Casting

February 25, 2013 Casting the whole of your anxieties, worries or concerns, once and for all, on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.” (I Peter 5:7) From my window we look down the hill to our little cove on which we live. It is full of wildlife, on the land and in the water. We so enjoy watching the blue and white herons fishing with their long bills, from the bank and sometimes they get in the water (they must be dog-paddling). There is a big hawk that will sit very quietly on a branch of one of the trees close to the water or a “snag” where he watches the water for a “meal.” When his keen eyes spot his desired catch swimming too close to the top of the water, he quick as lightning, streaks down and with his strong talons pulls it out of the water, then off to share his catch with some babies waiting or just enjoy his success by himself. When our great-grandchildren come they love to fish, casting their lines from the bank. Oh, the joy they have when they catch a fish, big or little. Our two great-granddaughters came for a visit just before Christmas. The weather was beautiful and everything was optimal for two little girls and their stepdad and Papa to go fishing. Poles, lines, hooks and bait were all assembled and excitement was running high. They had been promised a fish dinner if they caught enough suitable sized fish. The problem at first was in casting, because these little girls were still too close to the ground, and their arms too short to be coordinated and still being novices to effectively and safely get that hook, with the bait, in the water instead of in the grass or someone’s skin. All these two little ones had was a cane pole, line, hook with bait and a lot of hope. Such as they had they used to give it their all. With a little “on the job training” They cast, with faith, and they caught (not many, but enough to satisfy their hope). In Mark 1:16, it tells of Jesus walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee and saw two fishermen brothers casting their net (what they had – an act of faith) into the water to catch fish. Mark 10:46-52 gives the account of a blind man casting off his coat and running to receive his healing. Because the blind man threw away every encumbrance he received his sight. The act of casting and throwing away everything that would stop him was an act of faith that brought results – his sight. We, also, need only to cry out in faith to Jesus in our distress, cast off our cares onto Him and He will take care of them all – then He will sustain us and never let us fall (Ps.55:22). You have seen pictures of people in slavery and in concentration camps who had to carry tremendous and overwhelming burdens. Picture a strong giant coming alongside of them and offering to carry their crushing burdens. What a relief and comfort that would be! Know that we have such a “giant” – Jesus. He asks and invites us to roll our all of our burdens off our proverbial backs onto His. He is El Elyon – “The strongest strong One.” He will care (carry) for us. Our grandchildren knew the only way to catch a fish was they had to cast and let go of all they had, the line, hook and bait, then wait on the fish to bite. If they never cast their hooks into the water, they would never catch a fish. In the same way, if we never cast our burdens onto Jesus’ strong back and trust Him with everything, we will never receive our answer – peace, joy and resolution. Remember, He is the One Who took all our sins and burdens at the cross. He is the eternal, faithful, all powerful, all knowing, all loving Father God, Who knows, cares and is able to do abundantly above all we could imagine, because of the power of the Holy Spirit that is working within us (Eph.3:20). So what are you waiting on? He has invited you and is waiting for you to cast. Cast all your cares on Him because He loves you and wants to carry your burdens and problems and work them out for your good (Rom.8:28). I Cast All My Care Upon You BenjieLyn Hemphill I will cast all my cares upon You, I lay all of my burdens down at Your feet. And any time I don’t know what to do, I will cast all my cares upon You!

Dissecting Psalm 23

February 21, 2013 Of all the promises and scriptures in the Bible the twenty third Psalm is the most all inclusive, encouraging and hopeful of any that I know. How powerful and meaningful is every word. “The” indicates there is one and only Lord, not one among many. “The Lord” comes from the Hebrew name, YHWY, Who is the sovereign of the universe. This Lord is my shepherd. “Is,” means a present and forever relationship, and indicates ownership. Is my shepherd. My good shepherd loves me as an individual. He guards me and protects me. He nourishes me and surrounds me with goodness. He is my provider of everything beneficial that I need (spirit, soul, & body). He makes me lie down in green pastures; with provision so appealing that I must rest and luxuriate in it. As I am spiritually thirsty, He leads me to the quiet and peaceful water that satisfies my spiritual thirst with Himself – “the Living Water.” When beaten down with “life” He restores my soul with hope and joy in Him. He guides me in paths that are right and good, not because I deserve it but because of His grace, love, mercy and for His name’s sake. His name is Jehovah Tsidkenu, our righteousness. He will never lead me in a wrong path. When I walk through the deep, shadowy valley of death, and when I am in peril, either physically or spiritually, I will not fear any evil, adversity or affliction because You are with me, (my Provider, Protector and Healer - that’s my Shepherd). Your rod (walking stick), which disciplines me in the way I should go, and Your staff of support keeps me from falling, when I lean on it. Both give me strength and wisdom to be trained by them. These bring me much comfort. My Shepherd prepares for me a table of abundance of peace, joy and security right in the midst of my enemies (all who would want to do me wrong or harm). He heaps His blessings on me even when my enemies are trying to destroy me. Surely, Your goodness and mercy will follow me, when I am in the right path, all the days of my life, and I will live in Your presence forever. So you see, I shall not want for anything because My Shepherd’s sufficiency is more than enough! (lightfrommywindow.blogspot.com)

Prayer For The Hurting

February 20, 2013 So much has been written about prayer that it seems useless to reiterate what so many have already said, but I had a call from one of my sister-in-laws who has physically hurt for so many years and the pain is getting progressively worse. She has consulted several doctors and is planning to go to another specialist for advice. The pain has disabled her to the point of hardly being able to walk, and she has requested prayer from family and friends for months. Why has she not been healed? (James 5:16) We all ask ourselves questions: 1) Do we not have enough faith? 2) Does God not care? 3) Is God not able to heal today? 4) If God is able and if He cares, why does He not heal now? 5) Will God keep His promises? Satan, our deceiver, brings all kinds of questions, doubts and fears to our minds to discredit God when we are in the throes of any kind of hurt. He accuses us of having “little faith,” but remember the story in the Bible when a father brought his son with a “dumb” spirit to Jesus to be healed. The father asked if Jesus could do anything, to which He replied, “All things are possible to him who believe.” The father responded with, “Lord, I believe but help my weakness of faith.” Jesus did heal the son (Mark 9:17-28). So how do we get more faith to believe for “all things?” Romans 10:17 tells us that, “faith comes by hearing what is told, and what is heard comes by the preaching of the message that came from the lips of Christ, the Messiah Himself” (Amp.). So we can answer question (5) with a resounding “yes!” He does keep His promises! “He is not like man that He would tell or act a lie” (Numbers 23:19). You see He is “YHWY, ELOHIM, the strong, faithful, covenant keeping God, and He Who promised is reliable and faithful to His Word” (Heb.10:21-23). Yes, God still heals today, “He is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb.13:8). He never changes (Mal.3:6). His Word never changes, “Heaven and earth may pass away but My Word will never pass away” (Matt.24:35). Nothing can stand against His Word. God Himself said that His Word is like fire that consumes all that cannot endure the test and like a hammer that breaks in pieces the rock of most stubborn resistance” (Jer.23:29). So pray the Word, repeat God’s promises back to Him, while giving thanks for answering. “God is merciful and kind and loves each of His children with an everlasting love; and His faithfulness and Truth endures to all generations” (Psalm 100:5). Yes God cares! So, we might ask, “Why doesn’t He heal me now when I am praying and trying to believe?” God’s thoughts and ways are not the way we think or would do things (Isa.55:8). His ways are so far above ours. We don’t understand His ways and His timing, but He is always on time and we must remember, “He makes all things beautiful in His time” (Eccl.3:11; II Chr.20:14-25). We must also trust Him to do His work not only in our lives but in the lives of all those who are observing our situation, our response to God’s promises and timing and our steadfast trust in a God Who will either heal us now (sometimes with the help of doctors and medications), or says to “wait” for His perfect time. Sometimes He gets more glory from perfecting our patience, hope and trust in Him while walking with us through our dark valley of testing (I Cor.10:13). His perfect time for our healing may be when we get to heaven - then we will have the perfect healing. Whether He heals us now or then I have found if we will praise Him for Who He is and thank Him “in” and “for” all things (I Thess.5:18; Eph.5:20; Ps.119:71) we can have “joy unspeakable and full of glory.” We just had a good friend die after two years of battling cancer, and we prayed all the two years. We saw some healings along the way and lived in hope of complete healing, but the Lord knew best. I never heard her say a negative or doubtful word about her condition but was always full of joy that God had kept her until then. She raised and bred sheep and trained her dogs to be sheep dogs. After she died, her husband expressed his trust in the Lord to have done what was best. He remarked to us that, “Jesus needed another shepherd up there with Him.” His response of praise and even joy toward the Lord for taking his wife Home has been such a strong witness of God’s keeping power through the greatest tribulation he would ever go through. Praising God in the middle of our “testing” will change us and grow our faith, and will change others who are watching. There was a song we had sung at our daughter-in-law’s memorial service that I think sums up what I have been trying to say. It is: When We Can’t Trace His Hand, Trust His Heart (Babbie Mason) All things work for our good Though sometimes we can't See how they could, Struggles that break our hearts in two Sometimes blind us to the truth. Our Father knows what's best for us His ways are not our own. So when your pathway grows dim And you just can't see Him, Remember you're never alone. Chorus: God is too wise to be mistaken, God is too good to be unkind. So when you don't understand, When don't see His plan, When you can't trace His hand, Trust His Heart He sees the master plan, He holds the future in His hand, So don't live as those who have no hope, All our hope is found in Him. We see the present clearly, But He sees the first and last. And like a tapestry He's weaving you and me, To someday be just like Him. Chorus: He alone is faithful and true, He alone knows what is best for you. When you don't understand, When you don't see His plan, When you don't understand, When you can't trace His hand, Trust His Heart.

Did I Hear A Shout And A Trumpet?

February 4, 2013 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life in Christ will rise first.”(I Thessalonians 4:16 (Amp.) Every day I wake up to a fresh realization that we are one day closer to the coming of Christ. The Word tells us to watch and wait. It also gives us hints as what to look for when Christ comes to catch us up. Tonight I hope it is this night, and tomorrow I will wake hoping it is that day, etc. The above scripture tells us how this rapture (catching up) will happen. Paul is writing to the Thessalonians to enlighten them about questions they had about Christ’s return for believers. In verses 13-17 of the fourth chapter of First Thessalonians, Paul tells believers not to grieve for those who die in Christ as those grieve who have no hope beyond the grave. Believers should know that even as Jesus died and rose again, even so when Christ returns for us, those who have died in Christ will be raised first to newness of life and precede us that are still living on earth. This is how it will happen: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life will rise first. Then we the living ones who remain on the earth, shall simultaneously be caught up along with the resurrected dead in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so always through the eternity of the eternities we shall be with the Lord” (vs.16 & 17). So there is going to be a great delegation of believers who will meet Jesus in the air. I John 3:2 says that when we as God’s children see Him we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He really is. “The Lord Himself will ascend from heaven with a loud shout…” Have you ever speculated on what He will be shouting? I think He will be shouting, “Come on home, children! Come on up with Me! This is your homecoming. THIS IS THE DAY OF THE LORD!” I Corinthians 15:52 Paul tells us that this rapture will happen in “a twinkling of an eye.” I read somewhere that a twinkle of the eye was 1/50th of a second. What a mystery that is, because Revelation 1:7 tells us that every eye will see Him, even those who pierced (hurt and rejected) Him, and all peoples of the earth will look on Him and mourn and lament over Him (because they had rejected Him when they had opportunities to accept). What a wonderful day that will be for the believer, the day for which we are all looking! But for those who have rejected the One Who loves them and died for them so they could live with Him forever, it will be a sad and terrible day (I Thessalonians 1:10). Are you listening for the shout and the trumpet? What A Day That Will Be! Jim Hill “What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see, and I look upon His face - the One Who saved me by His grace. When he takes me by the hand and leads me thru the promised land, what a day, what a day that will be.”