Today’s thought – You May Not Understand

rainFirst Good Rain of Autumn
Mary’s picture

Good Morning

John 11:1-5, 38-40
Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.

38 Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?

Mary and Martha could not understand what their Lord was doing. Both of them said to Him, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” Back of it all, we seem to read their thought: “Lord, we do not understand why you have stayed away so long. We do not understand how you could let death come to the man whom you loved. We do not understand how you could let sorrow and suffering ravage our lives, when your presence might have stayed it all. Why did you not come? It is too late, now for already he has been dead four days!”

And to it all Jesus had but one truth: “You may not understand; but I tell you if you believe, you will see.

Abraham could not understand why God should ask the sacrifice of the boy; but he trusted. And he saw the glory of God in his restoration to his love. Moses could not understand why God should keep him forty years in the wilderness, but he trusted; and he saw when God called him to lead forth Israel from bondage.

Joseph could not understand the cruelty of his brethren, the false witness of a perfidious woman and the long years of an unjust imprisonment; but he trusted, and he saw at last the glory of God in it all.

Jacob could not understand the strange providence which permitted the same Joseph to be torn from his father’s love, but he saw the glory of God when he looked into the face of that same Joseph as the viceroy of a great king, and the preserver of his own life and the lives of a great nation.

And so, perhaps in your life, You say,
“I do not understand why God let my dear one be taken. I do not understand why affliction has been permitted to smite me. I do not understand the devious paths by which the Lord is leading me. I do not understand why plans and purposes that seemed good to my eyes should be baffled. I do not understand why blessings I so need are so long delayed.”

Friend, you do not have to understand all God’s ways with you. God does not expect you to understand them. You do not expect your child to understand, only believe. Some day you will see the glory of God in the things which you do not understand. ~~J. H. McC.

Wait to see . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on September 25, 2014 at 10:35 am  Leave a Comment  
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Today’s thought – In the Storm

aug 11 003Oak Tree on the Church of God of Carmichael property

Good Morning

Mark 4:37 And there arose a great storm of wind, . . .

Some of the storms of life come suddenly;
a great sorrow, a bitter disappointment, a crushing defeat.
Some come slowly.
They appear upon the ragged edges of the horizon
no larger than a man’s hand,
but trouble that seems so insignificant spreads
until it covers the sky and overwhelms us.

Yet it is in the storm that God equips us for service.
When God wants an oak
He plants it on the moor where the storms will shake it
and the rains will beat down upon it,
and it is in the midnight battle with elements
that the oak wins its rugged fibre
and becomes the king of the forest.

When God wants to make a man He puts him into some storm.
The history of manhood is always rough and rugged.
No man is made until he has been out into the surge of the storm
and found the sublime fulfillment of the prayer:
“O God, take me, break me, make me.”

The beauties of nature come after the storm.
The rugged beauty of the mountain is born in a storm,
and heroes of life are the storm-swept
and the battle-scarred.

You have been in the storms and swept by the blasts.
Have they left you broken, weary, beaten in the valley
or have they lifted you to the sunlit summits
of a richer, deeper, more abiding manhood and womanhood?
Have they left you with more sympathy with the storm-swept
and the battle scarred? ~~Selected

Mark 4:35-41, Amplified Bible
On that same day [when] evening had come, He said to them, Let us go over to the other side [of the lake]. And leaving the throng, they took Him with them, [just] as He was, in the boat [in which He was sitting]. And other boats were with Him. And a furious storm of wind [of hurricane proportions] arose, and the waves kept beating into the boat, so that it was already becoming filled. But He [Himself] was in the stern [of the boat], asleep on the [leather] cushion; and they awoke Him and said to Him, Master, do You not care that we are perishing? And He arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Hush now! Be still (muzzled)! And the wind ceased (sank to rest as if exhausted by its beating) and there was [immediately] a great calm (a perfect peacefulness). He said to them, Why are you so timid and fearful? How is it that you have no faith (no firmly relying trust)? And they were filled with great awe and feared exceedingly and said one to another, Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey Him?

Endure your storm . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on September 19, 2014 at 12:40 pm  Leave a Comment  
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She Saw God in All Things

summer, 2011 018Velma Elisabeth Crain
January 15, 1913 – September 17, 2014
Summer, 2011

On September 17, about 6:00 pm, my husband’s mother passed away.
She was 101 years old. Until just two weeks ago,
she would start her day reading the Bible.
Her favorite song – His Eye is on the Sparrow.
‘Seeing God in All Things’ are words she lived by every day of her life.
summer, 2011 075Summer, 2011, Grandma making dried flower arrangements
to sell at the annual Garden Club flower show, Redding CA.

1 Samuel 3:15
It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good.

“Give me a new idea,” I said,
While musing on a sleepless bed;
“A new idea that’ll bring to earth
A balm for souls of priceless worth;
That’ll give men thoughts of things above,
And teach them how to serve and love,
That’ll banish every selfish thought,
And rid men of the sins they’ve fought.”

The new thought came, just how, I’ll tell:
‘Twas when on bended knee I fell,
And sought from HIM who knows full well,
The way our sorrow to expel.
SEE GOD IN ALL THINGS, great and small,
And give HIM praise whate’er befall,
On life or death, in pain or woe,
See God, and overcome the foe.

I saw HIM in the morning light,
HE made the day shine clear and bright;
And gained from HIM refreshing shower,
AT eventide, when worn and sad,
HE gave me help, and made me glad.
AT midnight, when on tossing bed
My weary soul to sleep HE led.

I saw HIM when great losses came,
And found HE loved me just the same,
When heavy loads I had to bear,
I found HE lightened every care.
By sickness, sorrow, sore distress,
HE calmed my mind and gave me rest.
HE’S filled my heart with gladsome praise
Since  I gave HIM the upward gaze.

‘Twas new to me, yet old to some,
This thought that to me has become
A revelation of the way
We all should live throughout the day;
For as each day unfolds its light,
We’ll walk by faith and not by sight.
Life will, indeed, a blessing bring,
If we SEE GOD IN EVERYTHING.”

~~A.E.Finn

I love her and already miss her.

Published in: on September 18, 2014 at 11:45 am  Comments (2)  
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Today’s thought – See God in Everything

Sept 17 at bob's 002Tis a nice spot for morning devotions and coffee.

Good Morning

1 Samuel 3:15-18
And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision. Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I. And he said, What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee. And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him.  And he said,
It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good.

See God in everything,
and God will calm and color all that thou dost see!
It may be that the circumstances of our sorrows
will not be removed, their condition will remain unchanged;
but if Christ , as Lord and Master of our life,
is brought into our grief and gloom,
“HE will compass us about with songs of deliverance.”
To see HIM, and to be sure that His wisdom cannot err,
His power cannot fail, His love can never change;
to know that even His direst dealings with us
are for our deepest spiritual gain, is to be able to say,
in the midst of bereavement, sorrow, pain, and loss,
“The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;
blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Nothing else but seeing God in everything will make us
loving and patient with those who annoy and trouble us.
They will be to us then only instruments for accomplishing
His tender and wise purposes toward us,
and we shall even find ourselves at last
inwardly thanking then for the blessings they bring us.
Nothing else will completely put an end
to all murmuring or rebelling thoughts.
—H. W. Smith

Look for God . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on September 18, 2014 at 11:09 am  Leave a Comment  
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Today’s thought – Love thy Neighbor

imageshands
Good Afternoon

Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. Matthew 5:42NIV

The second part of the Great Commandment (Luke 10:27) is “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus then tells the story of the Good Samaritan. In this story Jesus defines our neighbor as anyone in need of help. This kind of love is very practical.

It was the middle of winter and the elderly Christian in prison had a badly infected ear. He thanked God that he had been able to keep his fur hat affording him some protection from the biting cold. At least he had a pillow at night.

One day one of his cellmates asked him for his fur hat. The Christian had been willing to share food with his cellmates, but felt he could not give up his hat. After all, he had an infected ear. He needed that hat.

Through the night he wrestled with his conscience. He was haunted by this scripture: “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you” (Matthew 5:42).

After a night of prayer, he sought forgiveness before God and was ready to hand over his hat. In the morning he learned that during the night the guards had taken the cellmate to another prison with a more severe climate.

That same morning, the guards held a routine check of the cell and among the personal objects confiscated was the believer’s fur hat.

He had tried to keep something that he was about to lose and God wanted to see the hat used for continued good with the other prisoner. Many years later, this believer remembered that lesson in Christian maturity which the Holy Spirit taught him. ~~~~Standing Strong Through The Storm

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

Published in: on September 17, 2014 at 1:30 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Today’s thought – Take Up My Cross

mom away day 2 059
Good Morning,

Mark 8:34
And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

. . . There are many crosses and every one of them is sore and heavy.
None of them is likely to be sought out by me of my own accord.
But never is Jesus so near to me
as when I lift my cross and lay it submissively on my shoulder,
and give it the welcome of a patient and unmurmuring spirit.

He draws close,
to ripen my wisdom,
to deepen my peace,
to increase my courage,
to augment my power to be of use to others,
through the very experience which is so grievous and distressing, . . .
~~Alexander Smellie

James 4:6-8
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Draw nigh . . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on September 15, 2014 at 9:59 am  Leave a Comment  
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Today’s thought – Grace and Faith

Lomom away day 2 038Love  feeling soft sand . . .

Good Afternoon,

We walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Picture salvation as a house that you live in.

It provides you with protection. It is stocked with food and drink that will last forever. It never decays or crumbles. Its windows open onto vistas of glory.

God built it at great cost to himself and to his Son, and he gave it to you.

The “purchase” agreement is called a “new covenant.” The terms read: “This house shall become and remain yours if you will receive it as a gift and take delight in the Father and the Son as they inhabit the house with you. You shall not profane the house of God by sheltering other gods nor turn your heart away after other treasures.”

Would it not be foolish to say yes to this agreement, and then hire a lawyer to draw up an amortization schedule with monthly payments in the hopes of somehow balancing accounts?

You would be treating the house no longer as a gift, but a purchase. God would no longer be the free benefactor. And you would be enslaved to a new set of demands that he never dreamed of putting on you.

If grace is to be free — which is the very meaning of grace — we cannot view it as something to be repaid. Selected

His Grace is new . . . every Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on September 11, 2014 at 1:21 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Today’s thought – Press On

mom away day 2 046A pathway to the sea

Good Morning

Philippians 3:13-15
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

Not many of us are living are our best.
We linger in the lowlands
because we are afraid to climb the mountains.
The steepness and ruggedness dismay us,
and so we stay in the misty valleys
and do not learn the mystery of the hills.
We do not know what we lose in our self-indulgence,
what glory awaits us
if only we had courage for the mountain climb,
what blessings we should find
if only we would move to the uplands of God.

Oh, press on . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on September 9, 2014 at 9:50 am  Leave a Comment  
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Today’s thought – The Directed Path

mom away 005I’m gonna walk on the beach today.

Good Morning,

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Jeb Magruder, assistant to President Nixon during the infamous Watergate scandal of the ’70s, stood before Judge John Sirica to be sentenced for his part in the crime. “Do you have anything to say,” the Judge asked.
Magruder replied, “I know what I have done, and your Honor knows what I have done. Somewhere between my ambition and my ideals, I lost my ethical compass.”
Whether it be a ship on the high seas, a plane jetting through the sky, a hiker in the Rocky Mountains, or a man trying to make his way through life – nothing but disaster can come when we lose our compass.
Edmund Burke, famed British Statesman (1729-1797), said, “When ancient opinions and rules of life are taken away, the loss cannot possibly be estimated. From that moment, we have no compass to govern us, nor can we know distinctly to what port to steer.”
No one can anticipate all the situations you will encounter in life, or all the specific answers you will need for your journey ahead. But what we can do is avail ourselves to the guiding principles of life found in the Bible — principles that will help you set your soul to the course God has charted out for you.
Open your heart to God’s Word and He will fill you with understanding of such clarity that you will be able to navigate the course of your life no matter how dark the night, thick the fog, or long the trek – be it filled with calm or strife.
He will guide you along the Directed Path. ~~~ Rylie

Follow His Path . . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on September 5, 2014 at 8:57 am  Leave a Comment  
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Today’s Scripture – Zechariah 2:5

Good Morning

Zechariah 2:5
For I, saith the Lord,
will be unto her a wall of fire round about,
and will be the glory in the midst of her.

Are you feeling weak, vulnerable, unsure or weary?

Look up! to your Father being a wall of protection around you
and strength, grace and help right next to you.

Take God at His Word . . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on September 4, 2014 at 10:13 am  Leave a Comment  
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Today’s thought – Healthy Things Grow

sept 3Not much is sadder looking
than a garden tired from working all summer long.

Good Morning,

After a very busy last week, I think my life maybe settling back down to ‘normal’.

“As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” (1 Peter 2:2).

Here is a formula I developed some time ago, which many have found to be very helpful in assessing just where they are in this thing called spiritual growth. Perhaps you will find it useful in your life as well. It consists of seven simple facts, each one leading to the other in a natural and inevitable sequence of healthy growth.

Fact #1 — healthy things grow. This is a fact. If you want to be healthy, you are going to grow. This is true of many things; whether it be people, plants, businesses, marriages, churches, investments, or whatever — if it is healthy, it will grow.

Fact #2 — growing things change. This is how we know they are growing. They are different than when we last saw them.

Fact #3 — changing things challenge us. Mark Twain said, “The only person that likes change is a wet baby.” Basically, we like things to stay the way we like them. We are creatures of habit and comfort, and so enjoy things to be left alone when we have them just the way we think they ought to be. When change happens, it presents us with challenge. The greater the change; the greater the challenge.

Fact #4 — challenging things force us to trust God. I mean, what else are you going to do — quit? Challenge requires that we trust God, especially when we are faced with something that seems to be more than we can handle. God knows your limits. He knows exactly where to apply the pressure to cause you to turn to Him in faith. What might be a test for someone else may be a walk in the park for you — and vice versa. It is not a test until it forces you to turn to God in simple trust.

Fact #5 — trust leads to obedience. The old Gospel song writer said it best, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.” If we truly trust the Lord, He will reveal His will to us; show us what to do. Thus, trust leads to obedience. The only question now is, will we obey?

Fact #6 — obedience makes us healthy. Jesus said, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me. For My yoke is easy, and My burden light; and you shall find rest for your souls.” When we obey the Lord, His joy floods our souls and His peace fills our lives. There is no rest for the wicked; but those who do God’s will find their lives filled with blessing.

And Fact #7 — healthy things grow! Now we are back to where we started. That’s how it works; it is the cycle of spiritual growth every child of God experiences. Even now you are somewhere in this cycle — that is, if you want to be healthy.

Review these seven phases and consider where you are in the process. You’ll end up in a good place, praising God for bringing you through it all.~~~Rylie

I’m thankful ‘The Bread of Life’ is able to sustain me through all the changes on my way.
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on September 3, 2014 at 9:49 am  Leave a Comment  
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