STARS

From the very beginning, human beings have craned their necks toward the night sky and stared in wonder at the stars. 

How many there are!

How tiny!

And so near, it seems as though one could reach out and touch them.  This is one case where appearances can badly mask the truth.  For in reality, the universe contains untold trillions of stars, not the mere thousands that can be seen from earth by the naked eye.  Some 100 billion stars light up the Milky Way galaxy alone – and the cosmos harbors billions of galaxies, some vastly larger than our own.

And tiny?  Hardly.  Some of those twinkling little specks of light – such as the red giant Betelgeuse – are actually  up to 500 times larger than our own sun.  Of course, other stars may take up far less space.  A star massive enough to create a supernova, for example, may after the explosion shrink to a sphere no larger than twelve to thirty miles in diameter.  But don’t plan on visiting it any time soon; it would still have a mass several times that of the sun and a density millions times greater.  A teaspoon of it would weigh thousands of tons.

And forget about near.  The closes star to earth is Proxima Centauri. If you could travel at the speed of light, it would take you 4.3 years to get there – but at the fastest speeds humankind has thus far achieved, it would take almost 280 centuries.  When you consider that the Milky Way galaxy alone stretches some 70,000 light years across, you stop talking about “near.”

AND YET…

God not only created the stars (Genesis 1:16), He set each one in place (Psalm 8:3).  The stars may look impossibly bright to us, but in His eyes not even the stars are pure (Job 25:5).  The psalmist calls upon the stars to praise God (Psalm 148:3) and our Lord warns us not to worship the starry host (Deuteronomy 4:19).  Though they stagger us, they hide no secrets from Him:

“HE DETERMINES THE NUMBER OF THE STARS AND CALLS THEM EACH BY NAME.” GREAT IS OUR LORD AND MIGHTY IN POWER; HIS UNDERSTANDING HAS NO LIMIT.” (Psalm 147:4-5)

“How Majestic is Thy Name”, 2001.  www.newleafpress.net

delighting in the Grandeur of God

As I was going through my leftover boxes I found this book.  I remember getting it at some close out bookstore sale for just a couple of dollars.  Flipping through the pages I was reminded why I didn’t get rid of this book with the others, as I was purging my life.  The beauty of the photographs and the truth written pierces my soul. 

I have never been fond of science, but remember how this book grabbed my attention, because of its simple explanation of some of life's phenomena’s and portrayal of those wonders in Gods Word. 

It is a treasure I do not want to conceal to collect dust in a box, and thus I thought I would share it with you all within the next few blogs.

I am taking the time to retype a book, so I hope you will take the time to read the blog.  One a time.

Let us Delight in the Grandeur of our God, together.

burned but not abandoned

As I was out on a morning walk, I saw this house that has obviously suffered through a harsh fire recently.  In the neighborhood with other homes well taken care of, it looked abandoned.  There was a guy doing something in the rumble of it all, and it made me think....

Have you been burned?

Has your heart, your health or your mind suffered some intense flames?  Have you been damaged? Broken? Disfigured?  Dirtied? Suffocating in the smoke of the after affects?

Burned, but not abandoned. 

Whatever happened to you – in whatever way.. you have not been left to mend the wounds all alone.  Although it might feel this way.  It might seem like no one is there.  The windows are broken and its all deserted.  But the Lord, the Author, The Designer knows.  He Knows the original intent, and He does not abandon.

He sees.

He Loves.

He Restores.
Remodels.

Mends.

Heals.

He turns Ashes into Beauty.

Always.

Sometimes it just takes a little time for reconstruction. 

But He does the work.  He can.  And He Will. 

Just let Him.

Hand over the rights. 

Hand over the ownership.

He is a rich landlord that invests without holding back.

He will do it! 

He will restore!

Redeem and make a comfortable, lovely dwelling for Himself in you once again.

He will!

Beauty from Ashes.

sex or no sex

To Husband and Wife: “Do not deprive each other.. so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self control.”  1 Corinthians 7:5

Yesterday I spoke with a friend of mine, and she shared something profound with me.  That in marriage a wife often tries to ‘punish’ her husband by withholding sex from him and THAT actually opens up the door wide open for Satans temptations. 

Interesting that before marriage Satan tempts people TO HAVE SEX. 

And after marriage the temptation is NOT TO HAVE SEX.

Both open the door for Satans influence and works against ourselves, because it is out of Gods Design.

So in marriage, a husband and wife should NOT deprive each other because it will bring division.  Yet before marriage people MUST DEPRIVE their own bodies, and each other so that it will NOT bring division later in marriage.

Bottom line:

SEX outside of marriage is destructive.

NO SEX in marriage is destructive. 

narrow path

It's been too long since I have written a blog.  Infact, the last blog I wrote from another state, and the one prior to that was from another continent.  Being back in America has had its poll.  Life is busy here.  Regardless the hecticness around me I want to Choose and remain calm.
I want to narrow my focus.  
Narrow my path.  
All I want to see before me is Jesus.  I do not want to be distracted by all the possibilities this land of opportunity brings.  Even in ministry there are tons of things to do, people to help.. I only want to do what I see my Father doing.  I do not want to be distracted by all the great things that I 'could' get involved in.  I want to be narrow in my perspective.  The road before me is wide and broad.  How do I keep my vision narrow?  When everyone wants you to be open minded, with wide perspective and vision to the horizon, how do I keep my heart single focused on Gods word alone?  o Help me Lord!  

sunny above the clouds

As my plane began to decent into cloudy Seattle I thought.."hmm, its always sunny up here, above the clouds." 

Interesting that our life seems to be clouded at times and we dont see the sun, and likewise in our lives things get gloomy and we don't see The Son. 

The Son of God who came to earth, who lived and loved, went to the cross, who died, and rose from the dead and is now alive, preparing a place for you and i ABOVE THE CLOUDS. 

from Russia with love

Last Hour in Russia.

These  months have been incredible.  I’ve done so many things I never planned to do, and I didn’t do some of the things that I did plan to do.  But God has provided a time of rest and a season change that I have never expected.  I am blessed.  I am blessed to be surrounded by people devoted to the Lord.  Being with the Grin Families has been incredible.  Such an example of living completely dependent on God.  Trusting their lives, existence and children into His care and protection, and relying solely on His provision.  That was inspiring and encouraging.  Being able to share Gods truth in cities that I have never even heard of.  Train rides, and long walks.  Heartfelt talks and prayers.  Lots of tea and food that is oh, so good.  There were tons of little ways that God displayed His protection and care.  I never lacked a thing.  In fact God spoiled me some.  For His ways that are beyond my understanding I am so thankful.

What waits for me as I cross the ocean once more? I do not know. But the peace is heavy upon my heart.  I am a daughter of the King of Kings, what do I have to worry about? Whatever life brings, I know that nothing compares to eternal value of Gods grace.

Being in the Moscow airport always makes me want to leave Russia and quick.  If its not them making me throw away rocks form North pole (which has happened twice to me in previous years), its them making me pay for extra luggage or whatever else they decide to do.  And the funniness of having to go pay at another register and then bringing back the receipt reminds me of the Soviet days.  Russians like to make you go places, there is no such thing as one-stop-all.  Then just as I settled in the waiting area, they made an announcement for everyone to get out because they are going to start security check.  Well soon I will be in the comforts of American lifestyle again.  Regardless of where I am, I know that I still am ‘in transit’ while I am on this side of heaven.  For I am a citizen of a heavenly dwelling, and I can’t wait to finish all there is for me to do, and get HOME!