My sister, Dee, and I used to have so much fun playing when we were children.  We grew up loving Jesus.  We each had to come to a point of personally talking to Him and accepting His forgiveness but I cannot remember a time that I didn’t love Him!  Our parents told us how that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  They told us that God loved us and adopted us into His family.  They shared Phil. 4:19:

“My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

We were excited!  If our God was King, that made us princesses!  How fun is that!  It became our favorite game for most of our childhood. 

            Another thing my parents did was lead us to pray for the poor.  Can you actually be poor if you pray for the poor?  I don’t think so.  We didn’t have a lot of money but that didn’t seem to matter.  Our home (though sometimes very humble) was warm and clean.  We always had food to eat.  There was abundant love to share.  Mother was a seamstress and kept us clothed attractively.  We didn’t have to be embarrassed.  Sometimes they were ‘hand-me-downs, ‘ but by the time mother was through, you’d never know it!

            I knew that my Father in Heaven was the one with all the money and that He’d give us what we needed whenever the need arrived.  I had a beautiful and secure childhood as a result.  I have wondered at times how different life would be for all of us as adults, if we could wrap our minds around the abundance that God gives us rather than the things we think we need and be truly grateful. 

            If we feel poor, we are poor.  I love the beautiful story I read a couple of years ago about a child’s faith.  It seems that the single, poverty stricken mother would gather her two children around her at night.  She would put her one blanket over the three of them and they would huddle next to the chimney to get what little heat they could from the combined chimney and body heat.  One night her daughter said to her mother after their evening prayers while huddled together for the night, “Mommy, I feel so sorry for those poor children who do not have a blanket and warm place to huddle!”  They prayed together for the poor.  Was she poor?  I think not!  She merely didn’t have much money.

            God gives a lot of beautiful promises for those who care for the poor.  I love the way the Complete Jewish Bible gives Psalms 41:1-2:

“How blessed are those who care for the poor!  When calamity comes, ADONAI will save them.  ADONAI will preserve them, keep them alive, and make them happy in the land.  You will not hand them over to the whims of their enemies.”

 

            Being rich involves much more than mere money.  Someone once said:  “No matter how great our need, the divine resources are never exhausted.”  What is our need?  Our God will supply.  Were you deserted by your parents?  “Even though my father and mother have left me, ADONAI will care for me.”  Ps. 27:10. 

MEDICINE CHEST

For the BLUES …………………………………………………………..Read Ps. 27.

For an EMPTY PURSE………………………………………………….Read Ps. 37.

If DISCOURAGED about work……………………………………..Read Ps. 128

If people seem UNKIND to you,………………………………….Read John 15.

If you are losing CONFIDENCE…………………………………….Read 1 Cor. 13

If you cannot have YOUR OWN WAY…………………………..Read James 3.

If you are all OUT OF SORTS…………………………………………Read Heb. 12.

For a TRAVELING COMPANION…………………………………….Read Ps. 121.

 

UNCLE BEN’S QUOTEBOOK (Harvest House Publishers c1976)  p.62

 

            If we want to have a life filled with abundance, we need to find the Abundant Life in Christ.  It is actually exciting to discover all the beautiful promises God gives us in the Bible.   Perhaps the following poem by Lois Anne Williams expresses best the riches of God!

I sat and gazed in silence

At the azure sky overhead.

In the glory of that moment,

A simple prayer was said.

I thanked God for all the grandeur,

For His beauty everywhere,

I praised the Great Creator

As I sat in silent prayer.

I found an inspiration

And a peace within my soul,

I took the time to worship

And I felt myself made whole.

-ibid p.245

           

A Child of the King

By Har­ri­et Bu­ell 1877 (Music by John Sumner 1877)

 

My Father is rich in houses and lands,
He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands!
Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold,
His coffers are full, He has riches untold.

My Father’s own Son, the Savior of men,
Once wandered on earth as the poorest of them;
But now He is pleading our pardon on high,
That we may be His when He comes by and by.

I once was an outcast stranger on earth,
A sinner by choice, an alien by birth,
But I’ve been adopted, my name’s written down,
An heir to a mansion, a robe and a crown.

A tent or a cottage, why should I care?
They’re building a palace for me over there;
Though exiled from home, yet still may I sing:
All glory to God, I’m a child of the King.

Refrain

I’m a child of the King,
A child of the King:
With Jesus my Savior,
I’m a child of the King.

            I realize I had a rich beautiful childhood filled with love and one that not everyone has experienced.  I also have had a wonderful marriage with the love of a find husband, along with loving children, grandchildren and a great-grandchild.  Not everyone is this blessed and I know it.  However, if you are a child of the King, you are rich and, no matter what your past, you have a glorious future.  You are truly rich!

 

 

“You make me know the path of life; in your presence is unbounded joy, in your right hand eternal delight.”  Psalms 16:11

 

            I think most of us like to have ‘fun!’  We may decide whether to do this or that according to which would be more fun.  My father wrote a short story about ‘fun’ that is quite startling.

IT’S A LOT OF FUN!

By Charlie Grier

 

Janie was 15 and she was excited. Her parents had just moved into a house on the right side of town. Now for the first time in her life she could hold her head high, and perhaps, even become one of the popular kids in school.

It was exciting! She could have a lot of friends soon, and maybe even participate in sleep-over parties.

The first day in school went just great. She made new friends and even got a date! She thought. “I want to be popular and I’m going to be now, because I just got a date with the star of the team!”

She did have some problems to deal with.  Her parents had said she was too young to date so she had to figure something out.  She decided to tell them that she was visiting a girl friend.  They wouldn’t know the difference.  She had not been in the habit of lying to her parents, but this was different.  That date was important to her and they just wouldn’t understand.

Well the pizza was good and the party was great but before the evening was over Henry was half drunk and was starting to show it.  Then to her surprise and horror everybody was smoking dope and Henry had already had had two joints when he made his first pass at her.  This was not what Jeanie wanted at all, and she fought him off with all the strength she had.  By now she had thought it through.

Her first date was not what she expected at all.  Henry’s kisses were now meaningless and even repulsive.  He wasn’t interested in her — only in her body!  She detested him!  And she no longer wished to be popular.  She wanted to be back with her family, going to church, reading her Bible and living for God.

“Take me home!” she demanded. “I want to go home!”

Henry was filled with rage!  He cranked the motor and stepped on the gas.  She begged and pleaded with him to slow down, but angrily, he drove faster and faster!  They were taking the curves on two wheels.  Then there was a big flash! “Please God, we’re going to crash, help us!”  It was too late.

Jeanie didn’t remember the force of the impact.  Everything suddenly went black.  She felt someone remove her from the twisted rubble.  She was placed in an ambulance.  She learned there were two cars involved.  Then she passed out.

She again awoke in the hospital.  They gently informed her that Henry was dead.  “Those in the other car?” she inquired, fearfully.

“They are dead, also,” she was informed.

Again Jeanie prayed, “Father forgive me.  It was all my fault.  I’m sorry I lied to Mom. I didn’t mean to do anything wrong. I only wanted to have fun. Please forgive me. I’ll never do it again. I want to live for you.”

But Jeanie didn’t recover from the accident.  She is living for God alright, but she is now living in Heaven with her beloved parents — those in the other car were her own Mom and Dad!

Young people, I wrote this story especially for you.  Jeanie and Henry are fictitious characters, but the story I told has happened over and over again, in slightly different ways.  It will probably be repeated in scores of other lives within the next twenty-four hours.  My heart goes out to the youth of our day, because I was young once myself.  I wish I could do something to help you.

It’s good to have fun.  We all need it.  But not all fun turns out to be funny.  Before you take a rash step of any kind, think it through, and pray about it.  It may not be what you want, after all.  The only thing that saved me from a life of ruin and despair is the Lord Jesus Christ. Make Him King of your lives.

-End quote

 

MY JESUS, I LOVE THEE

By William R. Featherstone

 

My Jesus I love Thee,

I know Thou art mine,

For Thee all the follies

Of sin I resign;

My gracious Redeemer,

My Savior art Thou;

If ever I loved Thee,

My Jesus, ’tis now.

 

 

JOY NO ONE CAN TAKE AWAY

By Dwight L. Moody

 

            In the second century, they brought a martyr before a king, and the king wanted him to recant and give up Christ, but the man spurned the thought.  The king said:  “If you don’t do it, I will banish you.”  The man smiled and answered:  “You can’t banish me from Christ.  He says He will never leave me nor forsake me.”  The king got angry, and said:  “Well, I will confiscate your property and take it all from you.”  And the man replied:  “My treasurers are laid up on high; you cannot get them.”  The king became still more angry, and said:  “I will kill you.”  “Why,” the man answered, “I have been dead forty years; I have been dead with Christ; dead to the world.  My life is hid with Christ in God, and you cannot touch it.”  And so we can rejoice, because we are resurrection ground, having risen with Christ.  Let persecution and opposition come.  “Your joy no man taketh from you.”

-God’s Treasury of Virtues (Honor Books, Inc. OK c1995) p. 73

 

 

“FAITH IS believing what God says simply because it is God who says it.” unknown

            I was given a book this year, “Praying God’s Word” by Beth Moore.  The Lord touched me with the second chapter “Overcoming Unbelief.”  Beth writes:

            “God seems to work in themes in my life.  You know what I mean.  Every sermon, morning devotional, and Christian radio program all ‘coincidentally’ speak to me about the same subject for an uncomfortable length of time.  I’ll even get a card in the mail from a Christian friend I haven’t seen in ten years and—you guessed it—she’ll share a good word on the exact ‘theme.’

            “Soon after my fortieth birthday, everywhere I turned I heard a message on ‘belief.’  I’m humiliated to admit that I became somewhat annoyed not to be hearing more on the subjects I really needed.  After all, I already was a believer, and if believers don’t believe, what on earth do they do?

            “Several weeks passed, and I still didn’t get it.  Finally one morning even Oswald Chambers had the audacity to bring up the subject in that day’s entry on My Utmost for His Highest.  I looked up and exclaimed, ‘What is this all about?’  I sensed the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart, ‘Beth, I want you to believe Me.’ I was appalled.  ‘Lord,’ I answered, ‘Of course I believe in you.  I’ve believed in You all my life.’  I felt He responded very clearly.  Adamantly.  ‘I didn’t ask you to believe in Me.  I asked you to believe Me.’

            “I sat very puzzled for several moments until I was certain that the Holy Spirit had faithfully shed light on my pitifully small faith.  I sensed Him saying, “My child, you believe Me for so little.  Don’t be so safe in the things you pray.  Who are you trying to keep from looking foolish?  Me or you?’

            “I don’t mind telling you that my life changed dramatically after God interrupted my comfortable pace with the ‘theme’ of belief.  Some of it has been excruciating, and some of it has been the most fun I’ve had in my entire Christian life.  I have a feeling this is one theme I probably will run into again and again in the course of my journey.  Why?  Because without faith it is impossible to please Him.  In other words, you and I will be challenged to believe Him from one season to the next, all of our days.  And if we have even half a heart for God, He’s likely to shake our perimeters and stir up a little excitement.”

-Beth Moore, Praying God’s Word (B&H Publishers TN c2003) p.34-35

           

            My birthday was January 2^nd and we were at our son’s home with family to celebrate.  I asked if I could read a part of this book and read the above portion.  I told them how this passage had been stirring my heart to believe God more.  I, too, have believed in God all my life but there is a difference somehow.  It is one thing to believe ‘in’ God and a totally different thing to simply ‘believe God!”  I was challenged to ‘believe’ that what God said He would do, He would do.  I liked God’s statement to Beth: ‘Who are you trying to keep from looking foolish?  Me or you?’

            I opened up my first gift.  It was a purse with great big words, ‘BELIEVE’ on the outside!  Then I received a number of other inspirational & loving cards and gifts including another Beth Moore book on King David.  I think God is challenging me to ‘believe’ Him more and He is challenging you also, my dear readers.

            Let’s take a moment a look at a few things God asks us to believe.  Put your name here.

1.      He is my shield and protector (Ps 3:3; 5:12; 18:2)

2.      He answers my prayers (Ps 3:4; Ps 5:3; 6:9)

3.      He helps me sleep (Ps 3:5; 4:8)

4.      He created me for His pleasure  (Rev. 4:11)

5.      God is a tower of strength in times of trouble (Psalms 9:9)

6.      God gives me food  (Ps. 22:26; 23:1)

7.      God forgives my sins (1 John 1:9)

8.      God created everything and nothing is too hard for Him  (Jeremiah 32:17)

9.      He loves me! (John 3:16)

10.  He delights in me!  

a.      “How great is ADONAI, who delights in the peace of his servant!” (Ps 35:27) 

b.      “for ADONAI takes delight in his people,” (Ps 149:4; Isa 62:4)

c.       “…those sincere in their ways are his delight.”  (Prov. 11:20)

d.      “…those who deal faithfully are his delight.”  (Prov. 12:22

11.  God will help us delight in Him!  (Isa. 58:14)

 

                Have you ever declared out loud, “God delights in me”?  Try it for it is true!  You say, “But I have done wrong!”  He exclaims:  “Come to Me and I will forgive you and make you clean.  Then we can have delightful times together.”

God Knoweth Best

-Unknown

Precious thought, my Father knoweth,

In His love I rest;

For whate’er my Father doeth

Must be always best.

Well I know the heart that planneth,

Nought but good for me;

Joy and sorrow interwoven;

Love in all I see.

 

Precious thought, my Father knoweth,

Careth for His child;

Bids me nestle closer to Him

When the storm beats wild.

Tho’ my earthly hopes are shattered,

And the tear drops fall,

Yet He is Himself my solace,

Yea, my Friend, my all.

 

Oh, to trust Him then more fully,

Just to simply move

In the conscious, calm enjoyment

Of the Father’s love;

Knowing that life’s chequered pathway

Leadeth to His rest,

Satisfied the way He taketh

Must be always best.

-The World’s Best-loved Poems (Harper & Row 1927) p.382-383

 

 

            One thing I love about Minnesotans is our toughness!  We’re rather an unusual breed but I love it!  No one lets a little cold weather slow us down – we just put on more clothes and off we go!  There is a resilience and strength that I see around me that blesses me.  I have had people tell me when they visited that they enjoyed the way we take care of one another up here in the Northland. 

            God has commanded us to be strong and courageous.  He also tells us to love one another and be an encouragement to each other.  I like what Joan Clayton from New Mexico wrote on this subject in a recent article.

BUILD EACH OTHER UP

            “Bible Thought:  ‘Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man’ (Colossians 4:6 KJV).

            “Criticism causes fear, aggression, and defensiveness!  We rarely apply criticism to ourselves.  Even so called “constructive criticism” leaves a lot of doubt in our minds!  Wouldn’t it be too wonderful if we were all like Barnabas?  We can be.

            “The father of the Prodigal son did not meet him with berating and criticism…only forgiveness!  Stephen did not defend himself, nor hold any malice.  On the cross, Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them.’  What if Jesus had said:  ‘When you get everything perfect, then I will love you?’

            “Praise and encouragement enable people to meet their goals.  People that we sometimes criticize are what we might be under their circumstances.  Let us refuse to criticize.  Let us hold our tongues.  We can do so much more with praise and encouragement.  Praisers, not criticizers, bring men to Jesus!

            “I have heard all of my life that ‘sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.’  That statement is absolutely false.  Words destroy much worse than bruises.  Withhold criticism.  Instead, give praise and encouragement.  Build each other up!

            “Hymn:  ‘Love One Another.’  Dear precious Lord, help us to put a watch over our mouths.  May we only say things that build up and encourage.  In Jesus’ beautiful name.  Amen.”

-Joan Clayton, Portales, NM (The Bible Friend Dec. 2009) p.3

 

A FATHER’S KINDNESS

 

            “Busy in his study a minister was preparing his sermon for the coming Sunday.  He reached to the shelf at his side for a book, and then remembered that he had left it downstairs.  His little daughter was playing in the bedroom, and he called her.  She came, running, eager and delighted at the thought that Papa needed her.  He explained carefully where she could find the book, and she went gladly, returning in a moment with a book which he saw at a glance was the wrong one.  But he hardly looked at the book as he took it and laid it on the table.  He looked only at the eager face of his little daughter, wreathed in smiles.  Gathering her close to his heart, he kissed her and said, ‘Thank you, darling.’  And when she had gone back happy and contented to her play he went quietly for the book he needed.  I think I should like to listen to the sermons that man would preach.”

-God’s Treasury of Virtues (Honor Books, c.2995) p. 209

 

            Many of us are not experiencing the love and caring of this godly man listed above.  In fact, even though many put on a brave face, there is a lot of people in pain among us.  I wonder what life would be like if we all tried to say a word of encouragement to someone rather than a critical one.  An unkind word could have crushed the beautiful child in the story above but loving kindness from her father blessed her instead.

            The holidays are over and everyone is counting their shekels to see if there’s enough left to make it through the bleak cold winter months.  Even though the faces of our fellow men and women may be brave, is fear and pain griping their hearts?  Let’s determine to spend some time deliberately trying to encourage one person each day.               

DROP A PEBBLE IN THE WATER

By James W. foley

 

Drop a pebble in the water:

Just a splash, and it is gone,

But there’s half-a-hundred ripples

Circling on and on and on,

Spreading, spreading from the center,

Flowing on out to the sea.

And there is no way of telling

Where the end is going to be.

 

Drop a pebble in the water:

In a minute you forget,

But there’s little waves a-flowing,

And there’s ripples circling yet,

And those little waves a-flowing

To a great big wave have grown;

You’ve disturbed a mighty river

Just by dropping in a stone.

 

Drop an unkind word, or careless:

In a minute it is gone;

But there’s half-a-hundred ripples

Circling on and on and on.

They keep spreading, spreading, spreading

From the center as they go

And there is no way to stop them,

Once you’ve started them to flow.

 

Drop an unkind word, or careless:

In a minute you forget:

But there’s little waves a-flowing,

And there’s ripples circling yet.

And perhaps in some sad heart

A mighty wave of tears you’ve stirred,

And disturbed a life was happy

Ere you dropped that unkind word.

 

Drop a word of cheer and kindness:

Just a flash and it is gone;

But there’s half-a-hundred ripples

Circling on and on and on,

Bearing hope and joy and comfort

On each splashing, dashing wave

Till you wouldn’t believe the volume

Of the one kind word you gave.

 

Drop a word of cheer and kindness:

In a minute you forget;

But there’s gladness still a-swelling,

And there’s joy circling yet,

And you’ve rolled a wave of comfort

Whose sweet music can be heard

Over miles and miles of water

Just by dropping one kind word.

-The Bible Friend, July 2009, p.4

 

 

 

            ‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE NEW YEAR’S

By Charlie Grier

 

‘Twas the night before New Year’s and all thru the earth

The people were seeking for pleasure and mirth –

While down in their hearts was the ill-concealed fear

That world-wide catastrophe lingered quite near.

 

The more the earth shrinks the more complex our borders.

Must cultural improvement bring on new disorders?

The higher our standards the more discontent –

I racked my poor brain to see what it all meant?

 

Then out of it all there came clearly the hunch

To save this old world I must put in MY punch!

No longer down-grading what other folks do

The plain path of duty is MINE to pursue!

 

I can’t stop the war, but I CAN stop the feud

‘Twixt me and my neighbor, my wife and the brood.

The financial ills of this world I can’t solve,

But MY OWN obligations I’ll meet with resolve!

 

The Leaders of State may continue to blunder –

The selfish and grasping continue to plunder –

I’m against many wrongs, like corruption, and war,

But this year I’ll ask myself, “WHAT AM I FOR?”

 

The church may not meet with my highest approval

But I will not ask for the Pastor’s removal.

The faults of my neighbor are easy to see

But this year I’ll ask myself, “WHAT ABOUT ME?”

 

New decade unfolding, a new year begins –

Who knows what we’ll face before it all ends?

We never will master the world’s problems grim

Until grace has MASTERED the monster within!

-Homespun Poems (1973)p.20

            Today is New Year’s Eve!  It is hard to believe that another year has gone by.  As we reflect on 2009 and consider the future of 2010, many people will be making New Year’s Resolutions.  

             I was reviewing some of Charlie Grier’s New Year’s articles and I found something interesting in his article for 2003.  Perhaps He found the secret!  He made some very inspiring resolutions for that year.  In 2003 Charlie was 97 years old.  Let’s take a look at what he desired to do.

MY GOAL FOR 2003

By Charlie Grier

1. I want to pray more, and with increased faith.
2. My resolve is to go to bed on time, eat properly, and give my body every possible advantage in order that I might continue to do service for the King.
3. I am naturally impatient.  I will try to take one day at a time.
4. I will separate worries from concerns.  I need to be concerned, but I must not worry!
5. I will live within my budget, avoid credit cards, and trust God for my needs.
6. I will carry my Bible, or a good book, to read when I am delayed, or whenever occasion affords.
7. I will try to see the funny side of every adverse situation, realizing that if I can’t laugh throughout the year, I may not live throughout the year.
8. I am resolved not to give up when the going gets rough, aware of the fact that “if God be for us, who can be against us.”

-Endquote

            I can tell you that he did keep his resolutions that year!  I watched him continue on under unbelievable odds.  The doctor said his heart was too weak to last more than a few months back in 1995.  He preached on his 100^th birthday!  Why?  It was because he trusted in His God to give him the strength to go on and be a blessing.  He loved God with all his heart.  His humor was awesome.  He became patient and took one thing at a time.  He learned how to operate the computer at age 90!  I believe his secret was his love for his God and for his fellow man.

            I think one secret to having a Happy New Year is found in Philippians 3:13-15 where Paul tells us to take the past and put it behind us and to reach for the things God has in store for us with eager open hands. 

 

I LOOK NOT BACK

By Annie Johnson Flint

 

I look not back; God knows the fruitless efforts,

The wasted hours, the sinning, the regrets

I leave them all with Him who blots the record,

And graciously forgives, and then forgets.

 

I look not forward; God sees all the future,

The road that short or long, will lead me home.

And He will face with me its every trial,

And bear for me the burdens that may come.

 

I look not round me; then would fears assail me,

So wild the tumult of earth’s restless seas,

So dark the world, so filled with woe and evil,

So vain the hope of comfort and of ease.

 

I look not inward; that would make me wretched;

For I have naught on which to stay my trust.

Nothing I see save failures and shortcomings,

And weak endeavors, crumbling into dust.

 

But I look up – into the face of Jesus,

For there my heart can rest, my fears are stilled;

And there is joy, and love, and light for darkness,

And perfect peace, and every hope fulfilled.

 

            When we put things behind us and look forward to what Jesus has for us, we find a brand new beginning.  One of the things I love about New Year’s Day is the illustration of what God has for His children.  We mess up.  We go to God and He forgives us and cleanses us.  Then He gives us a brand new start!  New Year’s Day is for me an example of God’s Brand New beginning.  “Putting those things behind, I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus.”  May this year be a new beginning for all of us! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!