22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
37 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”
I knew if I looked hard enough I could find out what the Bible says about rheumatoid arthritis. I have dry bones! At least if feels like I've got dry bones sometimes. If my God can form an army from dry bones, then there's no telling what he can do with me! He alone knows. He alone does.
I don't buy into those who claim they don't need a church because they can worship God anywhere. Yes, we can worship anywhere; but a believer always needs a church, not a building, but a fellowship of believers. I do think, however, that I could worship God in a hay-filled barn with dust motes dancing in filtered light; but then I was raised to love my grandpa's barn. As a child it was my closest thing to Heaven on earth.
26 My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
1 Corinthians 15:19
New International Version (NIV)
19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
Life's sufferings cannot cancel the hope of Christ. Yet it is ever so hard to watch people you love suffer, and ever so easy to be angry at God for allowing the suffering. Tomorrow a family member will undergo cancer-related surgery. I am praying. I'm putting my trust in my God who won't give this precious soul more than he can bear, even if I'm feeling that God's got it wrong somehow, that his measure of suffering has been and still is plenty. If I've learned anything from the life of this loved one, it would be to trust God. He most certainly does. So I will be in agreement with what God is doing in his life.
When I was first living on my own, I didn't have the money to buy a TV set, but I did have a radio. Every Sunday night I listened to an old time country music program on public radio which helped me to appreciate, even as a young woman, the the heart and soul of the sounds which so often came from the African American spirituals. Johnny Cash's version of this spiritual touched my heart tonight.
Johnny Cash - "Were You There, When They Crucified My Lord?"
1Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. 2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesdaa and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.b 5One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
7“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
8Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
I've been water walking since my rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis. The local pool is the same one I went to when I was a kid, back in the day when the girls had to wear painfully tight bathing caps with chin straps, while the boys got to swim free. It was a child's hangout and we were mostly unaware that we were exercising. Now my pool peeps look so old! What's worse is that I'm not out of place! Wearing bathing caps now means our dye jobs stay intact. As for the men, they have so much chest and back hair, that requiring some sort of upper body cap wouldn't be inappropriate. Enough walkers and canes are left at the pool side to give the impression that a healing service is taking place. Maybe there is something to be said for healing waters. I do walk better on land now then when I was first diagnosed, walking like patient zero of the zombie apocalypse. As it has been rightfully noted, my lifeguard walks on water.
I love this picture of a mom, at least I think she must be a mom, holding the good white shoes for a baptismal candidate. It's something a mom would do, sparing the good from damage and wear. My own mother could make things last. She was recycling before it was ever the thing to do, but usually among her children. Being the youngest of her daughters, I grew very familiar with hand-me-downs. To my great delight, upon entering junior high school, my mother decided I would get my first new coat straight from the department store. I was in heaven. Of course, I gravitated to a sweet little cloth coat with princess seams. It was the coat of my dreams; but, unfortunately, my mother wasn't a dreamer. She found a straight-lined, buttoned coat made of some indestructible man-made synthetic fiber I didn't know existed. It's only decoration was a faux fur collar guaranteed not to let in any cold air. I hated it, but I wore it, all through junior high. I couldn't loan, or lose that coat. It was mine.
I'd been wearing an old, worn jacket over my swimming suit at the pool this winter. I didn't bother to lock it up but hung it up on the common clothes rack, reasoning that no one would want that jacket, but someone did It was taken and never returned, probably by one who thought that no one would miss it. Sigh. I hope they needed it. It's likely my old, store bought coat still lives somewhere if they need that one too.
I've been poor but never really in want. I think that those who truly are or have been poor, are the ones who appreciate a new garment. While I may have obediently worn my mother's choice of coat, I was still rebellious in spirit; and I will yet remain rebellious in spirit, until Jesus is all I value.
A day is coming when my Savior will dress me in a new coat, my robe of righteousness. I'm hoping it will have princess seams.
When I'm inclined to wine and complain help me Lord to be thankful...
...that these aren't my shoes...
...that this is not my morning commute...
...and these aren't my wounds. God forgive my complaining soul.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
English Standard Version (ESV)
18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Hebrews 12:28
English Standard Version (ESV)
28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,
My husband has already gone to bed for the night and he likely expects me to follow. In the meantime, I've spent so much time trying to figure out what to write about that I've become to sleepy to write. I'm done. it's time to unplug. No alarm needs to be set in the morning, for Saturday is here. Sleep is one of God's great gifts to us.
I'll close this out with a song I've been enjoying a song by a young, 19 years old, singer, Moriah Peters, "Well Done." Her freshness is refreshing.
If you're thinking and feeling like Charlie Brown that this year is going to be your worst Valentine's Day ever, just remember that God has your picture in a locket.
Oh, the trials of being short. I can understand why this little one wore the small pony tail on the top of her head, because I am short. I was asked today how tall I was and I tried to add a smidgen to my five feet, such is my vanity and my desire. If Jesus came for Zacchaeus he also came for me.
Luke 19:1-10 New International Version (NIV) Zacchaeus the Tax Collector 19 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.[a] 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them[b] in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
Isaiah 40:31
New International Version (NIV)
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Ephesians 2:6
New International Version (NIV)
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
Philippians 3:20
English Standard Version (ESV)
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
I sometimes wonder if the joy that comes from stretching out your arms while the wind blows comes from an inborn desire to fly. We weren't meant to be earthbound, we who belong to the Kingdom of God. We our citizens of Heaven. Amazing, isn't it? Yet while gravity holds me here, I must remember that there are others who still need flying lessons, who still need to know that this earth is also not where they belong. A Savior is waiting who will lift them into the Heavenly realms.
16 For by[a] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
When I was a teenager in Young People's group, we fervently sang the song, "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus." It was lovely and moving, especially if sung in front of a campfire. When I think back to my younger self, I'm grateful that I hadn't yet counted the cost of following Jesus. I hadn't yet counted the heartbreaks, the trials, the ills and woes that were to come. If I had known then what I know now, would I still be following Jesus? I'd like to think I would. I'm thankful, though, that God only revealed what I needed to have revealed, the truth that He is God and I am not. I needed to step down from my heart's throne and place Jesus there, and there He has stayed despite any efforts I've made to dethrone Him.
Each one of us was created to be in a relationship with our Heavenly Father. To be in rebellion against God is more than being a duck out of water, it's also being a duck choosing to keep himself out of water. God is God, whether I follow Him or not. Still He's given me the choice and I chose to follow Him.
And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a caretaker." So God made a farmer.
God said, "I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper and then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board." So God made a farmer.
"I need somebody with arms strong enough to rustle a calf and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild. Somebody to call hogs, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry, have to wait lunch until his wife's done feeding visiting ladies and tell the ladies to be sure and come back real soon -- and mean it." So God made a farmer.
God said, "I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt. And watch it die. Then dry his eyes and say, 'Maybe next year.' I need somebody who can shape an ax handle from a persimmon sprout, shoe a horse with a hunk of car tire, who can make harness out of haywire, feed sacks and shoe scraps. And who, planting time and harvest season, will finish his forty-hour week by Tuesday noon, then, pain'n from 'tractor back,' put in another seventy-two hours." So God made a farmer.
God had to have somebody willing to ride the ruts at double speed to get the hay in ahead of the rain clouds and yet stop in mid-field and race to help when he sees the first smoke from a neighbor's place. So God made a farmer.
God said, "I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bails, yet gentle enough to tame lambs and wean pigs and tend the pink-combed pullets, who will stop his mower for an hour to splint the broken leg of a meadow lark. It had to be somebody who'd plow deep and straight and not cut corners. Somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed and rake and disc and plow and plant and tie the fleece and strain the milk and replenish the self-feeder and finish a hard week's work with a five-mile drive to church.
"Somebody who'd bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his son says he wants to spend his life 'doing what dad does.'" So God made a farmer.
Dad, I was never so impressed by a Super Bowl commercial as I was yesterday with the Dodge Ram commercial, "So God Made a Farmer." It made me ever so proud of you and Grandpa and the legacy of the farm, the homestead. I wished you could have watched it, but, maybe it played in Heaven's Superbowl. I'd like to think John and June Carter Cash would have been the half-time entertainment, because it would be to your great pleasure.
you surround them with your favor as with a shield.
I had the opportunity this week to drive around town the young man who lives in our house but doesn't want to be blogged about. I quickly learned from him what a road menace I was! I suppose it should be expected, since I'm the one who gave him permission to ride his little bike down a hill without first teaching him how to brake, something I remembered when he was halfway down. It was a lesson learned the hard way, as most of the lessons I learn and teach. There was another hill many years ago when I was by age if not wisdom in charge of my little brother. When he asked me if it would be okay to take his bike down a dirt trail, I answered rather nonchalantly, "Sure." I realized when I saw him and his bike do a 360 in the air that perhaps I should have given it more thought. Relieved that he was still alive, I checked him out for bumps and bruises and sternly warned him not to tell Mom. To his credit, he didn't.
I often find myself foolishly heading down the wrong hills, ending up bruised and broken. If only I stop running from my Lord's protection, I'd avoid so much misery. Last night I went to bed angry and woke up still miffed that joy hadn't come in the morning. I was fiercely guarding my heart instead of letting the fierce love of Jesus guard it for me. It's always good to stop, look and listen.
13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
My husband has been using my computer tonight to prepare for a Bible study in the morning. Since it's actually after midnight now that I'm writing; of course, I'm thinking of the industrious ant even as I plan on sleeping in this morning. As it is, with Rheumatoid Arthritis, I often wake in the morning with my first thought being plans for a nap. If you're like me and you're still up, I'll say now, "Go to bed!" so that one day we can rise up like the mighty ant.
