"What a Good God!"

Psalms 92:15 says, "To show that the LORD is upright: He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." Our God is a Righteous God. When I first read of this verse I thought of the passage where the LORD talks about how even worldly fathers want to give their children good things. "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" ~ Matthew 7:11. The LORD wants to give us good things. Psalms 92:15 - Reminds me that God has good things prepared for us along the way. No matter where God guides us... He not only goes with us but so does His goodness. I love this Quote: "God will surprise you your whole life long, if you just stay on the Old Path." So often when I do things my own way, I fail to see His everlasting goodness. When I think God is taking to long to give me what I want, I begin to think I know better then God. Yet everything God does or brings into my life is for a purpose. Even better yet the things God doesn't bring into my life is for His divine plan. Someone once said, "Has it ever dawned on you that NOTHING ever dawns on God." So when you think things aren't happening in your timing... When you feel like God doesn't care and your life is falling apart... Remember God is still a GOOD GOD who wants good things for His Children and it is always for OUR GOOD and for HIS Glory!

The Pillars of memorial

"And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that one the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz." 2 Chronicles 3:17. Have you ever wondered why those names for the pillars? Did Solomon choose Boaz to honor his great great grandfather? Who was Jachin? I was pondering this very thought and began searching the name Jachin. Much to my surprise, I found that I was asking the wrong question. The names of the pillars were not named to honor man. Rather, the pillars' names cause the people to reflect and glorify God. On the right was the pillar named Jachin. When the people read that name, they were instantly reminded that the LORD established them as His people. When they looked to the left pillar, they read the name Boaz. They were reminded that in the LORD is strength. All the splendor that Solomon would accomplish would only be through the strength of the LORD. These pillars were set up for a reminder of who God is and what He had done for His people. However, the people and even Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, would forget that. The truth is we all forget. We forget that it is the LORD who has established us. We forget that it is in His strength that we live. When we look to the right hand or to the left hand let us reflect on who our God is. He is the One that has given us the life we so foolishly claim as our own. We are bought with a Price. We belong to Him. Are we living like it?

The Past, The Present and the Future....

The Past ~ Sometimes the past seems to enshroud me. Like a thick cloud that won't fade. Mistakes and Memories and faces come into the mind as if they were but yesterday. People I've said goodbye to and those who I never had a chance to penetrate into my heart. The Present ~ When times like these come in, my days are spent in reflection. Hours spent in regret and shame. And I become useless for the cause of Christ. The Future ~ Days of reflection cause my future to be bleak and uncertain with no where to turn and no place to run. I sink in despair with no hope. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> But in the stillness of my soul whispers the old hymn... In Times Like These (Ruth Caye Jones - Mother Jones) In times like these, you need a Savior In times like these you need an anchor Be very sure, be very sure Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock This Rock is Jesus, Yes, He's the one This Rock is Jesus, The only One Be very sure, be very sure Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock In times like these you need the Bible In times like these o be not idle Be very sure, be very sure Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock This Rock is Jesus, Yes, He's the one This Rock is Jesus, The only One Be very sure, be very sure Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock In times like these, I have a Savior In times like these, I have an anchor I'm very sure, I'm very sure My anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock This Rock is Jesus, Yes, He's the one This Rock is Jesus, The only One I'm very sure, I'm very sure My anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock With Christ as my Guide The Past ~ is in the Past. Friends can be found there, Memories can hold such joy, and reflection can cause me to go forward. The Present ~ is a new day of life. The LORD is here beside me, and He will guide me. The Future ~ is full of Hope and Faith... Trust and Resting in the arms of my Savior. And there is no fear in His arms. "For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." ~ Psalms 84:11.

With Just One Touch

With just His hand, He touched a dying land. With just one touch, He did so much! The Lame could walk and the Blind could see. The dead were quickened and the devil made to flee! Christ took Wisdom and understanding and sealed it into a willing heart. He gave strength to the weak and power to those falling apart. With just one Word spoken, the bind of sin was broken. With Just a finger, The power of His spirit did linger. Christ blesses all who are on His side. He gives hind's feet so they do not slide. He provides forgiveness to all who call, And picks up all those who fall. With just His hand, He lifts up those who are on sinking sand. With just one touch, He did so much! Our cup He continues to fill every day, And Joy Our Savior gives for us today. To Know Him Better, He draws us near. Our every cry He does wait to hear. With Just a Word He does say, He Guides us along the way. With Just a finger still, He points us to His will. In a bottle He places every tear, Near the LORD, we have nothing to fear! He Knows thee by name, cleave to the LORD! Remember He is near, Stay in His Word!

For My Good and for HIS Glory!

In a basic 1700’s home, the mother was known as the weaver. She taught her daughters who were called spinners. The mother would pass her trade down to her daughters. When one of her daughters would marry, that daughter would become the weaver in her home and pass the skill onto her daughters. A daughter who remained single beyond the conventional age for marrying was known as an old spinster. Spinster is not a term we hear often in our society and even the term old maid isn’t often used. However, in Christian circles today marriage is the highest of callings. At Christian Colleges, women are prepared to make good wives for their husband; while the men prepare for the ministry. By the time a girl is ready to graduate at the age of 22, she should be ready to settle down and marry. And a ring should presently reside on her finger, while she prepares for that big day. The day she has waited all her life for. Yet if this young woman is still single at 22, she begins to regret her circumstances. She sees the “good” of all her friends around her. Couples are constantly lined out her window “talking” and yet she sits sadly inside waiting for her prince charming to come her way. By the age of 24, if this woman still remains unmarried, she begins to question what is wrong with her. She finds herself discontent and uneasy. She has remained at the college, hoping and waiting for some man to notice her. She constantly feels as if she is getting older and time is not being kind, stripping her of beauty while younger beautiful girls constantly are entering college and taking away her chances of ever finding true happiness. She pines away, discontented with her life and in truth discontented with the path that God’s has given her. She has regrets. She regrets being now 26 and unmarried. She has spent what she feels is a life time waiting.... waiting.... waiting. But then one blissful and happy day, he comes! They get married and now at 27 she is married and.... content... Or is she? She has spent the past 10 years wanting nothing but this. Yet now that she has what she has wanted all this time, she doesn’t feel the sense of contentment. Maybe she thinks if I have children, I’ll be content. She feels that she is getting older and needs to have children now because she doesn’t want them when she’s in her 40s. If only she had gotten married sooner... if only.... She has regrets. As woman today, we are encouraged to marry. It is our highest calling after all. Or is it? How does a woman wait on God’s timing and still be content with her life? How does she wait and yet have no regrets with what God has put before her. Why is it that we must wait patiently for the LORD to do what He desires in our lives? What is His desire for our lives? Is it to get married? Is that His ultimate goal? At college it was stressed, that this is God’s plan for every young lady’s life. However, that is a wrong thing to stress. Revelations 4:11 says, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” God created us for His pleasure. He has a glorious individual purpose and plan for our lives. The LORD is making us to be more and more in His image. He takes us through purging and fiery trials to root out wickedness in our lives. We need to accept that God is up to something in our lives and that is ultimately for our good and His glory. Romans 8:28-30 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” God’s not done working on us. In God’s timing, He will bring the right man into your life but only when God knows that it will bring you closer to being what He has you to be. So how can I say at 31 and single I have no regrets? I know that God has guided my life. I can look back on my single season and know that I couldn’t have done anything different to change the state of my singleness. This is exactly what God has planned for my life and it is for My good and for His glory. How about you, dear friend, do you have regrets? Do you regret where God has brought you and what He has or hasn’t put into your life? Remember that no hurt is too deep that God can’t reach down and heal you. God’s love doesn’t always keep us from trials but it is a love that keeps us through them. Apply the healing ointment: The Word of God – Psalms 107:20 says, “He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” God’s Word is true – God keeps His promises. God’s Word is the truth that we should live by. I love this quote: “A Bible that is falling apart usually is in the hands of one who isn’t.” So my dear friend, don’t worry if by others’ standards you’re an old spinster. By God’s standards you are exactly where He wants you and it is for YOUR Good and HIS Glory!

"Like a River Glorious"

Frances Havergal has to be one of my favorite Hymnist. She understood what it meant to give up all and follow Christ. She understood the true meaning of putting Christ above all... all family, all friends, and all her plans. And she understood where she could find true peace of mind and soul. She did not blame God for her sickly circumstance or her singleness. Instead she gave her life to Christ. In full and glad surrender I give myself to Thee, Thine utterly and only And evermore to be. 24 December 1873 The article below is taken from http://www.continuingcofe.org/havergal.htm: It is hard to put into words the motions of the soul, and Frances was experienced with the pen. Let us be satisfied to know that she was brought into a deeper relationship with Jesus, to a fuller knowledge of His grace, and a more perfect trust in the grace of God. For her the time from the end of 1873 to her death was the most peaceful part of her life, and when she lay dying she rested in the finished work of her Saviour Jesus, Whose blood alone could make her acceptable to God. Her love for the Saviour shone through from the moment of her conversion to the moment she died. Her life of obedience is before us as an example of complete consecration to God. These are the things she sought to declare in words and song, as she who was ‘Kept for the Master’s Use’ gave herself in full and glad surrender to the One who had bled and died for her. Like a river glorious Is God’s perfect peace, Over all victorious In its bright increase; Perfect, yet it floweth Fuller every day; Perfect, yet it groweth Deeper all the way. Stayed upon Jehovah Hearts are fully blest, Finding, as He promised, Perfect peace and rest. Hidden in the hollow Of His blessèd hand, Never foe can follow, Never traitor stand; We may trust Him fully All for us to do; They who trust Him wholly Find Him wholly true. Stayed upon Jehovah Hearts are fully blest, Finding, as He promised, Perfect peace and rest. 1878

"Who Am I?"

In the Word of God there are a few men who said “Who am I?” Moses said, “Who am I?” in Exodus 3:11. “And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” But a few chapters over in Exodus 6, Moses doubts God and gives excuses. Moses said, “I am not....” He doubted what God could do with him. When I like Moses say but LORD, I am not, or I can’t... then I am full of self and pride. But when I say who am I... I am emptied of all that I think self can or cannot do. The attitude of “Who am I?” is an attitude of “I am NOTHING!” “This is not an attitude of “it’s all about me” but rather it is the attitude of “it’s a privilege and not a right.” When we say “Who am I?” to the LORD, He says to us “I will make you.” All through the Bible, God makes people into things they are not. David said “Who am I?” three different times. The first time was in 1 Samuel 18:18. “And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son in law to the king?” David said, “Who am I about my marriage?” The right perspective on marriage realizes that there are three groups: the me group, the my family group, and the my spouse’s family group. The right attitude is I don’t deserve this person. The attitude is of a humble sincere spirit before God. The second time David said, “Who am I?” is found in 1 Chronicles 17:16. “And David the king came and sat before the LORD, and said, Who am I, O LORD God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?” David said, “Who am I about my ministry?” David was lost in God through humility. To be lost in God a person must lose their identity. He must increase but I must decrease until there is nothing left of me and Christ has filled my cup. He has consumed my entire being. Thirdly, David said “Who am I concerning my money?” But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.” ~ 1 Chronicles 29:14. David embraced the fact that God told him no regarding building the Temple. David set his affection on God even thou he had to step down in position and let his son build the Temple. The result of his attitude was that the people offered willing and it caused them to rejoice. Our Attitudes affect others! What we say can cause others to rejoice or become bitter. Daivd’s attitude could have led the people to an uprising against God and against Solomon (God’s Man – God’s new King). But instead David’s “Who am I” attitude lead the people to a humble spirit. Are you asking God “Who am I?” Or are you tell God who you are?