No Substitute

 

   Have you ever been cooking or baking in the kitchen when all of the sudden you realize you're out of one ingredient. If you live in the country -- like we do -- immediately your mind goes to what else could be used as a substitute! >:)  Then . . . what neighbor would have what I need? :)

   Perhaps you've been hanging a picture and can't find the hammer . . . there are substitutes for those, I know:)

   However, there is one area of life where I'm convinced more each day there simply is not ANY substitute. There is no substitute that works for the Presence and Holy Spirit of God in our lives. Time alone with Him brings something only HE alone can give. A fullness nothing else can supply. A guidance nothing else can manifest. An assurance only HE can provide.  

   We cannot base our relationship with Christ on what other Godly influences in our lives have possessed. While we are thankful for them, their relationships will not work in place of a personal relationship with Him ourselves.

   Time is a valuable resource in our culture. What we do with this temporal commodity results in eternal difference.  I'm convicted to spend more personal time with HIM. HE makes the eternal difference in our lives everyday. 

 "And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own . . ."

Before You, Almighty God, I wait --

  To hear Your voice –

Your direction for this day.

Dear Heavenly Father,

  Lead me on!

Oh, Precious, Holy Spirit,

  Prepare the way.

Sweet, Jesus, go before and prompt my heart

  To know for sure --

The path that You would have me take,

Doing all for Jesus sake.

In humility and with a heart that’s pure.

                                                Janene A. Dubbeld

                                              For God’s Glory

 

"I will lift up my eyes to the hills -- from whence comes my help?

My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1&2

 

Knowing

   How much do you want to serve God? Making HIM known has become a life-long passion of mine. Seeking Him the other day, I was praying that I could serve to the very end of my days. No matter what, that I would keep making HIM known.

   In an instant the Holy Spirit spoke in His beautiful way. He brought my mind to the phrase which churches and ministries have used as their motto: “Knowing Christ and making Him known.”

   It dawned deep in the consciousness of my spirit – making Him known effectively ties directly to how much I really KNOW HIM! Proclaiming Him is one thing. Experiencing Him and sharing Him with others is quite another.

   In the rush and hurry of this culture, it is easy to “run out the door” to serve, to give, to proclaim. But wait! Not too quickly! We cannot give away what we do not possess ourselves.

   The joy of knowing Him is worth the time. Time in His Word, time in soul communion is worth every moment spent.

   In the words of an old hymn:

“Take time to be holy,  Speak oft with thy Lord;

Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.

Make friends of God’s children’ Help; those who are weak,

forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.

 

Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;

Spend much time in scret with Jesus alone.

By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;

Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.”  Longtstaff/Stebbins

                                                                                                                                Janene Dubbeld/FGG

Take it with You

“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Phillippians 3:19

MORALS  MATTER

 She came to my door, big smile in place. Her running for public office brought her to our home. She didn’t like the sign we had in our yard, and wanted to let us know that she was much more qualified for the position than her opponent.

   As we talked, the issues that are important to each of us surfaced. Did she believe in the killing of unborn babies? She dodged around the question best she could.  She wanted to make sure we knew that this position was not political. It was just the school board.

   Political? This is a political issue? I don’t think so. Many of the issues that are deemed “political” today are MORAL! The issues “so called” political stream back to the foundation of the person and what they really believe.

   Why would we want someone on a school board, deciding the educational future for our children who is ok with killing children before they are born?

   Why is it considered “politically correct” to read any other type of material in school and declare evolution as truth while not allowing the very Book our nation was founded on to be read?

    Why is it taboo to talk to the God of all Knowledge while we go to school?

    Morals matter. What we think on we become. Who we are influences everyone around us, and continues to influence for generations.

    We need to wake up. Not “everything goes.” Yet, “everything matters.” Every office is important – because it decides the moral foundation of our nation. Think long and hard -- what kind of nation do you desire for your children and grandchildren?

     Pray – and go vote.

 

"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." Proverbs 14:34

 

A Gift to Guard and Cherish

Celebrations come and go – and gifts come and go with them. We get another year older, the tie wears out, the t-shirt with “mom” on it gets a hole, the candle is now an empty jar. The tangibles given with love fade away – but the things that are known as intangible – these remain!

These are gifts to “guard and cherish!”  Jude 1:3 in the Message says it like this: “Dear friends, I’ve dropped everything to write you about this life of salvation that we have in common. I have to write insisting – begging!—that you fight with everything you have in you for this faith entrusted to us as a gift to guard and cherish.”

We live in a temporal world. A world that constantly pushes and pulls to make the tangible things those we reach for, endeavoring to turn our vision to the temporal with its beckoning glisten – only to find out – its fool’s gold. The real gifts, the ones to fight for, to guard and cherish are not necessarily seen with an earthly vision, but caught in the eyes of faith, of family, of freedom.

While reading this passage in Jude, the words seemed to nearly jump off the page! The salvation message, the Gospel truth, the entrusted FAITH is our jewel gift! Something to fight for. Something to guard. Something to cherish.

A faith to guard within the framework of our own minds. How do we guard this within us? Consistent love of His Word – learning and listening to His Holy Spirit as we read and fill our minds with what HE would have us think on. Consistent communion with our Lord – being in love with Him first and foremost. This world is still no friend of grace – which is why we must keep alert, and dressed in the full armor of God. (Eph. 6:10-19)

A faith to guard within our families. Doing this takes time in the Word, time in prayer, and time with them. Families are always growing and changing in the constant movement of living. The pressure of this world would seek to rob the minds of our children – at any age – and destroy their souls. We must GUARD them! Isolate them? Impossible. Guard them? Our responsibility. As we cherish our faith, we teach them to cherish theirs. Within the circle of family, guard and cherish the God given love for each other. This is pure gold.

A freedom to guard within our lives. Faith brings freedom! A freedom of soul, of spirit, of life that nothing else can give. Not a license to abandon the grace of God, but a freedom to live His grace, our lives a testimony of Him. Not a license to sin, a license to serve! Serve Him in love – serve others in His love – there is no price tag high enough to place on this.

We have been ENTRUSTED with this gift of faith. A gift to guard and cherish! How do we fight for it? By walking after the spirit, not after the flesh. (Romans 8) Not with carnal weapons, but those mighty in God to the pulling DOWN of strongholds. (II Corinthians 10:4) “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6)

 “Dear friends, I’ve dropped everything to write you about this life of salvation that we have in common. I have to write insisting – begging!—that you fight with everything you have in you for this faith entrusted to us as a gift to guard and cherish.”  Jude 1:3 (The Message)

Being Still . . . Even on the Curbside

   My husband and I had a friend who had a very interesting way of declaring his “down days.” He would comment that he was “lower than a pregnant ant sitting on a curbside. . .”  Just the  comment made you burst into laughter as you mentally pictured this scene . . .

  The problem is when you’re the one feeling like the ant! Somehow the statement doesn’t find the same humor. True – we have an eternal HOPE in Jesus Christ. True – nothing is impossible with God. True – our future IS bright – as bright, someone has said, as the promises of God.

  However, it is also true that we are human beings, with human emotions, and some days the skies are gray. (Then other days they may be pouring rain!)  So, what are the secrets of getting through . . . victoriously?

  Well, the Psalmist lifted His eyes to the hills – and realized His help came not from the hills, but from the Lord who made the hills. The Lord who made “heaven and earth.”

  When the Israelites were bound in slavery, their cries weren’t  falling on deaf ears. God tells Moses in Exodus 3, “I’ve taken a good, long look at the affliction of my people in Egypt. I’ve heard their cries for deliverance from their slave masters; I know all about their pain. And now I have come down to help them . . ” (Ex. 3:7-8 a The Message)

   Moses, the chosen vessel to bring deliverance is uncertain that he is up to the task! What makes him up to it? God’s promise, “I’ll be with you . . .” (Ex. 3:12 The Message)

   What is the name of our God? I AM WHO I AM! He is presently concerned with our need. He is presently able for our circumstance. He is presently enough. Yes, He always has been and He always will be – and He lives in the PRESENT with us.

   His mercy extends to the heavens – His faithfulness reaches to the skies. His love is wider, and deeper than any ocean. His power knows no limit – you cannot measure His grace.

   Looking to Him it isn’t long until our feet can find the “top of the curb!” (We may not be flying with the eagles quite yet, but we’re on our way!) He walks along side and says it’s ok – that He is working things out for the best. The heart inside remembers -- “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalms 46:10 NIV)

Janene Dubbeld/FGG

 “I will extol the Lord at all times ; his praise will     always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and  rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name      together. I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are        radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.”

Psalm 34:1-5

I Won't Be A Stranger

Memorial services are always such a mixture of emotions. When we know that our loved one or friend is with the Lord, we rejoice that they have made it “home,” but our own hearts grieve. The human heartache of missing them can only find it’s ultimate comfort in the Holy Spirit — God’s Comforter.

  At one such service, a dear preacher friend of ours was remembering several friends who had made the crossing to the other shore. As he was sharing, he verbalized his feelings in a rather unique way. Looking out across the crowd he said, “It kind of makes me feel like I won’t be a stranger when I get there.”

  So true. Everyone who goes on before us will be there to welcome us when it is our turn to come through the pearly gates. Oh, no! We won’t be a stranger.

  Best of all, when we have accepted salvation through Christ, and given our lives to serve Him we will know the welcome of God our Father when He says, “Well-done!” God the Son — our dearest Friend will take our hand in His nail-scarred one, as we worship Him, praise Him, thank Him for the redeeming power in the blood that fit us for such a glorious place. How we’ll praise the gift of the Father — the precious Holy Spirit for His ever present guidance as we walked in the world but not of it. Our Godhead — Three in One knows us! We certainly won’t be a stranger.

  So, when the world “down here” seems to be going cross grained with everything God has put in our hearts from the world “up there” — simply smile and listen closely! There’s a cloud of witnesses cheering us on! The band is marching to a different time. Tune your spiritual “inner ear” to hear the interceding to the Father for you!  You won’t be a stranger then, because you are not a stranger now!

   Living here is not forever — not our final home. We truly are just passing through. Like the song says:

This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through

   My treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue

The angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door

   And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.

Albert E. Brumley

   When you weep with the ache of the earthly loss you know — don’t weep without hope. There is another day coming. A day when future will be known as reality. A day when we will be “forever with the Lord.” When it comes . . . We won’t be a stranger!                                                     

    Janene A. Dubbeld/FGG

“How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” Psalm 116:12-15

Two Scenario's and a, "What If?"

Scenario #1:

She stood there for a moment – her hand on the door knob. The few extra unplanned minutes in her busy schedule nagged at her brain. It wasn’t because she couldn’t fill them; it was what to fill them with. See, ever since last Sunday’s sermon it seemed she was bothered. Bothered that she had been a Christian for so many years but seemed less passionate now that she had ever been about spiritual things.

Life was busy. It was just all the legitimate things – the day to day concerns – like now – all the stuff she needed to do loomed up and seemed to consume the person who she needed to become. She was bothered by this fact. Who was she becoming in the process?

She shut the door, dropped her keys on the table and shrugged out of her coat. On purpose she went to find her Bible, and get on her knees. It was just a few minutes – but it was a start – a way back to renewing the passion of what really mattered.

Senario #2:

He reached for the remote – after all it was time to relax a few minutes before dinner. It had been a hard day – he deserved it. Before he even turned it on he felt a twitch inside. His brain began to replay the words he’d heard in the sermon the Sunday before. He tried to shrug it off – he dropped the remote. Why was it so hard to be the spiritual leader of his home he needed to be? He worked hard to provide. He took time for the kids. Why was it His love for God seemed to find him in hot pursuit for awhile – then off to back burner? 

He picked up the remote – then laid it back down. He didn’t want it to be this way this year. He reached for His Bible, and prayed in his heart. “God, help me keep you first.” More than he knew – he was on the right track.

"What If?"

We take it literally . . .

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ ; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27 

Loving Him most and keeping Him first is always the best way to live.