Clouds Are the Dust of His Feet

Today is Friday, July 29, 2016. The trade deadline is Sunday.

Quote of the Day

“I love the way that each book—any book—is its own journey. You open it, and off you go….” ― Sharon Creech

Word of the Day

Skylark – to frolic; sport: The children were skylarking on the beach. There once was a Buick called “Skylark.”

Today is Talk In An Elevator Day. I probably won’t be in an elevator today, so someone talk for me, okay?

Friday is here! The weekend is just around the corner. I have a few things that need to get done. For example, I need to put together music for band rehearsal, which kicks back off Monday night. But wait . . . I don’t know what part I’m going to be playing on this round. I’ll have to get with our section leader and find out. If I’m not playing first, I’ll have to get new music.

The gate is finally finished. So our fence is done. Now, we just wait for the replacement part on our pool heater, and all of this will be done. The guys did a great job on the fence and gate, in my opinion.

Nothing much going on this weekend, I think, other than a PAT meeting after church on Sunday. I do have a little “work” to do before the meeting, as we are supposed to do an analysis on how we think the church is doing since we moved to the Y location. I’ve been thinking about it, I just don’t have anything written down.

The Rangers pulled off a win, last night, over KC, 3-2, while the Red Sox managed to lose to the Angels in the bottom of the 9th, 2-1. Needless to say, I’m concerned about them, as they have now lost four in a row, and six of their last ten. But as “they” say, there’s still a lot of baseball left.

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL

(From Praying With the Psalms)

He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days.
“O my God,” I say, “take me not away in the midst of my days— you whose years endure throughout all generations!”
Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
but you are the same, and your years have no end.
The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you. Psalm 102:23-28

“All life is unfinished.” At face value, a rather depressing sentence. It seems like nothing in our lives is ever complete. But when we join the work of God, “we find a proper beginning and a satisfying ending to our existence.” Only then do our lives make sense.

“Take, Lord, all my parts–whatever years and whatever acts you can salvage out of my sin–and build a new life. Lay foundations of eternity in me; construct spacious stretches of salvation around me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

(From My Utmost For His Highest)

What Do You See in Your Clouds?

Behold, he is coming with the clouds. . . Revelation 1:7

“In the Bible clouds are always connected with God.” However, clouds also seem to symbolize sorrows, sufferings, or other troubles that make us doubt God’s very existence. “It is by those very clouds that the Spirit of God is teaching us how to walk by faith. If there were no clouds, we should have no faith.” That reminds me of a false statement that became very popular a few years ago, “God will never give you more than you can handle.” Poppycock! If God did not give me more than I could handle, I would never need him, would I? It’s the same with the clouds. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. (Nahum 1:3)

Now, Chambers makes an interesting statement. God does not want to teach us something in our trials. Rather, “He wants us to unlearn something. His purpose in the cloud is to simplify our belief until our relationship to Him is exactly that of a child.” Other people in our lives will become shadows in our clouds. If we are relying on anyone but Jesus, our cloud will get darker.

Father, I pray that, when clouds come, I will recognize your presence in them. I pray that I will “unlearn” anything unhealthy that I have begun to believe about you and our relationship, while in the clouds. Let me get to a place where my life is so simplified that you are all there is, and that nothing else matters, at least spiritually. I pray for the wisdom and strength to rely solely on Jesus and no one else.

Come, Lord Jesus!

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Grace and peace, friends.