Well now, then, in our neck of the woods we awoke to sunshine a bright Mt. Hood and angry clouds coming out of the Gorge.  There is a promise of 59 degrees today and we are supposed to be one of the warmest spots in Oregon, for a change.

It will be a nice respite, even with higher winds, in between rainy days.

Never let it be said that shoppers don’t exercise.  Teresa and Carla went shopping yesterday and Teresa said they walked over 4.5 miles. 

Didn’t buy much, although the fresh baked Russian bread, from the Russian store was good, and a few more seeds for the garden she couldn’t find here.  (and the crab cakes.)

Carla is at work now, but will have the afternoon off where, I am sure, she will be outside working and enjoying the sun.

Remember when they tell you to always back up your work?  Do it.

We had a brief outage, no more than a second, and I lost a lot of what I wrote this morning and had to go back and fill in those areas.  Fortunately I do back up every few minutes, but for some reason I hadn’t done it for a bit.

Oh, well, the message was pretty clear to me, and while time consuming, I got it rewritten.

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1 Peter 3:14-16 “ But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;

¹⁵ But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

¹⁶ Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.”  KJV

One of the things that all Christians need to understand is that we not only have the privilege and honor, but the obligation to share our Hope and our Joy in Jesus with others.

To not do so is actually being selfish; we are depriving others of the opportunity to learn about and follow Christ.

Now, I am not saying that everyone has to get on a soap box and preach.  I am not saying that everyone has to grab people by the collar and force them to listen.

Each of us has a different personality; each of us has a different mission, but the obligation for all of us is to share our faith in God and His Son as we are directed by the Holy Spirit.

AND if we let Him He will direct us.

The key is being prepared to hear Him, study His Word, spent time with Him, listen to Him and then follow His direction.

It doesn’t always come as a loud voice.  I still remember and regret the time I was in the rest room of one of our local stores.

I was washing my hands in one sink while another man was washing up in another.  He was obviously living outside and was using this opportunity to cleanse himself.

I must have looked at him in an accusatory manner, why else would he have said, “I am not like the others.”

This was a cry for me to recognize him as a person, a person who at the moment needed a touch and reassurance from a Christian that God cared for him.

A cry from the Holy Spirit to give him encouragement and let him know he was worthy of God’s love.

I failed.

I didn’t say anything to him, just nodded.  That was several years ago and it still haunts me.

It doesn’t take well practiced speeches, it doesn’t take special words, but it does take a heart open to God and a willingness to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, then doing what He asks.

“be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”

It doesn’t depend on age, it doesn’t depend on education or training, it doesn’t depend on one’s job or salary, it just depends on the heart, mind and willingness of us to obey God.

It isn’t easy.  There are times we will fail.  There are times that a lump will grow in our throat and chest and we become fearful of what to say.

But, once we make it a way of life, to be open to the Holy Spirit and the people He sends our ways, as we follow His leading, it becomes a bit easier.

We may never know how our message will be received or what the outcome might be down the road, it doesn’t matter, we speak and the Holy Spirit will deal with them – if THEY let Him.

“be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”

We may be rebuffed or even attacked verbally or physically, but I find that when we say it without judgement (unless it IS warranted) most people will either want to hear more, or just politely listen and then walk off.

But it doesn’t matter.

“and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;

THAT is easier said than done.  God isn’t unaware of our feelings but through Peter’s writing He is comforting us and telling us that He is there with us.

“be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”

Lord, may I always be ready.

Later, Art (-:

In our neck of the woods today we have rain – which we seem to be sharing with most of the rest of the state.

Teresa took Carla and the two of them are enjoying a women’s day out of town; heading to Portland doing some shopping for some things that are not available here in The Dalles. 

While it might have been better tomorrow with a sunny day in the forecast – but both have the day off and tomorrow both work.  AND Carla won’t be feeling the least bit guilty since she wouldn’t have been playing in the dirt today, anyway.

After she gets off work, tomorrow, I am sure she will be rectifying that play time.

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“After praying more and talking to the Lord, I have said, "Almighty Lord, I accept this with my eyes open! I know the facts and I know what may happen, but I accept it. I will not run. I will not hide. I will not crawl under a rug. I will dare to stand up and fight because I am on your side—and I know that when I am weak, then I am strong."  AW Tozer

1 Thessalonians 2:2-4 “But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention.

³ For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile:

⁴ But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. KJV

Christians are under fire all over the world.  We are seeing persecution AND PROSECUTION of Christians in this country that would not even have been considered a decade ago.

But today it is not only fact but it is growing daily, it can be hazardous to a Christian’s health to speak up for God and His Word now a days.

But, that doesn’t mean we should keep quite.  It doesn’t mean we are to remain in our own little world and let satan rule as he sees fit.

We but have to follow the career of Paul to understand that no matter the age there are always those that will try to silence Christians and they will leave no stone unturned in doing so.

We are not alone.  No one who stands up for God is, even if we feel that we are.  His Holy Spirit, His love for us and His desire that people learn the truth so that they can make a decision for Him is right there with us.

It can be scary to be a servant of God.  We don’t need to go far to see how a valued servant is treated.  Using wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit sounds good, but then the reality of having to stand comes in front of us – and that reality hits us in our weakest spots and satan uses those spots against us very well.

But we are not alone, and we don’t have to stand in our own strength.  Satan will ramp up his war against us, but God will help us through it if we lean on Him.  Tozer went on to say:

“It is good for us to remember how strong He is—and how weak we are. I settled this issue a long time ago. I tell you I have talked to God more than I have talked to anyone else. I have reasoned more with God and had longer conferences with God than with anybody else.

And what did I tell Him? Among other things, I told Him, "Now, Lord, if I do the things I know I should do, and if I say what I know in my heart I should say, I will be in trouble with people and with groups—there is no other way!

"Not only will I be in trouble for taking my stand in faith and honesty, but I will certainly be in a situation where I will be seriously tempted of the devil!.” -  AW Tozer

“I will not run. I will not hide. I will not crawl under a rug. I will dare to stand up and fight because I am on your side—and I know that when I am weak, then I am strong."

Bold words, scary words when we realize the impact it might have on our lives, but we need to look at them, read His Word and then not run from our obligations, not hide but to follow Him wherever He leads us.

What I share with others is the things that God is working within me.  It doesn’t mean I do not struggle with the things I write about, it means that I still have a long ways to go to meet the ideals I hold true and before I can claim as Paul and Tozer did.

“I will not run. I will not hide. I will not crawl under a rug. I will dare to stand up and fight because I am on your side—and I know that when I am weak, then I am strong."

I share because others have similar difficulties and they need to know they are not alone.

Later, Art (-:

Another sign of Spring quickly approaching, in our neck of the woods– the skunks are coming out.  One of the few things that Lewis and Clark wrote about this area was the number of ‘polecats’ here.

I don’t think they are all that prolific now, we only see one or two during the year and sometimes not at all.  But they can be a challenge when confronted, especially with a pet.

We have lived in this area for about 50 years now.  During that time we have had, between the cats and dogs, at least a couple of dozen pets.

Until early this morning we have never had a pet ‘maced’ by a skunk.  Poor Blaze got it last night.  I got him into the shower and covered him with tomato juice, washing him the best I could and then washed that out with shampoo.

This morning was his turn to see his groomer, Allison at the Pink Poodle – he looks like a rag muffin.  She had to cut his beard down to almost nothing, but by doing that helped with the residual fragrance left on him. 

It was probably good that he was so shaggy, it didn’t get into his eyes and wasn’t on the skin. 

We are still trying to deal with it on the porch.

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John 17:10-11 “And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.

¹¹ And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.”   KJV

It would be so much easier that after we were saved from our sins that we would immediately be taken up and into heaven.

We wouldn’t have the struggles, we wouldn’t have the pain, we would just be with Him forever.

There is a reason He has left us here, in the world.

If all Christians were immediately transported to heaven, who would tell others about His saving grace; how would we learn of it if there is no one to tell us.  But, because of those who shared His love and Grace with us, we have the promise of life ever after.

He has chosen to spread His Gospel with human beings, even though the angels themselves would gladly come down to share His love.

Our world was created for mankind.  God has always used man to tell others about Him, to teach them and to lead them to God.

AND He expects us to help others not only find Him but help them find the comfort of His Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:3-4 “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

⁴ Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”  KJV

People are in pain all around us.  By making ourselves available to the Holy Spirit, we can reach out and comfort them.

We think in short terms, 50, 60, 70 and longer years on this earth seems such a long time to have to ‘suffer’ at the world’s hands, and yet it won’t even be a fraction of eternity that we will spend at the feet of our God.

While we may wish we didn’t have to go through all these years in preparation for eternity, it is a very finite time and when we turn ourselves over to God we realize that by helping others we increase those that will be admitted into the Kingdom of God.

The world is in horrible shape, maybe the worst it has ever been.  America is just starting to feel that curse of satan and far too many of us are wringing our hands and giving up.

We can make a difference in other people’s lives by allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us, to give us wisdom and the ability to share His wonderful love to those who so desperately need Him.

Later, Art (-:

No snow, but lots of gentle rain in our neck of the woods today.

It is 1828 and very dark outside, the clouds hold the sky in and the stars out.  It is hard to believe than next Sunday at this time, it will still be light out.

I don’t much care for day light savings time, my feelings either we do it all year round or not at all – but I don’t have much say over it.

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1 Timothy 5:9-10 “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

¹⁰ For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”  KJV

Another one of those verses that is often misquoted.  Money is not the root of all evil, it is the love of money that causes man to deny the laws of God and focus on becoming wealthy.

But it is not the only love that can supplant God in our hearts.  Many things can interfere with our relationship with Him.

Love of money is of course already noted, but power, prestige and position can be just as deadly to our spirit.  

“Things” of all nature can ease its way into our heart and before we know it we have forced the Holy Spirit to live in the attic or basement of our heart where we don’t have to hear Him when He talks to us.

Psalm 37:34-35 “Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.

³⁵ I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.”  KJV

The best leaders understand what their charges are going through.  They do their best to ease their burdens, to help them at every turn.

While there are times a leader, a boss or someone else in charge has to exercise his authority over others – he does so with humility and a desire to get the best for and out of the individual.

It is very easy to have people hanging on his every word, to ‘do’ things for them that could be easily done themselves – and the leader has to be careful about ‘eating’ up that devotion and demanding it as his worth.

What a leader does with his power, authority and position can make him stronger and more subservient to God, or it can drive him away from God and focus on his own ego.

Jesus showed all of us the way to be a leader, the way to live our lives so that when we are given responsibility of command we can do so without letting our own personal self-worth get in the way.

Yes, rank has its privilege, but when it demeans another person he has stepped away from service to God and more on service to himself.

Mathew 20:25-27 “But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.

²⁶ But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;

²⁷ And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:”  KJV

When we aspire to bigger and better things, whether in our job or some other endeavor, we need to remember that Jesus did His job with love.

He was firm, at times He had to say what needed to be said in a forceful manner, but those things were done to glorify God, not to destroy the man.

He challenged the Jewish leaders of the day because they were no longer listening to God.  Instead of listening to Him and contemplating what He had to say, they killed Him.

When we do the same kind of challenges, we want to make sure we are right – to abuse our authority, power or position to enlarge our own self-esteem or at the benefit of someone else will cause our soul to have great distress and in the end we will come before the real authority and be judged on that conduct.

Doing our best, seeking and receiving honest promotions are well within God’s desire for our lives.

But when that is what we focus on, to the detriment of our relationship with God, we cannot be a true leader, only a puppet of our own desires.

Later, Art (-:

Woke up this morning, opened the blinds, looked out the window and what did I see?  It WASN’T a band of angels coming after me.

It was snow, small watery flakes, but snow none the less.  It won’t last long, but winter is going to stay for a while, it thinks.

It reminds me of a cartoon I saw many, many years ago.  I can only remember seeing it once but the background music was classic, of course, as most were at that time – for years I have been listening trying to recall that music – it was dramatic.

Anyway, there was an elf or gnome or some creature saying it was spring and he was telling the bulbs it was time to grow.  There were some warm days and the spring flowers started coming out.

Then, the North wind, blue in color, started blowing and snow started falling and there became a battle between the north wind and this elf – the elf would say, ‘it is time for spring, I say’ and the wind kept blowing.

Don’t recall exactly how the elf won, but he did and the grass and flowers sprung out, the trees leafed out.  Winter didn’t want to leave, just like this year.

But, the elf won.

And the sun has come out, now – the snow has stopped and not left any signs of staying today, so in our neck of the woods it really does look like spring is just around the corner, a short corner.

Hooray for the elf!

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Isaiah 25:1 “O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.” KJV

Over and over again God has given us good advice, good examples of how we should live our lives and bad examples to avoid in our lives.

He has given us the birds that sing, roses, dahlias, sunflowers, and many other beautiful flowers to brighten our days.

He has given us soil to tend, knowledge to know how to use it to get the best crops.

He has provided us with love, mercy and grace.

He has given His only Son that we might live with Him for eternity.

He has provided His Holy Spirit to comfort us, to lead us, to teach us, to give us wisdom in our service to Him.

He has given us His Word to read, to absorb its truths, to allow us to understand Him and to draw closer to Him as He speaks to us in His Word.

His Word addresses our every need and we find some verses take on new insights as we read them at different times in our lives.

Every day several times a day He provides for us, He watches over us, He loves us and wants the very best for us.

“O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.”

Later, Art (-:

Woke up this morning to a bright sunlit top of Cherry Heights.  Encouraging for our neck of the woods, could actually see the top of Mt. Adams and the bottom of Mt. Hood, now both are covered with clouds and we have some moving in here.

Forecast high was 42, it is now 50 in the shade and close to 60 in Carla’s garden.  However, there is also supposed to be rain and/or snow this evening and overnight with a temp of 28 – we shall see.

I am a dog person, have almost always had a dog, and probably will always have a dog.  When Carla and I got married we started having cats and have ever since.

I do like them, and we have had some real characters.  Ozzie, the one that adopted Carla, has somehow become ‘my’ cat.  She is always close by.  Yesterday when I was sick and in bed, she came up, checked me over, laid down next to the pillow and started purring.

Wendy calls her my nurse cat.

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“Did you thank God for that failure?” Questioned asked of Arvo Part, an Estonian conductor of both classic and religious music, by a little girl who was a daughter of a priest.

The conductor was sitting on a bench contemplating; a little girl came up to him and asked him what was wrong.  He said, “I told her I couldn’t come up with the music needed for a composition.”

She then asked me, “Did you thank God for that failure?”

Words of wisdom from a child.

This had an incredible impact on the composer and many years later he wrote about it in a book he wrote.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” KJV

This has got to be one of the harder commandments on living for Christ that I have to work with, it is too easy to focus on our circumstances and forget that God has something for us through all of it.

Yesterday I started getting sick.  It was the same feeling that kept growing on me when I was hospitalized last September.

I went to bed in the afternoon, got up for a few minutes – just long enough to fix a salt and pepper roast for Carla – I couldn’t eat – then back to bed.

As I was dozing off I heard a voice telling me that I was going to be sicker than I have ever been, it would be far worse than September.

Carla would have to call an ambulance to take me to the hospital I would be so sick.

It was as if satan was standing over the top of me and hammering with these negative and frankly frightening thoughts, and taking great pleasure in doing it.

The last thing I remember, before waking up several hours later, was saying, “Okay.  God, who do you want me to talk to?”

Still not feeling well, but much better, slept for about 14 hours (off and on) and may have to lay down for a while later today, but I think we overcame satan’s taunts.

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

Psalm 119:105  ^“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” KJV

I just need to follow that light.

Later, Art (-:

In our neck of the woods, while we still have snow on the ground, the yard is snow free and none of our animals are loving it more than one of the cats, Abby.

She much prefers outside.  She comes in to eat and during bad weather to sleep.  She doesn’t like to be petted while inside the house – although the past few weeks have changed a bit sense we aren’t going outside.  However, once outside she becomes a pest wanting to be petted all the time and getting in the way of anything we are doing.

However, forecast, now, right now this minute at least, is for strong possibility of snow and/or rain through Tuesday.

Our higher temps forecast have been modified and now they are lower temps. 

Really interesting winter this year.

Still getting measureable inches in our mountains, and that is good news!

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“Don't let circumstances distress you. Rather, look for the will of God for your life to be revealed in and through those circumstances.”  - Billy Graham

Joshua 1:9 “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” KJV

Sometimes it is very difficult to go through something that in one way or another is devastating to us or our loved ones and not feel depressed or distressed. 

But God is quite clear He IS there for us, and while we may not understand why we go through those situations we but have to turn to Him to receive strength to live through it.

We sometimes have to go to Him several times a day to regain our faith in Him, to allow His Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us.

That is okay, God understands all that is happening and wants to comfort us and strengthen us.  He wants to reassure us of His love, grace and mercy; to give us what we need, whether that be words for us, or for someone else to help in those serious times.

True peace in our heart ONLY comes from God and He must be the one we go to for that peace and for the strength to go another hour, another day.

We never know why we go through something, but when we rely on God and tell others there is a truth that the Holy Spirit uses to add strength to our words.

We need to ask God what He wants us to do, who He wants us to speak to – I have been amazed at Him giving me His wisdom to share with nurses, staff or doctors how He is working in my life.  Some politely listen, others agree and I know (from my own experiences) some will have my words come back to them in quieter moments.

So thankful that He not only promises to be with us – but HE ALWAYS honors those promises.

Later, Art (-: