Connecting the dots....

Connecting the dots.....


Isaiah 55:11
New International Version (NIV)
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.



Our family was privileged to attend a dedication of a Kodiak plane to my husband of 43 plus years...it is scheduled to go to Papua New Guinea soon to be flown there for missionary service...

At the ceremony, we were shown the display of a plane frame of the plane flown by Nate Saint to a native tribe in South America where they lost their lives...the family stayed there and ministered and now the tribesman who was part of the killing group is now the god father to the grandchildren...and a Christian leader in the tribe...

MAF presented us with a new copy of a new painting of the plane....and if you look down in the left-hand corner, there is a shadow of the that first fateful plane....moving, to say the least....

So we have lived in the era when they flew, died, the ministry grew, and now there are planes all over the globe .....connecting the dots....through time....

The other dots for us.....we supported a pilot and  his family all of their serving years until, he, the pilot...took off one day with a passenger in bad weather and never returned...in. Papua New Guinea ......at the ceremony was the young family who are going to working with this plane...who visas had been delayed....and hadn't planned on being there ....timing....connecting the dots.....blessings...

It is a blessing when you can look back and see dots/events connecting over time....other times, we see no connecting , but God does....It feels like a glimpse of purpose....just like all the prophecies telling of the Saviour coming to earth ....we are part of that same picture and that is so overwhelming that God loves us so much to be part of the overall plan.....and shows us a tiny glimpse of the connections.....


Thank you, God, for big blessings of seeing history....of being a part of that history....seeing your Word going to all the nations.....help me to consider and see the connecting dots...there are sooooo very many.....and take time to praise You for all of those connections.....

Isaiah 28:10
New King James Version (NKJV)
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little.”


Hebrews 13:7-9a
New International Version (NIV)
7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, .....

Gold ...."in them thar hills"...

Gold....".in them thar hills"...

During All of my married life, my husband searched for gold....as well as other minerals, but gold was his primary interest. But he also found barite, silver, tungsten, molybdenum, gravel, and some other minerals along the way...but the gold shown the brightest in his career...he was the prospector....through and through....

But,as he was searching for gold in the mountains, whatever terrain, he also searched for the gold in life, ....in his family...church....people...in the Word of God...
He used the gold from the mountains to enrich the body of believers ....through the time he had....Just as we all are told to use the gifts we are freely given to enrich others....

Gold is mentioned over 400 times in the Bible, from the very beginning to the very end....

It was used as overlay, the tabernacle, the temple, idols, people adornment, building adornment, coins, trade...gifts...worshiped....

It was the goal of kings to amass  it, the kings to take it, thieves to steal it, streets to be paved with it, and comparisons....


But, the most important is that wisdom, God,  is to be our "gold" ,  our treasure...there is, ultimately, nothing  that compares...we are to seek Him, search for His treasures for our life, and find them in Him....our gold...all the other will be added as needed....He provides...a good name, His word are far more precious than all the gold....

I don't want to be said of as Gideon, caught in a snare of worshipping the gold rather than the true gold of God....

Thank YOU for gold in life, the usefulness it has been and is,   But far more, help me to keep my life and eyes on the True riches of You, God...the all provider, the true treasure...




Genesis 2:11
The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.

Genesis 2:12
(The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.)

Judges 8:27
Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.

1 Kings 10:10
And she gave the king 120 talents of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

1 Kings 10:11
(Hiram’s ships brought gold from Ophir; and from there they brought great cargoes of almugwood and precious stones...

1 Kings 10:22
The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.


1 Kings 22:48
Now Jehoshaphat built a fleet of trading ships to go to Ophir for gold, but they never set sail—they were wrecked at Ezion Geber.

1 Chronicles 29:3
Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple:

Job 22:23-25
New International Version (NIV)
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
    If you remove wickedness far from your tent
24 and assign your nuggets to the dust,
    your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
25 then the Almighty will be your gold,
    the choicest silver for you.


Job 23:10
But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

Job 28:1
[ Interlude: Where Wisdom Is Found ] There is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.

Job 28:6
lapis lazuli comes from its rocks, and its dust contains nuggets of gold.

Job 28:15
It cannot be bought with the finest gold, nor can its price be weighed out in silver.

Job 28:16
It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or lapis lazuli

Job 28:17
Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it, nor can it be had for jewels of gold.

Job 28:19
The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it; it cannot be bought with pure gold.

Job 31:24
“If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’

Psalm 19:9-11
New International Version (NIV)
9 The fear of the Lord is pure,
    enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
    and all of them are righteous.
10 They are more precious than gold,
    than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
    than honey from the honeycomb.
11 By them your servant is warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward.

Proverbs 8:10
Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold,

Proverbs 8:19
My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver.

Proverbs 16:16
How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver!

Proverbs 17:3
The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.

Proverbs 20:15
Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel.

Proverbs 22:1
A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.


Revelation 21
New International Version (NIV)
A New Heaven and a New Earth

21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

The New Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb

9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17 The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick. 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.

22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Through the thick and thin.....

Through the thick and the thin.....

Through time, we gather people along the way, some are acquaintances- on the fringe, others are friends....those who, no matter what, you an call in distress or jubilation, Prayer or praise.....they are there through the thick and thin, the rich or poor, the laughter or the tears....friends.....the ones you call to sit with during heart-stopping surgery, emergency anything, the greatest joys, the lowest lows...weddings, funerals, births...rich or poor,  they are there for you...sometimes in person or sometimes in spirit.... They care no matter the distance or the subject....

I so appreciate those friends.....through life....thank you...one and all....

Thank YOU, God, for the friends you have given me...help me to be that friend to others...through the thick and thin.....

1 Samuel 20:42
Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.

Job 2:11
When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him.

Job 42:10
After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.

Proverbs 12:26a
The righteous choose their friends carefully, ....


Daniel 2:17
Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.


Luke 15:6
....Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’

Luke 15:9
And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’

John 15:15
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

Acts 10:24
The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

Acts 13:38
“Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.

Tools....

Tools.....

Tools come in all shapes, sizes, colors, materials, living, inanimate, transparent, solid...a piece of a paper is a tool for the right person, as well as a car, a train, a rock, a plane, a person...

Tool Definition
dictionary.search.yahoo.com
n. noun
A device, ......used to perform or facilitate manual or mechanical work.
Synonyms
instrument - implement - utensil

We had the dedication of a Kodiak plane for MAF yesterday...a tool....I looked around the hanger, there were people of all shapes and sized, ages and abilities...from doctors to janitors , pilots to computer people, infants  to 75+....tools/instruments in God's kingdom....

there was machinery, the hanger itself, chairs, the plane....tools for various purposes...

All useful, necessary, fit together for that time and day.....to put one tiny dot in God's time of eternity .....it was so meaningful for us .....special....beyond our imagination.....

When I think of the descriptions of all the pieces to go into the temple and
God's plans for each....he does that detail....for each us...tools in his kingdom....usefulness .....each having our special abilities, talents, ......

Thank YOU for your grand design...in each of our lives...a lot of time we don't see how things fit together and then comes a magical moment when we get a glimpse of the usefulness of the tools in the kingdom....what a delight .....thank you again...and again...

Acts 9:15
But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.

Romans 6:13
Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.

2 Timothy 2:21
Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

Cleaned out rooms....overturned tables....

Cleared out rooms.....overturned tables.....

I was reading Nehemiah, and came upon this passage....

Nehemiah 13:7b Here I learned about the evil thing Eliashib had done in providing Tobiah a room in the courts of the house of God. 8 I was greatly displeased and threw all Tobiah’s household goods out of the room. 9 I gave orders to purify the rooms, and then I put back into them the equipment of the house of God, with the grain offerings and the incense.

It made me move forward in time to this passage...

Matthew 21:12-13
Jesus at the Temple
12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

Nehemiah had been out of country and retuned to Jerusalem to find the emery occupying rooms at the temple ...Jesus came to the temple and found it being used as a market....both wanted the areas cleaned of the rubbish and replaced with the grain  offerings, and incense...prayer.....

Was a reminder of what am I filling life with, ...economics, market places, household goods, stuff...and forgetting the prayer....


Or have I filled my life with the acts of the flesh as in Galatians .....

Galatians 5:19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.


And not the fruit of the Spirit...

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

What do I need to go in and clean out????

Thank YOU for the reminders. ...of cleaning "house",  The people in my life that remind me to clean house, attitudes, habits that are not pleasing to you....help me to clean those rooms and be a blessing to you....

The life of a giver....

The life of a giver.....

The scene is a small church in northern Nevada...the year, 1972..Sunday morning..the back pew of a small, newly formed church...the treasurer counting the offering at the end of the church service...7 crisp $100 bills...10 % of a sale of a house...I can see it still, 40 plus year later....

Thus, the inauguration of a giver....oh, the decision had taken place earlier in the week to give, but surprise, smiles of the treasurer had made it worth it...the fledgling church needed the funds...but the heart of the giver was blessed as well....

Then, later, studying the gifts given to believers, the understanding of giving...and others...how people are motivated...how he was "wired" .....what a encouragement...

That was the beginning....new missionaries, pilots, churches in various places around the world...worthwhile ministries that touched millions or a community....start up and continuing Christian radio stations, families....Christian schools...a Bible college, homeless people, children of prisoners, the elderly, groceries for various people over the years....businessmen down on their "luck".... Teenagers going on their first short term mission experience....church groups building houses in Mexico.....seminary students...sleeping  bags for scouts, grand children....Bible translations...teacher training in Mongolia....orphanages....children in need....a truck for a missionary to ranchers/native Americans.....hospitality for a multitude and variety of people .....the list goes on....

There are memorials at various places,names written in stone or on a metal plate or in Bibles in hotel/motel rooms ....but they will pass away...the important "memorials"  are in the lives of the giver's children, grandchildren and generations to come.....plus the lives that were affected over the years...there is not way of counting the people affected, nor is it important....the importance is the following of a call, using the gifting that GOd bestowed...God does the rest, the multiplication of a gift used in every person's life...

this person wasn't perfect....not to be put on a pedestal ....but in obeying God and using the gifting .....brought light to many...encouraging others to use their gifting in the way they were bent..."well done, good and faithful servant".....you have taken a little and made it into much....

Thank YOU, for this giver in my life....YOU in my life and in the lives of the world...help us each to follow the paths that you have chosen....use the gifts that You have given to multiply  and glorify You....the real Giver ....


Romans 12:8
if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

2 Corinthians 9:7
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Matthew6:19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Devotions....

Devotions...

I was reading Christmas sorties this winter...and came across this quote...and found it interesting...

Debbie Macomber's book,  the Gift of Christmas, page 109.

""What are devotions?
BIble reading and praying,  my private time with The Lord.  My day goes better when I've had a chance to discuss things with Jesus..

'You talk to him! as if He were a regular person?'
He is..."

So I looked it up...

Online dictionary...
Definition of DEVOTIONAL
:  a short worship service
First Known Use of DEVOTIONAL-1659

devotions : prayer, worship, or other religious activities that are done in private rather than in a religious service

Have wondered if devotions were part of the "Christianeze" language only, but apparently not.  When you go to a Christian bookstore, there is a whole section of books labeled, devotions .  But I don't see that same label  at, say, Barnes and noble.

Haven't gone to a Deseret bookstore, so don't know if others have devotions or not...

But you don't have to go very far in the Bible itself to find devotions .....songs, praises, psalms, even single verses fill the Bible, showing devotion and worship...talking to
God, listening to his Words of life...in fact, the whole Bible is a devotional ....lessons for everyone to learn in their time...when we read it, meditate on it, learn and live it....it transcends time and place...it flows Into our hearts, minds and souls...

2 Timothy 3:15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

So I have to ask myself, "to whom, or what am I devoted? Where is my strong love, loyalty? Where does my use of time, money, energy show my devotion?


de·vo·tion noun \di-ˈvō-shən, dē-\
: a feeling of strong love or loyalty : the quality of being devoted
: the use of time, money, energy, etc., for a particular purpose

Thank YOU, that you have given the world your WORD, the truth, that we may be trained in righteousness...that it is useful...but more help me to talk to you and listen to what you say to my heart...and be obedient to those words....your words...