Sow the Word Sunday :

"You make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give."  ~Winston Churchill


Luke 6:36-38
Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.  Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. 

Luke 6:38 has also been much misused by many of those who raise money for their own broadcast ministries. Verse 38 says, "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." In this same judge-not context, Jesus is telling the people that they should be generous with people instead of judging them. This is not a verse on giving your tithes and offerings to the church or any other ministry. As a matter of fact, Matthews rendition of this verse is here in verse 2, "For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." When you read it in the context of the passage, it is plain to see the sense in which Jesus said those words. As a matter of fact, money doesn't appear to be the object of this verse at all; it's forgiveness along with friendly assistance - obviously so when you compare both accounts (Matthew and Luke).

mindful or mind full ??

Blah.
What to do with all the excess.  All the spilling over.  All the emotions left over at the day's end..all the questions that bounce around keeping me from sweet sleep...all the crap!

A question that I've been battered with, battered myself with...whatever...this week is, "Why would God give us two babies, and then take them both back?"  I know I won't understand this side of Heaven, and I know that sometimes bad things happen, and I know that sin in the world (our lives) has consequences...yes I know all that...so please don't write to me and include mess like that...in fact maybe I'll learn to disable comments for this particular post.  It is really just a rhetorical question for me.  I am beginning to think it's a faith stretcher.  

Grief is a strange thing.  It comes and goes, and you never know when it will be triggered.  It's almost like that annoying younger sibling hiding around the corner, waiting to scare you in the dark...but when it's gone you sort of miss it!?

Isaiah 25:1, 7-9, 12
O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago. 

On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations;
he will swallow up death forever.  The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all face; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth.  The LORD has spoken.   In that day they will say, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us.   This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation." 

He will bring down your high fortified walls and lay them low; he will bring them down to the ground, to the very dust.

New Sunday Blog

Okay, so I have joined up with numerous blog hops on various days of the week.  But, today, I'm starting my own idea.  I'm calling it Sow the Word Sunday.  I will share from the Bible, or a Bible study, etc.  I think it's important to share my Jesus with the world, and it just so happens this is my blog and I can do that here!!

Today's selected reading is from Hebrews 13:5-6 "Let your conduct be without covetousness, and be content with such things that you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you, nor forsake you,' so that we may boldly say, 'The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do to me.'" (emphasis mine)

This is an excerpt from Oswald Chamber's book, "My Utmost for His Highest."  I couldn't have said it better, so I'll just let you read what he had to say.  I've underlined the parts that spoke so deeply to my soul.

What line of thinking do my thoughts take? Do I turn to what God says or to my own fears? Am I simply repeating what God says, or am I learning to truly hear Him and then to respond after I have heard what He says? “For He Himself has said, ’I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ’The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6).

“I will never leave you . . .”— not for any reason; not my sin, selfishness, stubbornness, nor waywardness. Have I really let God say to me that He will never leave me? If I have not truly heard this assurance of God, then let me listen again.

“I will never . . . forsake you.” Sometimes it is not the difficulty of life but the drudgery of it that makes me think God will forsake me. When there is no major difficulty to overcome, no vision from God, nothing wonderful or beautiful— just the everyday activities of life— do I hear God’s assurance even in these?

We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing— that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future. But as we grow in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God’s assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life.

Isaiah 65:17-25 - what glorious Hope we have

New Heavens and a New Earth

17 "Behold, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.

18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
and its people a joy.

19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more.

20 "Never again will there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;
he who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere youth;
he who fails to reach a hundred
will be considered accursed.

21 They will build houses and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
the works of their hands.

23 They will not toil in vain
or bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the LORD,
they and their descendants with them.

24 Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear.

25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
but dust will be the serpent's food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,"
says the LORD.

"In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength"

Isaiah 30:15

In the quiet times, and in the loud times, I find peace in these verses. I've written them on note cards, and placed them around where I can see them. When I feel overwhelmed by the heaviness of my grief I return to them, and I feel God close to me.

Isaiah 12:1-3
Songs of Praise
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. 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." With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

Psalm 6:3-4
My soul is in anguish. How long, O LORD, how long? Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love.

Psalm 4:1
Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress;
be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

Psalm 5:11-12
But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

1 Peter 1:6-9
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Psalm 139:16
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Matthew 18:14
So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

a prayer

2 Corinthians 4:16-18:
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen in eternal."

stumbling

There is so much to write...but for now I will simply post this...

Ezekiel 14

¹ Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. ² Then the word of the LORD came to me: ³ "Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? ⁴ Therefore speak to them and tell them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When any Israelite sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet, I the LORD will answer him myself in keeping with his great idolatry. ⁵ I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.'
⁶ "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!
⁷ " 'When any Israelite or any alien living in Israel separates himself from me and sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet to inquire of me, I the LORD will answer him myself. ⁸ I will set my face against that man and make him an example and a byword. I will cut him off from my people. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
⁹ " 'And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the LORD have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. ¹⁰ They will bear their guilt—the prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him. ¹¹ Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign LORD.' "

but it hurts...

Romans 5: 1 - 5
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

I have been saved, but not from painful experiences, or sad things. I have been saved from the pit of Hell, and an eternity without the love of Christ. I have been saved so that others may know Him, and so that I may anthem His glory with my life...

I have a hope and a future, and many good things are headed my way. But, that does not mean that I will not face trials, and that bad things won’t happen to me. Christ is not only all knowing, and completely loving...but He is totally just - - without any bias towards those whom He has saved.

I rejoice for my salvation is complete and can never be questioned. I rejoice because God has called me to be His own, and to share Him with others. I rejoice because He loves me and has a marvelous plan for me.

Here is where I get fuzzy though... If He has this great plan, why I am so ‘out of the loop,’ why is it that I cannot see even the glimmer of the edge of the plan? Is it because my heart could not take the knowledge? Is it because He wants to keep me protected? Or, is it because His best plan for me isn’t what I think is best for me? Is it a test of faith? Is it love like no other – guarding my heart from it’s worst enemy – me?!?

‘...we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us...’

It is refreshing, and I take great joy in knowing that I am not alone in this journey. It is a blessing to have been given the gift of a godly husband to travel this way with... and though my heart is full of sadness and my womb an empty vessel, I will praise the Lord for He is timely and He is wise...and I will strive to love Him as He loves me... without question...

rejoice - feel or show great joy. triumph.
triumph - dwell on with satisfaction. the exultation of victory.
persevere - persist. continue.