Last couple of nights got into the mid 20’s, frost was
definitely on the pumpkins. It was
beautiful this morning, absolutely clear skies and both Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams
were glistening white under the morning sun.
I took a drive out through the
orchards yesterday, it is funny how one orchard’s trees leaves are turning and
the ones next to it are still bright green.
As I look at the orchard across the way I can see a difference 24 hours
makes, the leaves are suddenly turning that brown orange, the trees are deciding
it is time to rest.
High winds the past couple days
have started shaking the leaves loose.
Those same winds have brought cold air from the north – we are actually
colder than Viv up in Wasilla. Suppose
to get down to 17 tonight, pretty cold for so early in the year, with a strong
possibility of snow the next few days.
They are saying the Gorge is going to be nasty during that time – no
surprises there.
Carla was in and out of the
fenced area trying to get some of her plants inside, she left the gate open to
facilitate her efforts – Blaze decided to go exploring. Fortunately she realized it before he got too
far, I had to go down to the neighbor’s to get him.
He hates to go through narrow
spots, if my stool is too far out from the chair and it blocks him a bit, he
starts to whine, rather than go around it.
Yet, he went right through the gate, even though it was barely open –
about the time I ‘think’ I have him figured out he suddenly does something
unexpected – motivation, I guess.
Genesis
50:18-20 And his brethren also went and fell down before his
face; and they said, Behold, we be thy
servants.
19 And Joseph said unto
them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
20 But as for you, ye
thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is
this day, to save much people alive.
Joseph was a young man whose
brothers plotted against him, first to kill him and then decided to sell him
into captivity. But God used this time
to place Joseph in a position of authority second only to the Pharaoh.
Throughout his life Joseph faced
many challenges – betrayal by family and then by many in Egypt. Yet, he lived for God and never took His eyes
off of Him. At some time he realized
that while everyone meant to harm him in some way, God used their deceit and
hate to glorify Him.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to his purpose.
Paul reminds us that when we
live for Christ that no matter what comes, we are called by Him to serve Him for
HIS purpose. We may feel we have been
placed at the bottom of a well by those whom we have trusted. We may feel deceived and our bodies and
psyche may bear the scars of betrayal, yet, God will use our circumstances and
pain, for His Glory. As He was with so
many in the Old Testament, so He is today as we live the New Covenant through
Christ.
Colossians 1:9 For this cause we also,
since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye
might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual
understanding;
When we get into those
circumstances we don’t understand. When
we pray for ourselves or others that are in need, how do we pray? I was reading an article by Paul Estabrooks
where he was relaying requests for prayer from a Missionary in China.
The Missionary stated that he
wanted Christians to pray WITH him, not just for him.
In doing so they not only are
praying for him to receive blessings from God, but in the process they too
receive God’s Blessing
They become closer to the
missionaries, and will be more open to the Holy Spirit’s leading in how they can
better serve the missionaries.
By praying WITH the missionaries
they are praying for the people they are ministering to, they join together
sending even more prayer on these people’s behalf - as intercessory prayer
reaches out to God, God anoints and acts on those prayers.
Often I have prayed for the
protection and safety of missionaries, but, to be honest, I have not prayed as
they prayed for the people they are ministering to – a new revelation to me and
one that makes sense. We are joining our
prayers with theirs, we are united in thought and instead of just praying for,
we are praying with – makes a difference when you think about it.
When we take our minds off the
obvious, when we allow the Holy Spirit to search us and to give us new insights
as we study God’s Word and listen to those that are both applying the Word and
teaching it, all kinds of things happen.
We become more in tuned with the
Holy Spirit, more in tuned with our own heart in serving God and more effective
in every aspect of our life. Our prayers
are more directed, our actions are more directed and our willingness to see AND
then the experiencing of God’s activity in our lives becomes more exciting.
We will never please everyone –
if we do then we can’t be serving God.
The only person we need to please IS God, no matter what happens to or
around us, He will use it to glorify Him.
It isn’t easy, we know from the many verses of how the people treated the
prophets in the Old Testament, and how they treated the Apostles and early
Christians (and are still doing so even today.)
Mathew 28:20 Teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even
unto the end of the world. Amen.
We are never alone; Christ has
promised that He will always be with us.
Just as God was with the Israelites, just as He was with the Apostles and
the New Christians in Biblical times; just as He has been through the past two
thousand years, so He is now and will be forever.
One of the very worse things
that could happen to the Apostles, and the rest of Christ’s followers, was to
see Christ Crucified. I can’t imagine
the pain and the confusion they felt.
Satan meant it to divide them, to conquer Christ and defeat God – BUT God
meant it for Good. Without Christ’s
sacrifice we would not have any means to enter into God’s Grace and His Heaven.
We are the Gentiles that, before
Christ, were excluded from Him.
Satan will always be on the
attack with us. The closer we get to
God, the harder he works to divide us from God.
But no matter what happens, God will use it to bring others to Him. It is hard for us to accept that fact while
we are in the middle of our suffering, but it is true.
As Joseph went through years of
imprisonment and suffering before God’s purpose in his life and God’s glory
showed through His life, so we might also find ourselves in circumstances that
last a long time, even years before we see God’s hand. We may not understand, we may never fully
realize why, but God is using us to reach others; to Glorify Himself.
God wants people to come to Him;
He wants people to accept His Son and be eligible for eternal life with
Him. While His methods may be beyond our
understanding, even in persecution and death we can trust Him to be there for us
at all times.
In those difficult times – or in
those times when we feel we are on top of the world and everything is going well
– may we look to God and ask Him to bless our circumstances and use them for HIS
Glory!
Later, Art :-)
From
the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again
No comments:
Post a Comment