Using Smart Squres with Uncle Gordon

Humility

At long last, I have finished Andrew Murray's little book, Humility. It is well worth reading slowly and re-reading.

Reading Andrew Murray is unlike reading most contemporary authors. In writing, he assumes that Christianity that is not experiential is not real Christianity. So he is after truth, and deep personal experience of that reality.

That is the context in which he casts humility: It is our being nothing before the God who is everything. It is the experience of Him being all in all.

Whereas many authors take our fallen condition as the ground for humility (i.e. God is holy, and we are sinful), Murray takes a step further back. He argues persuasively that humility is part of the creation order. In God's design before the Fall, we were to be utterly dependent on Him:

But as God is the ever-living, ever-present, ever-acting One, who upholds all things by teh word of His power, and in whom all things exist, the relation of the creature to God could only be one of unceasing, absolute, universal dependence. . . . Humility, the place of entire dependence on God, is, from the very nature of things, the first duty and highest virtue of the creature. In fact, it is the root of every virtue. . . . Hence it follows that nothing can be our redemption but the restoration of the lost humility, the original and only true relation of the creature to its God. And so Jesus came to bring humility back to earth, to make us partakers of it, and by it to save us (12, 13).

What is this humility?

It is not something which we bring to God, or which He bestows; it is simply the entire nothingness which comes when we see how truly God is ALL, and in which we make way for God to be ALL (14).

Murray clarifies what he means:

If this leads us to utter despair of ever conquering or casting [pride] out, it will lead us all the sooner to that supernatural power in which alone our deliverance is to be found - the redemption of the Lamb of God (19).

With rich metaphors, Murray communicates the ways of God:

Just as water ever seeks and fills the lowest place, so the moment God finds the creature abased and empty will His glory and power flow in to exalt and to bless (36).

The humility that Murray puts forth is not that of the hermit:

Our humility before God has no value except as it prepares us to reveal the humility of Jesus to our fellow men (49).

Though he sees humility as a creation order, Murray speaks insightfully to humility in sinfulness:

It is not sin, but grace that will make me indeed know myself a sinner, and make the sinner's place of deepest self-abasement the place I never leave. . . . It is the revelation of God, not only by the law condemning sin but by His grace delivering from it, that will make us humble. . . . Not to be occupied with your sin, but to be occupied with God, brings deliverance from self (68, 69, 70).

Amidst all the wisdom that Murray offers, there was one insight that has more shaken me than any other: Grace not only can come at the cost of my pride; it comes only at that price. The only way to seek grace is to seek humility, that God may be ALL; for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

I have many times prayed for God to draw me to Himself in ways that didn't humble me. Now I am beginning to see the folly of those requests, and why He wisely gives grace only to the humble.

Reading with Uncle Frank

It never ceases to amaze me how, when we are with family, Elisabeth manages to read with every family member. This time it was A Kiss for Little Bear with Uncle Frank.

The Glory of Christ

John Piper first introduced me to John Owen, and I saw that there was a tremendous depth to him. However, I consistently heard people say that he was difficult to read, so I didn't tackle an entire Owen book until my friend Dylan sent me The Glory of Christ.

For those who are intimidated, be assured that the riches far outweigh the difficulty of reading, which is not really that bad. Once you've read a chapter or two, you get used to his language, and many of the archaic words are defined in the margin.

The entire book is an explication of John 17:24, "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave me may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which You have given me."

No man shall ever behold the glory of Christ by sight hereafter, who does not in some measure behold it by faith here in the world. Grace is a ncessary preparation for glory, and faith for sight. Where the subject (the soul) is not previously seasoned with grace and faith, it is not capable of glory or vision (45).

Owen develops this claim. Seeing the glory of Christ by faith is our salvation in this world, and is preparation for being where He is and seeing His glory. With powerful clarity, Owen makes the case that seeing the glory of Christ is the only way to die well:

And this is the advantage we may have in [gazing on the glory of Christ] . . . with respect to death itself: it is the assiduous contemplation of the glory of Christ which will carry us cheerfully and comfortably into it, and through it (31).

I have never come across one who so clearly and succintly teaches believers how to prepare for death. Yet he is not speaking merely of mystical experience:

No man can by faith take a real view of this glory, but virtue will proceed from it in a transforming power to change him 'into the same image' (2 Cor. 3:18) [50].

Since his contention is that our salvation is to see the glory of God in the face of Christ, now as in a glass, and then face to face, he spends a great part of the book setting forth the beauties of Christ in his person and office. One cannot look for a more living and vibrant treatment of the two natures of Christ than Owen provides. It is quite clear that in writing, Owen is doing precisely that to which he is calling his readers: to look long and hard at the beauty of God in Christ.

If you're afraid at this point that Owen is terribly erudite and hopelessly beyond addressing the realities of life in this world, rest easy: Part 2 of the book is devoted to "Application of the Foregoing Meditations Concerning the Glory of Christ." Owen is unparalleled, in my experience, in giving counsel to those who are strangers to Christ, those who are faltering, and all of us who pass through seasons of darkness. I happened to be reading When the Darkness Will Not Lift by John Piper (which I thought was a good book; you can read my review here) while I was finishing up The Glory of Christ. As highly as I regard Piper (which those who know me well can tell you is very highly), Piper's writing is as a school-boy compared to Owen for precision, force and wisdom in going through darkness.

If you would see more of Savior, and love Him more, I heartily recommend to you this book. It will lift your eyes to the Son of God, and fix your gaze there in ways that will transform you into His likeness, and prepare you well to spend all eternity gazing on His beauty.

Note: After publishing this, I ran across two recommendations for Owen on johnowen.org that capture well my feelings:

To read John Owen is to enter a rare world. Whenever I return to one of his works I find myself asking “Why do I spend time reading lesser literature?” —Sinclair B. Ferguson
I owe more to John Owen than to any other theologian, ancient or modern; and I owe more to [The Mortification of Sin] than to anything else he wrote.—J.I. Packer

Happy with Uncle Roger

May - can I have that, please?

Elisabeth is getting better and better at using please in her requests without being prompted. However, she still often says can when may is the appropriate word. So when she asks, "Can I have that?" I tell her, "Please say: 'May I please have that?'"

She is getting the sense that may ought to be part of her request, but hasn't yet realized that it replaces can, so many of her requests go like this:

May - can I have that, please?

No one else can pray like that

On the night before He was crucified, Jesus prayed to His Father in the presence of His disciples, saying:

And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. (John 17:5)

No one else can pray like that. For me to utter those words would be as preposterous as it would be blasphemous. Jesus existed with the Father, in glory, before the world existed. That is why He can lay His life down and take it back up again.

. . . and then I bonked!

Right now Elisabeth and I are staying with Grandma and Pop-pop for a few days. Since Elisabeth is still a very active sleeper, she's sleeping in a pack'n'play at night (as she might roll out of an ordinary bed).

Today, I heard a surprising quiet, and went upstairs to see what Elisabeth was doing. I found her in her pack'n'play reading a book. I asked her how she had gotten in, and she answered:

I lifted up my leg, and then I bonked!

I asked if she knew how to climb out. (I had seen her climb out of the pack'n'play onto an adjacent bed, but never out and onto the floor.) She thought about it for a minute, and apparently figured out that the best way to ensure that her feet would be first to hit the floor was to go feet first.

So she proceeded to go into a handstand, and put both feet up on the rail! She didn't have enough arm strength to throw herself over, so she figured out how to swing a leg over, and get the other one up fast enough that she would land feet down. She proceeded to do it a number of times, in both directions, contenting me that she can do it safely.

Being silly with Uncle Roger

Smart Squares

Elisabeth was given Scholastic's Smart Squares for Christmas, and I'm quite impressed.

Included are 30 game cards that slide into a plastic display. Each card has two rows of six squares. The goal is for the child to match a square in the top row with one in the bottom row. The child shows the match by placing a removable colored frame around the square in the second row, repeating the process with the remaining colors until all six matches are made. Then the child can self check by pulling down the blue slide (the light blue part at the bottom) to reveal six colored squares. If the colored frames correspond to the colored squares, the answers are correct.

What I like in particular is that the game cards are diverse and scaffolded. The cards include the following skills:

• Uppercase alphabet recognition
• Lowercase alphabet recognition
• Beginning (onset) sounds
• Rhyming sounds
• Colors
• Patterns
• Numbers
• Counting 0–10
• Geometry (shapes, relative size)

As Elisabeth builds confidence with the easier ones (matching colors, for example) she gains courage to try out new ones that she wouldn't otherwise have tried.

Here is another great toy without batteries!

Puzzling

Yesterday Elisabeth made tremendous progress in completing a jigsaw puzzle by herself. For some time she has been interested in jigsaw puzzles, but hasn't had the stamina to finish them. She fits several together, but wears out before she finishes.

That trend ended yesterday. She found out just how much fun it is to finish a puzzle. So she did three of them! A whole new world of fun awaits us!

Painting Christmas ornaments

Elisabeth painted some fabulous Christmas ornaments with Aunt Haley!

I'm blowing on the inside

Elisabeth has had a stuffy nose for the past week or so, which has necessitated much blowing. She has realized that besides blowing into a tissue, there is another way to keep her nose from dripping. When Uncle Roger offered her a tissue to blow, she sucked in through her nose forcefully and said:

"I'm blowing on the inside!"

Olivia Saves the Circus

One of Elisabeth's many wonderful Christmas presents was another Olivia book! It is even one that we hadn't found at our public library.

In Olivia Saves the Circus, the famous little pig tells a tall tale of her summer vacation. As usual, Ian Falconer brilliantly captures the nature of a child in words and pictures.

For those who love the details from works of art that appear in Olivia books, this book does not disappoint. It has the most expressive picture of Eleanor Roosevelt that I have ever seen.

Olivia lovers, enjoy!

Making a gingerbread house with Grandmummy

Elisabeth made her first gingerbread house this year. She loved doing it, and ate surprisingly few pieces of candy in the process (but many more later).

PEEEENNNYYYY!!!!, where are you?!

Every few days, I know that Elisabeth is searching for her beloved doll, Penny, because I hear her little voice calling out:

PEEEENNNYYYY!!!!, where are you?!

What makes me smile every time is that her tone of voice suggests that she really expects Penny to answer!

What does _____ mean in Spanish?

Recently Elisabeth has taken to asking the Spanish equivalent for English words. However, instead of asking, "How do you say _____ in Spanish?" she frequently asks:

What does _____ mean in Spanish?

Merry Christmas!

In all your celebrations today, may you have eyes to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus!

Unwrapping with Aunt Kate

Elisabeth was delighted to exchange gifts with Aunt Kate!

Glory from God

Brother, nothing can cure you of the desire of receiving glory from men, or of the sensitiveness and pain and anger which come when it is not given, except giving yourself to seek only the glory that comes from God. (Murray, Andrew. "Humility: The Beauty of Holiness." Fort Washington, PA: CLC Publications. 1997. p76)

This is the gospel deliverance from woundedness.