In all thy ways acknowledge Him

If you are needing encouragement, zip over to:

Sometimes it rains, by Cherry


....With tears of weariness ...running down my face, I wrote to my daughter yesterday stating:

"I don't need a doctor. I don't need studies and surgeries. I need something beautiful. I need rain. I need blossoms on the lilac bushes we have nurtured along all these years. I need a deep breath of the air that is heavy, yet happily, laden with life-giving water.  Ah, Lord, show us life, give us life...abundant life..."

 

An hour after writing this, it began to rain...and it is still raining...

...His answer has been, Proverbs 3:6 "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

 

His eye is on the sparrow...His eye is on His people.  He knows and He cares.  In this I rest and seek to glorify His Holy Name...   

...Sometimes the rain doesn't come.  Sometimes we are healed from physical or emotional ailments, sometimes we must wait for healing.  Whatever the case, I know I can rely on Him to be by my side always.  Come what may, I pray to be found praising His Name.

Thank you, Cherry, for your precious encouraging words pointing us right to the Father and leading us humbly to His feet.

God is an unending Fountain of Grace

You have been faithful when I have been faithless,

Oh unending Fountain of Grace

For ever giving when I have been selfish,

Oh unending Fountain of Grace

Still the beginning of all that is holy

Unsearchable ancient of days

I kneel before You and offer this vessel,

Oh unending Fountain of Grace

You were the constant when I chose to wander,

Oh, unending Fountain of Grace

You were forgiveness when I cried for mercy,

Oh, unending Fountain of Grace

You are the Author of all that is finished,

I owe You my life and my praise

I kneel before You

And offer this vessel,

Oh unending Fountain of Grace

Pour out the water of life on this vessel,

Oh unending Fountain of Grace

Twila Paris

 

His Marvelous Grace covers us

5 LORD, Your faithful love reaches to heaven,

Your faithfulness to the clouds.

6 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains;

Your judgments, like the deepest sea.

LORD, You preserve man and beast.

7 God, Your faithful love is so valuable

that people take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.

8 They are filled from the abundance of Your house;

You let them drink from Your refreshing stream,

9 for with You is life’s fountain.

In Your light we will see light.

10 Spread Your faithful love over those who know You,

and Your righteousness over the upright in heart.

Psalm 36:5-10

Have you forsaken your first love?

This is for all of you dear ones who are wandering, hurting, searching, disillusioned, weary, wounded, battle-scarred, drifting, seeking, confused, fearful, overwhelmed, waiting, angry, floundering, grieving, full of bitterness....

Revelations 2:3-5a
3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.

Dear Ones….I write to encourage you to fervently seek after your first love…Jesus Christ.

He is the One and Only who has taken away the sins of the world.  As His handmaiden He has taken away your past, present, and future sins.  He sees everything from the beginning to infinity, but He chooses to not look at or remember your sins.   He showers you with His mercies everyday.  You have been set free from the slavery of your sins!  

Jesus Christ was your first love, but now through whatever has been happening in your life recently or for an extended period of time, you have slipped farther away from your precious relationship with Him.  He seems distant, different.  You are allowing the world to sweep you into wrong thinking, and you are not following Him with all your heart.   Since then you have allowed doubts to creep in to your thinking which now compound the reasons you slipped away from your relationship with Him.

There is a way to renew your relationship and your fervor.  Run to Him!  Humble yourselves before Him!  He is still there with you, waiting for you to come to Him.   He is your safety and your spacious place.   You can trust in Him.

I will rejoice and be glad in Your faithful love

because You have seen my affliction.

You have known the troubles of my life

and have not handed me over to the enemy.

You have set my feet in a spacious place.

Psalm 31:7-8

Get into His word and saturate yourself with His truth.  The best is yet to be with Him.

Father we are here

We feel your Spirit. Bringing us nearer

Your face is suddenly clearer.

Than all the world surrounding

As You increase Lord

We become less

Your creation living to bless You

Oh Father we are here

Twila Paris

O Church, Arise

O church, arise and put your armor on;
Hear the call of Christ our captain;
For now the weak can say that they are strong
In the strength that God has given.
With shield of faith and belt of truth
We'll stand against the devil's lies;
An army bold whose battle cry is "Love!"
Reaching out to those in darkness.

Our call to war, to love the captive soul,
But to rage against the captor;
And with the sword that makes the wounded whole
We will fight with faith and valour.
When faced with trials on every side,
We know the outcome is secure,
And Christ will have the prize for which He died---
An inheritance of nations.

Come, see the cross where love and mercy meet,
As the Son of God is stricken;
Then see His foes lie crushed beneath His feet,
For the Conqueror has risen!
And as the stone is rolled away,
And Christ emerges from the grave,
This victory march continues till the day
Every eye and heart shall see Him.

So Spirit, come, put strength in every stride,
Give grace for every hurdle,
That we may run with faith to win the prize
Of a servant good and faithful.
As Saints of old still line the way,
Retelling triumphs of His grace,
We hear their calls and hunger for the day
When, with Christ, we stand in glory.

Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

October Baby: the movie

October Baby finally came to our area and so we went to see it today. 

The worst part of our movie time were the previews for the movies that will be coming to the theater in the future.  No, really...do we have to be so offended before we see the movie we actually paid to see?

***I am beginning to understand why so many people like Netflix***

OctoberBaby was a serious story which I feel was done well no matter what the reviews may say.   Go now to watch it or wait for Netflix or rentals in order avoid the trashy previews.

Gianna Jessen, with her own miraculous survival story is a joy to hear as she can glorify God in wonderful, precious ways as she encourages everyone to enjoy life and praise God for it.

Women...let us all remember that each of us are saved by God's marvelous grace. 

As His daughters, let us show His grace and His mercy as we reach out to others in our lives.  Let us be His hands and His feet to the wounded and hurt.  This evil world is full---and even more full as time races on--- of wounded, damaged, hurt people.  People like you and me used to be, who need kind words; words of encouragement and words of a Savior who can pull anyone who desires to be pulled out of the pit they have dug, no matter how deep it has become.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone practicing homosexuality,  no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom. 

And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

We must live our lives to glorify God's name--- for look what He has saved us from!  And so let's continue to be His handmaidens doing next things for Him as we express love to those who are woven into our lives.

Romans 12 List

1.    Present yourself as a living sacrifice for God.
2.    Do not be like this evil world; Be transformed.
3.    Do not think you are better than others.
4-8. Many parts are in the human body w/many
      functions.  It is the same way in the Christian Body
      of Believers.  Each of us have our gifts and jobs...so
      do your gifts and jobs heartily for God.
9.    Love w/out hypocrisy; detest evil; cling to what is good.
10.  Always show family affection to others in the Body.
11.  Serve God fevently.
12.  Rejoice in hope; patient in trials; persistant in prayer.
13.  Share w/the saints; be hospitable.
14.  Bless and do not curse those who persecute you.
15.  Rejoice w/those who rejoice; Weep w/those who weep.
16.  Do not be proud; associate w/the humble.
17.  Be honorable; Do not repay evil for evil.
18.  Live at peace w/everyone, if possible.
19.  Do not avenge yourself. Vengeance belongs to God.
20.  Kindness and compassion towards your enemy; God will get their attention.
21.  *Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.* 

Romans 12 

Christ the Lord is ris’n today. Alleluia!

Christ the Lord is ris’n today. Alleluia!

Sons of men and angels say: Alleluia!

Raise your joys and triumphs high. Alleluia!

Sing, ye heav’ns, and earth, reply: Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King. Alleluia!

Where, O death, is now they sting? Alleluia!

Dying once, He all doth save. Alleluia!

Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done. Alleluia!

Fought the fight, the battle won. Alleluia!

Death in vain forbids Him rise. Alleluia!

Christ has opened paradise. Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ has led. Alleluia!

Foll’wing our exalted Head. Alleluia!

Made like Him, like Him we rise. Alleluia!

Ours the cross, the grave, the skies. Alleluia!

Charles Wesley.

Hat tip to The Watchman's Bagpipes.

God's creation up close and personal

If you are feeling small, unimportant, and full of anxiety perhaps you need a reminder of how much God loves you.

Matthew 6:25-34
“This is why I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 
Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Aren’t you worth more than they? 
Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? 
And why do you worry about clothes?   Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. 
Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these!  If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you—you of little faith? 
So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 
For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. 
Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.


The birds of the sky...

One place you can watch part of God's creation is the Decorah Bald Eagles .   It is fascinating to have an up close and personal view of something that was not seen before these modern times.  Let your self contemplate how God created living things to tend to their offspring etc. and then how much more He loves we who were made in His image.

If He cares so much for little tiny baby birds and great big grown up birds...how much more does He care about you?


Matthew 10:29
Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s consent. 
But even the hairs of your head have all been counted. 
So don’t be afraid therefore; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Contemplate on how He actually loves you and glorify His name.  He is worthy to be praised!

Exercising Faith

Regardless of the cause, troubles are the earthly gymnasium that exercises our heavenly faith. In the crucible of adversity, God is looking for faith in His goodness, His sovereignty, His plan, His love, His grace.

Charles Stanley

Dwell on the Gladness

Life is too short

to dwell on my sorrows,

to harbour my grudges

in bitter tomorrows.

Life is too short

to dwell on my pain,

to play and re-play

some vengeful refrain.

Life is too sweet

to waste precious minutes

in nursing resentment,

self-righteousness in it.

Then, let me not dwell

on life's sorrow and sadness,

O Lord, let me think

 of life's blessings, with gladness!

Nancy Neff Dostie

Absolutely Incomparable Glory

Praising God for my dear Norma, who received her Crown of Life!  Thank you, LORD, for weaving her into my life.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Therefore we do not give up.  Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day.  For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.  So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Trusting God in the dark

Trusting God in the dark when you doubt, when you do not understand, when you are ready to crumble at any moment, is the stamp of true faith.  It rests on the faithfulness of God.  You can trust Him because He is trustworthy.  You can depend on Him because He is dependable.
Charles Stanley

As political as I get