Self-control

 

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But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 2 Timothy 3:1-3 (NKJV)

Words of Paul to Timothy. Paul knew he was going to leave this earth. This letter constitutes his parting words to Timothy.

In this passage of scripture, Paul minces no words about the condition the world will be in during the last days.

As we read these words does anything sound familiar? To me it sounds horrible. My study Bible note tells that “Paul speaks of 19 descriptors in verses 1-5 that characterizes the breakdown of society and the family.” ⁽¹⁾

One of them is self-control-the last of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Self-control is described as “the ability to restrain inappropriate passions and appetites. ⁽²⁾

Each believer must practice self-control as we serve the LORD. Each of us must watch how we respond to what another person tells us. We must keep our tongues in line with what God wants us to share with others.

Each of us may have something in our lives that we need to work on or give to the LORD and let Him straighten out.

Father God:

Please guide us as we traverse these last day. Allow us, Your spiritual children, to learn more of You and Your ways. Please guide us in all we do. We love You and desire to serve you for the rest of our lives. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. AMEN

1, Jeremiah Study Bible (page 1721)

2. Jeremiah Study Bible (page 1633)

God’s Purpose

 

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” Now my soul is troubled and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose, I came to this hour. Father glorify Your Name." John 12:27-28a (NKJV)

Here Jesus speaks to God from His humanity. His soul is troubled. He knows what lays ahead for Him, yet He fears the separation from His Father that He has to endure.

Jesus Christ knew God had led Him to this point in His ministry. He asks the question if he should ask God to save Him from that hour.

However, Jesus realized and stated that what He was about to go through was God’s plan and purpose.

Our God has plans and purposes for each of us. In researching God’s purpose for our lives, we begin to see His plan unfold for each of us.

1. Keep in touch with God through prayer.

2. Study His Word (Read the Bible)

3. Apply what you read to our hearts.

I have had a terrible time getting onto the internet this afternoon. I spent almost an hour and five phone calls to my carrier. I had to go pick up some things at the dry cleaners. I was online when I returned. We had supper and I could not get back online again. I had to switch browsers in order to get this posted. I also had to get a new password. I believe there is a message in this. At the moment, I am unsure what that message is.

Husband knows to not ask any questions or cross my path when things like this happen. I get very upset.

God Sees Me-Peter

 

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                ” You are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” the girl at the door asked Peter. He replied, “I am not.” As Simon Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, “You are not one of his disciples, are you?”  He denied it saying, “I am not.” One of the high priest’s servants. . . challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the olive grove?” Again, Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.  John 18:17-18, 25-27 (NIV)

 

               

Peter was scared. He had followed Jesus for three years. He had not understood what the Master had meant when He had told them of His suffering and death.

               

Earlier Peter has vowed that he would follow Jesus until the end. However, Jesus knew human nature and told Peter that Peter would deny Him three times.

               

In one version of that event, Luke’s telling of Peter’s denial, (Luke 22: 60-62, NIV) Jesus looked straight at Peter, and Peter wept. We have recorded here that Jesus did see Peter after he disowned Him. Have you ever wondered what was going through Jesus’ mind at that moment?

 

Did He think: “Peter, I thought you were my friend?” Or “Why would you do this to me?”

Or “Peter, in spite of what you have said I love you.”

 

What do you think would be the thought that Jesus would have in the event that we, his present-day followers, would deny Him.?

October Reflections

 

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Personal Things

This month has brought us some sobering news. In mid-November, I will undergo major surgery. About five days before that, I will take a COVID-19 test. The surgery will be performed at a hospital about 30 minutes from home-in our state capital.

 

We received word that my former hairstylist lost her husband to the COVID-19 Pandemic. He had been in the hospital for just over a month. Kelly grew up across the street from us. She has a strong faith. 

 

Our son Roger came home when we told him about what we initially knew about my condition. We do not know about Thanksgiving or Christmas. I will be housebound for eight weeks after I am released from the hospital.

Christmas and Thanksgiving both could be late this winter. Maybe in February.

 

Writing

I have not heard a reply from that Christian magazine about my submission. I need to look at that article and try to make it better and search for another outlet.

 

I took some time a while back and set up my monthly themes for 2021. Each year, certain months always have the same theme.          

            Jan.-New                                            July-Celebrate

Feb.-Showing God’s Love/Lent    Aug.- Rest

            March- Lent                                      Sept, Prepare

            Apr. Lent/ Witness                         Oct. Word for 2021

            May. Gift                                           Nov. Blessings

            June Serve                                         Dec. Advent Theme

           

I intend to have some blog breaks figured into my schedule for 2021. I just have not figured out when they will be. I know it is important for me to take these breaks. When I do, I return to blogging with joy.

I will share my word for 2021 early in January.

 

 

 

 

A Letter I Have to Write

From time to time, I hear of someone who battles cancer. That person either is healed and gets to stay with his or her family for a while longer or receives the ultimate, permanent healing. I sometimes have told family members to write a letter to cancer. I advised a relative to keep a journal while her son-in-law fought it. Every once in a while I have to take my own counsel and write my own letter to that disease.

July 2017

I received a phone call from a friend this morning. She  told me that a young mother in her late 30’s had gone to be with Jesus. She and her family were members of our church. We and all her friends had prayed that she win over you. That’s right, cancer. We wanted her to gain victory over you. We kept asking God to allow her to raise her two young daughters and to be there for her teenaged son.

You have plagued this daughter, wife, and mother since she was a teenager. Shame on you! You bring so much grief to families and friends. You are not welcome into the lives of those in which you entangle yourself.

You bring intent sadness to so many when your dirty work is done. While you are active in a person’s life, you place a specter over all he or she does. You rob people and their families of their zest for living.  When you finally suck a person dry of all their vitality, you cause families great sadness because of your supposed gain.

However when your victim, like this young mother, knows God. It is a release and a relief that He sends Jesus down to take that person to be with Him in heaven.

I wonder how many more letters to you I will have to write before a cure will be found for the many different ways you manifest yourself.

My World in March

This month has been different. Hubby and I enjoyed the warm days we had in February; March has been a different story.  We have enjoyed the days at the end of last week. Last Friday, the temperature got to 75 degrees. (I call that Florida weather.) I got to spend some time on my porch over the weekend.

Because of the downturn of the weather, I have felt sort of listless. I have begun a book proposal for the collection of meditations I have assembled. Figuring out the target audience is going to be interesting. I also am slowly working the competitive title analysis has been daunting.

A group of people at our church have been working to put together a presentation for Good Friday. I have been assisting the director with some of the plans and the staging. But we hit a glitch with one of my ideas. We will work around that speed bump. When I discovered a problem with what we wanted to do, I talked to the director and we decided we could backup and start again.

April looks to be a bit brighter for me with the Good Friday drama, an evaluation meeting, a Sunday school class party, and a possible trip with Hubby. I will find time to do some work on my de-cluttering and my book proposal. And I hope to get in some quality porch time.

Some scenes from our Good Friday drama

Watching Jesus enter Jerusalem

                                                         
                                                 The servant girl and Peter in the courtyard

                                                  A Jewish sign painter and a Roman Soldier

                                                               John comforting Mary

                                                   Tying the scenes together, our narrator,

Jesus’ Betrayer

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“Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What would you give me if I handed him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.”

Matthew 26:14-16(NIV)

            Judas was the treasurer of the disciples. He held the purse strings, so to speak. We don’t believe he decided to betray Jesus on the spur of the moment. This could have been his plan all along. He might have even thought about dipping his hand into the purse before.

            Further reading in this chapter has the disciples planning the group’s celebration of the Passover. He instructs them to tell a certain man who owns the house where they will gather.

He tells them to say, “The teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’”

            During the celebration, Jesus announces that one on his disciples will betray him. Judas actually tries to deny that he’s the culprit. But Jesus doesn’t let him get away with it.

            Later in the evening, Judas arrives at the garden of Gethsemane, leading a group of misguided men. Judas greets Jesus with a kiss, a prearranged signal for the group to arrest the Lord.

            In the next chapter (Chapter27), Judas is overcome with shame because of what he had done. His words are memorable, Ï have sinned for I have betrayed innocent blood.” The priests chose to have nothing to do with the fact they had paid Judas to do the dirty work of betrayal. Judas became so angry about how the priests reacted that he threw the money ïnto the temple and left,”(Matthew 27:5) He went out and took his own life.

            The priests couldn’t receive the money because it was “blood money.” They bought a field and used it to bury foreigners.

            In these scenes, the only one who acted admirably was Jesus. Judas Iscariot made a series of horrible decisions that he quickly regretted. He felt remorse for his behavior and tried to right the wrong. He chose to end his life because of his anguish. The priests acted shamefully. They wanted Jesus out of their lives, no matter the cost. In their shortsightedness, I believe they didn’t count on Judas’ trying to return the money. I also believe they were not remorseful that Judas met the end he did.

Jesus to Be Glorified

Scripture Reading: John 12:20-28

Scripture Focus:

                              “Jesus replied, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

                                             John 12:23 (NIV)

               What did Jesus mean by saying “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified”? My research has shown me something I should have learned a long time ago but didn’t. “The Greeks and Jews took it to mean that subjected kingdoms would grovel before the conqueror’s feet; by glorified he meant crucified. When the Son of Man was mentioned they thought of the conquest of God’s armies of God; he meant the conquest of the cross.” ¹

               Jesus told the people, including the disciples, that he would die several times but they chose to interpret his words to their liking. Is it any wonder the disciples felt betrayed and disillusioned when Jesus’s words came to pass?

               The people who heard Jesus say these difficult things are no different from those of us who live in the 21st Century. We have something in us that sometimes makes us hear what we want to hear.

               King Solomon gives us sage advice when he tells us to, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding.”(Proverbs 3:5, NIV) Think on this thought as we go through the Lenten season. Have we watered down God’s message to us by applying our thoughts to the message God has for us?

Should we wait and look at these words, as He would want us to?

_____________

1. Daily Study Bible, the Book of John, Vol. 2 by William Barclay Westminster Press © 1975 page 123

Thoughts at the Triumphal Entry

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Scripture reading: John 12:12-19

Scripture focus: 

               “They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

              

                              ‘Hosanna!’

                             

                              ‘Blessed is he comes in the name of the Lord!’

                             

                              ‘Blessed is the King of Israel!’”

               “Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign went out to meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!’”

                                                            John 12:13, 19 (NIV)

               The people traveling to the Feast of the Passover received word that the Teacher was coming to Jerusalem. (My research showed that there could have been close to 2,700,000 people attending this feast.¹⁾

               There were several groups of people in this massive crowd. Those who followed Jesus, those who heard about Him and were curious, and those who were the governing officials—the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

               Those who followed Jesus may have been caught up in the mood of the larger crowd. Those who had heard of the Lord wanted to make Him an earthly king. (Verse 13.) This was not Jesus’ plan. The Pharisees watched and witnessed the horde of people going to where Jesus was and decided that they may have been fighting a losing battle. This scene seemed to cement their resolve to remove Jesus from this earth.

              

               Jesus, who came in peace and not war, did not have it in mind to be an earthly king. He knew what lay ahead for Him. I wonder what He thought when he heard the crowd say, “Blessed is the King of Israel.” Could it be He realized that the people had not been listening to his teachings?

____________________

1. Daily Study Bible: The Book of John Vol. 2 by William Barclay. © Westminster Press. Philadelphia 1975, Page 115

Unfailing Love

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O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger

Or discipline me in your wrath.

Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am faint;

O lord, heal me, for my bones are in agony.

My soul is in anguish.

How long, O Lord, how long?

Turn, O Lord, and deliver me;

Save me because of your unfailing love.

Psalm 6: 1-4 (NIV)

               David pens this plea. He asks God not to deal with him in anger. The shepherd king begs for mercy; he says he could not withstand it. He asks God to heal him because he hurts so much that his bones are sore.

               I love the last part of this passage. He asks the Lord to deliver him from this pain and guilt not because he is such a loyal follower and obedient person but because of Gods unfailing love.

               God’s love is unfailing. He loves us even when we are unlovely. He knows everything we did before we heard about Him and chooses to save us in spite of those things.

               A dear friend shared something with me yesterday. Her eldest, son who has been through a life-changing trauma, and she went to a pizza place they like on Sunday. They happened to see two couples they knew from several years ago. These couples were influential in this son’s life. What makes this such a special thing for me is the way my friend talked about it. She said, “The Lord did a sweet thing for us.”

               Yes, even those ‘chance meetings’ are engineered by God. He does even these out of His unfailing love.

Intensely Saddened

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I don’t usually comment here in my blog about current events. But I have decided to make an exception.

I had started my devotional reading last Thursday when my husband came into my writing room. He told me about the mass murder of nine people in a church in Charleston, South Carolina.

            Nine people attended the Wednesday Night Bible Study at their church, greeted a visitor and proceeded with their Bible Study and prayers. An hour later, the visitor allegedly rose and opened fire on those in attendance.

            This church happened to be an Afro-American church and the visitor was Caucasian. The police identify this as a hate crime.

            The news of this horrific crime has affected people of faith all across our nation. Those who are seeking to run for president have made statements on the issue. President Obama gave a very moving statement.

            My thoughts have been about those people who were killed. What were their plans for this weekend? Were they going to have a Father’s Day celebration? Did they have to go to the grocery to pick up some milk after they would have left church? Were any of them awaiting the birth of a grandchild, niece or nephew?

            I am very sorry that this nice city and those who call it home have to go through this tragedy and its aftermath. I do know those nine people were ushered into God’s presence and welcomed by His opened arms.

Please, pray for the families, for that local church, and the AME church as a whole. Also, remember the first responders as they work through their emotions about what they endured as they did their jobs. Also pray for the city of Charleston.

Confessing Faith

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“Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him.

 But because of the Pharisees they would not confess

 their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue,

for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

John 12:42-43 (NIV)

 

               John writes of leaders who secretly believed in the Master’s teachings. These men feared being cast out of the Hebrew house of worship. He makes a bold statement about the reason these men were quiet about their thoughts “for they loved praise from men more than from God.”

               Are we in the 21st Century very different from the leaders who believed in Jesus but chose not to share their beliefs with those around them? I think not.

               I remember hearing a story about a young man who found the Lord just prior to going away to college. When he came back to church over a school break, someone asked him how his friends on campus responded to his new faith. He hung his head and said, “They don’t know of my faith.”

               Does everyone who knows us know of our faith? A church friend of mine has a burden for a neighbor who is very seriously ill. As my friend prayed for guidance on how to reach this neighbor and her family, she received a two word answer—‘Live it.”

            This answer applies to each of us. We can say all we want to about Jesus and about God but, unless our neighbors see our faith lived out; we are ‘spinning our wheels’ and getting nowhere.

               When we confess our faith before others, we also do it before God. If we keep our faith to ourselves we impede the growth of God’s kingdom.  In my young adult years, a person who kept his or her status quiet was thought of as fence-sitters—never really taking a stand for the Lord.

Dear Father God:

                              Please give us the strength and the courage to stand for you in this broken world. Teach us to long for Your praise. Guide us to demonstrate Your love for others as we go through our daily walk.

All praise belongs to You. I ask this out of Your grace and love. In the Name of Jesus, I pray. AMEN

Remedy for Being Disturbed

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 42:5-6a

               I try to read this when I go through periods of depression. When I was in college, I read Norman Vincent Peale’s book, The Power of Positive Thinking One thing I learned from it was that I needed to find at least one good thing that happened each day. Later in life, I called them praises. Each time I did this exercise, if I found one, I found more.

After reading Ann Voskamp’s book, 1,000 Gifts, I call then God’s gifts. Each day, I try to find three gifts from God, some days I find as many as six. Each gift I recognize from God causes me to pause and thank Him for who He is and what He has done for me or for a friend.

In our home, each room has light colored walls. I didn’t realize it when we chose to paint that the light colors help me especially on the dark overcast days of late fall and winter. God led me to do this several years ago. You see, I have learned and now believe God guides us even when we don’t realize it.

               The Apostle Paul tells us to praise God in all circumstances.(give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:18,NIV)

;Yes, the preposition is important. We might not like the circumstance that presents itself to us; the way out may be arduous but when we praise and place our hope in Him, we find the resolution becomes easier than we thought.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                

REFINED by FIRE

         

A Journey of Greif and Grace 

By Mary Potter Kenyon

Mrs. Kenyon allows her readers into her personal journey of grief. She started this trip when she lost her mother. The grief intensified when she lost her husband, a Cancer survivor, to a heart attack. Her walk through grief became very complex when she lost her 8 year old grandson to a rare form of Cancer.

Mary bares hear soul when she tells of the anguish of losing her dear David, after almost 34 years of marriage. Their experience with David’s Cancer had brought them closer together than they had been in sometime.

Because she had three daughters still at home, Mary had to choose to grieve quietly, crying when no one was around.

Her grandson, Jacob, was first diagnosed when he was a small child. At this time David was going through Cancer treatments. Mary couldn’t ‘be there’ for her daughter and her son-in-law. Jacob's Cancer came back shortly before David died. Mary couldn't help care for her other granchildren due to her being emotionally unhealthy. Jacob battled Cancer for 2 ½ years.

After David had experienced chest pains for a few days, their oldest son convinced Mary and David to get to an ER. David had surgery to correct what had causes the heart attack. On the way home from the hospital, David told her how bad he felt for Jacob. He voiced the idea that if he was taken away and Jacob could stay here, it would be all right by him. Two days later, Mary found the love of her life dead in his recliner.

In spite of all the difficult times Mary faced, God was with her, teaching her about Himself. She eventually started Bible studies to help people going through their own grief processes to learn more about how God is there for them.

I would recommend this book, for pastors, for any grief counselor, anyone who does visitation, anyone who has been or is going through the loss of a loved one.

Mary Potter Kenyon has also written Chemo-therapist: How Cancer Cured a Marriage. A book telling how she and David found ways to brighten their marriage. And Coupon Crazy. A book that helps people stretch their funds in this tough economy.

I read about this book in a Yahoo Group I

Belong to and her Facebook Author’s page. She was seeking reviewers to assist in the launching of this book. All she asked me to do was read it.     

      

Interview: Meet Mary Potter Kenyon

Today we have the honor of having Mary Potter Kenyon with us. Let’s greet her. I find her to be a a very interesting woman/.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I live in Manchester, Iowa, with three of my eight children. In December of 2013 I became the Director of the Winthrop Public Library.

Your new book is being released shortly before the holiday season begins, and you mention several times the difficulty of facing holidays without your spouse in your book. Was the timing of this release part of a marketing strategy?

No, it was purely coincidental, though if you read my book, you know I don’t really believe in coincidences. Traditionally, Thanksgiving has marked the beginning of the “holiday season” but the first holiday I faced after the death of my husband was Easter. When my eight-year-old daughter decorated her usual “Daddy” egg, writing his name on it with a wax crayon, just as she always had, I lost it. I had to leave my sister’s house where we were decorating eggs. I headed straight to the cemetery and my husband’s grave. Holidays and anniversaries are particularly difficult for those who are grieving. The absence of the loved one is felt even more keenly on such days.

What else have you written?

I’ve written for newspapers, magazines and anthologies for over twenty-five years and currently write a weekly couponing column for the Dubuque Telegraph Herald newspaper. An essay of mine exploring the relationship between grief and creativity was featured in the January/February issue of “Poet & Writer’s” magazine and I had several devotions published in the 2013 NIV “Hope in the Mourning” Zondervan grief Bible. My books “Coupon Crazy: The Science, the Savings, and the Stories Behind America’s Extreme Obsession” and “Chemo-Therapist: How Cancer Cured a Marriage” were published by Familius in 2013 and early 2014.

You’ve started doing public speaking on this topic. Tell us about that.

I spoke about finding hope in the darkness of loss at a church in Coralville in April and the response to that speech was humbling. So many people needed to hear the message I share in my own journey of grief, that there is hope in the dark path of loss. “Refined By Fire” is as much about faith as it is about grief. I stumbled and fell on the path of darkness called grief, but the words of other authors who had gone down the road before me lifted me, as did the Bible, prayer, and even studying the science of grief. Surely we humans are designed to withstand loss, because we will all face it at some point in our lives. Like the authors whose words I read: C. S. Lewis, Madeleine L’Engle, and Joan Didion, my book can help someone who is grieving. I also feel honored to be able to speak about my beloved David and grandson Jacob, to share their story in my book and public speaking.

Thank you for stopping by. I look forward to reading more of your works. 

Another Senseless Loss of Life

I know this  is not a usual entry from me, but It's what was on my mind and my heart.

I am very sad this evening, the last one of a beautiful September. Another young man has chosen a permanent way out of a temporary situation. I know his family. His sister goes to our church. His dad is a cousin of a dear friend of mine. I met this man and his parents and two sisters at another church my son and I attended.

A few months ago, our town lost a professional man who also chose the same way to deal with a few problems. One of the young mothers at church had worked for him for a long time. No one saw the signs that he was depressed.

Right after the first of the year, we received a call that a son of a lady in our area had a son die. This mother had been in the church we were a part of near our home. My dear friend and I really didn’t know what happened until we attended the memorial service. He had a substance abuse problem that caused his heart to stop.

Each of these three men was reasonably young, in their 40’s. When I saw the one who left us this past January, he was cordial and spoke to me. This was one recent summer. He called me by name and I had to tell him, “I’m sorry, I don’t recognize you.” When he told me his name, I felt so silly. We talked a while. I asked where he was living. He was living down the street from his mother. The summer before he died, I took some of our tomatoes to his mother, at that time, he and one of his brothers lived with her.

My heart aches for these men and for their families. Parents should not have to bury their children. Each of these three men left children. Their actions may leave scars on the hearts of those children. Each of these sets of children will continue their lives without the fellowship and the wisdom of their fathers.

A lot of people are not trained to recognize the signs of depression. But we need to read and study what we can to learn to be able to spot that a person isn’t acting as they would normally. Our society needs to learn the art of listening.

Sometimes, all we can do is pray for the families who go through this horrible loss.

Bittersweet Moments

“Precious in the sight of the LORD

is the death of his saints.”

Ps.116:15 (NIV)

One of my closest friends, Martha, called early Sunday afternoon. She had stayed the night at the nursing home. She received a telephone call last Monday that her sister was heading into the very last phase of her life. Sunday’s call to me was to tell me her sister had passed.

I called our mutual friend, Ginny, who is our pastoral assistant. My purpose was to communicate our friend’s need of prayer. As I conversed with Ginny, I realized I experienced a quiet joy for our friend’s sister and yet sadness for my friend and her daughters. 

After Hubby and I had lunch, I had a graduation Open House to go to. The grandson of another close friend graduated from high school on Saturday. That friend and her family have known and worshipped with Martha for a long time. I wanted to insure that they received the prayer call about Martha’s loss.

As I sat in our living room making initial input I reflect on times when we had suffered a loss of a loved one. When my dad passed on, I found a poem by John Donne that summed up my feelings. I always remember the main thought of these lines-We all are impacted by the loss of a life because our lives intertwine with those we meet as we walk this earth.

  

'No Man is an Island'

No man is an island entire of itself; every man

is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;

if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe

is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as

well as any manner of thy friends or of thine

own were; any man's death diminishes me,

because I am involved in mankind.

And therefore never send to know for whom

the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

MEDITATION XVII

Devotions upon Emergent Occasions

John Donne

graphic: alighthouse.com

Book Review: The Outcast by Jolina Petersheim

Rachel Stoltzfus, a young woman living in an old order Mennonite community, made a mistake. The citizens of that society began to notice the change in her. She was not alone in her sin. The newly appointed bishop of the area wanted to banish her from the community. Her sin, like all sin, touched others beside herself. Her twin sister and her sister’s husband felt the sting of undealt with sin.

When the health of an innocent child comes to the forefront, the people who have been party to and victim of the sin, as well as the ones who set the stage for it have to admit their part in it.Rachel’s story is told by Rachel and Amos King, the deceased bishop.

I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes to read stories about the Amish or the Mennonite people. Although this is Ms. Petersheim’s first novel, I believe she will write more about her Mennonite heritage. I look forward to reading her books in the future.

I received a free copy of this book from Tyndale House Publishing and Jolina Petersheim through the Book Club Network. All I was asked to do was read this and give an unbiased review.


Graphic: jolinapetersheim.com

Eucharisteo- God’s Comfort

    

              

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Father of mercy and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NKJV)

 We all endure pain and heartache as we go through life. It’s inevitable. We have times of sadness and grief because we are human. God allows us to have these intense times of emotion in direct correlation to how much we love.

I recently witnessed a family in the grief process attend church the day after they had lost their 

husband-father-grandfather-great-grandfather. Yes, they were hurting but they chose to be in God’s house to worship God. Another woman had lost her father about a week earlier. Inside a congregation of 300+  I was aware of two families who were in the beginning of the grief process.

I know being in the Lord’s house brought comfort to both families. I saw the same example set year and a half ago. This family was in Sunday worship the next day after they buried their only son-brother; they had been through the process of grief several years earlier when they lost a daughter-sister.

In both instances, I believe the families knew where they could go to receive comfort. They came to God’s house and to His people.      

I remember when I was in the place of grief when I lost my dad, and earlier, my stepmother. In both instances, I could feel the prayers of God’s people as I walked through the days between the loss and the committal service and afterward. I was more open about my grief at the loss of my stepmother. But, the kindnesses shown to me on both occasions were very special.

I saw Jesus on that recent Sunday as I watched different people speaking to and comforting the lady who had lost her husband and her daughter and the others who lost a grandfather.

Dear Father God:

    Please wrap your arms of love around those families who mourn the loss of a loved one. Draw them close to you. Whisper words of comfort into their ears. Allow them to rest in your arms as they go through the coming days as they learn to walk through their lives without that person who meant so much to them. In the name of Jesus, I pray. AMEN                                                                                                            

         Graphic: dwellingintheword.wordpress.com

Why God is So Special

                                                                                    .

“So, do not fear, for I am with you;

Do not be dismayed, for I am your God  

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)

Although my topic this month has been on peace, we have times when peace eludes us and we have times of despair. We begin to doubt our faith and God’s hand on our life. We lose our peace.

When times are tough, and we feel defeated, God is there with us. When we feel alone, we are not; He is right there with us. All we have to do is call out to Him and lean against His arms of love. Some of my dearest friends in this world are facing a very difficult time right now.

One of my favorite gospel songs is “God on the Mountain” God is God in the bad times; that’s when He is the dearest to me. Another one is “When the Storm Passes By” Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Your hand, keep me safe until the storm passes by.”

I posted two YouTube videos that mean a lot to me and to some very special friends on my Facebook page. I then did a share on one of the daughters’ page. Shortly after I posted the first one, a mutual friend left a comment that she was praying for them.

God does bring us through times of hardship, times of distress, and times of intense sadness He promised he’d never leave us nor forsake us. All we have to do is trust Him.


I would appreciate prayers for my friends. Just ask God to  be especially close to 'Quiet Spirit's friends.' He knows the people and their hearts as well as their need.

God of the mountain


'Til the Storm Passes By


graphic: hodgepodge4the soul.wordpress.com