"I Just Want To Be Where You Are"

Greetings!!!

Do you have a pet that always wants to be where you are? I had two situations yesterday where my cat and one of the kittens put themselves in danger to be with me. First thing in the morning, my buddy Blackie, who is our big, fat cat, crossed the road and was desperately trying to catch up with my when I went on my morning walk. I happened to turn around and saw him and had to take him home. Then later, when I was coming in from the garage, I did not see the kitten sprint up behind me and get caught in the door. I had to release the little guy from the door that trapped him.

Have you ever been so thoughtless about the things around you because you were desperate for God? In Psalm 42:1-4, Korah describes his longing for God. 

"As the deer pants for the water brooks, 

So my soul pants for Thee, O God. 

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; 

When shall I come and appear before God? 

My tears have been my food day and night, 

While they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" 

These things I remember, and I pour out my soul within me. 

For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in

procession to the house of God, 

With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping     

    festival."

Do you remember a time when you were in the presence of God? How long ago was that? How desperate are you to be in the presence of God again? What will you do? What will you give up to enter into His presence again? God's desire to have you come into His presence is greater than your desire to be there. Do not wait. Take time to meet with Him today.

The LORD bless you with being desperate for Him.

I love you,

Ruth

Keep Watch

Greetings!!!

Have you ever been surprised by a dog? There is a family on my morning route that has not one, but six dogs. I have never surprised by them. I know for a certainty that when my foot hits a particular place on the road, one dog will sound the alarm, and that that dog will be joined by a chorus of barking that will continue until I am well out of sight. This morning as I approached the house, I noticed that the one dog was watching -standing guard- anticipating my coming.

Are you watching? Jesus said in Matthew 24: 36-44 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, not the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

Are you standing guard? Are you looking with expectation, waiting to see the return of our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? The King is coming, and I pray you will be ready.

The LORD bless you with being prepared for the return of the King.

I love you,

Ruth

Look Up! Look Around!

Greetings!!!

Did you see the sunrise this morning? Where I live in Pennsylvania, the sky was almost completely covered with big puffy clouds and clouds that looked like snow-topped mountains. Before the sun crested the mountain, from east to west, the clouds were blushed with varying shades of crimson. It was obvious that the sun was coming. All the the clouds were declaring its rising.

Instantly, what Jesus said in Luke 21:25-28 came to mind. "And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then will they see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

Are you looking expectantly for the return of the King of kings and the Lord of lord, or do the cares of the world keep you from watching in expectation? That day is drawing near. Are you ready for His return? What  do you need to do in order to be ready for His return? Get ready! Just like the sun, He is coming!!

The LORD bless you with a heart that is ready for His return.

I love you,

Ruth

Turn Around

Greetings!!!

Do you have a regular traveling route? I have three different routes that I use regularly for my morning exercise. No matter which direction I go, I have some major hills to go up and down. This morning I was prompted to reverse one of my routes. I kept thinking how different things looked from this vantage point. Dogs barked that I did not know were there. The view was different as I traveled this new direction. I saw things I would never have seen if I had not turned around.

As I thought of how unfamiliar my route was this morning, Acts 3: 18-21 came to mind. "But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ should suffer He has thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time."

Have you ever reversed your direction? It can appear and feel quite strange and unfamiliar, and so it is when you repent and turn the other direction spiritually. Everything is... well... different. If you have never turned around and asked God to forgive your sins, or trusted the death of Jesus to be all you need to have a relationship with the one, true and living God, or asked Jesus to come into your life and lead you home, what is keeping you from making that decision? Why not do so today? It will give your life a new, refreshing perspective.

The LORD bless you with turning to Him today.

I love you,

Ruth

Fall Colors

Greetings!!!

Do you have trees with green leaves where you live? Maybe that sounds like a dumb question, but here in central Pennsylvania the leaves of the trees are beginning to change color. We are seeing red, orange, yellow and even purple leaves. Green is not the actual color of these leaves, but rather, green is the color of the chlorophyll that these leaves produce as food. It takes the change in season to see the true colors of the leaves on different trees.

As I looked around this morning at some of the different, vibrant colors on the trees, 1 John 3: 1-3 came to mind. See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. And every one who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Have you ever considered that what you truly are cannot be truly seen here while you are alive? What you truly are will not be revealed until you are with the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven or when He returns to take His bride home. Although you may be a student, a husband or wife, mother or father, son or daughter, teacher, mechanic, plumber, construction worker, secretary, pastor, missionary, boy or girl, that is not really what you are. Only God sees you as you really are, and one day you will see what you really are because, if you are trusting Him for your salvation, you will be like Jesus.

The LORD bless you with being the righteousness of Christ.

I love you,

Ruth

Is Your Battery Low?

Greetings!!!

Do you have anything that is battery powered? I just got a Biblestick from Faith Comes By Hearing (biblestick.com). A Biblestick is an MP3 player that is a dedicated audio Bible. Hosanna Ministries has formatted the New Testament  into twenty-eight minute segments so that in just forty days you could listen to the entire New Testament. There is a neat little feature on this MP3 player to indicate when the battery is getting low-the volume gets low and a light flashes red and green, giving plenty of warning to change the battery. Too bad there is not a little feature built into us, a flashing light or something, to give us a signal when our spiritual battery is running low.

Is your spiritual battery in need of a charge today? I suggest that you spend some time praising God for who He is, and then open the word and read or turn it on and listen. David knew that the LORD could renew his spirit. 

Here is a portion of Psalm 103

Bless the LORD, O my soul; 

And all that is within me, bless His holy name. 

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; 

Who pardons all your iniquities; 

Who heals all your diseases; 

Who redeems your life from the pit; 

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; 

Who satisfies your years with good things, 

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle. vs. 1-5

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, 

Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. vs. 8 

He has not dealt with us according to our sins, 

Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 

For high as the heavens are above the earth, 

So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. 

As far as the east is from the west, 

So far has He removed our transgressions from us. 

Just as a father has compassion on his children, 

So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. 

For He Himself knows our frame; 

He is mindful that we are but dust. vs. 10-14 

Bless the LORD, all you works of His, 

In all places of His dominion; 

Bless the LORD, O my soul. vs. 22

Do not wait for your battery to run low. Recharge your spiritual battery on a daily basis. Get refreshed. Allow God to renew your spirit. Do not run on your own strength. If you do, small things will become big stressors. Hmmm. Maybe that is the flashing red light!! 

The LORD bless you with the determination to get recharged every day.

I love you,

Ruth

Sweet, Luscious and Refreshing

Greetings!!!

Do you have a garden? We have really enjoyed God's abundance from our garden this summer. One of our special treats was watermelons. It was so much fun to go to the garden and get a watermelon, clean the dirt and grass off it, take it to the house and plunge a knife into it. The melon would burst open revealing the luscious, juicy, red fruit. It was so refreshing and good. If you have never enjoyed produce fresh from the garden, you are missing a wonderful treat.

As I pondered our sweet treats, David's words in Psalm 19: 7-11 became very real to me.

The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; 

The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;

The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.

They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;

Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, by them Thy servant is warned; 

In keeping them there is great reward.

God provides a rich, abundant harvest from His word. He provides what is needed for refreshment, wisdom, joy, enlightenment, righteousness and riches forever and ever. When was the last time that you spent time taking in God's luscious, delectable Word? If you have a hard time being able to read the Bible, have you considered listening to it? Check out http://www.faithcomesbyhearing.com. There you can find a free MP3 audio New Testament that you can download. Then you can listen to the Bible when you are busy working or driving or doing anything that would keep you from reading God's word. By listening just twenty-eight minutes a day, you can complete the New Testament in just forty days. Who knows what could happen in the lives of God's people if all of us together would listen for forty days and then do it again, and again, and again and continue doing it everyday until our days are no more?? I believe there would be an incredible change, but first there must be a commitment to begin.

The LORD bless you with hunger and thirst for His Word.

I love you,

Ruth

Surprised By a Rainbow!

Greetings!!!

Do you ever look for rainbows? For as long as I can remember, when I would see the sun come out while it was raining, I would expect to see and look for a rainbow. It was delight when I would see one and a disappointment when there was none. So imagine my surprise and delight on this bright and beautiful morning as I turned the corner on my running route and looked up to the sky and saw an enormous, brilliant rainbow against the dark clouds, but there was no rain!! For the entire fifteen minutes it took to get home from there, that rainbow was suspended on the clouds.

Why do we have rainbows? Oh, I could give you the scientific explanation of refraction and dispersion, etcetera, and so on, but what is it really? The beginning is found in Genesis 9:8-15 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, "Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. And I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth." And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth, And it shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh." A rainbow in the clouds is one of God's ways of remembering you and me!!!

But look again... Revelation 4:2-3 The apostle John is speaking. "Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, an One sitting on the throne. And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance." Hmmm. Why would God have a rainbow encircling His throne? Could it be so that whichever direction He faces, He sees the rainbow and remembers you and me? 

The LORD bless you with remembering God's great love and desire for you.

I love you,

Ruth

How Will You Make Your Decision?

Greetings!!!

For those of you who live in the United States, can you tell it is an election year? Every night there is a debate among people and the news media about which candidate is more qualified to be the next President of the United States. On and on they drone trying to convince us, or maybe themselves, that a particular person should be elected. Along with this, the commentators will throw in out of context blurbs from each candidate and their running mates in an effort to sway the opinion of the American people. Mind you, the media knows the power they wield. Most people, who will actually vote, will make their decision based on what the media tells them. 

I would challenge you to make your choice based not on the economy, foreign policy, domestic policy or even the morals of the candidates, but based on 1 Chronicles 7:14 "if My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 

It is time for Christians to stop seeking wisdom and guidance from the news media. Stop making your decisions based on what those who hate to hear the name of Jesus mentioned tell you. The news media is not interested in what is best for this nation. The media would have you believe that more money, bigger houses, big, luxurious cars, more lands, the latest expensive designer clothes, and sex are the great gods to be worshipped in this nation. We are told in Psalm 33:12 "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people whom he has chosen for His own inheritance." It is time for those who are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ to unite and once again make our God the LORD and to turn away from the deception of the gods of this world. Spend time seeking God in order to know how He wants you to vote.

The LORD bless you as you seek His wisdom for this election.

I love you,

Ruth