Eternal Joy

"Nothing is to quench the believer's joy for it is occasioned by that which is eternal."

F.B. Hole, I Thess., p.132

When I occupy my mind with all that the Lord has done for me, all that He has in store for me and all that He is doing for me right at this moment I can rejoice in Him. My future is secure. I do not know what this life may have for me...sickness, sorrow, pain. But because I know that where I am going after this short life is over can only be pure joy and bliss I can rejoice even today. My future is very bright.

Trust and Rest

"If you are in the deep shadows because of some strange, mysterious providence, do not be afraid. Simply go on in faith and love, never doubting. God is watching, and He will bring good and beauty out of all your pain and tears."

J. R. Miller

Trust and rest when all around thee

Puts thy faith to sorest test;

Let no fear or foe confound thee,

Wait for God and trust and rest

Trust and rest with heart abiding

Like a birdling in its nest

Underneath His feathers hiding,

Fold thy wings and trust and rest!

(Found among my notes--from an old friend, 1977)

Our Service in Training Of Children

I've been wondered if one of the reasons the Lord gives us children, (who are so dependent and helpless when they are born), is to reveal to us how much we actually have put ourselves first in our own lives. When your young child is very small his demands are immediate -whether it be a wet diaper, food or sleep, those needs come before your own and have to be met or you "hear about it" til they are! I never knew how selfish I was until I had children. Of course, we are obliged to train our children in such a way that they soon realize that the world does not revolve around them. If we fail to do so we soon find out that we are raising selfish tyrants!

I've been thinking about servants in the kingdom and how it relates to us. When I take the low place and become a servant I can take no offence. When I expect to "spend and be spent" I can't feel as if people are taking advantage of me. If I give myself wholly to others and in the Lord's service and don't expect anything in return I will not be disappointed when I receive no thanks or even acknowledgement for what I've done. These are the verses that have prompted these thoughts.

Matthew 5:42 "Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away."

2 Corinthians 12:15 "Spend and be spent." Paul says: "I will very gladly spend and be spent ('utterly spent', JND Translation) for you."

I think that the "spend" refers to what we willingly do of our own accord and that the "be spent" is when others take advantage of us.

We are not in this world for ourselves or for our own gain except in the way that it relates to how the Lord is using life to train us for the kingdom and for our eternal blessing. More and more I am realizing that I'm here to serve. And more and more I'm realizing how selfish I really am.

Now try to balance that with raising and training children! As a servant you would do everything for them! But that would be a disservice to them, wouldn't it? They too need to be servants. And so we go through our lives being servants of the Lord and others with our children right by our sides. And we give them responsibilities (ie, around the house), not because we do not want to serve them but because they too need to learn to be servants.

The Service of Love

"Is there someone who comes to your mind, a friend or family member, who would be honored and encouraged by an expression of your love and appreciation? Then do something to show it--while the person is still alive."

~Haddon Robinson

"A heart that is full of compassion for others is less likely to be absorbed in its own sorrows and poisoned by its own self pity."

~ P.M. Derham

"Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto Him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on His head, as he sat at meat. But when His disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, 'to what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.' When Jesus understood it, He said unto them, 'Why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought a good work upon Me. For ye have the poor always with you; but Me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on My body, she did it for My burial.' "

I believe a good rule of thumb to live by is this: do what you have to do for yourself, but make the majority of your life a service for others.

A Few Thoughts on the Raising of Children

A little while ago (last year!) we enjoyed being in Kirkland for their all-day-meeting. The Adult Sunday School Class was very sobering for me and the things said could be very helpful for young parents. Hopefully, they listened because it's not too late for them. The reading took up Ephesians 5 and child rearing.

There are at least four or five things to remember in raising children.

1. Do not discipline in anger (I often put my children "in ward" until I could figure out what to do with them and until I could simmer down. "In ward" was their bedrooms.)

2. Don't "roast" the brethren. (Criticism of the people you really do love is deadly).

3. Be in agreement as parents. Forbid them from playing one against the other.

4. Have rules with relationship. The kids need to know that there is love behind the rules and that they are not arbitrary.

5. Let the children know that ultimately they have to do with God and are responsible to Him.

Well, that about does it for me. I feel slain.

"A Mother's Life-Work"

My work at home lies with the olive branches

Thou'st planted there,

To train them meekly for the heavenly garden

Needs all my care.

I may not in the woods and on the mountains

Seek Thy lost sheep;

At home a little flock of tender lambkins

'Tis mine to keep.

Thou givest to Thy servants each his life-work;

No trumpet tone

Will tell the nations in triumphant pealing

How mine was done-

But 'twill be much, if, when the task is ended,

Through grace from Thee,

I give Thee back, undimmed, the radiant jewels

Thou gavest me.

~Selected

Would You Change What You Just Did?

"Act in the way you want it to come out at the judgment seat of Christ." J. Brereton