Happy Dance

Proverbs 23:26 My son, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways.

I was wondering to myself, why do we sometimes pray to God for a need we have, expect an answer and then when He answers us in a way we don’t expect or even want, we then tell Him … thank you God, but actually I can handle this myself anyway .

Then we wonder why we are often striving and straining to get through some of the problems we have. I use the word we because I am sure that I am not the only one that does this, I am better than I used to be, but I still have times when I just seem to do my own thing.

There is this story I read a while back, that seems to fit how we can all be at times. Its about an old Scottish lady.

This old lady earned her living by “peddling” her wares along country roads. Each day she’d go out, and when she came to an intersection, she’d toss a stick into the air. Whichever way the stick pointed when it landed was the way she went.
One day a man saw her tossing the stick into the air once, twice, three times.
He asked, why are you throwing your stick like that? She said, “I am letting God show me which way to go by using this stick.” “But why did you throw it three times?” he inquired. She replied, “Because the first two times, He was pointing me in the wrong direction!”

When we pray, what do we do if we don’t like what God tells us. Do we pray again hoping we will get an answer that is more to our liking and something we want to hear?

If we do this, then we are still doing our own thing and have not come to that place of exchanging our will for His!

Or do we perhaps yield to His will and obey Him?

Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing”

There is no striving and straining. It’s just an outgrowth of our intimacy with Him. As life flows from the vine into the branches, so power flows from the one who dwells within us and affects every area of our lives.

Martha spent time “working for Him” but Mary spent time “listening to Him” and Jesus said, [she] hath chosen that good part” Luke 10:42

I believe that I need to spend more time listening to Him, to come out from the business of life, sit at His feet and listen to Him, to exchange my will for His totally.

As John the Baptist said…. I must decrease so that He may increase.


In His Love

Les

~~~ "" ~~~

(Deut. 32:11-12)

"As an eagle stirs up its nest, and hovers over its young; as it spreads its wings, takes them up, and bears them aloft on its pinions, the Lord alone guided him."

 

“The Eagle gently coaxed her offspring towards the edge of the nest. Her heart quivered with conflicting emotions as she felt their resistance to her persistent nudging…..why does the thrill of soaring, have to begin with the fear of falling? she thought.

 

Below, there was nothing but air to support the wings of each child, is it possible that this time it may not work and this child may fall? Despite her reservations the eagle knows when the time is right for her child to leave the nest and test their wings to learn to soar. There remains one last task for her in their upbringing….            The Push.

……………………………….........

 

Isn’t this a picture of us all as God’s children? Our God draws us to Him by His Holy Spirit and we are born again, we are babes in Christ and we now need to be raised and nurtured to grow in Him. He feeds us, teaches us, protects us, strengthening us, until one day He sees the time is right for us to learn to soar in faith with Him in the spirit. He is going to push us from our nest.

 

We all, each of us have to one day leave our comfort zone in order to grow and learn to soar in faith with Him.

 

The eagle knew that unless her children discovered their wings and learnt to soar they would never know the privilege it was to be born an eagle. The most important and loving gift she could give her children was to push them from the nest, and her faith was rewarded when they flew, her children had grown up.

 

We can get so comfortable in our nests allowing our Father to do all for us, then one day He says I want you to learn to fly, to soar like the eagle, and in His love He pushes us from the nest. He does see our fears, and He does feel our pain at the time, but in His great love for us, He does what is best for us.

 

This is the only way we can learn what a privilege it is to be born again as a child of God. To learn all He has for our lives. This happens time and time again, each time we get too comfortable in our nest He pushes us from our comfort zone. Because that is the only way we can learn to soar.

 

Have no fear at this time, have faith in Him, because He knows each of us intimately He will always do what is best for us.

 

We may find things hard during these times, and even painful, but it is a time of much growth and learning. And then one day our eyes are opened and we see and feel the joy of that soaring. Those times are so precious. And then we will mount up with wings as eagles.

 

(Isaiah 40:31)
"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run,
and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint."

 

In His Love

 

Les

Phil 2:10
“At the name of Jesus every knee should bow…and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman.
He grew up in still another village, where He worked in a carpenters shop until He was 30 years old.
For the next 3 years, He was an itinerant preacher.
He never wrote a book, He never held an office.
He never married, had a family or owned a house.
He didn’t go to university.
He never traveled more than 200 miles from the place where He was born.
He did none of the things one usually associates with greatness.

When He was 33 years old, the tide of public opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away.
He was turned over to His enemies, and went through the mockery of a trial. He was tortured and then nailed to a cross between two thieves. When He was dying, His executioners gambled for His clothing, the only property He had on earth.

When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave, through the kindness of a friend.

Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today He is the central figure of the human race, and the leader of mankind’s progress. All the armies that ever marched all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man on earth as much as this one solitary life.

This man is my Saviour, He is my Lord, He is my God.

At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!

In His Love

Les

 

My God, I came back to thank You.
I am sorry for the times I forgot.
It was not that I was not thankful you know,
but I was so lost in my selfishness, I just forgot!

I came to you for my healing, and when You healed me,
I was so excited, I was lost in the wonder of it all, I so
wanted to go back and make up for those lost times with You.
But my God I just forgot to come back and thank You properly.

Today my God, I remembered what I needed to do; I came
back to You, to say thank You.
Back to that peaceful, quiet place where You were waiting.
I came to You, holding out my heart to You, full of thankfulness to You.

You accepted my offering with pleasure and love;
You said nothing about all the times I had forgotten before.
Then my God You gave me back my heart, not empty, but overflowing with Your love to me.

And then I was healed again!

Psalm 92:1 "It is good to give thanks to the Lord, And to sing praises to Thy name,
Oh most high;"

Les

 

~ ~For my dear friend and sister in the Lord, Grasshopper~ ~

Being About the Lord's Business

Nehemiah, the good, rose up from his weeping to do something about a vision God had laid on his heart. Under divine providence, he was soon transported from Shushan to his beloved city, Jerusalem, armed with authority and equipped with materials to rebuild the ruined city. . . .

 

The first device of the "enemy," upon hearing of the undertaking, was to heap ridicule on the whole plan. Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem laughed Nehemiah and his helpers to scorn.

Undeterred, Nehemiah replied with firm assurance, "The God of heaven, he will prosper us." And the work went on according to plan.

After all other means had failed to hinder the reconstruction, the conspirators tried to arrange for a conference with Nehemiah. The man of God saw in this an evil purpose to do him mischief and divert him from his monumental work. His reply to the would-be mischief-makers is classic, and might well be adopted for the all-time stock reply to all such overtures:

"I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?" (Nehemiah 6:3).

The great task to which God had called Nehemiah was so important that every other consideration must be waived.

Would that we might have such an overpowering sense of being about our Father's business and be so impressed with the grandeur of our task that we would reject every suggestion of the evil one that would bid us take up some lesser pursuit.

Let us rout him with the words that date back to 445 B.C., and which cannot be improved upon:

"I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down."

Scripture … [ Nehemiah 6:3 ]

So I sent messengers to them with this reply: 'I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?'

Thought

When we are certain of the Lord's will we may with faith confidence pursue it despite the obstacles and opposition.

Being about His business is our business.

 In His Love

Les

A poem about the Redwoods in Muir Woods San Francisco

 

 

Here, sown by the Creator's hand, In serried ranks, the Redwoods stand; No other clime is honoured so. No other lands their glory know, The greatest of Earth's living forms, Tall conquerors that laugh at storms;  Their challenge still unanswered rings, Through fifty centuries of kings.

The nations that with them were young, Rich empires, with their forts far-flung, Lie buried now-their splendour gone; But these proud monarchs still live on, So shall they live, where ends our day, When our crude citadels decay; For brief the years allotted man, But infinite perennials span.

 That is their temple, vaulted high, And here we pause with reverent eye, With silent tongue and awe-struck soul, For here we sense life’s proper goal; To be like these, straight, true and fine, To make our world, like theirs a shrine; Sink down, Oh traveller, on your knees, God stands before you in these trees.

 

by Joseph Strauss

 

 

 

 

I had a misunderstanding with a sister in Christ a while back and it greatly upset me. I wanted to be open with her and say how I felt but I messed it up and only caused more pain for her in the situation.

 

I know I slid back to some of my old ways of dealing with things.   I  understand now why I used to stuff things deep inside of me,  they were safe there, or so I thought so,  the only person that was ever hurt then was myself.

The sins we see easiest in others, we learned first in ourselves,  we know their behaviour and their signs from the inside. Though they may deny the personal fault, we see ourselves in them and in the things they do.

I see,  that the wrong was not so much in her and what she did, but it was in me and the way I allowed it to affect myself.  It was in my neglectful and selfish way that I chose to deal with her and the situation.

I caused hurt by doing this and I learnt many lessons.  My God has shown me a better way of dealing with these situations and that is one that is loving and healing.   And also a way that shows direction and discipline for all of those involved.   It is so easy to allow ourselves to slip back into old ways, this is a new and living way now, walking in the spirit not of the flesh.

 

I know to put things back together again I need to bring forgiveness and love, and allow the Lord to heal all involved.

It is so true that when you hurt someone, you can be forgiven, but the consequences can be hard to fix....... we just cannot erase things as if they had never happened. But we can all learn and grow through these times and be stronger for it.

Thank You Lord for Your example of healing, love and forgivness.

In His Love

Les

 

The Master was searching for a vessel to use;
On the shelf there were many which one would He choose?

"Take me, cried the gold one I'm shiny and bright,
I'm of great value and I do things just right.

My beauty and luster will outshine the rest
And for someone like you, Master, gold would be the best!"

The Master passed on with no word at all;
He looked at a silver urn, narrow and tall;

"I'll serve you, dear Master, I'll pour out your wine
And I'll be at your table whenever you dine,

My lines are so graceful, my carvings so true,
And my silver will always compliment you."

Unheeding the Master passed on to the brass,
It was wide mouthed and shallow, and polished like glass.

"Here! Here!" cried the vessel, I know I will do.
Place me on your table for all men to view."

"Look at me", called the goblet of crystal so clear.
"My transparency shows my contents so dear,

Though fragile am I,I will serve you with pride,
And I'm sure I'll be happy in your home to abide."

The Master came next to a vessel of wood,
Polished and carved, it solidly stood.

"You may use me, dear Master", the wooden bowl said.
"But I'd rather you used me for fruit, not for bread!"

Then the Master looked down and saw a vessel of clay,
Empty and broken it helplessly lay.

No hope had the vessel that the master might choose,
To cleanse and make whole, to fill and to use.

Ah! This is the vessel I've been hoping to find,
I will mend and use it and make it all mine.

I need not the vessel with pride of itself;
Nor the one who is narrow to sit on the shelf;

Nor the one who is big mouthed and shallow and loud;
Nor one who displays his contents so proud;

Nor the one who thinks he can do all things just right;
But this plain earthy vessel filled with my power and might

Then gently He lifted the vessel of clay.
Mended and cleansed it and filled it that day.

Spoke to it kindly "There's work you must do.
Just pour out to others as I pour into you."

Author Unknown

When a flock of Canadian geese fly north at the changing of the seasons and one gets sick or wounded or shot down, it never falls to the ground alone. Two others always accompany it. Usually one is its partner, because geese are extremely loyal and they mate for life.

Once they are on the ground, the healthy birds will care for the ailing one, even to the point of throwing themselves between it and any threat.

They will stay there with it, until it either dies or is well enough to fly again. Only then will they launch out on their own; and even then they’ll wait for another group of geese to fly overhead and join them, adding to the safety and flying efficiency of their numbers.

What a picture this is! That’s how God meant for Christians to live, that’s how the New Testament Christians lived. New Testament Christians didn’t even claim ownership of their own possessions. I doubt that anyone said ‘That’s mine you can’t have it.’ They shared everything. [ Acts 4:32] All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.

What an awesome way to live! I am going to try harder to not get so busy pursuing my own life that I forget to share .. And to care .. And to at times just be there, for those that need me.

I remember those words in Scripture when Jesus said…. “Whatever you did for one of the least of these my brethren, you did for Me… Matt 25:40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!

Makes me stop and think and to take some time to notice others needs around me… I need to look at them and see Jesus.

In His Love

Les

We went to a dinner the other night and there were many people there from our church homegroup.      It is interesting at times just to sit and listen to the conversation. There were some that were talking about their sinful past, almost in a sort of bragging way, and then there were some that were talking as if they never had a sinful past at all.

I sort of can identify with both groups in a way, because I have been guilty at times of talking about my past as if it is something to be proud of or at the least amusing at times. I can remember at times sitting there thinking I am so thankful I am not as bad or sinful as that person speaking is, what a joke!

The truth is that we have an old nature and it will act up if we let it.

The tremors after an earthquake are called ‘aftershocks.’ The same is true spiritually, even after we make that decision to follow Christ we will still have those tremors [aftershocks] of fear, lust, pride, and temptation.

I have been through some of these just lately and I knew that I could either accept them or I could just send them where they should go, they will, and do pass if we stand up to them in the name of Jesus.

Today I verbalized that in God’s strength I will stand until the shaking quits…. Until the thunder stops rolling…. Until the midnight turns to the dawn… Until I feel that peace again…. Until the wave of loneliness passes…. Until I see my physical healing…. Until the struggle is over!

Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me” [Phil 4:13] that word strengthens is a continual verb. He does not just strengthen me once; He does it repeatedly. He does it every time I face a difficult challenge, or when a memory comes back to try and haunt me, or when I face a really hard choice, or when I have those moments of self pity over maybe some things I didn’t get.

Some days I need a little more strength than other days, but every time I receive that strength it is because I have run to ‘El-Shaddai - the nurturing, protecting One,’ and He is, and will always be there for me.

In His love

Les