Category Archives: Encouragement

Walking Upon Impossibilities

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These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world. John 16:33

Greetings in the name of our precious LORD.

I don’t know about you, but my get-up-and-go seems to have gotten up and gone, and for the last few weeks I haven’t been able to find it. Pesky little medical conditions tend to do that to a person, but I am not the least bit discouraged. For now, I am resting my body, and more importantly, I am resting in the promises of my precious LORD. I do plan to dust my keyboard off very soon, but for today, I want to share one of my  older “Rays of Light” blogs that I feel quite applicable to my situation. Hopefully, it will bless you as well, as you face life’s challenges.

Walking Upon Impossibilities

“Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak.” Thomas Carlyle, Scottish Historian.

Sitting in a crowded waiting room this past week, I watched a very young girl make her way slowly across the room. Tears pooled in my eyes at the thought that this crippled child would have to use crutches for the rest of her life. But she wasn’t the least bit sad. From the sweet, careless smile which lit her innocent face, it was quite obvious that she didn’t give her legs a second thought.

I was reminded of William Pitt the Elder, a British Politician, who was an extremely influential figure during the French Revolution. What Pitt lacked in physical strength, he more than made up for in determination. The concept of limitation was a foreign one to him.

Though he rarely delegated duty, he had at some point during the war given a direct command to one of his officials. When the man balked at the impossibility of the task, Pitt reprimanded him by pointing to his crutches and confidently declared: “Sir, I walk upon impossibilities!”

There is no question that all of humanity is currently facing difficulty and hardship. The future holds many uncertainties and without God, I believe, little hope. With God, however, there is much hope because with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

Whatever you are going through right now, dear reader, remember that we may all lose a few battles, but we will most assuredly win the war. Now is not the time to give in to discouragement; there is too much work to do. It may be difficult, but let us all rise to the challenge.

Marie Currie, French physicist and Nobel Peace Prize winner summarized this well. She said “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that…. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.”

It is far too easy to allow circumstances to cripple us. And when they do, we can choose to accept them as insurmountable, henceforth hobbling on emotional crutches. Or we can look them squarely in the face and declare, as Mr. Pitt did, “I walk upon impossibilities!” Let me remind you again, with God nothing shall be impossible (Luke 1:37).

Like A Flood

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Sometimes God calms the storm. Sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child.

This past weekend, the weather here was horrendous. We were hit with the whole gamut of storm threats, including tornadoes, hail and flooding. In fact the hail stone pictured –or should I say hail boulder- was one of many that pounded this region. There was quite a bit of property loss in our area, but praise the LORD, there were no serious injuries.

I thought of the second half of Isaiah 59:19: When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. However, the ancient Hebrew texts did not have commas, or paragraphs for that matter, so instead of reading:

When the enemy shall come in like a flood —the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him

the verse could just as easily read

When the enemy shall come in —like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

What’s the difference? The difference is where you place the emphasis. Dear reader, when you are bombarded with the storms of life, do you focus more on the storm, or on the one who can calm it?

It is only natural to feel completely overwhelmed at times. Undoubtedly, many of the folks here that lost their homes in the tornadoes felt that way. I’m sure they could relate to the words of King David did when he penned the following:

My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen on me.
Fear and trembling have beset me;
horror has overwhelmed me.
I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.
I would hurry to my place of shelter,
far from the tempest and storm.
Psalm 55:4-8 NIV

But David didn’t stop there, allowing his situation to flood him with despair. Instead, he confidently proclaimed, “As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me” (verse 16).

Dear reader, I leave you with these encouraging words from the same Psalm; may they flood you with peace during your roughest storms.

“Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved (verse 22).

Spring Into Action

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“I don’t like to play in the dirt,” a friend recently told me. Obviously, she doesn’t share my enthusiasm for gardening. While I certainly respect her position, I’m a country girl at heart, and take my grandmother’s words seriously that, “A little dirt never hurt anyone.” Now that it’s spring, I get to do a lot of ‘playing’ and I’m quite pleased about that.

In fact, I find the feel of rich, dark soil in my hands to be rather therapeutic. There is just something incredibly wonderful in knowing that vigorous new life will soon spring forth from it, and I will have had a hand in that. What’s more, I never cease to be amazed at the miracle of life –even the life of a tiny new plant.

Whenever I see a teeny seedling that has broken through the ground, I can’t help but marvel at how it assumes a posture of praise -tiny new leaves stretched heavenward towards the light. Then, all the time and effort I previously spent preparing the soil, and tending to the seed, is forgotten in the same way a mother’s labor pains vanish at the very moment she sees her newborn chid’s face.

I can’t help but think that our Heavenly Father feels much the same way each time a soul climbs out of this world’s dirt and reaches for His light. Dear reader, our Heavenly Father does not need us to help tend His garden, yet He has given us the privilege of doing so until He gathers His harvest. God’s children all have a hand in planting the Gospel seed, and watering it, until vigorous life springs forth (I Corinthians 3:5-9).

Finally, brethren, let us not neglect to pray. If we are to see a harvest for God’s kindgom, this is the most important part of our labor. To quote Rudyard Kipling, “Adam was a gardener, and God, who made him, sees that half of all gardening is done upon the knees.”

Healing Honeycomb

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There’s been a lot of buzz lately about bees because they are mysteriously disappearing en masse. How tragic!

As you know, bees are necessary to pollinate food crops. And they produce sweet honey, which is exceptionally healthful to the body, as is the honeycomb it is stored in. In fact, the diverse medicinal properties of both have been utilized for thousands of years. Bees wax is also medicinal.  In fact, burning pure bees-wax candles helps clean toxins out of the air. The  list of its other beneficial uses is nearly as long as that of honey.

Because the bees are disappearing at a rather frightening rate, scientists are trying to breed super bees and manufacture artificial honey and honey-related products. The problem is, artificially created products are usually more detrimental than beneficial. For instance, artificial honey is nothing more than sugar, water and citric acid (invert sugar), which can create health issues and artificial bees-wax contains chemicals, which are toxic to the human body.

I am reminded of Proverbs 16:24, which states: Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. I have personally experienced much encouragement and emotional healing from the pleasant words of others. However, I have also experienced the sting of pleasant, but insincere flatteries -like artificial honey- which made me feel good for that moment, but in the long run proved to be of no real value. I very much desire, therefore, that my own words be pure, sincere and healing to others.

“…. the difference is that instead of dirt and poison, we have rather chosen to fill our hives with honey and wax, thus furnishing mankind with the two noblest of things, which are sweetness and light.” ~Johnathon Swift

The Key to Peace

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It wasn’t until the toilet was flushing that I realized my car keys had fallen in. Normally, something like that would have really frustrated me, but I managed to laugh at my mishap instead. Then again, I knew that I could call my husband, and he would bring a spare set; which he did.

I hated to inconvenience him after a long day’s work, but at the same time, I was quite thankful to have someone watching out for me –someone to come to my rescue when I need it. Actually, this is not the first time my husband has had to bring me keys –although, flushing them down the toilet was a first.

Later, the LORD brought the following Scripture to my mind, and reminded me of some very important keys: I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:19).

Simply put, God has given kingdom authority to those in His family. Are you in His family? If so, you have been given everything you need to live a victorious life.

True, you may run into some obstacles along the way. You may even encounter circumstances that will overwhelm you to the point you lose sight of the right kingdom key to unlock the answer. When this happens, dear reader, you need only call upon the LORD. He is always watching out for His children and He will always come to your rescue.

Although He may rescue you in a dynamic, miraculous way; chances are He will hand you a spare key instead, and let you go about your business. Why? Like any good parent, your Heavenly Father uses every situation to your advantage –to help you learn and mature. Knowing this, you need never feel frustrated when things don’t go your way. You simply need to trust the LORD –that is the key to peace.

The Arbitrary Song of the Wind Chime

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photo: windandweather.com

Although quite windy, the weather was absolutely gorgeous. I had several errands to run that day, but they would just have to wait a little longer. Nothing seemed as important, at that moment, than stopping to enjoy the arbitrary song of the wind chime.

The tune varied from gust to gust, but each was distinctly beautiful. I couldn’t help but think: Sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.¹ My heart swelled with joy as I breathed-in the fresh spring air and watched the trees dance to the song of the wind chime.

Then another pearl from God’s word came to mind: For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.²

It is true; we are living in very disturbing times. However, Scripture says: let all those that put their trust in thee [O LORD] rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield. ³

I don’t know about you, but that makes me want to sing for joy. My voice may not beautiful, and sometimes my songs are nothing more than spontaneous words of praise, but that which is not perfect can be beautiful too, like the arbitrary song of a wind chime.

¹Psalm 96:1
²Isaiah 55:12
³Psalm 5:11,12

Perfect Heathen

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“Listen, that boy is a perfect heathen,” she said. Actually, I wasn’t really listening as much as overhearing, but I couldn’t help but marvel at the obvious paradox. A heathen is, by definition, a person that does not acknowledge the God of the Bible, let alone live by His instruction. The Bible speaks of the heathen one-hundred-fifty times, and never in a good light. In fact, God calls the ways of the Heathen filthy and abominable. He commands us time and again not to participate in the “shame of the heathen” nor learn their ways.

If someone were aspiring to be “perfect” at something, heathenism would certainly not be a good choice. True, the word heathen seems pretty benign in American culture. How about the word pagan? That word tends to evoke lots of horrible images –images of everything from polytheism to the heinous, unspeakable sins that the pagans commit– yet the words heathen and pagan are pretty much synonymous.

Conversely, striving for “perfection” is a worthwhile and desirable pursuit. King David said, “I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way (Psalms 101:1,2a). The Hebrew word for perfect is taw-meem, which means that David’s heart was undefiled, full of integrity and truth. The Bible uses the word, perfect -with all its derivatives- almost one-hundred-fifty times as well. However, that which is “perfect” is always pleasing to God.

Perhaps you believe, dear reader, that you can never be perfect. Truthfully, if you are striving for perfection according to the heathen’s definition, you probably won’t ever attain it. But if you acknowledge the God of the Bible, and have a heart like King David’s, you most assuredly can. After all, perfection and righteousness are pretty much synonymous; and the Holy Bible has given us ample instruction as to how to live righteously before the LORD.

Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Co 7:1).

Having said that, I pray you all have a perfectly glorious day!

A Little Pick-Me-Up

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As my son and I walked through the parking lot, he stooped to pick up a coin. “Cool; it’s a dime,” he said. “If it had been a penny I wouldn’t have bothered, but a dime – now that’s a different story.”

I guess he doesn’t know that a 1943-D bronze cent was recently sold for $1.7 million, or realize that certain other pennies have been sold for as much as $200,000 in recent years. Then again, I have no room to talk. There have been lots of times that I was too tired, lazy or busy to bother picking up a stray penny.

Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t take the same attitude when he decides to pick someone up after they have fallen? If people were coins, Jesus would consider every dull old penny every bit as valuable as a shiny new gold piece. And, He would search for every lost coin. Consider the parable of the woman who lost a silver coin, then searched diligently to find it.

Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin. In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:8-10 NIV).

I believe there is also rejoicing in heaven every time someone stops to help pick someone up who is lost or fallen because that is a reflection of Jesus’ heart. I pray that I never cease to recognize the value in every human life, and that I always avail myself to be the LORD’s arms extended.

After all, everyone could use a little pick-me-up now and then!

The End of the Matter

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Surely, you’ve heard the story of the young bride that always cut the end off a roast before she put it in the pan to cook? It is said that her husband asked, “Honey, why do you do that?” To which she replied, “I don’t know. My mother always did it that way, so I do it that way.”

This made the young bride curious enough to ask her mother, “Mom, why do you always cut the end of the roast off before you cook it?” Her mother answered in like manner, “I don’t know. My mother always did it that way, so I do it that way.”

By this time, her curiosity had really peaked. “Granny,” she asked the following week, “Why do you always cut the end of the roast off before you cook it?” Smiling sweetly, her grandmother answered, “Well dear, I always bought a big roast to feed a big family, but my roasting pan was too small. I had to cut the ends off the roasts so they would fit in the pan.”

Whoever first told this story was probably trying to make a point about the folly of following others blindly. Scripture speaks to that issue as well when it says if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch (Matthew 15:14). But that is not the point I wish to make.

I would like you to ponder this Scripture instead: 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 (I Peter 3:15).

Dear reader, if someone were to ask you why you believe as you do, are you prepared to open your Bible and answer them through Scripture? And if someone were to ask why you, as a believer, why do you do certain things, are you prepared to answer those questions also? It might not be in your best interest, or theirs, to say, “The church has always done it this way, so that’s how I do it.”

After all, there are many folks out there who are hungry for the truth and they want definitive answers. Telling them, “It has always been done this way,” is a bit like serving a roast with the end cut off – pointlessly lacking.

Finish the Race

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“I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace” (Acts 20:24).

Yesterday my husband tackled one of those organizing tasks that I have been putting off for longer than I care to admit. Although appreciative, I must admit that my gratitude was slightly hampered by a touch of guilt for not having done the job myself. Normally I try to keep up with such things, but life does have a way of getting away from me sometimes, so that all the “insignificant” stuff gets put-off until who knows when.

The truth is, in the long run, some things really aren’t all that important. I’m sure the Apostle Paul felt the same way quite often, as his primary focus was on the task given to him –and to all of us– to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.

Time is short; let’s all keep running the race and sharing God’s grace with new fervor. True, we might have to examine our lives and do a little organizing or re-prioritizing, but there is no better time than right now to do so. And remember, if we are going to run an endurace race, we need to be thouroghly prepared; no one can do this for us. May I encourage you, dear reader, if you don’t already do so, to begin daily Bible readings this year! Did you know that you can read through the whole Bible in one year by reading less than four chapters per day? I can’t think of a better way to start a new year!