Month: October 2021

He Gently Stooped Low

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He Gently Stooped Low

You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great. Psalm 18:35 ESV

While the ESV gives us the picture of a Mighty God who is gently on our side, the old NIV renders that same phrase as, “He stopped low. Like Gandalf entering through a Hobbit doorway, in the Lord of the Rings, Jesus had to bend low enough to enter our world through the stable doorway in Bethlehem. He went to begging blind men, destitute widows and outcast lepers. Jesus had compassion on hungry listeners and washed the dirty feet of disciples. Jesus’ right hand was both gentle enough to bless a child and strong enough to lift a paralyzed man to His feet.

And when His time came He carried the weight of His cross to the top of Golgotha where those gentle hands were nailed to the wood. Then as He stooped His lowest in death, Jesus reached lower still as we were falling deep into our sins, and caught us, raised us up and gave us the greatness of His salvation. Oh how mighty and gentle is our Jesus! He gently stooped low enough to save us and then shared His greatness with His children!

Of Lemons and Thorns

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The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. Proverbs 27:7 KJV

In our tiny backyard stands one small lemon tree that my father planted, with a harvest of sweet lemons so large and numerous that they overwhelm us as well as all our neighbors and friends! Now apple trees seem prettier and their fruit sweeter than our lemon, but the humble lemon, with its thorns, teaches about sweetness in a way no apple can hope to match. In today’s verse, we see that same contrast between sweet and bitter things in life. Solomon tells us that there are times when something even as sweet as a honey comb is unappreciated. Just as at harvest time apples become so commonplace that folks just whizz by the orchards on the way to grab fast food for their family. Maybe that is why God chooses to hedge in some of his trees with thorns so that people will learn value of the fruit.

Photo by Santiago Manuel De la Colina on Pexels.com

Maybe in your life a thorn of a bitter experience has left a scar on your heart. But God is not through with you nor is He absent from the situation you are in. Your life right now may be filled with thorns just like our little lemon. But God sometimes chooses to guard His sweetest fruit with the longest thorns. He knows every bitter thing we are facing and our past hurts, but He wants us to see that thorns are simply reminders of all He has in store when we hunger for the sweet harvest of what He has chosen in this season of our lives!

Love’s Legacy – Annie Moses Band

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I don’t usually post song videos, as we all have such different tastes in music but this was so stunningly beautiful that I had to pass it along. It gives us pause to look back in thankful appreciation to all God has given us through either our own family or the family God has given us. I do hope both you enjoy their wonderful music and consider what legacy you will leave behind.