Meandering - Remember, Please Just Ask Me First

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Meandering - Remember, Please Just Ask Me First

A few weeks ago we were blessed to have some family stay with us. My six year old nephew has a very inquisitive mind. His eyes never seemed to stop surveying every centimeter of each room he entered. Like a bee tenaciously seeking pollen, he would open drawers, cupboards, closet doors, opening any container he discovered, insatiably looking to pollinate his curious mind. I found myself repeatedly saying to him, “Please, ask me first, before you go opening and taking things out.”

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Meandering - Read the Bible to Earnestly & Expectedly

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Meandering - Read the Bible to Earnestly & Expectedly

The reality is that consistent Bible reading, like eating healthy and exercising, we know is good for us, but we just don't do it like we should. Yet, more than physical pursuits, it is far more crucial to hear and obey the voice of the Lord. Sobering is the Word of God through Jeremiah to us, “To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, they cannot listen; behold, the word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it” (6:10). Prone to be “dull off hearing” (Hebrew 5:11), it’s so important that we ask our Lord for a hunger for his Word, and that our ears and eyes would be open to receive his truth and gladly obey it.

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Meandering - Photo Search: Wisdom

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Meandering - Photo Search: Wisdom

Pastor John Beers, who enjoys photography, sent in this great photo on the theme of ‘wisdom’ for this month’s Meandering Photo Search. He writes, “Here is a picture that might fit the theme for wisdom. The arrangement was put together by Michelle Walker. I thought it was such a beautiful arrangement that I took a picture of it. I added the writing to it - Psalm 119:105.”

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Meandering - Paradoxical, Holy-Love of God

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Meandering - Paradoxical, Holy-Love of God

It’s incredible and beyond words to adequately express this seemingly paradoxical, holy-love of God. How is it that God, who is as Isaiah declared, “high and lifted up, (and) who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy,” is even mindful of us, when we are but “a breath” and a “passing shadow” (Psalm 144:3-4). Not only is he mindful of us, but with the humble he makes his habitation.

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Meandering - A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

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Meandering - A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

There is an old story of a king who called for artists to submit their best picture of peace. Many artists rendered their portraits of peace, and the king finally chose two of the best. The first picture was of a quiet lake among majestic mountains. It’s glassy surface reflected an azure sky with but a few soft clouds gently floating along.

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Meandering - That Dragon, Cancer

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Meandering - That Dragon, Cancer

As much as people’s fake detectors are on at highly sensitive levels today, if they do detect authentic faith, it attracts their interest. This verse from Zechariah grabbed my attention. It literally says that people, desperate to find meaning in life, will ‘take hold’ of one of God’s people because they’ve discerned that God is with them, asking that they too might join them.

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Meandering - God’s At Work

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Meandering - God’s At Work

God at work on our behalf is not to be taken in any demeaning way, as if God needed a job. I, or any of us, could never have done the real work of changing lives apart from him. We are weak, he is ever strong. Apart from his wisdom, we are fools. We are insufficient, he is All-sufficient. In this, our God rightly gets the greater glory. “Whoever serves, let him serve by the strength God supplies, so that in everything God may be glorified.” 1 Peter 4:11

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Meandering - Coram Deo

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Meandering - Coram Deo

The truth is, nothing has ever - in this digital age, or any age - been hidden from God. He not only hears and sees our every word and action, but the very thoughts of our hearts and minds are continually open to him. “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3). “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). It’s best to live in this constant awareness that God knows all and sees all.

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Meandering - To the Glory of the Master Builder

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Meandering - To the Glory of the Master Builder

It’s been great to see the Pumpkin People out and about again. The displays - based around a LEGO theme this year, are really creative. You may have seen the LEGO Pirate, Batman, and Star Wars themed Pumpkin People. It got me thinking about the church and LEGO. 

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Meandering - Dance Before the Lord

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Meandering - Dance Before the Lord

Yes, I feel a bit silly and self-conscience sharing all this with you. Yet, I don’t mind if you get a chuckle at my expense, or even if you dislike my choice of music, if somehow you too are encouraged to do whatever it takes to get happy and healthy in Jesus everyday, and really pray! We will be in good company, for David, a man after God’s own heart, also delighted to praise and dance “before the Lord with all his might” (2 Samuel 6:14-15). 

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Meandering - Wolves and the Shepherd

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Meandering - Wolves and the Shepherd

The rescue and remedy is in acknowledging it for what it is. At the close of the day, as the sun goes down, we are mentally fatigued and more susceptible to the fits, fears, and attacks of the ‘evening wolves’. Resist the tendency, though their growls and howls be fierce, to drive yourself to despair; instead, by faith, recall to mind that the Good Shepherd has never forsaken you. He is ever watching over you, in absolute control, working all things together for good. What you need most is rest. Draw close to Jesus and let him give you, his beloved, restorative rest for your weary soul. 

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Meandering - Summer Rest

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Meandering - Summer Rest

I do hope and pray that you are able to take a break from the monotony of the daily grind, strenuous shift work, business deadlines, and the never-ending to-do-lists. At the same time, as you empty yourself of all the stress, be sure to draw even closer to Jesus. Commune with him in the cool of the early morning, while laughing hysterically in praise to God for good fun as you are pulled behind the powerboat, and sitting around enjoying the glow of a campfire with family and friends at the end of the day. 

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Meandering - Masterpiece

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Meandering - Masterpiece

As Pastor Sterling rightly stated last Sunday, “It’s not self-help, but the Spirit’s help that we need most!” So, let’s take advantage of God’s willingness to avail himself to us as our constant Consultant for every area of our lives. He, as our Master Builder, will personally interpret and teach us through the blueprint of the Bible and prayer in how we can more and more become the masterpiece he created us to be.

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Meandering - Overwhelming Creation

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Meandering - Overwhelming Creation

Samuel Rutherford on the tides of emotion that would continually rise and fall within his heart. Writing from Aberdeen to Lady Boyd, he says: “I have not now, of a long time, found such high spring-tides as formerly. The sea is out, and I cannot buy a wind and cause it to flow again; only I wait on the shore till the Lord sends a full sea.... But even to dream of Him is sweet.”

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