Remembering

Today marks the anniversary of  a day of tears for me.  A source of daily love, friendship, and help  that I'd had for many years was taken to do those very things somewhere else.  I had come to rely on those things, a result of many years of hard work.  I believed I had earned them...  Not so.

My devotional that day spoke of the cutting down of one of the great cedars of Lebanon; a tree that had been a source of beauty, shade and repose for many. Then in a matter of hours, the steady work of an axe took the tree, leaving but a stump.

But the story doesn't end there.  That great tree was taken to another place, where it underwent preparation and eventually became a glorious polished beam in the temple of God.

Now, I just need to wait and trust God to show how the loss of that tree is going to benefit the remaining trees in the forest...

TV~
Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."  [John 13:7]

A Simple Formula for Marriage

Please pardon my oversimplification of a complicated relationship, however....

If he does this: "Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself;"

and she does this:  "and the wife see that she reverence her husband," (Ephesians 5:33)

it can save a marriage.

TV~
Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
[Philippians 2:3]

God as the Gatekeeper

"No matter what the source of the evil, if you are in God and surrounded by Him as by an atmosphere, all evil has to pass through Him before it comes to you.  Therefore you can thank God for everything that comes, not for the sin of it, but for what God will bring out of it and through it." ~Streams in the Desert

I often pray for a hedge of protection to be around myself and those I love.  This idea of a hedge of protection comes from the book of Job.  Satan complains to God that He is putting a hedge around Job and his household and all that he owned.  It was only after God gave permission, that Satan was able to afflict Job.  The evil had to pass through God before it got to Job, and God ultimately used it for good as Job continued to trust God in the most devastating of circumstances.

TV~
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. [Romans 8:28]

Do You Believe in ______?

When we hear that question, the blank usually is filled in with "Santa Claus" or "God" or "ghosts," etc.   My question for you is this:  Do you believe in the devil, a.k.a. Satan? 

The Bible believes in Satan. 

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.  (I Peter 5:8)

Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.  (II Corinthians 2:11)

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

TV~
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. [John 10:10]

Healing Waters

"He who would be a helper must first be a sufferer."  ~Streams in the Desert

Are you suffering today?  That difficult path that you are being called to walk is the very path that God will use to refine you, make you stronger, and allow you to help someone else in the future.  What beautiful relief it is to have a fellow believer come alongside of us when we are in the midst of a difficult trial.  When that same person can truly understand our pain because of having walked a similar path, it can feel like healing waters are pouring into our open wound.

TV~
And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. [Luke 10:34]

A Reason to Pray

Jesus reminded his disciples that he chose them for two reasons:

1.  That they might go and bear lasting fruit
2.  That whatever they asked for in the name of the Father might be granted

So, one of the two reasons that Jesus chose his disciples was to grant their prayer requests!

TV~
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. [Hebrews 4:16]

The Lizard

Last night, I saw a one-man dramatic production of C.S. Lewis' novella, The Great Divorce.  It is about a man who takes a bus trip from hell to heaven.  The "ghosts" from hell each are being given an opportunity to give up their personal vice in order to walk the path to heaven.  One by one, they decline the offer. 

Finally, there is one man, with a talking lizard on his back that whispers in his ear like a friend.  The man is reluctant to give up this lizard of lust because it will be so painful for the angel to remove it.  However, he relents and when the lizard is removed it morphs into a powerful, beautiful stallion that the man then mounts and rides strongly away towards heaven. 

Do you have a vice, a lust, that is clinging to you, that seems like an old friend, that you think you would miss if it were taken from you?  This very thing could be prohibiting progress towards a strong and victorious "ride" towards heaven.  Give it to God.  Submit to its removal and see what happens as a result.

TV~
For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. [Galatians 5:17]