August
Heeding the Master’s Call by Cynthia Saladin
When the labs were young, I would open the front door and they’d vault off the front porch and be out of sight at the edge of the field in seconds flat. The problem always was that they wouldn’t come when I called them. Oh, they heard me. They’d lift their heads from whatever delicious scent they were investigating and look at me, but they had determined that whatever treat I had for them would in no way measure up to the fun they were going to have together. It only took a couple of times of having to track them down, tramping through fields and driving up and down roads before we knew we couldn’t just let them run. They always came back - eventually. But we didn’t know how far they were going, what they were chasing, and how much trouble they could get themselves into.
Here we are eleven years later and things have changed. Ebony has a torn ACL and although she walks pretty well, and even scampers after the chipmunk who likes to live dangerously next to our house, her hind legs don’t work so well anymore and she wears out quickly. Velvet still does a pretty good job of getting around, but the cataracts clouding her eyes are so bad she can’t see the dog treat you put in front of her nose. She always recoils when you touch her nose with it.
The past few days, Ebony has been reluctant to go for our morning walk. She’s happy about it once she’s outside and walking, but convincing her to get out of bed has not been easy. Once outside, I put Velvet on the leash and walk them over the dam. Of course, being labs, they both pile into the water, drinking as they walk, choking and coughing on water bugs, and trying to shake while still shoulder high in the pond. Yesterday, that’s the point at which I took the leash off Velvet. Neither of them made any indication that a mad dash into the woods was imminent. They investigated smells and calmly accompanied me around the pond and back up to the house.
So this morning, I didn’t even put the leash on Velvet. I just told her it was time to go for a walk, enticed Ebony out of her bed, and started off towards the pond. Velvet came when I called her, instead of going to see what Ebony had found. They both went for their morning swim. They both followed me back up to the house.
It’s a bittersweet experience. They are very compliant and lovable. They no longer chew on the porch rails. They don’t bark all through the night. But I know it’s because they’re rapidly approaching the end of their lives; it’s not because that’s what they’d do if they had the vim and vigor of youth.
So what about us? As we grow older, I’d like to think that we heed the Master’s call with ever increasing alacrity - because of the relationship we have with our Great God, not just because we don’t have the vim and vigor of youth.
There are a couple of very interesting verses in Psalm 119 which caught my attention recently:
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. (vs. 67)
It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. (vs 71)
Is that what it takes - old age, trouble, affliction, problems, disaster - before we see the value of God’s ways and our absolute need for Him? Do we have to be knocked down and bruised before we seek God first? Do we have to try things our way and get into all kinds of heartache before we do it the way God said to from the very beginning?
I kind of wonder if this is where Solomon ended up at the end of his life, in order for him to have penned these words:
Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them.” Ecclesiastes 12:1
Oh that we would seek God with all of our hearts now because He is good and worthy and He loves us so very much!! I don’t want to wait for the evil days to come before I turn to God with all of my heart. I don’t want to fall victim to the trap of being content with where I am so that I neglect my relationship with God because I fail to see how very much I need Him (Deuteronomy 8:11-20). I owe Him everything, even my very life. What could be more important than heeding His leading every day of my life?
I’m already sad, knowing that my labs’ days are numbered. But really, all of our days are numbered before even one of them came to be (Psalm 139:16). Perhaps I need to be more intentional about living my life for God’s glory with whatever days still remain.
Yes, There is Good News by Bill Rollins
There are so many ideas and thoughts written into the Bible that it can be difficult to comprehend them all. In my Bible, there are more than 1,600 pages filled with the words of our Heavenly Father. He caused His servants, by the power of his Holy Spirit, to record onto parchment all that we have in our Bibles. Moses, David, Isaiah, Samuel, Matthew, Paul, John, (etc), were all instruments of God's desire to give to you, and to me, His instruction.
I have had many people come to me and ask, how they might break up scriptures into 365 separate sections so as to read the Bible in one year. For your informations, there are websites that preform this task for you. You can also buy a Bible that is structured so that there are 365 portions for reading.
I do not recommend that people read the Bible in one year. It is a task that calls for discipline, and structure, within a person’s life. And as I have pointed out in the past, the word “discipline” has the same root form as the word “disciple.” If we are to become disciples of Jesus Christ (and we called to do just that) we must recognize that discipline is part and parcel of our effort. Over the past thirty-something articles that have appeared in the paper under the “Yes, There is Good News,” we have had a fair amount of interesting topics. But the most important topic that could ever be covered would have to do with urging you to pick up your Bible and read it. Jesus Himself tells us that these are the “words of life.” I have more people come to me and tell me they have never read the Bible, and yet they claim to be Christian! Really? That would be like me saying I have a relationship with my wife, but I never let her talk to me. That would be ludicrous. I have a relationship with my Heavenly Father, but I never let Him talk to me? God speaks to us through His word. We can pick up the books written by Moses, David, (etc) and read the words, “the word of the Lord came to me ...” “Thus declares the sovereign Lord,” “ Thus declares the Lord whose name is God Almighty.” In the New Testament we find the authors quoting from the Old Testament, saying, “This is what the Lord says through his prophet ...”
All the authors of the New Testament knew exactly what the Old Testament had to say. They were familiar with it. They read it. They desired a deep relationship with God, and experienced the joy of His closeness. They knew the words of life as were written by the prophets of old, and wrote words of life to expound and teach us about the good news of our Savior who has come, and who will come again.
Our Father delights to teach those of us who are interested in the things He has to say. The one thing I know, unequivocally, about that statement is that our Father really does want to teach us. The thing I do not know is: are you interested in the things He has to say?
In the book of Galatians, Paul seems to suggest that those belonging to Jesus Christ are to be considered as “the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16). And I would like to take the Apostle Paul at his word. So, I find it acceptable to learn about the nation of Israel, from the Old Testament, and utilize them as a historical lesson. In other words, I have a template for my life as a Christian in the triumphs and tragedies that the ancient nation of Israel experienced. I can take the admonitions, the corrections, the training and the blessings from God toward them and have applications for my life.
So far so good! Let’s turn back to the book of Deuteronomy 10:12 where we find this written, “And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD’S commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?” God says that doing these things are for my own good! So if I do these 5 things, fear God, walk in His ways, love Him, serve Him and observe His laws; good from God will come my way.
Let me ask the above question once again, “Are you interested in the things He has to say?” Are you interested enough to pursue the things He tells us to do? Do you strive to seek God with all your heart?
In several scriptures in the Old Testament, God admonishes us to seek His face: 1Ch 16:11 - Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually; 2Ch 7:14 - If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land: Ps 105:4 - Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.
In other scriptures He asks us to seek Him with all of our heart: Ps 119:10 - Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with their whole heart; Ps 119:10 - With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.
So what does it mean to seek the face of God? There are three significant words in this phrase, “seek, face and God.” The last of these words “God” is, I hope, familiar to all of us. God is the Creator, the Sustainer and the One who gives life. He is life itself. He says His name is Yahoveh, which means, “I am that I am” in other words, “the self-existent one.”
The next to last word “face” is a very important word. We know in English (in our society) that located at the front of one’s head is one’s face. When we meet someone, the first thing we normally look at is their face. So if you were to ask me “where are you going?” And I answered, “I am going downtown to seek my wife’s face,” you would look at me with great curiosity! But not so with the ancient Hebrews. This statement would have been appropriate.
The word “face” or “paniym” (pronounced paw-neem in Hebrew), connotes much more than the front of one’s head. In many contexts it means the visible portion of a thing; such as in Genesis 1:2, “The spirit of God moves upon the face of the waters.” But in the context of a person it most often signifies the person himself. And this is how we may view the statement, “seek the face of God.” It is the person of God that we must seek.
The first word in this phrase is very interesting: “seek.” In these three scriptures (1Ch 16:11, 2Ch 7:14, and Ps 105:4), the word “seek” has a very peculiar meaning. The Hebrew word is “darash” and it means, “to tread or tromp something.” I’m sure that most of us have walked from here to there in tall grass. If we travel a path once, we can look back and see where we have disturbed the grass and identify where we have trod. The next day, however, the wind and sun will have erased our path. But if we walk from here to there several times a day, and do so every day for a month, we have trod down the grass and we will still see a well-defined path.
And so it is with our seeking God! We must travel the path to our God again and again. We come to God, our Provider, and thank Him for the provisions of shelter, warmth, clothing, friends, etc.
I believe you get the point. Ps 105:4, “Seek the Lord, and His strength; seek His face evermore.” The blessings we receive when in His presence are indeed “good news.”
Heeding the Master’s Call by Cynthia Saladin
When the labs were young, I would open the front door and they’d vault off the front porch and be out of sight at the edge of the field in seconds flat. The problem always was that they wouldn’t come when I called them. Oh, they heard me. They’d lift their heads from whatever delicious scent they were investigating and look at me, but they had determined that whatever treat I had for them would in no way measure up to the fun they were going to have together. It only took a couple of times of having to track them down, tramping through fields and driving up and down roads before we knew we couldn’t just let them run. They always came back - eventually. But we didn’t know how far they were going, what they were chasing, and how much trouble they could get themselves into.
Here we are eleven years later and things have changed. Ebony has a torn ACL and although she walks pretty well, and even scampers after the chipmunk who likes to live dangerously next to our house, her hind legs don’t work so well anymore and she wears out quickly. Velvet still does a pretty good job of getting around, but the cataracts clouding her eyes are so bad she can’t see the dog treat you put in front of her nose. She always recoils when you touch her nose with it.
The past few days, Ebony has been reluctant to go for our morning walk. She’s happy about it once she’s outside and walking, but convincing her to get out of bed has not been easy. Once outside, I put Velvet on the leash and walk them over the dam. Of course, being labs, they both pile into the water, drinking as they walk, choking and coughing on water bugs, and trying to shake while still shoulder high in the pond. Yesterday, that’s the point at which I took the leash off Velvet. Neither of them made any indication that a mad dash into the woods was imminent. They investigated smells and calmly accompanied me around the pond and back up to the house.
So this morning, I didn’t even put the leash on Velvet. I just told her it was time to go for a walk, enticed Ebony out of her bed, and started off towards the pond. Velvet came when I called her, instead of going to see what Ebony had found. They both went for their morning swim. They both followed me back up to the house.
It’s a bittersweet experience. They are very compliant and lovable. They no longer chew on the porch rails. They don’t bark all through the night. But I know it’s because they’re rapidly approaching the end of their lives; it’s not because that’s what they’d do if they had the vim and vigor of youth.
So what about us? As we grow older, I’d like to think that we heed the Master’s call with ever increasing alacrity - because of the relationship we have with our Great God, not just because we don’t have the vim and vigor of youth.
There are a couple of very interesting verses in Psalm 119 which caught my attention recently:
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. (vs. 67)
It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. (vs 71)
Is that what it takes - old age, trouble, affliction, problems, disaster - before we see the value of God’s ways and our absolute need for Him? Do we have to be knocked down and bruised before we seek God first? Do we have to try things our way and get into all kinds of heartache before we do it the way God said to from the very beginning?
I kind of wonder if this is where Solomon ended up at the end of his life, in order for him to have penned these words:
Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them.” Ecclesiastes 12:1
Oh that we would seek God with all of our hearts now because He is good and worthy and He loves us so very much!! I don’t want to wait for the evil days to come before I turn to God with all of my heart. I don’t want to fall victim to the trap of being content with where I am so that I neglect my relationship with God because I fail to see how very much I need Him (Deuteronomy 8:11-20). I owe Him everything, even my very life. What could be more important than heeding His leading every day of my life?
I’m already sad, knowing that my labs’ days are numbered. But really, all of our days are numbered before even one of them came to be (Psalm 139:16). Perhaps I need to be more intentional about living my life for God’s glory with whatever days still remain.
Yes, There is Good News by Bill Rollins
There are so many ideas and thoughts written into the Bible that it can be difficult to comprehend them all. In my Bible, there are more than 1,600 pages filled with the words of our Heavenly Father. He caused His servants, by the power of his Holy Spirit, to record onto parchment all that we have in our Bibles. Moses, David, Isaiah, Samuel, Matthew, Paul, John, (etc), were all instruments of God's desire to give to you, and to me, His instruction.
I have had many people come to me and ask, how they might break up scriptures into 365 separate sections so as to read the Bible in one year. For your informations, there are websites that preform this task for you. You can also buy a Bible that is structured so that there are 365 portions for reading.
I do not recommend that people read the Bible in one year. It is a task that calls for discipline, and structure, within a person’s life. And as I have pointed out in the past, the word “discipline” has the same root form as the word “disciple.” If we are to become disciples of Jesus Christ (and we called to do just that) we must recognize that discipline is part and parcel of our effort. Over the past thirty-something articles that have appeared in the paper under the “Yes, There is Good News,” we have had a fair amount of interesting topics. But the most important topic that could ever be covered would have to do with urging you to pick up your Bible and read it. Jesus Himself tells us that these are the “words of life.” I have more people come to me and tell me they have never read the Bible, and yet they claim to be Christian! Really? That would be like me saying I have a relationship with my wife, but I never let her talk to me. That would be ludicrous. I have a relationship with my Heavenly Father, but I never let Him talk to me? God speaks to us through His word. We can pick up the books written by Moses, David, (etc) and read the words, “the word of the Lord came to me ...” “Thus declares the sovereign Lord,” “ Thus declares the Lord whose name is God Almighty.” In the New Testament we find the authors quoting from the Old Testament, saying, “This is what the Lord says through his prophet ...”
All the authors of the New Testament knew exactly what the Old Testament had to say. They were familiar with it. They read it. They desired a deep relationship with God, and experienced the joy of His closeness. They knew the words of life as were written by the prophets of old, and wrote words of life to expound and teach us about the good news of our Savior who has come, and who will come again.
Our Father delights to teach those of us who are interested in the things He has to say. The one thing I know, unequivocally, about that statement is that our Father really does want to teach us. The thing I do not know is: are you interested in the things He has to say?
In the book of Galatians, Paul seems to suggest that those belonging to Jesus Christ are to be considered as “the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16). And I would like to take the Apostle Paul at his word. So, I find it acceptable to learn about the nation of Israel, from the Old Testament, and utilize them as a historical lesson. In other words, I have a template for my life as a Christian in the triumphs and tragedies that the ancient nation of Israel experienced. I can take the admonitions, the corrections, the training and the blessings from God toward them and have applications for my life.
So far so good! Let’s turn back to the book of Deuteronomy 10:12 where we find this written, “And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD’S commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?” God says that doing these things are for my own good! So if I do these 5 things, fear God, walk in His ways, love Him, serve Him and observe His laws; good from God will come my way.
Let me ask the above question once again, “Are you interested in the things He has to say?” Are you interested enough to pursue the things He tells us to do? Do you strive to seek God with all your heart?
In several scriptures in the Old Testament, God admonishes us to seek His face: 1Ch 16:11 - Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually; 2Ch 7:14 - If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land: Ps 105:4 - Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.
In other scriptures He asks us to seek Him with all of our heart: Ps 119:10 - Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with their whole heart; Ps 119:10 - With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.
So what does it mean to seek the face of God? There are three significant words in this phrase, “seek, face and God.” The last of these words “God” is, I hope, familiar to all of us. God is the Creator, the Sustainer and the One who gives life. He is life itself. He says His name is Yahoveh, which means, “I am that I am” in other words, “the self-existent one.”
The next to last word “face” is a very important word. We know in English (in our society) that located at the front of one’s head is one’s face. When we meet someone, the first thing we normally look at is their face. So if you were to ask me “where are you going?” And I answered, “I am going downtown to seek my wife’s face,” you would look at me with great curiosity! But not so with the ancient Hebrews. This statement would have been appropriate.
The word “face” or “paniym” (pronounced paw-neem in Hebrew), connotes much more than the front of one’s head. In many contexts it means the visible portion of a thing; such as in Genesis 1:2, “The spirit of God moves upon the face of the waters.” But in the context of a person it most often signifies the person himself. And this is how we may view the statement, “seek the face of God.” It is the person of God that we must seek.
The first word in this phrase is very interesting: “seek.” In these three scriptures (1Ch 16:11, 2Ch 7:14, and Ps 105:4), the word “seek” has a very peculiar meaning. The Hebrew word is “darash” and it means, “to tread or tromp something.” I’m sure that most of us have walked from here to there in tall grass. If we travel a path once, we can look back and see where we have disturbed the grass and identify where we have trod. The next day, however, the wind and sun will have erased our path. But if we walk from here to there several times a day, and do so every day for a month, we have trod down the grass and we will still see a well-defined path.
And so it is with our seeking God! We must travel the path to our God again and again. We come to God, our Provider, and thank Him for the provisions of shelter, warmth, clothing, friends, etc.
I believe you get the point. Ps 105:4, “Seek the Lord, and His strength; seek His face evermore.” The blessings we receive when in His presence are indeed “good news.”
