The Promise of Spring

Sometimes like Mr. Tumnus in "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe", we feel as if it will be "always Winter; never Spring".  But let the Holy Spirit bring refreshment and encouragement to your heart this day.  For I don't know the circumstances you're going through, but He does.  And He loves you so much that He wants you to know that He's never left you, that He has you in the palm of His hand and you are under the shadow of His wing.  He is here to speak tenderly to you in your winter season.  And as a child of God, an heir of His salvation, He takes the time to send you an "Heir mail" message during your time of tribulation and trials. 

I found myself pondering the upcoming Winter season here in Michigan and how Winter has always been a very dark place for me emotionally.  In short, it's not my favorite season of the year.  Difficult driving, cold and gloomy days just don't create a happy place in my heart.

Yet, as I continued to ponder, a thought occurred that with Winter comes the promise of Spring; to look beyond Winter this year and focus on our upcoming Springtime.  I just love Spring!  As soon as the crocuses start popping their multi-colored heads through the snow and the mourning dove begins to coo, I know that Spring is almost ready to display her fresh, new, lush displays of colors from every color spectrum as flowers bloom, grasses green and trees bud.

One of my favorite verses is found in Song of Solomon, Chap. 2:10-13 "My beloved spoke, and said to me: 'Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.  For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.  The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land." 

And then we turn back to Ps. 23:1-2 "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters, He restores my soul...."

The writer of Ecclesiastes puts it this way in Chap. 3:1, "To everything there is a season, a time for every matter or purpose under heaven;...."

After years and years of one trial after another, and much weariness, we are in a new season of our lives.  My oldest son is about to be married in March...in the Spring.  We are overjoyed for them!  My youngest son is attending culinary school and seems to have never been happier.  After years of physical ailments and surgeries one after the other, I am finally pain free and off all narcotics!  The Lord seems to be ushering in a new season of life for our family, and I've been searching His heart in deeper measure.

I can't tell you that I prayed everyday during these many trials.  For four years I turned my back on the Lord, but by His grace and mercy, He restored me to Himself, and since that time, have continued to look to Him for His grace during my life.  I would pray, but my prayers seemed very weak and pitiful.  I thank God for the people in my life who prayed faithfully for me and my family over the past two decades during the dry, desert times...which were many and seemed unending.

But what I also learned through these times is how the Lord remembers that He made us out of dust. Jesus lived in an earthly body, so He knows how it feels to "go through life" on this earth.  He experienced much more than we ever have...unto the shedding of His blood...which we have not had to suffer.  But in understanding our human frailties, He now sits at the right hand of God, The Father, ever making intercession for the saints.  This means that no matter your circumstances, Jesus is praying for you before God, The Father.  I've also learned that "Jesus, Help!" is a prayer.  And I learned that when I was too weary, the Lord in His goodness, mercy and compassion, gave me scriptures to encourage my heart along the way.

But now, there is a shift.  Not just a change in events, but I sense a newness and a shift in my heart; that the Lord is doing a "new thing" in our lives.  Is. 43:18-19 states, "Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old.  Behold, I will do a new thing.  Now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it?  I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."     

So as I reflected on our many, many years of trial, I thought of others who are experiencing tribulations and how sometimes, hope of emerging at all, let alone intact, seems less than a fading glimmer.  But He's here to encourage your heart.

I posted the following on Facebook yesterday:
"Sensing someone needs encouragement this day....For those of you whom God is taking you through a season of trials (months - years...getting through one trial only to surface as the next tidal wave hits), the Valley of Achor, the Valley of the Shadow of Death, "always Winter; never Spring", where there seems as if there will be no end....know that there will be a day coming of rich fulfillment. Our task is to stay obedient and...faithful to the Lord and not turn away as the devil would have us to do.

We have a choice in the Valley....we can choose to turn our back on God, or we can look to Him as one who sticks closer than a brother. For there WILL BE a day when He brings you OUT OF THE FIRE to rich fulfillment as is His promise in Ps. 66:10-13 (Amp.) "For You, O God, have proved us; You have tried us as silver is tried, refined, and purified. You brought us into the net (the prison fortress, the dungeon); You laid a heavy burden upon our loins. You caused men to ride over our heads [when we were prostrate]; we went through fire and through water, but You brought us out into a broad, moist place [to abundance and refreshment and the open air]." The NKJV describes this as a "place of fulfillment".

Rejoice and be glad for He has not forgotten you. You are in the palm of His hand, and as He takes you through His plan, no weapon formed against you shall prosper!"

Praise God and Praise God!  He alone is taking you through His plan for your life for His Kingdom Glory.  And while He takes you through, nothing, absolutely nothing separates you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. 

Isaiah 60:20 gives us hope in the midst of winter: "Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light and the days of your mourning shall be ended."

Rejoice and be glad dear child of the living God for He SHALL bring you into rich fulfillment and He gives you the promise of Spring in Jesus' Name.  Hallelujah!  Praise God!

Ever yours in Christ,
Crista
CMSimmons52@aol.com

I Have Inscribed You on the Palms of My Hands

This is for those of us who sometimes wonder where God is when it hurts~ Life hurts - whether it be in body, mind, emotions or spirit….There are those time in life when the storms “overtake” our ability to see beyond them…because all we see is the blackness of the boiling sea below and the pitch of clouds above.

We look out onto the horizon….straining to see a glimpse of land ahead…but we can’t even see land let alone concoct a glimmer of sunlight along our path…Weariness overtakes us…

A couple months ago, I decided it was time to deal with pain management for my arthritis…I simply could not take it anymore. Chronic pain was sucking the life out of me by day and by night…It was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain patience for simple bumps in the road…I sought help from my doctor for the pain and depression.

“Are you suicidal?”, she inquired….

“Oh no….I still enjoy getting together with friends…”

But after my appointment, I began to reflect…suicidal?….No….Wanting God to take me Home and say that I had completed what He’d called me to do…Yes. I just wanted to be out of the constant grind of pain. I was exhausted; wanting to be out of pain; wanting to have a "good" night's sleep.

Exhaustion…Yesterday writing to my dear friend, Clo. “Please pray for me…..” Her words…God’s words of comfort in return…bolstering my spirit - just to know she was there and praying - taking the burden off my shoulders. (Yes, my hubby is a support - for those of you who might wonder…but sometimes, it’s too close…and he needs his own support person….and this is why friends are so vital.)

Personal struggles make it difficult to “find” God in the darkness as we grope our way along…as a blind man reaching out to touch the next stable point in life…the next step….tentative…and then at times, stopping altogether…resting…catching our breath…or just plain too weary….

Where’s God?….”Lord, I enjoyed your presence so much in the land of plenty…but in the desert, I’m not sure anymore where You are?…Have I disappointed you in my weariness of body and You have given up on me and walked away?…Did my pain give way to You turning Your back on me in my time of need, because I did not meet Your expectations?”

And it is in these types of times that I find myself wrestling with God….like this morning….I had read something yesterday that someone else wrote about the Lord’s Presence being so close…and agony hit…”Lord, we enjoyed such communion…but it is as if I can’t find You right now….”

Yesterday at the nursing home, sharing a testimony of my friend, Becky…recovering from shoulder surgery…How the Lord’s Presence enveloped her - encouraging her heart - for one reason only - His loving kindness, compassion and mercy.

Then the Lord gave me an image of a mother sitting on the side of her young child’s bed - feverish - delirious at times - a cool cloth on her head - bending over her child - stroking her face - praying - loving - touching…never letting go….sitting through the night watch…at times taking her unconscious child from the bed to cradle her in her arms…rocking…singing…praying…stroking back sweat soaked hair…Her child at times seeing her only through fluttering eyelids…then drifting off into feverish sleep…until her child finally awakens…eyes wide open…”Hi Mommy…Can I have something to eat?…I’m hungry.”

Her child has “come back”…

“Mommy?…”

“Yes, my love…“

“I didn’t know where you were…I was so afraid…I couldn’t find you…”

“My darling child…I know. You were so sick…but I was right here all the time…Holding you, loving you. You are my precious one…”

And that’s how it is at times in life, isn’t it? Sometimes we are that little child…and sometimes, He gives us the privilege of sitting beside someone else’s bed to get them through the night…to be Jesus to them in the darkness of soul….

This morning…watching the little finches outside our living room window…reflecting…turning on the music I so enjoy during my times of reading scripture or writing…soft and soothing…comforting…non-invasive…

“Lord, where it is so easy for me to encourage others…please encourage my own heart…It’s been so long since I have really “felt” You close….We enjoyed such communion in the land of plenty…Reveal Yourself to my heart in the desert…”

And I had no more finished this prayer, than He broke into my thoughts…”Can a nursing mother forget her baby at her breast? Though she may forget, I will never forget you, for I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands…”

Isaiah 49:13-16 says it this way….”…For the Lord has comforted His people, and will have mercy on His afflicted. But Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.’ ‘Can a woman forget her nursing child and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me.”

In closing, I pray your heart be encouraged this day…If you are the child in this image…He is with you….

And if you are being used as a “mother” to someone else right now…praise God…Continue to be there in the night watch…God is using you to encourage the heart of another weary traveler until “the fever breaks”.

(P.S. If you suffer from chronic pain and have not yet done so, I encourage you to seek assistance from your physician. It may take some trial and error as you work together to find the combination that is right for your body, mind, emotions, and also approved by your insurance company. Eat heathly...and tell someone you trust what you're going through....We all need someone to hold up our arms when we get weary.)

God bless you all~

Ever in His love and mine,

Crista

CMSimmons52@aol.com

http://dinnerwiththeking.blogspot.com

　

In a Spirit of Gentleness~

Yesterday, I had the blessed opportunity to officiate a funeral…and I say “blessed”…because the Lord opened the door to share His love and His Word….We never know the condition of the hearts that are listening to the funeral service, but He does…And one thing I believe with all my heart is that His love reaches down to the worst of us sinners to bring us to the saving knowledge of His salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior….

And yes, I say “worst of us”, because I know who I was before Christ, and I also know what it is to backslide and to be given a second chance to be redeemed from the clutch of hell. And I can honestly tell you that I truly don’t know how I “got back”, other than His grace, mercy, love and compassion which drew me out of the pit of hell. But there was a “turning point”….My pastor (in 1999) had preached a sermon which convicted my heart - deeply…and I had to talk with him afterwards and confess my sin. I was living two lives…one in the Praise Team and presenting myself as a “good Christian woman”….the other - a fornicator….the ravages of an emotionally painful marriage that ended in divorce…my own wounds and vulnerabilities…and I had succumbed to the temptation of the world…But on that day, the Lord gave me an opportunity to repent and turn….

Blind, beaten, dirty and broken….That is our condition before Christ….and that is our condition when we fall back into the world….How do we approach the one who is blind, beaten, dirty and broken….How do we approach the backslidden? With a stick…or with gentleness and compassion; knowing that we too, are also subject to temptation….(Gal. 6:1)…Please understand that at this point, I am not condoning sin. When we are sinning…we are to stop. And I do not support using scripture to justify sinning. The Gospel is never to be used to justify sinning. (Romans 6:15)

What do we see when we as Believers now look to those who are steeped in the things of the world? ~My friend, Clo Lent DiPilato posted this scripture on Facebook this morning from Luke 18...of which I will quote verses 10-14 from the Amplified version:

“Two men went up into the temple [enclosure] to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee took his stand ostentatiously and began to pray thus before and with himself: God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of men - extortioners (robbers), swindlers [unrighteous in heart and life], adulterers - or even like this tax collector here. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I gain. But the tax collector, [merely] standing at a distance, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but kept striking his breast, saying, O God, be favorable (be gracious, be merciful) to me, the especially wicked sinner that I am! I tell you, this man went down to his home justified (forgiven and made upright with God), rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The Lord through the Apostle Paul , Colossians 3:12-15 from the Amplified Bible wrote:

v. 12 “Clothe yourselves therefore, as God’s own chosen ones (His own picked representatives), [who are] purified and holy and well-beloved [by God Himself, by putting on behavior marked by] tenderhearted pity and mercy, kind feeling, a lowly opinion of yourselves, gentle ways, [and] patience [which is tireless and long-suffering, and has the power to endure whatever comes, with good temper].

v. 13 Be gentle and forbearing with one another and, if one has a difference (a grievance or complaint) against another, readily pardoning each other; even as the Lord has [freely] forgiven you, so must you also [forgive].

v. 14 And above all these [put on] love and enfold yourselves with the bond of perfectness [which binds everything together in ideal harmony].

v. 15 And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always].”

And from Chapter 4: 5-6 “Behave yourselves wisely [living prudently and with discretion] in your relations with those of the outside world (the non-Christians), making the very most of the time and seizing (buying up) the opportunity. Let your speech at all times be gracious (pleasant and winsome), seasoned [as it were] with salt, [so that you may never be at a loss] to know how you ought to answer anyone [who puts a question to you].”

I love the word winsome! For it means charming, in a child-like way. Oh…how a child will respond to the loving accepting arms of the one who says, “Come to me…and you will find rest and comfort….love and acceptance…”

Jesus left the ninety-nine to go find the one….Will we do the same?….He gave His life to bring us into His fold….

He came not to be served, but to serve….What will we do with the life He’s given us?

“Lord Jesus, make me an instrument of Your mercy and grace this day…to those who are in need of You….Amen and Amen….”

Be Blessed of the Lord~

Ever yours in Christ Jesus~

Crista Simmons (CMSimmons52@aol.com)

http://dinnerwiththeking.blogspot.com

LifeCare Ministries http://www.LifeCareMin.org

Up Close and Personal

~I was pondering today....about what the Lord did during our service at Life Care Center this past Sunday....how He revealed Himself to us...
~The Lord had led us to Romans 8:35 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?"...v. 38 "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, v. 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
~And then we went into our time of praise through song....We'd just finished singing, "Nothing Is Impossible....when you put your trust in God; Nothing is impossible, when you're trusting in His Word. Harken to the voice of God to thee; "Is there anything too hard for Me?" Then put your trust in God alone and rest upon His Word; for ev'rything, O ev'rything, yes ev'rything is possible with God" Eugene L. Clark
~When we finished, the spiritual atmosphere became very heavy with the weighty Presence of God...and still....and then the essence of what the Lord spoke was this:

"You sing this song, "Nothing Is Impossible", but do you believe it?

Do you believe it? Do you really BELIEVE this? You sing, but do you believe it?

I love you so much, and I walk these halls night and day.

I have never left you nor forsaken you.

O, how I love you! O how I love you!"

~And the atmosphere became even heavier....and I could not speak....God's awesomeness had moved from Heaven to earth in a little dining room in a nursing home at 320 Brigham St. in Plainwell, Michigan. God came to us, up close and personal.

~Oh, His peace and His sweet Presence....and the overwhelming sense of His closeness and awesomeness....I have no earthly words....There were no words, because HE IS THE WORD!

How does one define THE WORD in earthly terms?....I truly don't know....But I do believe, that

God wanted us - all of us - residents and volunteers alike...to KNOW the reality of His abiding love and Presence...and to believe in WHO HE IS - Personally - and what is His desire to do among us...The Impossible - bring physical healing into the nursing home on a scale that will be exceedingly, abundantly beyond what we could think or imagine!

~So, I was pondering today about how God manifested Himself during the service...and how He revealed Himself to the residents....but then I also knew....He revealed Himself to me, too....

I need Him so much! I want to know My Daddy up close and personal - just like all of us.....

~I don't have any great, big revelation of sort....only that God wants to come close to us...more than we realize....to reveal Himself to us...and to love on us as His children....His Bride....

~O, Come Lord Jesus come....Come Lord Jesus come....

Psalm 42:1-2a "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God."

Jeremiah 29:13-14a "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord...."

Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to Me, and I will answer you...."

A Call to Anguish

A Call to Anguish - David Wilkerson

Would really appreciate your comments....I am undone after listening to God's anquished heart pour through David Wilkerson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27DIST8qO4I

Philippians 3:10 "[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him, [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same ways come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]
v. 11 That if possible I may attain to the [spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body]."

Joel 2:17 "Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar...."

Matthew 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"

~Christ's Suffering....His longing for us, His Bride and who He desires us to be....that we may truly reflect the true image of Christ....not an imitation of who we think He is based upon who we're watching on television or even listening to standing in the pulpit...but Who He Truly IS and has called us to be as His Bride.
~The suffering of Christ...the suffering/agony/languish/ache beyond ache which happens because He knows what could be....but will not, when the person(s) involved (myself included) are not willing to participate with Him, because of selfish pride, rebellion, the desires of the world, the desires of self....my time, my life, my house, my job, my kids, my ministry, my this/my that....unforgiveness...etc., etc., etc....

~Lord, I lay it down...my life...my all...my hopes....my dreams....my family...my job....my ministry....Lord, that what will arise out of the ashes of brokenness will be Your Resurrection power displayed....in that Lord, yet not my will be done, but Thy will be done for Your Glory and Your Kingdom...both for now and forevermore. Do whatever it takes, Lord, to take me wherever You want to take me. In Jesus' Name....Amen.