The pastor at the church we attended today shared this quote that I wanted to pass along…
Resentment is the poison we swallow while hoping the other person dies…”
Something to dwell on instead,
“Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” Ephesians 4: 31-32
~Words by Fanny Crosby, circa 1886
Oh, wonderful, wonderful Word of the Lord!
True wisdom its pages unfold;
And though we may read them a thousand times o’er,
They never, no never, grow old!
Each line hath a treasure, each promise a pearl,
That all if they will may secure;
And we know that when time and the world pass away,
God’s Word shall forever endure.
Oh, wonderful, wonderful Word of the Lord!
The lamp that our Father above
So kindly has lighted to teach us the way
That leads to the arms of His love!
Its warnings, its counsels, are faithful and just;
Its judgments are perfect and pure;
And we know that when time and the world pass away,
God’s Word shall forever endure.
Oh, wonderful, wonderful Word of the Lord!
Our only salvation is there;
It carries conviction down deep in the heart,
And shows us ourselves as we are.
It tells of a Savior, and points to the cross,
Where pardon we now may secure;
For we know that when time and the world pass away,
God’s Word shall forever endure.
Oh, wonderful, wonderful Word of the Lord!
The hope of our friends in the past;
Its truth, where so firmly they anchored their trust,
Through ages eternal shall last.
Oh, wonderful, wonderful Word of the Lord!
Unchanging, abiding and sure;
For we know that when time and the world pass away,
God’s Word shall forever endure.
ht: Cyberhymnal
Here are a couple of quotes I wanted to share today….
“I am not obsessed with holiness because I am holy. I love the holiness of God because it is my only hope. Without his mercy and holiness there would be no restraint to my wickedness.” R.C. Sproul
This is a quote from my archives that my pastor used in a sermon a while back. I thought it a good one to share also…
From For the Love of God by D.A. Carson;
“People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to scripture, faith and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slide toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”
I Peter 1:13-16 ~
“Preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
I Peter 2:9
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced, …”
One of the miracles that the Lord has done in my life is leading my Father and Mother out of Iran (Persia back then) to the U.S.A. This was before my Father was a believer but God’s hand was on him in a mighty way leading my Father to himself. My Mother was a believer when she married my Father. I am so thankful to God for His hand of mercy that gave my parents the desire to immigrate to the U.S. In 1963, fifteen years after immigrating to the states, my Father became a believer at the Billy Graham Crusade in Los Angeles. I am remembering and thanking God for His amazing grace in my Fathers life and the benefits of that grace to me…
Thank you Lord for all you’ve done. I will sing praises to you and rejoice. I will look to you for strength and seek your face always. I will remember the wonderful things you have done. Glory to your holy name. Amen.
To read more Thankful Thursday Posts or to participate head over to Sting My Heart…
My family is not normal. This is a good thing. Today I had brunch with my sister her 2 daughters and another sister’s daughter. We are friends. We are different from each other. We love each other. We like to get together and be together. We aren’t checking to see if we had our daily devotions today. We are loving on each other, caring for each other, accepting each other, praying for each other and waiting on God to do His sanctifying work in our lives. If we fall, we love each other and help each other get up. If we have an emotional melt down we wait for that to pass and see what God taught us through that. We don’t panic and wonder if we’ve lost our salvation. We’ve seen a lot in my family. There are plenty of people to watch after all. We trust God that He will bring us all through the ups and downs of our lives here on earth. What we do and need to do is to love each other dearly. Above all else, love each other dearly… That’s what I want to do. That’s what I want to encourage you to do.
I Peter 4:8 (ESV) ~
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
(NIV) ~
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
(NASB)
Above all keep fervent in your love for one another because love covers a multitude of sins.
The Message ~
Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything.
We’re not normal. We are certainly not perfect. But, we love each other and that covers a lot of kasha! (Russian for oatmeal, or messy issues….)
This Tuesday Sting My Heart is hosting “In Other Words”, a meme that originated on Christian Women Online. A quote is chosen by the host to consider and we are invited to write our “take” on the quote. Here is the quote that was chosen for Tuesday August 14th.
“Blessed Be Your name
When I’m found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name…”
~ Matt Redman ~
Psalm 34:19 ~
Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
Isaiah 43:1-3
But now, this is what the Lord says-
he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel;
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior….”
Isaiah 43:18-19~
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.
So God promises to bring us through the wilderness. He does not abandon us. We can cling to these next great promises for our future…
Isaiah 35: 9,10 ~
But only the redeemed will walk there,
and the ransomed of the Lord will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Romans 15: 4~
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
So I hope these verses encourage you to know that in the midst of our wilderness times, our times in the desert, and times of affliction (which are inevitable here on this earth), our hope, the promise that sustains us and lets us say “blessed be the Lord” is that Jesus has gone before us on this wilderness road and He promises because of his saving grace to bring us through our wilderness to our amazing gift in the future in heaven with Him. We have a future with Him without “sorrow and sighing.”
Romans 15:13 ~
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Blessed be His Name!
If you’d like to read more thoughts on this quote go over to Sting my Heart…
Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure” –
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
Now this is the celebration I’m really looking forward to. I don’t think anything on this earth could rival it…
Romans 12:15 (ESV)
“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”
My family has been taught by the example of our parents to always be ready to go where you are needed. My mother and father are the first ones at the hospital when someone takes ill. They are the ones that go to the house to grieve with the family members after a loved one dies. They care for the elderly (and they are elderly themselves) when they have to go into a care facility. Over the last several weeks my father and mother have visited a dying member of their church in a care facility one to two times a day. This is a sole surviving spinster with no family at all to care for her. My father will make all her funeral arrangements and make sure there’s a nice service for her. *We just got the news that this dear believer died last night and my father and mother are on their way right now to the funeral home to make the arrangements for her burial. Please pray for strength and stamina for my parents. I can’t tell you the number of funeral arrangements they have walked friends and family through. Today I am so thankful for them, their example and my youngest brother and his wife who seem to be stepping into my parents shoes with this wonderful service to people. This extends to the hurting and the rejoicing. My brother will fly to weddings, funerals, and special celebrations way more than the average Joe. I am so thankful today for the example in the flesh of those who rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep!
For more Thankful Thursday Posts head over to Sting My Heart…
Romans 12: 3-13 (ESV)
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy in proportion to our faith; if service in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
I am thankful for these and others whom God has put in my life that have used their gifts at various times and in various ways that have taught me, encouraged me, corrected me, served me, forgiven me, and blessed me. Thank you Lord for the model you have given us on how the Body of Christ can function with each one helping the other serving you to the measure of their faith. Thank you for your great mercy and love toward us…
To read more Thankful posts head on over to Sting My Heart….
Deuteronomy 6: 5-7 (ESV)
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your houses, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise”
Some very simple tips to keep God in your conversation…
~ When your kids get up in the morning thank God out loud for the new day that He has given them.
~ When you sit down to your meal thank God out loud for providing another meal for you.
~ When your kids walk out the door remind them that God goes with them and they should honor Him and shine for Him.
~ When your kids lie down to sleep tell them that you love them and that God loves them.
If you go to Rocks in My Dryer you will see many more parenting tips today!
ht: Photo from Madame Blueberry Learns to be Thankful ~ Cindy Kenney, Zonderkidz
