"..I cried out."

I was working recently with a family on a building project. One of those working had an accident and my first response was to cry out to the Lord. I said "No, oh No , No have mercy Jesus" When we got to the person we immediately prayed and cried out to the Lord, and tears filled my eyes as well at the scene of what happened. We prayed for mercy and healing and that all would be ok in his whole body.


‘If disaster comes upon us, ....... 
we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’..."For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. 
We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” 
 (2 Chronicles 20:9,12 ESV)

Matthew Henry's commentary explains this verse-
“We have no might against this great company, none without thee, none that we can expect any thing from without thy special presence and blessing, none to boast of, none to trust to; but our eyes are upon thee. We rely upon thee, and from thee is all our expectation. The disease seems desperate: we know not what to do, are quite at a loss, in a great strait. But this is a sovereign remedy, our eyes are upon thee, an eye of acknowledgment and humble submission, an eye of faith and entire dependence, an eye of desire and hearty prayer, an eye of hope and patient expectation. In thee, O God! do we put our trust; our souls wait on thee.” (MHC 2 Chron 20:12)

You see, this fall, this trial, happened to someone I care deeply about and respect, A man who honors God, his family, father and mom, Someone who has gone through other trials without complaint. So,I was in disbelief that this could be happening  to a friend of 30 years, a man that "the mold was broken once born."
I cried out No,, Oh No ! because these things shouldn't happen to good people.

We had much more work to do on this bright sunny day. We had to get the rest done!

Thoughts came through my mind- the person has had previous back surgeries, did something break, would he walk, or have serious injury?

I was with his wife, good friends, and adult children who I have known since they were born.

All praying for healing and help in this time of need. The children, praying in faith to God. God, who they have been instructed. year after year, cares for us, loves us, and works all things for good. God cares for us but his happened. Help us.

No major injuries was the report, at the end of a few hours of testing and anxious waiting,
"Praise The Lord" was my response to the doctor.

I had not seen a miracle like this for awhile.
I was there at the scene, and saw and was so grateful for the outcome. Though it was going to be a road back to recovery, God had mercy and heard our cry!

"But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,
    my glory, and the lifter of my head.
 I cried aloud to the Lord,
    and he answered me from his holy hill." (Psalm 3:3-4

"In my distress I called upon the Lord;

    to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
    and my cry to him reached his ears." (Psalm 18:6 ESV)

I remember a picture from my morning walk. I say the Sun rising and reflecting on a pond. I was at an angle I could see both bright areas at the same time.

The compassion God has on us-- transcends my finite mind. The goodness and healing and protection we see on a daily basis is a mere reflection of his Great love and perfect plan that works for good. Trial and pain are allowed by Him yet He orchestrates all for our good.

The next morning, as well as through the night, I was thinking of God and how He heard our cry for help.

I thought of how when the person fell from from the truss over 12 feet on a piece of 3/4 in. board- that the board landed on a circular saw handle that cushioned the fall -to some extent, supporting instead of hitting concrete directly.

The question remains that The God who cares and protected could have not allowed this to happen at all. "Though leagues of distance lie between the finite creature and the infinite Creator, yet there are links uniting both." 

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

September 28

Morning... (Charles Spurgeon)

Psalm 33:13
The Lord looketh from heaven; He beholdeth all the sons of men.

"Perhaps no figure of speech represents God in a more gracious light than when He is spoken of as stooping from His throne, and coming down from heaven to attend to the wants and to behold the woes of mankind. We love Him, who, when Sodom and Gomorrah were full of iniquity, would not destroy those cities until He had made a personal visitation of them. We cannot help pouring out our heart in affection for our Lord who inclines His ear from the highest glory, and puts it to the lip of the dying sinner, whose failing heart longs after reconciliation. How can we but love Him when we know that He numbers the very hairs of our heads, marks our path, and orders our ways?

Specially is this great truth brought near to our heart, when we recollect how attentive He is, not merely to the temporal interests of His creatures, but to their spiritual concerns. Though leagues of distance lie between the finite creature and the infinite Creator, yet there are links uniting both.
When a tear is wept by thee, think not that God doth not behold; for, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him."

Thy sigh is able to move the heart of Jehovah; thy whisper can incline His ear unto thee; thy prayer can stay His hand; thy faith can move His arm. Think not that God sits on high taking no account of thee. Remember that however poor and needy thou art, yet the Lord thinketh upon thee. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards Him.

Oh! then repeat the truth that never tires;
No God is like the God my soul desires;
He at whose voice heaven trembles, even He,
Great as He is, knows how to stoop to me."

Mt. Shuksan -Near Mt Baker,WA

"I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.For your steadfast love is great above the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the clouds." (Psalm 108:3-4)

"..fellowship .."

I was recently helping a friend move from a current home to a transition home. Eventually they will be moving to a renovated farmhouse and 180 acres farm. Of course it is natural to think back on the years we have known each other. We first met nearly 20 years ago and were involved in the same church and fellowship group.

You see the EMPTY room where we gathered many times for worship, study and hospitality! 

You think "How I am going to miss this place."

I then started thinking about the years-over 32, that we have been in various fellowship groups. So grateful for the years of care and fellowship.
Fellowship consists of many great times and some low times as well when at one time of another a couple or individual may be going through a difficult time.

We experience the high and celebrated times in life like picnics, marriage, weddings, birth of a child, baptism of family members, graduation of school then college.

We have also have experienced times of sadness when the death of family or friends happen, or news of cancer is shared, or long term illness is a factor.

We have experienced times of growth in friendships and relationships and have experienced on-going care from others and the loyal friendships. We have helped each other in our homes,farms,building projects and study.

We have also experienced times when you invest your lives into others and they may leave the group or church and you feel a little empty and saddened at the loss-you miss them so much.

So over his time you see care and answers to prayer. You also see funny things happen- like when praying for someone near a candle their shirt catches fire, or someone is so tired they fall asleep during the sharing time and someone calls on them to share what they may think :)

Many times people in your fellowship group are first to come to your help when it is needed most. First to the Fallen and you try not to leave anyone behind that is in need.

We have seen each other's children grow and mature and start their own careers and some their own families.

When we first met this individual's children they were 2 and 3 years old now they are in the early 20's. You look back with fond memories and times and are thankful and recall the blessings.

We have experienced Christian fellowship over the years and I was thinking today how can I put this in a nutshell.

We are called together, we serve, are built, grow, friend, and look to the future in faith!

CALLED
We are first called by God and then joined with others in faith. We study and apply the Bible to our lives.

“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”      (1 Cor. 1:9 ESV)

SERVE 
 "So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith." (Galatians 6:10 ESV)

BUILT
"For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone."(Eph. 2:18-20 ESV)

GROW

Fellowship enables growth and gratitude. We see how God has been faithful and we look forward.

“Gratitude exults in the past benefits of God and says to faith, ‘Embrace more of these benefits for the future, so that my happy work of looking back on God’s deliverance may continue.”

(Future Grace. 1995 – John Piper Page 38)

FRIENDSHIP

FUTURE
We pray for one another for grace and grow in faith.

To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thess.1:11-12 ESV)


"Grace, in the New Testament, as we have seen, is not only God’s disposition to do good for us when we don’t deserve it — undeserved favor. It is also a power from God that acts in our lives and makes good things happen in us and for us. Paul said that we fulfill our resolves for good “by his power” (verse 11). And then he adds at the end of verse 12, “according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” That power that actually works in our lives to make Christ-exalting obedience possible is an extension of the grace of God.

Therefore this grace which moves in power from God to you at a point in time is both past and future. It has already done something for you or in you and therefore is past. And it is about to do something in you and for you, and so it is future — both five seconds away and five million years away.

God’s grace is ever cascading over the waterfall of the present from the inexhaustible river of grace coming to us from the future into the ever-increasing reservoir of grace in the past.

In the next five minutes, you will receive sustaining grace flowing to you from the future, and you will accumulate another five minutes’ worth of grace in the reservoir of the past. "(John Piper)

Sermon link

http://www.desiringgod.org/sermons/living-by-faith-in-future-grace

VISION 

We look forward to fellowship. Soon we will looking back another 10 years and be grateful to see all that God has done. We must look up in hope and move forward in faith since life is brief.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jer. 29:11 ESV)

So lets move on, work hard, and look forward to fellowship with intention to study and apply God's word.

“At evening let not your hands be idle." (Ecclesiastes 11:6 NIV)

"The evening of life has also its calls. Life is so short that a morning of manhood’s vigour, and an evening of decay, make the whole of it.... Life is so brief that no man can afford to lose a day.  

......Some are spared to a long evening of green old age; if such be my case, let me use such talents as I still retain, and to the last hour serve my blessed and faithful Lord. By his grace I will die in harness, and lay down my charge only when I lay down my body. Age may instruct the young, cheer the faint, and encourage the desponding; if eventide has less of vigorous heat, it should have more of calm wisdom, therefore in the evening I will not withhold my hand." (Excerpt Charles Spurgeon- Evening Sept 20)
Evening September 20

We are called together, we serve, are built, grow, friend, and look to the future in faith and vigor!

Lane Peak- Zipper Couloir  The Tatoosh Range, Mount Rainier National Park

UPDATE- March 2016

The farm and farm house are nearly done and have provided great memories and fellowship already!

Video of me in a 10 row harvester

Harvesting with Boyd- Mennonite Harvest

We had care group at the home a few weeks ago. 

The restored entry hall now reflects the vision they had for their home. Many more memories and times of fellowship to come

 in the future with family and friends!

stars by name, carry and sustain..

Canadian Wilderness Sky - 110 sec exp. hint of the Milky Way  Photo by eholuta.wix.com/portfolio

The stars in the Canadian sky - an awesome picture.
Countless stars. First thing I thought of is how I remember reading that God created the stars and knows them each by name.

I thought- if this is the case then how much more does he care for, carry, and sustain us.

"He who made the Pleiades and Orion,
    and turns deep darkness into the morning
    and darkens the day into night,
who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out on the surface of the earth,
the Lord is his name;" (Amos 5:8 ESV)

Star trail- Canadian sky

“To whom will you compare me?
 Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
"Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
    Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
    and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing." (Isaiah 40:25-26 NIV)

The ESV Study Bible notes:
The Holy One is incomparable in his power, wisdom, immensity, sovereignty and authority.
Not one was missing: God's creating the stars would have been awe-inspiring even in ancient Israel, where about 5000 stars were visible at night. Astronomers now estimate there are more than 400 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, and that there are 125 billion galaxies in the universe. The total number of stars is estimated at 10 billion trillions
Them all by name- Such a God will surely never forget even one of his people.


THERE ARE THOSE TIMES-- 
we see things from a distance or when we see things on a foggy day- they are not clear,  just like our circumstances- we do not always know the reasons we need to walk through the paths we have been given or who we may affect along the way.  Our lives on this earth are always under construction.




























At times
 we do not see the path ahead as clearly as we would like.
We do know God created the stars and knows each by name and not one is missing so such a God will surely never forget even one of his people. (Isaiah 40:26)



'Cause you light up the path'

'Cause you get lighter the more it gets dark'

You're such a heavenly view

even these lyrics from a pop song can reflect the kindness of God 

Coldplay- A Sky full of Stars


CARRY and SUSTAINS-
While walking recently and holding the hand of  the little guy and in the past holding the hand of my grand-daughter-
I thought of him and how trusting to allow us to carry and lift him. 

Thought of how God sustains us and as we get older this is so much more evident in the care the younger show those older.

"Even to your old age and gray hairs
    I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
    I will sustain you and I will rescue you." (Isaiah 46:4 NIV)

 such a heavenly view.

sustaining grace for the day

Sunrise to a new bright day.

Sunrise- WA mountains photo by Matt

The skies clear and refresh our souls and we go forward.