What Are You When Adversity Strikes?

I was reading through some local and national news and got disgusted and discouraged as usual. It seems that everyone is going through some kind of adversity. The analogy explains how looks at life in perspective, especially when going through adversity. Here is the link: What Are You? A Carrot, An Egg, Or A Coffee Bean

http://www.artbydorisbell.net/new_page_4.htm

I am not sure where it originated, because there are many re-postings of it, It made me think of these scriptures.

Isaiah 30:19-21 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

Hebrews 3:13-15 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

John 16:31-33 Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe?  Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.  

It is great to have a source such as Christ to go to when life brings us trials and tribulation. The story reminded me of a Laura Story song "Blessings". The lyrics can be found here Blessings Lyrics and Video. 

Hope you enjoy the story and the song, it helped me to refocus and get off of life's troubles and back on my main focus of life the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, I still pray the adversities and challenges of life will change, just as everyone does, but I also know that there is a plan for them all in my life and the lives of others. We are all unique individuals and have our own unique circumstances and problems but the answer lies in how we respond to them.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Do you know HIM? what-is-salvation

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle Is The Hand That Rules The World

Berthe Morisot (1841-1895)The Cradle1872Paris, Musée d'Orsay © photo RMN

http://www.musee-orsay.fr

the hand that rocks the cradle Is the hand that rules the world

Blessings on the hand of women!

Angels guard its strength and grace,

In the palace, cottage, hovel,

Oh, no matter where the place;

Would that never storms assailed it,

Rainbows ever gently curled;

For the hand that rocks the cradle

Is the hand that rules the world.

Infancy's the tender fountain,

Power may with beauty flow,

Mother's first to guide the streamlets,

From them souls unresting grow

Grow on for the good or evil,

Sunshine streamed or evil hurled;

For the hand that rocks the cradle

Is the hand that rules the world.

Woman, how divine your mission

Here upon our natal sod!

Keep, oh, keep the young heart open

Always to the breath of God!

All true trophies of the ages

Are from mother-love impearled;

For the hand that rocks the cradle

Is the hand that rules the world

Blessings on the hand of women!

Fathers, sons, and daughters cry,

And the sacred song is mingled

With the worship in the sky-

Mingles where no tempest darkens,

Rainbows evermore are hurled;

For the hand that rocks the cradle

Is the hand that rules the world.

William Ross Wallace 1865

As Mother's Day approaches, may we all remember these words. They have proven so true throughout history. Thanks to http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/wallace1.html for saving the poem for us and may all of us as mothers remember that our actions today help to instill what our children will be tomorrow. I myself get moved over and over to remember William Wallace's words on our divine mission as women to instill an openness to God for our children. May we not be stumbling blocks and hypocrites in our children's lives and "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." as Proverbs 22:6 says.

A Tribute To David Wilkerson

photo from: http://www.cbn.com

 I just got word of  David Wilkerson's tragic death last night and the critical condition of his wife in TX. Please pray for his wife and family. If you don't know who David Wilkerson is just hear it from Nicky Cruz Nicky Cruz Testimony. The story appears here: David Wilkerson Killed In Car Crash. You can read his  Last Devotional. from April 27th.  And His Full Biography of his life.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time. It is just a constant reminder of how short life can be.
May we all be in the position he was here on earth, and have the testimony that he gave the world through Jesus Christ.

Searching For The Right Words

There are moments in time when we try in vain to find the right words to say. The death of a loved one is one of those times. We search in vain to try to muster up just the right thing to say, and if you are like me, sometimes we feel we have nothing good to offer. That is why I like the picture I found above. It is an acronym that aptly defines the scripture Proverbs 25:11 "A word fitly spoken [is like] apples of gold in pictures of silver." Having a fitly spoken word (well timed and placed) does more to encourage a soul than trying to fumble over figuring out the right words we think someone wants to hear.

As I struggle with coming to grips and the reality of my only brother, Brian dying of cancer yesterday, I realize the importance of this phrase. He was 38 and he leaves behind a 14 year old son and an 18 year old whom he raised since he was 3. His ex-girlfriend and mother of the children threw my brother out last March when she realized he was no longer a viable income source and only a drain to her life. This situation put my mother dependent on taking care of all his needs.  She even had been using her limited resources to help him get medical care and food since then.We are trying to figure out how to pay to travel on our limited budget (my husband sold off some farm equipment to get us all there and to help pay for burial costs, (medicaid pays some and my mom doesn't want to ask for help). So, if anyone would feel inclined to give, email me and I will send along my mom's address. sowinlove@gmail.com

So, this will be a very hard funeral to go to. I have to be there for my mom who is wondering why she had to bury her husband and now has to bury a child. I am trying to make decisions and don't know the answers. It is blur right now. I am searching for the right words myself. I fear going to this funeral and having to watch my brother's ex-girlfriend, she has had vicious past actions towards us and my mom. I pray the Lord will give the right words to fill my mouth with. I am also dealing with my brother rejecting the Gospel. He stated he was comfortable that he would go to hell. As far as I know, he never repented.

A good friend reached out last night with some fitting words, she watched her mom reject the Gospel and die and now her dad died 3 weeks ago, as far as she knows they both rejected the Gospel. She had to endure people's loving intentions of saying at least her dad was with her mom now. To her those words didn't help, because she knew that meant they were both probably in Hell and she knew they certainly wouldn't be together. They weren't fitting for her situation. She simply told me to have comfort in the fact that I didn't neglect to tell him. Those were the words the Lord knew I needed to hear. She gave some timely advice that were apples of gold to me.

I am praying that the Lord supplies me with those kind of timely words, I fear to even open my mouth. If I seem quiet to everyone right now,  just know that I know everyone cares and I do appreciate your prayers and sympathy.

May we all be encouragers and have some apples of gold to give

A ppropriate

P leasant

P ure

L ovely

E ncouraging

S oft

Sharing My Heart, What is Love?

Do we really know what love is?  No.  As humans we cannot even comprehend what love is. I am just starting to get a glimpse of the tremendous free gift that I have been given through Jesus Christ. It has been over 15 years since I've been saved, yet God has reached out lately and has been showing me how to get back to my first love(Revelation 2:5).
I was trying to find some more meaning in life than a feeling of just existing with no purpose and so in trying to "improve" my marriage, family life, circumstances, etc. I came across a series of seemingly unrelated events, where God has brought the love chapter(1 Corinthians 13) to my presence(people quoting it, books based off of it,blog-surfing). So, I started reading it over and over from the Bible. It was as if nothing happened, and I kept praying that I could manifest this type of love to others. Then a book I ordered arrived from where I trade books: Swap Books for Free - PaperBackSwap.com called The Way of Agape by Nancy Missler. She has a great article about it here: Knowing God Loves Us - The King's High Way Ministries.
 I have only been able to get through the first 7 chapters so far, and just beginning to know, that God's love is the only way in which I could love my husband and family more than I have. (I know this should not be a huge revelation, yet God revealed it, so I will be a little transparent here and share it.) 

I even have been given a dream from God, something I've never had done to me before. He even interpreted it to me and showed me how I had gone off course. It was so detailed I awoke almost weeping.  I am in awe of just how God has arranged all the circumstances that he has in the last few weeks, in order to very personally get my attention.
 

ἀγάπη   agape(love) Stongs G26

"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." - {1 John 4:8 }
"As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love."  {John 15:9 }
"And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."  {1Corinthians 13:13 }
Blue Letter Bible. Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2010. 25 Oct 2010. < http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible>


All of these verses above use agape and 1 John 4:8 revealed to me about how I had been using human love to make my relationships work. It was rather startling to have that shown to me, because I thought I was manifesting Christ's love.  Somewhere in time I replaced it with a system, and I was prompted to be vulnerable here and share it on my little corner of blogdom. 

May someone else be blessed  by this testimony and the word of God, and come to know Christ in a more intimate way as well.

 

How to Pray - The King's High Way Ministries

I've been blessed in reading The Way of Agape by Nancy Missler it is a convicting yet freeing book. I recommend it highly, it is truly a heart surgery from God. I also ran across these scriptures Nancy had on her website that show prayer by using scripture to pray. Thought I would pass it on.

How to Pray - The King's High Way Ministries

Stuffed with Stuff: A Re-Focus

When you want a picture to be in focus you have to re-adjust the settings a little, till it comes in clear. We've been all contemplating lately on where our focus in life has gone. Just like a camera that needs some re-focusing we didn't quite realize that we were slightly out of focus.

We have filled our lives with lots of stuff. Stuff to do, stuff to help with. Stuff we need. Stuff to get when we have the money. Stuff, stuff, stuff. We were becoming a bit over stuffed.

Ironically, while searching for some stuff to put in the blog, I found a short story that pretty much summed it up. It brought a good round of healthy conviction for all of us in our family. So, if it helps anyone else to realize that they might be a little out of focus and stuffed with stuff, but want to glorify Jesus Christ in their lives instead, pass it on. http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/conventi.htm

It was a reminder that spoke this scripture to our hearts."For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Matthew 6:21. God Bless.