POWERFUL WORD

I have been lax in posting recently and I truly miss it. Seems the tyranny of the urgent has kept me from something I love to do....WRITE!!! Gonna have to work on that.

However, I was reading a friend's blog this morning and what he shared was SO powerful that I decided to post it. Sam Shaw, former pastor of Germantown Baptist Church and current pastor of the newly formed Orchard Fellowship wrote the following:


Did you ever wonder why things happen to you?

I’m learning that the gospel gives you glasses to help you understand.

The Apostle Paul once said… “God… set me apart from birth.” (Galatians 1:15). I believe every Christian can say that. By faith, we can often look back on our life and see God guiding, shaping, preparing.

In the Old Testament, when Joseph forgave his brothers who sold into slavery, he said, “You meant it for evil, God meant it for good.”

In other words, “I have come to see that God used the events of my life, both good and bad, to prepare me to serve people, to make me whom I am. What you did was wrong, but God was working through it.”

In other words, “the bad things that happened to me were God’s way of setting me apart.”


It was true for Paul, and Joseph – and for you!

Everything that has happened to you, even stupid things you have done – everything – is being used by God to make you able to do certain things for him.
C. S. Lewis was married to Joy Davidman. After she died, he wrote a book to help him work through his grief. In his book, A Grief Observed, Lewis wrote… “
She is in God’s hands. That gains new energy when I think of her as a sword. Perhaps the earthly life I shared with her was only part of the tempering. Perhaps he grasps the hilt, weighs the new weapon, makes lightning in the air. She is a right Jerusalem blade.”

That is what is going on in your life. God has been tempering you and sharpening you. All your life – in everything you have done, and everything that has happened to you – God is turning you into a right Jerusalem blade – something sharp, something beautiful, something great, he can use.

God’s plan for Paul, for Joseph, for C. S. Lewis – and for you – is very personal. It is to reveal Jesus to you, and then through you, so others know. That is his plan for you.

We’ll talk more about this Sunday night, August 8, at the Germantown Performing Arts Center. The Orchard Fellowship meets at 6:00pm. I hope to see you there!

(The idea behind this reflection came from a sermon in Tim Keller’s Galatians series

HOW DO YOU SMELL?

"But thanks be to God who always puts us on display in Christ, and spreads through us in every place the scent of knowing Him. For to God we are the fragrance of Christ...." II Cor. 2: 14, 15 (Holman)

Have you ever noticed that there are some people who just smell wonderful? Their cologne or perfume is just right...not overpowering or sickening, but just perfect. You long to linger in their presence because they smell so good.

Conversely, there are also those people who you wonder if they ever take a bath. You wouldn't exactly call it "fragrance"...more like stench. Or maybe they drown themselves in their perfume, thinking if a little is good, a lot would be wonderful, but alas, it is not. It is too much, too overpowering, to the point that you can't get far enough from them.

Some people also suffer from halitosis...bad breath. When they open their mouth to speak, you want to back up a few feet so as not to be seared by the aroma that proceeds from their mouth. Yet I'm sure we've all been guilty of that a few times in our life (hopefully not TOO often). Coffee breath, morning breath, garlic breath....YUK!

I do not think anyone purposely WANTS to smell bad, but many are not attentive to the fact that their "aroma" can turn people away or their "fragrance" can draw people to them.

Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says that we are to be the "fragance of Christ". What a picture that conjures up in my mind! Christ is SO sweet, so inviting, so wonderful that we WANT to be near Him. We want to linger in his presence. We want to get closer and closer to Him. So if we are to be the "fragrance of Christ", we must be just like that. Not overpowering nor a stench in the nostrils of those around us, but rather a sweet fragrance that draws others to our Savior.

In the same way, what comes out of our mouths should also be "fragrant", not vile or sharp or critical, not unkind or harsh. Maybe we need a little "Scripture Scope" to cleanse our mouths:

"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but only that which is good for edification, that you may minister grace to the hearer" Ephesians 4:29

"Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making music to the Lord in your heart, giving thanks always for everything..." Ephesians 5: 19, 20

"Heaviness in the heart of a man makes it stoop, but a good word makes it glad." Prov. 12: 25

"Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones." Prov. 16: 24

"Set a watch O Lord before my mouth, keep the door of my lips." Psalms 141: 3

Today as we prepare for our day, may we not only be mindful of our deodorent, our cologne and our mouthwash, but may we realize that we are on display as a representative of Christ and may we be a sweet fragance in the nostrils of every person we come in contact with.

GOD IS FOR ME

"This I know...GOD IS FOR ME." Psalm 56: 9b

I love the way God tucks little nuggets away in His Word for just a time when we need them. Little verses of truth that somehow we have overlooked in the past.

I have read Psalm 56 many times. In fact, some of my favorite passages are contained within it.

"What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee." Psalm 56:3 This was the first verse I ever committed to memory. I was 6 years old. It is still one of my favorites.

"You, yourself have recorded my wanderings (misery), you have put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in your records?" Psalm 56: 8 To think that God keeps my tears and records each one!!! That is too awesome for words...especially considering I cry easily.

"In God I trust, I will not fear." Psalm 56:4 Wish I could say I had mastered this one, but alas I am still working to that end.

Yes, Psalm 56 is a favorite Psalm, yet how have I missed that one little phrase:

GOD IS FOR ME.

Now most of us are familiar with the verse that says "If God be for us who can be against us". We even sang it in Sunday School as children.

But this verse grabbed me this morning.

God...the creator of the Universe, the sustainer of Life, the Great I AM, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords...is for ME!! You cannot get much more personal than that. And...that verse also applies to YOU. He is for YOU as well.

If He is for me, then that means He is NOT against me! There is a song currently playing on KLOVE and the first verse of the song says "He's not mad at you". Sometimes we feel like He is though, don't we? We feel like we've failed so often, repeated the same sins again and again or failed to learn something He has tried so desperately to teach us, that He must be so tired of us, so frustrated and we wonder why He doesn't give up on us. But...He does not. He is FOR us.

When someone is FOR you, that means they are on your side, they will stand up for you, they will stand beside you, they will plead your case, they have your back. They will not turn on you, they will not forsake you when the going gets tough, they will not get angry and walk away. They are someone you can rely on and trust. Or....that's how it SHOULD be. Yet we know that in real life that is not always the case. Sometimes the very ones we thought were FOR us, turn against us. But God is different.

When God says HE is FOR you, you can take it to the bank. He is ever faithful, ever true.

He is FOR us because He loves us. He was so FOR us, that He sent His only Son to die and pay our penalty for our sin.

So when all seems to be crashing in around you, remember GOD IS FOR YOU.

When everyone else seems to be turning away from you, GOD IS FOR YOU.

When others let you down or disappoint you, GOD IS FOR YOU.

When you seem to be all alone and no else seems to care, GOD IS FOR YOU.

When the problems seem insurmountable and you wonder how you are going to make it another day, GOD IS FOR YOU.

When you've cried so many tears, you wonder how God could have enough bottles to contain them all, GOD IS FOR YOU.

Today, take this one nugget with you through your day....

GOD IS FOR YOU!!!

NEW FAVORITE SONG

I heard this song a few Sundays ago and I think it is now in the running for my favorite song.....or at least it's running a close second to IN CHRIST ALONE!

Lord...make this the testimony of my life!

(Hope it blesses you as much as it has me. )

You awaken my heart from slumbering

Meet me in mourning, and You speak to my grief

You're the light in my darkness, the delight of my eyes

The hope of the daybreak when the sun's slow to rise

I trust that every moment's in Your hands

You're the God of my days, the King of my nights

Lord of my laughter, sovereign in sorrow

You're the Prince of my praise, the love of my life

You never leave me, You are faithful,

God of my days

You unveil my eyes, help me to see

The arms of my Father encircling me

You're a constant companion, I am never alone

Your love is the banner that's leading me home

I trust that every moment's in Your hands

You're the God of my days, the King of my nights

Lord of my laughter, sovereign in sorrow

You're the Prince of my praise, the love of my life

You never leave me, You are faithful,

God of my days

My eyes are on You,

my hope is in You

My faith is in You

My eyes are on You,

my hope is in You

My faith is in You

God of my days, the King of my nights

Lord of my laughter, sovereign in sorrow

You're the Prince of my praise, the love of my life

You never leave me, You are faithful

God of my days

God of my days

God of my days

---Gateway Worship

	Gateway Worship - God Of My Days .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

You can download this for FREE from the Gateway site:

http://beemp3.com/download.php?file=1991301&song=God+Of+My+Days

O LOVE THAT WILL NOT LET ME GO

I heard the title of this song several weeks ago and I have not been able to get that line out of my head. It's an old hymn, and one that I was not familiar with. So I finally decided to look it up. It was written by George Matheson in the 1800s. Hope it blesses you as much as it has me.

O Love that wilt not let me go,

I rest my weary soul in thee;

I give thee back the life I owe,

That in thine ocean depths its flow

May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way,

I yield my flickering torch to thee;

My heart restores its borrowed ray,

That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day

May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,

I cannot close my heart to thee;

I trace the rainbow through the rain,

And feel the promise is not vain,

That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,

I dare not ask to fly from thee;

I lay in dust life’s glory dead,

And from the ground there blossoms red

Life that shall endless be.

THROUGH THE EYES OF CREATION

My mother loves daylilies! She has hundreds of them and her yard is ablaze with color right now. I, too, enjoy them and have numerous ones that she has generously shared with me. I never see them that I do not think of her.

One of the things that she loves most about the daylily is that God creates all that beauty for us to enjoy. She often reminds people that God tells us to "consider the lily.... [for] Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like [JUST] one of these" (Matt. 6: 28, 29).

Just look at the detail on the one above. Note the ruffled edges and the shading of pale pink toward the outside edges. Oh, I wish you could see it UP CLOSE! It is SOOO beautiful!!

But....tomorrow, this beautiful bloom will be gone just like the manna God provided in the desert for the Israelites. It is only good for ONE day. He will open up some new ones tomorrow for us to enjoy and they will be stunningly beautiful too.

Reminds me of how God says that His mercies are "new every morning" (Lamentations 3: 22, 23) He provides fresh grace every day. It is also a reminder to us that we are to live moment by moment, leaning on Him. Psalms 68:19 tells us that the Lord "daily loads us with benefits". We do not have to get all we can today because there might be a shortage tomorrow. God is not going to be too busy for us tomorrow. He is not going to forget about us tomorrow. No, just like the new lily that will bloom tomorrow, God will be there once again with new mercies, new grace, new blessings and an outpouring of His precious, redeeming love.

Wow!! Isn't it amazing that one little flower could speak to us of ALL that!? No wonder it is said "

"One is nearer God's heart in a garden, than anywhere else on earth"

---Dorothy Frances Gurney

So if you are feeling distant from God today or if you have trouble really believing that He exists or that He loves you, find yourself a garden and stop and take a walk. Take time to "smell the roses", look closely at God's handiwork. James 4:8 says "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." . "From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is , His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made." (Romans 1: 20)

Yes, you will find evidence of God all around you in a garden. He will speak to you there if you will open your eyes to SEE Him and open your ears to HEAR His still small voice. I will close with the words to one of my favorite old hymns "In the Garden"....

I come to the garden alone

While the dew is still on the roses

And the voice I hear

Falling on my ear

The Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me

And He talks with me

And tells me I am His own.

And the joy we share

As we tarry there

None other has ever known.

PEACE

Study the pictures below.

Which of the pictures above would you identify with PEACE? Most of us would choose the photo on the left...the calm serenity of the placid lake as opposed to the tumultuous roar and thundering of the waterfall. Right?

Imagine with me, if you will, a robin sitting on her nest on the branch just at the edge of the waterfall, wet with the spray she was so close.

The writer of today's devotion in Streams in the Desert presented just such a picture. He stated that the first picture...the one of the lake...was stagnation, the last was REST. Thought provoking, isn't it?

He went on to say:

"Christ's life outwardly was one of the most troubled lives that ever lived; tempest and tumult, tumult and tempest, the waves breaking over it all the time until the worn body was laid in the grave. But the inner life was a sea of glass. The great calm was always there. At any moment you might have gone to Him and found rest. And even when the human bloodhounds were dogging Him through the streets of Jerusalem, He turned to His disciples and offered them, as a last legacy, "My peace" (John 14: 27).

But here is the best part of this devotion and the part that really struck me most:

Rest is not a hallowed feeling that comes over you in church. It is [are you ready for this?].....IT IS THE REPOSE OF A HEART SET DEEP IN GOD."

Now I don't know about you, but that is the rest or peace I long for. A peace that is more than just the absence of turmoil or conflict, though I LOVE that kind of peace. This rest.....this peace is everlasting, this peace is the calm in the MIDST of the storm...just like the bird near the waterfall. Oh to have peace like that!!