Children are a gift of the LORD

Psalm 127

Unless the Lord builds the house they labor in vain who build it.
Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchmen keep awake in vain.
It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors:
For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.

Behold children are a gift of the LORD;
The Fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
So are the children of one’s youth.
How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;
They shall not be ashamed, when they speak with their enemies at the gate.

It is easy to forget how precious our boys and families are with the start of school and the hectic schedule, hope this encourages you.

God Bless

Josh Birney

Lord, let your glory fall . . .

I really like the sound of this song, but the words are even better; I hope they encourage you in your praise to our God.

Lord, Let your Glory Fall – Matt Redman

Lord, let your glory fall as on that ancient day,
Songs of enduring love, and then your glory came.
And as a sign to you that we would love the same.
Our hearts will sing that song: God, let your glory come.

You are good, you are good, and your love endures,
You are good, you are good, and your love endures today.

Voices in unison giving you thanks and praise,
Joined by the instruments and then your glory came,
Your presence like a cloud upon that ancient day;
The priests were overwhelmed because your glory came.

You are good, you are good, and your love endures;
You are good, you are good, and your love endures today.

Oh, your anger lasts a moment, but your favor lasts a lifetime,
Your anger lasts a moment, but you favor lasts a lifetime.

A sacrifice was made, and then your fire came;
They knelt upon the ground and with one voice the praised.
They sang come, Lord; Lord let your glory fall,
Let your Glory fall, Come Lord Jesus.

God bless you,

Joshua Birney
Westview House Parent

Life is like Battleship . . .

One of my favorite games to play growing up was Battleship. If you don’t know, it is a game where you are trying to sink the other player’s fleet of ships. There is no real strategy to the game, except maybe where you place your ships. It is a lot of hits and misses. Eventually in the game you would get to hear your missiles hit the ships, and you would get to hear the computer say “battleship sunk”. What a great feeling it was to know that you had succeeded. A lot of waiting, but to me the reward was worth the wait.

I think that life is a lot like Battleship. There is no real strategy, except maybe where you choose to live, and work, like placing your ships. But even then we don’t know how our choices will ultimately work out; it is a lot of hit and misses. Eventually in life you get to see your choices and decisions work out the way you want, and you get to hear your boss, or spouse say to you good job.

I guess what I am trying to say is that life is a waiting game; we are trying to do the best we can with what we have. Trying to navigate through the sea of life and make the best decisions we can to avoid and sink the devil’s plans (1 Peter 5:8). The wonderful thing for us as Christians is that we are not going about life alone. We have each other to show us were the enemy ships (2 Cor 1:3-4) are and above all we have our Heavenly Father. At the end of this Life, won’t the feeling be great know that you have succeeded, when we hear God say to us “well done, my good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of your master”.

God Bless,

Joshua Birney
Westview House Parent

Relationship and prayer

The wonderful thing about books, especially Christian ones, is getting to see the different perspectives that people have. I just finished teaching about the Sermon on the Mount and never saw the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6 in the perspective that Donald Miller has in To Own a Dragon.

“Jesus was talking, at the time, to a mixed group of religious people. Among them were the Jews, who believed a person interacted with God by obeying a system of laws. Others were gentiles; these guys were interacting with God as though He were a kind of good luck charm. Jesus said their prayers went on as a endless rambling. It struck me that what Jesus was doing when He gave this speech was not so much teaching people to pray as He was reminding them of what they has forgotten in Scriptures, that we can relate to God in a personal way….

I’m wondering if I wasn’t limiting Jesus’ teaching by thinking it was just about behavior and not about perspective. Jesus was saying they should stop jumping through legalistic hoops, or rambling on trying to manipulate God. Instead they should relate to God as He always related to them…as a Father.” Pg. 73-74

God is not just up in the sky somewhere just letting the world go through its motions; he is a caring Father watching over His children, longing to have an intimate relationship with them. Even in the simplest of words, the Lord’s Prayer reminds us that God is taking care of us, providing for us, disciplining us, forgiving us, and protecting us - as any good Father does for the children He loves.

Our Father who is in Heaven, Holy be your name.
Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever

Amen

Matthew 6:9-13

God Bless,

Joshua Birney
Westview House Parent

Possess my whole being . . .

Dear Lord,

Help me spread your fragrance wherever I go.
Flood my soul with your Spirit and Life.
Penetrate me; possess my whole being so utterly all my life may only be a radiance of yours.
Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me, but only you o Lord!
Let me preach you without preaching, not by words but by example.
By catching the force, the sympathetic influence of what I do, the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to you.

Amen

A daily prayer of Mother Theresa

Julia Birney
Westview House Parent

Micah and relationships

This week, the Birneys have agreed to write our devotionals for us:

Micah 6:6-7

“With what shall I come to the LORD and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my first-born for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

We all want to please God, have Him be proud of us and we wonder what the best way to accomplish the task is. It seems to me that is what is going on here in this passage from the book of Micah. What church function is the best one to participate in? How much will it cost to have God on my side? Even though I may not say it out loud I sometimes live my life trying to earn God’s favor by all the “church” that I do. In every case I think that we make things more complicated than they really are.

Micah 6:8

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you, but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

It is not about the committees that we are a part of or how many preaching calendars that we make. It is not about how many classes we teach or how many Bible classes we facilitate. Our relationship with the LORD is based on our relationship with other people!! Are we doing them justice, are we dealing with them in love and kindness, and in everything do we recognize that God is bigger than anything we do? In this place it is easy to feel like we are not doing enough, but if we are loving each other, loving our boys, and loving our God there is nothing greater that we can do.

May God bless you,

Joshua Birney
Westview House Parent