“The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want.” -Psalm 23:1
Psalm 95:7 reminds us that “He is our God. We are the people He watches over, the flock under His care.” Don’t you love that? As you may know, David and I are going through some… stuff. A few difficult challenges. I’ve certainly whined about it enough. Yesterday he visited his oncologist and got some very encouraging news. The chemo is working! His cancer is shrinking! She was honest with him and admitted that she was just hoping to keep it from growing. But to have it shrink? Oh what a blessing. Our beloved Shepherd gently leads us along. I thought you might like to hear it as worded in the New Living Translation. As you read, celebrate with me and David.
“The Lord is my Shepheard. I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; He leads me besides peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths bringing honor to His Name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me. Your rod and Your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely Your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.”
The Lord truly is my Shepherd. I will rest in His care today.
Nutshell #4 is found in Ephesians 4:1. It says “...Lead a life worthy of your calling.” If you’re like me, you may ask if you’re really called; and also who called you. What does that even mean? The answer comes next. “For you are called by God.” This is spoken to a big group of people and includes all kinds… Even those of us who feel unworthy. The ‘how to’ is next.
“Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” -Eph.4:2
As usual, when we recognize the Lord’s calling on our life, we tend to focus on others first. Let’s try His order of business today. It might take a while for this to become the norm, but He is calling. Let’s recognize His call, and walk worthy.
“Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” -Psalm 37:7
It’s hard to wait. And it’s REALLY hard to rest while waiting. Like the “Q” verse from yesterday, the Lord reminds us it is a choice to rest in Him. “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength. But you would not.” -Isaiah 30:15
I plan to undo the end of that verse by choosing to trust. Psalm 46:10 tells us to “Be still and know that I am God.”
Rest; Be Still; Practice Quiet confidence; Lord help me. I believe. Help Thou my unbelief.
There are a lot of great truths in Psalm 119. But holy cow. Talk about wordy. 176 verses. Don’t worry. I’ll pick out five of the best. Today our verse is Psalm 119:105. “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” Someone wiser than me pointed out that a lamp, especially in those days, only lit one step at a time. I don’t love that. I want to see the whole path. Apparently that is not God’s way. So! I need to slow my roll. Sorry. I can’t sound cool even when I repeat what cool people say. Annyyywayyy…
One step at a time Lord? I don’t much like the idea of that. But I do feel better when I forget my worries about what comes next. My prayer for today repeats an old hymn. I ask Lord, for “strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow.” Illuminate each step. Light my path by Your wisdom. Guide me with Your truth. Hold my hand and walk with me. It’s good to be in Your care.
Thank You Lord. In fact, thank You that I DON’T know the future. It would probably scare me to death.
I bet you’ve been wondering what would land here on Q day. Here ya go:
“Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength.” -Isaiah 30:15
The sad part is that the verse continues with the Lord adding, “But you would have none of it.”
May we choose to return to Him, resting in quietness and confidence. When we are weak, He is strong. As we draw near to Him, He promises to draw closer to us as well. -James 4:8
A couple of friends talked over the events of the last few days as they walked along. Sadness was written across their faces as they admitted, “We had hoped…”
Hoped, past tense.
As in, we used to hope, but not anymore.
Have you been there? Have you gone through something so hard that your soul is crushed beyond repair? Someone you love has suddenly been taken… and way too soon. The spouse you trusted tossed you aside like an old shoe. Something you planned and even dared to dream about died, leaving you…
Hopeless.
That’s the feeling of the friends who traveled down the road together. Having witnessed the horrible death of the Person they had closely followed, their hopes were just as dead.
Where do we go from here? How will we ever recover? Is all we’ve believed in been wrong?
A few miles later, they realized they were in the very presence of the risen Lord!
That first Easter morning changed everything.
The powerful Son of God stepped from the grave to prove the hopeless wrong. Since death cannot defeat Him, how could anything else? What could separate us from the love of God?
Our fears?
Our loss?
Our worries?
Things changed in an instant! The moment He was raised from the dead, hope was forever restored! Do we dare to trust Him?
“O death where is thy victory?! O grave where is thy sting?”
Thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ!
All creation shouts with joy on Easter Sunday morning! Our Creator lives, and reigns with power over any circumstance that brings suffering to His beloved ones. With the strong arms of a Shepherd, He reaches out to pull us close to His heart as He gently leads us home. Not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love as we walk in the presence of the risen Lord!
Praise His sweet holy Name! Our conquering King lives!
And there is hope!
You can read about the friends traveling to Emmaus when Jesus suddenly appeared and walked with them in Luke 24:13-34. Romans 8:1 helps us understand that we are no longer condemned by God when we trust His Son as our sacrifice for sin. There’s more about His great love for you personally in Romans 8:23-39.
Call out to Him. He’s waiting for the time when you and He can walk the broken road of life together. This wonderful God of all creation longs to adopt you as His very own. What a “Blessed Hope!”
“Pray without ceasing.” When our daughters were little, this was the first Scripture we taught them. Seems so long ago. I remember our middle daughter clapping and cheering when it was her time to say it. She must’ve been about four. Eventually they also learned the verses before and after. It sounds like this: “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks.” -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
The New Living Translation says, “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in every circumstance.” Honestly I don’t always feel like doing things that way. In fact, I’m not terribly pleasant at times. Perhaps I should “Pray without ceasing.” Maybe the thankfulness is less about my circumstances, and more about the Lord Who is in change of them. Now THAT I can be glad about.
First posted March 1, 2012
What is your default setting? Where do you go when nothing is making sense? Do you have a “happy place” that re-boots your psyche? Christianeze would say, “Run to Jesus.” So how do you do that when the bills pile up, and the pain is great, and prayers go unanswered?
A good friend of mine who struggles with depression will watch a funny movie. Another friend finds great solace in his deer stand. He can sit there in the cold, frosty morning and watch the forest for hours. David will take a long ride on his motorcycle through the quiet countryside. Me? Take me to the beach. Give me a day watching the waves and suddenly I’m good for another couple months.
The sweetest story is recorded in the last chapter of John. Seven guys were together after witnessing the horrible death of their friend. And even though they had seen Him alive, and had the realization that God had raised Him from the dead, their future was very uncertain. Unmet expectations, fear of the unknown and the lingering question of “What now?” made way for hurt and doubt.
Peter reveals his default setting with “I’m going fishing.”
His friends joined him. But after fishing all night their nets were as empty as their souls. With dawn breaking a stranger called out to them the ageless question.
“Catching anything?”
“We’ve got nothing,” was their reply.
“Throw your net on the other side,” came the familiar suggestion.
With nets suddenly full, memories of provision and care filled their weary souls. Once they hauled in the bounty, they made their way to the shore where Jesus was waiting. And He had a hot breakfast ready for them. Can He get any sweeter?
A HOT BREAKFAST!
Here is the Lord of glory, Who has just conquered death, Who understands their fear and emptiness, cooking breakfast on the sea shore for His weary friends.
He’s kind like that. It wasn’t enough to call out a greeting; or fill their boat with fish; or even just appear to them again in order to let them know everything would be okay. Nope. He cooked breakfast.
That is a picture of our Savior: Grace heaped upon grace.
Just when we cannot take another thing, He sends what we need to fill our empty souls.
Hold on my friend. He will be calling to you shortly. Don’t feel bad if you have to look to Him and reply, “I’ve got nothing.” He already knows.
And He’s cooking up something special that will be just what you need.
“Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things out of Your law.”
This little prayer from Psalm 119:18 is short and sweet. But when prayed prior to looking into Scripture will open the heart to see the things God has for us. Not only is it a prayer, but also an attitude. How blessed we are to be in a place where our hearts and minds are open to God’s plans for our lives; a place of submission and trust. It’s hard sometimes to realize that He has a plan that’s better than we can understand.
Open my eyes Lord. I believe. Please help my unbelief.
If your brain started singing that song by the Beach Boys, you’re either from my generation or you’ve seen the movie Fifty First Dates one too many times. But really. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had someone to run interference for us? Especially as we navigate doctor appointments and such. I think it might be kind of new, but we have that. Her name is Candice. She keeps close tabs on all things medically needed to care for my beloved David. Currently on top of cancer, a leaking gut, and sickness heaped upon sickness, he has developed kidney stones. The doctor he saw Wednesday proclaimed one to be the size of a peanut. David said he wasn’t sure if that was in the shell or not, but either way it’s too big to be left unattended. Yeouch! So before they can do surgery to mend the colon or the bladder; or deal any more with the cancer, they must address the kidney stones, plural. That’s one of the reasons we’re so glad to have Candice, our patient advocate. She is coordinating all these life saving events. It’s not been that long ago that I had cancer and couldn’t get a call through without being on hold for twenty minutes. Sadly, the muzac provided was NOT the Beach Boys. But not anymore! We have a Super Advocate! I’ve never met her, but I sure do love her. She leaps tall stacks of paperwork and hits the ground running just to help us navigate our current load of crap.
Sometimes we forget. As Christians we have an Advocate too. When we don’t know what to pray; when life is absolutely overwhelming; when fear grips our hearts with all the ‘what-ifs’; our Advocate is running interference for us. Romans 8:26 and following gives us this wonderful news.
“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us… And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.”
“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity or [fill in your blank here]?”
Thankfully the answer is a resounding NO! He is our Advocate WITH the Father. Together, They have a plan that is surely for our best!
David with his mama Nina at the Classic Restaurant in Denton around ten years ago; where she could eat all the fatback she wanted.
Nahum is an obscure little book in the Bible. But one of my favorite verses is found there. Nahum 1:7- ” The Lord is good, a Stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows the ones who trust in Him.”
Dear sweet Lord, this crapstorm is heavy. I really don’t love the things we are going through. But You are good, and You know how we feel. Today I choose to trust in You. You alone are my Stronghold.
Sometimes in life we get the feeling that it’s one bad thing after another. Like being on the bottom of a bunch of players scrambling for the football with everyone else piling on. It’s suffocating down there. According to my very knowledgeable husband, there may even be some uncouth activities going on in the bottom of the pile. This little story is to tell you about the opposite of that. How even though our only vehicle blew a head gasket when we needed to make numerous doctor visits, our nephew stepped up with a spare car. “Use it as long as you need to,” he assured us back in October. “We just keep it in case someone needs it.” Who does that?
Then there’s another young relative who sent a giant Food Lion gift card because they heard we’d started ordering groceries to be delivered. An older lady we’ve never met who heard through her Sunday School class that we’d both been very sick, sent a card with a check to help us through hard times. Along with it was the reminder that God is working all things for our good. Not only does she truly believe that, but she also doesn’t mind contributing to His care.
Then there’s the neighbor who dropped off a card with a hundred dollar bill in it with the promise not to bother us, but also the assurance that she is there if we need her. Also a niece who made homemade chicken broth and bread while I healed from a second surgery and David endured chemo. Nothing says “Get well soon,” quite like that. It is also the Southern version of “I love you very much.”
Others text and call, but most of all pray; enough that I know I can count on their prayers! Faithful ones who drive us to appointments, wait during infusion, pick up meds, or stop by and clean out the guttering: yes, that really happened. We are just amazed at all the care the Lord is giving us through His people. That’s not even counting the daughters who’ve spent hours on the road, stayed with us overnight in the hospital, watched each others kids in order to free up the caregiver, and countless other “little things” so that our many needs are met. It reminds me of the verse in John 1:16. “From His abundance, we have all received one gracious blessing after another.” Piled on, but in a very good way.
Grace heaped upon grace! That’s how our Lord Jesus gives.
In case you didn’t know, David was diagnosed with stage four cancer last July. A short while later my intestines ruptured requiring emergency surgery, as well as a follow-up hospital stay and another surgery in March. It felt like we were being piled on then, but now, nearly a year out from his diagnosis, we are seeing just how faithful God is through others. One more sweet story then we’ll save the rest for another day.
David had been so sick and so weak for such a long hard time that I had no strength left at all. My sister happened to show up at just that time to help me navigate applying for a financial grant to help with medical bills. Instead we ended up sitting on the back deck as I wept through just plain grief for my beloved husband who could not catch a break. She held my hand as we both cried. No words were spoken, no audible prayers were prayed, no advice was given. She just held my hand as long as I needed. Again it felt like the very Spirit of Christ was there to personally comfort me.
Did I say one more story? I meant two, and this is my favorite. We have a neighbor who rides his mower over and cuts our grass on the days he cuts his own. He did this last summer and has kept it up ever since. He is a quiet unassuming guy who never slows down to let us thank him. Last week I was determined. I waddled out back as he zoomed by the picnic table and flagged him down. “Oatmeal cookies!” I held up the zippy lock bag in his direction. He cut the motor as I thanked him for all he’s done. “How’s David?” he asked. I couldn’t speak, but tears began leaking from my traitorous eyeballs. I shook my head and tried to answer, but what do you say? I was embarrassed for the poor guy who was just trying to mow and get out of dodge. His quiet voice surprised me with an old hymn.
“When we all get to heaven…” he sang. Then he zoomed off on his mower, cookies in hand, as I thought about entertaining angels unaware. How many folks have loved us so well during this very difficult time? How many prayers have been sent up by saints who only know of us, but care enough to breathe a prayer on our behalf?
Yes. We have been “piled on.” I guess you might say on both ends of the spectrum. For today at least, I will bask in all the wonderful ways God has heaped grace upon grace.
Last June when we took this picture for our 50th anniversary, we had no idea how many people would love us so well. Praise God and thank you!
Our wedding day. Time sure flies when you’re having fun!
“May the Lord bless you and keep you; May the Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious unto you; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” -Numbers 6:24-26
The New Living Translation says it this way:
‘May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you His favor and give you His peace.’
Tonight, instead of listening to all the clutter from the day, let this simple blessing become a prayer for the ones you love. And I will pray the same for you.
Jesus told many stories in order to illustrate eternal truths. How beautiful and colorful His word pictures were. One of those seemed less illustrative and more like the telling of something He sadly witnessed firsthand.
He told of a rich man who died and went to a place of torment. The man was so thirsty that he begged Abraham to send someone to him with just a drop of water to cool his tongue. When Abraham explained that there was a great gulf fixed between the place of torment and paradise, the rich man begged that someone would go to his brothers, who were still living, and warn them.
He pleaded: “If someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.”
Jesus continued the story with this sad ending:
“If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even if someone rises from the dead.”
Isn’t it interesting that while telling that story, Jesus knew that He would soon do that very thing? That even though He chose to pay for sin by giving His life and rising from the dead, there would be many who would not listen, who would not believe until it was too late.
If you’re reading this, you are of course on this side of the grave. You still have a choice. How sad it would be to spend eternity in torment when at this very moment you could call on the Lord Jesus Christ to save you.
He’s already done the hard part.
Will you listen?
Easter is a very special time for me. During Easter of my junior year in high school, I understood for the first time, that Jesus was not waiting on me to clean up my life. He knew when He created me that He already loved me enough. He invited me to trust Him, and I listened.
The verse that sealed the deal for me was 1 John 5:13.
“I have written this to you who believe on the Name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
Yes! We can KNOW! Because it’s not about us!
It’s about Him.
Now go get yourself a cold drink of water while you still can. Call on Him to save you while you still have breath.
And have the happiest Easter of your life!
The story about the rich man is in Luke 16:19-31. More about salvation is revealed in John 3:1-21 when Nic came to Jesus at night to ask questions. Ephesians 2:1-10 makes it even clearer.
May the Lord sweetly and wonderfully strengthen you with the wisdom to choose Him!
We love Him because He first loved us.” – 1 John 4:19
The worship leaders at our church have written a new song based on this verse. It goes like this: ” I love how He loved me first. He called me from the grave, pulled me from the dirt, I love how He loved me first.” *
I wish you could hear me sing it. Talk about a joyful noise! After a recent surgery, I wondered if I’d live to tell about it. And frankly, I didn’t much care. But you know what? God called me from the grave, pulled me from the dirt; all because He loved me first.
My love for Him will never match His great lovingkindness toward me. But I can sure appreciate how much He cares. When I think about all the ways He loves me, worship comes easy. Thank You Lord.
*What a Miracle,” featuring Chris Brown and Elevation Worship
“Hey man! Don’t be takin’ my donkey!”
That’s what I would’ve said if a couple of strangers came up to my house and started untying the family beast of burden. I mean, how will we get the firewood home, or take grandma to prayer meeting? You can’t just go around taking people’s donkeys.
“The Lord needs it.”
That’s what Jesus told his friends to say when He sent them to fetch the donkey. Apparently that’s all it took. The owner had no problem sending his valuable property with strangers. He wasn’t promised a great return on his investment. He wasn’t promised the donkey would be brought back fed and watered… or even returned at all.
All he knew was that the Lord needed something he had.
If I had a donkey, I can hear myself reasoning…
“Sorry guys. It’s the only donkey I’ve got. You’re gonna have to find yourself another mode of transportation. I just made the last payment. Had to finance it for six years, but finally it’s all mine.”
“What? The Lord needs it? The Lord has everything. What does He need MY donkey for?”
I’m afraid me and my donkey would’ve missed the Jesus parade… the only one He ever had.
In fact, I think I would’ve missed a lot of things.
I don’t believe I would’ve climbed a tree to get a better look. People would surely laugh at a grown woman in a tree.
I wouldn’t have called Him up for a night time meeting so He could answer my questions. Folks might talk.
I doubt I would have given my lunch to Him when everyone realized it was time to eat and there was no food. What good would my little pitiful sack lunch do?
And I KNOW I would not have stepped out of a perfectly good boat to go traipsing across the water. Who would take such a risk?
Not me.
In fact, everything is just fine the way it is. So Lord, I’m here for You… right here in my cozy house, with plenty to eat, and my nice warm bed, surrounded by things and people I love, with my precious donkey safely tied outside.
“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!” -Isaiah 26:3
Perfect peace…. complete trust…. a mind set on the truth of His Word…
What a gift!
Bonus verse: “Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps His covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes His unfailing love on those who love Him and obey His commands.” -Deut. 7:9
Oh what a wonderful God we serve!
Back in October when I had emergency surgery I fell into a deep dark hole. It was a hard place to dig out of. I think the combination of pain, drugs and election coverage sent me to a very bad place. Sheesh. It was not a happy field trip. This time I was determined to think of things the Lord advised as I slipped off to sleep. Apparently someone needed to check a vital and I startled from my happy slumber. No more lambs carried by Jesus. But somewhere in the background, guitar music played old familiar hymns and my heart sang along. The Savior led me like a Shepherd and my heart was tuned to sing His praises. What a fellowship, what a joy divine, leaning on those everlasting arms. The light went off, the nurse left, but the music continued.
“Is this too loud mama?” my sweet daughter asked. That would be Stephanie. She plays guitar and had found a playlist to drown out some of the commotion that comes with every hospital room. “No honey. It’s good. I thought I’d died and gone to Hobby Lobby.”
After that, we made it a habit to play old hymns during the night. I know it made a significant difference. Right now, I’ve got a lot of things to worry about. I won’t list them here. God knows what they are. Instead, I’ll do my best to think on these things: “Whatever is pure, lovely, of good report…” check out the list in Philippians 4:8,9. Apparently it’s the way to fix my thoughts. May the Lord give you strength to do the same with the things you carry as well. Thank you so much for your prayers.
Photo by my daddy, Seabert Pittman, back when sailing was a little smoother.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” -Hebrews 13:8
What does that mean to you? To me it is a reminder that He can be trusted… always. My circumstances can take a nose-dive when I least expect it. But I can rest assured that Jesus never fails. The One Who told me yesterday that He would never leave me is still faithfully walking me through whatever dark valley I stumble into today. Everything around seems to be changing. However, Jesus stays true.
Psalm 73:26- “My health mayfail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; He is mine forever.”
Listen Please
“O Lord, listen to my cry; give me the discerning mind you promised.” -Psalm 119:169
Have you ever met someone with true discernment? They are a rarity. So much stuff goes out as news when in truth, it is not real at all. I got a text the other day explaining the great danger I was in because of unpaid toll fees. Honey I don’t even drive anymore. That one was easy. But at another time I quickly cancelled my credit card because of unusual activity. Turns out it was just a charge I forgot I made. Of course discernment in Scripture is waaayyy more important. The above prayer is really needed today. Especially when something new comes along.
Dear Lord, please bless us with Your discerning wisdom.
Sly as a fox? Or maybe wise as serpents, harmless as doves. We spotted these beautiful creatures in the dunes at Ocean Isle Beach, NC. Thankfully we had sense enough to keep our distance.
