tysthatbind

February 26, 2013 "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."  - II Corinthians 12:9 Dear Friend,  God's grace.  His unmerited favor.  Amazing the gifts the Lord bestows on us that we do not deserve.  Jesus Christ, God's Son through Him God offers the gift of Salvation for those who believe.  He is The Greatest Gift of All. I thank God for Jesus Christ, for knowing Him as my Personal Savior. Grace! Amazing!  God gives us the grace we need to meet the situations we encounter.  I once had a conversation with one of my daughters to place emphasis on grace as she was preparing for an exam.  I told her to continue to study hard in preparation.  I told her God will give you the grace you need at exam time.  "His grace is sufficient."  He gives us what we need when we need it.  God is faithful

February 25, 2013 "Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.   Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth."   - Psalm 57:1-3 Dear Friend, Over the years I have enjoyed hearing and often participating in singing of the spiritual, "I'm So Glad Trouble Don't Last Always."  Just the title of the song is enough to start a shout! The song starts with the line of the title and a little further a question is posed, "Oh my Lord, Oh my Lord, what shall I do, what shall I do?"  I started doing a little refreshing of my memory and I'm so glad trouble don't last always is repeated 3 times at the beginning, followed by Oh my Lord 2 times, and what shall I do 2 times.  It seems to me that there is quite a bit of contemplation going o

February 23, 2013 "Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body."   - Hebrews 13:1-3 KJV Dear Friend, There have been times in my life when people have crossed my path suddenly.  They seemed to just "come out of nowhere."  There was the man in the fast food restaurant some years ago that came in while my mother and I were there. He diffused a potentially volatile situation just by his presence.  It was such a unusual encounter.  I remember watching as he walked out the door. I then walked to the door to look out after him.  All at once snowflakes started to fall, but I did not see him anywhere!  I told my mother, there is no where he could have gone!  I think he was an angel! There was the time I was in a car accident and was hit from behind. I should have b

February 16, 2013 " I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." Dear Friend, The headaches persisted and they were unbearable.  I remember having to get on my knees and bow so that the crown of my head was on the bed and cry and rock to try to ease the pain.  It was no ordinary headache.  As with my first pregnancy the "morning sickness" lasted throughout the day and night.  It was February 15, 1994.  I had to be admitted to the hospital for an emergency c-section my baby was being delivered two and a half month early and I had toxemia.   My blood pressure was through the roof. I was very sick. However, I can tell you I had such a beautiful peace, "the peace that passeth all understanding."  When my doctor arrived she said we have to do this now.  I asked her if she could hand me by Bible and read a a scripture: Psalm 61:1-2 "From the ends of the earth will I

February 15, 2013 "When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.    Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teach

February 14, 2013 "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.   Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me."         - Psalm 51:10-11 Dear Friend. I was searching frantically for a password and user name to try to transact some business yesterday.  I tried every variation I could think of.  I typed in several of my favorite things, secret codes for used to be favorite things.  I still could not access the website.  I finally called the toll free number for assistance. I was praying that I remembered the answer to my secret question!  The representative I spoke with got excited when she read the username.  I told her I was going to read Psalm 51 before I logged in again.  To sum it up The Holy Spirit provided access ! He led me to choose the particular username and password guided me to where I needed to go to uncover the truth. I needed the truth of Psalm 51 and I needed to read it again yester day! "

February 13, 2013 "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."     - I Corinthians 15:58 Dear Friend, Sometimes when we have to stand in long lines, we get tired of waiting and in frustration we get out of line.  Just when we move,it seems the line starts moving faster or another cashier opens a register and proclaims,"next in line!"  If we had kept our place that "next in line!" would have been us.  Remember the saying, "Don't make a move too soon." There are other more important circumstances in life than a place in line at a bank or grocery store where we also tend to give up too easily.  We can get discouraged at times as we wait for our prayers to be answered.  It seems like deliverance is taking too long!  Where is the healing?  The job? The solution? Whatever the need, we sometimes just get impatien

February 12, 2013 "  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek..." - Romans 1:16 Dear Friend, Last week a dear Brother in Christ went home to be with the Lord.  His warm smile and giving spirit will be missed by our congregation.  Members of the congregation who had the opportunity to serve with him in the choir can recall his unashamed dance of praise to the Lord.  Our brother would get so happy during worship service and just dance and dance.  I can recall it would make others happy.  I would shout out and hit my tambourine harder!  His praise was unashamed. Praise that is focused and that is not self-conscious is glorious for at the center of that praise is the Lord Jesus.  It is a praise that is full of the understanding of the powerful gift of salvation that we have received through the shed blood of our Savior.  I am encouraged as I remember

February 8, 2013 "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;   Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.   But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."        - James 1:2-4 Dear Friend, "I try to do the right thing and stuff keeps happening!"  When the trouble keeps coming; when folks keep messing with you even when you "haven't done anything;" "when you have tried to stay out of the way;" it can be tempting to ask the question, "Lord, why me?"  There is a reason for every trial that comes to us.  Songwriters have penned, "our trials come to make us strong."  We read in James 1 that the trying of our faith worketh patience. Trials teach us how to wait on God.  Trials steady our faith.  Trials build our testimony. Said I wasn't gonna tell nobody but I just couldn't keep it to myself what the Lord has do

February 3, 2013                                           Psalms 150 "Praise ye the Lord . Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.  Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.   Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.   Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.   Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.   Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord . Praise ye the Lord ." Dear Friend, The Bible tells us that every good and perfect gift comes from above.  God is worthy of our praise and worship no matter what the circumstance.  Our praise lifted to He alone Who is praiseworthy.  Just praise the Lord!  Praise Him in the sanctuary, in the midst of a snow storm or while basking in the sunlight that He sustains.  That is, praise Him in the firmanent of His power.  Prais

February 2, 2013 " For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister."    - Hebrews 6:10 Dear Friend, There are some days when I am moving so fast that I forget where I put my car keys, glasses or any other number of items.  Moving faster in a effort to find what I have misplaced does not help me locate the items any quicker.  Yet, it is when I still myself to pray and ask "Lord please show me where..." that which appeared lost is then found. Most of the time the items are right in front of my face. I wonder how God considers us when we get misplaced.  The times when we find ourselves out of sync, falling in to old habits and living beneath our privilege.  A Christian living "beneath privilege" is one who fails to seek God for "the every things" and "come what mays" in life.  Unlike stray keys or elusive gla