How Do We View Our Experiences

The Book of Ruth is a record of one of God’s families from Bethlehem Judah. Elimilech, his wife, Naomi and their two sons named Mahlon and Chilion faced a time of famine in their land. They packed up and went to Moab where they hoped to survive. For a time things were going well. The sons married wives of the Moabites, however evil seemed to follow the family. First Elimilech passed away and then the two sons died also! What a heavy heart Naomi had!

After this the father and then the sons all died in Moab. One morning Naomi rose up and told her daughters in law that she was returning to Bethlehem as she heard that the famine had lifted. She told her girls to return to their parent’s homes as she was going back to her people. Orpah was persuaded to return to her home, but Ruth would not be enticed to stay in Moab.

Ruth 1:16 and 17 record the words of Ruth: “Do not plead with me to leave you or to return from following after you, for wherever you go, I shall go. And where you lodge, I shall lodge. Your people are my people, and your God is my God. Where you die, I shall die and there I shall be buried: The Lord do so to me, more also, if anything but death part you and me.”

Finally Naomi realized that she would be unable to dissuade Ruth from following her, the two returned to Bethlehem together. When they arrived the whole city was moved with Naomi’s return and said, “Isn’t this Naomi?”

To this she replied, “Do not call me Naomi, call me Mara, Bitter, for the Almighty has dealt very bitter me, I went out full and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why call me Naomi, seeing the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?”

On the surface evil seems to have befallen Naomi and she has become bitter in her sorrow. She seems to be crediting God with her misfortune and is not counting the fact that she has resources at her fingertips that will bring her into the linage of our Savior, Messiah, Jesus Christ!

As the account progresses, Ruth provides for her mother in law and then married Boaz. The two are blessed with a son named Obed who becomes one of the people in the linage of Jesus. Naomi had no idea of the outcome of the situation, and had considered the loss of her men-folks as finality to the worthlessness of her life.

As it turned out she had her greatest resource still remaining. The devotion in the life of Ruth was the most valuable possession that Naomi had ever had. Ruth adapted to Naomi’s needs to the fact that she gave her first-born son to her mother in law.

When we have someone who is committed, devoted, adapted and purposed to cling to us and to the values God has placed inside of us, we may well have unlimited resources. Just because those we thought would be there for us weren’t there, doesn’t mean that God can’t raise up someone or something much better than the first.

As we see in this case, God took the seemingly evil circumstances and brought a beautiful picture of His grace, restoration, mercy and love into view. So what’s so bad in your life? What do I think is bad in my life? It’s time to wait on God and be assured that He has a greater and better plan in view for us. Let us be encouraged and encouraged the discouraged!

An Invitation to a Great Occasion

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The Riches of Worship

I recently heard a story told by a TV preacher. The story went something like this.

One night an old farmer in Nebraska rushed to his basement as a storm hit his area. He heard the rushing sound of the wind, and the banging noises of his shingles being torn off the house. Since it was midnight when the storm hit, he stayed holed-up until early morning.

In the faint rays of dawn he pushed open his front door to survey the damage the storm had brought him. He looked to the barn which was missing portions of its roof. Debris was scattered all across the yard. The large oak that had graced the homestead now lay uprooted. The chicken house lay in a heap of shambles and featherless dead chickens scattered the barnyard.

As the old farmer stood trying to collect his emotions he noticed a movement low in the heap of leftover chicken house. He wondered what could still be moving there. As he watched a half-featherless rooster pushed against the tangled mass and emerged. Unfalteringly he climbed to the highest peak and flapped his scrawny bare wings and crowed to the top of his voice. Somehow he seemed to know God was still in charge though his companions lay dead all about him.

This should be a lesson, not only to the farmer, but to each of us. No matter what…God is still worthy of praise. No matter what…He still rules and is still in control. Regardless of all the things we think are adverse in our lives, God is still in control and He loves us. He needs our praise, but we need to praise Him even more!

As I took my husband for a walk the other afternoon, we talked about the worthiness of God. We realized that if we lost everything but still had our voices with which we could praise Him, we would be rich!

There is nothing richer than God’s very presence! When we praise Him we bring down His presence. We bring Him near to us because He lives in the praises of His people! How awesome is that!

To be able to worship God in Spirit and in Truth makes us Rich! John 4:24

Inspirations From Nature

I’ve been wanting to get away and just sit by a quiet stream somewhere or by a magnificent waterfalls. I’ve longed for a day away from the routine of house and yard work, of care-giving and of our home business. I’ve wished I could just hole-up somewhere and sit and sing and listen. I might bring my drawing pens or writing materials and just sit and soak in the sun and shade.

This early morning I took the opportunity to step outside. The almost-summer air was cool and breezy. Clouds slid silently overhead arranging themselves in amazing shapes of swirly circles and swishes of wispiness. The circles—holes in the cloud cover—were opening that I envisioned the Lord Jesus Christ riding through on His white horse when He returns for His children.

But then the thought came to me…Christ does not need a hole in the clouds to come through when He returns. He will burst through the darkest most turbulent-appearing clouds and His light will contrast the darkness. Every eye shall see Him according to Revelation 1:7.

As I sat with God’s open Word before me the skies were full of air-traffic. I sat and listened and the wonderful things I heard are often missed by the human ear. the soft cooing voice of the turtle dove, the sweet “Tweedy-tweedy” of the chickadee, the contrasting caw-caw of the big black crow, the robin with it’s distinguished song, the ‘cheer-upping’ of the sparrow and the miraculous song of the mocking bird.

These and others filled the whole area with their unashamed song. It was then that my attention was called to their activities. Some where searching for their breakfast and for a means to feed their young.

I watched a turtle dove fly off into the distance, return and perch upon the power line where she surveyed her area to see if it was safe to dive into her hiding place with the pieces of grass and weeds she carried in her mouth. She flew in and out, in and out carrying her sought-out supplies for her nest. How hard she worked! She didn’t give up. She didn’t despair because we trim and rake our yards which made her job more difficult. She kept right on flying, taking time in between to preen herself and then she was off again.

I thought, how often do I want to give up in the middle of my projects. If I don’t get the days away that I long for, I have the opportunity to refresh myself in God’s presence just by stilling myself and coming away into the presence of God. I can sing in the middle of a testing day. I can keep on building my business when it’s not easy. I can keep watching for my Lord’s return, for He shall come in the moment, in the blinking of an eye.

God’s marvelous nature can teach us many things if we but listen. 

Honoring Our Children

At Shell Lake Full Gospel  our ministers have been bringing us a series of messages on “Honor.” Pastor Amundson shared a wonderful word on honoring our family especially that of honoring our children. I always like to have “how to” points or principles so folks can make personal application to the message.

The points were well laid out this morning, but the Spirit of the Lord stirred my heart to share some further concepts to those I heard and want to confirm in this post. Our children truly are our treasures. They have the potential to greatness that far exceed the effectiveness for God’s kingdom increase that we in former generations have ever had.

The way we talk to our children are some of the first points of influence in their lives. God has placed on my heart that we have the privilege to talk up to our children just by the way we address them or talk about them.

I believe that God is glorified when we address our offspring as children, boys, girls, youth, young people, young adults, toddlers, grandchildren, babies, and even as God’s little lambs. When we reference them by any of these titles we are giving them an honorable affirmation.

According to what I have read, the title “kids” started in 1840’s. I truly believe that this title was influenced by demonic deception. Besides believing that God has given me convictions on this matter, the plain truth is that I am not a goat, so I did not give birth to a kid. I gave birth to children.

Now lets look at Scriptures to bear this out. Matthew 25:31-34 records the words of Jesus. He is talking about when He returns and we face his judgment throne. This is what He said, “And he shall separate them one from another…and he will set his sheep on his right hand, but on the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you…”Skip to verse 41 “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”

So as I read this, goats in Scripture are those who do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The sheep are those who know the shepherd. I will let you, the reader, decide how God would have you respond to this post—a concept that we have not heard much about.

In whatever way you decide to do it, I make an appeal to you to honor your children, your grandchildren and even your great-grandchildren. Be blessed in whatever way God lays it on your heart to do it.  

Time and Timelessness

Time is an occupied space that is allotted to mankind of the period in which we live on earth. God - the timeless One preceded time.  He is pre-time and antedates it. Yet He is the creator of time.

He created time yet abides independent of it. He is not governed by it, but time is governed by its Creator. Time is obedient to God and He is never rushed by it or controlled by its schedules.

God never checks to see what time it is because He abides in an untimed era – that of eternity. He decrees events by His plan and desires. Time occupies space in God. God doesn’t occupy space in time, for God is greater than time. He is also the timeless One. He is the instigator or it, yet remains unhindered or unmotivated by it.

Time is a segment of God’s great gift to us. It is significant to us, but only in this lifetime. After this life time will have no meaning to us. Eternity contains no clocks, calendars or watches. The allotted years – the timeframe of our humanity – is lavished on us so that we might prepare for the era of timelessness.

Whether we spend eternity with God in Heaven or with the devil in Hell, there will be no measure of time then. Eternity is the era of forever – a measureless space that occupies a realm yet to be which always has been. There time shall be no more (Revelation 10:6).

Therefore since God is the ‘timeless One’ it behooves us to live and move and have our being in Him now. (Acts 17:28) Now is the accepted time, now is the day of our salvation (II Corinthians 6:2). ‘Now’ is the epoch given to us – a term of lifespan in which we must choose where we will spend eternity.

After this time-paced life the decision of our eternal destination will already have been established. The question as to where we will spend our timeless and untimed space in eternity will be settled. After death here on earth there will be no more time for decision making. The allotted period of what we know as time will be over.

Today measures my time. Tomorrow it may be over and I may be stepping into the era of timelessness. How I spend this interval on earth will spell out how and where I will spend eternity. Today I will permit to elapse the seconds, the minutes and the hours which will lead to untimed days of eternity – the period of untimed life or death in the immeasurable ‘no-time’ zone.

With THIS BREATH I need to choose to take Jesus Christ as my Savior and as my Lord. If I have another breath, I must embrace that decision and live the hours of time here where time matters most to glorify God.

Jesus wants each of us to rule and reign with Him in eternity. We must use the time called “NOW” to choose to live for Him. In eternity the timeless One decrees that time will be no more! Today’s time is the “NOW” to come to Jesus and to take Him as your Savior.

Family Time

It all started in too much of an hurry 45 years ago. Russell and I married, still being strangers, after just a few months of dating. A year after our marriage we had our first daughter, Bonita. She is married to Jerry and they have blessed us with three children, Logan 9, Sierra 7, and Vayla 4.

Three and a half years later Valencia came along. She is now married to Ken and they have given us 4 grandchildren. Micah is 15, Karis is 13, Moriah almost 5 and Judah almost 3. They reside in Spokane and pastor a church there, and are over a church plant in Moses Lake and over two Christian Schools.

Just after Bonita turned seven we had our third daughter, Lacinda. She was born to us at a time of extreme tests, but she added a lot to our home. She is married to Chris and the couple has four youngsters. Eliana is 8, Seth 7, Ashley 4 and Gracia 18 months.

Our children are a credit to the kingdom of God and we are blessed to have had spent time with them this past week. We have more blessings than we can count! Children are the glory to the grey head and can take God’s message where we will never be able to.

To Jerry and Bonita, Ken and Valencia and Chris and Lacinda…thank you for raising our grandchildren in the fear of God. They are destined to be God’s little lambs. We bless you all in the Name of Jesus.