TO BE LONGING...BY ANNA

 Isaiah 43:1 “But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine.”

I’m currently memorizing Isaiah 43—and let me tell you, it is worth every single second I spend on it and a dozen times more. (Isaiah 54 and 55 are just as good.)

Go on, read that verse over again. “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have... called you BY YOUR NAME; YOU ARE MINE.”
You are Mine.

Do you know just how many people in the world, past and present, who have struggled with the feeling of being homeless? Of having no one who cares for them. Unclaimed. Unwanted. Rejected. Cast off. Of being alone. Of being so sinful, so dirty, so unworthy, that no one could ever even look at them without cringing, let alone forgiving them and raising them up from the ashes. 

Of not belonging to anyone.

I’m not very old at all, and I’m certainly not too experienced, but in my brief span, I’ve noticed that we as human beings struggle with the issue of belonging. On one hand, we don’t like the idea of being “beholden” or “obligated” to anyone, and we certainly don’t like being in servitude. (More on that another devotional.) But on the other hand, we NEED to belong. To something. To someone. To not be “unclaimed”. To not be adrift in a big, scary world with no one by your side, no one to look out for you and after you. To not be rejected and unwanted. (Those two words “rejected” and “unwanted” are two of the most frightening words in the English language. I know; I’ve felt them. They’re horrible.) And do you know what? Separate “belonging” into two words. “Be” “longing”. We literally “be longing” to belong. 

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine.”

I’m His. I belong to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He’s called me BY MY NAME. He knows everything about me. He loves me. I’m precious in His sight. He’s always with me. He never leaves me nor forsakes me; He cares for me now, always has, and always will. He wants me. He claims me. He redeems me. He forgives me.

I belong to Him. 

And so do you.

YOUR HANDS HAVE MADE ME...

Your hands have made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.--Psalm 119:73

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,


His hands have made me...His hands have shaped me!   As it says in Psalm 139, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. My Lord, my God and Father, is acquainted with all my ways.  He knows what I am going to say before I say it.  He hedges me behind and before.  His presence is inescapable.  His right hand upholds me and even when I think the darkness is going to fall on me... even the night is light about me. He planned my days when as yet there were none of them.  All of them are written in His book. His thoughts toward me are precious and cannot be counted....more in number the Psalmist says than the sand. My God knows all about me...my thoughts, my anxieties, the way that I take...and it is HE that leads me in the way that is everlasting.

I am an open book to Him and He LOVES what He sees!  Why would I not submit to Him completely and be completely enveloped in His love. God is omniscience and omnipresence...that is such a comfort!  When each of your were babies I can remember just watching as you played...not wanting to miss a precious moment of it.

I love thinking that our God is like that! Life is made up of thousands of moments...each one our Lord has planned for us.  Don't miss any of what He has planned for you by going your own way...let Him lead.

I am created by God!  He has a purpose for me...for my life.  The opposing view renders life meaningless and pointless.  It says that I am the result of a billion accidents, over billions of years.  This is what many of us are teaching our children or allowing our public school system  to teach them.  They then have to spend millions of dollars trying to counter that teaching with self-esteem courses.  Such evil we teach our little ones.  We are created in His image.  We are made in the similitude of our Creator. Genesis says "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness." This defines man unique relationship to God. Colossians 3:10 says this:

^"and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,"

It is God's plan that believers become progressively more like Jesus Christ, the One who made them. He predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son.1 Corinthians 15:49 says  

"as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man."

1 John 3:2 says, "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." 

Finally 2nd Corinthians 3:18 says this:  But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

We are who He, our Creator, says we are and when we awake in His presence we shall be like Him!

Love
Mom

Hymn of Security...

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?  Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.  Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  As it is written:


      “ For Your sake we are killed all day long;
       We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,  nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.--Romans 8:31-39

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,

John MacArthur calls this the believer's hymn of security.  What a great passage this would be to memorize!   Paul begins by asking the question "if God is for us, who can be against us?" It could also read, "since God is for us."  The Father is for us...He did not spare His own Son to give us the free gift of salvation when we were still His enemies. He has already given us the greatest gift and paid the highest price. He has sacrificed His Son for us, there is nothing...nothing that He would not give.

Verse 33 asks, "who will bring a charge against God's elect?  It is God who justifies.  We have been declared righteous by God. Our sin has been pardoned, our debt has been paid.  When we believe, God imputes Christ's righteousness to our account.  If then God has declared us righteous, who can accuse us?  Paul goes on to ask, "who is he that condemns?  It is Christ who died, and furthermore is risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.  Do you see what is being said here, girls, The answer is NO ONE can condemn us.   I (we) am the defendant.  Christ died in my place for my sin.  The Son of God...for me!  And what is more...He is risen from the dead and is at the right hand of the Father interceding for me!  The Lord Jesus not only died for me, He prays for me for my good!  God has committed judgment to the Son.  If He does not condemn me...no one can.

Next, Paul gives the list of what cannot separate us from the love of Christ.  NOTHING CAN BANISH US FROM HIS PRESENCE.  NOTHING!  OUR SALVATION IS SECURE.  Check out the list for yourself...it is pretty inclusive. John 10:27-30 says this:

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 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.  I and My Father are one.

”Believers often face much suffering and persecution in this world.  Paul understood this better than most.  The sheep reference reminds me that the Lord is my Shepherd...He leads, I follow.  Nothing can separate me from Him.  I am secure...I have everything I need.

Because of our identification with Christ we die daily and are at times persecuted for our faith...as David writes and Paul quotes, we are killed all day long...we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Persecution and death will not separate us from Him.  The bible tells us when we are absent from the body, we are present with the Lord. When we awake after death, we awake in His likeness.

Here is my favorite verse..."Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." Instead of drawing us away from God, sufferings and persecutions draw us to Him and through them we bring glory to God and blessings to ourselves.  All you need do to understand is to look to the cross and see the glorious result of the One who suffered...the just for the unjust. The darkest moment in history was in reality the brightest light and the greatest gift the world would ever know.  We are secure in Him. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.  No matter what I face in this life...He will always be with me.  No one....no one can take Him from me...not even me.  "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me;"  WHAT COMFORT!

Love
Mom

Some verses that were encouraging to read...

Rom_8:17, Rom_5:3-5; Mat_5:10-12, Mat_10:28-31; Luk_21:12-18; Joh_16:33; Act_14:22; Act_20:23-24; 2Co_4:17, 2Co_6:4-10, 2Co_11:23-27; 2Ti_1:12, 2Ti_4:16-18; Heb_12:3-11; Jam_1:2-4; 1Pe_1:5-7, 1Pe_4:12-14; Rev_7:14-17

Absent From the Body...Present with the Lord....

You will guide me with Your counsel,  And afterward receive me to glory --Psalm 73:24

But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, For He shall receive me.  Selah --Psalm 49:15

Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of His saints.--Psalm 116:15

Dear Girls,

After our lives are over here on this earth, our Lord receives us!  Paul tells us in 2nd Corinthians 5:8 that absent from the body is present with the Lord.  As believers, we are His redeemed.  We may be rejected and despised by many here on earth.   We may even be persecuted for naming the name of Christ, but truly we have nothing to fear.  Read what it says in Romans:

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us"--Romans 8:18 

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. --Romans 8:37-39

Death comes to all of us.  We cannot buy our way out of it.  The unbeliever goes to the grave unredeemed and is received in hell only to face the second death. (see Revelation 20:11-15) No matter what kind of rejection we face here on earth for our faith, we are victorious  in death.   Because we are accepted in the Beloved, we are received by the Lord Himself at the moment of our death.  THE LORD HIMSELF RECEIVES US!  We will hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant...Enter into the joy of your Lord."

What an incentive to do His will then here on earth!  How much time so many of us waste striving to be accepted by the people around us instead of sharing the truth of the Gospel with them. How much time do we waste trying to impress and please man?  None of it matters in the end.  Spend your time rightly...serving Him who will guide you with His counsel here on earth and receive you in glory when your life on earth is done.  The Lord is on your side...there is nothing to fear.  The worse that can happen is death and when that occurs the Lord will receive you.  Ironically then, the worse that can happen to you here on earth is really the best thing that will ever happen to you. 


Love
Mom

Psalm 17:15  As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.

Believers Are Conquerors....

Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. ² By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. ³ For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. ⁴ For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. ⁵ Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?--1 John 5:1-5

Dear Mikayla, Anna, Rebecca and Suzanne,

This is what I want for you my daughters.  Victory over this world.  Overwhelming success.  I want you to be conquerors in Him and through Him!  John says that whatever is born of God overcomes the world. The victory that has overcome the world is the believer's faith.  Believers then are the overcomers! Why?  As believers we have been accepted in the Beloved.  We are in Christ and thus share in His victory.  What is His is ours!  Look at the promises to the overcomer spoken of by the apostle John in Revelation.  Read Ephesians and see what riches we have in Him!

Revelation 2:7 To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." '

Revelation 2:11 He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.
Revelation 2:17 To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it." '
Revelation 2:26 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations
Revelation 3:5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
Revelation 3:12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
Revelation 3:21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

An overcomer believes that Jesus is the Christ and thus is born of God.  Belief here is not just intellectual assent.   James tells us that the demons believe and tremble.  John is speaking of a heart belief.  When your heart believes something your words and actions will reflect that belief. Your life will be one dedicated to doing the will of God from your heart. Romans 10:10 says it is with the heart that one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.


Next we note that because he is born again. he will love both God and fellow believers. Verse 2 defines it further and says that a believer will not only love God and fellow believers but he will also obey His commandments.  Our love for God then will be expressed in our love for other believers and our desire to do His will and obey His commandments. Faith leads to love and love leads to obedience. The three are linked here beautifully by John.

Verse 3 goes on to say that His commandments are not burdensome.  Contrast Matthew 23:4 with Matthew 11:28-30.

Jesus is speaking here in Matthew 23 of the scribes and Pharisees. 

"For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers."

In Matthew 11 Jesus gives the only autobiographical statement He ever made:


Come to Me, all you 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.”

Now sometimes obeying God is not easy.  Sometimes, in fact, many times it is difficult. But because I love Him, I delight to do His will. Doing His will is never a burden because it is not me that does the work, but Christ in me.  My job is to surrender to His Spirit and stay close.(hang on tight)  The more I know Him...the more I trust Him...the more it becomes my delight to surrender and obey Him because I know that He desires the best for me. 

Verse 4 tells us that we as believers have overcome the world.  The world is passing away. It is an evil system that continually attempts to get our attention with things that have no value eternally. An unbeliever is enslaved to the things of the world and cannot separate himself from it.  A believer is set free and can overcome the world through His faith in Christ. The believer separates himself from the world and sanctifies Christ in his heart...giving Him the preeminence always.

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.--Galatians 2:20

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.--Colossians 3:1-4

Satan is the ruler of this world.  1 John 4:4 says that greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.  Our hope is not in this world...our home is not in this world.  We look past the temporal to the eternal. Our old nature looks to the things of the world, but our new nature looks to the things above. Jesus said that in this world we will have tribulation but to be of good cheer because He has overcome the world.  Our victory is in the person of Jesus.  It is through Him that we can do all things. As we grow in faith, we grow in love as we grow in love we grow in obedience.  As we immerse ourselves in the things of God and look up the things of earth grow dim and we loosen our grip and focus on the temporal and look, like Abraham did, to the reward. Victory is ours in Him.  


Read more and be encouraged...


These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”--John 16:33


 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  As it is written:

      “ For Your sake we are killed all day long;
       We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,  nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.--Romans 8:35-37

 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. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.--1 Cor 15:56-58

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.--1 John 2:15-17

He who does the will of God abides forever...

Love
Mom


 

My Home Away From Home...

Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed;  Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.  For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings.  Selah --Psalm 61:1-4



Dear Girls,

David is not really that far from home when he is crying out here.  He had fled from Jerusalem at the time of his son Absolom's betrayal and rebellion and was probably just on the other side of the Jordan River.   What anguish of heart David must have been experiencing at his son's betrayal!

Like David, when our own  hearts are overwhelmed,  it can feel like help is a million miles away.  But God...God is our shelter, He is our resting place, He is our strong tower and as believers He abides in us...In Him we live and move and have our being. We can trust in the shelter of His wings. God is near girls, as close as our crying. The moment we cry out broken and overwhelmed, He is there.  He is our home away from home.  He is our defense and the rock of our strength. He is our shelter in the storm.  David's God is our God.  Pour out your heart before Him, girls.  He is a refuge for us!

Love
Mom

The Glory of God

Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the River Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. ² On the fifth day of the month, which was in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, ³ the word of the LORD came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans^] by the River Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was upon him there.--Ezekiel 1:1-2


Dear Girls,

We are beginning a study in Ezekiel this morning with Pastor Ed.  I read these first two verses last night and then again this morning and was encouraged.  The Lord visited Ezekiel when he was among the captives. Separated from his homeland  and isolated.  This is when he had this glorious vision...this is when the heavens were opened and he saw visions of God.  This is when the hand of God was upon Him and He received the word of the Lord. Take heart during your times of loneliness and despair...of separation and uncertainty. Psalm 34:18 says the LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. Seek Him diligently...look up during your times of trial.  Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.

I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant And their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles.The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them--Psalm 34:4-7

Love 
Mom

On Having a Good Conscience...

Having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.  For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.--1Peter 3:16-17

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,

The conscience accuses.  Most of us really hate that, don't we? It notifies us when we sinned.  My pride hates being informed of my wrongdoing and wants very much to suppress that notification in any way it can. Romans 2:14-16 tells us this.

"for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)  in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel."

We have the law written on our hearts.  Man knows the basic standard of right and wrong.  When violated, a conscience acts like a built-in warning system, and  produces some uncomfortable feelings...guilt, doubt, fear, anxiety, shame and sometimes even despair.  If we listen to our conscience and handle these assaults as they come up...confessing sin and purposing to obey God...we will have a good conscience toward God.  A good conscience produces....well, good feelings. A believer who does God's will has peace, joy and assurance in his heart.

A conscience can, however, become "hard" when ignored and continually assaulted with violations. The apostle Paul urges us in many places not to ignore, violate or cause others to violate this built-in warning system.   Repeatedly ignoring the warnings that come from our conscience will desensitize it and eventually silence it all together.  That, girls, is a very dangerous place to be. When we experience the pain of a burn from touching something hot we remove our hands from the object.  The consequences of not doing that is the searing of flesh.  The same occurs when we ignore our conscience...it becomes seared and loses feeling. We begin the process of inoculating ourselves against God and the truth of His word.  In effect, we begin the process of condemning ourselves into hell.  Read these words from Romans 2:

"Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,  who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: "

Pretty scary thing to allow our conscience to become seared and cling to our sin instead of turning and repenting and accepting  God's free offer of forgiveness. 

On the other hand, if we are then reviled for doing good, our accusers will be ashamed...that is, our good conscience will prick their seared consciences enough to perhaps make them want what you have.  Perhaps they will be pricked even enough to make them repent and turn away from evil to God.

It is better to suffer then for doing good, rather than doing evil.  We do not want to be a reproach to Christ and be reviled because we are acting in an un-Christlike manner towards others or are doing things that are in opposition to God's law.  These just serve to confirm in a sinner's heart that God's people are no different from them; that they are, in fact, hypocrites...professing something with their mouths but not believing it in their hearts so that it affects their behavior.  Aaaah...but when we suffer for doing good and take it willingly...this is what gets them thinking.  Look at the cross.  The Just One suffered for the unjust.  The greatest good the world has ever known came out of just this kind of suffering.  That is why we are to rejoice when we face persecution for naming the name of Christ.  What opportunities are ours then to react in a manner that honors Him before men.

Love
Mom

Give Me Jesus...

Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god; Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer,
Nor take up their names on my lips. O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance.--Psalm 16:4-6


Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,

The previous study we did on Psalm 16 spoke of the saints, the excellent ones on the earth.  These stand in stark contrast to those who run after other gods...the ungodly.  This verse brought my mind to Psalm 1 which speaks of the way of the righteous and the end of the ungodly.  Here it is:

¹ Blessed is the man

         Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

         Nor stands in the path of sinners,

         Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

 ² But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

         And in His law he meditates day and night.

 ³ He shall be like a tree

         Planted by the rivers of water,

         That brings forth its fruit in its season,

         Whose leaf also shall not wither;

         And whatever he does shall prosper.

     

 ⁴ The ungodly are not so,

         But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

 ⁵ Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,

         Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

     

 ⁶ For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,

         But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

What a contrast!  Girls, going after other gods, whatever they might be...however innocent they might seem will only increase your sorrow.  You eventually will become like what you worship and unless you are worshiping the Lord of the Universe, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, this will NOT BE A GOOD THING.

Jeremiah 10:14-16

"Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge; Every metalsmith is put to shame by an image; For his molded image is falsehood, And there is no breath in them.¹⁵ They are futile, a work of errors; In the time of their punishment they shall perish.¹⁶ The Portion of Jacob is not like them,  For He is the Maker of all things, And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; The LORD of hosts is His name."

Your idols cannot do a thing for you...in fact they will make you dull-hearted and without knowledge.  They are futile. Their end is destruction and you will become their essence.  God will eventually turn you over to your own desires.  Your foolish heart will become darkened. (Romans 1:19-25) Read, however, Jeremiah 10:16...here is the antidote for idol worship.  Here is its cure.  Let your Portion...your all in this world be Jesus Himself.  Do not compromise.  Become radically, completely and utterly devoted to Him and your joy will be full.

Lamentations 3:24  “ The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “ Therefore I hope in Him!”  The antidote to idol worship is to immerse yourself in Him and remember that it is in Him that you live and move and have your being.  How many times have you said to yourself..."if i just had or if this would just occur then I would be okay"...How many times?  Finally you go to where you should have gone at the outset...to the Lord and spend time with Him and return realizing that it really wasn't any of those things that were needed or were going to make it better...IT WAS HIM YOU WANTED...HE WAS WHAT WAS NEEDED.  The Lord doesn't just give me a portion...HE is my portion. He is the Becoming One...He becomes whatever we need.  In Him we find such satisfaction in our souls that nothing else matters.


Girls, may you never fool yourself in thinking that you can live after your own desires and that somehow the grace of God will make up for it or His love will cover it. God said, "Tear your heart, not your garments." He doesn't want an outward display. He wants an inward work in your heart and your total devotion to Him. If there are things you are putting before God even today...repent...stop...go in the other direction.  If your life is filled with an outward display but not much of an inward change...surrender to Him right now and ask Him to do that work in your heart.


Truly, if the Lord is my Portion and my cup then the lines have fallen to me in pleasant places...YES! I DO HAVE A GOOD INHERITANCE!!

Love
Mom

Sanctifying the Lord in Your Heart

And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?  But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. "AND DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THEIR THREATS, NOR BE TROUBLED." But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear--1 Peter 3:13-15


Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,

And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? Now as a general principle people do not suffer for doing good.  Proverbs 16:7 says that when a man's ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Romans 13:3 tells us that  rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.


Sometimes, however, people do suffer for righteousness sake.

Peter goes on in verse 14 quoting Jesus and says "But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed."   Happy are those who suffer because suffering helps us to hold loosely to the things of the world.  We begin more and more to look forward to heaven.  When a Christian does suffer persecution because of  loyalty to the Lord, the result is blessing.   God will use the suffering that the persecutor(s) meant for evil for His glory and for His purposes.  He will bless others through it and He will bless the one who is suffering.

Look to Jesus and the cross as the example. This was the greatest evil the world had ever known and yet God used it for His glory to conquer sin and death.  Jesus who knew no sin, became sin for us and suffered the penalty due us, who knew no righteousness. The blessed purpose of our Lord's sufferings were to enable us to make peace with God, and to bring us to eternal glory. Because of Jesus' humble obedience, God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  

Peter goes on now quoting Isaiah chapter 8 saying, "AND DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THEIR THREATS, NOR BE TROUBLED." But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear."

Here is the passage Peter is quoting from in Isaiah.

For the LORD spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:  "Do not say, 'A conspiracy,' Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. The LORD of hosts, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your fear, And let Him be your dread. He will be as a sanctuary, But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense To both the houses of Israel, As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.--Isaiah 8:11-14

Isaiah is instructed by God not to join this people in their fear of the conspiracy formed against them, but to trust the Lord alone saying that He will be as a sanctuary to those who rely on Him, but a stone of stumbling to all others.

Do you see what Peter is saying here by quoting these verses from Isaiah, girls?  The fear of the Lord should be your greatest fear and should overrule all of your other fears. It is Him you should hallow...let Him be your sanctuary. Rely on Him. Give Him the preeminence in your life.  Sanctify Him in your heart.  When Jesus is given preeminence in your life, you do not need to fear men or circumstances.  The worst thing that can be done to a believer is the killing of the body.  The Christian's enemy cannot harm their soul.  A believer is eternally secure.  He is kept by the power of God through faith for salvation.  If we suffer for righteousness sake, Jesus says we are blessed.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.--Matthew 5:10-12

We can see suffering and trial as opportunities for not only greater rewards both here and in heaven but also as occasions to share our faith...to give a defense or a reason for the hope that is in us.  The lives we live and the behavior we exhibit should back up this defense.  This kind of witness is especially helpful in a trial because it is in this kind of situation that most people become hopeless.  When you walk in  faith and hope in these types of situations, unbelievers pay attention.  You provoke them to jealously, so to speak, because they begin to want what you have.  When they ask, we are to respond meekly and with godly fear...speaking the truth to them in love and humility, not in arrogance or pride.

Sanctify God in your hearts, girls.  Live your life entirely for Him...want nothing but His will in your life. Walk by faith obeying his word...in spite of what the consequences might be.  Let Christ dominate every area of your life—As you sanctify Him in your heart your behavior will reverence and honor Him before men and be an encouragement for them to do the same.





Love
Mom

A Hymn of Faith

Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls—Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills.--Habakkuk 3:17-19

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla, 

Such a beautiful hymn of faith!  Such a profession of unwavering confidence in our God.  Verse 16 says that the prophet trembled when he heard of the judgment coming from the Babylonian invaders. But his solution was to rest in Him and wait on Him.  Habakkuk's fears took Him to God and it was in Him where he found rest.  It is in Him, girls, that we also find rest from the fears and sufferings of this world. Habakkuk's strength melted at the thought of what was to come.  God's strength is made perfect in weakness. Paul said this in 2nd Corinthians 12:9.

And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Habakkuk decided or purposed in his  heart to delight in God.  All that was predictable and normal in his world was collapsing. All that He knew might be gone but the Lord would remain. His God would not leave him nor forsake him.  Here is the point.  Habakkuk's desire was not for the things of this world or his own comfort and peace.  Habakkuk's desire was for God himself.  This was what made all the difference in his outlook.  Paul had spoken of this very thing in Philippians.

Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.--Philippians 4:11-13

The Lord was Paul's desire.  It was God in whom he rejoiced.  Trials show you where your heart is...there is no joy in a heart that does not know Jesus when they are abased and in need. There is nothing left here on earth for them and nothing to look forward to eternally. A person who has the living God in his heart can praise God for their salvation and rejoice and even sing like the apostle Paul during times of deep distress because he understands that this world is not his home. Our hope and our security are not here in this world but are in the person of Jesus Christ. It was and would be Habakkuk's faith in God that would sustain him and enable him to endure.  

Here is what Matthew Henry said about these verses:

"Thus the prophet, who began his prayer with fear and trembling, ends it with joy and triumph. And thus faith in Christ prepares for every event. The name of Jesus, when we can speak of Him as ours, is balm for every wound, a cordial for every care. It is as ointment poured forth, shedding fragrance through the whole soul. In the hope of a heavenly crown, let us sit loose to earthly possessions and comforts, and cheerfully bear up under crosses. Yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry; and where he is, we shall be also."

Love

Mom

 

 

 

Not Legalism But Christ...

Before doing anything outward, look inward at your relationship with your Lord...

Here is the best definition from Scripture of who a Christian is...

Philippians 3:3  For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
 
Christ alone is my grounds for boasting...there is nothing, nothing I can do in my flesh that would make me fit for heaven or help me to gain merit before God. 

The Christian attitude is that we have died to the flesh with all its passions and lusts, and from now on we live to the glory of God. We do this, not out of fear of punishment, but rather out of love to the One who gave Himself for us. A. T. Robertson put it well: “It is love that makes us really free to do right. Love makes the choice easy. Love makes the face of duty beautiful. Love makes it sweet to keep up with Christ. Love makes the service of goodness freedom.”

Colossians 2:11-23 speaks to this issue very succinctly. The emphasis (bolding) is mine in verses 20-23.


 Not Legalism but Christ

In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.  And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,  having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.  Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,  which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.  Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,  and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.

Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—  “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men?  These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

Here is the mystery..here are some of the most beautiful words in Scripture: 

The mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.  To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 

Christ in me...my hope of glory.  Biblical hope is sure and certain as if what you are waiting for had already occurred.  Christ indwells me...the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ is my  guarantee of future glory as well as to all other believers.   We have this treasure in our earthen vessel that the power is not of us but of Him.  


I will end with these words of Christ.


John 14:15-18  “If you love Me, keep My commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—  the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

^{1 John 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.}

 

Isaiah's Perks...by Anna

Isaiah 51:12-16 “I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die, and of the son of a man who will be made like grass? And you forget the Lord your Maker, who stretched out the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; you have feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he has prepared to destroy. And where is the fury of the oppressor? The captive exile hasten, that he may be loosed, that he should not die in the pit, and that his bread should not fail. But I am the Lord your God, who divided the sea whose waves roared—the Lord of hosts is His name. And I have put My words in your mouth; I have covered you with the shadow of My hand, that I may plant the heavens, lay the foundations of the earth, and say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”

Wow.
Just…wow.

Let me go over that again. (Wow.) No, that wasn’t what I wanted to go over... “I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die, and of the son of a man who will be made like grass?”

That was it!

When I read this, I was in my nightgown and comfortably ensconced within my covers, just about ready to call it a night and flop down on the pillow.

Guess what? The pillow stayed unflopped. Even in my nightgown, with no slippers, in a very old, very creaky, occasionally drafty house, I still wanted to commence with that impromptu jig I mentioned in an earlier devotional, and shout at the top of my (very off-key) voice for the world to hear that I didn’t have to be afraid. Ever again. EVER AGAIN.

Let me repeat that. (I’ve never been one for redundancy, but the Bible deserves to get a little awestruck repetition once in a while.)
EVER.
AGAIN.
(And of course, as before, whether or not I actually did that nightgown-clad jig is none of your business.)

That’s one of the biggest perks in this Christianity deal. We’re His children. We’re His sons and daughters. We belong to Him. (No “unclaimed” people here!) We are the children of the God and Creator of Heaven and Earth. We have unlimited access to His protection, His grace, His love, and His comfort. WE ARE HIS.
(I know I’m going a little overboard with the caps, but cut me some slack. I can’t exactly yell for joy via cyberspace, now can I? Don’t answer that.)

And what God is saying here—for about the fifty billionth time, just as patiently as He did the second and fifteenth times—is that we, as His children, as His beloved, don’t have to be afraid. He comforts us. He watches out for us. He never slumbers or sleeps. He is the shade at our right hand.
He’s also going in for a bit of wry teasing here, too. Note the contrast.

“I, EVEN I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die, and of the son of a man who will be made like grass?”

“Hello…oh, beloved children, please pay attention…I’m here for you…I died for you...c’mon, you’re afraid of that puny guy who I made and whose father I made and whose grandfather I made and whose great-great-great grandfather I made? I know it might seem like he’s all-powerful down there, it might seem to your mortal eyes that he holds your life in his hands…BUT HE DOESN’T. I do. And I love you, I always have and always will, and I am in complete control of your situation.”

C’mon. God and Creator and Savior of Heaven and Earth vs. tiny little guy over there in the corner that He knows inside and out, backwards and forwards, who He created in the first place.

Which one are you betting on? I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna go for the obvious. At least while I still have my senses. (In a few minutes after I step away from this keyboard, I’ll be back to my thickheaded ways again…sigh. Keep reminding me, God!)

How to Love Life According to 1 Peter 3:8-12

 1 Peter 3:8-12  Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous, not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.  For


      “ He who would love life
      And see good days,
       Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
      And his lips from speaking deceit.
        Let him turn away from evil and do good;
       Let him seek peace and pursue it.        
       For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
       And His ears are open to their prayers;
      But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,


Been spending some time meditating a bit on these verses.  There is so much here. So many marvelous truths.  How do we love life and see good days?  It is right here in these verses.   Peter is summing up the whole section that began in 1 Peter 2 with verse 11.  This is where the Apostle began a discussion of how we, as Christians, are to relate in the society in which they live.


Verse 11 of Chapter 2 says "You're aliens and strangers...You're in a war not only against the soul but a war against the society around you and you must keep your behavior excellent among the pagans."  Peter went on to talk about three social relationships which demand godly living...citizens, employees and mates. Peter exhorts us to live out pure, godly lives...to live specifically in an evangelistic way before the world so that we glorify God in these relationships and we bring other people to the point where they will glorify Him in their day of visitation.  Visitation here means in the day of judgment.  In the day of judgment, then, they will face God redeemed and will not suffer His wrath.  It means you live your life in such a way as to bring others to Christ. It is living in accordance with God's will rather than self-will. That is the bottom line of living the good life.  How to do this is a paradox as it always is living for Jesus.  It is living opposite of how the world lives.


The first thing we are to do to live this way and heap not only blessings on ourselves but on others is to live with the right heart attitude.  The right heart attitude will be one of love.  Love is where it all begins.  The love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts will be made manifest in our dealings with others.

It will be evidenced by our like mindedness with other believers. There will be a harmony with God's people.   A unity of mind and a working together  for the purpose of doing the will of God here on earth. 

The right attitude also involves putting on of brotherly love and compassion for those God has placed in your lives...everyone..not just fellow Christians. It is so easy to become hard-hearted in this world. We are constantly bombarded with bad news and evil.  It is easier just to insulate ourselves from all of it.  It hurts to love.  It hurts to open up your heart.  This is, however, what God wants us to do.  We are to be actively compassionate, and lovingly concerned towards one another.  We are to love as brothers...sharing one another's joys and sorrows.  We are members of the same family.  When one hurts, the others should also.  When one is joyful, the others should be also.

Our hearts will be tender towards others...feeling their pain and sympathizing with them in an active way.  The right heart attitude also involves being courteous which means simply that you will be meek, humble and put others and their needs ahead of your own.

Peter goes on in verse 9 and exhorts us not to retaliate in kind when someone offends us or does evil toward us.  The right response then if we want to love life and see good days is not to return evil for evil or reviling for reviling but to respond with blessing.  Girls, the bible speaks to this very thing in so many many places.  God truly wanted us to hear this message and He exampled it mightily in His Son.  Returning good for evil goes so much against our flesh which almost always wants very much to respond with even greater evil.  If we want to obey our God, however, we will respond with blessings.  This CANNOT be done in our own strength. It must be done by the power of His Spirit working in our hearts.

When we do respond with blessing to evil done against us, oh, what blessings are ours. I can only describe the heart feeling that comes when I heap a blessing on someone who is not out for my good like this.  Think of when the Grinch's heart grew...that is how it feels...your chest expands...you can breathe easier.  You relax.  and your shoulders come down. You let go of something you didn't need and your whole body feels lighter somehow.  Joy has entered our heart and our capacity to love has been expanded!  What a lifting of the veil occurs as we see Jesus and what He has done for us then so much more clearly in our own hearts.  We begin to understand  the love that He wants us to show to others. We see the "self" that we need to die to. God operates with us on the basis of mercy...if it were not for His mercy all of us would be consumed and die in our sins. Returning evil for good is satanic.  Returning good for good or evil for evil is human.  Returning good for evil is divine.

We are to respond divinely as Jesus did.  "For you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing."  I LOVE this statement. You were called, that's your election to salvation,  for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.  Your  election...your salvation is a free undeserved, unmerited gift from God.  You have been freely given and are to freely give in return.  Instead of wrath and vengeance from God for your sin and offense, He has given you mercy, salvation and abundant blessings in Him.  We should know then very well how to show mercy and give blessings to those that have offended us.  If we do not do this, then we are not even close to being aware of what we have been delivered from and blessed with. We should be jumping at the opportunity to bless someone else with the undeserved, unmerited free gift of forgiveness that we ourselves received from God. 


1 Peter 2:21-23 puts it this way: "For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:  "WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH"; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;"

We are to depend on Him knowing that it is His battle and that the ONLY way to overcome evil is with good. Leave the vengeance and retaliation to Him.  He suffers long but as my pastor says, "do not mistake the longsuffering of God for indifference".  The time of judgment will come.  Our weapons are not carnal but spiritual...mighty in God.  We are to depend on prayer and His power. The greatest evil was overcome by the greatest goodness the world has ever seen...the death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary.

How would this look practically?  Pray for your enemy...for their salvation or their spiritual growth.  Pray for their desire and for their well-being.  Speak well of them. Be thankful for them. Bless them with an act of service. Again, none of these can be done outside of the Spirit of God working in your heart as you surrender yourself to Him.

Peter goes on in verse 10 quoting Psalm 34 to support the exhortations he gave in verses 8 and 9. He tells us to do these things  because Scripture tells us to do them.  Scripture is the standard. The first thing we are to do is to deliberately decide to love life. To love life is not usually spoken of well in Scripture. It is condemned in John 12:25, but there it means to living according to self-will. Here it means to live in the way God intended.
Warren Wiersbe puts it this way:

"This is an act of the will: “He who wills to love life.” It is an attitude of faith that sees the best in every situation. It is the opposite of the pessimistic attitude expressed in Ecclesiastes2:17 : “Therefore I hated life . . . for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.” We can decide to endure life and make it a burden, escape life as though we were running from a battle, or enjoy life because we know God is in control. Peter was not suggesting some kind of unrealistic psychological gymnastics that refused to face facts. Rather, he was urging his readers to take a positive approach to life and by faith make the most of every situation."

I really like that...by faith making the most of every situation. Seeing life that way will give us a purpose in every moment of every day despite what we are facing. Living for Him is the only way to do this.

Next, it tells us to keep our tongue from evil and our lips from speaking guile or lies.  The Word, tells us this in many places.  The first 12 verses of James chapter 3 talk about the evil of the tongue.  The mouth speaks out of the abundance of what is in your heart, girls.  You can find out much about yourself and others from their speech. James says that if a man does not stumble in word he is perfect able to bridle the whole body. We are to refrain from speaking evil of anyone and avoid lying...we are to be committed to the truth and giving back good for evil with our tongues.

Peter speaks of the things that need to be eliminated if you want to love life and see good days. We are to be committed to turning away from evil and doing good and we are to seek peace and pursue it. The good life then is in rejecting evil and doing good. It is not in doing our own thing. It is in doing good...that which is excellent.  Next we are to seek peace and pursue it.
 
John MacArthur says that the word for seeking is the strongest verb, zeteo. He is to seek peace with all his might..  Pursue peace means to hunt it. It should be remembered here that Peter is writing to people who are living in a world that is hostile towards them.  There are people surrounding them looking to speak evil of them, discredit them, and really just make their life miserable. He is writing to people who are or will be shortly, under persecution that will threaten their very lives. Even under the most extreme circumstances, then,  we are to respond as God tells us to in His word.  The Word of God tells us not to respond in our humanity to offenses, but to respond in Him, divinely.  We are to do everything we can to live in unity with compassion and brotherly love towards one another.  We are not to return evil for evil but are to return a blessing for evil done to us. We are to guard our tongue from evil and lips from lying.  We are to shun evil and do good.  We are to seek peace and pursue it and all of this we are to do despite the provocation.  Christians are to live like this. John MacArthur puts it this way.  Christians should be the greatest blessing in any culture. The whole world was blessed in Jesus Christ.  We are those who are the peacemakers.

Last verse taken from Psalm 34 verse 15 and 16.  Here is our motivation.  For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.” Our motivation is that God is watching.  He is watching.  The Lord sees and that is a good incentive to do all those things. Accountability is a good thing, but the Lord is not just watching for the purpose of judgment or chastisement but His purpose is a gracious one. God is omniscient.  He observes us and is aware of every detail of our lives. God is looking at us and what we are doing so that He might listen and respond to our prayers.  I don't know about you but I want to live my life in a way that the Lord is waiting and watching to answer my cry and provide for my needs.  I want to live in a way that honors Him and all that He has done for me.  I want to live before my fellow man in a way that they will see Jesus and turn from their ways to His.  I have been forgiven so much and I so want others to have the treasure that I have in this earthen vessel of mine...Christ the hope of glory.

Love
Mom

Like A Weaned Child

 A Song of Ascents. Of David. 

LORD, 

my heart is not haughty, Nor my eyes lofty. 

Neither do I concern myself with great matters, 

Nor with things too profound for me.

  Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, 

Like a weaned child with his mother;

Like a weaned child is my soul within me.  

O Israel, hope in the LORD From this time forth and forever.
Psalm 131

Dear Girls,

I love this one.  It is so short and yet full of such wisdom.  Like the psalmist, I want to be like a weaned child that crawls up on his beloved's lap and is content with just resting his head against him. He is satisfied in their presence and does not concern himself with matters that are too weighty for him.  He knows he doesn't understand much or have all the answers. He seeks only to rest in his mother or his father's arms knowing they do.

A child in the process of weaning is discontented and irritable. We are often the same way in the midst of a difficulty. What we need to remember in our times of trial is that our hope is in the Lord and that in His presence is fullness of joy. A weaned child no longer comes to you fretting, gesturing and demanding to be satisfied but cuddles and rests quietly against you.  He can't figure it all out and doesn't want to figure it all out.  He just trusts that you know the way that he takes and will get him where he needs to go.  Our Father in Heaven has given us such a beautiful picture here of what it means to abide and surrender.  Let Him hold you....let Him direct your steps...He's got it figured out...trust Him.  Abide. Wait on Him.

Love

Mom

Psalm 91

Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God

 ¹ He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
         Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
 ² I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
         My God, in Him I will trust.”
     
 ³ Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler^[a]
         And from the perilous pestilence.
 ⁴ He shall cover you with His feathers,
         And under His wings you shall take refuge;
         His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
 ⁵ You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
         Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
 ⁶ Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
         Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
     
 ⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
         And ten thousand at your right hand;
         But it shall not come near you.
 ⁸ Only with your eyes shall you look,
         And see the reward of the wicked.
     
 ⁹ Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,
         Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
 ¹⁰ No evil shall befall you,
         Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
 ¹¹ For He shall give His angels charge over you,
         To keep you in all your ways.
 ¹² In their hands they shall bear you up,
         Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
 ¹³ You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
         The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
     
 ¹⁴ “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
         I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
 ¹⁵ He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
         I will be with him in trouble;
         I will deliver him and honor him.
 ¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him,
         And show him My salvation.”

Weakness is a Gift!

Psalm 13

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

 ¹ How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?
         How long will You hide Your face from me?
 ² How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
         Having sorrow in my heart daily?
         How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
       
 ³ Consider and hear me, O LORD my God;
         Enlighten my eyes,
         Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
 ⁴ Lest my enemy say,
         “I have prevailed against him”;
         Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
       
 ⁵ But I have trusted in Your mercy;
         My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
 ⁶ I will sing to the LORD,
         Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

 Dear Girls,

I read Psalm 13 last night feeling grief for circumstances in my life that I have no power to change.  As I meditated on it and read it, I immediately began to cry out to Him and like David, my heart attitude was changed.  What a beautiful picture of prayer it is and the ability it has to change us.  In six short verses David goes from feeling forgotten by God to trusting in His mercy, rejoicing in His salvation and remembering how bountifully He has been dealt with by God.

I wrote recently in another study that the blessing is always in the doing NOT in the talking about the doing.  I so often talk about praying and crying out to Him in my distress but what I do instead is put it off by doing other things.  Avoiding my distress and trying to carry on in my own strength. Last night it was laundry, and the end of the day stuff that I used to avoid going up to my room earlier to spend time Him and His word, which is what my heart truly needed.  My own pride and maybe fear of losing control in my grief and not keeping up with all that needs to be done, keeps me from Him and His blessings!

Our whole attitude, though, can be changed just by crying out to Him in faith...that is how we access His grace.  That is when we obtain mercy and help in our time of need.  It is in the crying out...It is in the dependence on Him and Him alone.  I don't even need to go up in my room...He is always with me.  I am going to memorize the words of Psalm 13 and carry them around in my heart as a treasure...so I can take them out and meditate on them when in need.  Weakness is such a wonderful gift from the Lord because it drives us to our knees and draws us to Him in a way that nothing else can.  As we draw near and spend time with Him we leave His presence radiant...having been given that gift that no one can take away.

It really is that simple, girls. No matter how overwhelming the feeling or the situation, we as believers can just pull away for a moment and pray and our Lord will meet us there. Talk to Him, question Him, pray Scripture...lay it all out before Him. You will come away changed.

Love
Mom

GOOD MORNING LORD!

My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You,  And I will look up.--Psalm 5:3

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna, and Mikayla,

For me this is the very best part of any day...the morning...the time I spend with Him always...each and every day with my bible and my coffee.  I love to begin my day before my feet even hit the floor committing myself and my day to Him.  I lie there and think about how good He is and ask Him to lift the light of His countenance on me.  He then puts gladness in my heart.  I can have the glory of the Lord shining on me...reflecting off of me.  His presence and His glory in my life make all the difference in the world. They also make a difference to those around me..His light in me (in you) lights up the darkness in the lives of  those He has placed in your life.   I look to Him and am radiant...even at 5:30 in the morning.  I have Him dwelling in this cracked pot...this earthen vessel.  He is working out His purposes and His plans for my life.  I am going to spend eternity with Him. I could go on....

When I am ready to get up, I say, "Here I am Lord, use me as you desire today...guide my words and my steps always in Your ways. Hedge me behind and before.  Make me sensitive to your voice as I go about my day.  I am always reminded then that I am not my own. I was bought with a price...the blood of God's precious Son.  My life is to be lived for Him and Him alone.  He is my hope in this dark world.  I can rejoice and be glad because He performs all things for me and makes perfect all things that concern me.  The Lord is my Shepherd I have everything I need.

Chuck Smith says there are two kinds of people.  Those who begin there day by saying "GOOD LORD" it's morning and those who say GOOD MORNING, LORD!  

Love
Mom who is a GOOD MORNING, LORD! kinda person.

It's All For Good - Romans 8:28 by Jon Courson

It's All for Good by Jon Courson

A Topical Study of Romans 8:28
 
There are certain things we don't know. For example, we don't know how a honeybee can fly. You see, theoretically, the wings of a honeybee are too short and too light to support him when he is carrying pollen. It's an aerodynamic impossibility for a honeybee to fly when he's loaded with pollen. But guess what. Honeybees fly even when loaded with pollen. Certain things we don't know—things as simple as the flight of a bee.
There are some things we can't know—things like the day or hour of the Rapture (Mat_25:13), or who will be in heaven (Mat_13:24-30).
 
There are several things we should know. "Don't be ignorant," admonished Paul, "concerning the second coming (see 1Th_4:13), spiritual gifts (see 1 Corinthians 12), and Satan's devices" (see 2Co_2:11).
And there are some things we truly do know…

The Promise Given to Us
 
In our text, Paul doesn't say, "You should know that all things work together for good." He doesn't say, "I want you to know all things work together for good." He says, "You already know that all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose."
 
How do we know this?
"Because this verse is in the Word," you answer. "Therefore, it must be true."
All right. But what about those in Rome to whom Paul was writing? They had never heard of Rom_8:28. How, then, could Paul assume they knew its truth?

The Price Paid for Us

Look down a few verses to verse Rom_8:32: "God spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for you and me." If He loved you enough to send His Son to be slaughtered in your stead to pay the price for your sin, don't you know God will do what's good for you continually? When I begin to doubt the love of God, or wonder if things are really working together for good, all I need to do is look to Calvary and see Jesus there dying for me.

The Peace Within Us
 
God's goodness was known and understood by Old Testament saints long before the Cross of Calvary. How? Because, deep within their hearts, in the midst of tragedy, in the face of difficulty, all those who love God know that all things are truly working together for good.
 
There is a man in the Old Testament who did this very thing. His name is Jacob, and this part of his story is found in Genesis 42. Jacob had twelve sons. Although he loved them all, number eleven was especially dear to him. His name? Joseph. You recall the story…
 
Jacob gave Joseph a "coat of many colors," or, more accurately, "a coat with big sleeves." You see, in those days, laborers wore vests without sleeves in order that their arms could be unrestricted. But the bosses—the head honchos—wore coats with sleeves, which served as lunchboxes or briefcases because they kept important documents and/or food in them. Joseph's big sleeves made his brothers so jealous that they threw him into a pit, where they were going to leave him to die—until one of the brothers suggested they could make some money if they sold him as a slave. So sell him they did, after which they smeared blood all over his coat and took it to Jacob, saying, "Bad news, Dad. Joseph was eaten by wild animals."
Meanwhile, through an incredible series of events, Joseph became prime minister of Egypt—second in command only to Pharaoh himself. When famine hit Israel, Jacob called his sons together and said, "I've heard there's a man in Egypt who has food. Go ask him if we can buy some grain." So his sons, ten in number, appeared before the prime minister, whom they didn't recognize.
"Why are you here?" asked Joseph.
"We're here to buy grain, Your Highness."
"I think you're lying," said Joseph. "I think you've come to spy out the land."
"No," insisted his brothers. "We're brothers. In fact, there were twelve of us originally—but one of our brothers is dead, and our youngest brother is at home."
"If that's true," countered Joseph, "go bring your youngest brother to me. That will validate your story. Meanwhile you, Simeon, will stay in prison until the youngest one is brought back."
The nine went back home, taking the grain with them that Joseph had given them. The famine grew worse, and soon they were out of food once more. "Go back to Egypt," Jacob said.
"We can't go back unless we take Benjamin," said the brothers.
Watch what Jacob said in verse Gen_42:36: "Me have ye bereaved of my children; Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me," or literally, "all is working against me."
• What does Romans 8 say?
"All things work for good."
• What is Jacob declaring?
"Everything is working against me. My son, Simeon, is a hostage. My son Joseph is dead. And my son Benjamin is soon to disappear."
Jacob was completely wrong about what had happened: Joseph wasn't dead. As a matter of fact, he was in perfect health. And Jacob was wrong about what would happen: Benjamin would return, and Simeon would be released.

"Doesn't what Jacob said disprove your premise that everyone who loves God knows innately that everything is working out for good?" you ask.

Even though Jacob said, "Everything is against me," I suggest to you deep down inside, he didn't believe it.

Why?

Read the next chapter. Knowing Jacob, if he really believed Benjamin would die in Egypt, he would not have allowed Benjamin to go. Clever, cunning Jacob would have figured out another way. But his sending Benjamin proves he didn't really believe everything was working out negatively for him.

The story continues…

The brothers return to Egypt and appear before Joseph with Benjamin in tow. "I'm the brother you put in a pit, the one you sold into slavery," announced Joseph. And the brothers fell at his feet in fear. "Don't fear," he said. Although you meant evil against me, God meant it for good" (see Gen_50:20).

Joseph said, "Everything you did to me was part of a plan, so don't worry." And he spoke kindly to them and showed great love toward them.

Here's the question: How do I react to difficulty? Am I like Jacob, saying, "All things are working against me. How can this be happening to me? What good is going to come out of this tragedy"—even though I know in my heart that such is not the case? Or am I like Joseph, saying, "Man may have meant this for evil, but God meant it for good"?

Unfortunately, all too often I choose the sniveling of Jacob rather than the security of Joseph. Why? To elicit sympathy. My flesh is terribly ugly, and one of the things that makes it that way is my desire for you to feel sorry for me. What is it about our flesh that wants people to think we have it harder than anyone else? While that may seem an insignificant quirk, in reality it borders on blasphemy because in getting you to feel sorry for me, I get you to question God's goodness, provision, and protection in my life. Thus, your pity for me is at God's expense.

Who am I going to be? Am I going to be self-indulgent and allow God to be cast in a bad light—even though I know in my heart the promise given to me, the price paid for me, the peace available for me? Am I going to deny all of that and say, "I want you to feel sorry for me. Listen to my tragedy"? Or am I going to say, "I will not dishonor this good, gracious, loving God who has been so kind to me, who has been so good to me. Therefore, I will not bring shame to His name in eliciting sympathy from anyone"?

That is called the fear of the Lord. It's respect. It's reverence. It's saying, "Father, I care more about Your reputation than I do about getting sympathy from the congregation. I don't want them to think questioningly, negatively, or blasphemously of You."

What is the fear of God? The fear of God means you're so in love with God that you are afraid of doing anything that would hurt Him. Oh, that we would be those who say, "We fear God. We will not snivel. God is good and we know in our hearts deep within us that all things are working together for good"?
Does this mean we're not to sympathize with others when they're going through difficulties?

While the Bible does, indeed, say we are to weep with those who weep (Rom_12:15), what does it actually mean? Whenever you want to know what a verse or concept means, look at Jesus Christ who was the Word made flesh.

"Come quickly, Lord. The one whom thou lovest is sick," pleaded Martha and Mary (Joh_11:3). Four days later, when Jesus finally arrived, Martha greeted Him, saying, "Where were You?"

Do you ever hear yourself talking like that? Do you ever hear yourself saying, "The bills are stacking up; my marriage is falling apart, my health is breaking down—where's the Lord?"

After Martha came Mary. "Lord," she cried, "if only You had been here, our brother would not have died." Seeing her weep, Jesus wept. Why? Was it because Lazarus died? No. Jesus knew Lazarus would soon be called back from the dead. He wasn't weeping for Lazarus. He was weeping because Mary didn't get it.
In Luke 19, we read of Jesus weeping again—this time over the city of Jerusalem.

As the multitude shouted, "Hosanna! Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord," Jesus wept over the city. Why? Because of the people's failure to understand that He came to give them spiritual salvation, not a political solution.

The third time Jesus spoke of weeping was in Luke 23.

His back was beaten, His face swollen, and a crown of thorns was smashed into His skull, as He stumbled down the Via Dolorosa up to a hill called Calvary. To the women weeping along the way He said, "Don't weep for Me. Weep for yourselves because you don't understand what lies ahead for this city" (see verses Luk_23:28-29).

When I see Jesus weeping, I am amazed because He never weeps for Himself. He only weeps when other people don't understand. Here, then, is the question: Thinking you're being compassionate, are you one who constantly weeps with others? Perhaps what we need in the Christian community during this time of self-centered Christianity are men and women who say, "I fear God. Dear brother, even if you don't understand—precious sister, even if you think this is cold-hearted or lacking compassion, you know that this difficulty or this tragedy will work for good. Stand on that knowledge. Cling to it. I will weep for you if you don't get it. But I'm not going to weep with you as you question God and snivel. He's too good for that. Righteous and true are His judgments (Psa_19:9). Whatever He does will prove to be excellent. And I will stand on that."

May God give us wisdom. May God give us peace. May God give us understanding. All things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose.
I know this to be true. So do you.

Who are We Listening to?

While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”--Matthew 17:5

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna, and Mikayla,

I have always loved the Father's response to Peter in this.  The Lord had taken Peter, James and John up on the mountain and at the top was transfigured before them.  His face, the bible tells us, shone like the sun and His clothes became as white as light. Moses and Elijah also appeared to them, talking with Him.   Peter was obviously deeply moved by all of this and wanted to forever memorialize the moment by constructing three tabernacles...one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. Now to Peter's credit he did put Christ first, but He did not give Him pre-eminence.  The Lord Jesus is above all...The Bible tells us that while Peter was still speaking the Father spoke from heaven.  "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Hear Him!"  The disciples heard Him and fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.  Methinks our Father wanted to make a point.  Jesus is the revelation of God. God has spoken to us in many ways...through the Law, the prophets and was now speaking through His Son.  (See Hebrews 1.) It is Him that our Father wants us to hear.    When you truly understand who Jesus is, the only response is to obey Him and fall down on your face in worship.

John recalls this moment on the mountain when the veil was lifted in John 1:14 saying  “And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth”  Jesus laid aside this glory when He came to earth for us...at His resurrection He received it back again and now shares it with us.  As we behold Him in His word and look to Him we are transformed into His image.  What a gift!  What a beautiful promise...what a beautiful picture is in this verse.

2 Corinthians 3:18  But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 

Hear Him...put Him first in your life.

Love
Mom

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