Tag Archives: idols

lures

Posted on May 3, 2018 by Jill

Satan’s counterfeits are many, and his mimics of true joy can feel really good. He sometimes uses pain to tempt us to move away from our relationship with the Lord, but just as often uses pleasurable substitutes: approval from other … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged approval, comfort, control, counterfeit joy, counterfeit pleasure, idols, power | Leave a comment

We’re not called to comfortable

Posted on February 11, 2018 by Jill

I don’t like moments when my carefully orchestrated ease is threatened. I don’t like news that jars, or having to operate outside my bubble of comfort. I don’t like it when another person’s decision, or an unexpected circumstance, causes more work for me, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Chardin, comfort, ease, Francis Schaeffer, idols, idols of comfort, Jesus doesn't call us to comfortable, Psalm 16 | Leave a comment

they lose their grip on your soul only when

Posted on August 28, 2017 by Jill

“How sweet did it suddenly seem to me to shrug off those sweet frivolities, and how glad I now was to get rid of them – I who had been loath to let them go! For it was you who … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity | Tagged Augustine, Christ is all, fruitless joys, idols, Psalm 16, Sam Storms, substitutes, The Confessions | Leave a comment

the northern light’s speak

Posted on August 31, 2016 by Jill

“Human beings have fallen in love with the echo of God’s excellency in creation and lost the ability to hear the incomparable, original shout of love. The message of creation is this: There is a great God of glory and … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity | Tagged C.S. Lewis, check our heart, enjoy good moments, idols, Isaiah 6:3, John Piper, northern lights, perceiving the glory of God, sunbeam, thankfulness, the message of creation, toolshed, worship | 2 Comments

captivated by His beauty

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Jill

This past Sunday, a song I’d not thought of in months was sung in my church. Convicting and stirring, its words were ones I’d thought a lot about last year, but had moved on from in the busy rush of … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Faith, God, Jesus | Tagged beauty, Captivated by His beauty, Hast thou heard Him, idols, Indelible Grace, Jesus, Jesus' beauty, Ora Rowen, stoning of Stephen | Leave a comment

Blue hydrangeas and real hope

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Jill

She burst through the door that early-summer evening and sat herself on the kitchen counter next to my dish-filled sink, bubbling over with vivid details of the hydrangeas she’d seen. Effervescent with excitement, she tried to describe the deep greens … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Faith, God, Jesus | Tagged blue hydrangeas, covetousness, false promises, fulfillment, greater love, Hebrews 12:5-11, idols, Jesus Christ's supremacy, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, real hope, security, Tim Keller, validation | 3 Comments

an upside to summer’s end

Posted on August 8, 2014 by Jill

Eighty-ish days of slow summer-bliss come to an end this morning for most kids in my part of the world. Yellow school buses and silver mini-vans roll through clogged, first-day drop-off lines, rushing to arrive before the 8:00 a.m. bell. … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, God, Jesus | Tagged Acts 3:19, drift from the Lord, end of summer, idols, John Piper, leisure, lethargy, powerless, repentance, school year begins, summer, vacation | Leave a comment

ferns and summer and rays of sunlight

Posted on June 28, 2014 by Jill

Summer smells and sounds, summer colors and places and memories. Which, if you imagine your happiest summer moment, come to mind? Do you dream of a cool haven tucked away in the deep green of a wooded wonderland? Do … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Faith, God | Tagged beauty, C.S. Lewis, frustrated, happiness, heaven, home, idols, Jesus Christ's supremacy, longing, pointers, preferences, satisfaction, summer, twisted, wonder, worship | 2 Comments

Deep thirst quenched

Posted on June 22, 2014 by Jill

“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.” Psalm 42:1 No matter the promises from billboards and internet pop-ups and the hundreds of instantly-gratifying enticements the world daily offers, this stands true: As … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Faith, God, Jesus | Tagged Deer in a Field, fulfillment, idols, Jesus as friend, Jesus Christ's supremacy, joy, Psalm 42:1, Revelation 5:12 | Leave a comment

kitties on fences

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Jill

Caught by my daughter’s camera lens, this kitty tiptoes along her wooden railing, peeking out from her far-away world of red poppies and tall grass. I like her cavalier air, this little feline I never met. She’s agile and confident, … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Faith, Jesus | Tagged approval, boldness, following Jesus, Hebrews 12:1-2, human approval, idolatry, idols, kitties, personality, self-protection, sin nature, worship | Leave a comment

Better than a thousand substitutes

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Jill

Each year as the calendar rolls toward the end of March, I begin to think back to the news we received on that momentous day five years ago. In some ways it seems like yesterday as my mind runs back, … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Faith, Jesus | Tagged anxiety, cancer, childhood cancer, faith, God's faithfulness, idols, Jesus Christ's supremacy, sanctification, steadfast love, substitutes, suffering, trials, trusting God, unimagined love | 23 Comments

Fading beauty’s purpose

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Jill

Bursting yellow blooms arriving to edge out winter’s brown landscape have, since childhood, made me happy. Each year, if forecasters predict a late winter dusting of snow, I worry over the green stalks whose eager beginnings have already peaked an … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Faith, God | Tagged beauty, beauty's purpose, daffodils, heaven, I Peter 1:23-25, idols, imperishable, Isaiah 40:6-8, Matthew Henry, perishable, purpose of fading beauty, spring | 4 Comments

This is all there is

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Jill

Her roles on the silver screen had made her an iconic sex symbol, and now, as she posed for the cameras these decades later, I recognized her as one of Hollywood’s most idolized stars. Her persona had been developed in … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Faith, God | Tagged aging, approval, beauty, Colossians 3:1-2, final destination, forever, idols, Isaiah 55:3-6, Paul Tripp, preparation, significance, women | 7 Comments

Hast thou heard Him, seen Him, known Him?

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Jill

Hast thou heard Him, seen Him, known Him? Is not thine a captured heart? Chief among ten thousand own Him, joyful choose the better part. Idols once they won thee, charmed thee, lovely things of time and sense; gilded thus … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Faith, God, Jesus | Tagged idols, Jesus Christ's supremacy, Jesus' love, Lazarus, Mary, Ora Rowan, Peter, Stephen | 2 Comments

Anchored. Or drifting.

Posted on January 24, 2014 by Jill

He sat, excited as could be, drawing his vision of a tropical beach and sky and palm trees. Make-A-Wish Foundation had asked for a picture of his dream-trip destination for their files, and we’d (his parents and sisters) been told … Continue reading →