I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone (1 Timothy 2:1)
Prayer is such an important power. In the concentration camp, seven hundred of us lived in a room built for two hundred people. We were all dirty, nervous and tense. One day a horrible fight broke out amongst the prisoners. Betsie began to pray aloud. It was as if a storm laid down, until at last all was quiet. Then Betsie said, "Thank you, Father." A tired old woman was used by the Lord to save the situation for seven hundred fellow prisoners through her prayers.
There may be days of darkness and distress,
When sin has power to tempt, and care to press.
Yet in the darkest day I will not fear,
For 'midst the shadows, You will still be near.
Thank you, Lord Jesus.
- Corrie ten Boom
From Beside the Still Waters...
Heavenward Prayer
O God, we fear our prayers are small; Our faith is weak and spirits fall.
We see the war and battles fought, And fail to live as you have taught.
Forgive our foolish human ways; Increase our faith in these last days.
Please help us in our every need; And fill us with Yourself indeed.
Remind us each in every minute, And every place - that You are in it.
Encourage, strengthen, bolster, guide, Along with us walk side by side.
When you are finished with us here; We've followed Your instructions clear,
Then take us home where nothing e'er, Can interrupt our heavenward prayer.
"But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them that those who love your name may rejoice in you." - Psalm 5:11
I woke this morning groaning, as I thought of the busy day ahead. As I opened my curtains I noticed a thrush on a branch near my window. His beak was wide open, breast puffed out, and music was just pouring from his entire being.
The Bible talks a lot about singing, not only songs of praise and triumph when everything is going wonderfully, but also 'songs in the night' like the ones Paul and Silas sang in a Roman prison after being flogged. The power of their singing freed them dramatically (Acts 16:25-25). One Old Testament king sent a choir ahead of his army 'singing to the Lord and praising him for his holy splendour'. As they sang, the Lord caused the invading armies to start killing each other (2 Chronicles 20:21-23).
In their little book God Calling (published by Arthur James LTD in 1953), the Two Listeners recorded beautiful things they heard God say. Here is one I've tried to remember today as I rush through my job list: 'Sing unto the Lord ... Go on until you can take the most crowded day with a song. Sing unto the Lord. The finest accompaniment to a song of praise is a very crowded day.'
The Psalms are full of 'I wills': I will praise... I will be glad... I will trust... I will sing... They usually come just after the psalmist has poured out all his woes to God, but then chooses instead to start singing by willpower rather than inclination. Perhaps our singing has to be an 'I WILL' sometimes?
Because you are my help, I will sing in the shadow of your wings. - Psalm 63:7
From Beside the Still Waters...
Rejoicing in Adversity - Read 2 Corinthians 1
Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. - Philippians 4:4
God sometimes uses adversities to teach us lessons in life, and often we can look back and see them as stepping stones to Christian maturity. Many of what we might consider difficulties turn out to be blessings. "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience" (James 1:2-3).
Can I do that? Can I be joyful in difficult circumstances? Today's key verse tells us to rejoice at all times. We need His help and the prayers of other believers, because we naturally become impatient when things don't go as we plan. We have assurance from God that trials bring patience. But why do we have so many trials, and sometimes one on top of another as Paul wrote in today's reading? I have thought of it this way: Maybe I have numerous trials because I don't learn what God is trying to teach me. He has to keep working time after time before I give up my stubborn will.
The psalmist wrote, "I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversity" (Psalm 31:7). I marvel at the close tie between thankfulness and rejoicing. We cannot rejoice without thanksgiving in our hearts. Rejoicing and thankfulness in turn bring peace. "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7).
Sometimes adversities come as chastening, but even they give us reason to rejoice. "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby" (Hebrews 12:11).
Fred Beachy - Crofton, KY
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. - 1 Peter 1:8
Been slowed down a bit with the flu. Marnie shared her germs with me :))
But I'm feeling better now!
While recuperating, I got a couple of projects finished. This crocheted blanket I started last? year, or maybe the year before? Anyway, it's finished now...
And I also got this one finished. Always interesting to see how they turn out when I am just using up bits and pieces of left over yarn from other projects. Except I did buy some brown to do the edging...
Still working on this one. Edging now finished, just a few more ends to weave in...
And working on diagonal 8-inch squares that will eventually be sewn together (probably baby blankets) for charity...
Finished this book last night...
one from the Mennonites
Baked some cornflake cookies (with sultanas and white choc chips)...
And more bread...
On a sadder note, my eldest brother (86) died a couple of days ago. He had dementia these last few years (which got much worse since his wife died two years ago next month) and has been in a care facility since then. So, although sad, it is a blessing he is now at peace and resting with the Lord.
And see these photos...
They are of my new garden!!
Yep... I'm on the move. At the end of the month. But don't worry, there is still a river. And lots of walking tracks.
It's a long story, I will reveal more over the coming weeks. But if I'm missing in action for a short while, you'll know why.
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." - John 14:27
What is the peace that God wants to give to His children? Why did Jesus say these words to His disciples? Consider the setting; this was only hours before Jesus' arrest. He knew that when He was captured, the disciples would go into shock and turmoil. The Person whom they had followed for three years would suddenly be taken out of their midst.
Do we ever feel as if our world is turned upside down? At such times we may wonder where God is. We may go into shock as we experience abrupt, radical changes in life. Our world seems to be falling apart and we wonder where to turn. God is speaking to us: "Peace I leave with you."
Philippians 4:7 says, "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." It is a great blessing to experience peace that goes beyond our understanding. In our human perception, there are times when things make no sense. Our situation may seem very unfair. However, God cares for us and we can trust in Him for our every need. We can experience God's peace as we surrender ourselves to Him.
"And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places" (Isaiah 32:17-18). This is God's will for us. God wants us to realize that we do not have the answers for many questions in life. He wants us to trust Him in all circumstances, as Job and other saints have. The Prince of Peace knows everything about us, and we can trust in Him who holds the future in His hand.
-Samuel Beachy - Osage City, KS
The Stone Was Rolled Away - Read Mark 15:40-47, 16:1-8
"He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." - Matthew 28:6
The three women hurried along, talking in hushed voices. Who was going to roll the big stone away from the opening of the tomb? Their combined strength would not even budge the huge stone. Undaunted and full of faith, they walked on.
No doubt as they neared the garden, the women remembered afresh their trauma and grief from witnessing the death and burial of their beloved Jesus. Right around the time that the sun sent its first warming rays across the Judean hills, they entered the garden. The stone was rolled away!
Gasping in astonishment and dismay, they hurried into the hewn-out cave. There sat a young man clothed in white garments. "Don't be afraid," he told them kindly. "Jesus is not here. He has risen as He said He would. Go and tell the others." The women rushed out of the tomb and ran down the road to do as they were told, talking excitedly among themselves.
Jesus is risen! Does that excite us as it did those women long ago? Are we telling the good news to those around us? Think also of the times when we see a huge obstacle looming in our way. We wonder and worry. "Who will roll away this stone?" We forget that we serve a risen Lord. Surely His power can roll the stone away!
Often when we finally reach the "tomb", we stand amazed. The stone is gone! All our worry was in vain. May the faith and loyalty of these women inspire us to greater faith in Christ and loyalty to Him.
As I've been pondering the subject of happiness this morning - an elusive and seemingly unattainable state for so many - I am led to these words of Jesus:
If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it (Matthew 16:24-24).
I believe the secret of happiness lies imbedded in those words, painful though they appear to be. How else explain radiant people like the young man who sat in our living room and described how his six-year-old boy had died in his arms from leukemia. Today this man finds fulfillment in giving himself totally to helping college students. Or the woman I visited recently whose husband had turned out to be a homosexual and demanded a divorce. Some years later, this woman also lost her eyesight. Yet she is a cheerful, loving person, fully self-supporting.
You might say that such people almost have a right to be unhappy. That they are not, lies in the way they spend themselves for others.
I have observed that when any of us embarks on the pursuit of happiness for ourselves, it eludes us. Often I've asked myself why. It must be because happiness comes to us only as a dividend. When we become absorbed in something demanding and worthwhile above and beyond ourselves, happiness seems to be there as a by-product of the self-giving.
- Catherine Marshall
Our Great Helper - Mark 11:22-25
While searching for a book I wanted to buy recently, I heard a pleasant voice ask, "May I help you?" Once I described the book, we soon found it. I left the store with my requested treasure happily tucked under my arm, and I thought, "I wonder how often God asks me this same question, but I'm too busy to hear?"
Maybe he's asking if there are any mountains in our lives that we need help in moving today - mountains of disappointment, heartache or fear. Sometimes these mountains can loom so large before us that we are no longer able to see Jesus. Yet it's here, while sitting in the shadow of our dark, cold mountain, that we can turn to Mark 11 and read what Jesus said. He gives us his pattern for prayer and sums up all we will ever need to know about it. The pattern is this: pray, ask, believe, forgive.
To pray is a supernatural way of getting to know a supernatural God. When we pray, God makes us his partners! He chooses us to become part of his ministry here on earth.
When Jesus inquires, "May I help you?" he wants us to respond in childlike trust. He wants us to ask. Sometimes he answers in a miraculous way, but most of the time he simply opens our spiritual eyes and shows us what we can do to bring about the answer. Then he gives us the ability to do it.
To believe is to give God the right to answer our prayer in the way he sees best. Remember, Jesus never gave a sermon on unanswered prayer, because from his viewpoint, all prayers are answered. When we learn to believe God, we find our attention is no longer on our mountain. It becomes focused instead on Jesus, who alone is worthy of our trust.
When we forgive, we open a channel to God. Jesus asks us to forgive others "so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins" (Mark 11:25).
God longs for us to live in the joy of walking by faith - praying, asking, believing, forgiving. When we do, we find we're no longer sitting alone in the shadow of the mountain.
