On Sabbaths, we sometimes drive around after our lunch time snack.
Recently we took a drive along the St. Croix River and stopped at a wayside. There was hardly anyone here. A fence surrounded the area looking down towards the river as the bank was quite steep.
It was peaceful.
St Croix River, Stillwater, MN
This area marks the northern part of the St Croix near Stillwater, Minnesota.
The river was meandering … just like my thoughts do when I stand and watch bodies of water. Does that ever happen to you?
A sudden thought comes to mind — I’m really only transparent with God. The reality is that I don’t have a choice in the matter. I can choose what to share with others and even then sometimes subconsciously I may leave something out. But with God?
He who created me knows every thought even before I think it.
“You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.” Psalm 139:2
And then it hits me. In spite of what my thoughts are, He still loves me. Simple me. Ignorant me. Uneducated me. Thoughtless me. Forgetful me. Whining me. Lazy me. Missing the mark, me.
There is no one else who accepts me as God does — I’m His daughter. He’s my Father. There is no greater love.
“The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3
I recently read a poem — can’t remember where I read it though.
It reminded me of the Biblical Scripture that says: “Look! I am standing at the door and knocking. If anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he will eat with me. ” Revelation 3:20
The “I” refers to Jesus. Here’s the poem which is titled “If Jesus Came to Your House.” A little lengthy, but well worth the read.
If Jesus came to your house to spend a day or two –
If He came unexpectedly, I wonder what you’d do.
Oh, I know you’d give your nicest room to such an honored Guest,
And all the food you’d serve to Him would be the very best,
And you would keep assuring Him you’re glad to have him there –
That serving Him in your own home is joy beyond compare.
But when you saw Him coming, would you meet Him at the door
With arms outstretched in welcome to your heavenly Visitor?
Or would you have to change your clothes before you let Him in?
Or hide some magazines and put the Bible where they’d been?
Would you turn off the radio and hope He hadn’t heard?
And wish you hadn’t uttered that last, loud, hasty word?
Would you hide your worldly music and put some hymn books out?
Could you let Jesus walk right in, or would you rush about?
And I wonder – if the Savior spent a day or two with you,
Would you go right on doing the things you always do?
Would you go right on saying the things you always say?
Would life for you continue as it does from day to day?
Would your family conversation keep up it’s usual pace?
And would you find it hard each meal to say a table grace?
Would you sing the songs you always sing, and read the books you read,
And let Him know the things on which your mind and spirit feed?
Would you take Jesus with you everywhere you’d planned to go?
Or would you, maybe, change your plans for just a day or so?
Would you be glad to have Him meet your very closest friends?
Or would you hope they’d stay away until His visit ends?
Would you be glad to have Him stay forever on and on?
Or would you sigh with great relief when He at last was gone?
It might be interesting to know the things that you would do
If Jesus Christ in person came to spend some time with you.
Have you ever asked someone for their advice and then had them completely ignore everything you said and do the opposite of what you suggested? I have, and I find that many people will do whatever they feel like doing even if the advice given to them is “sound.”
I was reading a Bible Scripture in the book of Jeremiah the other day and came across this text:
Remnant of Judah, the Lord has told you, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Be sure of this: I warn you today that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the Lord your God and said, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.’  I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the Lord your God in all he sent me to tell you.  So now, be sure of this: You will die by the sword, famine and plague in the place where you want to go to settle.† Jeremiah 42:19-22
In this story, the people had asked the prophet to get advice from God for them. Then they ignored it and the consequences were dire — death, famine and plagues.
It’s one thing to ask another person for advice and then ignore it — quite another to ask God for advice and ignore that. After all, He knows all things and wants what is best for us.
Yet, I have found myself to be no different than the remnant of Judah – ask God and ignore what He says. I don’t know why I do it except that I like to feel like I’m in control of my life. The times I have ignored God’s advice, I’ve crossed my fingers and hoped and prayed that in spite of going against the direction He has told me to go, things will turn out right. Have you ever done that?
I haven’t encountered sword nor famine nor plague — yet. Or perhaps I have and have failed to see it for what it is. The famine can be in the form of starvation from His word, the sword could be in the form of bad consequences from my decision and the plague could be in the form of anxiety and/or troubles that come my way because of choosing my own path.
My prayer is that God will give me the strength to make decisions based on His advice and not my own. Â I’m sure that by so doing, I will spare myself a lot of grief.
A blessed New Year to you all — may you have hearts that are filled with kindness, patience, gentleness, joy and love.
“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 11:19
Last year for Christmas, my husband gave me a new Brother sewing machine. I had put it on my Christmas list of things I wanted although, I have never sewn on a machine a day in my life. But, I am enthralled with the beauty of quilts and wanted to see if perhaps, just perhaps, I could learn how to quilt.
I don’t know if life was too busy for me this past year or if perhaps I, unconsciously, was afraid I wouldn’t be able to learn how to quilt — whatever the reason, I did not touch or look at the machine until this past summer when I took it out of its box, signed up for a beginner’s sewing class at JoAnn’s Craft and learned how to thread the machine.
I have to say that I was a little disappointed with JoAnn’s. It was a 3 hour or so class and my expectations (why are they so high?) were that I would learn a LOT of basics. With only two of us in the class, I felt cheated – there should have been more taught. But — that’s water under the bridge.
At a recently made “workstation,” I started practicing how to sew straight lines and different stitches. Not bad, I told myself. (Below is a “newbies” workstation. You’ll notice my laptop is close by as I have been reading tons of online tutorials.)
Sewing Workstation
I decided to start my first project — sewing a hem on a pair of new pants. How hard can this be? I asked myself.
I measured the length of the hem I wanted, put it under the sewing needle and started to sew. A sense of accomplishment welled within me. (Yes, it doesn’t take much to make me feel that way.)
Measuring Hem Pants
After sewing one hem, I removed the pants from under the machine and stepped back to admire my handiwork. Uh … let’s check it out.
Improper Hem Sewing
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Â My loud and boisterous laught could be heard throughout the house. Â HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Â I found this quite comical and continued laughing out loud feeling God and the angels nearby. For, as you can see, I sewed the hem on the wrong side.
After 15 minutes of uncontrollable laughter (I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard), I found the “seam ripper” and removed the thread from the hem and re-sewed it. Â Now — it was finished and, although not perfect, it was great for a beginner.
Large Seam Ripper
Because of the focused concentration I have when sewing, I had time time to reflect on this situation. Â Hey! Why didn’t You (God) have an angel tap me on the shoulder and warn me of this mistake before I made it? I just had to ask Him that.
And God, being who He is, replied – Â “You will never make this mistake again because of how you learned it. Plus, I had so much fun watching you laugh.”
Oh — that God! Â He’s always making sure I learn the way that’s best for me.
I wonder what my next project — a lap quilt — has in store for me.
It’s late afternoon … I sense an awareness of … what?
I turn my head to the left and listen but I hear nothing.
Standing still at the kitchen counter I wait expectantly, but I don’t know what I’m waiting for.
Evening comes and the sense of awareness continues. Acutely. It’s as if I am aware of every moment as it goes by. My perception is heightened.
I sense God’s presence. Calmness surrounds me — peace enters my heart.
As I prepare dinner, I’m aware of every thing that happens — as if each moment is THE moment in my life. There’s a stillness to my being.
The stillness continues all through the evening and into the night.
The next morning I wake up with the continued sense of awareness.
As the day wears on, slowly, imperceptibly, it’s gone.
And I wonder … how life would be different living in a state of heightened awareness, calmness and peace – living with the presence of God in my heart.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
Flying over the state of Washington recently, I snapped a few pictures from my airplane window. Looking down, I had a totally different perspective of what “earth” looks like. I’m not one who likes to fly and when I do I normally don’t look out the window, but the day was perfect — clear and sunny.
The Cascade Mountains, Washington StateThe Cascade Mountains, Washington State
Looking down at the land beneath me left me with a feeling of smallness. The vastness of the sky — seeing as far as my eye could see, well, I felt that the One who created this had power. Â And looking at the farms, mountain peaks and roads in miniature size — yes, that’s when I felt my smallness as I imagined myself down “there” and looking like a pin prick.
Mount RainierOverhead Washington State
It’s easy for me to forget about the power of the Creator as I bustle around with the daily tasks of life. Yet — I have always sensed His presence in my life. I can’t remember a day when He has not been on my mind. What is hard for me, sometimes, is remembering He’s in control. He’s not idly standing by as this world plummets into chaos.
One can’t listen to the news on the television, radio or internet without hearing about some calamity or something immoral happening. It’s beginning to sicken me and sometimes I can’t tolerate it and turn the TV off.
But, shutting out the “bad” news will not make it go away. So — I trust, I hold on to my Father, the Creator. He has seen me through all of my calamities, however small they might seem to others.
And I wait — I know one day all this will be over and I’ll be heading to a place where I won’t have to worry about the resurgence of the “bad and the ugly” that this world seems to have catapulted into.
“But in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” 2 Peter 3:13
I get tired of waiting sometimes, don’t you? Waiting for people to change. Heck, waiting for me to change! Things seem to move slowly on this earth when it comes to the important things in life.
Want to lose wait? “They” say the best way is to do it slowly. It’s not that I disagree with them. I just would prefer that things (not necessarily weight loss) would move a tad quicker.
I know people who have had “language” problems for years. I’m still waiting for them to change.
It’s unrealistic … my brain knows it but my heart still hopes for something to happen and quick!
I don’t throw my fist in the air and yell at God “change it now,” but sometimes I shake my head and wonder what He’s thinking when He doesn’t do things as quickly as I think they should be done. And yet, the choice is ours not God’s. He doesn’t force us to change.
I’m reminded how often God waits for me to make the right choices and change some of my bad habits. Impatience is one of those habits although I don’t believe I have as big a problem as others I know (perhaps I’m too easy on myself here — or why would I be writing this post?). Â I wonder if the reason I’m around people who change so slowly is to help me with my impatience.
A recent quote by Charles Spurgeon really hit home one day …
“We shall not grow weary of waiting upon God if we remember how long and how graciously He once waited for us.”
Now — to apply that not just to God but to people around me. That’s the challenge.
Ahhh but … the best friend to have is not a dog. Dogs are good but there are so many restrictions when you have a dog for a friend.
This video reminded me of a song I used to sing while in Seattle called Oh, the Best Friend to Have is Jesus. Â I wasn’t able to find a great youtube video for it but the one below has the music with the lyrics on screen.
“It was that time of year when everything seemed to be in its richest colouring; the birds were singing in trees and everywhere. It was very warm; a thunderstorm appeared on the horizon and soon thunder and lightning. We had to hurry to shelter. But the storm was soon over and the clear sky appeared.
“When I came home I opened my window toward the sea. There evidently had been a funeral and the bells were playing the tune of ‘When eternity’s clock calling my saved soul to its Sabbath rest.’ That evening, I wrote the song, ‘O Store Gud.'” Author Carl Boberg on the inspiration to writing the poem that became the song.
