Told You So

“And since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned; and when they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, ‘Men you ought to have followed my advice and not to have set sail from Crete, and incurred this damage and loss. And yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there shall be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid Paul; you must stand before Caesar, and behold, God has granted you and all those who are sailing with you,’ therefore keep up your courage, men, for I believe God, that it will turn out exactly as I have been told.’” Acts 27:20-25

“—And thus it happened that they all were brought safely to land.” Acts 27:44b

I listen almost daily to the Bible on tape and enjoy the sounds of the many missionary journeys of Paul on ships. This passage would be one of my favourite. So many messages in it. Loss of hope, not eating from fear, listening to God in seemingly hopeless situations, testifying in hope, knowing God has a plan even in what seems a terrible situation… Any wonder we all love reading God’s Word?

Stay near God's Word. Take care. Your servant & friend in Christ, Darlene

PS: Prayer Requests: Carla and the two boys (David 14 years and Matthew 7 years) leave Sydney today for Jamaica for the funeral of her mom. Please pray for safe & comfortable travel and that Paul will be strong as he remains behind with his new job. Gregg must sell his home in the UK. Reg’s ministry. The doctors and specialists caring for Lyle’s brother, David (praise that he got his new companion dog), Adrian and Randy. My need. (Many have written about this. The request has been detailed on the blog site.).

God Sees Differently

“And Samuel said, ‘Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to head than the fat of rams.” I Samuel 16:22

“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance; but the Lord looks at the heart.’” I Samuel 16:7

“’Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.’” Matthew 5:3-5

Sometimes we are convinced the way we see things is the right way, the true way, the best way; yet God looks at things differently from the way we do. He sees the motive of our heart.

“And Jesus said to them, -- ‘And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, shall receive many times as much, and shall inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.’” Matthew 19:18a, 29-30

Stay near God's Word. Take care. Your servant & friend in Christ, Darlene

PS: Prayer Requests: Carla and the two boys (David 14 years and Matthew 7 years) leave Sydney for Jamaica on Friday for the funeral of her mom. Please pray for safe & comfortable travel and that Paul (new job) will be strong as he remains behind in Sydney (with his new job). Gregg must sell his home in the UK. Reg’s ministry. The doctors and specialists caring for Lyle’s brother, David (thank you and praise that he got his new companion dog), Adrian and Randy. My need. (Many have written about this. The request has been detailed on the blog site.).

Carla's Mom

“Jesus wept.” John 11:35

“Now when Jesus heard it [John the Baptists killing], He withdrew from there in a boat, to a lonely place by Himself;” Matthew 14:13a

“’Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.’” Matthew 11:28-29

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for Thou art with me, Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me. Thou dost prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; Thou hast anointed my head with oil; my cut overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23:4-

Women have unique relationships with other women and the first relationship we establish is the one we have (and develop) over our lifetimes with our mothers. Carla’s mother passed away last night. Carla is my best friend, not because I am a good friend all the time, because I am not, but because she has so much grace with our friendship. I want to thank each of you for your prayers for her and her family as over these last months she has lost her dad and a brother as well. Your prayers are needed now more than ever as she prepares to go home again to this additional and very deep loss. Thank you.

Stay near God's Word. Take care. Your servant & friend in Christ, Darlene

PS: Prayer Requests: Gregg who must sell his home in the UK. Reg’s ministry. The doctors and specialists caring for Lyle’s brother, David (pray he gets the new dog they have found), Adrian and Randy. Praise for Paul’s new job. My need. (Many have written about this. The request has been detailed on the blog site.).

Words, Words, Words!

“’You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life.’” John 5:39-40

“Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you abide in My Word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free.’” John 8:31-32

“’but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, anything o f mine you might have been helped by is Corban (that is to say, given to God), you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; thus invalidating the Word of God by your tradition which you have handed down;’” Mark 7:11-13

All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” II Timothy 3:16-17

Those are just a few good reasons to read some of His Word for us every day! Let’s be careful with it.

Stay near God's Word. Take care. Your servant & friend in Christ, Darlene

PS: Prayer Requests: Gregg who must sell his home in the UK. Reg’s ministry. The doctors and specialists caring for Lyle’s brother, David (pray he gets the new dog they have found), Adrian and Randy. Praise for Paul’s new job. My need. (Many have written about this. The request has been detailed on the blog site.).

Responsibility of God's People

“’If I [God] shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I sent pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now My eyes shall be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.’” II Chronicles 7:13-15

God asks you and me to be responsible for our own hearts and attitudes towards others, to be responsible for our outward actions and our inward thought life. And what a humbling and difficult task that is. We try and try and fail. But then, that is why He died.

“For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” Romans 7:22-25

Stay near God's Word. Take care. Your servant & friend in Christ, Darlene

PS: Prayer Requests: Gregg who must sell his home in the UK. Reg’s ministry. The doctors and specialists caring for Lyle’s brother, David (pray he gets the new dog they have found), Adrian and Randy. Praise for Paul’s new job. My need. (Many have written about this. The request has been detailed on the blog site.).

Heart Matters

“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his God sees not as man sees, for the man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” I Samuel 16:7

“’Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.’” Matthew 5:8

Sometimes the heart of others escapes our notice, and sometimes the Lord is working through that heart to affect changes in our hearts. Why? Because He loves us.

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (full and complete payment) for our sins.” I John 4:10

Stay near God's Word. Take care. Your servant & friend in Christ, Darlene

PS: Prayer Requests: Reg’s ministry. The doctors and specialists caring for Lyle’s brother, David (Happy Birthday dear one & pray he gets the new dog they have found), Adrian and Randy. Gregg who must sell his home in the UK. Praise for Paul’s new job. My need. (Many have written about this. The request has been detailed on the blog site.).

Changing God

“But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy, though I fail I will rise; though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me out to the light, and I will see His righteousness. Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, ‘Where is the Lord your God?’ My eyes will look upon her; at that time she will be trampled down.” Micah 7:7-10

There are many people who are sceptical of the existence of God and His special and Divine order in this world and in the lives of all people. But that doesn’t change God.

Stay near God's Word. Take care. Your servant & friend in Christ, Darlene

PS: Prayer Requests: Reg’s ministry. The doctors and specialists caring for Lyle’s brother, David (Happy Birthday dear one), Adrian and Randy. Gregg who must sell his home in the UK. Praise for Paul’s new job. My need. (Many have written about this. The request has been detailed on the blog site.).

Reason for Psalm 139

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;” Hebrews 12:1-4

The Lord greets and embraces me with His love through those, like you, He has brought into my life. How can I face such love? Where can I go to escape it? Everywhere He surrounds me --no matter how far afield I roam! Instead of running, I find myself giving thanks daily for His generous and loving support and for the precious gift of your friendship and the support you are moved and yielded to offer me because of His love for you!

The Psalm 139 series ends today and perhaps you have learned something special from it and would care to share it in an email (Darlenerichard@gmail.com) it would be a blessing to share your thoughts too.

Stay near God's Word. Take care. Your servant & friend in Christ, Darlene

PS: Prayer Requests: Reg’s ministry. The doctors and specialists caring for Lyle’s brother, David (who lost his companion dog of 13 years on Sunday), Adrian and Randy. Gregg who must sell his home in the UK. Praise for Paul’s new job. My need. (Many have written about this. The request has been detailed on the blog site.).

Matthew Henry - Psalm 139:17-22

“How precious also are Thy thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with Thee. For they speak against Thee wickedly, and Thine enemies take Thy name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate Thee, O Lord! And do I not loathe those who rise up against Thee? I hate them with the utmost hatred; they have become my enemies.”

“Constant at all times: When I awake, every morning, I am still with Thee, under Thy eye and care, safe and easy under Thy protection. When I awake I am with Thee, in my thoughts; and it would help to keep us in the fear of the Lord all the daylong if, when we awake in the morning, our first thoughts were of Him and we did then set Him before us.”

If you’ve never felt alone in THE battle or afraid this won’t matter much.

Stay near God's Word. Take care. Your servant & friend in Christ, Darlene

PS: Prayer Requests: Reg’s ministry. Lyle’s brother recovering from multiple serious fractures from a 40 foot fall. David’s, Adrian’s and Randy’s doctors. Gregg who must sell his home in the UK. Praise for Paul’s new job. And my need.

Matthew Henry - Psalm 139:7-16

“Where can I go from Thy Spirit? Or where can I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend to heaven, Thou art there, If I make my bed in Sheol, behold Thou art there. If I take the wings of dawn, if I dwell to the remotest part of the sea, even there Thy hand will lead me, and Thy right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to Thee, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to Thee. For Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to Thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Thy works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from Thee, when I was made in secret. And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.”

To paraphrase: There’s no way you can flee from God's presence. Suppose you foolishly think to yourself that you’ll hide somewhere where you aren’t exposed to His love and His majesty or perhaps you think you’ve simply had enough and will revolt or disown your dependence on God to be in charge (take over the throne of your life if you remember that illustration). Where would you go? Where COULD you go? Everywhere God is. What a comforting and sometimes challenging thought that is!

Stay near God's Word. Take care. Your servant & friend in Christ, Darlene

PS: Prayer Requests: Lyle’s brother recovering from multiple serious fractures from a 40 foot fall. David’s, Adrian’s and Randy’s doctors. Gregg who must sell his home in the UK. Praise for Paul’s new job. And my need.

Monday - Back

“’Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls, for My yoke is easy, and My load is light.’” Matthew 11:28-30

“’’For the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I should heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.’” Matthew 13:15-16

In the nine years that I have tried to remain faithful with the WeakDay Devotion, I have only taken one break and that was a time filled with the stress with trying to wrestle with the supporting technology in getting the devotion distributed (and why the blog site started too). But last week I just found I needed to take extra time and fill my heart a bit more. Thank you to those of you who were concerned and contacted me, God uses each of you for His purposes in my life and in the lives of those around you. Good to just stop and listen once in a while…at least it is for me.

Stay near God's Word. Take care. Your servant & friend in Christ, Darlene

PS: Prayer Requests: Lyle’s brother recovering from cancer (fell 40 feet off a balcony) needs prayer to heal from broken pelvis, leg, shoulder, elbow. David’s, Adrian’s and Randy’s doctors. Gregg who must sell his home in the UK. Praise for Paul’s new job. And my need.