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