Moving, Really?

I sat down to pray for a friend  and found myself  in
Proverbs 3:5,6.

"Trust in The Lord
       With all your heart,
And do not lean
      On your own understanding
In all your ways
      Acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight."

The house is for sale but has not sold.
I think it necessary to sell the house so we
can buy a house so we have a place to put
our furniture. I want a door to door move.
We leave in a week and I have done every-
thing right except one thing--trust in God
for the process. He promises to do what is
best., I simply need to lean on Him. I do not know
the future or any of the details as to why this
beautiful house which sits on a lake has not sold.
God knows. It is enough.

It is enough--for this moment.

Pierced

Isaiah cuts to the core of the Gospel today:

"He was pierced through for our
     transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell
     upon Him
And by His scourging, we are healed."
(Isaiah 53:5)

Pierced, crushed, scourged. Strong words indeed!
I read these words lightly passing over quickly the
cost of my salvation. Perhaps I am so numbed out by
life that I cannot feel? How difficult, if not impossible,
for me to grasp the depth of the love that held Him
to that tree. Torn flesh, blood flowing in real time,
for me, for you. What a Savior!
Reader, do you know Him?

Stories:

http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

Smitten by God

I was prepared to go on, but the end of the verse
in the last post, held me.

"Surely He has borne our griefs
     and carried our sorrows.
Yet we esteemed Him 
     stricken,
Smitten of God and afflicted."
(Isaiah 53:4)

Those living at that time knew that Jesus called
God his Father, but many Jews had a wrong view
of God. They felt that He was distant, uncaring,
and suspected cruelty on His part. The death of
Jesus only confirmed it for them.

Smugly I tell myself that I know what God is like.
God is a good God. But then I catch a glimpse of
the ugly truth. How easy it is for me to impute evil
to God. I don't get my way and I complain. The
world talks about God's part in wars, famines,
earthquakes, hurricanes. The world says, "where
was God when..?"

The truth of the matter is that when God died that
day outside of Jerusalem, He took all the suffering of
a broken, sinful world into His body. What a Savior!
Reader, do you know Him?

Stories:
http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

Grief and Sorrow

Surely, he has borne our griefs
     and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him smitten
     of God, and afflicted. 
(Isaiah 53:4)

Jesus, the rejected and despised One, took
our griefs and our sorrows into Himself,
as He hung upon the cross. He became
sorrow; grief was his garment. How could
He carry my sorrow before I was even born?
He could do this because He died outside
of time.

Dear reader, it isn't just that God helps us
through terrible loss, He was there in your
awful moment 2,000 years ago. He took your
pain into Himself.
What a Savior!
Do you know Him?

Stories:

http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

Who is Jesus?

This is what Isaiah says about Jesus in
verse three of chapter 53:

"He was despised and forsaken of men
  A man of sorrows, and acquainted
      with grief.
And like one from whom men hide
       their faces,
He was despised, and we did not
       esteem Him." (Isaiah 53:3)

Jesus was not,

• Number One
• happy go lucky
• adored
• honored
• loved by the masses

Jesus was:

• hated
• despised
• dishonored
• isolated from the group
• familiar with sorrow and grief

Why did Jesus, God in the flesh, have to suffer so?

Because only by identifying with everything human,

could He deliver us out of our mess. And, who can

trust a God who has never suffered?

Dearest reader, do you know this Jesus?

stories:

http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

Ugliness

I have now come to Isaiah 53 and will pause here
for a season. This chapter is speaking of someone
who has not yet been born, by a prophet who lived
many years before his birth. Yet, Isaiah speaks in
the past tense as if he is looking back.

"Who has believed our message...?
He grew up...like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us
     to him.
Nothing in his appearance that we should
    desire Him."  (Isaiah 53:1-3)

Who was Isaiah speaking about? The person
was not attractive. He was not good looking.
There was nothing majestic in his bearing.
His appearance did not draw others to him.
Today we would call him ugly. Who was he?
His Name is Jesus.

If Jesus was attending the local Jr High today,
where do you think he would rate on a scale
from one to ten? Would He be the talk of tweets
and Face Book? Would the words of His peers
cut Him to pieces? Did the words of His peers
cut Him back then?

Dear reader, Jesus knows what it is like to be you.
Whatever the unalterable pain in your life, Jesus
knows about it and He understands. He can
identify with ugliness and rejection, because He
chose to identify completely with what it means
to be human. Jesus is completely trustworthy, He
loves you and He will not trample your heart.

STORIES:

http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

Called by Name

As I continued reading through the book of
Isaiah, I came across a favorite passage:

"But now, thus says the Lord, Your creator,
O Jacob.
And He who formed you, O Israel,
'Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are Mine!'
'When you pass through the waters, I will
be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow
you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not
be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you.
For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior...'"
(Isaiah 43:1-3)

The prophet is speaking directly to His people,
Israel, but you can put your name into this verse
for God has redeemed you through the blood of
His dear Son. He did the following for you:

• He has formed you
• He has redeemed you
• He has called you by name
• He calls you, "My own."

Because you belong to Him, He has promised to:

• Be with you
• Save you from flooding waters
• keep you from harm in the fires of life

I don't know about you dear reader, but I have 

to go back again and again to the promises of 

God. My life is full of unknowns at present and

I have to get my eyes off of my circumstances 

and on to the One who loves me best.

Dear reader, has Jesus redeemed you
through His blood?

STORIES:

http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

Clutter

We are leaving. Had a contract on the house, then
no contract. Still so many unknowns. How I want
all the loose strings to come together! Funny how
God gets lost in the clutter. Pause. Breathe. Before
anything or anyone else, there has to be Him.

I make
myself sit. 

Justice

I have been wandering through the book of Isaiah.
Such gems sparkle from its pages! Listen to these
words for they speak of One whom Isaiah did not
know but who was to come. God speaks through
His prophet:

"Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;
My chosen one in whom My soul delights.
I have put my Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the nations.

...A bruised reed He will not break,
A dimly burning wick He will not extinguish:
He will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not be disheartened or crushed,
Until He has established justice in the earth..."
(Isaiah 42:1-4)

Does this not resonate in your heart? We cry out
for justice and we look for the one who will bring
peace to our world, and peace to our hearts. He has
come and His name is Jesus. Isaiah describes Him
as One who will bring justice to the nations; One
who does not come forth to hurt but to heal; One
who does not grow discouraged by all the evil
perpetrated on us by an unbelieving world. Here
we read about the end of all things, which really
is not the end, but the beginning.

Reader, do you know the One who does not break
a bruised reed, or extinguish a dimly burning wick?

Provision

I am amazed at how God has given just what we
need at every turning point in this move. A neighbor
came over to look at a chair we were selling and
made suggestions for re-arranging the furniture in
the living room. Perfect! Another neighbor spent
four hours with me on Saturday. I bought two
arm loads of flowers and then Diane made them
into seven bouquets of beauty. I wielded the knife;
Diane placed the flowers in vases of all shapes and
sizes. The most complicated one turned out to be
getting the roses to stand up in the teapot! Sunday
afternoon was the "open house," and we were
invited by a friend to watch football. I fell asleep
on her couch.

If I were not watching for gifts from my heavenly
Dad, would I have noticed His generosity through
others? I wonder...?

"Every blessing He pours out,
I'll turn into praise!"
Stories:

http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

Gifts

Not long ago I heard about the book,
One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voscamp, and
I was intrigued. I ordered three copies. Ann
was not doing well emotionally and decided
to write out things she was thankful for until
she reached one thousand. I cried through the
first two chapters--and one or two of the others.
Ann's raw emotions and her style of writing
touched my heart. As she did this over a year's
time she discovered that God's gifts come in a
variety of packaging, but they are all good.

"Every good thing bestowed and every perfect
gift is from above, and comes down from the
Father of lights, with whom there is no
variation, or shifting shadow. (James 1:17)

God knew that my life was going to take a
sudden turn and how helpful it would be for
me to pay attention to my surroundings and
find little gifts hidden here and there.

I have started my list:
light dances on leaves over sun drenched lake
Ice falling into glass
A weeping Juniper tree
A splash of yellow against the dead
Fresh clean sheets

The list has become a diary of events over the
past couple of months. It is easy to let thankfulness
go as each day has so many twists and turns.
Stories:

http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

Idaho

It has been an intense struggle as to our destination
because we have family strung out over the West.
We have moved many times over our married life
and the only place of real stability and the sense of
"coming home," was Weiser--pronounced "geezer,"
which is fitting I suppose. Glen attended the same
one room school as his Mom, except the plumbing
had moved inside! Ruth, his mother has lived on
the Snake River for over 40 years. Our kids played
on the pool table when they were growing up and now
our grandson was doing the same last summer. Ruth
is an active 89 year old, soon to be 90, and is a joy to
be around. She still plays piano at church once a month.
Our desire is to become snow birds and winter in
Arizona.

But, right now, our house is on the market which is
somewhat amazing because we only started getting
the house ready two weeks ago. I want the house to
sell, get our goods picked up and drive out before the
winter storms-- which are all ready happening. It is
hard for me "To be still and know that I am God."
Both parts of it a somewhat of a challenge. This is not
the first time we have moved quickly and you will find
the details on the story page entitled, Moving, Military Style. 
The "C" in my middle name must stand for "change."
Changes increase as I get older, and that increases my
dependency on the One who loves me best.

Stories:

http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

Changes Coming

About two weeks ago we decided it was time to put
our house on the market and move, but we did not
know where. We knew that we would make this change
in the next year but had no idea it would spring upon
us so soon. When we returned from vacation Glen went
to the office but found nothing to do. Then both of his
bosses went on vacation and still Glen did not have an
assignment. He had spoken to them about becoming an
"occasional" employee beginning in January, but what
if work dried up before that and we were faced with a
move during the holiday season? With that we contacted
a realtor and he said that prices are going up and the
buyers are out there. His last words were, "the sooner,
the better." We set the date for October 12. It has been
a whirlwind of activity since then. The painter, doctor
appointments, throw away, give away, AND something
called, "staging." I call it "inconvenient and expensive."
People are looking for houses that would find their way
into Home and Gardens. The garden we have, and a
lake, but the inside has to have uncluttered closets, and
non-discript pictures, open rooms. It has to look inviting,
but with class. We could be gone by the first of November
and many of our friends have no idea we are moving!

Last Sunday, as I was taking my third nap, I heard the
words, "You have stayed here long enough, now go--in
the power of my strength. It will not be easy but I will
be with you. Now go." It is based on Deuteronomy 1:6.
I had not been in that verse for several years. What a relief
to know that this is not something we have cooked up on
our own. God is leading. He has done this before, Abraham
for one. One long time friend wrote a note to say, "this must
be of God. He works this way in your life"

In the next blog I will tell you where we will end up...

The Path of Life

Psalm 16 has ministered to my heart many
times throughout my life. The last verse
makes my heart sing!

"You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
(Psalm 16:17)

There is a path to life, real life, and His Name is
Jesus, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no
one comes to the Father  without me." (John 14:6)
Jesus is life, abundant life, NOW. Is that not what
our hearts hunger for? Don't we long to move from
the place of happiness to a place of deep abiding
joy? Do you seek pleasures outside of God? His
hands are full to overflowing with pleasures now
and for all eternity--for you!

Papa, I needed this Psalm today. It never ceases
to amaze me how You bring me to that living water
as I write this blog. It is a necessary discipline to turn
my focus from the chaos around me to you, my
Life Giver.
Stories:

http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html