Lies! It is All Lies!

Greetings!!!

Do you get a lot of spam in your email box? Almost one third of all my mail is not just spam, but lies. Lies from people who claim to be from the UK, Chevron or Texaco, Yahoo and Msn, various banks, or who claim to be a Senator, lawyer, or an FBI agent. What is their lie? There are many approaches: "I found your contact particulars in an address journal I am seeking your kind assistance to move the sum of $35 million dollars to you...", or "You were listed as a beneficiary to the total sum of 10,600,000GBP", another is "$6.8 million dollars has been credited in your favor..." And what do I have to do in order to receive these millions of dollars at least 15 to 20 times a day? Give all my personal information to them so they can steal my identity. They want to take what I have and ruin my life.

Hmmm. That sounds a lot like what the devil does in the life of a believer. He constantly badgers hoping to catch someone off guard, hoping that maybe this time he will break through the defenses. "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that you brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings."   1 Peter 5: 8-9

Is the constant barrage in your life wearing you down. Take a look at         1 Peter 5: 5-7 "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert." Whether the lies you are dealing with are from people or Satan-the father of lies, run to the Savior. Run to Him and bring everything to Him that is weighing heavy upon you. He will lift you up!

The LORD bless you with finding safety under God's mighty hand.

I love you,

Ruth

Mounting Frustration

Greetings!!!

Have you ever been late for work? Maybe you woke up late, and it seemed that the hurrier you went the behinder you fell. My precious daughter found herself in that position this morning. The frustration mounted, and it seemed that nothing went right- hair that could not be managed, the open trunk on the car that would not close, the seat belt that refused to pull out. As things going wrong mounted, frustration soared. It is easy to wonder in times like these, "Where was God in all of this?"

As I went out to run and listen to Scripture, I heard God say, "I am always just on time." It made me think of Romans 5:1-8 "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, Whom He has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrated His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."(emphasis mine)

I wonder how many times throughout time people have questioned God's timing. God's timing is always perfect... even when you are running late!! Instead of letting frustration, worry, and panic rule in your moments of rush and confusion, ask God to give you His grace and peace. Ask Him to help you rejoice and to use the situation to work in what is missing in your character. Ask Him to redeem the situation that is making you feel that He is late in His help to you.

The LORD bless you with feeling His grace wash over you removing all frustration and flooding you with His peace.

I love you,

Ruth

What If?

Greetings!!!

Have you ever seen a Cedar of Lebanon? Since I have never seen one, I checked it out on Wikipedia. They can grow to be 130 feet (40 m) tall and 8 feet 2 inches (2.5 m) in diameter! That is huge! Now, consider Job 40: 15-18.  God is speaking to Job and his three friends. "Behold now, Behemoth, which I made as well as you; He eats grass like an ox. Behold now, his strength in his loins, And his power in the muscles of his belly. He bends his tail like a cedar; The sinews of his thighs are knit together. His bones are tubes of bronze; His limbs are like bars of iron." Most commentaries say Behemoth is the hippopotamus or the elephant. Neither one has a tale close to 130 feet long or 8 feet in diameter. Can you think of anything that might have? The Brachiosaurus or Apatosaurus come to mind for me. They were great beasts!! If Job had never seen a dinosaur, why would God direct his attention to such a huge beast? What if the Bible is correct? What if man and dinosaurs coexisted together, then maybe the earth is much younger than they taught you in school.

Now consider God's gift. John 3:16-17  "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil." Again, what if the Bible is right? What if the only reason Jesus came into this world was to die for your sins. What if God really loves you and wants you to spend all of eternity with Him. What if God really does have an amazing plan for your life, then you have a decision to make. Will you receive God's gift?

The LORD bless you with revealing His truth to you.

I love you,

Ruth

Sound the Alarm

Greetings!!!

Have you ever had a song in your head that would not go away? I have had the song "Holy Visitation" going through my head for the past two weeks. Here are the words:

Sound the alarm

Gather the people

Gather the elders

Let the ministers wail

Take back the years that the enemy's stolen

Lord, You are coming with a Holy Visitation

Sound the alarm

Awaken the watchmen

Open their ears 

Let their voices be loud

We prophecy, You'll come to this nation

Touch this generation with a Holy Visitation

We return to You

Fasting and weeping and mourning

Oh, my Lord, You're returning

We lie here weeping between porch and altar

Pour out Your Spirit on Your sons and Your daughters

We dance. We shout. We lift up our voices

Let Your kingdom come down

I was made for war

I was made for battle, Lord

As the song went through my head this morning, there were two Scriptures that also rolled around in my head. First was Joel 2:1-2 "Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming; Surely it is near. A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness." 

The second Scripture is from the New Testament. Ephesians 6: 12-13 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything , to stand firm."

Sometimes it takes me awhile to hear clearly, but I believe I need to sound the alarm. It is time for the church to get on their face before the LORD and seek Him and His will. It is time to fast and pray and not move away-neither to the left or right, nor forward or back, until we hear from Him. If He does not move, we cannot move. Are you ready for battle? As Petra put it, you ready to "Get on your knees, and fight like a man!"

The LORD bless you with hearing the alarm before it is too late.

I love you,

Ruth

With All Your Heart

Greetings!!!

Do you do some kind of exercise everyday? I try to get out every morning to run. When I went out this morning, it was cold, but I figured I would warm up once I got moving. Half way through my run, I was still quite cold, but I thought surely I would warm up soon. So I kept going expecting my hands to stop hurting from the cold, but it was not until I got back inside my house that I warmed up, and even now my hands and arms are tingling.  

As I ran, this Scripture was going through my head. Most people are familiar with Jeremiah 29:11 'For I know the plans That I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.' But are you familiar with what follows? Read verses 12-14 'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. And I will be found by you. declares the LORD, 'and will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.'

Like the warmth that never came, have you tried to meet with God only to feel alone? Then I would tell you to dig deeper, search harder, stay longer in your place of quiet rest. Keep searching with all your heart. God has something for you. Do not stop short of what He wants to do in your life because it gets hard and long and it feels like there is no point. Your answer could be in the next moment, or on the next page. Do not give up. Keep going.

The LORD bless you with perseverance in seeking Him no matter how long it takes.

I love you,

Ruth

Outward Sign

Greetings!!

Have you ever had a cold sore? A cold sore is an outward sign of an inward problem. A cold sore indicates that your body has been invaded by the Herpes Simplex Virus. Your first blister appears after you have been exposed to the virus three to ten days earlier. The blisters become swollen, are very tender and highly contagious. Once infected, the virus remains in your body waiting for some random stressor to allow the virus to show itself. One of the things necessary to do battle with the Herpes Simplex Virus is the amino acid Lysine. If taken as soon as you feel the tenderness on your lip, often a blister will not ever appear, but always it will help your body to fight it.

This brings to mind Galatians 5: 16-23 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts out anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envyings, drunkenness, carousings, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

So many actions are outward signs of what is on the inside. Stress does not cause the behavior, it just reveals what is on the inside. What is inside you? What spills out when you are under stress. Do you need to get into the Word so you have the help to do battle against the flesh?

The LORD bless you with abundant fruit of the Spirit.

I love you,

Ruth

Cascade of Sounds

Greetings!!!

Do you enjoy high school football? We were watching our local high school football team this past Friday and having a blast. As the football teams struggled and pushed their way toward their respective goals, the fans screamed and cheered on their attempts. At just the right time, the East Juniata High School band played "Eye of the Tiger","Louie, Louie", "We Didn't Start the Fire", and "Ironman" with booming drums and blaring horns. Yet, all these sound were nearly drowned out by other sounds. From just on the other side of the field came another array of sounds .  At the  same time that we were enjoying the football game the Snyder County fair was taking place. There a tractor pull with roaring engines and cheering crowds,  a barber shop quartet, along with a variety of country singers crooning their tunes. Such variety! Such diversity! All in the same place at the same time!

It made me think of Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy art Thou (Jesus) to take the book, and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation." and Revelation 14:6 And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having and eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he said with a loud voice, "Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgement has come; and worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of water." 

God loves diversity! He wants it to surround Him for all eternity. There is not one people group that Jesus did not love enough to die for. There is not one nation that will not have someone representing it. Every tribe will sing its song. Every language will have its song to praise to our Savior. How do you feel about diversity? Do you need to learn to enjoy the diversity that is here around you now? It will surround you for all eternity. Learn to love the people God has made.

The LORD bless you with a heart to love the people He loves.

I love you,

Ruth

Home Sickness

Greetings!!! I am sorry it has been so long.

Have you ever been homesick? Our daughter Sarah started college this fall. Although she does not seem to be missing home, I am missing her. She is excited about all that college life involves. She is busy studying, meeting new people, going to classes, studying, working out for track, did I mention studying, along with endless reading. On the other hand, we are still very busy with homeschooling, gardening and with it harvesting and canning the produce, and doing all the things that go along with having a house. All of this keeps us very busy... busy, but we do not get to see Sarah throughout the days. We miss having her here.

I wonder if God misses His children. Maybe God is missing you.  In Daniel 6 although it was decreed that anyone who prayed to any god or man, except for the king, for a given thirty days would be thrown into the lions' den. But Daniel showed his faithfulness and determination to continue to seek God. Daniel 6:10-11 "Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he has windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three time a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously. Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God."

When was the last time you spent time in the presence of the all-powerful, ever-living God making praying and seeking Him for your deepest needs and desires? Is God missing you? What busyness is keep you from His presence? It brings God joy to have you come near and spend time with Him. Take the time today.

The LORD bless you with a yearning for Him.

I love you,

Ruth