Angels Unaware

For He will give His angels 
     charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
They will bear you up in their 
     hands
Lest you strike your foot against
     a stone.
(Psalm 91:11,12)

How many of you have been aware of protecting angels?
Well, yesterday was one of those days for me. I had
picked up the dog and was heading home on highway 95
going about 55 in a 65 mph zone, when, suddenly, a car
crossed the lane of oncoming traffic--he had no room to
spare from that direction--and pulled directly in front of
me. I slammed on the brakes, and stopped inches from
his back fender. I heard the dog hit the floor as well as
the eggs sitting next to me. Funny, the things you are
aware of just before impact. But there was no impact. I
would say, considering the speed I was going and how
slow he was to get up any speed, that a serious crash was
inevitable. I stopped instantly. No one was behind me. As
I drove off in shock, I looked down at the box of eggs
which were lying on their side and I wondered if any of
them were intact.
Not one was broken, not one was cracked.
The eggs should have been an omelet!

It reminds me of another story when I was on staff with
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in NYC--many years
ago--, and I had to travel back on the subway in the late
evenings. One time I was alone in the subway car except
for two men sitting way behind me. I knew I had a long
walk to my apartment when I got off the train. Sure
enough, the guys followed me up the steps, but at the top
of the stairs was a cop AND HIS DOG! The men fled in
the opposite direction. I had never seen the police there
before--or after.

You know, in each of these examples the unbeliever can
find enough evidence to prove that neither was a
supernatural event.

Dear Christian, never doubt His love for you! Look
for the evidence in your daily life. Share God's
goodness with one another and encourage each other
as we watch for His coming.

Maranatha!

The Other Side

Let us go to the other side. Mark 4:35

Christ said, "Let us go to the other side"--
not "to the middle of the lake to be drowned." 
Daniel Crawford

Reader, how many of you have begun your
journey to "the other side," only to find that
it is taking much longer than expected and is
much harder than it looked? I notice in the
verse above that Jesus includes Himself in
boat.  Well, Amen.

God Is On The Throne

He said, "This is the resting place, let the weary 
rest...   Isaiah 28:12

Why do you worry? What possible use does your
worrying serve? You are aboard such a large ship
that you would be unable to steer even if your
Captain placed you at the helm. Be quiet, dear soul--
God is the Master!

Do you think all the commotion and uproar of this
life is evidence that God has left His throne? He
has not! His mighty steeds rush furiously ahead,
and His chariots are the storms themselves. But
the horses have bridles, and it is God who holds
the reins, guiding the chariots as He wills!

Our God Jehovah is still the Master! Believe this
and you will have peace. "Don't be afraid."
Charles Spurgeon

The title of the news headline caught my attention:

"Egyptian Christians killed for refusing to 
renounce their faith."

Evidently, each person was asked if he would re-
nounce his faith in Jesus as he stepped off the bus.
One by one each stepped off alone and one by
one each said, "no," and was immediately shot--
even the children...

Reader,
Christians are the most persecuted group of people
in the world today. Won't you pray for your sisters,
and brothers who face imprisonment and death
daily?

Pentecost

Next week churches around the world will celebrate
Pentecost which was the day the Holy Spirit was
poured out on the infant church. But, did you know
that the Jews also celebrate Pentecost at the end of
May? The Feast of Pentecost, in which all Jewish
men had to go to Jerusalem each year, was instituted
by God at Mt Sinai. In this feast God went into
covenant with His people, a marriage covenant. The
beginning of this covenant came earlier at the barley
harvest when God had the Priest wave the grain before
Him. The Priest was then commanded to count fifty
days to the Feast of Pentecost. This feast came at the
end of the wheat harvest and the Priest had to wave
two loaves of bread--bread made with yeast. Pentecost
is tied to first fruits, covenant, weddings--a favorite
day for Jewish weddings--deliverance. The day
represents completion of the fifty days between the
first fruits of barley and the first fruits of wheat.

Jesus is the Bread of Life, the first fruits of salvation.
This Bread ascended into heaven and poured out the
Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to seal the believers until
the day when Jesus Himself would transform our
mortal bodies and pick up His Bride for the wedding!

Reader we are in a season of great expectation for
the return of our Groom. So many patterns coming
together at this time! I have watched the video posted
below three times, trying to grasp all the threads
presented. One has to start in the Old Testament in
order to understand the end times and the rapture. It
really is all one piece.

Partial Pentecost--take your time with this one!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rDS95fnHuE

The Cup

Shall I not drink the  cup the Father has given to me?
John 18:11

God is a thousand times more meticulous with us 
than even an artist is with his canvas. Using many
brush strokes of sorrow, and circumstances of
various colors, He paints us into the highest and
best image He visualizes, if we will only receive
His bitter gifts of myrrh in the right spirit.

Yet when our cup of sorrows is taken away and the 
lessons in it are suppressed or go unheeded, we do 
more damage to our soul than could ever be repaired. 
No human heart can imagine the incomparable love 
God expresses in His gift of myrrh. However, this 
great gift that our soul should receive is allowed to 
pass by us because of our sleepy indifference, and 
ultimately nothing comes of it.

Then, in our barrenness we come and complain,
saying, "O Lord, I feel so dry, and there is so much 
darkness within me!" My advice to you, dear child,
is to open your heart to the pain and suffering, and 
it will accomplish more good than being full of 
emotion and sincerity. TAULER

Reader, there is something to be said of taking in what
God has given, to surrender to God rather than taking
on the enemy. Nothing can touch us that does not
come through His hand. This approach is hard to
grasp especially in this modern world where we are
told everything can be fixed--if we just try harder!

The Unheeded Secret

Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this 
world." John 18:36

We must get rid of the plague of the spirit 
of this rebellious age in which we live. The 
central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ 
is a personal relationship with Him, not 
public usefulness to others. (OC)

Reader, 'public usefulness to others' can be
found in the modern church where all sorts
of expectations are put upon the members--
by pastors.

Discouraged, Lonely, Brokenhearted

Do I have good news for you!

...Fear not,
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 shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire
you shall not be burned,
and the flames will not consume you.

For I AM the Lord your God...

Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
peoples in exchange for your life.

Fear not, I am with you...
Isaiah 43: 1-5

Reader, we have a personal God who favors us, who
loves us through thick and thin. How can He do this?
What is it about me that makes me special? I found
this in a simple worship song:

It's your blood that cleanses me
It's your blood that gives me life
It's your blood that took my place
In redeeming sacrifice,
And washes me whiter than the snow,
Than the snow;
My Jesus, God's precious sacrifice

The King is Coming!

For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the
Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they
say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh
upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and
they shall not escape.
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day
should overtake you as a thief. Ye are children of light; 
and the children of the day: we are not of the night, 
nor of darkness...
...let us who are of the day, be sober, putting on the
breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the
hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us unto 
wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.
Wherefore comfort yourselves together...
(1 Thessalonians 5)

I have spent the past few days reviewing many videos
that pertain to these last days and what we can know
and what we can expect. Some are very good; some
are not! I have chosen to post two of them at the end
of this short blog. The scripture above is fast coming
into reality and it really is time to discern what is about
to happen. I have underlined the key points which are
unpacked in the two videos. The first one by JD Farag,
was posted just a few hours ago and is about the prophetic
trip of our President into the Middle East.The second one
takes you back into the Rev 12 sign--believe me, many
have a lot to say about the sign that will appear in the
heavens on September 23, 2017. It has not been seen in
the last 2,000 years. It's first appearance was at the birth 
of the Son of Man! 

Reader, I ask you to take the time to ponder both the
scripture above and the two videos. In one day, in one
hour everything we have ever known will change.

Very current events happening right now. JD Farag

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8_51MU9wuc

We were forewarned  (Daniel Valles)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsyuKRebEfw

True Reconciliation

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,
that we might become the righteousness of God
in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Truly, this is one verse that makes my stomach drop
when I read it. How is it that the perfect Lamb of God
would become sin for me so that I can come into His
presence as a brand new person? Notice that we be-
come the righteousness of God IN HIM. Truly, this
verse is breathtaking in its scope!

Oswald Chambers has this to say:
Jesus Christ reconciled the human race, putting it
back to where God designed it to be. And now
anyone can experience that reconciliation, being
brought into oneness with God, on the basis of
what our Lord has done on the cross. 

Waiting

...they who wait for the Lord shall 
renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like
     eagles...      Isaiah 40:31

I was pondering these words just this
morning and then I found this poem:

Waiting! Yes, patiently waiting!
   Till next steps made plain will be;
To hear, with the inner hearing,
   The Voice that will call for me.

Waiting! Yes, hopefully waiting!
   With hope that need not grow dim;
The Master is pledged to guide me,
   And my eyes are unto Him.

Waiting! Expectantly waiting!
   Perhaps it may be today
The Master will quickly open
   The gate to my future way.

Waiting! Yes waiting! Still waiting!
   I know, though I've waited long,
That while He withholds His purpose,
   His waiting cannot be wrong.

Waiting! Yes, waiting! Still waiting
   The master will not be late:
Since He knows that I am waiting
   For Him to unlatch the gate.
J. Danson Smith

Reader, what is your heart waiting for?
Be assured. He knows more about this
than you can comprehend at present.

For those of you who are interested, I
will post the latest video on the Rev 12
sign below. It certainly gives food for
thought. The comments are particularly
interesting with a certain amount of
push back, but mostly with grace!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-FkAmDuJiY

Sheep Who Went Astray

All we like sheep have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way...
Isaiah 53:6

For those of you who are not on Face Book, here was
the scenario yesterday. I got a call from Animal
Control asking me if we had sheep. Well, yes, we do
have sheep that have borrowed our pasture. They had
followed the grass through a hole in the fence and
together walked along the canal and out to the road
where they were spotted by Lt Chuck Green who had
just turned onto the street. He managed to get the
sheep into the back pasture of our neighbor, but this
did not last long. My husband headed out with a
container of oats into what was fast turning into a
thunder storm. For a moment it looked like the
sheep were following him and then the rain hit. They
turned in a group and headed for the road. God then
intervened with lightning and the crash of thunder.
The whole herd galloped through the fence and up the
hill into our unused chicken coop where they were
locked up. There they were, 32 animals packed solid,
but, who made not a sound. Glen was not their
shepherd. We have only had them for a week. If we
have them for a month, they still may not know him!

Reader, it is so interesting to watch sheep. If one of
them sets out, the others follow--herd mentality. They
have no sense of danger, although they are easily
spooked. They have no protection and they have no
sense. Independent creatures. Loyalty? Not to a fake
shepherd. They are in it for themselves. Does this
remind you of a particular group you know? :)

Here is the rest of the verse from above:
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to
fall on Him. 

And this one:
The Lord is my shepherd, 
I shall not want. 
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in paths of righteousness
For His Name's sake... 

food for Thought

The past few days I have been watching some very
interesting videos that may be of interest to some of
you. I will post one of them below.

Many things are converging right now. It looks as if
there may be a peace treaty between Israel and the
Palestinians. Then there is North Korea rattling their
swords, so to speak. A dam in California is still not
out of the woods because of the run-off. Then there
was the tunnel collapse in Hanford, OR. In one
week four new volcanoes erupted for the first time
around the Ring of Fire. Several earthquakes which
were over 6 on the Richter scale were noted in a ten
day period. These are just a few things of note since
Trump came into office.

In addition many people have noted that the sign in
Revelation 12 will appear in the heavens on Sept 23,
2017 for the first time since John wrote of it. It is
unpacked in the video.

Then a great pageant appeared in heaven portraying 
things to come. I saw a woman clothed with the sun, 
with the moon at her feet, and a crown of twelve stars 
on her head. She was pregnant and screamed in the 
pain of her labor, awaiting her delivery.

Suddenly a red Dragon appeared, with seven heads 
and ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads. His tail 
drew along behind him a third of the stars, which he 
plunged to the earth...She gave birth to a son...
(Revelation 12:1-4,5--The Living Bible)


Dragon Tail Time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LigYkDgyY90

Call On Him

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will 
be saved.  (Joel 2:32)

So why don't I call on His name? Why do I run to 
this person or that person, when God is so near and 
will hear my faintest call? Why do I sit down to plot 
my own course and make my own plans? Why don't 
I immediately place myself and my burden on the
Lord?

Straight ahead is the best way to run, so why don't I
run directly to the living God? Instead, I look in vain
for deliverance everywhere else, but with God I will
find it. With Him I have His royal promise: "I will be
saved."And with Him I never need to ask if I may call
on Him or not, for the word "everyone" is all encom-
passing. It includes me and means me and means any-
body and everybody who calls upon His name.
Therefore I will trust in this verse and immediately
call on the glorious Lord who has made such a great
promise.

My situation is urgent, and I cannot see how it will ever
be delivered. Yet this is not my concern, for He who
made the promise will find a way to keep it. My part is
simply to obey His commandment not to direct His
ways. I am His servant, not His advisor. I call upon Him
and He will deliver me. Charles H Spurgeon

Reader, He will save you from the pit of despair. "His
arm is not shortened that it cannot save." Trust Him. He
will not disappoint. And, you will never be the same.

Degeneration

Just as through one man sin entered into the world,

and death through sin, and thus death spread to all

men, because all sinned...  Romans 5:12

The nature of sin is not immorality and wrongdoing, 

but the nature of self-realization which leads us to 

say, "I am my own god."   (OC)

Reader, Jesus came to set us free from self and all the 

heartache it leads to. That old sin nature was crucified 

with Him on the cross. It was buried. What rose from 

the dead with Him is a born again, new person with 

a new identity. We are not our own; we belong to the 

one true God.  (See Romans 6)

The Valley of Drudgery

If You can do anything, have compassion on us and
help us. Mark 9:22

The height of the mountaintop is measured by the dismal 
drudgery of the valley, but it is in the valley that we have 
to live for the glory of God. It is in the place of 
humiliation that we find our true worth to God--and that 
is where our faithfulness is revealed.  
(OC)

Reader, when I was in nursing school, over fifty years
ago, we spent many hours caring for very sick patients
who needed complete care, which included a bath every
day, mouth care, feeding, the sheets changed--with the
patient in the bed!, and a back rub two times a day.
One noon I left the medical ward for lunch, completely
spent and discouraged by such effort, but, as I stepped
off the elevator I was met with these words carved into
the woodwork:

"The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but 
to minister, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
(Matthew 20:28)

The impact made me cry and gave me wings!

God's Heroes

When they cried out to the Lord, he raised up for them
a deliverer, Othniel....,Caleb's younger brother, who
saved them. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him.
Judges 3:9-10

God is continually preparing His heroes, and when the 
opportunity is right, He puts them into position in an 
instant. He works so fast, the world wonders where they 
came from.

Dear friend, let the Holy Spirit prepare you, through the 
discipline of life. And when the finishing touch has been 
made on the sculpture, it will be easy for God to put you 
on display in the perfect place.

The day is coming when, like Othniel, we will also judge 
the nations and will rule and reign with Christ on earth 
during His millennial kingdom. But before that glorious 
day we must allow God to prepare us, as He did Othniel 
at Kiriath Sepher. (Judges 1:11-13)
We must allow God to work amid our present trials and 
in the little victories, the future significance of which we 
can only imagine. Yet we can be sure that if the Holy 
Spirit has His way with us, the Lord of heaven and earth 
has also prepared for us a throne.
A.B. Simpson--
(one of my favorite 19th century writers.)

Reader, a dear friend saw my blog on "chocolate"and
was drawn to draw out the word, "melt." Perhaps it
will draw a smile:

Melt
1 To dissolve; to make liquid; to liquefy; to reduce
from a solid or flowing state by heat; as, to melt wax,
tallow or lead; to melt ice or snow (OR CHOCOLATE!
You know it will be in heaven.)

2 To dissolve; to reduce to first principles,

3 To soften to love or tenderness
     For pity melts the mind to love.

4 To waste away; to dissipate
     In general riot melted down thy youth.

5 To dishearten. Joshua 14

MELT vl.i. To become liquid; to dissolve; to be
     changed from a fixed or solid state to a flowing
     state.
    And whiter snow in minutes melts away

1. To be softened to love, pity, tenderness or sym-
      pathy; To become tender, mild or gentle

2 To be dissolved; to lose substance
     Melted as breath into the wind

3 To be subdued by affliction; to sink into weakness. 
     My soul melteth for heaviness--strengthen Thou
       me Ps 119

4 To faint; to be discouraged or disheartened.
     As soon as we heard these things, our heart 
       melted. Joshua 2

MELT'ING n. The act of softening, the act of
     rendering tender.

Now reader, do you see how this fits with the
 themes of the recent blogs?
That is if you followed these breadcrumbs--

Chocolate

I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in
my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ...
Colossians 1:24

We have to be placed into God and brought into
agreement with Him before we can be broken
bread in His hands. Stay right with God and let
Him do as He likes, and you will find that He is
producing the kind of bread and wine that will
benefit His other children. (OC)

Reader,
The same sun that hardens clay, melts chocolate.

It is all about surrender...

Falling Forward

Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see
the glory of God? John 11:40

Mary and Martha could not not understand what their 
Lord was doing. Each of them had said to Him, 'Lord, 
if you had been here, my brother would not have died.'
And behind their words we seem to read their true
thoughts: 'Lord, we do not understand why you waited
so long to come or how you could allow the man you
love so much to die. We do not understand how you
could allow such sorrow and suffering to devastate our 
lives when you could have stopped it all. Why didn't
you come? But Jesus simply had one great truth in
answer to all of this. He said, in essence, 'You may not
understand, but I am telling you that if you believe you
will see.'

Abraham could not understand why God would ask him 
to sacrifice his son, but he trusted Him. Then he saw the 
Lord's glory when the son he loved was restored to him.
Moses could not understand why God would require
him to stay forty years in the wilderness, but he also
trusted Him. Then he saw when God called him to lead
Israel from Egyptian bondage. 

Joseph could not understand his brothers' cruelty toward
him, the false testimony of a treacherous woman, or the
long years of unjust imprisonment, but he trusted God
and finally he saw His glory in it all. And Joseph's 
father, Jacob, could not understand how God's strange
providence could allow Joseph to be taken from him. Yet, 
later he saw the Lord's glory when he looked into the 
face of his son, who had become the governor for a great 
king and the person used to preserve his own life and the 
lives of an entire nation.

Perhaps you find yourself asking questions: "I do not
understand why affliction has been granted to strike me.
I do not understand why the Lord has led me down these
twisting paths. I do not understand why my own plans,
which seemed so good, have been so disappointing. I do
not understand why the blessings I so desperately need
are so long in coming."

Dear friend, you do not have to understand all God's 
ways of dealing with you. He does not expect you to
understand them. You do not expect your children to
understand everything you do--you simply want them
to trust you. And someday you too will see the glory
of God in the things you do not understand. (J.H.M.)

Reader, what I see in this passage is this:
'You may not understand, but I am telling you that if 
you believe you will see.' Not the exact words of Jesus,
but very close to what He was saying to Martha. You
see the enemy is constantly telling you that God is
not good to you, but in the stories above you can see
that He does care about you and He is always good.
As we walk through the darkness the Father wants us
to fall forward into His arms.

Independence

And the serpent said to the woman, "You shall surely
not die! For in the day you eat from it your eyes will
be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good
and evil.

(You will be like God. You will be equal with God, but
you might even be better than God. You will know evil.)

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree
was desirable to make one wise, she took its fruit and
ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he
ate. Genesis 3:4-6)

(When the woman saw that the tree was desirable to
make one wise, she ate and gave some to Adam who
was standing next to her.

Reader, the sin of Adam was not in the eating of the
fruit but that he chose independence from God. Is that
not our biggest problem still; our biggest sin? We make
decisions every day without any thought of what God
has in mind. He wants even more of us in this regard.
He wants us to be that branch in the Vine receiving
continual nourishment and life. He wants us to so be
leaning on Him that if He moved we would fall down!

Unconditional Identification

Go your way sell whatever you have and give 
to the poor...and come...follow Me. Mark 10:21

The look of Jesus will require breaking your
heart away forever from allegiance to any 
other person or thing. Once the call of God
comes to you, start going and never stop.
(OC)

Reader, this is a hard saying. I went back into the
incident and it is the rich young ruler who asked
Jesus how he was to obtain Eternal life. He came
for a compliment for all he had done. Pride was
oozing from every pore. Then Jesus looked at him,
loved him and cut to the core of the matter. 'Sell
out and follow Me.' Wow!
What is He asking you to lay down?

The Gardener

My Father is the gardener (John 15:1)

It is a comforting thought that trouble, in whatever
form it comes to us, is a heavenly messenger that 
brings us something from God. Outwardly it may
appear painful or even destructive, but inwardly
its spiritual work produces blessings. Many of the
richest blessings we have inherited are the fruit of
sorrow or pain. We should never forget that 
redemption, the world's greatest blessing, is the fruit 
of the world's greatest sorrow. And whenever a time 
of deep prunning comes and the knife cuts deeply 
and the pain is severe, what an inexpressible comfort 
it is to know: "My Father is the gardener."

John Vincent, a Methodist Episcable bishop of the
late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and a
leader of the Sunday School movement in America,
once told of being in a large greenhouse where 
clusters of luscious grapes were hanging on each
side. The owner of the greenhouse told him, "When
the new gardener came here, he said he would not
work with the vines unless he could cut them 
completely down to the stalk. I allowed him to do
so, and we had no grapes for two years, but this is
now the result."

There is rich symbolism in this account of the pruning 
process when applied to the Christian life. Pruning 
seems to be destroying the vine, and the gardener 
appears to be cutting everything away. Yet he sees 
the future and knows that the final result will be the
enrichment of the life of the vine, and a greater 
abundance of fruit.

There are many blessings we will never receive until
we are ready to pay the price of pain, for the path of
suffering is the only way to reach them. JR Miller

Reader, Do you trust Him? You will not know the
answer unless you get quiet and listen to His voice.
He loves you so much.

Hard Words

...He said...'Follow Me.' The other said...'Permit me
first to go bury my father.' Jesus followed by: 'Allow
the dead to bury their own dead...' Luke 9:59,60)

Never apologize for your Lord. The words of the Lord
hurt and offend until there is nothing left to be hurt or
offended. Jesus Christ had no tenderness whatsoever
toward anything that was ultimately going to ruin a
person in his service to God. (OC)

Reader, sometimes I think that we have no idea the cost
of discipleship. Christianity today does not seem to reflect
the Christianity of our forefathers. Go into the works of
those who lived in the 19th century. The works of:
T. Austin Sparks; Andrew Murray; FB Meyer; Spurgeon;
EM Bounds.

Long Lasting Faith

Indeed the hour is coming...that you will be
scattered. John 16:32

Do we not see God at work in our circumstances?
Dark times are allowed and come to us through
the sovereignty of God. Are we prepared to let
God do what He wants with us? God is never in
a hurry. If we are willing to wait, we will see
God pointing out that we have been interested
only in His blessings, instead of in God Himself.
Oswald Chambers

Reader, are you, am I 'prepared to let God do
what He wants with us?' Then, 'God is never in
a hurry.'
(Is it about me, or is it about Him?)

Jesus, Lover of my Soul
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mJFFrVnczE