January 28, 2012

This has been a difficult week.  Having Mike Hermanson missing and then found dead.  Yet life must go on and when I read this I thought we might be encouraged by what Joni has written:

Inspiring Examples
For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. --Romans
14:7

No man is an island. We are all connected. Our lives are always influencing others,
whether for good or for bad. When people who face lesser conflicts - like a bruised
ankle, or sow bugs in the shower - observe someone gracefully handle greater conflicts,
it speaks volumes. Liz Hupp knew a godly saint like that in her church. And Liz
wrote:

I saw the woman in the chair; she was in church again today.

Someone said they've sold their house; they're going to move away.

No! I cried, they cannot go; they cannot move away.

I didn't get to know her; there's something I need to say:

Please tell me your secret; I want to sit at your feet,

I need to know how you handle the pain that is your daily meat.

How do you keep on smiling when each day your health grows worse?

How do you keep depending on God when you're living with a curse?

Every time I see her; her smile comes from deep within.

I know her fellowship with God isn't scarred by the chair she's in.

She admits her health is failing; she knows she's fading away.

How can she remain so calm when I'd be running away?

My friend, can you tell me how you can trust the Lord

How can you stay so gentle and sweet when He seems to wield a sword?

You are to me a promise that even in the midst of pain

God is near and faithful if I will turn to Him again.

Who are your role models of inspiration? Who are the godly examples of perseverance?
Who do you think of when you need an example of the sufficiency of Christ in hardship?
Pray for that person - or persons - whom the Lord has placed around you. These Christian
men and women struggle with doubts and discouragement, too.

Lord Jesus, I pray for __________________ today. Give grace and encouragement, divine
help, comfort and the inspiration of your precious Holy Spirit in the life of this
dear saint.

January 22, 2012

Here it is Sunday morning.  I just read these thoughts by Joni, and I don't know what is happening in your life.  But I know that Jesus can put a song in your heart.  I reflect on this past week.  It was a busy one.  Monday was teacher in-service where I learned more about annuals and cameras.  I always need to be refreshed in those areas,  there have been plenty of activity all week and yesterday was a DAR meeting in Devils Lake.  I visited with Edna for a while in the afternoon before going home to fix supper.  I am doing a sewing project, finishing some baby quilts for First Choice clinic. I think of the people who have walked in and out of my week and the things they have said.  I am encouraged to meet people out there who have a 'heart for God'  

Divine Singing

When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. --Matthew 26:30

Whether I'm wheeling through the office, driving down the freeway, or puttering
in the backyard, I love to sing. My heart wants to sing whenever I'm enjoying the
routines of life. But have you ever wondered if Jesus sang? It's easy to picture
 him humming a melody as he walked up the road from Jericho to Jerusalem. We know
they sang in the synagogues. During the holy feast days, Jesus' family probably
sang. There must have been many times that Jesus' heart filled with joy and he let
loose with a song. So... where in the Bible does it say that he sang?

The only place it records such a time is in Matthew 26:30.The scene for the song
 is not on a sunny hillside... it's not as he sailed with his disciples in the boat...
and it's not as he walked along the beach with his friends. It was in the Upper
Room the night that Jesus was betrayed. After he broke the bread and offered wine,
they sang a hymn and then went out to the Mount of Olives. Of all the times and
places, the Lord Jesus chose to have us remember him singing as he was led off to
his death.

This speaks to me in my wheelchair. It shows me how to follow the Lord in song when
my heart is heavy, when I'm facing disappointment, or when my back aches. As we
follow his steps up to the Mount of Olives, into the Garden of Gethsemane, and down
the road to Calvary, we take up our cross and sing.

Our natural inclination is not to sing when we are sad or hurting. Yet think of
the apostle Paul who sang, despite his chains in jail (Acts 16:25). No matter if
 your emotions are up or down, follow the Lord's lead today and ask God to put a
 song in your heart

In my heart there rings a melody of love, dear Jesus. You are my song today and
every day. Please keep tuning my heart to sing your praises.

January 14, 2012

i just read the devotion below, it was so good that I decided I must write a few lines about the week.  It has been a good week, there are challenges, but I desire to focus on the positive.  a girl hurt her hand this week, so I am her hand to write atleast some of her work, she is a good girl, and I appreciate the opportunity to help her.  I think of other contact at school.  conversations with the new science teacher, i can see why the school was willing to wait for him to come at second semester,I see a teacher which will bring to our students a quality experience.  Last night we ate supper with Matt and Mavis.  Don and Ann came from Williston and we met at their house.  I said I would bring supper.  I went to the church and put the magazines in the mail boxes.  When I did I had the thought.  I wonder of Paige had any soup left over in her 'coffee shop'  I went there and asked her if she had any soup left.  She smiled and said   "I was waiting to give it to someone".  It was hot and ready to go.  so I bought some cookies, she gave me the soup and a stop at the store for a few other things and off to their house.  The soup was really good and the time together, too.  Don and Ann stayed with us and they have left to go to Lori's

I was really struck by this devotion.  I think I would like to make a drawing of it:

The Bible-Trunk


But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. --Psalm 1:2-3

The Ten Commandments have been hand-carried out of courtrooms and in some places,
school children cannot pledge allegiance to one nation under God. Even Christian
 pastors cannot pray in the name of Jesus at public events. I know this breaks your
heart as it does mine. Especially when we consider the Bible is the source of western
culture.

Dr. Vishal Mangalwadi, of L'Abri Fellowship, describes how the Bible is like a trunk
on a large tree. Its branch of truth has given rise to liberty, education, and science.
The Bible's branch of law has sprouted smaller branches of justice, democracy, rights
and equality. Grace has brought forth the blessings of family, community, righteousness
and forgiveness. Wisdom has sprouted health, peace, technology and prosperity. Finally,
the branch of faith from the Bible has resulted in character, morality, sacrifice
and heroism. These characteristics of western civilization all find their root in
the Word of God. To debunk the Bible in western culture is to push the self-destruct
button![1]

For almost a century the American church has reacted to the secular agenda without
significant advancements. Rather than knee-jerk responses to secularism, we must
 now mount a positive effort that re-introduces the Bible into western culture.
Pray for Dr. Mangalwadi of The Millennium Project - as well as Dr. Ravi Zacharias,
his fellow journeyman, as they labor in the media, the corporate world, and in universities
to cast the vision of the unique importance and unmatched value of the Bible to
all culture.

Lord God, I pray for great Christian philosophers who are working hard to show the
world the power of God's Word to shape nations and cultures. May the nations of
the world cleave to the Bible as the source for truth, law, grace, wisdom, and faith.

January 10, 2012

I don't write very often, but this morning this was really inspiring so I am sharing it.  I know that for most of us we are wrapped up in our problems, but I challenge you to step out and look for someone you can bless.  God will touch you as you do.  Yesterday  I spent time with a student who is interested in art.  I gave her a drawing book, but mostly we talked.  Then in the afternoon a teacher brought a student to me, and he is a needy student, I was touched that God would allow me to interact in his life and encourage him.  

Jon Campbell... Servant


This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles
at my word.  --Isaiah 66:2

A good friend of mine went home to be with Jesus. His name was Jon Campbell and
he was quite a servant. Whenever we were together, Jon would somehow, someway hunt
down the keys to my van and take it to the car wash. I tried to hide my keys several
times, but to no avail. An hour or so later, I'd look out the window and there he'd
be wiping the hubcaps. I never kept my van clean, but he sure did.

You may not think Jon's service was all that unusual. But up until he went to heaven,
Jon served as President of one of the most prominent media organizations in the
United States. He served on the board of trustees of colleges, and he helped lead
a prestigious national association with thousands of members. Jon was a busy man
 with many ministry priorities... and cleaning my van should not have been one of
them. But it was.

That's because Jon was not only a servant, but a humble one. He delighted in finding
lowly, menial tasks with which most people never bothered. He enjoyed doing things
quietly and discreetly, and he never drew attention to himself. Jon was truly "humble
and contrite in spirit." All of us who knew him are absolutely certain it's because
he trembled at God's Word.

Cultivate a spirit of humility today by doing a simple act of service and doing
it anonymously. Folding towels for your roommate... cutting roses for the desk of
a new employee... baking cookies for your co-workers... taking out trashcans for
 an elderly neighbor... scholarshiping a disabled kid to camp... giving a gift certificate
to a working single mom... washing a car for a friend.

Lord Jesus, may I follow your example of humble service today. Give me the resolve
to delight in doing things quietly without drawing attention to myself.