rambling rosemarie

Because if we were honest our prayers might sound like this..... and we'd rather appear to be holy than to actually be transformed into His image. Dear God, I've come to equivocate for a few minutes. It won't take too much of your time, just long enough to assuage my guilt for not spending time with you. More importantly I want to be certain not to spend so much time that my attempts to manipulate you are glaringly apparent. Let's get started, shall we? OK. I know I haven't really spent much time with you lately and I haven't been all that busy. I have been avoiding you.  I should be ashamed of myself, but my lack of communication with you isn't what's bothering me right now.  What's bothering me is your lack of outreach where I am concerned.  I mean, you raised Lazarus from the dead, surely a small miracle to prove that you're paying attention to me wouldn't be so hard for you to do. My faith could really use a boost and that's the...

My pastor is nearly finished preaching through Philippians. I have been edified, convicted and encouraged as he has taught us from the epistle. Pastor focused on the power of the cross and the secret of being content. He quoted Jeremiah Burrough's book " The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment." I came home from church and wanted to see if I could find the quote online. The book can be found here . I didn't find the quote pastor used but I did read something that ties in beautifully with what I wrote in my lat post about needing a heart change more than needing a behavioral change. I thought I would post the quote here. I went and got myself a job so I will be writing less than I have been. Hopefully I will keep it up. It is good for me to have to research and read. Here's the quote: If the attainment of true contentment were as easy as keeping quiet outwardly, it would not need much learning. It might be had with less strength and ski...

When Luther really understood the holiness of God the tenuousness of his life was magnified exponentially to him. He became obsessed with his death and the judgment of God. Why? He knew what his sinful life looked like in comparison to the holiness of the Almighty. John Owen understood that believers lives are about sanctification and holiness. He had this to say: "This work of holiness in us is wonderful. It is a supernatural work and is known only by supernatural revelation.We must not be deceived by a false holiness. Holiness is not just a reformed life." Holiness is not about being as good as you can be for as long as you can be. I was talking to my pastor's wife and telling her that I loved the fact that her husband reads my blog. I told her I liked the accountability and have caught myself asking, "Would I say that in front of Bill?" I also confessed to her that I would hold my tongue in front of her husband more than I would before God. Her respons...

For the last couple of weeks I have been following my normal routines and am detecting a pattern or theme that God is bringing to my attention. I can be as dumb as dirt so He's left all subtlety behind and is using a holy 2x4 at this point. Let me explain. I just read a fabulous post on holiness on Steve Camp's blog. I recommend it, you can find it here . Earlier today I attended a community bible study where the topic was on God's holiness and our sin. Sunday my pastor delivered a sermon that was both convicting and encouraging. He was preaching on Philippians 2:9-11 and tied it to the holiness of God. Just before that I was asked by a group of women to define the holiness of God. See what I mean? One of the principles of hermeneutics is when God repeats something, it's important. It seems apparent to me that God wants my attention and He wants it focused on His holiness. I know I was going to write more about confrontation, but when God keeps bringing som...