Category Archives: Devotional

Mostly Dead

Wesley died and all hope with him. His true love would now be forced to marry the disdainful prince and live unhappily ever after, or so it seemed. But as fate would have it, the hero of The Princess Bride was not really dead. He was, we are told, “mostly dead –there’s a big difference between dead and mostly dead!”

Granted, it is easy to sometimes think that some of our hopes and dreams have withered and died. We have probably all faced that at some point. Mark Twain said, “Lord save us all from… a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.” Perhaps he was referencing Proverbs 13:12: Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

When I think of that scripture, I think of a natural tree. It remains dormant in the bleakness of winter –its branches bare. However, when spring arrives, the tree bursts forth with abundance. Solomon said:
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Likewise, the fulfillment of hope also arrives at its appointed time.

Always remember, circumstances might be such that hope has seemingly died, but there is a big difference between dead and mostly dead. All it takes to revive hope is one simple prayer. Then, in its proper season, that hope which has been deferred will burst forth with fulfillment.

May we all find comfort in knowing this.

Murphy’s Law

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Most of us are familiar with ‘Murphy’s Law’ –the old adage that “whatever can go wrong will.”
As for me, I’ve been there and done that! I’m sure you have too and therefore you will surely understand why I am advocating the adoption of a new law by all –the Romans Law (no, not the old motto when in Rome…..)

Romans Law is the adoption of Romans 8:28. Even when it seems that everything has gone from bad to worse with no end in sight, we must remember:

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.

I am reminded of the forty-fifth chapter of Genesis. If anyone had gotten a bum rap in life Joseph did. Being sold into slavery by his very own brothers was bad enough, but Joseph later landed in prison for no other reason than standing his ground and doing what was morally right. It seems the more righteous Joseph was, the more people resented him for it and they made him pay dearly for their own character flaws.

Nevertheless, when at long last Joseph was face to face with his brothers, what did he say?

“And Joseph said to his brothers, Come near to me, I pray you. And they did so. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt! But now, do not be distressed and disheartened or vexed and angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me ahead of you to preserve life. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God…” (verses 4, 5 & 8 )

The next time everything that can go wrong does, I plan to ask myself ‘Does God have a plan in all of this?’ I would like to encourage you to do the same. Remember, Joseph’s life may have looked rather dismal for quite some time but in the end, God made roses bloom out of the manure.

Smile Awhile

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You’ve probably heard it said that it takes twice as many muscles to frown than it does to smile. That may or may not be true, but one of the muscles used for smiling is called the levator labii superioris. On the other hand, the muscles used to frown include the depressor labii inferioris. Personally, I find it amusing that you use the depressor muscle to frown and that it is an inferior(is) muscle, but that’s just me.

Joy is one of the nine-fold attributes of the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ (Galatians 5:22-23), and smiling is the natural result of joy. If you can not think of any other reason to smile today, let me give you a very big one. You can say, as did the prophet Isaiah:

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. (61:10):

A smile costs nothing but gives much. It enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give. It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None is so rich or mighty that he cannot get along without it and none is so poor that he cannot be made rich by it. Yet a smile cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away. Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give. ~Author Unknown

Blind Sight

Do You Have a Dream?

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Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalm 37:4

The most secret, sacred wish that lies deep down at the bottom of your heart, the wonderful thing that you hardly dare to look at, or to think about- the thing that you would rather die than have anyone else know of, because it seems so far beyond anything that you are, or have at the present time, that you fear that you would be cruelly ridiculed if the mere thought of it were known – that is just the very thing that God is wishing you to do or be for him. And the birth of that marvelous wish in your soul – the dawning of that secret dream – was the Voice of God himself telling you to arise and come up higher because he has need of you.

Emmet Fox
Your Heart’s Desire
De Vorss & Co. California 1922

Swedish hymn Den Kostliga Pärlan

Polished Pearls

Little Pearls of Inspiration