A Treasure of Snow

Today I'm sharing some thoughts from one of my brothers after it snowed. Maybe it will be an encouragement and good reminder to you as it was to me.

I love how silent everything is after a good snow especially when you hike somewhere where nobody is or has been in a long while.
Snow is like light in that it reveals things that have always been there but you otherwise would have never known about. Just today I found that the neighbor cat feels right at home anywhere on our property, I tracked a coyote on its rounds and wondered why it would bother following a sparrow's trail for 10 yards, I saw where a fox had traveled along a log and then crossed a back road, and I found that the rabbit population isn't as low as I had thought.
These are things that go on around me every day, but I never see them and therefor never think about them; so to me they never happened. But in reality they did and do. I wonder how many times God protects and provides for us in ways we never notice so in our minds it's life as usual. But then every once in a while it snows and we're surprised to see how God has been working when in reality He has been working all along but we've just been oblivious to it.

Job 38:22   

Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,

Quote: Prayer

I'd Have to Agree with the Poem

The Other Guy

By Janet Martin

Today I was the other guy
And I watched myself as I walked by,
Today I got a chance to see
What others saw as I watched me,
Today I got a sad surprise
As I stood with the other guys

I received the words today,
I thoughtlessly to others say,
And I was so shocked to find
How I was to others blind,
I watched the people my life touched
And wasn't sure I liked me much

I got my own advice today,
Could not choose to walk away,
As I spoke my mind to me
And told me what I thought of me,
I blush a little now in shame
As I hear me speak my name

I used to wish that I could see
Perhaps, what others thought of me,
But now as with the crowd I stand
I don't think I'm very grand
Now I wish that I would be
The way I thought that I'd see me

So now when I begin to fret
And others feelings I forget
I'll stand out with the other guys
And watch me through the others eyes,
Perhaps then, I'll kinder be
As I see what others see,
Lord, please make a kinder me
And help me see what others see

Poem: One Day at a Time

This is one of my very favorite poems!

One Day at a Time

 

One day at a time, with its failures and fears,
With its hurts and mistakes, with its weakness and tears,
With its portion of pain and its burden of care;
One day at a time we must meet and must bear.

One day at a time to be patient and strong,
To be calm under trial and sweet under wrong;
Then its toiling shall pass and its sorrow shall cease;
It shall darken and die, and the night shall bring peace. 

One day at a time - but the day is so long,
And the heart is not brave, and the soul is not strong,
O Thou pitiful Christ, be Thou near all the way;
Give courage and patience and strength for the day.

Swift cometh His answer, so clear and so sweet;
"Yea, I will be with thee, thy troubles to meet;
I will not forget thee, nor fail thee, nor grieve;
I will not forsake thee; I never will leave."

Not yesterday's load we are called on to bear,
Nor the morrow's uncertain and shadowy care;
Why should we look forward or back with dismay?
Our needs, as our mercies, are but for the day.

One day at a time, and the day is His day;
He hath numbered its hours, though they haste or delay.
His grace is sufficient; we walk not alone;
As the day, so the strength that He giveth His own.

Annie Johnson Flint
 

The Sun's Last Display of the Day

March 12th ended rather beautifully; I love sunsets with color!💕

Two Quotes

A little food for thought...

“God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply.” ~Hudson Taylor

“God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him.” ~Jim Elliot

Poem About the Bible

The Bible

Where childhood needs a standard
Or youth a beacon light,
Where sorrow sighs for comfort
Or weakness longs for might,
Bring forth the Holy Bible—
The Bible! There it stands!
Resolving all life’s problems
And meeting its demands.

Though sophistry conceal it,
The Bible! There it Stands!
Though Pharisees profane it,
Its influence expands.
It fills the world with fragrance
Whose sweetness never cloys;
It lifts our eyes to Heaven,
It heightens human joys.

Despised and torn in pieces,
By infidels decried,
The haughty cynics pride— 

With thunderbolts of hatred

All these have railed against it
In this and other lands;
Yet dynasties have fallen,
And still the Bible stands!

To Paradise a highway,
The Bible! There it stands!
Its promises unfailing,
Nor grievous its commands.
It points man to his Saviour,
The Lover of his soul;
Salvation is its watchword,

Eternity its goal!

                              
                                —James M. Gray

Thy word is true from the beginning: and every

 one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.  

Psalm 119:160

Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto

 them that put their trust in him. 

Proverbs 30:5

A Fit Helper

I am doing a study on the Hebrew word 'ezer', which means helper. It first appears in Genesis 2:18. "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." God made man and woman in His image. Have you ever stopped and considered how privileged you are as a human? Made from the dust of the earth, yet created over the entire animal kingdom and given an eternal being. But God went even further and made us after His own image. Just think about it! He also gave us specific roles as males and females. We both reflect His image in different ways. Men reflect the power, leadership, and provision of God. Men are to love their wives, as Christ loved the church. (1 Timothy 5:8). While women are to be life producers (physically and spiritually), helpers, homemakers, and to represent the bride of Christ, for whom He gave His life. (the church) (obviously we only reflect some of God's qualities, we cannot equal them). 
We (women in general) too often view being servants/helpers as a low, undesirable position, but this couldn't be farther from the truth. Because God uses the same word (ezer-helper) on Himself no less than 16 times! And God would not use a word on Himself that was not worthy enough to describe Himself. Wow!We have an extremely important role as helpers. We're encouragers, supporters, and helpers to our husbands. And even if you're not married, you can still be doing these things for/to men in a godly manner. Ezer can be found 21 times in the old Testament. The first 2 uses are in Genesis: three times the word is used as help in a military sense (Isaiah 30:5, Ezekiel 12:14, & Daniel 11:34), and 16 times as God being (our/Israel's) help (Exodus 18:4, Deuteronomy33:7, 26, 29, Psalm 20:2, 33:20, 70:5, 89:19, 115:9, 10,11, 121:1-2, 124:8, 146:5, and Hosea 13:9). I encourage you to read at least a few of the references. I hope you've gained a brighter definition of the title helper. You're not merely chief dishwasher, laundry doer, and cook (although they are great things to do), you can bring your Creator glory by following His plan and be an 'Indispensable Help'.

Psalm 146:5
"Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his Help,

 whose hope is in the Lord his God:"

 

Touched by Love

As I read through books of the New Testament recently and listened to sermons presented by our pastor I was struck by how many times Jesus physically touched those He healed or raised from the dead. At first thought it may not seem very noteworthy, but when one considers it further, it is significant.

During Jesus' ministry on earth, He often walked among Jewry, His own people. Jews who still observed the law believed that touching someone who was sick, leprous, or dead would make them unclean or defile them until evening, so the fact that Jesus touched many sick people, at least one leper, and dead people was astounding to the Jews--in particular the scribes and pharisees. Why would He touch these people?

He touched them, as Adam Clarke says, "To prove His infinite love and unlimited power--by His word and by His acts." He proved His love when He touched the sick and dead. Jesus healed many people but He specifically touched several sick, several blind, a man that had a speech impediment, a wounded man (the man whose ear was cut off by Peter), a lady that was crippled--bowed together so that she could not straighten up, a leper, and a dead girl.

If Jesus had healed the man with leprosy, it would have shown love, but just imagine being in the leper's shoes and having the Savior touch you! It had probably been some time since anyone had touched the leper let alone come near him, but now Jesus not only comes near him, He touches the leper's defiled skin and instantly it is made clean--and without Jesus being defiled Himself.

The touch of the Master communicated love, compassion, and power. Not everyone He touched had asked to be healed, but Jesus in His compassion, saw their need and touched their life with His love. He demonstrated His power by doing with a single touch what no other human being could do.

Jesus also demonstrated humility by His touch: He washed the disciples' feet with His own hands and exemplified to them the character of a servant.

While I was looking at different accounts of Jesus' touch I found it interesting that Jesus took almost all of those He healed (in the accounts I was looking at) aside from the town or crowd; He didn't force His blessings on people--when the Light is rejected It (He) removes from among them. His healing of physical ailments was a picture of His healing from spiritual death. When Jesus put mud on the blind man's eyes, which when one considers, seems to be the exact opposite of what any physician would do, it didn't immediately heal the eyes of the blind man. Instead He told the man to go and wash his eyes, testing the faith of the blind man. Would he believe and go, or would he just wipe the mud from his eyes and continue as he was? So it is in our lives: Jesus paid the price for all our sins and provided a way for us to spend eternity with Him, but we must choose to accept that gift in faith. It is not forced on us, just as sight was not forced on the blind man.

Jesus demonstrated His love so clearly to everyone. Will you touch someone's life with love and compassion today?  Will you, as Jesus, look for ways to bless those around you?