On Unconditional Reverence

.......

  'In Ecclesiastes, we are confronted with our powerlessness. Neither the human race collectively nor any of us individually can ever be sure that performing actions "A" and "B" will lead to "C" in this life. It might, but it might not ... 

'The key to human conduct, therefore, lies not in figuring out what will produce this or that result tomorrow -- it lies in the fear of God and obedience to what He has commanded. By frustrating our ability to create the future we want in this world, even by the means of religious activity, God is calling us back to the main thing that was lost in Eden; simple, unconditional reverence. We must adjust our minds to the doing of what is right because it is right, and not because it will turn earthly events in our direction. The sooner we give up our "comprehend and control" approach to life, the sooner we'll be ready to hear the gospel.'

Obeying the Gospel, Gary Henry 

Excerpt from October 30

.........

♥

On The Choice to Have Faith

.............

"Abraham's faithfulness was the product of his decision to trust that God always tells the truth. Today, we very much need to get back to Abraham's kind of faith. Far from mere gullibility or blind faith, his faith was a reasoned choice to believe the promises he knew God had made. And unlike those who think that feelings of faith are sufficient, Abraham was obedient to God, even in situations that required great courage. Whether it was in the operation of his intellect, his emotions, or his will, Abrahams's point of departure was always this: what has God said? And all these years later, he continues to be the spiritual forefather of those who take bold, sacrificial steps based on the dependability of what God has said."

Obeying the Gospel, Gary Henry

Excerpt from March 12th

............

Hard but excellent ...

"We have a spiritual adversary, Satan, who seeks our downfall, and to that end he labors with malice and energy. His purpose is to undermine our faith with doubt, replace our courage with confusion, and drag us downward into despair. He is, to say the least, up to no good.

But we are taught to take a stubborn stand against the attacks of our enemy ... We may be vulnerable, but we're not helpless. We are free to choose the joy of truth over the sadness of deception."

 Reaching Forward, Gary Henry: Excerpt from Jan. 08

......

On Singleness of Heart + Today

 ......

Only when we pursue God with singleness of heart do we find the peace that comes from integrity. If we seek with less than the whole heart, the result will be less than total joy ... In the end, will we look back and see that many good things were lost because we lingered in indecision? While we delayed, with hearts divided and minds not made up, did we forfeit many of the blessings that could have come from disciplined action?

      May we aspire to the joys of the united heart. May we be devout in our devotion and wholehearted in our holiness. May God help us to make up our minds.

Gary Henry, Diligently Seeking God: excerpt from Jan 23

......

 

......

 Today: 

~ Worship

~ Embroidery

~ Watching Woodlawn with the family

~ Getting ready for the week and for starting a new job (!!!!!!)

~ Blogging and perusing pictures from our Thanksgiving Day walk to post

~ Vanilla ice cream with Pioneer Woman's homemade caramel sauce. Just YUM. :O)

My land of counterpane ....

Have a fantastic week!

......

Humbled or Humiliated

.....

Painful memories can be helpful if they humble us and make us more compassionate toward others. But there is a difference between being humbled and being humiliated. If our memories drag us so far down into the black pit of despair that we quit reaching forward to heaven, then we've let our memories do something that God never intended. Even after forgiving us, God is still aware of our past,  and we should remain aware of it too. But although our past is a part of the truth about us, it is not the whole truth. If we've been forgiven, that is also a part of the truth, not to mention the truth of what our future can be with God's help. That is the part of the situation that God is most interested in. So we need to adopt His perspective on our lives. We need to be concerned not only with where we've been but with where we can go.

::Excerpt from Reaching Forward, October 15::

Gary Henry

On the Personal Nature of Burdens

Fresh flowers ... one of the loveliest parts of summer!

......

It is certainly true that each person "knows his own burden and his own grief." (2 Chron. 6:29) To live in this world is to know the pain of struggle and sorrow -- there is no way around it. So we can take it for granted that every person we encounter is struggling. We may not know the particulars, but it's a safe bet that every person we meet is hurting. Each of us has is own burden, his own grief.

And our burdens and griefs really are unique. Unlike happiness, which is often very similar from person to person, sorrow tends to be a more individual thing. Yes, we know that others have suffered  in similar ways (many have suffered more than we), but there is still a distinct and undeniable loneliness that comes with our burdens and our griefs ... and the longer we live, the more we realize that the unique burden we have to bear is intended for us.

::Excerpt from Reaching Forward, June 26::

Gary Henry

'When God vetoes our projects...'

  This is so good.

As the saying goes, we can’t really break God’s law; we can only break ourselves against it. But we shouldn’t resent that fact; we should be grateful for it. Anytime our actions are antithetical to God’s purposes, the sooner we find out about that, the better off we’ll be. When God frustrates our plans and vetoes our projects, He is not merely saying, “No, you can’t go that way.” He’s also saying, “Look over here. Here’s a better way.” Our prayer should be that He will bring to nothing, as soon as possible, any course of action on our part that is inconsistent with His plan for this world. And we ought never to be more grateful than when He has defeated the foolish little kingdoms that we set up in defiance of His.

Gary Henry, Reaching Forward: May 26th

......

On Genuineness and Well-Placed Confidence

......

In most one-shot or short-lived human interactions, you can use the Personality Ethic to get by and to make favorable impressions through charm and skill and pretending to be interested in other people's hobbies. But eventually, if there isn't deep integrity and fundamental character strength, the challenges of life will cause true motives to surface and human relationship failure will replace short-term success.

~Stephen R. Covey

......

If our hearts have not come to rest in God, we will search in vain for any other place that is safe. Our Creator is the only personal being who can be counted on unreservedly. We may commit ourselves to Him without fear, there being no possibility that He will ever betray us or fail to keep His commitments ... we shouldn't expect of others what God alone is able to deliver. Only God can be a perfect source of confidence, and it's sinful on our part to try to make anyone else fill the role that He alone was meant to fill.

~ Gary Henry, Reaching Forward, March 31

......

:: Wisdom ::

......

The "thou shalt nots" that confront us are not simply the arbitrary rules of a God who wishes to keep His creatures as unhappy as possible. There's no inherent virtue in abstinence, and God does not expect us to give up things just for the sake of giving them up. Instead, there's always some gift that God wants to place in our hands, a gift we'll have no room to hold until we put down the load of lesser packages we are presently holding. In the end, we'll see that God asked us to give up only those things that interfered with the exchange of real love.

Gary Henry, Diligently Seeking God, Jan. 13

......

{photo credit goes to my brother}

WHY are we serving God?

 

......

It is not wrong to have deep desires, nor is it wrong to make fervent supplications of God. But our desires must be humble, and our supplications must not be demanding. Our doing of what is right must never be contingent on whether God sees things our way in regard to how the universe should be run. It may challenge our faith to do so, but we must always acquiesce in God's will regardless of how His will may affect us personally ... The love to which we should aspire is one that loves God for His own sake, worships Him without compensation, and serves Him without self-interest. These things aren't easy in a world where most of us listen to station WIFM (What's In it For Me?).

Diligently Seeking God, Gary Henry
:: October 10 ::
......

 

Ordinary Trials

Just as God's standards of greatness are different from ours, the process through which He produces greatness is also different. Who but God would have thought to prepare Moses or David to lead the nation of Israel by sending them off for years to herd flocks of animals? And who but God would have seen that His own Son, the King of Kings, would be born in a stable and raised in one of the poorest homes in Galilee, fare from the usual training grounds of leadership? It was in a simple carpenter's shop that Jesus "increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men" (Luke 2:52). How is it that we think our own hardships have to make the evening news before they are significant?

Gary Henry, Diligently Seeking God, from August 29th

......

'It is not uncommon nowadays to hear people say, "I could never believe in a God who ____," as if God could not possibly be anything other than what is congenial to our own thinking. If a laboratory scientist took such a cavalier attitude toward physical reality, he'd be laughed out of his profession. If he said something like "I could never believe in a phenomenon as destructive as nuclear fission," his foolishness would be obvious. The truth would still be true whether this fellow approved of it or not. Why then, when the realities, are spiritual, do we think we can predetermine what we'll allow to be true and then judge God accordingly? Facts are hard things. They rarely shape themselves to fit our feelings. Whatever God is, that is what He is -- and the sooner we lay aside our brash demands concerning what His nature "must" be, the sooner we can get on with real religion.'

~ Gary Henry, Diligently Seeking God, June 26th: "Seeking God and Seeking Truth"

......

Truth.

 ......

It takes reverence, as well as trust, to yield to the greater good of God's will. Not only does His wisdom know what is best, His love desires what is best. We can take it as a given that God will always do what is best in any set of circumstances. Unfortunately, the "circumstances" often involve decisions and requests on our part such that doing what is best requires God to chasten our demanding spirit, rather than give us blessings that He would otherwise be delighted to give.

Gary Henry, Diligently Seeking God, May 18

......

Another Sunday Afternoon

 Good day, readers! Today is another exciting chapter in the blog series entitled … Sunday Afternoon. :)

……

Food for thought:

The most fervent desires we bring to God in prayer ought to be desires having to do with His glory, His purposes, and His will. Too often, the only question on our minds is whether God is working things out the way we wish. Rarely do we concern ourselves with the more important question: whether what is happening redounds to the praise of God’s glory. Properly understood, prayer is about God, not about us.”

Gary Henry, Diligently Seeking God

……

......

Meal planning. My cooking day is Monday, and I tend to drive my long-suffering Mom crazy by my tendency to make meals by the seat of my pants unless I take the time to plan ahead! ;) { This } is a really yummy recipe ‘specially during the fall and winter -- think I'm making it tomorrow.

......

......

Listening to: 

Christy episodes

The Prince Caspian soundtrack

And, in order to redeem myself for that totally un-educational listening list ;) …

Brahms' Intermezzo No. 1 in E Flat Major from Op. 117. Played it in high school for competition and currently brought it out again. Love this piece.

......

 ......

Reading: 

The Hobbit

Jeremiah (the prophet, that is!)

Diligently Seeking God – marvelous daily reading, highly recommended.

We Were There at the Normandy Invasion – my current read-aloud! This is such a fun book.

 ......

......

Drinking: Republic of Tea Pumpkin Spice tea. YUM.

......

......

Writing for: 

ze blog

ze journal

ze quote book.

……

I hope your Sunday afternoon is equally peaceful. :) Have an edifying day!

 ......