safety . . .

i love God's Word
it's trustworthy
it's comforting
it's inspiring
i love the psalms of king david
and today
i especially love psalm 91

"the person who rests in the shadow of the most high God

will be kept safe by the mighty one
i will say about the Lord
'he is my place of safety
he is like a fort to me
he is my God and i trust in him'
he will certainly save you from hidden traps
and from deadly sickness
he will cover you with his wings
under the feathers of his wings you will find safety
he is faithful and he will keep you safe like a shield or a tower
you won't have to be afraid of the terrors that come during the night
you won't have to fear the arrows that come at you during the day
you won't have to be afraid of the sickness that attacks in the darkness
you won't have to fear the plague that destroys at noon
a thousand may fall dead at your side
ten thousand may fall near your right hand
but no harm will come to you
you will see with your own eyes
how God punishes sinful people
the Lord is the one who keeps you safe
so let the most high God be like a home to you
then no harm will come to you
no terrible plague will come near your tent
the Lord will command his angels
to take good care of you
they will lift you up in their hands
then you won't trip over a stone
you will walk all over lions and cobras
you will crush mighty lions and poisonous snakes
the Lord says, 'i will save the one who loves me
i will keep him safe because he trusts in me
he will call out to me and I will answer him
i will be with him in times of trouble
i will save him and honour him
i will give him a long and full life
i will save him'"

amen
so be it Lord . . .
i ask you . . . who could add to that?
i have no more to say
God's Word said it all . . . perfectly!

revelation 12:11

"And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb,
and by the word of their testimony . . ."

on monday evening, may 4th, i will be sharing my testimony
with our ladies group at church
i promised the Lord a long time ago
that i would always say 'yes' when asked to speak
and to share what He has done in my life
God is my all in all
my saviour
my lord
my teacher
my comforter
my inspiration
my hope
my love
i'm praying that Jesus will be glorified
in all that i share
and that what He has done for me
will be a help and encouragement for others
thank you, Jesus

saying goodbye to the meaningless

"yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done

and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun"
Ecclesiastes 2:11

i was thinking today

about how much of our lives and time is taken up with what i call maintenance
maintenance . . . meaningless stuff that takes up time
lots of time . . .
buying stuff
food
clothes
houses
and stuff to fill them up
more stuff than we need
then, more maintenance
pay for it all
work
make money
drive here and there
manage finances
manage the house
manage the dog
manage the kids
whew . . .
i've seen and experienced something different
and i often long for that simplicity
it's purpose
it's focus
i'm thinking change has to be on the horizon . . .

so . . . it turns out i'm not the only one . . .

one of the men of God that i most trust to bring a true word said this in his march 27th devotional . . .

"Any message about death bothers us. We try to ignore even thinking about it. We suspect those who talk about it of being morbid. Occasionally we will talk about what heaven must be like, but most of the time the subject of death is taboo.

How different the first Christians were! Paul spoke much about death. In fact, our resurrection from the dead is referred to in the New Testament as our “blessed hope.” But nowadays, death is considered an intruder that cuts us off from the good life we have been accustomed to. We have so cluttered our lives with material things that we are bogged down with life. The world has trapped us with materialism. We can no longer bear the thought of leaving our beautiful homes, our lovely things, our charming sweethearts. We seem to be thinking, “To die now would be too great a loss. I love the Lord, but I need time to enjoy my real estate. I’m married. I’ve yet to prove my oxen. I need more time.”

Have you noticed there is very little talk, nowadays, about heaven or about leaving this old world behind? Instead, we are bombarded with messages on how to use our faith to acquire more things. What a stunted concept of God’s eternal purposes! No wonder so many Christians are frightened by the thought of death. The truth is, we are far from understanding Christ’s call to forsake the world and all its entanglements. He calls us to come and die, to die without building memorials to ourselves, to die without worrying how we should be remembered. Jesus left no autobiography, no headquarters complex, no university or Bible college. He left nothing to perpetuate his memory, but the bread and the wine."

thank God for His message spoken forthrightly in truth!

thank God for messengers who never white-wash the truth

who preach the whole truth - and nothing but the truth

servants who are unafraid to speak out those "unpopular" truths.

you know, the ones that might "rock the spiritual boat"

the ones that might make people "uncomfortable."

i mean, how many messages have you heard that mention the actual words

sin

hell

death

not many!

those words are white-washed, and may be casually mentioned as

sin?

let's call it "our faults" ... "our failures" ... or "our mistakes"

hell?

don't even go there!

death?

hey, keep focused on the positive

tell people about the "benefits they will gain" if they "choose God"

no need to warn them (as Jesus blatantly did by the way) of an impending eternity in hell, if they don't "repent"

our politically correct society has made the gospel message palatable for our generation

i don't want a palatable, watered-down version . . .

"Lord, thank You for truth!

may i always want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!"