It is Impossible

The ingrained lie in each one of us is that 'God helps
those who help themselves.' Not So! You will not
find those words in the Bible. But do you think that
you should be able to live the Christian Life? Living
the Christian life is impossible. Try harder, fail. Try
harder, fail... Only One ever lived the Christian life.
His Name is Jesus. Jesus lives in you. He is your
life. He is your victory. He wants you to come to
the end of 'trying harder.' It is the broken vessel that
releases the fragrance within. Feeling broken and
helpless is not such a bad thing.

Reader, God is waiting for you to cry: 'Help!!!! I
can't do this. Lord, please live your Life through me.'

Merciful

'Jesus did not die to help out the angels but the
offspring of Abraham. He had to be made like
us in every respect so he might become a 
merciful and faithful high priest--for us.'

I love the word merciful. The verse says that
Jesus is merciful to his kids. We tend to think
that He expects perfect behavior, that He
stands in his perfect priestly garments with a
frown when we fail. Not so! His heart is
moved with compassion by our struggles.
He was tempted, but unlike Adam, did not
sin. He was made like us not to show us the
way, but to be the way. He who lived a
sinless life lives in us, so He can give life
through us.

Reader, does the fear of his displeasure keep
you in bondage? Jesus is your freedom!

The Gold Nugget

We pushed our way into the bank to see the gold
nugget. I don't know what I expected but it looked
like an ordinary rock to me; nothing glittered,
nothing shone. The rock was balanced on a scale
with a four pound weight. That little rock weighed
in heavy!!!!

I am like that gold nugget. There is nothing on the
outside that makes me truly of value or different,
if anything, the body is aging into new folds and
wrinkles. BUT, the Lord Jesus and His glory dwells
within! CS Lewis wrote a little book called,
The Weight of Glory.
Glory is heavy--with promise

Papa--Remind me the of the value within the
Christians I encounter--regardless of the outside.
Each of us is a gold nugget, in a rather ordinary
package.

Forty Four Years

The number rolls off my tongue. The years roll back to
that special day when we pledged ourselves to each
other "until death do us part." That day I could not
even fathom the ten year mark!

Forty four years puts us back,
Before Roe Vs Wade;
Before desk top computers, Cell Phones, iPads;
Before Don't Ask Don't Tell; the Aids Epidemic;
Before the end of the Vietnam War.

Gas was 35 cents a gallon; rent in NYC, $95;
the home we bought in St Louis, $27,500.

Much has changed. New wrinkles and rolls. We
have lived in a bunch of houses in our many
moves; have traveled into the ends of the
earth, even lived overseas. Dull is not something
I would tack on to our life together! Friends of
every stripe and color live all over the world.
We are rich in so many ways.

We are a good fit.
We are good for each other.
We can see why God placed us together as man and wife.

Thank you, Glen, for loving me and being
there when I need you. I love you.

We Can Live Free!

'...that through death he might destroy the one
who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
and deliver all those who through fear of 
death, were subject to life long bondage.'
Hebrews 2:14,15

When Jesus died everything changed! Satan
lost, not just some of his power, but all of
his power. How does he wage war now?
Through deception. He is like the wizard in
The Wizard of OZ who worked his magic
behind the curtain. He was such a small
nothing. Yes, the devil can still roar, harass
intimidate and make our lives miserable--if
we let him. The truth is that Jesus, has
delivered--past tense-- us from sin, bondage
and death. We can live free! Jesus said,
'It is finished!'

A few days ago my blood pressure shot up
and I had some difficulty getting it down.
For some days I had been walking out of
my own resources in a series of difficult
situations. I was clueless but my body was
not. Fear had taken over. When I was a
child I posted this rhyme:

Fear knocked
Faith opened the door--
and, there was no one there.

Reader, the indwelling Christ is our only source
for victorious living.

In Christ Alone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWXcRVZWTb8

Death

'Since therefore the children share in flesh and 
blood, he himself likewise partook of the same 
things, that through death he might destroy the 
one who has the power of death, that is, the 
devil.' (Hebrews 2:14)

Jesus became like us in his suffering. But even
more startling, Jesus received death into himself.
He did this in order to destroy death and also
the one who uses death as a weapon--the devil.

Do you not think, reader, that when death entered
into Jesus, all hell celebrated? Satan thought he
had won. He now had the world and everything
in it. It was his, just as he had planned. Really?
Does it not seem that way sometimes in your
world?

Thankfulness Corner:
Summer heat gone. Lows in the 40's

His Pleasure

Glen's brother and wife arrived late Friday afternoon.
Getting the hay in had taken time early in the day.
They came with a purpose: The wrap around deck of
40 years needed some serious help.

The two hour power outage left us in close proximity
by candlelight as we sat around the uncleared dinner
table.

A sudden storm caught us by surprise. Lightning,
booming thunder, heavy rain soaked the land--and
the deck.

The goats next door discovered a hole in the fence
and followed each other into the pasture where
three calves grazed. It took time to sort them out.

Men gathered together around the piano in the
living room to practice, 'Be Thou My Vision.'
As the music filled the air in perfect harmony,
memories stirred of other times over the years...

What about the deck? It received its first coat on
Monday morning, followed by a surprise visit by
the family from Boise. The painting crew met for
Pizza. The second coat went on as Labor Day
waned. Mission accomplished!

Seriously, reader, God wrote the script. He
watched with pleasure as we received all the
gifts He had planned for us!