With All My Heart

 

I heard there was a big football game yesterday. People yelling and screaming to express their love for their favorite team. In just a couple of days, people will be expressing their love for a favorite person. In both cases, a lot of money was and will be spent just to prove the point.

My earliest Valentine memories are of red construction paper hearts and white paper doilies and heart-shaped candies with messages like "Be Mine". Back in elementary school (way back in the 1950s!) we made our valentine "mailboxes" out of construction paper, or by decorating brown paper bags with construction paper hearts.

As I grew older, Valentine's Day came to be less about construction paper and more about flowers and chocolates that came in heart-shaped boxes.

Fast-forward to 1971, when I was a college student and was invited by a friend to attend a Valentine party at her church. There I met a young man who had just been discharged from his military service and had returned home. A little more than a year later, on a warm summer evening, I married that young man! We drove away from the church that evening singing along with Karen Carpenter......"We've only just begun....". For the more than fifty years we have been married, that has remained "our song".

But today, I have another song ringing in my heart. While all the world is thinking about hearts and flowers and chocolates and love, my thoughts have turned to what love is really all about. To that greatest expression of love. To the Savior who gave His life that I might have life eternal. Today, this is the song I'm singing......

With all my heart

I want to love you, Lord,

And live my life

Each day to know you more.

All that is in me

Is yours completely.

I'll serve you only

With all my heart.

(--Babbie Mason)

As we celebrate Valentine's Day this week, it is certainly true that I love my husband.......my sweetheart for all these years......and I'm so grateful for that party invitation all those years ago. He really is my Knight in Shining Armor, my very own Prince Charming!

But even more than that, I am so very grateful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who loved me, not because I was worthy of His love, but even though I am not. Who loved me enough to die for me! That's the best Valentine ever!

"We love because He first loved us."  (1 John 4:19 NASB)

Listen to “With All My Heart” here: https://youtu.be/Ah7DKbtLpL4

Anticipation

It’s a beautiful afternoon here in the Upstate! Which makes this a day for anticipation. Anticipating the return of warmer weather. Anticipating even more sunshine. Anticipating Spring! 

As we look around our world, we often feel the weight of gloom. Politics, cancer, viruses, the threat of war, discontent, unemployment, inflation….the list could be quite lengthy. All these things could weigh heavily on us and lead to gloom and despair.

But just like gloomy weather, these things can also be cause for anticipation. Anticipation of a better day coming. Because a better day is ahead. 

“This world is passing away…..” (1 John 2:17).

This world, with its stress and gloom, is not all there is. For those who belong to Christ, there is a far better day coming. Let’s focus our attention there. Let’s anticipate!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13)

And Know

Blaise Pascal, the French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher of days gone by, said,  "Nearly all the ills of life spring from this simple source: that we are not able to sit still in a room."

God said, "Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10)

When we read that verse, we tend to focus on the first phrase. Be still. And of course, that's an important part of the verse.

Be still. Or, as the NASB renders the verse, cease striving. The Amplified Bible puts it this way: Let be and be still.

But let's not forget the rest of the verse. Just being still, as important as that is, is not enough.  

Be still, and know that I am God.

Don't forget the "and know" part of the verse.

Again, let's look to the Amplified Bible for clarification. Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God.

Be still. That's important. Cease striving. Stop worrying. Be aware.

And know. Not just give mental assent to. Recognize and understand in the very core of your being.  Know. Know that you know that you know.  

Recognize and understand who God is.  

Certainly He is a loving God. He is also a just God. A righteous God. A providing God.  He is a Sovereign God.  

Be still and know that I am God.  

Whatever the circumstances of your life. Whatever decisions you are facing. Whatever emotional upheaval may encompass you today. Whatever. In every circumstance of life. In the big things and in the little things. Know this. He is God.

There is nothing facing you or me today that He can't handle. Because He is God.

Think about that today. Ponder that. Live in light of that. Be still. And know.

"Be still, and know that I am God.  I will be exalted among the nations.  I will be exalted among the earth!"  (Psalm 46:10 ESV)

Something to Think About

 I have been using the same devotional book - My Utmost for His Highest - for as long as I can remember. And each year I have learned from it and been blessed by it. Each year it speaks to me at a different point.

But there is one point that gets me every time. Every January 3 I have to pause and consider this point. And more so with each passing year.

Chambers had this to say: “If we have never had the experience of taking our casual, religious shoes off our casual, religious feet - getting rid of all the excessive informality with which we approach God - it is questionable whether we have ever stood in his presence.”

Our culture has become increasingly informal, even sloppy, in the way we dress and the way we conduct ourselves. That informality has spilled over into the church. I’m not suggesting we go back to the stiff formality of the Puritans or the Victorians. But I am suggesting that our extreme informality may have gone too far. 

Read the Chambers quote again. Then stop to consider who God is. Reflect on His character and His attributes. His holiness. His majesty. His omnipotence. 

Are we honoring God with our “excessive informality”?

Something to think about.

A Prayer for the New Year

  

I hope your new year is off to a good start. We had a very quiet New Year's Eve, at least until the fireworks started! We celebrated New Year's Day with a traditional meal of greens, peas, ham, and cornbread, then spent the day relaxing. So far, this new year is good!

Last year began in much the same way, and it was a good year. At least, it was until cancer entered our world. Once my husband was diagnosed with cancer in August, life got a little crazy!

There had been no symptoms, so the diagnosis came as a complete surprise. We had no idea. But God did.  

I have no idea where this new year will take us. But God does. And just as He has guided us every step of this journey, He will continue to do so. 

As one year has ended and another has begun, I want to thank you for stopping by. And I want to offer my very best wishes for a Happy New Year, a year of joy and peace and our Father's bountiful blessings! As we begin this new year, this is my prayer for each of us:



Another year is dawning! Dear Father, let it be,

In working or in waiting, Another year with Thee;

Another year of leaning Upon Thy loving breast;
Another year of trusting, Of quiet, happy rest.

Another year of mercies,Of faithfulness and grace;

Another year of gladness In the shining of Thy face;
Another year of progress, Another year of praise;

Another year of proving Thy presence all the days.

Another year of service, Of witness for Thy love;

Another year of training For holier work above.

Another year is dawning! Dear Father, let it be

On earth, or else in heaven, Another year for Thee.

 -Frances R. Havergal

Keeping Christmas.

   

Just a few days ago, we were looking forward to Christmas Day. And now Christmas Day has come and gone for another year. Some people will be sad about that, while others are ready to move on to the next thing. Which brings us to that time again. Time to pack away Christmas for another year.

For some, the process begins immediately after Christmas Day is done. For others, like me, it's a very gradual process. I'm not quite ready to give it up completely yet. We'll be enjoying the tree a little longer, at least into the new year, through the 12 days of Christmas. Probably longer. But this week I’ll be gathering up things, one room at a time, to be packed away again until next year. It's time to put Christmas away. 

I heard someone say this week that the fa la la la la is gone. That sounds a little sad, doesn't it?

Have you ever noticed how generous people become with their time and money during the Christmas season? They drop money in the Salvation Army kettles. They donate more generously to their church and to charities. They tip more generously in the restaurant. They give more freely of their time at homeless shelters and food ministries. Then December 25 is past, and life gets back to normal. The generous Christmas spirit is put away until next year. That's so sad. There are still homeless people and hungry people and people with all kinds of needs who could use our help, not only in December but throughout the year. How sad that we seem only to think of them at Christmas. Even more, the spirit of Christmas, the reason for doing all this in the first place - the coming of the Savior - is still a very present reality.

We often hear about random acts of kindness, particularly during the holiday season. Then we don't seem to hear about quite so many of those kindnesses.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we were generous all year long?

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we did our random acts of kindness throughout the year?

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we kept Christmas all year long?

Not just in December.


“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” (Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol)

"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto me."  
(Jesus, in Matthew 25:40 KJV)

The 12 Days of Christmas…..

 

For many, the song “The 12 Days of Christmas” may be their least favorite of all Christmas songs! The song is an English Christmas song, although it may have actually originated in France.

The 12 days of Christmas begin on Christmas Day and end on January 6, a day celebrated in many traditions as Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, referring to the coming of the Wise Men. One theory about this song is that it was used, particularly in Catholic traditions, to teach parts of the Catechism.

Following that tradition, the First Day of Christmas is a reference to Christ. The Second Day of Christmas is a reference to the two Testaments, the Old Testament and the New Testament. And it is there that I want to center our thoughts today.

On this Second Day of Christmas, let’s turn our thoughts to the Scripture.

How important is the Scripture to you? Or to ask the question another way, how intentional are you about spending time in God’s Word?

Is it a daily habit? Or is it only occasional? Or just for Sunday? 

Is the Bible meant only to be ready and studied by pastors and Bible teachers and so-called religious zealots? Or does God mean for each of His followers to spend time reading His Word on a regular basis? 

For those who have committed their lives to Christ, is it not important that the Scipture have a prominent place in our lives? Not just occasionally. Not just on a hit-and-miss basis. Not just a verse from some devotional book. Not just with a verse of the day grabbed hurriedly from social media.

But intentionally. Consistently. Deliberately.

I believe the answer is a resounding “Yes”! And with that in mind, as we near the end of another year and begin making our plans and setting our goals for the new year, I want to challenge you to make God’s Word a priority in your life. To make it a daily commitment. To make it a habit. And my hope for you is that it becomes more than a habit, but that it becomes your joy and delight!

May 2024 be the year you begin to dig deep into God’s Word!

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 NASB)