Today’s thought – O Blest Assurance

june10 004Another cactus blossom

Good Morning

Genesis 50:18-21
And his brethren also went and fell down before his face;
and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
And Joseph said unto them,
Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
But as for you, ye thought evil against me;
but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass,
as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Now therefore fear ye not:
I will nourish you, and your little ones.
And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

“God meant it unto good”–O blest assurance.
Falling like sunshine all across life’s way.
Touching with Heaven’s gold earth’s darkest storm clouds,
Bringing fresh peace and comfort day by day.

‘Twas not by chance the hands of faithless brethren
Sold Joseph captive to a foreign land;
Nor was it chance which, after years of suffering.
Brought him before the monarch’s throne to stand.

One Eye all seeing saw the need of thousands,
And planned to meet it through that one lone soul;
And through the weary days of prison bondage
Was working towards the great and glorious goal.

As yet the end was hidden from the captive,
The iron entered even to his soul;
His eye could scan the present path of sorrow,
Not yet his gaze might rest upon the whole.

Faith failed not through those long,dark days of waiting,
His trust in God was recompensed at last.
The moment came when God let when God led forth his servant
To succour many, all his sufferings past
.
“It was not you but God, that sent me hither,”
Witnessed triumphant faith in after days;
“God meant it unto good,” no “second causes”
Mingled their discord with his son of praise.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“God means it unto good” for thee, beloved,
The God of Joseph is the same today
His love permits afflictions strange and bitter,
His hand is guiding through the unknown way.

Thy Lord, who sees the end from the beginning,
Hath purposes for thee of love untold.
Then place thy hand in His and follow fearless,
Till thou the riches of His grace untold.

There, when thou standest in the Home of Glory,
And all life’s path lies open to thy gaze,
Thine eyes shall SEE the hand which now thou trustest,
And magnify His love through endless days.
–Freda Hanbury Allen

 

Trust in the Lord . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours,  Leslie

Published in: on June 11, 2014 at 4:42 am  Leave a Comment  
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Today’s thought – The Lesson for Faith

P1030368the Farmer works together with his tools . . .

P1030376. . . something good is the result

Good Morning

Romans 8:28
And we know that all things
work together for good
to them that love God,
to them who are the called
according to his purpose.

How wide is this assertion of the Apostle Paul?
He does not say.
“We know that some things,”
or “most things,”
or “joyous things.”
but “ALL things.”
From the minutest to the most momentous;
from the humblest event in daily providence
to the great crisis hours in grace.

And all things “work“–they are working;
not all things have worked or shall work;
but it is a present operation.

At this very moment, when some voice may be saying,
“Thy judgemnts are a great deep,”
the angels above,
who are watching the development of the great plan,
are with folded wings exclaiming,
“The Lord is righteous in all his ways,
and holy in all his works.” (Psalm 145:17)

And then all things “work together.”
It is a beautiful blending.
Many different colors,
in themselves raw and unsihtly,
are required in order to weave the harmonious pattern.

Many separate tones and notes of music,
even discords, and dissonances,
are required to make up the harmonious anthem.

Many separate wheels and joints
are required to make the piece of machinery.
Take a thread separately,
or a note separately,
or a wheel or a tooth of a wheel separately
and there may be neither use or beauty discernible.

But complete the web,
combine the notes,
put together the separate parts of steel and iron,
and you see how perfect ad symmetrical is the result.
Here is the lesson for faith:
“What I do thou knowest not now,
but thou shalt know hereafter.”
Macduff.

Trust God’s working . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on June 10, 2014 at 5:00 am  Leave a Comment  
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Today’s thought – Everlasting Streams of God

dec8 clif's 005This devotional reading reminded me
of a Manzanita tree in my brother’s back yard.

Good Morning

Job 14:7-9
For there is hope of a tree,
if it be cut down,
that it will sprout again,
and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.
Though the root thereof wax old in the earth,
and the stock thereof die in the ground;
Yet through the scent of water it will bud,
and bring forth boughs like a plant.

Once there was an oak tree
that clung to a crag on a mountainside.
The wind swept its crest,
and the snows and rains tore at its soil.
Its roots ran along a pathway
and were trampled by the feet of men.
But the rain and the snows an down the mountain,
and the oak tree was dying of drought.
Patiently and persistently
its underground tendrils and gone
forth in every direction for relief.
All its power was put into the quest
by which it would save its life.
And, by and by,
the roots reached the mountain spring.
The faithful stream that touched the lips of man and beast
ran up the trunk and laved the branches
and gave new life to the utmost twig.
The tree stood in the same place;
it met the same storms;
it was trodden by the same hurrying feet.
but it was planted by the rivers of water
and its leaf could not wither.
Out into the same old life
you must go today as ever,
but down underneath you can be nourished
by the everlasting streams of God.

Travelers returning from Palestine report
that beneath the streets of Shechem
there are rivers flowing.
During the daytime it is impossible
to hear the murmuring of the waters,
because of the noise.
But when night comes
and the clamor dies away
then can be heard
the music of the hidden rivers.

Are there not “hidden rivers” flowing
under the crowded streets of our 20th century life?
If we can be assured that there is still the music
of deep-flowing waters beneath
all the noise and tumult of the working hours,
we can walk the way of the conqueror.

Listen for the river of peace . . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on June 9, 2014 at 4:58 am  Leave a Comment  
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Sunday Bible Reading -Psalm 121

10-23-09 045Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia, October, 2009

Psalms 121
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills,
from whence cometh my help.
My help cometh from the Lord,
which made heaven and earth.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved:
he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is thy keeper:
the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil:
he shall preserve thy soul.
The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in
from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Published in: on June 8, 2014 at 4:50 am  Comments (1)  
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Today’s thought – In Time of Trouble

apr11 002Love them roses.

Good Morning

Psalm 41:1-2
Blessed is he that considereth the poor:
the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.
The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive;
and he shall be blessed upon the earth:
and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.

He that hath hot tempted you hitherto
above your strength will continue so to the end.
If, for a time,
He hide His face from you,
yet He doth it but for a moment,
to make you the more heartily to cry to Him;
and surely He will hear you,
not only when your are in crying,
but also whilst you are in thinking how to cry.
He is with you in trouble,
and will indeed deliver you,
John Bradford

With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on June 6, 2014 at 5:43 am  Leave a Comment  
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Today’s thought – Thou Shalt Cry

may25 009The weather is hot here at Cozy Acres.
I’m remembering the cool of the ocean.

Good Morning

Isaiah 58:9
Then shalt thou call,
and the Lord shall answer;
thou shalt cry,
and he shall say,
Here I am.

“He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry.”
That has comforted me often,
more than any promise of answer;
it includes answers,
and a great deal more besides;
it tells us what He is towards us,
and that is more than what He will do.
And the “cry” is not long, connected, thoughtful prayers,
a cry is just an unworded dart upwardsof the heart,
and at that “voice” He will be very gracious.
What a smile there is in these words!
F. R. Haveral

With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on June 5, 2014 at 5:02 am  Leave a Comment  
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Today’s thought – Undisturbed

apr14 005Violets and Violas

Good Morning
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. John 14:27

Are you painfully disturbed just now,
distracted by the waves and billows
of God’s providential permission, and having,
as it were, turned over the boulders of your belief,
are you still finding no well of peace or joy or comfort;
is all barren?
Then look up and receive the undisturbedness of the Lord Jesus.
If you allow anything to hide the face of Jesus Christ from you,
you are either disturbed or you have a false security.

Are you looking unto Jesus now,
in the immediate matter
that is pressing and receiving from Him peace?
If so, He will be a gracious benediction
of peace in and through you.
But if you try to worry it out,
you obliterate Him and deserve all you get.
We get disturbed
because we have not been considering Him.
When one confers with Jesus Christ
the perplexity goes,
because He has no perplexity,
and our only concern is to abide in Him.
Lay it all out before Him,
and in the face of difficulty, bereavement, and sorrow,
hear Him say,
“Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid.”
Oswald Chambers

With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on June 4, 2014 at 5:40 am  Leave a Comment  
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Today’s thought – A Prayer for Peace

mar25 010Cozy Acres

Good Morning

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

Reinhold Niebuhr’s famous poem

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.

With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on June 3, 2014 at 5:21 am  Leave a Comment  
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Today’s thought – Blessing by Clinging

may25 004
Good Morning

Genesis 32:24-29
24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. 26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. 27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. 28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. 29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.

Jacob got the victory and the blessing
not by wrestling, but by clinging.
His limb was out of joint and he could struggle no longer,
but he would not let go.
Unable to wrestle,
he wound his arms around the neck of his mysterious antagonist
and hung all his helpless weight until at last he conquered.

We will not get victory in prayer
until we too cease our struggling,
giving up our own will
and throw our arms about our Father’s neck in clinging faith.

What can puny human strength take by force
out of the hand of Omnipotence?
Can we wrest blessing by force from God.
It is never the violence of willfulness that prevails with God.
It is the might of clinging faith,
that gets the blessing and the victories.
It is not when we press and urge our own will,
but when humility and trust unite in saying,
“Not my will, but Thine.”
We are strong with God only in the degree
that self is conquered and is dead.
Not by wrestling,
but by clinging can we get the blessing.
J. R. Miller

Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
Romans 12:9

Cling . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on June 2, 2014 at 5:27 am  Leave a Comment  
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