Grace and Glory

Musings from the Threshold

Category Archives: Learning

Blessings from the Word on Election Day

The boys and I got to work one of the St. Clair polls (for our friend and state Representative Brian Nieves) today for a couple of hours in the midst of our moving busy-ness. Then we all went over to our new house, got some work done, ate our first table meal there, etc. We just got back a bit ago and are settling in after a wonderful day. God gave us beautiful weather today, and we have much for which to be thankful!

Here are some verses that are an encouragement to me this evening. May they be a blessing to you as well…

Matthew 6.25-34 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

How lovely are Your dwelling places,
O LORD of hosts!
My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the LORD;
My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
The bird also has found a house,
And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young,
Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts,
My King and my God.
How blessed are those who dwell in Your house!
They are ever praising You. Selah.
How blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
In whose heart are the highways to Zion!
Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a spring;
The early rain also covers it with blessings.
They go from strength to strength,
Every one of them appears before God in Zion.
O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah.
Behold our shield, O God,
And look upon the face of Your anointed.
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside.
I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
The LORD gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
O LORD of hosts,
How blessed is the man who trusts in You!

Hebrews 11.1-3, 6, 8-10, 13-16
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
For by it the men of old gained approval.
By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.

Phill 3.20-4.1
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.

Blessings

I think y’all must be praying for me!

Last night, while I spent 15 minutes (using the timer!) sitting on my floor sorting through some things, I found some verses and such that I have printed out over the years and have had posted around to remind me of important truths. The funny thing was, they were in a box full of baby books and pictures. What a “co-incidence” that they were in the one box of stuff that I sorted yesterday (one box because I’m being a good girl, you know).

Some highlights:

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
… God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong…
Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.
I Cor. 1.25, 27, 31

The present circumstance, which presses so hard against you (if surrendered to Christ) is the best shaped tool in the Father’s hand to chisel you for eternity. TRUST HIM, THEN. Do not push away the instrument lest you lose its work.
Mrs. Charles E Cowman, Streams in the Desert

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” … I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me … for when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Cor. 12.9,10

Mary was listening to the Lord’s word, seated at His feet.
Martha was distracted with all her preparations.
But the Lord answered and said to her,
“Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary,
really only one,
for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10.39-42

Be Still

I’m here to come clean and to ask for your prayers.

I am NOT being still. Either figuratively or spiritually. And I must, I really must. But I’m not. I’m twitchy beyond expression.

(Fair Warning: if you’re a man, or if you don’t want to hear about feminine issues, you might want to stop reading here and and just pray for me. I’m not going to be graphic, but my struggle relates to feminine things, and you might want to skip this blog.)

Here’s the deal. Two weeks ago yesterday, I underwent outpatient surgery (general anesthesia) to remove a cervical polyp. It was large, and believed to be rooted at the back of the cervical canal, so the planned procedure was similar to a D&C. Basically, they used rods of graduated size to manually dilate the cervix sufficiently to get to the polyp and remove it at the base. It turns out the that the polyp was rooted just inside in the uterus, not in the cervical canal, so the surgery was a bit more involved than expected, but all went well. Pathology reports were all clear, as well.

After a surgery like this, you’re expected to have some bleeding for several days. It can also trigger your cycle to speed up, especially if done close to the expected time for menses. This happened in my case, and I expected to be done with the whole business by about last Thursday.

Well, I’m not done. Still. And it’s not because there’s anything terribly wrong with me. It’s because I just can’t be still. I’ve talked to the dr (via the nurse), and it all comes down to me doing more than I should.

Hello?? We’re moving next week! I am so not ready (packing wise) for this move. I have so much to do.

If I could go back and have a “re-do”:
~ I would see if waiting a month or so would have been a problem.
~ I would grill the nurse and doctor to get a more clear idea of what recovery would be like. I think they did their best to communicate that to me, but either they weren’t emphatic enough, or I wasn’t listening. The later is likely.
~ I would humble myself and ask for a week of meals from my church family. Two people brought a meal that first week, but the burden of cooking hasn’t helped at all.

So, that covers the “if… then…” statements. Those are mostly for your benefit, dear reader. Remember them if ever you are up for surgery.

“If…Then…” does not, however, help me. I need to find a way to deal with the circumstances in which I am currently being given the opportunity to glorify God.

Last night, as we lay in bed, I appealed to Jonathan for help. I seem to not have the appropriate “gear” for going the right speed at this time. After I’d expressed my frustration with trying to not do too much and consistently failing (and whining about how much I need to do…), my beloved husband informed me that I was missing the point. I guess he was right, because I had to ask him to tell me what the point was!!

The point is (I hear) – I’m supposed to be resting and letting my body heal. I’m supposed to be mostly off my feet. And if I don’t give my body the time it needs to heal, not only will this infernal bleeding drag on indefinitely, but I could hurt myself long-term.

Oh.

And here we are, back to faith.
Back to “Be still and know that I am God.”

Because, humanly speaking, I cannot sit around and let my body heal like it needs to. I have a family of 9 to pack and move. Starting next weekend. And there is much to do.

But I must Be Still.
My God is big enough to take care of the details of our moving.
He loves me enough to not want this not to be a miserable time for me.
And His grace is sufficient.

Please pray that I will reach up with both hands and accept that grace. That by His divine power, I will Be Still. That I will know, not only in the core of my being, but in all my extremities, that He is God.

Thanks.

Walking

The following devotional was written by Richard Burson and was in the KBC Intercom in January 1973.  It was included in this month’s KBC Good News, and I thought I’d pass it on.  

A message from God’s Word:
There are three expressions in the Bible concerned with our walk that may be helpful to think about.


1. Deuteronomy 13:4, “Ye shall walk after the Lord your God.” Walking AFTER God tells us we have a leader; Someone walking ahead of us. In the New Testament we are admonished to become “Followers of God as dear children,” He is our example. The expression “walking after the Lord” is found three times in the Old Testament.

2. “Walk BEFORE me and be thou perfect” said God to Abraham. David commented: “I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.” Walking BEFORE the Lord reminds us that God is our interested observer. We are always in His sight and He is interested in what we do. He observes us, not as a critic, but as a loving parent observes his little toddler. Every step is observed with love, pride, and gentle care. Every improvement is noted and encouraged.

3. Noah and Enoch are said to have walked “with God”. We can only walk WITH people with whom we agree: Can two walk together except they be agreed? Two can walk together only if they have the same goal, take the same path, progress at the same speed, and adjust to each other.
You and I are also called upon to walk with the Lord. Our lives must conform to His plans for us. Our path must conform to His word. Today, more than ever in the history of the church of God, we need youth who will walk after the Lord. We need youth who will walk before the Lord and youth who will walk with the Lord. How are you walking?

Thoughts on Friendship

I have been blessed repeatedly by Amy Scott’s Humble Musings, so this certainly not the first time I’ve linked to Humble Amy.  I appreciated her thoughts today on friendship, and wanted to share them with you.

My thoughts have been returning often lately to friendship – specifically to real friendship, as in friends with whom you can be real.  I am troubled by the degree to which we (“we” being specifically Christians in modern day U.S.A.) are generally not genuine with one another.  We put on our happy face and do our best to be seen as “together.”  I am becoming increasingly convinced that our lack of “realness” is extremely detrimental to the body of Christ, as well as to the world around us.  How are we to “confess (our) sins to one another and pray for one another, that (we) may be healed” (James 5.16) if we constantly keep on our masks?
The last few years have brought a blessing to my life that is rare treasure.  God has given me a bosom friend (as Anne would say), and a friendship in which there is a deep mutual realness.  It is unspeakably encouraging to me, as I seek to laid hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus, to know that my dear friend is struggling along beside me.  The depth to which we can be spiritually naked with each other helps us both to keep seeking after our Saviour.  We don’t have it perfected yet… but that’s okay, because we both know that we’re still “in process” that that He Who promised is faithful.
I’m so thankful for the friendships the Lord has given me.  I am blessed to have a wonderful circle of friends who love and pray for me.  I am seeking to be more genuine with those in my life.  But I’m going to be genuine with you and say that it is stinking hard sometimes.  How many people really want to hear that I yell at my children, have forgiveness issues, have self-destructive tendencies, struggle with disturbing sin, doubt my Saviour’s love, and more?  And I’m not proposing that we blurt out our deepest and darkest struggles to everyone we meet.  But my goal is to wear my “got-it-all-together” mask less often… to be genuine… to be approachable… to be a real friend.   

Nobody’s Got It All Together

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1s5p9tSV0E&hl=en&fs=1]

You can get the album containing this song (lots of great stuff) along with quite a few other albums – for free! – at noisetrade.com.

What do you think of this song and the thoughts behind it?

Do you find that we as Christians are real with each other, or that we try to act like we do have it all together? If the latter, what can we do to be real with each other so that we truly can encourage one another to love and good deeds?

Whisper or Brick?

This was in an email I received this morning…

God whispers in your soul and speaks to your mind. Sometimes when
you don’t have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at you. It’s your choice:
Listen to the whisper or wait for the brick.

Jesus Loves Me!

An EBC friend posted the lyrics to this Michael W. Smith song today, and I had to go find the song on youtube.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS13p_BkkRw&hl=en]

Though the video is not impressive, the song was a blessing. It reminded me of this precious hymn:

I am so glad that our Father in Heav’n
Tells of His love in the Book He has giv’n;
Wonderful things in the Bible I see,
This is the dearest, that Jesus loves me.

Refrain
I am so glad that Jesus loves me,
Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me.
I am so glad that Jesus loves me,
Jesus loves even me.

Though I forget Him, and wander away,
Still He doth love me wherever I stray;
Back to His dear loving arms I do flee,
When I remember that Jesus loves me.

Oh, if there’s only one song I can sing,
When in His beauty I see the great King,
This shall my song through eternity be,
“Oh, what a wonder that Jesus loves me!”

Jesus loves me, and I know I love Him;
Love brought Him down my poor soul to redeem;
Yes, it was love made Him die on the tree;
Oh, I am certain that Jesus loves me!

If one should ask of me, how can I tell?
Glory to Jesus, I know very well!
God’s Holy Spirit with mine doth agree,
Constantly witnessing Jesus loves me.

In this assurance I find sweetest rest,
Trusting in Jesus, I know I am blessed;
Satan, dismayed, from my soul now doth flee,
When I just tell him that Jesus loves me.