His Tender Power

Dear restless heart, be still; don't fret and worry so;
God has a thousand ways His love and help to show;
Just trust, and trust, and trust, until His will you know.

Dear restless heart, be still, for peace is God's own smile,
His love can every wrong and sorrow reconcile;
Just love, and love, and love, and calmly wait awhile. 

Dear restless heart, be brave; don't moan and sorrow so,
He hath a meaning kind in chilly winds that blow;
Just hope, and hope, and hope, until you braver grow.

Dear restless heart, repose upon His breast this hour,
His grace is strength and life, His love is bloom and flower;
Just rest, and rest, and rest, within His tender power.
 

Dear restless heart, be still! Don't struggle to be free;
God's life is in your life, from Him you may not flee;
Just pray, and pray, and pray, till you have faith to see.

Edith Willis Linn

My Heart Trusted in Him

Psalm 28:7

The LORD is my strength,
The LORD is my shield;
My heart trusted in Him,
And I am helped:
(repeat)

Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth;
And with my song will I praise Him.
Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth;
And with my song will I praise Him.
(repeat) 


.PDF Sheet Music
Audio Source [3:48 to 6:20]
Courtesy of Bible Baptist Church of Fairbanks, Alaska
Led by Pastor Doug Duffett

The child of God is instructed foremost to speak to himself in psalms -- literally, songs finding their source in the Word of God. I find that Scripture songs are not only a tool to encourage myself in the Lord but are an excellent way to hide God's Word in my heart. Scripture memorization is effortless when paired up with a tune! =)

P.S. Sorry about the extra page full of empty staves at the end of the .pdf file. =/ I promise I'll have that glitch worked out by the time I post the next song. (wink)

A Glorious Inheritance

The wise shall inherit glory: 

but shame shall be the promotion of fools.

Proverbs 3:35

In the photo: Our first frost of the season (October 25), bejeweling the tundra grass

Bake on Saturday

I love to bake. It makes me happy to bring happiness to others by creating goodies in the kitchen. In order to conserve propane, which is quite expensive in the Arctic, I do a lot of baking at one time. And, since time is limited during the week, I generally end up doing my baking on Saturday, in keeping with the adage ("...clean on Friday, bake on Saturday, rest on Sunday.")

I baked today, though not to the extent which I do normally. This afternoon I baked only four loaves of bread and one dozen muffins. The bread (two loaves cinnamon, two loaves raisin-pecan) will be flying away to Barrow on Monday. My dad is attending a mission's conference at Calvary Baptist Church in Barrow next week. He will be taking the bread and some cookies (which I plan to bake tomorrow) with him. Although I wish I could take them myself, I'm glad I can help the pastor's wife by sending some baked goods for the conference. (In the picture below is a loaf of cinnamon bread... it turned out just beautifully!)

In one way, I'm thankful for the inconvenience of expensive propane. I believed, at first, that baking a massive amount of goods in one day was an impossible undertaking. It was indeed difficult to manage the first few times but, as they say, experience is the best teacher. I've been convinced that establishing a baking day is ideal. With a bit of organization, careful planning, and time management, baking day can be a day to enjoy your kitchen -- rather than a time to frantically rush about in an effort to beat the clock! (I know whereof I speak. =)

Here's the plan...

Getting Ready to Move

From Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman

II Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

The owner of the tenement which I have occupied for many years has given notice that he will furnish but little or nothing more for repairs. I am advised to be ready to move.

At first this was not a very welcome notice. The surroundings here are in many respects very pleasant, and were it not for the evidence of decay, I should consider the house good enough. But even a light wind causes it to tremble and totter, and all the braces are not sufficient to make it secure. So I am getting ready to move.

It is strange how quickly one's interest is transferred to the prospective home. I have been consulting maps of the new country and reading descriptions of its inhabitants. One who visited it has returned, and from him I learn that it is beautiful beyond description; language breaks down in attempting to tell of what he heard while there. He says that, in order to make an investment there, he has suffered the loss of all things that he owned here, and even rejoices in what others would call making a sacrifice. Another, whose love to me has been proven by the greatest possible test, is now there. He has sent me several clusters of the most delicious fruits. After tasting them, all food here seems insipid.

Two or three times I have been down by the border of the river that forms the boundary, and have wished myself among the company of those who were singing praises to the King on the other side. Many of my friends have moved there. Before leaving they spoke of my coming later. I have seen the smile upon their faces as they passed out of sight. Often I am asked to make some new investments here, but my answer in every case is, "I am getting ready to move." --Selected

Bless my soul! Doesn't that make you want to go -- right now?! I can't wait to see my Homeland, and I really can't wait to behold my King! The more I read of Heaven, the more I realize that what I call "life" really isn't life at all. Real living doesn't begin till we step inside the gates of pearl. This devotional continues...

The words often on Jesus' lips in His last days express vividly the idea, "going to the Father." We, too, who are Christ's people, have vision of something beyond the difficulties and disappointments of this life. We are journeying towards fulfillment, completion, expansion of life. We, too, are "going to the Father." Much is dim concerning our home-country, but two things are clear. It is home, "the Father's House." It is the nearer presence of the Lord. We are all wayfarers, but the believer knows it and accepts it. He is a traveller, not a settler. --R. C. Gillie 

The little birds trust God, for they go singing
From northern woods where autumn winds have blown,
With joyous faith their trackless pathway winging
To summer-lands of song, afar, unknown.

Let us go singing, then, and not go sighing:
Since we are sure our times are in His hand,
Why should we weep, and fear, and call it dying?
'Tis only flitting to a Summer-land. 

--Selected

Healing with Chamomile

Peter was so tired that he flopped down upon the nice soft sand on the floor of the rabbit-hole and shut his eyes. His mother was busy cooking; she wondered what he had done with his clothes. It was the second little jacket and pair of shoes that Peter had lost in a fortnight!

I am sorry to say that Peter was not very well during the evening.

His mother put him to bed, and made some chamomile tea; and she gave a dose of it to Peter!

Beatrix Potter, "The Tale of Peter Rabbit"

Chamomile is such a delightful herb. Although I have only just begun to benefit from its healing worth, I already love this herb. I'm  certain is will be among my favorites throughout my years (eighty, at least) of home doctorin'. Like many other herbs, it is versatile in its uses: tea, massage oil, salve, tincture, liniment, and hair rinse, to name a few off the top of my head. It soothes pain, cleanses wounds, calms nerves, and brings rest.

An Open Ear, A Believing Heart

Jesus, answering, saith unto them, 

Have faith in God. 

For verily I say unto you,... 

Whosoever shall not doubt in his heart, 

but shall believe that those things 

which he saith shall come to pass; 

he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Mark 11:22-23

Excerpt from Andrew Murray's With Christ in the School of Prayer

Answer to prayer is one of the most wonderful lessons in all Scripture. In many hearts it must raise the question, "How can I ever attain the faith that knows it receives everything it asks for?" It is this question our Lord will answer today.

Before He gave that wonderful promise to His disciples, Christ shows where faith in the answer to prayer originates and finds its strength. Have faith in God. This faith precedes the faith in the promise of an answer to prayer. The power to believe a promise depends entirely on faith in the promiser. Trust in the person engenders trust in what He says. We must live and associate with God in personal, loving communication. God Himself should be everything to us. His Holy Presence is revealed where our whole being is opened and exposed to His mighty influence. There the capacity for believing His promises will be developed.

The connection between faith in God and faith in His promise will become clear to us if we consider what faith really is. It is often compared to the hand or the mouth, by which we take and use what is given to us. But it is important that we understand that faith is also the ear by which we hear what is promised and the eye by which we see what is offered. The power to take depends on this. I must hear the person who gives me the promise because the very tone of his voice gives me courage to believe. I must see him because the light of his face melts all my qualms about my right to take. The value of the promise depends on the promiser. It is on my knowledge of what the promiser is that faith in the promise depends.