Winter sunshine ...

 After quite a lot of rain, we are having some clear days and winter sunshine (and very cold nights!)

We stopped off by the Mersey River on the way back from Devonport to join the sea gulls enjoying the blue skies and sunshine ...

The baby quilt is finished...

and not before time, as baby is due in a couple of weeks.

The squares for the fistula hospital blanket are also finished...

I've started sewing them together...

Decided to crochet up some granny squares with the left-over yarn...

while enjoying a cup of tea on the porch

And to tone the colours down a bit I'm edging them in beige yarn...

I think I might add another edging colour too, possibly a sage green, to make it big enough for a small lap blanket

Almost finished Book 4 in The Hawk and The Dove series...

really enjoying them!

Every so often I chop up a selection of whatever raw vegies I have, and store in the fridge for a few days.  For serving I add some protein (cooked red meat, chicken, tuna, hardboiled eggs, fetta cheese), a handful of pumpkin and sunflower seeds, and a drizzle of olive oil, cider vinegar and sea salt...

this time I chopped red and green cabbage, red capsicum/bell pepper, grated carrot, chopped broccoli.  I usually add chopped cauliflower too but didn't have any. You can add other seeds and nuts too, and dried fruits.  Whatever you like really. Very tasty and healthy :)

This afternoon I hope to work on my Bible word search for 'rejoice' and 'glad/gladness' that I mentioned in my previous post, and write the verses out...

I hope you are joyfully steadfast despite any trials you might be going through!

May the joy of the Lord be your strength! (Nehemiah 8:10)

xx

Rejoice and be Glad... (two devotionals)

 From Oasis of Hope ...

Rejoice or Despair?

"Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say rejoice." - Philippians 4:4 NASB

Do you find it easier to rejoice when everything is going well or when things are falling apart?  It is much easier for most of us to be positive and praise God when we're content with our circumstances.

It's much harder to rejoice when a job has been lost.  It is also challenging when we or a loved one has been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease.  Rejoicing in those times is much harder, isn't it?

Rejoicing in the Lord is not optional but is a command.  Even though Paul wrote this instruction, God told him what to write.  Paul didn't have an easy life.  He was imprisoned in a cold, damp cell on several occasions; yet, he chose to rejoice through it all.  We're not to rejoice just when we feel like it.  Through Paul, God said to rejoice in the Lord always.  We are to rejoice in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in.

How can we live this way with all the trials that beset us daily?  First, focus on God.  He is the One Who has allowed the trials into our lives for whatever reason.  His goal, once we have accepted Jesus Christ, is to conform us into His image.  Often, we learn deeper spiritual truths as we go through difficult times.  Second, choose to follow God's instructions.  We can choose to wallow in despair or choose to turn toward God, obey, and rejoice.

Notice Paul says "rejoice" twice for added emphasis.  When something is mentioned twice as this is, we should take special  note of it.  We are to rejoice always.  The good news is God will help us if we ask Him to.  As we choose to focus on God, our gratitude for Him grows.  Then it becomes easier to rejoice.

Which do you typically do, wallow or rejoice?  Has that choice helped or harmed you?  Try following Paul's instructions.  Ask God to help you to rejoice in everything.

- Julie Wilson Smith

From A Lamp Unto My Feet ...

Choose To Be Glad

The Bible is full of commands to be joyful.  the Lord commanded the people of Israel to set aside certain days for celebration, and on those days they were to rejoice.  There was no provision made for any who might not feel like rejoicing.  This was what they were to do, young and old, slaves and free, aliens, orphans and widows - in obedience to the command.  The pilgrim feast of Weeks was celebrated seven weeks after the time "when the sickle is put to the standing corn" (Deuteronomy 16:9).  The people were commanded to bring a freewill offering and to rejoice:  "You shall rejoice in the place which the Lord your God will choose.  You shall rejoice ... You shall keep the feast with joy" (vv. 11, 14-15).

The rhythm of life is one of God's mercies, meant to keep us from sinking into individual ruts.  We are called away from our personal inclination by the dawning of each new day; by the sun's going down so that we may cease from our work; by the changing seasons, which require changes of habit, work and dress; and by the regular occurrences of "feasts" when, without reference to how we happen to feel, we may join with others in purposeful rejoicing.  We may choose to be glad.

"Although the fig tree does not burgeon, the vines bear no fruit, the olive-crop fails ... and there are not cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord and rejoice in the God of my deliverance" (Habakkuk 3:17-18).

- Elisabeth Elliot

I just had a quick look in the concordance at the back of my Bible, and there are many verses that mention 'rejoice' and glad/gladness'. This week, I'm going to do a word search and write them out.

Care to join me?

Here are 2 to get you started...

"This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24 NKJV)

"Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, because great is your reward in heaven" (Matthew 5:12 NKJV).

From Be Still and Know (a devotional) ...

 "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful." - Colossians 3:15

There is much talk today of world peace.  World rulers meet together to discuss ways of accomplishing this.  Yet none of their plans have brought a lasting peace.  In the midst of schedule-packed lives individuals are searching for inner peace as a defense against the stress and strain of today's living.  There may not be peace in the world today, but there can be PEACE in the HEART.

The secret of inner peace is letting God's peace rule in our hearts.  "Let the peace of heart which comes from Christ be always present in your heart and lives" (Colossians 3:15, LB).  God has provided peace for us through the person of Jesus Christ.  "He is our peace" (Ephesians 2:14).

The word "rule carries the thought of arbitrating or umpiring, the settling of differences where there is a conflict in thoughts, motives, and attitudes.  When Christ controls our lives, He will settle our problems and differences, giving us inner quietness and calmness.

It doesn't mean we will be free from conflict and disturbances.  They will come; but the Lord Jesus will give quietness in the midst of them.  When we encounter differences of opinions, irritations, and annoyances, He will give His peace.  When frustrations build up, He will give calmness of spirit.  Someone has said, "Let Him be the decider of all things within your heart."

There is peace in the heart for us today through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Drop Thy still dew of quietness

Till all our strivings cease;

Take from our souls the strain and stress

and let our ordered lives confess

The beauty of Thy peace.

(John Greenleaf Whittier)

From A Lamp Unto My Feet (a devotional) ...

 A Safeguard For the Soul

Souls are vulnerable things.  They need safeguards.  It was when Paul was in prison that this idea came to him.  He had just been writing to the Philippians about the benefits that accrued because of his own sufferings and the possible death he might die.  He told them of Epaphroditus's illness and anxiety, and finished with "Finally, my brothers, delight yourselves in the Lord! ...  You will find it a safeguard to your souls" (Philippians 3:1, Phillips).

It would be very easy to allow depression and anxiety to overcome us when we look at the dismal circumstances in which we sometimes find ourselves.  Who had better reason than Paul for depression? (Oh well, but he was Saint Paul!" we counter.)  He had learned by practice how to apply the soul's safeguard, which is not mere enjoyment, it is a delight.  This is a command and therefore an act of will, and it is done in the Lord.  No circumstance is so dismal as to prevent obedience to the command.  No trouble can blast that safeguard.  Do it.  Do it by faith.  Delight yourself in the Lord.  Maybe you will have to get out of bed, get up from your chair, go outdoors and walk, sing a song out loud, bake a pie for somebody or mow the lawn as an offering of praise.  You can do something that will help you to obey that command.  It is amazing how strongly what we do affects how we feel.

- Elisabeth Elliot

Why are you cast down, O my soul?  

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him 

For the help of His countenance.

Psalm 42:5

From Beside the Still Waters (a devotional) ...

 "One Thing Thou Lackest"

Read: Mark 10:17-31

"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." - Mark 10:25

My friend and I were discussing the financial aspect of life.  "I just don't want to be poor," he said.  I have often thought about those words.  Someone may start pursuing wealth with the good intention of gaining only what is sufficient, but this has been the downfall of many.  Today my friend is far from poor, and I wonder sometimes if that is actually good.  Most of us fathers desire to provide for our families and also to have enough to give away (at least we say that).  But we need to be honest about our intentions and the deceitfulness of riches.

In today's Bible reading, the rich young ruler became very sorrowful when Jesus told him to sell all his possessions and give to the poor.  After all, life was good, and business was going well - but he lacked "one thing" that was necessary to inherit eternal life.  For the natural mind it is very difficult to accept Jesus' words.  It requires understanding the vanity of earthly wealth and the infinite value of spiritual riches.  The people who witnessed this interaction between Jesus and the rich ruler were astonished at what they heard (verse 26).

The important question for us is not, "Might Jesus be asking me to sell all my possessions?"  It is rather, "Why do I want to be rich, and how much do I trust in riches?"  We find some excellent instruction in 1 Timothy 6:17-18: "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God ... that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate [share with others]."  The "one thing" will not be lacking if we do these things.

Levi Baer - Kryvoshyintsi, Ukraine

"Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain."

 - Proverbs 30:8-9

Winter is here!

 Not many leaves left on the tree now...

Yesterday it rained most of the day.  Freya knew the best place to be...

And I wasn't far away, with plenty to keep me busy...

continuing to work on hand quilting a cot quilt panel for new grandson due 21st July

My squares for the fistula blanket are coming along.  Still accompanying Marnie to various medical appointments, so I have opportunity to knit while I wait for her...

I have 26 squares done, need 4 more, then I can start sewing it together.  Yay! Not.

And I'm re-reading Penelope Wilcock's The Hawk and the Dove series 1.  I read it many years ago, but my original copies have since been passed on, so I'm gradually buying the new editions.  I have the first 6 of the 9, and I'm currently reading book 2, and enjoying it very much, perhaps even more so than the first time I read them ...

Pen's blog is HERE if you'd like to visit her.

This morning at church the sermon was on the Sabbath from Matthew 12:1-14

"Rest time is not waste time.  It is economy to gather fresh strength.  In the long run, we shall do more by sometimes doing less." 

- Charles H. Spurgeon

A walk to the river ...

Haven't been to the river in a while, but I took a walk there yesterday morning...

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 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 runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 23