Waiting and Trusting

imageshands

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

Those that wait on me will gain new strength.
Spending time alone withMe is so good for you,
but it is increasingly countercultural.

(I had to look up countercultural –
a way of life and a set of ideas
that are completely different from
those accepted by most of society)

Multitaking and staying busy
have become the norm.
So I encourage you to break free
from all the activity
and demands for a while.
During the Advent season,
there are even more things
to be done and places to go.
Seek My Face and enjoy My Presence,
remembering that Christmas is all about Me.

Psalm 27:8
When thou saidst, Seek ye my face;
my heart said unto thee,
Thy face, LORD, will I seek.

Waiting upon Me is an act of faith–
trusting that prayer really does make a difference.
Come unto Me with your weariness and your burdens,
being candid and real with Me.

Matthew 11:28
Come unto me,
all ye that labour
and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.

Rest in My Presence, and tell Me about your concerns.
Let Me lift the burdens from your aching shoulders.
Trust that I an able to do exceedingly abundantly abouve all you ask or think.

Ephesians 3:20-21
Now unto him that is able to do
exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that worketh in us,
Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus
throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

As you arise from these quiet moments,
hear Me whispering, “I am with you” throughout the day.
Rejoice in the new strength you have gained
through spending time with Me.
Devotional reading from Jesus Always, Sarah Young

Published in: on December 28, 2016 at 12:33 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Solid Ground and a New Song

Psalm 40:1-3
I waited patiently for the LORD;
and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
He brought me up also out of an horrible pit,
out of the miry clay,
and set my feet upon a rock,
and established my goings.

young-woman-walking-park-6853281

And he hath put a new song in my mouth,
even praise unto our God:
many shall see it, and fear,
and shall trust in the LORD.

‘The Gospel is the stunning story of Christ
coming into the world to lift us from the mess,
to set us on solid ground with Him.
And when He raised us up,
He gave us somethingbto sing about.
He replaced the old songs of dispair
with new songs of praise–
songs for the One who makes us new.’
~~~~Louie Giglio

O Holy Night

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O’er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure,  1847

Published in: on December 27, 2016 at 12:47 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , , , ,

In the Fullness of Time

Advent simply means arrival,
in the case of Christmas,
the arrrival of Jesus,
the greatest gift ever given to the world. Louie Giglio

child-wait

But the waiting for Jesus,
throughout the Old Testament promises were given of a Messiah.
Waiting through judges, kings, and prophets.
Waiting through 400 years of silence.

Waiting with encouragement,
songs, psalms and prophecies
makes the waiting bearable,
sometimes joyful,
but waiting in silence.
Waiting when God seems do far away,
when the ceiling seems as brass,
when even the precious words
read again and again seem dry as dust.
That is the hard waiting.
That is the real waiting.
That waiting produces,
when the waiting is over.

” Fear not: for, behold,
I bring you good tidings of great joy,
Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace,
good will toward men” Luke 2:10,14

All waiting has an ending.
Not all endings are of our choosing.
That is why we need to choose
to place our waiting in God’s hands
with a sigh of ‘Not my Will’

Our waitings will bring peace and rest.
Our endings will bring contentment and joy.

Galatians 4:4-5
But when the fulness of the time was come,
God sent forth his Son,
made of a woman,
made under the law,
To redeem them that were under the law,
that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Hark the Glad Sound

Hark the glad sound! the savior comes.
The Savior promised long;
Let ev’ry heart prepare a throne,
And ev’ry voice a song.

He comes the pris’ners to release,
In Satan’s bondage held.
The gates of brass before Him burst,
The iron fetters yield.

He come the broken heart to bind,
The bleeding soul to cure,
And with the treasures of His grace
To enrich the humble poor.

Our glad hosannas, Prince of Peace,
Thy welcome shall proclaim,
And heav’ns eternal arches ring
With Thy beloved name.
Philip Doddridge 1702-1751

May God bless our waiting.

Published in: on December 1, 2016 at 1:01 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Ready? I Am Not

dec

Tomorrow is December 1st
Can you believe it?
It comes the same time every year.
Ready? I am not.

Waiting is my theme this month.
Little children (that does include many of us)
wait for this time of year since last December.
Others of us just wait until it is over, again.

While we are waiting . . .
I’ll post some poems, songs, meditations to ponder
Where ever you fit on the waiting scale.

Christmas led to the Cross,
and on both days Jesus accomplished
what on one else could.
~~Louie Giglio

Philippians 2:5-11 NIV
In your relationships with one another,
have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

May God bless our waiting.

Published in: on November 30, 2016 at 1:02 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , ,

Don’t Neglect the Trifles

 

imageshands

2 Chronicles 29:11
My sons, be not now negligent:
for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before Him,
to serve Him,
and that ye should minister unto him,
and burn incense.

There are many things that appear trifles,
which greatly tend to enervate the soul,
and hinder its progress in the path to virtue and glory.
The habit of indulging in things
which our judgment cannot thoroughly approve,
grows stronger and stronger
by every act of self-gratification,
and we are led on by degrees to an excess of luxury
which must greatly weaken our hands in the spiritual warfare.
If we do not endeavor to do that which is right
in every particular circumstance,
though trifling,
we shall be in great danger of letting the same negligence
take place in matters more essential.
MARGARET WOODS.

enervate – cause to feel drained of energy or vitality; weaken.

Hebrews 2:1-3
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed
to the things which we have heard,
lest at any time we should let them slip.
For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast,
and every transgression and disobedience
received a just recompence of reward;
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation;
which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord,
and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

Published in: on November 29, 2016 at 1:30 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , ,

Repost from May, 2013 – Follow the Thread

May 6 garden velma 017Dutch Iris at Grandma Crain’s

Good Afternoon

Have faith in God. Mark 11:22

In the catacombs, we are told, explorers take a thread with them through all the dark passages and tortuous windings, and by this thread find their way back again to the light. There is such a thread running through all the dark corridors with we tread, and if we simply, practically trust in God we shall steer past every peril and land in the world of light. This is the counsel to remember in all the perplexities of our actual life.

There is an answer to every questioning “Why” It is this: Have Faith in God.

Have faith that He knows all, sympathizes with all, can rectify, what is amiss in all! Have faith in the outworking of His beneficent purpose: that the ruin will become a magnificent pile; the desert will blossom into a garden. Have faith in God. Keep close to Him–His side, His will–and He will teach us the true thing, the right way. Have faith that God knows and that we shall know by and by, why things are as they are. “Selected

Follow the thread of faith . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on October 24, 2016 at 3:46 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , ,

The Consecrated Soul

peace

Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

Take my moments and my days;
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
F. R. HAVERGAL.

I am the Almighty God; walk before me,
and be thou perfect.–Genesis 17:1

Consecrate yourselves to-day to the Lord.
–Exodus 32:29.

I have noticed that wherever there has been
a faithful following of the Lord in a consecrated soul,
several things have inevitably followed, sooner or later.
Meekness and quietness of spirit become in time
the characteristics of the daily life.
A submissive acceptance of the will of God
as it comes in the hourly events of each day;
pliability in the hands of God to do
or to suffer all the good pleasure of His will;
sweetness under provocation;
calmness in the midst of turmoil and bustle;
yieldingness to the wishes of others,
and an insensibility to slights and affronts;
absence of worry or anxiety;
deliverance from care and fear;
–all these, and many similar graces,
are invariably found to be the natural outward development
of that inward life which is hid with Christ in God.
H. W. SMITH.

from Streams in the Desert volume 1.

Published in: on October 22, 2016 at 6:17 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , , ,

God’s Mercy and Loving-kindness

feb10-evning-light-002

Your mercy and lovingkindness, O Lord, extend to the skies,
and Your faithfulness [reaches] to the clouds.

Your righteousness is like the mountains of God,
Your judgments are like the great deep.
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.

How precious is Your steadfast love, O God!
The children of men take refuge
and put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.

They relsisih and feast on the abundance of Your house;
and You cause them to drink of the stream of Your pleasures.

For with You is the fountain of life
[the fountain of life-giving water];
in Your light do we see light.

O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,
Your righteousness (salvation) the upright in heart.

Psalm 36:5-10
Amplified Bible

Published in: on October 19, 2016 at 10:53 am  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , ,

In Nothing Stay Anxious

fall-101316It’s beginning to look like fall!

Do not be anxious about anything.
Instead, in every situation,
through prayer and petition with thanksgiving,
tell your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6

No anxiety ought to be found in a believer.
Great, many and varied may be our trials,
our afflictions, our difficulties,
and yet there should be no anxiety
under any circumstances,
because we have a Father in Heaven who is almighty,
who loves His children as He loves His only-begotten Son,
and whose very joy and delight it is to succor
and help them at all times and under all circumstances.
We should attend to the Word,

“In nothing be anxious,
but in everything by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known unto God.”

“In everything,” that is not merely when the house is on fire,
not merely when the beloved wife
and children are on the brink of the grave,
but in the smallest matters of life,
bring everything before God,
the little things,
the very little things,
what the world calls trifling things–everything–
living in holy communion with our Heavenly Father,
and with our precious Lord Jesus all day long.
And when we awake at night,
by a kind of spiritual instinct again turning to Him,
and speaking to Him,
bringing our various little matters
before Him in the sleepless night,
the difficulties in connection with the family,
our trade, our profession.
Whatever tries us in any way,
speak to the Lord about it.

“By prayer and supplication,”
taking the place of beggars,
with earnestness,
with perseverance,
going on and waiting,
waiting,
waiting on God.

“With thanksgiving.”
We should at all times lay a good foundation with thanksgiving.
If everything else were wanting,
this is always present,
that He has saved us from hell.
Then, that He has given us His Holy Word–
His Son, His choicest gift–
and the Holy Spirit.
Therefore we have abundant reason for thanksgiving.
O let us aim at this!

“And the peace of God which passeth all understanding,
shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
And this is so great a blessing,
so real a blessing,
so precious a blessing,
that it must be known experimentally to be entered into,
for it passeth understanding.
O let us lay these things to heart,
and the result will be,
if we habitually walk in this spirit,
we shall far more abundantly glorify God,
than as yet we have done.
–George Mueller, in Life of Trust

Published in: on October 14, 2016 at 4:07 am  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , , ,

Let Us Lay Aside Every Weight

march-29-30-yp-cabin-trip-033 Lay all our weights at the foot of the cross

Hebrews 12:1-2
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about
with so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight,
and the sin which doth so easily beset us,
and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame,
and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

There are weights which are not sins in themselves,
but which become distractions and stumbling blocks
in our Christian progress.
One of the worst of these is despondency.
The heavy heart is indeed a weight that will surely
drag us down in our holiness and usefulness.

The failure of Israel to enter the land of promise
began in murmuring, or,
as the text in Numbers literally puts it,
“as it were murmured.”
Just a faint desire to complain and be discontented.
This led on until it blossomed
and ripened into rebellion and ruin.
Let us give ourselves no liberty ever to doubt God
or His love and faithfulness to us in everything and forever.

We can set our will against doubt
just as we do against any other sin;
and as we stand firm and refuse to doubt,
the Holy Spirit will come to our aid and
give us the faith of God and crown us with victory.

It is very easy to fall into the habit
of doubting, fretting and wondering
if God has forsaken us
and if after all our hopes are to end in failure.
Let us refuse to be discouraged.
Let us refuse to be unhappy.
Let us “count it all joy”
when we cannot feel one emotion of happiness.
Let us rejoice by faith, by resolution, by reckoning,
ad we shall surely find that God will make the reckoning real.
~~~Selected

Published in: on October 2, 2016 at 4:48 am  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , ,

By Faith and Not By Sight

th

“When darkness veils His lovely face
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.”

2 Corinthians 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

By faith, and not appearance;
God never wants us to look at our feelings.
Self may want us to;
and Satan nay want us to.
But God wants us to face facts,
not feelings;
the facts of Christ
and of His finished and oerfect work for us

When we face these precious facts,
and believe them because God ways they are facts,
God will take care of our feelings.

God never gives us feeling to enable us to trust Him;
God never gives feeling to encourage us to trust Him;
God never gives feeling to show that we have already and utterly trusted Him.

God gives feeling only when He sees that we trust Him apart from all feeling,
resting on His own Word,
and on His own faithfulness to His promise.

Never until then can the feeling
(which is from God)
possibly come;
and God will give the feeling in such a measure
and at such a time as His love sees best for the individual case.

We must choose bewteen facing toward our feelings and facing toward God facts.
Our feelings may be as uncertain as the sea or the shifting sands.
God;s facts are as certian as the Rock of Ages,
even Christ himself,
who is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Following Jesus from day to day,
Gently He leads me along the way;
E’er will I trust Him all foes despite,
By faith and not by sight.

Published in: on October 1, 2016 at 4:20 am  Leave a Comment  
Tags:

Under Thy Wise Control

mom-away-day-2-059He metes the waters. . .

Psalm 25:10.
All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth
unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.

Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth,
Speak peace to my anxious soul,
And help me to feel that all my ways
Are under Thy wise control;
That He who cares for the lily,
And heeds the sparrows’ fall,
Shall tenderly lead His loving child:
For He made and loveth all.
ANON.

“Speak, Lord, in the stillness,
While I wait on Thee;
Hushed my heart to listen
In expectancy.

“Speak, O blessed Master,
In this quiet hour;
Let me see Thy face, Lord,
Feel Thy touch of power.

“For the words Thou speakest,
‘They are life,’ indeed;
Living bread from Heaven,
Now my spirit feed!

“Speak, Thy servant heareth!
Be not silent, Lord;
Waits my soul upon Thee
For the quickening word!”

Published in: on September 20, 2016 at 4:34 am  Leave a Comment  
Tags: ,

We Can Only Choose

mom-away-day-2-046

Pray for us unto the Lord thy God…
that the Lord thy God may show us the way wherein we may walk,
and the thing that we may do.
Jeremiah 42: 2, 3.

“We can’t choose happiness either for ourselves or for another;
we can’t tell where that will lie.
We can only choose whether we will indulge ourselves
in the present moment, or whether we will renounce that,
for the sake of obeying the Divine voice within us,
–for the sake of being true to all the motives that sanctify our lives.
I know this belief is hard;
it has slipped away from me again and again;
but I have felt that if I let it go forever,
I should have no light through the darkness of this life.”
GEORGE ELIOT.

That which I see not, teach Thou me.–Job 34:32

Jeremiah 42:2-3
And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee,
our supplication be accepted before thee,
and pray for us unto the LORD thy God,
even for all this remnant;
(for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:)
That the LORD thy God may shew us the way
wherein we may walk,
and the thing that we may do.

Published in: on September 19, 2016 at 11:25 am  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , ,

See God in Everything

spiderSpider lilies

1 Samuel 3:18
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,
In life or death, in pain or woe,
See God, and overcome thy foe.

I saw HIM in the morning light,
HE made the day shine clear and bright;
I saw HIM in the noontide hour,
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

Published in: on September 17, 2016 at 10:30 am  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , ,

We Shall Not Be Overcome

shieldTake the Shield of Faith

I do not fight with merely human weapons.
No, the weapons with which I war
are not weapons of mere flesh and blood,
but in the strength of the Lord,
they arre mighty enough
to raze all stongholds of our foes.
I can batter down bulwarks of human reason;
I can scale every crag-fortress that towers up
bidding defiance to the true knowledge of God.
I can make each rebel purpose my prisoner of war
and bow it into susbmission to Messiah.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 Way’s translation

Tempested on the sea of life;
Travailed sore, amid earth’s strife;
Afflicted often, and sore dismayed;
Look, faint heart be not afraid,
Thou shalt not be overcome!

God’s ways are far beyond our ken;
His thoughts are not the thoughts of men;
And He knoweth what is best for you.
Hope on, my friend, He will bear you through.
Thou shalt not be overcome!

Though “The reason why” we cannot see,
Our Father knows–’tis enough that we
But trust His love, when our eyes are dim.
Look up! Hold fast! though the fight is grim.
We shall not be overcome!
Mary E. Thompson

2Corinthians 10:4-5
(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,
but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
Casting down imaginations,
and every high thing that exalteth itself
against the knowledge of God,
and bringing into captivity every thought
to the obedience of Christ;

Published in: on September 16, 2016 at 10:30 am  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , ,
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »