The Joys Which Earth Cannot Afford

May the grace of Christ our Savior


and the Father's boundless love,


with the Holy Spirit's favor,


rest upon us from above.


Thus may we abide in union


with each other and the Lord,


and possess, in sweet communion,


joys which earth cannot afford.


Amen.

-John Newton

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When you feel like you have a heavy load to bear: You could try the Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe

A better recommendation would be 

the LORD God Almighty.

Life, in general, is difficult to say the least. 

Add any kind of pressure and it is hard!

I could list the many things we all must deal with,

many are just because in this fallen world.

Many rotten things are our own faults because we are sinners.

Many are because of other sinners in our lives or in the world.

A mature person will realise soon enough that much of what

seems to make "heavy loads" in our lives 
can not be "fixed"by us. 

We must deal with the troubles, 

we must live with the problems, 

sometimes live miserably in the muck.

There is a solution, 

a "Someone" who can help us 
through life at anytime, anywhere.

He is not a genie, wizard, charlaton...

He is the God of the Bible. 

No matter what you have heard,

what you have felt,

what you have seen or believed 

the God of the Bible 
is completely real.
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Matthew 11:28-29
 “Come to Me, 
all who are weary 
and heavy-laden, 
and I will give you rest.

Take My yoke upon you 
and learn from Me, 
for I am gentle 
and humble in heart, 
and you will find 
rest for your souls.

For My yoke is easy 
and My burden is light.”
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God is the I AM

Exodus 3:13-14
Then Moses said to God, 

“Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, 
and I will say to them,

‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ 

Now they may say to me, 

‘What is His name?’ 

What shall I say to them?” 

God said to Moses, 

“I AM WHO I AM”; 

and He said, 

“Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 

‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 
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Good Leadership

"Good leaders always distinguish themselves by their ability 

to skillfully confront troublesome issues and to be decisive. 

In fact, confronting problems 
is a major part of leadership responsibility. 

Fearful leaders who refuse to confront problems have 

demoralized many churches and organizations. 

Running away from problems creates worse problems."

Alexander Strauch, The New Testament Deacon, pg.18

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1 Peter 5:1-11
 "Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, 
as your fellow elder and witness 
of the sufferings of Christ, 
and a partaker also of the glory 
that is to be revealed,
shepherd the flock of God among you, 
exercising oversight not under compulsion, 
but voluntarily, according to the will of God; 
and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;
nor yet as lording it over 
those allotted to your charge, 
but proving to be examples to the flock.

And when the Chief Shepherd appears, 
you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

You younger men, likewise, 
be subject to your elders; 
and all of you, clothe yourselves 
with humility toward one another, 
for God is opposed to the proud, 
but gives grace to the humble.

Therefore humble yourselves 
under the mighty hand of God, 
that He may exalt you at the proper time,
casting all your anxiety on Him, 
because He cares for you.

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. 
Your adversary, the devil, 
prowls around like a roaring lion, 
seeking someone to devour.

But resist him, firm in your faith, 
knowing that the same experiences of suffering 
are being accomplished by your brethren 
who are in the world.

After you have suffered for a little while, 
the God of all grace, 
who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, 
will Himself perfect, confirm, 
strengthen and establish you.
To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen."
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Though Troubles Assail Us

 --John Newton

Though troubles assail us, and dangers affright,
Though friends should all fail us, and foes all unite,
Yet one thing secures us, whatever betide,
The promise assures us, "The Lord will provide."

The birds, without garner or storehouse, are fed;
From them let us learn to trust God for our bread:
His saints what is fitting shall ne'er be denied
So long as 'tis written, "The Lord will provide."

When Satan assails us to stop up our path,
And courage all fails us, we triumph by faith.
He cannot take from us, though oft he has tried,
This heart-cheering promise, "The Lord will provide."

No strength of our own, and no goodness we claim;
Yet, since we have known of the Saviour's great name,
In this our strong tower for safety we hide:
The Lord is our power, "The Lord will provide."
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Philippians 4:19
"And my God will supply all your needs 
according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."
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This is Life

One of our squirrels lays across his once domain. 

I have anthropomorphized him by saying he is lamenting his feeding station being moved to the "Back Forty". We can no longer watch our myriad of birds ten feet from our window, and it is all because of this squirrel and his ravenous family. 

Lament away! and I will only feel a bit guilty!

This all came about as they became more bodacious reminding me of the terrible story by H.G. Wells, Dr. Moreau, UGH, ICK!  

So far we have 2 squirrel size holes in our screen porch as they made themselves at home one weekend. That was the day the feeders came down.

Yes, this is life. We love wild life, but in its rightful place! 

It all reminds me of our fallen world.  What joy it will be when all is set right. It will be better than Eden! The squirrels etc will be doing their thing along with everything else including the Saints.

Until then our lives are in the NOW. This is our life NOW. We need to live it rightly before the LORD.

I remind you all to Get Into the WORD to be Competent for the LORD's work. We need to do it now.

Oh, my, goodness, do I completely understand about being busy, overwhelmed, distracted....

But we still have an important job to do for our great God!

Here is a short list to help us begin whetting our appetites remembering who we are in Him, (although spend time soon reading the whole book to get it all in conext):

2 Corinthians 1:3-5

3:1-6

4:16-18

5:1-10

5:17-21

6:1-10

Behold! Now is the Acceptable Time!
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I write this in the aftermath of a great storm of Straight Line Winds which ravaged a huge part of our beautiful midwest state almost 2 weeks ago.  The damages are heartbreaking to see. A few people have died, many injured in the clean up, buildings broken or destroyed, and a lifetime of trees gone.

Why do the fallen trees affect me so? 

It all looks so desolate and empty.

The Trees: They seem to be a symbol of our lives. 

So many of these trees are older than anyone alive.  When the clean up is finished small trees will be planted, but we all will not be here when they are full and lusciously grown. It takes more than a lifetime for trees to be so maturely grown.

These trees all point to our very own lives in the here and now.  We only have whatever time we have left on this earth. We must decide to get into the LORD's Word to be ready for whatever He has for us in the times we have left.  

We can not wait to the future, we must be mature now.

2 Corinthians 6:1-10
"And working together with Him, we also urge you 
not to receive the grace of God in vain— for He says,

“At the acceptable time I listened to you,

And on the day of salvation I helped you.”

Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” 
behold, now is “the day of salvation”—
giving no cause for offense in anything, 
so that the ministry will not be discredited,
but in everything commending ourselves as 
servants of God, in much endurance, 
in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses,
in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, 
in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, 
in purity, in knowledge, in patience, 
in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love,
in the word of truth, in the power of God; 
by the weapons of righteousness for the 
right hand and the left, by glory and dishonor, 
by evil report and good report; regarded as 
deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet 
well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; 
as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful 
yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, 
as having nothing yet possessing all things."
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We do not know what will happen tomorrow. 
We need to be ready by having His Word in our hearts!
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H/T:Ed, a precious man of God who always encourages in the LORD. 

Is God an Imaginary Being?

"Some might think God an imaginary being 

and ask, what good is it 

to compare ourselves to something made up? 

The answer is that if God is an imaginary being, 

he is a being very easy to imagine. 

That is because we can see ourselves and 

the other creatures around us. 

If we can see what is different 

between a beast and a man, 

then it is not hard to imagine 

what would be the next step after man. 

If we can see inside ourselves 

which are the better 

and which are the worst capacities, 

then we can imagine a being 

with only those better capacities. 

If we can see that these better capacities 

that we possess are still imperfect in us, 

then we can imagine them perfected. 

Not only the Bible but also the classic authors 

conclude that nature points to the heavens."

Larry P. Arnn, The Founders’ Key, pg. 51-51.

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Gratefulness

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“Gratitude is the heart's memory.”

French Proverb

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