He Knows What You Need

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Hurrah!  The Israelites have escaped Egypt!  The armies of Pharaoh with their chariots and horsemen have perished in the Red Sea, even as the Israelites walked through on dry land.  God is leading them on the way by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

Moses and the sons of Israel sang to the Lord.  “The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him.”  (Exodus 15.)

But wait!  Only days later “the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. . . .Would that we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

So the Lord was merciful and provided manna, “like coriander seed, white; and its taste was like wafers with honey. . . .And the sons of Israel ate the manna forty years.”

Just a short while later there was no water and the people quarreled with Moses over water, citing water in Egypt.  So God told Moses to strike the rock and water came out so the people could drink.

That’s quite a cycle, isn’t it?  God meets their needs, the people complain.  God meets their needs, the people complain.  It’s on automatic repeat.

     So what does that have to do with me?  Romans 15:4 says “whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”  You see, I get caught in that same cycle and so do you.  We are sailing along trusting God to meet our needs, then there’s a big bill for a dental procedure.  How are you going to pay it?  We have a severe cold snap like the one we just had.  The heating bill grows as the temperature drops.  We have a new medicine prescribed that costs over $100.  We notice that our child has outgrown his shoes and, of course, he’s the one that needs the special shoes that cost more.  Groceries cost more.  You fill in the blank.  Suddenly it’s hard to trust God to meet our needs.  We gripe, complain, worry.

In the sermon on the mount Jesus repeats the lesson, but in terms that cannot be misunderstood.  “Do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on.  Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing?  …for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will take care for itself.”  (Matthew 6)

Are you worried about tomorrow?  Maybe you’re worried about today.  Family?  Finances?  Retirement?  Your heavenly Father knows and He cares.  He loves you.  Don’t get caught in the same cycle that the Israelites were caught in.  Your Father cares for you and He will supply all your needs, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.  (Ephesians 4:19)

                                                                                    ~~ Faith Himes Lamb

You Had Plans?

 

Alyssa and I often compare ourselves to Elsa and Anna from Frozen. Our personalities are surprisingly similar to the characters', with two main exceptions. She doesn’t like chocolate, and the cold and snow do bother me. Sure, snow is pretty. But it can also cause all kinds of problems. As has been the case for many, being trapped by snow and ice has been the essence of my week.

I had plans for this week. I was going to take Mom shopping on Monday, and I had small group to attend on Thursday. I was going to start going through my dresser drawers, organizing and getting rid of things. At work, I had a mailing sitting on my desk that I was going to finish putting together and send out.

But none of my plans happened. I instead spent most of my week working remotely at Mom and Dad’s house bundled up by the fireplace. I love my family dearly and enjoy spending time with them, but I would rather do so out of choice rather than necessity. I don’t like to feel trapped or that I don’t have control over the things happening in my life. I want to know what is going to happen ahead of time so I can be prepared.

As frustrating as this week has been, it is nothing compared to the last year my family has walked through. This last year has been anything but planned and expected. From the moment Alyssa called me to let me know they were taking Mom to the hospital with chest pain, everything changed. Plans went out the window. Every day since has been different than any of us would have expected a year ago.

As much as we learn about the turmoil of history and regularly experience the unexpected fluctuations of life, you would think we would be less surprised by the chaos that life can bring. As Christians, we have the added knowledge that we live in a fallen and broken world. But almost every time, we are taken aback and sent into a tailspin attempting to figure out how to handle the unexpected.

But God is not surprised.

This seems like such a simple truth, but it is one I need to be reminded of often. God does not get flustered by ruined plans because His plans are already laid out, and He sees everything that has, is, and will happen. I like how Casting Crowns puts it in their song Already There:

“From where You're standing
Lord, You see a grand design
That You imagined
When You breathed me into life
And all the chaos
Comes together in Your hands
Like a masterpiece
Of Your picture-perfect plan

When I'm lost in the mystery
To You my future is a memory
Cause You're already there
Standing at the end of my life
Waiting on the other side.”

God knows what this next week, this next year, and the rest of my life will look like. He knows all the ups and downs I will walk through. But not only does He know what will happen; it is a part of His plan, the great story He is writing with history.

I don’t see any purpose behind keeping us trapped in the house all week. I don’t see the purpose of God allowing Mom to have both a heart attack and a stroke. But I know God does. So moment by moment, I am doing my best to hold loosely the plans I make and to rest in God’s sovereignty.

--Concetta Swann

Careful Now

All my life I have loved being outdoors. As a child I spent a lot of time hanging in trees, riding my bike, splashing in creeks (or ditches I pretended were creeks), and scratching in the dirt. My mother had to MAKE me come inside at the end of the day. Being outside sometimes feels like a spiritual experience for me. God’s fingerprints are all over Creation, and I feel the wonder of His greatness.  Unfortunately, the Enemy knows this about me and sees it as an opportunity for my undoing. 

Recently, I participated in an herbal medicine class. My love for plants and fascination with how they can be used for healing led me down this path. There’s another group of people who are big into nature and herbal medicine: pagans. Pagans (and New Agers) dominate this field of study. The lure of being in nature, experiencing that spiritual feeling, prayer, and a sense of connectedness with nature and the Universe are attractive to many. Being one’s own god is intoxicating – having that feeling of having power or control. While taking my class, I rubbed shoulders with several pagans who were very passionate. Having shared several weekends together, these ladies became my friends. Careful… 

I have a strong thirst to learn more about this subject and have been invited to an herbal conference in Florida. This conference is being held at a campground which appeals to us nature lovers. There’s also a bunk house where I could bunk with other ladies at the conference. There will be circle-time and music. I researched the presenters and musicians. Although not overtly pagan on their websites, the pagan vibes were there. This conference feels more like a worship service to me. But then I rationalize. I just want to go for the learning about herbs. I don’t have to participate in the pagan rituals. 

Careful, whispers the Holy Spirit. The relationships would be key for pulling me down an idolatrous road. I would be spending lots of time with pagan “friends.” Some of the ladies from my class would likely be there. It could be subtle too. At my age, I tend to think I would not so easily bend to peer pressure or be influenced. But that’s silly. We are all influenced by those around us. We all experience peer pressure. I remember my mother talking about situations among her peers when she was in her 80s. During our last class, we gathered in a circle to “toast” to each other (with a non-alcoholic herbal drink), and I wondered where this was leading and if I would have the courage to step back if it became ritualistic. It did not, thankfully, but I was edgy. 

I have decided that if I ever do attend any herbal conferences, that I will not spend much time in the presence of these influencers. I certainly do not need to room (or camp) with them. Will I be friendly and kind? Absolutely. Ready to share my faith? Of course, but I should not become bosom buddies with those who do not follow Christ. And I should put on my Armor ahead of time. (I have discovered a Christian Herbal Association, but they do not have any events planned right now.) 

Proverbs 12: 26, “One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.” ESV 

Proverbs 13: 20, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” ESV 

Do you have any natural interests or passions that the Enemy might use against you? Things that maybe aren’t sinful but could lead to idolatry? Careful. 

joyce hague

A Challenge and a Word of Encouragement for the New Year

 

Twenty twenty-four is upon us! In thinking about what to write this week, I decided to combine two things that I myself have been pondering in regard to a new year.

            First, I would love to challenge you with something I am planning to do myself. I have heard my husband often say, “We don’t drift toward intimacy with God.” We see this in other relationships as well. If we aren’t intentional about maintaining or even growing a relationship, we drift away from it. If we want to grow closer to God, learn more about Him, love Him more, and become more like Christ, we need to be intentional. And the start of a new year is a good time to take stock of where we are. I came across this article with a questionnaire of sorts that allows you to reflect on the previous year and then asks questions about the upcoming year to help you be intentional in growing that important relationship with the Lord. For example, it’s great to want to spend time in the Word every day, but without a plan, that is less likely to happen. This is true for prayer as well. Also, we want to fight sin in our lives, but without looking at ourselves and recognizing our sin patterns, again, this becomes more challenging. I will attach the link here, but if it does not work, type the following into your internet search engine: Melissa Kruger “New Year, New Beginnings.” This should hopefully take you right to this article on The Gospel Coalition’s website. In this article, there is a printable guide for you to work through these “reflecting and refocusing” questions on your own.

 https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/melissa-kruger/new-year-new-beginnings-vitally-important-consider-ways/

            Secondly, here is how I am encouraging myself at the start of this new year. I hope it encourages you as well. At the beginning of my day planner for this year, I have written out this question and answer from the Heidelberg Catechism. I love how it weaves together truths from the Word of God to create something so beautiful and encouraging. I plan to turn to this reminder often throughout the year.

Question 26: What do you believe when you say, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?” That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and all that is in them, and who still upholds and governs them by his eternal counsel and providence, is, for the sake of Christ his Son, my God and my Father. In him I trust so completely as to have no doubt that he will provide me with all things necessary for body and soul, and will also turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this life of sorrow. He is able to do so as almighty God, and willing also as a faithful Father.

            Ladies, the eternal God is our Father. He is for us, He sustains us, and He holds this year in His hands. He is sovereign over all that will occur in these 366 days. Let us look ahead with confidence, trusting our all-wise and good God.

--Amy O'Rear

Christmas Train

 

Every year it comes like a train on a fast track. I first realize Christmas is upon me when my daughters start asking for lists. What do you want?  is followed by a frantic search for that slip of paper where I started writing down ideas. What do I want? What I really want is something that cannot be bought or ordered. And I’m not even sure how to voice it.

Maybe it’s the magic I felt as a child sitting in the dim candle glow of our little country church. Mary and Joseph in their bathrobes up on stage welcomed with shy smiles the shepherds and wise men in similar bathrobes, heads adorned with towels wound up in artful precision, to see the baby lying in hay. Angels in white bed sheets, tree tinsel on their freshly washed curls, stood benignly by as a hush fell over the congregation and “Silent Night” arose in the near darkness. Never have the words been more meaningful or the thoughts so sublime.

What do I want? I want to pass this wonder to my loved ones, to have them experience this thrill for themselves, to imagine with me the joy of the shepherds as they returned to the hills changed, the awe of the magi traveling over miles of desert, talking among themselves. Who would believe it? Who could believe it? God come to earth. After so much waiting.

Children understand waiting. Much of their lives is spent plodding from one unwanted task to another, being obedient, doing homework, counting the days. For them, Christmas is a slow train that seems forever just around the bend. Maybe the anticipation of gifts is what drives their eagerness. I’m sure it was so for me as I avidly searched the pages of the Sears Wish Book every November to dream of the gifts I might receive, but I’m glad I somehow caught the vision of God’s example in the very best of gift giving.

Maybe my memory of those early Christmas celebrations is enhanced by the shiny veneer of time. Maybe what I really want is to be young again, to see things fresh and exciting. In fact, the truth of Christmas is always upon us. The event we celebrate at Christmas is ever one for amazement, regardless of the time of year or the stage of life. Whether it comes charging like a runaway train or chugs slowly along, Christmas is, indeed, a holiday that is centuries old yet forever new.  

And here we are at the start—or nearly so—of a new year. It has become cliché to suggest that we keep Christmas in our hearts, so I won’t do that. But I do want to suggest that we take time to realize that our lives are a bit like that train, moving forward whether or not we feel ready. As our pastor reminded us recently, our goal must be to live under the control of Christ, as Paul stated in II Corinthians 5: 14 & 15, ^“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

Did you write down those three questions Pastor Love asked us? In case you missed it, here they are. May these questions and their positive answers lead us forward this year until Christmas comes again.

1.     How will I demonstrate the treasure of the gospel in my daily life?

2.     What will guide my decisions and purpose in this year?

3.     Am I living with eternity in view?

--         --Sherry Poff

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The Song of the Shepherds

 

On this Christmas Eve, I have chosen to share with you this lovely old poem I read recently. If you are reading this blog after Christmas, it will still be good. Take your time and appreciate the rich truth in this piece by Edwin Markham, published sometime before 1923.

 

The Song of the Shepherds

It was near the first cock-crowing
And Orion’s wheel was going,
When an angel stood before us and our hearts were sore afraid.
Lo! His face was like the lightning,
When the walls of heaven are whitening,
And he brought us wondrous tidings of a joy that should not fade.

Then a Splendor shone around us,
In a still field where he found us,
A-watch upon the Shepherd Tower and waiting for the light;
There where David, as a stripling,
Saw the ewes and lambs go rippling
Down the little hills and hollows at the falling of the night.

Oh, what tender, sudden faces
Filled the old familiar places,
The barley-fields, where Ruth of old went gleaning with the birds.
Down the skies the host came swirling,
Like sea-waters white and whirling,
And our hearts were strangely shaken by the wonder of their words.

Haste, O people; all are bidden—
Haste from places high or hidden:
In Mary’s Child the Kingdom comes, the heaven in beauty bends!
He has made all life completer,
He has made the Plain Way sweeter,
For the stall is His first shelter, and the cattle His first friends. 

He has come! The skies are telling:
He has quit the glorious dwelling;
And first the tidings came to us, the humble shepherd folk.
He has come to field and manger,
And no more is God a Stranger:
He comes as Common Man at home with cart and crooked yoke. 

As the shadow of a cedar
To a traveler in gray Kedar
Will be the kingdom of His love, the kingdom without end.
Tongue and ages may disclaim Him,
Yet the Heaven of heavens will name Him
Lord of prophets, Light of nations, elder Brother, tender Friend.

 

Merry Christmas, friends!

 

 

Endurance

 

“Endure” is defined as to suffer patiently; to remain in existence or to last.

God’s people give Him glory when we endure wrong, remain faithful in persecution, or, as in Job’s case, simply trust and praise God in the midst of suffering.

In Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, Christ speaks to His churches, praising most of them for patient endurance, faith, service, faithfulness against spiritual darkness and not denying His name.

To each church, He promises rewards to those who endure, to “the one who conquers.” The criticisms and warnings could apply to any believers anywhere; the rewards could apply to any believers anywhere. If we collect all the promised rewards into a single list, the gifts in store for us are thrilling beyond comprehension!

“To those who conquer” --

I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

I will give you life as your victor’s crown.

The one who is victorious will not be hurt by the second death.

I will give some of the hidden manna and a white stone with a new name written on the stone.

I will give authority over the nations.

I will give that one the morning star (which is the final name by which He calls Himself at the end of Revelation).

The one who is victorious will be clothed in white garments and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.

Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God and I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem and my own new name.

I will grant him to sit with me on my throne.

We are happy to know that He has purchased for us eternal life. These promises are a part of His description of that life! Can you imagine?? (A rhetorical question – the answer is “no”!)

The physical/mental sufferings of this life are a spiritual battle, as demonstrated by Job’s life. The sufferings of faithfulness to God’s Word are a spiritual battle. Jesus told us of His planned gifts so we would be encouraged to endure. And who gives us the ability to do that? Romans 8:35-37, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

--Lynda Shenefield