"shocking beyond belief "

If i could look you in the eye right now i would straightway say I LOVE YOU and more importantly God cares for you and all those in Newtown, CT.

All the years we have been together i can remember addressing hard situations with you straight on without wavering in unbelief when disasters or shocking beyond belief killings happen or suicides, hardship...

One thing i have noticed in watching the reports is the need to somehow understand this or find our why and I can only say that it is far above our understanding but not God's.

I went back and read some or Part 6 of this teaching on Suffering by John Piper

"Hold out the promise that God will sustain and help those who cast themselves on him for mercy and trust in his grace. He will strengthen you for the impossible days ahead in spite of all darkness."

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/seminars/suffering-for-the-sake-of-the-body-part-1#Columbine

Remember that even those who trust in Christ may be cut down like these kids were, but that does not mean they have been abandoned by God or not loved by God, even in that agonizing moment of suffering. God’s love more than conquers even through calamity.

Part 1 entire here and also and others that can provide a lifelong study 

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/seminars/suffering-for-the-sake-of-the-body-part-1

Mingle heart-wrenching weeping with unbreakable confidence in the goodness and sovereignty of God who rules over the sin and the bullets of rebellious people.

Job 1:20-21

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD."

Lamentations 3:32-33

If He causes grief, then He will have compassion according to His abundant lovingkindness. For He does not afflict willingly or grieve the sons of men.

Trust God for his ability to do the humanly impossible, and bring you through this nightmare and, in some inscrutable way, bring good out of it.

Romans 8:28

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Lamentations 3:21-24

This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him."

Count God your only lasting treasure, because he is the only sure and stable thing in the universe.

Psalm 73:25-26

Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

ALL My Sons and Daughter- Your Love is All around

Majesty enthroned in beauty
All my life, Your love pursues me
and I'm found in You
Oh Holy One, the King of glory
You're the Author of my story
and I'm found in You

'Cause You give me life and lead me to find
Your grace and Your mercy, given so freely
Your word is my light, it leads me to find
Your comfort and healing, the hope that I'm needing

Your love is all around
Your love is all around

Oh Living One, You reign forever
Drawing me into Your presence
and I'm found in You
Oh Great Redeemer, Precious Savior
You are faithful, though I wander
and I'm found in You

'Cause You give me life and lead me to find
Your grace and Your mercy, given so freely
Your word is my light, it leads me to find
Your comfort and healing, the hope that I'm needing

Your love is all around, Oh
Your love is all around, Oh

And I hear Your voice
I hear the words You've spoken
This love is Yours
This love restores the broken 

The road ahead for many is so hard but we will pray and ask our heavenly Father who care for us to comfort and hold close.

Lead me to the Cross- Hillsong

Josh Groban - You Raise me up Last Choir Standing

Psalm 73:25-26
"Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

Why..? new ornament

Had the thought today to add a Christmas ornament to the tree.
Why..?
“In every situation God is always doing a thousand different things that you cannot see and you do not know.” (John Piper)




You see it is easy to place the ornaments that always reflect a good memory like "First Christmas Together 1981" or birth of a child but i was challenged today to add one. When i ask Why i need to believe "
God is for us in all these strange turns. God is not just showing up after the trouble and cleaning it up. He is plotting the course and managing the troubles with far-reaching purposes for our good"



One verse of a song from 2008 ...

Through the Precious Blood

Through the Precious Blood

By Mark Altrogge

As recorded on Come Weary Saints

You have ordained every breath we take

In pleasure or pain, there is no mistake

Gladness and grief, both are in Your hand

And sufferings brief carry out Your plan

And our fleeting sorrows

Will yield an endless prize

When some bright tomorrow

We’ll see You with our eyes, and

Chorus Grace upon grace flows down, flows down

Grace upon grace flows down, flows down

Through the precious blood of Christ

Father of lights, Giver of all grace

Your mercies crown our lives all our days

River of Life, quench our thirsty souls

For no true delight does Your love withhold

And in every season

We are satisfied

For just one reason

Christ was crucified, and

All good gifts, every good thing

Comes to us freely, so freely

All good gifts, every good thing

Comes to us freely, so freely

Through the precious blood

Through the precious blood

© 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)

This is from the book i was reading
A SWEET AND BITTER PROVIDENCE pg 100-101 by John Piper

A Sweet and Bitter Providence

Life Is a Mountain Road




At one level, the message of the book of Ruth is that the life of the godly is not a straight line to glory, but they do get there. The life of the godly is not an Interstate through Nebraska but a state road through the Blue Ridge Mountains of Tennessee. There are rockslides and precipices and dark mists and bears and slippery curves and hairpin turns that make you go backward in order to go forward. But all along this hazardous, twisted road that doesn’t let you see very far ahead, there are frequent signs that say, "The best is yet to come."

Taken as a whole, the story of Ruth is one of those signs. It was written to give us encouragement and hope that all the perplexing turns in our lives are going somewhere good. They do not lead off a cliff. In all the setbacks of our lives as believers, God is plotting for our joy.

Life is not a straight line leading from one blessing to the next and then finally to heaven. Life is a winding and troubled road. Switchback after switchback. And the point of biblical stories like Joseph and Job and Esther and Ruth is to help us feel in our bones (not just know in our heads) that God is for us in all these strange turns. God is not just showing up after the trouble and cleaning it up. He is plotting the course and managing the troubles with far-reaching purposes for our good and for the glory of Jesus Christ." (John Piper)

"God cares about us in the midst of the pain. His goal isn’t just to get us out of the pain to the joy; he also wants us to see that he is for us and with us in the pain. It is true that weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning (Ps. 30:5). The morning will dawn and God will remove every tear (Rev. 21:4), but God is not just concerned about the morning, the new day when you can shout for joy. He is with us even in the night when there is nothing but weeping, when the tears are so thick that we can’t see. When we are in the deepest pit and darkness weighs on our souls and God feels so absent that we wonder if he is even real, this psalm reminds us that he is with us even then. "

Suffering and the Sovereignty of God

 O LORD, God of my salvation; I cry out day and night before you. 2 Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry! (Ps 88 1-2)

First thoughts this Thanksgiving Day 2012

                                                             11/22/12

Thanksgiving Day

Dearest family and friends,                                          

               My first thoughts this morning were of the kindnesses and blessings of the Lord God and the constancy of family and friends. Reading Isaiah 50: 4 - one kindness is that we are given “words to sustain the weary and morning by morning he awakens; and he awakens my ear to hear and to be taught[i]”. What a blessing morning after morning, to experience his mercies that never come to an end and that sustain us. He quickens our ears to hear and our minds to know direction. What an undeserved blessing and kindness.

               Family and friends refresh and bring joy. The sight of the “cactus blooming in winter” caught my eye this morning. I recalled this flowering cactus from years gone by, and how each year circumstances surround our lives that bless and perplex. Psalm 103[ii] reminds me to “Bless the Lord my soul and forget not all his benefits” and “as a father shows compassion so the Lord shows compassion and knows our frame”[iii]. Once the flowers of the cactus fall, the steadfast love of the Lord remains everlasting, and towards our children's children. The constancy of this love enables us to love family and friends and sustain with our care and words in both blessings and the hard times alike.

---

[i] Is 50: 4 “The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.(ESV)

[ii] Ps. 103: 2 “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,(ESV)

[iii]Ps 103: 13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. 14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.(ESV)

Ps 103: 13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. 14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.(ESV)




Ps. 103: 2 “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,(ESV)

Great Is Thy Faithfulness
by Thomas Chisholm

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father
There is no shadow of turning with Thee
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

© 1951 Hope Publishing Co

Great is Thy Faithfulness-

"Give us this day our daily bread."

"Give us this day our daily bread."- Matthew 6:11

How often in the years I have read this prayer of  how Jesus taught us to pray to Our Father.
Amazing how I can make it so complicated at times.

I was reading Our Daily Bread  -Each Day and a few words pierced by ungrateful heart.<3
These words were an encouragement of a father to a son ( daughter) that had an impact on his life, Johnny Wooden. 

Three of the points were:

Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible. 

Make each day your masterpiece.

Pray for guidance, and give thanks for your blessings every day.

Each Day - Our Daily Bread Nov 16


John Wooden's Seven Point Creed, given to him by his father Joshua upon his graduation from grammer school:
Be true to yourself.
Make each day your masterpiece.
Help others.
Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible
Make friendship a fine art.
Build a shelter against a rainy day.
Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day
coach wooden maxims

I also was reading an entry about Samuel Wilberforce, the son of William Wilberforce. William wrote his son  over 600 letters, which Samuel kept and numbered. The writer said that Wilberforce wrote similarly to each of his six children, that he had later in life.


" From the beginning of the year 1817, when Samuel Wilberforce was in his twelfth year, the father's devotion to his son is exhibited by a " series of not fewer than 600 letters, which are still extant, all carefully numbered and noted in the handwriting of Samuel Wilberforce's maturer years." The biographer remarks that these letters "must have exercised the most powerful influence on the formation of his character. Compare these letters with his subsequent career, and it will at once be seen that Samuel Wilberforce was indeed his father's son." The shrewd practical counsels of these letters, it is added, are "strung upon the one thread of ever-repeated inculcation of the duty of private prayer as the one hold fast of life."

One of the earliest letters runs as follows :-
Kensington Gore,
Thursday, March 6th, 1817.

I hope my dear lamb will, during his absence from his earthly

father and mother, look up the more earnestly to that Heavenly

Father who watches over all that put their trust in Him, and has given

special encouragement to apply to Him for every needful blessing.

Above all, my dear boy, strive against formality in your private

prayers. Endeavour to realise the presence of your God and Saviour,

and to be assured that, though not visible by your bodily eyes, they

are really present with you May God bless you, my very dear Boy, 

and make you a blessing to many hereafter, as well

a comfort to the advancing years of your affect father,

W. WILBERFORCE. Samuel Wilberforce- Letters

How Great is Your Faithfulness

(Matt Redman)

Now unto the king who reigns over all,
and never changes or turns
Unfailing justice, unfading grace,
Whose promises remain,
Yes, Your promises remain.

The heavens ring, the saints all sing,
Great is your faithfulness
From age to age we will proclaim
Great is your faithfulness,
How great is your faithfulness. Yes

Everything changes, but your stay the same;
your word and kingdom endure
we lean on the promise of all that you are,
and trust forevermore
we will trust forevermore

From generation to generation
you never fail us oh God
Yesterday and today and tomorrow
until the day you return

How great is your faithfulness

By God’s grace, may we make each day our masterpiece for Him.

engraved ...i'm afraid it won't be the same

 Nov 6, 2012 , Election day first time voting.The day was fun. Picture of thumb holding ballot.

The call came unexpectedly and she said I need to get my thumb checked and then broke down. My daughter was working on a metal sculpture project and had an accident with the metal grinder. She was brave and strong but in pain and shaken.

I quickly got to the location and picked her up and started to travel to the ER. She was stoic and quietly, and with tears said, "I'm afraid, it may never be the same!"

The thumbnail and thumb were ground down and nerve endings exposed. A painful, cleaning and  repair followed. We were grateful that a worse injury did not occur. 

I thought of the scripture about God "engraving or carving us" in the palm of his hand.

Isaiah 49: 15-16

^16 15 15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16  Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;(ESV)

15 [ And the Lord answered] Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they may forget, yet I will not forget you.

16 Behold, I have indelibly imprinted (tattooed a picture of) you on the palm of each of My hands; (Amplified)

I thought about how it is so hard to see those you love in pain and uncertainty.

"How Do You Handle Bitter Providences?

So the question is: How do you handle the setbacks, the disappointments, the abuses, the heartaches, the calamities, the bitter providences of your life?

"God is doing a thousand things in every one thing we see, that we know nothing about" (John Piper)

"God’s gracious purposefulness in our lives: God is sovereign, God is purposeful, God is gracious and it really matters.

Since He is so purposeful…  any time He does anything in your life; anytime he bumps you, He’s doing a million things! Every time God does one thing to you, he’s doing a million things. He knows the trajectory of every molecule He bumps another and another forever. And He knows them all. Millions of ages into the future. What happens now, makes a difference there… because everything relates to everything… when God’s in charge of everything. He’s always doing a million things in your life, when you see Him doing one thing, and you see two reasons and neither of them explain it and you’re mad at Him.

And I just said to my folks, “It’s not wise to get mad at God because you can’t see enough reasons as to why this just happened to you because there are a million… So, I regard it as gloriously significant that we have an infinitely, purposeful, sovereign, gracious, good, Savior who pursues us thousands of years before.."
(John Piper)

So  we will take heart and trust in the painful circumstance, knowing we only see in part.

Someday we will see clearly all that was being done in the background of our carving trials.

Hold fast

Overarching love and care of God was a thought I had when looking at pictures of the Gateway Arch.

Also this gateway to the west prior, would have been filled with challenges, hardship, and an overcoming spirit to survive would have been needed to go on, and to hold fast to the reasons the pioneers set out on the journey westward.

Gateway Arch

Built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States, the arch typifies "the pioneer spirit of the men and women who won the West, and those of a latter day to strive on other frontiers."

"Its shape and monumental size suggest movement through time and space, and invite inquiry into the complex, fascinating story of our national expansion."

I thought of my need to hold fast to God and The promises in his Word. God doesn't change and this is fascinating. Ne never fails. He has overcome.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.               (Hebrews 10:23)

I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. Rev 3:11



Stand
"Such long, steady, hold-the-course perseverance is especially needed within our vacillating generation. This thoughtful book thus not only elevates the virtue of godly endurance but bears witness to its power in the Christian life.
Stand will awaken and solidify rugged, Christ-exalting endurance in people who are weary in their faith journey or who simply long to remain firm to the end."
and your right hand shall hold me." Psalm 139:10

"As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. Luke 8:15


TAKE HEART <3
 Hillsong United Aftermath

[Verse 1:]
There is a light
It burns brighter than the sun
He steals the night
And casts no shadow
There is hope
Should oceans rise and mountains fall
He never fails

[Chorus:]
So take heart
Let His love lead us through the night
Hold on to hope
And take courage again

[Verse 1:]
In death by love
The fallen world was overcome
He wears the scars of our freedom
In His Name
All our fears are swept away
He never fails

[Bridge:]
All our troubles
And all our tears
God our hope
He has overcome

All our failure
And all our fear
God our love
He has overcome
All our heartache
And all our pain
God our healer
He has overcome

All our burdens
And all our shame
God our freedom
He has overcome

All our troubles
And all our tears
God our hope
He has overcome

All our failures
And all our fear
God our love
He has overcome

God our justice
God our grace
God our freedom
He has overcome

God our refuge
God our strength
God is with us
He has overcome

Hard work, for the building..and repair

The Gold Plated clock tower roof was repaired recently in our town on the Old Historic Courthouse Building. The scaffolding took many days to build to get to the top of the tower. The repair seemed like it took little time. The tear-down of the scaffolding took a long time also.

 My first thought was - that was a lot of work just getting to the area to do what was needed and then a lot of work afterwards for the tear-down. Great effort for a great purpose...to restore something of value- gold.

The scaffolding would have required a good foundation to be stable at the great height needed to reach the gold clock tower to restore.

1 Corinthians 3
10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—

Building Scaffolding

Take Heart in the building and the repair! You are of  immeasurable value to God.

what-god-is-building-through-all-the-inefficiencies-of-life

In God’s economy none of these resources were wasted. He invested them in building something far more important and precious than a wall. He was building faith.

A rebuilt city and a faithless people would not please God (Hebrews 11:6). History had shown that a strong wall doesn’t save “unless the Lord watches over the city” (Psalm 127:1). So, as Nehemiah and the people worked to rebuild Jerusalem, God worked — through opposition — to build their dependent faith in his power rather than their own. It was the opposition that prompted Nehemiah to preach, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome” (Nehemiah 4:14).

Faith is “the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). God gives it to us as a gift (Ephesians 2:8). But he tests, refines, and strengthens it in the fires of difficulty, adversity, opposition, and suffering. We only really learn to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7) when we must trust what is “not seen” more than what is seen.

That’s why all the seeming inefficient trials of our kingdom life and labor are not wasted. God is building “the tested genuineness of [our] faith,” which he considers “more precious than gold” (1 Peter 1:7). And it’s trials more than prosperity that teaches us to “remember the Lord.”

So “count it all joy” today “when you meet trials of various kinds” (James 1:2). God is building your faith.

Faith is worth all the time, energy, and money it costs to build. Because only by faith will we receive our commendation from God (Hebrews 11:2). (Jon Bloom Desiring God)

Lamentations 5:21 (ESV)
Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old—

ACTS 4
11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.

Tom Peel/Gazette

Wholly Yours (B Varient -David Crowder Band

I am full of earth.
You are heaven's worth.
I am stained with dirt,
Prone to depravity

You are everything
That is bright and clean
The antonym for me
You are divinity

But a certain sign of grace is this:
From the broken earth
Flowers come up
Pushing through the dirt

You are holy, holy, holy.
All heaven cries, "Holy, holy God."
You are holy, holy, holy.
I want to be holy like You are.

You are everything
That is bright and clean
And You're covering me
With Your majesty

And the truest sign of grace was this:
From wounded hands
Redemption fell down
Liberating man

But the harder I try
The more clearly can I
Feel the depth of our fall
And the weight of it all.
And so this might could be
The most impossible thing:
Your grandness in me making me clean.

Glory, hallelujah.
Glory, glory, hallelujah.

You are holy, holy, holy.
All heaven cries, "Holy, holy God."
You are holy, holy, holy.
I want to be holy like You are.

So here I am, all of me.
Finally everything.
Wholly, wholly, wholly -
I am wholly, wholly, wholly -
I am wholly, wholly, wholly Yours.
Here I am, everything
Finally, all of me
I am full of earth and dirt and You.