without a word...

Treachery Behind the Scenes

They said again and again, "But Jesus is making trouble with
the people! He teaches all around Judea. He began in Galilee,
and now he is here!" Pilate heard this and asked if Jesus was
from Galilee. Pilate learned that Jesus was under Herod's
authority. Herod was in Jerusalem at that time, so Pilate
sent Jesus to him. When Herod saw Jesus, he was very happy.
Herod had heard all about Jesus. So he had wanted to meet
Jesus for a long time. Herod wanted to see a miracle. So he
hoped that Jesus would do a miracle. Herod asked Jesus many
questions, but Jesus said nothing. The leading priests and
teachers of the law were standing there. They were shouting
things against Jesus. Then Herod and his soldiers laughed at
Jesus. They made fun of Jesus by dressing him in clothes like
kings wear. Then Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate. In the
past, Pilate and Herod had always been enemies. But on that
day Herod and Pilate became friends.

-- Luke 23:5-12 (ERV)

KEY THOUGHT:

The trials of Jesus were a mockery. None of them was about justice.
The Sanhedrin was not supposed to meet secretly at night.
Pilate pronounced Jesus innocent,
yet kept the legal proceedings going for political expediency. Herod had no desire to do the right thing; he was determined to do the politically correct thing. This was nothing more than treachery.
Jesus was not treated fairly. He did not receive justice.
What was done to him was what God decried throughout the Old
Testament through the prophets -- there was no justice in the courts
and those with money and power misused their influence. Sinners and
traitors convicted Jesus. He was the innocent lamb led to slaughter.
He was the perfect sacrifice for all who are sinners ...
even for us and those who put him to death.

TODAY'S PRAYER:

Father, it breaks my heart to see your Son treated with such treachery.
While it angers me, it also helps me bear those times that I am treated
unfairly. I know that Jesus is with me in those times and that he more
than understands my emotions. Thank you for walking in our unfair and
often cruel world as one of us so that we can share eternity with you.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.

*originally from www.heartlight.org*

God is the God of second chances...originally published in 2006

he didn't mean to do it...
he really didn't.
if you'd asked him just yesterday, he'd have told you twice.
"i won't deny You, my Lord - i won't!"
and we would have believed him.

see, peter was all about passion. . .
passion to fish, passion to fight and passion to love.
a huge burly figure,
peter never did things in a small way.
when his Lord and Savior beckoned to him to come
he put his roughened feet into the salty water
and went without a thought.

how about you?
is there something you've done -
something so awful, that you'd give
anything just to make it right again?
ever want to give up your place in the pig's trough
and run home again?
did you ever feel like you had passed the 'point of no return' -
that you'd sinned too much - and that this time it felt like there
simply wasn't enough grace for your Father to forgive what you'd done?

peter did...
he knew what it meant to deny and to run away from the only One
who would never deny or give up on him...
and when all was said and done and peter heard the rooster crow,
"he went outside and wept bitterly".

but Jesus wasn't done with peter...
no matter what he had done,
Jesus was compassionately moved to reassure, reinstate
and remind peter, that He knew this fisherman's heart,
and loved him no less for what he had done.

today, our precious Jesus, offers us this same sin-defying Grace.
and it is this same question that every human being will inevitably
be given to answer for themselves:

do you love Me? He asks. . .
how could we not?

{Peter declared, "Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will."
"Peter," Jesus replied, "the truth is, this very night, before the
rooster crows, you will deny me three times."
"No!" Peter insisted.
"Not even if I have to die with you!
I will never deny you!" }
*Matthew 26:31-35*

what she left behind...

This obituary of a 79-year-old woman ran on August 16-17, 2008,
in the Vallejo, California, "Times-Herald."
It was placed there by one of the deceased's many daughters.


"Dolores Aguilar, born in 1929 in New Mexico, left us on August 7,
2008. She will be met in the afterlife by a host of family members.

Dolores had no hobbies, made no contribution to society and rarely
shared a kind word or deed in her life. I speak for the majority of
her family when I say her presence will not be missed by many, very
few tears will be shed, and there will be no lamenting over her
passing.

Her family will remember Dolores and amongst ourselves we will
remember her in our own way, which were mostly sad and troubling
times throughout the years. We may have some fond memories of her,
and perhaps we will think of those times, too. But I truly believe
at the end of the day ALL of us will really only miss what we never
had—a good and kind mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. I
hope she is finally at peace with herself.

As for the rest of us left behind, I hope this is the beginning of
a time of healing and learning to be a family again. There will be
no service, no prayers, and no closure for the family she spent a
lifetime tearing apart. We cannot come together in the end to see
to it that her grandchildren and great-grandchildren can say their
goodbyes. So I say here for all of us,

GOOD BYE, MOM."

Help us all, dear Lord, to be the very best of ourselves that only You can make of us...
help us leave behind a legacy of Love.

original story from:
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/201111/20111108_religiousjargon.html

can't You hear me, God?...

some of the most painful questions my children have ever asked me are:

"how come when i pray and pray and nothing ever happens?"
"why isn't God helping me?"
"why isn't He listening to me?"

they're not the only ones who have wondered those very same things.

i've asked God those many times as well...
but this is what i've ultimately learned and passed onto my children, family and friends:

God never sleeps
He's never on vacation or on a coffee break
there is nothing too trivial or insignificant to bring to God in prayer.
if it matter to us, it matters to Him.

and though we are human beings with finite vision, God is not...
He is always working on and for His children...
for our own good and for the glory of His eternal Kingdom.

the truth is, we can't even see enough ahead to know what will happen in the next 5 minutes of our life, yet alone, all the secret and divine work that our Father is doing on our behalf.
that doesn't mean that He isn't working with all His power and might to heal and restore His children...
He is.

and yet again, as everything in my walk with Him seems to come down to just one vital question, i hear His tender voice in my heart:

"elaine, do you trust Me?
with your life and the lives of your children and loved ones?
do you trust Me with all the fears, hopes and dreams in your heart?"

and though trusting comes hard for me...He's helped me trust Him more,
bit by bit and day by day.
i've prayed often: "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
*Mark 9:24*

i don't pretend to understand His timing or why He answers some prayers quickly and others have yet to come to pass,
but i believe i can trust in His ultimate plan for us all...

"“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
*Jeremiah 29:11-14*

i just love that kid!

(this is originally published at www.heartlight.org)

I Love that Kid!~by Rubel Shelly

I don't know Josh Ripley, but I love that kid! Let me tell you why.

Sixteen-year-old Josh is a junior at Andover (Minnesota) High School.
He was running a 5K race on Sept. 16 in a field of 261 competitors.
With the race less than half done, the 6-foot-5-inch runner heard a
scream and saw a runner he didn't know crumpled against a fence --
holding a profusely bleeding ankle.

The injured athlete was 5-foot-5-inch Mark Paulauskas, a freshman at
Lakeville South High. Here is Mark's account: "He just picked me up
without saying anything and started carrying me and trying to calm me
down. He said, 'It's going to be OK. I'm going to get you to your
coaches.' ... I think it's amazing."

Sure enough, with his own coach trying to figure out why Josh hadn't
passed the halfway mark, he spotted him. "I was wondering what was
going on, why was he so far back," said Scott Clark. "Then I see Josh.
He's got the kid in his arms."

Josh Ripley carried Mark about a quarter mile! He handed him off to his
coaches and family and then -- dead last in the field of runners now --
sped off to resume his race. He passed 50 kids to finish 211th out of
261 runners. No excuses. No disappointment. No explanation. He just
finished what he had started -- only to be asked by one teammate why he had fallen so far behind. "He just humbly says, 'Oh, I picked up a
kid,' " said sophomore Simeon Toronto. "And I'm like, 'Dude, you just
picked up a kid and carried him?' That's incredible!" Then added
Toronto: "It was just so typical Josh."

I love that kid!
And while most of the news reports I tracked down cited this as a
supreme example of sportsmanship and compassion among
athletes, I think they missed the real force at work in Josh's action.
The details make it pretty clear that it was the unfolding of a very
practical faith that Josh embraces.

He does volunteer work at Living Word Christian Center and -- by both
Mark and Josh's account -- prayed over Mark as he ran with him in his
arms. He prayed for Mark's pain to stop and for him to be all right. He
even asked Mark's permission before he started the prayer! And Josh
seemed honestly bemused by all the attention being paid to him later.
He insists he did "nothing special" -- but said he was just thankful
God let him be there for someone who needed help.

Mark's ankle needed 20 stitches to close the gash some runner's spikes
accidentally created. Blessedly, there were no damaged ligaments or
tendons. He should recover fully, after he gets out of a walking boot
and off his crutches.

Josh has reminded me again that there are wonderful people out there
who are always doing kind and good things with no expectation of being
noticed or rewarded. Great kids who aren't threatening teachers or
doing drugs. People whose faith is not a banner or excuse, but a daily
lived reality.

I just love that kid! Don't you? And I want to be more like him.

"In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may
see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:16)

a perfect prayer...

(this prayer is found at www.heartlight.org)

this prayer perfectly expresses my heart...

O Lord God, I appeal to You in the name of Jesus to have mercy on me.
Have mercy on me for my weakness, hypocrisy, and sin.

Lord, please do not just forgive me, but strengthen me
and enable me to be a more sturdy and faithful disciple.

Have mercy on me in my time of confusion and need.
Heal my illnesses, mend my broken heart, and still the storms of my troubled mind.

Have mercy on me as I try to decide Your will for my life and as I try to discern the path You want me to take in the decisions I must make.

Have mercy on me as I seek to minister
and as I need Your strength, wisdom, and compassion to touch others.

Lord God,and Jesus my Master in whose name I pray, have mercy on me.

Amen.

We miss you, Elliot...

12 years ago, my family began watching Law & Order: SVU...

my daughter, B. became Mariska Hargitay's greatest fan and we've been hooked ever since.

Watching a television program for that many years can alter your life.
You can come to care for the characters, actors and
the stories can open your eyes and touch your heart.

Christopher Meloni has done just that.

Last night was the premiere SVU episode for their 13th season and Christopher wasn't there.
For the first time in 12 years, Elliot Stabler was no more.

and we mourn him...
we truly do.

not just him, but his wife and children that we've come to know and care for.

It may seem silly to some, but we've been mourning the loss of him,
hurting because we never even got to say goodbye to the character and man that has been a part of our lives for a very long time...

We watched the premiere episode anyways and his absence seemed to take the sparkle out of Mariska Hargitay...

i know things can never stay the same, that change is a constant in this universe and that letting go is just a part of the lives we live...but it hurts just the same.

So, we say goodbye to our Elliot and pray that God will watch over and bless the man behind the character...

Thank you, Christopher ~
you've inspired us, made us laugh and made us cry...
but most of all, you've reminded us just how fragile and precious our humanity is.

We miss you deeply,

Elaine, Bronte' & Alexandra

When we RAGE...

i call it "hulking".
there's a difference between rage and raging.
rage is something you feel
while raging is something you do.

rage comes from deep, intense pain.
first we feel the pain then we make a choice.

i love the Incredible Hulk as an example.
he has triggers,
moments before he hulks,
stepping stones that lead him to the worst of himself.

for those of us, and there are so many of us, who have
lived through trauma/abuse, if we don't deal with the pain
we can easily slip into the 'hulking'...
it almost feels effortless.
that's a great word for it, because it actually takes immense strength to stay
still with the pain and not let it move past the pain into full-blown rage.

'staying still with the pain'...
allowing ourselves to relive the past or experience the pain of what someone
has just done to us or to those we love, without acting on that pain in a angry/violent manner.

because rage comes from trauma, what we suffered through often made us feel powerless.
and when we 'hulk', we feel powerful...just the opposite of the overwhelming helplessness
we endured.
when i have chosen to rage in the past, i know personally that i experience a certain
fearlessness that feels wonderful in the moment.
i am unafraid.
i am powerful.
i can destroy anyone or anything in my path.

but it's a lie,
a myth,
an illusion
or delusion.

when i rage, i am not powerful....i am weak.
i am weak when i choose to lose control.
and the damage i wreak is beyond description.

here are some basic things i've learned over the course of the last 8 years...i pray you find them healing and helpful:


~the #1 reason i am a 'recovering' rager rather than a 'practicing' rager~

is GOD and GOD alone.
He is the only one that can truly change me from the inside out.
any success i've had so far, is directly attributed to our Father.
i praise Him for healing, renovating, and teaching me all about rage
and how to manage and heal it.

Father, i give all glory and praise to You...



~triggers - all ragers have them~

name calling, cursing, pointing, yelling, speaking after becoming angry, threatening, interrupting, sarcasm, staring/glaring, throwing things, aggressive touching, re-living our 'glory days' of former raging episodes, eye-rolling, criticizing and angry driving.
(taken from http://www.rage-anon.org/RA_What_to_do_right_now.htm)


~though i've often felt like a monster when i have raged, that doesn't make me a monster~

or someone beyond which cannot be saved, someone who is incapable of change.
i'm different now...new...healing...striving...and i am lovable not condemned.


~my 'complaint department' is open at all times for those i've wounded~

i don't make excuses or place blame on others if the blame is only mine to take.
i am responsible for any raging and damage i've done...i fully 'eat and own' any wrongs i've committed in anger.


~every day is a brand new start...a new beginning~

i'm grateful for God's forgiveness and His ability to give me another chance. i am responsible to make the most out of the time afforded to me.


~"no repentance - no relationship"~

a quote the Holy Spirit gave me.
it means that if i have wronged another or they have wronged me, unless there is true repentance there can be no true healing and therefore no relationship.
without sincere repentance, there is nothing to say and nothing left to do but pray and love them from 'afar'...
this is true for us all.


~there is always hope!!!~

regardless of past ragings/failures, there is always hope of healing and recovery...
noone can take that hope away!


"For surely there is a future and your hope will not be cut off."
{Psalms 23:18}

God of deliverance...

{a devotion from www.heartlight.org}

Dear Father, great and gentle one,

When I am utterly, unbearably crushed so that I despair of life
itself, when I feel as if I have received the sentence of death,
remind me that I am to rely not on myself but on you, the God who
raises the dead.

It is only you who can deliver from deadly peril. I have set my
hope on you. You deliver me again and again and again. How faithful
you are!

I pray for my many brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the
world, that they will experience relief from suffering, deliverance
from peril, and comfort after grief and despair.

Grant bountiful blessings to your people, my God, in answer to
many prayers. Please receive this one and make it count among the
many others! Thank you, Father. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Spirit.

Jesus has taught to besiege you with constant prayer. Here we are
again, coming in his name. Amen.

a beautiful devotion from heartlight.org...

Reunion!

Jesus walked to the coffin and touched it. The men that were
carrying the coffin stopped. Jesus said to the dead son,
"Young man, I tell you, get up!" Then the son sat up and
began to talk. Jesus gave him to his mother.

-- Luke 7:14-15 (ERV)

KEY THOUGHT:
Jesus speaks to the dead young man and makes him alive.
Then Luke says it so beautifully,
"And Jesus gave him back to his mother."
Despite death, Jesus brings reunion!
Despite the sorrow, Jesus brings back the joy.
This one event is a preview of our future in Christ.
One day, all those who are dead in Christ will hear his voice
and rise from the dead with immortal bodies and join Jesus.
Those believers who are still alive when Christ comes
will also be changed and go to be with the Lord forever (1 Cor. 15:51-53).
This event will be a day of great rejoicing as all Christians
will be reunited with each other and united with their Lord.

TODAY'S PRAYER:
Father, thank you for the promise of reunion
with those that I love who have died before me.
Thank you for their faith and Jesus' power over death that insures us reunion.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.

true humility...

"Humiliation of soul always brings a positive blessing with it.

If we empty our hearts of self God will fill them with his love.
He who desires close communion with Christ should remember the word of the Lord,
"To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit,
and trembleth at my word."
Stoop if you would climb to heaven.
Do we not say of Jesus, "He descended that he might ascend?" so must you.
You must grow downwards, that you may grow upwards;
for the sweetest fellowship with heaven is to be had by humble souls, and by them alone.
God will deny no blessing to a thoroughly humbled spirit.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,"
with all its riches and treasures.
The whole exchequer of God shall be made over by deed of gift to the soul which
is humble enough to be able to receive it without growing proud because of it.
God blesses us all up to the full measure and extremity of what it is safe for him to do.
If you do not get a blessing, it is because it is not safe for you to have one.
If our heavenly Father were to let your unhumbled spirit win a victory in his holy war, you would pilfer the crown for yourself, and meeting with a fresh enemy you would fall a victim; so that you are kept low for your own safety.
When a man is sincerely humble, and never ventures to touch so much as a
grain of the praise, there is scarcely any limit to what God will do for him.
Humility makes us ready to be blessed by the God of all grace, and fits us to
deal efficiently with our fellow men.
True humility is a flower which will adorn any garden.
This is a sauce with which you may season every dish of life, and you will find an improvement in every case.
Whether it be prayer or praise, whether it be work or suffering,
the genuine salt of humility cannot be used in excess."

*written by Charles Spurgeon and originating from www.heartlight.org*

a devotion from C.H. Spurgeon...

{dedicated to my 3 favorite people on the planet...my children...
i love you, R, B, and A, with all i am and all i ever hope to be!}

Tender Comfort...

"As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you"
(Isaiah 66:13).

"A mother's comfort! Ah, this is tenderness itself.
How she enters into her child's grief!
How she presses him to her bosom and tries to take
all his sorrow into her own heart!
He can tell her all, and she will sympathize as nobody else can.
Of all comforters the child loves best his mother, and even
full-grown men have found it so.

Does Jehovah condescend to act the mother's part?
This is goodness indeed.
We readily perceive how He is a father;
but will He be as a mother also?
Does not this invite us to holy familiarity, to unreserved confidence,
to sacred rest?
When God Himself becomes "the Comforter," no anguish can long abide.
Let us tell out our trouble, even though sobs and sighs should become
our readiest utterance.
He will not despise us for our tears; our mother did not.
He will consider our weakness as she did, and He will put away our faults,
only in a surer, safer way than our mother could do.
We will not try to bear our grief alone;
that would be unkind to one so gentle and so kind.
Let us begin the day with our loving God,
and wherefore should we not finish it in the same company,
since mothers weary not of their children?"

Once more...

i am utterly amazed at how God brings everything full circle...

friends from my past seem to be re-surfacing and the joy of hearing from them again is such an unexpected blessing!

a relationship that had seemed to turn to dust just blossomed again, like wintered trees that find themselves in spring once more.

It's moments like this that keep me grateful and praising our Abba...He is so majestic!
always knowing what i need, knowing me more than i know myself - He is truly the best Father anyone could ever have...

i love You, dearest Abba...beyond words and beyond measure.

thank You, for bringing precious friends full-circle and back into my life...

this devotion means so much to me - i pray it moves you as well...

Rescue in Process: Hold On!,
by Rubel Shelly

Thirty-three Chilean miners are telling an unlikely story. After being
trapped half a mile underground for 69 wretched days, they were brought
to the surface one at a time in a cigar-shaped steel capsule that was
only slightly larger in diameter than a grown man's shoulders are wide.

In a rescue process that combined the efforts of the Chilean
government, NASA, a Pennsylvania drill company, and so many others, an
ahead-of-schedule operation brought the men out in a flawless rescue
operation. Each took the 15-minute journey to freedom from the longest
underground entrapment in history.

From the pre-commercialized reports that have emerged so far, it seems
clear that there was an early time of extreme fear and deep
discouragement. In the first 17 days, the men huddled in an area no
larger than 165 square feet. They had no contact with the outside and
knew nothing of what was being done above ground to rescue them.

Reports say that some of the younger men in the group threw themselves
on the ground and refused to get up. They appear to have resigned
themselves to death. Then the first bore hole penetrated their tiny
space, and hope soared. Bodies that had started eating muscle were
provided with food, and tainted mine water was replaced with pure
drinking water. Things improved dramatically.

But there was still a long wait to be endured. Even with good food and
water, what about the emotional health of the group?

The men organized to live. Everyone was assigned a job. Nobody was
allowed to isolate himself with his fears. One report of the experience
I read contained this sentence: "They functioned like a family -- a mix
of love, dependence, frustration. But there were never thoughts of
turning on each other."

As we wait, never doubt that heaven is furiously active on your behalf.

Then I thought this: What a microcosm of heaven, earth, and church! And
how much we could learn from the experience.

The "rescue work" we call salvation is going on above. No more than the
miners could know what was happening a half-mile above them, we cannot
know all God is doing for us in our times of weakness, failure, and
discouragement. We know of the cross in history, and we have the
promise we will never be forsaken.

The "holding-on work" we do as the church is our task while trapped in
the dark and threatening environment of a world where sin has done its
best to trap and destroy us. No, we can't climb out under our own
strength. We wait instead with all the patience we can muster, keep
hope alive, and trust the promise. Refusing to turn on each other, we
encourage one another daily to keep the faith.

As we wait, never doubt that heaven is furiously active on your behalf.

The beautiful words that Zechariah spoke over his son, John the
Baptizer, are as real for us today as they were then:

"For you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to
give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness
of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the
rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in
darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the
path of peace" (Luke 1:76-79).

How much He loves us...Oh, what a Father He is!

I cannot truly express how much the following text means to me...It's from a devotion by Charles Spurgeon and can be found at http://www.heartlight.org/.
I pray it blesses you as it has me...


MORNING:

"The mercy of God."
-- Psalms 52:8

Meditate a little on this mercy of the Lord. It is tender mercy. With
gentle, loving touch, he healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up
their wounds. He is as gracious in the manner of his mercy as in the
matter of it. It is great mercy. There is nothing little in God; his
mercy is like himself-it is infinite. You cannot measure it. His mercy
is so great that it forgives great sins to great sinners, after great
lengths of time, and then gives great favours and great privileges, and
raises us up to great enjoyments in the great heaven of the great God.
It is undeserved mercy, as indeed all true mercy must be, for deserved
mercy is only a misnomer for justice. There was no right on the
sinner's part to the kind consideration of the Most High; had the rebel
been doomed at once to eternal fire he would have richly merited the
doom, and if delivered from wrath, sovereign love alone has found a
cause, for there was none in the sinner himself. It is rich mercy. Some
things are great, but have little efficacy in them, but this mercy is a
cordial to your drooping spirits; a golden ointment to your bleeding
wounds; a heavenly bandage to your broken bones; a royal chariot for
your weary feet; a bosom of love for your trembling heart. It is
manifold mercy. As Bunyan says, "All the flowers in God's garden are
double." There is no single mercy. You may think you have but one
mercy, but you shall find it to be a whole cluster of mercies. It is
abounding mercy. Millions have received it, yet far from its being
exhausted; it is as fresh, as full, and as free as ever. It is
unfailing mercy. It will never leave thee. If mercy be thy friend,
mercy will be with thee in temptation to keep thee from yielding; with
thee in trouble to prevent thee from sinking; with thee living to be
the light and life of thy countenance; and with thee dying to be the
joy of thy soul when earthly comfort is ebbing fast.



EVENING:

"This sickness is not unto death."
-- John 11:4

From our Lord's words we learn that there is a limit to sickness. Here
is an "unto" within which its ultimate end is restrained, and beyond
which it cannot go. Lazarus might pass through death, but death was not
to be the ultimatum of his sickness. In all sickness, the Lord saith to
the waves of pain, "Hitherto shall ye go, but no further." His fixed
purpose is not the destruction, but the instruction of his people.
Wisdom hangs up the thermometer at the furnace mouth, and regulates the
heat.

1. The limit is encouragingly comprehensive. The God of providence has
limited the time, manner, intensity, repetition, and effects of all our
sicknesses; each throb is decreed, each sleepless hour predestinated,
each relapse ordained, each depression of spirit foreknown, and each
sanctifying result eternally purposed. Nothing great or small escapes
the ordaining hand of him who numbers the hairs of our head.

2. This limit is wisely adjusted to our strength, to the end designed,
and to the grace apportioned. Affliction comes not at haphazard-the
weight of every stroke of the rod is accurately measured. He who made
no mistakes in balancing the clouds and meting out the heavens, commits
no errors in measuring out the ingredients which compose the medicine
of souls. We cannot suffer too much nor be relieved too late.

3. The limit is tenderly appointed. The knife of the heavenly Surgeon
never cuts deeper than is absolutely necessary. "He doth not afflict
willingly, nor grieve the children of men." A mother's heart cries,
"Spare my child"; but no mother is more compassionate than our gracious
God. When we consider how hard-mouthed we are, it is a wonder that we
are not driven with a sharper bit. The thought is full of consolation,
that he who has fixed the bounds of our habitation, has also fixed the
bounds of our tribulation.

The Man Without Regrets...

for my brave son...

all i can think about is my son...

i miss and love you dearly, my mou.

i pray this is journey is every bit the adventure you yearn for and deserve!

i will always be here for you, my precious mou...

your mama-muu

what it really is...

(this and other wonderful devotions may be found at http://www.heartlight.org/.)

Church Museums, by Steve Ridgell

I enjoy visiting museums and I like church buildings. I never realized
I could get them confused until a visit to Spain. I saw amazing church
buildings with incredible architecture. They were old, and their
history was incredible. There were monuments and artifacts from
centuries past. It was overwhelming. They were featured stops on the
city tours. So I began asking the guides about attendance today. Some
of them no longer had worship services. Some of them had small rooms
partitioned off for current members. In most of them, there were more
tourists during an average day than worshipers on a given Sunday.

There are a number of lessons to learn about why churches become
museums. Who was it that forgot their purpose? Who lost sight of the
mission? Who lost sight of Jesus? Did each new generation fail to make
their faith genuine and personal? Were they more concerned with church
buildings than building a church? Did the church building become the
church? These are valuable questions and worth asking.

But I want to say a word to any of you who may be thinking about Jesus
and church. Do not confuse the building with the church. Church is
people. It is community. It is family. A church may meet in a building
large or small. It may meet in homes. Or in a coffee shop. Or a school.
You may visit a church building… but you are invited to become part of
a church.

Church is a living organism, not a building.

So if you want to visit a church building, I can tell you where there
are amazing museums. But if you are interested in being part of a
living community as the family of God, then I can help you find that
also. Write me at steve@hopeforlife.org. Or join our blog discussion at
http://www.hopeforlife.org/.

i know you can't, precious Ernzy...2/24/2006

Ernzy...i don't know the words to say.
how i still cannot believe you are gone
how i try to plan for this day, but there is nothing to stop the onslaught of renewed grief
you are irreplacable, my precious Ernzy...and i will never stop missing you.
your smile and laugh
your love for the precious kiki's
your booming voice...

i just can't find the words this year, Ernzy, i keep tripping over my own thoughts,
can't type correctly.

i know i don't want to cry again, remember again, and the thought going over and over in my heart "it can't be...it just can't be!"
the same thought i had when Nattie first told me you were gone.
how can i have lost both you and Dad this way?

i feel you with me each and every day and i know i will see you again, when time drops away and there will be no such word as 'goodbye' ~ forever more...

i'm usually so careful about my wording and phrasing in my blog, but i'm just going to leave this here...raw, uncrafted and without polish.

i miss you, Ernzy, with a grief to fill oceans...

i
have and will
love
you
for
always, Ernzy.

if only you could come back to me...

come back to me, Ernzy.
please come back...

if...

Sara: And if I were to go?

Harris: All I know is, on the day your plane was to leave, if I had the power, I would turn the winds around, I would roll in the fog, I would bring in storms, I would change the polarity of the earth so compasses couldn't work, so your plane couldn't take off.

(from L.A. Story - one of my very favorite films...)

the devotion for today...

VERSE:
"I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble."
-- Psalm 59:16

THOUGHT:
So many things in our lives can be stolen away by natural disasters, aging, and death.
Satan could be appropriately called "The Thief of Always."
But God is immovable and "unstealable"!
We can invest ourselves in him and know our spirits are secure in his care.
He is a fortress and a refuge.

PRAYER:
O Great Rock of my salvation, thank you for being unchangeable and faithful.
Thank you for being the source of security and future in a day of chaos and change.
Thank you for being God.
You are my God and in you I place my life, my hopes, and my future.
May you be glorified in me today.
In Jesus name I pray.
Amen.

for her...

i cannot believe she is gone...

we miss you already, brittany.

This is Faith...i praise God for this precious one!

This is Faith...

This dog was born on Christmas Eve, 2002.

He was born with only two rear legs.

He of course could not walk when he was born.

Even his mother did not want him.
His first owner also did not think that he could survive and he was thinking of 'putting him to sleep'.
But then, his present owner, Jude Stringfellow, met him and wanted to take care of him.
She became determined to teach and train him to walk by himself.
She named him 'Faith'.



In the beginning, she put Faith on a surfboard to let him feel the movement.
Later she used peanut butter on a spoon as a lure and reward
for him for standing up and jumping around.
Even the other dog at home encouraged him to walk.
Amazingly, only after six months, like a miracle,
Faith learned to balance on his hind legs and jump to move forward.
After further training in snow, he could now walk like a human being.

Faith loves to walk around now.
No matter where he goes, he attracts people to him.
He is fast becoming famous on the international scene and
has appeared on various newspapers and TV shows.
There is a book entitled 'With a Little Faith' being published about him.
He was even considered to appear in one of Harry Potter movies.



His present owner Jude Stringfellew has given up her teaching post and plans to take him around the world to preach that even without a perfect body, one can have a perfect soul'.














In life there are always undesirable things, so in order to feel better you just need to look at life from another direction. I hope this message will bring fresh new ways of thinking and help us be thankful for each beautiful day. Faith is continual demonstration of the strength and wonder of life .

A small request: All you are asked to do is keep this story circulating.

Ernzy...days like yours

Ernzy, Ernzy, Ernzy...

today is your birthday and i miss you with every heartbeat...
days like yours ~ i miss you so acutely, so desperately.
you are so beautiful, did i ever tell you that??
so beautiful...

a dreamer, believer, soother, persuader, carpenter, comic, magician, musician, poet, adventurer, inventor, friend, son, my brother and a son of God.

you will always be this and so much more, precious Ernzy...
and we will see each other again...i promise.







i love you, Ernzy...






Happy Birthday.

dear Ma...

it's your birthday today...actually i got it late this time...

that's never happened before and i'm so sorry, Ma!

though i'm so very flawed, i know that you see through all that, Ma, to the woman who will always be your little girl...

i will, did ya know?
i love you so very much and i've tried to tell you and show you all these many years gone by...

you mean the world to me and i couldn't imagine this world without you in it...

dear Ma,
my Ma...
thank you thank you thank you for everything you are and how important your life is to me and all those you've touched and blessed.

your life matters...you matter and i will always love you.

with all i am and all my love ~

Happy Birthday, Ma!!!

your Missy...

this devotion is just perfect...

(this devotion and many others can be found at www.heartlight.org)

Dear Father,

worthy of my love and obedience,
May the thought of deceit or falsehood never enter into my relations with my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Let all of us speak the truth with our neighbors, since we are members of each other.
Don't let my anger turn into sin.
May I never let the sun go down on my wrath.
Don't let grudge-holding and unforgiveness on my part give the devil any opportunity.
Help me never to covet anything that belongs to someone else, but rather to work with my mind and my hands to get the things needed by myself and others.

In the name of Jesus who sacrificed himself for my sake.
Amen.

just for her...

i want to just take a minute here and praise God for rescuing taylor swift last night...

i am grateful that beyonce put herself aside and made certain taylor received her moment 'in the sun'.

“They told me to stand by the side of the stage and I didn’t really know what was going to go down, but I thought it was so wonderful and gracious of her to do what she’s always done,” Swift said.

“She’s always been a great person before anything else.

Before the talented artist, the superstar, she’s always been a great person and I just, I thought I couldn’t love Beyoncé more tonight, then tonight happened and it was just wonderful.”

thank You, Father, for turning heartache into rejoicing...

noone does it quite like You, dearest Abba,

and i'm grateful for that too.

most of all...

i feel:

young
alert
new
alive
delicate
awake
in awe
watched over
protected
cherished
held

i feel these things when i am sitting in the palm of my Father's hand...


i feel:

afraid
unsure
insufficient
dull
nervous
fragile
frail
selfish
untrue
cold
alone

i feel these things when i am using my own 'fuel' to live...
when i'm attempting to be the captain of this ship...trying to steer my own 'course'.
when i refuse to let our Abba Father be in control.
when i grow weary...
tired of waiting...
and possibly afraid of all my prayers being answered.

that last one is a powerful one...i can feel it resonate against the walls of my heart.

do i truly want my prayers answered?

i do want my Christian family reunited and rebound with the cords of God's love and salvation.
i do want us all to worship under the same roof again.
i do want the necessary surgery and subsequent healing to come to fruition...

do i still believe that God can and will fulfill His promises?
do i still believe that God can do the impossible?
do i still want Him to?

yes...i do.

truly...

my son said a terrible thing to me last night...

took my breath away...

couldn't even talk after that...

i just sat quietly on the couch and cried...

he broke my heart.

lil b was in the kitchen when he said those things to me

and after he stopped talking, she wrote me a note

and told me how much she loves me and she was sorry for what he did,

and how he caused me so much pain.

i was grateful for her empathy and compassion.

and then this morning, just before my son left for school, he stood in the hallway and said very quietly,

"mom?"

i looked at him, then at my lap and said "yes?"

and he completely apologized and took back what he said, that he didn't mean it at all, and told me how truly sorry he was for saying those things and making me cry.

he was truly repentant...

i quietly told him that it was okay...

and suddenly, it was.

the softened heart of someone who's truly repentant is a beautiful thing to behold.

it's unmistakable,

undeniable,

it's the missing 'Balm of Gilead',

it's healing,

restoring,

life-altering

and heart-defining.

i've been denied forgiveness in the past

and though the experience was very painful,

it changed the way i see forgiveness...

forever.

so...

if you've wounded another, take the scary step forward

and in true repentance, "eat and own" what you have done.

we all make big mistakes at times and need big forgiveness.

if someone's wounded you, whether they ever apologize or not,

forgive as quickly and as thoroughly as you can.

it's the only way to be set free from the past ~

even if the past was just last night...

Amen and amen to this...i hate death!

VERSE:
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
*1 Corinthians 15:25-26*

THOUGHT:
How many times have you stood over the grave of a recently departed friend or loved one?
When was the last time you tasted grief and separation from someone you dearly loved?
I don't know about you, but I am so thankful that the Bible identifies death as one of Jesus' enemies.
I am thankful that he hates death, and the damage and separation it causes, even more than I do.
I am filled with joy to know that death will be destroyed and immortality and life will be given to the children of God!

PRAYER:
Holy Father, please triumph with life and mercy in the lives of those I know who are wrestling with emotional, spiritual, and physical death.
Triumph in their lives through your power and your grace. I look forward to the day, dear Father, when death is no more.
Lord Jesus, I not only pray this in your name, but I ask you to speed this day.
Amen.
(this and other devotions can be found at http://www.heartlight.org/)

powerful reminder...

(this and many other devotions can be found at www.heartlight.org)

"Don't judge other people, and God will not judge you.

If you judge other people, you will be judged in the same way you judge them.

And the way you give to other people will be the way God gives to you."

Matthew 7:1-2 (ERV)

KEY THOUGHT:

As Matthew continues his presentation of Jesus' great teaching, he wants us to hear the Lord's words on how to live in our world. The previous verses have focused on how to deal with our concerns for provision and our desires for more things. In the next few verses, the focus will be on our treatment of others. Jesus doesn't want us to fault-find, gossip, or be cynical and harshly critical of those around us. He doesn't want us to assume that we know the motives of others' hearts. He wants us to be gracious to others as God has been gracious with us. However, if we choose to ignore his words, he warns that God will judge us with the same standard we use on others. Pretty sobering reminder to be gracious!

TODAY'S PRAYER:

Forgive me Father, for the times I have been less than kind about one of your children. I am sorry, because I know that you have so much more to be disappointed about in me than I do in others. Father, I want you to help me now, as I pray; please remove any bitter or critical spirit that infects my character. Through your Holy Spirit, form in me the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control that show your presence and transformation in my life.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

how we look...

i got the scripture above in my morning devotionals and it really struck home for me...

"how you look at other people..."

wow.

i'm a firm believer that there is good in everyone.

it's just harder to find in some of us.

in fact, i'd say that we all need more than a second look to see who the people around us really are on the inside...

the world we live in today, can be so incredibly cynical and dismissive.

we can be so cynical and dismissive

and we often are.

the teacher who snapped at your children...

the bank teller you've gone to for years, suddenly bites your head off...

the grocery clerk who's always friendly, sighs impatiently while you're digging for coupons...

the bus driver, your doctor, the mechanic, your roommate, your boss and the list goes on!

are they just a bunch of jerks or is there more to their stories?

do they need another look?

how do we look at them?

because the Word says how we look at someone is what makes us who we are...

we need to take a second, third and seventh look at those around us and ask ourselves,

"are we looking for the good in that person or just digging for dirt?"

someone once said "...perception is everything".

and in this case, i agree.

so...

how are you looking at the people around you today?

or to put it another way...

are you holding binoculars or a shovel?