Truth for Today #3

Thursday January 20th

On Thursdays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during the week. One, two, three or maybe more. If you have a verse/verses that you read during the week and would like share, leave it/them in the comments and I will add it/them to the post. Let’s dig deep in God’s Truth this year!

I read this prayer from Alistair Begg in his new devotional called Truth for Life and wanted to share it with you. If you are looking for a good devotional to guide your reading this year I can recommend it. His prayer is an encouragement to read God’s Word, the Bible.

“Lord Jesus, help me to become a student of the Book, to no longer live with confusion or uneasiness but to be filled with Your knowledge as one who resides in Your company, that I might live and grieve with hope.”

My verses this week are from the Apostle Paul telling of his conversion story to King Agrippa.

Acts 26:15-18

And I said, ‘Who are you Lord,?’ and the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles-to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

From Vera:

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:28‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

From Leonard:

Matthew 14:27

“But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

From Patricia:

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control. Against such things is no law.

Philippians 4:4

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice.

From Karen:

Matthew 6:33

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

From Cindy:

Samuel 22:2

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer.

I Love to Sing of That Great Power ~ Hymn

I Love to Sing of that Great Power

I love to sing of that great Power
That made the earth and sea;
But better still, I love the song
Of Jesus died for me.

I love to sing of shrub and flower,
Of field and plant and tree;
But sweeter note for ever is,
That Jesus died for me.

I love to think of angels’ songs,
From sin and sorrow free;
But angels cannot strike their notes
To Jesus died for me.

I love to speak of God, of Heaven,
And all its purity;
God is my Father, Heaven my home,
For Jesus died for me.

And when I reach that happy place,
From all temptation free,
I’ll tune my ever rapturous notes
With Jesus died for me.

Words: Samuel Alman

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah ~ Hymn

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
[or Guide me, O Thou great Redeemer…]
Pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but Thou art mighty;
Hold me with Thy powerful hand.
Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven,
Feed me till I want no more;
Feed me till I want no more.

Feed me with the heavenly manna,
In this barren wilderness;
Be my sword, and shield, and banner—
Be my robe of righteousness.
Fight and conquer, fight and conquer
All my foes by sovereign grace,
All my foes by sovereign grace.*

Open now the crystal fountain,
Whence the healing stream doth flow;
Let the fire and cloudy pillar
Lead me all my journey through.
Strong deliverer, strong deliverer,
Be Thou still my strength and shield;
Be Thou still my strength and shield.

Lord, I trust Thy mighty power,
Wondrous are Thy works of old;
Thou deliver’st Thine from thralldom,
Who for naught themselves had sold:
Thou didst conquer, Thou didst conquer,
Sin, and Satan and the grave,
Sin, and Satan and the grave.

When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Death of deaths, and hell’s destruction,
Land me safe on Canaan’s side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever give to Thee;
I will ever give to Thee.

Musing on my habitation,
Musing on my heav’nly home,
Fills my soul with holy longings:
Come, my Jesus, quickly come;
Vanity is all I see;
Lord, I long to be with Thee!
Lord, I long to be with Thee!

The Birth Day of Our Emmanuel

Receive the gift of spiritual life our Emmanuel died to provide for us.

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved”

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Glory to God in the Highest

The Word Made Flesh

The Son of God in mighty love,
Came down to Bethlehem for me;
Forsook His throne of light above,
An infant on the earth to be.

In love, the Father’s sinless child,
Sojourned at Nazareth for me;
With sinners dwelt the undefiled,
The Holy One in Galilee.

Jesus, whom angel hosts adore,
Became a man of griefs for me;
In love, though rich, becoming poor,
That I through Him enriched might be.

Thou Lord of all, above, below,
He went to Olivet for me;
There drank my cup of wrath and woe,
When bleeding in Gethsemane.

The ever blessèd Son of God
Went up to Calvary for me;
There paid my debt, there bore my load,
In His own body on the tree.

Jesus, whose dwelling is the skies,
Went down into the grave for me;
There overcame my enemies,
There won the gracious victory.

In love the whole dark path He trod,
To consecrate a way for me;
Each bitter footstep marked with blood,
From Bethlehem to Calvary.

’Tis finished all; the veil is rent,
The welcome sure, the access free;
Now then we leave our banishment,
O Father, to return to Thee.

Words: Horatius Bonar, 1843.

The words on the cross say, “Glory to God in the Highest”.

Dear and I will enjoy a meal together before we head out for a candlelight service this evening at our church. Tomorrow all our kids arrive at our place for Christmas day festivities.

Happy Christmas Eve to you all.

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus ~ Hymn

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a king,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Words: Charles Wesley

Retired Benefits Hodgepodge

It’s Wednesday and time to answer the questions Jo From This Side of the Pond is asking.

1. Do you (or did you used to) watch talk shows? Which are or were your favorite?

I do not watch talk shows and haven’t for probably 40 years now. The closest thing to a talk show that I enjoy would be something like Rachel Ray or other cooking shows like that which I don’t watch now, either. I do not watch TV during the daytime hours.

2. Would you describe yourself as resilient? If so what do you think makes you that way? If you answered no explain why?

As far as my physical body is concerned I’m at an age where I don’t bounce back as easily as I once did. Mentally and practically I have gained resilience from all the life experiences I’ve been afforded along the way these 70 years. Having and raising children helps to make you resilient! Knowing you have a future Hope makes the struggles easier to walk through and recover from.

3. What parts of life have surprised you the most? Explain.

Surprised and grieved that friends who we used to walk side by side with following Jesus have walked away.

4. Why do you live where you live?

When we decided to sell our home on the Westside of the mountains in Washington State and retire we knew we couldn’t afford to live in the Seattle area. Our middle son and our daughter-in-law were well established in the northeastern part of the state with no desire to move away from that area so we knew this part of the state would be a good option for us to consider. Throw in the fact that our two grandchildren belong to this son and daughter in law and that pushed the scales for us to make the choice. Cost of living, cost of housing, country living, and family were all good things to sway our decision. Our other kids are in a position to travel easily and choose to visit frequently and that makes our decision easier to live with, too. We have been here 3 years now and we do not regret moving here. We thank God for our neck of the woods and the friends and family here. We also are so fortunate that there is a Bible teaching/preaching church that does not sway from the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we are now members of.

5. A memory from this week that made you smile?

On Saturday we celebrated the 80th birthday of our grands’ Great Granny with a surprise party. Sunflowers are a favorite of Granny so the great granddaughters wore a sunflower hairband. Addy had a sunflower dress on. JJ had a bowtie in the color scheme of a sunflower.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I’m slowly revisiting our 21 day road in order with posts on my blog of things we saw and enjoyed along the way. We left our home on September 21st and arrived home again on October 10th.

Tomorrow will continue on day two arriving in Sheridan, Wyoming.

Inside Cathedral of St. Helena

Continuing on our Land That We Love Tour here are the photos I took inside the Cathedral of St. Helena. This is a photo intensive post. Couldn’t leave out any of the photos I took. Dear and I had the cathedral to ourselves on this Tuesday afternoon.

The Cathedral of St. Helena was constructed at the turn of the century during the episcopate of Bishop John Carroll. It is an outstanding example of Geometric Gothic architecture, patterned after the Votive Church of the Sacred Heart in Vienna, Austria. Stained glass windows, white marble altars, statues carved of the purest Carrara marble, and genuine gold leaf decorates the sanctuary. The pews and woodwork are all done in hand carved oak. The magnificent lighting fixtures are of hand-forged bronze with a special lacquer finish. Outside, majestic twin spires rise 230 feet above the street.

In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Genesis 22:18

Abraham and Isaac

He is risen.

Jesus said to him: Feed my lambs, feed my sheep. John 21:15

All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth.

Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. John 3:5

To read about some of the history of St. Helena Cathedral click here.

Summertime Bible Verse Challenge

Since summertime can be a busy or less organized time of the year for some our Thursday Bible Verse Challenge will be open to any verse or verses from any Book of the Bible. As you study choose a verse or section that you’d like to share with us. Leave your verses in the comment section and I will add them below. Keep reading, keep studying, keep following Jesus and depending on the Holy Spirit to guide you and illumine the Word.

I’m just finishing up my daily reading of the Book of Romans and choosing the next Book to read for the month of July.

Romans 11:33-36 (ESV)

³³Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

³⁴“For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
³⁵“Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”

³⁶For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

From Patricia:

Joshua 1:9 Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

From Linda P:

Galatians 2. 20

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.

From Maristella:

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
James 5:16

A Real Optimistic Hodgepodge

It’s time to answer some questions again. Thank you to Joyce From This Side of the Pond!

1. Realist, idealist, optimist, pessimist…which one are you? Elaborate.

I would say I’m a combination of a realist and optimist. Because I have embraced what the Bible says about God, mankind, and salvation, I know the reality of my sinful condition and the depravity of the world we live in. Being born again I have peace with God, the Sovereign Creator, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ provided the atonement for my sins. I know that God will bring me safely home to heaven with Him and that all things will work together for His good and my sanctification.

2. What’s something currently on your wish list?

Freedom to move about the country in a carefree way.

3. Three things on this week’s shopping list?

Tissue, eggs, conditioner.

4. According to Trip Advisor here’s a list of the top ten things to do in the US this summer-

Chicago Architecture River Cruise, Skip the Line Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Tour, New York In A Day guided sightseeing tour, Charleston’s Old South Historic Horse and Carriage tour, Grand Canyon helicopter tour, Full day iconic sights of LA, Beverly Hills, Beaches and more, D.C. at Dusk guided night tour, Beneath the Streets Underground History tour (Seattle), New Orleans Swamp and Bayou Boat tour, Gangsters and Ghosts tour in Chicago…read more about each excursion in the link here.

Of the ten attractions listed which do you find most appealing?

Charleston’s Old South Historic Horse and Carriage Tour.

Have you already experienced anything on this list?

Yes. I’ve done the Architecture River Cruise, D.C. at Dusk guided night tour. I was born in East Los Angeles and raised in southern California and have been to several beaches and iconic sights of LA and Beverly Hills. We moved just north of Seattle in 1988 and have enjoyed taking many car loads of visitors to see the Seattle sights. We never went on the Underground tour, though. Oops!

5. Besides home and work where do you spend the most time?

Both Dear and I are retired so we do not leave home for a workplace. I would say time wise we regularly spend most of our time away from home at our kids’ homes or at church.