Letter from God to me

Can I ask you what you are so afraid of?

Financial ruin?

Bankruptcy?

Being left alone, abandoned and ashamed?

Are you worried about security?

Can I ask you, in My hands, are you not in the most secure place... anywhere?

Then why are you worrying?

Let Me deal with it.

Let Me work My ways and rest knowing I will do you no harm.

Everything I do is for your own good.

Do you remember the stories of yesterday?

The Children of Israel in the wilderness?

Did I not provide for them there?

Did they starve?

Or wasn't it I Who rained down manna from Heaven to feed them?

Did Pharaoh capture them and bring them back as slaves again to Egypt?

Or did their pursuers not drown in the very same water the Children walked through the middle of on dry land?

Security is a fiery pillar by night and a tower of clouds during the day.

I was always there for them to see.

And I AM ever present in your time of need.

And even after I had rescued those people, and they forgot every miracle they had seen or tasted...

and they turned away their faces and looked at the problems ahead as though they were bigger than ME...

...I STILL never left them.

Remember the city where they marched around for seven days....

Do not forget that.

I delivered them over and over and over again.

And is Jesus not the hope and redemption of all mankind?

I will never leave you nor forsake you

Do not despair

If you will remember Who sent along boxes of clothes

and bags of food

and assorted produce in the car

and envelopes of gift certificates and money

and a can of peas that everyone ate and liked

and a ten dollar bill stuck in a rake for a Thanksgiving turkey

and a grandmother who would buy dresses for you in the summer

and Easter bunny cakes in the spring

and soda pop and your favorite cereals when you would visit

and shoes and back to school stuff when you needed it most

I provided a wide variety of people the opportunity to receive a blessing from Me

by giving unselfishly to you.

Don't focus on the negative.

The negative is around you all the time.

You have it every day.

This world lies in the lap of the evil one

but you have overcome through ME

I cannot fail.

Trust Me.

Let Me work.

I am knitting ends and edges together.

I am weaving a most marvelous work

The big picture will soon be finished

though it seems sometimes like it is taking forever

and it will have everyone in it together

trust My handiwork.

You have today.

Don't worry over tomorrow.

It is in My hands.

No matter what happens I love you dearly.

I created the universe

I hand crafted galaxies and stars and regions of space not yet explored or known

and I made the microcosms, so small things have had to be invented just to glimpse it in part

Every bit of it fearfully and wonderfully made...

...and yet...

it is you I hold in my heart

You are etched into the palm of My hand

And you are the apple of My eye

Whoever touches you, touches Me

Don't lose heart

Give Me time

for all things work in timing....

and My time is always perfect.

Never too soon

Never too late

Always right when it should be

Fear not, stand still,

Fear not, stand still

and see the salvation of the Lord!

Scars

I'm a scarred person.
I've got a number of scars that tell a lot about my life.
One on my leg from a dog bite back when I was in elementary and tried to intervene in a dog fight between my pet and another dog.
I've got a scar above one of my eyebrows from getting chicken pox as a child.
I've got another one in the palm of my right hand that looks about the shape of a match head. Got that one from trying to put out a fire that was begun with a match, funnily enough. I was a kid and panicked. But the fire was put out... no harm done. Just a reminder of that left on my hand for the rest of my life.
Oh and I've got scars from a couple of minor surgeries for hernias and such.
And a really big one from three dear children who were all c-section deliveries.
Not to mention a lot of old leftover stretch marks...
And then, I've got a very bothersom and obvious scar on my left arm.
It's near the wrist and continues down near a vein for about three inches.
It still bears the marks of the stitches on either side of the cut, looking rather like a mini stretch of abandoned railroad tracks.
Draws a lot of attention sometimes.
People comment on it because it's so easily detected.
It has faded more and more, so it's not as discolored and glaringly noticable as it once was.
But it's also a reminder of a time in my life when I had no joy.
No hope.
I could find no reason worth living, and this is why I have the scar today.
And it really used to bother me.
I was so obsessed with being perfect.
Looking like everyone else.
Wishing I did not having a huge scar reminding me of the old hurts and horrors of my past.
It was like a reminder of my failure in the past.
I failed to realize the gift of life I was given and that this life is really not mine to end, but it is my duty and my constant assignment to serve the One who loved me enough to save me and give His own life for my salvations.
I find myself facing a number of old scars inside myself too.
I'm scarred both inside and out...
Scars of being abandoned, scars of being hurt physically, emotionally, or attacked verbally. Scars of abuse. Scars of loved ones who died due to suicide leaving an open ended question that can never be answered.
Scars of all the little hurts from my past that left me hurting and wounded and afraid to live because I knew the weapons out there would only cut deeper wounds if I dared to move again.
But these scars and wounds heal in time.
Some leave more of a visible mark than others.
Some are mere ghosts of what they once were.
Each one has a reminder. A history of life, be it a good time or a struggle.
Each scar has a significance behind it telling a story of my little life and bears witness to the events of what I've lived through and overcome.
So why allow myself to view them as something wretched?
Why the wish to be free of them and look like everyone else?
I don't know what it is in our human nature that makes us want to be accepted because we're just like the other person beside us.
It's not something we SHOULD wish for.
And when I think of all my scars I count them as nothing in comparison...
with the One who has two nail scarred hands
two nail scarred feet
scars upon His sacred brow where the thorns pierced his innocent skin
scars upon His back where he was scourged, whipped, beaten in my place
and the deep scar in his side, thrust through by the sword of a soldier.
Scars of love.
Scars of life.
Scars that tell the most wonderful story in all of eternity.
Scars that mean I can live with Him eternally, accepted and loved by the one who gave the ultimate sacrifice for human kind.
Scars that should have been mine, but for His saving grace alone that bore my own sin and shame to the cross.
And when I think of His scars, I don't despise them or wish they weren't there.
I am drawn to tears to think of them.
For by One man's scars, I am made whole again. By His scars I am given new hope and a new life.
By His suffering, I was able to cross the bridge over the great divide between man and his Maker.
I am able to be a part of God's family because of the sacrifice made by the bearer of those scars.
No scars?
No thank you.
I'll keep my scars... they too tell a story.
A story of grace, hope, love, faith and redemption.
A story of my feet walking down that path before me.
Tells of the times I fell. The times I got back up again and kept walking.
The times I faced an enemy and maybe got bit in the leg by a dog.
And the times I fought off all the fiery arrows of the enemy and prevailed.
Let me wear my scars in honor of Him who bears the scars for me.
Mine may not be the scars of saving another's life, but they are the scars that remind me where He has been faithful to save me again and again.
I found this beautiful poem written long ago by a faithful missionary, Amy Carmichael.
I think it is very, very fitting.




NO SCAR?


Hast thou no scar?
No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land;
I hear them hail thy bright, ascendant star.
Hast thou no scar?


Hast thou no wound?
Yet I was wounded by the archers; spent,
Leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent
By ravening beasts that compassed Me, I swooned.
Hast thou no wound?


No wound? No scar?
Yet, as the Master shall the servant be,
And piercèd are the feet that follow Me.
But thine are whole; can he have followed far
Who hast no wound or scar?


BY AMY CARMICHAEL,
IRISH MISSIONARY TO INDIA FOR 55 YEARS

In The Depths

In the depths of His love is a powerful place to be.

We think of depth in terms of deepness of things like water, or a really deep sink hole, or maybe the vast depths of space beyond our little world.
And we seem to like to measure things a lot down here...
We measure mountains to determine the highest height of each one, and measure all those really deep places to find out just how deep they are after all.
We hold up our measuring sticks to keep track of our kids and their growing progress.
We mark the wall to show how tall they've grown over the years.
And we measure the growth of all things from plants and pets to our circle of friends and our incomes.
Then we measure ourselves against our friends and family and those we meet to make sure we're measuring up to them so we can fit in and be as normal and regular or as different and as extraordinary as possible...
That's a lot of measuring.
We seem to spend our whole lives holding up one after another means of measure to everything and everyone along the way.
But what about the real measure of our lives?
Only God can see and know the contents of our heart, no matter what our tape measure or our scales or our yard stick has to say.
He alone knows if we are measuring up.
And in the end, we shouldn't be trying so hard to measure ourselves up to anyone else except Him.
And there lies the real beauty of it all.
We cannot be perfect. We cannot ever reach it while we walk around on this earth filled with the dust of human kind wearing our earthen suits of clay....
And we know this deep down.
It frustrates us to no end sometimes. We're such a long way from being perfect creations.
Tempers flare, we lose sight of our goal, our joy is stolen away and we lose hope and begin to wonder, why does He even bother with me? I can never be perfect.
Ah, but the answer is just beyond that conclusion.
In our imperfect state, we accept Him as the only answer to our lowly position here.
In our sin, we ask Him to complete us.
In our separation from the Father, Jesus becomes that missing piece (or peace) that makes us whole.
Only in Him are we made perfect.
And in that measure, we have nothing to fear.
We know in Jesus, we can finally measure up.
No more struggling to keep up with the Joneses next door and struggle to make ourselves meet their income, their social stature, or their level of fitness, or their social acceptance...
We have ultimate acceptance in His eyes.
What else counts?
Nothing.
It is the one true measure of all eternity.
And in those depths of grace and mercy, we find His love is deeper than anything we can ever comprehend.
What does infinite mean?
God's love is the definition of infinite.
How can one put a limitation on infinity?
How can there be an end to something that is fathomless?
How can something that is bottomless be filled?
How can we put His love into a box and say to anyone, there is no love in God's heart for you...
when it is not true?
How deep and wide it runs.
It encompasses us on every side.
It is a mighty flood that has escaped out of its shore and is surging beyond every border in pursuit of those who have not yet known His love.
It is a fire that fully consumes anything in its path.
It is so large, it can hold all our universe in the palm of one hand, lift it up to the face of love and smile.
And it is so infinite and intimate His love can hear the smallest whisper of our hearts breathed in a prayer in the middle of the night just before sleep sets in
He knows our deepest secrets, our hidden thoughts, our most disguised painful memories...
every tear drop we've cried he has seen, heard and felt.
In our deepest hidden place where we crawl into and shut out the world behind us... even there He is.
He is closer to each of us than the very air we breathe...
He's more a part of us than our own skin.
He is more intimate to me than my very own thoughts inside my head.
He is more life to me than the pounding of my own heartbeat.
How can I measure this?
There is no measure.
It is without end. Measureless. Fathomless.
Deeper than anything I can begin to comprehend.
In His depths is a very powerful place to be indeed.
I am held more secure there than I know.
And He isn't letting go of me... His love is forever.
No matter what.

Hope

I feel You today...

Your hand on my back

warm and steady

keeping me calm

this child that I am.

Your touch

melts my fears away

like frost on glass panes

as the sun's rays

break through the clouds

and shine through the windows.

My snowy heart

is warmed again

and life stirs

within my soul.

Your voice reminds me

"fear not"

echoes in my thoughts

resounding in my soul

and I am not afraid

with You here.

Peace be still

and I am calm

the whirlwind subsides

every thought is quiet

as You stand beside me

and take my hand in Yours.

When I remember

YOU are my Father

and You call me

Beloved

Precious

the Apple of Your Eye

Christ as my brother

Righteous

I am taken from my guilt

and given a new name.

I find complete freedom from fear

here with You

like nowhere else on earth...

Free to love

Free to live

Free to share

Free to give all of this to those around me.

Also I find that in You

I live

and move

and have my being

just beginning to understand

what this means.

Thank You.

Thank You, thank You, thank You.

Forever thank You.

You have made my heart new

inside and out.

Fear is gone

Old is passed away

and New has come.

Hallelujah!

Curse of Thorns

Thorns

On my mind very much lately.

As I walk I pass by many thorn bushes and mesquite trees filled with thorns.

I walk through stickers sometimes and end up with one in my shoe on occasion.

How they hurt.

Nothing like walking a little too close to a thorny bush and being scratched or your clothes caught or torn.

It's a painful reminder to pay closer attention to where I walk.

Every time I see the thorn bushes, it reminds me of the crown of thorns Jesus wore for us.

And it also reminds me of how Adam and Eve were put out of the garden and the curse first began for mankind.

Genesis 3:

14 So the LORD God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock

and all wild animals!

You will crawl on your belly

and you will eat dust

all the days of your life.

15 And I will put enmity

between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and hers;

he will crush your head,

and you will strike his heel.”

16 To the woman he said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;

with painful labor you will give birth to children.

Your desire will be for your husband,

and he will rule over you.”

17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;

through painful toil you will eat food from it

all the days of your life.

18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,

and you will eat the plants of the field.

19 By the sweat of your brow

you will eat your food

until you return to the ground,

since from it you were taken;

for dust you are

and to dust you will return.”

Cursed is the ground.

In one weak moment of unbelief, arrogance and disobedience the curse fell upon all.

We were cut off from the Creator.

Man, made from the dust with life breathed into him, reduced from job of caring for the created garden to farming, and dealing with thorns and thistles.

I can't imagine a world without thorns and thistles.

I've seen them all my life.

In west Texas a person sees a lot of thorns and thistles. From the mesquite trees and prickly pear cactus, to thorn bushes, thistles and stickers, catclaw vines... sharp and pointy things are everywhere you look.

I can remember as a child going barefoot trying to cross a little patch of grass beside our house to get over to the neighbor's grapevine on his fence.

I loved the deep purple concord grapes he grew, and he allowed us to enjoy them most graciously.

But in my hurry to get to the grapes, I forgot there were stickers growing in the grass. I would end up with two feet full of stickers before I realized I'd walked right into the middle of them.

Painful!

Thorns mean pain.

I can only imagine how painful it was for Jesus to wear the crown of thorns.

Not just the woody points pressed down into his skin against his head... not just the bleeding the barbs must have caused him...

But also in knowing that thorns sprung from the curse of the fall of man.

And so He was crowned with the curse of all of mankind.

The king of glory, the son of God, the light of the world, the prince of peace, Love divine...

crowned with the curse of man, torn and bleeding, dying in place of humankind.

And how our sinful nature seems like thorns to me.

Sin grows inside us pricking against our conscience, jabbing our thoughts, wild and unrelenting, never abating,

creeping into our lives like a wild weed full of stickers and thorns.

We keep cutting it back, chopping it off, plowing it under, trying to uproot it...

And it pokes us, pricks us, scratches and tears against us and sometimes even entangles us.

This brings to mind the ram caught by it's horns in the thorny bush which was used as Abraham's sacrifice in place of his son.

When we become entangled by sin, we are caught struggling to get free in our frustrating thrashing about.

The more we struggle, the more ensnared we become by what we want to be free from.

Trying to get rid of the sin in our lives is a little like trying to remove a catclaw vine from a fence.

It is one evil vine to try and rid from your property.

It grows back almost faster than you can get it cut down and removed.

It climbs fences, walls, telephone poles, trees, and even houses. And the thorns... the vine nearly seems to wrap you in thorns when you're trying to pull it away from the fence. If you don't wear gloves you're asking to come back with bloody arms.

Sin is the same way. It's insidious. It takes root and tries to grow in every part of your life.

It takes over. It climbs all over everything unwatched and grows thick and thorny and covers every inch of space until it occupies all we are.

For Jesus to be crowned with the curse must have penetrated much more than his physical body.

It must have struck him with pain much deeper inside as He bore our sin inside Him.

Our own thorns of sin must have struck his heart like nothing else ever felt by any human.

Every pain a barb of our iniquities.

Every failure of my inadequacy, not serving Him as I know I should... every wish of mine to do as I please, every broken promise, backsliding, selfishness, and every missed step ...another thorn He had to endure.

He was crowned with my sin. He was made king of my errors. He wore my shame for all the world to see.

He was made sovereign ruler of all of our sin.

And in that crown of thorns lies all of our hope.

“For he has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians. 5:21).

Willingly Jesus wore the shame of all mankind.

Nobody forced Him to.

He did it for us because He knew we could not ever reach grace without His sacrifice.

Every time I pass the thorn bushes on my daily walks, I remember the crown of thorns.

Where once they brought me annoyance and occasional pain as I would brush against them,

now they bring me hope as I'm reminded just how much He loves us.

Not just me. Not just you. He loves all of us.

Come to Him.

Crown Him as king of your life forever.

"See from His head, His hands, His feet,

Sorrow and love flow mingled down!

Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,

Or thorns compose so rich a crown?"

Ram in the thicket
horns caught in a crown of brier
willing Lamb among a world of bramble
curse of Love upon Thy sacred head
You hold in Your hands my name
as You step upon the barbs for me
bruising your feet on the serpent's fangs
Thorn in Your side - a cleft in the rock
forgiveness deluge flows free
grace in redemption's tsunami
blood of the lamb
the greater flood
drowning all of our sin
old man is gone
and new has come
borne of the new ark
- a common manger

Lil White Ponies

lil white ponies

never given a breath of air
nor a glimpse of eyes that care
but i see em ridin' in with their king
oh my, johnny had red hair

rock solid and what a smile
my JC comin' to destroy and to claim
did you really think God would forget
misty was to be her lil nick-name

lil white ponies
way below innocent & guilty knees
lil white ponies
and the tears no one sees

never considered by reality
but they loved that room Mama made
lil white ponies
bringin' babies into His shade

lil white ponies
shall not carry warriors to destroy
lil white ponies
comin' for all babies cast aside
lil white ponies
carried to Mama's with arms open wide

ride like your Mama, bareback on the hills
hand fulls of mane, knees locked to each side
billybob's doing it with no hands and a grin
the thunder no longer whispers of sin

Mama is coming soon, hold me forever
we'll ride with Papa upon the wind
each day with Jesus
yea, Heaven was created without end

lil white ponies
each child shines as the Son
lil white ponies
only Love could set this right
lil white ponies
carry a ray of Heaven's light


from the babies who died for moses
to the miscarrage that crushed a single heart
from the abortions in the land of the free
to the lil girls of china
from the heart of this lil poet
to the King of Kings and Prince of Peace
"Abortion must cease"

lil white ponies....I love you Mama,
Please love me

-written by my friend Flockfeeder

Life's Cuppa

Yes, I'm feeling absolute silliness today... you know how a day's going to be as soon as your feet hit the floor, you walk a few steps, trip over something in the floor and say... oops!
Hello.
Welcome to Clumsy Day.
Might as well laugh.
You'll probably trip a lot more times today.
Get ready.
Might want to wear some extra padding...
Anyway, on these days that need more strength than I can summon and more caffeine than I can safely ingest, here's something on the lighter side.
Enjoy.

Life's like coffee, bitter and sweet

sometimes strong, sometimes weak

and sometimes you just can't drink from that cup

Good when it's fresh, not so much when it's old

I drink mine hot, some like it cold

an you've gotta have it every day if you wanna get up

Can't have coffee if you don't put it on

gotta make some more when that pot's gone

Sometimes all that's left is just the grounds

Life comes in regular or decaf

sometimes we cry and sometimes laugh

In every day we face our ups and downs

Just for me He's made a brew

Don't fret, He's gonna make yours too

He knows who you are and what you need

And if your cup's not a cuppa Joe

Relax, your God is in the know

Brings you what is best in every deed

Whether it's tea, ice water or java

orange juice or nectar of guava

God knows everything you like or don't

Our Maker-of-the-Stars is busy preparin

whatever your heart will soon be wearin

so drink in every drop of His will and won't.

Drink up!