Good News for Us

I know that I know

MaryGraver — Tue, 15 May 2012 05:02:47 +0000

You and I were born with an innate desire to know our Creator. But my effort to know God cannot be limited by my own perception of my personal experience.
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If I pray to God for a healing or for deliverance from a catastrophic event in my life and God chooses another way, I cannot then say that God is not an intervening God because it did not go my way.
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The God who created the universe; the God who parted the Red Sea, who rained down manna from heaven, crumbled the walls of Jericho and raised Joseph out of a pit to be second in command of Israel; the God who rescued David to make him a king; the God who sent His only Son as my atoning sacrifice; the God who raised Lazarus from the dead, who healed the lame, brought sight to the blind and set the captives free is the same God I pray to this day.
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And I do not need to go back to biblical times. I can make it personal – the God who saved my life as a newborn and again as a young adult; the God who blessed Matt and I with our children, who brought our oldest daughter from the brink of death and restored her health; the God who brought us to financial security and blessed our past days is the same God I pray to this day.
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But the God who healed one daughter allowed another to die in my arms just shy of her first birthday. The God who brought us to financial security has allowed us to experience financial ruin. The God who saved the life of one friend’s daughter, allowed another friend’s daughter to suffer a tragic end. Who can understand God? Who can know Him?
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Think of a blessed life – that was Job’s life. Job was described as a well-respected, wise and righteous man. God blessed him with a wife, seven sons and three daughters. He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, oxen, donkeys and a large household. Job “was the greatest of all people of the East.” Job 1:3.
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Now think of your worst nightmare – Job suffered it – physical pain and illness, mental anguish, the death of his children, financial ruin and complete loss of the respect he once knew. He was mocked by his wife, his friends and relatives. Job had to reconcile the faithful God who blessed his past days with the now silent God who does not intervene to rescue him. Who can understand God? Who can know Him?
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Job is in the battle of his life. His friends chasten Job for the sin they believe brought on his suffering and urge him to repent. Job pleads for justice. He grows despondent. Job prays for relief from his suffering and when it does not come, Job accuses God of wronging him. Yet all the while, Job holds fast to his faith in a God he cannot fully know.
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Job doesn’t comprehend the course of events, but he still believes that God is in control. Job, in his suffering, is not afraid to utter what he does not understand about God, and in the end he comes to know God at an intimate level that would have been impossible without the suffering.
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God revealed to Job His majesty in a beautiful discourse found in the 38th and 39th chapters of Job. I turn to it when I do not understand the ways of God. Here are some of my favorite excerpts from it -
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From the 38th chapter of Job -
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4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
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5 Who marked off its dimensions?…
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
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6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone-
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7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?
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8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
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9 when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
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10 when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
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11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?
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31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion’s belt?
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32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons
or lead out the Bear with its cubs?
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33 Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?
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And in the 40th chapter -
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1 The LORD said to Job:
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2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?
Let him who accuses God answer Him!”
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It is then that Job declares -
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My ears had heard of You
but now my eyes have seen You. Job 42:5
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These things I have learned in suffering -
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I know that I know…
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God is love and He loves me.
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God is sovereign – His will be done.
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God is merciful – His grace is far beyond what I deserve and always enough to see me through any present darkness.
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God is faithful – the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.
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God is good – all the time.
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I know that I know…
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Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
naked I’ll return to the womb of the earth.
GOD gives, GOD takes.
God’s name be ever blessed.
Job 1:21
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And I know that I know that I know that I know that…
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I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end He will stand on the earth…
…I myself will see Him
with my own eyes…
…How my heart yearns within me!
Job 19:25-27
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My favorite music video ~ My Redeemer Lives ~ Nicole C. Mullen
Email subscribers, click on the devotion title to view video
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treasures

MaryGraver — Sun, 13 May 2012 05:02:17 +0000

This is me! The artist is my daughter, Maya. She was six at the time of this drawing.
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Yes, I have crazy red hair. Yes, my eyes are blue. And yes, I smile a lot. But Maya drew the one thing I most want her to know and remember about me. Maya drew me as a follower of Jesus. She drew around my neck the precious cross of Christ – the cross upon which Jesus washed Maya and me and all who call upon His name, clean, free and saved!
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We can decorate our daughters’ rooms to look like they belong in a magazine. We can fill their closets full of the latest trends. We can give our sons all the latest video equipment and sign our children up for every sport imaginable. We can send them to the highest ranked schools and even make sure they are in church on Sunday, but unless we give them Jesus, it is all for naught.
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Unless we give our children Jesus – living, breathing in every step we take and decision we make, in every word we speak and write and every concept we teach – unless there abides Jesus in our every encounter with our children – unless we daily invite them to step into His kingdom, our gifts are empty promises in a broken world.
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Our greatest mission field is our home.
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Treasures
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Four children talk over school hot lunch
Two “haves” and two “have nots”
Two speak of a room in a big clubhouse
Two wonder how that fits in a tree
Who is rich?
Who is rich?
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Two speak of jobs their parents hold
Positions of power and wealth
Two speak of games their parents play
Stories they read, walks they take
Who is rich?
Who is rich?
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Four pictures hang in the school hall
Drawings of mothers, words of love
Two write of what their mothers own
Two write of what their mothers give
“My mother wears fancy clothes”
“My mother snuggles and prays with me”
Who is rich?
Who is rich?
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Mary Graver
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Happy Mother’s Day!

contentment

MaryGraver — Wed, 09 May 2012 03:37:24 +0000

What are you without? Are you without the job you thought you wouldn’t lose? Are you without the home you once owned or the one you dreamed of having? Are you without the funds to pay your bills? Are you without the means for the trip you wanted to take, the car you’d like to drive, or the clothes you wish you wore? Are you without good health, without physical comfort? Do you live without peace of mind? Are you without the freedom you wish you had? Are you without the love you’ve never known, or the love you thought would last? Do you now live without the beloved person you held most dear on earth? What are you without?
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There are seasons in every life.

King Solomon wrote -
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There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
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a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
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a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
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a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
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a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
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Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, 4-6
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My God, I grieve my loss so deeply. I weep and feel I may never laugh or dance again. Oh Father, my life, my mind, my well-being is scattered. I am discouraged, without the strength to gather it up again.
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My God, at times You seek me out to come to You, alone. When I have searched and searched for whatever it is I think I need or want, and it is nowhere to be found, You, oh Father, are asking me to give it up – surrender it to You. When I am holding onto something or someone I am unwilling to let go of, You, my Creator, ask of me what I deem most difficult and hard to understand – let go.
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a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away
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The world teaches me that if I do not have its plenty, I live in want. You, Father, have shown me that in Your kingdom, this is not true.
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…I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:11-13
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Father, You know that I have lived in this world’s plenty, while my yearning soul sought something more. I now live in the world’s want, while my soul lacks for nothing. I have lived in perfect health, while my restless soul suffered. I now lack physically, while my peaceful soul thrives.
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Thank you, Father. I praise You for Your presence and Your strength in every moment. I give You the glory for revealing to me the secret of being content – contentment in the valley, on every road to the mountaintop and each stop along the way.
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You are with me. It is well with my soul. That is my joy, my freedom, my wealth beyond measure. I need nothing more. You are with me. Thank You, Father. Amen
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When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Isaiah 43:2-3
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Music video ~ He Is With You ~ Mandisa
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forgive

MaryGraver — Mon, 07 May 2012 02:34:19 +0000

My daughter, Maya, came to me with a recurring problem she was having with a little friend of hers. Since every problem has a biblical solution, I asked Maya what Jesus would do. Maya told me that she had already forgiven her friend many times. I told her about the time the apostle, Peter, asked Jesus a forgiveness question of his own.
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Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
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Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.” Matthew 18:21-23
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Smiling, I asked Maya, “Have you forgiven your friend 490 times?”
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Without skipping a beat, Maya looked up at me and with a tone of exasperation, answered, “Close enough!”
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There is no limit to the forgiveness of God – no parameters can contain His mercy. It’s like trying to fathom eternity – hard to get my mind wrapped around it. But my heart knows His forgiveness well.
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Is it you? Are you in need of forgiveness? Do you want God to open the floodgates of heaven and rain down His mercy upon you, so that you can be forgiven? God will do it – He will do it just for you, just for the asking.
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Is it you? Do you need to forgive someone? Do you want God to open the floodgates of heaven and rain down His mercy upon you, so that you can forgive another. God will do it – He will do it just for you, just for the asking.
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Let it rain. Let it rain. Amen.
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Music video – Let it Rain – Michael W. Smith
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blessed

MaryGraver — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 01:31:34 +0000

You are, at this very moment, blessed. You may say to me, “Blessed? Oh, then you have no idea what I am going through right now! I feel about as far away from ‘blessed’ as a person can be!” God’s response is not only, “Yes, you are blessed!” but, “Then yes, you are blessed!”
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Line up everything that you feel is wrong with your life. Make a list of each quality you possess that the world distains. Write up every struggle and trial, each sorrow and every loss. In God’s kingdom, you can check them off one by one – blessed, blessed, blessed.
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The kingdom of God is all around us, but never forced upon us. God sets His kingdom before us and invites us to step on in -
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…Come! Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. Revelation 22:17
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The world saturates us with its definition of “well-off”. Here is a very different message from Jesus – an elevated teaching delivered from a mountain.
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It is written in the 5th chapter of Matthew, verses 1-12.
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Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them saying:
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Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You are well-off when you are broken, crushed and desperate – when you are at the end of your rope. When you have nothing left, you will look to God, the only one you need. Step into His kingdom!
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Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. You are well-off when you have experienced a great loss – the death of a loved one, a broken relationship, the loss of your good health, a job, material wealth, a goal or a dream. In your loss, God will come to protect you and shelter you in the shadow of His mighty wing. Step into His kingdom!
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Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. You are well-off when you are gentle and kind. When you seek the good of your neighbor, God will provide everything you need. Step into His kingdom!
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Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. You are well-off when you cast off the selfish rules of the world and are hungry only for God’s truth. God is cooking up for you one amazing banquet! Step into His kingdom!
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Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. You are well-off when you forgive your neighbor – when you extend your love and care for one in trouble. God will tenderly care for you, forgive you and show you His great mercy. Step into His kingdom!
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Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. You are well-off when you are chasing after the heart of God – when your desires line up with His. You will see God’s face in the least on earth and forever in heaven. Step into His kingdom!
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Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. You are well-off when you bring God’s peace into the world – when promoting unity is more important than getting your own way – when you love your enemies and draw them to God. God says, “Well done, My beloved child!” Step into His kingdom!
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Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You are well-off when the world notices you aren’t following its rules – when you aren’t invited into its circles. God says, “Come into Mine.” Step into His kingdom!
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Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are well-off when people vent the world’s wrath at you for possessing what they do not understand – God’s true joy and peace. Be glad when the world doesn’t get it - when others do not understand you and think you are foolish. You are in the great company of every prophet and apostle who ever lived. Step into His kingdom!
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Dear Jesus,
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I want to walk up that mountain and sit at Your feet. Teach me Your truths. Give me Your vision for my blessed life. I surrender all to You. Align my heart with Yours. Use my every trial and sorrow to grow me up in You. Give me Your joy and Your peace that transcends all circumstances and passes all human understanding.
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I now, in the confident assurance of Your every promise, step into Your kingdom.
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Thank You Jesus, Lord of my life! Praise you, Jesus, Savior of the world! Amen
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Photo 1 - Blessed – taken in Rocky Mountain National Park by Mary Graver
Photo 2 – The Sermon on the Mount ~ by alecsander on flickr.com