The Welcome Home ♥ » Devotionals http://thewelcomehome.net ☕ Quintessential Motherhood... desiring to be a lighthouse; endeavouring to transition gracefully through life's seasons. ☙ Tue, 15 May 2012 23:40:11 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 A Diary of Private Prayer http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/04/20/adiary-of-private-prayer/ http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/04/20/adiary-of-private-prayer/#comments Sat, 21 Apr 2012 01:49:26 +0000 pamela ♥ http://thewelcomehome.net/?p=1726 If, in addition to my Bible, I could keep only one of my devotional books, I think A Diary of Private Prayer (John Baillie) would likely be the one I would keep.  Through the years, this little volume has blessed me immensely, encouraged me tremendously, and has carried my thoughts to the Lord continually as each of the thirty-one morning and evening readings have seemed to me to be inspired each time by the Lord and has been used of Him [...]]]> If, in addition to my Bible, I could keep only one of my devotional books, I think A Diary of Private Prayer (John Baillie) would likely be the one I would keep.  Through the years, this little volume has blessed me immensely, encouraged me tremendously, and has carried my thoughts to the Lord continually as each of the thirty-one morning and evening readings have seemed to me to be inspired each time by the Lord and has been used of Him to remind me of commitments dear to me.  As life seems to move more swiftly than ever before and as changes in my family and in my own personal life seem to be increasing exponentially, I find that this little timeless book becomes more of a treasure as the years go by.  I have an original old printed copy, but reprints are available at Amazon and elsewhere.

Here’s an example for you… may you be blessed.

First Day             Morning  
Eternal Father of my soul, let my first thought today be of Thee,
let my first impulse be to worship Thee,
let my first speech be Thy name,
let my first action be to kneel before Thee in prayer.
For Thy perfect wisdom and perfect goodness:
For the love wherewith Thou lovest mankind:
For the love wherewith Thou lovest me:
For the great and mysterious opportunity of my life:
For the indwelling of Thy Spirit in my heart:
For the sevenfold gifts of Thy Spirit:
I praise and worshipThee, O Lord
Yet let me not, when this morning prayer is said, think my worship ended and spend the day in forgetfulness of Thee.  Rather from these moments of quietness let light go forth, and joy, and power, that will remain with me through all the hours of the day;
Keeping me chaste in thought:
Keeping me temperate and truthful in speech:
Keeping me faithful and diligent in my work:
Keeping me honourable and generous in my dealings with others:
Keeping me loyal to every hallowed memory of the past:
Keeping me mindful of my eternal destiny as a child of Thine.
O God, who has been the Refuge of my fathers through many generations, be my Refuge today in every time and circumstance of need.  Be my guide though all that is dark and doubtful.
Be my guard against all that threatens my spirit’s welfare. Be my strength in time of testing.  Gladden my heart with Thy peace; through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

A Diary of Private Prayer
John Baillie 1949

]]> http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/04/20/adiary-of-private-prayer/feed/ 0 Opportunities Come and Go http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/04/16/opportunities-come-and-go/ http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/04/16/opportunities-come-and-go/#comments Tue, 17 Apr 2012 02:26:03 +0000 pamela ♥ http://thewelcomehome.net/?p=1721 I mull over this phrase from time to time as I consider the many opportunities I’ve had, the many opportunities I’ve botched and the many opportunities I’ve either missed or passed up through the years.  The missed and passed up opportunities have probably hounded me as much or more than the opportunities I’ve botched.  Usually, but not always, I’ve had or take a second opportunity to repair or at least attempt to make up for that botched opportunity and [...]]]> I mull over this phrase from time to time as I consider the many opportunities I’ve had, the many opportunities I’ve botched and the many opportunities I’ve either missed or passed up through the years.  The missed and passed up opportunities have probably hounded me as much or more than the opportunities I’ve botched.  Usually, but not always, I’ve had or take a second opportunity to repair or at least attempt to make up for that botched opportunity and usually (but not always) things have turned out okay.  But still, it’s those occasions I missed or passed up — those opportunities are the ones I most regret.  It’s probably bcz I’ll never know what could have come out of what should have been.  But then… even as I share this I know this flies in the face of my strongly held belief that God is, indeed, sovereign.   It is in these times I could be labeled a Calarminian. :-S  I know God is sovereign and what will be will be — it’s just that I can’t ever seem to be fully reconciled to that fact in the face of missed or rejected passed up opportunities.

For example:  I may botch up talking with someone about the Lord — I may get all intense or neglect to be succinct or whatever and come away feeling like I really messed up that opportunity to share the gospel, to draw someone into conversation and prayerfully into the kingdom.  But then I must consider that faith is of the Lord, and that person’s redemption is of the Lord — though He does use cracked pots to pour out His message of salvation and redemption.

My missed opportunities or passed up opportunities have been those times, though I may not have recognized it at the time,  when I clearly had the grace of God to do this or that thing and I frittered away the time or I didn’t make a call or I made the wrong call or I thought my way of handling a situation would suffice or whatever… and an opportunity to do good, to help, to encourage, to correct, to confess an offense or whatever was missed or lost.

I can’t go back and recreate those opportunities — but I can seek to correct losses and offenses and as I do so, I must leave the results to the Lord and then I can use those missed or passed up opportunities to prompt me the next time such an opportunity arises, presents itself or even seems to be present.  God is mercifully helping me through the years in His loving kindness,  all my missteps, my failings, miscommunications, misunderstandings, resentment, fears, regrets, losses, etc., etc., to watch — really watch — for opportunities and seek to not miss them.  All these problems, especially in the last couple of years,  have surely taught me that opportunities come and go — good ones and difficult ones, and it’s really imperative to daily be in the Word, to daily be in prayer, to keep short accounts and, perhaps above all, to seek God’s will and direction for each of the opportunities He brings my way.

This phrase continually comes to mind: “God does not call the equipped, He equips the called.”  So, that being understood, as responsibilities go,  I know that mine is to watch and receive, His is to present and provide, mine is to obey, His is to guide, mine is to be willing , His is to be filling, mine is to be poured out, His is to be glorified.

Opportunities come and go… O, that I would be found faithful in them.

]]> http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/04/16/opportunities-come-and-go/feed/ 0 The day after… http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/04/09/the-day-after/ http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/04/09/the-day-after/#comments Mon, 09 Apr 2012 18:17:14 +0000 pamela ♥ http://thewelcomehome.net/?p=1715 After the most glorious event in all of history took place, and the veil of the Temple was rent in two, and the Lord had risen just. as. He. said… a new day dawned.  And new days have been dawning ever since.  But! there will come a time when all the dawns will cease and the day will come when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.  And on that day the books will [...]]]> After the most glorious event in all of history took place, and the veil of the Temple was rent in two, and the Lord had risen just. as. He. said… a new day dawned.  And new days have been dawning ever since.  But! there will come a time when all the dawns will cease and the day will come when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.  And on that day the books will be opened…  and all the decisions that could’ve, should’ve, would’ve been made will be made known.

Is your name written in the Lamb’s book of life?

Turn your eyes upon Jesus.  Look full in His wonderful Face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim:  in the light of His glory and grace.  In His Word, He tells us,  that whosoever believes in Him shall not die but shall have everlasting life…. that there is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved… that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life… that *no* man comes unto the Father but by Him.  He, Jesus, is the Resurrection and the Life — beside Him there is no other.

You can have full assurance of salvation today.  It’s not by works of righteousness — or by any other thing — that you may attempt to do to gain favor with Him:  It is only by faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus that you will be saved…. you can lay your burdens down at the foot of the Cross… the ground is level there.  Truly… look and see.  You will find Him if you seek Him with all of your heart.  He is already there for you.  He already knows you……..

His finished work on the Cross, through faith in Him that is risen from the dead — by faith you receive eternal life through Him who conquered death on the cross and gives life eternal because He sits at the right hand of the Father and ever lives to make intercession for you.  For you. For me. For all who will take freely the gift of redemption by faith in Him alone — who alone does all things well.

As you walk the weary road today.  Turn your eyes upon Jesus.  All of history — His story — was created by Him and for Him.  Jesus is the wisdom of God… and He loves you with an everlasting love.

I pray you will take His hand… it’s outstretched for you… nothing is too hard for the LORD and His arm is not shortened that it cannot save — even to the uttermost.  May God bless you. all. of. your. days.

]]> http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/04/09/the-day-after/feed/ 1 Daffodils… an encouraging story http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/04/07/a-daffodil-story-of-encouragement1711/ http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/04/07/a-daffodil-story-of-encouragement1711/#comments Sat, 07 Apr 2012 19:50:00 +0000 pamela ♥ http://thewelcomehome.net/?p=1711 Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, “Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over.”  I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead “I will come next Tuesday”, I promised a little reluctantly on her third call. Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked [...]]]>
A Story to bless you today:

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, “Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over.”  I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead “I will come next Tuesday”, I promised a little reluctantly on her third call.
Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn’s house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.
“Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!”
My daughter smiled calmly and said, “We drive in this all the time, Mother.”  “Well, you won’t get me back on the road until it clears, and then I’m heading for home!” I assured her.
“But first we’re going to see the daffodils. It’s just a few blocks,” Carolyn said. “I’ll drive. I’m used to this.”
“Carolyn,” I said sternly, “please turn around.” “It’s all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience.”
After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, “Daffodil Garden.”  We got out of the car, each took a child’s hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight.

It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.

“Who did this?” I asked Carolyn.  “Just one woman,” Carolyn answered. “She lives on the property. That’s her home.” Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.

On the patio, we saw a poster. “Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking”, was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. “50,000 bulbs,” it read. The second answer was, “One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain.” The third answer was, “Began in 1958.”

For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration.

That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time–often just one baby-step at time–and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world …

“It makes me sad in a way,” I admitted to Carolyn. “What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it ‘one bulb at a time’ through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!”

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. “Start tomorrow,” she said.
She was right. It’s so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays.  The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask,
“How can I put this to use today?”

Use the Daffodil Principle. Stop waiting…..
Until your car or home is paid off
Until you get a new car or home
Until your kids leave the house
Until you go back to school
Until you finish school
Until you clean the house
Until you organize the garage
Until you clean off your desk
Until you lose 10 lbs.
Until you gain 10 lbs.
Until you get married
Until you get a divorce
Until you have kids
Until the kids go to school
Until you retire
Until summer
Until spring
Until winter
Until fall
Until you die…

There is no better time than right now to be happy.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

So work like you don’t need money.

Love like you’ve never been hurt, and

Dance like no one’s watching.


Wishing you a beautiful, daffodil day!

Don’t be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.

]]> http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/04/07/a-daffodil-story-of-encouragement1711/feed/ 0 ♥ Gleanings http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/02/22/%e2%99%a5-gleanings/ http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/02/22/%e2%99%a5-gleanings/#comments Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:44:44 +0000 pamela ♥ http://thewelcomehome.net/?p=1667 This morning I’m reading in 1 Chronicles 21 & 22.   There King David, yielding to the Lord’s chastening, chooses his punishment:  “…let me fall now into the hand of the LORD: for very great are His mercies; but let me not fall into the hand of man.” (21.13)   For his sin of numbering the people, it’s interesting that David would choose not three years of famine, nor three months being chased by his enemies, but three days, [...]]]> This morning I’m reading in 1 Chronicles 21 & 22.   There King David, yielding to the Lord’s chastening, chooses his punishment:  “…let me fall now into the hand of the LORD: for very great are His mercies; but let me not fall into the hand of man.” (21.13)   For his sin of numbering the people, it’s interesting that David would choose not three years of famine, nor three months being chased by his enemies, but three days, the sword of the LORD — choosing to place himself at the mercy of the Living God.  He emerged from that time repentant, humbled and beseeching the LORD — and having just been chastened by the LORD, David found Him to be only faithful, only merciful, only just.  It was God’s great mercy David sought and found; he found the LORD to be not only merciful but worthy of all worship.

So, in an act of worship — of love, in an act of remorseful obedience, he set out to build an alter — an alter of offering: repentance, adoration, peace.  His recognition of self and His recognition of God compelled him to fall before the Living God in repentance and adoration.   It is only when we see ourselves as we are — and see God — that He is just in His dealings, that He is just in His chastening and He is the epitome of  love and mercy.  We can come to such a conclusion when we have a right view of Him and a right view of ourselves — for, surely, He has not dealt with us according to our sin or our past deeds — even according to our feeble works of “righteousness.”  He has dealt with us mercifully and graciously.  For this, we can take the cup of Salvation and say: Thank You.  Thank You, Thank you, LORD — for You alone have saved me, not given me as I have deserved but according to your mercy, You have saved me.  Thank You.

“Return at my reproof; behold,
I will pour out my spirit unto you,
I will make known my words unto you.”
–Proverbs 1.23

And isn’t this what we want so desperately — the Spirit of the Lord and His words?   We reject reproofs and we reject chastening — but it is the mercy of the LORD to reprove us, to chasten us.

We can learn a great deal from Kind David — there he erred, there he acted foolishly (admitting this himself, 21.8) and, in addition, he would seemingly lose a great deal.  In his zeal, he sought to construct an alter for the LORD as a burnt offering, as a peace offering.  But for his sin, he would not be the man to build the house of the LORD.  This would seem such a heavy burden to bear — but, again, we do see the mercy of the LORD: for He gave David the heart and mind to gather the materials his son, Solomon, would need for the construction of the house.  How merciful of the LORD!

I believe the great blessing of this whole event was was not simply God’s mercy on David, but God’s great mercy on Solomon — according to God’s great plan for blessing Solomon’s life with peace and quietness in Israel all his days.  It is from such Scriptures that we can glean that God does much more in and through the trials and tragedies we face than we could ever begin to ask or imagine.  We have much to glean from what David learned and from how he blessed and admonished his son, Solomon.   I believe we’ve been given a glimpse of the potential each life — a glimpse of how God might use us or our children, how He might redeem our failures and how He might work for our good and His glory.

Let us glean from the Word, let us be mothers who seek the Lord, mothers who don’t faint in the day of adversity or fail to carry out the great calling on our lives.   Let us glean from this and be mothers who seek His will for our children.  Consider and glean from the many blessings in what David said to his son, Solomon.

11  Now, my son, the LORD be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the LORD thy God, as he hath said of thee.
12  Only the LORD give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the LORD thy God.
13  Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.
19  Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God…”  1Chronicles 22.11-13, 19

What prayers we can glean from this portion.   I’m ever more thankful that the Lord has given His living, timely, instructive Word.  I don’t know what I would do as a mother without the ever present Hand and witness of the Lord, without His Word, without His Holy Spirit or without the gift of Faith.

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” 2Timothy 3.16

May you always be blessed. ♥

]]> http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/02/22/%e2%99%a5-gleanings/feed/ 0 Facing and ‘fessing http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/02/20/facing-and-fessing/ http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/02/20/facing-and-fessing/#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 04:05:02 +0000 pamela ♥ http://thewelcomehome.net/?p=1657

I’ve been thinking of you and am praying that God is blessing you in your home today.   I’m sure I’m not alone in the busyness of life or that there’s been more day than the day can hold sometimes.  So I’m [still!]  wondering how to do more in less time or how to make sure that each day I do what counts the most.  And, I’ve had to face up and fess up to the [...]]]>

I’ve been thinking of you and am praying that God is blessing you in your home today.   I’m sure I’m not alone in the busyness of life or that there’s been more day than the day can hold sometimes.  So I’m [still!]  wondering how to do more in less time or how to make sure that each day I do what counts the most.  And, I’ve had to face up and fess up to the fact that some days it’s not so much that there’s so much to do but that I’ve been focusing on the wrong things — allowing the unnecessary to override the necessary and allowing the frivolous to obscure the imperatives.

So, what are the imperatives?  What things must I focus on each day or to what must I strive to attend to and what things have I been sacrificing in the squandering of the days?  These are hard questions – or maybe the questions aren’t hard, but the conviction is hard to face and fess up to.  Maybe you have things you need to face and fess up.  This “fessing-up” is quite a freeing exercise.  In fact, it’s so freeing, it’s a wonder we don’t delight in doing it more often.  But, while it’s freeing, it’s also sometimes painful –painful because we will likely have discomfort as we make changes, painful because we’ll likely be embarrassed over our behaviour, and painful because of what’s lost and can never be retrieved.  O, this doesn’t negate the marvelous work and redemption the LORD can bring to a situation or even a life, but in reality, time squandered is still time lost.

When we discover there’s a problem in our home and we want to get to the bottom of it, we might ask one or more of the children: what did you do?  We might ask: who did this?  Invariably, no one wants to fess up to the wrongdoing.  None of us want to admit that we’ve either done or been wrong.  But the incredible thing is that when we do fess up, there is a freedom –a sweet peace washes over us and we’re clean before the LORD.  Our children experience this same freedom when they “fess-up” to the transgression—even if they face a discipline for it.  Whether or not there is restitution made or a consequence to be paid, the freedom is sweet and the restored confidence is precious when they face and fess up to a transgression.  It’s that way for us, too, before the LORD.

I’ve had to “fess-up” to squandering time, to wasting the gifts and talents the LORD has given me, to giving my attention to those things that are only temporal and have little eternal value or worth.  I’ve had to ask myself again:  What would I think if I walked in (as a stranger who heard that the mother in this home was an aspiring Titus 2 woman) and browsed through this home unattended?”  Or, “Would my husband’s customers be satisfied with his work were he to work in the same manner that I do in our home?”
I keep these questions sort of simmering on the back burner to keep myself in check.
Probably the most difficult areas for me regard necessary sleep and computer time.  These, along with food preparation are areas that can’t be avoided, put off or ignored.  Since they’re needful or are beneficial, they can also be neglected or “abused.”   In the examples I’ve given, discipline is required and I fall into that abyss of often doing what I want rather than what I ought to do.  To rise early requires an earlier retiring at night – to be refreshed requires adequate sleep.  My flesh fights against that.  In addition, losing weight requires no snacking.  My flesh fights against that.  Limiting computer time means less browsing, less reading, less “justa minute’s” and less entertainment.  My flesh fights against that.  Instead of yielding to the truth of what I know is right, I find ways to justify what I want to do rather than what I ought to do.  So I have to set and live within boundaries… the boundaries that come from times of facing and ‘fessing up.  These are disciplines and though we may not want disciplines in our lives, it is through discipline that we put aside the things of the flesh and yield to the things of the Spirit.
These thoughts come from spending a bit of time in Romans 6 and 7.  I would encourage the reading of these chapters and then ask the LORD to reveal to you areas that you, too, might face and fess up to.  Maybe you have some areas of your life that need facing and ‘fessing up.  I pray that as you do, you will see that the LORD is already there and you have all you need.   He is your all in all.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1John 1.9
May you always be blessed.

 

]]> http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/02/20/facing-and-fessing/feed/ 0 Love. http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/02/14/love/ http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/02/14/love/#comments Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:01:07 +0000 pamela ♥ http://thewelcomehome.net/?p=1648 Love. From the books of 1st  & 2nd  John

For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.  –3.11 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.  — 3.23 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. [...]]]> Love.
From the books of 1st  & 2nd  John

For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.  –3.11
And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.  — 3.23
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. –4.17
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. –5.3
And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.  –2 1.6

I made that “graphic” several years ago for a valentine greeting… O, that it would be our prayer, intent and action today.

O God, that You would work in and through us today that we would, truly, walk in love as You would have us to live and move and have our being.

And… Love to the many today who grieve the losses of children, little rose buds — yet to blossom, and roses in bloom, sweet and fragrant: drawn up by the Lord in His love and wisdom.  May the Lord bless you and carry you through as you think of days gone by, babies you held in the womb, young boys and girls who only played for a season, young men and women whose lives have shaped your own.

May the Lord be your strength and may the God of all comfort abide with you as you ponder days gone by… some have passed from this life, some only from the family home… the babies you once tenderly kissed and wrapped in blankets, now grown, you hold only in prayer.  The Lord God be with you and fill you today.


May you always be blessed. ♥

]]> http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/02/14/love/feed/ 0 Moonless Trust http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/02/13/moonless-trust/ http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/02/13/moonless-trust/#comments Tue, 14 Feb 2012 05:19:55 +0000 pamela ♥ http://thewelcomehome.net/?p=1646 There are times when nothing soothes or encourages me quite like the writings of women who’ve journeyed with the Lord a long while and have traveled paths paved by those who’ve forsaken all and have followed Christ to “the ends of the earth” literally or when they’ve come to the end of themselves and pressed on in faith.

This devotional was a great blessing to me as I consider the living sacrifice or both women’s lives — Elisabeth Elliot’s and Amy Carmichael’s.  [...]]]> There are times when nothing soothes or encourages me quite like the writings of women who’ve journeyed with the Lord a long while and have traveled paths paved by those who’ve forsaken all and have followed Christ to “the ends of the earth” literally or when they’ve come to the end of themselves and pressed on in faith.

This devotional was a great blessing to me as I consider the living sacrifice or both women’s lives — Elisabeth Elliot’s and Amy Carmichael’s.  So, it is with great respect and gratitude to the Lord that I share this piece with you.

Moonless Trust – by Elisabeth Elliot

Some of you are perhaps feeling that you are voyaging just now on a moonless sea. Uncertainty surrounds you. There seem to be no signs to follow. Perhaps you feel about to be engulfed by loneliness. There is no one to whom you can speak of your need.

Amy Carmichael wrote of such a feeling when, as a missionary of twenty-six, she had to leave Japan because of poor health, then travel to China for recuperation, but then realized God was telling her to go to Ceylon. (All this preceded her going to India, where she stayed for fifty-three years.) I have on my desk her original handwritten letter of August 25, 1894, as she was en route to Colombo. “All along, let us remember, we are not asked to understand, but simply to obey…. On July 28, Saturday, I sailed. We had to come on board on Friday night, and just as the tender (a small boat) where were the dear friends who had come to say goodbye was moving off, and the chill of loneliness shivered through me, like a warm love-clasp came the long-loved lines–’And only Heaven is better than to walk with Christ at midnight, over moonless seas.’ I couldn’t feel frightened then. Praise Him for the moonless seas–all the better the opportunity for proving Him to be indeed the El Shaddai, ‘the God who is Enough.”‘

Let me add my own word of witness to hers and to that of the tens of thousands who have learned that He is indeed Enough. He is not all we would ask for (if we were honest), but it is precisely when we do not have what we would ask for, and only then, that we can clearly perceive His all-sufficiency. It is when the sea is moonless that the Lord has become my Light.”

May you always be blessed.

 

]]> http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/02/13/moonless-trust/feed/ 0 a friend’s anniversary letter http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/01/21/a-friends-anniversary-letter/ http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/01/21/a-friends-anniversary-letter/#comments Sat, 21 Jan 2012 23:24:14 +0000 pamela ♥ http://thewelcomehome.net/?p=1620 I received this letter… and it’s too sweet to not share with you. I console myself with this letter — that perhaps one day I will have a mind to write such a letter. I loved his wife, Florence, even giving our last baby, our daughter Amelia her name as a middle name… and I added “Joy” to it because Florence brought me great joy and encouragement. Amelia bears the name well… as she does for the other woman she’s named after. Although, I [...]]]> I received this letter… and it’s too sweet to not share with you.
I console myself with this letter — that perhaps one day I will
have a mind to write such a letter. I loved his wife, Florence, even
giving our last baby, our daughter Amelia her name as a middle name…
and I added “Joy” to it because Florence brought me great joy and encouragement.
Amelia bears the name well… as she does for the other woman she’s named after.
Although, I never called Mrs. Pais: Amelia, it was, in fact, her name.

Paul Turnidge writes:

Hello All, and a blessed year ahead.

A year ago today, Florence began a new day in Heaven. By this time she
has joined with Peter, James and John, with Lydia, Mary and all the
friends that have gone there ahead of her. I’m sure she has probably
gotten the gals together and said, “Let’s start a Sisterhood.”

Every day I praise the Lord that she is in Heaven enjoying herself rather
than having to be in a nursing home, sitting in a wheel chair wondering
why she can’t get it going.

Somebody sent me the following prayer:

THE SENILITY PRAYER :
Grant me the senility to forget the people
I never liked anyway,
The good fortune to run into the ones I do, and
The eyesight to tell the difference.

My biggest problem is that I can’t think of anybody I don’t like and my
eyesight is so bad I couldn’t tell the difference anyway.

Hope you’re finding this an encouraging year, and it’s wonderful to know
the Lord never leaves or forsakes us. (Hebrews 13:5)

God bless you all,

Paul

]]> http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/01/21/a-friends-anniversary-letter/feed/ 0 How is it that you do not understand? http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/01/16/how-is-it-that-you-do-not-understand/ http://thewelcomehome.net/2012/01/16/how-is-it-that-you-do-not-understand/#comments Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:24:04 +0000 pamela ♥ http://thewelcomehome.net/?p=1612 I mull this thought over and over as I stir my coffee:  How is it that you do not understand?  It is a question Jesus asked His disciples *after* the feeding of the four thousand as they were reasoning among themselves about their lack of bread.  (Mark 8.16-21) We ought to ask ourselves this question — especially if we’ve walked with Jesus a long time — especially if we’ve seen Him do above and beyond all that we could’ve asked or [...]]]> I mull this thought over and over as I stir my coffee:  How is it that you do not understand?  It is a question Jesus asked His disciples *after* the feeding of the four thousand as they were reasoning among themselves about their lack of bread.  (Mark 8.16-21) We ought to ask ourselves this question — especially if we’ve walked with Jesus a long time — especially if we’ve seen Him do above and beyond all that we could’ve asked or imagined.

So this must be us, too, because we have seen and experienced the provision, the miracles, the touch of Jesus on our lives and we, too, give in to fears and doubts and faithless thoughts. Where is Jesus when we do this?  Well, we answer, He is right here. Yes!  Yes, He is, but why do we think and act as though He is not (or was not or will not be).  Why do we so often live as though He’s never passed by, never taken our hand, never touched our eyes, never made a difference in our lives.

We are like those who sought and received healing, but continue on having eyes that see not, ears but hearing not and experiencing but remembering not.

But Jesus.  But Jesus — ever compassionate Jesus — doesn’t leave, does not forsake us, does not think us insignificant.  As further demonstration of His amazing love and precious care, Jesus continues to show mercy.  Mark 8.22: A blind man is brought to Jesus — for a cure, for sight to his eyes.  And what does Jesus do?  He takes the blind man by the hand.  Has Jesus done this for you?  Have you sought Him for this or that or some other thing — and He takes you by the hand?  Before the blind man saw, he was led by the Lord Jesus.

O, that ought to be us. O, that we would trust Jesus when He takes us by the hand *before* we see — that we would be led by Him – in blind faith.

1 Peter 2:9  “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises
of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

When Jesus was reminding His disciples of the miracles they had seen and experienced, He didn’t simply point to the miracle of feeding four thousand or of feeding five thousand — but He pointed out to them what remained — what was left over.  Do you think on that in your life?  After the miracles He has done… and all the “fragments” or overage or abundance left over. This is where (I believe) the above and beyond comes in when considering that the Lord has done/is doing/will do above and beyond what we ask or imagine.  I think we’re just too often to blind to see — even though we’ve been given sight.  May the Lord open our eyes that we may see — that we may understand — and remember — and live in His marvelous light.  May it be for us, today, the testimony:  whereas I was blind, now I see.  O, what a difference since Jesus passed by.

 

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