The Pure Word...



Broken...



Like the rock

that was smitten,

we too need to be broken, before the rivers of blessing can flow out through us to

others.

 The opposition of men and their false accusations serve to

keep us broken before God.

 

~Zac Poonen

 

 

Thanks to God...

 

 

17 years ago this week, I was preparing for my wedding.

I married a man who is

 loyal and kind,

faithful and helpful.

He was my  'knight in shining armor',

providing a home, a safe haven for me

in years where I was working out

the grief and confusion of sorrows I encountered

in years before our marriage,

trying to make sense of life and what purpose there was for me in living.

 

His patient gentleness was what God provided for me as I

sought answers and looked for meaning,

finally finding it (5 years after we married)

in JESUS...

 

Today, I thank God (as my heart does every day)

for my husband.

I pray He will bless him abundantly and

reward him greatly for being

such a blessing to me.

 



He Makes Us to Will AND Do...

All the great temptations appear first in the region of the mind and can be fought and conquered there. We have been given the power to close the door of the mind. We can lose this power through disuse or increase it by use, by the daily discipline of the inner man in things which seem small and by reliance upon the word of the Spirit of truth. It is God that worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

It is as though He said,

 'Learn to live in your will, not in your feelings.'

 

~Amy Carmichael

 

Is this a reality for you?

It is becoming more and more a reality for me

for which I humbly say:

Praise the Lord!

I want more of His way today and always for His glory...

 

"Wherefore, my beloved,

 as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only,

 but now much more in my absence,

 work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

For it is God which worketh in you

 both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure. "

Phil. 2:12, 13

The Pure Word...



O LORD,

 I love the habitation of Your house And the place where Your glory dwells...

But as for me,

I shall walk in my integrity;

 

 

Redeem me, and be gracious to me.

My foot stands on a level place;  In the congregations I shall bless the LORD. Psalm 26: 8, 11 &12

Hospitality...





My mother taught me many things, one of which was how to show hospitality. While I was growing up, we hosted many people around our kitchen table, with meals my mother and her daughters prepared together, and in a home she taught us girls  how to clean and keep tidy. While I did not appreciate this in my teen years, for varied reasons, of which I take responsibility for failure on my part, I certainly have come to appreciate and put many of these things to practice now.

Hosting company can be a bit intimidating. It makes you vulnerable (defined: Exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally), as people will be coming into your home, your private place that is usually 'safe' from outside judging, snooping and gossiping. And if you have encountered that kind of thing in your lifetime, satan uses it to target you when you want to honor the Lord by reaching out in hospitality to your friends and neighbors.

I want to encourage you to go ahead and walk in obedience to the Lord anyway in this area of hospitality. It means dying to ourselves to reach beyond serving our own families to others (although I caution all of us mothers to not make hospitality a huge deal if we are busy minding the little ones God has blessed us with; it may mean we do not host as much company or are not able to send meals to others as often as we would like but 'to everything there is a season' and when your children grow older, you will have time to reach out in hospitality more than you do now).

Here are a few things I have learned about hospitality, some from my mother, and some from experiences I've had as I've walked this area with God.

*Don't feel you need to impress others. Hosting guests is about blessing them with your love and friendship. So we can learn (and teach to our own daughters!) that when we prepare for guests, we are doing it as unto the Lord and not to men. We are hosting guests to bless them so when we clean and decorate our homes, we are doing it to bless them with a pleasant place to visit. When we make the food, we are doing it to nourish their bodies and to provide comforting food for them to enjoy. When you plan activities, you are doing to encourage and uplift them and to refresh their hands in God.

*Keep it simple. Elaborate meals are usually more than I can fit into my schedule as a wife, mom, homeschooler, and woman of God reaching out to bless others. I am not sure that the Lord really wants me to be serving alot of rich foods and besides, to 'get elaborate' places me in that category of 'impressing others' instead of simply serving them and honoring the Lord. Also, if I do not keep it simple, my relationship with my family suffers as I get nervous and uptight about things.

*Include your daughters (and sons, if you have them) into preparing for and serving guests. Teach them to offer to take coats from their guests and hang them up. Or perhaps they could be assigned 'water refill' duty at lunch, or removing first course plates and replacing them with dessert plates at the appropriate time.

*Have a few things handy for guests who may have forgotten something. These things could include new toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, hairspray, a bib for a small guest, hand cream, baby powder, baby wipes, and even disposable diapers (yes, I have doled these out on occasion).

*If there are overnight guests, prepare their beds ahead of time if you can. Ask them about dietary needs or food preferences they may have and plan to accommodate them as much as you can. Make your home their home away from home. Make them feel welcome and comfortable.

*Make meals ahead of time where this is possible. I like to have taco soup (a family favorite) canned or frozen for times when I am needing a quick meal for guests coming in a more unexpected situation. Add to it flat bread (recipe also following), a salad (I usually have salad fixings in my fridge!) and some fresh fruit (this also is usually not hard to find at my house) and a simple meal is soon served.

Above all, keep Jesus Christ first and foremost. Live His life. Let His compassion and caring cause you to reach out in love to your friends, neighbors and strangers, making them feel welcome in your home. This way, we will be sure not to "neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.". (Hebrews 13:12)

I am glad for my mother's example to show me these practical things of hospitality. I have been the unworthy but blessed recipient of many wonderful moments in the homes of those who showed me and my family loving hospitality. I also really enjoy having guests over to my house, so if you are ever in my neck of the woods, be sure to stop by!

God bless you,
Marcia

Taco Soup for a Crowd

 

makes about 15 quarts

In a large stockpot, brown 3 lb hamburger

(I season with Adobo and dried onion)

Add:

3 quarts black beans

4 quarts small red beans or kidney beans

7 quarts tomato juice

3 quarts frozen whole kernel corn

3 cups diced peppers

 (fresh or frozen; I freeze them from my garden in summer)

1 T sea salt

1/2 T black pepper

5 rounded T Taco Seasoning without MSG

(I use McCormick's brand which I buy in large containers from a wholesale club)



Heat altogether and simmer to blend flavors (maybe 1/2 hr, stirring periodically as it does tend to stick and burn if you don't watch it)

Cool and freeze in quart boxes or can.

To pressure can:

Fill canner according to manufacturers instructions.

Can at 15 lb pressure 20 or 25 minutes.

 

This is really handy for lunches on school days, too!

 

Flat bread:

Take your favorite pizza crust recipe, spread it onto your jelly roll sheets half as thick as you

normally do for pizza. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and cheddar cheese (as desired).

Bake at 400* for 15 minutes.

Cut into 'breadsticks' or squares and serve with soup.

A Servant of Man or God?

If

 

you

 

seek

 

to

 

please

 

men,

 

you

 

can never be

 

a servant of the LORD.

 

~Zac Poonen

 

"And whatsoever ye do, do [it] heartily,

 as to the Lord, and not unto men;

Knowing that of the Lord

ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance:

 for ye serve the Lord Christ. "

Col. 3:23, 24

 

 

 

Thanks to God...



If on a quiet sea

t'ward heav'n we

calmly sail,

With grateful hearts,

o God,

to Thee,

we'll own the

fav'ring gale...

 

But should the surges rise,

and rest delay

to come,

Blest be the

tempest,

kind the storm

which drives us

nearer home...

 

Soon shall our doubts and fears

all yield to Thy control,

Thy tender mercies shall illume

The midnight of the soul...

 

Teach us in every state

to make Thy will our own,

And when the joys of sense depart

To live by faith alone...

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I recently crested a mountain of discouragement like none I have ever passed in my walk with God heretofore. I do not remember ever facing such fierce battles as the ones I faced in those months of wilderness journeyings. I know what that song is talking about, including 'the joys of sense' departing.

 

But one thing I shout from the rooftop today:

JESUS meant every word He said, including:

"I will never leave you or forsake you".

 

I have had some very special moments with God in the wilderness,

moments that I know God sent me just to reassure and comfort His

daughter in distress.

I feel a special kinship to Abraham, Joseph, David and the prophets

who communed with God and knew the reality of His still, small voice.

 

So today, I thank God for wilderness wanderings.

I thank Him for streams in the desert.

I thank Him for His ever faithful love and

that He never goes back on His word.

 

Praise Him with me:

 

 

He is good. We are His own.

Our names are written in the palms of His hands.

The Childish Life

My family and I heard this sermon on Sunday morning. It certainly wasn't what I first thought it might be after I heard the title! I really appreciated it and desire that I would have the faith in my heavenly Father as a little child has in his parents.

God bless you each today.

The Childish Life

by Brother David Cooper

Of Seasons...

Seasons...

they come and go.

Some are light and happy, making you feel like

twirling down a hill, the breeze in your hair.

Some are filled with sorrow and mourning,

or devastation and distress, whether from

disappointment or enemy attacks, and

tears seem to 'flow all the night long'.

 

Seasons...

our times are in God's hands.

If we are daughters of the King,

we need not fear anything.

Our names are written in the palm of His hands,

and NO ONE can separate us

from His love.

Nor do we need to be ashamed of it

when we are in the season of mourning

and others don't seem to understand why.

We may just be needing to be broken

with what breaks God's heart,

and find sweet fellowship in the wilderness

with Jesus, the Ultimate Friend

who sticks closer than

any person ever could.

 

Seasons...

it is my desire to live simply...

to look into the face of my Father,

and know that I am His child,

and a vessel to be used in His hands
in whatever way,
in whatever state,
with whatever gifts
He chooses for me.

My life is not my own.
I have been bought with a price.

Jesus gave His all.
I can give Him my all.

Seasons...
they come and go.
They are not governed by time
as man governs times.
They are created and given by the
Master of the Seasons...
the Creator of the Universe,
Lord of heaven and earth,
Master of the seas...

I will walk by faith and not by sight.
Because my name is written in the palm of His hand.

Seasons...
every one a place to worship and honor
the Master of the seasons.
Each one a time for me to set aside
my own personal goals and desires
to take up my cross daily
and to follow Him.

What dreams I have I must keep surrendering to Him.
He knows my days better than I do and it is in my
best interest to let Him have His way with my life.

I would rather get to the end of my life not having
done what I had once dreamed of doing,
and missing what I had hoped to include in my life,
with the calm assurance that I had done with my life
what HE had planned for me to do.

The end will be sweeter if I do this.
And so will the journey along the way!

Possibilities...

 

If I do not look with eyes of hope on all in whom there is even a faint beginning, as our Lord did when, just after His disciples has wrangled about which of them should be accounted the greatest, He softened His rebuke with those heart-melting words, "Ye are they which continue with Me in my temptations,"

then I know nothing of Calvary love.

 

~Amy Carmichael

 

"With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Matthew 19.26

God Is...



To New Beginnings...

I have had such a time trying to decide if I am blogging, writing books, or just not writing at all. I took a siesta (albeit a shorter one than I had planned!), and prayerfully considered whether to write for publishing books, or blogging, or simply quitting the writing thing altogether. It is very clear to me that I cannot stop writing...I love to bless women with encouragement, warning, inspiration in writing and the Lord is nudging me to continue this journey.

The push to finish any of the 3 books I currently have in the rough draft stages is simply not here. I am letting them simmer on the back burner while I wait on the Lord to move me to bring that project to a ripened stage. I have a feeling I am to let them lay as I work on the biggest assignment I am given: mothering my three awesome blessings from heaven.



Until then, I will use this blog to write...with a strong desire to lift our hearts to God. I will also use this blog to post things that inspire me from other writers, and from the lives of those who lift my eyes to Jesus.

What I blog, and how often I post are surrendered to the Lord. I do not claim to always be right nor am I trying to self-promote. My goal is simply to bless and honor the Lord by blessing my fellow sisters in Jesus. If I trample on your toes, or if I disappoint you in some other way by anything that I post, I humbly ask that you take these things to the Father. If it is not something that you can use, then just keep walking forward with Him. I am not the Holy Spirit. I simply write from my own experience, study and the teaching I have been privileged to receive from those men and women of God who have the courage to speak boldly of Him, living their lives as purposeful witnesses that Jesus lives.

God bless you, dear readers. It is with a trembling hand that I begin again to write and to relate. Pray for me. It is not always easy to write the things that God lays on my heart to write. But I desire to follow Him and to use the gift that is stirred in me by His Holy Spirit.

If you wish to be in contact, leave me a comment. All comments are screened before publishing so you will not automatically be blasting your email address for the world to see if you choose to leave it in a comment.

Because He lives, my past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure.
~Marcia