Be My Vision, Lord!

There is an old Irish hymn, “ Be Thou My Vision“, written in the 8th century. The author is anonymous, but in the One Year Book of Hymns for June 10th, it says,

"The word vision is used to indicate not only what we focus on but also what we strive for. As we strive for a goal, we gain a long-range perspective that helps us see today’s disappointments as trivial when compared with the heavenly vision.”

In other words, when God is our Vision, we see Him in everything that happens in our lives and we are content. The Psalmist expresses his thoughts this way:

“I have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; from You alone comes the good I enjoy…Lord, You are my allotted portion and my cup; You maintain my boundaries: the lines fall for me in pleasant places; I am well content with my inheritance…You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand are pleasures for evermore.” Psa. 16:2, 5, 6, 11 REB

Here I have paraphrased some of the thoughts expressed in the hymn. ‘Be my vision, Lord. Nothing else matters to me but You…You are my best thought day or night—Your presence is my light…Be my wisdom, Lord. You are my true word…You are living in me and I in You…Be my battle shield…my dignity and my delight, my soul’s shelter…I don’t desire riches or man’s empty praise; You are my inheritance… always first in my heart…my treasure. High King of heaven, You are my victory…Heart of my own heart, whatever happens, still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

’This Vision is—seeing that the object of His grace is not only our happiness but our holiness so that we would carry out His purposes in the world around us. It is recognizing the priestly heart He’s given us—a sympathetic heart in which we are motivated to please and honor Him in the way we live and respond to life’s circumstances so that others will want to know and come to enjoy Him too. It is also recognizing that “apart from Me you can do nothing”—He lives IN US so we have His power to do the work He’s asked us to do. We are utterly dependent on Him and His promise is, “He who abides in Me bears much fruit.” He makes it happen!

When He is our Vision, Mark 12:30 becomes a reality: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” NIV As Andrew Murray says in ‘God’s Best Secrets’,

“He needs us wholly for Himself. Our love, our prayers, our consecration, our trust, our obedience—in all these there must be an unreserved surrender to God’s will and service.

‘With all your heart’—with its longings, with its affections, with its attachments, with all its desires.

‘With all your soul’—with its vital powers and the will as a royal master of the soul.

‘With all your mind’—its faculties of thought, of knowledge, of reasoning, and its powers of memory and imagination.

‘With all your strength’—this is nothing less than the sacrifice of everything and the putting forth of our utmost endeavors. All for God, for God alone, and our one desire must be to love and serve Him perfectly.”

What a wonderful God it is who has such a right to expect so much from us!...Is He not indeed worthy, ten thousand times worthy, that all that is within us shall love and honor Him with all our strength and all our heart?”

I think of the wonderful promise in 1 Thessalonians 5:22-24TLB “May the God of peace himself make you entirely pure and devoted to God; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept strong and blameless until that day when our Lord Jesus Christ comes back again. God, who called you to become his child, will do all this for you, just as he promised.”

As we enter a new year may we know more fully what it means to experience Him as our Vision!

HAVE YOU OPENED YOUR GIFT YET?
Jesus gave His life as a gift to you!
You didn’t have to ask…He offered it to you without cost.
Have you discovered what’s in it?
His LIFE that is—what did He give you?
Let’s take off the wrapping and see!

• PEACE: I am leaving you with a gift--peace of mind and heart. And THE peace I give isn't like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid (John 14:27)

• ETERNAL LIFE: Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the ONLY true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent (John 17:3 NIV)

• WISDOM & KNOWLEDGE: In HIM lie hidden ALL the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3NLT) As we search the scriptures it’s all there for Him to reveal and for us to discover. This is the treasure He’s given us, WOW!

• POWER: His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him. (2 Pet. 1:3NKJV) EVERYTHING WE NEED TO BE GODLY—that’s a pretty comprehensive gift! Think about it!

• BLESSINGS: And He has already “blessed us with every spiritual blessing because we belong to Christ (Eph 1:3 NJKV) When we receive Him we are given EVERY spiritual blessing! Can you even begin to comprehend that?

• REST: Come to ME, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take MY yoke upon you. Let ME teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light (Matt 11:28-30 NLT)

• TRUTH & DIRECTION: Jesus said I am THE Way and THE Truth and THE Life (John 14:6 NIV) There is only One Way… His way, One Truth… His truth, and One Life… HIS LIFE and it is…. His gift to YOU!

Have you ever considered the fact that everything God brings into our lives is a gift?
A friend recently encouraged me with these words: ”we are to delight in all God’s gifts no matter the packaging.” Some come packaged as burdens and some as blessings, but when we are yoked with Jesus they all fit perfectly! He knows just what we need to make us what he wants us to be and to give us “life to the fullest” (John 10:10)
Well, we’ve started unwrapping a few of His gifts together, but I encourage you to keep going—there’s lots more—IN HIM!!!

Because HE IS THE GIFT and He wants us to know Him!

Did you notice that the gift is all-inclusive? Nothing is left out?
He gives us everything! The gift is complete, because it is HIM.
Read through the scriptures above and take note of the inclusive words God chose:

THE peace, not like the world’s
ONLY true God
ALL treasures
EVERY thing we need
PERFECT yoke
EVERY spiritual blessing
THE Way, THE Truth, THE Life

Can you see it?
Jesus is the perfect gift!
’THE-ONLY-ALL-EVERY-PERFECT-BLESSING’
He is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, THE LIFE
He is the free Gift, offered…..at no cost to you!

If you have never opened this Gift and would like some direction visit our H.O.P.E. page at lovelybranchesministries.org. Please let me know if you made a decision to receive this Gift for the first time or if you are returning to this perfect Gift today or what new things you have discovered about the Gift as you search scripture on your own.

I would love to hear from you!
dianne.doty@hotmail.com

Seeing God through A Grateful Heart

Have you ever recognized that God is the One who brings certain people across our paths? Some touch us a little, but others touch us more significantly. Mike Wells was one of those people that touched my life with truth, in a very profound way. When I heard him speak, the lights went on in my mind and heart as he described

‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’;

as he shared that

‘Jesus is the Way and every other way is not the way’;

and that

‘there is no problem that the nearness of Jesus cannot overcome’.

Mike died on the mission field this month; but “the Jesus” he proclaimed lives on. Mike’s faithfulness to share the life of Jesus, changed my life forever.

He wrote several books, which have greatly enhanced my understanding of living life IN Christ—recognizing that Jesus lives that life through me, and ‘without Him I can do nothing’. Truly, JESUS IS MY LIFE! And I am so grateful to know this fact and to experience it more and more each day as I grow in my relationship with Him.

When I received the news of Mike’s death I was surprised, but not shocked or saddened. Jesus, the one Mike talked about, had taken him to be with Him; but the Jesus he talked about is alive in me forever! He wrote, Side-tracked in The Wilderness and Problems, God’s Presence and Prayer, among others; and the soon to be released, My Weakness for His Strength. In each book, he talks about how God uses the circumstances of his life and the lives of others—he tells stories of the things all of us experience—to teach that Christ is our Life, as we abide in Him. Mike’s ministry reaches more than 108 countries and impacts pastors in very remote areas of the world. I encourage you to visit his website to learn more, as he ‘shares about the life of Jesus in us’ at http://abidinglife.com/2009/

At his memorial service this week he was described by one of the speakers as “a clear window to see Jesus through”. That is how I saw him, too! He was nothing in himself, and never claimed to be. He had problems, and struggles that he constantly dealt with, but His life was Jesus and his desire was to abide in Him and help others learn to do the same. My husband and I had the privilege of ministering with him and his wife, Betty, in Fiji for several years on short mission trips. I am very grateful to God for bringing Mike across my path.

One thing that God began to teach me through Mike is to recognize Him in all that happens in our lives. This week I had a small stroke and immediately began to ask God to help me see Him in the situation. Very gratefully, on the way to the hospital He began to assure my heart with His truth: “Diane, I planned every day of your life before one of them came to be” “I work everything according to the counsel of My own will” “I am good to everyone and My compassion is intertwined with everything I do” How grateful I am to God for teaching me these truths, because I also know that when I become weaker it gives more opportunity for Jesus to pour out His strength in and through me—because……….

“His strength is perfected in my weakness”! 2 Corinthians 12:9

I pray, that because of this experience, my life will be
A CLEAR WINDOW FOR OTHERS TO SEE JESUS THROUGH!
To God be the glory!

IT'S WORTH EXPLORING!

When considering the theme exploration, I immediately thought of the fact that nothing is more important in our lives, or has the capacity of far reaching influence than exploring the heart of God----as revealed in His Word!

In Proverbs 2:4 Solomon addresses the value of searching for wisdom; which we have discovered is IN Jesus Christ. ”if you look for it as for silver and search for it as hidden treasure, THEN you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God”
Colossians 2:2-3 confirms that in Jesus Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Job 23:12 says, ‘’I have not departed from His commands, but have treasured His words more than daily food.”
Psalm 119:103 says, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! “
Do I daily treasure His word more than food?

I’ve been reading through Job the last few weeks and was impressed in chapter 28, by his description of exploring:
"People know where to mine silver and how to refine gold. They know where to dig iron from the earth and how to smelt copper from rock. They know how to shine light in the darkness and explore the farthest regions of the earth as they search in the dark for ore. They sink a mine shaft into the earth far from where anyone lives. They descend on ropes, swinging back and forth.
Food is grown on the earth above, but down below, the earth is melted as by fire. Here the rocks contain precious lapis lazuli, and the dust contains gold.
These are treasures no bird of prey can see, no falcon's eye observe. No wild animal has walked upon these treasures; no lion has ever set his paw there.
People know how to tear apart flinty rocks and overturn the roots of mountains. They cut tunnels in the rocks and uncover precious stones. They dam up the trickling streams and bring to light the hidden treasures. "But do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding? No one knows where to find it, for it is not found among the living. 'It is not here,' says the ocean. 'Nor is it here,' says the sea. It cannot be bought with gold. It cannot be purchased with silver. It's worth more than all the gold of Ophir, greater than precious onyx or lapis lazuli. Wisdom is more valuable than gold and crystal. It cannot be purchased with jewels mounted in fine gold. Coral and jasper are worthless in trying to get it. The price of wisdom is far above rubies. Precious peridot from Ethiopia cannot be exchanged for it. It's worth more than the purest gold. "But do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all humanity. Even the sharp-eyed birds in the sky cannot discover it.
Destruction and Death say, 'We've heard only rumors of where wisdom can be found.' "God alone understands the way to wisdom; he knows where it can be found, for he looks throughout the whole earth and sees everything under the heavens. He decided how hard the winds should blow and how much rain should fall. He made the laws for the rain and laid out a path for the lightning. Then he saw wisdom and evaluated it. He set it in place and examined it thoroughly. And this is what he says to all humanity: 'The fear of the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding.'
This is a vivid description of exploring the heart of God! And what we are searching for is a very precious treasure—His wisdom and knowledge.

I recall a story about some miners in California who diligently searched a long time for gold, before finally giving up their search. Awhile later, another group of miners came upon the abandoned mine and began “exploring” and digging in the shaft……you guessed it, after further “exploration” they discovered “The Mother Lode” just a couple of inches away from where the former miners had quit!! The moral of the story is obvious: that we need to continue our diligent search for God’s wisdom—His heart. Which He earnestly wants us to discover! And never give up!
The fact that God will guide us as we search His heart could be described in this illustration of river rafting. We must trust our experienced guide who might steer us toward a steep waterfall, when another way appears safer. Yet when he brings us through those swirling waters we see that if we had gone the way we thought best we would have encountered jagged rocks that might have destroyed us.

In the midst of ALL the events of our lives, God is seeking to reveal His heart. In tough times our thoughts may scream for a different way to be guided; but if we daily treasure His Word more than food and are faithful to explore the scriptures, we will SEE HIM—His heart—and what He desires to teach us. He does not waste experiences and circumstances! Nothing He does is accidental or incidental. He has a purpose and well thought out plan for everything.
HE WANTS US TO KNOW HIS HEART!
to treasure His Word more than food
IT’S WORTH EXPLORING!

The Costly Price of Peace?

This morning I came across this quote by William Law (1686-1761), an English devotional writer.

There is no peace, nor ever can be, for the soul of man but in the purity and perfection of its first created nature; nor can it have its purity and perfection in any other way than in and by the Spirit of Love. For as Love is the God that created all things, so Love is the purity, the perfection, and blessing of all created things; and nothing can live in God but as it lives in love.

Now, you may have to read that a few times as I did to really comprehend what he was saying; but what I think he is saying is that there can be no peace without the Spirit of Love, who is Christ! And there is no greater demonstration of that love than His willingness to lay down His life for us on the Cross, to give us that peace.

In Philippians 2:6-8, Paul says:
Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross.

As I read more of William Laws writing, I observed increased evidence of God’s incredible PEACE. The words below, particularly the ones in red reveal this attribute of God. Because He is Love, He is our Peace!

As certainly as He is the Creator, so certainly is He the Blesser of every created thing and can give nothing but Blessing, Goodness, Happiness from Himself, because He has in Himself nothing else to give. The Spirit of Love in the creature…must be a will to all goodness, and you have not the Spirit of Love till you have this will to all goodness at all times and on all occasions…The Spirit of Love is not in you till it is the Spirit of your life, till you live freely, willingly, and universally according to it. It knows no difference of time, place, or person; but whether it gives or forgives, bears or forbears, it is equally doing its own delightful work. For the Spirit of Love, wherever it is, is its own blessing and happiness, because it is the truth and reality of God in the soul…The wrath of an enemy, the treachery of a friend, only helps the Spirit of Love to be more triumphant, to live its own life and find its own blessing in a higher degree.

Christ’s humility, demonstrated by the sacrifice of His blood on the cross, purchased our PEACE; but in order to partake of that peace we must follow the example of Christ, who said in Luke 14:

In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. verse 33

If anyone comes to me and does not hate… his own life — he cannot be my disciple. verse 26

This is the kind of humility Jesus requires in order to have the peace He promises. Jesus gives us an invitation to receive His peace:

"Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest [peace] for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light." Matthew 11:28-30

This type of ‘self-denial’ may seem difficult, but when we read William Law’s description of ‘self’’ we have to ask ourselves. “why do I want it?”

“Self is the whole evil of fallen nature…all the vices have their birth and power in the Pride of self, or I may better say, in the atheism and idolatry of self, for Self is both Atheist and Idolater. It is Atheist because it has rejected God, it is an Idolater because it is its own idol. On the other hand, all the virtues of the heavenly life are the virtues of humility…there never was, nor never will be but one humility…and that is, the one humility of Christ.”

Andrew Murray also comments concerning this truth in his book, God’s Best Secret:

“It is not only one among other virtues, but is the first and chief need of the soul. It leads us to know our absolute and entire inability in ourselves to do any good.”

Once we acknowledge these truths and surrender our lives to Him we enter into His promised PEACE! It was costly for Jesus to give up His life in order to give us peace.
It may feel costly for us to give up our self-life to receive His peace—but is it really? Especially, when we honestly think about the definition of ‘self’. Now, doesn’t self-denial sound like taking off filthy rags? Doesn’t if feel like freedom?

Yes, we may feel exposed and vulnerable; even tempted to put the rags back on as a form of comfort and protection that has been familiar for our entire life. But, is that the type of covering we really want? Especially when Jesus is offering us His robe of righteousness!
Truly, our cost of self-denial is nothing compared to the price Jesus paid!

Either way----it is well worth the cost!

The Painful Side of Friendship

Friendship generally brings positive thoughts to our minds; but sometimes friendships can be the source of painful experiences.

I think of the friendship between David and Jonathan in 1 Sam 20:42, Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD , saying, 'The LORD is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.'" And yet we know that their friendship was later filled with painful choices because of decisions made by Jonathan’s father, King Saul. The king’s hatred of David drove him to pursue David’s death. Through those painful times, Jonathan and David remained faithful friends as they both learned to lean on their God.

In Psalm 109, David laments how the people he had befriended responded to him: “With words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause. In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer. They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my friendship." NIV

Have you experienced this painful side of friendship? The question becomes, “How should I respond?” David responded in a godly way and continued to love and give even though the relationships were painful. And God said of David in Acts 13: 22: 'I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.' NIV In response to painful relationships, David modeled the behavior later observed in Jesus. We are asked to do the same today, as followers of Christ.

For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in HIS steps. He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when He was insulted, nor threaten revenge when He suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. David did that and it brought him freedom in his heart in spite of the pain! We can do the same by God’s grace.

I have been reading “Don’t Waste the Pain” by David Lyons and Linda Lyons Richardson. One of the key passages they shared was 2 Corinthians 3: 17-4:7 “For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. Therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up. We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don't try to trick anyone or distort the word of God."
You see, we don't go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let there be light in the darkness," has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves." NLT

These truths remind us that God has a purpose in our pain—to make us more like Him—and as we embrace the pain and allow Him to use it in our lives, to do this special work that only He can do; the pain will not be wasted. God has a purpose in the friendships He gives us and He has a purpose in the painful things that happen in those friendships. If they are true friendships we will follow David’s and Jonathan’s example and not abandon them when they are painful. And we will follow Jesus’ example and leave it all in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. He will use the pain in our lives to draw us closer in our friendship with Him.

Remember: don’t waste the pain!

DOES YOUR WAY WORK?

I was talking with a young woman who was struggling in her marriage. She had been referred to me by a mutual friend. As she shared the particular struggle, I first asked her what she had done or was doing to resolve the issue. Her response was, “I know what God’s word teaches on this issue, BUT I DECIDED this way—(and she told me what she had done) would be best for me.” Then I asked her, “Is your way working?” and she admitted that it was not; and that her friend had encouraged her to call me for counsel.
Because she had begun the conversation by stating that, “I know what God’s word teaches…” I asked her to tell me what she knew; and she did. God had indeed, revealed His truth to her, but she had chosen to try her way instead—AND IT WASN’T WORKING! Hmmm, I wonder why? I had an easy task of encouraging her to try God’s way, which she agreed to do.

How often we seek independence from God’s way—even when He makes it clear to us what His way is! As I was reading Jonah’s story this week, I thought of how often I follow his ‘wrong way’ instead of the clear instructions of God’s word. Jonah clearly heard what God instructed him to do: ‘Go to Nineveh and warn the people’—‘But Jonah ran away and headed for Tarshish.’ Look at all the trouble he caused for others along the way; and the trouble he brought on himself in those four short chapters!

And yet, look at the evidence in those chapters of how GOD KEPT PURSUING JONAH—and how He gently, but persistently led Jonah back to HIS WAY! In the process, Jonah revealed the truth to the sailors and they turned to his God. God faithfully provided for Jonah’s protection all the while he was ‘running away’; until he was ready to obey God and go to Nineveh with the message.

It encourages me that we can choose to seek independence from God’s way, but He never stops pursuing our hearts

Seeing God through our Freedom in Christ

As I read through the incredible passage in Ephesians 3: 14-chapter 4, verse 3, it ‘takes my breath away’ to consider the freedom in Christ portrayed here:
Paul says: “When I think of all this, He is referring back to his statements in chapter 2 where he says that as a prisoner for Christ he was given the privilege of being a minister of the Gospel…to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ that the wisdom of God would be known through Christ--through whom he had access with confidence to preach! As a prisoner he had freedom to preach! He says, “I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. NLT
Paul begs us to lead a life worthy of our calling—that calling?-- to preach the unsearchable riches in Christ ! In order to preach these riches, Paul had to experience them and that is what brought his FREEDOM! We cannot share with freedom what we have not experienced. If we do not know his love we cannot preach it. His love will be demonstrated in our lives through our humility and gentleness, our patience with each other and making allowances for each others faults because of the love He has placed in our hearts. We become other-centered rather than self-centered in our actions and attitudes; because as Paul goes on to say in verse 22 of chapter 4—that as we learn the truth that brings freedom in Jesus to, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. NLT
What greater freedom can we experience than that of putting on the new nature of Christ! What a true gift of grace He’s given us! Praise HIM!

What does it mean to be a part of God’s army?

When I received the suggested topic for the blog for May I really got excited about the thoughts God was bringing into my mind about what it means to be a part of God’s army. Here are a few of them; though you may think of many more:

• We’ve been invited to be a part of His army—Luke 9:23, 24
If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

• We must qualify—Heb. 12:1. 2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.

• We must be trained—Matt. 11:28-30
Matt 11:28-30
"Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light."

• We must listen to and follow our leader’s instructions as well as where He leads us—2 Tim. 2: 3, 4
Be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Soldiers don't get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them.

• We must keep our focus on the goal—Matt. 28:19, 20
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

• We must trust the person in charge of the mission—Prov. 3:5, 6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

• We are a ‘part’ of the army, so we must work together with others to fulfill the mission—Rom. 12:1-6
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don't think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.
God has a personal plan for each of us in His army. Not only that, but he also has a purpose for everything that happens in our lives. He uses the events that we encounter toward His great goal of conforming us into His image as we trust His leadership in our lives. We learn to see His hand in all the circumstances of our lives and know that he is absolutely trustworthy as the Commander in Chief of His army!

*note: all Scripture verses are from the NLT

He is My HOPE!

Often, I pray: ‘God, give me grace to see everything that happens in my life through Your eyes!’ That gives me Hope—because He is involved in EVERYTHING that happens in my life—He has a purpose and plan for EVERYTHING. Eph 1:11 says that ‘He works EVERYTHING according to the counsel of His own will.’ I continue to go back to this truth when I need hope and encouragement in looking at the circumstances of my life—and it enables me to gaze at His glorious face and behold HIM who is IN those very circumstances. ‘The Valley of Vision’ is a book of Puritan prayers and devotions that I refer to often in my times with the Lord. The truths help keep my heart focused on that blessed HOPE we have in Him. The book was introduced to me with high recommendation by a young college student who said it was ‘the best book she had ever read’. It is fast becoming that to me also. Here are a few quotes that encourage my life and HOPE in Him: • Creator and redeemer God, author of all existence, source of all blessedness, I adore You for making me capable of knowing You, for giving me reason and conscience, for leading me to desire You. • I want no other rock to build on that that I have, desire no other hope than that of gospel truth, need no other look than that which gazes on the cross. • If driven to the verge of hope and to the pit of despair, grant me grace to fall into His arms. “How precious is Your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of Your wings. You feed them from the abundance of Your own house, letting them drink from the rivers of delight. For You are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.” Psa. 36:7-9 NLT Yes! He is and always will be our HOPE!!! To know how you can have HOPE in Jesus Christ, go to http://lovelybranchesministries.org/HOPE.html

A Garden Must Begin With Seed

“Garden” is our topic this month—and when I considered a garden—whether it is a flower garden or vegetable garden it has to begin with a ‘seed’. The first verse that came to my mind was John 12:24 where Jesus said:

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

Several thoughts came to mind as I considered Jesus’ following words:

The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

Consider your life the seed. If you guard your life and fail to give it over to the control of Jesus to serve Him, your ultimate end will be the loss of your life as far as productivity and fruitfulness. A seed must be planted in the soil, watered and cultivated. It must die to its original state. As it is nourished it sprouts and grows to become fruitful.

This is Jesus commitment to us, that as we are planted in the soil of His life and die to ourselves in giving our lives to Him, He uses the circumstances of our lives to ‘break that seed’ that has been given to Him. He waters, cultivates and nourishes our lives hidden in Him to produce much fruit. That fruit bearing is not only in our own lives but it reaches to others.

To illustrate what this might look like I’ll share an example of God’s work in my own life. Someone did something that deeply grieved and hurt me and I had a choice to make. I could rise up in anger and defend myself, holding on to my rights, my feelings, my pain etc.; or I could appropriate Christ’s life in me by giving control of that pain and grief to Him (die to self), and give Him the freedom to produce a godly response through me that would honor Him. By faith, I released the matter to Him and I never felt more alive! There was evidence, too, that God’s grace in enabling me to have a gracious response, brought life to that other person. O, how I would love to have that response in painful situations always; but that one experience has encouraged me many times since that I can trust Jesus with painful circumstances, whatever they are. To bring life to others is the fruit of letting that ‘seed’ be buried so that we can experience the power of Jesus’ life in and through us. The fruit belongs to Him, because we are ‘dead’—and something dead cannot produce fruit! Right?!

The other thought I considered is that He wants us to be his ‘servant’. He says that ‘whoever serves Me must follow Me’. Being His servant is further evidence that that ‘seed’ is buried—dead to the self-life and committed to doing things His way. Jesus said in Mark 10:45,
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. He is our example to follow. He died in order to give us life. We die to pass on that life to others—to become fruit bearing servants of Jesus!

His Words - Sweeter Than Honey

There is an expression I am hearing from my granddaughters lately when they are ‘in agreement’ with what is said, or when they are ‘affirming’ what they think is good or that they ‘like what happened’. The word is “SWEET! Not so many years ago we would have heard the word “cool”!

I thought about how many times in God’s Word the authors express themselves with that word.

Solomon says in Proverbs 3:24, that ‘when you lie down, you will not be afraid; …your sleep will be sweet’. He also says in chapter 13, verse 19 that ‘a longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul’
I think this is what my granddaughters are saying—‘it’s good, they like it, it’s SWEET!

Ezekiel, the prophet, referred to God’s Word when he said, ‘Eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.’ The man who ate it said, ‘it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.’ (Ezek. 3:3)

The Psalmist spoke of God’s Word when he said, 'it is sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.' (Psa. 19:10) His reason for saying that is in verse 11—‘by them is your servant warned and in keeping them there is great reward.’ I had to ask myself, “do I look at the warnings in His Word and the rewards He gives when I keep them as a sweet experience?”

‘How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!’ –the Psalmist says in chapter 119:103. When I read this I was reminded that I have to take time to taste God’s word in order for it to be sweet to me. In January of this year I purposed to take time to meditate on what I read in His Word—to taste it, to think about it, ask questions if I don’t understand something, look up other references that shed light on what I read. It’s been so helpful and, indeed, I can say it is ‘sweeter than honey to my mouth when I take time to really ‘taste’ it, rather than just casually reading the words! Try it, if you haven’t already. It’s SWEET!