Month: May 2018

From the Rising of the Sun

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These last 2 years we have faced the greatest tests to our faith as a family. It began as an automobile accident in which someone rammed the back of my wife’s new car at a red light. Nancy experienced months of pain in her hand and her car which we had just made the first payment on was crushed. We were angry and frustrated but God was working in ways we could not have imagined. Because of the pain and suffering in her hand and her loss of work my wife decided to seek legal help to recover damages. Immediately the lawyer requested a complete MRI of both Nancy’s neck and lower back. While no injury was discovered, the images revealed a mass that turned out to be stage three cancer.

From then on each month brought with it new problems and pains followed by surgery and months of Chemotherapy. Together we faced despair, discouragement and even anger, and yet God was drawing us closer to Him and to each other. It has not been a straight line road to victory but we have grown so much along the way. The Bible tells us that from the rising of the sun all the way to the end of the day; God’s name is to be praised. Both at the times when things are bright and sunny, as well as when shadows begin to lengthen God is good and worthy of praise. He has ordered our days, our steps and even our every breath. I confess to having thanked God very little and yet I have learned to trust Him more. I do appreciate the prayers of those who have followed us through this time. The last tests came back to us this week that Nancy is now cancer free and we are deeply thankful. God has been teaching and working behind the scenes of our lives in ways far beyond anything we could ever think or even imagine. It has all been His grace and grace alone. God has chosen to walk on a path over waves to come to us in the chaos and darkness of our storms. Now we know more than ever that to the final setting of the sun He will always be worthy of all our praise!

 

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The Promises of God

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For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. 2 Corinthians 1:20

There have been times when I have hung on to a desire, a goal or even a possession because in my mind it was “Promised by God.” But whether a specific achievement, position or goal is really ours is less important than missing the point of God’s promise.

With the goal of inheriting all that God has promised us like the children of Israel inheriting the Promised land, we need to ask ourselves what is God’s promise to us? After all until we are sure what our goal is how will we know when we have reached it? What are your goals? What do you feel God has promised? In fact just what is a promise?

A promise is keeping our word to do what we have said we would do. The Bible tells us that Jesus was God’s word in human form (John 1:12). Jesus came with one mission in mind: to seek and save the lost. If we make anything other than Jesus: any possession position or experience to be our goal then we will have missed the promises of God. Jesus is far more than the one who answers our prayers and meets our needs. Jesus Himself was while here on earth the keeper of the promises of God. In our love relationship with Him we can make the amazing discovery that we do not need to pass through a desert, cross the red sea or in fact go anywhere at all on earth to find God’s promise. God’s greatest promise for each one of us is knocking at our door waiting for us to hear His voice and open He is waiting to sit down with us, break the bread and share the cup of all the promises of God!

Jesus I am Resting Resting

In the Joy of what Thou art

And I’m finding out the greatness

Of Thy loving heart

Jesus I am Resting by Jean Sophia Piggott  1877?

Flourishing or Flailing?

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While struggling to pull out dandelions I have always been amazed at how their outward flimsiness belies their power and tenacity. Those weak looking weeds are really tough guys! Not only are they hard to dig out, they even grow during drought and in a matter of weeks produce tremendous quantities of seeds to ensure their future generations. They are flourishing!

Their secret is not in looking good or being loved and cultivated by the general public. Dandelions like palm trees have roots that penetrate tough soils and draw moisture from deep below the surface. They thrive in spite of opposition. Then they astonish us with their lace like seed balloons ready to start new generations!

In this Psalm God gives a promise for when we enter our later years. He reminds us that old age need not be synonymous with weakness. God’s assurance is that if our roots reach down deeply into our relationship with Him that this may be the most fruitful and amazing time in all of life. We don’t need to just flail along through life’s race. We can be flourishing all the way through the final lap when He brings us home!

They are planted in the house of the Lord ; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. Ps 92:13-‬15