Sacred Sweet: A Song that Reminds Me God is Always in Control

Sacred Sweet: The Bible - God's Written Word

God's Word is one sacred sweet He has given, not just to me  but to the entire world. Through its pages God tells us information about Himself we could not otherwise know.  While His creation shows all His brilliant intelligence,  creative prowess, and magnificent might,  His written Word tells us of His awesome holiness, beauteous redemption, and His dealings with us as individuals.

Through His written  Word God  answers the questions asked by most everyone:  Who am I?  A being created in the image of God. (Gen 1:26-27) Why am I here? To bring pleasure and honor to God.( Rev 4:11) What's wrong with the world? We are all sinners who are separated from God (Gen 3, Rom 1:18-ff; Rom 3:10-11) Is this any hope?  Yes, the good news of Jesus Christ. (John 3:16) For more on the Good News click on  Sweetest and Most Sacred .

Every day I have the privilege of a special meeting with God as I open my Bible and listen to what He has to say to me.   I don't audibly hear Him say "Sheila, this verse is for you."  To my mind, I do hear Him say "Study this book like you're mining for treasure, You'll be amazed at what you'll discover of Me, of yourself, and of the world in which you live."(Ps 119:18, 2Tim 3:16-17).   I hear Him say, "This is bread - nutrition -  your soul desperately needs.  You can't thrive without it."(Mt 4:4)  "You won't have reason for shame or regret if you follow My way." (Ps 119:6)


 For the last couple of weeks I have had the privilege of mining the Old Testament book of Jonah along with four other godly women.  In the upcoming weeks I will use this space  to share a few of the gems we've unearthed from this short but complex story that highlights God's righteousness and love, and humankind's tremendous need of both.

The main objective of the study is to practice interacting with the Scriptures daily in order to grasp the main facts and teachings of God's Word concerning Him, us, and the world around us.

Sacred Sweet: Lettie Burd Cowman

I never cease to be amazed at how the Lord encourages me by using people whom I have met only through their written words.  What a powerful medium  written words provide for sharing with one another.  One writer that makes indelible impressions on my soul every time I read one of her devotionals is Lettie Burd Cowman .  She wrote a devotional book called Streams in the Desert, during the trying time she cared for her husband Charles, as he battled a long  fatal illness. Through daily entries, she shared with the reader what she learned about the character and purposes of God as He uses suffering to communicate with us.  (Suffering, another powerful communications medium.)  Along with scripture, she would often add an anecdotal story, and thoughts and poems from other sources that encouraged her.

This is what I read today:

(Speaking about Moses)And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness…an angel of the Lord...saying....now come, I will send thee into Egypt" (Acts 7:30-34).

Often the Lord calls us aside from our work for a season, and bids us be still and learn ere we go forth again to minister. There is no time lost in such waiting hours.

Fleeing from his enemies, the ancient knight found that his horse needed to be re-shod. Prudence seemed to urge him on without delay, but higher wisdom taught him to halt a few minutes at the blacksmith's forge by the way, to have the shoe replaced; and although he heard the feet of his pursuers galloping hard behind, yet he waited those minutes until his charger was refitted for his flight. And then, leaping into his saddle just as they appeared a hundred yards away, he dashed away from them with the fleetness of the wind, and knew that his halting had hastened his escape.

 

She ends her devotional with words from another writer who is dead, yet speaks  preacher/teacher A. B. Simpson - "So often God bids us tarry ere we go, and fully recover ourselves for the next stage of the journey and work.  Lord teach me to be still and to know that thou art God and all this day to walk with God." --Days of Heaven upon Earth

Presently, I am waiting.  But no longer simply sitting, marking time.  Praying expectantly,  that God will renew my soul for what awaits around the next bend.