A Time for Quiet…
There is a time for quiet
A reason
To be still..
A season
To examine
And a need to be bound.
There is a time for rest
A cause
To be sought
A pause
To find peace
And a self to be found..
There is a time for writing
A sharing
To be rendered
A caring
To be dispersed
And thoughts to expound.
To that end……I move.
the sunshine will soon bring clearing. ...Even so...the standing water and saturated soil will remind us for days of being covered... rendered helpless to nature's ways.
Just as much our lives become enveloped and our joy concealed.... frozen in it's moment until warmed by some special friend... Someone especially sent.. Maybe to hold… Or just to remind us of being held.
Right after Christmas is the perfect time to look back and examine our hearts. What is Jesus saying to me these days after Christmas? What is he asking me? What is he inviting me to do? He won't be asking us to repeat our account of what happened, in terms of who was right and who was wrong. Jesus will always draw us to himself, always inviting us into the mystery of the power of surrender. Jesus is offering us a chance to stay longer in that stable, next to the manger, to draw deeper from the mystery of his self-sacrificing love. Stronger in the power of the Holy Spirit which He so graciously provided on his ascent into Heaven.
4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. Eph. 2:4-5 NIV
picture by Linda Powell
Ever wondered what actions, disposition, or behavior is necessary for God to save you? Even though many are familiar with "saved by Grace through Faith and not of works"; it is just very hard to understand how this could be. An old country gospel song reads "good old boys don't always get to Heaven..." Paul, the Apostle, submitted to the churches of Galatia that one is saved by Grace through faith and it was not necessary to become a Jew. As the Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul (a Jew himself) never ceased to pray for the Gentiles to come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and to experience His Resurrection power. After that first journey through Asia Minor, Paul faced the other Apostles in Jerusalem to debate his contention of salvation. Winning that argument became the difference in the foundation and growth of the early church as it's own entity (body of Christ) rather than a sect of Judaism.
So all who have accepted Jesus are saved apart from our works, but not only from our sins, but to a calling decided in advance by God Himself. We were created in His image by His workmanship and reborn in Christ Jesus to do good works, not to gain our Salvation, but because of our Salvation.
Thus, "But God". We were spiritually dead and then made alive in Christ. It's Christ in us and us in Christ. An abiding for which Jesus gave His life to attain. The next time we are overcome by the circumstances of this world, let us be reminded..."BUT GOD..."
10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Eph. 2:10
Father There is a special feeling... O so revealing in the early morn. The sun so. graciously adorns a new day and we grasp the expanse of God's creation. Ours is a blessed nation. Ours is a horn’s bounty a plenty. Many owe so much. The Grace of God The touch of mercy surely should extend. The only true evidence of our thankfulness is our sharing... a caring beyond words. Left unheard… many are not encouraged and without a blessings return… they die in an immeasurable pool of...only thoughts. My prayer O God is that we put feet to the thoughts and all you have brought this way… I convey in word and deed. Feed us O God and quench the thirst... First and foremost for a relationship with You… and then an extension to… the least of these…our brethren… more than a thought.
Thoreau made a less than $20.00 hut into a famous excursion for his time and a philosophical extravaganza for folks of this day. The sernity of the glass like pond
and surrounding fields of green. Thoreau himself noted that "most men live lives of quiet desperation".
When in the course of this rat race we take time for an excursion into ourselves, we find a quite simple fact: Where the darkness of evening meets dawns dampness and fog, there is a sun to burn off the unclear and a ready waiting God to make the desperation disappear. Let not the beauty of the simple be swallowed up in the complexities of life; those that, in the end, will not deny a believer's eternity.
Lord, We thank you for each hour...
for the power
you provide
as we collide
with the very sin you defeated...
the very loss
that you overcome
on the Cross.
Make it a peaceful day...
show us Your Way...
and comfort those in pain...
We remain...
grateful
hopeful
and in awe! Amen
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.
Commentary:
How many times have we heard this used in poems, songs, or sermons. How many times have we stopped to realize who wrote it, when, under what circumstances, and to who.
The author of Ecclesiastes uses the name Qohleth which traditionally meant "The Preacher". A difference of opinion exists within the scholarly ranks as to whether Solomon wrote the book or someone using his thoughts and experiences. Whatever, it renders the thoughts of the most wealthy man of his time and the builder of the magnificent Temple.
Immediately, Solomon introduced us to his depression over life . He calls it "vanity" or "emptiness" and directs it to a life lived out of fellowship with God and His divine will.
The orator of the book then goes about explaining the many solutions he has tried to overcome the emptiness.
There is nothing inherent in humanity to enjoy. Enjoyment is God's personal gift. Solomon tried wealth, wisdom, projects, political fame, looks, and other personal efforts.
He found death inevitable for both good and bad; and the ways of God are inscrutable.
Apart from God's leading, the mysteries of the work of God. It is beyond human intellect and knowledge.
So then how are we to invest our lives?
Eccl. 11:1: Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.
Find what? Eccl. 12:13: The end of the matter' all has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment whether good or evil.
Conclusion:
Consider these
1. The lure of something better is always there.
2.The temptation to go for it always is stronger than the realization of the consequences.
3 Bible proof: If you go for it without God, you will not be satisfied.
In the quiet
of another morning
we sincerely profess
our needs.
we confess
our wrongful deeds
we plant
new and unseen seeds
of hope and caring.
We ask your blessing
on each
and your hand on our search
for peace and rest.
Teach
us Your ways
and in all our days
Help us to find Your best.
Amen
Gary Roberts is a born again believer in Jesus Christ and one who cherishes study, words, and teaching. He is retired on disability, but looks to each day as a special time to study. Gary is currently a member of Fountain Baptist Church. Past relationships with Aversboro Road Baptist - Garner, NC and Holly Hill Baptist - Burlington, NC have been very rewarding
with a teaching and card ministry. Thus, Gary's background is conservative Southern Baptist. His beliefs nor his teaching are politically motivated and only a love for the Lord and His Word
is at the forefront.
