Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

Zel and Dani had their second child, a boy named Kelden.  He is a healthy lad, now growing as you can see!  Grandma Jane helped out for over a month – enjoying the pleasure of being a grandparent.  Welcome Kelden!

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Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all.

Psalm 34:19

The old, old question, why do the righteous people need constant deliverance?  Great question.  Older than Job, no doubt.  We ponder that question and then let it in the hands of God.  Who can possibly figure that out?  We have no such promise to do that in the Scriptures.

But how true it is.  Righteous people suffer!  I am now 90 years old.  Bodies wear out!   Mine is no exception.  I live with that.  But when compared to the glory of walking with God these many, many years, it is as nothing.  The Lord is sufficient for this stage of life.  He is with me always, a fact that has nothing to do with physical challenges.

I keep in my mind that the Lord delivers him from them all.  So, it is and ever shall be.  We all walk through the stages of life.  The Lord looks after each of us, no exceptions.  Praise Him now and ever.

Looking out our front window we were greeted by a changing sky, a new morning with promise of more snow.  The sun is doing its best to push through the clouds to announce a new day.  I love this because it is so real for me.  Each day is precious beyond telling.

One treat I remember clearly growing up was the Tuesday when Mom made, with donut dough, what we called fastnacht.  I did not think much about its origin, but remember with delight how we each had a small bowl with new maple syrup into which we dipped the tasty fastnacht.  I think this tradition came down to us through my mother – her Pennsylvania Dutch culture.  Whatever, it was a highlight that pointed to the coming of Spring.

Of course, through the years this “feast” took on heavier meaning as it got tied into the suffering and death of Jesus.  Yet I applaud my ancestors for celebrating the suffering of Christ in this way.

The sweetness of the newly boiled maple syrup is a memory in my mind that seems indelible.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5, 6

I am trying to remember where in my home this motto was located, I think somewhere in the living area, as I was growing up.  No matter, it is so right and full of grace that I do well this morning to ponder what it means for me, today.

I must acknowledge that I trust in many things – monthly income, good health, the love of family and friends and so forth.

The Psalmist insists on simplicity, and truth.  “Trust in the Lord,” is the heart of it all.  I think we are born to be achievers!  And I am number one.   In a way, it is against my nature to lean on Jesus, but on my own understanding.  But that is the outcome of salvation – that I know.

So, this morning, as I enter a new day I want to learn how to lean of Jesus.

So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

1 Peter 4:19

March 2!  Yesterday was my sister, Roma’s, birthday, 88 great years!  I am number 9 in our family, she is 10^th!  We have been close through the years, no matter what.  In her golden years she is experiencing some physical limitations, as I am.  But we have no reason to complain.  We should expect to meet some physical challenges at this age.  Things do change, I have discovered, as we move from our eighties to our nineties.  We live about three hours apart but do feel close.

At this age Scriptures like this one from Peter make huge sense.  Why should I be exempt from the adding limitations as I enter my 90’s, Roma close behind?  We should do what we can to do what the doctors suggest, try to take care of ourselves, knowing that the body is indeed strong, but showing alarming weakness at this stage of life.  What is passing is passing, what remains, remains!  I take great comfort in that.

So, happy birthday dear sister.  Adjust to the changes that the 90’s bring and love God with all our hearts.  And “do good.”

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22, 23

The Daily Light closes February with the Scripture, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

March opens with the Scripture, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”  The top of the list is love! 

I read that the meaning of love is “an intense feeling of deep affection.”  Love is unbelievably strong!  It is an emotion but much, much more than that.  It moves the universe!

God so loved the world that he gave Jesus…That says it all.  There is no greater emotion than love, if it moves the inner person!

Do I know anything at all about that love?  Really know?  As March opens, I am touched hugely by pondering this love.  Lord, reveal to me, again, what that love means and bless me when I love or am loved.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

Daily Light closes February morning Scriptures with this most familiar verse which is, in my mid, the most concentrated theology in the Bible.  The center of its meaning is that God loves, with all his heart, the world he created.  He made the way in Christ that all can be and should be saved.  That is the context of this amazing passage.  It is love, salvation and faith.  The creatures God created are invited to believe in Jesus, God’s Son.  Not only does that belief save them from destruction but yields eternal life.

God left nothing undone!  The door is open for any person to be accepted by Him, to be saved by his atoning work.  So instead of facing the wrath of God we are offered fullness of life in Jesus by faith, eternal life.

I grew up with this verse as might be the case with you as well.  Isn’t the invitation the most wonderful thing we have ever heard?  The invitation to believe in the saving work of the Trinity is the key to it all.  Could it be simpler or more wonderful?

After a nice breakfast and a prayer and praise time with Anna Ruth I like to sip a bit of coffee in one of my favorite spots – our sitting room.  As you can see not much is happening on the outside but in a few weeks that will change – Spring!