How Are You Clothed?

I was blessed by this devotion in my Springs in the Valley book:

There are some Christians who always seem to be kept on scant measure. Their spiritual garments are threadbare, their whole bearing that of people who are poverty-stricken and kept on short allowance--hard up, and on the ragged edge of want and bankruptcy. They come through by the "skin of their teeth" and are "saved so as by fire."

There are other souls who "have life more abundantly." Their love "beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things," and "never faileth." Their patience has "all long suffering with joyfulness." Their peace "passeth all understanding." Their joy is "joy unspeakable and full of glory." Their service is so free and glad that duty is a delight. In a word, this life reaches out into the infinite as well as the eternal, sailing on the shoreless and fathomless seas of God and His infinite grace.

WAIT

This is the poem several of you requested at the Assembly. The author is unknown.

Desperately, helplessly, longingly I cried:
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate
And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait".
"Wait? You say wait! " my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers. I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked and am claiming your Word.
My future and all to which I can relate
Hangs in the balance and You tell me to WAIT?
I'm needing a 'yes'—a go-ahead sign
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.
And Lord, You promised that if we believe
We need but to ask and we shall receive.
And Lord, I've been asking and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!”
Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting.... For what?"
He seemed then to kneel and His eyes wept with mine
And he tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.
All you seek I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want - But you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence were all you could see.
You'd never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove
You'd know that I give and I save.... (for a start)
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart;
The glow of My comfort late into the night
The faith that I give when you walk without sight
The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked
Of an infinite God who makes what you have LAST.
You'd never know should your pain quickly flee
What it means that "My grace is sufficient for Thee."
Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true
But, Oh, the loss! If I lost what I'm doing in you!
So be silent My child and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And though oft' may My answers seem terribly late
My most precious answer of all is still, "WAIT."

I want to say "THANK YOU" to all of you who expressed your love and assured me of your continual prayers for me and my husband. I'm acutely aware of my total dependence upon the Lord and complete lack of sufficiency in my own strength or wisdom. Your prayers touch the throne of God and He is faithful to bless us with strength to stay on the battlefield and endure as "good soldiers." Like the song says, "In the fiercest part of battle, when my feet don't want to stay, I will trust You, Lord." That's my desire.

August 2009

This has been an incredibly busy summer. We had 8 house guests for the 2 weeks of BTI and feel so blessed to be able to provide a place for friends/family to come to. BTI culminating with Heritage Day was a BIG blessing. Since that weekend of June 13, we attended 5 State/Regional Conventions and one Family Camp in 6 weeks time. There were numerous things to attend to here at home between all those activities. Thank God for HIS strength and the health He's blessed us with. We know we have no strength or health of our own--it's all due to Him. Now we're in the mad dash to get everything ready for the Assembly. Considering the viciousness of the attacks from the enemy, I'd say this is going to be another outstanding Assembly. Like the old song says, "The greater the battle, the sweeter the victory." Amen! This ought to be one sweet victory!!!

I'd like to share my devotion from a few days ago. It was a particular blessing. It comes from Springs in the Valley by Mrs. Charles Cowman:

"If God has called you to be really like Christ, He may draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility, and put on you such demands of obedience that He will not allow you to follow other Christians and in many ways He will seem to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.

"Other Christians, who seem very religious and useful, may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans, but you cannot do it: and if you attempt it you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

"Others may boast of themselves, of their work, of their success, of their writing, but the Holy
Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it He will lead you into some deep mortification, that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

"Others will be allowed to succeed in making money...but it is likely God will keep you poor, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, and that is a helpless dependence on Him, that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day out of an unseen treasury.

"The Lord will let others be honored and put forward, and keep you hid away in obscurity because He wants to produce some choice fragrant fruit for His coming glory.

"He will let others be great, but keep you small. He will let others do a work for Him, and get the credit for it, but He will make you work and toil without knowing how much you are doing.

"The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch over you...rebuking you for little words and feelings, or for wasting time.

"God is an infinite Sovereign: He has a right to do as He pleases with His own.

"Settle it forever, then, that you are to deal directly with the Lord Jesus--that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, chaining your hand or closing your eyes in ways that He does not deal with others.

"Then, you will have found the vestibule of heaven.

"Others may. You can not!"

Has it Been THREE Months?

It's been nearly 3 months since I last posted here. My, how time flies when you're having fun--or when you're just really, REALLY busy.
I thank God for His sustaining power, for His strength, for the health He's blessed us with and most of all for the spiritual health and strength. I thank God for His Living Word. He speaks to my heart and soul on a regular basis through His divine Word of God, the Holy Bible. His Word never changes and it never passes away. Praise God!
Back in "the old days" before Brother Smith had to be in an office 40 hours a week, or out of town much of the time, we used to work on remodeling our house together. We bought a little run down 800 sq. ft. log cabin in the mountains of Colorado and transformed it into a 1,700 sq. ft. log home--building on a new addition and totally remodeling every square inch of the old part. When we got moved to Virginia we dove into remodeling a neglected, but "great bones" house. It turned out beautifully and we enjoyed working on it, and had it almost totally redone in the mere 2 years we lived in it. Then we moved to Cleveland. We've been here 2 1/2 years and we're just finishing up on remodeling our FIRST room. Our remodeling career has suffered a severe blow and isn't likely to recover anytime soon. But, really, this remodeling project is the biggest, baddest one we will encounter with our home here. We completely gutted our master bath, moved walls and repositioned the door from the bedroom into the bathroom and made a humongous mess, but now it's all put back together and is looking beautiful! It's the only room in the house that is really "me." All other projects after this will be a piece of cake. I hope.
One of the big blessings of being here where God has placed us is that we've been able to go places and meet so many people we never would have otherwise. We went to Venezuela a couple of months ago and it was SUCH a blessing! I just LOVE worshipping the Lord with people of other cultures and languages because it's always a reminder that we serve the same God and we love the same Church and the same doctrine! Tomorrow at this time we will be in an airplane somewhere over the Pacific Ocean on our way to the Philippines. Who would have EVER imagined??? How exciting to be able to go visit with our saints there and hopefully be an encouragement to them and minister God's Word to them. It's daunting to think, however, that we will be flying over 18,000 miles on this trip! Unbelievable. Brother Ard and Brother Dupre do it all the time; surely we can survive this trip. They're both much older than we are. ;-)
It's exciting to see all the Lord is doing in and for The Church of God right now. People are "asking their way to Zion" and God is pouring out His blessings in local churches all over the world. Meanwhile, it's exciting as well to see the progress on the HQ Expansion Project. It's looking really beautiful over there,underneath all the sawdust that is. Brother Talley is doing an outstanding job of overseeing the project and we will have a truly first class addition in the near future. It's been a long time coming but I'm so thankful to God that it's made such tremendous progress in just the past 8 weeks or so. You're going to have to come see it!

Deep Roots

The following entry is today's devotion from Springs in the Valley. My copy of this devotional book was my great grandmother's and it's a cherished part of my personal library. This is a companion book to the more well known Streams in the Desert.

"Trees that brave storms are not propagated in hot-houses!

"The staunchest tree is not found in the shelter of the forest, but out in the open where the winds from every quarter beat upon it, and bend and twist it until it becomes a giant in stature.

"It requires storms to produce the rooting.

"Out on the meadow it stands to shelter the herds and flocks. The earth about the tree hardens. The rains do little good for the water runs off.

"But the terrific storm strikes. It twists, turns, wrenches, and at times all but tears it out of its place. If the tree could spek it might bitterly complain. Should nature listen and cease the storm process?

"The storm almost bends the tree double. It is wrath now. What can such seeming cruelty mean? Is that love? But wait!

"About the tree the soil is all loosened. Great cracks are opened up away down into the ground. Deep wounds they might appear to the inexperienced. The rain now comes in with it gentle ministry. The WOUNDS fill up. The moisture reaches away down deep even to the utmost root. The sun again shines. New and vigorous life bursts forth. The roots go deeper and deeper. The branches shoot forth. Now and again one hears something snap and crack like a pistol: it is getting too big for its clothes! It is growing into a giant! It is rooting!

"This is the tree from which the mechanic wants his tools made--the tree which the wagon-maker seeks.

"When you see a spiritual giant, think of the road over which he has travled--not the sunny lane where wildflowers ever bloom, but a steep, rocky, narrow pathway where the blasts of hell will almost blow you off your feet, where the sharp rocks cut the feet, where the projecting thorns scratch the brow, and the venomous serpents hiss on every side.

"The Lord provides deep roots when there are to be wide-spreading branches."

I think to have a true appreciation and vision of this devotion you have to be familiar with the western plains where trees may be few and far between. I've noticed since moving to the south where trees are EVERYWHERE that sometimes, totally unexpected and without a storm, a tree may just topple over! I suppose there's a whole different message to be gleaned from those incidents such as maybe a tree looking healthy on the outside, but inside being eaten up with disease or insects (anger? bitterness? unforgiveness? covetousness?) until one day it just crashes to destruction. But across the other side of the Mississippi it's common to see perhaps many, many acres of flat land or farm land with NO trees except maybe one lone tree out there. This tree is generally not a pretty tree, but knarled and twisted but with a substantial trunk and large limbs. You have to wonder how the tree got there in the first place, or why. Some speculate a farmer long ago planted a seed at the edge of his field so one day there would be a big shade tree to take a rest under when it was time to plow or harvest the field. Others say the seed was dropped by a bird and the tree grew as a result. Regardless of the beginning, there now stands a tree with deep roots that secure it in place and provide the necessary nourishment.

I especially was blessed by the part of the devotion talking about the big cracks in the hard soil around the trunk of the tree appearing as great wounds. Sometimes we may feel like we're all alone, braving the harsh elements, and that we're deeply wounded by the cruel winds and storms but it's those gaping wounds that allow the nourishing rains to penetrate all the way to the roots. Without the wounds, the roots wouldn't be accessible and no new growth would occur. Like the old saying, "No pain, no gain." But our Lord will sustain us and help us to grow and flourish as a result of enduring the storms. Praise God. I don't want to have suffered wounds in vain, but I want pain to be turned to gain! AMEN!

KJV Bible

Here's what I think about the KJV. There's been a lengthy debate at the one and only forum I visit, and my good friend Tammy Washburn is doing a magnanimous job of defending the KJV and she LOVES the debate. I, on the other hand, do NOT like debate. I'm no good at it. I'm just good at stating my opinion--not defending it. :-) Since this is a blog, not a forum, I will take the opportunity to share my opinion where I am the "queen" and can delete comments or posts whenever I like.
First of all, I feel it's very dangerous to allow questions or doubts enter our thoughts concerning God's truths. The devil is so good at planting seeds of doubt that can grow into full grown acceptance of heresy. Heresy, by definition, is an "opinion or doctrine at variance with the orthodox or accepted doctrine, esp. of a church or religious system." The KJV is the accepted, Assembly approved Bible for the English language. Therefore, for The Church of God member, the matter is settled.
When I read statements made by people I love, declaring the KJV is full of errors it hurts me deeply. My heart breaks. I love the Bible more than life itself, and to have it criticized and demeaned is very, very hurtful. It's something like telling a man his wife and kids are dumb and ugly. He wouldn't take too kindly to such words. Likewise, I don't take kindly to my Guidebook and Bread of Life picked at.
The question I have is: The folks who feel it so dreadfully important to point out "errors" in the KJV admit that there are no doctrinal errors or variations between any of the so called revisions made in the first century after the KJV was written--so why make such a big deal? Are there any "errors" in my Bible that could possibly prevent me from making it to heaven? However, there ARE errors in the other versions of the Bible that definitely could cause people to miss heaven. If the answer is "no" to there being any errors that could cause me to miss heaven, then WHY is it so important to discredit my Bible? Can anything good or righteous or edifying come from it?
My husband and I have been going through the book One Book Stands Alone, by Dr. Doug Stauffer. We also have the books by Gail Riplinger, which first caught our attention several years ago. The book we'll be going through next is King James Onlyism versus Scholarship Onlyism by Dr. Peter S. Ruckman. I understand this last book would REALLY stir the ire of the "educated crowd." The phrases "too smart for their own good" and "too big for their britches" come to mind. Childlike innocence is something to be envied. " Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein" (Luke 18:17). "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was" (2 Tim. 3:1-9). Ever learning...intoxicated with knowledge, they stagger, stumble and recklessly endanger other souls they come in contact with. It's scary.
Call me ignorant. Call me uninformed. Call me closed-minded. That's okay with me. I desire first and foremost to be pleasing to God and to TRUST His Word, regardless of what anybody else thinks, or thinks of me. I keep 1 Corinthians the first chapter in mind: "Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh [the educated fools], not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world [those who have childlike faith to just BELIEVE without seeing proof, i.e. Heb. 11:1] to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised [O, how the "educated" despise folks who just BELIEVE and they feel they MUST destroy their belief], hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord" (vv.25-31). Jesus Christ IS the Word, and He is my righteousness, my sanctification and my redemption. Praise the Lord!
Okay. Well, there it is. A lot of other scriptures come to mind--all from the KJV, of course. ;-) The KJV is beautiful beyond compare. It makes me feel safe. I love the Word of God--the pure, unadulterated Word of God.