Make Your Life Count Forever

Old Faithful Yellowstone National Park Italian Coast at Monterosso Niagara Falls Cathedral Mountain Canada Bison Yellowstone National Park While cleaning bookshelves I came across an old devotional and read this excerpt from  James Hudson Taylor.  He was a British Missionary who spent 51 years in China.  He founded The China Inland Mission and knew a little about God's power. God Himself is our source of power. . .       Further, God's power is available power.  We are a supernatural people, born again by a supernatural birth, kept by a supernatural power, sustained on supernatural food, taught by a supernatural Teacher from a supernatural Book.  We are led by a supernatural Captain on right paths to assured victories.  The risen Savior, before he ascended on high, said, "All power is given to Me.  Go therefore. . ."  Matthew 28:20 KJV We have given too much to method and machinery and to resources...

The Greatest Thing by Henry Drummond Photo © 2013 Kelly Grace Have you read this little Classic of the Faith? I first found the little red copy in a Used Bookstore in York, England.   Even then it was fragile, but after I brought it home to California and my home's central heating and AC, it came apart into three sections. But, God is gracious and knew I needed to be able to read this book over and over.   When my mother-in-law passed away I received her copy.  It's in mint condition and able to withstand frequent perusal. The title comes from the subject matter, 1 Corinthians 13, the famous passage on love.     In his discourse Drummond points out that all sin falls into two categories:  sins of the body and sins of disposition.   Ouch! Verse 4 says, Love suffers long and is kind . Of this kindness Drummond observes, It includes perhaps more strictly, the self-restraint which refuses to make capital out of...

There are said to be thirty thousand promises made  to the child of God, but they are of no more value  to  us than statements in the newspaper if we  do  not  personally appropriate them. J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Maturity PROMISE #1 I came across this sentence about two weeks ago and it has resurfaced in my thoughts again and again.  Yesterday I calculated that if I found 4.5 promises every single day I could find all 30,000 if I lived to be 80 years old.   How many promises support our lives every single day?  I don't know the number, but wouldn't be surprised if it were in the hundreds. Promises that reveal God's: PERSON PLAN PRESENCE POWER PROVISION PURPOSES PROTECTION PATIENCE There are literally thousands of promises that reveal His NATURE, LOVE, GRACE, MERCY, and FORGIVENESS. We, His children by faith, are supported and graced by the promises God has given us. Every day I want to fin...

An Everyday Cross 1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is  folly to  those who are perishing, but to us  who are being saved it is  the power of God. The cross.   What comes to mind when you think of the cross? Jesus. How about ourselves? Do we ever think of ourselves in connection with the cross? This verse in 1 Corinthians made me think about this today: In what way is the cross the power of God in my life? “It is to the Cross that the Christian is challenged to follow his Master: no path of redemption can make a detour around it.” ― Hans Urs von Balthasar , Unless You Become Like This Child The cross is the beginning of salvation and new life in Christ. But God intends that the cross be His power in our lives. What does that look like on a daily basis? As I thought about that I remembered something I'd read once in a Tozer book. You know how a thought just kind of hangs out on the edge of memo...

A DIVIDED HEART What's going on in your heart today? One of the many benefits of a Quiet Time, or a Morning Devotion, is the opportunity it gives us to hear from God about our heart condition.   According to Paul, all of us suffer from Chronic Heart Disease (Romans 7:23).  As Christians we are each a new creation in Christ, but we still live in an earthly body and are subject to the influences of our fallen nature---which Paul calls, the OLD MAN. This morning I was slogging through Hosea 9-11 in my daily reading.   It's a little depressing reading about the spiritual failures, the  whorings,  of Israel that resulted in their captivity and ruin. BUT---it is also instructive. Proverbs 4:23 has some excellent advice for each of us:   Keep your heart with all vigilance,   for  from it flow  the springs of life. When the Bible talks about our hearts it doesn't mean the organ that pumps blood throughout our bodie...

COMING SOON Recently I've spent some time with my daughter and other Moms who HOMESCHOOL.  I admit I've had mixed feelings about Homeschooling.   Here's a short list of my previous concerns: Could or would kids learn from Mom or Dad as well as from a Teacher in a classroom setting?  Are they receiving competent instruction from current curriculum.   In other words,  is this really an  equivalent education?  Or, will they be unprepared for high school or college level work? Will the child strive to excel without any 'competition' with classmates, stars on charts, and recognition from their peers? What about socialization and learning to get along with others? There are several Teachers among this group of Moms.   I know one who has a few of the questions I have had, but two others, who both homeschool, have given me lots of reason to believe that homeschooling can be very advantageous for kids.  For many parents the p...

How much time do you waste thinking thoughts you know can't be true? But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves  with one another, they are  without understanding.   2 Corinthians 10:12 If we were together having tea this morning I would ask you, "does God love you?".   And because you're a Christian and you know your Bible, you'd say, "Yes". But this morning that very thought came to me with a deeply peaceful and liberating strength. God does love me. I am His much loved child. Am I perfect? No, not even close. Is that a problem for God?   Does it frustrate and limit His love for me? No it does not. He made me as I am. Unique.   One of a kind. He's not into mass production. Every one of us is a divinely designed and handmade original. Whatever my failings, my inadequacies, my limitations, they are known to God. Yet, He has a plan for my life that He is able to carry out by H...