February 28 - Book Excerpt

“The proper motive for service is love.  Love for the Master, love for our work and love for lost souls will provide the grace to overlook difficulties, work out problems, endure hardship as a good soldier and find the rich blessing of service.”

From Where In the World Are You Going? By Joyce Vick

February 27 - Quotes

“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.”

“When one door closes, another opens. But we often look so regretfully upon the closed door that we don't see the one that has 

opened for us.” 

“The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart.”

“There is no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a helping hand to someone in the dark.”

- Helen Keller

February 26 - Speech Excerpt

From childhood, it was my firm conviction that GOD is the Giver of Life, and that life begins at the very moment of conception.  Then I held the body of our little miscarried son in my hands.  I marveled at his fingers, his toes, his lips, his nose . . .  Suddenly “pro-life” was so much more than just a phrase.  How could anyone INTENTIONALLY take the life of their unborn child? 

On more than one occasion, since then, the Lord has allowed me to use the death of our son to teach others about life in the womb.  You see, when a lady miscarries, it is considered a LOSS - a DEATH.  That means that before that death, there was LIFE! Having an abortion is seeking to purposefully and brutally END that LIFE!

If you have never read the biography of Gianna Jessen, or listened to one of her powerful speeches, I encourage you to do so.  She is an abortion SURVIVOR, who lived to tell the world of God’s forgiveness and His love. 

ADDRESS AT PARLIAMENT HOUSE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA – Sept. 8, 2008:

“Ladies and gentlemen, there are things that you will only be able to learn by the weakest among us.  And when you snuff them out, you are the one that loses.  The Lord looks after them but you are the one that will suffer forever . . . And it has been an argument for so long in this human place that we live, that the stronger should dominate the weaker, should determine who lives or dies.  The arrogance of that!  Don’t you realize that you cannot make your own heartbeat? Don’t you realize that all the power you think you possess, you really possess none of it, it is the mercy of God that sustains you, even when you hate Him . . . And I think in our misunderstanding of the way things work, we misunderstand how beautiful suffering can be.  I don’t willingly sign up for it.  But when it comes we forget, we forget that God is in control and God has a way of making the most miserable thing beautiful.”

February 25 - Quote

“Leave it all in the Hands that were wounded for you.”

- Elisabeth Elliot (Wife of Missionary Martyr Jim Elliot)

February 24 - UPDATE!

     Only a few days left in February . . . How this month has flown!  I pray that the daily blog posts have been a blessing! As we travel on deputation, our own hearts continue to heal, and God continues to burden us for others walking through great sorrow. The work of publishing my miscarriage booklet is quickly coming to a close.  It is our prayer that A Letter In Your Loss will be for sale on Amazon by the beginning of March.  You can currently find excerpts on the blog page for The Guild of Baptist Writers, at www.baptistwriters.com.  I look forward to returning to my Dinner’s In The Oven devotionals, very soon!  Please pray for us as we share with others the comfort that only Our Loving Savior can give . . .   

LIVING FOR JESUS

By Thomas O. Chisholm

Living for Jesus a life that is true,

Striving to please Him in all that I do;

Yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free,

This is the pathway of blessing for me.

Living for Jesus who died in my place,

Bearing on Calv’ry my sin and disgrace;

Such love constrains me to answer His call,

Follow His leading and give Him my all.

Living for Jesus wherever I am,

Doing each duty in His holy name;

Willing to suffer affliction and loss,

Deeming each trial a part of my cross.

Living for Jesus through earth’s little while,

My dearest treasure, the light of His smile;

Seeking the lost ones He died to redeem,

Bringing the weary to find rest in Him.

Chorus:

O Jesus, Lord and Saviour, I give myself to Thee,

For Thou, in Thy atonement, Didst give Thyself for me;

I own no other Master, My heart shall be Thy throne,

My life I give, henceforth to live, O Christ, for Thee alone.

February 23 - Book Excerpt

“When your cares are pulling your mind, will, and emotions in every direction imaginable, God is there to help you pull yourself back together.  When your heart is so distracted by problems that you cannot focus on what and who really matters, God is there to help you regain your focus on Him.  When the burden of your fears becomes so heavy that you are just about ready to buckle under its pressure, God is there waiting for you to heave that burden off your back and onto His shoulders.  Why? Why would God want to take your problems off you and place them on Himself? Because he 'cares' for you!”

Fear Not, By Rand Hummel

February 22 - Book Excerpt

“The enemy wants other things and other people to replace God’s preeminence in our schedule, in our mind, in our heart, in our home.  He wants our loyalties lured away from our Creator and dispersed among a dozen others, without our even thinking about it.”

- Fervent, By Priscila Shirer 

February 21 - Hymn

GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU

Be not dismayed whate’er betide, God will take care of you;

Beneath His wings of love abide, God will take care of you;

God will take care of you, Through ev’ry day, O’er all the way;

He will take care of you, God will take care of you.

February 20 - Quote

“This is strength; this is peace; to feel, in entering on every day, that all its duties and trials have been committed to the Lord Jesus – that, come what may, He will use us for His own glory and our real good!”

- John G. Paton (Missionary to the New Hebrides Islands)

February 19 - Sermon Excerpt

“If men had half as much grit as the women there would be different stories written about a good many homes. Look at her work! It is the greatest in the world; in its far reaching importance it is transcendently above everything in the universe - her task in molding hearts and lives and shaping character. If you want to find greatness, don't go toward the throne; go to the cradle, and the nearer you get to the cradle, the nearer to greatness . . . The work is so important that God will not trust anybody with it but a mother. The launching of a boy or girl to live for Christ is greater work than to launch a battleship . . . Will you promise and covenant with God, and with me, and with one another, that from now on you will try, with God's help, to do better than you ever have done to raise your children for God?”

From Billy Sunday’s Sermon “Motherhood” 

February 18 - Quote

“Circumstances may appear to wreck our lives and God’s plans, but God is not helpless among the ruins.  God’s love is still working.  He comes in and takes the calamity and uses it victoriously, working out His wonderful plan of love.”

- Eric Liddell (Olympic Athlete & Missionary To China)

February 17 - Encouraging Thought

A young lady handed Brandon three one-dollar bills, at a recent church service.  What a sweet encouragement to us!  I smiled when I learned of it, knowing that I was that girl once – eager to meet the missionaries; wanting with all my heart to be doing what they were doing . . . You never know what plans God may have for that teenager’s life, tomorrow, because she said “Yes!” to Him, today.  Are YOU saying “Yes!” to the Savior, this hour?

February 16 - Book Excerpt

“When we focus on what others are doing and we try to do the same or better, we are focusing too much on achievements.  We try to keep up with someone else’s schedule or accomplishments – forgetting that God has given each of us different abilities, talents, and gifts, and forgetting that we may be in different stages of life with 

different demands or pressures.”

- It’s A Wonderful Life, By Terrie Chappell 

February 15 - Quote

“Fear arises when we imagine that everything depends on us.” 

– Elisabeth Elliot (Missionary Wife in Ecuador)

February 14 - Quote

"The wonderful thing about praying is that you leave a world of not being able to do something, and enter God's realm where everything is possible.  He specializes in the impossible.  Nothing is too great for His almighty power.  Nothing is too small for His love." - Corrie Ten Boom

February 13 - Hymn Thoughts

As a teenager, imagining my future on the mission field, I purchased a hymnal for myself.  It is still one of my “devotion time” treasures.  There are hymns woven into my journal and woven into the booklet I just finished writing . . . I often play a CD of instrumental hymns, on the days when the tears threaten to flow . . . These are the songs of our faith!  They come from words of Scripture.  They come from the hearts of those acquainted with life and love, joy and sorrow, triumph and defeat.  May we read them, and sing them, and teach them to our children.  The Bible says, “I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (Ps. 34:1)

Trusting Jesus

Edgar P. Stites

Simply trusting ev’ry day,

Trusting thro’ a stormy way;

Even when my faith is small,

Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Trusting as the moments fly,

Trusting as the days go by;

Trusting Him whate’er befall,

Trusting Jesus, that is all.

February 12 - Quote

“Sympathy is no substitute for action.” – David Livingstone (Missionary to Africa)

What are you doing to help someone in need, today?

February 11 - Poem

God Knows Best

By Helen Steiner Rice

Our Father knows what’s best for us,

So why should we complain

We always want the sunshine,

But He knows there must be rain.

We love the sound of laughter

And the merriment of cheer,

But our hearts would lose their tenderness

If we never shed a tear . . .

Our Father tests us often

With suffering and with sorrow,

He tests us, not to punish us,

But to help us meet tomorrow . . . 

For growing trees are strengthened
When they withstand the storm,

And the sharp cut of a chisel

Gives the marble grace and form . . .

God never hurts us needlessly,
And He never wastes our pain

For every loss He sends to us

Is followed by rich gain . . . 

And when we count the blessings

That God has so freely sent,

We will find no cause for murmuring

And no time to lament . . . 

For our Father loves His children,
And to Him all things are plain,

So He never sends us pleasure

When the soul’s deep need is pain . . . 

So whenever we are troubled,
And when everything goes wrong,

It is just God working in us

To make our spirit strong.

February 10 - Sermon Excerpt

“Thou tellest me thou hast little faith.  I ask thee whether thou art given to the meditation of God’s Word, whether thou hast studied the promises, whether thou art wont to carry one of those sacred things about with thee every day?  Dost thou reply, ‘No?’ Then, I tell thee, I do not wonder at thine unbelief.” – Charles Spurgeon’s Sermon “A Lecture For Little Faith”

February 9 - Book Excerpt

“Viewing those eight years from this far side, I marvel at the wisdom and love of our God, Who controls the curtains of the stage on which the drama of our lives is played;  His hand draws aside the curtains of events only far enough for us to view one sequence at a time. 

Had those eight years been revealed to me in one panoramic view that misty gray January morning in 1938, would I have had the courage to board the ship? I wonder.

   

Through the intervening years, tempestuous winds of gale force have buffeted me.  Waves of tidal proportions have threatened to carry me under or dash me upon the rocks.  But knowing now what I did not know those many years ago, with C. H. Spurgeon, I can thank my God for every storm that has wrecked me upon the Rock, Christ Jesus!”

- Excerpt From Evidence Not Seen, The Autobiography of Darlene Deibler Rose (WWII Missionary POW in Indonesia) 

February 8 - Hymn

How Firm A Foundation

George Keith

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word! What more can He say than to you He hath said, To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

“In ev’ry condition, in sickness, in health, In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth; At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea, As your days may demand, shall your strength ever be.

“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply; The flame shall not hurt thee – I only design Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

“E’en down to old age, all My people shall prove My sov’reign, eternal, unchangeable love; And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn, Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.

“The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to its foes; That soul, though all Hell should endeavor to shake, I’ll never, no, never, no, never forsake!”

February 7 - Quote

“Christ wants not nibblers of the possible, but grabbers of the impossible.” – C. T. Studd (Missionary to China, India & Africa) 

February 6 - Hymn

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Helen Howarth Lemmel

O soul, are you weary and troubled?

No light in the darkness you see?

There's light for a look at the Saviour,

And life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face; 

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace. 

February 5 - Poem

When Troubles Assail You, God Will Not Fail You

By Helen Steiner Rice

When life seems empty

And there’s no place to go,

When your heart is troubled

And your spirits are low,

When friends seem few

And nobody cares

There is always God

To hear your prayers –

And whatever you’re facing

Will seem much less

When you go to God

And confide and confess,

For the burden that seems

Too heavy to bear

God lifts away

On the wings of prayer –

And seen through God’s eyes

Earthly troubles diminish

And we’re given new strength

To face and to finish

Life’s daily tasks

As they come along

If we pray for strength

To keep us strong –

So go to Our Father

When troubles assail you

For His grace is sufficient

And He’ll never fail you.

February 4 - Quote

“A cup brimful of sweetness cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, no matter how suddenly jarred.” – Amy Carmichael (Missionary To India)

February 3 - Poem

Never Borrow Sorrow From Tomorrow

By Helen Steiner Rice

Deal only with the present,

Never step into tomorrow,

For God asks us just to trust Him

And to never borrow sorrow -

For the future is not ours to know

And it may never be,

So let us live and give our best

And give it lavishly - 

For to meet tomorrow's troubles

Before they are even ours

Is to anticipate the Saviour 

And to doubt His all-wise powers - 

So let us be content to solve

Our problems one by one,

Asking nothing of tomorrow

Except "Thy will be done." 

February 2 - Quote

"Christ is either Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all." - Hudson Taylor (Missionary To China)

I want to encourage you to let the Holy Spirit be in charge. God's will for our days is so much better than anything we could ever plan for ourselves!  

February 1 - Book Excerpt

I have recently been reading the autobiography of missionary wife Rosalind Goforth, entitled Climbing.  In it she writes,

“The Bible has always, since my conversion when a child of twelve, been a treasured companion.  In the years when the children were small, with incessant calls upon me, I was unable, like my husband, to give hours a day to Bible study.  I came to take the Bible as God’s Word to me, often taking some promise for the day on which to lean. Sometimes, however, I dug into the Word with a concordance to find out what the Bible had to say on some matter on which at the time I needed help.  I have before me as I write over forty outlines of such studies.”

Everything in life comes in stages. No matter the stage, we can still spend valuable time in God's Word!