Today's post consists of material created in response to Every Woman's Grace lessons in years past.

Challenge: Name five things that the redeemed praise God for and write the Scripture reference for each (you'll notice that I went past five):
He will accomplish what concerns me Psalm 138:8
He knows all about me Psalm 139:4
He will sanctify me entirely 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
He intercedes for me Hebrews 4:14-15
He disciplines me as a Father Hebrews 12:7-11
He will bring me into an unshakable kingdom Hebrews 12:28
He has given me all things pertaining to life and godliness 2 Peter 1:3-4
He will rescue me 2 Peter 2:9
He is a very present help Psalm 46:1b

Challenge: Praise is the desire of every believer--our responsibility to God. Find an example of a New Testament saint praising God. Write down the Scripture reference and meditate on the passage. Describe your own thanksgiving and praise to God:
Probably the first whose praise to God comes to mind is that of Mary in Luke 1:46-55 because she is speaking for all women.
My own thanksgiving and praise to God is for His unsleeping care, what my Dad used to refer to as His "watch care" over His own.
I also thank Him for making me useful, cleansing me.
I also thank Him for interceding for me, and thank the Holy Spirit for making my prayers coherent to God and rightly aligned with what God wants to do, will do.
I also thank God for the godly upbringing I had, and the godly mother I still have, and godly sister who ministers to our mom and other elderly people back in Sioux Falls.
I praise God for being unchanging, unswerving, unwavering from the accomplishment of His purposes not only for my life but all lives throughout history and beyond.

Thoughts about the body of Christ, the church [italics added for emphasis]

Looking at 1 Corinthians 12:
v. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good
v. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills
v. 18 But as it it, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose
v.v. 24b-28a But God so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members of the body may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. Now God has appointed in the church ...

Looking at Ephesians 4:
v.v. 2-3 with all humility and gentleness with patience bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace
v. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift
v.v. 11-13 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry [my note: not to do the work of ministry], for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ

May 19 2009
Today we are holding yet another special election in and for the state of California. Garry and I are scheduled to be poll workers. And we anticipate a long day with a low turnout. We could be in error on the second part of that sentence, but previous experience makes it less likely than more. That's all I have to write now. Have the option to add more later.

Living Intentionally
"Intentional" seems to be the "in" word/concept these days. I agree we have to make plans, express our intentions, but apart from God's specific commands which are nonnegotiable, I have learned to live with a pencil, a good eraser, and the delete key.
James wrote "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit---yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'" (4:13-15). This is true intentional living: to say If the Lord wills we will live and do this or that. Review Proverbs, especially chapter 16, for more bread on this matter.

And furthermore: six slices of bread from the book of Proverbs

Proverbs 10:19
When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.
Proverbs 13:3
Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.
Proverbs 16:4
The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.
Proverbs 18:13
If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.
Proverbs 21:23
Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.
Proverbs 29:20
Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.