Weekend Words

 From Beside the Still Waters...

Jesus Said, "I Am the Way" - Read: John 14:1-14

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." - John 14:6

Jesus is the way.  The way to where?  How do we begin to travel on the way?  Why would we want to travel on Jesus' road?  What is the destination at the end of the road?

We have family members living in other states.  When we want to visit them, we make sure that we travel the road that takes us there.  We travel the road because we have a certain destination in mind.  We also follow the signs and instructions along the way.  

In today's verse, the Greek word for "way" could be translated "road" or "highway".  Matthew 7:13-14 speaks of two roads that we can travel.  One leads to destruction and the other leads to life.  When Jesus said, "I am the way," He meant that His road leads to eternal life.

We all want to live in our present life, but we know that someday we are all going to die.  Jesus said in John 11:25, "He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."  This means that even though we die here, we will live eternally if we have faith in Jesus.

We begin travelling Jesus' road by repenting of our sins and not living in those sins anymore.  We choose to obey the teachings of Jesus as found in the Gospels.  If we do these things, our life will be different from before.  Our heavenly Father will also send the Holy Spirit to guide us and to give us strength for victory over sin.

If we are not walking in the way of Jesus, let's make the choice to begin now.  By continuing to travel this way, we will finally reach Heaven, the place of eternal life.

Joseph Sharp - Adams, NY

There is no other way to the heavenly Father and eternal life than the way of Jesus.

Both the following devotionals are from In Green Pastures (J R Miller)...

(A little devotional book I have on my shelves, first published in 1890 under the title 'Bits of Pasture', but still very relevant today):

God's Plan for Our Lives.

God does not merely make souls and send them into this world to take bodies and grow up amid crowds of other souls with bodies, to take their chances and make what they can of their destinies.  He plans specifically for each life.  He deals with us as individuals.  He knows us by name, and loves us each one with a love as distinct and personal as if each was the only child he had on this earth.  He has a definite plan for each life.  It is always a beautiful plan too, for he never designs marring and ruin for a life.  He never made a human soul for the express purpose of being lost.  God's design for each life is that it shall reach a holy character, and do a good work in the world, fill a worthy place, however humble, and fill it well, so as to honour God and bless the world.

Making Others Happy.

The world needs nothing more than it needs happiness-makers.  There is a great deal of sadness everywhere.  The Bible is a book meant to make people happy.  Joy-bells ring all through it.  The mission of the gospel is to make happiness.  The angel's announcement of good tidings of great joy is going forth yet on every breeze.  The story of the love of Christ is changing darkness to light, despair to hope, tears to laughter, sorrow to rejoicing, in all lands.  It is the mission of every Christian to be a happiness-maker.  Each one of us has power, too, to add something at least to the world's gladness.  We can do this in a thousand ways - by being joyful Christians ourselves, making our lives a sweet song; by telling others the joyful things of the Word of God; by doing kindnesses to all we meet; by comforting sorrow, lifting burdens, cheering sadness and weariness, and scattering benedictions wherever we go.

On the home front ... (in two parts)

 I started this on the 31st of January, but rather than delete and start again (now that its 14th February!), I will leave it and add an update...

Part 1: The local haberdashery store finally got some more of the wide, dark green, bias binding in, so now I can finish the mats I started before Christmas.  I have been using the one I did get finished, but it will be nice to get the rest done...

After a beak in knitting due to the very hot weather, I got back to it recently.  I have 2 strips (of the 5) done on the blanket...

And I'm still in Miss Read mode.  Although I've had these 2 on my shelves for a while (both picked up at the op shop) I hadn't read them, so it was nice to have a new read (even though I know all the characters) rather than a re-read...

The summer weather has been horribly hot and windy, resulting in LOTS of headache days for me, but on the good days, I made a start on this little area in the garden which I will edge with bricks (brought from the Deloraine house) so I can get the plants in the ground rather than in pots.  They do so much better in the ground...

the dead one is one that Marnie brought over hoping I could resurrect it, but it was too far gone, unfortunately

Part 2: Today...

As I finished on the garden report, I'll start this part with an update, that I did this morning...

hope I can get it finished soon...

I made it to the Saturday afternoon sessions of the Mennonite conference, and I've ordered some books from them (they sell Rod and Staff books).  They had to order some from the US (that they didn't have in stock) and will let me know when they are ready to pick up.

Speaking of books...  I'm still in Miss Read mode and bought this one (secondhand) from eBay.  Another one I'd not read...

And I've almost finished the third (of five) blanket strips...

I won't have enough of the colors I've been using to do the rest, so will probably incorporate some other colors as I don't want to buy more yarn. Did I really say that!!! :))

Here's a photo from one of my recent morning walks...

I love a cloudy day...

And I'm loving these two that Natasha sent yesterday from snowy Connecticut...

While we're on a winter theme, from my Miss Read read :)

"It was Miss Clare who first pointed out that Fairacre School was one hundred years old.

It was a bleak Saturday afternoon, and we were enjoying hot buttered toast by the schoolhouse fire.  Outside, the playground, and beyond that the fields and distant downs, gleamed dully white in the fading light.  It had snowed every day since term started over a week ago, and from the look of the leaden skies, more was to come...

Indoors we were snug enough.  Between us, in front of the log fire, stood the tea tray, the cups steaming fragrantly with China tea.  The lamp glowed from the bookshelf behind Miss Clare's white head, making a halo of her silver hair.  Miss Clare knows Fairacre school well, as she was both pupil and teacher there for many years, and was serving as infants' teacher when I was first appointed as headmistress, until ill health caused her retirement..."

And speaking of hot buttered toast and tea, it sounds like a good idea...

xx 

Weekend Words

Apologies for not getting a post on last weekend. I did get to the afternoon session of the Mennonite conference, but have also had a lot of headaches, home and garden chores, appointments, etc.  Hoping for a better run this week... (photos are from my walk this morning)

From Beside the Still Waters...

Don't Be Quick to Judge - Read: Romans 2

"Judge not, that ye be not judged.  For with what judgment judge, ye shall be judged." - Matthew 7:1-2

Today's Bible reading and key verse tell us to be very cautious about judging other people.  The reason is that the way we judge others is the way we will receive judgement. This is a sobering thought that should cause us to use great care in our criticism of each other.  The human tendency is to feel that if you don't agree with me, you must be wrong.  We do ourselves and others a great benefit if we always remember what the Bible says about judging.  Many people have been wounded because others were more ready to judge than to listen.

Sometimes people carry deep hurts in their heart that cause them to look or act in strange ways.  Jesus the Good Shepherd gave His life for the sheep.  Are we willing to lay down our life for fellow sheep - our Christian brothers and sisters?  We need to be charitable with their faults because we love them too much to judge without knowing all the facts.  It is always best to "wear the other person's shoes" before we judge him about something.  Is it kind?  Is it true?  Would I want it to be said about me?

Often we judge others wrongly because of our biases.  We tend to show favor towards ourselves and our friends, and disfavor towards people we dislike.  If our ill-tempered neighbor has a weedy garden, we consider him lazy; but if it's our friend's garden, we reason that he must have good reasons.  Judging fairly requires a heart that is sanctified and free from ill will and bitterness.  We do well to honestly examine our own hearts first; then our brother's problems will look smaller or even disappear.

Denver Yoder - Somerset, OH

Pray, don't find fault with the man who limps or stumbles along the road,

Unless you have worn the shoes he wears or struggled beneath his load.

- Mary Torrans Lathrap

The Way Home - Read: Romans 8:1-21

"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." - Romans 8:6

On December 24, 2022, blizzard like conditions developed in southern Ontario.  I have a tractor with an enclosed cab, so I decided to venture out with it and remove some snow from our neighbor's driveway.  However, I did not realize the fury of the storm.  The distance was less than half a mile, but the visibility was so poor that I simply inched along.

I finally arrived at my neighbor's driveway, but as I turned in, something very unusual and disturbing happened.  Because of the frosted windshield and swirling snow, I became completely disoriented!  I desperately wanted to head back home, but which way should I go?  If I moved in any direction, I might get further away from home and end up some place that I didn't want to be.  Finally after much deliberation, I decided to leave the comforts of the tractor cab and look for a familiar landmark nearby.  I soon found such a landmark, and only then did I feel sure of which way to travel so that I could make it safely home.

On our spiritual journey, we also run into circumstances where we can't see clearly.  The visibility becomes foggy, we become disoriented, and we hardly know which is the right way to go.  There are so many elements swirling around that we lose our direction.  What should we do?  Today's key verse gives a landmark that is very helpful.

A spiritual mind enlightened by God's word is always a faithful landmark.  Following our carnal mind may be comfortable, but it is not safe.  Let's remember this when our visibility in life becomes unclear.  The Word of God and the Spirit of God are the only reliable landmarks to give us direction and peace and to guide us safely home.

Joseph Kuepfer - Newton, ON

The way of the cross leads home.