God’s gentle shepherding led me during the years of childbearing, upholding my strength. This past week, we were watching video footage from back in the 90’s when our children were babies. While we were shepherding the wee ones, the Lord was shepherding us. We saw images of faithful saints who are now in glory (U.Karl, A.Lee, Bapoo, my dad, etc). Their love for our family is still felt, decades later. God’s greatness is enhanced by His gentleness, helping us understand that the recompense preceding His arrival prepares us for the reward of His presence. -Teresa #goodnews #fearnot #hispresence #gentleshepherdcomeandleadus

Isaiah 40: 9-11 (ESV)

The Greatness of God

9 

Go on up to a high mountain,

O Zion, herald of good news;[e]

lift up your voice with strength,

O Jerusalem, herald of good news;[f]

lift it up, fear not;

say to the cities of Judah,

“Behold your God!”

10 

Behold, the Lord God comes with might,

and his arm rules for him;

behold, his reward is with him,

and his recompense before him.

11 

He will tend his flock like a shepherd;

he will gather the lambs in his arms;

he will carry them in his bosom,

and gently lead those that are with young.

Low or high we are all in need of a place of refuge. On our own, our significance is not weighty. God’s power is made known through the way He terrifies us. His knowledge, beauty and love are greater than anything we can attain or imagine. By the constraint of such power into human minds. we experience His provision. According to an individual man’s work, God renders His gifts of heavenly thought into our earthly existence. – Teresa #Godinfused #ministryismylfe #mylifeiscommon

Psalm 62: 8-12 (ESV)

8Trust in him at all times, O people;

pour out your heart before him;

God is a refuge for us. Selah

9 

Those of low estate are but a breath;

those of high estate are a delusion;

in the balances they go up;

they are together lighter than a breath.

10 

Put no trust in extortion;

set no vain hopes on robbery;

if riches increase, set not your heart on them.

11 

Once God has spoken;

twice have I heard this:

that power belongs to God,

12 

and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.

For you will render to a man

according to his work.

Our burdens, which may be toted around with us all day, at times seem manageable. What do we do when they become unmanageable? David, in the Psalm below, realized that the key to preventing bitterness and despair was to cast his load into the capable hands of God. When a person is suicidal, they are so overwhelmed by their burdens that there is only one light at the end of a telescoping tunnel. What their brain is not capable of seeing is the support and resources available around them at the moment of despair. God is able to sustain the universe in its delicate balance, He also has the ability to sustain our lives. Our job is to cast those things that weigh us down onto Him. This takes an active choice, releasing what is at times most precious to us. -Teresa #lightenup #presentoverperfect- book by Shauna Niequist

Psalm 55:22 (ESV)

Cast your burden on the Lord,

and he will sustain you;

he will never permit

the righteous to be moved.

There are a few things that make good movie themes: my latest fad is Jack Reacher. While on vacation, I’ve been reading a few of Lee Child’s novels and enjoying his ability to make clear sense out of nonsensical issues. There are times where we all need a no-nonsense, bigger than life hero like Reacher to help make the world seem right. In this passage, Solomon and his bride are speaking admiringly towards each other. The onlookers surmise that love is worth more than material possessions and life itself. Passionate love that burns bright can withstand the deluge of many waters. God proved His love for the people of Israel at Mt. Carmel. Elijah obeyed God and doused the altar and sacrifice with many waters. God showed up in a mighty way even in the face of his unfaithful people. He burned up the sacrifice on the altar calling it acceptable (see 1 Kings 18: 30-39). No matter how much we may feel that our lives will turn God away, He continually pursues us with goodness and lovingkindness encouraging us to receive the gift of His Son. – Teresa #John1:12 #Hemakestheworldrighteous #2Corinthians5:21

Song of Solomon 8: 6,7 (ESV)

6Set me as a seal upon your heart,

as a seal upon your arm,

for love is strong as death,

jealousy[m] is fierce as the grave.[n]

Its flashes are flashes of fire,

the very flame of the Lord.

7 

Many waters cannot quench love,

neither can floods drown it.

If a man offered for love

all the wealth of his house,

he[o] would be utterly despised

There are times when boundaries are a blessing. It may feel like there’s not much wiggle room but within the boundary lines there is security. One boundary that the scripture gives is to guard your heart for everything you do flows from it (Prov 4:3). This is in the context of receiving wisdom. I thought this verse from Solomon was apropos of what this boundary may have looked in that culture. – Teresa #letGodswordin #keepotherswordsout

Ecclesiastes 7:21 ( ESV)

21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.

Ecclesiastes 3:9-22 (ESV)

The God-Given Task

“9 What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.

14 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. 15 That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.[m]

From Dust to Dust

16 Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. 17 I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work. 18 I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. 19 For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.[n] 20 All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? 22 So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?”

The words of this passage remind us of how fleeting our time on earth is. In the midst of knowing our lives are short- lived, we also have a sense that eternity will endure forever. When Jesus prayed to the he Father in John 17, He describes eternal life as this: “…that they know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Knowing God means experiencing God’s fellowship. This is only possible through His provision to redeem mankind from the curse of sin (death, aka being eternally separated from God’s fellowship). – Teresa

I learned to bake pie from my husbands’s grandma (Bapoo). When we walked into Bapoo’s home, we were readily engulfed in the aroma of fresh baked apricot or marionberry pie. Her warm greeting was part of this pleasant atmosphere. In this passage, Paul emphasized his commission to spread the fragrance of Christ everywhere. It was the personal “knowing” of his Savior that equipped Paul for the task. He understood that to those being saved, he was as welcome as fresh baked pie. He also understood that to those who were perishing (rejecting the Savior), he was as undesirable as a rotting corpse. Since he was not into “sales” but spoke sincerely as one being “in” Christ, his message was not accepted or rejected based on charisma but based on the personal, eternal choices of his hearers. – Teresa

2 Cor 2:14-17 (ESV)

14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.

When David was terrified by the presence of the angel of the Lord, he repented at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite and God had mercy on the people. This was the same place where many years earlier, Abraham willingly offered up in obedience his son, Isaac, who was then a young man. God saw Abraham’s heart of faith and stopped Him, by “providing a lamb” for the sacrifice (see Genesis 22:8). Even so, this place of extreme repentance became the site of Solomon’s ornate temple, built for worshiping the God above all gods. Solomon had the wisdom and skills to make a profoundly intricate work, majestic enough to cause the glory of God to descend on it in a cloud (see 2 Chronicles 5:14). Even today, we repent and worship at this site as it is also the mountain where Jesus, the lamb of God, gave himself up for the sins of the world.  What a place of repentance, as we picture our sin being dripped on by the blood of Christ Jesus our Lord and being substituted by His righteous atonement in God’s sight. Lord, you terrify us with your presence because you are so holy. Purify us by the blood of your Son and our Savior so that we may worship You in Spirit and in truth. We rejoice because of your provision for us. -Teresa

2 Chronicles 3: 1-3 (NLT)
3 So Solomon began to build the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to David, his father. The Temple was built on the threshing floor of Araunah[s] the Jebusite, the site that David had selected. 2 The construction began in midspring,[t] during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign.

As we end our summer vacations, we are encouraged by memories around the fire where our families opened up to share. Being thoughtful with our faces (aka body language) and open with our hearing (no air pods) we can enjoy these precious days of communication with the next generation. This is a life path of wisdom that endures. In our bold culture of intimidation, many faces communicate a disregard for others in general. We can take on the “love dare” and first and foremost let the love in. – Teresa

Proverbs 21:28-29 English Standard Version (ESV)

28

A false witness will perish,

but the word of a man who hears will endure.

29

A wicked man puts on a bold face,

but the upright gives thought to[a] his ways.