace. Sometimes our lives can become burdened and we can lose our focus and our purpose. I pray that you will find strength and encouragement in choosing to practice the things Paul teaches us in these verses. I am confident of this - that He who has began a good work in each of us will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6). Let your joy and peace be found in God. You are loved by God!

Grace and Peace, Debbie

Bringing up Baby

There are so many pressures on today’s families that to even list them would be a blog in and of itself.  Therefore families must set priorities.  Where are the spiritual priorities of your family?  Take a moment to consider:  Did I speak of Jesus to my child today?  Did I read them a Bible story?  Did I pray with them today?  Did I pray over them today? If the answer to any of these questions is no, then perhaps you should reconsider your priorities.

Research has shown us that during the first four years of life patterns of behavior are established.  It is during the first four years that their language and thinking patterns are developed.  It is during the first four years of life that their thinking patterns are developed.  So doesn’t it make sense that during the first four years of life, the spiritual patterns are developed as well? If that is the case, then what must we do to make that happen? 

1. Stimulate spiritual development by doing things such as singing Bible songs, praying, and reading to your child, yes even to babies. 
2. Reinforce the precepts of spiritual development.  In other words, explain why you do or do not do certain things.  
3. Model Godly living.  Children are watchers and imitators of adult behaviors, make sure that what you are doing sets a good example. 
4. When you make a mistake, own it, and change your behavior.  
5. Speak of Jesus as you would any other friend.  

God doesn’t call us to be perfect, He call us to be doers.  Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew19:14 NIV

Number 1

To Parents:

It is 8:30 in the morning, you’re late to work, almost in tears, as you watch him walk in late to school again with hair worse than crazy hair day. There was screaming crying and anger, yet again it's ringing in your ears "I failed…I was too hard...too easy...too busy...too stressed...too much." Over and over again I hear this story. I have never met a parent who if they were honest didn't live with this litany of guilt singing in their ears. There is some truth to our self-abusing rant. All parents mess up. Mary and Joseph were hand-picked by God himself to care for his Son and they lost him for three days in a busy city. Yet Jesus honors his mother even at the point of his death. So yes, you made mistakes. Get over it, the devil is the accuser of the saints. God knows you have made mistakes. He still loves you and your child. Forgive both of you and move on! Give the guilt to God. He already knows rest in His love and forgiveness. Then find the next opportunity to love your child. 

To The Child:

My teacher calls me the problem child... My mom calls me her burden...My peers call me a bully. God calls me beloved. God knows you yell; you cuss you hit and you hurt. He will help you change all of that. First He wants you to know you are his; He loves you all of you. He made every part of you. He knows your pain, your anger, your sadness. Wrap yourself up in Him and give it all to Him. He will define you as precious, loved, called, chosen, and worthy.

Profiles in Potential Discipleship, Part 1

A couple sat across from me. They wanted to buy a truck. He knew exactly what he wanted: four doors, four wheel drive, and a V-8 engine (no sixes, they didn't sound right with the custom exhaust that he was already dreaming about installing.) She, however, had other ideas. They would not exceed a certain pre-set monthly payment that she had already determined. But only one bank would approve them and we were several hundred dollars over their limit. Passionately he asked, "Isn't there anything that you can do?" So I went back to my manager: with a price adjustment, and trimming the rate a smidgen, we lowered the monthly payment about $60. Not enough, we were still $175 away. So he got on the phone (right in front of me) and called another dealer. The other dealer (who hadn't even met them) said they could sell the same truck for $30 less. I tried to explain why they could not (if all was the same) when the wife chimed in, "It’s not a matter of $30, we are still $145 over budget!" I didn't sell the truck; but neither did the other guys! 

The point of this story is a contrast between passion and practicality. People can be like that. They can also be many other things when they come to buy a car. In the past ten years I have met a lot of people each believing that their situation is unlike any other. Well, what kind of people? Mean people, people afraid to try, people in need, people who think they know the inside scoop, etcetera, etcetera.  Yet, we as salesmen have heard it all before.

What does this have to do with discipleship?  I believe that people come to Jesus attempting to negotiate their best deal. How can that be? Who can bargain with God? That's what I want to explore in my next few posts. You see, I believe the Bible refers to many examples of people who approach Jesus as customers approach a salesperson. This could be referring to you and it is keeping you from a full relationship with the Father and His son, Jesus Christ. I hope I have your interest and that you will be back again.

To all whom the Father loves, Grady

Salt & Light

I am a person of faith.  I believe in God and His Son Jesus Christ.  A half a century ago I expressed that faith and belief in baptism,  and over the intervening decades, have studied, searched, contemplated, experimented with, succeeded – and failed – with understanding, what all this means for my life.  In other words, what is expected of me as a Christian? 

Let’s start with a question asked of Jesus, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law”?  His response – love the Lord your God with your whole being.  But Jesus didn’t stop there.  I guess he considered the answer incomplete without answering an unasked question – what’s the second?  That answer, as we’ve all heard before, is to love your neighbor as yourself.   However, by focusing over the years on the big two commands, I’ve managed to pay less attention to what he says next – ALL the Law and the prophets hang on these TWO commandments.

I’ve come to believe that the root of society’s issues we struggle with today stems from Christians’ (me included) failure to honor the top TWO commandments.  As such, there is an urgent need for Christians to connect their individual faith to the top two commands in such a way that we flavor our environment.  If you so choose, over the next several months, we can together explore one person’s thoughts on what it means to be a Christian, and in so doing, how we can enlighten the world around us.

China- Post 2

I always get a bad feeling when I lose something. I think this has happened to everyone. We will look and look until that item is found and when we do find it, we feel like celebrating. In the 15th chapter of Luke, Jesus tells three parables of things that were lost -- a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. In each one of these stories when the sheep, the coin, and the son were found there was rejoicing.

In Shenyang, we spent a week with the children at an orphanage. These children all had special needs. We were each assigned to a child. Everyday we would take the children on an outing and on the way back to the orphanage, we would stop at McDonalds. The children would all get a Happy Meal and before they’d start eating, they would first find out what kind of toy was in the Happy Meal -- just like children in this country! One day, after the children had been taken back to the orphanage and we had returned to our hotel we received a call -- one of the children was missing. The last time he was seen was at the McDonalds. This child was one that had been assigned to a worker at the orphanage. We were asked if we would help look for this child. We all met back at the McDonalds and each member of our group was paired up with someone from the orphanage.

We would go out in different directions and search for this lost child. After one hour, we would return to McDonalds and if the boy hadn’t been found, we’d go out again continuing to search. Before we started, we gathered in a circle standing on the sidewalk and prayed that God would lead us to this one little boy in a city of six million. I walked with a young girl by the name of Angel and during that hour we continued to pray that we would find the boy. After an hour, Angel and I returned to McDonalds.  When we were a block away, we saw members of our group and others celebrating. The boy had been found. He had walked to a nearby park. To this day, I still believe that it was through the divine intervention of God that this little boy was found.

Where Do We...End?

In the movie Cars, there is a scene in which Mater, the rusty old tow truck, demonstrates his backward driving abilities for race car Lightning McQueen.  Mater ends his demonstration by saying, "Ain't no need to watch where I'm goin', just need to know where I've been."  When it comes to personal finance, too many people choose the same philosophy as Mater.  Money comes in and money goes out, and all they do is look back and see where it's been (or even worse, they can't tell where it's been!).  There is no planning for the future, no ultimate goal, nothing to look forward to.

As I start this year-long (at least) blog, I want to challenge you to not be one of those backward drivers when it comes to your finances.  I want you to know where you're headed when you start the journey to getting control of your money.  I'm sure you've heard the phrase, "begin with the end in mind".  It is that mentality that really got me fired up about getting my wife's and my financial house in order.  And I hope that if you see where this whole process ends, it will fire you up too!

So, where does it end?  I believe it ends with one word - giving!  Extreme generosity is what you make possible when you are intentional with your finances.  It won't happen overnight, but if you get control, live on less than you make, and have a plan, you'll eventually be able to be in a position to do some outrageous giving.  And when I say outrageous, don't get wrapped up in the idea that you'll never have "a lot" of money to give.  This process is not about the dollar amount you have to work with.  It is about putting yourself in a position to be able to give a significant portion of what God has entrusted you with, away to help others and do good - whatever that dollar amount ends up being!

As we move through the year, I will write about the practical steps you should be taking as a means to this end.  But I hope that in answering the question we started with - Where do we end? - I have provided you with some motivation to boldly and deliberately take these steps toward good financial health.  If you do, you will be well on your way to the ultimate goal, the most fun and joyful thing you'll ever do with money...GIVING IT AWAY!