We Rejoice in God’s Sovereignty

TheologyGirl-ReformedWomen
“Devotions From the Heart”
“Do you rejoice in God’s Sovereignty?”
May 18, 2021

“The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens; and His Kingdom ruleth over all.”
Psalm 103:19

I believe nothing rejoices and comforts the heart more than the doctrine of God’s sovereignty.  When we rest in Christ and His work of redemption for us, we are at peace.  He has accomplished everything in order that we have life and have it more abundantly and He has supplied ALL of the gifts to live a life of faith, godliness, joy and peace.  Trusting Him and His sovereign plan for our lives is worship and humility.  It is bowing down to a Sovereign Lord and King.  It is faith and trust in Him, who alone controls all.  He asks us to love Him —  to love Him is to keep His commandments (John 14:15) which He tells us are “not grievous” (I John 5:3).  Isn’t this a marvelous and wonderful doctrine?

Look to these verses:

“The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue,
is from the LORD.” Proverbs 16:1

“A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.”
Proverbs 16:9

“The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.”
Proverbs 16:31

Are they not a comfort to your soul?  I believe they are and know that you will rest in Christ as you read them and know He, the great and mighty God, Creator and Saviour is directing your life for your good and His glory.

Now, look to these words of encouragement:

“I.  God the great Creator of all things doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.  II. Although, in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the first Cause, all things come to pass immutably, and infallibly; yet, by the same providence, he ordereth them to fall out, according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently.  III. God, in his ordinary providence, maketh use of means, yet is free to work without, above, and against them, at his pleasure.” WCF, Chapter V, I-III

and

“If I admit that God’s Will regulates the great movements of the universe I must admit that it equally regulates the small. It must do this, for the great depend upon the small. The minutest movement of my will is regulated by the will of God. And in this I rejoice. Woe is me if it be not so. The more I understand of the character of God, as revealed in Scripture, the more shall I see that He must be sovereign, and the more shall I rejoice from my inmost heart that He is so.”  (Horatius Bonar)

Rejoice in your Sovereign Lord today dear friend!

“For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things
to whom be glory forever. Amen.” Romans 11:36

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Excellent Read:  Contentment in God’s Sovereignty

Check our “Tolle Lege” page for my recommendations on excellent books on God’s Sovereignty.
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Excerpt from the original series on God’s Sovereignty, TheologyGirl-ReformedWomen
Editor & Publisher – “Heavenly Notes 2001-2015” Repost 5-18-21

Love’s Letter

My beloved brethren:  We, like Christopher Love and many saints throughout the ages have suffered persecution, trials and tribulations, loss and want, and as He suffered in His pilgrimage on this earth, we too shall suffer in this life.  What kind of witness are we to be through these sufferings?  Patient in tribulation? Praying always?  Blessing rather than cursing? Enduring with gentleness and meekness of spirit?  Loving when hated?  Happy when sad?  Rejoicing through tears?  Praising when discouraged? Giving when all is taken away?  Resting when weary? Hoping when hope is gone?  Joyful in all things?  Trusting when we cannot see?  Yes, all these things and more so let us examine ourselves to see if our walk matches our testimony of Christ and if we are truly walking the walk of faith and saying,  “Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul.”    I share with you Christopher Love’s letter to encourage you to fight the good fight of faith on your Christian journey with joy resting in Christ’s love and gift of life to you.  Be encouraged as you read…TheologyGirl-ReformedWomen
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Christopher Love was beheaded for alleged conspiracy against the current
Lord Protector of England, Oliver Cromwell. Love, Thomas Watson and William
Jenkyn were among those imprisoned for treason. Cromwell charged them with
conspiring to bring back the monarchy and the King after parliament had
charged the king with treason and beheaded him. Watson was released, Jenkyn
died in prison, and Christopher Love was beheaded. The following letter is
one of many to Mr. Love’s wife. However, this is Mr. Love’s last letter to
his wife on the day he suffered.
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My most gracious Beloved,

I am now going from a prison to a palace: I have finished my work, and am
now going to receive my wages. I am going to heaven, where are two of my
children, and leaving you on earth, where there are three of my babes.
These two above, need not my care; but the three below need thine. It
comforts me to think, two of my children are in the bosom of Abraham, and
three of them will be in the arms and care of such a tender and godly
mother. I know you are a woman of sorrowful spirit, yet be comforted,
though you sorrows be great for you husband going out of the world, yet your
pains shall be the less in bringing your child into the world; you shall be
a joyful mother, though you be a sad widow; God hath many mercies in store
for you; the prayer of a dying husband for you, will not be lost. To my
shame I speak it, I never prayed for you at liberty, as I have done in
prison. I can write much, but I have few practical counsels to leave with
you, viz.,

1. Keep under a sound, orthodox, soul searching ministry. Oh! There are many
deceivers gone out into the world, but Christ’s sheep know His voice, and a
stranger they will not follow. Attend any minister that teacheth the way of
God in truth; and follow Solomon’s advice, Proverbs 19:27.

2. Bring up your children in the knowledge and admonition of the Lord. The
mother ought to be a teacher in the father’s absence, Proverbs 31:1, “The
words that his mother taught him.” And Timothy was instructed by his
grandmother, 1 Timothy 1:5.

3. Pray in your family daily, that yours may be in the number of the
families who call upon God.

4. Labor for a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God, is of great
price, 1 Peter 3:4.

5. Pour not on the comforts you want, but upon the mercies you have. Look
rather at God’s ending in afflicting, than to the measure and degree of your
affliction.

6. Labor to clear up your evidence for heaven when God takes from you the
comfort of earth, so that as your sufferings do abound, your consolation in
Christ may abound much more, 2 Corinthians 1:5. Though it be good to
maintain a holy jealously of heart, yet it is still ill of you to cherish
fears and doubts touching the truth of your graces. If ever I had
confidence touching the grace of another, I have confidence of grace in you;
as Peter said of Silvanus, I am persuaded that this is the grace of God
wherein ye stand, 1 Peter 5:12.

7. O, my dear soul wherefore dost thou doubt, who heart has been laid
upright, whose walking has been holy, &c. I could venture my soul this day
in they soul’s stead, such a confidence I have in you.

8. When you find your heart secure, presumptuous and proud, then pour upon
corruption more than grace: then look upon your grace without infirmities.

9. Study the covenant of grace, and merits of Christ, and be troubled if you
can; you are interested in such a covenant that accepts purposes for
performances, desires for deeds, sincerity for perfection, the righteousness
of another, viz., that of Jesus Christ, as it were your own alone. Oh! My
love! Rest thou in the love of God, the bosom of Christ.

10. Swallow up your will in the will of God. It is a bitter cup we are to
drink, but it is the cup of our Father which has been put into our hands.
When Paul was to suffer at Jerusalem, the Christians said, “The will of the
Lord be done!” Oh! Say ye so, when I go to the Tower-Hill, “The will of the
Lord be done!”

11. Rejoice in my joy. To mourn for me inordinately argues, that you either
envy or suspect my happiness. The joy of the Lord is my strength; Oh! Let
it be yours also! Dear wife, farewell: I will call thee wife no more: I
shall see thy face no more: yet I am not much troubled, for now I am going
to meet the Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus, to whom I shall be eternally
married.

12. Refuse not to marry, when God offers you a fair opportunity; but be sure
you marry in the Lord; and one of a good disposition, that he may not grieve
you, but give you a comfortable livelihood in the world.

Farewell dear love, and again I say farewell. The Lord Jesus be with your
spirit, the Maker of heaven and earth be a husband to you; and the Father of
the Lord Jesus Christ be a father to your children – so prays your dying,

Your most affectionate friend till death,

Christopher Love

The day of my glorification.
From the Tower of London, August 22, 1651
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*TheologyGirl-ReformedWomen,  Editor-Publisher Copyright: Heavenly Notes & Devotions From The Heart ©1984-2021

Marriage, Home & Family

 TheologyGirl-ReformedWomen
“Devotions From the Heart”
“Marriage, Home & Family”
February 2, 2022 – Repost

Marriage, Home and Family.  How do we live as Christians?  In our marriages, in our homes and in our families?  Baxter has some directives that avoid dissension in the home.  A good read for all Christians and reminder of what our God requires of us in our relationships and especially in these areas from a biblical and godly perspective and not with worldly and ungodly means and methods but by His grace, His Word and biblical principles that honor Him and one another. 1/  Read on…

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Directives for Avoiding Dissension in the Home
by Rev. Richard Baxter

It is a great duty of husbands and wives to live in quietness and peace, and avoid all occasions of wrath and discord. Because this is a duty of so great importance, I shall first open to you the great necessity of it, and then give you more particular directions to perform it.

(1) Your discord will be your pain, and the vexation of our lives. Like a bile, or wound, or fracture in your own bodies, which will pain you till it is cured; you will hardly keep peace in your minds, when peace is broken so near you in your family. As you would take heed of hurting yourselves, and as you would hasten the cure when you are hurt; so should you take heed of any breach of peace, and quickly seek to heal it when it is broken.

(2) Dissension tends to cool your love; oft falling out doth tend to leave a habit of distaste and averseness on the mind. Wounding is separating; and to be tied together by any outward bonds, when your hearts are separated, is but to be tormented; and to have the insides of adversaries, while you have conjugal outsides. As the difference between my house and my prison is that I willingly and with delight dwell in the one, but am unwillingly confined to the other, such will be the difference between a quiet and an unquiet life, in your married state; it turneth your dwelling and delight into a prison, where you are chained to those calamities, which in a free condition you might overrun.

(3) Dissension between the husband and the wife, doth disorder all their family affairs; they are like oxen unequally yoked, that can rid no work for striving with one another. Nothing is well done because of the variance of those that should do it, or oversee it.

(4) It exceedingly unfitteth you for the worship of God; you are not fit to pray together, nor to confer together of heavenly things, nor to be helpers to each other’s souls: I need not tell you this, you feel it by experience. Wrath and bitterness will not allow you so much exercise of love and holy composedness of mind, as every one of those duties do require.

(5) Dissension disableth you to govern your families aright. Your children and servants will take example by you; or think they are at liberty to do what they list, when they find you taken up with such work between yourselves; and they will think you unfit to reprove them for their faults, when they see you guilty of such faults and folly of your own; nay, you will become the shame and secret derision of your family, and bring yourselves into contempt.

(6) Your dissensions will expose you to the malice of Satan, and give him advantage for manifold temptations. A house divided cannot stand; an army divided is easily conquered, and made a prey to the enemy. You cannot forsee what abundance of sin you put yourselves in danger of. By all this you may see what dissensions between husband and wife do tend to, and how they should be avoided.

For the avoiding of them observe these sub-directions:

(1) Keep up your conjugal love in a constant heat and vigor. Love will suppress wrath; you cannot have a bitter mind upon small provocations, against those that you dearly love; much less can you proceed to reviling words, or to averseness and estrangedness, or any abuse of one another. Or if a breach and wound be unhappily made, the balsamic quality of love will heal it. But when love once cooleth, small matters exasperate and breed distaste.

(2) Both husband and wife must mortify their pride and passion, which are the causes of impatiency; and must pray and labour for a humble, meek, and quiet spirit. A proud heart is troubled and provoked by every word or carriage that seemeth to tend to their undervaluing. A peevish, froward mind is like a sore and ulcerated member, that will be hurt if it be touched. He that must live near such a sore, diseased, impatient mind, must live even as the nurse doth with the child, that maketh it her business to rock it, and lull, and sing it quiet when it crieth; for to be angry with it, will do no good; and if you have married one of such a sick or childish temper, you must resolve to bear and use them accordingly. But no Christian should bear with such a malady in themselves; nor be patient with such impatiency of mind. Once get the victory over yourselves, and the cure of your own impatience, and you will easily keep peace with one another.

(3) Agree together beforehand, that when one is in the diseased, angry fit, the other shall silently and gently bear, till it be past and you are come to yourselves again. Be not angry both at once; when the fire is kindled, quench it with gentle words and carriage, and do not cast on oil or fuel, by answering provokingly and sharply, or by multiplying words, and by answering wrath with wrath.

(4) If you cannot quickly quench your passion, yet at least refrain your tongues; speak not reproachful or provoking words: talking it out hotly doth blow the fire, and increase the flame; be but silent, and you will the sooner return to your serenity and peace. Foul words tend to more displeasure. As Socrates said when his wife first railed at him, and next threw a vessel of foul water upon him, ‘I thought when I heard the thunder, there would come rain’; so you may portend worse following, when foul, unseeming words begin. If you cannot easily allay your wrath, you may hold your tongues, if you are truly willing.

(5) Let the sober party condescend to speak fair and to entreat the other. Say to your angry wife or husband, ‘You know this should not be betwixt us; love must allay it, and it must be repented of. God doth not approve it, and we shall not approve it when this heat is over. This frame of mind is contrary to a praying frame, and this language contrary to a praying language; we must pray together anon; let us do nothing contrary to prayer now: sweet water and bitter come not from one spring,’ etc. Some calm and condescending words of reason, may stop the torrent, and revive the reason which passion had overcome.

(6) Confess your fault to one another, when passion hath prevaileth against you; and ask forgiveness of each other, and join in prayer to God for pardon; and this will lay a greater engagement on you the next time to forbear: you will sure be ashamed to do that which you have so confessed and asked forgiveness for of God and man. If you will but practise these directions, your family peace may be preserved.

Soli Deo Gloria,
TheologyGirl-ReformedWomen
©2015 All Rights Reserved

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1/TheologyGirl-ReformedWomen “Marriage, Home & Family,  from “Directives” –  March 5, 2007, ©2007-2015 All Rights Reserved

What a beautiful thing it is…the LOVE of Jesus. Read and study and love HIM more!

I was in my Library this morning and remembered this image I shot of our library and this verse came to mind. What a beautiful thing it is…”Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 – JacyJoypals (a/k/a) TheologyGirl & ReformedWomen)