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Morning Devotional...



How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings. Isaiah 52:7


How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! Romans 10:15

What made our Lord's feet so beautiful? His mission--to bring good news! The prophet said, "the feet of Him" and the apostle says, "the feet of them."

What makes the change from singular to plural? You do! Let our feet perform their duty and take the gospel "cure" for sin to a world that's waiting for good news! Follow the Master and your feet will look more like His every day!
                                                                             --Rex Trogdon


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That is beautiful Pat.

It is late. I was asleep but something woke me.  Decided to see if anyone else was up as well.

I will check out some of the other strings and be back

Morning folks. So I'm a fool member, well that makes sense. I'm in a rush this morning as the Craft Market is on today again.

Meika - Not that is what I call a bonnie lass! Great photo.

Larry - Sounds like you are getting on just fine with them nurses! Praying for you and all in this fellowship. It is a privilege to do so.

Hope these few thoughts help someone:-

Are you walking closely with your Lord today or are you following afar off? Are your sins keeping you at a distance from Him, while in the depths of your soul you are desiring to be near Him?

It is a continual warfare for the believer. He views Christ by faith and there he sees the sacrifice made for his sins.

He looks within and all he views is wounds and bruises and putifying sores. Sin in all it's uglyness dwells within his frame. There are times when this view can paralyse our soul, leaving us distraught and lame.

I was thinking today of another who was distaught and lame. His name was Mephibosheth. I also viewed a King with a heart full of love for this man.

Mephibosheth did not have the power or strength or even the ability to be able to fend for himself. He dared not to approach the King as the King has told others of his hatred for the blind and lame.

The King however sought him out. He gave him land and made others work it for him. He provided for all his needs. That in itself was more than enough for Mephibosheth. Like us, he felt unworthy of the least of the King's mercies.

The King's love for him however did not stop there. Mephibosheth was given a seat daily at the King's table. Many have said that the table covered his weakness.

I prefer to view it from the King's standpoint. He viewed Mephibosheth through the eyes of love. Love covers a multitude of sins.

May the Lord bring you to His table today. May you accept His provision for you. May you see that you are accepted in the Beloved. May His fruit be sweet to your taste.

Turn your eyes away from viewing your frailties and view the King of Glory dying on a tree outside the walls of Jerusalem for you.

There is power in the blood. Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord. though your sins are as scarlet they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Goodness and mercy all my life shall surely follow me, and in God's house for evermore, my dwelling place shall be. The King loves you, come and feast with Him today. Open your mouth wide and He shall fill it.

LOL

Your brother in Christ

Iain

Hi everyone.  It is good to come here early and read the devotional thoughts from Pat and those from Iain.  

It has rained here most of the night and is still dark and rainy outside.  We had gone about 6 days without rain so this is welcome.  The sun should be out by later this afternoon.  I have work to do today on two of the webpages I maintain.  One is for our Church and the other is for the Senior Center.  I find that during the week I don't seem to have much time available.

Since I posted late last evening there isn't much else to say this morning.  Mieka, I do like your new picture.

Hello everyone!!!  Karma says to tell everyone HELLO!!!

They are going to head north today and I am going to a Cremation Memorial service.  I guess some relatives are having their sister's ashes in an urn buried over their parents.  I have never been to a ceremony like this.

We are having a great time with Karma, Nard and Travis.  Jerry was here last evening and maybe this evening.  

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"Life's golden age is when the kids are too old to need baby-sitters and too young to borrow the family car."

Mieka,  I like your new picture too.

Good morning Pat, Judy B., Iain, Larry, Etta Sue, and anyone else who is up and around this morning.

Larry, the rain ran south of us so we didn't get any last night.  It is a beautiful sunshiny morning here.

I hope you all have a nice day today.

--- Papa John              <)))><<

 

Hi Etta Sue!  We are on at the same time.

Good Morning Papa John!  It is nice to see you & Cornelia!

I have a board meeting and will bring my baked quiche for lunch today.  It is sunny and very nice outside - another great Lord's day -every day should be Lord's Day!

Thanks for all of the devotionals.  They are so appreciated.

By the way, I may not be able to get online for a few weeks beginning Tuesday - for some reason, I have a lot of trouble when we travel - it may be my laptop.  We are driving to Minnesota.  Carol

Good morning everyone, Pat, I see you online!

Carole, we'll be praying for your safety during your trip.  Is it far from where you are now?  Jen.

 It is sunshiny here in SW Kansas, too, and promises to be really HOT!  We just finished getting the 5th wheel trailer back into the garage (I don't like that job!) and when we finished I was sweating big time.  Looks like one of those three-shower days!  We escaped a really bad hailstorm last night, so thought we'd better get the trailer back under protection.  They had baseball to softball sized hail in two of the communities to the north and the west of us last night.

Iain, you are now a FULL member, not a fool member!!  And we are so very happy that you have joined us here on CP.  What a blessing you are to us, brother!

Later today we are going to Dodge City to attend a dinner theatre.  This is my late birthday celebration.  We plan to look at motor homes again while there, and of course stop by good ol' Wal-Mart.  

Etta Sue, we all wish we could be there with you enjoying you, Jerry, and Karma's family.  Have fun!

Good Morning Everyone!

Yep!  I'm here, Jen!  But just barely!  I'm feeling so weary from all of the travel but I must do this for my friend.

Carol, we'll certainly miss you if you can't get online.  What do you use, AOL? When you travel?  I'm looking for someway to do this for when I go to Calgary.

My goodness, Judy, you were up late!

Hi Papa John!  How are you and Cornelia today?

Hello Karma, Bernard and Travis!
You'll have to give us the URLs of your websites, Larry!  Always interested in seeing what people are working on!

Thanks Iain, for the wonderful devotion for us all.  I really am blessed by your offerings here.

Etta Sue & Jerry, enjoy your time with Karma et al.

EDIT:  Hi Janet!

Good morning everyone!

We had a great night last night.  We went to a christian concert in the park here.  It was fun. The girls danced and the boys played football catch with other christian men.

We have lots to do today. Mike is mowing the lawn right now and I need to get started on some laundry.  The kids are wanting to go swimming.  

Hope you all have a fun day.

Pat,

Papa John and Cornelia are doing fine today.  Thanks for asking.  Right now I am in the process of printing the July birthday cards for the nursing home where we do some volunteer work.  Each month we get the list of residents with their birthdays in that month.  I enjoy printing the cards each month.  This computer is amazing.  I can tell the printer to print and still get on line as each one is being printed.

I don't understand how a computer works.  But I know it does because I use it every day.  I don't understand how the power of God works.  But I know it does because I use it[/b] every day too.

--- Papa John              <)))><<

 

Well I am off to a good start this morning it is now 8:45 on the west coast and I have alredy cleaned the bathroom and kitchen and have one load of laundry in the dryer and one in the washer, I am washing my stuffed animals before I pack them,.Plus spending time here and on SN adding a few posts here and there. I is to be 108 F. today, I still have to fill the dogs wash tub all the way full for Happydog, unless he decides to stay in most of the day. I think I will go check messenger and see who is online there.

Be back later

QuoteI don't understand how a computer works.  But I know it does because I use it every day.  I don't understand how the power of God works.  But I know it does because I use it every day too.

Papa John, what a lovely comparison. And how true!  We don't understand how the power of God works but it does!  Thanks so much for that.


Hi Marilyn!

Yeahhhhhh!!!!!  That's more like it, Mieka!!  Ye're a beautiful girl, so stay that way!

Hi Al!  (Praying for you today! )


I see Larry Rockwell online and that makes me so happy!

Hi Larry!

Quote from: Sonifo on June 28, 2003, 11:34:23 AM
Good morning everyone!

We had a great night last night.  We went to a christian concert in the park here.  It was fun. The girls danced and the boys played football catch with other christian men.

We have lots to do today. Mike is mowing the lawn right now and I need to get started on some laundry.  The kids are wanting to go swimming.  

Hope you all have a fun day.

Hi Sonja...

How in the world did I miss you today!  Oh well, here's a "Hi" now to you!

Glad you had a great time as a family last night.  I believe the saying is so true, "The family that prays (and plays) together, stays together!"

Larry Rockwell is one of our members and has difficulty with time--finding the time to post on our forums.  He was online this morning and wrote me the following email and he gave me permission to post it here.

Let's all remember to keep Larry in our prayers as he strives to learn this new language for his future missionary work in Peru...

Hello Pat,

I feel bad that I have not had the time to bee involved with the CP web site. I am in language school and very overwhelmed by the amount of work especially this quarter. Thank you for your web site. It is an encouragement to me.

We are in our second trimester here and hope to finish in a year and then on to the Andes Mountains of Peru serving among the Quechua people group.

I can really relate to Meika with the struggle to be understood and understand others.  Yet this is a time that God has given us for now. It is a time , a season in
our lives.

Among many other things one of the things we do each week is memorize a new verse and then by the end of the week having practiced saying it a million times - hopefully being able to say it with some respect to the way it should be said. It is a challenge to say the least.


God is teaching me and my family much in this process. I would like to say that language learning is like any other subject and just takes hard work.

It is not that easy. First it is the most humbling thing I have ever experienced. I am not young any longer and now I am speaking like a second grade student -maybe. It also teached us to depend on God more. We are put
in situations many times that are very frustrating and there needs be something communicated - yet I find myself without the correct word or wrong conjugation of the word. So many times the person I am speaking to may think I aleady performed the action or that I am going to do it or look at me with wonder when I am standing in the rain and saying that the sun is wonderful
on Monday- when it is Wednesday.

Well, we press on.

I have learned two very special words -

1. por favor and despacio. please and slowly.

When i am listening to a native speaker thay sound to me like they have just run a long word into a paragrah length. All the words sound like they run together. Of course when you begin to learn spanish you will find out that this is good spanish. The phonetics lends itself to smooth connections between words and unions. Ugh! Not like english.

I have some beautiful pictures of Colibris here (hummingbirds) in Costa Rica. I am just afraid I will send them at such a large pixel size that I have not sent any.

Also I do not know where to post them. Any help you can give would be appreciated greatly.

I don't have a picture of me or my family to post yet but maybe soon.

My verse for the first week this trimester is "Todo lo puedo en Cristo que me fortalece." Filip. 4:13 (I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me.)

Second week- "de Jehova es la tierra y su plenitud;
el mundo y los que en el habitan."[/i] Salmo 24:1  (The earth is the Lord's and all that it contains; the world and those who dwell in it.

Third week- "Todo tiene su tiempo y todo lo que se quiere debajo del cielo tiene su hora."[/i] Eclesiastes 3:1   (Everything has it's time and there is a time for every event under the heavens.)

This weeks verse is very special for me this week.

Thank you all and those others part of this special web site. What a great community. It will be a special day to meet each other - as the day of the Lord approaches!

En Cristo,
Larry


Larry and Sandy Rockwell
Dios es mas glorificado en mi cuando yo estoy mas satisfecho en El.


Instituto de Lingua Espanol
Att: Larry and Sandra Rockwell
Apartado 100-2350
San Jose,Costa Rica
America Central[/list]


Thanks so much for sending this Larry!

(When I wrote to him asking permission to post it here, I got this from him...)

Yes by all means you may post the e-mail I sent. It hope it may encourage someone else who is trying to do something new beyond there own strength at the middle age of 46!

It is beyond my strength for sure. Yet I am finding that God's word is very very true- and He equips those he calls.[/color][/list]

Hi there, Sonja, you busy mom!  It's wonderful that you enjoy your kids so much.  You are making precious memories with them.

Papa John, those are indeed true (and wise) words!  I don't understand electricity, either, but I use it every day!  God is so much better, stronger and kinder than computer or electricity.  YEAAAA, God!  We love you!

I'm like Marilyn today, getting some stuff done!  It bothers me when it stacks up, so this is my day to tackle it!  I will be ready for a rest on the way to Dodge City.

WELCOME, MELVIN!! We are so glad you have joined us!

I must finish up here, just a little more to go.  It will feel so god to come home tonight to a nice clean house!  And Darrel even ran the vacuum for me.  This must be my day!!

I had to come back after seeing Pat's post for Larry Rockwell.  Larry, it is wonderful that you are willing to learn Spanish now.  I know just enough Spanish to be dangerous!  But we are surrounded by Mexicans here, in fact, we are now the minority in our town.  And it is happening in many places in the U.S.  So we need to learn Spanish.  But I feel very strongly that THEY should be learning English if they want to live here.  Learning Spanish is, for us, a courtesy, but English for them should be considered a necessity, just as it is for you to go work with those in Peru.  God bless you, and enable you to learn with alacrity.  And thanks for sharing your story with us here on CP.

Perhaps I should have added this to my post this morning. It is very much in my mind just now and I pray that it will be blessed to someone. It is the hymn 'Nearer my God to thee.'

I do not have all the words to it at hand, but perhaps either Pat can supply them when she has time or maybe the title itself will bring a blessing to someone.

Thinking of you.

LOL

Well, Iain, we can add those words.  You can copy and paste them from below and then click on the "Modify" button and put them where you'd like them.  If you have trouble, let me know and I'll help.

Here's the hymn now...

WELCOME MELVIN
So sorry that I accused you of not registering here, I had not been back here when I answered your email. So glad you used the link I sent to you and signed in here. You will really like our home here, and the love this FAMILY will share with you.

Your sister in Christ
Marilyn

I found this out about Sarah Adams who wrote the above hymn...

Daughter of jour­nal­ist and pol­i­ti­cian Ben­ja­min Flow­er, she mar­ried Wil­liam Bridges Adams in 1834. She had hoped to be an ac­tress, but God had other plans for her.

Her stage ca­reer was cut short by poor health (though she did get to play Lady Macbeth in 1837), so she turned to writ­ing. Her works in­clude ma­ny mag­a­zine ar­ti­cles; a po­em about ear­ly Christian mar­tyrs called Vi­via Per­petua (1841); The Flock at the Foun­tain (1845), a child­ren's cat­e­chism; and 13 en­tries in Hymns and An­thems, pub­lished in 1841 by min­is­ter Wil­liam Johnson Fox.

Welcome Melvin:  Please tell us more about yourself; your family; how you came to find Christian Photographers, etc.  We love to get to know one another, and their families.

Thank you Pat for posting the "newsy" letter from Larry Rockwell.  I had thought of him several times, wondering what happened that we hadn't heard more from him; now I know.  I'd love to learn Spanish.  Its a beautiful language.  I have two grandchildren learning the language.  I think its probably because they are residing in the United States; while my grandchildren here in Ontario, are taking French, and doing quite well I might add.

Carol:  We will miss you this summer while you are travelling, don't stay away too long.

Janet:  How nice that Darrell is doing vacuming for you.  That is one job that I cannot do myself.  Ironing is probably the one chore that I really don't mind doing.

I am always surprised to hear so many of my friends say that they don't iron anymore.  I can remember my mother ironing sheets!  I sure don't iron those, but I do iron pillow cases, especially after taking them off the clothes line; I love the fresh smell.

Its rather overcast here today.  I haven't anything too much planned, except trying to finish a couple of books that I started during the winter months.

Norm is out in the yard planting more annuals.  The squirrels made a meal out of some petunias, which spoiled the look around the shrub beds.

I'm sure everyone is looking forward to the Lord's day tomorrow.  This is a holiday weekend here in Canada.  July 1st is Canada Day.

I am hoping we will travel to Michigan next weekend to spend the 4th of July with our son David; its his 41st birthday, right on the 4th!

Papa John:  How is Cornelia feeling these days?  I think of her often.  I'm sure she must be feeling some better after receiving the blood transfusions.  I've had several myself, so I know how much more energetic one can feel afterwards.

Lovingly to all..... Judy

I am being more talkative today than usual, but seeing Iain's post made me want to shar a story about the hymn "Nearer, My God, to Thee."  I am copying it from the book "Hymns of Faith and Inspiration" by Ideals.

                         A Tale of Two Sisters

Sarah Flower Adams, the author of this well-loved hymn, wa a woman of the arts.  At an early age she followed her dreams of being an actress and traveled from her homw in Harlow, England, to the London stage =, where she played the part of Lady MacBeth in Shakespearean productions.  Plagued with delicate health, however, Sarah Flower found the rigors of theatrical life exhausting, and she made a decision to channel her creative talents along literary lines.  Returning home, she turned her efforts to composing poetry and prose as well as hymn texts for use by the Unitarian congregation of which she was a member.  Her sister, Eliza, was an accompliehed musician and composed the music for many of Sarah's verses.

In 1834, at the age of twenty-nine, Sarah married John Bridges Adams, a prominent civil engineer and inventor.  Together they established a lovely home in London where they entertained a wide circle of devoted friends.  Despite her increased social obligations, Sarah continured to work with her sister composing hymns.  Their pastor, the Reverend William Johnson Fox, recognizing the literary and musical gifts of the two talented sisters, enlisted their aid in commpiling a new hymnal for his congregation.

The project was nearing completion in 1841 when Rev. Fox lamented that he could not find a suitable hymn to use at the conclusion of a sermon he was preparing on the text found in Genesis 28:10-22.  In this passage, Jacob is fleeing from his home.  On his journey, he stops to spend the night in the desert.  Using a stone for a pillow, he falls into a deep sleep, during which he has a vivid dream.  In the dream, Jacob sees a stairway or ladder extending from earth to heaven, and with the angels of God descending and ascending upon it.  Aabove the ladder, Jacob sees a vision of God.  Waking from the dream, Jacob recommits his life to God and renames the place Bethel ("house of God")

As Rev. Fox spoke of the need to find a hymn to accompany his sermon on this text, Eliza encouraged her sister to compose a verse on the subject.  Taking the challenge, Sarah sat down that day and read and reread the story of Jacob's dream.  As she absorbed the details of the Bible passage, she transferred  them into poetic form.  When the five stanzas were completed, she had captured the esseence of Jacob's dream in her hymn text.  She had included the stony pillow in verse two, the angelic stairway in verse three, and the naming of the site as Bethel in verse four. Eliza wrote a melody for her sister's words and their new hymn was published in Rev. Fox's hymnal, Hymns and Anthems, in 1841.  Three years later, "Nearer, My God, to Thee" was first sung in the United Sates.  Although it had a cordial reception, it did not really gain much popularity until the words were set to a new melody in 1856.  This melody, by which we know the hymn today, was composed by Lowell Mason, a prolific writer of church and school music.

Neither Sarah nor her sister, Eliza, lived to see the hymn gain worldwide acclaim, for within five years of its publication, both women became victims of tuberculosis.

It is a fitting tribute to them both that--as the following two stories attest--this beautiful hymn has been a comfort to men and women of faith for over 150 years.

President of the United States William McKinley lay dying from an assassin's bullet in 1901 when he was heard by his family to whisper the chorus of this favorite hymn,
Nearer, ,y God, to thee, nearer to thee."  A few days later, at his funeral and memorial services around the country, congregations sang the hymn, remembering as they did their fallen leader.

The second story occurred as the lifeboats pulled away from the sinking Titanic on the night of April 14, 1912.  Over 1,500 people, unable to enter lifeboats or obtain lifebelts, stood on the shuddering deck facing death.  As they did so, the ship's band played this hymn and hundreds of voices rose over the roaring ocean affirming what, for them, was deep reality: "Nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee."

Edit:  I see Pat posted the words and music, so now we have "The Rest of the Story!"

Pat and Janet:  I read with interest the stry of Sarah Adams who wrote that beautiful hymn: "Nearer my God to Thee".

I always read the author's names when singing a hymn., and frequently look up the biography.

So many of the hymns that we sing have been written by persons who have overcome some tragedy in their lives.  Right now I am trying to think of the hymn that was written by the man who lost his wife and child (ren) when the ship capsized.

After I've posted, the name will come to me (but I bet someone will remember who I'm thinking about first)...lol

Are you thinking of Joseph Scriven, Judy?  He's the one who wrote "What A Friend We Have in Jesus."



Only the Lord and the man in question really know what burdens of sorrow and affliction were heaped upon the writer of this great hymn. One thing we do know, however, is that this beautiful and blessed hymn would never have been penned if the author had not known such trouble.

The man was Joseph Scriven and he was born near Banbridge, in the heart of the rolling hills of County Down, Northern Ireland.

After graduating from Dublin's famous 'Trinity College' he seemed set for a brilliant career and a happy life for he was also engaged to be married.

But then tragedy struck! His fiancée was accidentally drowned on the very eve of their wedding and Joseph Scriven was plunged into his first great experience of sorrow. In the providence of God it was this tragedy which brought him to a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ.

In 1845 Scriven sailed for Canada to start life anew and, hopefully, to leave all his sorrows behind. But it was not to be, for ill-health dogged him and he was forced to return to Ireland after only two months.

Two years later he again set sail for Canada to take up a teaching post. In this he was successful and later graduated to the position of private tutor to the children of a military captain.

Life, at last, seemed worth living and prospects were continually improving!

Again he met and fell in love; this time with a charming young woman of twenty-three. Soon they were engaged to be married.

However, bitter disappointment was once more to be his unhappy lot, for this young lady was suddenly stricken with a serious illness and died before their marriage vows could be solemnise&

Cheated, for the second time, out of the prospects of a happy marriage by the cruel hand of death Scriven, quite naturally, became the victim of severe depression and declining health. But despite all this he never gave up his personal faith in the Saviour.

By this time he had settled in Port Hope, Ontario, and was manager of a small dairy there. He became known as the local 'Good Samaritan', helping the poor and under-privileged, sharing his food with the needy and often giving them clothing.

However, all these good deeds may well have been forgotten if Joseph Scriven had not written twenty-four lines of poetry to comfort his mother who was suffering from a serious illness.

Through his trials and afflictions Scriven had come to know the Lord in a very personal way, not only as Saviour but also as a friend.

Thus, from the heart he could write:

What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear,
What a privilege to carry,
Everything to God in prayer.

As I say, Scriven wrote these words to comfort his ageing mother at a time of illness. He had not seen her since he had said 'goodbye' over ten years before and wasn't able to make the long journey back home to be with her.

So he wrote What A Friend We Have In Jesus, and sent it with the prayer that it would remind her of 'the never failing friend,' Jesus Christ. I'm sure it did.

Joseph Scriven never intended his poem to be published but a friend who visited him during his last illness discovered the lines and asked 'Who wrote these beautiful words?' Scriven's modest reply was 'the Lord and I did it between us.'

Soon it was published in The Port Hope Guide, a local newspaper. Remarkably, a copy of that newspaper was used to wrap a parcel destined for an address in New York City. when the recipient unwrapped his parcel he caught sight of Scriven's poem and arranged to have it published.

Eventually, it was seen by German-American composer, Charles Converse and very soon his simple, plaintive melody gave wings of song to Joseph Scriven's telling words.

Thus an Irish-Canadian and a German-American were used of God to bring blessing and encouragement to millions.