Gardens along the way...29...the desert...

 Gardens along the way...29...the desert

This past week, we studied Psalm 63, “ a Psalm of 

David, when he was in the desert”...

I have to admit first thing, I really didn’t want to go there again... the memories of the garden in the desert......but needed to address it, because there were blessings in the desert also...(and of course, this morning, the verse of the day was verse 1...is that a hint or what)

 My husband  and I both grew up in areas where gardens abounded, whatever you planted, produced...even the compost piles grew...when we moved to Nevada in 1969 as newly married college students, it was light years away from what we were used to, no close family, no friends, desert, apartment living, even my houseplants struggled...we both settled into college life with full schedules, part time work...and a new area to explore...we saw huge changes of that state over our years of residence..

 We spent most of our married life in the desert lands of Nevada...there were desert times in our family, not just the scenery...legalism, miscarriages, famine times of work, lack of close family, chronic pain, rebellion, heartaches, and finally those words, “terminal cancer “...and death...

But, on the other hand there were lifelong friends, feast times of work and supply, growth in church bodies, spiritual breakthroughs, growth in body, mind and spirit, Bible studies that challenged, magnificent rainbows, thankfulness, training for life skills, births of all our children and the richness and beauty they added...life in the desert....

We planted thousands of plants, many froze or simply dried up, gardens which thrived one year and froze the next, trees which struggled to break through the hard ground, plants which deer loved, or cows rubbed to death or goats topped off... gardens in the desert...

But, there were surprises to be found...canyons awash with elderberry bushes, choke cherries, service berries, old forgotten homestead orchards, minerals in abundance, all waiting to be discovered....forgotten gardens in the desert...

When I look at lives around me, most of us have experienced desert times whether in life and /or geography...times we have felt abandoned or overcome or overwhelmed...the dry times ...the garden which struggled...the deserts of life...

Looking at Psalm 63, we find David in a dry spot, but still seeking the One who fills the thirsty void...Who upholds, who helps, who is there in the day and night, who satisfies, who loves, who shelters...

He is the One we found in the desert garden as well...He is one we clung to during our desert years...and still do...in plenty and in want...He has sheltered us, He has loved us, He has saved us, He was/is our refuge, our rock...thank YOU....

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. 

I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. 

I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. 

I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. 

On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. 

Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. 

I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.

Psalm 63:1-8

You give life, you are love...

 You give life, you are love.....

These words from Casting Crowns ran through my mind all through the night...

After coming off of a mountain in Jackson, Wyoming...a conference on vision/direction, “All In” with the Christian organization, Biblica, those words we sang were so applicable....

The translation and dissemination of the Word of God to all nations, people groups across the world...so that each person has the opportunity of reading/hearing, in his or her own language, the Word of God, the creator of the universe...Not only one organization, but many committed together in unity/partnership of purpose to do this...each building/using  one another’s Strengths to do this...

Sitting there, soaking in the stories, the songs, the worship, the vision, the unity was a breath of very fresh air...seeing major organizations with thousands on staff to small groups working together, putting aside differences, was so heartwarming, it is hard to put into words...

They spoke of three pillars that are the central push; 

Gateway languages...the major world languages; rising generations, the  untouched youth of the World; and finally the frontline people, those who have been marginalized through various means...

I put my toe into the ocean of untouched youth...the future leaders of nations...those who will shape the new horizons...the generations to come until the Lord returns...

Thank YOU, only You can do this....

“Great are You, Lord...

You give life, You are love

You bring light to the darkness

You give hope, You restore

Every heart that is broken

 

Great are You, Lord

 

It’s Your breath in our lungs

So we pour out our praise

We pour out our praise

It’s Your breath in our lungs

So we pour out our praise

To You only

 

You give life, You are love

You bring light to the darkness

You give hope, You restore

Every heart that is broken

 

Great are You, Lord

 

It’s Your breath in our lungs

So we pour out our praise

We pour out our praise

It’s Your breath in our lungs

So we pour out our praise

To You only

[x2]

 

All the earth will shout

Your praise

Our hearts will cry

These bones will sing

Great are You, Lord

[x3]

 

It’s Your breath in our lungs

So we pour out our praise

We pour out our praise

It’s Your breath in our lungs

So we pour out our praise

To You only”

[x2]

Casting Crowns

Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures.

Psalm 119:89-90

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

Romans 10:17

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.

1 Peter 1:23-25

Dedication....

 

Dedication...

I had the awesome privilege to attend a second plane dedication this week for another Mission Aviation fellowship plane to be dedicated into service ...this one is going to Africa to replace one  aged out plane...

By second, I mean second for me...they do this periodically as needed...

The first one I attended was after my husband passed away...it was dedicated to him...so this one was a little bitter sweet...memories of the first dedication mixed with the new...

hearing the history of this plane was fascinating...one step after another ordered by God himself...all those puzzle pieces coming together to make the whole thing happen...

But, hearing from one of the future pilots was my highlight...he has flown for many  years the aged-out one and to have a replacement was wonderful...

One of the statements he made was alluding to the old plane  “sharing its experiences with the new”...it just just touched my heart...thinking that like Paul sharing with Timothy warnings and encouragement in ministry...

That older plane has seen hundreds if not thousands of flights, helping people is innumerable ways, bringing light and life to many ...

One quote by an African villager,  “ when we heard the sound of the plane, we knew peace was coming.”

If planes could talk, this one would, through its dedication to service, it could impart  so much to the new “plane on the block”...it is presently winging it way to Africa to take on its new life as a servant to many...

This imparting from generation to generation is so important.....I don’t do enough, nor do I know if anyone really wants to hear...but still I write...

My cousin sent a video dedicated to our grandfather that was a tear jerker of pictures and song...showing his influence and part on our lives..it was touching as well as the plane dedication...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=RF2HayVFZ8M&app=desktop

Such legacies we have and ones we have the opportunity to give to others...can change the course of the world around us, big or little...but lives are touched ...thank YOU...

2 Timothy 

What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

2 Timothy 1:13-14

Garden along the way...25..clearing away...

 Gardens along the way...25...clearing away...

The air was crisp, the temperatures down, dry leaves were swirling...a time of clearing away...

I am starting to dismantle my garden...some of my plants are finished...although the zucchinis and tomatoes are continuing to bear...I picked the last of the peaches...apples are for sale at the stands as well as sweet corn as are many other crops...onions are being carried by the truck loads to the sorting houses, melons sweet and luscious await...what an abundance...what a blessing...

Farmers are cultivating and planting for fall and winter...having cleared this year’s crops...

On other fronts in several states, there are firestorms of fires  burning relentlessly  through tinder dry forests,  sage and grasslands...”old gardens”  destroyed...another sort of clearing away...

Or tree trimmers pruning dead trees, fruit trees, falling others to clear land for new habitations...

All will regrow or rebuild at various speeds, over months, years, generations, millennia ...

Clearing away in life happens on many fronts..mind, soul, body...ridding those toxins which can shorten life, negative and wrong thinking which takes away joy...

But replacement brings life and joy...

I was think of this as I was beginning the clean out of my garden and watching others... what do I need to clean up in my life...my soul...do I harbor  or am I safe haven for unpleasantness...or am I “cleaning up my act”...seeking things  that are above and not below...

Thank YOU for the reminders, the pictures in life...

Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

Psalm 51:2 

let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

Hebrews 10:22 

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 

For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. 

They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 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. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Galatians 5:16-25 

Journeys with promise...

 Journeys with promise...

Yesterday, a friend and I set out on a long awaited journey...it really started over a year ago, but of course as we all know the world changed ...many cancellations later, we are finally hitting the road...with sanitizer, masks, and road maps...instead of boarding passes...one of my daughters and one grandson are accompanying us for a couple of days for a “field trip “ to the Shoshone ice caves and crater of the moon ...

As we struck out across the miles of barren landscape, (some pretty valleys as well)... i was struck by how many millions of people have left  home and kin behind in looking for those promises at the end of the journey...

Adam and Eve leaving the beauty of the Garden

Noah stepping into that huge handcrafted boat...

Abraham leaving Ur...

Jacob finding his son, Joseph, with the promise of food...

Moses leaving Egypt’s plenty to find the land of “Milk and honey” across a desert..

Jonahs journey to Nineveh...

Jews returning from exile...

Joseph journeying to Bethlehem, Egypt, Nazareth...

Wisemen looking for a king...

Paul’s many journeys, sharing the gospel...

Pilgrims looking for freedom...

Various conquers looking for new land , gold, spices...

Various people groups looking for less oppression, “free” land...

Judy Garland looking for a way home...

And on and on..

Most of us have embarked on various journeys with promise, whether good promises or not...marriage, housing, parenthood, careers, illnesses, teen years, old age...to name a few...

A beginning preparation, the journey, the conclusion...maybe leading to more journeys or not...

Sometimes  the journeys lead us through barren land, through lush times and we anticipate the end, forgetting to enjoy and learn from the journey...like Jesus talking and journeying with the men on the road to Emmaus. (What they heard and learned must have been amazing...)

I want to learn from my journeys...not just anticipating the promise...making the whole experience worthwhile...what I am learning here on earth making the promise of heaven all that much greater...

Thank YOU for the journeys....help me learn from other’s and my own...

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. ”

Genesis 12:1-3

Numbers 33

It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled.

Joshua 24:17 

Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”

Jonah 3:4 

Perhaps I will stay with you for a while, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go.

1 Corinthians 16:6 

Psalm 121...where do we look for help?

 Psalm 121...Where do we look for help?...

Journeying this week, we have gone into the depths of the earth to the cold Shoshone Ice caves, walked trails in the Craters of the Moon and now into mountains of Eastern Idaho...the cold, the fire, the heights...

I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? 

My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. 

He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 

The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. 

The Lord will keep you from all harm — he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Psalm 121:1-8

God is so attentive...reading my Women’s Bible study for this week is psalm 121, opened my computer Bible programs for today, psalm 121, 

Journey for today into the mountains...how can He be clearer?

Two of my grandparents asked that Psalm 121 be read at their memorials...having lived in the foothills of central California...they liked that analogy...and they lived in those hills, lives well lived, raising three boys through the ups and downs of life...

My cousin inherited my grandfather’s journals, so he has taken those journals and made them into a book of their lives, what a treasure...

I was on another level with them, the first grandchild and a granddaughter, which was different from raising sons. I still went out shooting, riding, feeding cattle with my grand father, but also sewed, crafted, read, cooked with my grandmother...I sewed on her treadle sewing machine, softly/ smoothly making the treadle go back and forth, up and down...

But from The hills we descended every Sunday to attend a local church...that church is where I earned my first Bible after memorizing Psalm 23, sang my first solo, attended my first Sunday school, met my first missionaries...my first impression of a God of the universe, Jesus as a Savior...

they all became part of my life...reading scriptures, singing, attendance, missionaries, Savior, help in times of trouble...God ...Jesus...the Holy Spirit... 

He is there in the depths of the caves; the heat of the craters, trials of life; the mountain tops of life...He is my Help, the maker of heaven and earth, my shade, my watcher of my life...

Thank YOU....

Bless/Praise the Lord, oh my soul...

Bless/Praise  the Lord, oh my soul...

Psalm 103  and 104 start and end with this phase....then the psalmist goes on to list why....

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— 

who forgives all your sins and 

heals all your diseases, 

who redeems your life from the pit and 

crowns you with love and compassion, 

who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 

The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. 

He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. 

He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; 

he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 

as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. 

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; 

for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. 

The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children — with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. 

The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. 

Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. 

Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion. 

Praise the Lord , my soul. 

Praise the Lord, my soul. Lord my God, you are very great; 

you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

Psalm 103:1-104:1

Psalm 104 goes on to list more and more of the mighty deeds of the Lord...

It is enlightening to number these one by one in the pages of my Bible...the list goes on and on...why need to bless Him and to refer back to it in times  of need...in times of distress, in times of doubt...in just hard times...to get my eyes off of the circumstances and back on my God...

Thank YOU...during these trying times..You are still there and in control...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSxocnIaN0A

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