Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no
grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce
no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the
stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my
Savior.
Habakkuk 3:17-18 (Read all of Habakkuk 3) New International Version
But the version God gave me (and which I briefly discuss today) is:
Though the programmers do not program and there is no software to sell, though there is no ink in the cartridge and I don't know how to re-fill it, though there are no renters in the abandoned rental house and no one to pay the mortgage...yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
Agreed, Tim. The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. The second half of that scripture is not necessarily my favorite, but the third part rings true - Blessed be the name of the Lord forever!
Penny,
It seems to be a tendency in many to give God credit and glory in times of prosperity but not in times of adversity...Job saw God in both and Paul learned the secret of contentment in no matter what state he was in...May we also know that secret...In our endeavors to learn and earn may we never forget the advice of James and preface our plans with, "If the Lord wills we will live and do this or that to make money." Also keeping in mind that that our long term investments are to be placed in heaven not on earth...If God should bless us with plenty may we ask Him if it's unto the increase in our standard of living,or---standard of giving. Father knows best, may we trust Him in childlike faith.
Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was a homeless young woman who lived on the streets. She had no parents, no clothes except those upon her back, no belongings to speak of. She ate whatever she could find, even someone else's left-overs in a garbage can.
One day, the prince of the city came through the streets with his royal carriage and saw the young woman rummaging through the garbage bins. His heart was filled with compassion, and he had his servants invite the young woman to enter the carriage to come to the royal palace. The woman was confused; why would the Prince want her to come to the palace?
But she accepted the invitation, though she remained somewhat in a daze. When she came to the palace, she was shown to a huge bedroom with a large canopied bed, closets full of women's clothing, and which was adjacent to a large bathroom, with a huge jaccuzzi tub. She was instructed to remove her clothing, take a long bath, and put on any of the clothing she found in the closet.
She was suspicious, and very uncomfortable, to say the least, but her curiosity, mixed with her fatigue and her hunger drove her to try it. She enjoyed the luxurious bath and the delicious feeling of being clean; she felt almost decadent when she put on the long flowing gown that she had picked out of all of the splendid garments. She went down the long staircase and was escorted into the main banqueting hall, where she sat down to a huge feast with every food imaginable. The Prince had requested that a special feast be held in honor of the young woman, who probably had not sampled such fare before.
The evening was wonderful. She enjoyed the food, the drink, the fine clothing and the wonderfully important way she was treated by the Prince and the servants. It was like living in a dream. And she expected the dream to soon come to an end.
But the Prince requested that the young woman become his Ward, his permanent guest, whose welfare would now be his concern. All of her needs would be taken care of by the Prince. She was welcome to stay with the Prince as a Princess of the kingdom for as long as she desired.
Amazed at such a prospect, she followed the servant back to the huge bedroom, where she was given a silken dressing gown for sleeping. The bed was soft, the sheets cool, the covers warm. It was perfect.
Yet in the morning, she found herself hungry again. And out of habit, she reached for her old rags instead of the fine clothing hanging in her closet. She went downstairs, through the huge banqueting room and kitchen, and went outside, behind the palace to the garbage dump, where she began rummaging for scraps from last night's feast, as she had learned to do throughout her life in order to keep from starving.
One of the servants noticed a beggar eating out of the trash cans and informed the Prince. His Highness looked out the window and recognized the beggar as his new Ward. He rushed down the stairway and out behind the house and turned the young woman toward himself.
Why are you wearing these rags? You have new royal clothing in your new bedroom. And why are you eating out of the dumpster? There is an abundance of food in the royal refrigerator, all at your disposal. You are dressed like a pauper, and acting like one who has no food or clothing, when in actuality, you are now a princess, with all the goods, rights and privileges of royalty. Don't you know who you are?
I am an orphaned pauper, said the young woman, living in your palace. I don't deserve to be in such a fancy place; I am nothing, and I have nothing. I have never done anything to even merit my visiting here, much less my living here.
That's not the point, said the Prince. I invited you here, and adopted you as one of the royal family solely out of my compassion for you. You didn't earn it; I freely gave it to you. And you no longer are an orphaned pauper; you are a royal Ward, with all of the benefits and privileges that come with being my Ward.
Whether or not you wear the fine clothing or eat the sumptuous food is up to you, but it is yours nonetheless. However until you accept the fact that you are no longer a pauper, and embrace the truth that you are now a Princess, you will never be able to enjoy all that now belongs to you.
The young woman stood there baffled. How could this be? Who was she? A pauper or a Princess? She didn't know who she was anymore. She had been a pauper so long, she continually felt like a pauper. But the Prince has decreed that she is a Princess, and whatever the Prince decrees is the truth.
Dear Prince, I have been a Pauper so long, I do not know how to be a Princess. I don't feel like a Princess inside. And yet I know that what you decree becomes law. So I need you to help me remember who I now am, so that I will act like a Princess instead of a Pauper. I do so want to be a Princess.
The Prince called one of the royal servants, a handmaiden named Paraklete. Youť, the Prince said, are to remain at the side of the Princess at all times, reminding her that she is now a royal Princess. You are to remind her of the benefits and privileges that come with her rank, and remind her of the behavior befitting someone in her position. You are not to force her to do anything, but to always speak the truth in love to her.
And the newly found Princess slowly learned to eat from the royal refrigerator rather than the royal dump, and reach for her new fine clothing rather than her rags. And she made good use of the royal bathroom and routinely tried to keep herself clean from the filth she used to walk and wallow in.
But this slow transformation of her outward actions only followed on the heels of the renewal of her mindset. With Paraklete by her side, reminding her that she was not a pauper, but a royal Princess, she slowly learned what her new identity truly was, and learned to act according to who she now was.
Your story exactly fits what I want to share at one of my churches. Thanks so much. I too printed copies for people to read; hope that's ok. I hope many others have a chance to read your parable and be impacted by God's truth. Chrissy Tsai, St Louis, MO
Thank you dear sister Penny for posting this story. It was beautifully cradted to unveil the message of God's love for the sinner and the need for total surrenderness on the part of the sinner. It illustrates anew the great love that our Lord Jesus has bestowed on us and that without condition. May His Holy Name be praised forever and ever. God bless you for sharing this wonderful analogy. With your permission, I will print out copies of it to share with my parishioners and those we witness to on the streets of urban America. Thank you again. Your brother in Christ, Adewale Adewumi, FL USA
A remarkable phone call from a 12-yr old boy to Houston radio station KSBJ FM 89.3. So profound, the station has it posted on their website. Click below to listen to it. It's short.
To watch this video, click here. To listen to the audio, click here - to download the audio, right click here and save target as.
In this week's Words for the WeekChristian Podcast, I am attaching a video version of this song which shows the words of the song, just in case the words aren't clear. It can also be used for meditation, or for worship. Please feel free to use it however you wish, except commercially (meaning you can't sell it as if it were your own).
Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. God lifts you up, takes you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. He opens you up, touches you deep inside and scoops out all the yucky stuff-- including the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside you to shine for all the world to see. This was passed on to me from another pumpkin. I'm sending this to all the pumpkins in my patch. Happy Fall!
With the school year already here and as a Christian parent
who home schools a certain scripture verse always comes to mind but more so
during this time of year that I wanted to share with you.
Deuteronomy 6:5-9 - Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today
are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when
you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when
you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
I pray this is my heart always and yours as well so we may train our children
up in the Lord, making a difference in their lives and societies as well.
I
wanted to inspire you today with a YouTube video that I came across the other
day on Lapbooking.Lapbooking I have
known about but after viewing this video it has given me some creative ideas on
doing some with my kids this year in order to make learning more fun and
enjoyable for them as well as create keepsakes of their work.
With the new school year coming up quickly and
the challenges that come from home schooling, I have not only been preparing by
getting our curriculum and home in order but have been preparing my mind as
well and praying that God guide me through this new school year.
The last two years of home schooling have went fairly well
but I also am aware of the mistakes I have made and this year I hope to do
better. And so my prayer is that God direct me in the path of His commands and
not toward selfish gain so that we can have more fun throughout this new school
year and that I teach my children a love for learning.
This weeks Words for the Week I bring you Christian Women’s Resources featured Kingdom Builder for the month of August. The theme for this month is on “Praise and Worship” and Pam Mendelson of www.northwoodsgiftemporium.com has many great reasons to praise and worship God but two main reasons are her son and daughter whom her and her husband were foster parents for but have since adopted them into their family.
Hear how God has done many miracles in their lives and how they continue to bless single mothers and children out there by continuing to meet a need out there for foster parents.
This weeks Words for the Week I want to share with you an inspirational article titled "Your Worth." It is written by an unknown author but it is a wonderful article that helps us keep our perspective on things in our lives.
Your Worth By: Unknown Author
Do not undermine
worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are
different that each of us is special. Do not set your goals
by what people deem important Only you know what is
best for you. Do not take for
granted the things closest to your heart Cling to them as you
would your life, for without them, life is meaningless. Do no let your life
slip through your fingers by living in the past nor for the future By living your life
one day at a time, you live all the days of your life. Do not give up when
you still have something to give Nothing is really
over until the moment you stop trying. It is a fragile
thread that binds us to each other. Do not be afraid to
encounter risk, it is by taking chances that we learn to be brave. Do not shut love out
of your life by saying it is impossible to find. The quickest way to
receive love is to give love The fastest way to
lose love is to hold onto it too tightly In addition, the best
way to keep love is to give it wings Do not dismiss your
dreams, To be without dreams
is to be without hope, to be without hope is to be without purpose Do not run through
life so fast that you forget not only where you have been, but also where you
are going Life is not a race
but a journey to be savored each step of the way. So smile and let the
Son shine through, for God is watching over you.
I pray that you
are blessed and that you begin to slow down, dream dreams and live life one day at a time not taking anything for granted and living to the fullest with lots of love, hope and purpose.
This weeks Words for the Week I want to read the 10
commandments in Exodus chapter 20 because I want to tell you about a book
project given by the Pink Collar Club
that I was a part of with 9 other women that just ended this past week.
The title of the book which is still in the process of getting put together is called "Mirror Mirror on the Wall" with writings on each of the 10 commandments.
Each of us wrote on each of the ten commandments over the past 10 weeks. I have to tell you that being a part of this book project was a much bigger blessing then I ever imagined it would be.
Reading on the 10 Commandments - Exodus 20:1-17
As many of us have been taught the 10 commandments or at least have known of them since we were a child, I really didn't expect this project to speak to my own heart as it did, but then again I never have really done a study on them nor have I done any sort of writing on them before.
But since it has been such a tremendous blessing to be involved in this book project, I wanted to encourage you as well to do your own study and personal journal writings on the ten commandments and/or purchase the book when it becomes available in August.
I pray that you will be blessed as you do your own study on the 10 commandments and I will be sure to keep you informed as to when and where you can purchase the "Mirror Mirror on the Wall" book.
Today
I bring you a devotion posted over at the What If ... ? Women blog titled "Preciousness of Silence" (by the Missionaries of Charity Prayer Book). A very thought provoking devotion. Enjoy!
Today
I bring you an article written by Shalene Kearney that was posted at our Hope for the Family blog where
she shares about how easy it is to take our freedoms for granted. Very timely message especially with the Fourth of July coming up.
She shares from the scripture in Galations 5:13-15.
Come on over and join us in our discussions at our Hope for the Family blog. We'd love
to hear from you.
Today
I bring you a devotion by Claudia Pate that was posted at our Hope for the Family blog where
she shares with us three principles to help us in the seasons of our life.
1. Our seasons of life are appointed by God.
2. God will supply your needs for every season of life.
3. Find joy in the Lord.
Come on over and join in the discussions at The What If Women Blog, we'd love
to have you ponder the possibilities with us.
1st Podcast Publishing - Words For The Week
