Sobering

Michael Card in "Immanuel" has some fresh insights
into Jesus and the cross.

"When Jesus was arrested in Gethsemane,
He was already bloody before anyone laid
a hand on Him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"He suffered the agony of a death more painful
than the physical death on the cross;
the death of the will."

Flip Calendar

In catching up on my flip over calendar
this quote from 2/5 gave me a surge
of joy and hope.

"NONE OF US EVER DESIRED ANYTHING
MORE ARDENTLY THAN GOD DESIRES
TO BRING MEN TO A KNOWLEDGE OF HIMSELF."

-Johannes Tauler

P.G.!

Waiting Faith

In the book,"Immanuel" by M. Card-
I read about Simeon
and how long he had to wait to see his
promise fulfilled.

Card says,

"Having faith means waiting for God
to keep His promise.

All those who trusted God
demonstrated their faith
by their ability to wait."

Lonely Jesus

In reading "Immanuel" by Card he mentions
being lonely-also the loneliness of Jesus.

I never quite realized before how lonely
Jesus would have been for His former home
and Father.

Talk about being a fish out of water,
which I think basically we are,
how much MORE so would Jesus have been!!

Gideon

Judges 6:11-
"Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press
in order to save it from the Midianites."

Was this the reason the Lord
chose Gideon and called him,
"O, Valiant Warrior?"

He did not sit in his tent,
and whimper and starve because
the Midianites made raids and
stole everything.
He found a way to outwit them
and was busy working
and doing what he could to provide food.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The foolish Israelites.
They cried to God because of oppression
but they still kept their idols
and were so furious at Gideon
for tearing them down
that they wanted to kill him.
Even so, God was gracious enough
to hear and answer their cry.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Judges 7-God made no mistake in the men
that he chose to go with Gideon
for they were each willing to be one of a
mere 300 to do battle with the hosts of Midian.

God knew the name of Gideon's servant-v.10~
"But if you are afraid to go down,
go with Purah your servant down to the camp."

I like that and I'm sure Purah did too.
All are known to Him-
the leader and the servant.
Purah must have been a man of courage.
God knew that also.
This should not be surprising.
Look how He cared for Hagar the slave.

A Good Habit

What a good way to begin and close each day!

11 Chronicles 23:30~

"And they were to stand every morning
to thank and praise the Lord,
and likewise at evening."

Prayer Quotes

Quotes from "Seeds of Hope" by Nouwen.

"We do not ask to convince a hesitant Giver."

"Praying is being with Jesus
and simply wasting time with Him."

Begin Again

Editor's note:
The book of Nehemiah recounts the story
of the rebuilding of the wall in Jerusalem.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the wall was finally finished,
Nehemiah planned a time for celebration and dedication.

Neh.12:43~"GOD HAD GIVEN THEM GREAT JOY,
EVEN THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN REJOICED,
SO THAT THE JOY OF JERUSALEM
WAS HEARD FROM AFAR."

I am sure Nehemiah felt that everything
was in order and that the people would
continue to obey God.
So he went back to his place with King Artaxerxes.

Neh. 13:6- After some time, he asked for a
leave from the king, to go back and check on his people.

What did he find?!
All kinds of regression into their former ways.

What a strong man and leader he was!

Verse 8 says he threw all of Tobiah's household
goods out of the room.
He reprimanded them,
warned them, commanded them,
contended with them,
and even struck some of then until
v.30-"I PURIFIED THEM FROM EVERYTHING
FOREIGN AND APPOINTED DUTIES FOR
THE PRIESTS AND THE LEVITES,
EACH IN HIS TASK."

What if a leader came and straightened
out the church of today?