Jacob's sheep....

Jacob's sheep...

Yesterday, I took one of my grandsons to a small zoo near where I live...it was a beautiful day and not many people were there as school has started...we were privileged to go inside several enclosures to pet some of the animals...(last time we came, there were so many children they weren't allowing entrance, just touch through the fence). Various pens held small brown kanagoos, goats, sheep of various kinds, alpacas, yaks, wild donkeys, zebra, zedonks, zorses, lots of kinds of deer...plus a multitude of monkeys, porcupines, otter and many other animals, birds, reptiles ...

But, one pen we went into had Jacob's sheep...small sheep, heavily coated, small footed and a variety of colors...some even with spots...they were more interested in eating than being petted at the time...fun to see the sheep mentioned in the Bible...with Jacob and Laban...you could almost hear their dickering in the background over the who got which sheep...

If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked young. So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me.
Genesis 31:8-9

Later in the evening to add to my "animal/sheep" day, I watched Jennifer Rothschild  introduce her new Bible study on Psalm 23.  It sounds like another good one...she is a talented writer...

sheep again...this time not dickering over who gets which sheep, but the comfort of the Good Shepherd in our lives...His care and compassion...his sanctuary to all who call on his name...thank YOU for your reminder throughout the day of Your presence from the ancient times to our present everyday lives...You bring to mind your care throughout the ages...

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
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.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
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 23:1-6

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
John 10:11,14-15,27-30

Rusty tools...

Rusty tools...

Yesterday, the pastor showed a picture of rusty tools...

When my grandfather passed away, he left a lot of old tools
When my father in law passed away, he left a lot of old tools...
When my husband passed away, he left lots of tools...
When my father passed away, he left a lot of old tools...

Some of these tools were more than a generation old, handed down from family to family...some were well used, well taken care of....some were rusty and in need of refurbishing....some we had no idea what they were....some were hand forged, some were still in their original wrappers from the retailer...tools, gotten and used for a purpose...

My sons and sons in law made me one tool box from the multitude of tools left from my husband's collection and then divided the rest or gave them  away...so now I have a set of usable tools...

But, let's go back to that picture or pile of rusty tools...the pastor was speaking about our lives....do we want to be a pile of rusty tools?

Reading in Ezekiel, he was given messages to tell or act out for the exiles in Babylon.   He did as the Lord spoke...not wanting to be accountable for not speaking the Lord's message...
He became a tool, not a rusty one, but useful and usable...
Each of the prophets of old spoke, wrote, did what the Lord had appointed them to do...they didn't rust away, unused and become a pile of rubble...they warned, encouraged, acted, lamented, cried, wrote, underwent sacrifices  to proclaim warnings to the people to whom they had been sent....obedient most of the time...some of their lives, pictures of the judgment and love of God toward his people...

It behooves me to ask, am I a pile of rusty tools or usable, useful in the kingdom? For what purpose am I? Do I fulfill that purpose?

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.....
Deuteronomy 6:4-8

Thank YOU for the picture...I don't want to be a rusty tool, unused, unuseful, useless...I desire to be used...

But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deuteronomy 4:29

(Discarded tools and treasures along the path...)

another man down...

Another man down...

Yesterday, I attended a vintage plane air show...the roar of the engines, the creativeness of the pilots, the artistic paintings, the history, the  camaraderie of fellow plane lovers and pilots was so evident...grandpas walking around with their grandchildren or holding the littler ones hands, bending to explain something....proud veterans with their  hats or shirts proclaiming their units...

The opening national anthem song caused silence and respect of the milling crowd...

A Teeshirt displaying the words, "Stand for the flag, Kneel for the Cross" caught my attention...patriotism for our country as fragmented as newscasters would lead us to believe....but love for the ultimate Redeemer...

As we were wandering the Tarmac another family was experiencing a repeat of our family's loss...another respected public figure was dying from the same "terminator" cancer our husband and dad had experienced...
I couldn't help but think of the family at this time...I never knew them except in the news...I just felt compassion for their journey and loss...they as we knew it was coming...but the end is hard...the goodbyes, the last words, the last hug or kiss...are just that, the last...

As he was a veteran, he would have been right at home with the crowd we wandered through...he would have shaken hands, smiled and encouraged, exchanging stories and stood at attention for the song as well...he could have sat beside another author signing books about their lives in the military ...

But instead, he was taking his last breath....another man down...I don't his personal religious beliefs or his last personal testimony...just that he was a patriot who served his beloved country ...thank you...

But, Thank YOU, God for sending men to serve...You have gifted each of us  with a path to follow, You have numbered our days...help us to fulfill your purpose in our lives wherever it may be...

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. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:11-13

Another birthday...

Another birthday...

This year, today, my late husband would have turned 74.  Wow, we are getting old, like those people we used to talk about...those people with gray or no hair, a listing gait, several pairs of glasses, hearing aides, lost keys...

Only he is not getting older, just me...he is forever 67...

I look around me now and I know people he didn't...visited paces he didn't ...lived in homes he didn't ...made decisions without him...had more grandchildren that don't know him...

I don't know if he knows what is happening here on earth...there are different schools of thought about that...really, only God knows those answers...

He would be proud of his children and grandchildren....the growth in their lives, the decisions they are making...the directions they are  taking...

I am glad he isn't seeing the political turmoil, the change in gold prices, changing industry or culture, his friends going through health issues, his friends dying...he would been amazed at what his friends conquered what he could not...knowing that God has  our days numbered...

On the other hand, he is meeting some of his friends...I can picture them wandering around the streets of gold looking at the geology with awe...nothing that fine/pure was here on earth..."this is what the pure stuff looks like!"....

When I dream of him, he is somewhere between 30 and 60, I don't think of him in the last months of life...although his generous, faithful character was highlighted then...he finished well as his last Bible Study proclaimed ...

He wasn't the perfect man, just a man on a journey...learning all of his life...he wasn't without problems or anger or worries...he sought wisdom from counsel , the written Word...sin beset him as it does all mankind....but he was forgiven by the Forgiver...he was comforted by the Comforter...he was redeemed by the Redeemer...he was loved by his family and the Lover of his soul...thank YOU...

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
John 3:16-17

When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son. “I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go
1 Kings 2:1-3

 The Book of 2 Tomothy...

An old "friend"....

An old "friend".....

Reading through Jeremiah, I came across an old "friend",

"This is what the Lord says: “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded, ” declares the Lord. “They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your descendants,” declares the Lord. “Your children will return to their own land. ...

I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”"
Jeremiah 31:16-17,25

And wouldn't you know it, it just the right timing again...as I have returned to this promise again and again over the years...

" coincidentally".  My devotional  questions for today were in the same genre...
"1. What decisions are you facing today where you wish God would give a clear answer?
2.  What can you do while you wait on Him?
3.  Which of two paths would bring  God more  glory?"
"When God Calls the Heart" by Brian Bird and Michelle Cox

Decisions and more decisions with children, even grown children at that...ones they have to face, but ones that effect others... There is refreshment at some point ...satisfaction as well...at some point...even after the drama...

Thank YOU for your faithfulness...throughout generations...through the good and the bad, your promises of comfort...

Cutting horse...good shepherds...

Cutting horse ....good shepherds...z

When I was young, under 8 years old, we lived in ranches at various locations in California...from the north near Alturus, the Central Valley near Visalia and the coastal area near Paso Robles or San Luis Obispo. The ranch operation that my dad worked for at that time had cattle ranches in each of these areas...in my parents photo albums, there are a variety of pictures taken during these fun times...(at least, I though they were fun). But my parents made an adventure out these places and met lifelong friends. From this early "training", when I was married, we did many similar things, living different places as well, not ranching but geology. We met life long friends as well, with whom I still keep in contact periodically.

I digress ....
I was reminded of this period in my life as the pastor spoke about cutting horses in his Sunday sermon...
My father trained a horse as a cutting horse early on, which we had until she died when I was in my early teens...Stormy.  She was a trustworthy horse which my dad would put me on when we moved cattle...she was trained to watch the cattle and make sure they stayed in line and if they tried to escape, you could be sure she would go after them...so I had to hang on and let her work ( I was 6-8 years old).

In the corrals, she would help single out cows to go somewhere else, out maneuvering them back and forth until they obeyed ...this was tedious and strenuous work...but, she knew her job and did well in it...that was her calling...

When the cattle got away either in the drive or the corrals, there was chaos and regrouping and more work...so we all had to be watchful of those disobedient ones...

With cattle, you try herd them, push them in the way they need to go...with sheep, you lead and hopefully they will follow... Each group has ones who willfully try to go their  own way just as people do...

In the body of Christ we have that as well...we want out own way, and go our own ways as well...we have the Shepherd  who draws us back in...we have shepherds the world over who care for their flocks, seeking those who go astray, seeking those who God has chosen...
We are told to bring those back into the flock who have sinned in the book of James....to try to restore ones back into their faith... It too, is strenuous work, being watchful over the flock...

My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
James 5:19-20

I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing, ” declares the Lord.
"The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.
Jeremiah 23:4-6

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.
John 10:11,14-15

Thank YOU for being my Shepherd...watchful, vigilant in my life...

Plans...

Plans....

It seems like this summer has been an inferno of fires all over...the weather is hot, dry, drought in some places....thundering clouds with flooding water in other places...burning homes, flooding others, destruction  all around..."Mother Nature" as some call it has broken out in a fury...

Reading Jeremiah, God allowed/sent similar destruction many years ago as judgement on nations who had turned their backs on Him...his hand chosen people, his redeemed people...they were taken captive into another country...
But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’”
Jeremiah 18:12

God wanted to bless...

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. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord , “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
Jeremiah 29:11-14

Earlier, this passage ended the book of Judges...

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.
Judges 21:25

Sounds like a repeat to me....

Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains, because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High. So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.
Psalm 107:10-16

I wonder what the historians will record about our nation as they look back on us...it would be nice if they found that we followed the Lord as some intended at our founding...but I am not sure that is what they will find...

We have had revivals at different times and turned back to our God, just as the Israelites have done...but we have turned away as they did as well...

"Where can we turn...but to the Lord" ( old song lyrics)....thank YOU..

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14

Help us to turn to YOU...