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Welcome to my blog! I hope to be a resource to help you in your walk with God. Now more than ever we need to get back to the basic fundamentals of moral living and take a stand for what is right and truthful with God as our ultimate authority. His Word is reliable and preserved and can be trusted, so that is the basis for my advice and teaching. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or topics you would like me to cover. I look forward to sharing what God has placed on my heart. See my website at https://www.lovinggodministry.com/ for books and music I have written that will enrich your life!

Ezekiel 22:30: "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none." Let's stand in the gap together!

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Lazy, hazy summer days

How is your summer going? Have you been able to enjoy any lazy, hazy summer days? I remember as a child I used to take summer walks, and would feel so hot and sweaty as I was approaching the final hill to get to my house. I fantasized about an air-conditioned lift (like a ski lift, only with glass around it and a table with a glass pitcher with red fruit juice in it, and a glass with ice so I could drink to my little heart's content) that would take me the rest of the way home.

I love going for walks and seeing everyone's beautiful flowers and landscaping. Today my family and I took a walk, and the air was so clear making visibility very good as we looked off to a distance while up on a tall hill. It was good exercise, which is something we all have needed with so many festivities lately.

It caused me to reflect upon the things that are good in life. Even when life is in turmoil, aren't you so glad that you can still enjoy a sunset? Aren't you glad that you can go to the ocean and watch the steady waves crashing along the seashore? Aren't you glad that the moon and the stars shine brightly and faithfully and even at times cast shadows? I saw today the reflection of the grass on the sidewalk. Someone did a superb job edging along his sidewalk, and the thick grass cast a beautiful shadow where you could appreciate every blade of grass along the edge. We observed someone having a neighborhood children's party (or birthday party), and enjoyed the laughter of the kids in the inflatable water slide as we walked by. So many wonderful things that caused me to stop and appreciate the very good things in life. I praise the Lord for this perspective of all the joys around me.

Our pastor mentioned in his sermon today a story of a man who thought his plane was going to crash. He prayed for the Lord to take good care of his family. The plane ended up landing safely, but he reflected on his feelings in the face of death, and realized he didn't pray for his clients or business. He thought about his family. Treasure your family today, give your kids a hug, and thank God for the beauty in the midst of a crazy world around us!

It makes me think of the hymn "For the Beauty of the Earth" by Folliott S. Pierpoint. Below are some of the stanzas to the song that I find very beautiful.
Original text of 1864:
For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the Love which from our birth
Over and around us lies:
Christ, our God, to Thee we raise
This our Sacrifice of Praise.
For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon and stars of light:
Christ, our God, to Thee we raise
This our Sacrifice of Praise.
For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and brain's delight,
For the mystic harmony
Sinking sense to sound and sight:
Christ, our God, to Thee we raise
This our Sacrifice of Praise.
For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friends above;
For all gentle thoughts and mild:
Christ, our God, to Thee we raise
This our Sacrifice of Praise.
For each perfect Gift of Thine
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and Divine,
Flowers of earth, and buds of Heaven:
Christ, our God, to Thee we raise
This our Sacrifice of Praise.

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for that amazing story about God paying attention to the little people on this little planet in such a vast universe and really becoming the bumper sticker "God is my co-pilot". I have been praying every day for God to cure my cancer and a I hope I can get his attention just like those people. Keep the faith!

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    1. I am very sorry for your situation. It truly is amazing that God pays any attention to us. Psalm 8:4-6: "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:" We are not worthy of His grace, but He loves us. 1 Peter 5:7: "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." He doesn't always take disease and turmoil away, but he wants us to be content in our situations. Hebrews 13:5: "Let your conversation [or, walk of life] be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." I am not sure if a cure for your cancer will come, but you can know that if you place your faith in Jesus Christ, your eternal destination will be secure, and He will go THROUGH the trial with you, but won't necessarily make it go away. But know that if it is His will that you go through it, then there is a purpose in it. Romans 8:28: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

      If you don't know Jesus as your personal Savior, please let me know and I can show you how you can have 100% assurance of eternal life. This life is a culture of death and disease because of our sin. That is unfortunately why bad things happen to good people, and there is a lack of justice and perfection in this world. But there is hope beyond the grave, and you can have that hope. Titus 1:2: "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began." That promise is for you. YOU matter to God, and the pain and sorrow you are going through matters to Him, of this you can be sure. Find God through this, rather than reject Him. That is a very lonely place to be.

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  2. I know Jesus is my personal savior, just can't get him to answer the phone. I just keep getting a busy signal. He seems to have time to save all of these other people but not me. Must be hard to get through all of the silly requests like Please Let My Parents Give Me a Puppy.

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    1. I hear your pain. God is not limited like we are, because He is not human. He is not bound to time or place. Working as a nurse in the ICU, I have seen miracles, but I have also seen people pass away. There is no way we can possibly know the mind of God, because "my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD" (Isaiah 55:8). That can be hard for us to accept, because we like to know why, we like to know when, but these things are not always given to us. Not yet, anyway.

      Trials are not necessarily from our sin, because the Bible speaks of a man born blind, and while people judged and wondered if it was his sin or the sin of his parents why he was born blind, Jesus said, "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him" (John 9:3). God has a very special purpose in your suffering. Have you thought about what that might be? Why would God allow you to suffer? Could it be to draw you closely to His loving arms, or to draw someone you love and care about closer to Him? I don't know the answer to that, but I wonder if you do if you stop and meditate on that.

      One word of caution I will extend to you is that sin in your heart can affect your prayer life. Isaiah 59:1-4 says, "Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity." In the New Testament, it says, "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered." A man mistreating his wife can cause his prayers to be hindered. Please take a close look inside and see if there is any sin in your heart that you can confess, and pray to God, acknowledge your sin, and repent of it. You may need to do business with God to renew that relationship before He will hear you. If it seems like He is not answering the phone, as you put it, perhaps He truly is not. The prayer of repentance, however, coming to Him not with pride and arrogance but a humble, sweet spirit before Him, showing Him respect and awe that He deserves as the God of the entire universe, that prayer, my friend, will always be heard. Take care of the cancer of sin in your heart, and there will be healing in you. Will the physical cancer be healed? Only God knows. I will pray that He does as well.

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