All Things Do Work Together...

"Look back, believer: Think of when you doubted God when He was so faithful to you; think of your foolish outcry of 'Not so, my Father' when He crossed His hands in affliction to give you the greater blessing; think of the many times when you have read His providences in the dark, misinterpreted His dealings, and groaned, 'All these things are against me' when they are in fact working together for your good!" ~Charles Spurgeon, Morning & Evening Devotional

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." ~Romans 8:28

Doubting...

Worked together for good!...

Wherein do you find your joy?

"I have found such joy in simple things:
A plain, clean room, a nut-brown loaf of bread,
A cup of milk, a kettle as it sings,
The shelter of a roof above my head,
And in a leaf-laced square along the floor,
Where yellow sunlight glimmers through
a door." ~Grace Noll Crowell

"I do not know when I have had happier times in my soul, than

when I have been sitting at work, with nothing before me but a
candle and a white cloth, and hearing no sound but that of my
own breath, with God in my soul and heaven in my eye....I
rejoice in being exactly what I am--a creature capable of loving
God, and who, as long as God lives, must be happy. I get up and

look for a while out of the window and gaze at the moon and

stars, the work of an Almighty hand. I think of the grandeur of

the universe and then sit down and think myself one of the

happiest beings in it." ~a poor 18th century Methodist woman

"Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." ~Psalm 16:11

My Hope Is Built on...

Earlier this evening, I was in the backyard while my husband was cleaning our horse's water bucket. All of a sudden the song, My Hope Is Built, started going through my head. I began singing it out loud...quite loud actually :)...singing it to the Lord whom I love. I don't know why that song popped into my head at that particular time, but earlier this evening, I'd been thinking about our grown children...thinking about things I always want them to be sure & remember. I suppose that's why the Lord laid this song upon my heart. Anyway, it's such a lovely hymn...it speaks everything I could say about my life...simply that my hope IS built on nothing less, than JESUS' blood & righteousness. I dare NOT trust the sweetest frame, but wholly trust in JESUS' name.

My Hope Is Built (click on the title to listen to the tune)
by Edward Mote

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

Refrain

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

Refrain

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.

Refrain

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Refrain

A living, true faith....

"Is this not the fast which I choose,
To loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of the yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free
And break every yoke?
Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, to cover him;
And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your recovery will speedily spring forth;
And your righteousness will go before you;
The glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, 'Here I am'
If you remove the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
And if you give yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.
And the LORD will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will raise up the age-old foundations;
And you will be called the repairer of the breach,
The restorer of the streets in which to dwell." (Isaiah 58:6-12)