Can you think of a time when your father purposefully hurt you, either physically, or emotionally? I mean these things happen in our humaness, but purposful hurt? Perhaps you're a father or mother, can you fathom being cruel to your children? Would you allow them to take a life path to their hurt or destruction? I am sure top side of the earth that there are some that may have, but this is very far from ordinary. I cannot imagine a parent that would lead their children to a cliff.
I am reminded of tradegies each day. A work associate and friend dropped an email; her teen nephew was struck by a motorist as he was riding his bicycle. One second he was alive, the next he was gone...just like that. A dear friend goes through a life shattering event and another is diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. We struggle with financial difficulties due to loss of work or through external factors that eat away our investments. I am reminded at my office of the suicide rate of returning soldiers from the war. Having been a member of that small fraternity I can understand their internal struggles. I can honestly say that my faith in the Lord and His Person has provided a deep well during these barren times. I am sustained, because He sustains me.
Friend, God loves you. You may not be able at this time make any sense of your hurt or you may find yourself with more questions than answers but God knows your pain. I think of the prophet Jeremiah who was called to tell the people of Israel of their pending judgment. Forty years he prophsied and never won a hearing; he was beaten, cast into a miry pit, mocked but he never lost faith in the Lord. Listen to his words in Jeremiah 17:15-17: "Behold, they say unto me, Where [is] the word of the LORD? let it come now. As for me, I have not hastened from [being] a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was [right] before thee. Be not a terror unto me: thou [art] my hope in the day of evil." He waivered not because he knew that the Lord waivers not! If you are a child of God, let me ask you, would your Heavenly Father lead you to the cliff? Would He purposely hurt you or trick you into a place of destruction?
Let me ask you, do you trust Him? Would you stop, wait, listen, meditate on His Word? I love the song "Bow the Knee" by Chris Machen. Consider the words of the chorus,
Bow the knee;
Trust the heart of your Father when the answer goes beyond what you can see.
Bow the knee;
Lift your eyes toward heaven and believe the One who holds eternity.
And when you don’t understand the purpose of His plan,
In the presence of the King, bow the knee.
Listen to the song presented beautifully by the Stoneybrook Church on this You Tube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ek5LZYYOQ0
Blessings for Hope!
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
On the Precious Frgrance of an English Garden
Many years ago, I fancied the delight of an English garden. Its fragrances were a welcomed cool trace across my visage in the heat of that two week stint in a hot Kansas summer. It many times invited me into that place of solace, a welcomed escape from the day at hand. I gazed upon those precious little flowers, their delicate arms were oft visited by those flitting butterflies and the stalwart bee intent on his toil. Times I am reminded of that pastime; it evokes memories and carries me into a place of long ago in my precious south, to a place where I enjoyed another sweet solace, the woodsy palace of prayer upon the hill.
Whispers of the Lord sweetly drawing near, like a flitting wing of an eagle drawing down to bring some peaceful comfort. Such always seemed to be a pleasant scent; a cooling calm in the face of some crisis. Firmly, crises are a part of every life. Sometimes the prayers of others are the fragrance, like the sweet savor before the temple, that brings the calm or a peace; your faithful friend intercedes, the Lord sends a restraining angel or He brings a new circumstance to thwart the heat.
Though that little English garden and I are apart, I have sensed the calmness and that wafty scent many times. In Iraq it was the whir of rockets screeching o’er head, it has been a stalwart calming , knowing that many were sending up a sweet savor for me. It was a rocket piercing my office, I being safely away; yet another sweet-smelling savor. It was the restraining Hand of the Lord that helped my precious wife and son that day out there on that highway, it was God’s precious favor granting prayers for many things over the years. How about you? Are you mindful of the precious interceding prayers of many for you? Are you grateful for the precious fragrance of those little English gardens? I will always remember that little garden and that hill of my childhood, where the Lord came. Where He walked with me, and He talked with me; where He even today tells me I am His own. Blessings. Sherrell
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Whispers of the Lord sweetly drawing near, like a flitting wing of an eagle drawing down to bring some peaceful comfort. Such always seemed to be a pleasant scent; a cooling calm in the face of some crisis. Firmly, crises are a part of every life. Sometimes the prayers of others are the fragrance, like the sweet savor before the temple, that brings the calm or a peace; your faithful friend intercedes, the Lord sends a restraining angel or He brings a new circumstance to thwart the heat.
Though that little English garden and I are apart, I have sensed the calmness and that wafty scent many times. In Iraq it was the whir of rockets screeching o’er head, it has been a stalwart calming , knowing that many were sending up a sweet savor for me. It was a rocket piercing my office, I being safely away; yet another sweet-smelling savor. It was the restraining Hand of the Lord that helped my precious wife and son that day out there on that highway, it was God’s precious favor granting prayers for many things over the years. How about you? Are you mindful of the precious interceding prayers of many for you? Are you grateful for the precious fragrance of those little English gardens? I will always remember that little garden and that hill of my childhood, where the Lord came. Where He walked with me, and He talked with me; where He even today tells me I am His own. Blessings. Sherrell
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Friday, July 8, 2011
In Emergency; Let us Praise!!!
Upon David's coming of age the Lord took him through a great trial. Annointed King as a young man, enjoying a great victory over Goliath of Gath and leading multitudes of fierce successful battles with the Philistines, he now fled for his life from Saul who was intent on his demise.
We pick up this account in 1 Samuel 22:1. We read: 1Sa 22:1-2 ¶ David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard [it], they went down thither to him. And every one [that was] in distress, and every one that [was] in debt, and every one [that was] discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men. Here we see that David was the real spiritual leader over Israel. Those that were repressed fled to him there, we see among them the indebted, the disenfranchised, the distressed.
I love his message to them; you find that in Psalm 57:1-5. Listen: [[To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.]] "Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until [these] calamities be overpast. I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth [all things] for me. He shall send from heaven, and save me [from] the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. My soul [is] among lions: [and] I lie [even among] them that are set on fire, [even] the sons of men, whose teeth [are] spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; [let] thy glory [be] above all the earth.
David's solution for his emergency is to praise and extol the Lord. His exhortation to these his loyal subjects who were in similar straits was to acknowledge Almighty God who was his protection! That is good counsel! Friend, we need to put our eyes upon the Father and His precious Promises from Scripture. He indeed will never leave nor forsake! I love this! Meditate.
We pick up this account in 1 Samuel 22:1. We read: 1Sa 22:1-2 ¶ David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard [it], they went down thither to him. And every one [that was] in distress, and every one that [was] in debt, and every one [that was] discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men. Here we see that David was the real spiritual leader over Israel. Those that were repressed fled to him there, we see among them the indebted, the disenfranchised, the distressed.
I love his message to them; you find that in Psalm 57:1-5. Listen: [[To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.]] "Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until [these] calamities be overpast. I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth [all things] for me. He shall send from heaven, and save me [from] the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. My soul [is] among lions: [and] I lie [even among] them that are set on fire, [even] the sons of men, whose teeth [are] spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; [let] thy glory [be] above all the earth.
David's solution for his emergency is to praise and extol the Lord. His exhortation to these his loyal subjects who were in similar straits was to acknowledge Almighty God who was his protection! That is good counsel! Friend, we need to put our eyes upon the Father and His precious Promises from Scripture. He indeed will never leave nor forsake! I love this! Meditate.
Friday, June 10, 2011
On Who are You Leaning?
As I navigate life I have discovered that there is a world of hurt below the surface of people. Sometimes this comes out in various ways but more often than not it lies below like a nettlestuck in your skin, festering and smarting. You know, if you're saved by God's Grace then youare empowered with the resources by the Spirit of the Living God and His Word (2 Peter 1:3) with all that you need to handle hurt and all of life's problems, but sadly, at times we need others to offer hope and encouragement.
The Psalmist interrogates in 42:11: Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquietedwithin me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, [who is] the health of my countenance, and my God. You see this? He declares the solution for a down-cast soul or a tormented spiritis to Hope in God! Elsewhere we are reminded in Psalms 78:7 ...That they might set their hope in God,and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments... We are reminded that praise and trusting God is a calming and healing balm that will calm us and sustain us with full measures of His Grace in our time of need. Why? Because they remind us of His Character, His Promises; His Goodness and HisLove.
Do you think that the God who created the universe, who knows the numbers of the hairs on our head,Who is familiar with all of our trials, tribulations and afflictions can not sustain us throughevery need?
I ask you today; on whom are you leaning? Your own wisdom? Your own philosophy? Something thata friend told you about the world's wisdom, philosophy, or ways? We are reminded in 2 Corinthians 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;
Reflect on this admonition; Hebrews 4:16 says, Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
The Psalmist interrogates in 42:11: Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquietedwithin me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, [who is] the health of my countenance, and my God. You see this? He declares the solution for a down-cast soul or a tormented spiritis to Hope in God! Elsewhere we are reminded in Psalms 78:7 ...That they might set their hope in God,and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments... We are reminded that praise and trusting God is a calming and healing balm that will calm us and sustain us with full measures of His Grace in our time of need. Why? Because they remind us of His Character, His Promises; His Goodness and HisLove.
Do you think that the God who created the universe, who knows the numbers of the hairs on our head,Who is familiar with all of our trials, tribulations and afflictions can not sustain us throughevery need?
I ask you today; on whom are you leaning? Your own wisdom? Your own philosophy? Something thata friend told you about the world's wisdom, philosophy, or ways? We are reminded in 2 Corinthians 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;
Reflect on this admonition; Hebrews 4:16 says, Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
On the Love of Christ Shinig from Us
2Cor 4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. Literally, we are slaves (that is the literal Greek word here) for others for the ministry. Why? Next verse 2Cor 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Where those we serve can see the light of God shining out of our heart.
On Falling in Love
Prior to the twentieth century there was no such notion as "falling in love". Men and women developed a lasting bond of love only after marriage. Falling in love is a sappy notion romanticized by hollywood. If you can fall into love, it means you can fall out of love, something also portrayed as common in our culture, making divorce as common a throwing out the trash. These are satanic notions to destroy homes.......think about these things
On the Gas Chambers of Auschwitz
Viktor Frankl said The gas chambers of Auschwitz were the ultimate consequence of the theory that man is nothing but the product of heredity and environment--or, as the Nazis like to say, ‘"of blood and soil." I am absolutely convinced that the gas chambers of Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Maidanek were ultimately prepared not in some ministry or other in Berlin, but rather at the desks and in lecture halls of nihilistic scientists and philosophers’" We can thank not just Hitler but Nietzsche.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
On Judgement and Forgiveness
I have most recently seen injustice in my own church. How does one reconcile when Christians mistreat each other and practice such brands of judgment seldom dished outside of a body of believers? I have seen people practicing biblical (some just opinions about how things ought to be)standards, enforcing the rules in such a non-loving manner that it begs the question, "do they really hear their rebukes"? Do they really get their tone? It has prompted me to thinking that we in the church should spend a little more time practicing the spirit of meekness.
Gal 6:1 says, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. I like the spirit of meekness part; I also like the ye, which are spiritual part as well. The Bible warns us to pay consideration here since we all can be tempted in the same manner. In other words self-righteousness will surely lead to judgment. Pride goeth before the fall does it not?
Finally, think about our own judgment of those who judge in unloving manners, with no semblance of meekness. Are we not considering that we all deserve hell and the penalty for sin, that in the eyes of God any righteousness that we have is inputted by Him on behalf of Christ's atonement? We must practice the blessedness of forgiveness, then as God extend to usward. How oft should our brother offend thee (and others)? Christ answered infinitely so. Lets not live under the judgment of God because we fail to practice Biblical standards in a fully Biblical way. Lets also lovingly forgive fully those who practice injustice in church with the same meekness that we demand of them. Hey Crow, that goes for you too!
Gal 6:1 says, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. I like the spirit of meekness part; I also like the ye, which are spiritual part as well. The Bible warns us to pay consideration here since we all can be tempted in the same manner. In other words self-righteousness will surely lead to judgment. Pride goeth before the fall does it not?
Finally, think about our own judgment of those who judge in unloving manners, with no semblance of meekness. Are we not considering that we all deserve hell and the penalty for sin, that in the eyes of God any righteousness that we have is inputted by Him on behalf of Christ's atonement? We must practice the blessedness of forgiveness, then as God extend to usward. How oft should our brother offend thee (and others)? Christ answered infinitely so. Lets not live under the judgment of God because we fail to practice Biblical standards in a fully Biblical way. Lets also lovingly forgive fully those who practice injustice in church with the same meekness that we demand of them. Hey Crow, that goes for you too!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Hid in Christ!
Col 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Much is made in this day and age of finding your passion; why you are on the earth. The career gurus and spiritual peddlers are pressing you to explore your strengths and capitalize on finding these passions for riches and fulfillment. They desire to take you through visualization exercises, take you along some journey of discovery. They encourage you to write your goals down and focus on them.....burn them into your soul where you will realize your potential.
Perhaps these desires may be laudable, but they are fleeting. If you are born again you need not pursue these methods. First, these are recycled new age mysticism, eastern philosophy inspired from the pits of hell. Most importantly the Apostle Paul exhorts us to "set our affections on things above, not on earthly things" Col 3:2. Notice here that the Apostle explains that we are dead; our lives are hidden in Christ. People should not see us, they should see the exalted Savior. Gal 2:20 says "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
I believe that God cares very little of our vocation. If you're in the Will of God minister where God put you. If you desire to be a minister that is good...if you're in His Will, you and your ministry will be blessed. Stay in the Will of God and magnify Him with your life. Significance is the crowns you lay before the Almighty! That is the only purpose you need!
Much is made in this day and age of finding your passion; why you are on the earth. The career gurus and spiritual peddlers are pressing you to explore your strengths and capitalize on finding these passions for riches and fulfillment. They desire to take you through visualization exercises, take you along some journey of discovery. They encourage you to write your goals down and focus on them.....burn them into your soul where you will realize your potential.
Perhaps these desires may be laudable, but they are fleeting. If you are born again you need not pursue these methods. First, these are recycled new age mysticism, eastern philosophy inspired from the pits of hell. Most importantly the Apostle Paul exhorts us to "set our affections on things above, not on earthly things" Col 3:2. Notice here that the Apostle explains that we are dead; our lives are hidden in Christ. People should not see us, they should see the exalted Savior. Gal 2:20 says "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
I believe that God cares very little of our vocation. If you're in the Will of God minister where God put you. If you desire to be a minister that is good...if you're in His Will, you and your ministry will be blessed. Stay in the Will of God and magnify Him with your life. Significance is the crowns you lay before the Almighty! That is the only purpose you need!