Letters of Hope

Dear Friends, 

The word “priority” has come to be a well used word in our language, applied in many areas of everyday life.  It simply means that which is of greatest importance;   that which has the preeminence;   the top of the list;   to be given attention first ahead of everything else.  It is not a Biblical word but, if the writers of Scripture were writing today, they would quite possibly make good use of it because the principle of setting priorities is found throughout the Bible.  There are many examples in Scripture of men and women of God setting their priorities in accordance with God’s instructions:- 

ABRAHAM gave priority to God’s calling to a new land, even though he did not know where he was going!  He became the father of many nations, his name is associated with the True and Living Creator God, and he is regarded as the father of faith.  (Heb. 11:8-10) 

JACOB gave priority to God’s blessing though it meant that he was crippled for the rest of his life!  But he was blest beyond measure, given a new name meaning “having power with God,” and is also considered the father of God’s chosen nation, Israel.  (Gen. 32:24-32) 

JOSEPH gave priority to his moral integrity though he ended up spending years as a slave in a foreign country!  He was later elevated from an Egyptian prison to the Egyptian throne, next to the Pharaoh himself.  (Gen. 41:39-45) 

MOSES “chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.”  He gave priority to the promised reward, and “endured, as seeing Him Who is invisible.”  He was given the honor of leading God’s people out of slavery, to the Promised Land, and became the dispenser of God’s law which is still revered in many nations today.  (Heb. 11:24-29) 

ELISHA gave priority to obtaining the double portion of Elijah’s anointing which he so coveted, by following Elijah and never letting him out of his sight until he saw Elijah taken up into heaven, and Elijah’s mantle fell on him.  He became one of the greatest prophets in Israel’s history, working twice as many miracles as his predecessor.  (2 Kings 2:1-15) 

DANIEL and his friends resolved not to defile themselves with the heathen king’s meat, or bow to his idol, giving absolute priority to God’s laws even at the risk of death.  Daniel also gave priority to regular communion with God, though it meant a night in the lions’ den!  He was made Prime Minister, and favored by both Babylonian and Persian kings under whom he lived a long and noble life.  (Dan. 1:8-21; 6:28) 

These people had their priorities in order, and God blest them beyond measure. 

The passage that set me to thinking about priorities is found in Matthew 6:31-33.  Having referred to God’s care of the birds of the air, and the lilies of the field, Jesus tells us to be not anxious about what we will eat, or what we will drink, or what we will wear, for our Heavenly Father knows that we have need of all these things. “But SEEK FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto (us).”  In other words, we are to give priority to Spiritual things, things concerning the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, things that concern our personal relationship with Him, and He will take care of our material needs. 

The news media is filled these days with reports from the Beijing Olympics, and the incredible achievements of the participating athletes.  These Olympic athletes know what it means to give priority to their chosen sport.  Paul used the analogy in his letter to the Corinthian Church:  “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?  So run in order that you may obtain (that prize).  And every one who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things.”  They go into strict training.  I once read the story of Ekaterina Gordeeva who started training as a skater at the age of four;  when she was eleven she was paired with Sergei Mikhailovich whom she later married.  The pair won the gold medal at the Olympics in Calgary, and a second one in Lillehammer, Norway.  They won the prizes because they put their skating priority first, before everything else.  They literally gave themselves to skating.   “Now,” Paul says, “they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but WE AN INCORRUPTIBLE.”  (1 Cor. 9) 

The exhortation to us, as to Timothy, is “Give diligence (priority) to present yourselves approved to God…”  That means, putting CHRIST FIRST in everything that concerns us - giving priority to His Will and His Word and His Commands…

–In the Church:   loving one another, by love serving one another, and submitting one to another in the fear of God;  (John 15:12; Gal. 5:13; Eph. 5:21);
–In our Marriages:   recognizing the Headship of Christ with a relationship patterned after that of Christ and His Church;  (Eph. 5:23)
–In our Families:   Instructions are given to both parents and children:  “…and these words…you shall teach diligently to your children…”  (Deut. 6:7;  Eph. 6:1-4);
–In our Employment:   with Him as our Chief Executive Officer, conducting our business with diligence and integrity;  (Col. 3:22;  4:1)
–In all of our activities: “whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord…for you serve the Lord Christ.”  “…that in all things He (Christ) might have the preeminence.”  “…and this HOPE never disappoints, because God’s love for us floods our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.”     (Col. 3:23,24;  Col.1:18;  Rom. 5:5) 

“Now the God of all HOPE fill you with all JOY and PEACE in the believing,
that you may abound in HOPE
through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
(Romans 15:13)

In Agape, Eulene

Dear Ones, 

I love Language!   As Job’s friend said, my “ear tries words as the palate tastes food.”  Language is defined as “the expression and communication of emotions or ideas between human beings by means of speech and hearing…” - a gracious gift from our Creator.   Words are a primary means of such expression.  Words are the expression of our thoughts.  Indeed, “A wise man’s words express deep streams of thought.”  (Job 34:3 LITV; Prov. 18:4 LB) 

There is so much that can be said about words and the Word of God is rife with examples of, and information and instruction about words.  Words can be positive or negative; constructive or destructive; healing or hurtful; loving or loathsome; sweet or bitter; lovely or lewd.  James says “blessing or cursing!”  Jesus said, “By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matt. 12:37) 

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver,” says the Proverb.  King Solomon knew that “pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.”  (Prov. 25:11;  16:24)  Medical research has proven that to be, oh, so true! 

I recently came across a delightful piece of descriptive prose that is a wonderful example of the beauty of language, and the depths of truth which it can express.  I don’t know who the author is, but I would like to share it with you, with the hope that it blesses you as it did me:- 

“If God in Christ can paint the blush on the bud which hangs from the limb of the rose,
   and make the dewdrops of morning tremble like molten diamonds 
      on the virgin-white lip of the lily;
If He can plant the rivers in lines of rippling silver, and
   can cover His valley floors with carpets of softest green,
      tacked down with lovely daisies and laughing daffodils;
If He can scoop out the basin of the seven seas, and
   pile up the great granite of the mountains until they pierce the azure skies;
If He can send a Niagara thundering on a mighty and majestic minstrelsy 
   from century to century;
If He can fuel and refuel the red-throated furnace of a million suns 
   to blaze His universe with light;
If on the lovely looms of heaven, 
   He can weave the delicate tapestry of a rainbow, and
      at eventide fashion a fleece of crimson to curtain the couch of the dying sun, and
         across the black bosom of the night that follows bind a glittering girdle 
            spangled with ten thousand stellar jewels;
Then I do not doubt His power to save and keep us, and 
   to ultimately give us an order of life in which righteousness 
      ‘shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.’ “

 In the nineteenth Psalm, David used words beautifully to describe the splendor of Creation and the Law of the Lord:- 

“The heavens are telling the glory of God; they are a marvelous display of His craftsmanship.  Day and night they keep on telling about God…The sun lives in the heavens where God placed it, and moves out across the skies as radiant as a bridegroom going to his wedding, or as joyous as an athlete looking forward to a race!… God’s laws are perfect.  They protect us, make us wise, and give us joy and light.  God’s laws are pure, eternal, just.  They are more desirable than gold.  They are sweeter than honey dripping from a honeycomb.  For they warn us away from harm and give success to those who obey them… 

“May my spoken words and unspoken thoughts be pleasing even to you, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”   

Father, fill my thoughts with Your Words of Life - Love - Peace - Faith - Joy - Comfort - Beauty -    Assurance - Hope.  In a world where language is becoming increasingly offensive,  teach me to “keep my tongue from evil, and my lips from speaking guile.”  (Ps. 34:13) 
“Let no unwholesome words ever pass my lips, but let all my words be good for benefiting others according to the need…”  (Eph. 4:29) 
“Nourish me in the words of faith.”  (1 Tim. 4:6)
“Pour grace into my lips,”  (Ps. 45:2) and
  “let my heart retain Your words.”  (Prov. 4:4)
“Because Your loving-kindness is better than life, 
   my mouth shall be filled with words of praise.”  (Ps. 63:3)

 In Agape, Eulene

Dear Friends, 

Because we are (being) made in God’s image, we humans also have the capacity to think, to reason, and to mentally conceive.  When we ‘think’ about it, we are really ‘thinking’ most all the time.  Our thoughts cover everything from one end of the spectrum of life to the other.  Scientists have difficulty understanding the operation by which the human brain processes information received through the senses. 

The truth is, God knows all of our thoughts:  He knows our “downsitting and uprising, and He understands our thoughts afar off.”  I take that to mean that He knows our thoughts before we think them!   “…He that forms the mountains, and creates the wind, and declares unto man what is his thought…Jehovah, the God of hosts, is His name.”  (Ps. 139:2; Amos 4:13) 

God tells us that His thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are His ways our ways.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways, and His thoughts than our thoughts.  (Isa. 55:8,9)  And so we find that, at times, we need to “cast down our imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”   David prayed,  “Search me, O God, and know my heart;  test me, and know my thoughts.”   (2 Cor. 10:5;  Ps. 139:23) 

Then we have the wonderful assurance and admonition in Phil. 4:6-8 which I love in the Weymouth Translation:- “Do not be anxious about anything, but by prayer and earnest pleading together with thanksgiving let your requests be unreservedly made known before God.   So will the peace of God, which surpasses all power of thought, be a garrison to guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” 

This truth became very real to me 43 years ago when our second daughter was born.  She had a slight hare lip and would need surgery to correct it.  When I might have had thoughts of dismay and apprehension, as I read this passage I sensed that “peace of God” surrounding me like a bastion guarding my heart and mind from fear and worry. 

The Living Bible says, “Don’t worry about anything;  instead, pray about everything;  tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank Him for His answers.  If you do this you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.  His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.”  You know, worry is like a rocking chair;  it will give you something to do, but it will get you nowhere!.  

The Philippians passage continues:   “Finally…whatever is TRUE, whatever wins RESPECT, whatever is JUST, whatever is PURE, whatever is LOVELY, whatever is of GOOD REPUTE - if there is any VIRTUE or anything deemed worthy of PRAISE - cherish the thought of these things.” - or -  “THINK ON THESE THINGS.” 

My favorite is :  “Commit your works unto the Lord, and your thoughts shall be established.” 
Another translation reads:  “Roll your works onto the Lord, and He will set your thoughts in order.”   (Proverbs 16:3)   This really is a very practical and satisfying way to order your days. 

A prayer to this end is earnestly expressed in the following hymn: 

May the mind of Christ, my Savior,
Live in me from day to day,
By His love and pow’r controlling
All I do and say.

May the Word of God dwell richly
In my heart from hour to hour,
So that all may see I triumph
Only through His pow’r.

May the peace of God, my Father,
Rule my life in ev’rything,
That I may be calm to comfort
Sick and sorrowing.

May the love of Jesus fill me,
As the waters fill the sea;
Him exalting, self abasing -
This is victory.

 Kate B. Wilkinson, 1859-1928 

 ”Now the God of all HOPE fill you with all JOY and PEACE in the believing
that you may abound in HOPE through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
(Romans 15:13)

In Agape,  Eulene 

P.S.  Here is a relevant quotation from the well-known poet, Robert Louis Stevenson:-
“Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened,
but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace -
like a clock during a thunderstorm.”

Dear Friends,

Some time ago my attention was drawn to the fact that GOD THINKS!  Yes, He does!  And the Scriptures give us some fascinating insights about His thoughts:  the magnitude, the immensity, and infinity of them. 

Isaiah quotes the Lord:  “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways…For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”  The vast disparity between our thoughts and His is hardly comprehensible to our finite minds.  (Isaiah 55:8,9) 

Again, Isaiah tells us that “Jehovah of hosts has sworn saying, ‘Surely, as I have thought, so shall it come to pass, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.”  The Psalmist tells us that God’s thoughts are very deep and profound, that His counsel stands fast forever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations.  (Isaiah 14:24;  Psalm 92:5;  33:11) 

Then He also indicates how personal His thoughts are:    “For I know the thoughts that I think toward  YOU,” says Jehovah, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give YOU a future and a HOPE.”  (Jeremiah 29:11) 

When we are burdened with troubles and cares, He invites us to come to Him for solutions to our problems, strength for our daily tasks, and rest for our souls.  “Let Him have all your worries and cares, for He is ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT YOU, and watching everything that concerns you.”  (1 Peter 5:7 LB) 

It matters to Him about you,
And He means to see you quite through.
   The might of His hand
   No pow’r can withstand;
He ALWAYS is THINKING of YOU! 

“Many, O Jehovah my God, are the wonderful works which You have done, And YOUR THOUGHTS which are TOWARD US, no one can recount to you.  If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered!”…”Though I am poor and needy, YET THE LORD THINKS UPON ME…”   (Ps. 40:5, 17)  

The translators of The Message version tell us that “the world’s a huge stockpile of GOD-wonders and GOD-thoughts.”   When we try to talk about them, we “quickly run out of words.”  His wonder-full works and His ineffable thoughts are indeed indescribable.  

“I will give thanks unto You; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;  wonderful are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.  My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book they were all written, even the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was none of them.  How precious also are YOUR THOUGHTS UNTO ME, O God!  How great is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand!”  (Psalm 139:14-18) 

What an astounding revelation!  GOD’S THOUGHTS toward us are CONSTANT and NUMBERLESS!  And they are all for GOOD!! 

“…in His Love, He chose us as His own in Christ before the creation of the world…”  (Eph. 1:4) 

Before He formed a star
   Our God arranged our lot;
Our little lives were planned afar
   When we as yet were not! 

Yes, God thinks!
And He thinks about YOU! 

 ”Now the God of all HOPE fill you with all JOY and PEACE in the believing,
that you may abound in HOPE through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
(Romans 15:13) 

In Agape, Eulene

Blessings, 

In our last letter about God’s Times, we touched on the profound truth that our totally trustworthy Heavenly Father cares, plans and provides for His children.  King David expressed it in the 31st Psalm which also includes a litany of his woes and griefs.  Then, in verse 14, he makes the declaration:  “BUT I trusted in YOU, O Lord;  I said, YOU are my GOD.  MY TIMES ARE IN YOUR HAND…”  And he ends the song with this admonition:-  “Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you that HOPE in the LORD. “  

Since He knows the end from the beginning, and every intricacy of our beings, He knows just when to time every event of our lives.  Truly, ALL our times are in His hand - and what better place to be in the entire universe than in the mighty hand of our Almighty God!  He not only loves every one of His precious children, but He has a special plan for each one.   

I understand that, if you quote this verse to the native of Congo, he will be forced to translate it in the wonderful words, “All my life’s whys, whens, wheres, and wherefores are in God’s Hand!”  And to be assured that our times are in His hand is to say that our own life’s whys, whens, wheres, and wherefores are right there - in His hand! 

God’s viewpoint is so far removed from our own.   He exists outside the entity of Time;  He is eternal - timeless - ageless.  He lives in the “eternal NOW.”   He sees and knows all things, and He is “the same, yesterday, today and forever.” The illustration has often been used of someone watching a passing parade through a knot-hole in the fence.  One can see only what is passing in front of the knot-hole at a given moment.  But if the sights can be raised to gaze over the top of the fence, one can see the whole parade from beginning to end.  (Heb. 13:8)  

We are able to see things only through the ‘knothole’ of human perspective;  God sees the beginning and the ending - and everything in between.   He declares, “I am God, and there is none else;  I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done…”  (Isa. 46:9,10) 

“There is a time to every purpose under the heaven” declares the author of the Book of Ecclesiastes.  Our Heavenly Father has set each one of us in our place in the course of time;  He has ordained our time to be born, and our time to die, as well as our ‘times’ spanning the in-between.  Because God is pure Love and Wisdom, we can place our full trust in Him to guide us through life to His ultimate goal for us.  (Eccles.3) 

May we then sing with quiet confidence this beautiful old hymn.  (If you read it aloud, slowly, you will ‘hear’ each important word.): 

My times are in Thy hand;  my God, I wish them there;
My life, my friends, my soul I leave entirely to Thy care.

My times are in Thy hand;  whatever they may be,
Pleasing or painful, dark or bright, as best may seem to Thee.

My times are in Thy hand;  why should I doubt or fear?
My Father’s hand will never cause His child a needless tear.

My times are In Thy hand;  Jesus, the crucified!
Those hands my cruel sins had pierced are now my guard and guide.

My times are in Thy hand;  I’ll always trust in Thee;
And after death, at Thy right hand I shall forever be.

             (William  F. Lloyd, 1824)

                                       * * * * * 

His tender hands have fashioned tiny things;  
   The wee blue petals of forget-me-nots; 
A drop of mist;  an insect’s tissue wings;   
   A poppy seed;  a caterpillar’s spots; 
The sensitive antennae of a bee;  
   Each amber globule of the desert sands . . .
Then shall I fear when He has said to me,   
   “YOUR DAYS, My Precious One, are IN MY HANDS?”
                         (Vivian Ahrendt) 

Always remember:-  each of your days is in God’s hand - and there is no better place! 

“Now the God of all HOPE fill you with all JOY and PEACE in the believing,
that you may abound in HOPE through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
(Romans 15:13)

 In Agape, Eulene

Greetings!

The Eternal, True and Living God - the Creator of all that is, and our Heavenly Father - created the entity called “Time” for a specific purpose, that He might bring into being a family of others like Himself - “in His image” - “to whom He could show His matchless Grace, with whom He could share joyful fellowship, and upon whom He could bestow His infinite love and blessings.” 

He uses Time in order to work out His purposes.  For example, “when the FULNESS OF TIME was come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons…”   The promise of a Redeemer was made right back in the Garden of Eden when the need for a Redeemer first became obvious.  But there was a specified TIME ordained when that promise would be fulfilled.    (Gal. 4:4;  Gen. 3:15)

In his excellent and well-documented book, “A Proper Education” (© 2007 by Andy Books Publications), Dr. Karl D. Coke, points out the utmost importance of the “set times” or exact dates of “the Feasts of the Lord.”  Defined in Leviticus 23, each day is ordered meticulously and referred to as “appointed seasons.”  God calls them His “holy convocations.”  (Lev. 23:2)

Dr. Coke illustrates the amazing facts that these precise times can be overlaid with the exact dates that our Lord Jesus (Messiah) laid down His life to secure mankind’s salvation!  Just as amazing is the fact that the same “set times” are overlaid in the birth cycle of a human infant!  Such marvelous witnesses to the infallible accuracy of GOD’S TIMES!

It helps to remember that, from God’s viewpoint, “one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”  God has set specific times for certain events to occur throughout the ages of time.  There are “TIMES of refreshing” that come from the presence of the Lord.   Heaven is retaining the Lord Jesus until “the TIMES of the restitution of all things.”  He has pre-appointed the TIMES of nations and the bounds of their habitation.  Paul’s letter to the Ephesians refers to a further plan of God to take place “in the dispensation of the FULNESS OF TIMES…”   And it seems the day will ultimately come when TIME, having accomplished its purpose in God’s Divine plan, “shall be no longer.” 
(Ps. 90:4 & 2 Pet. 3:8;  Acts 3:19,21;  17:26;  Eph. 1:9,10;  Rev. 10:5,6))

If the Almighty Creator “set lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years;”  and if a human father has hopes and plans, and makes provision for his children;  how much more does our Heavenly Father have desires, plans, and provisions for HIS children?  A literal translation of Jer. 29:11 says that He knows the purposes which He is planning for us, plans for peace, a future and a HOPE.  (Gen. 1:14;  Matt. 7:11)

This is expressed so beautifully in a poem by Annie Johnson Flint:-

God’s time is never wrong,
Never too fast nor too slow;
The planets move to its steady pace
As the centuries come and go.

Stars rise and set by that time,
The punctual comets come back
With never a second’s variance,
From the round of their viewless track.

Men space their years by the sun,
And reckon their months by the moon,
Which never arrive too late
And never depart too soon.

Let us set our clocks by God’s,
And order our lives by His ways,
And nothing can come and nothing can go
Too soon or too late in our day.

 Annie Johnson Flint. (1866-1932)

 “And now, Lord, what do I wait for?  My HOPE is in YOU……
My soul, wait only upon God, for my expectation is from Him……
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits;  and in His Word do I HOPE.”    
(Ps. 39:7;  62:5; 130:5)

“For the vision is yet for the APPOINTED TIME…
though it delays, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” 
“But if we HOPE for what we do not see, then do we with patience wait for it.” 
(Hab. 2:3;  Rom. 8:25)  

“Now the God of all HOPE fill you with all JOY and PEACE in the believing,
that you may abound in HOPE through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
(Romans 15:13)

 In Agape, Eulene

Dear Friends, 

This is gardening season and, since our last “downsizing” move, we do not have a large garden as we are accustomed to having;  just a few tomatoes in tires, some runner beans along the fence, and flowers in containers. 

God was first to plant “a garden Eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed…to dress it and keep it.  And out of the ground He made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food…”  The Prophet Ezekiel called Eden “the Garden of God.”   The garden was God’s idea!  (Gen. 2:8, 15;  Ezek. 28:13)  

We think of the principle purpose of a garden as being for the production of food for the BODY.  Thomas Hill said, “The garden is a ground plot for the MIND.”  And I have found it a wonderful place for communion with God in SPIRIT.  Another important value of a garden is to TEACH - the principles of sowing and reaping, patience, perseverance, and many other Spiritual values.  It was in my garden thirty years ago that the inspiration came to me for this little prayer:- 

O, bless my little garden, Lord,
     I love its every row; 
O, bless me as I pull the weeds
     And watch the seedlings grow.

 And may the seeds that I plant there
     Be watered from above
With all Your cool, refreshing rains
     Sent down in faithful love.

 And may the sun in all its warmth
     Shine its life-giving rays;
I’ll not forget to thank You, Lord,
     For all Your wondrous ways.

 My garden is so rich in truth
     With lessons I may glean
For spirit, soul and body there,
     Drawing Life from the Unseen.

 So, bless my little garden, Lord,
     Its blossoms to its roots,
And may there be for all to share
     Abundance of rich fruits.

      Eulene H. Moores, 1978

Indeed, I have gleaned many lessons while working in my garden.  One that bears periodic repetition comes from the encroaching quack grass roots which present a perennial problem, since we are surrounded by aspen forest.  They run underground non-stop and out of sight, and they seem to think that we cultivate the soil for their benefit alone.  And, when digging out the thistles, if an inch of root is left, it will grow up with two heads instead of one!   They must be thoroughly eradicated! 

These always remind me of the Scriptural admonition to keep a sharp eye out for roots of bitterness.  A thistle or two allowed to go to seed can ruin a whole garden in short order.  Bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness and pride are some of the subtle weeds that like to invade our Life’s Garden, pilfer our peace and joy, and steal the nutrients our spirits need to grow in grace and be fruitful.   (Heb. 12:15 ) 

Our Master Gardener has a way of dealing with these obnoxious weeds as we bring them to Him with David’s prayer:  “Search me, O God, and know my heart;  try me, and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”  He persistently roots out the offending weeds and thoroughly cultivates the soil of our hearts.  That is not always a pleasant process, but a very necessary one for our good - and the Divine Gardener’s pleasure.   (Ps. 139:23, 24) 

“Now the God of all HOPE fill you with all JOY and PEACE in the believing,
that you may abound in HOPE through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
(Romans 15:13)

In Agape, Eulene

Dear Ones, 

One of the things I particularly enjoy about summer is the trees.  It is such a joy to watch them leaf out with renewed life in all the glory of spring!   The autumn colors are beautiful, too, but rather short-lived. 

Coming from the bald Saskatchewan prairie, I have always had a special affection for trees.  I think part of that came, too, from my maternal Grandfather who emigrated from England to homestead on the prairies around the turn of the 20th century.  

When a little girl, and we would go to Grandpa’s, I would watch intently for the clump of dark green hugging the horizon of the vast, arid, rolling prairie - like an oasis in the desert.  I always watched for it with childish eagerness.  It was not a natural oasis, but one that Grandpa had coaxed out of the dry and stony ground.  Years before, he had brought in wagonloads of young and tender saplings and planted them in long, straight rows like ranks of vigilant sentinels along the North and West portion of his homestead on which he had built his little frame and shingle house. 

Encouraging their survival had taken hours of back-breaking toil. The grateful full-grown poplars had rewarded him with much needed protection against the violent prairie dust-storms that swept across the hot and barren plains, and the bitter winter blizzards that piled the snow almost to their very tops and, but for them, would have buried the little house. 

I loved those trees, and spent many a pleasant hour playing in their shade. They were my private haven when the chores were done. Their beckoning grassy glades were my castle where lived princes and princesses, fairy queens, heroes and heroines. Those trees surrounded Uncle Tom’s Cabin;  they hid from my view Heidi’s Mountain;  they were the estate where Elsie Dinsmore lived;  they were Marcella’s back yard where she had tea parties for Raggedy Ann, and all of her dolls. 

Lying flat on my back I would gaze up at the tops of the trees, their fluttering green leaves framing a patch of azure blue sky, and idly wonder why I had been taught that green and blue don’t go together when God could make them match so beautifully.   With all my love of poetry,

I think that I shall never see
     a poem lovely as a tree; 
A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed
     against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
     and lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
     a nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain; 
     who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
     but only God can make a tree.   
             (Joyce Kilmer, 1886-1918) 

Our Lord Jesus identified Himself with the prophecy of Isaiah.  “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek;  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;…to provide for them that grieve in Zion, to give unto them beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair, THAT (I love the “thats” in the Scriptures) they might be called TREES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, THE PLANTING OF THE LORD, that HE might be glorified.”  (Isaiah 61:3) 

And then Jeremiah gives a similar promise:  “Blessed (happy) is the (wo)man who trusts in the Lord, and whose HOPE the Lord is.  (S)he shall be as a TREE planted by the waters, that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat comes, but her leaves are always green;  and shall not be anxious in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”  (Jer. 17:7,8) 

The blessed man of Psalm 1 is also likened to ” a TREE planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, his leaves do not wither, and whatever he does prospers.” 

And one more reference that I love from David’s Psalms:  “The righteous shall flourish like the PALM TREE;  they shall grow like a CEDAR in Lebanon.  Those that be PLANTED IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.  They shall still bring forth fruit in old age;  they shall be full of sap and green…”  (Psalm 92:12-15) 

The sap is the vital aqueous fluid of the plant that transports the materials necessary for growth.  I believe it represents the Holy Spirit Who dwells within the Believer, and produces the Fruit of the Spirit which Galatians tells us is:-
Love - Joy - Peace - Longsuffering - Kindness - Goodness - Faithfulness - Meekness - Self-control. 

“…If these things be in you, and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  (2 Peter 1:8) 

‘May God, the giver of hope, fill you with continual joy and peace because you trust in
Him-so that you may have abundant hope through the power of the Holy Spirit ‘
(Romans 15:13 - Weymouth)

 In Agape, Eulene

Dear Friends, 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort  . . . And I will be to you a Father, and you shall be to me sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”  (2 Cor. 1:3; 6:18) 

This Sunday celebrates another Father’s Day.   Perhaps this hymn is the best way to express           

Our thanks, O God, for fathers who follow in Your way,
And who, with glad and trusting hearts, exalt You ev’ry day.

Our thanks, O God, for fathers who show, by word and deed,
Commitment to Your will and plan, and Your commandments heed.

Our thanks, O God, for fathers who meet You oft in prayer,
And who, for all life’s toil and care, find strength and wisdom there. 

How blessed are the children who in their fathers see
The tender Father-love of God, and find their way to Thee.   

First, I would like to pay tribute to my own father from whom I received a rich heritage.  A child’s father represents God to him, and I can say that my relationship with my Heavenly Father has been made richer by what my earthly father modeled to me.  In my memoirs (a fancy name for telling my story) I credit my Dad for encouraging in me characteristics such as integrity, loyalty, industriousness, generosity, and reverence.  And trust!  I firmly believe that, because my Dad proved his trustworthiness to me, I have found it easier than many to trust my Heavenly Father. 

I realize that not everyone enjoys such a blessing, but that is when our Heavenly Father comes to fill the empty spaces:  He has promised to be a “Father of the fatherless, and a defender of widows.”  And, “as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those that fear Him.”  (Ps. 68:5; 103:13) 

Under the New Covenant, God has graciously “sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts” whereby we can come to Him as children and call Him our Dad.  That is not being irreverent, but it invokes an intimacy with God that He Himself greatly desires.  He loved us so much that He gave Himself to redeem us from sin and death, giving us His Divine eternal life and making us a part of His royal family.  He has promised to love us, and come and make His home in us.  He has made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance reserved for His children. (Gal. 4:6; Rom. 8:15;  John 14:23; Col. 1:12) 

As a loving and caring Father, He provides for His children.  “Look at the birds of the air;  they do not plant or harvest or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of much more value than they?”   Your Heavenly Father knows all of your needs, even before you ask Him. “If your natural father knows how to give good gifts to his children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him?”  “And my God shall supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”  (Matt. 6:8,32; 7:11; Phil. 4:19) 

As a faithful and wise Father, He also reproves and corrects us when necessary.  “For whom the Lord loves He disciplines;  even as a father the child in whom He delights.”   I have memories of my Dad taking me to the woodshed a couple of times!  He knew how to administer effective discipline that inspired in me love and respect for him.  “If we reverence our earthly fathers who chasten us, shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?”  (Prov. 3:12; Heb. 12:9) 

Isaiah presents this picture:  “For now, O Lord, YOU are OUR FATHER;  we are the clay and You our potter;  and we all are the work of Your hand.”  Can you possibly begin to imagine what His finished perfected work will be like?   “IN HIS IMAGE” - “LIKE HIM“  He says!  (Isa. 64:8; Rom. 8:29; 1 John 3:2)  

“Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and GOD OUR FATHER Who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and GOOD HOPE through grace, comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work.”  (2 Thess. 2:16,17) 

In Agape, Eulene