Threads

This past Sunday was an interesting example of how God weaves things together. Runs threads through our lives.

In Sunday school we listened.to Lee Stroble and the first lesson in his Case For Easter.  We discussed evidence that the death and resurrection of Christ is fact. One of the conclusions we came to is God gives us individual and specific evidence. 

That all we can do is share that with others.

Then upstairs....the message (which was completely separate from Sunday School) was about the evidence that God exists and how we live and react and behave with people as we see His evidence all around us!

The Thread!

We have heard about the Christian life being compared to a tapestry...woven by God. We are only a small part of the tapestry and how you have to view the tapestry from a distance to see the whole thing.

So I wanted to see what was in Scripture for thread. The first on that came to mind from Ecclesiastes 

📖Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12

The other talks about knitting , creating something precious 

📖 For you created my inmost being;
   

you knit me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13

There are times when we can see the "thread" through events. The more retrospect we have the more we can see them.

📖 Now the men had said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads; we will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on them. But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.”  “Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as you say.” So she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window. Joshua 2:17-21

How God works, tieing things together weaving events and people into our lives.

📖 As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, “This one came out first.” Genesis 38:28

Thread and cords were used for significant purposes. 

I believe there is a purpose in all the threads and connections that God weaves through our lives. 

🙏 I pray you see the threads that God weaves through your life. ♥️

Got You Covered

 Exodus 33 was used at church this past Sunday.  And one line in particular stood out to me.

📖 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.  When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”  Exodus 33:18-23

I love the imagery of being covered by God's hand. 

And then another verse came to mind

📖 Keep me as the apple of your eye;
    hide me in the shadow of your wings Psalm 17:8

Beautiful imagery... in God's Word, penned by David of how God, as mighty as He is, tenderly holds us, protects us.

📖He will cover you with his feathers,

    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. Psalm 91:4

We are gathered like chicks to a mother bird's breast, safe under the cover of her wing, or at least we can be IF we choose to listen and be willing to follow Christ!

📖  “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.  Look, your house is left to you desolate.  For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”  Matthew 23:37-39

If we listen and follow we will remain in His hand, under His protection.

 📖 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.” John 10:25-30

We have the image that, with God as our protector, nothing bad will happen to us. I believe He does protect us from many things we may be unaware of.

BUT we will be buffeted by storms and waves in life, we will suffer trials.

 📖 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

but He also is our Refuge and Healer

📖The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

    my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:2

We will have hurt and we may sustain injury.

📖 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
    and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
    I will not forget you!
16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls are ever before me. Isaiah 49:15-16

When we are His we are under and in His hand. He covers us, engraves us, encompasses us with His mighty, merciful and compassionate, righteous hand and nothing can move His hand!

📖 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 
“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:39

🙏 My prayer for you is Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from? I  pray your help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. ♥️

🎵 He Hideth My Soul Guy Penrod

Beautifully Broken

We all have heard statements like; "That is going to break me."  "I will bend but I won't break."

Comments that "being broken" signifies weakness or lack of fortitude.  The awful news of a situation will break us.

It is talking about our spirit, our heart.

This was in a book I read recently;  the female character said, "If one more person dies, I think it will break me." And the male characters' response was "that's OK, I will hold you while you break." 

And I thought....wow!  Isn't that more apt than "I will bend but not break?".!? Or "no of course you won't break"?!

It made me think....we HAVE to break, 

we have to come to a point in our lives that we are broken before our God....because He will hold us while we are breaking....and only He can make us whole again!

📖 May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it!  1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (MSG)

People around us can give us love and help and support but the true Healer is Christ!

And the more broken we are the more He is glorified.

📖 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 12:9-10

We have the initial moment when we realize we can do nothing without Christ. We need and want His saving grace...we are at the end of our rope, the bottom of our pit.  Like the prodigal son who realizes he needs to go back to his father.

📖  “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!  I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’  So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ Luke 15:17-21

We all have times (more than once in our lives) when we are hammered by life and times when we are emotionally and spiritually shattered. 

We cry out to Jesus and He is there....

📖 I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;  turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.
7 Show me the wonders of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes.
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;  hide me in the shadow of your wings.  Psalm 17:6-8

 📖 And everyone who calls

on the name of the Lord will be saved;
for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
there will be deliverance,   as the Lord has said,
even among the survivors

whom the Lord calls.  Joel 2:32

The image in my mind....God holds me in the palm of His hand, always.  Sometimes I get too busy and caught up in "me" and my issues I forget that.  So when the waves come crashing in and I feel shattered....God is already holding the pieces in His hand....I just need to remember that and allow Him to begin the process of restoration. 

He turns our brokenness into something beautiful and we should give Him praise!

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

📖 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” Isaiah 61:1-3

🙏Dear Lord, our Healer and restorer, I pray that we allow You to take our broken pieces and turn them into something beautiful, to be used by You. Amen❤️

I pray one or both of these songs touches your heart. 

🎵 Beautifully Broken by Plumb

🎵 Faithfully TobyMac

RE-assurance

As I was mulling over ideas for this week's blog, an idea came, ....and went just as fast!

But as I was doing my devotional reading this morning, I knew what I was to write about today.

.

For this to be the Scripture today!

Today, actually, I was reading it almost to the hour...of my sister passing three years ago.

📖 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

Then it occurred to me that this rolls right off last week's blog... and assurance!

But maybe more RE-assurance!

Then, as I looked up John 14 for the reference in my reading I realized that it was the same scripture used during church yesterday!

📖 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

RE- assurance 

We have the assurance that those who believe will be with Christ one day. No more sorrow, no more pain.

One of the songs we sang yesterday was "I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin.   

Chorus:

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

RE-assurance 

Just a week or two before she died, my sister and I talked about the Mercy Me song "I Can Only Imagine".  She wanted it played at her funeral and she mused about what she would do when that moment arrived.

I can only imagine
What it will be like
When I walk by Your side
I can only imagine
What my eyes would see
When Your face is before me
I can only imagine
Yeah

Surrounded by Your glory
What will my heart feel?
Will I dance for You Jesus
Or in awe of You be still?
Will I stand in Your presence
Or to my knees, will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah?
Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

 Whenever I hear that song I think of her, I always will. This past November we had the privilege of hearing Mercy Me sing it live and I was reminded of a dream I had shortly after Leah had passed....she was on her knees in a grand, large sanctuary (wearing a  brightly colored beautiful jacket of course😘). 

"To my knees will I fall"

And as I was writing this my daughter's were posting memories of their Aunt Leah and didn't one of them use "I Can Only Imagine" ...laughter and tears all rolled together!

RE-assurance.

I have assurance that I will be in my 

Saviors presence when my time comes. 

We are blessed when we can feel the assurance that the ones we love are in His presence as well.♥️

🙏Dear Lord I pray that all who read this have the assurance of salvation and know that they will rise and spend eternity with You, no more sorrow, no more pain.  I am so thankful for the RE-assurances you give to me and to others, Amen♥️

🎵 I Can Only Imagine.   Mercy Me

PS. just another "thing" about today. The devotion was about bringing a new dog home, and as I was finishing this blog up I was spending part of the day supporting my sister-in-law as one of her pups was at the end of it's life. 😢♥️

Insurance vs Assurance

Insurance is something you have (and in most cases purchase) just incase something bad and unforseen happens. But you can almost never have complete coverage...because even with enough money, there are some losses money can't replace or compensate for.

Back when I was young (way back!) I have a memory of "Bible tracts" and in my memory they were scary. They used images of death and Hell to scare people into making a decision for Christ. 

 I heard people comment that they were just wanting "fire insurance ".  They were making a decision out of fear, not necessarily a heart change or relationship with their Savior.

Assurance is what you have when you are certain of what is going to happen...and you are prepared. You know what the outcome will be!

📖 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen Hebrews 11:1 (ESV)

 📖 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. 1 John 6:12-13 (NKJV)

📖 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:19-22 (NKJV)

📖 For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. 1 Thessalonians 1:5 (NKJV)

And assurance isn't something YOU have to purchase...it was purchased FOR you!  Once, for all! 

📖 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Hebrews 9:28 (NIV)

📖 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. Romans 6:10 (NIV)

My prayer;

🙏

📖 that [your] hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God,  both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  Colossians 2:2-3. (NKJV)

I pray you have ASSURANCE rather than insurance.  ❤️

I Will Serve

In the message yesterday at church Ronald Reagan's inaugural speech was referenced, in particular "A Soldiers Pledge".

Words found written in the diary of a young Martin Treptow, who gave his life serving our country in WWI.

“America must win this war. Therefore, I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will fight cheerfully and do my utmost, 

as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone.” 

Which was so apropos as the following day, today, is celebrated as Martin Luther King Jr Service Day.

It immediately brought to mind several of Dr. King's quotes. 

Martin Luther King Jr. once said: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?’”     (https://cl.usembassy.gov/honoring-martin-luther-king-jr-day-serve-others/)

"Everybody can be great...

because anybody can serve.

You don't have to have

a college degree to serve.

You don't have to make

your subject and verb

agree to serve. You

only need a heart full

of grace. A soul

generated by love."

--Dr. Martin Luther King  (FindYourExcuses.com)

As believers and followers of Jesus Christ we are called to serve. 

📖 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.  For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.' If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other Galatians 5:13-15

📖 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people,  Galatians 6:7

🙏I pray that each one of us makes the effort to work, to save, to sacrifice, to endure as we serve Jesus our Savior!

Not just today but every day♥️

The Right Reference

 I was doing my devotion and reading this morning and had a heck of a time finding the correct scripture reference.  1 Kings 10:11-18

First, I read through the whole chapter of 1 Kings 10.  Hmmmm... nothing about Elijah.

Occasionally, there is a misprint... maybe it is 2 Kings 10.

Read through the key verses. Still not right! 

?????

Then I realized I had misread...chapter 19!  NOT 10! 

Started reading again...still wasn't right.

I was still in 2nd Kings! 

1 Kings 19:11-18!

Finally found where I was supposed to read!

God asking Elijah a question. 

It made me think...

How important it is to have our reference points correct for some things to make more sense or be clearer.

All of Scripture is good and useful.

📖  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

But the verses I was reading to accompany the devotion made more sense with the correct ones.

We have access to the whole Bible, God's Holy Word. As we move through our day, our life, let that be our reference. 

It is packed full of truths and give us the reference we need to make things clearer, to better understand our direction or maybe even situation. 

When we have trials

📖 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything James 1:2-4

When we are sad or discouraged

📖 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory Ephesians 3:12-13

When we are tempted 

📖 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

When we are anxious, stressed

📖 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

And much much more!

That is why I like to do devotions and read in the morning...to give me a reference point for the day. Gives my day context. 

📖 In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;

    in the morning I lay my requests before you
    and wait expectantly.Psalm 5:3

🙏Dear Lord, I pray that we each find our reference  point in You each day. Help us to be ever mindful of where our perspective comes from.♥️