It's like a Bubbling Brook

Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The Peace of God that transcends…..

I have often felt and have been enveloped by the Peace of God.  Usually I have quickly recognized it, but this time….with the passing of my mom…it has been a little different. 

I have found myself asking why I am not hurting more…why the grieving somehow seems less so quickly…its only been a week.

I find myself almost feeling guilty that my heart is not more painful….  My sister and I have both discussed this…both of us feeling the same. 

The Peace of God the Bible says transcends….it goes beyond…beyond, past all that the human person feels, thinks and allows pain to do to us.  It's not that the pain has been overlooked or passed by, but somehow has been strongly overshadowed and has left a peaceful environment and the pain I expected has decreased, somehow lessened.  It's as if the Spirit of God has breathe life into those areas that somehow would want to shrivel and die…..He has not allowed my very being to fall beyond His grasp….He has gently carried me…..gently reminding me not only of the most beautiful memories of my mom…but assured me that she is with Him.  It’s a gift…it’s a gift from my Father in Heaven.  A gift that he doesn’t have to give me, just like when he allowed my very ears to hear my mom’s confession of her faith & hope in her Maker, her Father, her Savior.  It’s a gift.   It's a bucket of kindness, a fountain of precious rain falling on my heart to bring life....it's a sound of a bubbling brook that I hear...can you hear it.....it brings clean, gentle, refreshing water...water that carries life.  Every morning He sends a mist, a blanket of dew to refresh me again...oh continue to flood my soul Lord....

He is my Peace & the Giver of Life.....Eternal Life!

God bless you!~Liz

www.lizrod.com

I have lost my dearest MOM

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into
life. John 5:24 (NKJV)

6:34 AM. I begin to write this morning with loss unimaginable. My dearest mom has slipped away. A pain that echos through my mind and body causing me to grieve like never before. I turn to my pen...(email) to begin to write a small drop of the ache inside of me. My Hope and all that gives me strength is in Christ.

I sit here this morning and even last night wondering if there was something more I could have
done for my mom. My mom raised her family to be close and always to care and look out for one another; that's how it was, that's how is was yesterday as we waited 8 hours for her to come out of heart surgery. She never came back to us; God chose to call her from the operating table into his presence. Tuesday night as I spoke to my mom, we spoke about the Lord. She explained to me that the Lord was her Father and her Savior; we will meet again!

Yesterday before she went into the operating room I told her I loved her; I told her to keep
calling on the Lord; today she does not have to call very far...she is with Him.

God bless you!~Liz
www.lizrod.com

Hep Us and Find Us Faithful

Psalm 121 (KJV)

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.

I was singing this Psalm this morning in the car on the way to work.

As I was reading this Psalm, I was lead to read about David building an alter shortly after the Lord sent a plague on Israel and 70,000 men fell dead.  As the angel was carrying out the instructions of the Lord, the Bible says the Lord saw it and relented; the mercy of God.

David had trusted in his fighting men; that was his sin. (1 Chronicles 21:1-8)

It's incredible to compare the different responses of the "men of old" and thus try and learn from them.

Moses though he tired as Joshua fought the Amalekites found that the Lord sent him Aaron & Hur to hold up his hands and so he continue to cry out to the Lord.  The Lord gave them victory. Moses built and alter and called it The Lord is my Banner. (Exodus 17:8-16)

Moses didn't enter the Promise Land; the Lord said, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them" He struck the rock, when the Lord specifically said speak to the rock. (Numbers 20:12)

It is Abraham we find now in Mount Moriah binding his son in obedience to the Lord. Abraham obeyed though he did not fully understand and he witnessed the provision of God.

Peter whom the Lord used mightily denied the Lord 3 times, though he swore he never

would. Hallelujah, that Peter's heart was remorseful as he wept; the Lord used Peter to spread the Message of the Kingdom of God.

These examples in the Word of God are but a few; they show us how quickly one can become vulnerable to sin or disobey God if we are not careful, maybe just deny him in front of the pressures of this world like Peter.  We must be on our guard.

It is in the Lord of Heaven & Earth that we must place our trust in.  We do not trust in chariots

or horses (Psalm 20) or our jobs, our strength, our health, our wealth or anything else, or least we shouldn't.

Help us Lord and find us faithful to trust in you the Giver of Life.

God bless you!~Liz

www.lizrod.com