Another day…

I remember my first cancer infusion like it was yesterday…. I was petrified, so petrified I was shaking all over…. I thought as a believer in the Comforter, creator of the universe, I wasn’t a very good example. My heart felt like it would pound out of my chest. So I “walked the plank” arriving at the clinic…family was with me, we walked in to face the music…as I silently screamed, “please, please help me!”…

Shown the cubicle in which I would become acquainted, looking around , there was the rack of meds, a huge window to look upon the pond outside, a nice lounge chair, and a TV…

As I stood there for the first time, all of the sudden a peace filtered through…we started the infusion and went forward…none were easy , but that petrified feeling remained at bay… that peace that passes all understanding…

Today I am here again…that infusion chair, those meds that flow into my veins…it is easier, not totally…but signs of cancer for a year now…prayers of many and  God saw me thorough…

Thank YOU…

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know (Jeremiah 33:3 NIV).

Habakkuk 3: 17 Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.

19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
    he enables me to tread on the heights.

Through it all…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh-tRWA11HE

 

Counterfeit….

  

To find truth, you don’t learn lies…

I once heard that to teach people how to know counterfeit, they had to know the real thing better…

Isn’t that the way with God…we want to know Him better and better , being transformed more and more into his image…becoming closer and closer , abiding in Him…

John 15: 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

 Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and 

perfect will.

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplatefn the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

 Ephesians 4:15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

 Truth be told…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs-PcD79XVY

 

 Shepherds….

Our family has been pastored by many kinds of pastors…some missions oriented, legalists, others-social issues, while others were more knowledge driven and a few more…I appreciate all of them for their gifting, but I appreciate the ones who are shepherding the most…those who like Barnabas stayed behind and helped people grow in their faith….we can’t forget  the others though…we have looked for good teaching, care and encourage missions or are involved with the community and its issues. So I guess we have looked for well rounded people…

 Good shepherds care for the people and follow after God, desiring that his flock do the same…

Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding (Jeremiah 3:15 NIV).

Genesis 29: 3 When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone away from the well’s mouth and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.

Psalm 23

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

Psalm 78: 72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;

    with skillful hands he led them.

Micah 5: 4 He will stand and shepherd his flock

    in the strength of the Lord,

    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.

And they will live securely, for then his greatness

    will reach to the ends of the earth.

Hebrews 13: 20 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Revelations 7: 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne

    will be their shepherd;

‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’

    ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

What a Shepherd we have…

Thank YOU….

Shepherd of my soul…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sv3e2cFcj4

 

Anger…

Once upon a time, I was angry…at the world, at church, at my family, at everything….I didn’t know I was so angry…and I really don’t remember the reason why now…but things were not going my may….

One Sunday, I walked into church, sat through the songs and then the sermon and I realized I was just plain mad at God…I can remember where I sat that day and how the realization hit me hard…I wasn’t trusting God’s goodness even through the trials or circumstances…I thought I had a better plan…and I was mad…angry…and everyone around me was suffering because of it…

That verse about seeing someone’s splinter in one’s eye while ignoring the plank in your own was so evident…

I was so humbled and asked for forgiveness….

It didn’t change the circumstances, but my heart was changed and I could look at what was happening with God’s light rather than my own…so much peace came, that I was startled by the amount of anger I had held onto, cherished…joy returned…

I have so far to go to learn all that God wants to teach….and the lessons are frequent…both with discipline and goodness…

Thank YOU…

Proverbs 3: 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart

    and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways submit to him,

    and he will make your paths straight.

Isaiah 42:8 “I am the Lord; that is my name!

    I will not yield my glory to another

    or my praise to idols…

Isaiah 54:10 Though the mountains be shaken

    and the hills be removed,

yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken

    nor my covenant of peace be removed,”

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God,which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Again I say rejoice…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvWYDuinMTg

 

Do not be anxious….lady bugs…

Going to my overgrown garden boxes, yesterday I was picking dried milkweed pods for flower arrangements….some still had seeds, some hadn’t popped yet and others were totally empty of seeds… But, low and behold I found a whole miniature world of ladybugs…🐞 

The adult bugs were crawling around…then upon further observation, there were all the life cycles of the lady bugs, from eggs to nymphs to adults…then upon  further searching, their food source, aphids, was in some plants while the ladybug colonies were on other plants…

Their homes, their food were all provided.

It brought to mind the verses in Matthew….how God provides and anxiousness…here was a miniature world, going about their business without a care in the world and God was providing…their needs…how much more are we, created in His image, cared for…

Thank YOU….

therefore I tell you , do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on, is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing…look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap or gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  Matthew 6:25-26

Jehovah Jireh….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCsH_TtZReY

 More joy….

“To infuse more joy Into your day, seek to increase your awareness that I am with you…an easy way to do this is to say; Thank You, Jesus, for your presence.”  Sarah Young…

Don’t we all want joy, that deep sense of thankfulness, peace that runs through our soul? In the hard times as well as the parking spot in just the right place…knowing that we are cared for….that we are a vessel of God’s grace…a vessel prepared…a vessel of the promised Holy Spirit…

Thank  YOU Jesus, for your presence…..

Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life;

    you will fill me with joy in your presence,

    with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Psalm 5:11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad;

    let them ever sing for joy.

Spread your protection over them,

    that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

Psalm 7: 17 I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness;

    I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.

Psalm 28:7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;

    my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.

My heart leaps for joy,

    and with my song I praise him.

Acts 17: 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

John 1: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

2 Corinthians 4: 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

Psalm 51:12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation

    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

 Your presence…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGDsreB1CyQ

 A rock…

I need to go back to this last weekend and one of my grandsons….

A rock poking out of the water saved him…that rock was created by the spoken Word of God at creation…was it planned just for my grandson to find rescue…a solid perch on which to wait…if God has a plan for each of our lives, it was…He knows the beginning… He is the first and last…He knows our thoughts before we perceive them…

Our whole family is very aware of rocks…my husband was a geologist…the rocks God made put food on our table, clothes on our backs, shelter ….allowed us to give…rocks are personal to us…and they became more personal this last weekend…they became another saving force to our family…

I look at the video of the rescue and see God’s hand of care and salvation….what you don’t see in the pictures is rescuers downstream as backup to the one in the water …another picture of God desiring that none should perish…He wants us to live…he wants us to come to Him…

We depend upon the Rock as well…Jesus is our rock…our refuge…

Thank you…

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you (Isaiah 26:3 NIV).

 Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect,

    and all his ways are just.

Psalm 71: 3 Be my rock of refuge,

    to which I can always go;

give the command to save me,

    for you are my rock and my fortress.

Jesus is my rock….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M88ItKnXlrI