For praise and thanksgiving

I just read Luke 1 and 2 and especially liked these verses- 

1:68--75 "Blessed be The Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people...to show the mercy promised to our Fathers and to remember His holy covenant,... That we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days."

Our enemies are just as real today, both physical threats of Islam terrorists, people who want to take away our freedoms, and our own spiritually wrong thoughts- leading us to doubt God's word, and be fearful, as well as the Enemy of our souls.  But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph, and has not given us a spirit of fear but of a sound mind!

May you be able to rejoice in His love and power in your days, as you go about serving Him without fear , and boldly showing His love to those who don't know our merciful Savior!

He burned up our invoice of debt

This is the reason we are overwhelmed at the mercies of God, the reason why there can be true JOY at Christmas, and deep peace. This is from Billy Graham's devotional for today.

Years ago King Charles V was loaned a large sum of money by a merchant in Antwerp. The note came due, but the king was bankrupt and unable to pay. The merchant gave a great banquet for the King. When all the guests were seated and before the food was brought in, the merchant had a large platter placed on the table and a fire lighted on it. Then, taking the note out of his pocket, he held it in the flames until it was burned to ashes. The king threw his arms around his benefactor and wept. Just so, we have been mortgaged to God. The debt was due, but we were unable to pay. Two thousand years ago God invited the world to the Gospel feast, and in the agonies of the cross, God held your sins and mine until every last vestige of our guilt was consumed.

May you know His peace and forgiveness today and bask in His love for you. Take time to sit still and listen to His Word each day these coming weeks. He is worth your time!

Lovely harp music!

http://youtu.be/Tiye0BqxJS4

Satisfied in Him

"They feast on the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life, in Your light do we see light." Psalm 36:8-9

Amy Carmichael wrote for today's devotion in Edges of His Ways,   "The foundation of our happiness must be invisible, not visible." Because we are told to walk by faith and not by sight, God reminds us continually that our life's joy and strength is found in Him, especially when circumstances are difficult. He is worthy of our trust especially when things don't look wonderful around us! But in Him we will be completely satisfied.

Delighting and Loving

"For in my inner being I delight in God's law."  From Romans 7:22

Many years ago, when I'd been married only about 3 years, I was aware one day of how disappointed I was in my good husband, and it dawned on me that he could never satisfy all the longings of my heart, and that only God could.  I'm sure the Holy Spirit was telling me that all my comforts, joys, and desires would only be completely satisfied by delighting in Him, the source of all Truth, Joy, and Love.  I slowly began to recognize that my husband was not given to me to make me happy, but the Lord was going to teach me to focus on his happiness and not my own.  I did not learn this completely on that day, or in 1 year, or even in 20!  It takes daily little deaths, as my mother used to say, in many chances to die to self, to put the other's happiness first.  I am so thankful that as I would read the Bible in "fits and starts", sometimes eagerly, sometimes as a duty, and often infrequently,  the Lord showed me over and over that His desires for me were for serving, giving, loving, and not taking myself and my wants so seriously-it takes a LIFE time to learn this!  As Paul said "I have not attained, but keep pressing on...."  

It has also amazed me over and over again, how gracious and kind my husband is, even tho' I've been a nagging, mean, trying-to-control-him-wife!  On one day, I will make up my mind that I will say no words of criticism or "management" and within a few hours I've failed.  Where does my eagerness to follow Christ go?  It disappears into the insatiable mist of the hungering SELF! God has shown me His grace and forgiveness time and time again, through His Word, and through my husband's acceptance and meekness when I've put him down again and again.  So, it still takes daily "little" deaths (tho' sometimes they seem huge to this Self) and I'm still learning to be gracious and keep my mouth shut- maybe once a day?!  Oh, that I may love kindness as His Word says, in every minute, hour, and day.

Micah 6:8 says:

"He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,[a]
    and to walk humbly with your God?"

"Many persons want to hear what God says just out of curiosity. They want to analyze and dissect it in their own test tubes. To these persons, God may remain the great cosmic silence “out there somewhere.” He communicates to those who are willing to hear and receive Him, and willing to obey Him. Jesus said that we must become humble as little children, and God has most often revealed Himself to the meek and the humble—to a shepherd boy like David, to a rough desert man like John the Baptist, to shepherds watching their flocks, to a girl named Mary. How does God speak? How can a blind man see? How can a deaf man hear? From the beginning God spoke to man. Adam heard the voice of the Lord in the Garden of Eden. Adam had two sons, Cain and Abel, and God spoke to them. Cain spurned that which was revealed to him, but Abel was obedient to the Word of God. Abel’s response showed that a man tainted and handicapped by sin could respond to God’s overtures. Thus, in the beginning, God began by revelation to build a bridge between Himself and people."

-from Billy Graham's devotional on Micah 7:18

The Grahams

I'm eager to hear Billy Graham tonight on Fox TV at 10 PM EST.  Hope you can watch and hear him tonight or the next two nights- see My Hope America.com or Watch Billy Graham.  He is a true saint and we must listen to the aged, as the Bible says their grey heads are a crown.

I was able to meet and visit with Mrs. Graham shortly after I had had my 8th child, Sarah Abigail.  What a treat it was to see this wonderful woman of God.  She honored my mother and me with love and kindness, as we wanted to honor her for her life of godliness.  Her face was full of light and joy and we felt unusually blessed.  I do hope I can live long and honor others with His love and kindness, and be able to speak of His faithfulness.

A short devotional from Billy Graham

"Apart from religious influence, the family is the most important unit of society. It would be good if every home were Christian, but we know that it is not so. The family and the home can never exert their proper influence while ignoring the biblical standard. The Bible calls for discipline and a recognition of authority. If children do not learn this at home, they will go out into society without the proper attitude toward authority and law. There is always the exceptional child, but the average tells us that the child is largely what the home has made him. The only way to provide the right home for your children is to put the Lord above them, and fully instruct them in the ways of the Lord. You are responsible before God for the home you provide for them."

Walt and I made many mistakes. At the beginning, one of them was raising our children to "be good" mainly for the approval of other people, tho' we weren't conscious of it for many years. We wanted to look good to others and my husband greatly feared that his children would turn out like many pastors' kids-"holy terrors." I greatly feared that they would not grow up to be the Christian citizens I was trying to make them, because I so often failed at consistent discipline.  Another great mistake and sin was to not give them our full attention when they needed to tell us something that was important to them. We often neglected to spend quantity and quality time with them-- both are truly important! We didn't always 'put the Lord above them' as we should have, but He has forgiven us and shown us His unconditional love. In the long run (37 years since our wedding) God has shown Himself to be truly gracious and faithful to work in their hearts , and to cover over our mistakes. They are tremendous blessings to us, not the least of which is delighting in their humor, and enjoying them as adults.  God is in the business of sanctifying and convicting and blessing, and we are so humbled by His kindness shown to us by His work in them.  How thankful we are for those Gifts!  If a Christian home can truly be loving and talk about His grace, as His children, often referring to the Bible as our standard, He will do the deeper work in the hearts of those given to erring parents.  I want to  encourage parents to teach them two foundational principles, and they would be to ~Love God and Love others.

Good devotions

From Amy Carmichael's book, Edges of His Ways:

August 14
Ps. 47:4  "He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom He loved."

"Have you ever looked longingly at another life and wished that you had as much as it has to offer?  But He shall choose, and He does not call the inheritance of any Jacob 'poor'.  He calls it the excellency of Jacob.
The marvel is not that we have so little to offer, but that we have anything at all.  There was no worthiness in Jacob.  Whom He loved is the only explanation. 

But - and is not this comforting? - God needs each separate soul, each personality with the inheritance of His choice, for the perfecting of His purpose in the spiritual creation.  And when it is perfected He will be satisfied, and we too shall be satisfied, 'lost in wonder, love and praise' that we ever were allowed the smallest share in it.

August 15
Ps. 18:2 "The Lord is my firm support."

Samuel Rutherford knew God as his firm support.  In 1637 he wrote in one of his letters: 'I know that no man hath a velvet cross, but that the cross is made of that which God will have it.'

Another of his words which can encourage us today is: 'When I lose breath climbing up the mountain, He maketh new breath.'

What a firm support our Lord is, to even the weakest of His children! "

~~( I highly recommend reading any of what this great old saint wrote!)

I am continually amazed at my own need of the daily reading of the Word, and His firm support!

Why do I seem to forget it so easily?  And when I have spent time reading thoughtfully His Word, I am put at peace, and blessed by His presence.  But guess what!  I am easily distracted by other things on my Ipad ( a sweet gift from one of my daughters!) or my phone.  When I start out the morning with great intentions of spending a full hour reading and praying, the "other things" draw me to themselves, and my mind makes excuses of why I need to check something right then. The still small voice of the Holy Spirit does speak, and yet, sadly,  I "put Him off!"  I know it grieves Him and I have to ask forgiveness for the giving in to this world's distractions and attractions.  He is so much more worthy of my time than they are! Oh, that we could fully and wholeheartedly give our attention to HIM alone, and let the other things take 3rd and 4th place in our day, not the first and second place of my day.  May my mind and heart be united in fearing Him, and may my resolution be firm to give HIM the worship, attention, and praise that is due Him.   May I be like Caleb, who wholeheartedly served the Lord all his long life, and be a woman who eagerly gives her first hour to Him alone, who only satisfies. 

My husband Walt's sermon, Aug. 4, 2013

http://christcoastalchurch.org/2013/08/03/july-28-2013-sermon-recording-by-walt-shepard/

Serving Him

"When you know you are a royal and immortal priest of God, destined for eternity in heaven, you can freely serve and give yourself away right now. In fact, selfless service is an unmistakable sign of authentic faith. " --from devotions for a happy healthy church, from Time of Grace.org

One of my favorite truths to live by, is to be able to do something for someone else, for Christ's sake, without having to report it to anyone, because I must learn to love Him, and not myself or people's approval. ....still learning!