Arrival in Heaven

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Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.                   1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV

Rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks put the circumstances of our lives, both good and bad into God’s hands and help us see them through His eyes. Last night our beloved daughter-in-law Melinda slipped from this world into the presence of Jesus. And while we are overwhelmed with grief and shock, these words are promises to which we cling. Melinda has finished her race. Her battle with cancer is finished. And while that pernicious disease claimed her physical life, it could not touch her soul. That remained fully and exclusively in the hands of Jesus with whom she now lives. Nancy and I didn’t know how to process the news that came in three words. “She is gone.” Yet as sadness rolls over my heart I sense the message echo back from Heaven, ” She has arrived!”

Message in a Sundial

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You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3 NIV

“Every joy or trial, falleth from above: Traced upon our dial, by the sun of love.” When I sing those lines from, Like a River Glorious, I often picture the old sundial that sat at the end of my Great-grandmother’s garden. I remember that garden distinctly because I spent so many hours weeding it! My great-grandmother is now no longer here to see her garden, but the lessons about how the sundial tells time remind me of this hymn. The shadows of the trials as well as the joys that ebb and flow each day, tell the story of the time we are at in our lives. As believers in our Lord Jesus, we know that we belong to Him, we are bought with a price, and nothing touches our lives that He has not allowed. Though some days are bitter, and filled with trials, Jesus leads us through and the shadow that they cast on our hearts, tell us also that the sun of His love is shining. He is still in control, no matter what is happening. He knows the depth of our difficulties as well as the height of our joys. Do not despair, because at the end of the day, we can find as He promised, His perfect peace and rest!

A River Glorious

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You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3 NKJV

“Like a river glorious, flows God’s perfect peace.” This opening line of Frances Havergal’s hymn was written as she lay in her sickbed, while doctors suggested to her that she might not survive. Instead of allowing depression or panic to set in, Francis is famously quoted as saying, “If I am really going, it is too good to be true!” I wish I always had that kind of experience with God’s peace, when I am suffering. I am learning that the key to peace that flows like a glorious river, is that it has its source in God. As today’s verse says, we can have that peace when our mind is “stayed on” God. Instead of frittering away our time with useless activities, God invites us to come to His river, whose flow cannot be interrupted by circumstances, situations, or disasters. It is a stream of eternal hope. It is a peace that leads calmly on, when floods of sorrow are overwhelming, just as the Red Sea was held back as the children of Israel crossed. It is a peace that cools the flames of anger and persecution, just as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came safely out of the fiery furnace, with only their bonds burned away. What a great hope we have, and what strength flows from God’s river which flows freely, without fail from the foot of the cross, where our Lord Jesus poured out His blood for us. Will you look to Him and trust Him today? Will you fix your eyes on the beautiful face of Jesus, who offers us His perfect peace, if we will only trust in Him?

In God We Trust!

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Penny was so happy
In the year nineteen-o-nine
When he was first imprinted
With Abraham's design

He was kept as the treasure
Of our children's piggybanks
And worked in every grocery store
Though no one gave him thanks

Now Penny would remind us
Though they say his job's a bust
With word's engraved upon his face
That say, "In God we trust!"

In God We Trust
By Peter Caligiuri
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