WHOM HAVE I IN HEAVEN BUT THEE?

Photo provided by Kelly Ann Gray 

 Whom have I in heaven but thee? 

and there is none upon earth that 

I desire beside thee. My flesh 

and my heart faileth: but God is 

the strength of my heart, and my 

portion for ever.  For, lo, they that are 

far from thee shall perish: thou hast 

destroyed all them that go a whoring 

from thee.  But it is good for me 

to draw near to God: I have put 

my trust in the Lord GOD, that I 

may declare all thy works.

Psalm 73:25-28

YOUR WAYS!

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, 

so are my ways higher than your ways, 

and my thoughts than your thoughts.  For as 

the rain cometh down, and the snow from 

heaven, and returneth not thither, but 

watereth the earth, and maketh it bring 

forth and bud, that it may give seed to the 

sower, and bread to the eater:  So shall my 

word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: 

it shall not return unto me void, but it 

shall accomplish that which I please, 

and it shall prosper in the thing whereto 

I sent it.

ISAIAH 55:9-11

THEY SHALL FEAR THEE

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Photo provided by June Ormesher

They shall fear thee as long as the sun 

and moon endure, throughout all 

generations, He shall come down like 

rain upon the mown grass: as 

showers that water the earth.

In his days shall the righteous 

flourish; and abundance of peace so 

long as the moon endureth.

Psalm 72:5-7

WHAT DO YOU WISH?

What do You Wish? A Devotion by Steve Long

“What do you wish?” Caleb said to his daughter. How a father delights to bless his child. Caleb’s daughter didn’t go to Joshua for the blessing, she went to her father. She didn’t go to the government (Elders) of Israel nor did she go to her new husband’s parents. She knew exactly where to go and ask. She asked her father.

Caleb’s daughter was not afraid to ask land of her father even though he had already given her some land in the south of his portion in the land of Israel. Many would have said, “I don’t have the heart to ask anything of my father since he has already given me what I now own. I don’t want to trouble him for more.” But she knew her father, and she knew that he wouldn’t be bothered in giving her more as well.

This young woman was not afraid to ask for the best from her father. She didn’t ask for anyone’s rejects and did not ask for someone’s hand-me-downs. Rather she asked for springs of water. She was not satisfied with the stale, stagnant sludge that might be more easily accessible. That would be an affront to her father’s dignity and generosity!

Caleb was probably just as delighted to give his daughter an extra portion of land as he was in receiving his own portion previously (Joshua 14.6-15).

Not only so, he actually seems to have given her even more than she asked for, because we’re told in the text that “Caleb gave her the upper springs, and the lower springs. (emphasis mine).

God, our Father in heaven, loves to bless us too. Jesus said, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7.11)

Jesus said to his disciples; “Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” James tells us, “You do not have because you do not ask.” (James 4.2) Let’s not be afraid or unbelieving about asking God, our Father, for the things we desire in the name of Jesus.

Sometimes we might think, “what if I ask but don’t receive?” I understand, but we may never receive that blessing if we don’t ask.

God has given us plenty in the past and he will continue to provide for us in the present and in the future.

Whenever we pray to God, we must not settle for the easy things that almost any human source could provide. We should ask him for the kinds of things that only he could give. This is an expression of our faith when we pray for God to do the impossible, knowing that nothing is impossible with him. (Luke 1.37; Matthew 19.26)

God wants the best for us, but he must decide what is good and best, for often we don’t have the discernment to know. But the bible does say, “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” (Psalm 84.11) Caleb was happy to grant the springs of water, because he knew that it was good for his daughter. I think sometimes that God grants to us Spiritual springs of water, but we might reject those blessings, thinking that we know better what we need. We might be interested in the physical blessings and disinterested in the Spiritual ones. But God’s word says that he has “blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenlyplaces in Christ:”

Finally, just as Caleb blessed his daughter with more than she ever asked for, so God does for us.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3.20-21)

I am reminded of an old song:

I wandered in the barren land of sin and shame
Where nothing satisfying there I found
But to the blessed cross of Christ one day I came
And springs of living water did abound

Drinking of the springs of living water
Oh, happy now am I
My soul they satisfy
Drinking of the springs of living water
O, wonderful and bountiful supply!

BLOOM IN THE FIELDS OF FAITH

Today, following my grandson's soccer game,
driving home, I noticed a field of beautiful 

flowers on the side of the road.  This was no
small sighting of flowers, it was a strip that
took up half a city block.  For those of you
who know me, you know I love beautiful
flowers.  An example of this was made
evident while teaching at a private school
many years ago, as some of the new
students would ask, "Why are we walking
to the playground this way?" There was
one little boy in the class that would chum

in and say, "Don't you know we have
to walk this way to see the pretty 

flowers blooming."  He would go on to 

explain if those flowers died and some

new ones were blooming in a different 

location then the whole class would be 

re-routed to view the freshly blooming

flowers in the other location.  

As the wheels of my truck began to turn 

in the direction of the sighted flowers on
the side of the road, my eyes began to scan
the field of vibrant, purple, pink, white,
and red flowers blowing in the breeze.
Once around the corner, I spotted two
other very large fields of flowers close
by.  My eyes on the first set of flowers
but the wheels of my truck seemed to 

move past the smaller field of flowers,
past the group of flowers my eyes and
heart was set on and onto the third set
of flowers.  I did stop to ponder when I
pulled into the parking spot as to why I
had chosen that specific field of flowers but
none the less, they were beautiful and
I set my heart and mind, to enjoy the
beauty of the display, right before my eyes.

  

After viewing all the beauty I noticed
a lady about my age that had her
daughter and grand daughter with her. 

I asked her if we could take a photo

of her grand daughter for my blog and she

was elated.  She then decided to submit one 

of the best photos taken today by her 

daughter, so we can post it with a scripture,

with the little girl in it later this month.  

She asked what I wrote about and 

when I told her, tears began to 

roll down her face.  She is preparing

to have surgery this next week and had 

been crying out to the Lord and just 

needed assurance that he would be with

her.  She said, "I never expected that 

assurance to come in the way of standing

out in the middle of a flower patch full of
beautiful blooms, but here it stands
right in front of me.  

As I began to speak with her further, she 

stated one of her daughters does ministry 

in the prisons so this became a double 

blessing to her as I told her we could 

donate books for her daughter to take into 

the prisons and assist her with her ministry
at no cost to her.  

The blog today is titled after the little girl as
her middle name is Bloom and her
grandmother had prayed in faith and the
Lord answered her prayer.  Isn't it a beautiful
thing to see, when we see the Lord upfold
such a beautiful display of his power as,
"The Bloom in the Fields of Faith."

EXHORT ONE ANOTHER DAILY

Photo created by Steve Long 

Devotional by Steve Long

God tells us to exhort one another daily. The Greek word translated "exhort" is παρακαλειτε from parakaleo meaning to call to one's side, exhort, entreat, encourage, comfort, or instruct.

Jesus called the Holy Spirit "another Comforter" (parakletos). This means that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are exhorters.

The word παρακαλειτε is also imperative. God is telling us that it is imperative that we talk to each other regularly, even daily, about the dangers of falling away from the faith. This was a very real problem among the Hebrew believers of the first century A.D. There was great persecution of the believers at this time and a great deal of pressure to abandon the exclusivity of the gospel of Christ and just wander back into Judaism (meaning that the law and sacrifices and the religious activities of Israel were sufficient). It would have been easy to just say, "Well, we all live in a society of diversity and we should just coexist."

Many Christians are feeling that same pressure today. We see a large number of young adults who have abandoned the faith of Christ. I am in constant prayer about how to reach or rereach this generation.

The key must be to reach them before they stray. God's word says it is imperative to exhort one another daily so that the other may not be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. How deceitful sin is! We must not succumb to its snares.

We must learn again to love others one on one, taking time to talk to that single individual before he or she approaches the precipice of the danger of falling. When we do, we are most like our Lord.

GOD! THE BUILDER OF ALL THINGS

Photo provided by Kristy Gray Long

For every house is builded by

some man; but he that built 

all things is God.  And Moses 

verily was faithful in all his 

house, as a servant, for a 

testimony of those things 

which were to be spoken after;

But Christ as a son over his 

own house; whose house are 

we, if we hold fast the confidence 

and the rejoicing of the hope firm 

unto the end.  Wherefore (as the Holy 

Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear 

his voice,  Harden not your hearts, 

as in the provocation, in the day 

of temptation in the wilderness:

Hebrews 3:4-8