The GIFT - Not Always Easy to Give = A True Story

OK, Lord. I’m ready ! Take me to the beach and let’s get started. I really did think this would be an easy task. God was bringing me ‘full circle’ to the very place where I received my own salvation over forty years earlier. Ocean City, NJ just 20 minutes from home! How hard could it be? Wouldn’t everyone be thrilled to get one of these books? You clearly said today was the first day – so off we go. I’m smiling and content with the Lord’s leading.

June 7th , 2010 ~ 1PM.
Spreading out my beach blanket on the windswept sand, I opened my beach chair and sat down facing the afternoon sun and waves. OK, Lord, show me who they are. Open my eyes that I might see who You are drawing to Yourself. I’m ready and willing to hand these out. [Not].

There’s a row of teenagers lying on their towels near me, just above the shoreline.
I could pick any one of them. The two closest were embracing each other in an intimate manner. Would your mother be proud of this moment if she saw you here doing that? A maternal spirit arose within me. Or was it a judgmental one? Remember, they don’t know any better. That’s why they need the Gift -The Message made clear. I reasoned in my mind that there were too many to tackle in that bunch so I decided not to give one to any of them.

A man came walking along, seemingly looking for a place to buy a cool drink. He had a wallet in his hand and just as he got closer he turned in my direction as though he were going to come right up to me. Is this one, Lord? Him? What do I say? How do I approach him? After asking the Lord too many questions the man walked right past me and I missed the open door. Ugh!
A wave of fear came over me. What are you afraid of? You have the Gift of eternal life in your hands. These people will never see you again. Are you going to let the fear of rejection paralyze you? It already had.

Lord? I prayed. There was nothing else I could do except pray at this point. I was already defeated in my mind. I’ll do it. The next person You bring to me, I will surely give the Gift to. Please give me another chance? I promise. I won’t fail You again. Never make a promise you cannot keep.

Before the last word was out of my mouth a young platinum blonde woman was walking right toward me [again]. She was carrying a very large tote bag on her shoulder and holding her sandals in her hand as she walked across the billowing sand. She didn’t look like she had come prepared to go to the beach; more of an afterthought perhaps. The closer she got to me the more the fear arose within me. She was carefree and happy. She probably already knows You, Lord. Can we skip her? As she walked past me a quizzical look doned on her face, like she was pondering something joyful in her life. As she crossed over the jetty rocks onto the next beach a feeling of desperation came over me. Lord, I need to go after her. How can leave my stuff and go? Again, I missed another one. How can this be? Maybe she’ll turn back and I can have another chance. Please, Lord, make her turn around? But with each passing step her frame got smaller and smaller in the distance. I wept over this one. She never returned my way again.

A woman seated behind me was all alone in her beach chair reading a summer novel. I’ll give her the Gift for sure, Lord. Leave it to me. I’ll catch her before I leave. I looked back several times waiting for the ‘perfect’ opportunity. Then, I looked back once again and she was gone. Vanished. Into thin air. How can that be? I wept again. Another one bit the dust.

Next, an unusual young couple came walking along the shoreline holding hands and smiling at one another without a care in the world, so it seemed. Again my mind reasoned away the Gift that awaited them.

Then a couple my age [that's over fifty] walking together near the water suddenly broke apart as the wife spotted the rest rooms behind me on the boardwalk. The husband, a larger man who walked with an unusual step in his stride, shouted to the wife, “I’ll meet you in the next block along the water.” How sweet to make sure she would know where to find him. Maybe she had fears too. Fears of being ‘lost’? His voice making sure she would be ‘found’. Is He sick, Lord? Cancer perhaps? Their last chance to be together? Maybe I should leave them alone. Maybe I should not hand them the Gift. What if no one has told him about the Gift. What if he dies without the Gift? That’s exactly why I’m here today. By Divine appointment. Isn’t that what You said, Lord? Today was going to be a day of 'Divine appointments'?

He was waiting for his wife as she emerged from the rest room. Taking her hand in his they walked on. The Gift was still sitting in my bag. Ugh! What is wrong with me? You picked the wrong person to do this, Lord? Why is this so hard?

Now the teen couple was alone. The others had toddled off in search of a snack. Now they are getting more serious in their embrace. Does he have any respect for this young woman? Does she have any respect for herself? Apparently not. The ‘petting’ has now gone a bit too far, right here on the open beach. I turn my head from their shame. Perhaps the Gift is too convicting……… offered in the midst of their sin? I could do nothing.

The hand-holding younger couple had returned from the way they had gone. Still, no boldness arises within me. He’s a God of ‘second chances’. But I’m already doomed and defeated in my heart. I let these pass me by.

People need the Lord . The song [by Steve Green] rolled through my mind like a broken record.

Everyday they pass me by,
I can see it in their eyes.
Empty people filled with care,
Headed who knows where?

On they go through private pain,
Living fear to fear.
Laughter hides their silent cries,
Only Jesus hears.

People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
At the end of broken dreams, He's the open door.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
When will we realize, people need the Lord?

We are called to take His light
To a world where wrong seems right.
What could be too great a cost
For sharing Life with one who's lost?

Through His love our hearts can feel
All the grief they bear.
They must hear the Words of Life
Only we can share.

People need the Lord, people need the Lord
At the end of broken dreams, He's the open door.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
When will we realize that we must give our lives,
For peo-ple need the Lord.

People need the Lord.

There were more people than I can count that day. But the last two were the most impacting. An empty beach chair drew me with all its owner’s belongings strewn around it. OK, Lord. I’m choosing the coward’s way out. I’m gonna leave the Gift on that empty chair if it kills me. But what if someone sees me drop it on the chair? What if the person returns just as I’m about to leave the Gift? What if……….? I shut up – packed up and headed home.

Snapping a picture of the empty chair seemed like the only desireable memory that was safe to take with me. At least there was hope in that empty chair. Was I brave enough [or coward enough] to leave the Gift on its seat?


Arranging the Gift on the top of my bag so I can get to it easily and without much ado, I trudged back toward the boardwalk with all my gear in tow. As I approached the empty chair, I glanced around quickly to see if anyone was looking. Coast seemed clear – but my heart pounded out of my chest. I almost fumbled the Gift taking it out. Plop. Right on the chair it falls. Whew! Coward. You chose the easiest one….with no confrontation necessary. Now all you can do it pray over the owner of that chair.

Thinking my defeated day was done and that’ failure’ was the label of the day, I scurried up the steps onto the boardwalk. What about him? The man in the wheelchair hung his head low as I approached. This time I was bold. This time I would not fail at my task. This time………..

“Excuse me Sir. May I give you a Gift?” Taking the book out of my bag I held it up for him to see.
“What is it?” he asked hesitantly.

"It’s the Gospel of John – a modern day paraphrase of the Bible. There’s a story at the end that I hope you will read…..”

My words were cut short as he shook his head saying, “No. No. No,” over and over, he repeated the word as if to stab me with it.
“No, Sir?” I ask in disbelief. “Are you a Christian, Sir?”
“No. No. No,” he repeated again, still hung his head as he shook it back and forth. He answered no more questions. Silence. I just stood there. Tears welled up inside of me. Failure. Defeat. But, Lord, what about His heart? I want to give him hope for his future!

“Have a blessed day, Sir,” I said softly and gently, as I turned and walked to my car. I breathed in the gentle ocean breeze. That man must have some deep seeded hurts in his life to be so opposed to God. Did the disciples of Jesus have it this hard, Lord, when offering the Gift of eternal life?

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John 6:40-48
40For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
41At this the Jews began to grumble about Him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"
43"Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. 44"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.'Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to Me. 46No one has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only He has seen the Father. 47I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48I am the bread of life.

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Sometimes - even in our desired attempts to obey God - we fail Him miserably. But He knows our heart. That was part of the lessons learned that day. It may take me all summer to get it right - but I am willing to do it all over again - the next time. I desire to share the HOPE that is within me. It's all part of coming 'full circle' in my earthly Promised Land.

Will you join me in prayer for the person in the empty chair? That the Gift fell where the Father was drawing - and that it fell on eyes and ears ready to recive it?

Choosing JOY, Stephanie

Meet Christina Weyman

Meet Christina Weyman. Christina is a brand new friend to me and a fellow sister in Christ. She is a wife [to Adam] and a mother of two [to Cody and Chloe]. She has a degree in nursing but is presently a stay at home mom - working just one day a week in the office at her husband's business.

We met a few weeks ago when God ordained we pray together one Friday morning after a Titus 2 meeting we both attended. God made the connection and the rest is history! Our mutual love of Jesus drew us to one another in prayer. Now we speak often and desire to grow more in love with Jesus as we share all that He is doing in our lives.

This summer [beginning today] I will introduce several guest posts from others out there whose voice needs to be heard- shared for God's kingdom purpose. Christina's voice is one of those, and you will be intrigued to learn that her name on Facebook [where she posts devotionals] is:

"Avoicecrying Inthewilderness"

Please welcome Christina on TRUTHSHARER today and leave your comments here for her below. The guest post she has chosen to write is called:

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GOD KNOWS BEST

If you're facing a difficulty that seems too much to bear, remember that God is more than able to sustain you, uphold you, and carry you through it! There's no circumstance that He can't unfold for His greatest glory and for your greatest interests as well. There is no whimpering of cry or prayer lifted up that is too small or too big for His disliking or discomfort... no!, God loves you too much to leave His good will undone! His love IS you, is FOR you, and it is ingrained in your heart with every detail of love expressed for your taking. God is in complete control of every circumstance that is brought into your life with the only thing left on your lap to do... to be obedient to Him.
Think about the story of a man who approached Jesus one day. His disciples drew closer as to ear in on what this man had to say. It was evident that he had everything going for him. He was a young, wealthy ruler who aimed for excellence in all he did. As Jesus proclaimed to him all the commandments that he should be keeping, he confidently replied, "All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?" Sadly, the young ruler walked away not being able to fulfill Jesus' response. Then, as Jesus turned to His disciples He said, "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Matt.19:24). But, "when the disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, 'who then can be saved" (Matt. 19:25)? I can picture them almost to a point of panic. They must have thought, for sure, that here was a man that did it perfectly. Confusion must have set in as Jesus said it was STILL nearly impossible for such a man to enter into heaven. And being people that grew up learning about salvation being gained through do's, don'ts, and sacrifices, their hearts must have sank within them with a great sadness, knowing full well that indeed, they too would also be unworthy for heaven.
See, all along God knew the whole picture. He saw something His disciples couldn't even imagine at that point. He saw that HIS sacrifice and blood offering would cover anyone's sin if they would give over their lives to Him, whether rich, poor, good or bad. Jesus saw that it was no longer about works of righteousness but about a free gift He wanted to give. While His friends were focusing on the "now," God was seeing the later. Isaiah 55:8 states, "for My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways." God knows better than us and He "knows the thoughts that I think toward you.. thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Oh! but still... obedience, obedience, obedience! Remain faithful to Him through difficulty. Stay steadfast in prayer and obeying His voice and surely "all these things will be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33). Psalms 145:4 says, "the Lord upholds all who fall, and raises up all who are bowed down." I don't know about you, but I have done my share of falling, plenty of it! But in the end, I hope that I have done more of my part in bowing!

With Much Love,
Christina Weyman

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"I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." Ephesians 3:16

COME TO THE TABLE = Pathway to the Words of Jesus

"COME TO THE TABLE" = Pathway to the Words of Jesus

by Stephanie K. Brower © 2010

5-week Bible Study

The Cost of Being a Disciple_____LESSON 1

Luke 14:25-35 [NIV]

25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them He said: 26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple."

Over the last 6 weeks we have been studying the Words that Jesus spoke while here on earth. My Bible study group traveled deep into the word of God - walking hundreds of miles with Jesus over the course of our study. We not only found ourselves in the gospels as you would consider the place to find Jesus' words - but we journeyed back in time to dig out backgrounds of why He said what He said.

The thing this study was meant to reveal was setting our hearts in a place to RESPOND to those Words that Jesus spoke to them - then - and to us - now! We saw these Scriptures in a new light - trying to feel what Jesus felt. We studied others as well - like John the Baptist - a figure that most people [believers and non-believers] know very little about and even if they do - they just don't consider much about him. Yet when we read about him [John the Baptist] through the words that Jesus spoke of him, we learned about the committed and devoted life that he lived - one that became a prime example and pattern for us to follow. Just like when Paul said, "Follow me as I follow Christ." We could say the same of John the Baptist in terms of his devotion to Jesus.

Jesus said this of John the Baptist:

Matthew 11:1-15

1After Jesus had finished instructing His twelve disciples, He went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.
2When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, He sent his disciples 3 to ask Him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"
4Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of Me."
7 As John's disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces. 9 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written: " 'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' 11 I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15 He who has ears, let him hear. [emphasis added]

We also saw how John's life tied the Old Testament to the NT with prophesy of his coming in Malachi [the last book of the OT] and the fulfillment of his life in the opening of the NT. God connected many dots for us through this study. We viewed special video clips [from simple truths®] which God gave us each week that tied in with our lessons. God's Word came alive in a new way because we saw, heard, smelled, tasted and touched a LIVING JESUS in our midst.

We ended our last [6th] week with our Bible study dinner last night. After we ate - we headed out to the Sanctuary Circle and ate a Communion meal together [following the example of Jesus] and reading from 1 Corinthians 11 - partook of the elements.

A thundershower came through before we headed out there around 8PM - and some had seen the rainbow that had appeared with it. The air was awash with freshness and newness of life. The earth had taken a long deep drink of the water poured down from heaven - reminding us of Isaiah 55:8-11.

Here are some other pictures of the sights and sounds of our last meal together:

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Some of my girls!
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A Dogwood Tree was Planted in Shepherd's Walk today as a Memorial
Thanking God that He completed this work!
This Memorial [Tree Planting] and the placing of 12 Stones of Remembrance
is significant to God's covenant and it also marks this day -
June 1st, 2010
as a New Season Beginning! ********************************

Along the Pathway = Before the Rains came down!

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Our Communion Meal Prepared in little Napkin Envelopes!

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One last pose! Back Row left to right: Lynne, Joan, Chris, Stephanie, Gwen, Claire

2nd Row: Mary D.

Seated: Donna A. Bonnie, Peggy, Donna P.

Not shown: We missed you Annette!

HOW BIG IS YOUR GOD?

Psalm 108
[The Message]

A David Prayer
1-2 I'm ready, God, so ready,
ready from head to toe.
Ready to sing, ready to raise a God-song: "Wake, soul! Wake, lute!
Wake up, you sleepyhead sun!"
3-6 I'm thanking You, God, out in the streets, singing Your praises in town and country.
The deeper Your love, the higher it goes;
every cloud's a flag to Your faithfulness. Soar high in the skies, O God!
Cover the whole earth with Your glory!
And for the sake of the one You love so much,
reach down and help me—answer me!
7 That's when God spoke in holy splendor: "Brimming over with joy…...."

I love how God will use anything - even the cover of another children's book - to speak His truth to my heart!

How big is YOUR TRUST in this HOLY GOD?

Choosing JOY, Stephanie

FROM SIMPLE HUMILTY

James 1:18-21 (The Message)
So, my very dear friends, don't get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all His creatures.

Act on What You Hear
Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God's righteousness doesn't grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life. [emphasis added]

I don't study with The Message paraphrase, but since going to Jerusalem the Lord has directed me, for a time, to read this as a 'story' - about Him - and about my life in Him. I believe it is to gain a deeper clarity of life in our own modern times. God took me to several chapters this morning from 1 Corinthians - to Hebrews - to James. When I read this line in the last part of the above passage it blew me away.

Ponder that thought: Our gardener is God - landscaping us with His Word - making a salvation-garden of your life.

How does this speak to your life today?

Choosing JOY, Stephanie

EYESSET - Are Yours?

Hebrews 12 [NIV]
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

And then....go out and........

1 Corinthians 13 [Phillips translation]
Christian love - the highest and best gift
If I speak with the eloquence of men and of angels, but have no love, I become no more than blaring brass or crashing cymbal. If I have the gift of foretelling the future and hold in my mind not only all human knowledge but the very secrets of God, and if I also have that absolute faith which can move mountains, but have no love, I amount to nothing at all. If I dispose of all that I possess, yes, even if I give my own body to be burned, but have no love, I achieve precisely nothing. This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience - it looks for a way of being constructive. It is not possessive: it is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance. Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage. It is not touchy. It does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth prevails. Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is, in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen.

All gifts

except love

will be superseded one day

For if there are prophecies they will be fulfilled and done with, if there are "tongues" the need for them will disappear, if there is knowledge it will be swallowed up in truth. For our knowledge is always incomplete and our prophecy is always incomplete, and when the complete comes, that is the end of the incomplete. When I was a little child I talked and felt and thought like a little child. Now that I am a man my childish speech and feeling and thought have no further significance for me. At present we are men looking at puzzling reflections in a mirror. The time will come when we shall see reality whole and face to face! At present all I know is a little fraction of the truth, but the time will come when I shall know it as fully as God now knows me! In this life we have three great lasting qualities - faith, hope and love. But the greatest of them is love.

After reading this passage from 1 Corinthians 13 this morning as quoted in a book I'm reading a second time called:
A Treasury of God's Virtues
I was posting a comment on my friend Beth's blog and up popped these letters before I could send my comment. Usually those letters make no sense and you're lucky if you can even read the letters at all. But this was a clear picture of what God wanted me to know for today. I hope God speaks to your heart today through it - as He did mine. Let's 'fix our eyes on JESUS' first - and then seek to clothe ourselves in the same LOVE that He wears!

Choosing JOY, Stephanie

Like a Shepherd - Lead Us

Do you know The Way?

Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me;
Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me
in the presence of mine enemies:
Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Please click the link [below] and watch the slide show:

http://s937.photobucket.com/albums/ad217/TRUTHSHARER/Birds%20of%20a%20Feather2010/?action=view&current=12fe3e80.pbw

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or view it in the Header - above this post

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Can you quote some other Scriptures from Exodus, the Gospels, Ruth, or other passages after watching this slide show? This is a tiny creek not far from my home where God led me after visiting several shut-ins today.

Oh the JOY to be young and FREE!
But then... in Christ... we are FREE INDEED!


Choosing JOY,
Stephanie

Sailing on FAITH

Our flag is raised to join Israel and the Sea of Galilee flags!

Matthew 4:17-19 NLT

From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near."
One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them,

“Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”

Meet Daniel Carmel [middle]
On our second day inTiberias our guide, Abraham, had arranged for our group [51 of us] to take a ride on a fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee one morning and then have a St. Peter's fish [Talapia]lunch along the shore.

It was a great plan until Abraham received a phone call while we were on top of Mt Carmel that the boat we were supposed to take had sprung a leak. He was panicked about trying to find another boat with only one hour's notice.

BUT GOD........
Need I say more?

God had this whole thing planned from start to finish.

Daniel is the only Messianic Jew who sails his own fishing boat crew along the Sea of Galilee. Yeshua is is God and he also leads worship and sings all the popular songs that we know - both in English and in Hebrew. He has produced his own CD and visits the USA to promote both his music ministry and the boat ministry in Galilee.

You can contact him for info at:

daniel@hebrewworshipsongs.com

and tell him that Stephanie sent you!
He has an amazing testimony with how he came to know Yeshua
As Redeemer [Ha-GoEl] and Lord [Adoni]

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The atmosphere on the boat that day gave a new sense of

'freedom' in Yeshua

- especially when those flags were raised and wrapped around each other

in the wind!

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Choosing JOY in FAITH,
Stephanie

Jerusalem - The HOLY CITY of GOD

Isaiah 48 [The Message]
Tested in the Furnace of Affliction 1-10

"And now listen to this, family of Jacob, you who are called by the name Israel: Who got you started in the loins of Judah, you who use God's name to back up your promises and pray to the God of Israel? But do you mean it?

Do you live like it? You claim to be citizens of the Holy City; you act as though you lean on the God of Israel, named God-of-the-Angel-Armies. For a long time now, I've let you in on the way I work: I told you what I was going to do beforehand, then I did it and it was done, and that's that. I know you're a bunch of hardheads, obstinate and flint-faced, So I got a running start and began telling you what was going on before it even happened. That is why you can't say, 'My god-idol did this.'

'My favorite god-carving commanded this. 'You have all this evidence confirmed by your own eyes and ears.

Shouldn't you be talking about it? And that was just the beginning. I have a lot more to tell you, things you never knew existed. This isn't a variation on the same old thing.

This is new, brand-new, something you'd never guess or dream up. When you hear this you won't be able to say, 'I knew that all along. 'You've never been good listeners to Me.

You have a history of ignoring Me, A sorry track record of fickle attachments—

rebels from the womb. But out of the sheer goodness of My heart, because of who I am,I keep a tight rein on My anger and hold My temper. I don't wash My hands of you. Do you see what I've done?
I've refined you, but not without fire. I've tested you like silver in the furnace of affliction. Out of Myself, simply because of who I am, I do what I do.

There is nothing more breathtaking than Jerusalem! When our eyes met this Holy City there were gasps under our breath - then came the silence of all those on our tour bus. There is no describing it. The walls and buildings of this city are smaller in scale than I had imagined which makes seeing it that much more surreal. There is an air of ancient days that never left my senses the entire time we visited. Everyone in the bus said, "This feels like HOME!" For sure it was home for us.

I will be sharing passages from The Message [a paraphrase] because that is what God asked me to take along - rather than my heavy pen-noted study Bible. He had said before I left - to just 'read it like a story' and just enjoy His Presence in that place with no work - no preparation - no preconceptions on my part. I should just flow with all that He had to show me and those with me. Indeed, He led me by the hand as my ultimate tour guide.

Choosing JOY,

Stephanie

Slideshow added to header.......