Category: Unchangeable

Happy Anniversary .... Almost

8/4/2013

Nearly 50,000 of you have been on this particular journey with me now for mere days shy of a full year. And, oh, what a year it has been! As I look back over this span of time, I see that it has been filled with many changes that resulted in adventures, as well as a number of detours to our otherwise normal, day-to-day living.

This last year has brought with it a birth and several deaths; a near-divorce in one quarter and an approaching wedding in another; job and residence changes; thousands of miles of anticipated travel, and another thousand or two of unplanned travel on top of that; both destruction and construction home projects; overall, our household has been bursting with good health, with the exception of one memorable urgent emergency room visit for a ruptured appendix –  always in the middle of the night. Why is that? – that resulted in surgery and a longer-than-normal hospital stay; newly-formed friendships, reaffirmation and strengthening of older friendships, and, sadly, the deterioration of relationships due to challenges that have yet to find an amicable resolution.

All of these occurrences were tucked in between the normal demands and obligations of everyday home- and work-life.   No doubt, if you were to review
the previous twelve months of your life, it, too, would be filled with tales of
similar trials, changes or rough patches.

John 16:33 (NASB) “These things I [Jesus] have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you have tribulation [trials and distress and frustration], but take courage; I have overcome the world.” [Emphasis mine.]

Through it all – through every one of the ups and downs and sideways movements of life – God’s presence can be clearly seen as He silently wove His way in and out, around and through each and every circumstance, guiding and strengthening so we could successfully navigate these unexpected storms. He stood firm and unchangeable as the one constancy in the midst of the chaos. And He will always stand firm.

While change is a constant and keeps our life in perpetual flux, there is a much better, consistently reliable Constant available to us.

Hebrew 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

He is our strength giver …

Isaiah 40:29 “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the
weak.”

and  our wisdom imparter.

James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

He is our Rock …

Psalm 18:2 “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

and He is our peace.

Isaiah 26:3 “You [God] will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”

None of us know what tomorrow will hold (let alone over the course of the next year),
but God does and He will be with us until the end.

Psalm 48:14 “For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.”

With whom will you place your trust today for the changes to come in all of your
tomorrows? The choice is yours. He’s waiting for you.

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)

~~~~~~~

Dear Fellow Travelers,

A known change is ahead. I am being led onto a new path which will result in either less time being spent here on this site, or else may indeed lead me away from it altogether.  Until that is known, I will write pieces as I am able that will continue to show that God truly is present in everyday things each day of our lives. Do please check back for the new postings, or else to re-read postings that have previously been published. They will continue to be available for you to read over the course of the next twelve months.

Thank you again for traveling this particular path with me. I hope to meet each one of you in heaven.  Remember, the choice is yours.

Be blessed,
Robin

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Quenchable Thirst

2/28/2013

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We have all been there at one time or another.   See if this sounds familiar to you.

There you are, busily working on some project or task that requires your full concentration.   All of the elements are just right and you are ‘in the zone.’   Ideas are flowing, amazing headway is being made and time has all but stopped when, seemingly out of nowhere, that deep down dryness develops in your mouth and throat. You try to ignore it, but the more you do the more insistent it becomes.   With more focused concentration, you return to your task, determined to push through to the end. However, a relentless tickle develops in your throat and unable to disregard the nagging dryness for one second longer, you run to the refrigerator or the kitchen tap in search of your favorite beverage.   You voraciously – hungrily - gulp down swallow after swallow of the cold, refreshing liquid hoping to slake this terrible thirst as quickly as possible so you can resume work on your project before either the inspiration and/or the energy fully abandons you.

In developed countries, we take a consistent, abundant and potable water supply for granted.
In many areas of the world, they do not have this luxury.  Throughout the history of our world, whenever a source of good water was located, people would congregate and communities would build up around it. If the source dried up or was contaminated with salt or other fowl tasting element, people would leave it in search of a more reliable source of cleaner – sweeter - water.

God, who is our infallible source for all things human, tells us in His Word that just as a salt spring cannot produce fresh water, so too we should not both praise God while cursing men.

James 3:9-12 “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.   My brothers, this should not be.  Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?   Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”

How often have we all refused to let go of some past hurt, ill treatment, unmet expectations or disappointment as we continue to rain down negative talk onto the head of the one who caused this pain and left us haunted with these painful memories?

One common feature of both water and the tongue is that they can be either life-encouraging or else life-diminishing.

Proverbs 18:21 “The tongue has the power of life and death.”

As can be seen in the above verse, there is not a distinction made between the speaker and the one to whom the words are being spoken about. Life - or death - can come to us through the words that we speak.

Matthew 12:34b “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

Christ came so that we could have life if we so choose.

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Thirst has another definition besides a desire to drink. It also means to have a strong craving;
to yearn.

In the secret recesses of ‘you,’ what is that you yearn for when you are alone and still with your thoughts? What is that unquenchable thirst that leaves you searching for fulfillment that you have, so far, been unable to find?

John 4:13-14 “Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water [from Jacob’s well] will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give
them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.””

Christ longs to give you this living water that only He can supply. It alone will quench your
thirst as you travel through your wasteland. And once you accept it, you will have everything you need for true refreshment in every area of this life: forgiveness for past deeds (both done
by and to you), help for the present, and unflinching, unchangeable hope for the future.

Isaiah 43:18, 19 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I [God] am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”

Revelation 22:17b  “Let the one who is thirsty come;  and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.”

The choice is yours:  salt water or sweet water; death or life. Bring your cup.   He’s waiting for you.

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)

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UNCHANGEABLE

9/7/2012

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The day was ‘off.’   It started that way and was indeed that way before we ever climbed out of bed. The fast moving heavy rain
storm of the evening before caused an hours-long power failure that lasted well into the wee hours of the morning.  Throughout the night, there were continual sounds of household electronic equipment being suddenly brought to life during the on-again/off-again/on-again electricity fluctuations as the electrical workers diligently pressed forward in their efforts to restore power to the surrounding areas. We woke exhausted after a broken night of sleep.

This‘off-ness’ wasn’t content to remain in bed when I climbed out and proceeded to follow me as throughout the house as I went about my morning routine. There were spilled coffee grounds; a dropped item that resulted in the breaking of another dish; coffee cup remnants inadvertently dribbled all over the table; my foot run over by a refuse container; and misunderstanding through misinterpretation all within an hour of rising. What happened to the day I looked forward in anticipation to just last night?

As I cleaned up the messes and nursed my foot, I thought about how God never has ‘off’days and never changes.

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

I like to call him my God of absolutes because He’s an ‘all or nothing,’ ‘never or ever’ God. He doesn’t do anything half-way or even part of the way.  He either does something fully or not at all.  It is to this Absolute God that I can depend on to be my anchor - my rock of stability - whenever I have a day when things don’t seem to go the way I think they should, and even when they do.  But perhaps it’s in the ‘off’ days that serve to act as a better reminder to me that He is constantly and consistently loving, faithful, unchangeable and unchanging, and an ever-present help.  Absolutely!

Psalm 9:9-10 “The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.”

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord of absolutes, see How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)

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Happy Anniversary .... Almost

Quenchable Thirst

UNCHANGEABLE

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