Grief

Greetings!!!

Have you ever suffered a loss and struggled with the grief? There are all kinds of losses. Most people recognize and accept the grief associated with the death of a loved one, but there are many losses that can cause varying degrees of grief. Other things that can cause a person to grieve are job loss, failed marriage, a child leaving home-even for a good reason, a miscarriage, plus many other things I have not mentioned.

The ocean at Asseteague, Virginia, was a great example of how grief can suddenly overwhelm and crash in on life. Hurricane Bill was out in the Atlantic pushing its way up the coast making the waves at Asseteague, Virginia, almost large enough to surf. Although the waves were larger, they were mostly manageable and a lot of fun, but at times a wave would land that was so violent in its size and strength that we had no control and had to give ourselves over to the wave until we could get back to our feet on shore.

Are you struggling in the waves of grief feeling like you are about to drown? Ponder these words from Isaiah 43:1-3 "But now, thus says the LORD your creator, And He who formed you, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;"

Grief will come. It may feel like you will be overwhelmed by your grief. You may never be the same because of the grief you bear. But never forget that you are not alone. You are not unloved by the Father. He still has you in His hand. He still loves you with an everlasting love. You are still the apple of His eye. He still wants to hear all about what you are experiencing. He still wants to hold you and comfort you through your grief... even if you are angry with Him because He did not keep you from this grief. Do not hold back. Do not hesitate. Go to Him.

The LORD bless you with His comfort in your grief.

I love you,

Ruth

Roots

Greetings!!!

Do you have trees in your yard with roots that have become a problem? The roots of two maple trees in our front yard have gotten so big that it is difficult to mow around the trees. So I took on the task of digging out the grass around them and mulching that area. As intertwined as the as the branches are, the roots were even more entangled. It amazed me how many really large roots there are under these trees. I could not see how big the problem was as long as the grass covered the roots.

As I looked at the roots of these trees, Hebrews 12:14-15 kept coming to mind. "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God (in the footnote : "Falls short of" or "fails to lay hold of" God's grace) and that no bitter root (in the footnote: Pride, animosity, rivalry or anything else harmful to others.) grows up to cause trouble and defile many."

What is your struggle? With whom are you struggling? It is up to you to bring peace to the situation. It is up to you to seek peace and pursue it. Cry out to God for His grace in the time of your need. Do not allow envy and pride lead to animosity and resentfulness. If you leave this unchecked, it will lead to bitterness. Bitterness is a deadly poison. Like the roots of our trees, it will entangle and disrupt everything near it and choke the life out of you and everyone around you.

The LORD bless you with doing what you need to do to rid your life of all resentfulness and bitterness and anything else that would keep you from the presence of God.

I love you,

Ruth

Are You Free

Greetings!!!

Did you do anything special on the Forth of July to celebrate your freedom? Our family went to see the fireworks display set off by Beaver Stadium at Penn State University. It made me think of all the battles fought, all the blood spilled, and all the lives lost to win my freedom. Have you ever thought about what it cost for you to be free? It was a high price.

Do you know that there is another kind of freedom? This freedom was even more costly. Here is what Romans 6:16-23 says: "Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one who you obey - whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Have you been set free? How do you celebrate your freedom? If you have been set free from your past, you must choose to become a slave to the One who paid the price for your freedom - Jesus Christ. You see, when you have been set free, you become free to serve the One who can give your life meaning and purpose, and fill you with love, joy, and peace, and give you a future and a hope. It is worth giving up all that has you bound and keeps you from Him.

The LORD bless you with choosing to be His servant.

I love you,

Ruth

All Consuming Fire

Greetings!!!

Have you ever sung these words and meant them? "All Consuming Fire, Your my heart's desire, and I love You dearly, dearly Lord." When you think of that All-Consuming Fire, what comes to your mind? Is it a flickering flame like a candle? Perhaps a campfire or bonfire is more like the fire that comes to you mind. Or perhaps, just maybe, something like this Alaska wild fire is more like the image inside your head and heart. As I thought about God's all-consuming fire in church on Sunday, God spoke these words to my heart, "My fire is not one that can be controlled. It is bigger than even the largest wild fire that has been on the Earth. It cannot be controlled by man."

(Picture taken from http://tiee.ecoed.net/vol/v3/issues/frontier_sets.yellowstone/img/forest_fire%5BHR%5D.jpg)

There are two accounts of God and fire that immediately come to mind. The first is Exodus 3:1-4. "Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, "I must turn aside now, and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up." When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush, and said, " Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."

The second passage is Exodus 20:18-20. "And all the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. Then they said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen, but let not God speak to us, lest we die." And Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin."

When you consider God's all-consuming fire, what will you do? Will you shrink back in fear like the Israelites, or will you, like Moses, press in and get as close as you can to it so that God can have His way with your life? It is God's desire that you draw near and press in, never forgetting that this fire is not a fire that you can control. You must allow God to consume everything that needs to be consumed in your life. You must give Him free reign. You will not regret it.

The LORD bless you with willingly stepping into His fire.

I love you,

Ruth

Protection

Greetings!!!

Are you enjoying these beautiful, sunny, summer days? Along with the sun comes sunburn, unless you use some kind of protection. Most people use sun block with and SPF rating of 35-50, but I cannot use sun block because it makes me ill. Usually, I use a lightweight, long sleeve shirt to keep the sun off my arms and neck. But last week the temperature climbed so high that the long sleeve shirt was too warm to wear while I was working. I had no protection from the sun and places that are not usually touched by the sun, like the back of my arms and shoulders, were burned and are still tender. As I pondered this while I continued to work, I kept hearing, "You have no protection." I finally put on my protection. But it made me wonder if you are walking around with no protection.

Consider Ephesians 6:10-18. "Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against schemes of the devil. 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 the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FFEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all time in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints."

God has provided everything you need to be all you have been called by Him to be for the Kingdom of God. Do not go out into your day without God's protection on your life. Oh, there is more. In Isaiah 52:12 we are told, "But you will not go out in haste, Nor will you go as fugitives; For the LORD will go before you, And the God of Israel will be your rear guard." Soldier of the Cross do not enter into another day without being dressed and ready for all that the Spirit of the living God has for your day.

God bless you with realizing the power that is your through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

I love you,

Ruth

Shattered Dreams

Greetings!!!

Have you ever prayed for God's direction in your life and felt like God gave you a dream? God not only gave you a dream, but also showed you how to lay out your goals to meet that dream, but now, for  some reason, that dream is shattered? Now you feel betrayed, confused, hurt, and wondering what is next and how you can ever trust what you think you are hearing from God. I cannot tell you the number of times that I have had to lay down dreams and plans that I was sure were birthed by prayer and petition to God and directed by God. Though all the shards of my dreams and through having to lay dreams down over and over again, Jeremiah 29:11 always comes to mind. '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.'

As much as I love that verse of Scripture, God always points out that what He says next is what is most important to Him. Jeremiah 29:12-14 '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.'

What dreams have you had to lay down lately? What in your life has left you hurt and confused? Run to the Father. Do not draw away. God's greatest dream, His greatest desire is for you to want to be with Him where He is. He wants to walk with you. He wants to talk with you. He wants to comfort you. He wants to laugh with you and cry with you. He wants you to want Him and His company as much as He wants yours. 

Are you holding shattered dreams? Pick up the pieces of your dreams and take them to the Father. Crawl up on His lap and tell Him all about what has happened. Tell Him everything you are feeling. Cry if you need to. Scream and wail if that will help you. If you are angry, be angry, but do not draw away from God. Do not stop spending time with Him because you are confused and hurt. Whatever has happened, God is working. You just may not understand His workings right now. You must trust Him and return to Him. Do not delay.

The LORD bless  you with taking the steps back to Him to receive His comfort in your pain.

I love you,

Ruth

In the Garden

Greetings!!!

Are you a birdwatcher? I am fascinated when I watch birds. Each one is so different from all the rest. The coloring and field marks of each one  are  unique and help in identifying each species. The song and the call help to distinguish one bird from another. It was the song that helped me to realize we had a new bird in our yard. It took quite a while to find the illusive bird, but finally I was able to put the voice with the bird!! It was a Baltimore Oriole. My heart leaped for joy! 

Do you like to listen to the to the voices of the birds? There is another voice that in even more delightful to hear. It is quiet and sweet. John 10:2-5,14-16 puts it this way: "The man who enter by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. And a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers. I am the good shepherd; and I know My own, and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall become one flock with one shepherd."

I love to hear the birds wake me in the morning. I am intrigued by their voices, but even more than the voices of the birds, I long to hear the voice of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When was the last time you heard His voice? Take time to stop and listen to Him today.

The LORD bless you with hearing His sweet voice.

I love you,

Ruth

This song always comes to mind while I am alone in my garden.

In the Garden by C. Austin Miles

I come to the garden alone,

While the dew is still on the roses;

And the voice I hear, falling on my ear,

The Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own,

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.

Se speaks, and the sound of His voice

Is so sweet the birds hush their singing;

And the melody that He gave to me

Within my heart is ringing.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own,

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.

I'd stay in the garden with Him

Tho the night around me be falling;

But He bids me go thru a voice of woe,

His voice to me is calling.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own, 

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.