Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

Guess what?  Roma, my kid sister and John paid us a nice visit yesterday.  They do not mind driving.  We enjoyed them so much.  Our lives together go way, way back to courting years.  We owe so much to them.  John is recovering nicely from his knee issues and is as keen as ever, as is Roma.  She had an op that fastened her innards a bit better.  I do not know the proper terms. We love and admire these dear ones.

I have laid help upon one that is mighty. — The Lord … thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob. — Mighty to save. — Able to keep you from falling. — Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.

 Jeremiah 50:34.  Amos 5:12.  Psa. 89:19. ‑Isa. 49:26. -Isa. 63:1.

Have I taken hold of Jesus like this?  Why not?  He is the Lord. He is the mighty one.  He is my Savior and Redeemer.  He is mighty to save.  He is able to keep me from falling.

The challenge of life is to resign my own desire to control myself and relinquish control of my life to Jesus who has come to deliver me, gift me and lead me!  I can not save myself, He can.  I can not keep myself from falling, no matter how hard I try.  He can and does!

Why should I not just give over everything and trust Jesus alone for everything?  Lord, I have done and will continue to do so with your help!

Fill me with your love today, oh God!

Keep me close as I seek to do the same.  Knit us as one the best we can.

Help me to suffer the ravages of aging and all that.  May life divert my attention from all that is alluring but false. To turn open-faced to You!

Give me your love for wife, family and friends, even more love than I now experience.

Grant me joys in life that please you.   

They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as first fruits to God and the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

Revelation 14:5

We were purchased, bought, so to speak, by God to rescue us from the hand of our enemy.  We have one intention now – to follow the Lamb wherever he goes.  That is Jesus, of course.

We are a mixed group. From all cultures, from all periods of the life of the Church.  I am amazed at the simplicity of it all.  I think I tend to complicate this some.  Those who are purchased from among mankind are people just like you and me, ordinary human beings, but followers of the Lamb, the thing that makes all the difference in the world.

They are the first fruits of an entirely new harvest, owned by God and the Lamb.  As such they do not lie and they are blameless, and therefore harmless.

Do I see myself as one of these blessed ones this morning?  I do when I am honest and broken before God. I am among the saved ones – can anything be better?  Thank God!!!

Luke 5:8

Today the Daily Light points to a Christian dilemma.

The Psalmist writes, I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  The light is turned on Peter to illustrate this truth.  It is Luke 5:8. Luke records the scene.  When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

Is this not the expected response?  Not really!  But it is the right response.  In my own experience, I see my need, usually desperate.  I bow with before the Lord.  Then, I flee to the mercy of God.  In a moment I abhor myself and in that same moment and I find the overwhelming grace and mercy of God.

Who can understand that?  Only the Lord Himself.  I bow before Him.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”

John 10:25 – 29

All depends on the Father, the Father of Jesus Christ.  He is greater than all. This is the suppliant’s surety.  The heavenly Father holds us in his hand and that hand is all powerful.  So we are truly His!  As we rely completely on Him, we are eternally safe!  No one can snatch us from the hand of God who holds us in his eternal grasp.

I am one of God’s sheep.  He leads, I follow with faith.

Soul, why should you fret?

These beauties have been blooming for some days now, next to our house.  I absorb their beauty!