My God is Still the Same

🎧 CoffeeTime Audio

There is a song that plays on Christian radio; My God Is Still the Same, by Sanctus Real and the words have got me thinking.

When things are going wrong or we are in our darkest moments...if we feel God has abandoned us....

HE HASN'T...it is us that have moved. God is still the same, yesterday, today, forever.

📖 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

The chorus:

"Songwriters: Josh Bronleewe / Chris Rohman / Dustin Lolli

"When did He break His promise?

When did His kindness fail?
Never has, never will
My God is still the same
When did He lose His power?
When did His mercy change?
Never has, never will
My God is still the same, yeah
My God is still the same."

We may FEEL like God broke His promises, or He hasn't heard us, or He hasn't shown us mercy.

But think about it....it is because things are not working out, or happening, or going the way WE want.  That is not God changing...it is us dealing with disappointment, sorrow, hurt, etc. and nowhere in scripture have I found that we are to escape any of that, no matter how strong our faith is, no matter how much we serve and follow Christ....we live in a sinful, dark world,

📖 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Ephesians 6:12

 and we are surrounded by things which seek to destroy us

📖Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

So in our disappointment, our sorrow, our pain, we lean on Him, we draw our strength from Him, by asking Him to show us how His mercy and grace have been evident. 

How He provided for you in it; people who support you, ways you were able to move forward,  resolution to a problem, comfort in a song or a place or a moment. For you to see what He has done for you in your circumstances, you have to be willing to look, to see. It is so easy to be overwhelmed by all that is happening, crushed by our grief, smothered by our fear that we can become so sorry for ourselves we don't see what He is doing in it all. 

📖 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:7-9

If you are there right now, ask a Godly friend to pray with you, to help you see God in your circumstances, to point out His presence in it.

Then have the courage and the strength to acknowledge it, because that is hard sometimes, we feel if we acknowledge His goodness in our hard times, then it means that our circumstance is ok, that our suffering doesn't "count for anything ". But that is a lie being whispered in your ear....

acknowledging and seeing God's mercy and grace in your circumstances allows you to see that GOD acknowledges YOUR hurt, pain and suffering! 

📖  Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.2 Corinthians 12:8-10

 and that He is IN it with you, that He feels for you and is going to stay with you.

📖 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20

🙏 My prayer for you is that you see that He hasn't moved or changed, and that you remain near to Him and see His grace and mercy for you❤️

📖 But as for me, it is good to be near God.
    I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
    I will tell of all your deeds. Psalm 73:28

🎵 My God Is Still the Same Sanctus Real

From "Please Do" to "You Are"

🎧CoffeeTime Audio

When praying in the morning on my knees...I was feeling like my God-Please-Do list was long and all I was doing was presenting my wants.

So I changed it up and decided to just thank Him, for who He is...listing all I could remember from scripture. 

"You ARE...."

Mighty God

📖 Who is like you, Lord God Almighty? You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.          Psalm 89:8                                                                                                                

Rock                                                                                                                                                  📖 My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge                                                   Psalm 62:7                                                                                             

 Redeemer                                                                                                                                           📖 Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.              Isaiah 60:16b

📖 I know that my redeemer lives,
    and that in the end he will stand on the earth. 

      Job19:25

King of kings

📖 ...which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 

1 Timothy 6:15

Bread

📖 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.                                                                                        John 6:35

Water

📖 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 

John 4:13-14

Light

📖 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 

John 8:12

Love

📖 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 

1 John 3:16

Healer

📖 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. 

Matthew 12:15

📖 He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3

Anchor

📖 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:19-20

Shelter 

📖 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 

Psalm 91:1

Protector 

📖 I will say to the Lord, “You are my place of safety and protection.
    You are my God and I trust you.” Psalm.91:1-2 (NCV) new century version 

The Word

📖 In the beginning there was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made by him, and nothing was made without him. 

1 John 1:1-3

Father

I and the Father are one.” 

John 10:30

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 

James 1:17

Comforter 

📖  You who are my Comforter in sorrow,

    my heart is faint within me. 

Jeremiah 8:18

📖 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,

 2 Corinthians 1:3

Provider

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.              Philippians 4:19

Promise Keeper                                                                                                                                      📖Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.                              Psalm 145:13

As I prayed , my concerns would pop into my head and I realized that those Names covered my concerns as well.

Healer: covers all those sick, 

Redeemer, Bread, Water; those who need salvation 

Rock; those who are feeling lost, adrift

Shelter; those who feel lost, abandoned

Protector; those who are afraid

Light; those who are walking in darkness

The Word; those who need wisdom and guidance

Father, Love; those who feel rejected, unlovable

Comforter; those who are grieving 

The list can go on..

But

🙏 my prayer for you this weeki is that YOU

Make your own list! 

Of who God is and how He answers any need!❤

 

MLK Service Day

🎧 CoffeeTime Audio

Originally posted As We Honor Martin Luther King Jr.  on Monday Januray 15, 2018. MLK Day Rerun was posted January 18, 2021.

I am going to recycle again!  Making a couple minor technical changes , but not to content. 

MLK Day, Martin Luther King Jr Day, Martin Luther King Jr Day of Service, MLK Jr. Day of Service

It has many names  but ...
Martin Luther King Jr Day was signed into law in 1983 and first observed in 1986....1994 the King Holiday and Service Act  was signed into law challenging American citizens to volunteer or do other acts of service to honor Martin Luther King and his accomplishments in civil rights and  non violence.

So I hope that today...whether in your job or where ever ...you are able to volunteer or are able to perform some acts of service to help your community or others.

As Christians let's take that further!

Christ came to serve ...and we are called to do the same!

📖 "just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Matthew 20:28
He gave many examples of how to serve those around us...but one of my favorites is;

📖 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.  After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 
“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.
 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them.  “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.  Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. John 13:4-17

In humility, love and compassion we are called to serve those around us, our "fellow man"  whom ever that may be; the clean neat and tidy or the stinky, dirty beggar.

📖 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. Galatians 5:13

Can we all say we have the same "dream" as the Reverend Dr. King?

"I have a dream today ... I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. " (I Have A Dream copyright 1963 Martin Luther King)  which comes from Isaiah 40:4-6.

Do we not dream that one day ALL will see the Glory of the LORD!?!  

🙏My prayer for you is that...

Until that day....we can show the glory of the Lord by serving all those around us humbly, in love and in Jesus' name! ❤️

📖 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.Galatians 6:9

The Eyes Have Sparkle

🎧 CoffeeTime Audio

Since my cataract surgeries in November and December I felt certain that there was a blog in it somehow.  

First of all an amazing blessing...I came out of the surgery on my right eye immediately having 20/20 vision!  I don't believe I have ever had 20/20 vision...I began wearing glasses in 5th grade!

When they did my second surgery they implanted a reading lens....(my contact lenses for the past 6-8 years had been "bifocal" with one eye being my prescription for distance and the other lens my reading eye.)

Because I was able to adapt to that easily the doctor said they could do the same with the permanent lenses they put in.

Just an FYI; for those who don't know...when you have cataracts covering the lenses in your eyes...those lenses you were born with are removed and artificial ones are put in with the strengths to give you as close to 20/20 as they can.

So what direction would the blog take?

I was blind but now I see!  

📖His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.   John 9:2-3

Not quite accurate.  I was never "blind"; my vision was 20/200 in my better eye without any corrective lenses. But I wasn't completely blind. 

I definitely see clearer now!

📖 Open my eyes that I may see

    wonderful things in your law. Psalm 119:18

As the cataracts worsened it took more and more effort to see what I needed to, more concentration.  Especially the weeks prior to surgery...after my initial preop appointment I could no longer wear my contacts and my glasses were an outdated prescription and not bifocal....things were very interesting for those 3 weeks!

Once I had the first eye done I actually didn't need the glasses. The 20/20 eye was enough for me to function. Though the difference between the two eyes was extreme.

There just seemed to be many spiritual applications;

Though we have clear vision to start out with, at some point junk and crud can slowly start to build

📖 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Ephesians 4:30-31

We may not even notice at first that it is beginning to cloud our view. We need to seek out an Expert to look closely and tell us how severe things might be.

📖  Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

And sometime we need a whole new lens.  A whole new us!

📖 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17

Once we do that we can see clearly!

However, we know that the clearest, best vision we will have is when we see Him face to face.

📖 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 1 Corinthians 13:12

One thing that seems to be evident since the new artificial lenses have been implanted....my eyes "sparkle" to quote my husband.  Apparently, when you have artificial lenses and the light hits them they are visible to those looking at your eyes!  I have sparkly eyes!

Of course the point of this is mostly our spiritual eyes.  Yes, we must always be aware of what our physical eyes are seeing and taking in

📖 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! Matthew 6:22-23

"The eyes are a window to the soul"!  What will people see reflected in your eyes?  All that you look at around you each day?  or will they see Jesus "sparkling" there?

📖 The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. Pslam 19:8

🙏My prayer for you;

📖 Ears that hear and eyes that see— the Lord has made them both. Proverbs 20:12

📖“No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Luke 11:33-35

📖 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, Ephesians 1:17-18

📖 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

that your eyes SPARKLE with His light! ❤️

Walk With Me in '23

photo by Rachel Ramsdell Photography

🎧  CoffeeTime Audio

It is the first blog of 2023...It should be profound...full of inspirational meaning, introspective reflection, and bits of wisdom!  Shouldn't it?

I am not sure I ever have profound anything!

But the thread through our music at church on the first day of 2023 was time; "Take Time To Be Holy", and what God can do with our time...because for God there is no time...or at least not time as we know it.

📖 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 2 Peter 2:8

📖 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8

Time moves forward and there is nothing we can do about that. All we can do is utilize the time we have.

You have one shot at the next 5 minutes...how can you use them wisely....use them to serve God?

You have one shot at the next 24 hours, how can you use them wisely? ...serving God?

We also aren't promised how many minutes we will have....

So the first thing is commit every moment to Him, and then move according to His example and standard....you  will be moving in the right direction. 

📖 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

📖 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40

📖 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2

🎵 Take My Life. Chris Tomlin

🙏 My prayer for you; that you can walk each day of 2023 with Him.❤️