Arms to Lean On

Deuteronomy 33:27a

New International Version (NIV)

27 The eternal God is your refuge,

    and underneath are the everlasting arms.

A loving father taught me that my Heavenly Father is also good and loving, one with strong arms that would hold me fast, a trustworthy God.  It takes so little really, dads, to model God for your children.  I have a clear memory of my very young self sitting on my Dad's lap in church and being enthralled by a father so talented at twiddling his thumbs.  He could do that and so much more.  It was a beautiful day today, reminding me of how Dad would say we were living in God's country.  I do believe, though, that as long as I was in my father's household, I was in God's country indeed.  

Leaning On the Everlasting Arms - Iris Dement

Of Heaven's Reunions and Faithful Dogs

1 Corinthians 2:9

English Standard Version (ESV)

9 But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

    nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has prepared for those who love him”—

I'm listening to pitiful sounds coming from the dog who belongs to the young man who lives in our house but doesn't want to be blogged about.  This dog has been left behind tonight, for his own good, but that is beyond his understanding.  He's leaning so close to the door where he last saw him that should he return suddenly, he won't miss him.  Because this dog loves my son so thoroughly I also love the dog and will suffer his great longing and moaning. Life will begin again when He is at last reunited with his master.  This little creature so often reminds me of how I should be longing for my Lord's return that I'd like to believe there will be dogs in Heaven, and that will be a glad reunion day.  

"Heaven Song" - Phil Wickham

Because He Lives [Live]

Of Coffee, Fika, and Family Ties

Ruth 1:15-17

21st Century King James Version (KJ21)

15 And she said, “Behold, thy sister-in-law has gone back unto her people and unto her gods. Return thou after thy sister-in-law.”

16 And Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest, I will go, and where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.

17 Where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried; the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me.”

I married into a family, proud of their Swedish heritage, and happily carrying on the tradition of fika, coffee with sweets.  It is just simply good and right to sit down and celebrate a coffee break.  They are lovely and welcoming even to a non-coffee drinker like me without a trace of scandinavian blood.  My own family also drinks coffee, but, I believe, it's more for the caffeine to get their motors started.  From what I've seen my Swedish family would still be industrious even without coffee.  I once watched a sister-in-law and family move a large, truckload sized, pile of dirt in order to camp a few feet closer to the water.  They do things right where I'd settle for close enough.  I do love them even if I don't always get them.   I spent a little time talking to the young man who lives in my house but doesn't want to be blogged about about his father's side of the family.  He may look like me, but he certainly has the Swedish blood.  He drinks coffee too.  

I enjoyed this YouTube video of Evie Tornquist singing "It Only Takes a Spark" at a Seattle Billy Graham rally in Seattle.  It did take me back to my youth group days.  

Evie Tornquist - It Only Takes A Spark † Pass It On ( 1976 )

I Have A Dream (It Feels Like Home) (Official Video)

I Like This

Lamentations 3:22-23

English Standard Version (ESV)

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;[a]

    his mercies never come to an end;

23 they are new every morning;

    great is your faithfulness.

It's Sunday!

Julius Gari Melchers, The Sermon, 1886

She isn't sleeping; she's praying.  

Clothed With Love

Luke 12:28

New International Version (NIV)

28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!

I like this old picture of three sisters, or maybe a fourth if you count the doll looking over the oldest sister's shoulder.  Everyone's hair is styled the same.  Is that choice or fashion or had their mother just emptied her store of energy and creativity?  I marvel that my mother was able to clothe her own large brood of children.  We knew we'd get two school outfits each year and an Easter dress and somehow the rest of our clothes came together and got handed out and handed down.  We may have looked like ragamuffins, but we were clothed in love through the provision of our Heavenly Father, Mom and Dad too of course.    

When Love Sees You Jesus - Mac Powell

Love & The Outcome - He Is With Us (Official Music Video)

I Liked This...

Chelsea Moon with the Franz Brothers - What Wondrous Love Is This?

Because I'm Thankful...

…to be a sheep in the Shepherd's flock.

I don't know Abby, but she's a precious little lamb.

Abby - Psalm 23

Doing God's Handwork

Hosanna by Harry Belafonte on 1956 RCA Victor LP.

My Father's Fields

Faces of the World

National Geographic

John 4:35

New International Version (NIV)

35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.

Matthew 9:37-38

King James Version (KJV)

37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;

38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

1 Corinthians 15:54

English Standard Version (ESV)

54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

It's an easy search on the internet to find images of children or pretty young women frolicking in a field of flowers or golden barley.  It's probably why I so enjoy this picture of Bulgarian women in a lavender field.  These are working women, not girls at play; and they are lovely.  Such I should also be in my Lord's fields.  One day when I put on my imperishable garments I will run and dance in my Father's fields.  Until that day there's still much to be done.  

Fields of Grace (Acoustic) - Big Daddy Weave 

K-LOVE - Phil Wickham 'This Is Amazing Grace' LIVE

Jesus Who Saves

John 3:13

English Standard Version (ESV)

13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.[a]

Revelation 22:1-5

English Standard Version (ESV)

The River of Life

22 Then the angel[a] showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life[b] with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants[c] will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

1 Corinthians 2:9

English Standard Version (ESV)

9 But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

    nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has prepared for those who love him”—

Romans 14:11

New International Version (NIV)

11 It is written:

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,

‘every knee will bow before me;

    every tongue will acknowledge God.’”[a]

We will all see Jesus one day, even those of us who don't acknowledge His existence or His lordship here on earth.  We will all bend our knees in His presence, whether it be in great joy and wonder or fear and terror.  How terrible for those who meet Him in a unrepentant state.  How sad for those who won't share in His glory.  May I never take for granted the saving grace my Jesus has extended to me.  May I never be content to enter Heaven without bringing others with me.  May I never be a stingy Christian.  May I be as good, just and merciful with others as Christ has been with me.  

Starfield-The Saving One

He Lives!

Galatians 2:20

New International Version (NIV)

20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

John 14:23

English Standard Version (ESV)

23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

Zephaniah 3:17

English Standard Version (ESV)

17 The Lord your God is in your midst,

    a mighty one who will save;

he will rejoice over you with gladness;

    he will quiet you by his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing.

A favorite Easter hymn from my youth to today is "I Serve A Risen Savior" or as some would call it, "He Lives!"  It was written by Alfred Henry Ackley, a 20th Century composer of Gospel music.  Alan Jackson sings it without any embellishments just like I learned it decades ago.  Yes, I know He lives.  He lives within my heart.

Alan Jackson - He Lives

Christ the Lord Is Risen Today- Ashley Cleveland

Sunday's Coming!

The Empty Tomb, by Mikhail Nesterov

John 20:1-3

New International Version (NIV)

The Empty Tomb

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.

"Peter and John Running to the Sepulchre" by Eugene Burnand, ca. 1898

Laid Death In His Grave

"Death In His Grave" - Live Performance Video

Though the Earth Cried out for blood

Satisfied her hunger was

Her billows calmed on raging seas

for the souls on men she craved

Sun and moon from balcony

Turned their head in disbelief

Their precious Love would taste the sting

disfigured and disdained

On Friday a thief

On Sunday a King

Laid down in grief

But awoke with keys

Of Hell on that day

The first born of the slain

The Man Jesus Christ

Laid death in his grave

So three days in darkness slept

The Morning Sun of righteousness

But rose to shame the throes of death

And over turn his rule

Now daughters and the sons of men

Would pay not their dues again

The debt of blood they owed was rent

When the day rolled a new

On Friday a thief

On Sunday a King

Laid down in grief

But awoke holding keys

To Hell on that day

The first born of the slain

The Man Jesus Christ

Laid death in his grave

On Friday a thief

On Sunday a King

Laid down in grief

But awoke with keys

Of Hell on that day

The first born of the slain

The Man Jesus Christ

Laid death in his grave

He has cheated

Hell and seated

Us above the fall

In desperate places

He paid our wages

One time once and for all

Lead Me to Calvary

May I be willing, Lord, to bear

Daily my cross for Thee;

Even Thy cup of grief to share,

Thou hast borne all for me.

Lead Me to Calvary - Scott Riggan 

The Last Supper

The Last Supper by Carl Bloch

Matthew 26:30

King James Version (KJV)

30 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

Remembrance (Communion Song) - Matt Redman

NEEDTOBREATHE - Difference Maker [Official Video]

Fear on the Battlefield

 C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Psalm 91:1-16

English Standard Version (ESV)

My Refuge and My Fortress

91 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

    will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say[a] to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,

    my God, in whom I trust.”

3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler

    and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his pinions,

    and under his wings you will find refuge;

    his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

5 You will not fear the terror of the night,

    nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,

    nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,

    ten thousand at your right hand,

    but it will not come near you.

8 You will only look with your eyes

    and see the recompense of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—

    the Most High, who is my refuge[b]—

10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,

    no plague come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you

    to guard you in all your ways.

12 On their hands they will bear you up,

    lest you strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;

    the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;

    I will protect him, because he knows my name.

15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;

    I will be with him in trouble;

    I will rescue him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him

    and show him my salvation.”

I've been looking up Bible verses to find one that might show that God has promised me safety.  So far I haven't found one.  He does say He will shield me, deliver me, strengthen me for battle and surround me with His angels; but I haven't found a promise that He'll keep the scary stuff at bay.  Sigh.  I really, really don't like the scary stuff.  My God is, however, as C.S. Lewis wrote, my good King; and I believe it's better to follow a good King into the fray then let fear keep me from the battle.   

How Firm A Foundation - Michael Card

Friend Of God - Michael Gungor

Jesus Loves Mothers

Isaiah 66:13

English Standard Version (ESV)

13 As one whom his mother comforts,

    so I will comfort you;

    you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

John 19:25-27

King James Version (KJV)

25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.

26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!

27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

Sometimes God calls mothers to be very brave.   I talked some with a mother in our town who lost her 16 year old son in a tragic accident not two years ago.    I was humbled by her courage and the strength of her testimony.  She will live on doing her son proud until that day she joins him in Heaven.  Then there was the mother and daughter of two of the Kansas City shooting victims.  When I watched her press conference you could almost sense her Savior standing beside her.  He knows about mothers, His own having gone through her own suffering on Calvary; and from the cross He cared for her.  

Mothers, Jesus loves you.  Yes, He does.

Woman describes finding father, son shot in parking lot  

So Redeemed

Greater Vision - Since I Have Been Redeemed

Abigail Washburn - Nobody's Fault But Mine

Fixing Our Eyes

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (Look Up) [Lyrics] 

  

It's Palm Sunday!

Zechariah 9:9

New King James Version (NKJV)

The Coming King

9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your King is coming to you;

He is just and having salvation,

Lowly and riding on a donkey,

A colt, the foal of a donkey.

Revelation 7:9-17

New International Version (NIV)

The Great Multitude in White Robes

9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,

who sits on the throne,

and to the Lamb.”

11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:

“Amen!

Praise and glory

and wisdom and thanks and honor

and power and strength

be to our God for ever and ever.

Amen!”

13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore,

“they are before the throne of God

    and serve him day and night in his temple;

and he who sits on the throne

    will shelter them with his presence.

16 ‘Never again will they hunger;

    never again will they thirst.

The sun will not beat down on them,’[a]

    nor any scorching heat.

17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne

    will be their shepherd;

‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’[b]

    ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’[c]”

I've had some moments this past week of feeling wretchedly poor.  It's been good for me to consider the day Jesus rode the lowly donkey into Jerusalem and the hope that He brought with Him.   If I was there I'd likely belong to the camp laying down palm fronds expecting immediate gratification from this Prophet and King.  Of course He didn't come for the temporal but for the eternal and that is ever so much better.  I know it is, I do; but my desire for a present relief remains.  My Jesus, who rode that borrowed and uncomfortable donkey, understands.  Blessed is He who came in the name of the Lord!

Michael W. Smith - Hosanna (Original Version)

HOSANNA - Phil Driscoll

Glory Crowns

Proverbs 20:29

English Standard Version (ESV)

29 The glory of young men is their strength,

    but the splendor of old men is their gray hair.

English Standard Version (ESV)

31 Gray hair is a crown of glory;

    it is gained in a righteous life.

Psalm 71:9

English Standard Version (ESV)

9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age;

    forsake me not when my strength is spent.

Leviticus 19:32

English Standard Version (ESV)

32 “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

Psalm 71:18

English Standard Version (ESV)

18 So even to old age and gray hairs,

    O God, do not forsake me,

until I proclaim your might to another generation,

    your power to all those to come.

My sister tells me that you know you're growing old when people start using the word "cute" to describe you again.  I don't know if it's happened to me yet, but it will, I'm sure should I gain more years.  As a teenager, when I considered my grandmother old, I thought it was cute that she held a Bible study at a local nursing home for people she thought old.  She had drafted her granddaughters to help by first driving her there and then by assisting the residents out of their rooms into a common room where she waited ready to teach.  She was a gifted teacher.  I now know how blessed I was for the privilege of helping Grandma to continue using her gift, even if I didn't realize it at the time.  She poured herself out into the lives of others until she had only herself to offer back to God.  I was never one of my grandmother's students; but, then again, maybe I was.

This is a song for anyone who might fear growing old.  God will never, never forget you.  

Don't Let Me Come Home a Stranger - Fernando Ortega  

 

Farther On performed by Alaska String Band

A Marvelous Love

1 Peter 2:24

English Standard Version (ESV)

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Rend Collective - You Bled OFFICIAL

May There Always Be...

…barn kittens and little girls.

I Will Serve Thee [Live]

Ever Only All For Thee

Psalm 51:17

New International Version (NIV)

17 My sacrifice, O God, is[a] a broken spirit;

    a broken and contrite heart

    you, God, will not despise.

Romans 12:1

New International Version (NIV)

A Living Sacrifice

12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 

Take My Life (And Let It Be), Chris Tomlin

Newsboys - Your Love Never Fails (Lyrics)

A Panting Thirst

Psalm 42:1-2

New International Version (NIV)

1 As the deer pants for streams of water,

    so my soul pants for you, my God.

2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

    When can I go and meet with God?

Psalm 63:1

New International Version (NIV)

1 You, God, are my God,

    earnestly I seek you;

I thirst for you,

    my whole being longs for you,

in a dry and parched land

    where there is no water.

John 4:13-14

New International Version (NIV)

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Revelation 22:17

New International Version (NIV)

17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

Some years ago, my husband and I were moved into a second floor Dallas apartment in the middle of a hot Texas August a long way from the Pacific Northwest.  I developed a raving thirst; and before we had emptied the U-Haul, I thought I'd certainly be crushed by the heat and not live to see a second day in Dallas.  Well I wasn't crushed and we did live, actually becoming more acclimated to the heat the longer we were there.  Spiritual neglect can accomplish the same thing in a Christian's life.  We get used to it and our thirst subsides.  I never want to become acclimated to living without Jesus.  May I always drink from the water of life. 

Come And Listen, David Crowder Band

Broken Glass Dance

Psalm 51:8

New International Version (NIV)

8 Let me hear joy and gladness;

    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Philippians 4:4

New International Version (NIV)

Final Exhortations

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Isaiah 61:3

New International Version (NIV)

3     and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

    instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

    instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

    instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

    a planting of the Lord

    for the display of his splendor.

“Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.” 

― Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

I learned today with some sadness that the college campus where I finished out my schooling is closing.  It is a satellite campus located in an inner city neighborhood in Philadelphia.  It was my one experience with urban living, a complete cultural shift for me, and a place of blessing as well as learning.  While there, I took the bus back and forth to my part-time job in Philadelphia's Center City.  One trip, as the bus drove past an abandoned, hardscrabble yard consisting more of dirt and rocks than grass and nearly surrounded by a broken chain link fence, I saw a sight that forever changed me, beauty where I thought it could never be.  A group of girls were in a circle singing out rhymes, clapping and spinning, jumping and dancing all on broken shards of glass; and I marveled.   In the years since then I've learned that walking with Jesus may be a call to walk in brokenness, in pain and heartache, and not just to walk but also to dance.   Yes, dance we can as beloved children of God who always know His presence. 

The Afters - Broken Hallelujah (Official Lyric video)

Nevertheless Joy

Habakkuk 3:17-19

King James Version (KJV)

17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:

18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

19 The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.

Starfield - The Kingdom (Official Music Video)

It's Sunday!

Sunday School, Holiness Church, Jackson, Mississippi, circa, 1935-1936. (Photographer: Eudora Welty)

Walk in the light...

1 John 1:7

English Standard Version (ESV)

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

We Shall Go Out Leaping

Malachi 4:2

English Standard Version (ESV)

2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.

Grandpa had stalls for his sweet Jersey calves, and we throughly enjoyed loving on them there.  I do remember, however, a sunny day where that wasn't enough for his grandchildren.  We wanted to take a calf for a walk and Grandpa obliged us, providing the leash like rope he used for when his cows were livestock and not his grandchildren's pets.  It took all of us to pull that reluctant calf from the safety of its stall, turning it into a tug of war that gained us only a momentary victory; for when that calf finally moved over the barn's threshold it ran lively and free, shaking children off the end of the rope until only the strongest could hold on.  The calf did leap and skip as happy as a child let out for recess, and it did not want to return to it's stall.  As hard as we pulled to get it out we had to pull much harder to bring it back in.  Such will be the children of God when the Lord returns on that great and awesome day, and we won't have to return to the stall.  

But For You Who Fear My Name - The Welcome Wagon

Entertaining Angels

Homeless Man Joins Carlos Whittaker for a Very Moving Performance

God Of Second Chances | Carlos Whittaker

Homeless Angel by axlsalles.deviant...