Thou hast made

...summer.

Psalm 74:17

Applause

So little reconciled

We are so little reconciled to time that we are even astonished at it. “How he’s grown!” we exclaim, “How time flies!” as though the universal form of our experience were again and again a novelty. It is as strange as if a fish were repeatedly surprised at the wetness of water. And that would be strange indeed; unless of course the fish were destined to become, one day, a land animal.

~ C.S. Lewis

What profit has the worker from that in which he labors?  I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.  I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.

I know that whatever God does, 

      It shall be forever.
      Nothing can be added to it,
      And nothing taken from it.
      God does it, that men should fear before Him.
      That which is has already been,
      And what is to be has already been;
      And God requires an account of what is past.

Moreover I saw under the sun:

      In the place of judgment,
      Wickedness was there;
      And in the place of righteousness,
      Iniquity was there.

I said in my heart,

      “God shall judge the righteous and the wicked,
      For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”

~ Ecclesiastes 3:9-17

It's a matter of

priorities.

What's the first thing you do when you get out of bed?

Behind a Frowning Providence...

by William Cowper
(Click on link to read the poem on The Three R's Blog.)

He shall come down

like rain.

(Psalm 72)

Rain on grass.

(Psalm 90)

And in rain?

In the rain of uncertainty

and people

that don't make sense?

He grows me.

I bloom,

flourish.

(Psalm 92)

So bring on the rain.

how 'bout

thith bear?

that girl...

them eyes.

more from Alcorn

When Paul was taken in chains from his filthy Roman dungeon and beheaded at the order of the opulent madman Nero, two representatives of humanity faced off, one of the best and one of the worst.  One lived for prosperity on earth, the other didn’t.  One now lives in prosperity in heaven, the other doesn’t.  We remember both men for what they truly were, which is why we name our sons Paul and our dogs Nero.

Why does God make many of us rich?  We don’t have to wonder, because Scripture directly answers the question: “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God” (2 Corinthians 9:11, italics mine).  God entrust riches to us not so we can keep them, but so that we can generously give.   Paul made this same point earlier:  "Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality.  At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need.  Then there will be equality" (2 Corinthians 8:13-14).  This passage argues against the notion that we who have more than enough should store up as much as possible for the future, so we’ll never have to rely on the gifts of others.  That may fit our individualistic spirit of American pride, but it doesn’t fit the teaching of Scripture.

  

Material blessings and restored families are definitely worth being thankful for.  The brother in China would be grateful to have them again; indeed, he gives heartfelt thanks each day for the little he does have.  And while the American brother is certainly right to give thanks, he and the rest of us must be careful to sort out how much of what he has experienced is part of the gospel and how much is not.  For any gospel that is more true in America than in China is not the true gospel.

We miss something in missionary martyr Jim Elliot’s famous words, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”  We focus on his willingness to sacrifice and serve, but we neglect his passion for personal gain.  Reread his ords and you’ll see that Jim Elliot was a profit seeker!  What seperated him from the common Christian wasn’t that he didn’t want treasure, but that he wanted true and lasting treasure.  He wasn’t satisfied with treasure that would be lost, only treasure that would last.

Whatever good thing you do for Him, if done according to the Word, is laid up for you as treasure in chests and coffers, to be brought out to be rewarded before both men and angels, to your eternal comfort.  John Bunyan

What we do with our money doesn’t simply indicate where our heart is.  According to Jesus, it determines where our heart goes …If I want my heart to be in one particular place and not in another , then I need to put my  money in that place and not in the other.  I’ve heard people say, “I want more of a heart for missions.”  I always respond, “Jesus tells you exactly how to get it.  Put your money in missions, and your heart will follow.”

     As believers in Christ, our theology gives us perspective.   It tells us that this life is the preface – not the book.  It’s the preliminaries – not the main event.  It’s the tune-up – not the concert.

     When you’re on a long airplane flight, you naturally talk to people, socialize, eat, read, pray, sleep, or maybe talk about where you’re going.  But what would you think if a passenger by the window seat started hanging curtains over the window, taped photographs to the seat in front of him, painted murals, and put up wall hangings?  You’d think, Hey, it’s not that long of a trip.  Once we get to the destination, none of this will matter.  Even a long plane flight is short compared to the span of your entire life.

my cup runneth over

            Wilma gave me the mug – Wilma, who wastes no time on the weather.  She hops into the passenger’s seat and says, “We don’t have a long drive…what do you need to talk about, girl?”  And we’re off.

            Later, the mug.  Sage green and embellished with a bird, and the Word: “Be still, and know that I am God” Psalm 46.10.  She doesn’t know it, but habit finds me here each morning, with tea – in her mug – and my Bible.  Tea…with milk and honey.

            Then yesterday and the mug slid from my fingers and fell on a piece of stoneware in the sink.  I almost threw it out – I have little room for dishes deficient, little patience for things flawed.  But here I sit, with my chipped cup and tea seeping from the crack onto the saucer, longing inside for the peace outside my window – the birds singing and the sun slipping over the horizon.  And I am thinking about the Potter and vessels and cups running over.

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away…But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.  Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.  Isaiah 64:6, 8-9.




Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”  But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.  II Timothy 2:19-21

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed – always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus might also be made manifest in our body… For which cause we faint not; even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporary; but the things which are not seen are eternal.  II Corinthians 4:6-10; 16-18.

Just yesterday I was on my knees crying to the Potter, that I am unfit and He is unfair, wondering if I am a vessel useful for the Master at all.  This morning, I thank Him that He is patient with dishes deficient and with me, flawed.  Awed that He sanctifies me, fills me with this treasure: the knowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

Broken, yet running over.

When Mayah Came

Mayah  (Hebrew) "Close to God"

Distance adds intrigue.

Motherhood as a Mission Field

(a post addressed to mothers but applicable to all)

Click on the title to read the post in its entirety.

Three More

from Alcorn's book:



During the days of the Iron Curtain, a persecuted Romanian pastor told a group of us, "In my experience, 95 percent of the believers who face the test of persecution pass it, while 95 percent who face the test of prosperity fail it."






We always pay dearly for chasing after what is cheap.  Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn






Religion begat prosperity and the daughter devoured the mother.  Cotton Mather

3:01 p.m. - washin' the truck

Quotable

~ I'm busy reading these days.  All quotations taken from

Randy Alcorn's Money, Possessions, and Eternity, chapters 1-5.

16 chapters left to read!

He who has God and everything has no more than he who has God alone.
C.S. Lewis





I hate to live with that nagging feeling deep inside that when Jesus called people to follow him he had more in mind that I am experiencing.






That's why the central focus of this book is not insurance as much as assurance, not securities but security, not trusts but trust, not principal but principles, not real estate but our real estate.




Ultimately, every form of asceticism is selective and arbitrary...if material things are truly bad, we would have to eat, drink, and wear nothing to avoid being tainted  Because the body itself is material, both masochism and suicide are logical conclusions of pure asceticism...





Poverty also hath its temptations...For even the poor may be undone by the love of that wealth and plenty which they never get; and they may perish for over-loving the world, that never yet prospered in the world. Richard Baxter




God created us to love people and use things, but materialists love things and use people...Materialism results from a failure to realize that we were made for only one Person and one Place.




We must understand that materialism is not simply wrong.  It is stupid.




When of the wealthiest men in history, John D. Rockefeller, died, his accountant was asked, "How much did John D. Leave?"
The accountant's reply was classic: "He left all of it."





Whenever true Christianity spreads, it must cause diligence and frugality, which in the natural course of things, must beget riches!  And riches naturally beget pride, love of the world, and every tempter that is destructive of Christianity.  Now if there be no way to prevent this, Christianity is inconsistent with itself, and of consequence, cannot stand, cannot continue long among any people; since, wherever it generally prevails, it saps its own foundation.  John Wesley





The New Testament tells us that "greed...is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5).  Idolatry is worshiping and serving anything other than the one true God...For the bride of Christ, idolatry is the same as adultery ~ a wanton betrayal of a husband who loves us enough to die for us.  





A strange species we are.  We can stand anything God and nature can throw at us save only plenty.  If I wanted to destroy a nation, I would give it too much, and I would have it on its knees, miserable greedy, sick.  John Steinbeck




Materialism is the mother of anxiety.

Hail

“Hurry, Will!  Cover that row!” I scatter bean seeds at my feet.  My son scurries after me, lugging a bucket of compost.

“Mom, those clouds look like a rough ocean.” He pauses, chin uplifted, fist poised over furrow.  I glance up.

“They do.”  I scan the sky. Then, “Will, go to the house.  Grab those toys on your way.  I’ll be in as soon as I finish.”  Will drops his pail and scampers past me.  Overhead, the clouds writhe in expectancy.  Then they roar.

“That a train?” my husband hesitates on his way to the chicken coop, head cocked, buckets of water in hand.  Then, suddenly, a soft thud.  I look up from the row near which I’m stooped and stare at the icy sphere that so abruptly came to rest in the hard dirt.  My husband’s voice rouses me.

“Sarah, to the house!  To the house!”  I look up at him.

“My seeds…”

“Go!  Now!”  And so I run. I run to the beat of the hailstones that plummet the tin roofs of the coop, the barn, the house.  I run, hand over my head, icy pellets tapping at my feet.

Once inside, I am drawn to the window.  I cannot help but gaze at the ice that falls from the leaden sky.  Ten-month old Nathan, startled by the drumming on the roof, clutches my shirt.

“Oh, B.J., the goats!”

“I know, Hon.  I didn’t have time to open the barn door.”  My husband comes to stand beside me, and together we watch the goats’ frantic attempts to dodge the hailstones that pelt them.  And as I watch I think about God giving the land of Egypt hail for rain.  And I remember that only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail (Exodus 9:26).  I think about the video I saw just days before on which the woman’s demands, “How can you believe in a God who sends bad things to good people?!” and the man’s reply, “He’s not the one that knocks me down.  He’s the one that’s always there to help me when I fall.”  And I think again, no...no.  My God is the One who’s word the stormy wind fulfills (Psalm 148:8).  The One who reserves hail for the time of trouble and the day of battle and war (Job 38:23).  The One who smites with blasting and with hail to cause me to turn and to run to Him (Haggai 2:17).  And “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him (Job 13:15).  “In the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion” (Psalm 27:5). 

Our nanny, trembling, sidles up to the lone tree in the pasture, head down.  And I think about the Scapegoat who bore the battering of the hailstones of God’s eternal wrath that were due silly, selfish, sinful me.

Though hailstones will still hit me in this life, I know that they are sent to but drive me Home.  And when I’m there, safe in the glory that is Father’s House, these former things…they will not be remembered, nor come into mind (Isaiah 65:17).

Lullaby

Jesus, King of angels, Heaven's Light,
Shine Your face upon this house tonight.
Let no evil come into my dreams;
Light of Heaven, keep me in Your peace.

Remind me how You made dark spirits flee,

And spoke Your power to the raging sea.
And spoke Your mercy to a sinful man;
Remind me, Jesus, this is what I am.

The universe is vast beyond the stars,
But You are mindful when a sparrow falls,

And mindful of the anxious thoughts

That find me, surround me, and bind me . . . .

With all my heart I love You, Sovereign Lord.
Tomorrow, let me love You even more.
And rise to speak the goodness of Your name

Until I close my eyes and sleep again.

The universe is vast beyond the stars,
But You are mindful when a sparrow falls,

And mindful of the anxious thoughts

That find me, surround me, and bind me . . . .

Jesus, King of angels, heaven's light,
Hold my hand and keep me through this night. 

Every living thing that moveth...

...shall be meat for you.

Genesis 9:3

G is for...

Gamin

Giddy

Graduate

Gem

Grandma

Giggle

Gateway

Gadabout

Garner

Grow

Gaze

Garnish

Grin

Get-a-way