In the Darkness

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

~Prov 29:18

Back when we camped in a tent we always tried to remind everyone, the children and ourselves, to go to the bathroom before dark. There would be no street lights, no lights or lanterns hanging in campsites along the way, no way to see the path through the dark trees. In the middle of the night, there would only be darkness, the darkness that hid tree stumps, snakes, spider webs, and skunks. A thick darkness that closed in around us and chased us up the path to the bathhouse. Inevitably someone would need to go potty in the night.  And if one has to go everyone needs to go. Pity the camper whose flashlight batteries were low or gone.

I find traveling through life is a lot like a dark night in search of the path to the potty. It often feels like the walls of the world are closing in. There are wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, hurricanes, and wildfires. I feel like I'm stumbling in the darkness trying to find the path through life. 

There is a way to find my way. One of my favorite verses to remind me that God knows how to shine his light and show me the path is found in Psalms.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

 ~Psalms 119:105 

So now the question is "What is God's vision for me and for his people?

How do we get there? 

What part do I play personally in his vision? 

I'm reminded that when God told Abram to go into a land that he would show him, Abram got up, took his wife and his belongings and went (Genesis 12:1-5.) He didn't make excuses that he had never been there before or he was afraid of the people or that he didn't want to leave his home and family there in Ur. He just went, one step at a time, one day at a time, trusting God to show him the way. 

Abram didn't have the word of God as we do. He had to be a good listener and actually, so do we. What did the verse say? "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." God is not going to speak from the clouds to give us direction. He has already spoken in his word. If we God's people do not read, study, meditate, memorize, put into action the things God has told us we stand in danger of being harmed in the darkness of this world. Read that first verse from Proverbs again. " Where there is no vision the people perish." So what do we do? The rest of the verse says, he that keeps the law is happy (my paraphrase). How will we keep it if we don't know it? How will we know it if we don't read it. 

Pray for God's vision for his work in our day because he has put us here for a reason.

May I offer a challenge? Read one chapter each day, Monday-Friday. Keep a journal about what the Lord is showing you in each chapter. On Saturday review what you've read and what you've written. On Sunday attend your house of worship and see how God speaks to you through the services in congruence with what you've studied. Follow God's lead as Abram did, one step, one day at a time. 

Heavenly Father, direct our steps in this dark world. Show us our purpose. Give us a vision for your work. In Jesus name. Amen.

Hey Kids: 

Have you thought about the fact that Jesus has put you here in this time and this place for his purposes. He has a reason you were born into your family, your country, your region. What talents has he given you? What direction might he be pointing you? 

This week I challenge you  to find a quiet place to read God's word. Memorize a favorite verse. Ask God his plan for you each day and then follow just as Abram did. 

  

 

Using God's Talents

 

He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. ~Matthew 25:22 KJV

A little girl loved to draw, color, and paint like other children her age, but unlike other children, she didn't outgrow her love of art. She outlined her pictures in the coloring book and carefully filled them in. She fancy cut pictures of the circus from a magazine and pasted them around the baseboard of her bedroom. The Christmas she was six years old, "Santa" brought her an easel with paint tubs, brushes, and paper. Surely by the time she was eight, she would outgrow this fascination with art. She didn't. 

Her parents had little money so getting art supplies were limited. Using the tempera paints she was able to get at the five and dime she painted a lady in a long pink gown and a castle. Her teacher seemed more impressed than her parents but she was encouraged. The tempera flaked off the more it aged but that didn't stop the girl from drawing and painting. She took art classes in junior high and high school. Sometimes she won awards. Sometimes she got discouraged but she kept trying and improving. Finally, she got oil paints and canvas. She painted a sunset for her aunt and the South Toe River for her Grandmother a place where she and her family camped. But life got in the way.

She had also written poetry from time to time. Sometimes while raising children it's easier to write rather than drag out paints. With pencil in hand, she drew and wrote a piece of poetry here and there and read Robert Frost to the children. 

She realized the Lord had given her these talents and though they were not where she wanted them to be, she was improving. I'm not where God wants me to be as a Christian but He keeps working on me and I hope I keep improving. 

Today

This morning, a pair of hungry house finches 

Searched the wreath on the door.

At noon, a wren sang a song from the dogwood tree.

Three herons flew in form, white against the evening sky.

What did I do today?

Was I hungry for God’s Word this morning?

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

~Matt5:6 KJV

Did I search for the Truth I needed to hear?

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. ~John 8:32 KJV

At noon, did I sing a song of rejoicing?

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. ~Psalms 100:1 KJV

Did I work in unity with the brethren?

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. ~John 17:21 KJV

What did I do today?

Heavenly Father, help me not to get discouraged when I don't see the rewards of my labors as fast as I'd like. Help me know the timing is in your hands and you expect me to keep on working for your glory. In Jesus's name. Amen.

Hey Kids:

What talents has the Lord given you?

 Can you sing?

 Are you an athlete? 

Can you draw and paint? 

Do you like writing? 

Often our talents lie in what we enjoy doing. The Lord expects us to keep on working and improving our talents though we may not see what good it is doing right away. God has a plan for each of us. 

Blessings,

Gail

One Person Under God

 

For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?

 And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons; Deuteronomy 4;7-9

We've all recited the Pledge of Allegiance and we are often reminded of the words "one nation, under God" but have we considered that you and I are one person under God? We want our nation to recognize God, but are we recognizing Him in our daily lives? 

In Deuteronomy 4,5 Moses is recounting how God gave the children of Israel the Ten Commandments. He is reminding them of how they promised God to obey His laws. The Israelites had heard the voice of God, the thundering and lightning, the smoke on the mountain. They were afraid, so God had Moses go up on the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments. When Moses left, the people forgot their promise. By the time Moses came down in just forty short days, they were worshipping a golden calf! They had completely lost their fear of God. 

Where are we today? Are we not a nation so great with God so nigh in all the things we call upon Him for? Are not our statutes and judgments and laws righteously based on God's Ten Commandments? Have we failed to take heed? Have we forgotten all the things we have seen that God has brought us through? Have we failed to teach our children and our grandchildren? 

I won't be so pessimistic as to think there is no hope. I refuse to believe that we can no longer be "one nation under God". Moses led the people of Israel — one man under God. Beginning with the Mayflower Compact, it is He that hath made us and not we ourselves.  William Brewster drew up the Mayflower Compact — one man under God. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote for the abolition of slavery  — one woman under God. Are we not each one person — man or woman — under God who can be leaders in our homes, in our churches, in our communities, and in our nation? These and so many others have taken it upon themselves to be that one person, to make that difference, to lead their nation to be united, one nation under God. 

O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! Deuteronomy 5:29

May each of us be that one person under God's direction to change the direction of our homes, churches, communities, and nation so that God will bless America.

Blessings,

Gail

Hey Kids:

You may be the only person in your classroom this year who parents' and church has taught them about the Lord. How can you be that one person under God to make a difference in your class? 

Here are a few ideas.

• Sit with someone at lunch or recess who seems alone.
• Share a pencil or crayon with someone who doesn't have their materials.
• Give a smile and a greeting to new children.

Above all, Be Kind.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. ~Ephesians 4:32

Mercy Drops

Those who dwell under his shadow shall return;

They shall be revived like grain,

And grow like a vine.

Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

~Hosea 14:7 (NKJV)

There's a storm brewing over on the mountain. The billowy clouds rise above the haze. The thunder rolls like distant cannon fire, ever increasing in intensity as the battle draws closer. As of yet, there is no sight of lightning, only heat and humidity and the silence of waiting. No stirring breeze. Then the wrens begin to fuss and the robins chirp and the crows call alarming the trees to the impending weather war. Do they feel their lives are endangered?

 As the storm draws near, it broadens its spectrum, rolling from one valley to the next. Down the hillside and up the other. How long before I must retreat inside to safety? Away from lightning bolts and pelting rain, swaying trees? Aww, it's just a summer storm they say. It will pass. But what will lie in its path? Will there be trees down, houses crushed, fires? Or simply the passing of another summer storm?

As I survey the skies of my younger days, I see political storms that came and went, leaving a little more destruction in their path each time. The last fifty years for the most part have not been kind to us. Apparently, we haven't learned a thing. As Israel mocked Jeremiah and the prophets, mocking seems to be quite the rage in our day. Morality, life, God-given identity, and Christians are mocked in the marketplace of today's cancel culture. 

The storm brought a passing shower and now I see a rainbow forming. I am also beginning to see a rainbow forming in the political storm of cancel culture. Of all the strangest places, I see it forming over the Olympics. Athletes from several nations, as well as Americans, are giving God praise and glory for their accomplishments. Teams huddle in prayer. Right now the storm of cancel culture rages but maybe there's another storm forming underneath.

 Maybe it's the rain of revival. 

Mercy drops round us are falling, 

but for the showers we plead. 

~D.W. Whittle (1840-1901)

Father, we pray for wisdom in the midst of the storm. We are thankful for the mercy drops of revival we see. Lord daily may we pray for the showers, the down pour of revival. In Jesus's name. Amen. 

Hey Kids:

The school year is beginning and there will be lots of changes. Change often brings opportunities. 

How we handle those changes and opportunities is the key to making a difference in the culture in which we live. 

Read Daniel chapter 1 with your parents. Discuss how Daniel, a young man, must have felt as a captive. 

How did Daniel handle a situation where he had to choose between serving God and obeying the authority of the king?

How can Daniel's example help you as you begin a new school year?

Plundering and Pillaging

 My friend and I went antiquing last week. As we entered one of the shops the owner, an older white-haired lady like me, asked, "Can I help you find something?"

My reply, "We're just plundering."

She laughed. "My mom used to say, 'I'm pillaging.'" My friend said her mom also said pillaging. We continued to talk and laugh as we plundered and pillaged through other folk's treasures from days gone by. Kind of sad, strangers going through the things once cherished.