Some may know,,,but I want ALL to know

SOME may have noticed that I have become quite reflective these past few months.

SOME know that I have had deteriorating vision for over a year and am currently waiting for surgery dates - first the left eye (booking into June/Juy) then the right eye. Hoping to have these done before I am not able to drive,

SOME know that my baby granddaughter died in a tragic accident  last fall.

SOME know that, due to my deteriorating vision, my work requirements were adjusted in early February and I was still struggling to keep up with only half caseload.

SOME know that a month ago my landlord told me he was selling the condo I have been renting for 3 years - it is now on the market and being shown.

SOME know that 3 weeks ago my doctor let me know the biopsy showed some pre-cancer cells and booked me for sugery on April 29th.  

What I want ALL to know is...

On April 21st my post on this page asked "Is God good? All the time? Really?"  I challenged you to settle that question in your heart once and for all. To take your time as that decision would impact the rest of your life.  You see, I said that because I settled that question many years ago and that decision HAS impacted my life.  

In this season of my life I am leaning heavily on His goodness.  He has made promises in His word and through His Word.  Because I KNOW He is good and has good plans for me, I am looking at the various "problems" in my life right now and see them as opportunities to grow in character by His grace.  I am standing on His promises as I await His provisions.  There is rest and peace in this.  All because I made two major life decisions - first, and foremost, Jesus is both God and my Saviour; secondly, He IS good and good ALL the time.  

Thick Darkness Seasons of Life

It seems lately that my life experiences remind me of the "thunder and flashes of lightening and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking" - the terrifying events that caused the people to fear and tremble and stand far off from God. (Exodus 20:18-21 ESV) But, as Moses explained to the people, God has come to test me; that I would recognize who He is, to know He is God, to see His heart and to tremble at the thought of giving in to temptation and running after idols rather than remaining under His mighty right hand - yes, that same hand that disciplines is the hand He has promised to use to strengthen and uphold me; (Isaiah 41:10) The hand that extends His Holy justice, yet demonstrates His glorious Grace. God wants to have a relationship with me, to share His heart with me. Yet, as with Moses, the place He often chooses to share His intimate thoughts with me is a "thick darkness".

Will I draw close to Him? Even in the darkness (the tests; the life events)? Will I linger in His presence as Moses did and let Him share with me those truths from His word that He desires for me to grasp because He knows they will set me free? Or will I fear the darkness and receive those precious insights ONLY by reading and/or listening to someone else share what they have learned as THEY drew near and lingered in His presence? The people heard through Moses and agreed to obey - yet, only 40 days later they worshiped idols as they danced around the golden calf. But Moses, who drew near and lingered with God, who personally received God's truth, developed a heart and passion to see more of Him - to see His glory and to not move one step without assurance that God would be with him (Exodus 33)

May I have eyes to see God in the "thick darkness" and the courage to draw near to that darkness as Moses did - embracing it, even counting it all joy, as the means that He has chosen to reveal to me His intimate truths about His sovereignty and  unfailing love. The same truths that will dispel the fear and the dismay of the darkness as He strengthen and help me by His power and grace. The same truths that confirm His goodness. The same truths that will cause me to fall more in love with Him in and through His word until I, like Moses, have only one desire - to see His  glory and to follow hard after Him wherever, whenever and with whomever for His glory.

HE. IS. RISEN!!!

"The gates of hell they're falling
Crumbling from the inside out
It is finished...Life conquered death
Jesus Christ Has won it!" 

- Keith Green "The Victor"

    THE SHOUT at Harvest Bible Chapel Barrie. HE IS RISEN! 

Sandwiched Saturday

Sandwiched between the day hope died and the day Hope lives again is Saturday. 

Yesterday we remembered the Cross and the precious Son of God crying out "'My God, my God, why have you forsaken (abandoned) me?' We considered and hopefully mourned our part in killing Jesus. 

Tomorrow, Sunday, we will celebrate the resurrection - Jesus IS alive. 

But...today...I think of yesterday and tomorrow. 

I consider the first sandwiched Saturday. 

I think about Mary Magdalene and the pain and anguish that caused her to go to the tomb before sunrise. To a cemetery when it was still dark. I shudder at the thought. And I believe Mary was shuddering - not from the fear of the dark or cemeteries, but from the fear of living without her Lord. Without Jesus. She could not fathom life without Jesus. Neither can I. He had changed her heart and her life. And He has changed my heart and my life. 

But...on MY sandwiched Saturday, I have Hope. And I have hope. 

So, like Mary, I long to rise up early and meet with Jesus. Not His dead body as Mary expected, I long to meet with HIM - alive forevermore! 

No, my Saturday is not the Saturday that Mary experienced. Never will I have to utter the words Mary uttered "They have taken away my Lord". For, even though Jesus Himself uttered from the cross "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me" I will NEVER have to fear Jesus abandoning ME or being taken from me. 

NEVER. 

Because He promised. 

After yesterday, I cannot wait for the "..." tomorrow holds.

Even Creation Wept

"There are only two occasions that outshine the annual special remembrance and celebration of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ: the original event and the coming event of Christ’s return. That’s it. Everything else pales in comparison." 

- Todd Dugard, Lead Pastor,  Harvest Bible Chapel, Barrie ON

Easter Reflections...

“Christmas and Easter can be subjects for poetry, 
but Good Friday, 
like Auschwitz, cannot. 
The reality is so horrible it is not surprising that people 
should have found it a stumbling block to faith.” 
― W.H. Auden

God's Steadfast Love

I took this picture out my window as I was having my quiet time this morning. 

These verses have always been near the top of my favourite list since I memorized them 22 years ago. It was a challenging season of life and I was doing the NavPress Scripture Memory system.  One particularly difficult day, as I sat by the bedside of my dying mother-in-law on Mother's Day I was struggling to keep from sinking into a "pity party".  It was my son's birthday and we were separated as I was out of town.  We had never been apart on his birthday and now he was turning 16 without me. 

I then remembered that I had not reviewed my new verse for that week.  As I took out the little card and saw "Lamentations" I began to cry.  My heart cried "Really, Lord? I need Lamentations today?"  I determined to push on and again picked up the card as I read the words "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases.  His mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning.  Great is Thy faithfulness".  I wept before my Lord as I recognized His grace to me and remembered my words to Him.  My bitterness melted away as I let these verses flow over my heart. The great hymn that was written about these verses had been my favourite over the years.  I had not known the verses associated with the hymn.  Now I did.  And I wept for joy at the love of my God.

This morning when I looked up the verses to apply it to the photo,  I read the chapter from the beginning - verses 1-23. WOW - as special as Lamentations 3:22-23 had been before...they will never be the same to me again! Check it out - see what PRECEDED the prophet's declaration of God's faithfulness. God's Amazing love...Amazing grace!

AMAZING GRACE...Thank you Jesus!

"Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him," (Colossians 2:6 ESV)

How did you receive Christ Jesus?

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8, 9 ESV)

"Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the REACH of God's grace. And your best days ar never so good that you are beyond the NEED of God's grace." Jerry Bridges (The Discipline of Grace)

AMAZING GRACE...Thank you Jesus!

Is God good?

Is God good?

All the time?

Really?

Settle that one question in your heart once and for all.

Take your time - this decision will impact the rest of your life. Now, apply that to each trail that comes your way.

When (not if) a trial comes your way and you are tempted to question God's goodness - review your determination of whether God is good. If you have settled that He IS good, all the time...then it is the trial that needs to be reviewed - re-framed in the light of God's goodness; in the light of His Sovereignty; in the light of His love.

If you still doubt that God is good...take a LONG look at the Cross. See His power, His wisdom and His love. Oh...see His love!! Once you look at, and understand the Cross, your trials will never look the same again. Yes, they are hard and sometimes life altering, but take His hand that He holds out to you and allow Him to show you the way through.

Not only will He go with you...He has gone ahead and prepared the way.

Choose to believe it!

God IS good.

ALL the time!

Praise Him.