Weekend Words

 From Beside the Still Waters...

Choosing the Right Path

Read: Proverbs 4

"The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." - Proverbs 4:18

We have a bouquet of flowering blackberries on the table right now.  The blossoms look lovely, but there are thorns on the stems.  This reminds me of the pathway of life.  As with a bouquet of roses, do we see the flowers in spite of the thorns, or do we focus so keenly on the thorns that we cannot see the flowers?  A path of righteousness will always have thorns to content with, but Christ does not expect us to deal with them on our own.  He wants to go with us each step of the way.

Like anything worthwhile, it takes effort to walk in the path of righteousness.  We must resolve to pursue it to the end.  We may have moments when we think we cannot go on.  Then it is time to consider the destiny of our path rather than the present struggles.  Our path may include trials to endure and temptations to resist, but let's remember this: "He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" (Matthew 24:13).  What a promise!

The Bible has many examples of those who stayed faithful until the end.  One of these is Moses, described as "choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season" (Hebrews 11:25).  Another example is Stephen: "and he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.  And when he had said this, he fell asleep" (Acts 7:60).  Christ gave a glorious promise to all who choose to follow the path of righteousness to the end.  "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life" (Revelation 2:10).

Fred Beachy - Crofton, KY

The path we choose will determine our destiny.

From In Green Pastures...

How To Know Christ

To some Christ is a creed and a pattern of life, but not a personal friend.  There are many who know well the "historical Christ", but to whom he is only a person who lived nearly two thousand years ago.  They read his biography as they read that of St. Paul or St. John, admiring and wondering, and ofttimes saying, in the lines of the children's hymn, - 

I wish that His hands had been placed on my head,

That his arms had been thrown around me,

And that I might have seen his kind look when he said,

'Let the little ones come unto me.'

They think of his sweet life as but a vanishing dream; or, if they realize his resurrection, he is to them an absent friend, like a dear one journeying in another land - real, loving, true, trusted, but far away.  But all such miss the sweetest blessedness of knowing Christ.  He does not belong to the past nor to the far away, but is a friend who would come into the actual daily life of each of his believing ones.  No mother was ever so much to her child as Jesus would be to us if we would let him into our life.  How can we get this blessing of personal knowledge of Christ and conscious personal friendship with him?  Trust him and obey him, and you will learn to know him and love him.

From Behold The Lilies...

"Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." - Ephesians 5:19

When you feel weary or downcast, try singing a favorite hymn or two.  If you can't think of one from memory, take time off your work, get a hymnbook, and find a song of praise to the Lord.  Even when you feel so blue that you let out a big sigh and think, I can't sing; it just takes too much effort, take a deep breath and try it.  Before you know it, you'll be done with the first verse - and then you'll finish the song. I have found that I can change my thought patterns more effectively when I use a book than when I sing from memory.

When undesirable thoughts plague you, fill your mind with psalms and verses from Scripture.  When God seems far away, singing spiritual songs can help you feel nearer to Him.  He is not the one who moved away from us; we are the ones who drifted.  Praise can create a proper frame of mind, allowing God to fill you again.  "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you" (James 4:8

Speaking to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs is a form of worship to the Lord.  Thus we can worship the Lord even when we are all by ourselves.  with a song in our heart, we will more easily reflect the state of mind in Ephesians 5:20: "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ."

Weekend Words

 From Be Still and Know...

"And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea.  Peace, be still.  And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." (Mark 4:39)

While Jesus and His disciples were out on the Sea of Galilee, a violent storm suddenly overtook them.  As it broke in fury upon them, the disciples realized their danger.

Turning to Jesus for help, they found Him asleep, undisturbed by the storm.  Frantically they aroused him, crying, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?"  The storm didn't waken Him, but the cry of His children brought immediate aid.  Jesus arose, rebuked the storm, saying, "Peace be still."  The miracle was the immediate calming of the sea.  Jesus said, "Why are ye so fearful?  How is it that ye have no faith?"  Perplexed, they said, "What manner of man is this that even the wind and the waves obey Him?"

Storms can break suddenly in our lives, bringing winds of adversity and waves of trouble.  Lack of faith results in fear.  We may cry, "Carest thou not that we perish?"  We are only a cry away from Him.  As He looks at the storm in our life, He replies, "Peace, be still."  This does not mean the outward circumstances may subside immediately, but He does calm the storm in our heart.

Need we fear when he is the pilot of our lives?  We are safer in the storm with Him than in the calm without Him.  When the Titanic was built, it was called "the unsinkable ship."  Yet the world soon learned that this was not true when it sank after hitting an iceberg.

With Him as our pilot, no matter how severe the storm, we are "unsinkable" when He is in control.

Is He saying to us today as He did to His disciples, "Why are you timid and fearful?  How is it that you have no faith - no firmly, relying trust?" (Mark 4:40, Amplified).  Why are you afraid today?  No faith?  Faith is the answer to fear.  Regardless of the fierceness of the storm, faith in Him is the answer for our fears.

Fear sees the storm, faith sees God in the storm.

From Beside the Still Waters...

The Lord Knoweth How - Read: 2 Peter 2

"Building up yourself on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God." - Jude 20-21

Darkness deepens around the world.  Ungodly men seek one-world commerce and government; they seek interconnectedness by physical and metaphysical means.  The Satanic world system - the Bible calls it Babylon - rears its ugly head even higher against God and His decrees for men's welfare.  Godly people may become weary and despair that righteousness will survive.

But through the darkness pierces the everlasting Word of God: "The Lord knoweth them that are his" (2 Timothy 2:19).  We may wonder, "How shall my family depart from iniquity when it pursues us through more and more corrupt inventions, increasingly deviant lifestyles, and ever worsening anti-Christian influences in the workplace?  How can we get away?"

Our heavenly Father knew that we would face these perilous times.  He planned a marvelous reassurance in today's Bible reading, pointing out some of His sovereign moves in the past and showing that even if we don't know how to escape advancing evils, "the Lord knoweth how"!  After all, when some angels left their first estate and sank into wickedness, God was able to handle such an unheavenly thing.  He knows how to separate sin from righteousness and how to commit the sinning angels to doom.

God knew how to flood the wicked world and keep a tiny righteous minority safe inside the ark.  He could quickly turn Sodom and nearby cities into ashes and save a few alive.  God still know how to separate good from evil, and He tells us our part.  In Revelation 18:4 He said, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partaker of her sins."  Sever dangerous connections.  Discard threatening inventions.  Choose godly simplicity.

Jay R. Martin - Castorland, NY

From In Green Pastures...

The Secret of Peace.

Perfect loyalty to Christ brings perfect peace into the heart.  The secret of Christ's own peace was his absolute devotion to his Father's will.  We can find peace in no other way.  Any resistance to God's will, any disobedience of his law, any wrenching of our lives out of his hand, must break the peace of our hearts.  No lesson that he gives ever mars our peace if we receive it with willing, teachable spirit and strive to learn it just as he has written it out for us.  If we take the lessons just as our Master gives them to us, we shall make our life all music, and we shall find peace.

Weekend Words

From Beside the Still Waters...

The Christian's Warfare

Read: Ephesians 6:10-24

"Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." - Ephesians 6:10

As Christians, we face a life-or-death conflict with the forces of evil.  God is counting on us to enter the conflict and confront our spiritual enemies.  Satan is out to deceive and destroy us with his wiles of lies, schemes, cunning devices, and sinister powers.  But Jesus clearly taught that to receive eternal life, we must deny Satan, sin, and self.  These three are our enemies - always!

In today's Bible reading, the "amour of God" assures our victory because it is designed by our Lord Himself.  He knows we are unable in our own strength to withstand the enemy.  The devil is limited as we rely on God's provisions.  The words "my brethren" shows that the battle is not only personal but also corporate.  Brotherhood unity in Christ is a great aid to victory.

"Loins girt about with truth" indicates that truth is like a belt holding all the spiritual armour together.  We will never prevail if we hold false doctrine.  The "breastplate of righteousness" is our righteousness by faith in Christ. It protects us from Satan's attacks upon our heart, which is the seat of our being.  The "shield of faith" helps us to gain God's perspective so we see beyond our earthly circumstances.  Faith shields us from doubts and discouragements, and it sustains our spiritual life.  Faith protects us from Satan's arrows of selfish living, pleasure, and worldliness.

The "helmet of salvation" establishes right thought patterns and keeps our minds centered on God.  The "sword of the Spirit ... the Word of God" is our only offensive weapon in the spiritual armour.  Effectively using this weapon requires Bible reading as well as daily, active, vital, persistent prayer, "with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints."

Daniel Miller - Abbotsford, WI

"The night is far spent, the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." - Romans 13:12

From Be Still and Know...

"I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah" (Psalm 3:4)

Throughout the Psalms we find the word "Selah."  One day I discovered a meaning that brought new appreciation and understanding of its use in Scripture.

"Selah" is a musical word, meaning in the Hebrew "rest", "pause", "a lifting up".  In the temple music there would be a rest for the singers while the instruments continued playing.  In the Amplified Bible "Selah" is translated "pause, and calmly think of that".

God put rests in David's life that he might "pause and calmly think" that - God helps, God hears, and God blesses.  David said, "Many are saying of me, there is no help for him in God" (Psalm 3:2, Amplified).  In the rest stops of his life David had learned by experience that "God has helped ME. Selah - pause and calmly think of that."

David recognized God's blessing on his life.  "Your blessing be upon Your people" (v. 8, Amplified).  He could say, "God has blessed ME - pause and calmly think of that."

What God did for David, He will do for us.  At times, we too, need to experience a "Selah" in our lives, a time when we pause and rest.  To be still and rest is good therapy for today's fast pace of living.  The heart strings may be taut, even on the verge of snapping.  Suddenly, God inserts a "Selah", a rest, that we might pause and calmly think of Him.  As we lift our souls to Him, we are refreshed.  The tension lessens, we gain a deeper view of God's goodness, and He becomes more real.

May we not miss the blessing God has for us in our "Selahs" - the times of rest and refreshing in our lives.  Someone has said, "There is no music in a rest, but there is the making of music in it."

Today we can pause and calmly think - God helps ME, God hears ME, and God blesses ME.

  

Natasha's visit...

Here are some photos from Natasha's visit.  Seems like it just started, and it was over, but it was lovely to see her and hopefully she can visit again soon...

she borrowed my hat and backpack to do a hike :)

After lunch at the restaurant...

Natasha, Sophie, Denver, Marnie, Tom, me

Natasha, Denver, Sophie

Natasha, Marnie, Tom

In Marnie's Campfire Beanies...

sisters: Marnie and Natasha

Natasha, me, Marnie

After she left here she flew to Adelaide to visit brother Ben and family...

Ben, Hayley, Hazel (wearing Natasha's glasses), Natasha

And then on to Canberra to visit brother Jefferson and nephew Jaya...

Right now, she is winging her way back to the USA.  We loved to see her, but I'm sure Patrick and the boys are more than ready to have her back home :)

Come back soon... xx

Weekend Words

 From Be Still and Know...

"And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only." (Matthew 17:8)

On day Jesus took Peter, James and John up into a high mountain.  Suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them.  A voice said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him ... And Jesus came and touched, them and said, Arise, and be not afraid.  And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save JESUS ONLY" (Matthew 17:5, 7, 8).

Fear and frustration may fill our lives instead of the peace and joy we once knew.  We may have turned from God's will for our lives, walking in ways of our own choosing.  We may be focusing our eyes in the wrong direction.  We need to lift up our eyes and "See no man, save JESUS ONLY."  

One day a group of people were attending an auction in London.  The auctioneer brought out a dirty looking violin.  He said, "I am offering you a genuine Cremona made by Stradivarius.  It is very valuable.  What am I bid?"  The people however, examined it critically, questioning its authenticity.  Five guineas was the highest bid.

Just then a man entered the shop.  He walked over and picked up the violin.  After carefully tuning it, he placed it in position.  A murmur spread over the crowd - "The great Paganini."  As the bow touched the strings, such beautiful music filled the room the people were spellbound.  When he finished, there was a moment's hush.  Then everyone began clamoring for the violin.

Fifty guineas!  Sixty!  Seventy!  Eighty!  At last Paganini himself received it for one hundred guineas.  Whenever he played it audiences were breathless at the music that came forth under the touch of the master's hand.

Today has the song gone out of your life?  Are the tears falling?  Are you dissatisfied with your life?  Lift your eyes to Him.  Let Him fill your vision.  See JESUS ONLY.

The touch of the Master on your life can bring peace of heart and mind.  He will bring forth the beautiful melody of His life, on the chords of your life.  In turn, your life will be a blessing to others wherever you go.

From Beside the Still Waters...

Little Is Much 

Read: Mark 12:41-44, John 6:3-13

"For who has despised the day of small things?" - Zechariah 4:10

   An African pastor was once at a convenience store in New Orleans, in line behind a young father who was not able to pay for his small purchase.  The pastor handed him enough money to pay the bill, saying, "Remember, Jesus loves you."  They didn't speak any further.

Nine years later the pastor was again in New Orleans, visiting a church, when a man stood up to speak.  He said that years earlier, he and his wife had planned to commit suicide together because they had no work and almost no money.  However, they first wanted to buy a little something to feed their small child.  The little this pastor gave and said there at the store, and the church sign they saw afterwards that said, "Jesus loves you," gave them new hope.  The man and his wife changed their mind, started going to church, and started serving the Lord.

Sometimes we are so taken up with hoping for opportunities to do great things for the Lord, that we overlook the little opportunities that are in front of us in everyday life.  Or we think, "once my ship comes in" or "once my business prospers," we'll give more time and money to the Lord's work.  But God is more pleased with the little things we do today than the big things we intend to do tomorrow.

If we are able to send a large donation, or to give several years of service to church work, great!  But if we can't, let's not wait for the time when we can, but watch for and do the little, unnoticed things that God sets before us day by day.  We may never know on this side of eternity how the Lord can use our little to accomplish great things.

Paul Yoder - Gap Mills, WV

"Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water ... he shall in no wise lose his reward."  

Matthew 10:42

I Thank Thee, Lord

I thank Thee, Lord, that in Thy blood,  My guilt is washed away;

I thank Thee that my eyes behold  A bright and glorious day;

I thank Thee, Lord for faith to see  A world of endless joy in Thee.

I thank Thee for a throne of grace  Where Thou dost bend Thine ear,

And I may breathe my soul's request  When only Thou canst hear;

And hold communion sweet with Thee, When but Thine eye beholdeth me.

I thank Thee for the hope of life  That looks beyond the tomb;

I thank Thee for the light that shines  To cheer me thro' its gloom;

And Lord, for all Thy gifts to me, My loudest praise I give to Thee.

-Fanny Crosby

This morning at church the message was on being 'born again' or born from above/born anew.  I always found the term a bit confusing, so this afternoon I listened to this audio message (MP3) from dontperish.com.  It's about an hour long but divided in to three sections.  It makes the Bible teaching very clear.  And challenging.  Enjoy!!