Tag: help

"Though there be no fruit on the vine …"

Many years ago, I felt God impress upon my heart my life verse: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.  
I had no idea then, what God had for me in this verse. Even today, I yearn to grasp the depths of all it means. “What are You saying, Lord, at times like these?”
“What is Your will for me?” “What is Your will for me?” “What is Your will for me?“
And He responds, continually, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks …” I had no clue, back then, how very, very difficult these three things would prove to be.
“How can I rejoice in this?” “There’s no way I can pray!” “I refuse to give thanks in this!” Over and over, God allows me to see what’s inside of me. And, quite frankly, it ain’t pretty!
But Jesus. He loves me. He’s gentle. He’s patient. He’s kind and full of compassion. He hears my yelling and faithless thoughts. He sees my fret and knows my every thought.
How can God be so great and mighty as that? To still love me – even after my words and actions and … yes, being a brat!
There is no One like God on this earth.
But, wait.
He reached out from on high when I was in the depth of a pit. He pulled me out of great darkness and I could see, finally, the love in His eyes.
“Receive My love?” I felt Him ask of me.”
“I do, Lord. Come and live in my heart. Restore my soul. O God, don’t let go.”
Now, He abides in me. I’m simply a branch of His Vine. He is mine. He is mine. 
“No matter what you might go through, my child, I am here. And these words are your fortress and refuge. These words are your Rock that you might not slip or drown in sorrow or fear. I am the LORD, and this is my will you.”
“I see the conflicts press hard form the outside. I see the fear that entangles and grips at your very breath. I know the loss, the pain. I know death.”
“This is hard, this is dark, this is excruciating, I know. I am the LORD. I have gone before, I will carry you through. Keep your eyes on me, through this most difficult test, My Word is your life, yes, this is what you are to do: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks;” 
I will show you success and help you focus your mind, that you might be victorious one step at a time. Study my Word. Sing the Psalms in your heart. Gain wisdom and understanding, ask of Me and I will give.”
Do you believe … even in this? that I am Yours.  I care for you … now, rest.”
My life verse gives me instant direction. Will I scoff, or will I take the instruction? My response has already been written. I will sing it from my heart to my Chief Musician:

Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—
 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.

 The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills.

Habakkuk 3:17-19. In response to my life verse, no matter what happens – this I pray will be my response. Continually. And with my Love, I will abide for all eternity!

 
 
 
 

Can you, will you, brush away the tears?

This morning, you have a choice. Does your heart yearn for God, do you pray, “Speak LORD, Your servant hears.” (1) or do you think you already know the words He has to say?
The thorns and thistles of life have brought temptation – to doubt and believe the LORD has left you alone on your way.
I write for myself, these words are for me. But if by chance they are speaking to you, read on as we wrestle with God together. Are we God’s ‘fair weather friends’ or are we still His – when the floods come or it’s typhoon weather?
“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want . . .” Psalm 23:1. Do you hear Him call you to trust Him deeper still? Do you hear Him, are you willing to obey His will?
But, “I’m wanting Lord.” You say in your heart. “I’m needy and helpless. I don’t know how to trust.”
But, there is a willingness inside. There is, though weak, you cry out beside:
“Speak Lord, Your servant is listening,”

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs, the Book of wisdom. Chapter 3 verse 5 and 6. Do we dare submit and really believe this?

Believing God, is an Olympic feat, at best, “Make me to lie down and open my eyes that I might take notice that the pastures are green. Oh, God, I need rest.”

 Is this your prayer to the Lord in the morning? Will you be humble and yielded and give Him praise in the evening? What if nothing is going your way? Does that change God? Does that change your trust in Him?

We must remember, if ‘Jesus wept,'(2) then surely in this life, we will weep as well. “Dear Lord, don’t let my affliction grow greater than You. May I not seek sufficiency from wells, dry and broken, but may I go to You and listen to the words You have spoken.”

“Can you, will you, brush away the tears?” (I hear the Lord whisper this in my ears.)

 So will you reply, (as I ask myself this question), ‘Speak to me LORD, your servant hears.’ 

“But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob,
    he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”(3) “I have spoken. Do not be tempted to doubt. I will fill you with My Spirit that your faith will abound. Will you choose to make me Lord and submit? This is the power of God to you. I offer it . . .”

“For no one is cast off
    by the Lord forever.
 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
    so great is his unfailing love.
 For he does not willingly bring affliction
    or grief to anyone.” “This is My word from Lamentations. (4) Walk in this. Give fear no reservations.”

We can, we will, you and I together will cast all our cares upon our Shepherd today, and feed on His faithfulness and all He has to say:

in Psalm 23: The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul . . .  and Joshua 1:9: Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” 

We can, we will remember God is able – for now and for all time.

 “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.  Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”(5)

(1) 1 Samuel 3:9.
(2) John 11:35.
(3) Isaiah 43:1-3.
(4) Lamentations 3:31,32.
(5) Hebrews 5:7-9.

When the counselor is hidden in a devotional

So I wake. I sit with coffee and thoughts. But on the table is a devotional.
‘Beside Still Waters’ by CH Spurgeon, sits there with it wooing title, ‘Come, and sit beside still waters . . .’
So I pick it up and open it to a random page: “No Smell of Fire.” (Daniel 3:27).
I read on: “When you cherish Christ, the things of the world are of little value, and their loss is not heavily felt.”
‘Cherish?’ The word stops me in my tracks.
I think of traditional wedding vows,  to love and to cherish. Spurgeon incites me to think, “When you cherish Christ . . .”
“Do I cherish Christ?” for better, for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer? Can I? Do I cherish Christ? as long as I live?
But then it hits me – Death will never part us, if we have received the gift that God has given us, with our personal names written on His Son’s sacrifice on the cross. Instead of a bow on the greatest gift to the world, His blood was shed that we would be washed, white as snow. This is what the Good Book says. The Lord loves me so.
“My beloved is mine, and I am his. He feeds his flock among the lilies.” This is the Song of all Songs, Song of Solomon 2:16.
Do I cherish Christ? This is the question. And so continues CH Spurgeon: “When you cherish Christ, the things of the world are of little value, and their loss is not heavily felt. If you feel your losses and if your trials are so ponderous that Christ’s love cannot lift you from the dust, then you have made too much of the world and too little of Him.”
“I see a pair of balances. I see on one scale the loss…, but I perceive on the other scale the great love of Christ. Now we will see which weighs the most. If Jesus lifts the light affliction, all is well, but if the trouble outweighs Jesus, then it is indeed ill for us.” (Spurgeon, beside Still Waters, pg. 161).

The devotion counsels with gentleness. Yet, kicks me hard in the midst of the world’s darkness: “If you are so depressed by your trials that you cannot rejoice, even though your name is written in heaven, then I think you do not love Jesus as you should.”
“Get delightful thoughts of Him, and you will feel as if you lost a pebble but preserved a diamond. If you have a high sense of your Master’s preciousness, you will rejoice in the deepest distress. The sweet love of Christ, when placed on the deepest wound the soul can ever know, heals at once.”
I will repeat words perhaps this sheep forgets: “The sweet love of Christ, when placed on the deepest wound the soul can ever know, heals at once.”
Beside Still Waters, has spoken to me, and even given words of the prayers we must pray: “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Be within us, and we will make no choice of situations. Put us in Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace (Daniel 3:20); if Jesus walks the glowing coals as a companion, the fire will have no power, the hairs of our heads will not be singed, our garments will not be affected, and even the smell of fire will not be on them ” (Dan. 3:27).
So I pray for myself this morning as well, “Bring to remembrance, bring revival in my heart. Dear Jesus, mold me, and make into a new lump of clay and create in me a loving heart as I walk through my day. Teach me what it means to ‘cherish You, Lord.’ That I might be a blessing this Christmas. Help me spend time in Your word.” In Jesus name, Amen. and Amen again.
 

It is always fitting to praise Him

“Praise the Lord.

How good it is to sing praises to our God,
    how pleasant and fitting to praise him!” Thus sings the chorus from the 147th Psalm. 
There are times when it’s easy to praise God.  And there are times, when Oh, we don’t feel like praising Him at all.  It can be a sacrifice.
But He tenderly makes it possible when He beautifully paints the morning sky. Can you hear Him ask your heart’s eye,
“Did you see the colors I formed for you? I Am the Lord and I love you.”
He puts joy and delight in a young child’s eye. “The life in this child is a reflection of Me. Be still, take notice. Take time and breathe.”
We work and we toil and we plod along in our lives, we move forward but the rhythm doesn’t always flow real nice, then all of a sudden there is a surprise.
Could it be, we actually won the prize!
Perhaps a sacrifice of praise is the best medicine always. God knows that His children are happy when they hear what He says:
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
    how pleasant and fitting to praise him!” 
Breathed out by God, Psalm 147 just might be words to lift weary hearts high as the heavens:
“The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel.”
He doesn’t tear apart, He doesn’t divide. The Lord builds up, the Lord gathers, 
‘How good it is to sing praises to God, how pleasant and fitting to praise Him.’ (emphasis, mine!)

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.“

These are words from the Lord God Almighty,  we can believe Him faithful always, even when we can’t see.

He is good and He is worthy of our praise, when the sun shines and when the skies are dark with rain. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever. He loved us yesterday, He loves us today.

“He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.”

We can’t come close to number the stars, yet He knows the name for each of us. He – knows  – whose  – we  – are.

“Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.”

He knows the good, the bad, the ugly. He knows our thoughts every minute.

“The Lord sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground.”

God’s word reminds us that the ‘fear of the Lord is wisdom’. Trusting Him will make our whole being, sound.

 “Sing to the Lord with grateful praise; make music to our God on the harp.”

Our vocal chords have strings. Let us be willing to look to Him and sing.

 “He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain
   and makes grass grow on the hills.
 He provides food for the cattle, and for the young ravens when they call.”

The word of God empowers the weak. Reading His words transform feeble knees. God’s word is light and living. Oh that we would heed it each morning and evening:

 “His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
    nor his delight in the legs of the warrior;
 the Lord delights in those who fear him,
    who put their hope in his unfailing love.”

How good it is to sing praises to our God,
    how pleasant and fitting to praise him!”

Will you join me today to praise Him with out ceasing? He knows when the rhythm and rhyme isn’t flowing, but He is the One Faithful to keep you. He is all knowing.

“Praise the Lord.”

On the good days and the bad.

How good it is to sing praises to our God,
    how pleasant and fitting to praise him!”

Amen, amen, amen,  Amen!

 
 
 

Jesus died for sinners.

Jesus died for the guilty. This is a fact.

I’m guilty, is another fact.

Every living human being on this planet is guilty. Go ahead and blame Adam and Eve, but we would have done the same thing if we were them.

We’re naturally rebellious. We all struggle with temptation and curiosity. Doesn’t the wisdom of the world always sound like it makes more sense than God’s Word?

Science and scholars convince themselves (and everyone else) that the Bible is only mythology and fables.

But, what we believe doesn’t change who God is, His story, or His Word.

The Bible tells us that Jesus died for liars.

He died for haters.

He died for adulterers and murderers.

Jesus faced nails hammered into His hands, the agony, ridicule, and shame of the cross for the hopeless.

I wonder if our denying Him hurts more than all His scars put together? The spit, the tearing out of His beard. The harsh words, the cruel behavior, the flogging, the whipping.

He didn’t say, “Forget it Father, these people aren’t worth dying for.”

Instead, when it was all said and done, moments before dying, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing . . . ” Luke 23:34.

Who can do this?

Jesus.

The human race is born spiritually blind and mute. Faith is the eye opener.

Do you know Jesus? Let an old hymn unlock Faith’s door:

I hear the Savior say,
Thy strength indeed is small,
child of weakness
Watch and Pray-
find in Me – thine all in all.

Jesus paid it all,
all to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow!

He washed our stain of sin, white as snow. That’s why we make a big deal about Jesus. His power changes us when we ask forgiveness and believe in His name.

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy pow’r and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.

A heart of stone made soft? Change from the inside out?

That’s what Jesus does. And He humbles us of pride:

For nothing good have I
Where-by Thy grace to claim;
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.

Nothing good on my part, save believing on all He has done.

Jesus paid it all. He suffers long and waits. And when we receive Him, life everlasting is ours for the taking:

And when, before the throne,
I stand in Him complete,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
My lips shall still repeat. 

“Sin had left a crimson stain,

He washed it white as snow.”