Evidence Doesn't Lie

 "The Bible is a letter from God with our personal address on it."

Soren Aabye Kierkegaard

It is amazing to me how many people say the Bible is false. Between manuscripts, archeological finds, non Jewish history writers and so many other things that confirm the Bible is true, people just don't want to believe the Bible. The Bible is certainly truth, pure truth, written by men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write down God's words.

 

 "I am sorry for men who do not read the Bible every day. I wonder why they deprive themselves of the strength and the pleasure."

Woodrow Wilson, 28th President

 

 

The other day I read this account in one of my books that got me thinking about the evidence discovered about God's Word:

 

"The quantity of New Testament  manuscripts is unparalled in ancient literature. There are over 5,000 Greek manuscripts, about 8,000 Latin manuscripts, and another 1,000 manuscripts in other languages . . . In contrast, the typical number of existing manuscript copies for any of the works of the Green and Latin authors, such as Plato, Aristotle, Caesar, or Tacitus, ranges from 1 to 20 . . . more than 40 authors wrote over a span of 1,500 to 1,800 years in three languages on three continents . . . On Scripture readers can find history, biography, letters, parables, prophecies, sermons and more. Despite this diversity, the Bible is a coherent work, unified in theme and purpose." 2nd Timothy 3:16-17, 100 Favorite Bible verses, Lisa Guest

 

A new book cover I made for my Bible last week.

That doesn't even skim the surface of all the evidence regarding the Bible. Down through the ages people have researched the Bible to prove it untrue and walked away with the certainty that it is true. It is joy to the believer and hate to the unbeliever. 

The Bible is an education far and above the smartest college student, the26th president, Theodore Roosevelt said: "A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education."

"The Bible redirects my will, cleanses my emotions, enlightens my mind,

 and quickens my total being."

E. Stanley Jones

Don't you be the one who doesn't read the Bible. It will be the difference between life and death.Evidence doesn't lie.

"We find the Bible difficult because we try and read it as we would read any other book, and it is not the same as any other book."

A. W. Tozer

The First Day of Spring

  "Springtime . . . invites you to try out its splendor . . . to believe anew. To realize that the same Lord who renews the trees with buds and blossoms is ready to renew your life with hope and courage."

Charles R. Swindoll

 

This is one of my spring decorations that I put out each year.

 

Everybody is excited when the first day of Spring arrives. Even those, like me, who love a good winter snow storm, for the beauty of fresh falling snow is  precious to the eyes.

Yet, now it's time to look forward to the beauty of spring. The warm temperatures, the early spring flowers that pop up and start decorating the ground, the refreshing start to new life. 

That new life was shown to me many years ago. I've shared about baby leaves before. On a cold, bitter morning God told me that the frozen buds on the trees that look like they're dead will one day soon open and bring baby leaves, new life to the eyes. That treasure will always be hope to my eyes.

 

 

Gardens will be planted and fields will be plowed and ready for seed. Energy abounds as we open our eyes to all the beauty.

Babies of all kind will soon catch your eye as spring moves forward. Lamb, calve, gosling, fawn, bear cubs and so many more. These I've had the pleasure of photographing.

We all love to see bird's nest and long to hear the chirps of baby birds. Baby rabbits will soon be running around and baby squirrels will make their appearance too.

 

I can hardly wait til the middle of May when I start going on my fawn spotting drives!

New life. That's what God offers us. New life in Him. A life full of contentment, satisfaction, strength, and the ability to love as He loves us. New hope filling you with gladness and joy.

 

We have survived the bitter and cold winter, and spring ever is alive in our hearts. Hiking, biking, swimming all will begin in the great outdoors. Well, maybe a little cold yet to be swimming, but the earth will warm up and it's glorious display of nature will thrill our hearts.

 

You just can't get away from the thrill of springtime and the joy it brings. Hope is in every new flower that blooms, every new baby animal that cries and rests in our hearts as we trust God to renew our live too. 

Sing the chorus of Saved, Saved:

Saved by His power divine

Saved to new life sublime!

Life now is sweet and my joy is complete

For I'm saved, saved saved!

 

New life, indeed, is a miraculous thing.

 

 

The Stories Untold

This little basket with the woodland creatures nestled

 inside was given to me when I was going through cancer treatments.

This month I celebrate 7 years cancer free!

 

We read about people and the accomplishments they have made and why they did it. And we thank God for their witness and testimony. Our thoughts about them are usually left there and we move on. Yet beneath the layers of a famous or well known person are dark seasons they've survived, or not. 

 

I recently read about Eric Liddell, the Scottish runner whose story is told in the movie Chariots of Fire. How he wouldn't race on Sunday because of his faith. But there's more to his story.

 

"After winning the men’s 400-meter race at the 1924 Paris Olympics, he left as a missionary to China. In 1943, during the Japanese invasion of China, Eric was imprisoned in the Weihsien Internment Camp along with numbers of missionary children. There he served with enormous courage until sidelined by a brain tumor. 

 

"On Sunday, February 18, 1945, as he lay dying in the camp hospital, he had his nurse pass a note out the window, asking the camp’s SS band to play his favorite hymn, “Be Still, My Soul.,” which they did. Three days later, he was with the Lord."

 

A friend at church treated me to a motor cycle ride when I finished my treatments.

 I hadn't rode on one for many a year. The thrill was still there! 

 

All of us have stories that no one knows about that have influenced our lives today. They may not be as dramatic as Eric's life, but there certainly have been times we have made choices based on our faith and lost something valuable.

 

Everybody has a story. That's why I do a lot of listening instead of talking. To find the story in another that may not be visible in casual conversation. Understanding a person's life and the storms they survived can encourage my heart with whatever I'm going through.

 

Be Still my Soul

Be still, my soul, the Lord is on thy side. 

Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.

Leave to thy God to order and provide;

In every change, He faithful will remain.

Be still my soul, thy best, thy heavenly Friend

Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
 

 

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations.” Psalm 46:10 

 

Everybody has stories. Even all of us unfamous people (except in God's eyes) who go about everyday life doing our best to walk the path God has chosen for us. And remember that your story, even yours, can bring great encouragement to another person as they walk their life path.

 

The next time you see someone who has done something extraordinary for God, keep in mind that there's another story or two that has never been told. That's where you'll find the courage that has made them what they are today.

 

 

I still had hair after the treatments! Happy day!

 

A Morning Prayer

 

Welcoming God into my life as I wake each morning always brings a smile to my face. Just knowing that He is there, and was, all during the night, is an encouraging way to start the day. One might say this prayer to begin each new morning:

Most gracious heavenly Father, Almighty God, Everlasting King, Hallowed be thy name.

God is our ultimate authority and we should recognize Him as such.

May your name be praised in my heart and from my mouth forever. I love you and my heart worships you.

Our mind should worship and praise God all day long.

 

Thank you, Father, that your mercies never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.

Each day we are refreshed by His mercies that always deliver us through our day.

 

Thank you, Father, that you are in control of all things and know everything. There are no words to describe how wonderful you are.

Since He is in control of everything we can trust Him to guide and direct us each day.
 

Thank you, Father, for saving me into your family. I am unworthy. You are worthy.

How grateful I am to be in God's family.
 

Thank you, Father, for being holy and righteous; long suffering and forgiving, merciful and abounding in grace.

Our loving and gracious Father!!
 

Thank you, Father, for salvation and sending your son, Jesus, here to fulfill it.
 His gift of salvation shows His ultimate love for us.

 

Thank you, Jesus, for dying for me and making it possible for me to one day be with you.

Our Savior gave His life so we can be saved.
 

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for living in me and helping me each day.
 Our guide is always within us helping us in all we do.

Thank you, Father, that I don’t have a headache, and I don’t get headaches like I use to. I’m very grateful.

A thank you to my God for relieving me of a burden I had most of my life.

 

 

I am unworthy. My sin is ever before me, in what I say and what I do, and how I act and what I think. I’m sorry. 

We are all unworthy and need forgiveness through the blood of Jesus.

 

I ask your forgiveness through the blood of Jesus. That you wash me as white as snow and continue to work in me until the day I come to be with you.
His blood cleans us and makes us pure as the fresh fallen snow.

 

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love. Show me the way. Rescue me from my enemies. Teach me to do your will. Psalm 14:3

Each new morning His love covers us and directs us.
 

I will praise your name forever and ever. Every day I will praise you. I will praise my Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

Sing! Sing! Sing praises to our God.
 

                                                    Praise the Lord, Oh my soul.

 

 

I pray this prayer every morning, and just like my Melody of Hymns, in just a matter of a few months it is memorized to last me forever.

 

  "A single grateful thought raised to heaven is the most perfect prayer."

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, 1729-1781

Can It Be?

"Music is love itself--it is the purest, most ethereal language of passion, showing in a thousand ways all possible changes of color and feeling; and though true in only a single instance, it yet can be understood by thousands of men--who all feel differently."

Carl Maria Von Weber, 1786-1826 

 

 Yes! It can. Amazing Love! And the lovely hymn "And Can It Be" tells us why. 

 

I don't remember when I first heard this hymn. It's not a song that is sang often during church services, but each year as I read through my hymnal I get to sing it again. 

 

Charles Wesley, the great Methodist leader, wrote over 6,000 hymns. That alone is amazing. "And Can It Be" is one of them, maybe the most important one, at least to me. Wesley wrote it immediately following his conversion to Christianity. 

He knew the Bible, but did not have a personal relationship with Jesus. As a young man at 30 years of age he experienced salvation and wrote this beautiful hymn.

The words are amazing, and the music is just as amazing. If you've never heard this hymn there is a link at the bottom of this post.

 

This sunrise and following I've snapped on my early morning fawn spotting drives.

Read the words of the first verse:

"And can it be that I should gain

An in-t'rest in the Savior's blood?

Died He for me, who caused His pain--

For me, who Him to death pursued?

Amazing love! How can it be,

That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

 

Refrain:

"Amazing love! How can it be,

That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?"

 

I can't get through the refrain without tears in my eyes. The words and music make a huge impression upon my heart.

 

I found these words describing the song at the Godtube website:

"Wesley starts the first stanza by expressing admiration over the love shown by Jesus dying for him and wonders how we who 'pursued' his death are now graced by it.

"In the second stanza, Wesley calls for appreciation of God's love and mercy in this sacrifice. In the third stanza, Wesley conveys the unending grace and mercy of Christ's love and humility in the incarnation, death, and finding of lost sinners. In the fourth stanza, Wesley harkens to the 'imprisonment' of his own sin and the freedom he found in Christ.

"Finally, he reviews the results of Christ's loving and merciful work: there is no condemnation for those made alive in Christ and clothed in his righteousness; rather, there is open access to the throne as we have the right to claim the divine crown."

I love the words in the 4th verse:

"No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’ eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own."

Songs can make quite an impression on our mind. I'm sure there's songs that you recall often and sing while walking, or driving, or vacuuming your home. Songs can make a huge impact in our lives.

This is one of the songs that has impacted me. This hymn is the gospel, as many of the hymns from the 17th and 18th centuries share. That's why it's so important to sing them and read them. 

 

Be thankful if you have a history with hymns. I've mentioned often of my "Melody of Hymns" when I wrote down the first verse of 30 hymns and sang them in the same order every day. They were soon memorized, and although 30 years have past, they are as fresh to me today as they were when I first sang them. 

If you've never heard this stirring hymn, click on the link below. Amazing love indeed! Yes, it can be!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29myH7xXI4M

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Flowers of Heaven

"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances."

Philippians 4:11 

 

Some spring and summer finery to help get us through this winter.

 

The first time I became familiar with Philippians 4:11 is during the first year I was saved. My home church had a Singles Sunday School class, and I started attending. Shortly after that I started working on a newsletter for the Singles class and came upon this Scripture verse. 

Considering that most of the members were divorced or widowed, we certainly needed to learn to be content where we were. Through the years I've learned much more regarding contentment and what it means as a Christian.

 

 

"Contentment is one of the precious flowers of heaven, and if we desire it, it must be cultivated." Charles Spurgeon, 1834-1892

 

 All of God's lessons are hard to learn, Contentment is a gradual understanding of what is important in life, especially the Christian life. As each year goes by, I've found myself learning through my joys, my sadness, my heartaches and my happiness. There really is truth to gray hair and wisdom!

 

The more we are filled with God's wisdom, the more we learn precious gifts to fulfill our lives. Thankfully, contentment is one of those gifts.

"You cannot learn contentment through knowledge alone -- this lesson requires discipline. . . It is not a strength that comes naturally but a science to be acquired gradually over time -- something we know from experience." 

Charles Spurgeon, 1834-1892

You learn to be content with what you have, where you are headed, what work is most important for you to succeed in service to God, and the ability to find happiness in each day.

 

I started studying the book of John at the first of the year and the other day the verses I read brought contentment to my mind. "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father one one."

 

 

That certainly brings peace and contentment to my mind! We are safe in the care of Jesus and our Heavenly Father. How thankful I am!

You really can be content with your life. And once you are, your days can be filled with happiness no matter what is going on. You will still be sad and grieve when circumstances are hard, but you will be in a state of protection knowing God is in control of all things.

 

 

Prayers for You and Me

 "I have a great need for Christ; I have a great Christ for my need."

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, 1834-1892

 One of my favorite Scripture passages is John 17, verse 20-23. Jesus prays for me. Even me. It reads like this:

  

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,  that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

 

 

Magnified snowflake.

 

I know that there are people who pray for me. A few pray every day. Some pray during difficult times,Twice, four people prayed for my concern every week for two years. 

 

When we know people pray for us it helps us get through each day. It helps us when a particular need or concern is upon us. We feel stronger, able to work our way through the day. It brings comfort so our hearts will be able to rest.

 But Jesus didn't stop there. As it says in the devotion book "365 Devotions for a Thankful Heart:"

"But the prayers of Christ didn't stop at the cross. Even in heaven, even this day, He continues to speak to God on your behalf . . . Jesus lays His love and concern for you before the throne of His holy and heavenly Father." Romans 8:34

Ice cycles on windshield taken by my friend, Peggy/

It is refreshing to know Christ continues to intercede for us and we're always covered by Him. And the Holy Spirit works with Him in relaying our concerns.

Yes, I'm very glad people lift my name to God. Family and friends are needed to help in this life, and their prayers are heard.

Prayers for you and me. From our Savior to our Heavenly Father. How thankful I am!

"How sweet the name of Jesus sounds In a believer's ear! It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,

 And drives away his fear."

John Newton, 1725-1807