A turbulent sixteenth century...

 Started reading this (off my bookshelf)...

"In the early 1500s a number of political and economic woes troubled Western Europe.  For more than 50 years a population explosion had outstripped the continent's ability to feed itself.  Inflation in prices and rents drove land-owning peasants into poverty, while in the towns and cities a growing group of powerful and wealthy merchants and craftspeople challenged the rule of hereditary nobles.  University scholars grew sharply critical of state corruption.

The menacing power of the Ottoman Turks to the east threatened feelings of national security.  Kings struggled not only to wrest power and authority from local nobles, but also against rival monarchs across Europe.  Anxiety only grew as the printing press shrank the European world.  No longer were events in Paris and Vienna so distant; the printed page relayed messages of doom, destruction, and social unrest from city to city in a matter of days.  Free from direct state control, the new press circulated ideas and arguments in a way that often increased anxiety and discontent." (page 6)

Not much has changed, except today, we don't even have to wait 'days' for the gloom and doom messages!

Weekend Words

 From Beside the Still Waters...

The Presence of God - Read Isaiah 43

"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." - Matthew 28:20

While camping in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon, I became acquainted with two friendly young hunters who were trying to fill their elk tag.  They seemed quite puzzled that I was not hunting, but simply hiking off-trail through the forest to enjoy God's beautiful creation.  Why would someone walk around in the mountains, at risk of getting lost or meeting a bear or a cougar, and not even carrying a firearm?

"But what do you do?"  That was a difficult question to answer, for my only goal was to relax and revel in God's presence without any distractions.  Jesus said, "Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while" (Mark 6:31),

It is just as beneficial for His disciples to do this today as it was two thousand years ago.  However, awareness of God's presence should never be confined to times of isolation in some remote region.  Nor should it be solely at Sunday services, prayer meetings, or home devotionals.  Thanksgiving, praise, worship, and communion with our Lord should be continual in our daily life.  Awareness of His presence should be foremost in our thoughts regardless of circumstances.  "Know ye not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16).  If this is so, all our daily decisions will be guided by a desire to do His will and to honor His name.

Years ago it was common among professing Christians to ask, what would Jesus do?  Seldom heard anymore, this question is still relevant to all who sincerely desire to maintain a constant awareness of God's presence.  Will you join me in making a commitment to that?

Pete Lewis - Halsey, OR

"Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence." - Psalm 140:13

From Be Still and Know...

"And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him" (Colossians 3:17).

God Has given us a guiding principle for our lives - doing everything as His representative.  "And whatsoever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, and come with Him into the presence of God the Father to give Him your thanks" (Colossians 3:17, LB).  This covers every area of our daily living; in our homes, our business world, our neighborhoods, wherever we are, whatever we do.  "And whatever you say or do, let it all be done with reference to the Lord Jesus" (Williams).  Don't leave Him out of anything.

When we do all in His name, representing Him, our desire will be to please Him.  "Make it our ambition, whether in our home or away, to please Him" (2 Corinthians 5:9, Weymouth).  Is this your ambition?

We will do everything for His glory. "Whether wherefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31).  Everything in our lives, regardless of how small, ordinary, or insignificant, should be for His glory.  Is this your desire?

All we do will be with the right motive.  It has been said, "His name is our standard of perfection.  When all is done in His name, there is never a mis-taken step, a mis-spoken word, or an act rescinded."  Do you make periodic checks to see if your motives are right?

Sometimes we feel if we were taken out of our present environment, it would be easier.  But the standard is, "WHATSOEVER ye DO (and that includes WHEREVER YOU ARE) through His strength and power you can do ALL in His name."

Does this seem an impossible attainment?  It is.  We can't do it in our own strength, but God enables and empowers us for it through the Holy Spirit.

"For God is at work within you, helping you want to obey Him, and then helping you do what He wants" (Philippians 2:13, LB).

Our Glad Thanksgiving

To thee, O Lord Jehovah, We hymn our grateful praise,

For all Thy lovingkindness, The wisdom of Thy ways.

Blest tokens of Thy mercy, To sinful host appear,

And with Thy matchless goodness Thou crownest all the year.

For hope of joys eternal, For pardon through the blood,

And for Thy Holy Spirit, We thank Thee, O our God.

Ye saints, go tell of Jesus Till earth triumphant rings,

Till every creature bowing, Shall praise the King of kings.

Snippets from home...

 Winter has arrived!  Very cold nights and early mornings, but some nice sunny calm days...

a rare foggy morning

Good working in the garden weather...

preparing the raised garden bed Marnie brought over from her garden

Read these recently...

from the Mennonites (Rod and Staff publishers)

And I'm halfway through this one, set in Paraguay...

also from Rod and Staff

And these two from the library...

Recent op shop finds...

the little dish (that actually says 'jam') is for my salt

Working on this sleeveless vest for granddaughter Hazel for her birthday in August...

And a plethora of unfinished projects... (interestingly the word plethora came to mind.  I sort of knew what its meaning was, but I looked it up just to be sure...)

Plethora: a very large amount of something; overabundance; excess; especially a larger amount than you need, want, or can deal with.

Haha!!!  Spot on!

In the meantime, I continue to try and get some things finished before I start something else...

This was a bag of 50 new crocheted squares from the op shop for $5.  I thought I'd sew them together.  Now I know why they were at the op shop!  Not that there is anything wrong with them, except that there are 50 of them, and they are edged in black, which is very hard to see to sew up.  But I'll persevere... 

This is my 'Deloriane blanket' which I work on when I need a break from one of the other projects...

This will also be a lap blanket.  Eventually...

And this one for Wrap with Love charity just needs a few more ends woven in and a border done.  Maybe if winter last for a couple of years, I'll have enough longer winter evenings to work on them all and get them finished...

And I won't even mention the sewing projects on the go!! (sigh)

Looking very wintery down at the river the other day...

I often feel the urge to re-read the Little House books in winter...

"Next day another blizzard came.  Again that low, dark cloud rolled swiftly up from the north-west till it blotted out the sun and covered the whole sky and the wind went, howling and shrieking, whirling snow until nothing could be seen but a blur of whiteness.

Pa followed the rope to the stable and back.  Ma cooked and cleaned and mended and helped Mary and Laura with their lessons.  They did the dishes, made their bed, and swept the floors, kept their hands and faces clean and neatly braided their hair.  They studied their books and played with Carrie and Jack.  They drew pictures on their slate, and taught Carrie to make her A B C's.

Mary was still sewing nine-patch blocks.  Now Laura started a bear's-track quilt.  It was harder than a nine-patch, because there were bias seams, very hard to make smooth.  Every seam must be exactly right before Ma would let her make another, and often Laura worked several days on one short seam..."

(from On the Banks of Plum Creek)

 

And this From the Prairie: A Child's Memories: by Joan Vibert, (unfortunately I can't get the link to work, but it's on Amazon)

January 4, 1883  I hate snow.  I went out with Pa this morning to feed the chickens.  the snow was so deep that Pa had to carry me sometimes.  My scarf blew away and Pa had to run and get it.  I was in the chicken house all by myself and the chickens were pecking at me and flapping their wings.  I ran outside to call Pa.  He was at the food bin and I could not find Him.  The wind was so loud and Pa could not hear me.  I hate chickens too!

(by 8 year-old Sarah Jane)

So much to do and so little time...

I think I need a cup of tea :)

xx

Weekend Words

From Be Still and Know...

"You chart the path ahead of me, and tell me where to stop and rest.  Every moment, you know where I am." (Psalm 139:3, LB)

As we planned our vacation each year, we made careful preparations.  After deciding where to go, a travel agency would chart our trip for us.  It supplied us with maps of the area.  Places of scenic and historical interest were marked.  Included were suggestions for motels and restaurants, everything to provide for our needs on the trip.  Having all this planned ahead made the trip easier and much more pleasant.

God has a planned path for each of us.  In Jeremiah 29:11 (Rotherham) we read, "I know the plans which I am planning for you, plans of welfare and not of calamity to give you a future and a hope."

Not only does our heavenly Father know His plans for us, but He has it charted.  "As thou goest step by step, the way shall be opened up before thee" (Proverbs 4:12, Free translation).

Being an all-wise God, He knows the importance of "rest stops" along the way.  Because He knows we may fail to take them ourselves, He includes them at the right places on our path for our benefit.

Not only does He give us rest stops to refresh us, but also to give us quiet times to think of Him and be aware of His personal love and care; to have a time of communion with Him.  After Jesus' disciples had had a busy schedule, He charted a "rest stop" for them.  "And he said unto them, come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile" (Mark 6:31).

Sometimes we feel God has forgotten all about us.  But the psalmist had learned God never forgets.  "Every moment you know where I am."

There is much instruction and encouragement in resting on God's Word.  We can be assured there is rest for us today wherever we are, whatever our situation.  This is not an outer rest of circumstances, but an inner rest of soul.  "So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete Sabbath rest reserved for the [true] people of God" (Hebrews 4:9, Amplified).

From Behold the Lilies ...

"I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." - Philippians 4:11

What produces the highest degree or state of contentment in your life?  The Apostle Paul, in the cold, damp prison cell in Rome, was condemned for preaching the Gospel.  Yet he could say that he had learned to be content.  How could he write this beautiful testimony to the Philippian church when his circumstances were so discouraging?  But Paul continued writing, "I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need" (v. 12).  Paul's life had been a hard one, not a bed of roses or an easy path, but he had learned through life's experiences the source of true strength.  Strength is feeling the Solid Rock under us when trials and temptations come.  It is having faith and confidence in Jesus.  Then the test will pass and we will still stand firm in Christ who strengthens us.  True contentment is when, no matter what the circumstance, our satisfaction is unshaken in our heavenly Father, the source of true contentment.

One day I went to visit my friend Mary, a community lady who had to be in hospital for a while.  As I talked with her, she began recounting her past life with an unfaithful husband and raising her family alone.  A shadow fell across her normally expressive face as she described her trials honestly but without self-pity.  Her life had been depressing and discouraging until she began going to church and found the Lord.  As she related the change in her life, her eyes took on a new sparkle.  She laid her hand on her chest and said, "Now I's happy, I's content with Jesus in here."  She continued telling how her friends now ask her why she doesn't get another husband.  But Mary said, "I don't listen to them.  Since I have Jesus, I's content - I's satisfied now!"

Mary knew the secret of contentment, and her joy influenced my state of mind as well.

From In Green Pastures...

Leaving All To God

As we go through life we learn more and more to doubt our own wishing and choosing, as we see how little really comes from our own ways and plans.  We learn not to choose at all ourselves, but to let God choose for us.  No doubt we miss heavenly blessings many a time, because we have not faith to take them in their disguise of pain and grief, preferring our own way to our Father's.  Then God sometimes lets us have what in our willfulness we persist in choosing, just to teach us that our own way is not the best.  We learn at last to plead, "Bless me, my Father," not daring to indicate in what manner the blessing shall come, but preferring that it shall be as God wills.

For the joys and for the sorrows

The best and worst of times

For this moment, for tomorrow

For all that lies behind

Fears that crowd around me

For the failures of my plans

For the dreams of all I hope to be

The truth of what I am

For this I have Jesus

for this I have Jesus

For this I have Jesus, I have Jesus...

For the weakness of my body

The burdens of each day

For the nights of doubt and worry 

When sleep has fled away

Needing reassurance

And the will to start again

A steely-eyed endurance

The strength to fight and win 

(- Graham Kendrick)

Weekend Words

From Be Still and Know...

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31)

The following fable relates how the birds are supposed to have received their wings.  They were created without wings.  They had lovely plumage, they could sing, but they could not fly.  Then God made wings and placed them in front of the birds, saying, "Come, take up these burdens and bear them."  At first the birds hesitated.  Then they picked up the wings in their beaks and laid them on their shoulders.  At first they were heavy and hard to bear.  But soon, as they folded the burdens over their hearts, the wings grew to their bodies.  Their burdens had become wings by which they could fly.

Often the burdens of life press upon us so heavily we feel we cannot carry them any longer.  We ask God to remove them.  But His plan is to use them to develop wing power in our lives.

When the eagle watches a storm approaching, he waits until it strikes.  Then he faces it, spreads his wings, and rises upward through it.  As storms break upon our lives, our wing power takes us through the storm and lifts us above it.

Sufficient strength to mount up on wings as eagles comes from "waiting on the Lord".  It has been said, "Mounting wings have been fashioned for those who wait on the Lord."

The word "wait" in this Scripture verse has the meaning of "habitually trusting."  Those who wait on the Lord will keep trusting in spite of their difficulties.  When we bring our needs to Him and wait before Him, He gives strength to rise above them.  It is an exchanged strength, exchanging our human strength for His divine strength.  "For my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

In our weakness we become strong.  We say, "I can't do it."  God says, "I can do it for you".

What are you waiting on today?  Things?  People?  Money?  Possessions?  Waiting on HIM gives the quiet confidence of His presence upholding us moment by moment.

From Behold the Lilies...

"For God so love the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" - John 3:16

How much did God love?  He loved so much that He gave.  God did not just say, "I love you," and then remain unmoved about our sinful condition.  Giving is the supreme test of love.  There are many ways to give.  Perhaps one of the most difficult things to give - the sacrifice that most strenuously tests our love - is time. 

Do you have time to listen?  To write?  To help?  To meditate on God and His Word?  To pray?  If we have given our bodies a living sacrifice, we will make time for these things.  We will see things from God's perspective, and He will fill us with love.  And remember, love gives.  

The devil likes to clutter our lives with varied distractions.  Giving time takes effort.  The fruit of holiness forgets self and goes on to help others.  I have yet to experience a dearth or a calamity because I spent time for someone else.

Are your relationships satisfying?  If your answer is no, perhaps you think that fulfillment in relationships is found in getting and not in giving.  Are you almost ready to cross that friend off your list and class her as unfaithful because she doesn't write?  Why not write to her once more?  Maybe she has struggles and needs encouragement.  Do you feel sorry for yourself because no one invites you to Sunday lunch?  Why don't you invite someone?  God did not wait to give, invite, or share until someone else did.

The palsied man who was let down through the roof to Jesus did not get there by himself.  He was borne there by four kind people who were moved by his weak condition.  Where love is, there is a willingness to bear the weak to God in prayer and fasting.  

Giving may require sacrifice.  Jesus sacrificed when He gave, and through that we experience untold blessings.  When God moves us to give and we act in obedience, the giver as well as the receiver will experience abundant blessings.

 From Our Daily Bread...

Holiness - Set Apart in Christ.

Holy is a word that is often misunderstood in our day, no doubt in part because it's sometimes used negatively to call someone "holier than thou" - a statement of a person's arrogance about their moral superiority.  So, setting aside that negative view, why is it important for believers in Jesus to understand holiness?

In both the Old and New Testaments, the primary word for "holy" (Hebrew, qodesh; Greek, hagios) carry the idea of being "set part for God's use".  As a result, holiness results in purity and usefulness - the byproducts of a life dedicated to God and His purposes.

So, in practical terms, what might being "set apart" look like?  We find the answer in Paul's words in Romans 12:1-2: "I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."

Notice how Paul's description presents the distinctiveness with which believers are called to live in Christ's name.  A living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, not conformed to this world, transformed, discerning God's purposes.

This is an impossibility for us to achieve in our own strength, wisdom, or power (just ask the Pharisees of the first century).  It is only as we allow God to work in our hearts through His Spirit that we can live in a way that harmonizes with the holy One who's redeemed us.

- Bill Crowder, Our Daily Bread author