"Give thanks to the Lord for he is good..." - Ps. 136:1

"It is always possible to be thankful for what is given

rather than resentful over what is withheld - one attitude or

the other becomes a way of life."

Elisabeth Eliot

 

That is one of my most-often used quotes, but it bears repeating.  It reminds me of a sign seen by a driver in Canada as winter arrives in a cold and barren land:  CHOOSE YOUR RUT CAREFULLY BECAUSE YOU WILL BE IN IT FOR A LONG TIME.  This is the time of year to choose attitudes very wisely...the holidays present many opportunities for stress, overspending, anxiety and a complaining spirit.  I know you have already seen the Christmas aisles in Hobby Lobby and the countdown to Christmas.  I would like to be an inspiration to people at this time of year, not part of the problem.  Do not let anyone rob you of the joy of this most special time of year.

 

Listen to what Nancy DeMoss in CHOOSING GRATITUDE says a grateful person is:

 

1.  A grateful person is a humble person, while ingratitude reveals a proud heart.

2.  A grateful heart is God-centered and others-conscious, while an ungrateful person is self-centered and self-conscious.

3.  A grateful heart is a full heart, while an unthankful heart is an empty one.

4.  People with grateful hearts are easily contented, while ungrateful people are subject to bitterness and discontent.

5.  A grateful heart will be revealed and expressed by thankful words, while an unthankful heart will manifest itself in murmuring and complaining.

6.  Thankful people are refreshing, life-giving springs, while unthankful people pull others down with them into the stagnant pools of their selfish, demanding, unhappy ways.

 

Just saying...which of the above people do you want to be around?  A harder question:  which of the above people most describes you?  We think our grumbling hearts are hidden, but I'm afraid they are not.  Matthew 12:34 says: "...the mouth speaks what the heart is full of".  Is gratitude in my heart?  Then my mouth will speak it.  Gratitude and joy are kissing cousins...do people see that in you?

 

May your Happy Thanksgiving be one where you are truly grateful for the blessings - every blessing - your Father in Heaven has given you...and me.

 

For further study:  Psalm 100:4, 107:8, Isaiah 63:7, Habakkuk 3:16, 2 Cor. 9:15, Philippians 4:6, Colossians 2:6 3:16, 1 Thes. 5:18, 1 Timothy 4:4, Hebrews 12:28.

 

May you be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

 

Love,

Holly

God's plans for you are good and full of hope - Jer. 29:11

The Prophet Jeremiah was writing this letter to those who had been exiled to Babylon.  They had been captured, their city and temple destroyed and they were trying to figure out how life would ever be normal again.  He was sending them (the "you" is plural) hope as a community that God had not left them, they were still His and His plans for them were still good, even in captivity.

What are we being held captive to and have we lost hope that life will ever be good again?  We might be held captive to unforgiveness...anything that binds us up and prevents us from resting in God's promises is a danger.  We take judgment upon ourselves when judgment is God's alone.

We might be held captive to ambition or greed...we can't see beyond the next addition to our money pile.

We might be held captive to our identity in our families...if they succeed that means we have value.

We might be held captive to our cell phones...are you texting more than you are reading God's word?

We might be held captive by material possessions...we must have one more purchase.

2 Cor. 3:17 says: "Now the Lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."  These words said by Jeremiah to the captives in Babylon are true to us today if we are free in the person of Jesus Christ.  Whether in trial or feast, His plans for you for just that good.  Listen to the verse following vs. 11:

Then you will call on me and come and pray to me,

and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find

me when you seek me with all your heart."

 

His plans for us are good and full of hope, but we must seek Him and strive to not be bound up by worldly things. Our society would seek to hold us captive to their ways and their values...it may be easier to be held captive today than it ever has been.  We must be intentional about the things we allow to permeate our thoughts and our minds.  "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matt. 6:33)

 

For further study:  Deu. 6:5, Ps. 30:5, Ps. 33:11, Psalm 112:7,  Isaiah 42:7, Isaiah 46:11,Romans 6:18, 2 Cor. 12:9,  Hebrew 11:39-40, Hebrews 12:1-3

 

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

 

Love,

Holly

"I lift up my eyes...my help comes from the Lord" - Ps. 121:1-2

The LAYMAN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY says this about this verse:

In the time of crisis, if we look around us we feel threatened.

If we look within our own hearts, we are afraid.  It is only

when we look up to the hills and the One who made them

that we feel secure.

 

Peter in Matthew 14:22-36 is a great example of what not to do in a crisis.  The disciples were in a boat in the midst of a storm and Jesus came to them on the water and beckoned Peter to step out of the boat and walk to him.  Peter obeyed...and was in good shape...until he "saw the wind" (or his problem) and then he began to sink.  He took his eyes off of the only one who could help him and down he went.  Fortunately, as He does today,  Jesus reached out and caught him.

 

Helen Lemmel wrote "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus", a hymn that has directed countless people to find their help in the Lord Jesus: 

 

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face.

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of

His glory and grace.

 

She died nearly destitute and blind, but she would always say: "I'm doing well in the things that count".  She knew what was important and where to find her help.

 

We have some precious friends who are fighting for their lives with their first child.  They have mobilized our church and many prayer warriors across the country to pray for their little one who has not awakened since his birth about 10 days ago.  Listen to what this new mom put on her Facebook page last week:

 

"I am no longer anxious about anything as I realize the Lord is

able to carry out His will and His will is mine.  It makes no matter

where He places me or how.  That is rather for Him to consider than for me;

in the easiest positions He must give me His grace and in the most

difficult His grace is sufficient."   Hudson Taylor

 

I hope you will join me in praying for their little boy, Hudson Taylor Wells.  This brand new mom has chosen to not trust in her own heart or even in their doctors.  She knows her real help comes from above.  If our faith is real, in the darkest days we will trust only Him.  Who are you looking to for help today?

 

For further study: 1 Samuel 7:12,  Psalm 34:5, Psalm 46:1, Psalm 141:8, Isaiah 41:10, Zechariah 12:10, Romans 8:26, 2 Cor. 4:18, Philippians 4:8, Hebrews 12:1-3 and 13:6

 

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

 

Love,

Holly

I have no greater joy than to hear my children are walking in the truth - 3 John 4

The apostle John wrote these 3 epistles in the latter part of his life.  He very likely was in exile on the island of Patmos.  I suppose he was becoming desperate for one last warning to those he considered his "spiritual" children that they not follow false teaching.  I find myself continuing to be the mother around our 25 and 27 year old sons who have very lovely, very smart wives to carry them the rest of the way!  Why do I continue to warn and teach?  Because I love them and I am desperate for them to be following the truth and to avoid the evil the world tells them is just fine.

Stormie Omartian in THE POWER OF PRAYNG FOR YOUR ADULT CHILDREN says why didn't anyone warn her about the challenges of having adult children....we all know the challenges of having young ones, but she says about adult children: "...everyone is silent.  They only smile knowingly and say nothing about what is ahead".  These are the 7 things she wished she had known:

1.  You need to know it never ends.
2.  You need to know you can't fix them.
3.  You need to know God can change everything.
4.  You need to know you must stop blaming yourself.
5.  You need to know you have to forgive.
6.  You need to know there is only one Perfect Parent (and it's not you!).
7.  You need to know you can wholeheartedly say: "for this child I prayed" (1 Sam 1:10)

She says:

"We no longer have control over our adult children.

We can't make them do what we want.  But by praying,

we can help them to hear from God so He can lead them

to do what He wants...we can help them stay on the right

path so they can rise up to become all they were created to be."

 

Truly there is nothing that brings me more joy than knowing our children are walking with the Lord.  His grace has carried us and them to a place of peace.  There will be continuing challenges ahead, but God's grace is sufficient for every one.  That is truth...not what the world tells us, but what the Bible tells us.  What are you praying for your children today? 

 

For further study:  Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 1 Samuel 1:26-28, Psalm 103:17-18, Psalm 127:1-5, Proverbs 20:7, Isaiah 54:13, Romans 12:12, Eph. 6:1-3, Phil. 4:4-9, Col. 3:21, 2 Tim. 2:15, Titus 2:3-5.

 

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

 

Love,

Holly

 



JESUS LOVES ME

Jesus loves me! This I know

For the Bible tells me so.

Little ones to Him belong,

They are weak, but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me.

Yes, Jesus loves me.  The Bible tells me so.

 

There are very few truths you need beyond this profound, lifechanging promise.  Sisters Anna and Susan Warner wrote a book in the early 1800s that told a story of a dying boy's Sunday School teacher singing to him these words in his last days.  Hymnwriter William Bradbury read this book and penned the words to the song we sing today.  The sweet sisters, who struggled with trials all their lives, stayed faithful to God's word, teaching Bible classes for cadets at West Point, because they knew God's love would carry them through and was sufficient for their every need.

 

We are in a perplexing time...even today as the Goverment leaders are so divided as to who is really in charge.  But we can know - through God's word - that His love is sufficient for our every need.  He is still on the throne, still holding the universe in place, still holding out His word for us to be instructed by, and still empowering those who have the indwelling Holy Spirit.  We must pray for our leaders to do the right thing.

 

God loves us because that is His character.  He says in John 13:34: "As I have loved you, so you must love one another".  Are we loving our brothers and sisters...is our character looking more like His...does His love for us compel us to do the right thing?  Maybe we need to go back to the songs we learned a long time ago to give us the confidence to live for Him today.

 

For further study:  Deu. 7:7-9, Psalm 32:10, Jeremiah 31:3, Lamentations 3:22, John 3:16, John 15:13, Romans 5:5, 8; Romans 8:37-39,  2 Cor. 5:14, Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 2:4-5, 3:17-19, 2 Thes. 2:16-17, 1 John 4:7-21.

 

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

 

Love,

Holly

Act justly, love mercy, walk with God - Micah 6:8

During a dinner with friends last week, this question came up:

Can you really know and do God's will?

 

Don and I were able to share times when we didn't understand why, but we knew God was directing us.  Sometimes we were directed by wise counselors, sometimes by His word, sometimes in prayer, but always with faith resulting in obedience to what we believed He was directing us to do.  In our Precept study this week on Covenant, we understand that when we believe, our responsibility is to act in faith which results in obedience.  By the way, it also results in blessing!  And peace!  And rest!  And His pleasure!

 

Micah, the prophet, was trying to answer a question with a question about what true religion was.  The questioner wanted to believe if they sacrificed enough that would be their ticket.  Micah reminded the people God had already shown the Israelites through history what was required...they didn't need a new revelation as much as they needed to obey what He had already told them.

 

Don has preached many times that 90% of God's will for us - those in covenant relationship with Him - is known to us in His word.  We just want something else - more current, more fun, who knows why we want something else!  Listen to Oswald Chambers (6/3):

 

If we are saved and sanctified God guides us by our ordinary choices,

and if we are going to choose what He does not want, He will check, and

we must heed.  Whenever there is doubt, stop at once.  Never reason it out

and say --'I wonder why I shouldn't?'  God instructs us in what we choose,

that is, He guides our common sense, and we no longer hinder His

Spirit by continuallly saying-- 'Now, Lord, what is Thy will?'.

 

Micah reminds us to simply --

--Act justly -- be honest and fair in all things

--Love mercy -- do more than is required; be kind even when it's not easy

--Walk humbly with God - keep in step with Him; know Him and His word and act on it;

    keep Him as your focus and do not allow the world to tell you you are the boss!

 

Yes you can know and do God's will.  He has given you His Spirit to show you how.  Who are you walking with today?

 

For further study:  Psalm 40:6-8; Psalm 143:8-10, Matthew 6:9-13 and 26:39, Romans 12:1-2, Ephesians 5:17, Philippians 2:12-13, James 4:13-17, 1 John 5:13-15

 

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

 

Love,

Holly





Blessed are all who wait for the Lord - Isaiah 30:18

Of all the promises in the Bible, I find this one of the most comforting.  Waiting is not easy, but it is something you have to believe in...implicit in this promise is the faith of the one waiting...faith that the Lord will do the blessing...however that blessing looks.  I had a computer glitch this week...all my Word documents changed so that I could only open them by purchasing a new program...3 years of Word documents!  I got on a virtual chat with someone at Microsoft and she said it had happened within Microsoft and she could fix it, but she would have to "enter" my computer.  With some fear and trepidation, I allowed her "in" and the cursor began moving around as she did her work. I sat back and watched it happen! Well, lo and behold, it worked!  I had to be patient and trusting that she was who she said she was and that she would "bless" me with success!  If we will wait, the Lord who created us will "move our cursor around" and bless us!!  What a promise...in my own words, of course. 

There is a wonderful hymn "There Shall Be Showers of Blessing" written by Daniel Whittle.  Not "There Might be Showers..." but the promise that there "shall be"!  In THEN SINGS MY SOUL by Robert Morgan, he tells a story of a pilot whose plane was shot down in Vietnam and he was taken to a concentration camp.  In that camp, of course, he was deprived of all spiritual books or resources, so he reached deep into his soul for months bringing up the hymns he learned from childhood.  One night it started pouring rain and with the darkness all around him, he sang:

Showers of blessing, showers of blessing we need!

Mercy drops round us are falling, but for the showers we plead.

 

He wrote: "All this talk of Scripture and hymns may seem boring to some, but it was the way we conquered our enemy and overcame the power of death around us."  He lived to write a book of his experiences and we can live to tell of the blessings in our lives.  I love to tell people in the midst of trials: "watch for the blessings".  I have been there and the promises of God are true...He will bless if we will wait for him.

 

For further study:  Numbers 6:24, 2 Sam. 3:18, Psalm 1:1, 2:12, 84:5, Ezekiel 34:26, Luke 12:35-48, 2 Cor. 12:9, 2 Tim. 4:16, Titus 2:13, James 1:12

 

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

 

Love,

Holly