Tuesday, December 28, 2010

REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAY!


"Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice." (Phil. 4:4)

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Sing a little song of trust,
O my heart!
Sing it just because you must,
As leaves start;
As flowers push their way through dust;
Sing, my heart, because you must.

Wait not for an eager throng - -
Bird on bird;
‘Tis the solitary song
That is heard.
Every voice at dawn will start,
Be a nightingale, my heart!

Sing across the winter snow,
Pierce the cloud;
Sing when mists are dropping low - -
Clear and loud;
But sing sweetest in the dark;
He who slumbers not will hark.

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“An’ when He hears yo’ sing, He bends down wid a smile on His kin’ face an’ listens mighty keerful, an’ He says, ‘Sing on, chile, I hears, an’ I’s comin’ down to deliber yo’: I’ll tote dat load fer yo’; jest lean hawd on Me and de road will get smoother bime by.’” 
(-- copied)

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(Note from CJ: Hang in there Christian! The battle is only going to get harder, as the night weares on, and the enemy rages. HOWEVER, were on the winnin’ side! Praise the Lord! And when you think the battle is getting to hard, the road to rough, and you can feel the breath of the enemy on your neck…… SING! Sing a song for the One who saved you, and IS COMING for you. Praise the Lord!  He is near, and He is able to deliver you. Praise His Name! There isn’t anything the enemy hates more than when he attacks, hoping to wound his prey, and when he comes close to hear the cries of the wounded, hears only the sweet song of the saints…. “He is able to deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee. Though by sin oppressed, go to Him for rest, our God is able to deliver thee.”)



Sunday, November 7, 2010

"Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Gen.18:14)

Here is God's loving challenge to you and to me today. He wants us to think of the deepest, highest, worthiest desire and longing of our hearts, something which perhaps was our desire for ourselves or for someone dear to us, yet which has been so long unfulfilled that we have looked upon it as only a lost desire, that which might have been but now cannot be, and so have given up hope of seeing it fulfilled in this life.


That thing, if it is in line with what we know to be His expressed will (as a son to Abraham and Sarah was), God intends to do for us, even if we know that it is of such utter impossibility that we only laugh at the absurdity of anyone's supposing it could ever now come to pass. That thing God intends to do for us, if we will let HIm.


"Is anything too hard for the Lord?" Not when we believe in Him enough to go forward and do His will, and let HIm do the impossible for us. Even Abraham and Sarah could have blocked God's plan if they had continued to disbelieve.


The only thing too hard for Jehovah is deliberate, continued disbelief in His love and power, and our final rejection of His plan for us. Nothing is too hard for Jehovah to do for them that trust Him.


(copied - For The Morning Watch)

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Focus, Focus, Focus

Sometimes it’s hard to know what to focus on first.
Over the coarse of three months, many changes have come to our home. The biggest changes came when my oldest son, Jon Groves 2, graduated from high school, turned eighteen, and decided to leave home to travel with his father. The next change came when my second born, Kaycee, turned sixteen and spent her first summer away from home, working at Camp Victory in Somerset, Kentucky. This had been her dream since she was a little girl, and she had a great summer! That left me at home with my two youngest children, Laurisa (who just turned fifteen) and James (who is thirteen “and a half.”) This all began in
May, and now it is August. Looking back, it seems like it all happened so fast! It is just a blur. And now, school has started, again. Having four teenagers that need to be fed and clothed, physically and spiritually, can be a little overwhelming at times. Sometimes it is hard to know what to focus on first.
While reading, I Kings 17:8-24, I came to realize that I can COMPLETELY RELATE to this mom, better known as, the widow of Zarephath. For a moment, she lost her focus. When you’re a wife, your focus is (and should be) on your husband. When you become a mother, your focus should still be first on your husband, but you add another human being to your life, and they are helpless without you. Your heart becomes entangled with this little person, and you fall “head over heels” in love. As the parent, you become their soul provider and protector. Eventually, you may find yourself trying to remember what or whom to focus on first.
This mother, however, is widowed. Whatever your status is, whether single, married, divorced, widowed, or perhaps deserted, there is still one main factor….. There are children and they MUST be cared for. (To whom it may concern: I am aware that God should be first in our lives, and I am NOT discounting that, I am just trying to stay “focused” on the story at hand.) With new life, comes new responsibility. Your child and/or children have physical, financial, spiritual, and emotional needs, that can only be supplied by you, the parent.
The Scripture tells us (I Kings 17:9) that God had already “commanded a widow woman” to sustain the needs of Elijah. This is God’s man, and he has been dwelling at the brook Cherith for some time now. The brook has since dried up and God has told him to get to Zarephath, with the promise that he will be “sustained.” When Elijah calls to her, asking for a drink of water, she immediately turns to go fetch it for him. I might even say she was happy to do it. BUT, “as she was going to fetch it,” he asked her for a morsel of bread. While picturing this in my head, I can almost see her stop dead, in her tracks. She cringes. She slowly turns to face him. Immediately she begins to explain why she cannot possibly offer him food. I mean, after all, there’s been a famine in the land, and all she has is just enough for herself, and her son, and then they’re gonna die because it’s all she has!!! (As women we tend to have a flair for the dramatic.) Then, the preacher asks her not to fear (v.13), and to sustain him FIRST. Now, I would neither “add nor subtract” from the Word of God, but I CAN “think” like a mom. ☺ Here’s what most moms would’ve thought: “WHAT?!?!?! Give to the preacher BEFORE I give to my CHILD? I mean, my baby is helpless and starving. Doesn’t the preacher know we have fallen on hard times? There’s been a famine for heaven’s sake! Seriously? He wants me to feed him before I feed my own flesh and blood? Really? He’s an adult! He can live without a meal but my baby might die!”
Most people do not mind sharing of their abundance, to meet the needs of others. However, when the hard times come, we tend to forget faith and live with an “every man for himself” kind of attitude. We can’t decide what to focus on first. And as far as the preacher goes, well he can just go get ANOTHER job to fend for his own. I grew up in a preacher’s home, married into a preacher’s family, and still serve the Lord faithfully with my pastor & his wife. The ministry, like any job, can be hard sometimes. A few years ago, I was home visiting my parents, who are in the ministry too. I heard a man say to my daddy, “you just need more faith preacher. Where’s your faith?” While I realize we are to “be angry and sin not,” this got my ire up. I had seen my parents live on faith my entire life. I saw them sacrifice ALL they had for the cause of Christ. My parents would give their last dime to a person in need, knowing that they had three kids that needed fed and clothed. I watched God supply our needs. I know He is still capable of that, but this individual was way out of line. I stepped up and said, “You talk to me about faith when whether or not your kids eat or your bills are paid, depends solely upon whether or not I tithe! THEN, you talk to me about faith!” My Daddy, God love him, stepped in though, and told this man he would pray harder for him and the church. My dad did that, and God blessed like He always does. That is why individuals STILL call on him today to pray for them because they know he can pray the heaven’s down. (ok, I might love him some.) ☺
What am I trying to say here?
Even though times are hard, and we become fearful and faithless we still need to focus on God. Had this widow woman not done what the Lord had commanded her to do, she would have missed out on a huge blessing. She was commanded to care for God’s man FIRST. When she sacrificed all she had for the cause of Christ, for the taking care of God’s man, the Lord made sure that her EVERY need was supplied.
1. She gave him water to squelch his thirst. (John 4:14)
2. She gave him bread to satisfy his hunger. (John 6:35)
3. God supplied all her needs (and her son’s needs too.) (Phil. 4:19)
Sometimes, it’s hard to know what to focus on FIRST. We need to be careful that the daily pressures of this life do not blur our focus. The physical, emotional, and especially financial needs of this world can weigh heavy on our hearts and minds each day. We get so focused on those that we forget about the spiritual needs of life. But ultimately, if keep our focus on Christ, and follow His commands first, He will supply all our needs. Let’s keep our eyes focused on the prize, … JESUS.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

"Wit's End Corner"

Are you standing at "Wit's End Corner,"
Christian, with troubled brow?
Are you thinking of what is before you,
And all you are bearing now?
Does all the world seem against you,
And you in the battle alone?
Remember - - at "Wit's End Corner"
Is just where God's power is shown.
Are you standing at "Wit's End Corner,"
Blinded with wearying pain,
Feeling you cannot endure it,
You cannot bear the strain,
Bruised through the constant suffering,
Dizzy, and dazed, and numb?
Remember - - at "Wit's End Corner"
Is where Jesus loves to come.
Are you standing at "Wit's End Corner"?
Your work before you spread,
All lying begun, unfinished,
And pressing on heart and head,
Longing for strength to do it,
Stretching out trembling hands?
Remember - - at "Wit's End Corner"
The Burden-bearer stands.
Are you standing at Wit's End Corner"?
Then you're just in the very spot
To learn the wondrous resources
Of Him who faileth not;
No doubt to a brighter pathway
Your footsteps will soon be moved,
But only at "Wit's End Corner"
Is the "God who is able" proved.
(Antoinette Wilson)

Friday, January 8, 2010

A Flower Called "Heartsease"

Normally, I would not use someone else's material on my blog. Typically, I pride myself in being "original." However, when I read this story in a devotional book, it encouraged my heart in such a way that I could not help but share it with others. I wish I knew the original author, but I do not.
"...for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." (Phil.4:11)
Paul, denied of every comfort, wrote the above words in his dungeon. A story is told of a king who went into his garden one morning, and found everything withered and dying. He asked the oak that stood near the gate what the trouble was. He found it was sick of life and determined to die because it was not tall and beautiful like the pine. The pine was all out of heart because it could not bear grapes, like the vine. The vine was going to throw its life away because it could not stand erect and have as fine a fruit as the peach tree. The geranium was fretting because it was not tall and fragrant like the lilac; and so on all through the garden. Coming to a heartsease, he found its bright face lifted as cheery as ever. "Well, heartsease, I'm glad, amidst all this discouragement, to find one brave little flower. You do not seem to be the least disheartened." "No, I am not of much account, but I thought that if you wanted an oak, or a pine, or a peach tree, or a lilac, you would have planted one; but as I knew you wanted a heartsease, I am determined to be the best little heartsease that I can."
Others may do a greater work,
But you have your part to do;
And no one in all God's heritage
Can do it so well as you.
They who are God's without reserve, are in every state content; for they will only what He wills, and desire to do for Him whatever He desires them to do; they strip themselves of everything, and in this nakedness find all things restored a hundredfold.
(Note from author of The Soloist Voice: I looked up pictures of "heartsease", as I had never seen nor heard of the flower before. It is a form of the violet, small and quite beautiful. I just want to be a brave, little flower for the King.)