The Way You Receive the Kingdom of Heaven

 "Jesus is not saying that you can earn the kingdom of heaven by the thoroughness of your commitment. Your willingness to sell everything ...  is the way you receive the kingdom of heaven, but it's not the way to merit the kingdom of heaven. That's very important.

You turn the light switch on on the wall, and it seems to cause the coming on of the light, but it doesn't. As we know, what causes the coming on of the light is the power. The light switch simply is a channel to the power ... the light switch has no power of its own.

This is one of the most important distinctions not only in theology but in your own personal experiential understanding of Christianity. There is something God says that you must do to receive the kingdom of heaven, but there's nothing you can do to earn the kingdom of heaven. Total commitment is the way it is received but not earned. The Parable of the Prodigal Son tells us how it is earned because, you see, to get the robe, to get the ring, to get the fatted calf, though it's free to the prodigal us, the prodigal you and me, it's at the expense of the older brother; it's been paid for by someone else. And now, of course, it's received through repentance, through commitment, through the willingness of the prodigal son to come and say, "Father, do what you want with me. Father, no conditions. Father, I come back and I throw myself at your feet." What is going on? Repentance, commitment, letting go of everything, laying yourself out, utter commitment. But that is not what brings him back in. That's what receives the father's welcome, but what earns the father's welcome ... is the fact that all of the wealth the father puts now onto the prodigal—the robe, the ring, and the fatted cow—belongs to the elder brother, so it's at his expense."

Tim Keller, The Parable of the Pearl: On Priorities, sermon at Redeemer Presbyterian Church of NYC on August 28, 1994. A sermon on Jesus's parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl from Matthew 13:44–45.

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what he is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is he up to? The explanation is that he is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage, but he is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it himself."

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Valley of Vision

 Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,

Thou has brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from the deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine;

Let me find Thy light in my darkness,
Thy life in my death,
Thy joy in my sorrow,
Thy grace in my sin,
Thy riches in my poverty
Thy glory in my valley.

Fear the Lord and Serve Him Faithfully

Be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.

1 Samuel 12:24

I saw this over on Pinterest and I like it because, let's face it, I'd be tempted to make content on how to style your hair. This is a helpful reminder that I'm called to model Christ, and modeling hard and holy things is far more important.
 

True Contentment

Contentment is possible only as we cultivate and maintain the attitude of accepting everything which enters our lives as coming from the hand of him who is too wise to err, and too loving to cause one of his children a needless tear.

～A.W. Pink

Eve’s Sin Looks Like Our Sin

Eve's response [to Satan] ... is to doubt God's word, to doubt that his threat of judgment would come true, to doubt God's goodness toward her, and to believe God is indeed trying to prevent her from achieving her full glory and potential.

As we look into our own hearts, we need to acknowledge that these are very powerful temptations, temptations with which every one of us constantly struggles. 

Through His Eyes: God's Perspective on Women in the Bible, Jerram Barrs, pgs. 28–29

To Write or Not To Write

Today is day one of my journey to break into copy writing. Of course, instead of actually doing the aforementioned thing (i.e., creating a Fiverr profile, researching how to write a blog post, getting out there and getting my first gig), I'm here writing a non-monetized blog post that no one will ever read. But it's ok. I hope to document my process and the results, and who knows, maybe one day, I, too, will publish an e-book on the subject.

So, where will I start?

I downloaded this e-book from amber-baker.com. I think it's helpful, but do wish for a bit a more. (I'm a complete child when it comes to these things and want someone to hold my hand throughout the whole process.) My first impression is that I'm thankful for Amber and her website and I'm 100% satisfied with my e-book purchase. She's just one person that God will use on this journey of getting me into writing ... and it was her Instagram account that gave me the kick in my pants that brought me here today. 

Next: I'm now downloading this e-book. Let's see if it gives me the hand-holding that I desire. I'm not a throw-myself-into-the-deep-end kind of girl. My tendency is that I'll endlessly research and never get started. Or I'll procrastinate, which is what I'm doing here with this blog post.

Here's to writing! (Hopefully.) I'll let you know how it goes...

Soulless Beauty

One glance ... revealed a woman who had once been beautiful, as the sons of God once found the daughters of men; nay, the wreck of her was still beautiful, but it was the soulless beauty whose appeal is to that which is least worthy in any man.

~A Private Chivalry by Francis Lynde, pp. 6–7

I've been proofreading books for Distributed Proofreaders, an organization that digitizes books in the public domain through the work of volunteers. As you proofread the pages, they tend to skip around, but sometimes you get lucky (if you're the only person working on it at the time), and you can proofread a whole chapter straight through so that you get to catch a bit of the story. I just started proofreading this book so I have no clue of who the characters are. It's categorized as "English — General Fiction." I liked the quote — I think we all know this soulless beauty the author writes of.