Woo! What a great reminder that when we are in difficulty, God has already prepared us for it and He is right there with us! Praise be to the Lord!
"Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me" (Ps. 23:4).
At my father's house in the country there is a little closet in the chimney corner where are kept the canes and walking-sticks of several generations of our family. In my visits to the old house, when my father and I are going out for a walk, we often go to the cane closet, and pick out our sticks to suit the fancy of the occasion. In this I have frequently been reminded that the Word of God is a staff.
During the war, when the season of discouragement and impending danger was upon us, the verse, "He shall not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord," was a staff to walk with many dark days.
When death took away our child and left us almost heartbroken, I found another staff in the promise that "weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning."
When in impaired health, I was exiled for a year, not knowing whether I should be permitted to return to my home and work again, I took with me this staff which never failed, "He knoweth the thoughts that he thinketh toward me, thoughts of peace and not of evil."
In times of special danger or doubt, when human judgment has seemed to be set at naught, I have found it easy to go forward with this staff, "In quietness and confidence shall be your strength." And in emergencies, when there has seemed to be no adequate time for deliberation or for action, I have never found that this staff has failed me, "He that believeth shall not make haste." --Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, in The Outlook
"I had never known," said Martin Luther's wife, "what such and such things meant, in such and such psalms, such complaints and workings of spirit; I had never understood the practice of Christian duties, had not God brought me under some affliction." It is very true that God's rod is as the schoolmaster's pointer to the child, pointing out the letter, that he may the better take notice of it; thus He pointeth out to us many good lessons which we should never otherwise have learned. --Selected
"Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be" (Deut.33:25).
Each of us may be sure that if God sends us on stony paths He will provide us with strong shoes, and He will not send us out on any journey for which He does not equip us well. --Maclaren
January 25, 2007
January 22, 2007
Marji's goofy foot
So, since Marji and I were bored tonight and she's going snowboarding at Braehead with Michaela, I spent about 5 or 10 minutes pushing her in the kitchen just so she could figure out whether she was 'regular' or 'goofy footed'. I didn;t know left was 'regular'. She doesn't like being goofy. Ah well...
Also, I think it's about time that Marji and I make a public declaration: we are indeed a couple. After 5 and a half years of denial, the last 2 weeks of living together has made it a little too difficult to hide the feelings we have had for each other. Unfortunately, I don't think it comes as big surprise to you since you probably saw it coming. So to prospective suitors for us both: we're taken. Just thought you should know.
Also, I think it's about time that Marji and I make a public declaration: we are indeed a couple. After 5 and a half years of denial, the last 2 weeks of living together has made it a little too difficult to hide the feelings we have had for each other. Unfortunately, I don't think it comes as big surprise to you since you probably saw it coming. So to prospective suitors for us both: we're taken. Just thought you should know.
Music and the Rest
A good reminder when things aren't going according to 'the plan'. God's in charge of it all.
"Into a desert place apart" (Matt. 14:13).
"There is no music in a rest, but there is the making of music in it." In our whole life-melody the music is broken off here and there by "rests," and we foolishly think we have come to the end of the tune. God sends a time of forced leisure, sickness, disappointed plans, frustrated efforts, and makes a sudden pause in the choral hymn of our lives; and we lament that our voices must be silent, and our part missing in the music which ever goes up to the ear of the Creator. How does the musician read the "rest"? See him beat the time with unvarying count, and catch up the next note true and steady, as if no breaking place had come between.
Not without design does God write the music of our lives. Be it ours to learn the tune, and not be dismayed at the "rests." They are not to be slurred over, not to be omitted, not to destroy the melody, not to change the keynote. If we look up, God Himself will beat the time for us. With the eye on Him, we shall strike the next note full and clear. If we sadly say to ourselves, "There is no music in a 'rest,'" let us not forget "there is the making of music in it." The making of music is often a slow and painful process in this life. How patiently God works to teach us! How long He waits for us to learn the lesson! --Ruskin
"Into a desert place apart" (Matt. 14:13).
"There is no music in a rest, but there is the making of music in it." In our whole life-melody the music is broken off here and there by "rests," and we foolishly think we have come to the end of the tune. God sends a time of forced leisure, sickness, disappointed plans, frustrated efforts, and makes a sudden pause in the choral hymn of our lives; and we lament that our voices must be silent, and our part missing in the music which ever goes up to the ear of the Creator. How does the musician read the "rest"? See him beat the time with unvarying count, and catch up the next note true and steady, as if no breaking place had come between.
Not without design does God write the music of our lives. Be it ours to learn the tune, and not be dismayed at the "rests." They are not to be slurred over, not to be omitted, not to destroy the melody, not to change the keynote. If we look up, God Himself will beat the time for us. With the eye on Him, we shall strike the next note full and clear. If we sadly say to ourselves, "There is no music in a 'rest,'" let us not forget "there is the making of music in it." The making of music is often a slow and painful process in this life. How patiently God works to teach us! How long He waits for us to learn the lesson! --Ruskin
January 18, 2007
Faith
Hello! Once again you'll be getting a real post as opposed to just devotions. I've been thinking a lot about faith recently and how it encompasses every aspect of life. I always thought it had to do only with God, but I've realised that I need it to even believe that my mum loves me, that when I go to bed I'll wake up, that my friends are indeed who I think they are, and so on, and so on. It is quite worrying to realise that once you stop believing in one thing, it's not long before to stop believing anything. I guess that's why it's so unsettling for people with mental illnesses. I don't know though, just thinking as I type.
I've also been annoyed and frustrated at myself because I haven't given up a very trivial part of my life over to God. You'd think that after what happened over the last year, it'd be easier to give my life up to Him and just trust Him with the minutest detail. Here again I see how similar I am to the nation of old testament Israel. The cancer being caught early and not having to have a hystrectomy was my parting of the Red Sea and the strength through chemo was my manna from heaven. Yet after all these miracles, I still doubt that God really cares for me. How can that be so?
I love God and I love the Bible, but I can't discipline myself to spend time with God or studying the Bible. Why is that? I love a lot of my friends and I have no problem spending time with them at all. Why is it so hard with God? Is it because I take Him for granted? Marji's been staying with me at my minister's flat while they're away, but it seems that we don't always make an effort to see each other because we assume we will at some point. Is that the same with God and I?
I was speaking to Paul the other day and he showed me the example of how Christianity is like a wheel; Christ is the centre, with the four spokes being studying the Bible, prayer, fellowship and witnessing, all surrounded by obedience, which is the tyre. Not one part can be removed if the wheel is to be used effectively. How much time do I spend witnessing? I can honestly say next to none. I've been so caught up with worrying that I haven't spent time with God and in the Bible. And my fellowship sucks because Christ isn't the centre.
I don't know why I'm typing this. I just feel that this state of being can't continue anymore because I am starting to feel like I'm suffocating. Maybe that's what 'quenching the Spirit' feels like? I don't know. I guess now that I've realised where I'm at, I have to do something about it. This is just my way of starting to deal with it. Ah well.
I've also been annoyed and frustrated at myself because I haven't given up a very trivial part of my life over to God. You'd think that after what happened over the last year, it'd be easier to give my life up to Him and just trust Him with the minutest detail. Here again I see how similar I am to the nation of old testament Israel. The cancer being caught early and not having to have a hystrectomy was my parting of the Red Sea and the strength through chemo was my manna from heaven. Yet after all these miracles, I still doubt that God really cares for me. How can that be so?
I love God and I love the Bible, but I can't discipline myself to spend time with God or studying the Bible. Why is that? I love a lot of my friends and I have no problem spending time with them at all. Why is it so hard with God? Is it because I take Him for granted? Marji's been staying with me at my minister's flat while they're away, but it seems that we don't always make an effort to see each other because we assume we will at some point. Is that the same with God and I?
I was speaking to Paul the other day and he showed me the example of how Christianity is like a wheel; Christ is the centre, with the four spokes being studying the Bible, prayer, fellowship and witnessing, all surrounded by obedience, which is the tyre. Not one part can be removed if the wheel is to be used effectively. How much time do I spend witnessing? I can honestly say next to none. I've been so caught up with worrying that I haven't spent time with God and in the Bible. And my fellowship sucks because Christ isn't the centre.
I don't know why I'm typing this. I just feel that this state of being can't continue anymore because I am starting to feel like I'm suffocating. Maybe that's what 'quenching the Spirit' feels like? I don't know. I guess now that I've realised where I'm at, I have to do something about it. This is just my way of starting to deal with it. Ah well.
January 13, 2007
Hardship Makes Character
Sorry, not been all that great at blogging... Here's a good devotion for you:
"In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us" (Romans 8:37).
This is more than victory. This is a triumph so complete that we have not only escaped defeat and destruction, but we have destroyed our enemies and won a spoil so rich and valuable that we can thank God that the battle ever came. How can we be "more than conquerors"? We can get out of the conflict a spiritual discipline that will greatly strengthen our faith and establish our spiritual character. Temptation is necessary to settle and confirm us in the spiritual life. It is like the fire which burns in the colors of mineral painting, or like winds that cause the mighty cedars of the mountain to strike more deeply into the soil. Our spiritual conflicts are among our choicest blessings, and our great adversary is used to train us for his ultimate defeat. The ancient Phrygians had a legend that every time they conquered an enemy the victor absorbed the physical strength of his victim and added so much more to his own strength and valor. So temptation victoriously met doubles our spiritual strength and equipment. It is possible thus not only to defeat our enemy, but to capture him and make him fight in our ranks. The prophet Isaiah speaks of flying on the shoulders of the Philistines (Isa. 11:14). These Philistines were their deadly foes, but the figure suggested that they would be enabled not only to conquer the Philistines, but to use them to carry the victors on their shoulders for further triumphs. Just as the wise sailor can use a head wind to carry him forward by tacking and taking advantage of its impelling force; so it is possible for us in our spiritual life through the victorious grace of God to turn to account the things that seem most unfriendly and unfavorable, and to be able to say continually, "The things that were against me have happened to the furtherance of the Gospel." --Life More Abundantly
A noted scientist observing that "early voyagers fancied that the coral-building animals instinctively built up the great circles of the Atoll Islands to afford themselves protection in the inner parts," has disproved this fancy by showing that the insect builders can only live and thrive fronting the open ocean, and in the highly aerated foam of its resistless billows. So it has been commonly thought that protected ease is the most favorable condition of life, whereas all the noblest and strongest lives prove on the contrary that the endurance of hardship is the making of the men, and the factor that distinguishes between existence and vigorous vitality. Hardship makes character. --Selected
"Now thanks be unto God Who always leads us forth to triumph with the Anointed One, and Who diffuses by us the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in every place" (2 Cor. 2:14, literal translation).
"In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us" (Romans 8:37).
This is more than victory. This is a triumph so complete that we have not only escaped defeat and destruction, but we have destroyed our enemies and won a spoil so rich and valuable that we can thank God that the battle ever came. How can we be "more than conquerors"? We can get out of the conflict a spiritual discipline that will greatly strengthen our faith and establish our spiritual character. Temptation is necessary to settle and confirm us in the spiritual life. It is like the fire which burns in the colors of mineral painting, or like winds that cause the mighty cedars of the mountain to strike more deeply into the soil. Our spiritual conflicts are among our choicest blessings, and our great adversary is used to train us for his ultimate defeat. The ancient Phrygians had a legend that every time they conquered an enemy the victor absorbed the physical strength of his victim and added so much more to his own strength and valor. So temptation victoriously met doubles our spiritual strength and equipment. It is possible thus not only to defeat our enemy, but to capture him and make him fight in our ranks. The prophet Isaiah speaks of flying on the shoulders of the Philistines (Isa. 11:14). These Philistines were their deadly foes, but the figure suggested that they would be enabled not only to conquer the Philistines, but to use them to carry the victors on their shoulders for further triumphs. Just as the wise sailor can use a head wind to carry him forward by tacking and taking advantage of its impelling force; so it is possible for us in our spiritual life through the victorious grace of God to turn to account the things that seem most unfriendly and unfavorable, and to be able to say continually, "The things that were against me have happened to the furtherance of the Gospel." --Life More Abundantly
A noted scientist observing that "early voyagers fancied that the coral-building animals instinctively built up the great circles of the Atoll Islands to afford themselves protection in the inner parts," has disproved this fancy by showing that the insect builders can only live and thrive fronting the open ocean, and in the highly aerated foam of its resistless billows. So it has been commonly thought that protected ease is the most favorable condition of life, whereas all the noblest and strongest lives prove on the contrary that the endurance of hardship is the making of the men, and the factor that distinguishes between existence and vigorous vitality. Hardship makes character. --Selected
"Now thanks be unto God Who always leads us forth to triumph with the Anointed One, and Who diffuses by us the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in every place" (2 Cor. 2:14, literal translation).
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