QUIET  KNOWING

    ...that I may know Him and the

power of His resurrection, and

the fellowship of His sufferings,

being conformed to His death.

Philippians 3:10

It was a wintry February Saturday around 5:00 in the late afternoon when I stepped into my wedding gown.  Our wedding was in two hours and I could hardly wait.  In those moments, I couldn't imagine loving Brian more than I did at that  time.  Boy, was I ever in for a surprise.

Life for us was the usual...lots of love, the normal ups and downs, children, jobs and a Heavenly Father that kept it all together with hearty portions of His love glue.  I did learn that with Brian and me, there were alot of very comfortable quiet times.  We could be in the living room with him reading His Bible or doing some paper work and me working on a lesson for a ladies class.  We could sit for many minutes not talking or even looking each other's direction.  It was in many of those moments I think we felt even closer.  It's in moments like that there was a quiet knowing of who we were to each other and the love we felt for each other even in our quiet moments.

I think we often feel our love for God is going to come with lots of activity and that may be true at times.  I have found in my own life that I don't have to feel concerned or that something is wrong if I just have some quiet moments with my Father.  There are many ways we verbally or actively act on God's behalf.  The thought of silent times with nothing said really seems uncomfortable.

We don't do well with silence.  It can seem uncomfortable like we should be doing or saying something most of the time.  I can see where my love for Brian increased even in those silent times.  With healthy silence can come comfort, trust and a sweet peace.  In my silence with my Father, I can contemplate His love and goodness in my life.  I don't have to labor in those moments struggling for what to say.  Our Father loves our just curling up in Him with precious times of silence.  It is then, He has our attention and he can speak in those quiet knowing times away from life's clutter and clatter.   Be still and know that I am God.....(Psalm 46:10)

Father, draw me to Yourself in more times of quiet.  Let me rest in You knowing You

can speak to me in ways I can't begin to contemplate.  Thank You for loving me and desiring to having time with me, especially those quiet moments.  In Jesus...Amen 

HOLDING HANDS
My Father, who has given them to

Me, is greater than all; and no one

is able to snatch them out of My

Father's hand.

John 10:29

Brian and I had only had about four dates when there was an episode of note that spread like wildfire through our church singles department.  I could take you to the very spot, at the back of our church auditorium when there was this particular occurrence.  Brian was always very proper and very much a gentleman. but this particular event caused a bit of a stir.

In a very casual way, as if it was a familiar thing, Brian actually took hold of my hand.  I was more than shocked as were the couple of singles walking along with us.  From that time, hand holding was a regular thing.  It doesn't sound like much, but he hadn't held hands with a girl before, at least in a romantic way.  The holding of hands is considered to be an act of affection and even love.  Brian really started something because even up until he went to Heaven we were hand holders.

God made hands for holding and for common everyday usage.  Hands hold and cuddle babies, the are used for clapping approval, changing a tire, washing one's face, typing on a keyboard and on and on.  Those things aren't mentioned in Scripture, of course, but the hands of God are mentioned in some places.  right A favorite of mine is found in Isaiah where he tells us that God has promised to uphold us with His righteous right hand.  What a blessing.

The holding of hands, no matter how we look at it, indicates caring, and most of the time, commitment to one another.  God's hands are none the less.  He holds onto us because of a love we can never realize or understand.  Despite that, I'm so grateful for a Heavenly Father that holds not just my hand but my entire being.  That's a security no hand-holders can guarantee each other.  For now, though I sure do miss those human hands I once held mine.

Thank You, my Father, for Your love and care in my life.  Thank You for the security You provide and the loving way You hold me close to Yourself with Your own precious  hands.  In Jesus' precious name...Amen

   

DAY  BY  DAY

This is the day the Lord hath made;

we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24 

In the last four years of living alone, I hadn't realized before that time how I rarely lived in the every day of life.  Our times call for us to be looking ahead most of the time.  Recently a part of a very old song has come to my mind.  I first heard it in college and we sang it there.  It isn't familiar to many, but just so very appropriate in these days of mostly looking and planning ahead.  It has spoken to me where I am.doing just that. This was written by Lina Berg in 1865.  A part of the first verse says:

Day by day and with each passing moment,

Strength find to meet my trials here.

Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,

I've no cause for worry or for fear.

I don't know about anyone else, but for most of my life, I have tended on any given day to spend a goodly amount of time thinking about and even planning for all of the tomorrows I believe I have coming.  We are cautioned in Scripture to beware of that kind of thinking because there's no way we know what tomorrow brings.

With age that can be for any age, many come to realize what TODAY means.  When we are "day" people, our goal is to make the very best of our present waking hours.  There are things in our tomorrow's that require looking ahead...coming guests, doctor appointments, meetings that need to be put on the calendar, etc., 

but those things should not rule our todays.

My goal at this point is for this very day to be the best it can be in anything I do or anyplace I go, focusing on my spiritual here's and now's.  May we aim to make this today be all it can be with our own attention, giving all the glory to our Father who gives us one day at a time.

Father, I thank You for life today.  Help me to include You every morning in thinking through and planning my day.  May I serve You well serving those You would have me touch while keeping my focus on You.  Thank You for Your consistent and ongoing love.   In Jesus' precious name....Amen

 BE PREPARED

For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek

the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and

to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.

Ezra 7:10

So often, I find myself wondering about certain people we find in Scripture.  I sometimes wonder what they looked like, voice range, personalities, etc.  I have come to feel that way about Ezra.

Ezra was a unique man.  We read that he was a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses.  He was brought up from Babylon because of God's hand on his life to fulfill a definite purpose. From Babylon to Jerusalem must have been a drastic change, but come he did, seemingly without hesitation.  His trip took him a good bit of time just getting from one place to the other, but God's wonderful hand was on Ezra's life.

The king it would seem had high regard for Ezra.  In the copy of a letter, King Artaxerxes spoke of Ezra as being a priest, scribe, expert in the words of the commandments of the LORD.  (V 11). 

The thing that really caught my attention was the above verse.  Ezra had a calling to go to the city of Jerusalem where he would teach and preach the things of God's Law.  What I saw about Ezra in that verse really caught my attention.  He didn't just take a trip, arrive and then hit it running teaching the people.  I saw something in that verse that made me wonder personally if there's something in my own teaching I should be thinking about prior to actually teaching a lesson.

In that verse, I see three things:   

*Ezra had prepared his heart, time spent, to seek the Law of the Lord

*what he read and studied, he saw the necessity of putting those principles to work,

and, *Ezra would then teach those laws and principles to the people.

That's a big three for any preacher or teacher, but what if you don't do either in an official capacity.  Those things should still apply to anyone who loves the Lord and His Word.  Seeking the Lord at any time or place means preparing to do so with determination.  All of us should be making efforts to seek Him.  What anyone learns from being in the Word should be applied and lived out in one's life.  After those two things, we are often in positions of teaching others when we don't even realize it.  

We are all teachers at one time or another.  May we prepare our hearts to know Him and His Word better, put it into loving practice and be prepared (if not surprised) how God will use us in being a blessing to others.

Help us Father, to be prepared to share You with our parts of the world.  It will mean times of study and a loving relationship with You to attain such.  Give us a voice to share You with others.  Most of all, we want more and more of You in our lives.   

In Jesus' sweet name..Amen 

PRECIOUS

Precious in the sight of the

LORD, is the death of

His saints.

Psalm 116:15

There must have been great joy in Heaven yesterday evening, as my dear friend Phyllis was called Home.  Her serious illness had not been a lengthy one, but severe and painful and totally arriving by surprise.  One of my first thoughts in talking with her husband on the phone was having a sense of how greatly missed

she will be here, but, oh the joy and happiness she now knows there.

If every church doesn't have a Phyllis, they should find one to join their congregation.  She was a true lady personified but with such a servant spirit.  I've only known her well for four years.  During that time, she has hosted a home Bible study for some of her dear friends that it has been my privilege to teach.  She loved the Word of God and sought ways to live it out in every day living.

However, our tie was a little different that most folks knew nothing about.  Up until four years ago, I only knew her with the greetings we might have in any church setting.  She had her activities at church that didn't involve me or mine in hers so we were kind of hi/bye in knowing each other.  

However, four years ago, I was hit with the Homegoing of my dear hubby.  I found ever so subtly that Phyllis came along side of me.  She wasn't pushy or smothering in her attention, but she made a way into my life that was comforting and reassuring.  She was one of those I refer to as being Jesus with skin on.  She had a way of just  speaking a couple of questions of concern showing a kind of friendship I hadn't known before.  It grew in so many ways that others may not have noticed.

I usually don't write a blog concerning a friend who has gone to Heaven ahead of me, but in her going, there is now an empty space left here on earth.  I realize that no one can  take another's place, but we certainly can have a servant's heart, a spiritual beauty that is ours alone in serving the Lord and others. 

Father, I thank you for those You put in our lives as friends in a timely way, who can show us a part of You we might not be able to see through our tears.  Thank You for Phyllis and how she ministered in the lives of so many. I know You know this but she sure does make a great cup of tea.   In Jesus' name....Amen

IMPOSSIBLE!

Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;

I want You forever to live in my soul;

Break down every idol, cast out every foe.

Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

It's a hymn in just about any hymnal of note.  It used to be sung on a fairly regular basis.  The tune was catchy, although not a fast hymn, but still causing a pat of a foot or tapping of a finger on the page where the hymn was located.

over

I and others in our area woke up  over the weekend seeing such a beautiful snow.  It came quietly, slowly with little interference.  There was no high wind and even the snowflakes not as huge as some I've seen.  It's a snow fall that creates quietness all by itself.  It's been said, and I'm not sure of the source of the proclamation, but supposedly there are no two snow flakes alike.  That sounds impossible in our finite thinking but why not?  Look at the people too many to count since the Garden of Eden that have walked this earth and we are quite sure there could never be any two alike...not even identical twins.

The words to the hymn entitled Whiter Than Snow, today, grabbed my attention.  As I look out my windows in wonder, I question how is it possible that there could be anything whiter than what I'm looking at.  There's no sun right now which could bring about a brightness that might require donning a pair of sun glasses.  But even there, trying to imagination a greater whiteness than I'm seeing right now seems impossible.

Among other things, it's nothing to wonder about.  So often we put God on our own human level when it comes to dealing with the impossibilities  of life.  We should know by now that all we see isn't just the miracle of the snow.  The real miracle we may be enjoying is not just an earthly snowfall.  The real miracle is  that He can wash out the sin of our lives leaving in us a touch of His glory, a whiteness of His own making.

Thank You Father, for this beautiful day.  Snow days are often resisted on our parts and yet even in the beauty of it all, we can still see You.  May we be willing to yield to Your cleansing power in our lives, a whiteness only You can bring about.  In Jesus....Amen

WHITER THAN SNOW

For as the rain comes down, and

the snow from heaven, and do

not return there, but water the

earth, and make it bring forth

and bud, that it may give seed

to the sower and bread to

the eater,

So shall My word be that goes 

forth from My mouth; it shall not

return to me void, but it shall

accomplish what I please, and

it shall prosper in the thing

for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:10,11

My co-church staff member came into my office with some excitement, Bible in hand.  She had come across the above verses and it was such a blessing to her.  We had often sung the hymn that said, "now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow" and that brightness was hard to comprehend.  However, she had found something else that blessed her.

At that time, there was a reason for any thought of snow.  We were in northern Indiana where it seemed we had snow beginning in November and off and on often through the month of March.  By April, parking lots had huge piles of dirty-looking snow.  It seemed we could never get away from it.  Snow was a reality for us and a constant in our lives.

With our snow falls, even if snow had fallen overnight sometimes to knee level, folks still went to work, schools didn't close nor businesses.  Life just went on despite the inconvenience.  When we moved to Texas, we often found humor in how where we lived, everything closed down with only an inch or two of snow on a street.  I must admit that it was a relief compared to what we had tolerated further north.

Scripture often mentions snow.  It is used as a comparison of the whiteness and glory of a situation with Jesus mentioned at times.  But in our everyday lives, we might wonder at times why we have to have the snow inconveniences in our lives.  We see God in the beauty of spring, with everything beginning to grow and bloom.  We give God credit for the beauty of the fall season when it He has taken a huge paint brush, covering nature with color as only He can do.  Summer with it's warmth, activities and vacations are such that we don't even give a thought of winter

God gets little credit for the winter when nature seems to have changed from green to gray.  In this season, we see little natural beauty but it has a beauty all it's own and snow is an indicator of it.  God never wastes a single thing in His creation, not even if it is only a mere tiny snow flake.  We are told there aren't any two snow flakes alike.  How like God.  Interestingly enough is that walking our earth, there are also no two people alike.  That snow we see now will melt and sink into the pores of our land.  It will aid in the nurturing of new life, come spring.  Each little snowflake makes that kind of contribution.  Such is true for us and how God wants to use each of us to spread His spiritual nurturing through us right where we are.

Father God, thank You for this time.  Snow may slow us down or keep us indoors but even then, You still have a divine plan.  Help us to not waste this time of being hindered in our activity.  May we take some seemingly idle time to spend with You that we might serve and grow in You.  In Jesus' precious name...Amen

FEAR NOT

For God hath not given us

the spirit of fear, but of power,

and of love, and of a sound

mind.

II Timothy 1:7

Our culture today is soaked in fear.  In my years of life and in looking back over most of 87 years I can remember, these days are riddled with fear.  It is fed to us on an almost daily basis.  In my younger days, we didn't have all of the media influences we have now.  

We've always known war of some sort.  We can recall any number of military events our country has been involved in.  Right now, the war we're coming to know is not military as it was then.  The wars we face now are and will always be an issue because we don't stop to think that Satan is the author and encourager of fear.   The fear he doles out isn't necessarily military.

Lately, we are seeing war in the streets of some kind in our major cities.  Rioters are being paid to do just that...riot and cause mass disorder.  It's hard to watch on newscasts all of the turmoil that seemingly can't be controlled.  That's a big example of the fearmongering that is going on.

It's also interesting, coming down to some very simple examples, the fear we are faced with just in advertisements on our computers or TV screens.  Advertisements used to be informative even though they were still irritating.  However, many ads now have to have an added message to them...a message of fear.  The message is if you purchase a particular thing be it food, medicines or even cars, you are in the depths of danger.  We are cautioned of eating or drinking various products that have been found dangerous but all will be well if we purchase the advertisers product.  Medical products are advertised using fear tactics be it aspirin or support socks.  We are bombarded with fear.

Again, Satan is on the job, full time.  He wants us to live in fear because he knows how from just a little seed of fear, it will grow, crippling us in so many ways.  If we become fearful because of things we see or read, fear can become very entrenched in our lives.  God wants to be our peace.  He can outdo Satan on any level if we let Him do that.  Satan gives fear while God gives power, love and sanity.  I'll take what God has to offer any old day.

Dear Father God, help me to stay focused on You knowing what an encourager in truth You are.  You'll never lie to us or lead us into the depths of fear.  May we cling to the promises of Your Word that assures us of Your presence and love.  In Jesus' precious name...Amen

 

IT'S MY CHOICE

With days having to do with a new year, I have been thinking back to choices, some made by me and some by others that perhaps affected me.  Most choices of any import will not only affect the chooser but also have effects on those around the chooser.

Looking back, I've like others have made good choices and some not so good.  Our choices begin when very young, when such don't have much effect on others.  I remember the day I decided to out in our backyard to our coal shed.  I love the smell of coal and it was black and shiney.  Why not...so I took a bite.  It wasn't bad at all but when my mother caught me doing it, I found my choice had not been a good one.

I've been thinking lately of some choices made by folks in the Bible that had varied results.  Eve hose to eat fruit that was forbidden, Moses to chose to follow God's bidding and lead his people.  I think of Daniel and his three friends who chose to not eat or drink for a time of the king's provision.  Also in my mind were four fishermen who chose to become fishers of men.  Saul, who wanted to eradicate Christians off the earth's surface, had a confrontation with Jesus one day and he chose a different way.  Jesus in His humanity asked if the oncoming cup could pass from Him.  Jesus knew what was ahead and it was a far more dreadful thing to contemplate than you and I can imagine.   Then Jesus chose in a huge way:  "Nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done."  No choice was ever so great as in that moment.  Jesus chose the cross.

In our spiritual walk, it seems so little to choose Jesus compared to the choice He made on our behalf.  My choices are simple compared to His:  reading my Bible today, supporting my church financially, being a person of prayer, speaking for Jesus at every opportunity and being available to love and serve as my Father would want of me. 

For all of us, the greatest choice we ever made was to choose Jesus as our Savior.  We've made more choices than we can count or remember but this particular one is by far the most important.  With that choice Jesus made on our behalf, our choice seems so little but Jesus knew what He was doing.  In that process, He chose me.

There's no way to thank You Father for loving me so much You would send Your Son do died for me and all mankind.  Help me to make the choices in my life that will honor and glorify You.  In Your Son Jesus' precious name...Amen

 

NEVER  ALONE    

  It was my first spiritual retreat at the Christian college I attended that I had so much anticipated.  There were probably 100 students attending this special weekend time away from the campus with special music and inspirational speakers.  However, one afternoon, I found myself sitting alone in the dining area, no one around me and my feeling very alone.  One of our leaders spotted me and approached me as to if I was feeling okay.  I told him that for some reason, I was feeling very alone.  He gave me every Scriptural reason for the fact that such can really never be.

All of us at times can get the loneliness feelings and may even wonder where they came from.  We can be in a large crowd whether it's with people we know well or don't know at all and still feel very much by ourselves.  For we who are God's kids, those are times to take hold of our Bibles and review some promises, like:

**

I will never leave you nor forsake you.

**

I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

**

Such precious promises are scattered through all of Scripture and we can claim them any time Satan or circumstances seem to be nagging at our spirits.  We should never feel lonely as believers and that's a fact spiritually speaking.  There are times when our human feelings rise to the surface and in those times, heading for our Bibles isn't a bad idea.  We used to sing the old hymn that says we're never alone for God has promised to never leave us, never alone.  Add our Father and His Word to our humanity, and we'll be okay.  Amen and amen.

Father God, I thank You for how You step into my life when I go through times of feeling very much alone.  I pray right now for some friends who are going through such a time that they will know and sense Your presence in a real and wonderful way....in Jesus' precious name...Amen