Blessings of New Years is the blessing of the presence of God being with us, in all the circumstances.

There is no way to predict what will come in the 2012. We set a course and God sends the wind. The question is always, are we getting closer to Heaven, or further away. We have put our sails into the wind of God's disposing, in starting a family over 28 years ago. Some years Heaven has seemed just over the next horizon and some years it seems we are still at the point of launching out. How did we go all this way and we still see land behind us and nothing in front?
There is a Heaven and we have the same destination in mind, though our courses veer hither and yon. We have known some years since we have sat at the River Jordan with precious loved ones. Those difficulties make Heaven so solidly in front of you, though you cry at the looking at it. Your minds eye is fixed by adversity and pains, sometimes. When those times are just a fond or difficult memory, the haze of time puts other priorities before you. What do you want, then? At one time in my life, the only thing was Heaven and my baby and now, there are a few things on earth that distract me from that one goal. I have 6 other children on earth and a dear husband. Sometimes, I mistake them for heaven. Sometimes, I am sure I will miss Heaven on account of them.
In both situations, God is above the griefs that take you to the River Jordan and the joys that enrapture your soul with cumberances. Living with the confidence that God's presence in the midst is most to be desired, is a delight, in whatever vicissitude.


God is love. I look forward to the 2012 and laboring on our family boat, knowing that His presence on and in the way is the most enjoyable part of the process.
Happy New Year.

Of Priests and Kings, We are a royal priesthood, a peculiar people...

Christ, our prophet, priest and king, came from the glorious heavenlies to live among us and show us real and living truth. He possessed all the fullness of the Godhead, bodily. He laid them aside and paved a path to the presence of God, with His divine obedience and His divine sacrifice.
He lived, the example of holiness and the example of humility, now He lives to defend our souls against our fiercest foes: sin and death. He intercedes, He condescends to hear us and He lifts up a standard against our overwhelming enemies. He reigns in the lives of His people and promises true and unending love to His body: the church.
Now, in Christ, we possess the riches of life eternal. We are kings and priests and and royalty, divine ownership is ours of the presence of God, our worship and our fellowship. There is certainly, no more precious a possession, than a real relationship with Christ and His Church.
We own this privilege to grow up into Christ, in all things, on earth. Wisdom and stature and favor with God and man; we follow our Savior. We pray for special annointings on the special callings that we have on earth. Annointing to mother and father and serve and study and teach and rule and invest, for the glory of God. Jesus told us that greater works than His, would we do in His name. Investing in health and healing, in study and growth and peace and safety, is the calling of the Christian Church in this New Testament time. We are empowered by our Savior to do all that we are enabled to and that is before us, for His glory. We get overwhelmed by the immensity of the task. God alone is omnipotent. We are not. We are only responsible for what is before us and what we are able to do.
Dear God, I have 6 children and only 2 hands. I have clothes left to clean and laundry and other tasks to accomplish. I have questions and things to do that I have begun and not yet completed. I ask for grace and strength to prioritize properly. I ask for an annointing of grace and strength for the task of the new year. As I gaze at the baby in the manger, I remember that He was the eternal God and gave His very best to save me. I ask His forgiveness for my ineptitudes and grace to serve Him through this year with a greater sense of imitation of His help. I ask for confidence in the reality of the grace that He has promised. I ask for love for family and neighbors that He lived out for me. I ask for wisdom to discern the right priorities of time and talents. God, You promised to be with us in our duties. I ask for a real sense of Your presence, in worship and the whole week long. Like David prayed, I pray, Uphold me with Your free spirit, Do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. When I stumble, through the year and the days, give me grace to get up and to repent and walk on. Put Your hands out that I may see myself walking to You. I love You Lord! I desire to live, for Your glory.

"When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I"

In Jesus' precious name, Amen!

There was a sheet of grief pulled over my eyes, when the doctor said...

I am sorry, there was nothing else we could do. I looked into that dear Dr. Bacha's face and that was the last thing my soul could see, for years, it felt like.
I looked at the clock and the time was 1 or a little after 2 oclock and the time seemed to stop.

A dear family lost a little one this year and I was forced to look at a day that my mind never goes to, on purpose. The muck and the mire of grief is a horrible place to live. This Christmas, I am grateful for the many hands that pull and guide me out of the places of the mire that beset me. Each time I step into the bogs of grief and sorrow, the Holy Spirit raises a standard against it, but it is not without a fight.
I kept asking God, why He would keep me alive when my purpose was gone. There seemed no reason for clocks or time to go on.
I had negotiated with God on every turn of this pregnancy. I sacrificed and offered the best of what I had, to beg God for a son. Everyday, I walked to work and prayed that God would see my offering and give me the desire of my heart. Elated, was the moment and better than any Christmas present when the midwife said it was a boy. Our family was complete. There was nothing else to do, but rear them in the fear of God...Until that day.
My husband was the first to battle on behalf of my soul. The shroud had covered my soul's eyes. What do we do now? We had prayed all Easter day. Is there a God? I know that there is. He said no. What do we do? My husband said this is what we do...We get on our knees and thank God for each of the 21 days that we had him. I bowed in obeisance to God and obedience to my husband. I was truly grateful for the most beautiful and delightful days of my life. A season when all my prayers had come to pass and a season where I felt that God had heard my every wish. Now it was dashed. Now it was over. Death had come between me and the most treasured answer from my Lord.
Little glimpses of comfort came from hyacinths and sunrises. I found small delights in songs and other things, but for the most part I was crippled in grief. I couldn't reconcile the goodness of God and the hardness of the sense of my baby's face against mine and having to tuck his little body into the cold, hard earth. I had learned from my Bishop that the sacrifice of praise was always in order. I knew that God is always worthy to be praised. So, as deep as the grief was, I praised Him as hard as I felt. I writhed in worship and I learned that the Christianity that my forefather's learned in the crucible of slavery had balms for the griefs of life that were truly useful.

I learned of the comfort of family. I will never forget the sense of Aunt Ra Ra's voice wafting through the fog of pain. I remember the hands of my sisters guiding me to the shower and helping me see the way to the doors. I felt numb and useless. Then the song of the redeemed, strengthened my knees, in church and I felt like I could move again. God's comforts were many and vast, but the darkness of grief was deep. I remember the visceral anger of jealousy that heated in my breast, whenever I would see other's who were allowed to keep their children. I remember a special season of anxiety at the reality of the judgement of God on sin and my dear Abby, who is now gone called right at that moment. We are still on earth, his voice seemed to remind me. God was so merciful not to strike me, in those wicked thoughts. What do we do, when those horrors arise? Thank God for the 21 days. Those days were engrained into my memory, but when I awoke the emptiness of my maternal arms was still there.
The sun shone into my soul when "The Preacher's Wife" came out. I could see God was good. I had jumped in my soul, through some of the fog and now I could see that the things that felt unbearably painful, were the wrapping cloths for my heart, keeping it together. From the question of Grandma Ruth abruptly asking "Where's your faith, Jayne?" to the sweet readings of Spurgeon into my soul by my dearest Sharon. God was in it.

Help was on the way!

Close the path to misery! What a beautiful prayer---

What a wonderful prayer and meditation for the advent season.

Ransom Israel, speak through your church, defend Your people, Show Yourself strong, Redeem and deliver from sin and death- and then...close the path to misery! Halleluia, that we can trust God to work through His Church to answer this prayer that we pray every Advent.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, thou Lord of might,
Who to thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times didst give the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.

O come, thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny;
From depths of hell thy people save,
And give them victory o'er the grave.

O come, thou Dayspring from on high
And cheer us by thy drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
O come, thou Key of David, come
And open wide our heav'nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

God Bless us, Everyone!

Thank God that He is concerned about the crippled soul as well as the crippled body.
Crippled with greed and sin, crippled with shame and grief, crippled with weights and infirmities, I come to Jesus. Were it not for His concern and care for our souls, to send a propitiation for our sins, that we may have access to Him, no matter our station. He has put us on His list to seek and to save, if we are not saved already. If we are saved He has put us on His "get to know Me better list". We cannot imagine someone so insistent on seeking and saving sinners. Our sins always make us hide from God. Our sins always make us think about the judgement that we are heaping on ourselves. The devil whispers into our ears hard thoughts of God. We must instruct our consciences aright to know the truth.

If God has not spared His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. How shall He not also, with Him freely give us all things.

I take the part of Tiny Tim and ask God to heal my limping soul and make me know Him this holiday season in the truth of His goodness and mercies, which are great.
I hobble my soul to my Savior for healing and strength.

The Fervent Effectual Prayer of a Righteous Man...

Availeth much.





Whenever I watch Cabin in the Sky, or even think about that movie, I am struck in my soul at how close we all are to the mercy of God and to the overtaking of our depravity. The grace of God, the prayers of others, prayer for ourselves and for others overtaken in faults are part of the warfare of faith that becomes this human "travail of tears". I haven't seen a better or more clear earthly picture of the complexity of the struggle of faith as in "Cabin". Everybody needs a relationship with someone on earth who will bring their cause to the throne of grace with heartfelt consideration, especially if they don't think that they are redeemed. Petunia prayed so that the demons had to note that this was some powerful praying. The closeness of the string that our breath is between Heaven and Hell was acted out so clearly, you could just about taste Heaven and Hell at the same time. Both the righteous, being scarcely saved and the unrighteous receiving mercy and grace were set up right next to eachother.
We can all see ourselves in this movie. We can all see that none of us deserve the mercy and favor of God. God has a battle that He is fighting on earth for our souls and if we trust Him and walk with Him, He will win the battle.Cabin

Jesus told Peter that Satan desired to sift him...

Longing for Jesus is no guard against the plans of Satan for the soul. The moment that Peter felt the closest to Jesus, Jesus knew that he was in the sifter. Christ had a wonderful plan for his life, certainly; but, so did Satan.
It was as though, Satan had come to Jesus already and asked Him to leave Peter in the sifter to be thrown out. Salvation is not in the longing. Thank God for that. It is in the grace giver. If Jesus is praying for you in Heaven, no plot or plan of Satan can thwart His plan for your life.
It is scary to think that the sifter is only a hairsbreath from making some of us Saints and some of us Sinners. Christ is victorious over the sifter now. Christ is in Heaven praying for our souls, or none of us would be saved. If Peter, who had a loving and close relationship with Christ knew not that his faith was to be sifted, what of us?
Christ's redemption and wholeness and security is with His Church, in this time period, before Christ's coming. We can cling to the means of grace and know that Christ's prayers are supporting, even our feeblest efforts at repentance and faith.
I may say, Christ, my heart is so prone to wander, I do not know if I will stand. Christ has come to give the grace to those who know their infirmity. It is shocking, that the devil's sifter would come across our souls, day after day. When we think that we are standing, as Peter did. Make me know, I pray, that Your prayers are for me, Lord Jesus. Be my Heavenly advocate and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Amen

1. Restore them in meekness, ye saints of the LORD.
For by grace shall the one who has sinned be restored.
All ye, in the Spirit of God, intercede,
at the throne of God's mercy for another in need.

2. If any man, brethren, has taken a fall,
carry that soul to Jesus: to prayer thou art called.
The burden is lifted to heav'n as you pray
and is laid upon Jesus, Who has power to save.

3. Consider thyself in restoring a soul.
For the evil you seek to destroy can take hold
of even the bravest and strongest and bold.
Laying wait for you, Christian, is that Serpent of old.

4. Though Satan should buffet, our God has ordained
that the strongholds be crushed as we pray in His Name.
We war with the weapons of faith, hope and love;
and the prayer of the righteous, God will hear from above.

5. Take courage! Remember, the battle is won.
He is Faithful to finish what He has begun.
The bruis-ed reed, standing, the flax set aflame,
shall bring honor and glory to His Most Holy Name

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