August 2010
If you follow Jesus there will be winds and waves. If you do not want to create waves and if you become afraid because of the high winds, you will never experience the exhilaration and deliverance of being rescued by Jesus. You will escape the companionship of those who witness such miracles.
Peter was not the only one affected the night he stepped out of the boat and into the rolling waves.
How would you have felt if you were in the boat with the others, watching?
I know there would have been a great gasp from my mouth. Then the pounding of my heart would have caused me to double over. Was I about to die? Choking, my eyes would have bulged in terror. I would have grabbed the first hand next to me . . . or arm. I might have grabbed the disciple I had been avoiding for days, weeks, even years. Any embrace from anybody would be welcomed though.
Sometimes, Jesus allows the wind and the waves to jolt us into reality, the reality that we all belong to the family of God.
Bread
Is the bread you are eating, nourishing?
Do you eat it in portions and with care?
When you have finished eating do you look around to see
That others, too, have had their fair share?
God is gracious, God is merciful, God is kind.
God is long-suffering, God is compassionate, and God has you in mind;
When He says: "I am the way, I am the truth, I am the light,
I am the bread, and my words are my message to guide you into all that is right."
If you do not feed on His Word and His Word is fresh bread,
Then you are not feeding and you are not knowing what He said:
"Have you not heard, have you not read,
That I am here to give you most bountifully, and my bread is fresh."
"Come," He says, "Come and eat of my bread today.
It is nourishing and it is all you need to follow in My way."
Bonnie L. Turner
" Philippians 2: 12b and 13 : . . . continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."
ROPE
heels dug in
body at a tilt
palms burn
with sweat dirt blood
I pull on the rope
a tug-of-war
my way versus the Almighty's
for hours I drag
and twist
until the Spirit yanks
at my will
anger frays
grip slackens
body bends
I braid submission
trust and peace
drawn into
the lariat of His love
by J. L. Bond
Where Is The Door?
by Bonnie L. Turner
In the midst of confusion you need a way out
When the building is burning you need a way out.
When your marriage is crumbling and you do not want to part
You need a door of exit to give you a brand new start.
Your child is hungry
You see no way
Of meeting that provision
You need it today.
Your job is gone forever
You are too old to start again
You need a door of opportunity
You need a friend.
What is the answer?
Where is the door of escape?
You need a door of hope
To open . . .
"Come," he says, "I'll open the doors of your heart"
"Come," he says, "Let me give you that new start."
"I stand at the door of your heart, I ask to come in;
But only your invitation
Allows me to begin."
Kingdom Come
Reigning Lord, turn our
Ears to You. Transform our hearts to
Love You, to delight in Your ways, to
Adore You, Almighty God.
Teach us to persevere in righteousness
In thought, word and deed; accept our
Obedience which shows we love You. Reveal our
Need to repent often, to know Your Word, to
Seek Your approval, not mankind's.
Heal us toward holiness from the
Inside out. Empower us with joy to
Participate in Your kingdom, O King.
J. L. Bond
