Fearfully and wonderfully made

O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising,
thou understandest my thought afar off.

Thou compassest my path and my lying down,
and art acquainted with all my ways.

For there is not a word in my tongue,
but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

Thou hast beset me behind and before,
and laid thine hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

Whither shall I go from thy spirit?
or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
I will praise thee;
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:
marvellous are thy works;
and that my soul knoweth right well.

My substance was not hid from thee,
when I was made in secret,
and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Thine eyes did see my substance,
yet being unperfect;
and in thy book all my members were written,
which in continuance were fashioned,
when as yet there was none of them.

How precious also are thy thoughts unto me,
O God! how great is the sum of them!


Taken from the KJV Bible Psalm 139.

******

Hazelyn McComas said: "This is what I believe: We were with God in the beginning. I do not understand that exactly - what we looked like, what we did all day, how we got along, any of it. Then we were sent here. And I am not sure that I understand that very well, either. And I believe that we are going home to God someday, and what that will be like is as much a mystery to me as any of the rest of it.

"But I believe those things are true and that what we have here on earth in between is a longing - for the God that we have known and for the God that we are going home to."

Our being known by God does not begin when we first recognize it or when we acknowledge it or even when we make our first struggling attempts to come to grips with what it might mean for the creator of the universe to know us and choose us. It begins at the beginning, when we are first imagined into being.

The journey between the dreaming and the coming true is a journey. A journey made through silence and longing where, if we will listen, we can hear the whisper of the Dreamer (God) echoing deep within us, calling us to become what the Dreamer sees when our names were first whispered.

Excerpt from the book "Between the Dreaming and the Coming True - The Road Home to God by Robert Benson.

***

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

John 1:1-4


May we all stop to listen to that still small voice,
that whispers to each of us,
in love, in faithfulness, in forgiveness.
May we learn each day,
and may we look forward to,
with great joy and longing,
seeing Jesus our Creator and God,
face to face.

The Eternal God ...

The eternal God is thy refuge,
and underneath are the everlasting arms
Deuteronomy 33:27

***

The eternal God is thy refuge,.... God is eternal,
from everlasting to everlasting;
the Ancient of days,
before all things, and all time;
which is, and was, and is to come:

the same is true of Christ, who is the everlasting Father,
or Father of eternity, the true God, and eternal life;
as appears from his nature, having the whole fullness,
all the perfections of deity in him;
from his office, as Mediator, in which he was set up from everlasting;
from his concern in eternal election,
in the everlasting covenant,
and in the creation of all things out of nothing.

***

and underneath are the everlasting arms;
that is, of God, which are the support of his people,
and their protection, safety, and security;
such as the arms of his everlasting love,
which encircle them, and compass them about as a shield

Scripture from the KJV Bible

Commentary by Dr. John Gill (1690-1771)

***

Grace Gem for today

"Look unto Me!" Isaiah 45:22

A new morning opens upon us--and we are still exposed . . .
to sorrow,
to Satan, and
to disappointment!
Sin lives in us--and a thousand things are ready to distress us!

But our God says, "Look unto Me!"

Look unto Me . . .
as the source of happiness,
as the giver of grace,
as your Friend!

Look unto Me . . .
in every trial,
for all you need, and
in every circumstance.

Look unto Me TODAY, I have blessings to bestow! I am waiting to be gracious to you!

Believe that I am deeply interested in your present and eternal welfare!

Believe that I will perform--all I have promised!

Believe that I am with you--on purpose to bless you!

I cannot be unconcerned about anything that affects you!

I pledge Myself to make all things work together for your eternal good.

You have looked to SELF, and to others, in times past--

and you have only met with trouble and disappointment!

Now look unto Me ALONE!

Look unto Me FOR ALL!

by James Smith

***

Look unto me,
and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth:
for I am God,
and there is none else.
Isaiah 45:22

God will do us good

We know not what this day may bring forth


"I will surely do you GOOD!" Genesis 32:12

Though this promise was given to Jacob, it was not confined to him--but is intended for all his spiritual seed. It is thus that God speaks to US this morning. How gracious!

We know not what this day may bring forth--but we do know that our God, who superintends every event, will do us good.

We may mistake as to what will be for our good--but He is infinite in wisdom and goodness, and therefore cannot mistake. We may look at afflictions, losses, and crosses, and cry out, "All these things are against me!" But read the history of David. What a train of troubles attended him! Hear his acknowledgment: "It is GOOD for me that I have been afflicted!"

Your God will do you good--therefore He will try you, sift you, humble you, and prove you. He will give you needed bitter medicine--as well as food. He will consider nothing too expensive, or too painful--if necessary for your soul's welfare.

Look at your trials, and say, "This also shall turn to my good!"

Look on the past, and acknowledge, "Surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life."

Look to the future, and rejoice, "The Lord will surely give me that which is GOOD."

Look in every direction, and say, "Surely the Lord will do me good--I will trust, and not be afraid."

(James Smith, "The Pastor's Morning Visit")

This inspirational piece came in my mailbox this morning
from

Grace Gems.

*************

Chosen with an everlasting love

Long before any human being saw us,
we are seen by God's loving eyes.

Long before anyone heard us cry or laugh,
we are heard by our God who is all ears for us.

Long before any person spoke to us in this world,
we are spoken to by the voice of eternal love.

Our preciousness, uniqueness and individuality
are not given to us by those who meet us in clock-time
-- our brief chronological existence --
but
by the One
who has chosen us with an everlasting love,
a love that existed from all eternity
and will last through all eternity.

Henri J.M. Nouwen

I am with you alway

Dear Friends,

I am basically a positive person, but sometimes have my moments of doubt and feeling down.

Yesterday morning started out well, but by the time we headed out the door to do our errands, I had a big lump in my throat, and felt like crying and in fact did shed a few tears. DH held and comforted me, and I told him "I don't know what's the matter with me this morning."

We headed out the door, and that's when I saw the basket plant (Callisia fragrans) flowers in bloom all down the driveway and said to DH, "Look at all these flowers".

After we got into the car and were waiting in the driveway to pull out into the road, DH patted my arm and said " Who but FlowerLady could be down one minute then walk out and see flowers and have her whole day change." He said when I had walked out into the driveway and turned to him with a big smile on my face telling him to look at all the flowers, his spirit was lifted too.

Things can get us down, and something as simple as walking outside and seeing flowers in bloom, or hearing birdsong, or taking in some delightful scent, will give us a change of heart, in attitude and boost us on our way.

I do believe in Jesus and my hope is in Him, that He will work all things out. He takes care of us every single day even when we feel like He isn't. The evil one does his best to discourage us and to think on all the 'what ifs' when we should be thinking of the Love and Mercy of God for us.

Things are rough around the whole world these days. We no longer live in a 'Norman Rockwell' world, instead it is a world full of greed, animosity, fear, over-consumption. As a believer in Jesus, I am looking forward to His return, and we believe it could be soon. There are signs all around us if we look. This world is not our home the way it is now. Man cannot bring order to the chaos that is here now, only Jesus as God can do that.

When life gets us down we can look to the 'author and finisher' of our faith. He has promised to never leave or forsake us. We all will go through things in life, that we hopefully learn from. We were not promised a good, perfect life. We will have hardships, dissappointments.

**********

I stopped with the last paragraph to look up some scripture in my E-Sword program and the following is what came up for the scripture reading and commentary for this morning and tonight as well. They were just right for this post. The commentary is by C.H. Spurgeon, (1834-1892).

I will let those writings be the ending to this post.

May you all feel the Light, Love, Peace and Strength of God flowing through and surrounding you in your lives each and every day.

************

May 11

Morning

“I am with you alway.”
- Mat_28:20

It is well there is One who is ever the same, and who is ever with us. It is well there is one stable rock amidst the billows of the sea of life.

O my soul, set not thine affections upon rusting, moth-eaten, decaying treasures, but set thine heart upon him who abides for ever faithful to thee. Build not thine house upon the moving quicksands of a deceitful world, but found thy hopes upon this rock, which, amid descending rain and roaring floods, shall stand immovably secure.

My soul, I charge thee, lay up thy treasure in the only secure cabinet; store thy jewels where thou canst never lose them. Put thine all in Christ; set all thine affections on his person, all thy hope in his merit, all thy trust in his efficacious blood, all thy joy in his presence, and so thou mayest laugh at loss, and defy destruction.

Remember that all the flowers in the world’s garden fade by turns, and the day cometh when nothing will be left but the black, cold earth. Death’s black extinguisher must soon put out thy candle. Oh! how sweet to have sunlight when the candle is gone!

The dark flood must soon roll between thee and all thou hast; then wed thine heart to him who will never leave thee; trust thyself with him who will go with thee through the black and surging current of death’s stream, and who will land thee safely on the celestial shore, and make thee sit with him in heavenly places for ever.

Go, sorrowing son of affliction, tell thy secrets to the Friend who sticketh closer than a brother. Trust all thy concerns with him who never can be taken from thee, who will never leave thee, and who will never let thee leave him, even “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.” “Lo, I am with you alway,” is enough for my soul to live upon, let who will forsake me.

**********

Evening

“Only be thou strong and very courageous.”
- Jos_1:7

Our God’s tender love for his servants makes him concerned for the state of their inward feelings. He desires them to be of good courage.

Some esteem it a small thing for a believer to be vexed with doubts and fears, but God thinks not so. From this text it is plain that our Master would not have us entangled with fears. He would have us without carefulness, without doubt, without cowardice.

Our Master does not think so lightly of our unbelief as we do. When we are desponding we are subject to a grievous malady, not to be trifled with, but to be carried at once to the beloved Physician.

Our Lord loveth not to see our countenance sad. It was a law of Ahasuerus that no one should come into the king’s court dressed in mourning: this is not the law of the King of kings, for we may come mourning as we are; but still he would have us put off the spirit of heaviness, and put on the garment of praise, for there is much reason to rejoice.

The Christian man ought to be of a courageous spirit, in order that he may glorify the Lord by enduring trials in an heroic manner. If he be fearful and fainthearted, it will dishonour his God. Besides, what a bad example it is.

This disease of doubtfulness and discouragement is an epidemic which soon spreads amongst the Lord’s flock. One downcast believer makes twenty souls sad. Moreover, unless your courage is kept up Satan will be too much for you.

Let your spirit be joyful in God your Saviour, the joy of the Lord shall be your strength, and no fiend of hell shall make headway against you: but cowardice throws down the banner.

Moreover, labour is light to a man of cheerful spirit; and success waits upon cheerfulness. The man who toils, rejoicing in his God, believing with all his heart, has success guaranteed. He who sows in hope shall reap in joy; therefore, dear reader, “be thou strong, and very courageous.”

Think on these things

**************

whatsoever things are true,
whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report;
if there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise,
think on these things.
Philippians 4:8

Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL