Can't Touch This!

There is nothing - no circumstance, no trouble, no testing - that can ever touch me until, first of all it has gone past God and past Christ, right through me. If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose, which I may not understand at the moment. But as I refuse to become panicky, as i lift up my eyes to Him and accept it as coming from the throne of God for some great purpose of blessing to my own heart, no sorrow will ever disturb me, no trial will ever disarm me, no circumstance will cause me to fret - for I shall rest in the joy of what my Lord is - that is the rest of victory.
~based on Romans 8:28-29, by Alan Redpath (former pastor of Moody Church)

Edwards on diverse excellencies found in Christ

Key Points from Jonathan Edwards' The Excellency of Christ. (Click the link to listen/download!)

There is an admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies in Jesus Christ:

Infinite glory and lowest humility meet in the person of Christ - He is both lion AND (slain) lamb!

In Christ are conjoined absolute sovereignty & perfect resignation...

In Christ is [conjoined] self-sufficiency and an entire trust an reliance which is on God...

In Christ meet the deepest reverence toward God & equality with God...

In Christ meet an exceeding spirit of obedience with supreme dominion over heaven and earth

[in His greatest act of obedience to God, He was treated as the worst kind of person!]
and finally,

Christ never so much appeared as a lamb as when He was slain.



Some words He used in this sermon: (click for definitions!)
ignominy
ignominious
appellation
potentate

money time!

I've been following a few thrifty heroes, and wanted to share some deals I thought you'd like (especially if you're a coupon-clipper).

From faithfulprovisions:

WALMART:

Degree Girl Deodorant — $1.97
- $3/2 Degree deodorant printable
Final Price: $0.47/ea wyb 2

OFFICEMAX:

http://www.faithfulprovisions.com/2010/03/15/office-max-maxperks-freebies-case-of-paper-sharpies-envelopes-binders-storage-box-and-manilla-folders/

(Get lots of rebates, so basically $50 of free stuff with your maxperks .... )

Re: The Slough of Despond, and Moses

I need to share this, because many of you may be going through that very 20/30-something slump of "how'd i get here" or "meh" or just plain feel like you're in a dry, unsatisfactory wilderness of discouragement. There may be a personal reason for the "meh times," as I may refer to them, or the sole reason might just be to bring glory to the Creator of 1)your minutiae and 2)the furthest, largest galaxies.

This is from October 13 of Chambers' My Utmost, and is taken from this website.

Individual Discouragement and Personal Growth

. . . when Moses was grown . . . he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens —Exodus 2:11

Moses saw the oppression of his people and felt certain that he was the one to deliver them, and in the righteous indignation of his own spirit he started to right their wrongs. After he launched his first strike for God and for what was right, God allowed Moses to be driven into empty discouragement, sending him into the desert to feed sheep for forty years. At the end of that time, God appeared to Moses and said to him, " ’. . . bring My people . . . out of Egypt.’ But Moses said to God, ’Who am I that I should go . . . ?’ " ( Exodus 3:10-11 ). In the beginning Moses had realized that he was the one to deliver the people, but he had to be trained and disciplined by God first. He was right in his individual perspective, but he was not the person for the work until he had learned true fellowship and oneness with God.

We may have the vision of God and a very clear understanding of what God wants, and yet when we start to do it, there comes to us something equivalent to Moses’ forty years in the wilderness. It’s as if God had ignored the entire thing, and when we are thoroughly discouraged, God comes back and revives His call to us. And then we begin to tremble and say, "Who am I that I should go . . . ?" We must learn that God’s great stride is summed up in these words— "I AM WHO I AM . . . has sent me to you" ( Exodus 3:14 ). We must also learn that our individual effort for God shows nothing but disrespect for Him— our individuality is to be rendered radiant through a personal relationship with God, so that He may be "well pleased" ( Matthew 3:17 ). We are focused on the right individual perspective of things; we have the vision and can say, "I know this is what God wants me to do." But we have not yet learned to get into God’s stride. If you are going through a time of discouragement, there is a time of great personal growth ahead.

dabbling with fire

dabbling with fire

© Amanda E Johnson c. 2004

The quietness and solitude
The sunsets –oh! the sunsets!
Being alone on the top of the world,

so close to the sun, well -
i wish i could paint.


How is it that there is red wool
in the sky
scattered about
for miles and miles?


/
or
\


How is it that all the white clouds
are scattered in the blue sky for miles?

the art i see in you

the art I see in you

(not the art that is your body)

makes me cry.

(not because i’m sad but…)

it’s so beautiful
to see a grown boy love
from deep inside.

that is art.


written sometime around the turn of the millennium.
© Amanda E Johnson

On being a slave

I found this bit while cleaning my room... written approximately 2004? ... I knew i was meant to be a rapper or something ;)

On being a slave

~Manda Johnson

Sometime's it's not all it's cracked up to be

You know, seeing people shun you + me;

Pursuing holiness, faith, hope, + love

Trying to serve our great God up above.

It's not always easy; quite often it's hard
This living for Jesus thing hurts like a shard.

Dying to self more and more ev'ry day
Always re-learning our need to obey.

Falling down more + more, or so it seems
I find myself wishing this life was a dream.
Struggles for righteousness cut like a knife
Draining false emotion out of my life.

Yet if someone asked why I live This way
I know even now what my herat would say

All my ties to this earth are being spliced

As my heart is becoming one with Christ's.

projects as of late...

Lately I am (still) working on:

pillowcase dresses galore!!

sheet-strippy-quilts

afghans:
-Baby Rebecca (almost done!)

-Christee and Jordan (I can take longer on this one, because their wedding date keeps changing!)

-Vincent's 100"

-Kelli & Dennis

-Baby Weeks

Finished:

Christine and Buck!

projects as of late...

Lately I am (still) working on:

pillowcase dresses galore!!

sheet-strippy-quilts

afghans:
-Baby Rebecca (almost done!)

-Christee and Jordan (I can take longer on this one, because their wedding date keeps changing!)

-Vincent's 100"

-Kelli & Dennis

-Baby Weeks

Finished:

Christine and Buck!

Sunday Night - an ode to sheep herders.

Frances Ridley Havergal wrote a poem entitled "Sunday Night" that you really must read. While reading it, think about all the pastors you know that have spoken the truth to you; this is for them.

So I have copied and pasted it here for you, or you can click the above link to find the webpage it was originally found. (well, actually, there was an excerpt in "Lone Point," a novel by GLH.

******************

REST him, O Father! Thou didst send him forth
With great and gracious messages of love;
But Thy ambassador is weary now,
Worn with the weight of his high embassy.
Now care for him as Thou hast cared for us
In sending him ; and cause him to lie down
In Thy fresh pastures, by Thy streams of peace.
Let Thy left hand be now beneath his head,
And Thine upholding right encircle him,
And, underneath, the Everlasting arms
Be felt in full support. So let him rest,
Hushed like a little child, without one care,
And so give Thy beloved sleep to-night.

Rest him, dear Master! He hath poured for us
The wine of joy, and we have been refreshed.
Now fill his chalice, give him sweet new draughts
Of life and love, with Thine own hand; be Thou
His ministrant to-night; draw very near
In all Thy tenderness and all Thy power.
Oh speak to him! Thou knowest how to speak
A word in season to Thy weary ones,
And he is weary now. Thou lovest him--
Let Thy disciple lean upon Thy breast,
And, leaning, gain new strength to 'rise and shine.'

Rest him, O loving Spirit! Let Thy calm
Fall on his soul to-night. O holy Dove,
Spread Thy bright wing above him, let him rest
Beneath its shadow; let him know afresh
The infinite truth and might of Thy dear name--
'Our Comforter!' As gentlest touch will stay
The strong vibrations of a jarring chord,
So lay Thy hand upon his heart, and still
Each overstraining throb, each pulsing pain.
Then, in the stillness, breathe upon the strings,
And let Thy holy music overflow
With soothing power his listening, resting soul.