A Storm and New Eyes

I've been reading a book by Ken Gire called, "Intimate Moments With the Savior" and it has been wonderful. Today I read the chapter on the story, from Mark 5, of the man who was possessed by legions of demons. When he saw Jesus he ran to Him and fell on his knees in front of Him. The demons recognized Jesus as the Most High God. Then Jesus cast the demons into a nearby herd of pigs and the man was healed.

I hadn't noticed before, but this passage comes right after the story in Mark where Jesus calms the storm (Mk 4:35-41). The part in Ken Gire's meditation today that caught my attention was when he wrote:

Life for this man changed when a storm blew Jesus his way.

I'd never noticed or thought of that before...but it's true. Jesus encountered the demon-possessed man right after He calmed the storm.

Our lives have storms too. Often it is in these storms that all the unnecessary and inconsequential things get stripped away...and we begin to see what's real and what truly matters! Our lives will be changed too as we see Jesus in the storms of our lives. The interesting thing is that He is always there...He doesn't just appear after being somewhere else...Somehow, for us, the storms don't just bring Jesus to us, but rather they open our eyes to see that He was there the whole time.

Oh that we would have eyes to see Him with us always...eyes of faith.

He Himself has said, "I will never desert you nor will I ever forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)

Let's believe Him today.
Let's believe HIM!

MR

When my anxious thoughts multiply within me...

The past week has been a whirlwind for us...One of our oldest daughters (she's a twin) left to work at camp this summer. This is the first time any of our children will be gone for more than two weeks! We have entered..."the Twilight Zone"...just kidding...but we HAVE entered a new life phase.

The verses I am working on memorizing these days are the "worry" verses from Matthew 6:25-34. The other day I read the Message version of those verses and the last verse really grabbed me...

34 "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

I struggle a lot with worry. My mind is always running on overdrive and I think I have one of the most creative "disaster-scenario" minds around...again, just kidding... So God has helped me many times through the years with these and other precious verses from His Word.

I don't know where I would be today if it weren't for the faithfulness and grace of God and His provision of His Word! This morning I am so thankful that God is faithful even when I am not (2 Tim 2:13)...that He brings joy to my soul when I am filled with anxiety (Ps 94:19)...that He Himself has compassion on me, as my Father, taking into account that I am dust (Ps 103:13-14)...and I could go on and on listing His magnificence!

Let's face it - there really is NONE who compare with our God! Praise Him today along with me! And rejoice in these words from Isaiah 12...

Isaiah 12

Songs of Praise

1 In that day you will say:
"I will praise you, O LORD.
Although you were angry with me,
your anger has turned away
and you have comforted me.

2 Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation."

3 With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.

4 In that day you will say:
"Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done,
and proclaim that his name is exalted.

5 Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things;
let this be known to all the world.

6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."

AMEN! Praise the LORD!

MR

The Beginning of Wisdom

This morning I was reading in Job 26 and 28. In chapter 26 Job tells of some of the wonders of God and then in the last verse says:

14 And these are but the outer fringe of his works;
how faint the whisper we hear of him!
Who then can understand the thunder of his power?"

The awesome things we see and know of God now are but the outer fringes - the edges - of His ways!

Then I went on to read Job 28. In the 1st 11 verses he talks about how man searches out the treasures of the earth...but then in verse 12, he switches gears and asks the question: "But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell?" And for the remainder of the chapter he says that you cannot find it just anywhere and it's worth cannot be compared to anything we know.

But in the last verse (28) he says:

"And he said to man,
'The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to shun evil is understanding.' "

My study Bible defines "fear" as having "respect and reverence for God and to be in awe of His majesty and power." Another way I've heard "fear" described is to have a right view of who God is and who I am in relation to Him. I believe our pride is what gets in the way of us seeing God for who He really is. I love the way Steven Curtis Chapman sums it up in his song "God Is God" from the album "Declaration". The chorus says:

God is God and I am not
I can only see a part of the picture He’s painting
God is God and I am man
So I’ll never understand it all
For only God is God

God is God and I am NOT! :) I think that says it all right there! :) The entire song is so good that I am putting all the words at the end of this entry for you. My prayer for you today is that God begins to open your eyes to His majesty and magnificence...and that your heart's response will be to love and worship Him more!

God Is God (SCC)

And the pain falls like a curtain
On the things I once called certain
And I have to say the words I fear the most
I just don’t know

And the questions without answers
Come and paralyze the dancer
So I stand here on the stage afraid to move
Afraid to fall, oh, but fall I must
On this truth that my life has been formed from the dust

God is God and I am not
I can only see a part of the picture He’s painting
God is God and I am man
So I’ll never understand it all
For only God is God

And the sky begins to thunder
And I’m filled with awe and wonder
‘Til the only burning question that remains
Is who am I

Can I form a single mountain
Take the stars in hand and count them
Can I even take a breath without God giving it to me
He is first and last before all that has been
Beyond all that will pass

Oh, how great are the riches of His wisdom and knowledge
How unsearchable for to Him and through
Him and from Him are all things

So let us worship before the throne
Of the One who is worthy of worship alone

God bless you today!

MR

Our Indescribable God

Today's Proverbs 31 devotional dwelt on our incredibly indescribable God. Here's the link to today's devotional entitled "Completely Indescribable": http://proverbs31devotions.blogspot.com/2007/05/completely-indescribable.html. It reminds me of my blog entry from May 10 on the hugeness of God. Enjoy it today!

MR

This morning I read the "My Utmost..." reading for today entitled, "Having God's 'Unreasonable' Faith". The key verse was:

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you —Matthew 6:33

So I opened my Bible to the passage and saw it was the last verse in the section on worry (Mt 6:25-33)...and I decided I needed to apply myself to memorizing it once and for all! So I'm working on it. :)

But there were also some really great and challenging quotes by Oswald Chambers, who says...

". . . do not worry about your life. . ." ( Matthew 6:25 ). Our Lord pointed out that from His standpoint it is absolutely unreasonable for us to be anxious, worrying about how we will live.

Have you ever thought that it was unreasonable to be anxious? I never have...and that was a challenging thought to me... Then he adds:

Jesus did teach that His disciple must make his relationship with God the dominating focus of his life, and to be cautiously carefree about everything else in comparison to that.

I want my relationship with God to be the dominating focus of my life...but I confess that I still struggle - daily - with that worry thing... So today I started praying that God would help me to catch myself as soon as I was in the grips of worry and then to immediately come to Him, as He tells us to do in Philippians 4:6-8...

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I realize that this isn't a once-for-all action, but rather something I will probably need to do many times within a day...for the rest of my life...and that's okay. Our spiritual lives are a process...and God is transforming us into the image of His Son! What a faithful covenant-God we love! Praise Him with me! And come to Him often...He loves to hear your voice!

MR

Our Peace...

I was looking at an older Proverbs 31 Devotional recently from December of last year (Here it is for you to read: http://proverbs31devotions.blogspot.com/2006/12/hope-for-anxious-heart.html ). As a result I have reflected over the past week on the topic of peace - the peace we have in Christ. I won't repeat what the Proverbs 31 writer said - just read the devotional for yourself and be encouraged by her reminders.

I have a number of favorite peace verses and one of them is Ephesians 2:14-16 (NIV):

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.

Peace doesn't come from having the things we want or from having everything in our lives going smoothly and according to our plans...True peace comes from Jesus Himself. As the verse says: He Himself is our peace!

I also love it that the peace He gives us is not like the world's "peace"...

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27)

We don't have to be troubled or afraid because HE gives us His peace. We don't have to strive for it or go looking for it - He GIVES it! And not as the world gives its so-called peace - which is often contingent upon circumstances. With our God we get peace that passes all comprehension (Phil 4:7), peace that is freely given (John 14:27), peace that IS Jesus Christ Himself (Eph. 2:14)!

My prayer for us today is that we would believe Him to be our peace and that we would lift our hearts to praise Him!

MR

Be Near Oh God...

For the past several days now I've been listening to a song by Shane & Shane called “Be Near”. It comes from Psalm 73:28 which says:

28 But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
That I may tell of all Your works.

I have experienced numerous occasions in the past several days – both up and down occasions – where the words to this song, and this verse, have invaded my mind. Each and every time they have refreshed me in the truth that God is always near...and the knowledge of this truth has been sweet to me.

Here are the words to the song "Be Near":

You are all,
Big and small
Beautiful - ohhh
And wonderful to trust in grace through faith
But I'm asking to taste

For dark is light to you
Depths are height to you
Far is near, but Lord I need to hear from you

Be near, oh God, Be near, oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good
Be near, oh God, Be near, oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good
Our good

Your fullness is mine (Your fullness is mine)
Revelation divine (Revelation divine)
But oh to taste, to know much more than a page
To feel your embrace...

For dark is light to you
Depths are height to you
Far is near but Lord, I need to hear from you

Be near oh God Be near oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good
Be near oh God Be near oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good

Be near oh God Be near oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good
Be near oh God Be near oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good
My good

Here’s a link to a website that has a one minutes sample of the audio to this song so you can listen. Click on the song “Be Near” from the album entitled “Carry Away”. Hope you enjoy it...let me know.

http://www.shanebweb.com/lyrics.html

God bless and refresh you today as you reflect on the TRUTH of His presence with you always (Hebrews 13:5). Our God is an awesome God!

MR

Girl Talk and Friends

Okay, it's been a few days... I've just come off the planning and execution of our spring women's event at church and now it's wrap-up time. The event was called "Girl Talk: Pursuing the Heart of God through Friendships". We had a wonderful time with skits, giveaways, and our guest speaker, Sue Heimer, whom we enjoyed tremendously. We laughed, we ate, we laughed some more and then we thanked the God who made us!

Sue pointed out 3 qualities of friendships which she noticed from the passage in Mark 2:1-5. This is the story of the paralytic who was carried up to a rooftop by his four friends, and lowered down through it to be placed right at the feet of Jesus. Here's the text:

1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

The 3 friendship qualities that Sue pointed out to us were:

1. The paralytic man was REAL...he was aware of his weakness and did not hide that from his friends. So His friends knew his condition and needs... Correspondingly, we need to BE REAL with our friends too, and not walk around with masks, pretending that all is right.

2. The man's friends ENDURED through difficulties. When they came to find Jesus, the way was blocked because of all the people...but the friends didn't give up. They endured and dragged their friend up to the roof, cut open the roof and lowered him down, right in front of Jesus. So we, too, must ENDURE in our friendships, and not easily give up when the going gets hard.

3. Finally, the man's friends BROUGHT HIM TO JESUS. We want to continually do the same for our friends. We can bring them to Jesus daily in prayer and place them lovingly at His feet.

I don't know about you, but I want to be this kind of friend too! My prayer for us today is that we will be REAL in our friendships, that we will ENDURE through the ups and downs of our friendships, and most of all, that we will each continually point and bring each other TO JESUS...the only One who can take care of all our needs! Praise Him today! He is the Great "I AM"!

MR

"My eyes have seen...the LORD..."

Last week our church had a prayer conference over the span of several days, with speaker Gerhard Du Toit (http://www.revivalfellowship.com/team/GduToit.html). Since then I have had several conversations with my children about prayer, our relationships with God, etc...

It seems that the general consensus among us is that we come under a heavy burden that says things like: "I can't pray like that...that long..." or "I don't have it in me...I must not have what it takes to have a relationship with God like that...and so it must be for a special few..."

I have those same tendencies myself...and then want to feel guilty or sad that I don't seem to be able to be as "spiritual" as I should... Ahhhh, there's one of those "shoulds"...Hmmmmm.

In the past year, the LORD began to lead me down a new path of understanding... I began spending time focusing on praying scriptures that tell of God...WHO He is, His marvelous works, the splendor of His majesty, and so on. What I noticed recently about this is that focusing myself on God and His HUGEness takes my eyes off myself and all my problems, etc. It resets my perspective...

It also began to sink in to me that the same God whom the wind and waves obey is the same God who loves me with an everlasting love; the same God who loves me unconditionally and completely; He is the One who knows my frame and is mindful that I am dust...yet rejoices over me with shouts of joy!

One of the Beth Moore "Praying God's Word" prayer cards I was looking at this morning says this:

"My Father, You are my LORD, my Holy One, my Creator, my King. You are the One who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters. (Isaiah 43:15-16)

Oh, my prayer for us is that we would stop focusing on how well or not well WE are doing the Christian life and instead focus on our great and awesome and mighty God who created heaven and earth and who gives life and breath and all things to us! I think then, hopefully, we will respond as Isaiah did in Isaiah 6:5 and fall to our faces with a true view of who we are and who God is:

"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

I believe that as we begin to see our God for who He really is, all those aspects of the Christian life that we keep striving for will become a natural response in our lives of worship to our awesome God. When we see God as He is, I don't think we can help but to respond in worship to Him!

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1)

Praise the LORD! Ask Him to give you a glimpse of who He really is! I think it will change you - HE will change you!

God bless you with Himself today - He IS your very great reward!

MR

He Made Known His Ways to Moses...

I was reading Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest" this morning and loved this paragraph:

Faith is not some weak and pitiful emotion, but is strong and vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. And even though you cannot see Him right now and cannot understand what He is doing, you know Him. Disaster occurs in your life when you lack the mental composure that comes from establishing yourself on the eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the supreme effort of your life— throwing yourself with abandon and total confidence upon God.

"Faith is...built on the fact that God is holy love." The FACT is that God IS holy love. It doesn't matter what my feelings are...the fact is fact...not because I believe it, but because it is FACT!

Frankly, I'm thankful that truth is truth independent of me and what I think or feel. God's truth is absolute! And my believing or not believing doesn't make truth any more or less true!

I also like the next sentence and how it says: "...even though you cannot see Him right now and cannot understand what He is doing, you know Him." That's a key...we know HIM...and that makes the difference in our trust. The more time we spend with God, the more we grow to love and know Him, and the more we know His ways...His character.... It reminds me of the verse in Psalm 103:7...

7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel...

Moses knew God's WAYS...the people of Israel only knew His deeds...Do you want to know God so intimately that you, too, know His WAYS and not just His deeds or acts? I do! Spend time with Him daily and practice His presence throughout the day. He is there with you always, whether or not you are aware of Him...that's one of those facts! :)

Ask Him to help you grow in loving and knowing Him...and keep asking...He says in His Word that you will seek Him and FIND Him when you seek Him with ALL your heart! (Jeremiah 29:13)

May you be blessed as you find and enjoy Him today! Throw "...yourself with abandon and total confidence upon God."

MR

Lift UP Your Eyes...

This morning I've been looking at Psalm 121 among other things, and these two verses stick with me...

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
(Psalm 121:1-2)

Today I want to lift up my eyes to the hills...to the LORD, who is my help...He is the Maker of heaven and earth. I NEED to be reminded that it is the LORD; the Creator of heaven and earth; the One whom the wind and waves obey...HE is the One who loves me and watches over me and keeps my soul...

I don't know about you, but often in the course of every day life and busyness, my eyes, my sight begin to lower and lower...till I "forget" that my God is THE God of the universe... Let's lift UP our eyes to Him and see Him as He really is! That is my prayer for you and me today!

God bless you with Himself!
MR

Remembering...

Yesterday I was reading through Psalm 25, a favorite of mine, when these 2 verses caught my attention:

6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.

7 Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.

It's the word "remember" that got me and reminded me of Beth Moore's Believing God study. In week 7 she leads us through several passages that say "...but God remembered (name)"... Then Beth draws a direct correlation between God remembering and God acting... She says that remembering is not as narrow as we define it and she shows in Scripture that when God remembers...God acts...

SO that got me to thinking about the verses from Psalm 25... The psalmist is asking God to remember His great mercy and love...and act on THAT as opposed to remembering the sins of his youth and his rebellious ways...and acting on THOSE! He asks the LORD to remember him according to the LORD's love...and he reminds the LORD that He is good...

I think this is a good prayer for me too. Do I want God to remember and then act on my sins and rebellious ways? No way! Because I know that my sins and rebellious ways earn me eternal death and separation form Him...but thanks be to God...

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57)

God can remember me through the finished work of Jesus Christ and act on that...which He does, by giving me the free gift of eternal life.

Thank You Jesus for being my Savior!
Praise Him with me and let Psalm 25:6-7 be your prayer today too!

If you want to know Jesus personally as your Savior, click on this link: http://proverbs31.gospelcom.net/knowHim.htm

MR

Sweet Forgiveness...

CHASING
(Charlie Hall)

Sweet forgiveness, my redemption
You're a Savior once for all and today
O the mercy, it comes to flood me
Jesus on the cross, You took my place
And I'm chasing after You 'cause You first chased after me
And You purchased me with blood, I am free I am complete
Now a child of my King, leaving old I am made new
Cause You first chased after me, I am chasing after You

And I found my love, I found my love and my heart is dancing (yeah)
Jesus, Jesus, I am chasing after You
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, I am chasing after you...

I have been enjoying the song "Chasing" by Charlie Hall recently...and have a few random thoughts...

First, I love the phrase: "You're a Saviour once for all and today"... 1 Peter 3:18 says:

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit...

His sacrifice for me was complete and perfect...no more sacrifices needed...I was saved and became a Christian at one point in time...I don't need to keep striving daily to BE a certain way...I stand in His grace...all by HIS doing...and I praise Him.

What I also like is the second part of that line: "...and today". Yes, once I became a born-again believer I no longer needed to worry about my eternal destiny...that is secure forever...but now that I AM a Christian, I want to BE holy like my Father in heaven is holy...and for THAT I need my Saviour EVERY day..."and today"...

The other part I like is where it says: "Cause You first chased after me..." 1 John 4:19 says that WE love because HE first loved us! God Himself took the initiative to reach out to us - sinful man - and He took care of our desperate sin problem...so now we can love Him back and enjoy His love forever...

Sweet forgiveness...O the mercy...If you don't know Jesus personally as your Saviour, you CAN today...Just follow one of the links at the end of this post and put your trust in Him...eternal life in Christ is a FREE gift (Romans 6:23)!

http://www.yoursforlife.net/alpha/

http://www.godlovestheworld.com/

I have found my love and my heart is dancing...
MR