"I will sustain you.."

I often wonder how some people persevere to accomplish great feats or accomplish goals that seem higher than I could ever achieve- like back-country skiing up Mount Rainier or inventing something that I marvel at, or the more common things in life, like the ability to be truly content with daily tasks, jobs, and everyday life or raising a family or caring for the elderly.

Recently I read a Bible verse that encouraged me in the midst of a low time:

"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." Is 46:4

What can give us faith to persevere?

The Faith to Persevere

Because you have kept My command to persevere . . . —Revelation 3:10

Perseverance means more than endurance— more than simply holding on until the end. A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, but our Lord continues to stretch and strain, and every once in a while the saint says, "I can’t take any more." Yet God pays no attention; He goes on stretching until His purpose is in sight, and then He lets the arrow fly. Entrust yourself to God’s hands. Is there something in your life for which you need perseverance right now? Maintain your intimate relationship with Jesus Christ through the perseverance of faith. Proclaim as Job did, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" ( Job 13:15  ).

Faith is not some weak and pitiful emotion, but is strong and vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. And even though you cannot see Him right now and cannot understand what He is doing, you know Him. Disaster occurs in your life when you lack the mental composure that comes from establishing yourself on the eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the supreme effort of your life— throwing yourself with abandon and total confidence upon God.

God ventured His all in Jesus Christ to save us, and now He wants us to venture our all with total abandoned confidence in Him. There are areas in our lives where that faith has not worked in us as yet— places still untouched by the life of God. There were none of those places in Jesus Christ’s life, and there are to be none in ours. Jesus prayed, "This is eternal life, that they may know You . . ." ( John 17:3  ). The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we will take this view, life will become one great romance— a glorious opportunity of seeing wonderful things all the time. God is disciplining us to get us into this central place of power.

http://www.rbc.org/utmost/index.php

I read a quote that Joshua L. Chamberlain wrote in a  letter to his mother that gave me hope.

 "I believe in a destiny- one, i mean, divinely appointed, and to which we are carried forward by a perfect trust in God.

… So I am right, be sure of that, happen what may. Not for any merit of mine, but for divine and loving mercy all is bright with me, in this world and beyond."

So we continue on and set our sights on the path ahead and the next challenge that may confront us, without wavering, knowing that we will persevere and endure to the end.

" But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:7-9) NIV

"However, we possess this precious treasure [the divine Light of the Gospel] in [frail, human] vessels of earth, that the grandeur and exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be from God and not from ourselves.
We are hedged in (pressed) on every side [troubled and oppressed in every way], but not cramped or crushed; we suffer embarrassments and are perplexed and unable to find a way out, but not driven to despair;
 We are pursued (persecuted and hard driven), but not deserted [to stand alone]; we are struck down to the ground, but never struck out and destroyed; (2 Corinthians 4:7-9) AMP

"Christ has promised this" lives again in faith-

 I saw an old gravestone near a large tree. The roots of the tree were large and re-positioned the stones. 

The gravestones were of a family that lived long ago. I read the inscription that was weathered by the 150 years that had come and gone.

Why should we mourn our Daughter's loss,

Since death to her is bliss.

She lives again in faith she died,

And Christ has promis'd this.

I read the inscription carved years ago about a life that was short but was full of faith.

I was trying to imagine the parents who had to bury their children.

How they were people with a faith that was sure and in which my faith would pale in comparison. 

I thought of our inheritance in Heaven and how someday we will see all things in a new light.

I thought that since there were a number of family laid to rest here, five children and the parents, that each time they would have left a piece of their heart at this site, yet went forward in faith in the Lamb of God.

I took my daughter to see the gravestone one day and we read it together hoping to relay this faith of the past to today in our lives and in the Kingdom to come.

Why should we mourn our Daughter's loss,

Since death to her is bliss.
She lives again in faith she died,
And Christ has promis'd this.

One Day we will see His glorious might revealed again and again in new ways without ever growing tired. On this earth God is so kind as to give us friends to help carry the weight of loss of loves ones.

"..Friends ...come alongside us in our life's journey ... preserve (friendships) the most valuable of all possessions". (William Wilberforce)  

 "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also."

 (John 14:1-3 ESV)

There Will be a Day-

"There Will Be A Day"
Jeremy Camp

I try to hold on to this world with everything I have
But I feel the weight of what it brings, and the hurt that tries to grab
The many trials that seem to never end, His word declares this truth,
that we will enter in this rest with wonders anew

But I hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings
That there will be a place with no more suffering

[Chorus]
There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more, we'll see Jesus face to face
But until that day, we'll hold on to you always

I know the journey seems so long
You feel you're walking on your own
But there has never been a step
Where you've walked out all alone

[Chorus]

Troubled soul don't lose your heart
Cause joy and peace he brings
And the beauty that's in store
Outweighs the hurt of life's sting

I can't wait until that day where the very one I've lived for always will wipe away the sorrow that I've faced
To touch the scars that rescued me from a life of shame and misery this is why this is why I sing

Song copyright: BEC Recordings

Purpose changes as our story unfolds..

Recently I was walking near a place I have walked many times.

The location is near a personal care home that was there when I was a child although known by a different name. Earlier in the evening I learned of some health trials that a few older people I know were having.

 Many times when I visit or see older people, and now getting older myself, I think of the days that they were vibrant and youthful, when their bodies would have been strong and their presence would be handsome or beautiful. Now, they are very aware of the years gone by and of limitations but boldly transition with grace to the next chapter of their lives and of their story.

 This is not to bring feelings of sadness but it can if we would lose sight of the bigger plan and our story that is held close to the heart of the Author of our story. 

Purpose changes but our story doesn't -

rusty old bucket truck once used to prune the towering oak now at rest ,

  rusty non- functional transit bus used to transport for many years now storing cardboard boxes.

 Pile of bricks at one time a strong building
- purpose changes but our Story doesn't , 
functions change
 but our plan and usefulness goes on in a less obvious way. 
What was in the past endures in various forms and only God knows the effect and the end of our efforts.

The sidewalk that ends-
 at one time must have led to a structure -now it has no destination, it's purpose has changed. 
It can be looked at as "Opportunity" to take a step in faith, trusting the Author of our story with the final end or result.

 

"The harvest at your feet- is what it is. Yet, in all of this there is hope because your Lord is the Lord of new seasons.
God made you and your story. Your story is His story.
(Tripp, Paul David. Lost in the Middle- Midlife and the Grace of God. Shepherd Press. 2004.)

Psalm 102
23 He has afflicted and weakened my strength, humbling and bringing me low [with sorrow] in the way; He has shortened my days [aging me prematurely].

24 I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days, You Whose years continue throughout all generations.
25 At the beginning You existed and laid the foundations of the earth; the heavens are the work of Your hands.
26 They shall perish, but You shall remain and endure; yes, all of them shall wear out and become old like a garment. Like clothing You shall change them, and they shall be changed and pass away.

27 But You remain the same, and Your years shall have no end.

28 The children of Your servants shall dwell safely and continue, and their descendants shall be established before You.

Psalm 27:13-14 (AMP)

13 [What, what would have become of me] had I not believed that I would see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living!

14 Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.

The future is bright and will be creative.

"You have many productive years behind you, and though life is brief you  have the wisdom of age and experience."

The morning I started out reading about hope in the middle of trials and tribulation and how the Father is with me.

 And the day ended with a glimpse of the enduring purposes of our lives and God's plan, though our purpose may change the Story endures. Grateful for His care and that He speak to us today though the Helper who is our advocate and the Son pleads our petitions to the Father .

As the sun sets this evening be refreshed by the peace that rest gives and look up at the dawn for "joy comes in the morning!"

when he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them....

 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless,

 like sheep without a shepherd. 

 Matthew 9:35 (ESV)

I then thought about God's love for me and my family. How I know very little about the intensity of God's love for me.

It was the great reformer Martin Luther who said: "the slender capacity of man's heart cannot comprehend, much less utter, that unsearchable depth and burning zeal of God's love towards us."

I read Morning and Evening on 3/4 and was challenged. "My grace is sufficient for you." -

and evening - The abundance of grace He provides- 

how much grace He supplies, for each day . and many years, and generation to generation

The Compassion of Jesus

by Charles Spurgeon (excerpt)

"SOME OF THE FORESIGHTS OF HIS COMPASSION.
The Lord has gone from us, but as he knew what would happen while he was away, he has, with blessed forethought, provided for our wants. Well he knew that we should never be able to preserve the truth pure by tradition. That is a stream that always muddies and defiles everything. So in tender forethought he has given us the consolidated testimony, the unchangeable truth in his own Book; for he was moved with compassion............ He is moved with compassion for you. For where a man cannot go, the Book can go, and where in silence no voice is heard, the still clear voice of this blessed Book can reach the heart. Because he knew the people would require this sacred teaching, and could not have it otherwise, he was moved with compassion towards us all, and gave us the blessed Book of inspired God-breathed Scripture."

"The compassion of the Master making up for all the abuses of his enemies. And, believe me, there is nothing sweeter to a forlorn and broken spirit than the fact that Jesus has compassion. Are any of you sad and lonely? Have any of you been cruelly wronged? Have you lost the goodwill of some you esteemed? Do you seem as if you had the cold shoulder even from good people? Do not say, in the anguish of your spirit, "I am lost," and give up. He hath compassion on you. Nay, poor fallen woman, seek not the dark river and the cold stream—he has compassion. He who looks down with the bright eyes of yonder stars and watches thee is thy friend. He yet can help thee. Though thou hast gone so far from the path of virtue, throw not thyself away in blank despair, for he hath compassion. And thou, broken down in health and broken down in fortune, scarcely with shoe to thy feet, thou art welcome in the house of God, welcome as the most honoured guest in the assembly of the saints. Let not the weighty grief that overhangs thy soul tempt thee to think that hopeless darkness has settled thy fate and foreclosed thy doom. Though thy sin may have beggared thee, Christ can enrich thee with better riches. He hath compassion. "Ah!" say you, "they will pass me on the stairs; they will give me a broad pathway, and if they see me in the street they will not speak to me—even his disciples will not." Be it so; but better than his disciples, tenderer by far, is Jesus. Is there a man here, whom to associate with were a scandal from which the pure and pious would shrink?; the holy, harmless, undefiled one will not disdain even him—for this man receiveth sinners—he is a friend of publicans and sinners. He is never happier than when he is relieving and retrieving the forlorn, the abject, and the outcast. He despises not any that confess their sins and seek his mercy. No pride nestles in his dear heart, no sarcastic word rolls off his gracious tongue, no bitter expression falls from his blessed lips. He still receives the guilty. Pray to him now. Now let the silent prayer go up, "My Saviour, have pity upon me; be moved with compassion towards me, for if misery be any qualification for mercy, I am a fit object for thy compassion. Oh! save me for thy mercy's sake!" Amen." (CHS)

God is faithful, he is our hope. He has changed our hearts and has broken through our despair. He has allowed our children, the next generation, to be called out of darkness, and full of faith declare the compassion of Christ. He has paid the greatest price, He has proven His great love and we will praise Him with our lives!

He is Faithful- Bryan and Katie Torwalt
©Bryan and Katie Torwalt 

I have heard a sound, coming on the wind
Changing hearts and minds, healing brokenness
I feel a generation, breaking through despair
I hear a generation, full of faith declare

pre-chorus And our song it will be, out of the darkness we will rise and sing

chorus: He is faithful, He is glorious,
He is Jesus, and all my hope is in Him
He is freedom, He is healing right now,
He is hope and joy, love and peace and life

I have seen a light, like the break of dawn
Giving blind men sight, and letting lame men walk
I see a generation, with resurrection life
We are a generation, filled with the power of Christ

bridge He has paid the highest price,
He has proven his great love for us
We will praise him with our lives,
and proclaim our love for Him

I was reading the morning before skiing in Song of Solomon in Chapter 2:17
"Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,"

another meaning is

 "When the sun rises the shades of the night vanish,"

 Saw a scene the reflected these words on the road skiing.

So grateful for hope and a beam of light and revelation to encourage in our darkest times.

also found an instrumental song
Until the Day Breathes and the Shadows Flee

Right around the corner could be the strength and answers we need.
Praying for a breakthrough 

"..faith for faith"

"For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith,

Romans 1:16-17 (NIV)
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

("The gospel tells us about this living by faith, this believing, this receiving righteousness through believing, and not through working. This is the sweet story of the cross, of which Paul was not ashamed." CHS)

I was walking recently in the rain on a cold winter day. I saw some milkweed pods in an area near a road. The snow all around was dirty with snow melt and ash. I caught a glimpse of some brown seeds of the milkweed and the white furry things on the seeds that help transport it to other areas by the wind. The seeds then take root far away from the original plant to areas we do not know. I thought of how others planted seeds of the gospel in my life that was covered with dirt but had potential in Christ to new life where all is washed away.

I also noticed some drops of rain on the ends of the seeds, holding on to the white fibers.

The seeds, which are arranged in overlapping rows, have white, silky, filament-like hairs known as pappus, silk, or floss. The follicles ripen and split open, and the seeds, each carried by several dried pappi, are blown by the wind. They have many different flower colorations. (Wiki)

So in winter the plants still retain the seeds that can give growth -no matter how the winter weather and snow pounded down the plant.

SIMILARLY, the Gospel we are told gives life to everyone who believes.

Who knows the lives you can affect by planting a seed of faith.
This can be in a hard times or a time of joy that we can speak a word in season and God gives it root and life!

  ( Matthew Henry Commentary Rom 1:16-18)
"It is said to be from faith to faith, from the faithfulness of God revealing to the faith of man receiving (so some); from the faith of dependence upon God, and dealing with him immediately, as Adam before the fall, to the faith of dependence upon a Mediator, and so dealing with God (so others); from the first faith, by which we are put into a justified state, to after faith, by which we live, and are continued in that state: and the faith that justifies us is no less than our taking Christ for our Saviour, and becoming true Christians, according to the tenour of the baptismal covenant; from faith engrafting us into Christ, to faith deriving virtue from him as our root: both implied in the next words,
The just shall live by faith. Just by faith, there is faith justifying us; live by faith, there is faith maintaining us; and so there is a righteousness from faith to faith. Faith is all in all, both in the beginning and progress of a Christian life. It is not from faith to works, as if faith put us into a justified state, and then works preserved and maintained us in it, but it is all along from faith to faith, as 2 Cor. 3:18; from glory to glory; it is increasing, continuing, persevering faith, faith pressing forward, and getting ground of unbelief.
 To show that this is no novel upstart doctrine, he quotes for it that famous scripture in the Old Testament, so often mentioned in the New (Hab. 2:4): The just shall live by faith. Being justified by faith he shall live by it both the life of grace and of glory. The prophet there had placed himself upon the watch-tower, expecting some extraordinary discoveries (Rom. 1:1), and the discovery was of the certainty of the appearance of the promised Messiah in the fulness of time, not withstanding seeming delays. This is there called the vision, by way of eminence, as elsewhere the promise; and while that time is coming, as well as when it has come, the just shall live by faith. Thus is the evangelical righteousness from faith to faith—from Old-Testament faith in a Christ to come to New-Testament faith in a Christ already come."

A few thoughts I had about faith:

1. God is the "God of before and after"- I recalled the day I "looked up"

I know very little about faith and I am weak at times and can give in to a works mentality and performance based feelings of God's view of me and i need to be on the lookout that this is not faith. I was on the road to hell and God enable me to look to him, repent and believe and it is too wonderful. A voice that called me friend in the darkest of night.

Isaiah 45:22
“Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else

As song by David Crowder Band seems to sum this up for me.

Fall on Your Knees- David Crowder Band

"Fall on your knees
Forgiven and clean
Forgiven and free
Oh my God, oh my God
It's too wonderful
It's too wonderful

A voice then all of this
A voice that called me friend in darkest of night
A voice and my heart, it burst to life"

2. I need to believe the Gospel will reach my friends and family.

"it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes:"

so keep sharing and living the life of grace and forgiveness - this will have a saving, lasting effect on those we think are too far from knowing Jesus.

3. Future- god;s grace will get us to the end.

All my works will not make it alone-  as Matthew Henry stated in his commentary 

"Faith is all in all, both in the beginning and progress of a Christian life. It is not from faith to works, as if faith put us into a justified state, and then works preserved and maintained us in it, but it is all along from faith to faith,"

To feel this grace rescuing
Lifting us up, washing our feet
Oh my God, oh my God
It's too wonderful
It's too wonderful

Oh reverent love burn us up
Until what I was is gone
Holy love burn us up
Until what I was is gone
Reverent love burn us up
Until what I was is gone
Like clouds dissolve in sunlight

As we relate to others and family lets extend grace upon grace realizing they too are having the dross burned away to reveal pure gold.

4. Some other thoughts about milkweed:

Common Milkweed

I remember growing that we would open the pods in the late summer and the milk would stick on your hands.Hated that, hands would get dirty. Actually learned today that this milk is toxic :)

Certain varieties are the sole food source of monarch butterfly larvae, the plant is often used in butterfly gardening. amazing how something like this could have been created and give life LARVAE TO BUTTERFLY.

(pic not a monarch but beautiful)

FAITH
From barren land

To planting

To fruitfulness and life

We do not see things clearly at times but

 by Faith we live and hope for the future and for grace to carry on from one generation to the next. 
"One day at a time" (GW)


FAITH WILL SOMEDAY MAKE ALL THINGS CLEAR

  "from glory to glory; it is increasing, continuing, persevering faith, faith pressing forward, and getting ground of unbelief" (MHC)

"the just shall live by faith."

2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)

 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

"Save changes?"grace cascading over the waterfall

A friend of mine posted a comment one day that got me thinking.
She said,"At the end of the day, life should ask us, ‘Do you want to save the changes?"



I thought first that there are some days I WOULD PREFER not to save changes. 

I then thought my faith would say that even the hardest times work for good even if I cannot see it at the time. I remembered earlier in the month reading a blog post that quoted,

"Providence is actually so contemporary that it anticipates how vastly different things often seem from our perspective. Rarely does it feel like every event in our lives is for our good. But providence, in its mysterious movements, flanks the arguments about how we may feel and compels our faith in the God who is doing “ten thousand times more” than we realize."

"Be revived, encouraged, comforted, God is fulfilling his purpose for you." (Jonathan Parnell)

God will fulfill His Purpose for you
















I then thought how we seldom see or know what the future holds and if the decisions about the future were in my control I may not orchestrate the ending as well as God who works for our good by His Grace. Life has it's challenges and turns but God's grace is at every turn to strengthen us; past, present and future!

"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."(John Piper)

Photo by Erin- PNW

"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

"We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. .. 11 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 Thessalonians 1:3. 11-12,)

Each day we have  new mercies. Although most days are auto save and we do not have the option to save changes we do have the option of starting each day with a fresh awareness of God's grace and trusting in a broader plan than our small view if things. The imperfection and flaws of the past somehow are covered by the cross and we are clean as the fresh fallen snow in His eyes.

We can reflect the sparkle of saving grace even-though we are like diamonds in the rough-- having exceptional qualities or potential but lacking refinement or polish.

Each day cuts, refines and shapes us and makes us more like Christ.

Grace in which I Stand- Keith Green

Erin Photo - Oregon