Blessings

Our Quiet House

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The bathroom and guest room are clean again. 20190813_123703_Film4The refrigerator is mostly restocked and there are no more piles of sneakers by the doorway. But the return to our normal order of things  is too quiet for me. They say that we smile when the grand-kids come and then again when they go. But for me – I slept better with the disorder of family in the home. I am just sharing this thought with other Pops and Nanas out there to encourage you to treasure those special moments that race by so quickly.

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Children’s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.            Psalm 17:6 KJV

 

Sometimes as moms and dads we are too busy and too tired for the small struggles of our children. But God has made us grandparents; to walk a little slower and ask for things to be repeated now and then because we listen carefully and give time generously to grandchildren. So now in my too quiet and too orderly home I am left with the assurance that God bends especially low to listen to the prayers of grandparents and to send His angels to watch for them and His Spirit to guide them on their way.

 

Who is God to You?

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In Old Testament times the nation of Israel had the privilege of being the exclusive nation of God. The temple, the priesthood, the ark and the law all belonged to them. But the kings and priests forgot that His blessing was connected to His rule in their hearts.

When Jesus came He found a beautiful temple in a nation that had forgotten God. He came to build a new nation. But His nation is not a geographical place. The nation of God is built on a single foundation. That nation is the place where Jesus rules hearts, words and actions. That is the only place where the blessings and glory of God is found!

So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:10‭-‬11 ESV

Are you Blessed Today?

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Do you feel a lot like Thomas some mornings? Wouldn’t it be wonderfully satisfying to see some miraculous sign from heaven showing us the way instead of needing to just take someone else’s word for it? I really would!!!

But God has chosen two astonishing ways to build our faith. First He decided that the Bible itself (the stories of those who witnessed the resurrection) would be all we needed to believe. Secondly God chooses to bless us more than even the apostles if we will believe without seeing. That’s a lot of blessings! We can have more blessings than Thomas who brought the gospel to India. We can gain greater blessings than even Peter, who walked on water with Jesus. We can see greater miracles than Andrew who brought a child’s bread to Jesus and saw it multiplied enough to feed 5000. God loves us and will save and forgive us at just the tiniest step of faith when we believe without seeing. We do not need to move a mountain because God has already moved it for us. The mountain of sin and shame was no match for our Savior. Jesus comes with His greatest blessings when it feels like we have missed the big moment and it seems we have been left out. No one of us is too far away for Jesus to draw near. He is at the door waiting on us to simply and wonderfully believe. We cannot see Him now but we can have a wonderful unexplainable unextinguishable joy full of blessings both today and forevermore!

Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
1 Peter 1:8 KJV