I Wonder...

Questions to ponder
about the place the
Bible holds in our lives.



I wonder......

What would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we turned back to go get it, if we forgot it?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?

What if we gave it to our kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled?

What if we used it in case of an emergency?

This is something to make you go, hmm...

Where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing.
Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being disconnected, because Jesus already paid the bill.
And there are no dropped calls!

Blessings to you and your family,
Carolyn

Tears Are a Language God Understands

Tears Are a Language God Understands

Often you wonder why tears come into your eyes,
And burdens seem to be much more than you can bear.
But God is standing near. He sees your falling tears,
And tears are a language God understands.

God sees the tears of a brokenhearted soul.
He sees your tears and hears them when they fall.
God weeps along with man and He takes him by the hand.
Tears are a language God understands.

When grief has left you low it causes tears to flow,
And things have not turned out the way that you had planned.
But God won't forget you His promises are true.
And tears are a language that my God He understands.

God sees the tears of a brokenhearted soul.
He sees your tears and hears them when they fall.
God weeps along with man and He takes him by the hand.
Tears are a language God understands.

God weeps along with man and he takes him by the hand.
Tears are a language God understands.

(Composed by Gordon Jenson ©1971)

The Bible gives us proof that God understands all of our emotions, even our tears. He knows exactly what it is that you are facing today and He knows the solution! Trust Him!

God told Hezekiah after he had wept bitterly...
“I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears;
surely I will heal you.” (2 Kings 20:5)

David wrote about God… “You put my tears into Your bottle. When I cry out to You, then my enemies will turn back. This I know, because God is for me.”… “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.”
(Psalm 56:8,9; 126:5)

We are given this promise when Christ returns to dwell with us in the new heaven and new earth…
“And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have been passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

Blessings to you and your family,
Carolyn

Hope - not despair

Many people are feeling despair today because of the devastation made by Hurricane Ike that destroyed their homes and cities. My heart and prayers go out to all of those people who are affected by the storms. I can’t imagine how bad and hopeless they feel, because I am not there, but I am here watching it happen on my television. Watching a natural disaster as it happens, bringing destruction and loss of life does cause fear, even in those of us who are watching from afar.

You don’t need to have the TV on for very long to be drawn into a feeling of despair and depression. Long before the hurricane season started, the media was keeping us in a political storm encouraging the negative debates between the two parties about the candidates. Many would try to make us believe that everything about America is bad and there is no hope.

Some of the people I’ve talked with this week have storms going on in their personal lives. One friend told me that she can’t feel God’s presence. Her despair is so great that she can’t believe that He loves her.

I pray for her.

I’ve talked with many good Christian parents who feel despair as they pray for their unsaved family year after year and God doesn’t answer their prayers in the manner and time they think He should. But you know, if we surrender to our feelings of disappointment with God, we will then begin to doubt everything except our worries and our hopelessness. Before long we too will fall victim to despair.

What is despair? The dictionary defines it as a loss of confidence, an utter lose of hope. It is the sinking sensation of helplessness and inadequacy.

The Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

What is hope? Hope is defined as: Trust, reliance, expectation of fulfillment or success; to expect with desire.

The Bible tells us in Romans 5:5 “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

The Bible is our best resource for renewing our hope in Jesus Christ:

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”

I John 5:14,15.

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

2 Peter 3:9.

“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.

Our hope is in Jesus Christ! Don’t ever give up! Keep praying!

Blessings to you and your family,
Carolyn

Mother's Elbows on My Bed

I was but a youth and thoughtless,
As all youths are apt to be.
Though I had a Christian mother
Who had taught me carefully.

There came a time when pleasure
Of the world came to allure,
And I no more sought the guidance
Of her love so good and pure.

Her tender admonitions fell
But lightly on my ear,
And for the gentle warnings
I felt an inward sneer.

How could I prove my manhood
Was I not firm of will?
No threat of future evil
Should all my pleasures kill.

But mother would not yield her boy
To Satan’s sinful sway,
And though I spurned her counsel
She knew a better way.

No more she tried to caution
Of ways she knew its pain,
And though I guessed her headache,
I could not know its pain.

She made my room an altar
A place of secret prayer,
And there she took her burden
And left it in His care.

And morning, noon and evening
By that humble bedside low,
She sought the aid of Him, Who
Understands a mother’s woe.

And I went my way unheeding,
Careless of the life I led,
Until one day I noticed
Prints of elbows on my bed.

Then I saw that she had been there
Praying for her wayward boy,
Who for love of worldly pleasure
Would her peace of mind destroy.

While I wrestled with my conscience,
Mother wrestled still in prayer,
Till that little room seemed hallowed,
Because so oft she met Him there.

With her God she held the fortress,
And though not a word she said,
My stubborn heart was broken
By those imprints on my bed.

Long the conflict raged within me,
Sin against my mother’s prayers.
Sin must yield – for Mother never
While she daily met Him there.

And her constant love and patience
Were like coals upon my head,
Together with the imprints
Of her elbows on my bed.

Mother-love and God-love
Is a combination rare,
And one that can’t be beaten
When sealed by earnest prayer.

And so at last the fight was won,
And I to Christ was led.
And mother’s prayers were answered
By her elbows on my bed.

--Unknown

"Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy."

Psalm 126:5

Blessings to you and your family,

Carolyn