God Has A Plan

Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the comfort of the Lord:  "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."  Ephesians  4:31

In the famous lace shops of Brussels, Belgium, certain rooms are dedicated to the spinning of the finest lace with the most delicate of patterns. These rooms are completely dark except for a shaft of natural light from a solitary window. Only one spinner sits in the room and the light falls on the pattern while the worker remains in the dark.

Has God permitted a time of darkness in your world? You look but you cannot see him. You see only the fabric of circumstances woven and interlaced. You might question the purpose behind this thread or that. But be assured, God has a pattern. He has a plan. The Bible says in Romans 8:28, “In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” He is not finished. But when he is, the lace will be beautiful!

Max Lucado -

Vessels of Honor

Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the comfort of the Lord:  "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."  Ephesians  4:31

     Watch for a moment the various boats and ships as they glide past on the water.  Some are massive, carrying cargo or perhaps part of a military fleet.  Others may be sailboats and speedboats, commercial fishing boats, tour boats, even kayaks.  Of these vessels, some may gleam with newness and care while others have obviously been around a while.  These boats may be made of any number of materials, like wood, fiberglass, or metal.  No matter what type of vessel, its age, or what its exterior consists of, we have no idea what's going on inside.  It could be carrying passengers, smuggling something sinister, or even both with the former unaware of the latter.  We casual spectators can't see inside to know what's taking place.

     Similarly, much to our own detriment (and others'), we too could hide our menacing cargo and get away with it ... for a while.  At least long enough to leave a path of destruction.  How, then, do we purge the gunk and become a "vessel of honor"?  What does that even mean?

     Based on Paul's instructions to Timothy, we must remove what's dishonorable in our lives: corrupt influences, false gods and teachings, immoral behavior.  This is not saying that we must be perfect and without sin (because none of us is), but we should ask God to point out what needs to go, ask Him for strength to release it, and then be willing to do so.  Only then can any of us be a vessel of honor that's useful and prepared.  We are to be willing to suffer (Ephesians 3:13); be kind, show respect, put others first (Romans 12:10); and check our motives (James 2:2-4).  And ask Him to make use of any past transgressions, either as a lesson for us to learn or to help others (Romans  8:28).

     In some respects, all of this may sound counterintuitive when you think about various leaders, coworkers, athletes, artists, and others upon whom honor is bestowed - and in a way it is.  We're not promised recognition or reward for our efforts.  Not here, anyway.  There's no competition for us to win.  But if we serve and represent the Master, we cannot do so dishonorably.

"Devotions From The Beach"

Thoughts On The New Year

Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the comfort of the Lord:  "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."  Ephesians  4:31

                              "Remember me, O my God, for good."  Nehemiah  13:31

     Nehemiah's prayer might well be ours as we treat upon the threshold of another year.  As we pause reflectively at the close of one segment of time, and hopefully look ahead to the unfolding promise of another, it is well that our thoughts turn to Him who holds our future in His loving hands.  Trial, disappointment, yes, even death may face us in the coming months, but with His grace to keep us, and His rod and staff to comfort us, we need not fear.  As we look trustingly to Him and ask the Saviour to remember and keep us, we may be sure that all things will work together for our good  (Romans  8:28)!

                                                         Thou standest and thou asketh,
                                                             "What have the days in store?"
                                                         He answereth thee,  "Blessing!
                                                             What form that blessing taketh
                                                         Thou mayest not yet know,
                                                              But blessing upon blessing
                                                         He waiteth to bestow.


     It is comforting to know that each footfall into the new year ahead will lead us a step closer to the city of God!  Yes, shout, a trumpet voice, a cloud of glory, and we all may be gathered Home!  If the One who always remembers us should suddenly appear, will He find that we too have remembered His command - "occupy till I come"?

                    It may be the last of the years swiftly flying,
                       It may be the year when the Master will come;
                    When the land of the holy, for which we are sighing,
                       Will burst into view - the Father's glad Home!
                     It may be the last! when all mystery ending
                        In radiant light from the sunshine of God!
                    And, O, what a welcome, as we are ascending!
                       'Twill more than make up for the difficult road!
                                                                        - M. I. Reich

"Bread For Each Day"

Disabled Hunters

Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the comfort of the Lord:  "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."  Ephesians  4:31

                                             " . . .  the lame take the prey."  Isaiah  33:23

     HUNTER BAGS DEER WHILE SITTING IN A WHEELCHAIR.  Thus ran the heading in the newspaper.  A man very fond of hunting, broke his leg just before the season opened.  Knowing how badly he felt about missing the hunt, his friends arranged to take him along in a wheelchair, so he could at least enjoy the camp life.  While the men left to take their stations he sat disconsolately in his chair before the window, when lo and behold!  a big buck stepped into the clearing!  He opened the window, wheeled to the corner for a rifle and shot the buck through the open window, while sitting in a wheelchair.  His companions came home, tired, ragged and disappointed - empty handed.

     As I read the article the above text immediately came to mind,  " . . . the lame take the prey."  What seemed like a misfortune had its compensation.  How often we must get in a wheelchair to get the "buck." What seems like calamity and misfortune often carries the greatest blessing.

     Are you laid aside?  Have your dreams been shattered?  Have you met with disappointment, sickness, reverses, even bereavement?  It is not without a purpose  (Romans  8:28), and you will have its compensation.  If you are a child of God, you may be sure that for every hard experience God has a reason and a compensation.  Good sailors are made in storms.  Heroes become such only by meeting crises.  There is no fruit without clouds!

"Bread For Each Day"

God's Developer

Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the comfort of the Lord:  "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."  Ephesians  4:31

                       "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also."  Romans  5:3

     It takes a telescopic faith to be able to say  "we glory in tribulations."  One must be able to look ahead and visualize the end purposes of trials and tribulations, and rest in the promise of Romans 8:28.  Every one of our trials and testings is known to God, is permitted by God, and has a purpose in the development of our Christian character.

     Many of you own a camera.  They are made so simple today that one needs to know nothing about photography to take good pictures.  Just snapping the picture is easy enough, but to develop the film takes a knowledge of photography.  A film is a piece of material covered with chemicals which are exceedingly sensitive to light.  When the light falls upon this film, there is no visible change, yet the picture is there.  It only needs to be developed.  It is taken into a darkroom and immersed in a liquid containing certain chemicals which dissolve parts of the coating of the film exposed to the light.  The negative is placed in this solution and the dish tilted from side to side, washing and rewashing the face of the plate or film until gradually the image is revealed.  This is called  "developing the plate."  The picture was there all the time but it needed to be developed.

     Trials and testings are God's  "developers"  of Christian character.  There are gifts and graces and virtues which are never developed except in the darkroom of God's school of affliction.  Some of you today are in God's darkroom, while He passes you through test after test of developing solution, while bringing out a beauty in you, which will be its own explanation and God's answer to the question,  "Why must I suffer so?" He wants to bring out in you the image of Him whose likeness you bear.

"Little furnaces are for little faith.  The greatest compliment God can pay us is to heat the furnace to the utmost."

"Bread For Each Day"

Chocolate Cake

Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the comfort of the Lord:  "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."  Ephesians  4:31

                             ". . .  all things wok together for good. . . . "  Romans  8:28

     It was my privilege for several years to work with Rev. Wendell P. Loveless when we were both at the Moody Bible Institute station, WMBI, Chicago.  I recall how he used to tell about the delicious cake which Mrs. Loveless often baked for him.  He said,  "My wife can make the best chocolate cake of anyone I know.  I thought one day that I would go into the kitchen to see what wonderful ingredients she put into the batter.  First she sifted out some flour - this did not appeal to me at all, for it was dry and unappetizing.  Then she put in some sour milk - I certainly would not have wanted to partake of that by itself, for it would have turned my stomach.  Then to make matters worse, she threw into the whole untasty mess of ingredients a raw egg!  By this time I was not too sure whether I liked chocolate cake or not.  I left just as she was popping it into to the oven.  To my surprise - that evening her 'masterpiece' was as delicious as any I had ever had before!  I saw in the whole thing a parable.  In this life we often experience many dry stretches (like the flour) which are tasteless and uninviting; we also have sour experiences (like the milk); and even a few raw deals (like the egg), but after we have gone through the furnace of affliction (the oven), praise God - reverently speaking - it will all be chocolate cake over there!"

     I have never forgotten that illustration, for it was certainly Scriptural.  Each thing as it comes may seem undesirable and uninviting, but when it is mixed together with the love and providence of God it works for our eternal good.  In that assurance may we continue courageously onward with our eyes fixed on Jesus, and with our wills resigned to His precious leading.  As Christians we may rest assured that the words of old are comfortingly true:  "God in love averts all evil, or otherwise it turns it to our profit!"

"Bread For Each Day"

Romans Eight Twenty-Eight

Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the comfort of the Lord:  "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."  Ephesians  4:31

              ". . .  all things work together for good to them that love God."   Romans  8:28

     Fanny Crosby in her autobiography comments concerning the doctor who unwittingly caused her blindness as follows:  "I have heard that this physician never ceased expressing his regret at the occurrence; and that it was one of the sorrows of his life.  But if I could meet him now, I would say,  "Thank you, thank you, over and over again for making me blind.' . . .  Although it may have been a blunder on the physician's part, it was no mistake on God's.  I verily believe it was his intention that I should live my days in physical darkness, so as to be better prepared to sing His praises and incite other to do so."  Thus by a doctor's apparent mistake, God gave to the Church the wonderful heritage of a blind Fanny Crosby who, with her increased spiritual insight, was able to write thousands of enduring hymns.

     A visitor once went to see an old lady who had very few earthly possessions - just a bed, an old chair, a table, a stool, and cupboard.  After a little while the guest asked,  "Do you never feel like murmuring at your difficult lot?"  "Well, sometimes satan does tempt me to complain, but then I just ask the Lord to put me into my easy chair, and to keep me quiet."  The visitor looked around to see what she could mean, but all he saw was the hard stool and the broken armchair.  "I don't see any easy place for you to sit," he said.  "No, you misunderstand me,"  said the precious old saint.  "My easy chair is Romans 8:28.  It is always close by. When I need it the Lord just sets me into it, and I am at rest and say to satan,  'Now, you be quiet!'"

     Someone has said that in eternity we will probably thank God more the for difficulties of this earthly life than for some of the experiences that we now consider to be pleasant and desirable.

     Stop sitting on the edge of the stool of worry; go and relax in the restful rocker of Romans 8:28

"Bread For Each Day"

The Hard-Boiled Missionary

Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the comfort of the Lord:  "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking e put away from you, with all malice."  Ephesians  4:31

             ". . . all things work together for good to them that love God."  Romans  8:28

     A lady who had been suffering for a long time was visited by many friends seeking to comfort her with verses of Scripture.  One verse which was used most frequently was Romans 8:28.  Instead of being encouraged, she began to resent the verse repeated so monotonously by those who were well and healthy. They little realized that it is easy to quote these verses glibly and loosely, when not in the same situation.  It is not always easy to understand that our sufferings and trials and pain are for a purpose.  It takes great faith to appropriate it.  Let us be careful not to thoughtlessly quote Scriptures, for sometimes we cannot see God's purpose until later when the testing is past.

     Yet it is true, whether we realize it or not, that everything God permits to come into our lives must have a reason.  Whatever God sends up on us is necessary and for some good purpose which we shall understand afterward.

     A missionary was captured by cannibals.  "I suppose you intend to eat me?"  said the missionary, and the chief grunted his affirmation.  "Try a sample first, and see if you like it,"  said the missionary as he took his knife and cut a slab from the calf of his leg and handed it to him.  "Try this and see."  The chief took one bite and choked.  The missionary had a cork let.  The chief wanted no more of it and the missionary was spared. Years before, he had thought it a great misfortune to lose his leg and to wear an artificial one, but afterward it saved his life.  It worked out "for good."

"Bread For Life"

COME TO ME FOR REST...

Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea in the comfort of the Lord:  "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."  Ephesians  4:31

COME TO ME FOR REST and refreshment.  The journey has been too much for you, and you are bone-weary.  Do not be ashamed of your exhaustion.  Instead, see it as an opportunity for Me to take charge of your life.

Remember that I can fit everything into a pattern for good, including the things you wish were different. Start with where you are at this point in time and space, accepting that this is where I intend you to be.  You will get through today one step, one moment at a time.  Your main responsibility is to remain attentive to Me, letting Me guide you through the many choices along your pathway.

This sounds like an easy assignment, but it is not.  Your desire to live in My Presence goes against the grain of  "the world, the flesh, and the devil."  Much of your weariness results from your constant battle against these opponents.  However, you are on the path of My choosing, so do not give up!  Hope in Me, for you will again praise Me for the help of My Presence.

"Jesus Calling - Enjoying Peace In His Presence"