In the Wake of Destruction

Destruction, tragedy, desperate need;

suddenly awakened,

jolted by stark reality,

we come face to face with our own mortality.

Driven to our knees,

the exposed reality of

our sole surviving hope

is God alone.

Hearts are stirred,

focuses are shifted,

friendships are deepened,

hope is tangible.

Sarcasm yields to sincerity,

vulnerability gives way to trust,

rich and poor are on level ground.

Dishonesty and greed are confronted by

selflessness, integrity and kindness.

Ears and eyes are opened

to the words of the faithful,

the touches of the merciful,

the prayers of the compassionate.

In the darkest hour,

the Light shines brightly.

~ae

“Whoever serves

is to do so as one who is serving

by the strength which God supplies;

so that in all things

God may be glorified through Jesus Christ,

to whom belongs the glory

and dominion

forever and ever.” 

~I Peter 4:11

The Dance

She was young and beautiful

with flowers in her hair

and the wind in her wings.

Her father delighted

in her breathtaking loveliness.

But one morning

she was unable to stand,

to step, to walk.

Her father’s heart felt

intense compassion.

He prayed for her

that one day

she would be clothed in white.

He would walk her down the aisle

and offer her hand in marriage

to the love of her life.

...and he would dance with her.

…many years passed…

She was young and beautiful

with flowers in her hair

and the wind in the wings of her heart.

Her father delighted

in her breathtaking loveliness.

Her struggles were many,

her courage challenged,

and with each endeavor to stand

to step, to walk,

she grew to depend upon the Strength

that was made perfect in her weakness.

Then one day

her father’s prayers were answered.

He walked her down the aisle

and offered her hand in marriage

to the love of her life.

...and he danced with her!

God’s people were young and beautiful

with flowers in their hair

and the wind in their wings.

The Father delighted

in their breathtaking loveliness

and said, “It is good.”

But they were unable to stand,

to step, to walk.

The Father’s heart felt

intense compassion.

He planned for them

that one day

they would be clothed in white

His people would become

the church,

the bride

which He purposed her to be.

He would walk her down the aisle

and offer her hand in marriage

to the Love of her life…

...and He would dance with her.

...many years passed....

The church was young and beautiful

with flowers in her hair

and the wind in the wings of her heart.

Her Father delighted

in her breathtaking loveliness,

for in the church, His glory was revealed.

The church’s struggles were many,

her courage challenged,

and with each endeavor to stand

to step, to walk,

the church grew to depend upon the Strength

that was made perfect in her weakness.

One day

the Father will walk the church down the aisle

and offer her hand

to the One Who will come for His bride;

the Father’s own Son,

Jesus,

the Love of her life.

...and the Father will dance with her!

"And they will see the Son of Man

coming on the clouds of the sky 

with power and great glory.

And He will send forth His angels

with a great trumpet 

and they will gather together His elect

from the four winds,

from one end of the sky to the other..

...but of that day and hour

no one knows,

not even the angels of heaven, 

nor the Son,

but the Father alone."

~Matthew 24:30,31,36

Wisdom Sequence

“But the wisdom from above is first pure,

 then peaceable, gentle,

reasonable,

full of mercy and good fruits,

unwavering,

without hypocrisy,

and the seed whose fruit is righteousness

is sown in peace

by those who make peace.” 

~James 3:17,18

First

Primarily, Initially, Originally                            

Foremost, In the beginning, At the outset

To start with, Chiefly, Principally                           

Mainly

Pure

Unadulterated, Uncontaminated, Unpolluted                        

Clean, Wholesome, Chaste

Unsullied, Uncorrupted, Innocent                             

Unmixed, One hundred percent, Genuine

Real, Authentic, Virtuous                              

Spotless

Then

After that, Next, Afterward

Followed by  

Peaceable

Serene, Harmonious, Calm                                     

Quiet, Compliant, Amiable

Unwarlike, Agreeable

Gentle

Mild, Calm, Kind                                      

Tender, Moderate, Placid

Temperate, Restful

Reasonable

Sensible, Rational, Practical                              

Realistic, Levelheaded, Sound

Evenhanded, Sufficient, Acceptable                        

Satisfactory

Full of Mercy

Compassion, Clemency, Forgiveness                       

Kindness, Sympathy, Understanding

Benevolence

Good Fruits

Outgrowths, Produce, Results

Effects, Developments, Outcomes

Unwavering

Firm, Solid, Steadfast                            

Untiring, Dogged, Resolute

Steady, Unswerving

Without Hypocrisy

Sincere, Genuine, Honest

Serious, Earnest, Unaffected

Authentic

Seed

Beginning, Start, Germ

Righteousness

Virtue, Morality, Justice                                 

Decency, Uprightness, Rectitude

Honesty, Respectability, Honor                                  

Worthiness

Sown

Spread, Propagated, Introduced                         

Implanted, Scattered, Planted

Make

Create, Build, Construct                           

Craft, Formulate, Compose

Put together, Assemble, Yield                                     

Produce, Prepare, Cause

Bring about, Give rise to, Effect                                   

Generate, Render, Accomplish

Achieve, Form

Peace

Tranquility, Harmony, Serenity                              

Freedom from strife, Reconciliation, Settlement

Quietude, Composure, Reunion                              

Ceasefire, Bringing together, Resolution

Contentment, Satisfaction, Happiness                          

Fulfillment

“But the wisdom from above is first pure,

 then peaceable, gentle,

reasonable,

full of mercy and good fruits,

unwavering,

without hypocrisy,

and the seed whose fruit is righteousness

is sown in peace

by those who make peace.” 

~James 3:17,18

Shoes of Dependency

How do I pray for someone

who must endure chemotherapy treatments?

I have never walked that path

and cannot imagine my way into her shoes.

Although her loving family and dear friends

Are by her side as much as they can possibly be,

she must taste and see

the depths of this valley alone.

If I cannot wear her shoes,

What shoes must she wear?

How can I offer her courage for this journey?

“Stand firm therefore…

having shod your feet

with the preparation

of the Gospel of peace…”

~Ephesians 6:14,15

God’s Word reminds me that

I don’t know how to pray as I should,

and that the Holy Spirit Himself

intercedes for me with groaning

too deep for words. (Romans 8:26)

But I asked the Lord

to teach me His heart in this matter.

The words to an old familiar song

Began playing its comforting message in my mind

with rocking chair tempo

and lilting melody…

"I come to the garden alone

while the dew is still on the roses.

And the voice I hear

falling on my ear,

the Son of God disclosed.

"And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

and He tells me I am His own;

and the joy we share as we tarry there

none other has ever known.

"He speaks, and the sound of His voice

is so sweet the birds hush their singing;

and the melody that He gave to me

within my heart is ringing.

"And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

and He tells me I am His own;

and the joy we share as we tarry there

none other has ever known.

"I’d stay in the garden with Him

though the night around me be falling;

but He bids me go through the voice of woe,

His voice to me is calling.

"And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

and He tells me I am His own;

and the joy we share as we tarry there

none other has ever known.

~Text & Music by C. Austin Miles, 1940

Light

A beam of light has been defined

as a transverse wave in an electric field

and a transverse wave in a magnetic field

flowing perpendicular to one another. 

Light wave are also particles

which are not continuous,

rather they flow in broken portions of waves called photons. 

Transverse waves

in an electric field

and in a magnetic field

do not exist without each other,

defining them as different aspects of the same thing.

Light’s threefold nature,

within the perplexing makeup and function of its waves and photons,

is difficult for scientists to sort out

let alone try to explain.

“Then God said, ‘Let there be light’;

and there was light.”

~Genesis 1:3

Oh, but there’s more…

Unlike waves of sound or water,

there is no atomic or molecular medium

necessary for light to travel.

Light journeys through a vacuum

at the same speed as it passes through air.

Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity states

that nothing with mass can travel faster

than 300,000,000 meters per second,

establishing light as the speed limit

which no object with mass can exceed.

The only reason that the speed of light

has been established as fastest

is because no one has been able

to measure anything faster.

“I Am the Light of the world;

he who follows Me

will not walk in the darkness,

but will have the Light of Life.”

~John 8:12

Can the threefold nature of God,

the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit,

be explained?

Can God’s ways be measured?

How astounding that God not only created light

in such a way that is too difficult for us to fathom,

He also referred to Himself as Light.

~ae

“When I consider Your heavens,

the work of Your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which You have ordained;

what is man that You take thought of him,

and the son of man that You care for Him?

“O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

~Psalm 8:3,4,9

“The Lord is my Light

and my Salvation;

whom shall I fear?”

~Psalm 27:1

Hiding Place

Where were they?


All winter long,
the robins did not hop about
plucking worms and bugs from the soil,
nor did they sing to each other
among the trees or in the fields.


To the best of my knowledge,
there were no robins.


Suddenly, 
out of nowhere,
there are thousands of them!


They are all so very, very busy,
and they are everywhere,
and their rounded bellies
boast telltale signs 
of more robins in the near future.


So, where were they all winter?

"Look at the birds of the air, 

that they do not sow, 

nor reap nor gather into barns, 

and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  

Are you not worth much more than they?"  

~Matthew 6:26

"You 

are my hiding place;

You 

preserve me from trouble; 

You 

surround me with songs of deliverance." 

~Psalm 32:7

Spring Gleaning

   Such a tremendous encouragement to read through a few biographies of women of great faith that have gone before us!  Following are a few clips to offer a flavor of the rich Christian heritage from which we may glean and gain valuable insight in to life in Jesus.

   Their stories are an important reminder that life is never easy and that God alone is our hope.

   Please note that much of what is written is not in my own words, but gathered from a variety of sources which are not noted.  ~ae

Amy Carmichael (1867–1951)

Missionary to India; founder of Dohnavur Fellowship, a society devoted to saving neglected and ill-treated children.

In many ways an unlikely candidate for missionary work, she suffered neuralgia, a disease of the nerves that made her whole body weak and achy and often put her in bed for weeks on end.

Much of her work was with young ladies, some of whom were saved from forced prostitution, providing a place of sanctuary for more than one thousand children who would otherwise have faced a bleak future.

In 1931, Carmichael was badly injured in a fall, which left her bedridden much of the time until her death. Amy Carmichael died in India in 1951 at the age of 83.

Quote:  "Blessed are the single-hearted, for they shall enjoy much peace. If you refuse to be hurried and pressed, if you stay your soul on God, nothing can keep you from that clearness of spirit which is life and peace. In that stillness you will know what His will is." 

Quote:  "But God is the God of the waves and the billows, and they are still His when they come over us; and again and again we have proved that the overwhelming thing does not overwhelm. Once more by His interposition deliverance came. We were cast down, but not destroyed." 

Quote:  "I wish thy way.
And when in me myself should rise,
and long for something otherwise,
Then Lord, take sword and spear
And slay." 

Quote:  "Do not fight the thing in detail: turn from it. Look ONLY at your Lord. Sing. Read. Work." 

Quote:  "Bare heights of loneliness...a wilderness whose burning winds sweep over glowing sands, what are they to HIM? Even there He can refresh us, even there He can renew us." 

Quote:  "Satan is so much more in earnest than we are--he buys up the opportunity while we are wondering how much it will cost." 

Frances Jane Crosby  (1820–1915)

Blind all her life, she saw over 8,000 poems set to music and over 100,000,000 copies of her songs printed.

Born in a one-story cottage, her father died before her first birthday. At six weeks old, she caught a slight cold in her eyes, and as a result of poor medical treatment her sight was destroyed completely.

At age eight, she wrote her first recorded poetry: “0 what a happy soul am I! Although I cannot see, I am resolved that in this world, contented I will be. How many blessings I enjoy, that other people don't. To weep and sigh because I'm blind, I cannot and I won't!”

Quote:  "Mother, if I had a choice, I would still choose to remain blind ... for when I die; the first face I will ever see will be the face of my blessed Saviour."

Mary Mitchell Slessor  (1848-1915)

Missionary to Africa.

When she was 11, she began working 10 hours a day to help provide for her family.  Her father was an alcoholic, but she was extremely close to her mother as they prayed continually for God's provision and protection.

She was not well-educated, but loved to read the Bible most of all, studying Jesus and his life in the gospels.

At age 27, she sailed for Calabar (in present day Nigeria) where she became a school teacher.  After three years, she was sent home on furlough because of malaria. When she returned, she lived with the people she served.  Her childhood of poverty made this lifestyle seem fairly normal.

Witchcraft and spiritism and cruel tribal customs were hard to fight against. The tribes thought that twins were a result of a curse caused by an evil spirit who fathered one of the children. Both babies were brutally murdered and the mother was shunned from society.

Rescuing many twins and ministering to their mothers, she was continuously fighting against this evil practice, often risking her life. The Lord gave her favor with the tribesmen, and Mary eventually gained a respect unheard of for a woman.

Quote:  "Lord, the task is impossible for me but not for Thee. Lead the way and I will follow."

Quote:   "Why should I fear? I am on a Royal Mission. I am in the service of the King of kings.

Esther John (1929–1960),  born Qamar Zia

Pakistani Christian nurse who was allegedly killed by a Muslim radical. 

She attended a government school and, after the age of seventeen, a Christian school. There she was greatly moved by the faith of one of her teachers, and she began to read the Bible earnestly.

While reading Isaiah 53, she chose to leave Islam and adopted Christianity. She faced many problems from her family, who migrated to Pakistan.

Her Christian faith grew secretly.  Eventually, she ran away from home, fearful of the prospect of marriage to a Muslim husband.  She worked in an orphanage and took the name Esther John.  

She evangelized in the villages, travelling from one to the other by bicycle, teaching women to read and working with them in the cotton fields. At times her relationship with her distant family seemed calm but sometimes her anxiety was troubling.

Today, Esther John is remembered with devotion by the Christian community with whom she lived and worked"

Quote:  "In an age where conversion to a new faith provokes fear and hatred, leave all other ties; Jesus is calling.”

Up Close and Personal

I can catch a passing reflection of myself

as I pass by a window,

a puddle,

a waxed car,

or a piece of tin foil.

If I stop for a longer glance,

I might notice that my hair needs brushing.

If the lighting is just right,

and if I strain my eyes into the distorted reflection,

I may be able to see well enough

to seize a stray bit of lettuce

that took refuge between my two front teeth.

But…

if I take the little concave mirror

out of my purse

and hold it really close

to my face,

I am able to see every pore,

every mole, every eyelash,

and every imperfection.

When I look into God’s Word,

what do I see?…

a distorted passing reflection?

a glance lengthened enough to fix what's messed up?

or a keenly focused attention on the Person of Jesus,

up close and personal?

~ae

“But prove yourselves doers of the Word,

and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 

For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer,

he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;

for once he has looked at himself and gone away,

he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 

“But one who looks intently

at the perfect law (Jesus), the law of liberty,

and abides by it,

not having become a forgetful hearer

but an effectual doer,

this man will be blessed in what he does.”

~James 1:22-25