Category : Pilgrim’s Chronicles
This mornings devotional on In touch was too good not to pass on and then add a little personal insight.
Deuteronomy 7:7-9 New Living Translation (NLT)
7 “The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! 8 Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. 9 Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands.
Spring, summer, fall, and winter—these are the seasons of the year. Life also has its seasons. Some are filled with joy, while others are characterized by difficulty. Take comfort because there is a principle from the Bible that can encourage and sustain you through every season: Our God is faithful.
We learn about this attribute of the Lord from passages like 1 Corinthians 1:9, where Paul says, “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” To say that God is faithful means He always does exactly what He says He will do.
How reassuring it is to know that He will keep His promises to His children and never leave their side, whatever “season” of life they are in. No matter how deep, how dark, how depressing, how hopeless, or how good things may seem, the child of God can count on the Father’s abiding presence.
So regardless of your present trials or triumphs, embrace these three truths:
1. God will be faithful to you because it is His very nature (Ps. 36:5).
2. God knows all about your situation; you are never alone in any season of life (Ps. 139:7-12).
3. God is omnipotent, so He has the power to meet every single need, and He knows how to move you through the various seasons of your life (Rom. 8:28).
Hold onto this fact: You will change and seasons will change, but our wonderful God is always the same. That means He won’t fail you, He won’t waver on you, and He won’t vary—you can fully rely on Him. And He will never forget about you; He is with you always. Great is His faithfulness!
I have been the benefactor of many incredible acts of the faithfulness of God. Let share several important ones to me.
In High School and College I had several girl friends, I was young, so you can count that against my judgment, but I was sure each one was the “one”!! Needless to say by time I graduated and returned to my home town, Harlan, I was girl friendless… To be honest, I was very lonely, and I was questioning why my God was leaving me alone in the world. The answer to my prayers was not immediate. Then one night while visiting my father in the hospital, I mete a pretty young nurse! One date later, I had found the love of my life. 44 years later, I can see what god was saving me for! Not a day has gone by that I haven thanked Him for this my greatest earthly gift!
One of the great loves of my life has been football. I played in High School and had a chance to play in college, but frankly I was just not big enough or fast enough to play major college ball. I coached high school ball and really enjoyed it but, it was obvious tome that my future was not going to be as a player or along term as a coach. During my time coaching I picked up a 35mm camera ands started dabbling in photography, something I had always had an interest in. God opened doors that led to my life time passion with and involvement in photography. With the exception of my Lord, my wife and family, and friends, photography has become the joy of my life.
Twice I’ve faced cancer and in both cases, great medical folks and my Lord have seen me through both! He not only helped me to recover, he taught me life lessons of incompressible value through both experiences.
Some might say that these are all coincidences. Believe what you wish, but I know what I believe, my God has been faithful in every aspect of my life, both large and small!
Blessings,
the pilgrim
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This entry was posted on Monday, April 22nd, 2013 at 12:08 pm
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Wow is it great to be home, the redbuds and dogwood in bloom, nothing like spring in Kentucky! Slept in my own bed last night, and am sitting in my own office today! It is a foretaste of what July 1st will be like! There is something wonderful about spring, a season of browns and cold gives way to fresh shoots on the trees and thick green grass in the meadows. I won’t keep you long today, but I do want to thank you again for your prayers last week. The experience for me at Photoshop World was wonderful, I met great people, worked with a phenomenal team, and made a good start on what the next phase of my life is going to be!
I never underestimate the power of prayer, and the good wishes from friends like you guys and gals, thanks from the bottom of my heart!
Blessings,
the pilgrim
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This entry was posted on Sunday, April 21st, 2013 at 3:52 pm
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You never know! I had a program, at the Kelby Media stage this afternoon, in the midst of the concofany of noise, other speakers, people talking loud, every possible distraction, and after the first two shows they turned my sound (music) down because it was too loud for the guy lecturing 15 feet away. Hey I didn’t blame him, I couldn’t hear myself think either. I was pretty sure the program of slide shows had fallen on it’s face! Shockingly a pretty long line of folks came up to say they really enjoyed it, shocking!!!!! The last person was beautiful young lady who was a scholarship student to Photoshop World from Canada. She fought back tears to tell me that God had used the program to answer some prayers she had been praying. I stood there dumbfounded! It never ceases to amaze me just how God know the needs of those in an audience and moves through the Holy Spirit to touch their lives. I take no credit, how could I??? I was thinking I had wasted their time this afternoon!
You never know……….. but He does!!! Praise God for my ignorance and His compassion and love!!!!
Blessings,
the pilgrim
Does anyone know how to spell concofany??? Can’t find it anywhere!
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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 18th, 2013 at 9:41 pm
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In air war terms, I swept in low, with guns a blazin’!!! In real terms, your prayers were answered, and God provided me a wonderful victory today in my first appearance at Photoshop World! I hate using the expression when it applies to me, but the Holy Spirit, you, and I knocked one out of the park today. I was very pleased with the audience response for my first of three talks. As I had suggested earlier, Jim and I want our ministry to grow in effectiveness for Him, and today certainly was a good step forward.
The program that I presented today was one I’ve worked on for some time and I feel I will be using it a number of other venues over the coming months. It was a new arrangement of the old theme that I have taught for years from the David Middleton notebook! Subject, Light, Compositions, and Conditions, to which I’ve added, learn to use the gear you have….
I can’t thank you enough for being for me there in prayer. I am never nervous about doing talks, I love to present, but I felt the weight of the importance of this one. I owe you and I really owe Him, but then I already owed Him everything!!!!
Blessings,
the pilgrim
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 17th, 2013 at 9:06 pm
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