A Competition Giveaway!

I'm holding my first giveaway, and I'm very excited about it!

Anyone can enter (worldwide). 

Go to Recipes Down Under for competition details.

The Word "Awesome"

The word "awesome" is used commonly today.  It is used frequently.  It has lost much of its meaning...  Do we even remember what the word truly means?

Awesome: inspiring awe or admiration.

Those things that are commonly labelled as being awesome (which ranges anything from a haircut to something someone is wearing, to a movie/TV show or an event or a place... and so on)... What is it in them that inspires our awe?  Should those things inspire awe?  What does the Bible say about awe?

If we go back to the Bible, we are actually told what should inspire our awe... and let me tell you, it has nothing to do with haircuts, pieces of clothings or anything else in this world we live in.  The word "awe" occurs only three times in the entire Bible, all three occuring in the Old Testament.

But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for Himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto Him. Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. (Psalms 4:3-4)


Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. (Psalms 33:8-9)
 
Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of Thy word. I rejoice at Thy word, as one that findeth great spoil. (Psalms 119:161-162)

Sometimes a word that expresses a sacred and profound thought becomes commonplace and misused.  Such is the case with the word "awesome".  Checking the dictionary it means "deeply reverent, awful and terrible".  So using it to describe some trivial earthly pleasure or thing is hardly appropriate.  If the word means to produce reverential fear or dread inspired by Deity [God], we should give heed as to its usage.  The Lord God is holy, reverent and worthy to be honoured and worshipped with awe.

- Edna Dyck

What is Christ?

To the artist, He is the One Altogether Lovely (Song of Solomon 5:16)

To the architect, He is the Chief Corner Stone (Ephesians 2:20)

To the baker, He is the Living Bread (John 6:51)

To the banker, He is the Hidden Treasure (Matthew 6:21)

To the biologist, He is the Life (John 14:6)

To the builder, He is the Sure Foundation (Isaiah 28:16)

To the carpenter, He is the Door (John 10:9)

To the doctor, He is the Great Physician (Mark 2:17)

To the educator, He is the Great Teacher (John 3:2)

To the explorer, He is the Way (John 14:6)

To the florist, He is the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley (Song of Solomon 2:1)

To the geologist, He is the Rock of Ages (1 Corinthians 10:4)

To the horticulturist, He is the True Vine (John 15:1)

To the judge, He is the Righteous Judge, Judge of All Men (2 Timothy 4:8)

To the jeweller, He is the Pearl of Great Price (Matthew 13:45-46)

To the newspaper, He is the Good Tiding of Great Joy (Luke 2:10)

To the oculist, He is the Light of the Eyes (1 John 1:5)

To the philanthropist, He is the Unspeakable Gift (2 Corinthians 9:15)

To the philosopher, He is the Wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:30)

To the preacher, He is the Word of God (Revelation 19:13)

To the sculptor, He is the Living Stone (1 Peter 2:4)

To the servant, He is the Good Master (Luke 18:18)

To the statesman, He is the Desire of all Nations (Revelations 7:9)

To the student, He is the Incarnate Truth (John 14:6)

To the theologian, He is the Author and Finisher of our Faith (Hebrews 12:2)

To the toiler, He is the Giver of Rest (Matthew 11:28)

To the sinner, He is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the World (John 1:29)

To the Christian, He is all these things, and He is the Son of the Living God, the Saviour, the Redeemer and the Lord (Matthew 16:16, 1 John 4:14, Titus 2:13-14, Acts 17:24)

Psalm 139

O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.

God is omniscient - He knows everything about every single one of us.

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off.

He knows everything we do, and He knows our thoughts even before we think them.

Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

He keeps a constant watch of us.  Nothing of our ways are hidden from Him.

For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether.

Before we say a single thing, He knows all about it - every word in the past, present and future.

Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid Thine hand upon me.

His knowledge of us is so incredibly intricate that He can guard behind us and before us. 

Forever and always His hand is protectively on us.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

God's infinite knowledge is too much for our minds to comprehend, it is far beyond our capacity to understand.  It is absolutely wonderful, greater than anything else we could know.

Whither shall I go from Thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?

God is omnipresent.  We cannot go anywhere to hide from His presence.

If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there.

Going to heaven cannot take us away from God, and neither can making our bed in hell - we cannot get away from His presence.

If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

Even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.

Even if we could travel at the speed of light (the wings of the morning are said to be an allusion to the rays of the morning sun), we would find the Lord there leading us and holding us with His hand.

If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee.

Night cannot shut out God's presence; darkness is not dark to God, there is no difference between day and night, to Him - He can see even through the darkest night (unlike our human eyes which require light to see).

For Thou hast possessed my reins: Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.

 His power and skill are incomparable - He formed every part of us, inside and out.  He wove all our body parts together to make them just so.

I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

The human body is so complex, so intricately designed, it can do nothing but cause us to praise God.  It is beautiful and wonderful and marvellous, and our souls know it without a doubt.

My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

God knows us through and through from the very beginning and while we were in the womb, we were made - we could never just come to be by some accident.

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in Thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

Even before the different parts of our bodies grew (ie. from the moment of conception), the eyes of God could see us - God is eternal, He didn't need us to be a born human to be able to see us, He knew us when we were just a few cells with no arms or legs or even a head!  And He fashioned each and every part of us.

How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with Thee....

God thought about us and planned us very carefully, which should be precious to us; such minute attention to detail is not to be taken for granted.  Those thoughts are spoken of as being present also - God did not just create us and then leave us to flounder.  He continues to watch over us and have His hand on us continually - His thoughts of us are innumerable.

 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

This should be our constant prayer - for God to thoroughly search us and know our hearts.  To carefully test and know our thoughts and expose those things that are not holy or pure - the wickedness of our hearts and thoughts need to be confessed and forsaken.  Having God lead us in His way is the only way to walk before Him in purity and holiness.

(Psalms 139:1-18, 23-24)

A New Blog!

Please come on over to our new family blog - Aussie Van Nattan Adventures - blogspot is so much fun for blogging, allowing for much more creativeness!!!  For those of you who love the old-fashioned way of life and the clothing of the 1800s, don't miss my latest blog post with many many photos of an Australian town recreated from that era...!  More similar posts to come too, Lord willing, so come back soon for more.  The links for all my other blogs stay permanently in the lefthand column of Precious in His Sight.

Australian Road Trip!

Over the past week, my family and I went on a road trip - our first holiday (vacation) in years...  To read about it and see some pictures of Australia and Australian tourist attractions, please go to our family blog - the trip will be blogged day by day, so don't forget to come back for each!

Saturday's Song - To God Be the Glory

To God be the glory - great things He hath done!
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yeilded His life an atonement for sin
And opened the Life-gate that all may go in.

(Refrain:)
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory - great things He hath done.

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood!
To every believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Refrain

Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done,
And great our rejoicing thru Jesus the Son;
But purer and higher and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.

Refrain

I'm just busy

I wanted to apologise for the lack of posts lately... We've had a lot going on here, I have been flat-out busy for the past few weeks... but Lord willing sometime next week I will get a chance to sit down and write a proper post.  Thank you to those of you who return often to read my blog, and a special thank you to those of you who take a moment to write a comment - I love receiving comments!  :)  I received lots of advice about homeschooling - thank you all for that; Lord willing next week I hope to sit down and follow through on your advice and look into the programs and curriculums and suggestions you each gave.  The Lord bless you for your willingness to help me feel more focused and confident in homeschooling.  Much prayer goes into such a task (of homeschooling children), and I thank the Lord for your thoughts, prayers, shared experiences and advice.

Saturday's Song - The Lily of the Valley

The Lily of the Valley

I have found a friend in Jesus - He's everything to me,
He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul;
The Lily of the Valley - In Him alone I see
All I need to cleanse and make me fully whole.
In sorrow He's my comfort, in trouble He's my stay
He tells me every care on Him to roll;
Hallellujah!
He's the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star,
He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.

He all my griefs has taken and all my sorrows borne,
In temptation He's my strong and mighty tower;
I have all for Him forsaken and all my idols torn
From my heart, and now He keeps me by His power.
Tho all the world forsake me and Satan tempt me sore,
Thru Jesus I shall safely reach the goal;
Hallellujah!
He's the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star,

He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.

He will never, never leave me nor yet forsake me here,
While I live by faith and do His blessed will;
A wall of fire about me, I've nothing now to fear -
With His manna He my hungry soul shall fill.
Then sweeping up to glory I'll see His blessed face,
Where rivers of delight shall ever roll;
Hallellujah!
He's the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star,

He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.

HELP me with homeschooling!

I'm writing this blog in the hopes that many will read it and answer my questions.  I grew up schooling through the public school system.  It was enough to scare me into not sending my kids to public school, especially because I know the system has degenerated MUCH further since I finished school in 1998.

This means that homeschooling is a new experience for me, and even though my children are doing pretty well, I feel like I am floundering!  I suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and this makes homeschooling a real challenge seeing as it makes it hard for me to think things through day after day, it makes me incredibly tired at times, and makes it hard to stay motivated.

Since about April last year, I have been schooling my children on and off - currently my daughter is just 5 years old.  She started reading before her 4th birthday, and soon after started reading every book she could get her hands on.  I didn't do a lot to teach her, she seemed to learn by herself and has no problem reading whatever she wishes today, even the KJV Bible - with a little assistance for longer words (especially when she's in a lazy mood and doesn't feel like figuring the words out for herself).  She perfectly reads words like "knowledge", "sanctified", "compasseth" and "straight" (amongst many hundreds of other long and difficult words).  According to the school system, she should be starting kindergarten at school in the New Year (our school year starts at the beginning of February); I am thankful the Lord placed it on our hearts to homeschool her as beginning school next year would probably cause her to be bored to tears. 

But.... I am stuck.  I don't want to jump so far ahead that she is emotionally miles behind her level of intelligence and now that she reads and comprehends just about perfectly, what should I be teaching her now?  I've been working on mathematics (she knows her numbers up to at least 100, knows several shapes, can draw and write well, and has been doing well with addition), but need some suggestions from you other homeschooling mothers out there.... please???

My son is still 3, his 4th birthday is at the end of October.  He knows his alphabet and is able to read simple words like "cat"; he knows his numbers almost perfectly up to 20, can recognise shapes etc.  He seems to be doing well although not quite so fast to catch onto things as my daughter.  Both children are big helpers around the house - I've been teaching them a lot of practical things.  They can both sew, they help with cooking and cleaning.

So my questions are... I know my kids are doing well, but what should I be doing now? What are children supposed to be taught in the first few years of school?  Have I missed things I should be teaching?  When you answer, please specify at what age children should be doing which things.  Thank you so much for taking the time to help a struggling homeschooling mother!

If you don't homeschool yourself but you know someone who does, please could I beg you to direct them to my blog, I would really appreciate some direction from those who know more about homeschooling than I do.

Saturday's Song - a little late!

Don't forget to head on over to Recipes from Down Under for some Aussie and other favourite recipes!!

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FACE TO FACE

Face to face with Christ, my Saviour,
Face to face - what will it be?
When with rapture I behold Him,
Jesus Christ who died for me!

Refrain:
Face to face I shall behold Him,
Far beyond the starry sky;
Face to face, in all His glory,
I shall see Him by and by!

Only faintly now I see Him,
With the darkling veil between;
But a blessed day is coming,
When His glory shall be seen.

(Refrain)

What rejoicing in His presence,
When are banished grief and pain,
When the crooked ways are straightened
And the dark things shall be plain.

(Refrain)

Face to face - O blissful moment!
Face to face - to see and know;
Face to face with my Redeemer,
Jesus Christ who loves me so!

(Refrain)

* * * * * * *

Won't that be wonderful? To be face to face with our Lord Jesus Christ??!

On being humble

But He giveth more grace. Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. (James 4:6)

The first five verses of this chapter in James talks about our natural tendencies... towards lust, towards worldliness, towards jealousy. The old nature of the believer can be very wicked - and we all fight these things from time to time! But we are not left to deal with the lusts of the flesh in our own strength - if we were, we would never get anywhere! Thanks be to God that He gives more grace! He gives us strength when we have need of it! He promised, "as your days, so shall your strength be" (Deuteronomy 33:25).

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,

He sendeth more strength when the labors increase,

To added affliction He addeth His mercy,

To multiplied trials His multiplied peace.

- Annie Johnson Flint -

We read "Surely He scorneth the scorners: but He giveth grace unto the lowly" in Proverbs 3:34. It seems that the words in James 4:1 are a quote from this Proverb, and although the word in James is different - "humble", it has the same meaning. God hates pride, and He resists it, and only gives grace to those who are lowly, meek, humble, those who are cast down and broken. But how do we get to this place of humbleness and meekness?

God does not leave us wondering. He maps out the formula in His precious Word through the pen of James. What do we need to do?

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up. (James 4:7-10)

1. Submit ourselves to God - this means we need to be open before Him, ready to listen to His Word, ready to follow the path of His choosing, and ready to obey Him.
"...we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God" (Jeremiah 42:6).

2. Resist the devil, and he will depart - when faced with temptation, we must say no to the devil and his demons. The Lord Himself in the wilderness faced temptation and used the Word of God and faith and the strength God gave Him to resist the devil (Mark 1:13).
"Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked... and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:16-17b).

3. Draw close to God and He will draw close to us - we are able to draw close to God by spending time in prayer, and in the reading of His Word. We are exhorted to give thanks, make requests, and praise God in prayer, and spend time meditating on the Scriptures.
"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7). "I will meditate in Thy precepts, and have respect unto Thy ways. I will delight myself in Thy statutes: I will not forget Thy Word" (Psalms 119:15-16).

4. Clean up our actions and our motives and desires - clean ourselves of all evil and be pure (or holy) through confessing our sins and not repeating them.
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

5. Be sorry for our sinfulness - we must be sad and sorry for our sins. We cannot be callous about it, believing that the more we sin the bigger God's grace will have to be, because it is only humble and true sorrow for our sinfulness that God accepts. This is called being contrite - feeling and expressing to God our sorrow and remorse for our sins - in a word, being repentant.
"The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit" (Psalms 34:18).

6. Humble ourselves before God and He will lift us up - this is similar to being subject to God and submitting ourselves to God. God is righteous, God is pure and He is the maker and creator of all things; we are but dust. Realising our worth and our position in and of ourselves before God will help us to be humble. We are nothing without Him, we need Him to give us any worth, and the sooner we realise this, the sooner we will be able to be humble before God.
"Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time" (1 Peter 5:5-6).

There is much in the Scriptures to help us be humble, there is much to help us in times of temptation, but we cannot just read those words! We must not be hearers of the Word only, but doers also! "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves" (James 1:22).

I can think of some things for which we should never cease to pray - that the Lord will keep us humble, that He will give us wisdom, that He will give us faith, and that He will help us be tenderhearted and compassionate... What other things can you think of that we should pray unceasingly for? Please leave a comment! and include a Scripture reference if you know one! (No worries if you can't! :)

A New Blog!

Today I was sharing some recipes with some of my friends, and it occurred to me it would be fun to share the recipes my family and I enjoy regularly... And so I began a new blog - Recipes From Down Under. You can always find a link to my recipe blog on the left under the title "our other blogs". Please leave me a comment on Recipes From Down Under if you try the recipes posted there, I'd like to know if you enjoyed them or not!

Wonderful Grace of Jesus

I decided I would like to share a hymn or psalm or spiritual song once each week. I have so many favourites, it's hard to know where to begin. This one came to mind immediately, so I decided to go ahead and post it!

* * * * * * *

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.

(Colossians 3:16-17)

Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
(Ephesians 5:19-20)

* * * * * * *

Wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin;
How shall my tongue describe it, where shall its praise begin?
Taking away my burden, setting my spirit free,
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

(Refrain:)
Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,
Deeper than the mighty rolling sea;
Higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain,
All sufficient for even me,
Broader than the scope of my transgressions,
Greater far than all my sin and shame;
O magnify the precious name of Jesus, Praise His name!

Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching to all the lost,
By it I have been pardoned, saved to the uttermost;
Chains have been torn asunder, giving me liberty,
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

(Refrain)

Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching the most defiled,
By its transforming power making him God's dear child.
Purchasing peace and heaven for all eternity-
And the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

(Refrain)

The Albatross and Atheism

There are several species of Albatross, such as the Wandering Albatross, the Great Albatross, the Short tailed Albatross, and more. These magnificent birds have wing spans up to 3.6m (nearly 12 ft), and spend the majority of their life soaring through the skies over the oceans. They can even sleep in flight, and while they are growing up (before beginning to breed) they might not even touch land for three or four years! They can soar for hours without needing to flap their wings as they use techniques known as slope soaring, and dynamic soaring.

Slope soaring is pretty straightforward: the albatross turns to the wind, gaining height, from where it can then glide back down to the sea. Dynamic soaring is a technique by which the albatross (and some other seabirds) repeatedly dives into the valleys of ocean waves, and then wheels back up into the air. Albatross are particularly adept at exploiting the technique and they use it to travel many thousands of miles using hardly any energy. When the bird pulls up into the wind out of the still air in the lee of a wave, it suddenly becomes exposed to a head wind, so the speed of the air over its wings increases. It then turns in the other direction and, with the wind behind it, dives back into the shelter of a wave. This also results in an increase in its air-speed. So by repeating this "wheeling" pattern, the bird can continue flying almost indefinitely without having to put in much effort besides steering. In effect it is harvesting energy from the wind gradient. (Description of technique from Wikipedia)

The Albatross understands the weather systems; an Albatross who wishes to fly north from the southern hemisphere takes a clockwise route, while those flying south take a counterclockwise route! Albatrosses have been created for this lifestyle, and when they are flying, their heart rate will be the same or similar to their resting heart rate. The most energy-demanding part of a journey for this amazing bird is taking off, when the Albatross must make a run first before flapping its wings, thus gaining wind and an uplift. These birds can weigh as much as 12kg (26.45 lb), which makes taking off a strenuous exercise.

Albatrosses are commonly found in the Southern Hemisphere, although some species are found in the North Pacific. They love to eat fish and squid, snatching them from the water's surface; they have been known to be able to smell food from about 30km (18.6 miles) away.

The Albatross is an incredible bird, and I'm sure there is a lot more about their structure and life that is amazing than what I have discovered. When I started reading about them, I was amazed - particularly at the fact that they can literally spend years soaring without landing on the ground even once. That made me think about God. He created this bird to be special, to be different, and to be incredibly and perfectly built for the type of lifestyle it leads. Just as the Albatross is so perfect and incredible in design, God has created all things intricately, with every little detail fitting together perfectly to make something beautiful.

Yet the world does not want to see God in the intricacies of the world around them and the beauty of God's creation.

The Psalmist knew something of the wonder of our creation, he says, "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well" (Psalms 139:14). In Job we read of many of the facts of the world around us that Scientists think they are only just discovering. God created it all through His Word - "All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made" (John 1:3).

The Albatross finds the right wind currents, and it uses them to soar. How are we living? Are we fighting God's will every step of the way, or are we listening for God's will? Are we reading about God's way in His Word, and using His wind currents to soar?

"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31).

The wings of an eagle are long and broad, allowing more direct and faster flight than other birds... Those that wait on the Lord will have renewed strength, they will mount up with wings as eagles, flying directly and faster on the path God sets before them. They will run and not get tired, and they will walk and not faint.).

There is a God. He created. And He loved so much that He sacrificed His very own Son to die for us and take our punishment. And then He rose again and wants to share His inheritance with us. And... as if that wasn't enough, He wants to guide our every step, carry us through the storms of life and wipe away our tears. What a wonderful God He is.

Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)