God Provides

One night I had a dream of my father, who had passed away about three years earlier. In the dream my father walked toward me and said, “Your mother is doing everything right for Stephanie (my daughter), but I want her to have some of my duds.” He reached out his hand holding a Good News Bible, which I took. When I awoke in the morning I thought , “She doesn’t have a Good News Bible, only a King James , which sheseldom reads.” She was in Junior High school at the time.

That day I went to the Christian book store and asked for a Good News Bible. The clerk showed me an expensive leather-bound book, but I thought it wasn’t what I wanted. On the way out, I noticed a rack near the door with a book cover that looked like a pair of jeans. “What’s this? I asked. “It’s a Good News Bible,” the clerk answered. “We get them for the teenagers. I think that is the last one in the store.” “I’ll take it!” I said. Stephanie received it with pleasure, and I noticed that she read it, and took it with her when she went to college.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light on my path. (Psalm 119:105)

You are my refuge and my shield. I have put my hope in your word.(Psalm 119:114)

All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. ( 2 Timothy 3:16)

For all the interpretations and translations and paraphrases and rearrangements, the Bible has survived in the Christian communities worldwide, parts of it for four thousand years, and the whole for over two thousand years. It’s full of good stories, poems, songs and narratives, but none of those could account for its meaning in the hearts and minds of believers. The Bible puts us in touch with another life, one we discover leads to the other life—eternal life, at the same time that our God moves in our every day lives. God’s character is revealed in His Book: The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying; “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” Jeremiah 31;2-6

God’s provision for His people is displayed throughout the Scriptures. In my case, I didn’t know that my daughter had a need for the Good News Bible, but God provided for the need.

Love in Him,

Prue

Jesse was a first grader eager to learn when he came to stay with us as a foster child. I enrolled him in the nearby public school and he struggled at first to keep up with the class. At home he begged me to go over spelling and vocabulary lists. I drove him to and from school.

Jesse’s case worker visited one day while he was in school, and we had a nice talk together. At the end she suggested that she drive me to pick Jesse up after school. We waited in the long “pick-up” line until until Jesse came outside. He didn’t recognize the car, and paced back and forth near the entrance until I stood up beside the car, and waved to him . When he finally saw me, he ran to the car and panted, “I thought you forgot me!” He was clearly agitated. I said to Jesse, “You know, Jesse,that at three o’clock in the afternoon I have only one thing to do, and that is to pick you up from school. I never make an appointment to go to the doctor or the dentist at that time. I never go to the bank , or go shopping , or to the library, or talk on the phone with a friend at 3:0’clock on a school day, because picking you up is the most important thing I have to do.

Jesse smiled and I felt relieved that he had relaxed. I remembered Jesus’ words , Where your treasure is there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21) I hoped that Jesse felt treasured , and knew that my heart was with him, too. For my part, it was certainly true.

Jesus spoke those words as a warning that sometimes , without even thinking,we place our “treasure” in “things of the world”, and drift away from what matters to our hearts: Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. (Mathew 6:19)

Perhaps today we need to hear Jesus’ words every bit as much as his listeners needed it over two thousand years ago. I know that I do.

Love in Him,

Prue

The wives of Isaac, Jacob, and Moses were each found at a well. Centuries later, Jesus found a Samaritan woman at a well and revealed to her his real identity. She said, “I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming.. . . Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you,–I am he.” (John 4:25& 26) He agreed to stay for two days because the minds of the villagers were open to accept him as the Messiah: And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” (John 4:41-42)

In this encounter there is no record of any “sign” or miracle that Jesus performed except his telling the woman of her own history. For two days Jesus simply talked with the villagers, and they believed. It could be said that this small group formed the very first Christian church. Jesus sat by the well out of tiredness (John 4:6) but knew instantly that it was the Father’s will for him to identify himself to the woman who approached. The simplicity of their conversation and the resulting invitation to stay in the village must have been a sweet response to him and even a foretaste to the way the Gospel would one day spread.

While we don’t have the physical presence of Jesus with us, we do have this account from John, and many other accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry. The Bible gives us powerful witness to Jesus’ words and actions. To sit and read the Bible every day is what I call “Holy Spirit reading”,done simply to hear the “voice” of Jesus and of God Himself. If his voice could move a village to believe in two days, how could his book lead us to understand more and more of his life?

St. Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians that We have the mind of Christ (1st Corinthians2:16) Jesus’ mind was full of his Father. When tempted in the wilderness he quoted scripture, and never used any other word with the tempter. (Mark 4:4) Jesus turned to Scripture even on the cross…… He quoted Psalm 22: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15;34) If Scripture was so deeply imprinted in Jesus, how gracious a gift we have in the Scripture that he himself read. In the Scripture it can be true of us as of the Samaritan villagers :we can hear for ourselves the Word of God, and believe.

Love in Him,

Prue

A friend of mine told me of an artist friend of hers who was working on a portrait of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. The artist had been to Israel to get an accurate view of the sort of sheep that are there, and had returned to finish the picture in the U.S. It was to be a gift to her church to hang in the narthex. The artist had prayed over every aspect of the picture, and she felt sure that the Lord had inspired the face of Jesus, as well as the composition of the picture. I was curious, and when my friend asked if I would like to see a print of the final picture, I said, “Yes!”

Sometime later my friend called to say that she would stop by my house and bring a print of the portrait of Jesus . I was quite interested, partly because of the hint of supernatural participation in the work. When my friend arrived and drew out the print from its sleeve, I could see that it was done skillfully and well. The sheep were outstanding and the landscape looked authentic to Israel, but when I saw the face, I was stunned. The figure carrying a sheep on his shoulders looked exactly like Kevin Costner, the actor and movie star! I couldn’t help staring, but didn’t know what to say. I praised the quality of the art, and asked if the artist had used a model . “Oh,, no,” my friend said, “She had a vision of this very scene.” “Oh,” I said, “Has anyone seen any resemblances in this?” “Well, some have seen a resemblance to Kevin Costner,” she answered. “Oh,” I said, and thanked her for bringing the print for me to see. A great deal of time, energy, cost and talent had gone into this painting.

Our spiritual, praying lives remain intensely personal, even when we pray with others. Jesus spoke to the issue of praying: Our Father. . .your name. . . your kingdom. . . your will. . . give,. . . forgive. . . and lead us. . . (Matthew 6:9-13) Jesus ‘ personal habit of praying alone to His Father inspired the disciples’ request: Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples. ( Luke 11:1) The Lord’s prayer is a personal address to God which acknowledges His lordship over the disciple, at the same time that it expresses our relationship as children of the Lord. It places that relationship at the center of the prayer. If it remains at the center, we don’t have to worry about the fruitfulness of our labors or of our lives. In an increasingly invasive world of thoughts and images, more than ever we need the one who taught us to pray and who is and will always be to us the Good Shepherd.

Love in Him,

Prue

So Jacob served seven years to have Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. (Genesis 29:20) The love of Jacob for Rachel is the seed of the creation of the tribes of Israel. His love enabled him to endure seven years of labor, the imposition of Rachel’s older sister Leah , and an additional seven years of work for Laban, his wives’ father. Surely it was a deep and enduring love.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, (John 11: 5) When Jesus saw Mary weeping . . . he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him ? . He asked. . . Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how he loved them!” (John 11:33) The deeply real and personal love Jesus felt for Lazarus’ family led to the stunning miracle of the raising of Lazarus and ultimately to Jesus’ own death and resurrection.

Later, St. Paul would write, “Now Faith, Hope, and Love abide, but the greatest of these is love. (1Corinthans 13:13) The “greatness” of love is expressed throughout the Old and New New Testaments, but often in our world the idea of love is associated with weakness instead of greatness. Wherever that happens, we miss the truth, for the apostle John wrote , God is love.

In many of his letters, St. Paul expressed the greatness of love: And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best. . . (Philippians 1:9)

The passages concerning love are vital, as they refer to the very character of God: we love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:20) If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. (1 John 4:15)

The dictionary defines love as “an intense feeling of deep affection,” but the Scriptures point to something much more than feelings. They point instead to a joyful, life-giving Person who shares His spirit with those who believe. Love is, indeed, a Person.

Love in Him,

Prue

One of the sweetest things about the approach of autumn is the changing light. Shadows become longer and the light shining on roofs and sidewalks is milder and gentler. You can sometimes see a haze over the fields when you look for hay bales. With the change of light comes the sense that my familiar yard has turned into a new haven that’s both cooler and different from its June to August self. The fledgling birds are on the wing now; they land jostling and pecking next to their parents at the feeders. Stepping outside becomes a pleasure again.

Nature is so renewing that it is also inspiring, as God has intended from the beginning of creation: The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the works of His hands. Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech , they use no words, no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. (Psalm 95:1-4)

St. Paul asserted that one of the greatest messages of God in conveying His own character to humans is through His creation itself: For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what is made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:2) Though we all find nature entertaining, Paul points out that it is much more than that, because all of nature is a display in some way, of the character of God Himself. The Psalmist agrees: Where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy. (Psalm65:8)

It’s great to enjoy the refreshment and pleasures of nature, but to know that each natural thing also speaks to us of its creator, and that the speaking is one of the reasons for its creation, increases our joy. The joy of experiencing the change of seasons with the anticipation that it carries is not an empty event , but a strong message from our God to rejoice in it as a gift from Him.

People who lived thousands of years ago knew this and wrote about it, but we still sometimes think that we are alone, and that nature holds no message; but Jesus said,

Consider the lilies of the field.

Love in Him,

Prue

Four daughters and a son is a fairly large family, and I am the middle of the five. When we were growing up, my father was heard to say from time to time, “Your mother is the most beautiful woman in the world.” When I was four years old I knew without a question that this was certainly true.

One day my older sister told me that here would soon be a contest in Atlantic City, and that the most beautiful woman would be crowned “Miss America”. I worried about this for some time, thinking that Atlantic City must be at least one overnight away from our house, and that there must be many reasons why Miss America would have to be away from home.

My mother was standing at the kitchen sink when I looked up at her and asked, “When do you have to go to be Miss America?” “What?” she said. I repeated the question. “I am not going to be Miss America”, she said. “Even if I wanted to be Miss America, I couldn’t , because I’m married. I’m marred to your father and to you kids!” “Oh,” I said, and turned to walk out of the kitchen and out the door, and across the back yard, feeling a wonderful euphoria that the most beautiful woman in the world is my mother, and she will never leave because she is married.

I believe that at one time or another, every Christian experiences a similar anxiety. Everyone believes that our God is the greatest, most beautiful, all powerful God ; but each one has times when we wonder how God could possibly be concerning Himself with our personal lives when there are crises happening all over the world, not the least of which is in the land of Israel: God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews13:5), and, Surely I am with you always, to the very end of he age.” (Matthew 28”20)

Those stone tablets that Moses brought down from the mountain were in reality a wedding ring for Israel; and the ladder that Jacob saw in a dream, with angels ascending and descending, was really a wedding ring for the one who would be named “Israel”. The rock that was rolled away from the tomb in Jerusalem was the greatest of wedding rings, sealed with the blood of the groom.

We, too, can experience the euphoria of assurance that we are forever loved by our most wonderful God.

Love in Him,

Prue

Recently when Jack and I were buying smoothies to take to our daughter’s house when our granddaughter wasn’t feeling well, we waited for our order. When another customer carried her own large order toward the door, Jack moved quickly across the room in order to open the door for her. A woman waiting next to me looked at me and said, “You’ve got a good one!” while Jack returned to his place. I thought there was envy in her eyes as he made his way back.

The experience left a big impression on me. I thought of the hunger there is in the world for simple attentiveness and courtesy: Be kind and compassionate to one another…

(Ephesians 4:32) Whatever happens, conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ. Then . . . I (Paul) will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the Gospel without being frightened in any way by those who appose you. (Philippians 1:27-28)

For thousands of years these words have been preached from pulpits around the world. Missionaries have carried them to every continent except Antarctica; and today we need these words and others from Scripture, more than ever before. St. Paul’s message of unity and of faith in the Gospel rings as loudly as when it was first written to the fledgling church in Philippi.

That a such a simple courtesy as opening a door for a woman laden with packages was a surprise, seems like a reflection on the busyness of our lives which becomes so great that the humanity of each other gets obscured in our many distractions. Here Paul doesn’t tell us quite how to disentangle ourselves from the teeming world around us, but Jesus gives these words: When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. . . for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. ( Matthew 6:6&8) These words precede the gift of the Lord’s Prayer to the disciples. Clearly the exit from modern confusion is in our room where we pray. It takes time to develop a regular prayer life, but Jesus indicates that his Father keeps appointments with us when we seek Him alone. When we substitute prayer for further engagement in our busy world, we find the haven that renews and clarifies our lives. It becomes second nature to help another, and to open a door for them, too.

Love in Him,

Prue

On the last day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a laud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7:37-39)

The very first gift given to humanity after the resurrection of Jesus was the gift of the Holy Spirit. This passage is part of Jesus’ preparation of the people to enable them to accept the gift when it came. Even so, only some people accepted it when it did come. The gift of the Holy Spirit, breathed upon the disciples and later bestowed upon the gathering at Pentecost, signaled a new relationship between God and human beings. In this passage Jesus describes it as “rivers of living water” flowing from within them, a picture of God Himself in the lives of believers.

Before his death, Jesus told the disciples a great deal about the gift he would be giving them “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

(John 14:26) He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. . . the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” (John 16:12)

Luci Shaw is a famous poet of Christian themes. In the poem Open she celebrates the life-giving power of the risen Christ on the evening of the day of Jesus’ resurrection.

Open

Doubt padlocked one door and

Memory put her back to the other.

Still the damp drought seeped in,

though Fear chinked all the cracks and

Blindness boarded up the window.

In the darkness that was left

Defeat crouched in his cold corner.

Then Jesus came

(all the doors being shut)

and stood among them. Luci Shaw

Christ is the one who gives the gift that changes each believer’s life with the arrival of living water.

Love in Him,

Prue