The Boll Weevils Of Povidence

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

            "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go.... "   Psalm  32:8

     In the center of the busy main street in Enterprise, Alabama, there stands one of the strangest monuments in the world.  It is a memorial in honor of an insect.  Handsomely carved in stone is the likeness of a boll weevil.  Charley McCaull relates the following interesting story concerning the strange leading of Providence which led to its erection.  He says,  "From early plantation days all the farmers of the community struggled to raise cotton - it was their main crop.  When it failed, they failed.  As the seasons unfolded, a serious pestilence was brought forth.  A little beetle began to damage the boll of the plant.  In time it became almost impossible to 'make' a crop.  George Washington Carver, along with others, became desperate and began research.  Peanuts were the answer.  They found that this underground vegetable could be planted and harvested in the area with very little loss.  Soon peanut-oil mills took the place of cotton gins, and the region became knows as 'The Peanut Center of the World.'  Moreover, they found their new profits far exceeded those of their former efforts.  Many became wealthy due to the changeover.  And the insect - however destructive - that brought such a boon of prosperity was not forgotten.  The statue stands as a memorial to its work."

     Is there a lesson here for us?  Maybe God lets "weevils" work havoc in our lives for a purpose.  Maybe we are trying to grow cotton when we should be planting "peanuts!"

     We need to learn that delays and disappointments are often the "boll weevils of Providence" sent by a gracious God to make us plant a more profitable crop of His choosing!

"Bread For Each Day"

By Faith We Understand

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

                                "Through faith we understand."  Hebrews  11:3

     Faith begins where reason ends!  As long as we can understand a thing, see it, taste it, handle it, we do not need faith to believe it.  Psychologists and psychiatrists deal only in the realm of the physical and the psychical, but stop short of the spiritual.  Beyond the physical and mental realm lies the infinity of faith.  When we have reached the limit of logic, reason, and understanding, it is then we can rise up on the wings of faith and find that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

     A certain learned psychiatrist, an avowed infidel, went to a gospel meeting with the intention of ridiculing the preacher.  After the preacher had asserted his faith in Christ, the doctor challenged him and said to him, "How do you know there is, or ever was, a Christ?  Have you ever seen Him?"  "No!"  "Have you ever tasted Him?"  "No!"  "Have you ever smelled Him?"  "No!"  He then asked,  "Have you ever felt Him?"  and the answer was "Yes."  To the question  "What does he feel like?"  the answer was,  "Only those who have felt Him could understand."  "Aha,"  said the doctor,  "four of the five sense: taste, smell, hearing, and sight, tell you nothing and the fifth, feeling, you can't explain."  But the simple preacher had an answer.  He said, "you are a doctor and deal with pain.  Did you ever see a pain?"  "No!"  "Taste a pain?"  "No!'  "Smell a pain?"  "No!'  "Did you ever hear a pain?"  "No!"  "Feel one?"  "Yes, I have!"  "What does it feel like?" "Well, ah, ah, it, it, well you've got to experience it to understand it."  "Yes, and so it is with salvation.  To all others it is foolishness!"

"Bread For Each Day"

COME TO ME AND REST.....

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

COME TO ME AND REST.  I am with you, to bless and restore.  Breathe Me in with each breath.  The way just ahead of you is very steep.  Slow down and cling tightly to My hand.  I am teaching you a difficult lesson, learned only by hardship.

Lift up empty hands of faith to receive My precious Presence.  Light, Life, Joy, and Peace flow freely through this gift.  When your focus turns away from Me, you grasp for other things.  You drop the glowing gift of My Presence as you reach for lifeless ashes.  Return to Me; regain My Presence.

"Jesus Calling - Enjoying Peace In His Presence"

Looking In All Directions

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

                  "But Jonah rose up to flee....from the presence of the Lord."  Jonah  1:3

     What fools men become when they disobey the commandments of the Lord.  Surely Jonah knew better than to imagine that he could escape from the Lord by hiding himself in the hold of a ship.  Yet how many there are who live as though God were stone-blind and cannot see what they do, and stone-deaf so that He does not hear what they say.  Yet these too must know better, for the Bible says that "the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth" (II Chronicles 16:9).  David says in Psalm  139:  "O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.  Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off, and art acquainted with all my ways.  For there is not a word in my tongue, but thou knowest it altogether."

     Why do we try to hide things from people?  Why do men practice things in secret which would make them ashamed if others knew of it?  Why do people think they are "getting away" with something because others are not aware of it?  Do we forget that there is ONE who sees and hears all we do and say?  If we don't want people to know, how is it that we are so unconcerned about the fact that God knows?  Do we really believe that God sees all?  Read again Psalm 139.

     A father and a little son were riding in the country and saw a watermelon patch a little way off the highway.  The father said to the lad,  "You watch here, while I go get a melon."  He entered the patch, lifted a choice melon from the vine, and called to the boy.  "Is anyone coming - look both ways."  The little fellow replied,  "But daddy, shouldn't we look UP too?"  Yes, that is the most important place to look.  How do you behave when no one is looking but God?  Test yourself by this rule.

"Bread For Each Day"

BRING ME YOUR WEAKNESS...

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

BRING ME YOUR WEAKNESS, and receive My Peace.  Accept yourself and your circumstances just as they are, remembering that I am sovereign over everything.  Do not wear yourself out with analyzing and planning.  Instead, let thankfulness and trust be your guides through this day; they will keep you close to Me. As you live in the radiance of My Presence, My Peace shines upon you.  You will cease to notice how weak or strong you feel, because you will be focusing on Me.  The best way to get through this day is step by step with Me.  Continue this intimate journey, trusting that the path you are following is headed for heaven.

"Jesus Calling - Enjoying Peace In His Presence"

Getting In Shape

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

     "For which cause we faint not;....though our outward man perish."  2 Corinthians  4:16

     A well-known evangelist is quoted in an English publication as having told the following true story in one of his campaigns.  He said:  "I have a friend who during the depression lost a job, a fortune, a wife, and a home, but tenaciously held to his faith - the only thing he had left.  One day he stopped to watch some men doing stone work on a huge church.  One of them was chiseling a triangular piece of rock.  'What are you going to do with that?' asked my friend.  The workman said,  'Do you see that little opening way up there near the spire?  Well, I am shaping this down here so that it will fit in up there.'  Tears filled his eyes as he walked away, for it seemed that God had spoken through the workman to explain the ordeal through which he was passing."  Some of you who are reading this devotional are also going through difficult times.  Perhaps you are experiencing a great deal of pain and physical disability.  The outward man seems to be "perishing."  Yet if you are a child of God you should not despair nor "faint" ;for all these things are from the loving hand of your Heavenly Father who is "shaping you down here so you will fit in up there."

     All of us live in houses of clay which will soon return to dust; yet it is blessed to know that as God works upon the pliable putty of our human frailty, it can result for us in "an eternal weight of glory" if, through the process, our inward man is renewed and shaped more perfectly according to His divine will.  The chisel of trial may hurt, but remember, it is "shaping you down here so you will fit in up there!"

"Bread For Each Day"

FOLLOW ME ONE STEP AT A TIME...

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

FOLLOW ME ONE STEP AT A TIME.  That is all I require of you.  In fact, that is the only way to move through this space/time world.  You see huge mountains looming, and you start wondering how you're going to scale those heights.  Meanwhile, because you're not looking where you're going, you stumble on the easy path where I am leading you now.  As I help you get back on your feet, you tell Me how worried you are about the cliffs up ahead.  But you don't know what will happen today, much less tomorrow.  Our path may take an abrupt turn, leading you away from those mountains.  There may be an easier way up the mountains than is visible from this distance.  If I do you lead up the cliffs, I will equip you thoroughly for that strenuous climb.  I will even give My angels charge over you, to preserve you in all your ways.

Keep your mind on the present journey, enjoying My Presence.  Walk by faith, not by sight, trusting Me to open up the way before you.

"Jesus Calling - Enjoying Peace In His Presence"