Paths of Wisdom

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    He has reserved priceless wisdom
 for decent people.
    He is a shield for those who walk in integrity
        in order to guard those on paths of justice
            and to watch over the way of his godly ones.
       
Proverbs 2:7-8

Father, I pray for Godly pastors and leaders in our nation, who stand up for what is right in Your eyes. 

ONE THING

International House of Prayer Kansas City announced that Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke will be preaching at the One Thing Conference that is held December 28-31, 2014.

One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple. Ps 27:4

This short video gives a sampling of how God has used Bonnke's love for people to reach nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ. I pray that we will see this kind of hunger for God in America!

The One Who Lifts Your Head

But You, O Lord, are a shield about me,

My glory, and the One who lifts my head.

Psalm 3:3 NASB

God Knows Your Name!

I have a Maker

He formed my heart

Before even time began

My life was in his hands

I have a Father

He calls me His own

He'll never leave me

No matter where I go

He knows my name

He knows my every thought

He sees each tear that falls

And He hears me when I call

Tommy Walker

I will give you the treasures of darkness

And hidden wealth of secret places,

So that you may know that it is I,

The LORD, the God of Israel,

who calls you by your name.

Isaiah 45:3 NASB

Promises

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,

When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,

By the living Word of God I shall prevail,

Standing on the promises of God.

by R. Kelso Carter 1849-1926

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV

 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills,

from whence cometh my help?

 My help cometh from the Lord,

which made heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1-2

 

We had some very cold, windy days recently just as the autumn color reached its peak. From one day to the next, it seems, the trees shed their colorful leaves.

The wind grew strong,

The temperatures plunged.

Frost sugar-coated the bright maples.

Now there is a carpet of leaves of every hue

Strewn along the path.

The falling leaves paint a picture 

Of how to humble myself

When the whirlwind of adversity blows.

Go low...lower still.

Fall down before the One 

Who humbled Himself

That I might have new life.

Karen Rice

 

YOU ARE LOVED!!

The Love of the Lord Jesus Christ:

Let it sink deep within your brain how much you are loved. You have never experienced the kind of love I have for you. It is without comparison. I want you to try loving yourself and others this way, but at the same time realizing it will never perfectly reach the level of love I give. You have never known what it is completely. Nevertheless bask in it. You don't have to know all about it to experience it and enjoy it. Enjoying it will cause you to want others to have it.   Bev Robinson

 

John 3:16-17 (ESV) "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."

I have an acquaintance who gave his life to Jesus Christ, after being raised in a religion hostile to Christianity. He is raising money now to go to a very dangerous country to share his new found faith with others who are facing persecution and death daily. THAT IS LOVE!!!

Strong Tower

Remembering the lives that were lost on 9/11/01. Praying for our nation.

Thinking that there is only one strong tower that will last forever.

The name of the LORD is a strong tower:
the righteous runs into it, and is safe.

Proverbs 18:10

Enough for Me

This morning the hymn, "My faith has found a resting place", came to mind. One of the verses reads:

Enough for me that Jesus saves
This ends my fear and doubt
A sinful soul I came to Him
He'll never cast me out

I need no other argument
I need no other plea
It is enough that Jesus died
And that He died for me
Eliza Hewitt, 1891

Jesus' disciples once asked Him, "Where will anyone be able to find ENOUGH bread here in this desolate place to satisfy all these people?" Mark 8:4

It's good to remember how that situation turned out!

The most important thing we will learn in life is that Jesus is ENOUGH.

God Is Listening

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Evening, and morning, and at noon,

will I pray,
and cry aloud:

 and he shall hear my voice.

Psalm 55:17

Martyrs for Christ

I have been so moved to pray for the Christians in Iraq and in many other countries who are suffering and being killed because they refuse to renounce their faith in Jesus Christ.

I was thinking about how we judge Peter, Jesus' disciple, because, when he was questioned, he denied knowing Christ three times on the night before Jesus was crucified. We wonder if we would have denied Him.  Maybe a better question is: "Would we have even followed Jesus at all, or would we have been like some of the Pharisees, bowing to tradition and the praise of man, rather than listening to God?"

Thank God for one of the Pharisees, NICODEMUS, who came to question Jesus. Because of his honest questions, we have been given the answer to LIFE"S GREATEST QUESTION in Jesus' own words.

"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.

God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.

Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind SON OF GOD when introduced to him."

John 3:16-18 The Message

More Than Enough

Corrie ten Boom

Remember Papa ten Boom handing young Corrie her train ticket just before she stepped on the train to Amsterdam (from the film The Hiding Place). The Lord God says, "I have all you need, hidden for you in my pocket! I am more than enough."

Visiting Family

I have been away from the computer for a few weeks. I am visiting my daughter and grandchildren and we are having a great time. I LOVE SUMMER...especially after the winter we had!

As I was looking up at the beautiful cloud shapes with the four-year old, I thought about Job's words:

God spreads out the nothern skies over empty space.

He suspends the earth over nothing.

He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters

for a boundary between light and darkness...

and these are but the outer fringe of His works.

How faint the whisper we hear of Him!

Who then can understand the thunder of His power?

 Job 26:7,10,14 NIV

Where Was Jesus?

I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love,

    for you have seen my troubles,

    and you care about the anguish of my soul.

Psalm 31:7 NLT

It is so sad to watch the news. Every day there are tragedies. My heart especially goes out to parents whose children have been the victims of senseless violence.

This week at Bible study, a young woman asked, "Why did Jesus weep for Lazarus when He knew that He would raise him from the dead?"

I think the verse above from Psalms answers that: Jesus cares about our anguish.

People often ask, "Yeah, well where was Jesus when someone was victimized?"

Jesus might answer, "I was on the cross, bearing the pain of the one who was harmed, and also the sin of the perpetrator."

Jesus is Worthy of All Our Praise

I saw in the night visions, and behold, on the clouds of the heavens came One like a Son of man, and He came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And there was given Him [the Messiah] dominion and glory and kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom is one which shall not be destroyed.
Daniel 7:13-14

Holy Boldness

I was reading in Act early this morning, how Peter and John were threatened to never again speak the name of Jesus. They prayed - not to be more politically correct so that everyone would like them - but for holy boldness to preach the Word, and that God would perform miracles, signs and wonders to confirm His Word.

And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.
Acts 4:29-31 NASB

Lord Jesus, You promised that Your glory will cover the earth. May we be faithful to proclaim Your Word in these days, when many in the nations are being martyred for preaching the Gospel.

Strength to the Weary

Do you not know? Have you not heard?

The Everlasting God, the Lord, 

the Creator of the ends of the earth

Does not become weary or tired.

His understanding is inscrutable.

29 

He gives strength to the weary,

And to him who lacks might He increases power.

30 

Though youths grow weary and tired,

And vigorous young men stumble badly,

31 

Yet those who wait for the Lord

Will gain new strength;

They will mount up with wings like eagles,

They will run and not get tired,

They will walk and not become weary.

Isaiah 40:28-31

ASK

Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations as Your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth as Your possession. Psalm 2:8

I heard KC IHOP intercessor Rick Rupp this morning, telling about the astounding things God is doing in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and many remote island villages.  There are houses of prayer springing up, and government leaders publicly repenting for idolatry and vowing to serve the one true God.

God has blessed Rick with teams of doctors, nurses, prayer warriors, and people skilled in setting up sanitary water systems in places that have never had these services. He will be returning to the islands next week for a few months.

It was so wonderful to hear the Good News of people coming to the Lord and even going out to help neighbors in remote islands.

He showed us video of the children who live in such meager circumstances, dancing and singing worship songs to the Lord, and treasuring their first Bibles.

God is going to finish what He started, and all the earth will bow before Him!

Promise

Fear not, for I am with you;

Be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you,

Yes, I will help you,

I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

In Christ Alone

As you live this new life, we pray that you will be strengthened from God’s boundless resources, so that you will find yourselves able to pass through any experience and endure it with courage. You will even be able to thank God in the midst of pain and distress because you are privileged to share the lot of those who are living in the light. For we must never forget that he [God] rescued us from the power of darkness, and re-established us in the kingdom of his beloved Son, that is, in the kingdom of light. For it is by his Son alone that we have been redeemed and have had our sins forgiven.
Colossians 1:11-14

God has really been speaking to our Bible study group through this song recently. A member of our group is a young mother and wife who has cancer. The doctors have said there is nothing more they can do for her. Yet she is holding on to her faith in Christ and she has the most beautiful smile, even when she is too weak to sit or speak. Please pray for Esther and her family.

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love,
What depths of peace
When fears are stilled,
When strivings cease.
My comforter, my all in all,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

Quiet Week

I have not been out all week because of the snow and ice.  I live at the top of a hill that has not been cleared. I have been blessed to have a warm place. Thankfully, our electricity stayed on. I know most of the states have been affected by the harsh winter weather.

I have enjoyed reading through Isaiah again, one of my favorite Old Testament books. Here is a favorite verse:

"The mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, and My covenant of peace will not be shaken," say the Lord who has compassion you you.

Thankful to Know the Lord

I will serve Thee because I love Thee

You have given life to me.

I was nothing before You found me,

You have given life to me.

Heartaches, broken pieces,

Ruined lives are why You died on Calvary.

Your touch was what I longed for,

You have given life to me.

William J. and Gloria Gaither

This is what the Lord says:

“Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom,

or the powerful boast in their power,

or the rich boast in their riches.

But those who wish to boast

should boast in this alone:

that they truly know me 

and understand that I am the Lord

who demonstrates unfailing love

and who brings justice 

and righteousness to the earth,

and that I delight in these things.

I, the Lord, have spoken!

Jeremiah 9:23-24

Kaedyn and Frosty!

God's Word

A woman I know hands out Gospel tracts to people everywhere she goes, and leaves them in public places, praying that people will come to know Jesus as Savior.

Some have tried to discourage her, saying, "Nobody will read a tract. You are wasting your time and money!"

On Christmas Eve, she was in a mall, and felt inspired to tuck tracts into the pockets of men's jeans.
Her children told her, "Mom, the store security was probably watching you on surveillance cameras!"

After Christmas, she decided to call up a coworker she hadn't seen since they both retired.

"How was your Christmas?" she asked.

"The best Christmas of my life!" her friend exclaimed. "You remember my son that I've prayed for all these years? You won't believe this, but he was at the mall on Christmas Eve trying on jeans, when he found a gospel tract in the pocket. As he read it he was so touched by God's mercy and love that he sat down right there in the dressing room and surrendered his life to the Lord!"

How encouraging that God let this woman know about the fruit of her labor!

Not too long ago, I shared the Four Spiritual Laws with a young man with a master's degree.
"Oh wow!" he said. "So that's John 3:16. I would see people holding up a banner that said John 3:16 at ball games, but I never knew what that was!"

He accepted Jesus as Savior!

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 
John 3:16-18

No one else can touch my heart like you do

I gave birth to four children and none of them is like the other! Yet I love them all dearly.

When my youngest child died, a friend sang, "There is None Like You" at his funeral. This song meant a lot to me.

Some people mistakenly thought that a parent would love a child less if he was born with defects and serious delays. I loved Caleb with all my heart and he loved me (and everybody he met!)

The lyrics to the song were written for us to sing in worship of our awesome God, but I can imagine that God might sing them to us. After all, each of us is His favorite!

There is none like you.

No one else can touch my heart like you do.

I could search for all eternity long and find

There is none like you.

(In memory of Caleb, 9/29/92 - 1/28/96)

Mission Trip

God had put it on my heart to go with a group on a mission trip to Portugal in August, 2001. The Lord had given me a picture from the beginning of a rock climber and the words: "Stick to the trail like a tick on bare flesh." So I knew I was supposed to not let anything stop me.

Finally, I was on my way. Th jet taxied away from the terminal, and there we sat...for an hour and a half....while the August sun shone down and the air got stuffy and hot. The plane headed for Portugal was packed and I was wedged in the middle seat between two strangers.


I wanted to get off the plane and head for home instead of continuing with my first overseas trip, but there was no way out. I began to feel panicky, when I stumbled upon a booklet in my purse that someone at church had handed me the previous Sunday.

It was a list of encouraging promises from God's Word. I was reading as if my next breath depended on it, when I noticed the young lady seated next to me was reading over my shoulder. We exchanged a knowing glance and then laughed at our anxiety. She, too, was a Christian with a wonderful testimony of all the blessings of knowing Christ. Soon the plane was on its way and the temptation to turn back forgotten.

I was ready to give up just because of an inconvenient delay! I thought of all the people who came to faith in Jesus Christ during those Lisbon evangelistic meetings and I remembered the words to this old hymn:

It will be worth it all

When we see Jesus.

Life's trials will seem so small

When we see Him

One glimpse of His dear face

All sorrow will erase

So bravely run the race

Til we see Christ.

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

Sweet Song

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.

May my meditation be sweet to Him;

as for me, I will rejoice in the Lord.

Psalm 104:33-34

Isn't it wonderful how music is such a universal language. I watched a video recently where a tribe of people, formerly unreached with the gospel, loved to learn the new worship songs the missionaries taught them. Then the natives began to write their own songs. To their amazement, the missionaries heard the people singing the melody of "Just As I Am" with lyrics they had composed. The missionaries had never taught them that song.