Disturb Me

My goal is God Himself Author: Frederick. Brook My goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace, Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God; ’Tis His to lead me there—not mine, but His— At any cost, dear Lord, by any road. So faith bounds forward to its goal in God, And love can trust her Lord to lead her there; Upheld by Him, my soul is following hard Till God hath full fulfilled my deepest prayer. No matter if the way be sometimes dark, No matter though the cost be oft-times great, He knoweth how I best shall reach the mark, The way that leads to Him must needs be strait. One thing I know, I cannot say Him nay; One thing I do, I press towards my Lord; My God my glory here, from day to day, And in the glory there my great Reward.

God reminded me this week that I was created for HIS PLEASURE not for my fulfillment or for receiving blessings all the time.  Sometimes I leave my house in the morning with a heart that wants to explode, rejoicing in how "happy" my life is. He does give blessings, over and over, often and often! But whether He does or not, I am created for HIM, not Him for me.

...just another reminder that I need Jesus' mind in me; that He'll stir me up - "disturb" my status-quo Christian life; that I'll step out, in step with Him. If I'm not growing, it cannot be blamed on "the times we're living in". God has not changed. Lord, please give me more faith!

...only by God's grace...

"If we're going to change the future we must disturb the present" -unknown

"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." Revelation 4:11

A prayer request that has laid heavy on my heart for several days. I pray for Brittany Maynard, the girl from Portland, Oregon (I have read of her in the news) who is planning to end her life on November 1st because she has been diagnosed with cancer. I keep praying that a strong Christian will go to her and witness to her, many Christians! It has even caused me to think about getting back onto Facebook, simply to be able to go to her page and plead with her to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as her Savior. I will wait on Syd to make that decision. Please pray for her.

Reminders

"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him..." II Chronicles 16:9

We have experienced a wonderful weekend and Lord's Day! I hope you have too. I praise the Lord for a pastor who teaches from the Word of God!

This morning is cold and Fallish, plenty of frost on the pumpkin! Today's post is quick and written with joy, while I rejoice in reading from Psalm 139 and listening to a Bible sermon on having a perfect heart - which I pray to have, don't you?

Many months ago Syd and I joined with a friend, Mike, to pray for true revival in our hearts and in the Church, universal. Of course this will bring revival among our local churches too. "Lord, let it begin in me!" I know that in my own heart I had been seeing a repeated critical spirit, grumbling inwardly (while "blessing" outwardly! what a hypocrite). Am I spiritual because I read the Bible and have a lot of head knowledge? No.

I am glad that the Lord doesn't give up on us! It is not how good we look on the outside, but what direction our heart is headed. He just keeps bringing reminders, reminders, reminders through His Word.

One huge help has been in teaching Sunday School. We have been reading verses on "walking, step by step". What a challenge these lessons have been in my own heart as I teach the children!

It's time to go OUT into this day. I pray that you have a blessed day. Thanks so much for stopping by.
I leave you with great pictures of the many hats of Mom! One day I may do a post on that. She wears many hats!

P.S. I didn't ask her to put any of these hats on, she just keeps wearing a different one down now and then. Such a sweet lady!

"But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. "  John 4:23

A Morning Web

It is sad that the Autumn season seems so short. I guess it only appears that way because from the time the leaves change till they fall off is such a brief few weeks. This has been the most beautiful one we've had in years! Soon will come the time to put the chairs away, clean out the flower gardens...always sad to say goodbye to the, zinnias and marigolds (who are happily thriving in this cool weather, for now).

This morning was a mild 50 degrees. Here is a really neat web that I found in the watering can the other morning. It was like an "orb"; can you see that it is like a ball in there? it's not flat. Does anyone know, is this from an "orb spider"? I don't know the difference between many spiders- yuck. This web was just BEAUTIFUL; fine and delicate!

What a blessing to be able to see beautiful things. They are truly all around us and I'm sure that we miss so much.

We have a special prayer request for Linda, the mother of a Pastor-friend of ours. She is in need of salvation and also very sick. Please pray that God will use His Word and letters of encouragement and witness that have been sent by many believers this week (watering the precious seed that has been already planted) to bring her to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you, and thanks for stopping by the Hill on this beautiful day.

"But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." John 1:12

Every Word

I am thankful for a Pastor who holds to the Authorized King James Bible. The translators had so much respect for God's Word that they painstakingly followed, letter by letter, jot and tittle, the Greek and Hebrew texts We are privileged to hold in our hands the Word of God.

"...man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that  proceedeth out of the mouth of God."  

Matthew 4:4

I want an EVERY-WORD Bible!

Praise God that we hold the Word of God and not something 'translated' by dynamic equivalency!

I know many of you live in a place where Autumn is exploding with color. Here are a few shots that we have gotten this beautiful season:

These are from the top of Darling Hill

From the field across from our house

The beautiful lake in a nearby town

My Grandpa's barn

This photo taken from the only spot that Mom can see the road from her house. That's her house.

On our way home. It's one of my favorite fields in Autumn!

Only One Life

"...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." Philippians 2:12, 13

Praise the Lord that it is GOD that prods and empowers us to work out that salvation! He wants my WILLing heart, mouth, feet and hands.  It's by His power, purpose and for His pleasure. It's amazing that He would even use ME.  I was created by God for His pleasure.

Lord, as I step out of my house today, lead me to those who's lives you wish for me to touch. 

Lord, please use me or take me home.

I listened to the entire poem today:

Only one life, twill soon be past; only what's done for Christ will last. 

...And when I'm dying, how happy I'll be if the lamp of my life has been burned out for Thee.     

~C.T. Stud

Keeping

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23

So often I’ve read it as a stand-alone thought but the context is so key…

put away a froward  mouth,

put away perverse lips (FAR away)

Eyes, look right on - straight before thee,

Ponder path of my feet, ways be established, remove my foot from evil.

It was a reminder that complaining, murmurings and disputings (that froward mouth) can cause me to lose my heart in that area. It is a sin against God.

I am glad that God reminds, again and again and doesn’t give up on me! aren’t you?

Maintaining Right Priorities

A question that came up in today's kitchen sermon:

How much do I do on a daily basis to maintain the priority of guarding my heart?

"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." Proverbs 4:23

There were many good reminders concerning the heart:

Keep short accounts.
Don't get good at living a double life.
God's eyes are fixed upon my heart. 

"God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." 
John 4:24