Weekend Words

 From Our Daily Bread...

A Handful of Rice - Read 2 Corinthians 8:1-7

"In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity." (2 Corinthians 8:2)

The state of Mizoram in northeast India is slowly climbing out of poverty.  Despite their lack of income, since the gospel first came to this area, believers in Jesus have practiced a local tradition called "handful of rice."  Those preparing meals each day set aside a handful of uncooked rice and give it to the church.  Mizoram churches, poor by the world's standard, have given millions to missions and sent missionaries around the world.  Many in their home state have come to Christ.

In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul describes a similarly challenged church.  Believers in Macedonia were poor, but that didn't keep them from giving joyfully and abundantly (vv. 1-2).  They saw their giving as a privilege and gave "even beyond their ability" (v. 3) to partner with Paul.  They understood they were merely stewards of God's resources.  Giving was a way to show their trust in Him, who provides for all our needs.

Paul used the Macedonians to encourage the Corinthians to have the same approach to giving.  The Corinthians excelled "in everything - in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in ... love."  Now they needed to "excel in this grace of giving" (v.7).

Like the Macedonians and the believers in Mizoram, we too can reflect our Father's generosity by giving generously out of what we have.

- Matt Lucas

From In Green Pastures...

Let the Blessing Flow Out

Artwork by Lucy Almey Bird

While you are to brighten first the place nearest you, you are also to throw the little beams of your lamp as far as they will reach.  It will not make your own home any less bright if, on a dark night, you open the shutters of your windows and let some of the brilliancy and the cheer pour out upon the street.  Then others, too, may be blessed by the light that fills your home.  If you have a beautiful garden, why should you build a high wall around it to hide it from the eyes of passers-by?  Would it not be a more Christ-like thing to tear down your stone wall and let all that move along the street be blessed and cheered by its beauty?

Artwork by Asia Spettel

And if you are looking for some good Christian music, this is my favourite.  I have the CD in my car and play it ALL THE TIME when I am driving.  Joseph, one of the 'two servants' often speaks at the church I attend. 

To listen to all the songs, you'll need to click on the playlist symbol (where it says 1/12) at the top of the screen and the list of other songs will drop down so you can listen.  If you are reading from your phone you might have to turn your screen sideways to get the playlist symbol to show.  

(I'm sure there must be an easier way to do it !?!?)  

OR

Just click on the 'Watch on YouTube' and you can see (and listen to) all the songs!!

I knew I'd get there in the end :))

 

Enjoy!

Weekend Words

 From Be Still and Know...

Artwork by Robin Elise

"Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and please God, so ye would abound more and more" (1 Thessalonians 4:1).

It has been said, "Our walk is what we are, translated into what we do."  It is character expressed in conduct.  It is made up of all of which our life consists, our business, our pleasure, our conversations, our trials, our problems.

Our spiritual walk begins at our new birth and continues to the end of our journey...

The Lord has set certain standards for our daily walk. "... that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God."

Following are enumerated some of God's standards.  One standard is to please the Lord in our walk.  "For this reason also, we make it our ambition, whether at home or away, to please Him" (2 Corinthians 5:9 Weymouth).

Our walk is to be worthy of God.  "We told you from our own experience how to live lives worthy of ... God" (2 Thessalonians 2:12, Phillips).  To bring honor and glory to Him in our daily walk is to walk worthy.

Love should characterize our daily walk. "Live your lives in love" (Ephesians 5:2, Phillips).  Walking in love is to love as Christ loves.

We need wisdom on our walk.  "Walk in wisdom towards them that are without" (Colossians 4:5).

Our walk should be worthy of our vocation. "... to live and act in a way worthy of those who have been chosen for such wonderful blessings as these" (Ephesians 4:1, LB).

Good works should accompany our walk. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

As you check your spiritual walk today ... how does it measure up?  God's standard for our walk is Jesus Christ. "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him" (Colossians 2:6).

From Behold The Lilies...

Artwork by Shrawani Bose

"Thus saith the Lord, set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live." - 2 Kings 20:1

When I am expecting company, I set my house in order.  I put away the things that I neglected to put away earlier.  I run the vacuum cleaner over the carpet and sweep the kitchen floor.  The dishes stacked in the dish drainer are put away.  Even though they were covered with a dish towel, their presence on the countertop would have been visible.

Someday Jesus will call me away, whether by death or by His coming.  Then nothing will be more important than having my spiritual house in order.  I do not want to have things lying about when he comes - the neglected prayers, the ignored voice of the Spirit, the postponed spiritual disciplines.  I do not want to have a build-up of impurity in my life, an accumulation of things stacked up that should have been put in their proper place a long time ago - the grievances, slights, and misunderstandings that have not been forgiven.  I may have managed to cover them with a cloak of pretense, but to the Lord they are in plain sight.

The residue will not have a chance to form if little things are swept away at their first appearance.  Regular spiritual maintenance will ensure that I am ready whenever he calls me to Himself.

Artwork by Asia Spettell

This N That

 Back again :)

Denver and Sophie got engaged recently...

Marnie made all the amazing cakes!!

the wedding is in January :)

And last week I met up with my Mennonite friend Stephanie in Deloraine.  She and her family are moving back to the USA (Georgia) after 10 years with the Mennonite church here.  We didn't get to see each other very often, but I will miss knowing she is 'just down the road'...

I gave her my Deloraine Blanket ('colours of nature') that I'd been working on for a while and recently finished...

And I've bought more yarn to make another one for myself...

It will be a link for us both, to Deloraine, and each other :)

Haven't had a lot of time for charity knitting, but got some fingerless gloved finished recently and sent off to a charity in the south of the state...

And packed 2 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, for a boy and a girl in the 5-9 age group...

Forgot to take an 'unpacked' photo of all the goodies that went into the boxes before I delivered them to church for collection, but this is what was on the top layer...

there is stationery and toiletries underneath

A couple of new book acquisitions...

I plan on making a few changes to the blog next year.  At the moment I'm not finding enough time to get Weekend Words done each week AND an update blog on my doings, so next year I want to balance it out a bit more, which might mean I don't always get a Weekend Words post done (or it might be a bit shorter, which is what I'm transitioning to over the next couple of months), but hopefully I can update you more on what is happening here.  Anyway, that's the plan, will see how it eventuates :)

And remember...

xx

Weekend Words

 From Water My Soul...

Rest

Read: Leviticus 25:1-5; Matthew 11:28-30; Hebrews 4:1-11

When I found myself standing in the middle of the living room wondering why I was there and what I was looking for, I suddenly understood my mum so much better.

As a girl, I didn't know how it was possible to forget what you were seeking before you got to the next room.  When it happened to Mum sometimes, I'd think, "She must be aging remarkably fast."  I couldn't believe it might happen to me someday.

I didn't realize it at the time, but the years of our youth inhabit a very small length of time.  Every additional year of life adds more responsibilities, bills, names, acquaintances, work, repairs, things needing your attention.  There's so much more to do, so much more to remember, and so many more people making demands on your time.  Life can become a whirlwind of haste.  No wonder a middle-aged brain blows a fuse occasionally and forgets what it was supposed to remember.

God knew we needed rest.  A night's sleep to recharge our batteries between the days.  A day of rest and worship to begin each week.  In the Old Testament, even every seventh year was set aside to be a year of rest for the land (see Leviticus 25).  It seems to me that God never intended us to charge at life as if we had to get it before it gets us.  He planned for us to have decent intervals of rest and rejuvenation.

"Come unto me," Jesus invites, "and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me;...and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matthew 11:28-29).  Here Jesus twice promises rest if we'll only come to him, give him our sins and burdens, and learn to abide in him.  He wants us to slow down, to make room for him, and to understand that a life lived too fast loses much of its peace. 

An anonymous writer penned these words: "Returning to solitude, that meadowland for hearts, allows fruit to be borne, for fields left fallow to rest, yield richest harvest."

That was why God created a day of rest, a year of Sabbath, and night for repose.  If we don't take time for rest and refreshment, if we burn out completely, the harvest will suffer.  We won't just stand in the middle of the room wondering what we're doing there; we'll neglect to care for our souls and the souls of our children.

In a world full of increasing chaos and turmoil, the balance of rest can be hard to find.  Some seasons of life are incredibly wearying, and rest seems illusory.  Minds and bodies are stretched thin, the responsibilities of family, mortgage, and business as well as home and church and school are a daily juggling act.  Then the promise in Hebrews becomes especially beloved: " There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God" (4:9).

Hebrews 4 is a challenge to enter into God's rest, and it sums up what should be the reason for all our work: "Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest" (verse 11).  If rest seems fleeting and illusory here, and our brains are stressed out by trying to keep up with the demands placed upon them, that verse puts everything back into it's proper perspective.

Our most important job is work that takes us closer to heaven, God's peaceful, stress-free home.  He has created eternal rest for all is people.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for the rest you've promised.  When life feels out of control today, remind me that some things can wait but that spending time with you and caring for my family can't.

Weekend Words

 From Be Still and Know...

"Dear brothers, is your life full of difficulties and temptations?  Then be happy, for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow (James 1:2-3 LB).

Today the world is full of people with lives full of trials.  Our attitude and approach to trials has an important effect on our reaction to them.  We can let them become problems, or we can let them become triumphs by lifting our sights above them to the Lord who is in complete control of them.

Christians can expect the PRESENCE of trials in their lives.  They are not exempt.  "Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward" (Job 5:7).  We would prefer another method than trials but we have no right to question God's method.

The presence of trials is a part of the refinishing and developing process of bringing us to a place of spiritual maturity.  This should be our goal - reaching out to a life of maturity in the Lord.

Christians throughout the Roman Empire were noted for the joyful way they met problems.  Paul is a good example.  He and Silas could sing praises to God at midnight in prison.

But God's Word assures us that in the midst of our trials joy can be real.  "Is your life full of difficulties and temptations?  Then be happy."  The important thing is how we react to trials.  As they come, count them one by one, and count them with JOY, not joy for them, but joy in the midst of them.  We think it is joy when we escape trial, but not so in God's plan.  As we accept and count them all joy, we mature and grow in patience as we learn the needed lessons.  Adversity is a great teacher.

Our reaction to trials reveals the level of our maturity.  What is our reaction when we are criticized?  Our feelings are hurt?  When lonely, discouraged, or disappointed?

If we are growing, can we COUNT our testings with joy?  We may not always be joyful, nor enjoy our trouble, but we can count it with joy.

From Oasis of Hope...

God's Consolation

"When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul." - Psalm 94:19 NASB

As you go about your day, do you ever worry over a problem?  Perhaps it's how you're going to pay a certain bill.  Maybe a situation at work or with a coworker causes you concern.  One thought leads to another, then another.  Soon your mind becomes an anxious mess.

It's so easy to get into that cycle.  God doesn't want us to live that way.  Anxiety doesn't come from Him.  We make it worse by worrying instead of asking God for help.

Frequently, the issues we are distressed about are outside of our ability to manage anyway.  By allowing anxiety to grow we think we can gain control of the situation, and we don't want to give it up.

God wants to help us.  He's waiting for us to ask Him.  He will relieve the burden on our minds.  He can be trusted to take care of our needs.  He longs to comfort and console us as a human parent would.  When we hand over control, our minds can be freed of anxiety, and this will delight our souls.  It is such a relief to let it all go and trust God to handle all our concerns.

Releasing the need to control and acknowledging God's power over all things, we can learn to trust Him with the things that cause anxiety.  What is weighing heavily on your mind today?  Is worrying about it going to help?

God wants to lighten your burden.  Take your concerns to God in prayer and leave them there.  He will give you peace and console your mind.  Sit back and watch what God will do.

- Julie Wilson Smith

Weekend Words

 From Behold the Lilies...

"Man's goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way?" - Proverbs 20:24

"Do all things without murmurings and disputings." - Philippians 2:14

The view of my home from the top of the hill was different.  Instead of looking horizontally at the house and barn, I looked down on them.  Instead of seeing only patches and spots, I saw the whole place.  I had a distant, encompassing view rather than a close-up view.  How refreshing it all was.

Another time I had the privilege of looking down on thousands of treetops.  The sight was completely different from that of looking up through the branches and leaves of a tree.  I was humbled and awestruck as I gazed at the swaying sea of green.  It impressed me to realize that God sees each individual leaf among the millions of leaves below me.  Then I thought of how He also sees me and cares for me.

The view from above is different.  It takes in the whole plan, the complete layout.  The view from below sees only patches and spots.  The narrow view from below allows us only to look at things, while the wide view from above allows us to look on them.

You may wonder why the Lord had brought you to a certain place or put you in your circumstances.  You may have struggles you cannot understand.  God has a perfect layout, an overall plan into which you fit.  He does not expect you to understand everything, because you do not have the view He does.  But He expects you to trust His view and plan.  He reveals enough of His plan in the Scriptures to give you a refreshing view even though you do not have the same lofty position that He does.  Then someday, if you keep trusting, you too will see things from a heavenly point of view - and you will see that His plan was perfect.

From In Green Pastures...

A Lamp for the Footpath

God's Word as a guiding light is a lamp unto our feet, not a sun flooding a hemisphere.  It is not meant to shine upon miles of road, but in the darkest night it will always show us the one next step; then when we have taken that, carrying the lamp forward, it will show us another step, and thus on till it brings us out into the full, clear sunlight of coming day.  It is a lamp, and it is designed to lighten only little steps, one by one.  We need to learn well the lesson of patience if we would have God guide us.  He does not lead us rapidly.  Sometimes we must go very slowly if we wait for him.  Only pace by pace does he take us, and unless we wait, we must go in darkness.  But if we wait for him, it will always be light for one step.

Weekend Words

From Our Daily Bread...

Artist: Abbot Fuller Graves - American painter (1859 - 1936)

Love Beyond Boundaries - Read Psalm 103:8-17

"So great is his love for those who fear him." - Psalm 103:11

"God has been so good to us!  I want to thank Him for our anniversary."  Terry's voice was steady, and the tears in her eyes showed her sincerity.  Those in our small group were deeply moved.  We knew what past years had held for Terry and her husband.  Though a believer, Robert suffered from the sudden onset of severe mental illness and had taken the life of their four-year-old daughter.  He would be institutionalized for decades, but Terry visited him, and God did a beautiful healing work, helping her forgive.  Despite profound heartache, their love for each other grew.  

Love and forgiveness like that could only come from one source.  David writes about God this way, "He does not treat us as our sins deserve ... As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:10, 12).

The mercy God shows us comes through His expansive love: "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love" for us (v.11).  Love so profound compelled Hm to go to the depths of the cross and grave to take away our sins so that He could bring all who "receive him" (John 1:12) home to Himself.

Terry was right.  "God has been so good to us!"  His love and forgiveness reach beyond unthinkable boundaries and offer us life that never ends.

- James Banks

From In Green Pastures...

Artist: William Kay Blacklock - British painter (1872 - 1924)

Serving Christ in His People.

When we lay our lives at Christ's feet in consecration, and tell him that we want to serve him with them, he gives them back to us again, and bids us use them in serving his people, our fellow-men.  In the humblest and the lowliest of those who bear Christ's image Christ himself comes to us.  We do not know when he stands before us in a lowly one who needs our sympathy or our help.  It would be a sad thing if we turned him away unfed from our doors some day, or neglected to visit him in his sickness.  Let us not say we love Christ if we are not ready to serve those whom he sends to us to be served.