Heart Reflections Live

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Modesty Starts from the Inside Out

I would like to direct my readers, to Stacy Macdonald's Blog, http://yoursacredcalling.blogspot.com , she has just posted an excellent article on modesty.

It's so important to realise that a modest woman must have a humble & modest heart to begin with. Dressing modestly with either a flirtatious manner or attention grabbing agenda, doesn't cut it with God, who sees the heart.

Dressing modestly isn't a ticket to Heaven, it's the outward working of a heart changed by God, seeking to glorify Him in every way.

1 Tim 2:9 "In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;"

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posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 4:52 pm 0 comments

Saturday, June 23, 2007

The Parable of the Copper Wire

About 10 years ago, my Dad wanted to recycle some copper wire, and he asked if I'd give him a hand with some very small offcuts that were coated in PVC. The PVC needed to come off before it was suitable for recycling. So armed with a pair of gloves & a sharp knife, I set to work.

The job was so much harder than I thought! Here is what the Lord showed me...
The PVC is like our flesh, & the copper wire like the spirit man within. God's Word is the 2 edged sword that cuts through our flesh.

The whole thing is a picture of circumcision of the heart! I was struggling to cut through the PVC. Sometimes I was like the coated wire, resisting the cut of the Lord to the flesh. Other times, like other offcuts, I was more yielded to the Spirit of God & the PVC peeled away with less effort.

I was told the job would be quicker if I put the offcuts I wasn't working on, out in the hot sun to sit a while. This made the job so easy! The PVC sliced away without any effort at all! The Lord showed me more. When I give myself totally to the Lord, & bathe in His light & live in His "SON", I become so yielded, that I scarcely feel the flesh coming away.
John 3:30 says, "He must increase, but I must decrease."-KJV

This little parable gave me such a desire to live this way. I pray that more & more I'll seek those things which are above, & not on things on the earth, & bring our children up to live lives yielded to God.

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posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 7:28 pm 1 comments

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Fanny Crosby- A Life of Contentment

How inspiring to me is the life of the great hymn writer, Fanny Crosby."She hath done what she could..." was the very apt scripture portion used as her epitaph.And what she could do!!

Fanny was determined from childhood not to be seen as handicapped.She could climb trees & even ride horses bareback!! Her lack of sight helped her develop her listening & memory skills to the point where she could recite by rote not only the entire Pentateuch, & all 4 gospels, but also many Psalms, all of Proverbs, all of Ruth, & Song of Solomon!! By the end of her life, she had written around 8000 hymns.

Fanny's secret was true contentment in Christ, and God's Providence. She saw the doctor's error, that caused her blindness, not as a lifelong personal tragedy, but as a great gift. Her life is testament to that fact.

Here is one of the first verses she wrote, at the age of 8:

Oh, what a happy child I am,
Although I cannot see!
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be!
How many blessings I enjoy
That other people don't!
So weep or sigh because I'm blind,
I cannot- nor I won't.

We all have things that hinder us, things we can & can't do. Let's take a contentment leaf from Aunt Fanny's book, resolve to do what we can, be at peace about what we truly can't & Bloom where we are planted with all our might for Christ!!!

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posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 10:33 am 2 comments

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

This Is Beautiful Try Not to Cry


This is beautiful! Try not to cry.
She jumped up as soon as she saw the surgeon come out of the operating room.
She said: "How is my little boy? Is he going to be all right?
When can I see him?"
The surgeon said, "I'm sorry. We did all we could, but your boy didn't make it."
Sally said, "Why do little children get cancer?
Doesn't God care any more?
Where were you, God, when my son needed you?"
The surgeon asked, "Would you like some time alone with your son?
One of the nurses will be out in a few minutes, before he's transported to the university."
Sally asked the nurse to stay with her while she said good bye to her son. She ran her fingers lovingly through his thick red curly hair.
"Would you like a lock of his hair?" the nurse asked.
Sally nodded yes. The nurse cut a lock of the boy's hair, put it in a plastic bag and handed it to Sally.
The mother said, "It was Jimmy's idea to donate his body to the University for Study. He said it might help somebody else.
"I said no at first, but Jimmy said, 'Mom, I won't be using it after I die. Maybe it will help some other little boy spend one more day with his Mom."
She put the bag with Jimmy's belongings on the seat beside her in the car. The drive home was difficult. It was even harder to enter the empty house.
She carried Jimmy's belongings, and the plastic bag with the lock of his hair to her son's room.
She started placing the model cars and other personal things back in his room exactly where he had always kept them.
She laid down across his bed and, hugging his pillow, cried herself to sleep. It was around midnight when Sally awoke. Laying beside her on the bed was a folded letter.
The letter said: "Dear Mom, I know you're going to miss me; but don't think that I will ever forget you, or stop loving you, just 'cause I'm not around to say "I Love You" .
I will always love you, Mom, even more with each day. Someday we will see each other again. Until then, if you want to adopt a little boy so you won't be so lonely, that's okay with me.
He can have my room and old stuff to play with.
But, if you decide to get a girl instead, she probably wouldn't like the same things us boys do.
You'll have to buy her dolls and stuff girls like, you know. Don't be sad thinking about me. This really is a neat place. Grandma and Grandpa met me as soon as I go t here and showed me around some, but it will take a long time to see everything.
That's when I told Him that I wanted to write you a letter, to tell you good bye and everything. But I already knew that wasn't allowed. Well, you know what Mom? God handed me some paper and His own personal pen to write you this letter.
I think Gabriel is the name of the angel who is going to drop this letter off to you. God said for me to give you the answer to one of the questions you asked Him 'Where was He when I needed him?'
"God said He was in the same place with me, as when His son Jesus was on the cross.
He was right there, as He always is with all His children. Oh, by the way, Mom, no one else can see what I've written except you. To everyone else this is just a blank piece of paper. Isn't that cool? I have to give God His pen back now.
He needs it to write some more names in the Book of Life. Tonight I get to sit at the table with Jesus for supper. I'm sure the food will be great. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. I don't hurt anymore. The cancer is all gone. I'm glad because I couldn't stand that pain anymore and God couldn't stand to see me hurt so much, either.
That's when He sent The Angel of Mercy to come get me. The Angel said I was a Special Delivery! How about that? Signed with Love from God, Jesus & Me. ( Let's see Satan stop this one.)

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posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 9:27 am 0 comments

Sunday, June 10, 2007

True Beauty


What a challenge it can be in this day & age to bring up our daughters to understand true beauty. The sad abundance of trashy magazines in our stores, in front of their eyes, can, if we are not careful, diminish the truths we are endeavouring to impart.
How sad that many of the common sayings, based on Bible truths, have disappeared from so many conversations- Remember..."Handsome is as Handsome Does?", "Don't judge a book by looking at its cover". Can you remember any more?
When I think of true beauty, I remember my maternal Grandmother. Yes, she was always cheerful & femininely dressed with a lovely smile, but to the very end of her life, I remember the kindness in her eyes, & those warm, gnarled , worn hands, that served & comforted her children & grandchildren.
I found this poem, "The Rose", in my antique poetry book, "Gleanings from the English Poets". It was written by Isaac Watts, the great hymn writer.
How fair is the rose! what a beautiful flower,
The glory of April and May!,
But the leaves are beginning to fade in an hour,
And they whither and die in a day.
Yet the rose has one powerful virtue to boast,
Above all the flowers of the field;
When its leaves are all dead, and its fine colours lost,
Still how sweet a perfume it will yield!
So frail is the youth and beauty of men,
Though they bloom and look gay like the rose;
But all our fond cares to preserve them is vain
Time kills them as fast as he goes.
Then I'll not be proud of my youth nor my beauty,
Since both of them wither and fade;
But gain a good name by well doing my duty;
This will scent like a rose when I'm dead.
Mums, we need to encourage our daughters to live for that which is Eternal, and not for that which passes away.

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posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 7:59 pm 1 comments

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

So Teach Us to Number our Days...

My little one, Zara, has developed a real appreciation lately for looking at family photos- especially those that relay her short 3 year history! She has asked quite a few times lately to view them with me & asks many things relating to her story- things like stories about the house we used to live in, the songs I used to sing her as a baby... things like that.

We are big on photos in our house. I inherited my Grandmother's albums 5 years ago, & so we have pictures going back as far as my Grandmother's Grandmother if you can follow that! I'm not big on scrapbooking the creative way- we'd run out of room! I like acid-free slide in books with plenty of room for captions on the side. If I need to remove a photo to scan, I can access it easily. We also have a few very special photo albums with stuck in pictures, separated by tissue paper as well.
Psalm 90 vs 12 says, "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom" KJV
and Psalm 39 vs 4, "Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is;that I may know how frail I am."

Chronicling our lives through photos, scrapbooking & keepsakes from milestones & key events, all help us to number our days. That is why I'll continue to encourage both our girls in their love of the photo cupboard. Looking at my Grandmother's albums, I can see that life is but a breath. I see the picture of my Great Uncle, who was taken by a shark on the Eve of him leaving to fight in New Guinea in WW2. I see the joyous wedding picture of my Grandfather's sister, who sadly died, with her unborn child of peritonitis late in pregnancy, on the one weekend, their country doctor was out of town... but it was this same tragedy which resulted in my Grandfather relocating to support his grieving family & thus meeting & marrying my Grandmother... Many stories...happy, sad & courageous...I see the importance of church & family & a hearty faith in God & His Providence...This so inspires me to live for Him...

I look at our own family pictures, amazed at how quickly our little Princesses are growing. They are truly only lent to us by God. I stand rebuked when I remember grumpy, stressed out days & how much they cost us in joy & peace. It helps me to be more determined to yield to Christ in both the big & little things & walk in the fruit of the Spirit more often.

Every moment we live we are making a memory...Let's determine afresh to live each moment in joy for the glory of God.

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posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 11:30 am 1 comments

Monday, June 04, 2007

The Name of Jesus

I'd been enjoying some Christian Fellowship with a dear Sister from up our street, & during our afternoon tea time, she sang me part of an old hymn that had deeply impacted her life. How surprised I was that night, as I browsed through an antique poetry book of mine, that I found the very same hymn. I pray this blesses your heart too...

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
In a believer's ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.

It makes the wounded spirit whole,
And calms the troubled breast;
'Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary rest.

Dear name! the rock on which I build,
My shield & hiding place;
My never-failing treasury, fill'd
With boundless stores of grace.

Jesus! my Shepherd, Kinsman, Friend,
My Prophet, Priest, & King,
My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,
Accept the praise I bring.

Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought;
But when I see Thee as Thou art,
I'll praise Thee as I ought.

Till then I would thy love proclaim
With every fleeting breath;
And may the savour of thy Name
Refresh my soul in death.
-by John Newton

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posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 9:26 pm 0 comments