Many people wonder what I do with my work day. Some people, I think, imagine that a full-time minister sits in his office and stares out into space all day. Perhaps, some give me more "spiritual points" than I am due--thinking I pray for about 4 hours and read my Bible for the next 4-5. Actually my 9-5 includes less prayer time than it should and less Bible reading than it should. However, much of my day is saturated in constant conversation with the Lord and in reading/studying. One of my most productive times is actually in the morning. Usually before I make blog posts myself I engage my mind with a little reading. I point my browser to www.google.com/reader and check out all of the various blogs I read daily.

I thought that it might be beneficial for you to know which blogs I frequent. One that I visit numerous times a day is Between Two Worlds. It is Justin Taylor's Blog. Some of my readers are probably not familiar with Justin. You should go to his blog and check out some of his stuff. One of his accomplishments, that is a huge benefit to the church, is his update of John Owen's Overcoming Sin and Temptation. A free copy is available in pdf. format here. It is especially beneficial to me because another blog I frequent, www.challies.com is currently doing a Reading the Classics Together. The book we are going through now is Owen's book. We are only on the third chapter; so you could get caught up quickly and join us.

Those, and Piper's Desiring God, are my most frequent visits. I also check out Southern Seminary President Dr. Albert Mohler's blog. Others that I frequent include: Thabiti Anyabwile's Pure Church blog, The Resurgence, The blog that is maintained by Founders, The Shepherd's Scrapbook, and the Pyromaniacs.
I also have a few friends (surprising I know) that are in the blog world. My friend Garrett often blogs at Thoughts on the Way, Josh has his own blog at Everything to Enjoy. A couple of other friends have blogs for their ministries: David at FBC Monroe City and Jonathan at Elm Grove.

So, I spend a little bit of time in the morning reading some of the latest articles that these guys either link to or write themselves. After that I spend time either preparing for sermons, reading one of the books I am currently reading, working on a book I am attempting to write, or making blog posts like this one. Oh, and just so you do not get the wrong idea, I also spend some time checking up on my fantasy football teams and the playoff-bound Cleveland Browns!!

My reason for sharing all of this is to get you to follow some of these links and check them out. They are great resources and every Christian would benefit from signing up for google reader and checking out the blog updates daily. To God be the glory!

Last time we saw that contentment is a free work of the spirit. This time we will see that it is taking pleasure in God's disposal. (p9-10). At this point Burroughs is going to take us further into this matter of Christian contentment. It is not only seeing that we should be content, but it is actually seeing good in, and taking pleasure in, the affliction. Burroughs notes that it is not merely looking back on the affliction and saying with David, "it was good that I was afflicted". Rather, it is being in the midst of the trial and saying, "it is good that I am afflicted". "Not just good when you see the good fruit it has wrought, but to say when you are afflicted, 'It is good that I am afflicted'."

We see this type of contentment evidenced in Proverbs 15:6, "In the house of the righteous is much treasure, but in the revenues of the wicked is trouble". Regardless of the state of the righteous man's house in it he has much treasure. "There is more treasure in the poorest body's house, if he is godly, than in the house of the greatest man in the world, who has his fine hangings and finely-wrought beds and chairs and couches and cupboards of plate and the like. Whatever he has, he has not so much treasure in it as there is in the house of the poorest righteous soul." This should consistently remind us that no matter what lot in life the Lord gives us we still have the greatest treasure; namely Jesus Christ. What a great gift the Father has lavished upon us. We also see evidence of this in the Apostle Paul's life. Who spent many nights naked and hungry, yet was able to say, "possessing all things" (2 Cor. 6:10).

I am again reminded of the quote by Samuel Rutherford that continues to ring in my mind. It is an excellent work. If you do not own it I would suggest clicking on its picture on the sidebar and buying it for $7. It will be worth every penny. The quote is thus: “I would not want the sweet experience of the consolations of God for all the bitterness of affliction; nay, whether God come to his children with a rod or a crown, if he come himself with it, it is well". He then continues by saying, “It is better to be sick, providing Christ come to the bed-side…than to enjoy health, being lusty and strong, and never visited of God.”

I am always a little reluctant to share stories like this. It could have a great effect or it could have adverse ones. The truth is, I would be saying "our great God!" whether this blessing happened or not (or at least I'd hope I would). But as it stands the Lord has shown us His mercy, grace, and power this morning.

As many of you know Nikki and I are having our first child in January. The Lord has blessed us with not only the baby but we have also been able to save up a little, so as to provide for him. As we have had a few expenditure's, our savings and checking both have been dwindling. We found out a couple of weeks ago that a scholarship was not coming through and by today we would have to pay the college $710--wiping out our savings. To add to this, Nikki was almost a felon (she was speeding late for work one morning) her fine is due Monday. I say all of this to say that this morning I was walking over to our secretary to see if I could get an advance on my paycheck because we were a short a few dollars. We were still trusting that God was going to provide, although beginning to get a little scared.

As I began walking to the office our pastor greeted me half way (out in the blistering cold) and gave me a card. I opened it and to my surprise inside the card were 5 Benny Frank's--that's nerd for $500. Wow! Needless to say I did not need to go ask for an advance. This blessing is wonderful and amazing and a great reminder that our Father is very gracious and merciful. Another reminder that he covers over our sin (Nikki's ticket) and lavishes upon us much much more than we deserve. What is even more astonishing is that this is but a glimpse of a glimpse of what awaits us in glory. When the Lord gives us the greatest treasure--Full enjoyment of Himself! I await that day...but until then I'm enjoying His previews before seeing the full feature.