Did You RSVP?

There be many that say, Who will show us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of Thy countenance upon us.
Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.  Ps. 4:6-7


Did you ever see a big party going on and felt left out as you watched from afar? Maybe you felt you were missing out all the fun that others were having while life keeps passing you by?

I remember going to parties, back in the day when I was trying to find out who I was. These parties that left me empty, hung over, and depressed. A young man  (who came to check our furnace for the winter) today told me he was excited to party on his birthday tomorrow. I don't know why, but I felt prompted to share a gospel tract with him. He could have a second birthday, and really celebrate.

I watched  a video the other day, where it showed how differently we might treat people if they walked around wearing a little sign on them that told what all they had endured in their life. I wondered what that young man was up against in his own little world, what he might wear on his "sign?" No matter what trouble he has seen, there is One who loves him, beckons him.

When he finished checking the furnace and handed me the bill, I gave him a small  purple tract along with our payment. He rushed quickly to tell me he already went to a church, but I said it was about a relationship, one on one, with the One who made us. After he left I called my sister so we could both pray for him.

The Ultimate Party is almost here. I wonder, have you sent in your RSVP? It will be called the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, the one party no one will want to miss. Outside the party there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Jesus our Savior will share more happiness at that party then any party here on earth where even the rarest wine is flowing. All of us, His children, will  celebrate when this world has been cleansed from evil, and righteousness comes to reign on this earth. No more devil lying to us and tricking us.  It will be a constant joy to be with the One who loves us and gave Himself for us.

"Thou wilt shew me the path of life; in Thy presence if fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Ps.16:11

Did you know you are invited to this party too? In fact, we all are. Some sadly will refuse, by their own stubbornness, to accept the invitation. It will be a "Come as you are" type of party. You don't have to pay to get in because that price has already been paid in full.

To gain entrance, you must simply believe that this Person, Jesus the Christ, came down to this earth. He was God but He took on our humanity and lived a perfect life, never once breaking any of God's laws or sinning even one time. He was crucified on a Roman cross where He bore every sin of every man so that we could live with Him forever. He physically died, and His Father was so pleased with His sacrifice that He caused Jesus to rise from the dead three days later. Then He was seen by many others before going back to heaven. But before He ascended, He promised that He would come back and take all who believe in Him to live with Him forever.

He told us things would be chaotic before He came back. (Have you noticed?) His appearuing will be sudden, a great surprise and shock to the rest of the world. But you can RSVP now by simply believing in His name.

"Verily, verily, I say unto, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." John 5:24

Choosing His Road to Love and Life

There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Prov. 14: 12

I hate the feeling of anger rising up inside me. Hate it, hate it, don't know what to do with it most of the time. How about you?

Tonight that opportunity presented itself to me, and in my own estimation it seemed "right" to me to be angry with someone who hurt my feelings. In a moment of haste, I put on my tennis shoes and since it was a nice evening, hoped to work off my angry feelings while I took a brisk walk.

Somewhat like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, my blessed Lord somehow spoke to my spirit, reasoning with a poor fool like me as I walked along...

(Come, let us reason together, saith the LORD...) Isaiah 1:18

I really didn't want to feel anger the whole time I walked and so I tried to think of the Lord and His goodness, how He bore my sins on the cross and also the sins of the one who hurt me. Then I realized if I did that I couldn't stay mad at the same time. Still the temptation of retaliate was there and I didn't know quite what to do with it. For a minute or two I actually believed that giving in to the anger would be more satisfying than obeying God.

In my heart I cried, "Lord, You said I was dead to sin, but it sure doesn't feel like it,"  In the smallest way, however, I took a tiny step of faith and believed what God said He'd done to that old person that wanted to retaliate and get even. Some wonderful truths from Romans came to mind.

"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" Rom. 6:1-2

From this teaching I remembered that: "There is NO advantage to sin." I can sin but there is no advantage to it. Ever.  Screaming, getting the last word in, "venting": all they really do is lead to carnal death. If I'm a believer, it will only bring a huge harvest of corruption. It will never bring peace or satisfaction.

"We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. " Rom. 6:6

In my flesh, when I've been hurt I want the offending party to know they've hurt  me and not just bear it silently. I think I might explode inside if I don't let them know how they've hurt me.  How "right" that seems! Someone hurts you, you hurt them back. All this talk about being dead to sin seems ridiculous in the heat of the moment...

But then another verse came in,  Romans 8:35, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?"  I concluded that God's love for me is greater than all the hurts ever done to me. 

Suddenly, it was OK. God loves me, and will never stop loving me. This might not seem like such a big revelation, but it freed me tonight from sin's tyranny.

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ... II Cor. 2:14a

Faith Plus or Faith Alone?

For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.  Gal. 5:3-5

Maybe I am opening a can of worms here, so be it. Today someone posted on social media that the gift of salvation was faith plus repentance. And in one of the comments to this post, someone said they felt like a disgrace for still needing nicotine gum. I told that person if they had believed in Christ then they were not a disgrace, whether they needed nicotine gum or not. 

How are we saved? Are we saved by walking an aisle, stop smoking and drinking, pledging to do better, turning over a new leaf? I'm afraid that that is what some are teaching today, and it is so subtle, it sounds so right. It is taught in so many churches. It is called "faith plus."

The Bible tells us to have "faith alone in Christ alone" to receive the free gift of salvation. It is good news, a message of hope.  Jesus knew in eternity past that we could not be good enough, no matter how hard we tried, and so pledged Himself to be the spotless Lamb that would take away the sins of the world. 

 If salvation comes by my faith plus works, then why did Christ die on the cross? In every other religion of the world, man is somehow trying to make himself acceptable before God. Think about making pilgrimages to Mecca or bathing in the Ganges River in the Muslim and Hindu faiths, fasting or even whipping yourself on the back like the monks did in Martin Luther's time. These are all attempts to placate God somehow, as if the cross, and the cross alone, is not enough for our salvation. But even in the Christian camp we hear that subtle message of "faith plus." It is adding something to the work of Christ, and says His work was not enough.

This makes Christianity into a religion and not based on faith. Religion means to bind, in one of the definitions. In making a promise to God, are we not binding ourselves to our own efforts to please Him rather than putting full stock in what He did that day on the cross for us?

The Finished Work of Christ is just that. It is a finished, completed work, done by Another. Nothing can be added to what He did for us in order to receive salvation. Over thirty years ago, thinking I had to add something to complete my salvation nearly drove me to being done with Christianity once and for all, because deep down, I knew I wasn't capable. I was on the edge of a nervous breakdown,  hearing how I must really be sorry, or promising to never sin again.  How sorry is enough?

In that moment of desperation, the word of God's pure grace came to me and I embraced it. Christ did the hard work of paying the sin debt for me and He is then pleased by my faith in what He alone has accomplished. 

But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6

Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Romans 3:3

It is so simple we stumble over it. But God gave Abraham, the father of our faith, righteousness at the moment that he believed what God said.

He (God) took him (Abram) outside and said, "Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then He said to him, "Your offspring will be that numerous." 

Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:5-6

Paul repeats this account in Romans in one of my favorite passages in the Bible, in Romans 4. 

What can we say that Abraham, our physical ancestor, has found? If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about---but not before God. For what does the Scripture say?

 Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.

Now to him who works, pay is not considered as a gift, but as something owed. But to the one who does not work, but believes on Him who declares the ungodly to be righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness.    Romans 4: 1-5

Verse 3 says Abraham believed. In the Greek language, the word believed is in the aorist active 3rd person singular tense, which means that he believed at a point in time, and at that point God declared that he was righteous. After his faith, even though he failed later in life, God saw him only and always as righteous.

And if we are Abraham's children through faith, that is the way God sees us too. He does not see our failures, but He sees us as righteous because of Who has come to live in us, by our simple faith at a point in time. 


     

 

In Him, No Need

Hebrews 13:5 NKJV 

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."




What a precious promise from the Lord. Imagine if we really believed it, how much happier we would be.

How often lately I have caught myself coveting, wishing I had a little more money, for instance. It makes me sick to even say it. Compared with the rest of the world, I have so much, how could I ever want something someone else has in order to be happy? The fact is that if I got that thing, like a fancier house for instance, I still wouldn't be happy. If that made people happy, then why are the rich and famous committing suicide? The real fact is, this whole business of coveting is a big lie from the enemy, telling us that God is not enough.

Not only coveting material things, I find it easy to covet when I hear about other people's vacationing all over the world, as if seeing the world would take away the dissatisfaction in my soul. I remember hearing once from my old pastor, "Wherever YOU go, you have to take YOU with you." So even if I jet-setted over all the place, I would still have to contend with the person I see in the mirror every morning.

It has taken me a long time to realize this is just plain sin, and to be able to overcome it by realizing how very rich I am to be one of God's children, to be a part of His church and His very own body, even. It is not about what I see all around me, but being part of an invisible Kingdom. And that is enough to cause satisfaction that the world and all its tantalizing temptations cannot ever take away.

The whole world seems to scream at us to get more, want more, promising us happiness but never, ever delivering.  "Grab the gusto," the world hollers. But still we yearn for more.

Maybe that is part of the reason why people are giving up. They realize it is all just a big lie but they don't know what the answer is.

Just one verse from Psalm 23 is enough to quell this anxious stirring to have what others have, to do what others do.

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Psalm 23:1

The most commonly quoted verse from the Bible tells us the answer if we just took the time in our busy lives to stop and think about it. We could spend the rest of our lives contemplating what that single verse promises to the child of God. We don't have to covet even one thing if we have the Lord. Not wanting means I will always have what I need, not necessarily what I want, but what I need.

 The plain and simple fact is that we live for the promises of the next life, not this life. So we really can agree with Paul when he told Timothy in I Timothy:

Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.          I Tim. 6:6-8

"The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!" Lamentations 3:8

There is an Answer...

Let not your heart be troubled, believe in God, believe also in Me. John 14:1   

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.  Matt. 28:20

Oh what a time to be alive. I see a headline in the Tribune Review online today. The rate of suicide in Pennsylvania has gone up by 34%.http://triblive.com/state/pennsylvania/13739159-74/suicides-increase-by-more-than-third-over-17-year-period-in-pennsylvania  Also today, I open to another a major news story online, a famous chef has followed a famous fashion designer in ending his life. These two in just the last week. Suicide seemed to be their only answer...but was it really the answer? Where did they go, once their heart beat for that final time? Did they find relief, or just another nightmare, one without an end?

Many people are running out of other options to the hopelessness and despair that they feel. Where is their relief? It is not in a bottle, it is not in a pill, it is not in food, it is not in money, it is not fulfilling the greatest dream of one's life. Those people tried those things, and they did not work. Still, deep down inside the emptiness remained and options ran out.

 Most of my generation would agree that the Beatles Let it Be is a powerful song. Seems perfect for this age we live in, They sang that there would be an answer.  But as much sway as that song held over me when it came on the radio, I found myself changing the words slightly as I sang along. Instead, I sang to myself, "JESUS is the answer..."

Maybe that sounds too simplistic to most who read this? But I would be in the same boat with the fashion designer without my Rock, my Anchor, my answer in a world that is running out of answers, that actually ran out of them ages ago.

Jesus is the answer. Just try Him, really. Take Him at His word. He will not make all of your problems disappear. In fact, He promised our lives would be full of problems on this side of eternity.

"What's the use in trusting Him if I will still have problems?" I can hear someone thinking that even as I write the words. No, the hard things do not stop when we believe in Christ. In many ways, our human life gets harder because Jesus is not welcome on this planet. His enemy has temporary control. Temporary, remember that.

But the biggest problem of your life will be solved by your believing in Jesus. Now, instead of drifting in a world of uncertainty, you can be assured of an eternal home with the One who created you. You will not face separation from Him at the end of your time here. Your problems can be the very things God uses to bring you closer and closer in trusting Him, in advancing your faith. Give Him a chance, I beg you.

In a devotional I love, None but the Hungry Heart, by Miles Stanford, for the day of June 5, I read these words:

"Not a hair of the child of God can fall without God's permission. Satan is but the unintentional instrument to accomplish God's will; he can do no more than he is allowed to do..."

If this were not true, how could any of us keep on trusting God in the light of everything we see around us? Last night I was lured into feeling sorry for myself for certain hardships I face in my life. Then it hit me, God allowed them. He knew beforehand the tragedies I would face. All I need do is to believe that He really does have this, He will bring good. And all the stirred up anger and frustration just melted away.

I now think of another song. This time, it is a Christian hymn, Only Trust Him by John Stockton. How simple the chorus is. So simple that the proud could pass it right by. But if any child of His will just believe, there is peace. Peace this world cannot ever give.

Only trust Him, only trust Him, only trust Him now. He will save you, He will save you, He will save you now.

I can let my heart be troubled by all I see and hear around me. Or I can trust the One who is unseen, and have peace in the storm. Jesus told us to do it, so we really can choose to not let our hearts be troubled. I give Him my problems, and He gives me peace, what an exchange. You can have it too.

Then Peter began to speak: Now I really understand that God does not show favoritism, but in every nation the person who fears Him and does righteousness (ie, believe in Him, my comment) is acceptable to Him. He sent the message to the Israelites, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ-- He is Lord of all.  Acts 10: 34-37 

Sense in a Senseless World

If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself.

John 7:17








Many years ago, I came across the promise from John 7:17 and it was a balm for my troubled soul. For I wrestled with the fact that God could be loving yet there was so much evil in the world. I thought God was random and arbitrary, but the verse of John 7:17, proved otherwise. We need only be willing and God will get the gospel to us. It is as easy as saying "yes" to God, I do believe that Jesus is exactly who He claimed to be.

I have an old booklet containing the message of salvation in John's gospel, written by a James Ely in 1924. Mr. Ely has a note for John 7:17 which reads: "Since Jesus was what He claimed to be-- God incarnate-- then if you will fulfill the requirements set forth in 7:17, God will absolutely convince
you that the doctrine of Jesus Christ is true and He will do it in His own good time and way."

When I first read the words, "willing to do His will," I wondered what God was really asking. Was he asking something that really was too hard to do, something nebulous and ill defined? But I kept reading in John's gospel and found the answer to that question too in John 6: 28-29.

"Then they said unto Him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent."  John 6:28-29

The answer is simple, believe on Him whom He (God) has sent. Anyone can do that, it is so simple a child can do it.

This is the absolute beauty of our salvation. It is a free gift to us, because Jesus had to do the hard part. He had to take in His body the sins of all the world and provide Himself as the perfect sacrifice for them all.

It has taken me years and years, but I am just starting to realize that if it seems He asks us to do something and it seems hard, like saying no to yourself in order to be His disciple, it really is because He really does know what is best for us.

He doesn't ask us to deny ourselves for the gift of salvation, only that we believe in the name of the Son of God. But if we want to know Him more and more, then we must say no to ourselves. Through hard circumstances, He allows us to try out our own way in contrast to His, realize it is utter vanity, and then trust Him with each day and find out how wonderful He is, how loving, patient and kind He is with His wayward and rebellious children.

Both the beauty of a simple flower or the millions of galaxies attest to the fact that we are not here by some random accident. I heard a famous atheist give the explanation for denying God.His reason for being one  it was based on a total misunderstanding, that because there was evil there could not be a good God. 

We are here by some random chance then? 

But I would say to him, yes there is evil. It is only intensifying more and more with each passing day. But that does not mean that there is not a God who doesn't care. 

All we need do is to gaze on the bloody cross upon which He died to realize that God loves us and wants the best for every one of His creatures.

In a senseless world, the simple truth of the gospel is the only thing that makes sense.

Missing Dad

[As for] man, his days [are] like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more.
But the mercy of the LORD [is] from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children's children...Ps. 103: 15-17

I am a bit melancholy today. Today would have been my Dad's 86th birthday, but he only made it to 84 1/2. 

I miss talking with Dad. He could talk to you about anything, especially deep things about God. My Dad could do just about anything, but he never bragged about how smart he was.

He was humble about his accomplishments and thought about those around him who didn't have the things he did. He volunteered with the food kitchen in town, served his church and prayed for the lost.

I don't know why I miss him so much today, but I do. Things are not the same since he left us, and sometimes I wonder what he would think of things if he were still here.

My Mom did not seem to remember that today was his birthday and I did not remind her, it just would have made her cry. He was her life and she flounders without him.

I know that I will see Dad again, and I can still hear his voice in my mind. I miss him so much with all of his thoughtful care for his girls, but I know he wouldn't want to be back here if offered the chance.

Before Dad died, others I knew passed away and I was saddened to see them leave us, but with Dad gone I have a heartfelt wish to be reunited with him one day, hopefully soon.

Dad had a windmill on his property that said "Praise Jesus." I am sure he agrees that was the perfect message to put on it.  One day soon I will be joining Dad in bowing before Christ's throne doing exactly that.

Happy birthday to my dear father in heaven. Can't wait to see you again, Dad.


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On this the day of my Dad's birth, I know nothing would make him happier if anyone who happens to read this without knowing Christ would put their simple faith in Him to save them from their sins. Our God is so gracious, all He asks is that we believe in Him, that He took the punishment we deserve when He died for us on the cross. You can have brand new life and look forward to heaven, just as I do today.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. John 5: 24

Useful to Him

"For there is hope for a tree, If it is cut down, that it will sprout again, And that its tender shoots will not cease.

Though its root may grow old in the earth, And its stump may die in the ground,

Yet at the scent of water it will bud And bring forth branches like a plant.               Job 14: 7-9

I took this picture last year, around this same time, when I was staying with my mother. I was fascinated to see the pussy willow trees bearing glorious golden buds, right on cue for the spring season, though it was still cold. Yet these little friends did not live to see spring. As we prepared to get the house ready to sell, a month or two later the lovely weeping willow trees were cut down, much to my chagrin, in order to give a better view of the fields below and the rolling hills behind them.

I sometimes think about things that more logical minds might think are silly. Like those beautiful buds, even though they soon were cut down, were a wondrous creation by God that gave beauty and glorified Him. God knew the exact moment they would be cut down, and yet He let them bud. He wanted me to see them, and to praise Him for His glory displayed in His creation. It was almost as if I were a little child, beholding them for the first time that day. I never saw up close how pretty the buds were until I was a 55 year old woman. How many more wonders will await us in the New Jerusalem?

Now Mom is in an assisted living facility, and despite our efforts to encourage her, she finds her life is short on joy and long on despair most days.  My Dad has been gone about 1 1/2 years now, and she misses him so much. It is hard for her to find a reason to still be on this earth, even though we try to remind her that God's time for Him to take her home is perfect, and we just have to trust Him in spite of what we feel. I want her to believe that God has a use for her if only she will trust Him.

I 've been reading the book: Amma: The Life and Words of Amy Carmichael by Elizabeth Skoglund. I wrote about Amy and her mission in Dohnavur, India in my own book, Sure Mercies: Hope for the Suffering. What a beautiful testimony of faith she bore.

 Amy rescued hundreds of orphans from the temples in India, but in her old age, she had a severe back injury which left her an invalid for the last twenty years of her life. In much pain, Amy used this time to write many books and lovely poems. She did not give in to despair.

 In this book I found a quote about old age and how we can still flourish in it. Most beautifully, Amy wrote:

Dear Companions in the Patience, do some of you find it hard to be contented to grow old?... Perhaps your thoughts have said, O to feel well for just five minutes! Listen, and perhaps you will hear something like this: My child, you will feel well for all Eternity. Your thoughts have said, Nothing else would matter if only I could be of use to someone. Listen and you may hear the gentle rebuke, My child, look out of the window. I find a use for the smallest leaf and bud on the tree, even the smallest drop of dew on the grass; can I not find a use for even you*?..."

 Amma: The Life and Words of Amy Carmichael by Elizabeth R. Skoglund, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1994, page 46. Quoted from Carmichael's book, Though the Mountains Shake.
emphasis mine

With the knowledge that every bud, every drop of rain is useful, so I want to make my life useful to Him. I fail constantly, but it is my prayer each day to present myself to Him a living sacrifice (Romans 12:2).

In this season of Easter, I think of how He was a dying sacrifice for the whole world. For any and all who will believe in Him He offers a purpose for each moment, even though at times it seems the sun hides its face and the gloom is palpable.

All the promises of His first advent came true, so we can trust that His promises to us about His return will prove true as well. One day soon, there will be the sound of a trumpet, and all those who have died in Christ will rise...

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed--in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."

         "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is                 your victory?"

The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

                    I Corinthians 15: 51-57

So hang on, dear friends. In the midst of the swirl of confusion, plant your hope in the One who cannot lie. Like the beautiful buds on the trees and flowers, we can have the wonderful privilege of revealing a tiny bit of His glory. One day soon, we will hear the trumpet sound.

Waking from Winter Slumber

"Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.
"He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him.
"So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth." Hos. 6:1-3

It is a yearly ritual, when the warmth starts to tease us for a day or two but winter won't quite let go. I know they will be there...

 I search for my tiny purple snow crocuses that faithfully return somewhere between winter and spring, even if only for a couple days. And there they were, waiting for me.

The day I took this picture, I was awaiting a big operation, one I was not relishing. Just a day or two later I was under the knife for more than four hours as the surgeon fixed my hiatal hernia and took biopsies. You see, my breath had become shorter and shorter as of late. Even walking up a flight of steps was so tiring. I've been winded for years, but not like this. I had this funny bump on my forearm for over a year and finally went to the dermatologist. I thought it might have been precancerous or something but it came back as sarcoidosis.

Sarcoidosis, how come I had never heard of it before?

Thought to be somewhat like an autoimmune condition, these non-caseating granulomas start to grow in your body. The main place they attack is the lungs. When I saw a CT scan filled with nodules, we wanted to find out for sure if this was sarcoidosis and not cancer. 

Now we have a diagnosis, and will try to treat it with the help of my pulmonologist. Hopefully  medicines will calm the little buggers from growing anymore or invading any more organs.Yet having this diagnosis has not made me cry, not really. After many years of choosing worry over fear, this time I choose not to fear, but to live in the reality of God's unfailing love.

 A couple of posts ago, I wrote about numbering my days. At the time, things hadn't flared up yet with my lungs. Now I see why I wrote it. The Lord really does want me to number them, because just like those little friends that popped up from the cold, barren ground to say hello to me for a day or two, human life is just as fragile.

"Man, who is born of woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil. Like a flower he comes forth and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain." Job 14: 1-2

The first couple of days home it was all I could do just to lie in the recliner most of the day. But it hit me, if my days are numbered (and they are) then what really matters?

There are too many choices and distractions, but One book and One Person whom my soul longs for. Every time I long for Him, He is there, faithful, while the things of the world seem so empty.

Outside my window today I hear the winds roaring, just like the March lion. My tiny friends are slumped over in the grass. 

I face a tough road ahead to try and get this mystery disease under control. But I thank Him for it all, because He is using it to awaken me from my own winter slumber,  to know what it means to abide in His love, to have that perfect love cast out all my fear.

His love has allowed this, I will not ask why. Just as those tiny crocus displays His glory, it is my prayer that I will too. 

If there is something big looming in your life right now, I know He will show Himself utterly faithful as you simply trust Him. He loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

The Life-Saving Cross

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God... For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified... I Cor.1:18-22a

We all are given the gift of twenty four hours each day. How we spend them is up to us. In this busy world of multi-tasking  it "seems" foolish to spend a chunk of time each morning reading the Bible and in prayer. But in this time, I find daily rest for a soul that is so weary of this world.

My sister is weary of this world too. Just yesterday I encouraged her to come away from it all and to take the time just to be with Him, just to hear His voice and find refreshment for her struggling soul.

The Word is the only protection we have against the lies ready to bombard us from the media and in the world in general. It is also our protection against our own efforts to be "good" in and of ourselves.

And why can't we be good? The Bible tells us flat out that there is none good in Romans 3:12. 

As I have been faithfully taught, we can't "do" right if we don't "think" right first. But how can we think right if we are fallen beings, prone to the constant lure of sin and doubt?

The answer is taking His cross.

The blessing of this is that I apply this cross to my own right to form my own opinions and judgments of others, or even to how I think God thinks of me. I may think I "know" how a person is (as if I'm omniscient) or how a certain situation may unfold. But the Word tells me, not to be saved, but if I want to be a disciple, that I must lose my own life and take up my cross daily to follow Him.

That sounds hard, right? Taking up a cross daily? But really it is grace, because it saves us from ourselves.

If we look at Matthew 11: 28-30 we see that cross is really our salvation from the tyranny of our old person who wants to stay on the throne and have his own way.

Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11: 28-30

Many years ago, I  questioned if that statement was really truthful.  Deep down, I believed the Lord was a hard taskmaster, demanding things just too hard for me, walking around in constant condemnation. I figured in my heart that this could not be true, but until I understood that it is grace from start to finish did I grow to love this passage.



"Come,"# 1204, deuro,...calling or encourageing and may be translated, "come," "come hither" as an exclamation or an imperative (command) 

EW Bullinger in the Companion Bible says of "come" : "Here Christ refers, not to sins, but to service, not to guilt, but to labour; not to the conscience, but to the heart; not to repentance, but to learning; not to finding forgiveness, but to finding rest."

of the word all, Bullinger continues that this word is limited to those seeking "rest"

Heavy laden: is the Greek word #5412 phortizo*, "to load up"...to overburden with ceremony (or spiritual anxiety): be heavy laden, load.

rest is the word anapauo, #373 "to repose... to refresh--... relax (give, take) rest. When used as a noun, it means "rest, quiet, from occupation, oppression, or torment."*
Bullinger says of rest: "Ours must be found in His gift. We have none to give."

Take is the Greek word airo "To take up and place on oneself, to take up and bear, meaning to bear, carry His yoke.

Learn is #3129, manthano: "ask, learn, study, be taught...particularly: intellectually, from others or from study or observation."  
A disciple is a disciplined learner.

Jesus said He was gentle. #4235, it is defined praios, or in the ESV, # 4239 praus, an adjective meaning meek, mild, gentle

The Creator of this universe is meek, mild and gentle toward us, and pities us in all our troubles. 

Humble is #5011, tapeinos- primarily signifies low-lying. This same thought of Christ's humility is expounded in Philippians 2.

In verse 30 is where is where this passage really encourages me, for:

 His yoke is #2218 zugos: serving to couple two things together is used 1) metaphorically, of submission to authority... not simply imparted by Him but shared with Him.

This yoke is easy. This word is #5543, chrestos: easy, good, kind. 
In speaking of Christ's yoke, "as having nothing harsh or galling about it."

and His burden is light, #1645, elaphros: light in weight, easy to bear.

This Savior that I speak of longs for this intimate fellowship with every one of His dear children. When I find myself out of fellowship with Him, I simply can ask myself how I went off His path of an easy yoke and a light burden? I confess it, knowing it's already paid for, and again take up His gracious, life-saving cross.

"Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law." Psalm 119:18--  consider in light of this wonderful passage. 

I pray that God might bless anyone who reads this who may be worn down and burnt out, to find His yoke easy and burden light today. Amen.

References
The Complete WordStudy Dictionary of the New Testament, Spiros Zodhiates
Zodhiates, AMG's Annotated Strong's Greek Dictionary of the New Testament
Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words
https://www.blueletterbible.org/

Magnificent Monday

So happy with the beautiful colors on my first bed sized quilt.

As his divine power has given to us all things which relate to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that has called us by glory and virtue,through which he has given to us the greatest and precious promises, that through these ye may become partakers of [the] divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.  II Peter 1: 3-4 (Darby)

"Monday, Monday,"goes the song by the Mamas and the Papas. How often I have dreaded the day called Monday. For it ended the recreation of the weekend, and time to go back to school-- (grroan! way back when!) or back to work. As if God would not be faithful in the challenges of the new week. To be honest, don't a lot of people hate Mondays?

I thought about it: One seventh, or approximately 8 years of my life so far has been composed of Mondays. How many have I wasted in dread?

Today I put on my bed the quilt I've made over the last six months or so. It is my first bigger one and there are many mistakes, if you look on the back. I mainly used scraps of fabrics I had on hand.  Like on the quilt, I got to thinking about the many tints and colors of God's grace, bestowed upon me in this life. As the lovely pastel colors, the promises of God are variegated and beautiful, covering all the needs I have. In I Peter 4:10, we learn about this many tinted grace:

As every man hath received the gift, [even so] minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

The word for manifold is poikilos. It is #4164 in Strong's and is defined this way: 

ποικίλος poikílos, poy-kee'-los; of uncertain derivation; motley, i.e. various in character:—divers, manifold.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G4164&t=KJV

Getting back to Mondays ,this morning I realized instead of just asking God for things I wanted, I could instead give him thanks for things, and turn all my requests into thanksgiving. In this way, I could demonstrate that I knew ahead of time He would take care of all the things I was concerned about. So instead of making my usual requests, I would say, for example, "Thank you for how you are working in so and so's life, in spite of the fact that I don't see by sight any answers." More and more things to be thankful for came to mind.

I decided on Mondays it would be a good day to give him thanks for all His blessings in all of my life. Just thank Him for physical blessings, for who He is, for all the  things I take for granted everyday. Just about every request I had could somehow be turned into a way of praising and thanking Him instead.

I need to tell you this was not my original thought, thanking instead of always asking. Long ago this was suggested to me by a dear friend who not only gave this advice, but lives it and demonstrates it before others. As a result, she radiates peace and tranquility even in the midst of storms.

Eureka! Mondays are a day to give Him thanks. Instead of groaning facing a new week, I can instead praise Him. When I look at it in this wonderful new way, I realized that Mondays are indeed magnificent.

Really Loving Myself

So shall they fear The name of the LORD from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him. Isaiah 59:19

Have you noticed  the enemy raging against God's children in a present day tsunami? Have you sensed that something has changed, that life is not going on as usual? Especially around the time of the holidays I feel it in my bones: desperation as people search for happiness anywhere, everywhere, except the one place where they really could find it.

I used to think that loving myself was to indulge myself, to be a little selfish and to put myself first. That's the world's way, looking out for number one. But I find there is a different way to love myself spelled out in the Bible. In a simple Proverb, we learn that to love ourself is to allow our mind to be saturated with His mind.

He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; He who keeps understanding will find good. Proverbs 19:8

 If I love myself, I'll acquire wisdom. The only wisdom there really is comes from God and we are all given enough time to acquire it, that is, if we want it. But how easily we find other things that are more important. But the time is short. The accuser storms in like a flood. How can I ever resist him?

I overcome him by taking time to feed myself in the Word of God. It is not just a good idea, it's our life, especially in these last days. Jude 1:3 tells us we must earnestly contend for our faith. Satan is pulling out all the stops, how can we ever resist his wiles? How did Jesus resist him?

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' "          Matt. 4:1-4

Every word of God is important. I have one life, one life only. I was thinking the other day, I am in my midfifties. Say I live another twenty years. Roughly, I have about 7500 days left. That isn't a whole lot of days after all, is it?

Jesus mastered the Torah by the time He was twelve, so much so that all the teachers were amazed by His knowledge. One might object, "But He was the Son of God."

In Philippians 2:5-7 we are told that in His first appearing, Jesus laid aside His prerogative as Deity to fully identify with us as a man. If that is true, He did not use that Divine ability in learning the Torah, but His humanity learned it. And if He mastered it, then He wants me to do the same thing, as demonstrated in the story of Mary and Martha:

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.

And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word.

But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me."

And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.

"But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:38-42

The part Mary chose, sitting at Jesus' feet and learning from Him, was the one thing that would not be taken away when she reached the end of her days on earth and faced eternity.

 My mind is not quite as sharp as in my thirties and forties. Today,  I was visiting Mom and stooped down to get something off the floor and I had to grab hold of something in order to pull myself back up. That wouldn't have happened ten years ago but each day a tiny bit of the physical vitality of the young me fades away.  Yet God's Word gives me spiritual vitality in spite of increasing frailty.

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

A complex time on Planet Earth requires God's Divine solution: humbling myself and my own preconceived notions and ideas and learning and leaning on His mind instead. That's what I'm here for, the one thing that will stand the test of time and eternity.

"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  John 17:3

He is the One I long for. To love me is to learn Him while I have my being. 

Dear Father, I ask that You would graciously incline our hearts to want to know You first and foremost in our remaining days. For the glory of Your name, Amen. 

Me... and a Key

God thunders marvelously with His voice; He does great things which we cannot comprehend.
For He says to the snow, 'Fall [on] the earth'; Likewise to the gentle rain and the heavy rain of His strength.
He seals the hand of every man, That all men may know His work.  Job 37:5-7


 This is a story about losing a key twice, and how God is faithful and cares even about little trifles like losing keys, especially ones that are quite expensive to replace. You see, I have two keys for two cars on the same key ring. A couple months ago, somehow part of the chain that carried the key for the smaller car became separated from the main ring. That key was for the little car, but I was driving the big car that day and did not realize the little chain came off the big one. The next time I looked down, I realized part of the keychain was missing and with that the expensive car key for my little car. It was on a Sunday and I took my Mom to church that day.

I think it was a day or two later when I noticed it missing so I tried to backtrack in where all I had been since then, calling the diner where we had breakfast and the church. No one was at the church at the moment, but I did get hold of the pastor at his home number. I asked him if anyone had turned in some keys or if he had found some but he reported no. I told him thank you and told him not to make a special trip out there to look for it, as the weather was not the best that day.

I put a little note on my facebook with a small request that prayers could be made to find it, even saying it was a dumb request. Many wrote they were praying, and that it was not dumb at all to ask for prayer for such a tiny little thing as a lost key.

Though I thought the key was a goner, when my cell phone rang it looked like the number I called before. The pastor called,  he kindly went out of his way to go over and look for the key and found that it had fallen off my keychain just where I parked the car on Sunday morning. It was just laying there in the gravel and had my husband's tag on it, so there was no question it was mine. He gave it to my son, making a special trip to their house to give him the key. I thanked him profusely when I saw him the next Sunday and breathed a big sigh of relief.

You would think I would have learned my lesson, then, when I got my oil changed the other day and had to take the key for the little car off the ring.  Even though I could almost here a little voice saying, "You'd better put it back before you lose it," I put it off. I decided to ask my husband to do it because it is hard with small fingers to get that thick key back on the ring. I even put them out so he would see them, but forgot to ask him.

The next thing you know, I had to run an errand and needed to look for something in the little car before leaving in the big one. ] I looked for my item and then put the single key in my jacket pocket because I needed to leave. Little did I know but the key slipped right out of my pocket into the space between the driver's seat and the console.

Yesterday, when I realized it was gone, I went out into the bitter cold and looked everywhere in both cars for the key. It was so cold I could not stay out there long but finally my husband said to come in, that was enough looking though.  I stewed and stewed over the loss of the key until finally I realized I should just commit it to God.

 After I thawed out a bit, I again asked facebook friends to pray a second time, a few months later,  for that same lost key. I was so touched that many people responded and told me they were praying. Indeed, a friend from a writer's conference wrote out a beautiful prayer to God right then and there asking God to directly lead me to the key so that I would be able to go and do the things He would have me to do. I was touched by her taking the time to write that out and her faith that God would answer.

This morning, my husband again encouraged me not to worry. I put on my clothes to face the elements to look a second time and I decided to pray the same prayer silently that my friend had written on facebook.

 And then God came through, just like we asked Him. I climbed in the driver's seat, looked down in the little space between the chair and the console, and saw something black. I forced my hand down and the item moved, so I knew it was not part of the seat itself. I scrounged my hand around and picked up a very cold black car key.

I thought about it a bit. Here I put my dilemma out for so many to see on facebook. I thought that maybe when God answered, it would not only be for my sake but for the sake of others too. For my friend prayed specifically and God answered specifically. Not because I deserved or earned it, but because He is in control of all the details of our lives, even our stupid mistakes.

He showed me and my praying friends He is Immanuel, right there with us in all the little details of our lives. He not only answers the big requests but also the ones due to our own carelessness. After all, He is the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our distresses.

'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.' Jer. 33:3