Show Love

From Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman

Colossians 3:12 Put on as the elect of God, kindness.

There is a story of an old man who carried a little can of oil with him everywhere he went, and if he passed through a door that squeaked, he poured a little oil on the hinges. If a gate was hard to open, he oiled the latch. And thus he passed through life lubricating all hard places and making it easier for those who came after him. 

People called him eccentric, queer, and cranky; but the old man went steadily on refilling his can of oil when it became empty, and oiled the hard places he found. 

There are many lives that creak and grate harshly as they live day by day. Nothing goes right with them. They need lubricating with the oil of gladness, gentleness, or thoughtfulness. Have you your own can of oil with you? Be ready with your oil of helpfulness in the early morning to the one nearest you. It may lubricate the whole day for him. The oil of good cheer to the downhearted one--Oh, how much it may mean! The word of courage to the despairing. Speak it. 

Our lives touch others but once, perhaps, on the road of life; and then, mayhap, our ways diverge, never to meet again. The oil of kindness has worn the sharp, hard edges off of many a sin-hardened life and left it soft and pliable and ready for the redeeming grace of the Saviour. 

A word spoken pleasantly is a large spot of sunshine on a sad heart. Therefore, "Give others the sunshine, tell Jesus the rest." 

We cannot know the grief 

That men may borrow; 

We cannot see the souls 

Storm-swept by sorrow; 

But love can shine upon the way 

Today, tomorrow; 

Let us be kind. 

Upon the wheel of pain
So many weary lives are broken, 

We live in vain
Who give no tender token. 

Let us be kind.

Romans 12:10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love.

This meant a lot to me this morning. It was convicting because I am a life that creaks and grates harshly as I live day by day.

Loving others is one of the hardest things for us to do. Love is not a feeling but a choice. It means choosing to show love when it means making a sacrifice. It means choosing to show love even when it is not reciprocated. Love is not produced in the heart as one might think: it is produced by the Spirit of God ("the fruit of the spirit is love"). Love is not something that we can do! Only the Holy Spirit can enable us to show love to the unlovely.

Jesus said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Jesus' love for we unlovely sinners was the greatest sacrificial love of all, but daily we can lay down our lives -- our wants, our plans, our time, this thing called self -- for those in our lives whom God has called us to love. By showing love to others, we lose sight of self, and we find J-O-Y in its stead. By "oiling" some other life with the oil of gladness, we get "oiled" ourselves. When we show Jesus' love to others, Jesus shows His love to us!

There is no way to measure the worth of making the pathway of life a little easier for someone else. Choosing to show love is priceless.

Be Wise & Be Blessed

Hearken unto me, O ye children: 

 for blessed are they that keep my ways. 

Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. 

Proverbs 8:32-33

O Lord, I Need to Thank You for...

41. The thankful Pharisee in Luke 18 who actually helped me today by making realize what a hopeless sinner I am.

42. And the publican who, like me, realized how needy we are of Your mercy.

43. Answers to prayer that are better than the best I can think of.

44. When I pray that You would humble me, You send me trials that stir up my pride and force me to see if I am truly sincere in my desire for a meek and quiet spirit.

45. When I see Your hand in sending me those trials, for the grace You give to lay down myself and do what pleases You. And then you give me such a joy I can't express!

46. Many other such answers to prayer!

47. Giving me another day of life.

48. The missionaries to Malawi, Africa who will arrive on Thursday and be with us until Monday. I'm encouraged already! That our people will have the opportunity to hear about Your work in a land so distant and different from ours, and of the precious souls there who need You just as much as they do.

49. The fifteen children to came to Sunday Bible Time yesterday afternoon! I love them so much, dear Lord. For their sweet, happy faces that I love to look into as I lead them in singing songs to You each week. For their open hearts. Their faithfulness. Their rapt attention as Mom tells stories of Bible heroes that they never knew existed, causing me to marvel at the incredible "His-stories" of Your Word which I take for granted. For their excitement as they shoot their hands into the air, hoping to be the one picked to answer a review question. They are learning from Your Word and I am so thrilled, Lord! What a priceless privilege it is to love these precious children whom You love so much.

50. Your will for me today: To serve You with gladness.

Can Thine Heart Endure?

From Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman

Romans 8:26 We know not what we should pray for as we ought.

Much that perplexes us in our Christian experience is but the answer to our prayers. We pray for patience, and our Father sends those who tax us to the utmost; for "tribulation worketh patience."

We pray for submission, and God sends sufferings; for "we learn obedience by the things we suffer."

We pray for unselfishness, and God gives us opportunities to sacrifice ourselves by thinking on the things of others, and by laying down our lives for the brethren.

We pray for strength and humility, and some messenger of Satan torments us until we lie in the dust crying for its removal.

We pray, "Lord, increase our faith," and money takes wings; or the children are alarmingly ill; or a servant comes who is careless, extravagant, untidy or slow, or some hitherto unknown trial calls for an increase of faith along a line where we have not needed to exercise much faith before.

We pray for the Lamb-life, and are given a portion of lowly service, or we are injured and must seek no redress; for "he was led as a lamb to the slaughter and... opened not his mouth."

We pray for gentleness, and there comes a perfect storm of temptation to harshness and irritability. We pray for quietness, and every nerve is strung to the utmost tension, so that looking to Him we may learn that when He giveth quietness, no one can make trouble.

We pray for love, and God sends peculiar suffering and puts us with apparently unlovely people, and lets them say things which rasp the nerves and lacerate the heart; for love suffereth long and is kind, love is not impolite, love is not provoked. LOVE BEARETH ALL THINGS, believeth, hopeth and endureth, love never faileth. We pray for likeness to Jesus, and the answer is, "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." "Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong?" "Are ye able?"

The way to peace and victory is to accept every circumstance, every trial, straight from the hand of a loving Father; and to live up in the heavenly places, above the clouds, in the very presence of the Throne, and to look down from the Glory upon our environment as lovingly and divinely appointed.  -- Selected

Can thine heart endure, 

or can thine hands be strong, 

in the days that I shall deal with thee? 

I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it.

{ Ezekiel 22:14 }

I prayed for strength, and then I lost awhile
All sense of nearness, human and divine;
The love I leaned on failed and pierced my heart,
The hands I clung to loosed themselves from mine;

But while I swayed, weak, trembling, and alone,
The everlasting arms upheld my own.

I prayed for light; the sun went down in clouds,
The moon was darkened by a misty doubt,
The stars of heaven were dimmed by earthly fears,
And all my little candle flames burned out;

But while I sat in shadow, wrapped in night,
The face of Christ made all the darkness bright.

I prayed for peace, and dreamed of restful ease,
A slumber drugged from pain, a hushed repose;
Above my head the skies were black with storm,
And fiercer grew the onslaught of my foes;

But while the battle raged, and wild winds blew,
I heard His voice and perfect peace I knew.

I thank Thee, Lord, Thou wert too wise to heed
My feeble prayers, and answer as I sought,
Since these rich gifts Thy bounty has bestowed
Have brought me more than all I asked or thought;

Giver of good, so answer each request
With Thine own giving, better than my best.

{ Annie Johnson Flint }

Great Things and Unsearchable

Job 5:8-9

I would seek unto God,
and unto God would I commit my cause:
which doeth great things and unsearchable,
marvellous things without number.

God, I commit my cause to You.
I cannot count the good things You do.
It is You that I want to be glorified.
Job five, verses eight and nine.

I would seek unto God,
and unto God would I commit my cause:
which doeth great things and unsearchable,
marvellous things without number.


.PDF Sheet Music
Audio source: FreeBibleMusic.com
Sung by Abigail Miller

In the photos: Withered Arctic daisies -- the first snowfall of the year.

Make My Heart Tender!

May my whole life be one of continued believing in You.

Purify and sanctify my heart.

Make it so tenderly susceptible to Yourself and Your love

that believing in You will become its very breath.

Andrew Murray

With Christ in the School of Prayer

To ask Jesus to make our hearts tender and wholly susceptible to His love, we must be willing to accept the pain it will bring. A tender heart acutely feels the tiniest pricks of the Holy Spirit. A tender heart requires God's work of purification, a process that is trying to our faith.

But when God works in the heart, making it pure and tender, we gain so much more than we suffer. When our hearts become tender toward conviction, our hearts become tender toward the love of God. We can know what it means to have a heart that is so tender toward His love, that knowing His presence becomes a very real and satisfying thing. The pure in heart are blessed because they see God.

Seek and Find

I love them that love me; 

and those that seek me early shall find me. 

Proverbs 8:17

If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

Proverbs 2:4-6

See James 1:5 & 17

Qunbuq, Sikuibvik, Puktaaq, Sikuvik, Siku

"What an odd title!" you may be thinking. The five words above are in the Inupiaq Eskimo language. Although English is the predominant language among the Eskimo people today, many do still speak their native language fluently, particularly those of the older generations. The people also love to sing hymns in Inupiaq, as do my family and myself. With the words in front of you and a steady rhythm to help you along, learning to sing in Inupiaq is generally easy. However, I know very little of this complex language by memory so I had to use an online translator to learn these words. (chuckle)

Qunbuq: brightness on horizon indicating presence of ice on ocean

I thought I would share some photos which I took a few days ago. The ocean has been slowly freezing up during the recent weeks. The qunbuq moves in and out with the current of the ocean and changes in the wind. Pretty soon it will move in permanently and we will see nothing but white on white on white until Sikuibvik.

Sikuibvik: May (lit. ice break-up time) 

I have always loved this old overturned umiaq (skin boat) on the bank. It has been there since before my family moved to this village, at least. I think it is so picturesque. I have hundreds of pictures of it, surrounded by the different seasons.

From the End of the Earth

Psalm 61:1-3

Hear my cry, O God;
attend unto my prayer.
From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee,
when my heart is overwhelmed:
lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For thou hast been a shelter for me,
and a strong tower from the enemy.

Hear my cry, O God;
attend unto my prayer.
From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee,
when my heart is overwhelmed.


.PDF Sheet Music
Audio by Patti Vaillant

In the photos: Fog-shrouded mountains seen between Tok and Anchorage, Alaska. First two taken early in the morning, around 7:30 AM, and the third at 9 AM.

Introducing Perfect Peace Herbal Tea

I had been anticipating the arrival of my first order from The Bulk Herb Store. Oh, what joy! My herb cupboard in my family's kitchen is absolutely to the brim.

It has been so fun to experiment with different tea blends. So far I have come up with Fruit Felicity, Heart at Home (still needs some work), and Perfect Peace -- which is now available for purchase in my little shop! The others will be making their appearance before long.

Perfect Peace became an immediate favorite with my sister, my mom and myself. I've made it for us to enjoy the past few evenings. It makes us feel so relaxed and quite sleepy. =) As for me, it greatly helped with some bad tummy pain caused by a new brand of garlic capsules. Ugh. =( Thank the Lord for herbs!

"Teas (infusions and/or decoctions) have the advantage of being well assimilated, which make them easier for a weakened body to digest. Hot water releases more of the herb's active elements. Best of all, most teas taste great." -- BulkHerbStore.com

View the listing for more info!

The Way of Life

The commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; 

and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: 

Proverbs 6:23

He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: 

but he that refuseth reproof erreth.

Proverbs 10:17

In the photo: Sunlit leaves of an oak tree in Grandma's yard (Iowa)

Fresh Touch with God

From Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman

Genesis 41:4, 7 And the ill favored and lean-fleshed kine did eat up the seven well favored and fat kine... and the thin ears swallowed up the seven rank and full ears. 

There is a warning for us in that dream, just as it stands: It is possible for the best years of our life, the best experiences, the best victories won, the best service rendered, to be swallowed up by times of failure, defeat, dishonor, uselessness in the kingdom. Some men's lives of rare promise and rare achievement have ended so. It is awful to think of, but it is true. Yet it is never necessary. 

S. D. Gordon has said that the only assurance of safety against this tragedy is "fresh touch with God," daily, hourly. The blessed, fruitful, victorious experiences of yesterday are not only of no value to me today, but they will actually be eaten up or reversed by today's failures, unless they serve as incentives to still better, richer experiences today.

Amen! How, how true! We so NEED God to anoint us with the "fresh oil" (Ps. 92:10) of the sweet Holy Spirit, day by day and hour by hour. We have never "arrived" -- we need to attain new and greater victories TODAY!