I have trouble with focus. I struggle with many directions of thought. Do you?
God is a gracious help when it comes to focusing. He basically says,
“Stop. Think of Me!”
In Psalm 46:10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
There’s so much going on. “Outside there are conflicts, inside there are fears,” much like in Paul’s day as he wrote of his time in Macedonia in 2 Corinthians 7:5.
“But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us,” Paul continues, and He comforts us today.
Where’s my focus? I need to remember to spend time with God.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Psalm 37:7.
God’s allowing trials in all our lives. He warned us in His Word we would have tribulation, but to rejoice because He has overcome, He is our victory, (John 16:33).
When words to our prayers feel weak, I speak the words of this favorite ancient 8th Century hymn:
Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art Thou my best thought, by day or by night Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light
When we speak to one another in hymns and psalms, we put on the spiritual armor of faith and truth, to gird ourselves for battle.
Be Thou my wisdom, and Thou my true word I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one
In Christ, “in Him,” we have salvation and security. He is our peace. In His presence is fullness of joy, the Bible tells us. And, ” . . . in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
The hymn reminds us of this. He is with us!
Be Thou my battle shield, sword for the fight; Be Thou my dignity, Thou my delight; Thou my soul’s shelter, Thou my high tower: Raise Thou me heavenward, O power of my power.
Together, we must stay focused on the battle. The Word of God must be our sword of thought to overcome:
” . . . since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame,
and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” Hebrews 12: 1,2.
This is easy to read. Hard to do. But with God, all things are possible. His Word is a double-edged sword:
“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” Exodus 14:14.
To quiet the mind is a challenge. But to spend time with God is to be still.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise, Thou mine inheritance, now and always: Thou and Thou only, first in my heart, High King of Heaven, my treasure Thou art.
Ancient Irish, 8th-century hymn
High King of Heaven, my victory won, May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s sun! Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, Still be my vision, O ruler of all.
Let’s be equipped for battle, focused on the Lord, in His Word, speaking the hymns. When we get our focus on Him we remember we are His and He is ours.
We pray, “Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, . . .
still be my vision, O ruler of all.”
(If you have trouble resting, listen to this hymn on my Music Therapy Souncloud and go from fretful to restful and assured sleep.)
Many adults have the Lord’s Prayer, (Matthew 6:9-13) memorized and through time developed a good understanding of each phrase, but what about the kids?
For me, in the course of a day, I’ll recite these Words of God many times. Kids today will benefit greatly to have this great treasure of Scripture hidden in their hearts and mind.
Give a listen. Commit to share it with the kids and grandkids and sing along with them.
To commune with God draws us near to Him. He draws near to us as we seek Him in spirit and in truth.
He meets us right where we are.
“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” Jeremiah 29:13.
This is an excellent and essential use of our time. Spurgeon is quoted:
“If there be anything I know, anything that I am quite assured of beyond all question, it is that praying breath is never spent in vain.”
Today, let’s take a moment and let a child’s voice speak Jesus’ model to talk to God. Let the melody and the Word stir up an attitude to speak with our Maker in an all-inclusive way, and not fret, worry, or lose heart over anything.
May the melody to the Lord’s Prayer with kids bring us refreshing and rescue, this day and every day.
“Just keep singin'” to Jesus and cast all our cares on Him.
“For His is the kingdom, the power, and glory, forever. “
Amen.
P.S. Let me know if your kids enjoy learning the Lord’s prayer with Kally, Graham, and Irelyn!
I’m working on a Bible Songs Alive Resource for Christian schools, churches, homeschools, and families to pull up kids singing wonderful Scripture memory songs.
Please pray for the Lord’s leading and blessing in this project I’ve been working on for over 10 years! — Toni
When the picture is dim. Futures look foggy. The ways of man seem right in their own eyes. (Proverbs 14:12).
God’s Holy Word stands alone, unchanged. (Numbers 23:19).
What do we do?
Do we open His pages?
Do we call on His name? (Romans 10:13).
Do we believe He’s faithful? (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
Do we thank Him? Do we give Him praise? (Psalm 148: 13).
Do we have comprehension? (Ephesians 1:13-15).
Are we growing in grace and the knowledge of Him? (2 Peter 3:18).
Who is the Lord? And what is His name? (Exodus 15:3).
His name is Jesus. There is none greater. There is salvation in none other. (Acts 4:12).
He was, and is, and will always be. (Isaiah 43: 13-25).
There will be a day when all will eyes see. (Philippians 2).
He alone is in control. He is before all things. (Colossians 1:17).
He’s coming again. (Matthew 24:44).
All eyes will behold, every knee will bow. (Romans 14:11).
God hates lies. God hates evil. (Proverbs 6:16-19, Amos 5:15).
The enemy of God is the father of lies. (John 8:44).
Satan comes to deceive and accuse. (Luke 22:31).
Satan seeks to destroy . . . me and you. (John 10:10).
As Moses in the wilderness with a multitude of faithless complainers, against God and His ways. Serpents were sent among all the people.
The serpents bit. People were afraid.(Numbers 21:4-8).
What happened next?
God instructed Moses. Make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole. Lift it in the camp. All who look on the bronze serpent will be healed.
What will we choose? Do we look up? Do we look away?
Do we bow today?
Or do we wait for some other day?
His Word is Love. (1Corinthians 13).
What do we believe?
This is a life or death question. What answer does the Bible give:
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.
But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. (John 3:14-21).
What is sweeter than the grace of God?
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory! Ephesians 1:13-15, emphasis mine.
If you want to receive Jesus in your life. Simply bow your head and heart and ask His forgiveness for sin. He washes all the past shame and sin away. Then ask Him to fill you with His love. He will flood your heart with His sweet love. Accept His love and forgiveness and ask Him for the Holy Spirit to help you to grow in His grace and knowledge. He is faithful. he will surely do it!
Then tell someone. Tell the whole world that you are a new creation in Christ. And find other believers to grow with in a Bible teaching church.
Rejoice in Him. Worship Him. He alone is able to accomplish all that concerns all who seek Him, today.
Dead phones need a charger. Weary souls need a re-charger too. Paul Gerhardt knew about the need to be encouraged, so in 1656, he penned these words:
“Give to the winds Thy fears; Hope and be undismayed;
God hears Thy sighs and counts Thy tears,
God shall lift up Thy head.” Hymn by Paul Gerhardt, translated by John Wesley, 1656.
Some old hymns need to find their way back in today’s busy minds.
A 1656 hymn speaks volumes, plain and clear for today, “hope and be undismayed.”
John Wesley is a familiar name. He’s the brother of Charles Wesley, one of the 19 children born of Samuel and Susanne Wesley. John was four years older than Charles, and they both were used mightily by God.
But John Wesley had sighs and fears. All of human race has sighs, tears, and fears.
However, God lifts up our head. When we believe, our heads rise.
“Through waves and clouds and storms, He gently clears Thy way; Wait Thou His time; So shall this night soon end in joyous day.”
Faith helps us wait for His time. Ecclesiastes 3:17 reminds us:
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
This night will soon be over into a joyous day.
“Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD” Ps. 27:14.
God is God, we’re not. He is a Sovereign God, He knows the beginning from the end. But waiting on the LORD is hard. Our hearts become weak and weary.
We struggle to trust Him. How we need to know Him and His love deeper and wider.
He knows everything about us, yet He loves us with tender-mercies.
There is no one like God. But do we know Him?
When we spend time with Him. He will strengthen our heart.
Faith is believing God. Wanting to know His Word, His Ways, His wisdom.
“Leave to God’s sov’reign sway To choose and to command; So shall thou, wond’ring, own that way, How wise, how strong His hand!”
He desires my best, not my own wandering ways.
When I don’t fully understand, do I believe still?
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ Romans 10:17.
Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind Job 12: 9-10.
“How can tragic loss, disease, and strife bombard our lives as it does?”
We ask, we wonder, we doubt God’s love,
Yet His Hand remains to hold ours as we walk among thorns in this broken sin-cursed world.
There’s always hope, as long as there’s God.
“Let us in life, in death, Thy steadfast truth declare, And publish with our latest breath Thy love and guardian care.
God’s Word, a voice of love and care and steadfast truth:
Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing Isaiah 40:21-26.
“Far, far above thy thought, His counsel shall appear, When fully He the work hath wrought, that caused thy needless fear.”
He supernaturally lifts us to carry on . . .
Until that day,
He calls us home.
“Give to the winds thy fears. Hope and be undismayed.
“Tune up my heart strings, Lord.” She prays, as her heart beats in a flat, minor chord.
“All things are possible with You by my side,” she believes.
“Help my unbelief,” she asks ready to defeat the perfectionist, the giant enemy of thought.
“Change me. C-H-A-N-G-E me!” She pleads with the One who is able.
In stillness, a gentle voice reminds:
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord you God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9.
Faith has new breath, and a word of direction: “Sing a new song. Praise God as the victory is won. Sing praise!”
A hymn comes to mind.
The hymn tunes the heart’s theme for hope.
With a prayer for mercy and power of God.
Read aloud. Yes, sing aloud:
Come thou fount of every blessing Tune my heart to sing thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet Sung by flaming tongues above
I’ll praise the mount I’m fixed upon it Mount of thy redeeming love”
Change happens in a moments time. God’s Word comes to mind:
“I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber;”Psalm 121,
Lifted. Transformed, through the speaking of a psalm.
What comes next? Her heart needs to know, she reads aloud:
The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
This is how the hymn is sung. By the help of the Living Word giving persevering strength to the weary saint.
Here I raise my Ebenezer Hither by thy help I come
And I hope by thy good pleasure Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger Wondering from the fold of God
He, to rescue me from danger Interposed His precious blood
She receives the Spirit’s Comfort and Hope and thankfulness pours forth:
O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be! Let thy goodness like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee
Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.
Victory is won in her heart this moment. A new song is sung. Prayers have been answered and change for good themes continues on . . .
Will we choose to read aloud and sing? “Yes, because ‘new’ is a glorious thing.”
God placed on my heart to write that I might remember good themes while facing the battle before me.
Cancer changes you. For me, it was for good.
I had many cancers of thought and attitude as well, growing in my heart after “life happens,” in other words, great affliction and testing.
Through a flood of trial, thought patterns of fear, anger, and uncertainty came over me through the course of a day and the battle felt too great to overcome, yes, even in the Lord.
Yes, “My flesh and my heart,” did fail, but “God was the strength of my heart and my portion forever” Psalm 73:26.
The physical battle of cancer kicked me into a renewed faith to live, abide, and trust in God, moment by moment.
Has your life been rudely interrrupted by something tramatic and painful?
God did not “cause” this cancer, but He is in control and He most certainly “allowed” this trial in my life.
It’s as if I ws “blind” to many wonderful things about God, and He allowed me to “SEE HIM” in my agony like never before.
So much so, I became what some might say, a “Jesus Freak,” so to speak!
How will we know God is All-sufficient until we’re allowed to be in a place where we have no sufficiency in ourselves.
After the cancer diagnosis, I grew strong through the Word of God by day, but, I admit, at night, fear would come rushing in to envelope me.
I recited aloud scriptures I had memorized. They permeated deep inside me, increasing my faith in a God I couldn’t see, but I believed was drawing near to me, personally, individually, intimately.
I prayed the name of Jesus, over and again. Victory of anxious thoughts was won moment by moment.
Weeks before the cancer diagnosis, I was feeling pains in my pelvic bone and excessive fatigue. After the diagnosis, before the scans, I feared the cancer had spread to my bones. Would I have a fourth stage diagnosis?
One particular night I felt compelled to get out of bed, to literally fall prostrate before the Lord.
I prayed,
“Lord God, I’m afraid this cancer has metastasized to my bones. Please heal me. Heal my bones.”
I went back to bed. The verse in 2 Kings came to mind, “Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.” I felt the crazy desire to pray in this manner, seven times.
So, I prayed on my face that night seven times.
I prayed in Jesus’ name for mercy and healing of my body.
Weeks later, my bone scan results were clear. However, a large cancer tumor, remained in my breast. What to do?
My father, Dr. Ernst E. Born, M.D. had passed away some years before. He was an oncologist/surgeon in Arizona.
As I grew up, Poloroid pictures of tumors, surgically removed that day lay on our kitchen counter. This was a great encouragement for me to take vitamins and strive to be healthy.
I was a natural and alternative medicine person through and through.
After the tests and the diagnosis, my schedule was filled quickly with surgeon and oncology visits.
The woman behind the surgeon’s office counter was from church. A Christian song played from the speaker in the room as I waited.
I heard a voice, not audibly, but impressed upon me, from behind saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” as I walked in to meet the oncologist.
“This is the way, walk in it,” chemo, surgery, traditional medicine, but I had a peace that passed all my understanding. God was with me.
Part of the chemo I had to endure was nicknamed by my oncology nurse, The Red Devil, because it was red and it kills cancer. (Adriamycin was used decades before by my dad to fight cancer. He would’ve been happy.)
Chemo has it’s good, I suppose, and it’s bad, and ugly.Chemo was the hardest thing I had ever been through in my life, and I birthed eleven children, completely natural.
After my third treatment, my dear friend drove me home after I was loaded up with the prescribed chemo for that day. Within an hour I was sick. My body wasn’t used to such invasion.
I laid down after my friend Andrea had prayed for me. She reluctantly left me to have some rest while my sweet neighbor Estelle had the kids for a bit. With my eyes closed, I felt I could feel death in my bones.
Anyway, I started talking to God with fear, “Lord, I think they misjudged the amount of chemo.”
I thought I was dying. I was looking for lights or brightness. I saw none.
Anyway, I saw darkness. But suddenly there was a door.
It was open. There was light shining out of the door. Then I saw His hands, palms side up. Scarred, but healed.
“Not all know Me as their King,” (words from Glen Keane’s children’s book, Adam Raccoon and the Mighty Giant, I read thousands of times), were the thoughts that I heard clearly in my heart.
I knew right then, I was going to live. God gave me marching orders for my future.
The hands that were stretched out in the vision had the scars from the nails.
Jesus knows all about scars . . . because He laid down His life for each one of us. Especially me. Especially you. Everyone.
And, as best I can, being in this fleshy human body, with many weaknesses and temptations, I would like to lay down my life for Him.
One day at a time. Moment by moment.
God allows us trial. He has us enter battles of emotion, physical weakness, spiritual fatigue. But God,. . .
He faithfully brings us through. He brought me through. I was carried by the prayers of the saints, through His Word, and , one more point to my story,
He brought me to the hymns. I’m a guitarist. I came to know the Lord in a contemporary church. But He allowed trial. And, for someone who doesn’t sit well, He allowed great stillness.
That same afternoon, after the third chemo treatment, after the vision, I opened a hymnal on the shelf to Be Still My Soul:
Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Its as if I never knew this truth, and it was for me, right then: The Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to your God to order and provide; In every change, He faithful will remain. Be still, my soul: your best, your heavenly Friend Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
The Spirit of the living God fell afresh on me and ministered a breath of restoration and hope in me.
I could go out in peace and the courage of God.
He loved me through my times of doubt and fear, and He loves us still through our struggles. He meets us there when we seek Him.
God encouraged me, “Draw near to Me, and I’ll draw near to you.”
I learned Be Still My Soul on the guitar and sang it to myself often. It’s recorded with parts of Psalm 18, to be music therapy for me, and hopefully someone else going through trial.
Be still, my soul: your God will undertake To guide the future, as He has the past. Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake; All now mysterious shall be bright at last. Be still, my soul: the waves and winds shall know His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.
“I would like to say that now that we have our degree, we will not run into problems that we can’t handle.
Truthfully, no matter the type of degree, the number of years of experience, no matter the location, support groups, family, or friendships,
there will always come a time when we just don’t know the answer. It’s inevitable.
So, I want to encourage you with a little anatomy lesson:
Did you know that there are 47 different structures that make up the human eye that all have a unique function?
Did you know that there are 6 extra-ocular muscles, 4 cranial nerves, and 1.2 million nerve fibers in each optic nerve?
Did you know that when light waves touch my eye, without even thinking about it, I blink.
I blink to protect my eyes from too much exposure.
And when the amount of light changes, my pupillary-light response reacts without a thought, that only the right amount of light is allowed into my eye.
Did you know there are four of twelve cranial nerves that work specifically for the eye? They allow me to focus on an object, read it, and also move in different directions.
There are 9 different structures that all play a specific role in receiving light messages before they even get to the brain!
And not until those messages get to the occipital lobe of the brain that I’m able to interpret what I’m actually seeing.
The eyes receive millions of light waves and messages everyday, but my brain has a specific area that let’s only the important and significant messages through so that the brain doesn’t get over-stimulated.
Did you know that the God who told me to cast all my cares upon Him,
and told me He will never leave me nor forsake me,
and that I should be anxious for nothing,
was the very One who designed this whole system and hundreds like it so that we can live and move and breathe every second.
Did you know that He didn’t have to lift a finger and didn’t sweat a drop to think of it?
He just breathed on one man,
and He said that He knit us together and formed us in our mother’s womb before you were even a thought in her mind.
So, what are you worried about?
What will you be worried about when you come up to those hurdles that are bound to cross you path?
Think of your eye and tell me, that your situation, your problem, your worry is too bigfor GOD who created you and the world you live in.”
This Best Graduation Speech was presented by Carolyn Rypkema at the Lamplighting Ceremony at PBAU, May 3, 2012.
I’m the proud mama, and not only that, May 3rd, the day of the greatest speech ever, was my birthday.
My dear Carolyn, the oldest daughter of our large family, I love you more than you will ever know. I am more proud of you than you can conceive in your very smart mind. I am so thankful of the unifying spirit within you, the encouraging spirit, the brave and courageous spirit that you possess. You are an amazing person.
I have failed as a mom so many times, but I have succeeded in one point, pointing you, and each my kids to the One Who Loves perfectly, the One Who knows everything, and the One Who never leaves us or forsakes us.
Isn’t God amazing? Thank you Carolyn for reminding me through your wonderful graduation speech that God’s watching and keeping us under His careful and perfect eye.
He will continually guide each of us continually with His eye!
Take time for a healthy snack of Scripture for today:
For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and love and of a sound mind 1 Timothy 1:7.
What am I thinking?
Today, I make the choice to think on a good theme.
Join me?
Let’s water the seeds of faith within our soul and watch us grow in healthy mind and heart with increased hope, joy, and peace.
“Dear Lord, Today I pray to you, and perhaps others join in too, to ask that You would water the seed of faith that we have in our hearts. Increase our faith in You. Help us desire to know You more through our day. Today we give you more time than the weather, the news, and the amount of “likes” on our posts. In Jesus’s Name we pray, Amen.
I need thee every hour Stay thou nearby Temptations lose their power When thou art nigh
I need thee, oh, I need thee Every hour I need thee Oh, bless me now, my Savior I come to thee
An empty glove can’t move. But with a hand in it, the glove is fluid to move in marvelous ways.
What’s natural in human nature, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy” (Matthew 5:43), is evident all around.
But “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you?” this is hard stuff in Matthew 5:44.
What if Jesus could sit with us this morning and have our ear and our whole heart for a bit: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your Father in heaven.
He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous Matthew 43-45.
Is there evidence of God in Christ Jesus in us? Are we “children of our Father in heaven,” (Matthew 5:45).
Do we love those who love us? Naturally, yes. This is easy. The Bible tells us that even tax collectors do that.
But God calls us to impossible standards: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” Matthew 5:48.
There’s no way, nada. Especially if we’ve been deeply hurt, there is often no willingness.
We can’t naturally love our enemy. We’re much like the glove with no hand.
Jesus said multiple times, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” Matthew 19:26.
“If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believes” Mark 9:23.
“With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.” Mark 10:27.
Who’s ready to believe big with me? Unity is what Jesus desires. Oneness of the Body of Christ, and salvation to the lost souls of the world.
Time is short. Jesus is coming back again.
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,
that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.
May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—
I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the worldJohn 17:21-24.
I want to believe God to work miracles of unity that “the world will know” that God sent His Son, and see that God loves everyone. His desire is that all should know Him and receive Salvation and grace in His name.
I want to believe in a revival of love and forgiveness one person at a time.
This is big, but not too hard for God.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace Ephesians 1:7
If I don’t have a heart willing to forgive, God sees and He understands the struggle. He’s been hurt more than any human being through all of time, as He laid His life down at the cross.
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” Luke 23:34.
How can we get to such a place?
“Christ in us is our hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
He rose from the dead. Jesus is alive.
Christ in me. . . my only hope to love in a “perfect” way.
The Potter adds the water of the Spirit and repairs dried-up clay to create a vessel fit for the Master’s use.
What’s impossible in ourselves, is possible in Him.
Let’s go to God for our “impossibles.” His hand in our empty gloves = possibility of amazing grace and His love spread in all dark places.
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:9-13.
“We pray dear Lord, ‘let there be peace and love on this earth, and let it begin with me. You are our only hope. Christ in us, our hope of glory.’ In Jesus Name, Amen.”
The old hymnal on the shelf. Silent. Closed. Yet, the treasures are stored.
So I opened it today, to a hymn from not tarnished by the present mainstream air.
Do we suffer from guilt and regret? How can we be freed of it’s strangling grip?
We pray.
We pray, one time alone, for salvation of our soul.
Above the noise and our own stubborn plans, can we hear His knock at each of our heart’s door?
Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole; I want Thee forever to live in my soul; Break down every idol; cast out every foe;
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.
When the door of our heart is opened to Him, and He forgives all my sin, and yours. He offered His love to the whole world.
He did. He does.
He paid a great price that I might be born again. Not in the flesh, because, I’m still here and alive, but I became born of the Spirit, able to see . . . true Love.
I was no longer blind.
Somebody loves me, and I knew it fully, inside.
I prayed one time for my salvation, but each day for a wash.
My feet become dirty just living in this land. I’m prideful, covetous, naturally selfish and critical. My own stubbornness closes me daily from being free.
Who can help me from all this?
Lord Jesus, look down from Thy throne in the skies, and help me to make a complete sacrifice; I give up myself and whatever I know.
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.
An open hymnal, read aloud, prayed from the heart, instructs the mind, refreshes the soul, and increases faith deep down inside.
Lord Jesus, for this I most humbly entreat, I wait blessed Lord at Thy crucified feet; by faith, for my cleansing, I see Thy blood flow;
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.
He gave up His life to pay our great debt. Jesus is able to make all things right.
I must wait in faith. I need believe God now. I can’t trust in my feelings. He is a present help,
Lord Jesus, Thou seest I patiently wait; come now and within me a new heart create; To those who have sought Thee, Thou never saidst, “No;”
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. (Whiter Than Snow by James Nicholson 1872).
Let’s speak it alone, right here, right now. Believe God has cleansed and brought us near. He is our Savior who cleanses and renews. Today, everyday, we now make Him Lord.
We must tell someone else what Jesus has just done . . .
for you, for me, . . .
we’ve been washed . . .
completely.
Whiter Than Snow by James Nicholson 1872:
G 1 Lord Je-sus, I long to be per-fect -ly whole; 2 Lord Je-sus, look down from Thy throne in the skies, 3 Lord Je-sus, for this I most hum-bly en -treat 4 Lord Je-sus, Thou se - est I pa -tient-ly wait;
(G) Em D G (G9 G) D (D6 D) G 1 I want Thee for -ev - er to live in my soul; 2 And help me to make a com-plete sac - ri - fice; 3 I wait, bless-ed Lord, at Thy cru - ci - fied feet; 4 Come now, and with-in me a new heart cre -ate;
(G) G/B C G 1 Break down ev-ery idol, cast out ev'ry foe: 2 I give up my - self and whatever I know 3 By faith, for my cleans-ing, I see Thy blood flow; 4 To those who have sought Thee, Thou never saidst "No;"
(G) D Em7/D D G Now wash me, and I shall be whit-er than snow.
Chorus: D Em C G Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow; (G) D Em7/D D G Now wash me, and I shall be whit-er than snow.
To all who receive Him, He makes their heart His home.
He is the Vine, our Valentine.
He asks that we abide and unite with His Word and fruit will come forth bringing glory to the Lord:
Speak aloud age-old hymns and be revived in the soul. Actively respond, and discover, it is so:
“Quicken’d by thee, and kept alive, I flourish and bear fruit; My life I from thy sap derive, My vigour from thy root.
I can do nothing without thee; My strength is wholly thine: Wither’d and barren should I be, If sever’d from the vine. (1)
He is faithful. That we might trust Him more and more.
Faith grows as we hear His Letters of love. Ears that hear, with souls refreshed, as words are read of Jesus’ faithfulness:
“Come just as you are, for Jesus invites Poor sinners to share substantial delights: Ye weary and burden’d who happy would be, And wish to be pardon’d, come listen to me.”
“The ear of your heart if you will incline To you I’ll impart my fulness divine, Your souls by my Spirit made meet for the sky, The life shall inherit which never shall die.” (2)
Valentine comfort. Valentine hope. This is Jesus, to all whose heart will take hold.
“My precious Lord, for thy dear name I bear the cross, despise the shame; Nor do I faint while thou art near; I lean on thee; how can I fear?
No other name but thine is given To cheer my soul in earth or heaven; No other wealth will I require; No other friend can I desire.”
Yea, into nothing would I fall For thee alone, my All in All; To feel thy love, my only joy; To tell thy love, my sole employ.”(3)
He makes beauty from ashes. Will you join me in praise? His Name together, with thankful hearts, raise!
Who’s following me? How quickly we forget. I’m not talking about all the friends on the internet.
It’s Goodness and Mercy that are following us, today, tomorrow, and in every last breath.
When we choose to let the Lord be our Shepherd, Goodness and mercy follow us. As if living and nearby. But we forget.
The Lord told us why. He likens us as sheep. We’re often too busy noticing that other people’s grass is green.
We’re minus the joy. Depleted of smiles. Our focus is not vertical, but searching for popular styles.
We forget to be thankful of God’s watchful eye. Not noticing the many gifts He brings. Our minds are elsewhere, we walk on by.
We fret on along. We lose our song. We wonder. We ask, “Where is the road to happiness?”
“Today.” Today.” The Lord cries to all.
The most important day of our lives is the day we answer His call.
We put it off, we wait for the day. “Who wants to be a Jesus Freak anyway?”
But the Lord calls again, “Today.” “Today.” And we know deep in our heart, He’s the Way.
“I hear. I believe. Jesus, come, make me new.” God hears. He comes. Forgiveness, Salvation, Comfort in all. Angels rejoice. The sky is the bluest of blue. The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing,(1)
He patiently works in us, as we grow in our trust and believe, receive, and let go of the
stuff. He makes me lie down in green pastures,he leads me beside quiet waters,
Allowing, at times, disappointment to come, or sickness, or loss, . . .
but the good Shepherd promises, and
he refreshes my soul. Psalm 23 tells me so.
He promises to lead, to guide, to provide, to protect. Yes, He promises.
“My goodness and love will follow you all the days of your life.
Remember Me,” He asks at His communion Table.
“Remember my mercy poured out with My out-stretched arms. Remember my goodness to pay your debt for all of your wrongs.Eat this bread broken for you.
“Dear child of God, Remember Me, I love you.”
Is the Lord your Shepherd?
Ask Him to be “Today.”
Today—
Surely
your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.Psalm 23 NIV
In the beginning, I was stirred to write after I read the words of Jeremiah 30:1-2, “Write in a book all the words which I have spoken to you.”
What a mess of a beginning, but I’m happy to have a beginning and to fumble along the way, and then join a local Word Weaver’s writing critique group, and discover the more I know, the more I know I don’t know.
So, I wrote basically a series of Bible thoughts and meditations that I would call God’s Hand.
Today, I change the face, the direction, and purpose of my blog writing. I want the focus to be Help in talking about God along the way that hunger would be stirred to know Him more.
“I can’t get it right,” spoke discouragement who found a seat in my heart.
The Spirit inside stands with the fact,
“Thanks to God He did.”
A war takes place. I read the Word, because I’m encouraged to do so. I turn to Psalm 42, and discover my feelings and soul are weighted with woes as the Psalmist so many thousand years ago, ”
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God . . .
Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breaker have swept over me.”
The heaviness won’t leave. Fretfulness bombards every cell. I continue to read,
I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?” My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me? Psalm 42:9-11.
The open Book breathes my own inner turmoil. The Living Word pleads,
“Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God”
As if I was handed, from the Spirit of God a personal prescription against the flood of fear and doubt. This Psalm invites me to seek the Spirit of God that I might sing in the rain.
The Book cries aloud, words I hold deep. Flooding over even to the next chapter.
“Vindicate me, my God, and plead my cause against an unfaithful nation. Rescue me from those who are deceitful and wicked. You are God my stronghold” Psalm 43:1-2.
I imagine the Psalmist making a change, becoming secure and calmed until I continue reading aloud, only to discover the continued doubt and reminder of hurt.
Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?
One phrase of exaltation and yet three thoughts of drowning pain. All in the same verse.
But, then I think, maybe I’m not crazy. The psalmist penned this up and down sequence which, at this time, mirrors me, exactly. This might simply be common occurrence of all mankind.
I know God as my stronghold and defense, yet I wrestle. I fight.
“Am I praying at all? What’s prayer anyway?”
“What’s God’s will when everything seems so wrong?”
“What’s going on?”
“Am I ‘trying’ to worship?”
“Is there meaning to the agony and unrest?”
Is it simply to turn to the One Who is Able and discover, He’s already at work on getting me through this test.
Living waters then spill out solutions for the darkness and the sudden attack of doubt,
“Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.
God dwells in praise, but praise seems so difficult. “Spirit of God, drown the doubt out of my way. And as the psalmist, I will follow through;
Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.”
A change does happen. Supernatural change. Psalm 43:5 has my soul speaking it’s consolation,
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
Altered at the altar, I look to speak a hymn that can flood my insides with a happy condition:
Free from the law, O happy condition, by Philip Bliss, 1834. Jesus hath bled, and there is remission; Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall, Grace hath redeemed us once for all.
Chorus: Once for all, O sinner, receive it, Once for all, O friend, now believe it; Cling to the cross, the burden will fall, Christ hath redeemed us once for all.
Now we are free, there’s no condemnation, Jesus provides a perfect salvation; “Come unto Me,” O hear His sweet call, Come, and He saves us once for all.
[Chorus]
“Children of God,” O glorious calling, Surely His grace will keep us from falling; Passing from death to life at His call, Blessed salvation once for all.
[Chorus]
Why so downcast, O my soul?
“Spirit of God, You supernaturally have answered my call.”
Occupy, watch, wait some more, being nourished by daily water in His Word.
With continual Love from the Son, and grace sufficient for each day to abide, rejoice that He produces the fruit of joy in our soul.
Rejoice always. He alone is good.
He will do what He has said He would.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love” John 15:5-9.
“Tune up my heart strings, Lord.” She prays, as her heart beats in a flat, minor chord.
