TODAY --

 It is hard to believe that the month of January is almost over!  I trust that it has been a good month for you, and you have sensed God's sweet presence and guidance.  I thought I would like to post this little challenge for us entitled "Today" by an unknown author.  

Mend a quarrel.  Search out a forgotten friend.  Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust.  Write a letter.  Share some treasure.  Give a soft answer.  Encourage youth.  Manifest your loyalty in a word or deed.

Keep a promise.  Find the time.  Forego a grudge.  Forgive an enemy.  Listen.  Apologize if you were wrong.  Try to understand.  Flout envy.  Examine your demands on others.  Think first of someone else.  Appreciate, be kind, be gentle.  Laugh a little more.

Deserve confidence.  Take up arms against malice.  Decry complacency.  Express your gratitude.  Worship your God.  Gladden the heart of a child.  Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth.  Speak your love.  Speak it again.  Speak it still again.  Speak it still once again."

"And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."    

THE ANT!

In Galatians 6:9, we read these wonderful words -- "Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if (this little two-letter word 'IF' is so very important) we faint not."  So let us go to the ant.  Tammerlane used to relate to his friends the following anecdote of his early life.

     "I once was forced to take shelter from my enemies in a ruined building, where I sat alone many hours.  Desiring to divert my mind from my hopeless condition, I fixed my eyes on an ant that was carrying a grain of corn larger than itself up a high wall.  I numbered the efforts it made to accomplish this object.  The grain fell 69 times to the ground, but the insect persevered, and the 70th time it reached the top!  This sight gave me courage at the moment, and I never forgot the lesson."

So, my friends, are you at the 69th time, and feel you can not go one step further on?  Remember that "Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark."  Praise the Lord!  I love that little quote!  So let us determine to --

     "Just keep on praying 'till light breaks through!  The Lord will answer; He'll answer you!  God keeps His promise---His Word is true.  Just keep on praying 'till light breaks through!"   

THOUGHT FOR TODAY!

Today is Monday, and there is much unrest in Washington -- there are hurting hearts all around us -- and many things about tomorrow we don't seem to understand!  So why don't we---just for today---concentrate on this little quote by an unknown author:

     "No frown ever made a heart glad; no complaint ever made a dark day bright; no bitter word ever lightened a burden or made a rough road smooth; no grumbling ever made the sun shine in a home.  The day needs the resolute step, the look of cheer, the smiling countenance, the kindly word."

So let us do the best we can, and leave the outcome to God who knows the end from the beginning, and still holds the world in His hands!  Praise the Lord!

HANNAH PRAYED!

God's Holy Word is such a wonderful treasure -- a lamp for my feet -- a light for my path -- filled with many precious promises for those who will trust and obey!  My heart is thrilled and blessed when I think upon the Biblical heroes of faith, and one of my favorites in the Old Testament is Hanna, the mother of Samuel.  In the 1st chapter of I Samuel, you will find Hannah in great bitterness of soul, weeping and praying because she has no child!  

In her desperation, she vowed a vow, and prayed -- "O Lord of hosts, if Thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of Thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget Thine handmaid, but wilt give unto Thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head."  Hannah was in such desperation of soul that she could not utter words.  God's Word says that she spoke in her heart -- her lips moved, but her voice was not heard.  She was in great sorrow of spirit as she poured her soul unto the Lord!

Hannah's intense, sincere, and earnest prayer reached the throne of God, and His Word tells us that the Lord remembered Hannah, and she conceived and bare the son we know as Samuel.  Hannah did not forget the vow she had made to the Lord!  I believe she spent every spare moment praying with, and for, her son Samuel.  She did her best to instruct and guide him, and as soon as she had weaned him, she took him to the house of the Lord.  She spoke to Eli, the priest, and said:

"Oh, my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord.  For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of Him: Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord: as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord." 

Hannah has been called the "patron saint" of praying mothers.  In half of all the verses about her in I Samuel, she is praying, and it was most assuredly her prayers that produced one of the great heroes of the Old Testament -- her son, Samuel, who was, himself, a direct answer to her prayers!

In these difficult and perilous times, I believe that God is searching for some Hannah's -- some mothers, whose earnest prayers and intercession before God can help to mold and shape their sons to become praying leaders -- so desperately needed in our nation and churches today!

May we, as mothers, humbly say with the Psalmist -- "I give myself unto prayer."

STAND UP!

It is always a blessing when the clouds are rolled away and the beautiful sunshine comes streaming in my windows!  And it's an even greater blessing to know that I have sunshine in my soul today!  What a blessed privilege it is to be a child of the King!  I have been thinking about Faith, and how we read in God's Word that without faith it is impossible to please Him, so I thought I would share these wonderful words by Willaim Ellis that I found in an old Sunday School paper from 1956.

"This is not quicksand.  Go ahead -- jump up and down, rest your whole weight, for you will not sink -- this is solid ground.  What is??  Faith!  'The substance of things hoped for' -- 'the evidence of things not seen' -- the framer of worlds -- the channel of justification -- the climax of sanctification -- the roadway of the pilgrim -- the bedrock of prayer.  Stand up, man, stand up -- faith is the victory over sin, hell, and the grave.

BY FAITH -- Abel presented a bleeding sacrifice -- Enoch disappeared into the skies -- Noah hammered until an Ark was built -- Abraham sought a city not made with hands.

BY FAITH -- Moses forsook Egypt -- Rahab perished not -- David  slew Goliath -- Samuel faced Saul.

BY FAITH -- Flames of violence were extinguished -- Armies were put to crying flight -- Weaklings were made champions -- Mouths of lions were closed.

They stand taller than the Empire State Building, these men of faith, and they form the greatest galaxy of stars this old sod-filled earth has ever known.  Some might have lost their heads like ripened wheat, but they held their faith.  Lifting their holy hands skyward, they beckon the followers of the Master to march onward with flaming swords and burning hearts.  To stand among these faithful stalwarts is our splendid privilege.  It may appear that carnal men will triumph, but no!  Materialism may now cloud the sky, but not forever.  Politicians are playing a delightful game, but a whistle will ultimately end the fracas.  Ah!  how surprised they will be when the final curtain drops, and the men of faith -- so long overlooked -- will march with flying banners to the Eternal City of God!  

Do not be ashamed of your faith.  Stand up man, stand up!  Your faith triumphs!"

Praise the Lord!  Let us sing together -- "Faith is the Victory!  Faith is the Victory!  Oh, glorious victory that overcomes the world!"                                                                                                                                                                      

REVIVE US AGAIN!

In the 85th Psalm. the Psalmist asked -- "Wilt Thou not revive us again: that Thy people may rejoice in Thee?"  I trust that this testimony of the author of the hymn, "Revive Us Again", by Dr. William P. Mackay will be a blessing and encouragement to your heart as it has mine.

     "My dear Mother had been a godly, pious woman, quite often telling me of the Saviour, and many times I had been a witness to her wrestling in prayer for my souls salvation.  But nothing had made a deep impression on me.  The older I grew, the more wicked I became.                                                               One day a seriously injured laborer was brought into the hospital.  The case was hopeless.  He seemed to realize his condition, for he was fully conscious, and asked me how long he would last.  I gave him my opinion in as cautious a manner as I could.  'Have you any relatives we could notify'?  I continued.  The patient shook his head.  His only wish was to see his landlady, because he owed her a small sum, and also wished to bid her farewell.  He also requested his landlady send him, 'The Book. . .      I went to see him on my regular visits at least once a day.  What struck me most was the quiet, almost happy expression constantly on his face.  After the man died, some things about the deceased affairs were to be attended to in my presence.  'What shall we do with this'?  asked the nurse, holding up a book in her hand.  'What kind of book is it'?  I asked.                                                                                      The Bible of the poor man:  As long as he was able to read it, he did so, and when he was unable to do so anymore, he kept it under his bed cover.  I took the Bible, and ----- could I trust my eyes?  It was my own Bible!!  The Bible which my Mother had given me when I left my parents' home, and which later, when short of money, I sold for a small amount.  My name was still in it, written in my Mother's hand.  With a deep sense of shame I looked upon the precious Book.  It had given comfort and refreshing to the unfortunate man in his last hours.  It had been a guide to him into eternal life, so that he had been enabled to die in peace and happiness.  And this Book, the last gift of my Mother, I had actually sold for a ridiculous price . . . . Be it sufficient to say that the regained possession of my Bible was the cause of my conversion!

"We praise Thee, O God, for the Son of Thy love, for Jesus, who died and is now gone above.                   We praise Thee, O God, for Thy Spirit of Light, who has shown us our Saviour and scattered our night.  All glory and praise to the Lamb that was slain, who has borne all our sins and has cleansed every stain.  Revive us again; fill each heart with Thy love; may each soul be rekindled with fire from above.                                                                                                                                                             Hallelujah!  Thine the glory!  Hallelujah!  Amen!                                                                                        Hallelujah!  Thine the glory!  Revive us again."                                                                                                                                                                

COME and WORSHIP!

 I am back home in my "nest" after enjoying a week with my son Joel and family in Cincinnati!  It was a blessed time, and sooo much fun attempting to keep up with my 3 sweet granddaughters!!  Certainly the love of family is one of God's sweetest gifts to us, and I am very blessed! 

Today is Saturday, the day of preparation for God's Holy Day tomorrow!  It is always good to meditate on the Psalms that are filled with prayer and praise!  Let us take time to meditate on a few today:

"I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord." -- Psalm 122:1

"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.  For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations." -- Psalm 100:4-5

"O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker." -- Psalm 95:6

"Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises unto our God: for it is pleasant; and praise is comely." -- Psalm 147:1

"Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord.  Praise ye the Lord." -- Psalm 150:6

And we just can't end our day of preparation for the Lord's Day without singing a little of  "Oh, Worship the King"!  I love these beautiful words; let us sing them from the depths of our soul:

"Oh, worship the King, all glorious above, and gratefully sing His wonderful love:                                     Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days, pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.                 Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail, in Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail.                                   Thy mercies how tender!  how firm to the end!  Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer and Friend!" 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 BEST WISHES from my home to yours for a blessed New Year on this first day of 2021!  As we face the unknown days ahead, my heart is singing -- "I'm Glad I know who Jesus is!  I'm so very glad and thankful I know who Jesus is!  He's more than just a story -- He is the King of Glory!  Yes, I'm glad I know who Jesus is!"  And perhaps it would be good for us to remember these words of challenge from Oswald Chambers on this New Year's Day -- 

     "My determined purpose is to be my utmost for His Highest -- my best for His glory.  Shut out every other thought and keep yourself before God in this one thing only -- my utmost for His highest."

And now, my friends, as we enter this New Year of 2021, may "The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: the Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."  Amen!