Tag Archives: God’s word

The Love Letter

Christian encouragement, Discouraged Christian, Encouragement for Women, Grace, Hope, Jesus Christ, Love of God, Spiritual Encouragement, Surrender, To Rest in Christ, Trials, Troubles, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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The Love Letter

There was a young couple who met, fell in love and married.  As in all good love stories, they adored one another.  Joe and Sally had a wonderful marriage.  The only problem they faced was the war.  They were in the middle of a world war and Joe knew that he soon we be called to serve.

The call came, and Joe accepted the call with honor.  He was scheduled to leave in two weeks, and he wanted to make each moment count before he left.  The couple had one small child with one on the way.  He spent a lot of time with William and was hoping to spend time with the new baby someday.

Joe left.  Sally and William heard from him almost daily.  Suddenly the letters stopped.  Two weeks passed, the four and soon eight weeks had passed without hearing a word from Joe.  Sally was obviously concerned.  She prayed and honestly assumed the worse.

Joe had indeed become a prisoner of war.  He was told that he had the chance to write only one letter during his captivity.  He carried a torn up piece of parchment paper with him for weeks, praying about what to write his expectant wife and son.  Finally, with tears spilling down his face and hitting the paper, Joe wrote the letter.

Four weeks later, Sally trudged out to the mail box and there it was…a letter from Joe!! She ran into the kitchen, weeping with joy at the arrival of the letter.  She ripped it opened as little William and her mother stared.  

“Dearest Sally, William and family,

Daddy loves you more than words can adequately describe.  I am a prisoner of war and I have one piece of paper to write one letter on.  It is the only letter I am allowed to write and the last letter you may ever get from me.  So, I have carried the blank paper around for a long time, praying about what to write to all of you.  Sally, I love you with all my heart.  Words cannot describe the unconditional love I have for you.  I need you to love the children with all your heart.  As William grows, let him know how much he is loved by his Abba Father.  Teach him these things when he gets up in the morning, walks at noon along the creek and does his chores before bed.  Our little unborn baby needs to be taught these things as well when she(hope) or he is able to understand.  Spend time with them, tell them that I will love them forever.  Talk to the banker about the money we have, pay off the bills, tithe weekly, share what eggs you can with the neighbors…..”

The letter went on to tell Sally everything she needed to know about life.  As if Joe were right there with her.  Sally read the entire letter, wept openly and folded it up, placing it near her heart.  The next day, when she went into the bank, she got the letter out and did exactly what it said.  When she and the children had questions (it was a girl, Grace) she unfolded the letter to see what Daddy said about the situation.  Joe had not missed a thing.  He had given her all the love and guidance she needed to go on.  Everything had been filtered through love.  She almost felt as though he was standing right there beside her as she made each and every decision.

And then the closing said…”I love you all, and will see you again soon.  We will all be together someday.  Everything I have written, all I have said with all the love I have in my heart for you….my wife, my children, my family, my friends, strangers…until we meet again..love to you…Daddy Joe.

Wow, what a letter of love.  Can you imagine receiving this letter?  Well beloved, we have gotten a letter like that….it is from our Father, our Abba, our Daddy…He has given us all we need to live out this life here on dart.  His advice is given because of His deep love for us.  Like the letter from Joe, He is right beside us..guiding us with His Holy Spirit.

Oh yeah, Joe did make it home!  And so will Jesus.

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Be blessed~

IN CHRIST ALONE
Isaiah 55:8-9

*google image, NIV Bible*

 

Sweet Spring Song Birds

Christ's rest, Discouraged Christian, Freedom in Christ, Hope, Jesus Christ, Spiritual Encouragement, To Rest in Christ, Trials, Troubles, , , , , , , , , , ,

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Sweet Spring Song Birds

I look so forward to spring. There are a variety of reasons we can list, but one of my favorite things to do is sit on our back porch and watch the songbirds. We keep food out during the winter as well, but there is just something about sitting in my rocking chair, sipping a cup of coffee and watching them interact with one another. Gosh, that makes me sound really old!

There have been a few times we ran out of food before we could get to the store. I worried about the birds and realized that in all honesty they weren’t worried at all. At all.

Why is it so hard for us? Why do we worry? Is it the fear of the unknown? Is it that we are taking the circumstances and outcome into our own hands? Will my son get that job? What will we do if the furnace breaks down? What if that test result comes back as cancer?

The truth is…we shouldn’t worry. In fact, we are told that the power not to worry is from the Holy Spirit. I just think I turn things over to the Father, and as if I physically laid down that piece of paper, I pick it right back up!! Sometimes I do it daily!

Jesus taught..

 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 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? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:19-34
I can just envision Jesus teaching this lesson. He pointed to the birds. He bent down to smell the lilies of the field. He held up his cloak. Why worry?
Some theologians refer to this passage as the biblical doctrine of God’s ‘providence’. God is our provider. Do we believe this?
It is our choice. In fact, believing the word of God is totally our choice.
I like that choice. And I choose to believe. He has always been faithful. He has never failed me yet. Worry has gotten me no where. Stress made me sick. So I have to actively make the choice to believe Him and what He says.
Afterall, I have the birds of spring to remind me.

Blessings
IN CHRIST ALONE



Isaiah 55:8-9

*google image, NIV Bible*

Spring Stings!

Christ's rest, Christian encouragement, Discouraged Christian, Encouragement for Women, Freedom in Christ, Grace, Hope, Jesus Christ, Love of God, Spiritual Encouragement, To Rest in Christ, , , , , , , , , , ,

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Ah…the spring…and stings!

With warm weather comes the beautiful season of blooming flowers, budding trees, grass becoming green…and…duh, duh…duh (notice drama building), stings!!

Being outside has issues, but we still love being outside as much as possible. But the stings of anything can cause havoc in our lives. We were walking down the street just the other day and a little bee of some kind decided to fly near my husband’s eye and sting the corner! He did swell up, and thankfully it wasn’t in the eye (although with all the wailing I thought it was, just kidding!)

Over the years we all have suffered stings. Once I received the wrath of a wasp and swelled to such a large size that the emergency room proved the only refuge. Which later caused the need for an emergency epi pin to relieve any further sting damage in the future world of stinging. The pin should not have been prescribed for me I later learned from an allergy specialist, but it had been. So when I was stung by a very large, unhappy wasp which had gotten in my way, I used the pin. Bad choice. My heart raced uncontrollably and it did nothing for the swelling of the sting. It just caused heart issues. Not good.

My husband’s hand tripled in size one summer and he continued to deliver packages on his job. He had to have help just picking the packages up, and we won’t even talk about how hard it was to drive! Needless to say, stings are not pleasant experiences, as many of you well know.

The word “sting” translates to a word that means: “a sting, as that of bees, scorpions, locusts. Since animals wound by their sting and even cause death, Paul attributes death, personified as a sting, i.e. a deadly weapon”

I Corinthians 15:56-57 says this: “The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Sin” translates to “Hamartia” which means “missing the true end and scope of out lives, which is God.” STAY WITH ME.

Therefore, the thing of venom or poison is our eternal missing the true end and scope of our lives, God. When we miss God, when we miss that intimate relationship with Jesus, we we don’t know him as Lord and Savior, we know the sting of death. That pain, that spreading of poison! Eternity not spent with God.

The power and strength of that “missing the true scope of our lives….God” is the law! In other words, the sting of that wasp only had power over us if throughout that we had to do a certain amount of actions in a certain way…and only that way to bring us relief. Medicine, cool compresses gave us relief or victory over the sting by removing the poison. Just as Jesus gives us the victory over death and its sting! The shot I gave myself was the “law” that I was told I had to do..and it was wrong. It brought me more problems with the racing heart. The “law” did not relieve my sting.

Only Jesus Christ can give us that victory. There is no “law” that can bring us that peace. There are not a set of rules and regulations that will give us peace over that sin if we approach it in the manner of the law. A wise friend once told me: “The law commands your flesh to work and then it condemns everything it does.” We cannot do enough to rid us of that sting of death…but Jesus death on the cross bore that sing of death so that we might have victory over it.

Romans 10:4 says “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.“

Those wasps have no power over my husband and I! We had the victory through the meds and treatment to avoid the death of the sting. We are sometimes at the wrong place at the wrong time…bad things do happen in our lives, but death has no sting for the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ!!

So as this spring shows its beautiful face, stay away from those stings…or at least know how to rid yourself of the poison!! Rely on what you know to be true. Remember through and in HIM we have victory!

Be blessed~

IN CHRIST ALONE

Isaiah 55:8-9

 *google image, NIV, Strong’s Concordance*