"Finish the Mission"....

Finish the Mission....

I have been reading the book, "Finish the Mission" , a compilation of several authors...there is a lot to digest in it...

Early this morning, I found myself in the section about God's provision to Israel against the Assyrians many, many years ago in the book of Isaiah...chapters 36 and 37...Israel was surround by the enemy 185,000 plus, ridiculed, beaten down, and God's promises came through....as only a mighty, all powerful, God can do...He only to speak and worlds come into being...

And I worry over the smallest things and was reminded again about worrying over anything in Jesus calling this morning...the world news is appalling, the national news is sometimes disgusting...filled with fear, sin, death...

but God remains true, available, and in total control...and my worry adds no time to life...

Thank YOU, help me not to wander hither and yon...heaped with confusion ...but rely on You, spreading out my worries before you, letting you take care of them in Your Holy wisdom...

"Jesus calling"- July 9
Stop worrying long enough to hear My voice. I speak softly to you, in the depths of your being. Your mind shuttles back and forth, hither and yon, weaving webs of anxious confusion. As My thoughts rise up within you, they become entangled in those sticky webs of worry. Thus, My voice is muffled, and you hear only “white noise.”
Ask My Spirit to quiet your mind so that you can think My thoughts. This ability is an awesome benefit of being My child, patterned after My own image. Do not be deafened by the noise of the world or that of your own thinking. Instead, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Sit quietly in My Presence, letting My thoughts reprogram your thinking.
And that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
—Deuteronomy 30:20
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
—Genesis 1:27
Do not conform any longer 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.
—Romans 12:2

Thoughts .....

Thoughts....

When you live alone, you have lots of time to think....sometimes too much time...I tend to over think things, analyze too much ...be guilty too much...take on problems too much...rethink too much....create, maybe too much....

As I have been an only child, aloneness was just part of my life..married to a geologist, who was gone a lot...only amplified the aloneness...except when when we had children running around and active...thinking and creating a multitude of projects over the years was part of my life...from decorations to weddings to women's ministry programs and curriculum to counsel ....to VBS to parenting and grandparenting .....to grief to helping those who grieve...and now there is time to put some of that on "paper"...

When I realized I had over 740 of these short pages,  it was hard to even imagine that was possible...each day God gave me a different thought and I wrote them down...some for my own recollection or my family's...some to comfort, some to get them out of my head as them had to be written..some for history, some to share...but all to glorify what God has done so graciously, freely, comfortingly, lovingly...through the good and hard times...He is there ....helping me think, thank and praise....

Thank YOU....for the thoughts....the words to write and think about...

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth,so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

"Jesus Calling"-July 7
Trust Me in all your thoughts.I know that some thoughts are unconscious or semiconscious, and I do not hold you responsible for those. But you can direct conscious thoughts much more than you may realize. Practice thinking in certain ways—trusting Me, thanking Me—and those thoughts become more natural. Reject negative or sinful thoughts as soon as you become aware of them. Don’t try to hide them from Me; confess them and leave them with Me. Go on your way lightheartedly. This method of controlling your thoughts will keep your mind in My Presence and your feet on the path of Peace.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lordour God.
—Psalm 20:7
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
—1 John 1:9
“To shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
—Luke 1:79

And then there was quiet.....

And then there was quiet....

I have been walking in the early morning before the heat cooks the air.   This last week there have been fireworks almost around the clock as people have practiced getting ready for the 4th of July...added to that the construction with its beeps, rumbles, ....the the birds singing, traffic, sirens,...but the early morning after the 4th was quiet...everyone must have been sleeping in..it was extraordinarily quiet as I walked... 

The verse...Psalm 46:10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”   Hung in the air around me.....the quietness like a cloak in the early morning air...

And still I know there really is not total quietness...the universe and ALL that is in it sing praises to the Creator...there are sounds in space, songs of birds, whales, trees, water...rhythms we can hear with our human ears and rhythms only heard with instruments that sing praise...

Psalm 148:1-14 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens;

praise him in the heights above. 

Praise him, all his angels;praise him, all his heavenly hosts. 

Praise him, sun and moon;praise him, all you shining stars. 

Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord,for at his command they were created, and he established them for ever and ever—he issued a decree that will never pass away. 

Praise the Lord from the earth,you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle,small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and women,old men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens. And he has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his faithful servants,of Israel, the people close to his heart.

Praise the Lord. 

Thank YOU for the quietness of soul, and the praise of ALL...You alone are worthy of galactic praise....

Pulsar sounds, sounds in space...

http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/%7Epulsar/Education/Sounds/sounds.html

By faith....

By faith....

I was looking through some of my notes I have written in my Bible and came across Hebrews 11, well marked and highlighted...these people in the list of faithful ones.  

Even though it tells what they did, they are commended for their faith, not their works...

Their faith.....believing even through the rough times, the unimaginable times,....because God had something better planned for them and He has something better planned for us as well...

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 

Our world is changing so fast away from the Judeo/Christian beliefs when more than 60 percent of the people were at least familiar with God's word and respected it to not knowing or even respecting it...in one generation just like Gideon's...there are millions be saved and putting their faith in Christ on one hand and millions who are not....

Who will walk by faith...who will pick up the cross...who will have their name written in the column "by faith"...

I look at my grandchildren who have been raised in faith filled  homes...will they continue to walk by faith? I pray so...even in the times they will face persecution in their "free" homeland? 

Thank YOU for faith...help me/us to walk by faith...by faith...that is the key...the bottom line...in life...

 

Hebrews 11  Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. 

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 

By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. 

And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. 

By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” 

For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. 

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 

And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. 

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 

People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. 

Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. 

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death. 

By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. 

By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. 

By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones. 

By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 

He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 

By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.  

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. 

By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days. 

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. 

There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 

Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. 

They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. 

They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. 

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. 

doves...

Doves....

I have mourning doves in my yard everyday...

They come to feed of the seeds that are scattered by the other birds at the feeders...they come to bathe, fluttering in the cool bird bath and they come to rest, sitting quietly in the rocks in the shade of the trees...

When disturbed, they flap their wings in their distinct manner, chirp and fly away, only to return again later...

They look so downy and soft, shiny gray and peaceful..watching everything around them...ever alert even at repose...

I wonder what it looked like when Jesus rose out of the water when John baptized Him...a voice speaking...

Matthew 3:16-17 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 

And doves were the sacrifice of the poor...purification ...

Leviticus 5:7 “‘Anyone who cannot afford a lamb is to bring two doves or two young pigeons to the Lord as a penalty for their sin—one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. 

Luke 2:22-24 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”, and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” 

Jesus had already been acquainted  with doves...He was the first born of Joseph and Mary .....

Now, We associate peace with doves...but they are spoken of from Genesis  to John in the Bible...used as pictures, descriptions ....

I look at "my" doves everyday, feasting,  bathing and resting ...each a picture for me of feasting on God's word, cleaning my heart, and resting in Him...and I need that reminder daily...just as they do...

Thank YOU for the doves...

Hate...

Hate....

There are times, lately, I wish I could put my head in the sand and not see what is happening in the world around me...you know, "ignorance is bliss"...but that doesn't make the bad things go away or make them any better...and my ignorance is not peaceful or blissful...

It seems that the world around is crumbling in my generation, or did all generations think that?  Were other generations offended, dismayed by issues around them?  

The printing of the Bible? That was offensive to some, heretical even...to let the masses read scripture...that was unheard of...

The "upbeat" music of the Wesleyans, wow, that was over the top...

Freedom of religion....aha...

Centuries of ridicule, enslavement, death to Jews, Christians, ....and that has not stopped...even in our "enlightened" modern times...hatred has not "evolved" away and kindness has not taken over the world without God...like some would wish...

What is Good is sometimes looked upon  as bad and visa versa..are we in the end times?  That is not a question we can answer...it just feels like it ....when will God be tired of the wickedness as he was in Noah's time or Sodom and Gomorrah ?... He knows...

In the meantime, I am to pray for my government, love those around me, hate what is evil, cling to that is good...be devoted...be prepared in season...live peaceably...

thank YOU...that Your Love covers all...that revenge is Yours....Judgement is sure...You know the times...

Psalm 5:5-6 The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong; you destroy those who tell lies.The bloodthirsty and deceitful you, Lord, detest. 

Psalm 11:5 The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion. 

Psalm 36:1-6 I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:There is no fear of God Before their eyes. In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin. 

The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful;they fail to act wisely or do good. 

Even on their beds they plot evil; they commit themselves to a sinful course and do not reject what is wrong. 

Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,your justice like the great deep.You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. 

Psalm 97:10 Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful  ones and  delivers them from the hand of the wicked. 

Proverbs 6:16-19 There are six things the Lord hates,

seven that are detestable to him:

 haughty eyes,

a lying tongue,

hands that shed innocent blood, 

a heart that devises wicked schemes,

feet that are quick to rush into evil, 

a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. 

Romans 12:9-13 Love must be sincere. 

Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 

Be devoted to one another in love. 

Honor one another above yourselves. 

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 

Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 

Betrayal....

Betrayal...

I read this devotional this morning after receiving a note from a friend about one of her facebook "friends".  The facebook "friend" desired to "unfriend" anyone who disagreed with the latest Supreme  court court ruling on gay marriage...okay...so much for tolerance that others want..

Jesus knew who were his enemies before he came, but He came anyway...and he still desired that they repent of their evilness to the end. "Father, forgive them", from the cross..

Forgiveness seems foreign to many, as our world  seems to head more and more toward anger...

Churches and families forgiving a gunman who guns down part of the congregation during a prayer service, parents forgiving a gunman who guns down their children in school...to name a few..

Forgiveness...I know I can't do it in my own...only through the Spirit's strength...but Jesus showed the way.....

Thank YOU for the example for forgiveness...only through You can we gain the strength to do it....

Matthew 6:9-15 “This, then, is how you should pray:“

'Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name, 

your kingdom come,your will be done,on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. 

And forgive us our debts,as we also have forgiven our debtors. 

And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from the evil one.’ 

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 

But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. 

Matthew 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. 

Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love (John 13:1).

The passage begins with a parable in action rather than a discourse or a message. It begins with Jesus' washing the disciples' feet. And in that remarkable event, simple as it was and yet strange in many ways, John sees some very deep and remarkable meanings. There are two movements that John sees in this event, and he gathers them up in the preface to this account. John sees first in this remarkable scene the evidence and the demonstration of the unchanging love of Jesus for His disciples. Jesus remains considerate, compassionate, and thoughtful about His disciples, and that impresses John. He is amazed by the fact that Jesus is not thinking of Himself, even though He knows that this is the dramatic hour toward which He has been living. Rather, His thoughts are still upon His disciples. He teaches them and manifests love and compassion and concern for them to the end. The second movement concerns Judas. John sees in the act of foot washing a demonstration of the truth that is in Jesus, of the remarkable passion that strips away all pretense and hypocrisy and reveals things exactly the way they are, In this dramatic act in which Jesus stoops to wash the feet of Judas as well as those of the other disciples, John sees a manifestation of that honesty of God, that reality of God that exposes all hypocrisy, and by means of such revelation seeks to lay hold of the traitor's heart and show him what is happening to him. Jesus is moved to do this, John says, by an awareness of His own authority. The Father gave all things into His hands; He knew that. He knew who He was, knew He had come from God, and knew He was going to God. And, moved by this sense of His own identity and authority, Jesus begins to speak direct words to Judas, exposing what he was doing and where he was headed. John sees all this as intertwined in this remarkable scene: the commitment of love that taught to the end and the passion of truth that fought to the end for the deliverance of Judas. Lord, thank You for the love that stoops to serve me. Thank You for the honesty that seeks to deliver me from my own hypocrisy. Help me to surrender once again to the way You are working in my life.       Life Application   Actions speak louder than words. How do we demonstrate the highest form of love - even to those who may not deserve it?