Hello there my dear friends!
It has been a few years, yes, years(!) since I have contributed anything to my blog.
You might wonder why now or you are presuming that our current world situation is the motivator.
Not so.
Let me explain....
A course I am taking asked me to list twenty simple things I could do in the following few days. I numbered the page one to twenty and then began my entries. The very first one was to write a paragraph or two for the blog.
My immediate thought was...”What? that isn’t something ‘simple’, Papa!”
You see I knew it was my God who had my hand write that down.
So I told Him that He would have to give me the words, as always.
Then I went my merry way.
That was yesterday.
Each morning one of the very first things I do is to journal three pages worth.
This morning was no different and as I began to write I realized I was being given the words to share here. How faithful my God is!
May they encourage your heart and cause you to draw nearer to the Living God!
The last day of March! A March that no one will ever forget!
April will join it in infamy, I am certain.
What will be written about this time in history? It will depend upon who is doing the writing!
Everyone has their opinions, but how many really know the truth of any situation?
We all see from our own perspective, but is it with clear lenses? I doubt it. There is only One who sees clearly, is unbiased and not motivated by any fear.
It is in this One that I put my trust.
It seems like most everyone is waiting for the other shoe to drop.... Who will contract the virus next? Will it be me? Someone dear to me? Will we survive?
Again only He knows. And He is in control!
Is He watching from afar and moving pieces around like on a chessboard?
This one is next....That One doesn’t make it......
No! I do not believe that at all!
My God is Creator, not destroyer.
He does not bring calamity on anyone.
He is the God of compassion. He is the God of all comfort.
And He is the Redeemer!
He is redeeming now. We need to just open our eyes and heart.
Yes, there is pain and loss and I do not make light of this fact. However, dwelling on this does not change it, but does add to the darkness around us and in us.
If we looked to Him and trust in Him....Cry out to Him, He will open our eyes to all the blessings, all the good! We will begin to see through His eyes and gain His perspective.
My desire through all this is to draw nearer to Him, to grow deeper in my intimacy with him. I desire to be a usable vessel, His vessel meet for the Master’s use!
This comes from the Scripture verse - 2 Timothy 2:21.
I memorized this some 40 years ago and did it in the King James Version.
“If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.”
2 Timothy 2:21 KJV
Meet...useful.
In the beginning this vessel (me) was so packed full of junk... Clogged.... Not hospitable or welcoming and definitely not a place worthy of my God! It needed to be cleaned out! Just like a blocked artery.
I don’t know much about the medical procedure done to clear out an artery, as to whether it gets everything out of the artery and leaves it clean and like brand new, but I know that the cleaning out of this vessel has been a long process. And it’s ongoing!
Pain, of course, has been part of this process, but it has been a healing pain.
The more we yield, the easier it is to let go of the junk and make more room for the Spirit of God.
In time His life, His Spirit becomes like a river that seems to flow in and through our lives. God is then able to work through us to touch the other lives. This brings Him glory and honor and brings us great joy!
Right now we are being called to go within, to clean house, to make room and there we will find we are free!
“Out of my distress I called on the LORD; The LORD answered me and set me free.”
Psalms 118:5 AMP
We’ll find that our lives have fallen into pleasant places.
“The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.”
Psalms 16:6 NIV
In those pleasant places we will discover a sure foundation.
“He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.”
Isaiah 33:6 NIV
Those pleasant places and sure foundation are found in the Almighty God alone!
He is worthy of vessels meet for His use!
Allow Him to Redeem this time in your life so one day you can look back and say you were eternally grateful for this very hard time in your history.
May this prayer be on every heart.
“So teach us to number our days, That we may cultivate and bring to You a heart of wisdom.”
Psalms 90:12 AMP
It has been a few years, yes, years(!) since I have contributed anything to my blog.
You might wonder why now or you are presuming that our current world situation is the motivator.
Not so.
Let me explain....
A course I am taking asked me to list twenty simple things I could do in the following few days. I numbered the page one to twenty and then began my entries. The very first one was to write a paragraph or two for the blog.
My immediate thought was...”What? that isn’t something ‘simple’, Papa!”
You see I knew it was my God who had my hand write that down.
So I told Him that He would have to give me the words, as always.
Then I went my merry way.
That was yesterday.
Each morning one of the very first things I do is to journal three pages worth.
This morning was no different and as I began to write I realized I was being given the words to share here. How faithful my God is!
May they encourage your heart and cause you to draw nearer to the Living God!
The last day of March! A March that no one will ever forget!
April will join it in infamy, I am certain.
What will be written about this time in history? It will depend upon who is doing the writing!
Everyone has their opinions, but how many really know the truth of any situation?
We all see from our own perspective, but is it with clear lenses? I doubt it. There is only One who sees clearly, is unbiased and not motivated by any fear.
It is in this One that I put my trust.
It seems like most everyone is waiting for the other shoe to drop.... Who will contract the virus next? Will it be me? Someone dear to me? Will we survive?
Again only He knows. And He is in control!
Is He watching from afar and moving pieces around like on a chessboard?
This one is next....That One doesn’t make it......
No! I do not believe that at all!
My God is Creator, not destroyer.
He does not bring calamity on anyone.
He is the God of compassion. He is the God of all comfort.
And He is the Redeemer!
He is redeeming now. We need to just open our eyes and heart.
Yes, there is pain and loss and I do not make light of this fact. However, dwelling on this does not change it, but does add to the darkness around us and in us.
If we looked to Him and trust in Him....Cry out to Him, He will open our eyes to all the blessings, all the good! We will begin to see through His eyes and gain His perspective.
My desire through all this is to draw nearer to Him, to grow deeper in my intimacy with him. I desire to be a usable vessel, His vessel meet for the Master’s use!
This comes from the Scripture verse - 2 Timothy 2:21.
I memorized this some 40 years ago and did it in the King James Version.
“If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.”
2 Timothy 2:21 KJV
Meet...useful.
In the beginning this vessel (me) was so packed full of junk... Clogged.... Not hospitable or welcoming and definitely not a place worthy of my God! It needed to be cleaned out! Just like a blocked artery.
I don’t know much about the medical procedure done to clear out an artery, as to whether it gets everything out of the artery and leaves it clean and like brand new, but I know that the cleaning out of this vessel has been a long process. And it’s ongoing!
Pain, of course, has been part of this process, but it has been a healing pain.
The more we yield, the easier it is to let go of the junk and make more room for the Spirit of God.
In time His life, His Spirit becomes like a river that seems to flow in and through our lives. God is then able to work through us to touch the other lives. This brings Him glory and honor and brings us great joy!
Right now we are being called to go within, to clean house, to make room and there we will find we are free!
“Out of my distress I called on the LORD; The LORD answered me and set me free.”
Psalms 118:5 AMP
We’ll find that our lives have fallen into pleasant places.
“The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.”
Psalms 16:6 NIV
In those pleasant places we will discover a sure foundation.
“He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.”
Isaiah 33:6 NIV
Those pleasant places and sure foundation are found in the Almighty God alone!
He is worthy of vessels meet for His use!
Allow Him to Redeem this time in your life so one day you can look back and say you were eternally grateful for this very hard time in your history.
May this prayer be on every heart.
“So teach us to number our days, That we may cultivate and bring to You a heart of wisdom.”
Psalms 90:12 AMP
