In The fullness of Time

 From a formless void - the words of God
thundered creation in!

The universe split,

the stars blinked alive,
and time was about to begin.

From a timeless place
the works of God
became constrained by time and by space.
The seasons, the years,
and the minutes and days were then given to us by God’s grace.

From the mind of God, a world came alive,
designed and controlled by the King.
The land, and the sea, and the bird, and the beast,
are born,
and the world starts to sing.

But
from this sinless world, the man, made by God,
who was formed with a touch of God’s hand,
walked away from his God at a moment in time,
and caused sin to enter the land.

Then
From His gracious heart
the God of love determined there would be a way
to bring back mankind,
so He set forth a plan,
and He scheduled the hour and the day.

“When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem those that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons.”  (Galatians 4:4 KJV) 

Joy! Where does it come from?

    Dear friends, the Bible study I've been attending focused on joy this past week.  I thought I'd reflect on that.

    Psalm16:11

You make known to me the path of life;
    you will fill me with joy in your presence,
    with eternal pleasures at your right hand. 

True Joy only in His presence
True Joy on our earthly path.

True Joy we can reach and hold, eternally. 
 
When we wake in the morning and begin every day
by counting our blessings and kneeling to pray,
and giving up thoughts that breed discontent,
and accepting what comes as a gift – heaven sent;
then giving up wishing for things we have not
and making the most of whatever we’ve got
 
It’s only by knowing life’s pathways displayed
by our heavenly Father.  The map has been made.

Our Joy rains from heaven, it’s sent from above
then we bask in God’s presence and rest in His love.
And there’s joy in the reading of His ancient bard’s song
As we hear crystal melodies break with the dawn.
 
Yes, there’s real joy in God’s presence,
true joy on the way,
Holy joy we can hold
When God unwraps our day.

 

There is a Light Behind Those Clouds

Clouds  - They might be ominous rolling black clouds, heavy, air-filling grey clouds, or small white ones that blot out just a little bit of the sun.  All of them can hover over our lives and make us uncomfortable, worried, sad, or angry.

I  am sometimes overwhelmed by the power of the pain, the loss, the worries that others face – and I  want to fix it!  I expect that's true for you as well.

We want to fix things, but mostly we can’t.  

When it’s me, and I hurt, or when it’s you, and I see you hurt, I want to do something.  When our daughter was very young, she would always say “Suzy do it” and stamp her foot. Sometimes I'm like that, but  most of the time I can't do anything about the hurt.

So what do I do?  I need to remember that I'm not seeing what is behind other people's clouds either.  I'm not seeing the sun that God is shining just beyond or above these dear people - not seeing the  sunshine, because often my focus in just on the cloud.  

I will continue to care.  I’ll continue to want to fix it, but I can’t do it alone and neither can anyone else.  Even with us all together, loving each other, helping each other, we can’t erase the clouds.

But,

What if we were to take that pack of troubles, our troubles, and the things that trouble our loved ones, and each day, each minute, leave one piece in the care of God, our Father?  How would it be if we were to, each day, talk to Him about the pain and the worry, and leave one piece there in His hands.  

What then?  Maybe we would be able to peek around those clouds and see the sun, see the light.

Jesus is that light.

In John 8:12 Jesus said, I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness.

We can rest.

In Deuteronomy 31:8 we read "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Rest 

In the arms of the only one who CAN do all things

 

 Oh what a beautiful season.  

Today we woke to a light blanket of snow covering the fallen Autumn leaves.  The beautiful mums were still startling us with their vibrant colors of yellow, white and fuchsia.  Two tall oaks across the way brought bright orange and red to the canvas that was being spotlighted with the morning sun.  God is quite the artist, isn’t he?

He made it all.  Do you wonder why God gives us the eyes to see His creation and the hearts to appreciate it?  Maybe because He loves us?

God spoke His love to me today
in fluffy clouds and new mown hay,
in mountain's towering peaks that rise
from gentle plains to ice blue skies.
 
In flowers shouting loud and clear
their colors bright with dew drops tear,
in tall green trees that wave, and sway,
in the gentle breeze they softly say
"God's showing love to you today."
 
Glowing coals from evening's fire
Red flames leaping ever higher
Sparkling snow on winter night
The old moon casting icy light
Crystal streams that leap and roar
and soothe a throat that's dry and sore 

In all these things my heart can say
"God's showing love to me today."
 
But you also show His love – because He gave you a heart of love.
 
In gentle hands that help and bear
and tears that come from eyes that care,
in family's love and loyalty
God shows his mighty Love to me.
 
In words that come from deep within
the loving heart of a dear friend,
a pat, a hug, a tender touch
that says, "I love you, oh so much."
Dear ones, in what you do and say,
God shows HIS precious love today. 

Thank you, friends.

 

And Thank YOU Almighty, Holy Father for loving us so well.

 

^{"God shows" - By Diane 1995}

 Dear friends

Somedays I find myself wondering about whether to keep writing at this stage of my life.  But I expect that I'll continue as long as the Lord gives me the strength and the will to express the love I have for Him and the gratitude that overwhelms me when I remember His love. 

As long as the memories come - memories of times that He answered prayers, I will write of God's love.  Those remembered times, those specific prayers cannot be counted.  God heard the prayers for my husband's life, for assurance that a tiny bit of faith is enough for a particular season of great doubt, for comfort and strength for my children on many terribly painful occasions, and for the dream that I would one day know a special one has claimed Jesus as his Lord.  I prayed for peace when there seemed to be nothing but chaos, and for easing of pain for dear friends.  Many things big and small come to mind, yes, even our son's lost dog - found at a time of his life when it made a difference.  

These are memories of God hearing, answering, comforting, and changing situations and sometimes even changing my heart and my prayer.

The gratitude I have for my Savior goes beyond specific answers to prayer, but gratitude for His love and care brings  a feeling almost of pain to my heart.  The knowledge that He would even know or care for us, for all these flawed, sinful children of His, is overwhelming.  And the thought that He would care enough to become a man and live in our shoes, in our world, to endure all of the happenings that affect us day by day, and to know us as our brother as well as our Savior and our God, is nothing less than amazing.

And He did it all because He is the author of love.

To remember

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;  Lamentations 3:22

 His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,

His power no boundary known unto men;

For out of His infinite riches in Jesus

He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

From Anne J. Flint's song about God's  Love and grace.

Copyright Public Domain

It's all about

Is it all about me?

Is it all about we?

Is it all about what I see?

Is it all about if I'm free?

I think not.  I believe it's all about - the key.

A key is something that allows access, it helps you open something locked or hidden away.  

My question today is, "What is the key?"  What will  open my heart and mind to the purpose that God has for the rest of my life.  What will open my heart and mind to the changes I must make in my thinking, my vision, and my freedom?

I heard a podcast this morning discussing basically the way we see ourselves and others - the boxes we put ourselves and others into - to display.  Am I the town, the race, the culture, the station in life that I was born to?  Maybe, partly, but there is more.

This is the key.  We are more than that.  We are God's creation, His idea, His design, and His Children.  And as such I am not a "we" "I'm not just what you see" "I'm not completely free." But I am "me."  

God has each one of us on His mind.  And He has provided a key - a way to open our hearts and minds to His purpose, to His family, to His forgiveness.  There are places in our lives that require the same key to open different doors.

I'm not a perfect me, but, knowing this is "key."

I'm a child of The King and The King cares for me.  

That key is found in different places, but today my wonderful husband opened the Bible to Romans 8:1-15 and read it all to me - I've picked out a few verses that may speak to you as well.

"So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death."

"And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin.  The Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you."

"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God."

"So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as his own children.   Now we call him, “Abba, Father." For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children."

And as my husband told me this morning, 

God will NOT un-adopt us.  I love that.

I pray that you will hear God's voice today.

Diane

Do you believe those signs?

Do you see the signs, read the advertisements, or hear the chants of our culture proclaiming 

   I can do "anything" if I work hard enough!  

Although I don’t believe for a minute that those words are always true, let’s pretend they are.  But maybe before doing whatever the “anything” is, we should be asking…

What truly is my purpose?
Why am I here?
Why am I me?
And if that is not clear -

Let’s think thoughts together, beginning with life.
Consider creation.
Consider relations.
Consider our loved ones’ comfort and strife.

Consider our maker, the God of it all,
the one who created the big and the small.
Ask why He designed us
and caused us to be.
Ask why, and reflect then, 
Why am I me?

I am convinced that the Bible tells us the answer to mankind’s purpose on this earth.  And to be more explicit, it tells me what my purpose is on this earth, and in this life.  

God’s word explains it.

Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.  Ecclesiastes 12:13 ESV

O nations of the world, recognize the Lord,
recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong.
Give to the Lord the glory he deserves!
Bring your offering and come into his presence.
Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor.  
1 Chronicles 16:28–29 NLT

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  
This is the great and first commandment.  
And the second is like it:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 21:37-39 (NIV)

So let’s align our lives to God’s will, 
and we may accomplish much 
with His help
and for His glory.

Know that 
the only reason we can think about God
is because he is thinking about us.