A Difficult Time

One year was especially difficult for us. In the spring, my husband learned that he was going to lose his job after 16 years because of reorganization. In the fall, my father passed away unexpectedly. Fifty weeks were counted off between my husband's last day with that employer and first day with the next. As hard as that year was, God saw to it that our needs were met and, more than that, that we grew in our relationships with Him and with each other.

A Difficult Time

A difficult time can be a growing time if--
If we determine to choose how we respond, according to Scripture,
To respond according to the book of instructions for
Life, living it as
The Giver of life,
Provider of the river of life,
Has instructed, to be "people of the Book" as  the saying once went.
People of the Book,
And to be so purposefully,
Worshipfully,
Humbly,
Determinedly,
Daily--
No, momentarily,
Moment by moment,
Breath by breath,
Until breath and heartbeat reach glory,
Worshiping eternally right--
Eternally, timelessly holy.

Psalm 46:1-3: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah."

James 4:13-15: "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.' Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.'"

Psalm 90:12: "So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom."

It's From The Heart

We all like to think that wickedness is external and we are victims of it. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us otherwise: "The heart is more deceitful than anything else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?" The only remedy for our wicked hearts is salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

It's From The Heart

It's from the heart all wickedness starts.
No matter how much we attempt to pretend,
Real righteousness is not the end
Most seek to acquire, for hearts
Of all are wicked and deceiving,
Especially those who think they're believing
Is all it needs to be while fruitless,
Their leafless trees stand in the sanctuary
And lifeless their worship in January
And every other calendar  month we count.
No, only lies of the heart mount.
Only when we come to God for mercy can we
Be set by grace at liberty,
Can bear fruit,
Can bring worship,
Can have our hearts cleansed and hands,
As the holiness of God demands.
No, it all starts in the heart, and with that we must honestly deal,
Before the throne humbly kneel,
For grace plead, knowing how much of that we need,
And how much more than we know we need--He is willing to grant,
Willing and gracious, and He knows
The wicked deceit which in every heart grows.

All Creation Groans

In view of the recent monster storms, Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and what they did to Texas and Florida, and several other states, countries, and territories, I was reminded that all creation groans, and has, I suspect, since Genesis 3 and the curse on creation.

Romans 8 notes: "For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subject to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself with also be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth until now" (verses 19-23; NAS).

All creation groans, yet
Through earthquakes and through volcanoes,
Through tornadoes and through hurricanes,
Through droughts, fires, and floods,
Through all natural disasters and through death.

But some day all creation will be made new: no bondage, no sin, no death--
Once He returns and makes all things new and subject gladly to His rule.

And When He Comes Again

And when He comes again,
He will make all things right
As the just Judge,
Righteous and holy--
Unlike me, unlike you.
Every eye will see His glory,
Every tongue proclaims the story,
Every tribe and nation and tongue
Represented as kingdom and King are one.
Only those whom He chose,
Before the foundation,
And regenerated
And sanctified
Anticipate His coming with joy,
Saying, Maranatha!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!