Stand Still

 

Hearken unto this, O Job:
stand still, and consider the
wondrous works of God.
Job 37:14

An urgent suggestion often relayed to visitors who come to our Great Smoky Mountains National Park is if someone gets lost on a trail away from friends and family, that person should just sit down and wait for rescue. A lost person can begin to wander when lost and soon is totally away from the area where he originally lost his bearings. This is especially true for a child. You see, in the wandering process, one tree(s) can begin to look like any other. When frustration sets in for the lost person and panic sets in, he may not only become more lost, but then be in increasing danger. The Park Service is well equipped to search for a lost person. It has all sorts of assets available for that job, plus the experience for finding the lost. Some people take the advice to stand still or sit down and wait, but tragically, many do not. Standing still doesn't seem the practical thing to do for most folks.

We don't live in a day where standing still seems to be an option. Everything and everyone in the last few years is busy no matter where we go. We've noticed in our National Park the impatience of tourists in recent years like no other time. If you are driving a little slow taking in the beauty of God's creation, now we hear a foreign sound to the Park...the honking of a horn to hurry things along. Even on vacation in one of the most beautiful areas of our country you can visit, folks want to speed through, taking in very little and causing distress to others. It's not unusual to be cursed at or to see hand signals that are offensive. In those instances, no one is standing still, even when slowing down in life for a few days that could be beneficial.

How often do we stand still (come to a calm, quiet, pause) and just consider the wondrous things of God in our lives. I live in an area that just blows my mind with all of it's natural beauty. When Brian and I drive through the mountains, he would tell you that just about every time, I make the comment: “We are so blessed getting to live here.” I look at the beauty of God's creation and “stand” in wonder at it all. There are blessings all around to look at and take in. No matter where one resides, there is beauty God has put in place. There is beauty in people that can refresh us as well.

Moses spoke to his people on occasion telling them to stand still. He had led his people out of Egypt, but Pharaoh was on their trail with his army. He had changed his mind about letting God's people go back to their land. The people could only sense gloom and doom on the horizon. These folks needed a miracle and looked to Moses for assurance. All Moses had from the Lord were directions for getting out of Egypt. He didn't see this circumstance coming. Moses had a confidence that God had given his instructions and the people had followed those instructions. Somehow, Moses knew the people would be saved. He told the people to stay calm because the Lord was going to fight for them.

I believe Moses' three point instruction to the people then is just as valuable for us today. He said:
...Fear ye not,
stand still,
and see the salvation of the Lord,
which He will show to you today:
for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today,
ye shall see them again no more forever.
Exodus 14:13
Even in our circumstances today, doing all of those three things is difficult much of the time for most Christians. When faced with difficult circumstances, fear tends to take over and fear is the opposite of faith. Folks don't want to stand still (relax, time out, pause, moments to think). People want to take action, do something, keep wandering in the woods of life instead of stopping and listening to what God might have to say. Both of the first two commands are important for leading us to the third...the Lord's salvation from whatever we need saved from.

Just prior to Saul's coronation as king, he and Samuel the high priest walked together. Samuel asked Saul to have his servant walk on ahead of them...why? Samuel says to Saul in I Samuel 9:27b:
...stand thou still awhile, that I may
shew thee the word of God.
Saul was about to have his own private “Bible study” at the feet of Samuel. I don't know if Saul knew what a privilege those moments were. I wonder if we take advantage of all of the wonderful teachings from God's Word that are available to us whether in church, Sunday school, Bible studies or other settings. To totally take in God's Word, we must stand still to absorb it all. That means coming to a stop to listen to what the Lord is saying to us.

In Samuel's final years, he admonished his people to stand still and said the following in I Samuel 12:7. He wanted to remind them of the wonderful works of God in their lives and history.
Now therefore stand still, that I may reason
with you before the Lord of all the righteous
acts of the Lord, which He did to you and to
your fathers.
Do we ever stand still and consider our own life histories, His blessings in abundance, His love, support and provision? We are such a blessed people and would feel more blessed if we would just stand still and take it all in.

Help me, Father, to stand still and take in all You want me to know through Your Word or other sources You provide. Thank You for Your goodness in my life. Thank you too, for the times You have caused me to stand still so You could teach me what I needed at the time. I love You....in Jesus' precious name...Amen

The Memory of Sweet Smells

Now thanks be to God who always leads
us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the
fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
II Corinthians 2:14

Out of the senses we are gifted with, the sense of smell is often the least appreciated. We know how important sight, hearing, taste and touch are. We probably feel we could do without smell, but it is God-given like the others for our enjoyment and blessing. 


Just thinking about any number of things I have smelled in my life, memories come to mind. Anytime we had to sell a house, and if we used a Realtor, it was suggested when a client was coming to see the house, that I have a pan of brownies cooking in the oven. There's just something about the scent of something baking or cooking when someone walks into the house. I love the smell of “green.” My husband says there is no such color, but there is as far as I'm concerned. I like the smell of grass freshly mowed or our drive through the mountains surrounded by all of the green. I also like the scent of my husband's after shave, turkey baking, pumpkin pie, fabric softener, bath soap, a freshly lotioned baby, moss covered rocks in a running stream and so many other things. We all have our list.


Lately, I have delved into my past with regard to smell or scent. I love the scent of lavender. We have been several places of late where lavender plants are used in landscaping of property. If I'm close enough, I like to just rub my thumb and forefinger along one of the stems just to carry that wonderful smell with me. This particular scent conjures up for me some wonderful memories of my Scotch grandmother. When I was very young, she used Yardley English Lavender for her perfume. She would come out from taking a bath and would splash it lavishly on her. She loved smelling good. Sometimes she would put a tiny drop on my wrist. I got no more than that at a time as she didn't want me smelling like a grown up. A couple of weeks ago, I got on the computer and ordered that English Lavender in a splash and hand lotion. The minute I got them, I opened up the hand lotion and rubbed just a tiny bit on the back of my hand. It brought tears to my eyes as that smell caused a rush of sweet memories.


In several places, Scripture speaks of sweet smells and fragrances. Sometimes there are smells spoken of that are revolting in God's nostrils. The smell of sweet incense coming from the Old Testament Tabernacle must have been something to behold. We can read in the Gospels of Mary who anointed Jesus feet:

Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard,
very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and
wiped His feet with her hair: and the house
was filled with the odour of the ointment.
John 12:3 (NKJ)

In my reading from various sources, I find that the lavender plant is synonymous with spikenard. No wonder the aroma filled the room where Mary anointed Jesus' feet. Lavender is strong in scent and refreshing at the same time.

The verse above from II Corinthians speaks of “diffusing the fragrance.” In our day, we are becoming acquainted with diffusers. They are for the purpose of exuding a very fine spray of health giving oils into the air of any room. Various aromatic oils of differing scents can be put into this small, round object, turned on and out comes the most wonderful of fragrances. I first saw one in the hair salon I go to. I walked in and immediately smelled the sweet scent of lavender. My daughter Beverly has one and she puts a combination of oils in hers and I believe one of them is lavender.

In the New King James version of the opening verse, it speaks of us diffusing the fragrance of Jesus in every place. I don't know a lot about all of this, but this I know. There is nothing for you and me to diffuse of Christ if we aren't filled with Him and the knowledge of Him. Small electronic diffusers have to be filled with oils in order to be beneficial. We have nothing to offer if the sweetness of Christ isn't present in us.

My Mother often knew, in those bygone days, when I had been with my Scotch grandmother. She smelled my grandmothers scent on me. We had a wonderful babysitter for Jennie and Beverly. I was on the church staff so Ma-maw Clifton brought the girls to the church on Wednesday nights. She would bring them to the nursery, unbundle them and get them settled into the right places. Nursery workers who came in a little later always said the same thing when they would go to change one of the girls diaper. They would say, “Smells like Clifton was here.” How did they know? Mrs. Clifton would lavishly splash Tabu perfume on herself before coming to church. When diapers were changed, she was nowhere in the nursery room, but those two little ones always smelled just like Tabu. Mrs. Clifton didn't put Tabu on the girls, but she sure rubbed off on them.

I wonder as folks are around you and me, if Jesus rubs off on others from us, or He just somehow eminates from us. Hopefully people will be exposed to Jesus without knowing how it happened. It happens because Christ is so much a part of us, that others sense and feel Him...and yes, may even catch a “scents” of His presence. As you and I walk in spiritual victory, perhaps we will “smell” up our worlds as Jesus is diffused through us.

Father, I want to live so close to You that others will be spiritually blessed and refreshed being around me. I pray they will see Jesus in me and will “scents” Jesus presence in my life. Help it to be so. In Jesus' precious name....Amen

HATRED OF EVIL

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
and a light unto my path
Psalm 119:105

If there is anything that “gets in my craw” is when I see evil win. I remember watching parts of the O.J. Simpson trial with all of his showmanship. Most everyone knew he had killed his wife, but the jury voted he was not guilty. I'll never forget the smug look on his face along with some of his lawyers looking very satisfied. In later years, we have learned that he has confessed to any number of people of his own guilt in that murder. He seems to have won. However, at this writing, he's still in jail for some other wrong doings. They say that Lady Justice will in the end have her way. I have news for them...it's in the end that the God of all justice has His way. My problem is that I get impatient and want everything handled NOW.

I've been so blessed in recent days revisiting the book of Psalms. I have looked at this precious book from several sides, but this time, did a little more probing. I began at Psalm 1 and read through Psalm 150. Let me say that I am a Bible marker. I realize some folks never underline or mark anything in their Bibles and that's okay. I'm just one of those who marks. My Bible is my text book, very much like my text books I underlined in during college days.

I wanted to seek out two things in my probing of Psalms. I underlined every name I saw for God (Lord, Father, etc.) and then wanted to mark God's attributes or characteristics (refuge, fortress, shepherd, love, etc.) The delight this brings me is not only in the study, but also later as I go back to that book when I'm seeking encouragement, cheer, comfort, and security. There are days when I just don't feel well, feel discouraged or just can't seem to focus even on words on a page. I look at this study Bible page by page and the circled words stand out to me whether they be names of God or His wonderful characteristics. I am stilled blessed in the process. I am quickly exposed to a God who is in charge and at the same time can keep me securely in His hand.

Right now, we are living in some troubled times in our country for any number reasons. The main reason for the troubled times is the fact that we as a country have pulled away from God and His ways. There's much we've allowed to distract us spiritually. Our attention seems drawn to the most negative of things. As I was working on Psalms, I came to Psalm 34. Because of the marks I had made, my attention was drawn to some verses that gave a contrasting picture between evil and God.

Because of the time we are living in, the first four verses in Psalm 34 gave me a good picture of evil, not just in David's time, but that describes many people in all walks of life in our own day. Following on the heel those verses (5-7), I saw a wonderful picture of God as opposed to the evil we may find all around us. Here's what I discovered: 
                   WICKEDNESS                                          GOD

                 Fearless of God-1                                      Mercy-5

                 Flatters himself-2                                       Faithfulness-5

                 Speaks sin/deceit-3                                   Righteousness-6

                 Doesn't seek wisdom-3                             Deep judgments-6

                 Devises mischief-4                                    Preserver-6

                 Doesn't walk in goodness-4                       Lovingkindness-7

                 Embraces evil-4                                         Fountain of life-9

When I see the evil all around me, no matter where I go, I can become discouraged. I see evil on TV, even on many ads on TV, inappropriate magazines on racks next to cash registers in the grocery stores, newscasts, government reports of various kinds, terror reports, scandals all around, even news of evil doings in some churches, etc. Many things we can choose to have nothing to do with...TV, computers, radio...but there are things we do need to know for safety sake if nothing else. I'm concerned as I see advertisements for movies in theaters that seem to be aimed at children, cartoon type especially. They are very subtle in what they show vulnerable children. Evil can become our focus though, if we aren't careful.

As I looked at that WICKEDNESS list from Psalm 34, I could see each one as I think of our sin sick country. I could sit and ponder those things, even putting faces with each characteristic and then my mind would really be awash in turmoil. However, I can choose to go immediately to the GOD list, concentrating on each of those characteristics that tell me again and again who He is and that He never changes. I can look at those godly characteristics and be blessed as I think of people in my life who have blessed me by some of those same attributes that are a part of their Christian walks. But my mind mostly goes to thoughts of my Heavenly Father and His goodness in my life.

We can choose what we will think about. Paul gives us a list of godly attributes in Philippians 4:8....true, honest, just, pure, lovely, good report...Paul says if there be any virtue and any praise to think on those things. I look at that list and see that God is also each one of those things. Paul stresses that it's those things we are to focus our minds on and not on the evil that surrounds us.

We're in a political season in our country. So many running for offices from city positions to President of our country. Sometimes it seems I could compare it all to a food fight that might break out in an elementary school lunch room. It has to be cleaned up, but no one can seem to find out who started it or why. It's a big mess and even the maintenance man hardly knows where to begin in the cleaning process. Ugly words spoken can be worse than any food fight and aren't easily cleaned up or taken back, which should be a warning to us all.

The Word of God must be our filter. We must be consistently reading it and taking it to heart. If we don't apply it to our lives, it will be for almost nothing. When sincerely taking God's Word into our hearts and minds, there is a cleansing process that takes place. We can never avoid the filth of evil but we can think on the things of God that will help us walk in victory.
                                        Thy Word have I hid in mine heart
                                          that I might not sin against God.
                                                           Psalm 119:11

I thank You, Father, for Your Word and all the benefits that are mine through it's teachings. Help me to read it in such a way that my mind doesn't dwell on evil but on those things that speak of who You are. In Jesus Name....Amen

UN-Quiet Time

Call unto me, and I will answer thee,
and show thee great and mighty things,
which thou knowest not.
Jeremiah 33:3

In past days, I have probably mentioned in my blogs any number of people who were of great influence in my life. Such influence in my life has often come to me in my latter years, while at times missing some valuable spiritual input from younger years.

Three ladies come to my mind who each taught me something vital about prayer...Aunt Ida from my home church during my growing up years; Granny Fancher, a very old lady who lived next door in an upstairs room and Mrs. Vineyard who lived down the alley from the last house I lived in before leaving home. The main thing I learned from them, but didn't think to practice for many years was the act of praying out loud. I personally witnessed this “spiritual art” in each of their lives at different times in my growing up.

Granny Fancher, during nice weather, would sit by an open, upstairs window, especially in the evening. She had a kerosene lamp on a nearby table that for the most part revealed only her physical form. Sometimes she would sing hymns, without thought that anyone could be listening. Then I would HEAR her pray. I remember she talked to God like He was sitting right next to her. I was too little to understand it all, but can still see her in that window.

Mrs. Vineyard lived down and across the alley from our house. With only a vacant field behind our house, her house was easily seen. Behind her house was a large chicken yard with a chicken coop almost the size of an average-size garage. Some neighborhood friends who lived nearer to her house than I did, knew something I didn't know until a certain day. As we were in my friend's back yard, she said, “There Mrs. Vineyard goes again.” I learned from that girl that Mrs. Vineyard would go into her chicken house and talk to herself. By now I'm about 11 years old and a new Christian. I ventured down to Mrs. Vineyards yard and into the chicken yard near enough to the door to hear Mrs. Vineyard talking to herself. I quickly learned she wasn't talking to herself, but to God. Just as quickly she saw me at the door of the chicken house and called out to me...I ran for my life, or so I thought at the time. I remembered some things I had heard her say and it dawned on me that she was praying. Perhaps it was the only private place she felt she had to meet with God to talk with Him.

I feel like I grew up with Aunt Ida who I look back upon and feel like she was the matriarch of our small Baptist church. When churches truly had Wednesday night prayer meetings, which we did, when prayer time came, we could all count on Aunt Ida to stand and pray. I must admit that at times one could almost hear a low groan from the young people because when Aunt Ida prayed, she really P-R-A-A-A-Y-E-D. Even in public though, one could tell that Aunt Ida was on speaking terms with God. More than on those Wednesdays, I noticed something else about Aunt Ida's praying. She lived hardly a half block from our church. Sometimes when I walked to the church to do some organ practice, I would deliberately walk by her house if it was nice weather. I don't care the time of day, I could hear through a screen door, Aunt Ida in her living room praying, pouring out her heart to the Lord.

The area in my spiritual walk where I have felt so weak has been in my prayer life. Oh I pray and know God hears and answers, but so often this part of my life is of personal disappointment. I'm the kind of person who can have 20 things vying for my attention. Satan loves that...distracting from anything of spiritual import. If I pray to myself, my concentration isn't what it ought to be. However, when I pray out loud, I'm almost forced just by the sound of my voice to stay on track. I also wonder if God ever grows weary of our whispers. We don't speak to anyone else in whispers, but the big majority of time, we do with God.

A sweet young friend recently put a suggested article on my Facebook. I would challenge anyone interested in an improved prayer life to look up this article. It is entitled “Stop Having Quiet Times” by David Powlison. I must admit the title took me back abit, but it very much goes along with what I've said to this point.

In this article, he reminded me that Jesus prayed aloud. If He hadn't, how would the disciples have known to ask Jesus to “Teach us to pray.” Daniel, prayed aloud three times a day at an open window, knowing he faced execution for doing such a thing. Most of the Psalms are written to be read or prayed aloud, not in a whisper or under one's breath.

I'm not saying it's wrong to pray silently. God hears us even in a whisper. God hears us no matter as to volume, but we benefit when we hear our own words spoken to our Father. We see folks in Scripture who prayed some prayers silently, usually when hearts were to broken to form words orally. That can be the case for us at times as well. 

Most of us are living with someone else in the same house, so praying aloud may need to be planned. I have found I can pray in a very low voice while taking a bath, sitting on my porch or other places I might not want to be at full voice. Mr. Powlison made a statement that made so much sense: “When you talk aloud you express the reality that you're talking with someone else, not simply talking to yourself inside your own head.”

We are encouraged in God's Word to cry out to God, shout for joy, sing aloud along with many other admonitions. I must say in these months that my prayer times have taken on new life. We all have our prayer lists, folks we've been asked to pray for or personal concerns that no one else knows anything about. Let's do ourselves a favor in enriching our prayer lives by SPEAKING UP and SPEAKING OUT.

Father, I love You and love when I can talk with You at any time, anywhere...lifting up my voice to you in praise, concern and just in general conversation. Thank You for this wonderful privilege granted to me by Your love for me. Thank you for wanting to listen to me. In Jesus precious name....Amen

FRESH START

Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he
is a new creature: old things are passed
away, behold, all things are
become new.
II Corinthians 5:17

My heart's desire is that I will never forget that wonderful Sunday in November of 1949 when God's Holy Spirit reached down into the heart of this blond headed junior department girl and drew her to himself. I can remember stepping out into that sun flooded aisle, already knowing something wonderful had happened in my heart in just an instant I must admit I didn't know everything about what had happened that day. There were some older ladies sitting in the pew behind we junior girls who were crying. I found that strange. When I got home and told my Mother about the morning, she was pleased. Even my Sunday school teacher sat softly crying as two other of my classmates also had made the same decision.

There is so much I wish I could have known instantly about my new walk of faith. The only way I would grow aside from what I learned at church was to read my Bible. However, I didn't have a Bible of my own so for a brief time, I read and reread what Sunday school literature I was given. It wasn't long until my Aunt sent me a new Bible. I couldn't wait to dig into the book of John as I was told it was a good place to begin my Bible reading.

Since those days, I've come to love God's Word and have taught it to children or ladies in some capacity for at least 50 years. It's been a joy, but I must admit to you that through difficult times, life's ups and downs and all that goes with living, sometimes that new-in-Christ little girl at this point in life can at times feel a little tarnished or well worn with the years. It's easy, even with our best efforts, to grow stale in our spiritual walk. We don't mean for it to happen, but it may happen anyway. Those stale feelings can be brought about through various issues of life...illness, job stresses, family circumstances, tragedies of sorts, yes, even weather, hot or cold. We also cannot ignore the face that personal sin can also drain us of our spiritual enthusiasm

Last Fall, soon after finishing our Fall ladies Bible study series, two friends approached me about starting a new ladies Sunday school class. At first, I must admit that in that moment, it sounded like an ingrown toenail would feel better, but I promised to pray about it. These ladies wanted a Fresh Start Sunday school class for ladies needing just that.

In my praying and pondering, I got on my computer and looked up those two words...”Fresh Start.” What I found was rather comical. I saw there were Fresh Start therapy groups, hospitals, exercise classes and rehab centers. We were talking about a Sunday school class. As I looked at the list, it dawned on me that a Sunday school class in theory meets similar needs as some of those organizations. Why not?...Fresh Start.

Those same ladies gave me a Bible verse that would be a kind of guide for the class:

                                                              For in Him we live
                                                                    and move
                                                             and have our being.
                                                                   Acts 17:28
Some of you have already caught on that I love “threes” in Scripture and this verse is no exception as I looked at what the ladies had in mind...a verse to steer the vision of this new class.

Already I took a look at FRESH (new, different, recent harvest) and START (cause to happen, begin from a certain point). That looked good so then I noticed three key words in that verse of choice and thought on them carefully:

                     LIVE (emotional, soul) have life, maintain oneself, dwell

                     MOVE (physical) go in a specific direction, change position                         

                     BEING (spiritual) essence of a person

That pretty much covers us and what we are in every area of life. I could see a class of ladies who in earnest wanted to live, move and have their being in Jesus Christ. When that happens, we can have a fresh start spiritually speaking in this new class setting.

We don't need to be a part of a class or group of any kind in order to have a fresh start with Jesus. He is the creator and center of our fresh starts and wants to do that in our lives. We all need a time of spiritual renewal and refreshment along the way. We first have to recognize the need for Jesus to give us an extra pick-me-up spiritually. He has walked this earth, lived in human flesh and Scripture tells us He knows how it feels to face the human things of life. He understands us better than we understand ourselves. When we recognize our need, we then need to reach out to Him for His help. No one else can do anything fantastic in our spiritual lives like He can.

We also might want to look at ourselves and try to see what brought about our days of spiritual staleness. At times, it's a help when we recognize some of those pitfalls ourselves so we can hopefully avoid them in the future. Some we just can't avoid but there are some we can. There will be no fresh starts for anyone without the Holy Spirit empowering it. We also need more time in prayer and in the Word. I'm afraid there are no shortcuts to being spiritual. Maintaining spiritual freshness must be an every day walking with our Lord.

And if we walk in the light, as He is
in the light, we have fellowship one
with another, and the blood of Jesus |
Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.
I John 1:7

Dear Father, thank You for loving me consistently and unconditionally. I want to walk in the freshness of Your spirit. Thank You for Your leadership in My life. I pray I will walk in obedience through the light of Your Word. In Jesus precious name....Amen