Good Morning Lord

I got this in my inbox this morning. I hope it blesses you, as it did me.

Verse of the Day -- Psalm 25:14 The secret [or intimacy] of the Lord is
for those who fear Him . . .

Thought for the Day 

God longs to be close to you!

Mini Bible Study for the Day

How many Christians long to have a more intimate relationship with God?
The word "secret" in this verse is also translated "counsel" or
"intimacy." To fear Him means to obey Him. It means that because we
recognize the majesty and awesomeness of who He is, we long to obey
Him, or please Him, in every sense of the word.

Obedience is our gift of love to Jesus Christ, and He promises that in
return for our obedience, He will give us greater intimacy with Himself
and the Father.

He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me and he
who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will
disclose myself to him. --John 14:21 Every time--every moment--we consciously choose to allow God's Spirit
to be in control of our lives, we become closer to and more intimate
with Jesus Christ.

♥Ashlin

"Veil of Tears" Film Release

Gospel For Asia is opening a film this week in theaters across the U.S., Veil of Tears. Please check for information regarding theater locations, remaining simulcast options, or more information about "Veil of Tears."

Yes, this film does talk about a wieghty subject. It is uncomfortable to hear of a real life tradgedy being lived out along side you in this world. It is easier to ignore, or forget. And though this film is about Asia's most mistreated, it's still described by the Dove Foundation as a film "that will cement your belief in the possibility of hope."

This film will be showing for only one week, starting tomorrow. I hope you are all able to go see it. But if you are not, please pray that God would use this film to bless and move those who do go see it to serve as the Body of Christ should.

What Others Are Saying About "Veil of Tears"

"When I saw it, I knew I would never—could never—be the same. 'Veil of Tears' has taught me how to pray, to give, and to make a difference for Christ." - Joni Eareckson Tada "'Veil of Tears' was so moving and informative. I want everyone to watch it and join us in making a difference in the lives of these women." - Francis Chan

"A well-produced, powerful and shocking exposé. 'Veil of Tears' will have you in tears." - Ray Comfort, Living Waters "A powerful, riveting film . . . that grabs at the heart and won't let go!" - American Family Association

"'Veil of Tears' asks the question, 'Do we care?' Now it's up to us to answer." - John Schlitt, PETRA (Lead Vocalist) "This factual account of the oppression of millions of women in Asia must be told. Though the story begins with tears, the Good News is that help is on the way through the ministry of compassion seen here." - Robert Coleman

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8)

 

 

"The man who would know God must spend time with Him.” - Tozer 

The Activity of Faith - Devotional

" We also err in thinking that waiting on God ceases when we receive what we’ve been waiting for. It cannot be likened to waiting for your Starbucks “Grande non-fat Vanilla Latte”, or your German Chocolate cake to cool before you can frost it. That kind of waiting is temporal; it has an end. The Christian never stops waiting on God. Waiting on God is not so much an action, as it is a posture of your soul. "

Read the rest here.

 

Lamentations 3:25 KJV The LORD [is] good unto them that wait for him, to the soul [that] seeketh him.


Look for a blogger award post coming next. It's taking a little longer than I thought it would, but it shouldn't be too long of a wait.

C. S. Lewis

“The Weight of Glory.”

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare.
All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics.
There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilisations — these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit — immortal horrors or everlasting splendours.
This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously.

- C.S. Lewis

  

 

 

Are you having a beautiful September?

September!

I don't have anything smart to say. Just popping in to say my life has been very busy. I have been in a program for about a month and a half that will by the end have me certified as a Nursing Assistant (with a couple other certifications as well). It is quite an experience! The class is filled with 24 other people, who help to make a mosaic of stories. Only God knows all their stories, the past, the present, the future and all.

"Not without design does God write the music of our lives. Be it ours to learn the tune, and not be dismayed at the "rests." They are not to be slurred over, not to be omitted, not to destroy the melody, not to change the keynote. If we look up, God Himself will beat the time for us. With the eye on Him, we shall strike the next note full and clear. If we sadly say to ourselves, "There is no music in a 'rest,'" let us not forget "there is the making of music in it." The making of music is often a slow and painful process in this life. How patiently God works to teach us! How long He waits for us to learn the lesson!" ~Ruskin

I hope and pray that I am learning more than things about nursing. I hope I am learning more faith in God, for times of rest or crescendo.

Right now, it is time for me to be silent; to wait on Him and be filled with His peace in the waiting.

50 Years Ago Today. . .

Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered I Have a Dream, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

Audio for this speech.

To be honest, this is the first time I've read through his entire speech and understood it all. I mean this time I really understood the scripture Martin Luther King, Jr. quoted and all that it meant, both in context in the Bible and as it was related to the times in 1963. So much has changed in this country now. So much for the better; there has been a great progress. And sadly, some of the change has been for the worse.

Through it all, may we as the Christians in this nation, and all around the world, never cease to pray for our nation, our people and our leaders.

I Have a Dream

"I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

 

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
 

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
 

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."
 

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
 

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
 

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
 

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
 

We cannot walk alone.
 

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
 

We cannot turn back.
 

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."
 

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
 

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
 

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
 

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
 

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
 

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
 

I have a dream today!
 

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

                Free at last! Free at last!

                Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Just Some Quotes (Family)

The Bible calls debt a curse and children a blessing; but in our culture, we apply for a curse and reject blessings. Something is wrong with this picture. ~ Doug Phillips

The family is the true society ~ Pope Leo XIII

Family means putting your arms around each other and being there.  ~Barbara Bush

In a houseful of toddlers and pets, you can start out having a bad day, but you keep getting detoured.  ~Robert Brault

 There is no cure for laziness but a large family helps.  ~Herbert Prochnov

"A family without a commitment to the God of the Bible has no hope of stemming the tide of cultural onslaught. If we mix a little biblical truth, a little secular psychology, a little romance novel ideology, and a little eastern mysticism, we will get a deadly mixture of lies. Unfortunately, this is exactly what many Christian families do." ~ Voddie Baucham

Any woodsman can tell you that in a broken and sundered nest one can hardly expect to find more than a precious few whole eggs. So it is with the family. -Thomas Jefferson

"If parents have raised their children to be great doctors, lawyers, athletes, or musicians, but have not trained them to honor them and obey God, they have failed." ~ Voddie Baucham

Having a place to go - is a home.  Having someone to love - is a family.  Having both - is a blessing.  ~Donna Hedges

The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family. ~Thomas Jefferson

What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life - to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories.  ~George Eliot

Learning The Father's Love

"Whenever I have resisted Him, I have cheated myself. Whenever I have yielded, I have found joy."

This is from The Elisabeth Elliot Newsletter Archive. To read through others go to elisabethelliot.org/

When my brother Dave was very small, we spent a week at the seaside in Belmar, New Jersey. In vain my father tried to persuade the little boy to come into the waves with him and jump, promising to hold him safely and not allow the waves to sweep over his head. He took me (only a year older) into the ocean and showed Dave how much fun it would be. Nothing doing. The ocean was terrifying. Dave was sure it would mean certain disaster, and he could not trust his father. On the last day of our vacation he gave in. He was not swept away, his father held him as promised, and he had far more fun than he could have imagined, whereupon he burst into tears and wailed, "Why didn't you make me go in?"

An early lesson in prayer often comes through an ordeal of fear. We face impending adversity and we doubt the love, wisdom and power of our Father in heaven. We've tried everything else and in our desperation we turn to prayer--of the primitive sort: here's Somebody who's reputed to be able to do anything. The great question is, can I get Him to do what I want? How do I twist His arm, how persuade a remote and reluctant deity to change His mind?

When the people of Israel were encamped in Pi-hahiroth and saw the Egyptians coming after them, they felt they were looking death in the face and it was all Moses' fault--"as if there weren't enough graves in Egypt that you brought us out here to die!"

"Don't be afraid," said Moses. "Stand by. The Lord will fight for you if you'll just be quiet." You know the story of deliverance--the sea was rolled back, Israel marched through it dry shod, and when the Egyptians pursued them the sea swamped their horses, their chariots, and the whole army. "Not even one of them remained." The song of victory Moses and Israel sang reveals their recognition not only of the strength, majesty and wonder-working of the Lord, but of His loving-kindness, immeasurably beyond anything they had dared to hope.

Poor Dave! His father could have forced him to come into the water, but he could not have forced him to relax and enjoy it. As long as the child insisted on protecting himself, saving the life he was sure he would lose, he could not trust the strong love of his father. He refused to surrender. In this simple story we hear echoes of the most ancient story, of the two who, mistrusting the word of their Father, fearing that obedience to Him would ultimately bar them from happiness, chose to repudiate their dependence on Him. Sin, death, destruction for the whole race were the result.

Learning to pray is learning to trust the wisdom, the power, and the love of our Heavenly Father, always so far beyond our dreams. He knows our need and knows ways to meet it that have never entered our heads. Things we feel sure we need for happiness may often lead to our ruin. Things we think will ruin us (the chariots of Egypt, the waters of the sea, or the little waves in Belmar!), if we believe what the Father tells us and surrender ourselves into His strong arms, bring us deliverance and joy.

The only escape from self-love is self-surrender. "Whoever loses his life for Me will find it" (Matthew 16:25, NIV). "Dwell in my love. If you heed my commands, you will dwell in my love, as I have heeded my Father's commands and dwell in His love. I have spoken thus to you, so that my joy may be in you, and your joy complete" (John 15:9-11, NEB). My father knew far better than his small, fearful, stubborn son what would give him joy. So does our Heavenly Father. Whenever I have resisted Him, I have cheated myself, as my little brother did. Whenever I have yielded, I have found joy.

-Elisabeth Elliot 

I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday afternoon.

~Ashlin

Cute Stuff

This isn't really like me, and I will not make a habit of it, but I've got nothing "special" or worthwhile in the post. Might not want to waste your time - just a heads up.

Last warning: the title says it all. All that's below is just random stuff I find cute.

That's just cute.

Look at that face! Look at it!

When my sister saw this she said, "They're so pretty - it hurts!"

 No one - NO ONE - can deny the cuteness in these next two pictures.

 Many people may see absolutely no cuteness in these last two. But it's my blog. Yes, rats are cute to me. Sorry. Same with kitties.


Another quote I love. ↓

Know that there is often hidden in us a dormant poet, always young and alive. - Le Musset

Have you seen ↓this↓ short? It is so cute.


Okay, that's it. I got that little bug out. What can I say? I had to share something cute with you. =) I'm satiated...

Just Some Quotes (Work)

If monotony tries me, and I cannot stand drudgery: if people fret me and the little things of life set me on edge; if I make much of the trifles of life, then I know nothing of Calvary's love." ~ Amy Carmichael

 "Proverbs tells us that a virtuous woman "works with her hands with delight" and "does not eat the bread of idleness." A godly woman is one who sees her life as mission of service. What others view as a burden, she views as a blessing and opportunity." -Christine Russell

Keeping the house in order is a beautiful way for women to serve their families. It demonstrates love and respect for our husbands and children in that we think that they are important enough to provide them with a clean, welcoming and beautiful environment. It also enables us to be available to serve others by opening our homes at a moment's notice or being able to temporarily drop the home routines without things falling into chaos in order to go help those who need us."-Kimberly {Raising Olives}

“She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.” -Proverbs 31:27

To a Young Lady Sweet stream,
that winds through yonder glade,
Apt emblem of a virtuous maid--
Silent and chaste, she steals along,
Far from the world's gay, busy throng:
With gentle yet prevailing force,
Intent upon her destined course;
Graceful and useful all she does,
Blessing and blest where'er she goes;
Pure-bosom'd as that watery glass,
And Heaven reflected in her face.
 ~ William Cowper

"A good many are kept out of the service of Christ, deprived of the luxury of working for God, because they are trying to do some great thing. Let us be willing to do little things. And let us remember that nothing is small in which God is the source." ~ D. L. Moody

"She... worketh willingly with her hands."-Proverbs 31:13

Have you ever realized that you can give things to God that are of value to Him? Or are you just sitting around daydreaming about the greatness of His redemption, while neglecting all the things you could be doing for Him? I'm not referring to works which could be regarded as divine and miraculous, but ordinary, simple human things - things which would be evidence to God that you are totally surrendered to Him. -Oswald Chambers

Just Some Quotes (Words)

I love to write out some special quotes like these and put them on a pretty little paper and set them somewhere for some one special to see. I can't give them to you this way, but just imagine I've written them with curly letters on a curly paper that has floated your way, okay? Great!

I'm thinking of doing several of these "Just Some Quotes" posts each one on different subjects. So let me know what you think, and if there is a certain subject you would like me to post quotes on. Thank you!

Oh, how many minutes in the day are filled with dialogue and conversation! How often do we give careful thought to what we say and how we say it? Our words can be used to encourage, edify, strengthen, build-up or they can be used to hurt, destroy and put others down." A gentle and quiet spirit is not only imperishable; it is precious in the sight of God. It's also one of the hardest qualities to cultivate. Far from a sign of weakness, a gentle and quiet spirit is the sign of a woman who is strong in faith, mind and character." --Anna Sofia & Elizabeth Botkin

 

She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness." -Proverbs 31:26

 

"There is no restraining men's tongues or pens when charged with a little vanity." - George Washington

 

"All men will be Peters in their bragging tongue, and most men will be Peters in their base denial; but few men will be Peters in their quick repentance." -Owen Feltham

 

"Lord, make my words as sweet as honey, for tomorrow I may have to eat them!" -Anonymous

 

Help me guard my lips, O Saviour,
Keep me sweet when sorely tried,
Answers soft to others giving,
Meekly swallowing my pride. -Basch

"No man has a prosperity so high or firm, but that two or three words can dishearten it; and there is no calamity which right words will not begin to redress." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

"The cure of an evil tongue must be done at the heart. The weights and wheels are there, and the clock strikes according to their motion. A guileful heart makes a guileful tongue and lips. It is the work-house where is the forge of deceits and slanders; and the tongue is only the outer shop where they are vended, and the door of it. Such ware as is made within, such, and no other, can come out." - Robert Leighton

 

The true test of a man's spirituality is not his ability to speak, as we are apt to think, but rather his ability to bridle his tongue. - R. Kent Hughes

 

If God takes our idle words seriously, how much more seriously does He take those words spoken with forethought? And if He takes our normal statements seriously, how much more seriously does He take our promises, especially when those promises are raised to the level of the formal vow? - R.C. Sproul

 

For all sad words of tongue and pen,

The saddest are these,

'It might have been'.

-John Greanleaf Whittier

 

When you have spoken the word, it reigns over you. When it is unspoken you reign over it. -Arabian Proverb

Verse of the Week

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." - 2 Corinthians 3:18

 As John Piper says, "Beholding is becoming."

Silence is Golden?

I hope the silence on the blog has been "golden". It's been a little nice for, not doing my e-mails or reading up on blogs for almost a month. It's been a while, hasn't it? I didn't mean to take a break but somehow the end of  March slipped past me without so much as waving goodbye and of course the beginning of April came and went just as silently. All the while I've been telling myself to get back on my blog and do something, but I couldn't write.

Sometimes I cannot write because I have nothing to say. And other times I have too much to say and I can't seem to find a place to start or the right words to fill the empty spots that need filling. The words are just a little too far out of reach, when the idea is near enough to be seen yet distant enough to be intangible. So I was silent, not because I had nothing to say but because I had so much to say.

Am I making any sense?

How does one describe One who is utterly indescribable? Is there a word that means joy but is beyond incomprehensible joy? A word that encompasses the thunder of every waterfall, the dance of every brook, the laughter of every baby in the nestle of every daddy's arms? 

Is there a word that means passion? A word that gathers the roar of every lion, the blast of every volcano, the peal and crash of every wave that ever exploded against a seashore?
Is there a word that means intimacy and warmth? A word that bottles the softness of every sunshine, the promise of every rainbow, the twinkle of every star, the tiptoe of every doe and fawn between every forest's autumn leaves? 

Is there a word that means love? A word that means kindness? A word that means power, bigness humility, purity? 

I know of only one such word. It is the most awe-inspiring, breath-stealing, unequivocally magnificent word in this language or any other. Ironically it is a mere five letters, yet it carries a truth and meaning so big, so life-changing, so nation and eternity altering if only given the chance. 

It is the word of words. The single word that every human life right along with its every human hope and struggle is answered by and resolved in. It is the beginning, and it is the end. It is the fullness of life, the gateway to eternity, the hope of the ages. It is... 

Jesus

                                           -Bruce Marchiano

There is no greater joy on earth than to know Him. To truly know Him. Not to know of Him, to read daily about Him, to sing or pray to Him (though those may be amazing), but to know Who He is. To have an intimate relationship with th Creator of all things, to be one with Christ, to have the Spirit within you, is mercy too great to be taken so oft for granted.

Jesus. He loves you so much more than you know. He loves us so much that God "made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5:21) I hope you stop and come in to the presence of Him who loves you so and just draw nearer to him. Because it is easy not to. It is easy to forget how great a God we serve.

I read this in a devotional this morning: Psalm 5:3 - In the morning I will order my prayer to Thee and eagerly watch.

David had an incredible sense of expectancy about God. God was the great reality in his life. He knew the promises of God, he appealed often to them, and then he "watched" for God to show Himself strong. And God loved him for it.

We have to make it a habit. We have to choose to seek God, but when we do the reward is beyond anything we could compare. I remember something my dad said once during a devotion we did that has stuck in my head. We were reading in Daniel and he said, "Do you think Daniel just happened to pray three times a day? No, of course not! He had to make a decision to seek God through prayer every day, 3 times a day."

But that's the gift we've been given. Eternal life is not heaven, heaven is just a perk that comes with it, a relationship with Jesus Christ is the gift. If you don't have that I pray you find the Way the Truth and the Life today. For He loves you and wants you more than you know.

.~.~.~.~.

Well, I feel like I'm back in the blogging groove. We'll see! I just heard this song I hadn't previously heard on the radio and I had to remind myself that it is okay to keep smiling like a maniac. This is your God! He is your adopted Father!


Have a wonderful day,
Ashlin

Much Loved Quote

". . .you will regret nothing when you look back, except lack of faith, or fortitude, or love.

You will never regret having thrown all to the winds in order to follow Your Master and Lord.

Nothing will seem too much to have done or suffered, when on the end,

we see Him and the marks of His wounds;

nothing will ever seem enough. . ."

Amy Carmichael

Black History Month

This month is Black History month. I find black history truly is incredible, and much of the history is truly unknown. I have heard it said that the history of African Americans is not unlike that of God's chosen people the Jews. Taken from their homeland their were forced into slavery for centuries until God delivered them. African Americans triumphed and prospered, overcoming their tragic beginnings. I think of the words of Joseph "You meant evil against me, but God turned it into good".

 

Rev. Henry Highland Garnet, the first African
American to deliver a sermon in congress

"Let no rancor or ill-will lodge in your [heart] for any bad treatment you may have received from any. If you do, you transgress against God, Who will not hold you guiltless. He would not suffer it even in His beloved people Israel; and you think He will allow it unto us? . . . I am sorry to say that too many think more of the evil than of the good they have received." -Rev. Richard Allen (a former slave)

Martin Luther King Jr.

"I have decided to love. If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love. And the beautiful thing is that we are moving against wrong when we do it, because John was right, God is love. He who hates does not know God, but he who has love has the key that unlocks the door to the meaning of ultimate reality." Martin Luther King Jr., clergyman, activist, writer, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement.

"Each person must live their life as a model for others." - Rosa Parks, known as "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement", African-American civil rights activist


Booker T. Washington

"Character, not circumstances, makes the man." - Booker T. Washington, founder and president of Tuskegee, as well an educator, former slave, author, orator, and advisor to Republican presidents

"One and God make a majority." - Frederick Douglass, the first African-American to be appointed to office in four different presidential administrations, also a social reformer, orator, writer, statesman and former slave

"When I was young, I said to God, God, tell me the mystery of the universe. But God answered, that knowledge is for Me alone. So I said, God, tell me the mystery of the peanut. Then God said, well, George, that's more nearly your size." - George Washington Carver, former slave, scientist, botanist, educator, and inventor

I encourage you to dig deeper into the true history of some amazing men and women of African descent this month (and every month). Here are a few resources you may find helpful.
Webistes:
African American Perspectives
Freedmen's Bureau Online
Harper's Weekly
Neglected Voices
(Biographies and Speeches of the first African American Congressmen)



Olaudah Equiano

Books:
(You can read these books for free at gutenberg.org)
Up from Slavery: an autobiography by Booker T. Washington
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
and
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
to name a few.
I've really enjoyed American History in Black and White, but I haven't found that free, it must be purcharsed.

With Thankful Heart

Thanksgiving is celebrated all over America, and has been for hundreds of years, because of the profound faith and courage of a group of Christian believers, called Pilgrims. These Pilgrims believed that God was calling them to a new land, where they could worship God more freely.

But their decision wasn't easy. Staying in Holland meant greater safety in a civilized land, going to America probably guaranteed religious liberty but the physical risks were enormous and the financial cost of voyage would be very high. They believed God would grant them success. Before departing from Holland the church spent a day in fasting and prayer for the journey ahead. 

William Bradford wrote, "They had a great hope and inward zeal of laying a good foundation for the propagating and advancing of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world. Yea, that they should be even as stepping stones unto others."

They are our stepping stones.

In September of 1620 a small ship called the Mayflower left Plymouth, England, carrying 102 passengers—an assortment of the religious separatists mentioned above, seeking a new home where they could freely practice their faith, and other individuals lured by the promise of prosperity and land ownership in the New World. It was a treacherous and uncomfortable crossing that lasted far longer than any had imagined. Only half of the Mayflower’s original passengers and crew lived to see their first New World spring.

 

In 1621, the surviving colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. They gave thanks to God for three days. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. But it wasn't until 1863, (in the midst of the Civil War) that President Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November.

 

Whether you are celebrating Thanksgiving Day or not, I hope you have a blessed day of giving thanks to the Lord.

God bless,

Ashlin

 Psalm 107:8, "Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!"

 

 

Very Simply Pictures and Quotes

"From David to Noah, we see that the only qualification to be used by God is absolute dependence on Him. These men were simple, yielded vessels looking to God alone, never relying upon mere human strength, experience or skill. Because of that, God was able to display His greatness through their lives."
-K.P. Yohannan Revolution in World Missions

"It is impossible to keep our moral practices sound and our inward attitudes right while our idea of God is erroneous or inadequate. If we would bring back spiritual power to our lives, we must begin to think of God more nearly as He is. "-Tozer

"It is time for us Christians, to face up to our responsibility for holiness. Too often we say we are “defeated” by this or that sin. No, we are not defeated; we are simply disobedient. It might be well if we stopped using the terms victory and defeat to describe our progress in holiness. Rather we should use the terms obedience and disobedience." -Jerry Bridges

Think what it is we really posses, if Christ is in us . . . We have Him, in whom all fullness of life actually dwells, in whom infinite resources are stored up for our use. Everything needed for continual growth, for perpetual freshness, and for abundant fruitfulness are found in Him. All power, all grace, all purity, and all fullness, absolutely everything to make all grace abound toward us, in us, and through us, are stored up in Him who verily dwells within us.

– Evan Hopkins –

I am getting desperately afraid of going to heaven for I have had the vision of the shame I shall suffer as I get my first glimpse of the Lord Jesus; His majesty, power and marvellous love for me, who treated Him so meanly and shabbily on earth, and acted as though I did Him a favour in serving Him! No wonder God shall have to wipe away the tears off all faces, for we shall be broken-hearted when we see the depth of His love and the shallowness of ours.

– CT Studd –

"Look unto Jesus. I looked on Jesus and the dove of peace entered my heart. I looked at the dove of peace; and lo . . . off he went.

Once it was the blessing, now it is the Lord.

Once it was the feeling, now it is the Word.

Once the gift I wanted, now the Giver owns.

Once I saught for healing,

Now Himself alone. 

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above

James 1:17

Lord, thank You for all You have given me, but thank You most of all for who You are."
[from Each New Day, by Corrie ten Boom]

His Testimonies

"Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
by the living Word of God I shall prevail,
standing on the promises of God." -R. Kelso Carter

You tell the Lord, "I am loosing hope!" He answers “Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord... There is hope in your future, says the Lord..." "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." Jeremiah 31:16-17, Galatians 6:9

In the midst of your overwhelming circumstances... trust your Father in Heaven is with you saying, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you." Isaiah 43:2

When you cry, "God, I'm overcome with guilt from past sins" Our Creator declares, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins." Isaiah 43:25

You may pray, "Lord, help my faith to grow!" He says, "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3

"My soul keeps Your testimonies, and I love them exceedingly." Psalm 119:167

Do not allow your feelings, emotions and circumstances to speak to you, but speak to yourself truth from the word of God.
"My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us." - Psalm 62:5-8

"Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
listening every moment to the Spirit's call,
resting in my Savior as my all in all,
standing on the promises of God."