Lift Up Your Eyes and Look to the Heavens!
Though the beginning of this day was a little crazy with an uncooperative bus, it all panned out in the end. Thank you, Father, for Your guiding hand and watchful eye. Bless our time together. Amen.
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Early this morning on my high school / middle school route I saw one of the most beautiful sights! The crescent moon was setting in the east as the sun was just starting to color the horizon with a rosy hue. And to add to the beauty, the planet Venus was brightly visible to the upper left of the moon. It was stunning – and of course, I couldn’t take a picture and drive! (The above picture is Venus and the moon setting near Taos, New Mexico.)
I know I’ve written along these lines in the past, but it always takes my breath away, especially knowing Who set it all in place.
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
….Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
….and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
….not one of them is missing. Isaiah 40:26 NIV
My words seem so feeble to express it all! One of King David’s many psalms is glorious!
O Lord, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth,
Who have set Your glory above the heavens!
Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have ordained strength,
Because of Your enemies,
That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
All sheep and oxen—
Even the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air,
And the fish of the sea
That pass through the paths of the seas.
O Lord, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth! Psalm 8:1-9 NKJV
Indeed, O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth! Can I get an “Amen”!
Mar 28th, 2022, Mom, 8:37 pm
Rich in Acts of Kindness
A good morning of services, Father. I am ever grateful for the ministry You have provided me. Use me to fulfill Your will as we continue on. Amen.
Acts 9:32-43 (<<click here to read the passage)
My paternal great-grandmother, Mary Virginia Fowler, was a wonderful woman of God. Her home life wasn’t the best for sure – she gave birth to 17 children and her husband said he hated them all (not a great guy)!
But that didn’t stop her from doing all she could to help others. When she died in the spring of 1953, the other side of the river in Annapolis, Maryland, where she lived, was lined in tribute by many in the black community whom she had helped in some way or another. I’m sure she didn’t have much to work with (with all those mouths to feed and bodies to clothe!) but she didn’t let that slow her down.
We may not realize it, but our acts of kindness may have a great impact on the people around us. A lot of people with that mindset are extremely hard working but are often extremely humble, as well.
In today’s passage, we shift gears from Saul back to Peter. Peter was in the coastal city of Joppa. A believer by the name of Tabitha lived there, and the Amplified Bible said she was rich in acts of kindness and charity which she continually did. v36b Tragically around that time she became sick and died. v37a
Right before this Peter had been in a community not too far away by the name of Lydda, where he had healed a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years and was paralyzed. v33 I’m sure word traveled fast and when the disciples heard that he was not far away they sent for him, urging him, “Come to us without delay.” v38
Peter left at once and was taken to the room in which they had laid her body and if that was not tragic enough, all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing [him] all the tunics and robes that (Tabitha) used to make while she was with them. v39 He sent them all out [of the room] and knelt down and prayed; then turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise!” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. v40
Of course, they all were overjoyed and because of these acts of the Holy Spirit through Peter, many came to believe in the Lord [that is, to adhere to and trust in and rely on Jesus as Christ and Savior]. v42 AMP
Yes, they saw a miracle of God which led them to believe, but like my great-grandmother, Mary, Tabitha had invested her life in others. Neither of them just talked a good talk. Their actions proclaimed their relationship with the Lord Jesus. Their diligence in service to those in need impacted them for eternity!
Lord Jesus, we may not think what we do is all that important but if we are seeking Your will and doing what we can with what we have, You will bless our efforts. Help us to be rich in acts of kindness and charity. We will be blessed, and others will be blessed, as well. And most importantly, Your name will be glorified! All praise to You, our Lord and Savior!
Mar 27th, 2022, Sun, 12:25 pm
God Has Great Things in Store for You!
I am grateful, Father, that You are always with me. It brings comfort and if I will listen, it keeps me on the straight and narrow way. Enable me to abide in You. Amen.
Acts 9:19b-31 (<<click here to read the passage)
Followers of Jesus, I would encourage you to embrace your uniqueness! So many think so little of themselves and their talents and abilities. If need be, we should be about reminding ourselves that we all are unique creations. Our loving heavenly Father made you just the way you are for a reason. And we need to live it out! Ask Him, if you’re not sure what your giftedness might be, and He will show you!
Saul was most definitely a gifted and well-learned Pharisee. He would later make it very clear where he stood in God’s eyes.
But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Galatians 1:15a NLT
God knew who he was before even he knew himself! Saul was unique. I am unique. You are unique. And God knowing all there is to know about us can use who we are to impact His Kingdom.
Saul from a young age was pretty confident in who he was but many are much less so. Take Gideon, one of Israel’s judges before there were kings. His story is found in Judges 6-8. He was just an ordinary guy, doing his best to survive in a time of great turmoil in Israel. God knew Gideon was far more capable than he thought he was. It took a fair amount of convincing but once that was accomplished, Gideon did outstanding work in the service of God by overthrowing the oppressive Midianites army. Through him, he destroyed their huge army with what ended up being a very small group of warriors, ram’s horns, and torches hidden under clay jars!
God knew who Gideon was before he even knew himself! Gideon was unique.
God did more with Saul – whom He later renamed Paul – than Saul could ever have accomplished on his own, regardless of how zealous Saul thought he was for God and His purposes
God knows me and he knows you. You may not think much of yourself, but God surely does! And God can use us – our unique selves – to accomplish great things for His Kingdom! And we can’t go by the world’s definitions of what those great things are. For as God proclaims in Isaiah 55:8-9,
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
….“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
….so my ways are higher than your ways
….and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. NLT
Trust. God. Open yourself to His will and guidance in Your life. You just never know what great things God has in store…for you…and the world!
Mar 24th, 2022, Thurs, 5:05 pm
Read What He’s Written
Dear Father, my mind is like spring! Things are popping up that I did not realize were there! May my joy continue, and may they continue to grow under the rays of the Son and the Living Water that is poured forth! Amen.
Acts 9:19b-31 (<<click here to read the passage)
I want to begin by saying that reading the Bible is very important for any follower of Jesus. There are so many things that we discover when we do so. One thing that stuck out for me were the number of songs that came to mind, especially hymns! Of course, it makes perfect sense that God’s Word would inspire so much great music. So many other genres of music have had quite a bit of inspiration from the Scriptures as well.
Reading the Bible has to be something you put your mind to. Some sections can be difficult to get through – the Old Testament books of the Law for example. Some years ago, I made a point of reading through the Bible several times over an extended period. With a 40-minute commute at the time, I also listened to the Bible on CD several times over. I am not attempting to be boastful; it is just the path that I took. I was amazed at how much that overall view of God’s Word made me aware of how many things touched each other and overlapped from Old Testament to New.
Right before I started journaling back in 2015, I switched gears and begin very methodically going through the Bible. I picked up right where I was reading at the time, which was the book of Ephesians. So instead of striving to read the entirety of Scripture as often as I could, I shifted to reading and thinking about much shorter sections of Scripture. It allowed me to go deep and not just wide.
It’s getting close to 7 years, but I still have gotten through even the New Testament! It’s been a much slower process. But honestly, both are beneficial to our growth spiritually.
The reason I speak of such things is that I learned something through today’s passage that I never knew. I heard it for the first time in my attempt to delve a bit into podcasts. I started listening to one entitled, The Early Christian Church. (I enjoyed it, though it’s probably not a topic everyone would get into.) Then I read it again in the notes of my Application Study Bible.
I never realized that Saul (later Paul) didn’t go straight from his place of conversion, Damascus, to Jerusalem! That happened three years later! Why did I not know this?!
We learn the chain of events in Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia. Following his conversion he states,
…I did not rush out to consult with any human being. Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went away into Arabia, and later I returned to the city of Damascus.
Then three years later I went to Jerusalem… Galatians 1:16c-18a NLT
My point simply is…read the Bible! Do what you can. Try to be consistent. Don’t feel pressured to read it all. The Gospel of John is a great place to start. The New Testament is a bit easier to get through but there are many wonderful things in the Old Testament as well.
You’d prefer seeking out a bit more depth of a smaller amount of Scripture? Get a study Bible. The Life Application one I have is great and it’s available in many different translations. Not sure which translation to use? Reach out to me and I can give you some direction.
All in all, one of the best ways to draw closer to God is to read what He’s written for us. Go for it!
Mar 23rd, 2022, Wed, 1:00 pm
Called to Commitment, Not Comfort
Father, today has been a mixed bag of joy and sorrow, with quite a bit of normalcy stirred in. Please continue to guide my heart and hands as we come together once more. May Your word be spread widely abroad! Amen.
Acts 9:15-16 (<<click here to read the passage)
It never surprises me how often God meshes different parts of our lives to one point of clarity. This is one of those times. The recent deaths of loved ones – a believe me there have been far too many, this particular passage of Scripture, and a recent choice of music to which I listen through the Bluetooth in my new hearing aids!
I’ve already shared a couple of times of loss we have suffered, but my Aunt Ruth and Hank are but two of several. They are heaven’s gain, but we still mourn the loss of a wonderful neighbor, two elderly saints from my one church, a dear friend I worked with at Kohl’s, and a young cousin’s husband. Yes, I will see them all again some sweet day but each one is one more weight on my heart…
Then as I read through the notes of the passage regarding Saul’s conversion, I saw this note on verses 15-16.
First these verses,
But the Lord said to him, “Go, for this man is a [deliberately] chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will make clear to him how much he must suffer and endure for My name’s sake.” Acts 9:15-16 AMP
Then the note from Life Application Study Bible,
Faith in Christ brings great blessings but often great suffering, too. Paul would suffer for his faith (see 2 Corinthians 11:23-27). God calls us to commitment, not to comfort. He promises to be with us through suffering and hardship, not to spare us from them. (emphasis mine)
I would be remiss if I did not have you read that passage from 2 Corinthians,
Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 NLT
Saul, who the Lord renamed, Paul, definitely went on to suffer and like my loved ones who have joined the multitudes of heaven, their suffering did not distance them from their Savior, but drew them closer.
The last part of the puzzle is a song by one of my favorite artists, Gordon Mote. (Check him out on Spotify or any other music platform.) His 2013 release, All Things New features the song For You.
Here are the lyrics and a link to listen to a wonderful song that ties in all together. Thank you, Lord, for the work You do in our lives regardless of what it brings us.
There’s an endless list of reasons
I should sing your praise
You’ve showered me with blessings
All along the way
Lord, I’m so grateful
For You are so faithful to me
You’ve poured out Your goodness
And my cup overflows
You’ve covered me with mercy
You’ve satisfied my soul
Bread and living water
You are the Friend and Father I need
And if my world should crumble
And sorrow comes to call
From the ashes I will testify
You’re with me through it all
Lord, I love You, I worship You, for You
Yes, I love You, I worship You, for You
If the road that I must follow
Is a road a loss and pain
I’ll choose to give You glory
Yes, I will bless Your name
I will be Your witness
Even when I’m driven to my knees
Cause even if You lead me
Where I would not choose to go
If it has to be Gethsemane
I want the world to know
Lord, I love You, I worship You, for You
Yes, I love You, I worship You, for You
Almighty, Most Holy
God, You and You alone
Are worthy, so worthy
My heart aches to make you known
Even if my world should crumble
And sorrow comes to call
From the ashes I will testify
You’re with me through it all
Lord, I love You, I worship You, for You
Yes, I love You, I worship You, for You
Mar 22nd, 2022, Tues, 1:06 pm