Archive | January 2017

hiding place

Jan30

hding-place

Cornelia “Corrie” ten Boom was born in Haarlem, Netherlands, in 1892, and grew up in a devoutly religious family. During World War II, she and her family harbored hundreds of Jews to protect them from arrest by Nazi authorities. Betrayed by a fellow Dutch citizen, the entire family was imprisoned. Corrie survived and started a worldwide ministry and later told her story in a book entitled The Hiding Place. God brought incredible beauty and healing through her difficult experiences and her words still have great relevance and impact in our world today. We would like to feature her quotes, poems and reflections on our blog this week. May you find strength and hope in her words.

You are my hiding place and my shield. I hope in Your Word. ~ Psalm 119:114

Biography Information provided by The Biography.com website
Photo: Marge McCoy

Victory in Jesus

Jan29

victory

Victory in Jesus

I heard an old, old story,
How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning,
Of His precious blood’s atoning,
Then I repented of my sins
And won the victory.

Chorus
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing pow’r revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit,”
And somehow Jesus came and bro’t
To me the victory.
Chorus

I heard about a mansion
He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold
Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing,
And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there
The song of victory.
Chorus

Words and Music by E.M. Bartlett (1939)
Audio: Stephen Sollars
Photo: Aaron Paul Lazar

manna

Jan26

manna

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18

Something struck me as I read through my daily Bible verses today. I was reading in Exodus, Chapter 16, the account of the Israelites in the wilderness and I had to stop, go back, and read it a second time. Because I saw myself.
God had just done a miraculous work — parting the Red Sea, and now the people were murmuring for bread. God provided bread (manna) — all they had to do was collect it. But they murmured about the manna.
14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. (Exodus 16:14,15)
The people didn’t realize they’d gotten what they asked for because it did not look like what they were expecting. They asked for bread, and God gave them wafers that tasted like honey! (Ex. 16:31)
I think of the time I prayed about my finances. I imagined a miraculous work — the Publishers Clearing House van pulling up in front of the house with a big ol’ check. Instead, God provided an opportunity for a wonderful job. No interview required. All I had to do was show up!
And the time I prayed from the depths of my loneliness, and God provided a shaggy, ten-year-old poodle, the best companion I could have wished for — and all I had to do was adopt him.
In so many ways, God pours out blessings in disguise. Our part is to simply accept them, and be thankful.
Lord, thank You for blessings in disguise, for the manna You provide daily. Open my eyes to recognize them. Open my heart to receive them with thankfuness.

Photo and Devotional by Jean Pike

zeal

Jan25

zeal

Of the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
Isaiah 9:7

Photo by Aaron Paul Lazar

comforter

Jan23

comforter

I’ve realized there is a spot of blood on our white comforter. I was going to share a picture but decided that was gross. My husband recently had outpatient surgery. It turned into an overnight stay. Then after being released and spending an hour or so at home he had a significant blood loss and passed out resulting in the most terrifying incident in my life. I rushed him back to the hospital where he spent 2 more days. He is doing well but it is going to take quite a while to get his hemoglobin back up. For several days he was very helpless and I was very worried. We treated each other during this time with great care, tenderness and gratefulness. Back to the blood spot. Now that life is getting a little back to normal it is so easy to forget to treat each other with as much kindness as possible. So maybe I will just leave the blood spot there (not that I could get it out at this point anyway) to remind me that no matter how he is aggravating me at the moment that I’m blessed beyond measure to have him.

Reflection by Leslie Taylor Leach

Photo: Marge McCoy

My Soul With Patience Waits

Jan22

wait

My Soul With Patience Waits

My soul with patience waits
for thee, the living Lord:
my hopes are on thy promise built,
thy never-failing word.

My longing eyes look out
for thy enlivening ray,
more duly than the morning watch
to spy the dawning day.

Let Israel trust in God;
no bounds his mercy knows;
the plenteous source and spring from whence
eternal succor flows.

Words: Tate and Brady, 1698
Audio: Stephen Sollars
Photo: Diane Domigan