Don't Let Go!

 “Even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign Lord is my strength!”  ~Habakkuk 3:17-1

Sometimes it's easy. Easy to forget that no matter what we are going through, that God is with us and will get us through those hard times. Habakuk of old knew that. If his fields did not produce. If his flocks died. I am sure it mattered but his strength was not in what was going on around him. His strength was in in God.

And ours should be as well.

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Psalm 91:2

You would think that after 70 years of life, and seeing all that God has done for me, I would have no fear for the things in my life that looks like my fields are empty or my flocks lying dead. And yet, I have to admit that for a few days I did forget that my strength is in God and not in my fields. 

To be honest, we had a wonderful week in our home state of Ohio. Things went very well for us even though what we had actually gone there for, was sad. My husband's brother had passed away early in the year and the family had planned a "Celebration of Life" for him, in July.

For us, while we went to that, we also took the time to visit friends because we don't know if we will ever get back there or not.

And we visited the church that we had gone to several years ago and that was a really good part of the time we were there.

It was after we got back that it seemed like things began falling apart. And yet, I know that the reason I have felt that way it is because I have been so busy that I have not been in God's Word enough to remember to rely on his strength and not my own.

Praise God that even when we aren't tuned into him, he does not let us go. And sometimes he even allows us to go through things that are hard, to remind us that he is waiting for us to remember.

And thank God, he forgives us and 'his mercies endure forever."

Not just for a day or a year.

They endure forever.

And he doesn't let go even when we do.

Thanks for coming by today, Friends. God bless!

 

NOTHING!

 

If only we could fully get this into our spirits. Nothing, nothing absolutely nothing is imposable when we put our trust in God! Why do we sometimes doubt when it looks like nothing around us is working out? Where is our faith despite what God's word says?

Philippians 4:13
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

God gives us what we need it, when we need it. Strength, help, and yes, even a hiding place under his almighty wings.

Trust in him. For he is our deliver.

Thanks for coming by today, Friends. Be blessed by God who loves you!

True Love Hates

I ran across this last night as I was looking on pinterest for a scripture to use in today's post. I think it is not only truth but it is good and so I want to share it with you from Bible Love Notes. Read on:

 

Did you know that true love hates?

It sounds like an oxymoron, but it's scriptural.

"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good." Romans 12:9

"Let those who love the LORD hate evil." Psalm 97:10

True love doesn't tolerate evil. In our "judge not"* world, we need to keep this in mind.

God is loving and He hates evil (Psalm 5:5).

If we want to please God, we will also hate evil.

"Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them ... So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise." Ephesians 5:10-15

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To be sure, I have to take this scripture to heart many times a week due to some injustices that crop up in our extended family. Life certainly isn't fair especially to those that really are trying to live life in the way that pleases God.  And it isn't easy. 

In fact, it is often hard to know too how to deal with people that are truly against us and trying to take us down for their own benefit. But then that is what the Bible says isn't it? That all around us there will be troubles. If we look at scriptures like John 14:1, Psalm 41:6, and Nahum 1:7 (among others) we find trouble. And looking all around us in our own world, we do find it everywhere.

But what's a person to do when it is in one's own family?

I think Ephesians 5:10-15 is a good scripture to go back to. And it is a good one to pray for ourselves. For it does no good to take part in the evil intentions of anyone. It is better to figure out what pleases the Lord. Not that we let someone get away with their wrong doings, but we don't have to take part in them either.

Even when it's sometimes hard to know what we should do.

Asking God to lead us. 

We can be sure he will

When we trust in him.

Thanks for coming by today, Friends.

God bless!

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A New Creation

 

Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17

When Christ comes into our lives and replaces the junk, he gives us a new sense of living. One in which we want to please him in everything we do. One where we want to put him at the top of our priority list. One in which we want to obey him and not sin.

If we have not come to these places, then we should question whether or not we really asked him into our hearts.

Oh, there will be days when we don't, please him. Days when he is not at the top of our list. Days when we sin instead of obeying him.

But for those of us that have truly accepted him, that is where his grace comes in, and we only have to ask his forgiveness to get right back on track with him. 

If it were not for his grace, where would we be? My answer would be-not in a good place.

What would yours be?

Thanks for coming by today, Friends. May you day be blessed of our God of grace.

Who Is Our Refuge and Strength??

 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah Psalms 46:1-3 (KJV)

God gets us through whatever we are going through and we do not need to fear.

Hello, Friends. Starting today and for at least the next couple of weeks, I am going to be posting a scripture from God's Word on most days. We have some things coming up that is going to make it a bit hard to do the kind of posts that I have done. There may be days that I don't have a post at all but I know that is not new since I have had those kinds of days all too much lately. However, I will do my best to declare God's Word as I can and hope you will still come each day.

Thank you for allowing me to occupy a little of your time on the days that you do get here. God Bless!

Missing Dad on Fater's Day

 If like me you had a father with whom you had a loving relationship during your life, then tomorrow celebrating Father's Day may be hard for those whose fathers have passed on.

Oh, I know I will see him one day and at this point in my life, it is getting closer to that time.

Still, it will be a day when I will miss him. And yet, as he has been gone for almost 17 years, it will be a bit easier.

For those whose grief is still very strong for your father, God can give you something that you most need during this difficult day.

Like He did for the lady in the story below. Read on:

Mysterious Ways: The Music Box by Barbara WomerPosted in Coping With Grief, Sep 3, 2013

The music box was a lovely gift from my sister, Sue. Made of wood, sculpted and painted to look like a small country church, complete with stained glass windows and a little golden church bell tucked inside the steeple. It reminded me of the house of worship in our small town, the one that stood at the center of my father’s life before he passed away. It had been three years since he died, but Sue must have known I was still missing him. I turned the key and cried upon hearing the first three, heartfelt notes. “Amazing Grace,” Dad’s favorite song.

Ask anyone in town what they remember most about my dad, and they’ll tell you in a flash. “Every Sunday he rang the steeple bell, inviting all of us into church,” they’ll say. And then they’ll mention “Amazing Grace.” Dad led the song selection on Sundays, and I can’t remember a time he didn’t include it.

Dad had a deep, sonorous voice, and it soared above all others when he sang, “and saved a wretch like me…” Even after the service he’d still hum the tune while he tidied up the sanctuary or mowed the church lawn.

I’d been thinking a lot about Dad lately. When I passed the church, heard the peal of its bells or, during Sunday service, heard the opening notes to his song, I would get emotional all over again. Dad had always been there for me. When I was a child, he soothed my little-girl fear of the dark; later, he paid for my years in nursing school. I wished he could still be with my sister and me now.

That’s why I was touched when the deliveryman knocked on the door, bearing Sue’s gift. The last notes of "Amazing Grace" trickled out, and I immediately called my sister to thank her. “You don’t know how much I needed this,” I said.

“I got a feeling that a music box would cheer you up,” Sue said.  “I called a shop to ask if they had any shaped like churches, and told the shopkeeper to send the one he liked best.”

“You mean you never saw it? You don’t know the song it plays?” I asked.

“No,” she answered. “What does it play?”

I told her. Now it was Sue’s turn to cry.

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For sure, tomorrow won't be an easy day for many people that had lost a beloved father to death. Even so we can rejoyce and be glad that if he knew Jesus, he is there with Him now and it is only a matter of time when our father will meet us at the gate of heaven's entrance, ready to take us in his arms again.

Tomorrow I will think of him often during the day. But I am also thankful that our kids will be here to help celebrate the day with their own dad. At least two of them will be as the others live out of state. 

And so for those of you that will be missing your dads, remember the memories you had with him and know that God's grace will get you through it.

Thanks for coming by. God bless

A Father's Day Miracle

 In world given to evil and madness, it is always a wonderful thing to read of someone that has had a miracle happen in their life. It is for that reason I am sharing the story of one man that had it happen on Father's Day one year. Read on:

(Others Magazine}

Father's Day miracle

A young father will turn up to a church north of Adelaide on 6 September – Father’s Day – and thank God for the miracle of grace. Walking into the Gawler Salvation Army  building with him will be his two little girls. It’s something that Cameron Brewis never dreamt would be possible just a year or so ago.

Cameron’s life was a mess. He was involved in criminal activity. He had lost his marriage and his two girls. Now 33, Cameron walked away from God and into a life of drugs and alcohol at 21. The next 10 years were not pleasant, except for the arrival of Grace, now 8, and Aubree, 4.

Eighteen months ago, Cameron was drinking at a local pub when Gawler Corps Officer (pastor), Major Darren Cox, struck up a conversation. Darren was there as part of his usual Friday night pub round. Cameron was cynical of Darren’s interest. He did not have a good impression of church people. The pair chatted again the following Friday and every Friday for some time. At first, Cameron gave Darren a hard time, not holding back on what he thought of church. Darren kept turning up and listening.

Cameron came to accept that Darren was somebody who was genuinely interested in what he had to say and wanting to help make his life better. When Darren suggested Cameron come to his church to see for himself, Cameron accepted. He saw Darren as authentic. In Cameron’s words, Darren was “the real deal”. “When I had to appear in court, Darren came with me,” Cameron says. “I hated church and everything to do with it. But Darren changed my whole idea about church.”

A guitar player, Cameron was invited to join the Gawler worship band for Sunday morning services. With the help of his new friends at Gawler Salvos, Cameron found his way back to God. He now has shared custody of his two girls. They have joined him as Sunday morning regulars at Gawler. “Actually, they now come three days a week, because they come to music practice with me one night a week, as well as the prayer meeting on another night,” Cameron says.

“I’m in a really good place right now. Having the girls in my life is great. They are two of the main reasons for wanting my life to change. I want them to be proud of me. I don’t see being a single father as a challenge. It’s more of a benefit that I can bring the girls to church, where there are so many role models to provide a spiritual base for them.”

Cameron is now also a youth group leader and employed in the church office as an administrative assistant.

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Reading this story reminds me of just how great God is. He can take any situation good or bad, and bring it to a place that we know without a doubt that he has worked it out for our good. How awesome is that?

God has given us fathers to bring us up, provide for us and teach us his ways. But as we know, many fathers do not or can not live up to the things of God. And it is something that we as Christians need to pray for. 

Those men that we see that oppose God, because as long as they are, they may be bringing children into this world that may never know of our great God.

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;" - Psalm 103:13, NIV

Thanks for coming by today, Friends. Have a blessed day!