Thankful #14....

11-15-11
I am thankful for Bible Study Fellowship.

You may have heard about BSF. Maybe not. The organization has been around since the 1950s and there are classes literally around the world…over a thousand of them.

There is no ‘church’ affiliation, no denominational name tag associated with it…( there ARE name tags….everyone wears one with their name displayed big enough for everyone to see it and use it.)

Daily questions give a place to start for individual personal Bible study. When classes meet once a week, there is a time for small groups to discuss the insights gained from that personal time in God‘s Word.

Challenging lectures bring more information and application to what everyone has studied personally the week before, having privately sat at the foot of our Lord, Bible in hand, prayerfully and expectantly listening for the teaching and guidance of His Holy Spirit within.

Study notes given out after the lecture provide even more teaching and application as well as the questions for the upcoming week.

I’ve been churched since before I have memory. I knew how to read. I knew and purchased all the various resources …. commentaries, dictionaries, etc.

This method of study is so very different.

I’ve learned so much.

“ In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…(Heb.1:1-2)

I have the help He promised….“.. the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26)


The most important thing I’ve learned in my years of BSF is that God does indeed speak to every single person thru His written Word by the power of His Holy Spirit.

He speaks to me. I don’t have to have the right commentary. I have a very personal Teacher.

Thankful #13...

I am thankful for immediate answers.

More often than not, waiting is involved. I’m better at waiting than I was at one time, but I’m not any better at liking the wait.

I like immediate service, immediate responses…and I like immediate answers to my prayers.

More often than not, I have to wait for all of them.

But, occasionally I get an immediate answer, and I must admit…it is usually quite startling when I do. God has such a sense of humor sometimes…. Here is my latest immediate answer…

Do not fret.

Trust in the LORD and do good

Delight yourself in the LORD

Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.

Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever.

Wait for the LORD and keep His way. He will exalt you to inherit the land
(select verses from Psalm 37)

When frustrated and disturbed, (that sounds better than mad as a wet hen…) I think of all sorts of ways to respond…(that sounds better than retaliate)

And when I ask God to show me how to walk thru it, He needs only to remind me of what I already know. Hence the latest message from Psalm 37.…

Fretting is useless.

I am responsible for my choices, either to do good….or not so good.

Handling it in my own human manner is just telling Him that I don’t trust Him to take care of it.

Taking charge and setting everyone straight is not committing my way to Him, but committing to my own agenda.

Waiting is the smart thing to do because I don’t see the big picture nor do I know other people’s heart.

What something ‘looks like’ is not always what it is. God will have His way ultimately…He just sometimes has a purpose for it taking longer than it ‘looks like’ it should take.

My temper and imagination will only lead to my own wrong thoughts and behavior.
I have a choice. I can continue to look at my wrong thoughts and consider them…or I can on purpose turn FROM them and choose life instead of death.

I can believe that God WILL keep His promises, that He IS KEEPING His promises even now, and especially when I don’t see nor understand the mechanics of His ways.

Thankful #12...

Today I am thank for grandchildren.

I remember eleven years ago today getting a call that my first would be arriving within hours.

The time was a bit early, but circumstances demanded an early delivery...so we headed off to the hospital and got there just in time to see our son hovering over a tiny little baby girl in a hospital nursery. Chesley was here, healthy, and precious.

She was our first experience as far as grand children went…and our first experience at little girls. They are indeed different than the two little boys born to us. Their grandfather had no daughters, and had no sisters. Boy was he in for surprises !

What a joy it is to be a grandparent. Grandchildren are just that. Grand children. Grand indeed.

What a legacy born to us.

“Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children…”(Prov. 17:6)

What a responsibility.

“A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children..”(Prov. 13:22)

We can’t eat cake and ice-cream with our firstborn grand-daughter on this, her birthday. We are geographically separated. (…another reason to be thankful for technology !! )

But we will never be separated in heart.

How we love you Chesley. Happy birthday sweetie…

Thankful #11....

I am thankful for rest.

Rest, as in going to bed and actually sleeping all night.
And rest, as in sleeping late!!

Rest, as in sitting with coffee for as long as you want.
Rest, as in reading whatever you want, and for however long you want.

Rest as in no agenda, no demands on my time or energy.

All of those things and a list of dozens more define what we think of as rest.

But here is where REAL rest comes from…. "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest….”(the words of Jesus, Matthew 11:28 emphasis mine)

When I find myself so very weary, often it is not a weariness that can be recuperated from by a good night’s sleep. It is weariness that is a result of getting out from under the yoke with Jesus, pulling the weight of my life in my own strength. When I do that, it doesn’t take long for me to wear myself out.


“ Moses said to the LORD, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with Me.' If You are pleased with me, teach me Your ways so I may know You and continue to find favor with You. Remember that this nation is Your people." The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." (Ex. 33:12-14)

Moses was called by God to shepherd His people out of bondage, thru a wilderness, to a promised place.

Moses knew the landscapes and the dangers. He knew the Egyptians, and he knew the life of a nomad shepherd. He had his hands full…but he was never asked to do it in his own ability.

I’m certainly not Moses. but I’m called by God to be a beacon of His Light, leading people out of bondage, pointing the way to His promised land.

And if you wear The Name of Jesus Christ….you too are called. Jesus Himself said, “….go and make disciples …and teach them…”(Matt. 28:20)

Like Moses, I am not left to my own ability. I don’t have the cloud guiding me by day and fire by night, I have the indwelling Holy Spirit of God within.



If Moses couldn’t do it alone, who am I to think I can…..

Thankful #10

I am thankful for today.

Thankful that it is over.

Thankful that all todays aren’t like this one was…


And I’m thankful for the encouragement and hope from God’s Word about days like today….

“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.”(Hebrews 3:13-14)

“…as long as it is today….:”

That includes this day.

Encourage one another. And if there’s nobody encouraging you...for those who share in Christ, He provides encouragement Himself. He comes in The Person of The Holy Spirit to encourage.

I am thankful for today, and thankful for the Comforter Who helped me get thru it.

Thankfullness #9...

I am thankful for my man.

I am thankful for all the nonsense, the wisecracks, all the picking and teasing… There are very few hours that pass that he does not in some way acknowledge my worth to him…certainly never a day of the last 37+ years.

I am thankful for the morals that he has, the standards by which he endeavors to live, and the integrity that he strives to maintain.

I am thankful that he has never lorded himself over me, but has instead always had a servant heart. Not only does he think he’s not above any task, he considers that I am…and steps in to perform them instead.

I am thankful for the genuine concern he has for other people, the strong convictions about right and wrong, fairness, justice…

And I am thankful for the compassionate heart that has not become hard and calloused over the years, in spite of seeing and experiencing so much of human sinfulness and suffering.

He is a mighty man of God, my knight in shining armor.

Thankfullness #8....

I am thankful for seasons.

I love them all and my favorite one is usually whichever one we are in at the moment. (…unless I’m cold…I don’t like to be cold, but it takes more and more to make me be cold these days !!..)

When it is springtime, I enjoy watching the leaves sprout and the flowers begin to bloom, the birds building nests and laying eggs.

When it is summer, I love our garden, working the soil, enjoying fresh vegetables on our dinner table. I love a freshly mown lawn, the scent of honeysuckle in the evening air, and dips in the lake or swimming pool.

When it is fall, as it is now, I love watching the leaves change colors before my eyes. I love the smell, the warmth and the crackling sound of a fire as I sit on the patio by our chiminea sipping a cup of coffee.

When it is winter, I love the way snowflakes fall so silently and cover creation with a blanket of white that looks so incredibly serene and peaceful. I love the curling of the smoke coming from our chimney, the patterns of frost on the windshield, and the way it shimmers from the roofs of the houses.


I would tire of any one of the seasons. You would too.


God was wise to give us change in the seasons. We get bored so easily….an opportunity for the enemy to lead us into disobedience and rebellion.



“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

...I know that everything God does will endure forever…” (Ecc. 3 select verses)



Seasons don’t last.

The leaves bud and grow, they become lush and green, then change into brilliant colors, eventually falling to the ground to decay. They don’t last…

But they come back..

My life has seen many seasons. I’ve been thru lots of phases and experienced lots of growing pains. Certainly not suffered like some have, and certainly not from any merit of my own.

I’m nearing the autumn of an average life. Winter will come, this body will become dormant. And die.

And I will enter an eternal season with our Creator, with a glorified body, walking on the streets of glory.



“....Desperate, I throw myself on you: you are my God! Hour by hour I place my days in Your hand, safe from those who pursue me…….warm me, Your servant, with a smile; save me because You love me. (Ps. 31:14-16)



I love life. I love the seasons. And I love the God Who gave them both….



“ Blessed be the name of God, forever and ever. He knows all, does all:

He changes the seasons and guides history,
He raises up kings and also brings them down,
He provides both intelligence and discernment,
He opens up the depths, tells secrets, sees in the dark--light spills out of Him!

God of all my ancestors, all thanks! all praise! (Daniel 2:20-23)