Wondering Worship

". . . O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands." Daniel 9:4

The third stage of true worship is wonder. Here the mind ceases to understand and goes over to a kind of delightful astonishment. Carlyle said that worship is “transcendent wonder,” a degree of wonder without limit and beyond expression. That kind of worship is found throughout the Bible (though it is only fair to say that the lesser degrees of worship are found there also). Abraham fell on his face in holy wonderment as God spoke to him. Moses hid his face before the presence of God in the burning bush. Paul could hardly tell whether he was in or out of the body when he was allowed to see the unspeakable glories of the third heaven. When John saw Jesus walking among His churches, he fell at His feet as dead. We cite these as a examples; the list is long in the Biblical record. It may be said that such experiences as these are highly unusual and can be no criterion for the plain Christian today. This is true, but only of the external circumstances; the spiritual content of the experiences is unchanging and is found alike wherever true believers are found. it is always true that an encounter with God brings wonderment and awe. The pages of Christian biography are sweet with the testimonies of enraptured worshipers who met God in intimate experience and could find no words to express all they felt and saw and heard. Christian hymnody takes us where the efforts of common prose break down, and brings the wings of poetic feeling to the aid of the wondering saint. Open an old hymnal and turn to the sections on worship and the divine perfections and you will see the part that wonder has played in worship through the centuries. But wonder is not yet the last nor highest element in worship. The soaring saint has one more mountain peak to clear before he has reached the rarefied air of purest worship. He must adore.

Thought

Frederick Faber was one of those enraptured worshipers. He prayed: "Father of Jesus, love's reward. What rapture will it be prostrate before Thy throne to lie, and gaze and gaze on Thee!" When is the last time you so gazed?

By A. W. Tozer, taken from "That Incredible Christian", Chapter #39 - The Art of True Worship

The Failure To Pay Close Attention

"The high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days." 2 Chronicles 15:17

Asa was not completely obedient in the outward, visible areas of his life. He was obedient in what he considered the most important areas, but he was not entirely right. Beware of ever thinking, "Oh, that thing in my life doesn’t matter much." The fact that it doesn’t matter much to you may mean that it matters a great deal to God. Nothing should be considered a trivial matter by a child of God. How much longer are we going to prevent God from teaching us even one thing? But He keeps trying to teach us and He never loses patience. You say, "I know I am right with God"— yet the "high places" still remain in your life. There is still an area of disobedience. Do you protest that your heart is right with God, and yet there is something in your life He causes you to doubt? Whenever God causes a doubt about something, stop it immediately, no matter what it may be. Nothing in our lives is a mere insignificant detail to God.

Are there some things regarding your physical or intellectual life to which you have been paying no attention at all? If so, you may think you are all correct in the important areas, but you are careless— you are failing to concentrate or to focus properly. You no more need a day off from spiritual concentration on matters in your life than your heart needs a day off from beating. As you cannot take a day off morally and remain moral, neither can you take a day off spiritually and remain spiritual. God wants you to be entirely His, and it requires paying close attention to keep yourself fit. It also takes a tremendous amount of time. Yet some of us expect to rise above all of our problems, going from one mountaintop experience to another, with only a few minutes’ effort.

By Oswald Chambers, taken from "My Utmost for His Highest"

God's Good Timing

"God will always give what is right to His people who cry to Him night and day, and He will not be slow to answer them." Luke 18:7

Why does God wait until the money is gone? Why does He wait until the sickness has lingered? Why does He choose to wait until the other side of the grave to answer the prayers for healing?

I don't know. I only know His timing is always right. I can only say He will do what is best . . .
Though you hear nothing, He is speaking. Though you see nothing, He is acting. With God there are no accidents. Every incident is intended to bring us closer to Him. - A Gentle Thunder

By Max Lucado, taken from "Grace for the Moment"

Desperate Situations

"The angel of the Lord came upon him (Peter) and a light shined in the prison; and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off" (Acts 12:7).

"And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God. . . . And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and every one's bands were loosed" (Acts 16:25, 26).

This is God's way. In the darkest hours of the night, His tread draws near across the billows. As the day of execution is breaking, the angel comes to Peter's cell. When the scaffold for Mordecai is complete, the royal sleeplessness leads to a reaction in favor of the favored race.

Ah, soul, it may have to come to the worst with thee ere thou art delivered; but thou wilt be delivered! God may keep thee waiting, but he will ever be mindful of His covenant, and will appear to fulfill His inviolable Word. - F. B. Meyer

There's a simplicity about God in working out His plans, yet a resourcefulness equal to any difficulty, and an unswerving faithfulness to His trusting child, and an unforgetting steadiness in holding to His purpose. Through a fellow-prisoner, then a dream, He lifts Joseph from a prison to a premiership. And the length of stay in the prison prevents dizziness in the premier. It's safe to trust God's methods and to go by His clock. - S. D. Gordon

Providence hath a thousand keys to open a thousand sundry doors for the deliverance of His own, when it is even come to a desperate case. Let us be faithful; and care for our own part which is to suffer for Him, and lay Christ's part on Himself, and leave it there. - George MacDonald

Difficulty is the very atmosphere of miracle — it is miracle in its first stage. If it is to be a great miracle, the condition is not difficulty but impossibility.

The clinging hand of His child makes a desperate situation a delight to Him.

Compiled by Mrs. Charles Cowman, taken from "Streams in the Desert"

Bone Marrow

I've come to the point in the O.T. where I'm reading about how to build the tabernacle. I will admit that I've glossed over it as I always do. One thing I'm always amazed at is how detailed everything had to be. Down to the exact measurement.

Last night in my VT reading I came across the word "marrow". Bone marrow "is the soft tissue found in the hollow interior of bones. In adults, marrow in large bones produced new blood cells." There are two types of bone marrow: Red and yellow. You can find red blood cells, platelets and most blood cells in red marrow. What's interesting is that the bone marrow has a barrier. The blood vessels have a barrier inhibiting immature blood cells from leaving the bone marrow. It only allows mature blood cells that contain the required membrane proteins to pass the blood vessel endothelium (Cells that reduce friction of the flow of blood allowing the fluid to be pumped further.). Stem cells are also found within the bone marrow. You can treat diseases with bone marrow transplants from your own harvested bone marrow or from a donor. I'm very familiar with bone marrow. One
of the lovely tests I had to endure was a bone marrow biopsy (BMB). It was painful and left me with lower back pain for about a month. A thin tube like needle is inserted into both hips to extract the marrow from your bones to see if any cancerous cells are present.

The Bible uses it figuratively as richness (fatness) and good things. Psalm 63:5 says, "My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips." Apparently, bone marrow has been used as a source of food because it's high protein and monounsaturated fats which reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. The point is, marrow is important as it seems to be the heart of the bone.

I see the Lord as being the heart of our souls like marrow is the heart of the bone. We stay spiritually healthy by filling ourselves up with nourishing food from the Word by reading, memorizing and obeying what it says. We therefore have a healthy barrier of protection from becoming weakened and susceptible to Satan's attacks. It's just like cancer cells. It only takes one cell to get it's signals mixed up with something bad to affect another cell and makes the rest go bad. In time these undetected cells multiply until you realize you're not feeling well. It's only when you go in for tests do you realize you're body has been betraying you without you knowing it. You're sick and in need of treatment to become healed. Spiritually, that's when you turn to Jesus to fill yourself up with the fatness of His Word so you can gain strength, healing and become healthy again. I pray that I will continue to feed myself spiritually so that my spiritual immune system will not become weakened. Satan is crafty in his desire to draw us away from Jesus. For me, it only takes a small thing to create spiritual cancer. Arm yourselves with the Armor of God (Eph. 6:10-17)!

Krista Jones
1.26.08

Staying out of Christ's Way

"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity." II Peter 1:5-7

These are the things we are to add, "giving all diligence" to the doing. When I look at this list, I still see a list of important moral choices we are to make. But now, I also see a rather vivid description of the very character of Jesus Christ!

If this is true, then aren't these traits all a part of me already? If He has come to live within me, why do I have to add them, "giving all diligence"? Isn't this self-effort/ Isn't this trying to tie fruits onto my own tree? No. It is simplest letting yourself see what amazing characteristics are available to you when you begin to partake of this life of God within you. It is not imitation. It is realization. God comes in with all that He is. But we must let this life show forth. We must "work it out" in our daily lives. We must let Him be Himself under all circumstances. Even when it causes us great inconvenience.

"Add" means to "give diligence" in staying out of Christ's way as He lives these characteristics out through our humdrum daily lives. We must "give diligence" to doing this too. It is not natural. It is supernatural. In short, we must obey. When we really find out what He is like, then we will be watching for an impulse within us to abide by this amazing list of character traits. The impulse within you will be the pressure of the very life of God within you. Daily you will know more about Jesus. Daily, the supernatural life will become more familiar to you. Daily, you'll feel more at home with Christ.

"For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

By Eugenia Price, "Share My Pleasant Stones"

Giving all Diligence

"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith . . . " II Peter 1:5

We are to begin to partake of the life of God within us. We can see how to do this only through knowledge of God Himself. We can only know God by knowing Jesus Christ.

"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent."

The small "blue stone" at the top of this page reflected a long, bright shaft of new light for my friend, Ellen Riley, only yesterday morning, as I write these pages. In her own devotions, she was reading the first chapter of II Peter. For a long time I had almost seen into verses 5 through 7, but the most I had seen so far was that here was an excellent list of moral choices which we have to make before we can know victorious Christian living. However, Ellen was shown the key. I hadn't gone far enough. The key is in verse 9. We shall share that "blue stone" tomorrow.

And for today, we look at this one small fragmentary "blue stone" above in order to see one more that faith has been given to us already. Now we have a part to perform. We will be able to perform it once we being to gain a knowledge of what Jesus Christ is really like. This will give us our tools with which to begin to obey this verse. And this is our part: we are to add to our faith which has already been given to us by God Himself. And we are to do this diligently.

We must fist receive our faith as a gift from God. This we do when we receive Christ Himself. Now we see that there is more.

And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith . . .

By Eugenia Price, taken from "Share My Pleasant Stones"

No one is useless to God

"God does not see the same way people see. People look at the outside of a person, but the Lord looks at the heart." I Samuel 16:7

No one is useless to God. No one, at any point in his life, is useless to God - not a little child, not the unattractive, not the clumsy, not the tired, not the discouraged. God uses His children.

By Max Lucado, taken from "Walking with the Savior"

Why Was I Saved?

Last night I came across the verse that God led me to the night before I was to begin chemotherapy. "When I am afraid, I will trust in you." Psalm 56:3. I remember that night as being very frightening. I had already gone through Rituxan (the experimental drug) and fared well as the side effects weren't that bad. But Chemo scared me. I had heard horror stories about the side effects and knew my body wouldn't fare as well. The next morning it took all my will power to keep me in the treatment chair as I watched the first of the 4 drugs, Adriamycin, drip into my veins. It's a lovely red color and causes heart problems as well as makes you extremely sick and makes you loose your hair. It's so potent that I had to get a Pick Line inserted directly into the main vein to my heart. If any of it leaked out of my vein it would cause such bad damage (like burns) that I'd have to have plastic surgery to repair my skin. I hated every minute of it knowing that it was killing the good cells along with the bad. But it had to be done.

Over the years I've tried to describe how I felt those months after I was diagnosed. How I felt protected and loved by the Lord whom I found at the bottom of the pit of despair I'd fallen into. Lately, I've been drawn to verses that say we are taking shelter in His wings. The Bible's use of the word "wings" are mostly figurative: to seek rest (Ps. 55:6); refuge in God (Ps.17:8 & 91:4); renewed strength (Isa. 40:31); and compassion (Matt. 23:37). It was the feeling of being sheltered that I felt. It was like God covered me with his wings and within His wings I found rest and renewed strength.

This past year my Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma message board family has lost 4 loved ones. I have to point out that I've never meet any of these people but they've been a great source of support for me for the past 7 years. We're bonded by this dreadful disease and have often grown as close as one can through the internet and refer to each other as our NHL Family. The first person to pass away was our dear message board creator, Trudi. She started the message board because her husband had NHL. She was a loving and beautiful Christian who touched more lives then I think she even realized. God was evident through her loving words of encouragement, faith and hope. Sadly, she passed away from Lung Cancer and wasn't even a smoker. The last person to pass this week was Tommy. He had a loving wife and 3 beautiful children. He suffered more then anyone should especially this past year. I saw pictures of what he looked like before being diagnosed and pictures of his last few months and was shocked by the change in his appearance. It's one thing to read his wife's posts about his struggles but another to actually see what he was going through. I'm deeply saddened for these families and often wonder why I have been blessed with 7 disease free years. I don't dwell upon it often because I realize that God has given me the gift of good health and I don't want to take it for granted.

My journal entry during my treatment speaks of feeling the same way:

Monday, November 20, 2000
Couldn’t sleep last night. Spent the night crying. I can’t help but ask God why this is happening to me. I don’t know if I can be as strong as He wants me to be. What does He want me to do? I feel burdened to witness to my friends. Carman told me her niece is in pretty bad shape. She’s only 15 and has Hodgkin's, Stage 4 with it all over her body. Poor girl is taking chemo every day for 15 days. The Dr. says that if she makes it 6 months then she has a good chance of getting this. How can I be so sad about myself when there are other people who are far worse? I’ve just been feeling tired all day. Eric has been a dear and helped me. He shaved his hair for me. What a dear! (Note: Carman's niece recovered with flying colors and became the poster child for Hodgkin's Disease at her hospital. Sadly, a few years later she was diagnosed with Leukemia as a result of her radiation treatments. She passed away not long afterwards.)

Why have I been saved? After 7 years I think I found the answer 10 verses from the one I was led to those many years ago, "For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life." (Ps. 56:13). I was spared death (for now) so that I "may walk before God in the light of life." I've spent the past year forgetting all that I learned those many years ago. I forgot what God did for me and took it for granted. I am here to serve the Lord, live for Him and be an encouragement for those around me. I don't want to be like the Israelites who in Exodus 24 vowed to follow the Lord no matter what. Yet, I know in the coming chapters I'll read about how they turned away from Him time and time again. Lord, may I not forget your love for me and what you've done in my life. May I take what you've given to me and use it for your glory. Amen.

Krista Jones
1.25.08

The Oyster Man

"That the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." 2 Corinthians 4:7

In the days of John Wesley, lay preachers with limited education would sometimes conduct the church services. One man used Luke 19:21 as his text: "Lord, I feared Thee, because Thou art an austere man" (KJV). Not knowing the word austere, he thought the text spoke of "an oyster man."

He explained how a diver must grope in dark, freezing water to retrieve oysters. In his attempt, he cuts his hands on the sharp edges of the shells. After he obtains an oyster, he rises to the surface, clutching it "in his torn and bleeding hands." The preacher added, "Christ descended from the glory of heaven into . . . sinful human society, in order to retrieve humans and bring them back up with Him to the glory of heaven. His torn and bleeding hands are a sign of the value He has placed on the object of His quest."

Afterward, 12 men received Christ. Later that night someone came to Wesley to complain about unschooled preachers who were too ignorant even to know the meaning of the texts they were preaching on. The Oxford-educated Wesley simply said, "Never mind. The Lord got a dozen oysters tonight."

Our best may not always measure up to the standards of others. But God takes our inadequacies and humble efforts and uses them for His glory. — Cindy Hess Kasper

The Master can use what you have to offer,
Though you may consider it small;
His work here on earth is done through His children,
So give Him your best, give your all. —Hess

Do what you can where you are with what you have.

Taken from "Our Daily Bread"

Favor in God's Eyes

"This is the account of Noah, Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God." Genesis 6:9

Noah lived in the midst of a wicket people. Yet he was an example of one who could live a godly life in an evil world; a life pleasing to God in his everyday environment. "But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." (Genesis 6:8). His favor with the Lord was through no merit of his own but through his personal faith in God.

God could see that Noah's life was upright, He was "blameless among the people of his time". God recognized Noah as a perfect man, not perfect in character but in a life revealing a genuineness of faith in God.

We also read that "Noah walked with God". In the midst of wickedness, he was able to keep close fellowship with God. It is not the environment but the heart that determines one's walk with the Lord.

Noah was not as concerned with pleasing people as he was with pleasing God. "But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord."

We may question ourselves, "Do I find favor in the eyes of the Lord?" Remembering our weaknesses and failures we realize we have no merit by which god can accept us. But God knows all about us and has provided a way by which we can be accepted by him. We find grace in God's sight through our relationship with Jesus Christ. God sees us perfect in Him.

We may find ourselves in a place not conducive to Christian living, just as Noah did. Even there, God gives us grace to live victoriously. "He gives us more grace." (James 4:6).

Ponder the words, "Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." In the eyes of the Lord, is my life pleasing to Him today? Do I find favor in His sight?

By Millie Stamm, taken from "Women's Devotional Bible 1"

God's Patchwork Quilt

"Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, "I don't need you." The head can't say to the feet, "I don't need you." In fact, some of the parts that seem weakest and least important are really the most necessary. And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect from the eyes of others those parts that should not be seen, while other parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together in such a way that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other equally. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. Now all of you together are Christ's body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it." I Corinthians 12:20-27

Janet looked through a box of material scraps while her mother sewed, "Mother! Look at these gorgeous blue satin!"

"It is pretty," Mother agreed, "but there's not enough to make a dress, or even a blouse." Janet laid it back in the box.

Several weeks later, Janet found a large gift-wrapped bundle on her bed. When she tore off the wrappings, she found a pretty, handmade patchwork quilt. "Look at all the colors and designs!" Janet said. "And the border - it's made of that pretty blue satin I liked!"

It would have been a shame not to use that material for something," said Mother. "And while I was sewing the quilt together, I realized something."

"What?" Janet asked.

"God has a patchwork quilt, too - the church!" Mom replied, "Christians can be young, old, rich, or poor. Some have many talents, others just a few. But together they make a beautiful finished product, just like this quilt."

"It is beautiful," Janet agreed. "None of the pieces would be of much use by themselves."

"No, they wouldn't," answered Mother. "There are some Christians who try to make it on their own, without even going to church or making Christian friends. But Christians need one another."

"The next time I feel like a small, unimportant scrap," Janet said, "I'll just remember that I'm an important part of God's patchwork quilt!"

Taken from "One Year Book of Family Devotions"

God's Good Gifts

"Every good action and every perfect gift is from God." James 1:17

Ever feel like you have nothing? Just look at the gifts (God) has given you:

He has sent His angels to care for you, His Holy Spirit to dwell in you, His church to encourage you, and His word to guide you . . .

Anytime you speak, He listens; make a request and He responds.

He will never let you be tempted too much or stumble too far.

Let a tear appear on your cheek, and He is there to wipe it.

Let a love sonnet appear on your lips, and He is there to hear it.

As much as you want to see Him, He wants to see you more . . .

You have been chosen by Christ . . . He has claimed you as His beloved.

- When Christ Comes

By Max Lucado, taken from "Grace for the Moment"

Imagine That

"I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done." Psalm 145:5

What would you think if you saw your neighbor and her four children lying in the grass and pointing up to the sky? That's one of the things we'd do during the summer when I was growing up. Mom would have us find pictures in the clouds and then draw them. While we drew, Mom would teach us about clouds or whatever we were drawing.

Other times we would write and perform plays. WSe had a big hearth that made a great stage. Sometimes we wrote in parts for Mom and Dad and performed for our own pleasure.

My favorite was to pretend that our house was a giant boat on an imaginary journey. Our travels took us to the Coral Sea, across the Atlantic, up the Nile River and down the Mississippi River. And we never failed to sail right into a monsoon, which made the game much more exciting. We'd scream and bounce around like we were being tossed about on the waves. Not only did we have fun, but we learned more about geography and boats than we ever did in school.

Now as an adult, my imagination is the servant of my creativity and my faith. I love to research the facts about bible times and places - I dig right into those history books. Then, as I read the Bible I don't have any trouble imagining what things were really like, I can almost smell the pungent passengers on Noah's ark or feel the rough wood of a tiny boat rocking on the Galilean waves. My bible study comes alive as I put myself in the times, the places and the personalities of the men and women whose faith is my example.

Your imagination can be used for good or for evil. To empathize with the feelings and thoughts of other . . . or to enhance your prayer life are two of the uses of your imagination that please and glorify God.

By Brenda M. Josee, Ed, taken from "Women's Devotional Bible 2"

Just the Way You Are

"In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus." Philippians 2:5

It's dangerous to sum up grand truths in one statement, but I'm going to try. If a sentence or two could capture God's desire for each of us, it might read like this:

God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus.

God loves you just eh way you are. If you think His love for you would be stronger if your faith were, you are wrong. If you think His love would be deeper if your thoughts were, wrong again. Don't confuse God's love with the love of people. The love of people often increases with performance and decreases with mistakes. NOt so with god's love. he loves you right where you are. - Just Like Jesus

By Max Lucado, taken from "Grace for the Moment"

"I am with You Always"

"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:20b

It is hardly possible to overstress the importance of unceasing inward prayer on the part of the one who would live the God-conscious life. Prayer at stated times is good and right; we will never outgrow the need of it while we remain on earth. But this kind of prayer must be supported and perfected by the habit of constant, unspoken prayer. But someone may question whether in a world like this it is possible to think of God constantly. Would it not be too great a burden to try to keep God constantly in the focus of our minds while carrying on our normal activities in this noisy and highly complex civilization? Francois Malaval had the answer to this: "The wings of the dove do not weigh it down," he said. "They carry and support it. And so the thought of God is never a burden; it is a gentle breeze which bears us up, a hand which supports us and raises us, a light which guides us, and a spirit which vivifies us though we do not feel its working." We all know how the presence of someone we deeply love lifts our spirits and suffuses us with a radiant sense of peace and well-being. So the one who loves God supremely is lifted into rapture by His conscious Presence. "Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord" (John 20:20). If only we would stop lamenting and look up. God is here. Christ is risen. The Spirit has been poured out from on high. All this we know as theological truth. It remains for us to turn it into joyous spiritual experience. And how is this accomplished? There is no new technique; if it is new it is false. The old, old method still works. Conscious fellowship with Christ is by faith, love and obedience. And the humblest believer need not be without these.

Thought
He is always with us! As He has been with His people through the ages. As He promised to be wherever two or three gather in His name. He is with us. It remains for us to recognize His presence.

By A.W. Tozer That Incredible Christian, taken from "Living the God-Conscious Life" - Chapter # Nineteen

The Holiness of God

The holiness of God. I don't have time to sit and do a word study on holiness this morning. But what little I have gleaned though a quick skim is that holiness means separateness and/or withdrawal. When God spoke to Moses he told him to take his
sandals off because he was standing on holy ground. Now the ground itself wasn't holy but the fact that God was present made it holy because He is holy.

In Exodus 19 God has called Moses to Mount Sinai in order to reveal to him the 10 Commandments and Laws. In my years of glossing over these chapters because of what I saw as boring content, I totally didn't get the full impact of God coming down upon Mount Sinai. God prepared Moses and the people for the moment He was to come but they weren't prepared for what happened. In chapter 19:16-19 it says, "On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightening, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered." I can actually feel this scene. The awesomeness of God is evident in the thunder, lightening, fire and smoke. Can you imagine standing at the base of a mountain like Mount Rainier and looking up to see what the Israelites saw at the base of Mount Sinai? God was there in a big way. And because He was there, the mountain area was holy and the people were not allowed to even touch the base of it.

As I ponder these verses I've come to realize how we've taken the holiness out of God. Do we tremble in his presence? Maybe we would if we were experiencing a Mount Sinai moment because we'd be physically forced to see the awesomeness and holiness of the one we serve. God is with us each and every day because the Holy Spirit is within us. When we come before Him in prayer He is with us. When we worship Him together He is with us. We are called to be separate from the world and yet, I forget and tarnish the holy ground by walking on it with muddy unclean shoes. We should be more mindful of His presence in all that we do.

Krista Jones
1.24.08

The Word "Through"

"Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue." II Peter 1:2, 3

Here is a "blue stone" verse which I prize highly. It has made it simpler for me to lay hold of the faith I have been given.

Peter has used the word "through" in two instance here, both of which let enough light shine through to make this a noticeably brilliant "stone." "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord." This lets me know once and for all that grace and peace will be mine only through finding out what God is really like. When I am sure of His intention toward me, I am peaceful. When I am sure of His intension toward me, I am willing to take the grace which is knowledge of Jesus Christ assures me is always flowing toward me.

Using the same word "through," Peter goes on to say that "according as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him," we are to accept this gift and begin at once to partake of the very life of god which has been put within us.

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature . . .

By Eugenia Price, taken from "Share My Pleasant Stones"

The Unanswered Prayer

"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5:16

The Lord's answers to prayer are infinitely perfect, and they will show that often when we were asking for a stone that looked like bread. He was giving us bread that to our short-sightdness looked like stone." - J. Southley.

The Unanswered Prayer

She asked to be made like her Saviour;
He took her right then at her word.
And sent her a heart-crushing burden
Till the depths of her soul were stirred.

She wanted a meek, lowly spirit -
the work He gave answered that cry,
Till some who had once been companions,
With a pitying smile passed her by.

She asked to lean hard on her Saviour,
He took human props quite away,
Till no earthly friend could give comfort,
And she cold do nothing put pray.

She had prayed to be made like the Saviour,
and the burdens He gave her to bear
had been but the great Sculptor's teaching:
To help answer her earnest prayer.

- Publisher Unknown

"The life of fellowship with god cannot be built up in a day. It begins with the habitual reference of all to him, hour by hour. It then moves on to more and longer periods of communion; and it finds its consummation and bliss in days and nights of intercession and waiting." - F. B. Meyer

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman, taken from "Streams in the Desert Volume 2"

Offer yourself to God

"He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities." Psalm 130:8

Be it according to Thy word;
Redeem me from all sin;
My heart would now receive Thee, Lord,
Come in, my Lord, come in!

C. WESLEY

When you wake, or as soon as you are dressed, offer up your whole self to God, soul and body, thoughts and purposes and desires, to be for that day what He wills. Think of the occasions of the sin likely to befall you, and go, as a child, to your Father which is in heaven, and tell Him in childlike, simple words, your trials - in some such simple words as these - "Thou knowest, good Lord, that I am tempted to - [then name the temptations to it, and the ways in which you sin, as well as you know them]. But, good Lord, for love of Thee, I would this day keep wholly from all [naming the sin] and be very [naming the opposite grace]. I will not, by Thy grace, do one [N.] act, or speak one [N.] word, or give one [N.] look, or harbor one [N.] thought in my soul. If Thou allow any of these temptations to come upon me this day, I desire to think, speak, and do only what Thou willest. Lord, without Thee I can do nothing; with Thee I can do all." - E. B. PUSEY

Compiled by Mary W. Tileston, taken from "Daily Strength for Daily Needs"

The Bread of Life

Jesus said He was the bread of life, "I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give or the life of the world." (John 6:48-51). Manna (bread of life) was given to the Israelites after they grumbled to Moses about not having food to eat. In Exodus 16 God provided them with food that rained down from heaven and covered the ground like dew. Once it dried it was picked up in flakes and what Moses called, "bread the Lord has given you to eat." (vs 15). Manna was also called "the grain of heaven" and "bread of angels" is Psalm 78:24-25.

Every day God provided this food from heaven to sustain the Israelites for 40-years. Yet, the people ate it and still died a physical death. Jesus is the bread of life, like manna, that God sent from heaven. But unlike manna, Jesus was bread that gave us eternal life. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have ever lasting life." (John 3:16). I am so thankful that God sent His Son so that we may have eternal life. That our physical death is not the end but in fact, the beginning. May we eat from the "grain of heaven" each day and gain strength and nourishment from it. Then, may we proclaim what it's done for us to others. That those around us may know that Jesus wants them to know the joy of being loved by a Father who can fill the hunger they feel.

Krista Jones
1.23.08

His Brother's Brother

"Then the Lord said to Cain, "where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?" Genesis 4:9

"AM I my brother's keeper?"
No. he was his brother's brother.
Zoos have keepers.
Bees have keepers.
Prisons have keepers.
Only families have brothers.

By Ruth Bell Graham, taken from "Women's Devotional Bible 1"