Happy Dance

 

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