Friday, March 31, 2017

His Divine Design

As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me...
Gen 24:27

We can all see God in exceptional things, but it requires 
the growth of spiritual discipline to see God in every 
detail. Never believe that the so-called random events 
of life are anything less than God's appointed order. 
Be ready to discover His divine designs anywhere and 
everywhere. (OC)

Reader, Corrie Ten Boom from the World War II era was
thrown into a concentration camp because she and her
family protected the Jews in Holland. I think that Corrie
was about 50 at the time. Both her father and sister
perished, but God released Corrie to go around the world
and share His love. One of her favorite stories was
accompanied by a woven cloth. One side looked terrible,
so many dark threads woven into the fabric, loose ends
too, but the other side was beautiful and those dark
threads highlighted and made more beautiful the brilliant
colors.

This woman and her books have encouraged me through
the years. When we were stationed in Holland in the late
80's, we had numerous opportunities to explore
'The Hiding Place' and various other places including a
concentration camp in Germany.

God makes all things beautiful in its time. 

Thursday, March 30, 2017

The Victory!

Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is 
the victory that has overcome the world, even our 
faith. (1 John 5:4)

'If a person allows it, he can find something at every 
turn of the road that will rob him of his victory and
his peace of mind. Satan is far from retiring from 
his work of attempting to deceive and destroy God's
children. At each milestone in your life, it is wise to
check the temperature of your experience in order to 
be keenly aware of the surrounding conditions.

Faith can change any situation, no matter how dark 
or difficult. Lifting your heart to God in a moment of 
genuine faith in Him can quickly alter your circum-
stances. God is still on the throne, and He can turn 
defeat into victory in a split second.'


'God is mighty, He is able to deliver;
Faith can victor be in every trying hour;
Fear and care and sin and sorrow be defeated
by our faith in God's almighty, conquering 
     power.

Have faith in God, the sun will shine,
Though dark the clouds may be today;
His heart has planned your path and mine,
Have faith in God, have faith alway.'
Marshall Ferdinand Foch 

Reader, it is so easy to look around and down
instead of up and out. Past experiences can draw
us into the 'bitterness pit,' and there we will lose
the battle.

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Trust in the Lord

Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land 
and enjoy safe pasture. (Ps 37:3)

'I once met a poor woman who earned a meager
living through hard domestic labor but was a joy-
ful, triumphant Christian. Another Christian lady,
who was quite sullen, said to her one day, "Nancy,
I understand your happiness today, but I would
think your future prospects would sober you.
Suppose, for instance, you experience a time of
illness and are unable to work. Or suppose your
present employers move away, and you cannot
find work elsewhere. Or suppose--"

"Stop!" cried Nancy. "I never suppose.' 'The Lord 
is my shepherd, I shall not want' (Ps 23). And
besides," she added to her gloomy friend, "it's all
that 'supposing' that's making you so miserable.
You'd better give that up and simply trust the
Lord."

The following scripture is one that will remove
all the 'supposing' from a believer's life if received
and acted on in a childlike faith: "Be content with 
what you have, because God said, 'Never will I
leave you; never will I forsake you.' So we say
with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will 
not be afraid. What can man do to me? (Heb 13)' 
Hannah Whitall Smith

Dearest Reader, When fear comes, I ask myself,
"Am I in danger right now?" If the answer if 'no,'
which is usually is, then I turn to Jesus and say,
'You are my sufficiency--'and that encompasses
everything because He dwells in me.


Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Experience OR Faith

...the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself
for me. Galatians 2:20

"We should battle through our moods, feelings,
and emotions into absolute devotion to the Lord
Jesus. We must break out of our own little world
of experience into abandoned devotion to Him.
He will present us faultless before the throne of
God, inexpressibly pure, absolutely righteous,
and profoundly justified." (OC)

           "It is finished."

Monday, March 27, 2017

The Changed Life

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things 
have passed away; behold all things have become new. 
(2 Corinthians 5:17)

"One of the tests for determining if the work of salvation
in your life is genuine--has God changed things that
really matter to you? If you are born again, the Spirit of
God makes the change evident in your life and thought.
It is this complete and amazing change that is the very
evidence that you are saved." (OC)

Reader, some of these things Chambers alludes to is a
love for scripture, a love for things of the Lord, a desire
to grow and mature in your Christian life. What does
not change? Flesh. God cannot save your flesh--He wants
to destroy it. Flesh is how you got your needs met before
you came to Christ. Adam never broke God's law, because
there was no law. Adam chose to live independently of 
God. That is what sin is. All generations from Adam have
inherited this independent spirit.

"...just as through one man sin entered into the world, 
and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, 
because all sinned--" 

"For as through one man's disobedience the many were 
made sinners, even so through the obedience of One 
the many will be made righteous." (Romans 5:12, 19)  

Friday, March 24, 2017

All Things

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. (Rom 8:28)

'What a tremendous claim Paul makes in this verse! 
He does not say, "We know that some things, most 
things, or even joyful things," but "all things." This 
promise spans from the very smallest detail of life 
to the most important, and from the most humbling 
of daily tasks to God's greatest works of grace 
performed during crises.

Paul states this in the present tense: "God works.
"He does not say, "worked" or "will work." It is a 
continuing operation.

We also know from Scripture that God's "justice (is) 
like the great deep" (Ps 36:6); at this very moment 
the angels in heaven, as they watch with folded wings 
the development of God's great plan, are undoubtedly 
proclaiming, "The Lord is righteous in all his ways 
and loving toward all He has made." (Ps 145:17)

Then when God orchestrates "all things...for the good," 
it is a beautiful blending. He requires many different 
colors, which individually may be quite dark, to weave 
into the harmonious pattern.

Separate tones, notes, and even discords are required 
to compose melodious musical anthems; a piece of 
machinery requires many separate wheels, parts and 
connections. One part from a machine may be useless, 
or one note from an anthem may never be considered 
beautiful, but taken together, combines, and completed, 
they lead to a perfect blend and harmony.

We can learn a lesson faith from this: 
"You do not realize now what I am doing, but later 
you will understand." (John 13:7) JR Macduff

Reader--God has set my heart to singing! "All things
work together for my good." Remember that we dwell
in eternity now. "Christ is in God, we are in Christ and
Christ is in us." (Jn 14:20)


Thursday, March 23, 2017

Spiritual Perserverance

"Be still and know that I am God....
Psalm 46:40

"If our hopes seem to be experiencing
disappointment right now, it simply
means that they are being purified.
Every hope or dream of the human
mind will be fulfilled if it is noble and
of God. But one of the greatest stresses
in life is the stress of waiting for God. "
(OC)

Reader, I am beginning to understand
the phrase, 'lady in waiting' as I wait
on my Lord--and His coming. 

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

He Answered Nothing

"He answered nothing." 
(Mark 15:3)

'There is a place of stillness that allows 
God the opportunity to work for us, and 
gives us peace. It is a stillness that ceases 
our scheming, self-vindication, and the 
search for a temporary means to an end
through our own wisdom and judgement. 
Instead, it lets God provide an answer, 
through His unfailing and faithful love, 
to the cruel blow we have suffered." 
AB Simpson

The day when Jesus stood alone
And felt the hearts of men like stone,
And knew He came but to atone--
   That day "He held His peace."

They witnessed falsely to His word,
They bound Him with a cruel cord,
And mockingly proclaimed Him Lord;
   "But Jesus held His peace."

They spat upon Him in the face,
They dragged Him on from place to place,
They heaped upon Him all disgrace;
   "But Jesus held His peace."

My friend have you for far much less,
With rage, which you called righteousness,
Resented slights with great distress?
   Your Savior "held His peace."
L.S.P.

"Resented slights with great distress..."
Guilty as charged. Come, Lord Jesus!


Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Painful Trials

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial
you are suffering...But rejoice that you participate
in the sufferings of Christ. (1 Peter 4: 12-13)

Many hours of waiting were necessary to enrich David's
harp with song. And hours of waiting in the wilderness
will provide us with psalms of "thanksgiving and the
sound of singing." Is 51:3 The hearts of the discouraged
here below will be lifted, and joy will be brought to our
Father's heavenly home.

Waiting on God and abiding in His will is to know Him
in "the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings"-- Phil 3:10--
and "to be conformed to the likeness of  his Son"--
Rom 8:29. Therefore if God's desire is to enlarge your
capacity for spiritual understanding, do not be frightened
by the greater realm of suffering that awaits you. The
Lord's capacity for sympathy is greater still, for the
breath of the Holy spirit into His new creation never makes
a heart hard and insensitive, but affectionate, tender, and
true. (Anna Shipton)

Dear Reader, I am so aware of the intense suffering of
some who read this blog. Here is one more verse to add
to the many you have collected over the years.

"I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me 
strength, that, he considered me faithful, appointing 
me to his service. " (1 Tim 1:12)



Monday, March 20, 2017

The Living God

Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, 
whom you serve continually, been able to rescue 
you? (Daniel 6:20)

'"One day I came to know Dr. John Douglas Adam,"
wrote Charles Trumbull. "I learned he considered
his greatest spiritual asset to be his unwavering
awareness of the actual presence of Jesus. Nothing
sustained him as much, he said, as the realization
that Jesus was always actually present with him.
This realization was totally independent of his own
feelings, his worthiness, his perceptions as to how
Jesus would demonstrate His presence.

"Furthermore, he said Christ was the center of his
thoughts. Whenever his mind was free from other
means, it would turn to Christ. Whenever he was
alone, no matter where he was, he would talk 
aloud to Christ as easily and as naturally as to any 
human friend. That is how very real Jesus' actual 
presence was to him."' (Streams in the Desert)

Dear reader, this portion that I read a couple of days
ago has had a huge impact on my unruly thoughts.
So many things are in upheaval and it has been easy
for me to, well, fret. I put on the armor each day but
I have left the sword behind. Last night in my sleepy
state these words came to me, "Jane, My grace is 
sufficient for you." That is the truth and I can lift up
my heart with these words every time thoughts arise
that pull me down; in every situation.


Saturday, March 18, 2017

Out of Egypt

As you may have guessed, I have been searching the
scriptures for many years as to end time events and
the coming of our Lord. My journey began as a seven
year old who heard about the rapture but was afraid
she would be over looked and left behind! This event
was very much on the minds of Christians in the 60's
and 70's, but disappointment in some predictions
and the rise of differing views including whether
prophecies have been fulfilled in 70AD or are still
in play, have caused many in the church to throw up
their hands and let the theologians figure it out. But,
end time events, eschatology, is not being preached
in our churches. The amazing thing is that the events
coming in the seven year Tribulation period (Rev 4-20)
are all ready appearing in the daily news and the
foundation for the fulfillment of these prophecies is
being laid right now. We are rapidly being brought into
a One World Government, where all nations will end
up submitting to one man--the anti-christ. The cry for
'peace and safety' is currently a very popular theme.

"For when they say, Peace and safety; then sudden 
destruction cometh upon them...and they shall not 
escape. (1 Thes 5:3)

It is for this reason that I have brought Daniel Valles
into my blog. Of all the video sites discussing end time
events, he is the best at finding a coalescence between
scripture, the heavens, movies, also in the messaging of
the enemy to their followers. They are ready for their
King to come on the scene to bring back the 'golden age'
before Noah's flood, and the time after this, the Tower
of Babel. Satan knows that when the church leaves in
the Rapture that he will only have seven years left before
our Lord takes over as King and reigns 1,000 years here
on earth.

We are living in a very exciting time where things are
happening at warp speed. I would encourage you to take
the time this weekend to watch the two parts entitled
"Out of Egypt."

Part One
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJVS36o7uT8

Part Two
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ4GsBmc_ng




Friday, March 17, 2017

Do you Love Him?

'She has done a good work for Me.'
Mark 14:6

'Have you ever been driven to do something  for 
God not because you felt that it was useful  or 
your duty to do so, or there was anything in it for 
you, but simply because you love Him? I'm 
referring to ordinary, simple human things--things 
which would be evidence to God that you are totally 
surrendered to Him.' (OC)

Reader--Our Lord has always looked for those who
loved Him regardless of what came their way. God
called Abraham 'His friend' and David was called
'A man after God's own heart.' Moses communed
with God face to face. All of them messed up big
time! What was it in each of these men that was so
wonderfully precious to our Lord?

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Rise Up

'...you know the time, that the hour has come for 
you to wake out of sleep. For salvation is nearer 
to us now than when we first believed. The night 
is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast 
off the works of darkness and put on the armor of 
light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not 
in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual 
immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and
jealousy. BUT put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its
desires.' (Romans 13:11-14)

Reader, it is time for us to seriously think about
what we are living for, who we are living for. Our
salvation, our deliverance from this evil age, is so
very near. It is not the church that is telling us to
wake up, but the messaging is coming from those
who are not believers, but who seem to know the
time better than we do. They are messaging to their 
disciples by way of movies, television, through
signs, and symbols. It seems to have begun in
earnest back in November of 2015  when the UN
called for 'peace and safety' and the trailers for
Alice Through the Looking Glass began--
six months before the movie came out. When God
calls His people to come up, evil will be unleashed.

I  ask you to watch the two videos below where
Daniel carefully unwraps and connects messaging
that is playing out at several levels. In the first video
there is a connection between the darkening of the
Statue of Liberty and a current movie. If you know
what to look for, you will be amazed at what is
being put out in various venues.

Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuFPWIZf2Sg

Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsGsS7-q8rc




Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Despair

Rise, let us be going.
Matthew 26:46

'Whenever we realize we have not taken advantage
of a magnificent opportunity, we are apt to sink into 
despair. Let the past sleep, but let it sleep in the 
sweet embrace of Christ, and let us go on into the 
invincible future with Him. Never let the sense of 
past failure defeat your next step.' (OC)

Reader, The scripture above reminds me of the
coming rapture of the Church. I did not intend to
talk about this subject when I sat down to write.
We are in a season of great changes; a season of
signs in the heavens and signs on earth. Jesus is
very clear that we are to be alert; we are to watch.
We are to prepare ourselves for Him as a bride
prepares for her groom before her wedding. It will
be a time of deep despair for those who miss the
opportunity of 'going home.'

'For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven 
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God: and the dead in christ 
shall rise first: 
Then we which are alive and remain shall be 
caught up together with them in the clouds, to 
meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever 
be with the Lord.'  (1 Thes 4:16,17)

'But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, 
not the angels of heaven but my Father only...
Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour 
your Lord doth come...
Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour 
as you think not the Son of man cometh...'
(Matt 24: 37, 42, 44)

'Knowing this first, that there shall come in the 
last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 
And saying, 
Where is the promise of His coming? for since 
the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they 
were from the beginning of creation...'No flood... 
(2 Peter 3:3,4)

'In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the 
last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the 
dead shall be raised, incorruptible, and we shall 
be changed...'
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast,
unmovable, always abounding in the work of the 
Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is 
not in vain in the Lord.' (1 Cor 15:52, 58)






Monday, March 13, 2017

More Than Victory

"In all these things we are more than conquerors 
through Him who loved us." (Romans 8:37)

'This is more than victory. This is triumph so complete 
that we not only have escaped defeat but also have 
destroyed our enemies and won plunder so rich and 
valuable that we can actually thank God for the battle. 
When we receive from the conflict a spiritual 
discipline that will greatly strengthen our faith and 
establish our spiritual character, we are more than 
conquerors. Temptation is like the fierce winds that 
cause the mighty cedars in the mountains to sink their 
roots more deeply into the soil. Our spiritual conflicts 
are among our most wonderful blessings, and the 
Adversary is used to train us for his own ultimate 
defeat. 

It was believed that the coral-building animals
instinctively built up the great reefs of the Atoll Islands 
in order to protect themselves. However, it has been 
shown that these organisms can only live and thrive 
facing the open ocean in the highly oxygenated foam 
of the combative waves. 

It is commonly thought that a protected and easy life is 
the best way to live. Yet the lives of all the noblest and 
strongest people prove exactly the opposite and  that 
the endurance of hardship is the making of the person. 
It produces vitality in the one whose roots are firmly 
planted in Christ.'
(Adapted from Streams in the Desert)

"As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, 
so walk ye in Him: Rooted and built up in him, and 
stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, 
abounding therein with thanksgiving." (Col 2:6,7)

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in 
triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads
everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him."
(2 Cor 2:14)

Reader, When the wind blows and the rains come
like a flood, set yourself in Him knowing that He is
rooting you deeply in the soil of triumph and victory!



Friday, March 10, 2017

Initiative Against Depression

'Arise and eat.'
1Kings 19:5

'When the Spirit of God comes to us, He does not 
give us glorious visions, but He tells us to do the 
most ordinary things imaginable. Whenever God
steps in, His inspiration is to do the most natural,
simple things--things we would never have 
imagined God was in, but as we do them we find
Him there.' (Oswald Chambers)

Reader, we want to live an overcoming life in
the supernatural while God wants us to live it
as we take the kids to school, make the bed,
dust the furniture and clean the toilet. When
we live our lives out of His life in these things,
we will find rewards waiting for us in heaven.

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Press On!

'For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the
beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.'
(Hebrews 3:14)

'Often the last step is the winning step. In Pilgrims 
Progress the greatest number of dangers were lurking
in the area closest to the gates of the Celestial City.
It was in that region the Doubting Castle stood. And
it was there the enchanted ground lured the tired
traveler to fatal slumber. It is when heaven's heights
are in full view that the gates of hell are the most
persistent and full of deadly peril.'
(Streams in the Desert)

"And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due
season we shall reap, if we faint not.(Gal 6:9)' 

Reader, I need my blogs!

To those who were of the Church of Philadelphia:
'Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou 
hast, that no man take thy crown.' (Rev 3:11)

Any runner will tell you that it at the very end of a
marathon, even as the goal is in sight, that the race
becomes very difficult and the runner so wants to
slow down, lie down, quit. Here is your encourage-
ment for the day:

'Hast thou not known?
Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the
Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth
not neither is weary? there is no searching of his
understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and
to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the
young men shall utterly fall:
BUT THEY THAT WAIT UPON THE LORD SHALL 
RENEW THEIR STRENGTH; THEY SHALL  
MOUNT UP WITH WINGS AS EAGLES; THEY 
SHALL RUN AND NOT BE WEARY; AND THEY 
SHALL WALK AND NOT FAINT. (Is 40:28-31) 

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Spiritual Initiative

Arise from the dead....
Ephesians 5:14

'God does not give us an overcoming life--
He gives us life to overcome. If we will
take the initiative to overcome, we will
find that we have the inspiration of God,
because He immediately gives us the
power of life.' (Oswald Chambers)

Reader, the living God dwells within every born
again Christian, but we make choices throughout
the day as to whether we will allow Him live His
Life through us, or whether we will live by our
own resources.  We can tune Him out and turn
Him off.

Monday, March 6, 2017

Complete

"And ye are complete in him...
(Col. 2:10)

Complete in Thee! no work of mine
May take, dear Lord, the place of Thine;
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And now I am complete in Thee.

Complete in Thee! no more shall sin,
Thy grace hath conquered, reign within;
Thy voice shall bid the tempter flee,
And I shall stand complete in Thee.

Complete in Thee! each want supplied,
And no good thing to me denied;
Since Thou my portion, Lord, wilt be,
I ask no more, complete in Thee.

Dear Savior! when before thy bar
All tribes and tongues assembled are,
Among Thy chosen will I be,
At Thy right hand complete in Thee.
(Cecil F Alexander)

Reader, we am so secure as Christians because we
are IN HIM. I used the verb 'am' because for me it
seems stronger-- continuous present tense. My
emotions tell me that I am continuously incomplete,
but God says otherwise. Upon what do I base my
life?  God's truth or mine?

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Darkness and Light

Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light...
Matthew 10:27

Sometimes God puts us through the experience
and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear
and obey Him. When you are in the dark, listen,
and God will give you a very precious message
for someone else once you are back in the light.
(Oswald Chambers)

Reader, the darkness WILL flee although your
enemy will tell you continually that things
will never change.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

What Has God Done?

''Consider what God has done: Who can straighten
what he has made crooked. (Ecclesiastes 7:13)

"God often seems to place His children in places of
deep difficulty, leading them into a corner from which 
there is no escape. But in days to come, He will give
to you the truth of the matter and you will sing praise
to His Name." (Streams in the Desert)

"He may wait till He explains,
Because we know that Jesus reigns.

You have fenced up my ways, made my paths crooked,
     To keep my wandering eyes fixed on You,
To make me what I was not, humble, patient;
     To draw my heart from earthly love to You.

So I will thank and praise You for this puzzle,
     And trust where I cannot understand.
Rejoicing You do hold me worth such testing,
     I cling the closer to Your guiding hand."
F.E.M.I.

Reader, many of you, for I know you, are going
through battles daily that make no sense. Our
God is preparing each one of us for Eternity,
not for time.

"Rejoice! And again I say rejoice!