Thanks Be to God

In case you didn't know, Christmas was yesterday.

It's the day Christians celebrate the birth of our Savior, the greatest gift the world has ever known, Jesus Christ. I have seen many people posting 2 Cor. 9:15 "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." And to that I say a hearty amen!

For many of us, it is also a day to exchange gifts with family and friends. We take the time to think about what they might need or want, we go out shopping at actual stores, or compare prices online, we obtain the gift, hide it, then carefully wrap it before presenting it to the person it was intended for.

(Or we forget completely where we've stashed it, and give it to them the next year!)

I think everyone's eyes light up a bit when they receive a gift, whether they are expecting one or not. It's always exciting to find that there is something just for you under the tree (that you didn't buy for yourself).

What do you find yourself or those around you saying when opening something especially thoughtful? If you're anything like me, you say "Oh, I love it!! Thank you so much!"

We see the gift, and we respond in the excitement of the moment at receiving something we've wanted. And we briefly thank the giver (perhaps with a hug, or meaningful glance) before moving on to the next gift.

I wonder, have you ever opened a gift, and when you find it is something you really wanted, said "Oh, I love YOU- thank you so much!"

Do we really recognize the gift as a token of love from the giver? I think many times we do not. We take the giver for granted.

The people who followed Jesus had the same problem.

Luke 19:35-37
(35) And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon.
(36) And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way.
(37) And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen;

The people praised God for the mighty works they had seen, but not because God had come down to man. They saw the gifts He gave of healing, deliverance from demons, raising people from the dead, calming the storm, feeding the crowds, and they were thankful for those things, but didn't truly recognize who Jesus was, and praise Him for being God.

We know this to be true, because just a few chapters later they are so easily turned against Him, and call for Him to be crucified.

How often have we thanked God for the things He has blessed us with, but forgotten to thank Him for who He is? The season of Christmas isn't just about the baby who was born in a manger, and who that baby would become: Son of God and son of man, the Savior of the world, the Messiah, but also about who He already was! Creator, God, holy, righteous, good, faithful, just...

Let us remember as we go into the new year to seek the Blesser, and not just His blessings. To seek God Himself, and not just the benefits of being His child.

Psalm 29:2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

What characteristic of God can you thank Him for today?

Not Feeling So Special

“I don´t feel very special.” If I were Mary, that is probably what I would say. Here she was a young girl, engaged to a good guy, when the angel Gabriel brought her some life-changing news. He said, “Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” Gabriel also told her, “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.” Then he proceeded to tell her that she, though a virgin, would be gifted the promised Messiah as her baby. (Luke 1)


In retrospect, I look back at her and think that Gabriel was right.  Mary got to birth the Savior of the World. What an honor that had to have been!


I can’t help but wonder, though, if Mary questioned the “highly favoured” or “blessed among women” status at times. Perhaps she questioned being special. I suspect that she did. Maybe, she even felt the exact opposite of special.

Scared 

The first thing that Gabriel told her was not to be afraid. That didn’t work. She immediately fled to her older cousin Elizabeth, who was also expecting. She spent her first trimester there. After her cousin's baby John the Baptist was born, Mary went back home to face her fears. 

Rejected 

When she got home, her fiancé Joseph decided to break up with her. Her pregnancy was obvious by then. He probably felt betrayed since she had been gone for three months and came home with a baby on the way. Because he was a good guy, he decided to split with her in a private, non-condemning way. Still, that initial rejection had to sting.

Shamed

After Gabriel visited Joseph to assure him that the baby was indeed the Messiah and that Mary had actually been telling the truth, Joseph married her. The marriage did not take away the shame that she felt from her family and community. Pregnancy outside of marriage was simply unacceptable then. Mary and Joseph bore this shame together after they were married with the community assuming the baby was his. 

Poor 

She and Joseph had to make their way to a suburb of Jerusalem for the privilege of paying a tax. Because they were poor, they probably walked, and since she was full-term, that took a long time. Once they finally got to Bethlehem, the rooms were already booked. One hotel manager finally took pity on them, probably wanting to avoid her having that baby on his front step. He let them stay in his barn like animals.

Dirty 

She was not at home with a midwife or her sisters or her mother when she delivered. No, she was in a barn. Barns are smelly, dirty places with animals, manure, and mud. Joseph did his best to make her and the baby comfortable placing the baby Jesus in the feeding trough after having wrapped the little one in the blankets that they had brought with them. The filth that comes with childbirth had to have been hard to clean in a barn.

Exposed 

At the most vulnerable moment of her young life, a group of staring shepherds showed up with their sheep to see her baby. They were super nice, but they did not seem to appreciate the concept of privacy. They made a really big deal out of her baby there in the barn, and they did not keep it to themselves. They went all over the whole town telling everybody about her business.  

Displaced 

After she and Joseph had moved into a house in Bethlehem instead of going home, they had a visit from some strangely dressed foreigners. These sages were very kind to their little family and brought expensive gifts for Jesus. They even told her that the priests and the king himself wanted to bring presents to Jesus, too. The next morning, though, they changed their story. In a dream, an angel had told them to avoid the king and to go home another way. That night the angel visited Joseph as well. His message was that evil King Herod and his cronies were going to kill Jesus because Herod thought that her baby was going to try to take his place. Joseph followed the angel’s instructions fleeing their house that very night to seek refuge in Egypt. 


Mary had to feel other things, too, as Jesus got older. She felt angry when He stayed at the temple instead of following her and Joseph home. She might have felt betrayed when Jesus turned her away because He was ministering to people. She must have felt tormented when she saw Him tortured to death. Surely she was hopeless when she buried her son. No mother should have to bury their child, right?


Was Mary special? Yes. Absolutely. Did she always feel special? Doubtful.


Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Mary had some ability to deal with the stuff life threw at her better than the rest of us, but I don’t think so. She was human after all. Here’s my take-away. I don’t always feel special either. I have felt scared, rejected, shamed, poor, dirty, exposed, displaced, angry, betrayed, tormented, hopeless. Maybe you have, too. 


Do you feel special during those times? Nope. But are you special? Yes. Yes, you are. 


You see, that baby, the Messiah, the Savior said that we are special. We are so special to Him that He sacrificed Himself for us. He loved us to death. Then He came back to life, thankfully. To Jesus, to the King of the world, we are very special.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

Patrick and Vicki Weimer, in Iceland since 1999

Royal Icing

Royal icing

I’ve always loved the idea of fancy cookies, but I’d never tried to make my own. We always just done regular icing and sprinkles (which is perfectly fine and very delicious 😋). This year my sister and I wanted to try royal icing. We had a fun afternoon trying our hand at some fancy designs we found on Pinterest. 

3 egg whites

4c powdered sugar

1/2tsp cream of tartar

1tsp vanilla

Whip egg whites and cream of tartar (or use lemon juice if you don’t have cream of tartar) together, and add powdered sugar 1/4c at a time. Add in the vanilla (or whatever flavoring you want!). Use as is for gingerbread houses, or thin it out with water (a tbsp at a time) to use it for icing cookies. 

An important tip, make sure your bowls, mixer, spoons, etc. aren’t greasy at all! You can wipe them down with vinegar to help. 

We used piping bags without the metal tips, and it worked fine. But you would get more precision if you did use the proper tips. 

We frosted 24 cookies with the recipe, and had at least half of the icing left over. Since the cookies will be gone within a day or two, we’ll probably do round 2 in a few days! If you have extra, or want to make your icing ahead of time, just keep it in an airtight container until you’re ready to use it. 

-Kayleigh

The Story Behind the Picture

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

But what they don't tell you is, which words?

Like this picture I posted. It looks like a pretty sunrise, right? And it is. If I put the caption 'Life is good' underneath it, you'd probably think I was already having a great day, and the sunrise was just icing on my "perfect morning" cake.

What the picture can't tell you is that I was next door to a horse farm, and in case you didn't know, horses poop outside. And the wind sometimes changes. You can fill in the rest.

And my feet were wet because I was wearing flip-flops, and had stepped in a puddle, and there were even worms guts on the pinkie toe of my left foot. Ew.

It also doesn't tell you that the dishes were piled up in the sink because I didn't feel like washing them the night before, or that my person was kind of a mess all around because I needed a shower.

See, in order to get the whole story, a picture needs a caption at the least. But usually we need someone to tell us what was going on at the moment the image was captured. We can make up anything we want, but how often are we right?

It's been my experience that humans are story creatures. We want to know things about each other. We are drawn to telling and listening to stories.

And every life is a story worth telling.

Remember the shows "Everybody Has a Story", and then "On the Road" with Steve Hartman? (If not you should google them. So many heartwarming moments!) I loved those shows. I loved the glimpses into the lives of strangers I would never meet. I loved that any random little town in any place in the US had people with compelling stories that I otherwise would have never heard.

We recently had our last Monday night ladies life group meeting, and we finished up our study on unity. And this got me to thinking about ways we can build unity within the Body of Christ.

One way to build our love for one another (and thereby increase unity) is to get to know each others' stories. It's so much easier to assume things about people. To think they haven't suffered anything, or that they couldn't possibly understand what I've been through, because their life looks perfect, or they come from a "good family".

Have you ever thought you had someone figured out, and then you had the opportunity to REALLY talk to them and hear their story? And your mind was blown by what you learned about them and how God has worked in their life? Isn't it cool how you feel infinitely closer to that person because you can relate to them in some way that you couldn't before?

We are called to love one another the way Christ loves us. His love doesn't look at the clock when someone else is talking. It doesn't look at the phone, either. Or make a mental grocery list, or formulate a response, or do anything else but listen and love.

His love is selfless, and different from loving your neighbor the way you love yourself. That's why He said it was a new commandment when He told the disciples to do it.

I think American culture today encourages us to hurry up and hurry along, and do all. the. things. But what we really need to do is slow down, come together, and get to know these other people made in the image of Christ. Listen to the stories of the people in life group, or small group, or church, so we can be blown away at the goodness of God at work!

A great way to build unity is to seek it out by getting to know, and love, those around us so we can pray for one another, and bear each others' burdens. This fulfills the law of Christ, and others will know we are His disciples. Unity doesn't 'just happen'. We have to be intentional about it.

Don't assume from what you can see in the 'picture' of someone's life, that you have them all figured out. Take the time to hear the stories God is writing for others. You will find yourself encouraged, and your perspective challenged. I want to be known by my love, and listening is a good first step.

Psalm 133:1-3
(1) A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
(2) It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
(3) As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

John 13:34-35
(34) A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
(35) By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Galatians 6:2
Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

James 5:16
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Christmas Apart

Pray for your missionaries during the holidays.  It can be some of the loneliest days as they are apart from their families. I came across a short passage in Amy Carmichael’s, Rose from Brier that I often think about and share at this time of year.  If you are apart from your family this year, may it bring comfort to you as it has to me.

“On my second Christmas Day, apart in measure from my dear family, I found comfort in ‘taking’ a new carol, which, unlike most carols, would look not only at Bethlehem, but also at Calvary.  There are times when nothing holds the heart but a long, long look at Calvary.  How very small anything that we are allowed to endure seems beside that Cross.”

Toffee and Heath Bars

Christmas Candy

Toffee

This is so easy to make! Seriously! I was so surprised! If you don’t have corn syrup, don’t worry. A few weeks ago, Kayleigh put up a recipe for Corn Syrup, I’ll put the recipe down below. 

It is very important that you do not stir the ingredients while they boil. Just throw the ingredients in the pot, and turn on the heat. Do not stir or swirl at all. Clip on a candy thermometer to the pot, and once the syrup reaches 300°, turn off heat. Do not stir the syrup, just pour it out! 

Heath Bar

My mom used to make this every year when we were in America… apparently I used to help her… but I don’t remember this haha. This year I got to make it, and am definitely going to be making it again soon! I made one batch last night, and this morning there is not a single piece left! 

You will need one recipe of toffee, recipe above. 

I hope you enjoy these Heath Bar chunks!

Amber Wells
Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬

Man of Sorrows and Prince of Peace

“For unto us a child is born: unto us a son is given, 

and the government shall be upon his shoulder, 

and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, 

The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” 

Isaiah 9:6

Christmas isn’t a joyous, festive time for everyone. For the woman who lost her husband in a tragic accident this year, it is lonely. To the single mother who is struggling financially, it is an added expense that adds to her anxiety. To the lady laying in a hospital bed it is disappointing. To the retail worker it is tiring. To the “Martha” who is cumbered about much serving, it is stressful. To the missionary wife whose children are across the seas, it is a painful sacrifice. To the family that has been divided by conflict, it is tense. To the sinner enslaved to her sin, it is meaningless. There are troubled hearts every which way we turn. Some will “put on a brave face,” but behind the forced smile and the routine adherence to all the traditional Christmas rituals are still hearts plagued with grief, loneliness, anxiety, stress and hopelessness. These are what the world has to offer us, and into such a world God the Father sent His Son. One of the names He gave Him is The Prince of Peace. What a precious name, and what a precious gift to a world full of troubled souls!

One of the underlying themes of the Gospels is the peace that Jesus Christ has to offer. On 15 different occasions, Jesus tells one or more people, “Let not your hearts be troubled,” “Be not afraid,” “Peace be unto you,” or “Go in peace.” Clearly, The Prince of Peace wants all of His subjects to have peace also. Indeed, when the heavenly host announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds, they praised God, saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14) That mankind should know peace even in the face of the trials and tribulations we experience, was, and is, the express desire of both God the Father and God the Son. 

In John 14, there seems to be an emphasis on this theme of peace, seen by the fact that the chapter begins and ends with the same exhortation: “Let not your heart be troubled.” (vs. 1 and 27) Between verses 1 and 27, the Prince of Peace gives us many reasons for why we ought to have peace in our hearts:

1) He’s preparing a place for us with Him in heaven. (vs. 2)

2) He’s coming again to receive us unto Himself. (vs.3)

3) We know where He is, and we know how to get there. (vs.4)

4) He promises to answer our prayers. (vs.14)

5) We have the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, with us forever. He comes alongside us and we are never alone. (vs.16)

6) We have eternal life. (vs.19)

7) If we love and obey Him, we have the assurance of both the Father’s and the Son’s love—not merely the universal love that God has for all mankind, but that special love that He has for a beloved child. (vs.21)

8) If we love and obey Him, we have His promise that He will manifest (Strong’s definition: exhibit in person; disclose by words; to appear; declare plainly; inform) Himself to us. (vs.21)

9) We have the promise that the Holy Spirit will teach and remind us of everything we need to know. (vs.26)

10) Christ’s peace has been bequeathed to us—it is already ours to be had. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (vs.27)

Then, in later chapters, our Lord gives us some more reasons:

11) Christ has overcome the world with all its trials and temptations: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

12) We have been sent into the world by Christ, just as He was sent by the Father. (John 20:21)

To be troubled in heart is a frequent and even normal occurrence for us because we live in a world riddled with sin, sorrow, trials and problems that cause us anxiety and sadness. Even the Lord Jesus, The Prince of Peace, was acquainted with grief and was called the Man of Sorrows (Is.53:3). Three times in the Gospel of John, Jesus is said to have been troubled:

1) In John 11:33 we read “When Jesus therefore saw [Mary] weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled.”

2) In John 12:27, Jesus Himself said, “Now is my soul troubled,” when He contemplated His impending crucifixion.

3) In John 13:21 Jesus is said to have been “troubled in spirit,” about Judas’ imminent betrayal. 

Perhaps it seems unfair that Jesus should then command us to “Let not [our] heart be troubled,” or to “Be not afraid,” if even He, the Son of God and Prince of Peace couldn’t avoid being troubled in heart. But we must keep this mind: the Lord Jesus was troubled in soul and spirit so that we need not be troubled. The prince of Peace allowedHimself to become a Man of Sorrows so that we need not be always downcast. It is inevitable that we will have moments of grief and anxiety in our lives, but we need not carry the weight of these emotions long-term. Because He was acquainted with grief, we now have a great High Priest who is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” who was “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” to whom we can “come boldly…that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb.4:15-16)

Dear reader, if you are dreading the Christmas season because your heart is troubled or afraid, I exhort you to go to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find help. The One who sits on this throne of grace is that Man of Sorrows who understands exactly what you’re going through and how you’re feeling, and He is that Prince of Peace who has already bequeathed His peace to His children. His peace is the peace that “passeth all understanding”that can “keep your heart and mind through Christ Jesus.” (Php.4:7) He gives His peace “not as the world giveth.” The world’s peace is fleeting and changes with circumstances, but His peace is permanent and secure. The world’s peace is a false peace, based on compromise, but His peace is based on the truth of God’s Word. The world’s peace ignores the root of the problem, but Christ’s peace is the result of Him having healed us from the root of the problem—sin.

God’s Christmas gift to this troubled world was His only begotten Son, The Prince of peace. May we all experience His peace during this holiday season.

Her Story Silhouettes {#25 Amy Carmichael / A Love Like Calvary}

Go to www.sharihouse.com to read more "Her Story Silhouettes"

Silhouette:     

Amy Carmichael was born on December 16, 1867 in northern Ireland. She was the oldest of seven children born to a mill owner and was raised in a devout Presbyterian family. She received Christ as her Savior at the age of 15 while attending boarding school, and the following year her father moved her family to Belfast. One day at the age of 17 when Amy was walking home from church, she saw an old “shawlie” – lower class mill ladies who wore shawls on their heads much to the disdain of more “respectable” people who wore hats. The woman was struggling under a burden she was trying to carry, and although Amy felt compelled to help, she was embarrassed to be seen helping the old lady in view of others who were also walking home from church. That afternoon she felt the Lord speak to her directly, and she decided from that day forward she would rather be dead to the customs and fashions of this world than ever pass up an opportunity to show His love to others,

When Amy was 18 years old, her father passed away. In September of that same year, she attended a preaching conference in Keswick, England that was focused on “higher Christian life.” During the final prayer, Amy felt the Lord asking her if she could do the same as Jesus Christ had done for her and give all of herself to Him. In that moment, she surrendered her life to the Lord for Him to use her in whatever way He could. When Amy returned home, she started a class for the street kids in Belfast and showered her love on them. She also began a Sunday school class for the “shawlies.” Within just a couple of years this class had grown to the point that they needed a place that would seat 500. Through an advertisement in a Christian publication, Amy secured a monetary donation to build the building, and a mill owner donated a plot of land to put it on. She built the “Welcome Hall” where everyone was welcome no matter what their station. That same year she heard Hudson Taylor preach about the desperate need for missionaries in China, and she was convinced that the Lord was calling her into mission work. Amy was a constant witness wherever she went, and she continued working at the Welcome Hall until 1889 when she moved to Manchester where she immediately started ministering to the mill girls there.

On January 13, 1892 at the age of 24, Amy felt the Lord telling her it was “time to go.” She was sad to leave her family and her ministries but excited about serving the Lord on the mission field. Amy suffered from neuralgia which affected her nerves and made her whole body weak and achy and often sent her to bed for long periods of time. Because of this, she struggled to find a mission board that would accept her. She had trained with the China Inland Mission, but just before she was to set sail for China, they told her that her health made her an unlikely candidate for field service. She did not let these rejections deter her from what she knew the Lord had called her to do. She might have been frail in health, but she was strong in heart.

By March of 1893 she was serving in Japan as the first missionary sent out by the Keswick Convention. During her short 15-month stay in Japan she saw more converts than many missionaries saw in their entire ministry. She was disappointed when she had to make the decision to leave due to her poor health, but after a short stay in Ceylon for respite, she was commissioned by the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society to go to India.

Amy began her work by going from village to village witnessing, teaching, and training women. In 1897 she formed a group called “The Starry Cluster” that consisted of Christian ladies who went with her from village to village giving the Gospel, sharing how Jesus had changed their lives, and teaching the Bible. In 1900 Amy’s work took her to the town of Dohnavur near the southern tip of India. It was here she first became involved with rescuing children. On March 6, 1901 she met Preena, a 7-year old girl who had run away from the local Hindu temple and had come to Amy seeking shelter and protection. Preena had fallen prey to the situation many young Indian girls found themselves in when they were unwanted by their families. These girls were “dedicated” to the gods at the Hindu temples and then forced into prostitution to make money for the priests. The notion was revolting to Amy, and with her agreement to shelter Preena, she began her rescue work.

Amy started the Dohnavur Fellowship which quickly turned into a sanctuary for young girls. She wore traditional Indian clothing and often dyed her skin with coffee so as to be able to go undetected when she was doing her rescue work. So great was her love for every child that she would endure the pain of travelling long distances just to save one child from suffering. Since the value of a girl-child was very little, families soon began to give Amy their unwanted newborn girls. Amy’s Fellowship, or her “family” as she preferred to call it, continued to grow and grow. She fought hard against the Indian caste system which caused a mother to allow her child to die rather than be seen by a physician in a lower caste, and she had to withstand the disapproval and condemnation of fellow missionaries who thought she shouldn’t get so involved. Amy took on the role of mother to the hundreds of girls she looked after, and for the next 10 years her brave heart withstood extreme exhaustion, personal danger, and numerous threats of imprisonment from those who accused her of the crime of kidnapping.

Eventually Amy was able to buy some property and build a small village where she, her daughters, and her band of Christian woman were able to live. In 1918 Amy took in her first baby boy and started a village for them next to the girls’. During her decades of ministry, she rescued hundreds of boys and over a thousand girls. What started off as a home for unwanted baby girls grew to include a property of 400 acres that included homes for boys and girls of all ages, nurseries, schools, a working dairy farm, fruit and vegetable farms, and rice lands, There were kitchens, laundries, workshops, office buildings, and eventually a hospital funded by Queen Mary was added. Amy loved all her “children” and called them her precious Gems. They loved her and called her “Amma” – “mother” in Tamil.

In 1931 at the age of 63 Amy suffered a fall which left her quite crippled. By 1935 her health had worsened, and she became bedridden. She didn’t let this stop her though, and she spent her time daily in prayer, teaching, visiting with the children, and showering her love on them. All through the years, Amy continued to fight against temple prostitution, and finally in 1948 just a couple years before her death, she was able to see it outlawed. 

Although Amy died on January 18, 1951 at the age of 83, both the Welcome Hall and the Dohnavur Fellowship continue on today more than 70 years after her death. She died in Dohnavur where she had lived and served the Lord faithfully for over 55 years without a single furlough. She is buried in the garden located in the center of the Fellowship campus. The word “Amma” is engraved on a simple bird fountain that marks her burial spot . . . such a fitting tribute as it was to her so many took their flight and found in her a well of love. She is truly a woman of whom it could be said, “She hath done what she could”!

Her Story/My Story:  

Amy’s life’s goal was to make God’s love known to those around her. She often taught her children in word and in deed about the great love that God had for them even though their family and society had abandoned them. One of the 35 or more books Amy authored is called “If” and is about knowing the true love of Calvary. Here are some of Amy’s thoughts on the matter:

·     “If souls can suffer alongside, and I hardly know it, because the spirit of discernment is not in me, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·   “If I slip into the place that can be filled by Christ alone, making myself the first necessity to a soul instead of leading it to fasten upon Him, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·   “If I belittle those whom I am called to serve, talk of their weak points in contrast perhaps with what I think of as my strong points; if I adopt a superior attitude, forgetting “who made thee to differ? and what hast thou that thou hast not received?” then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·    “If I take offence easily; if I am content to continue in cold unfriendliness, though friendship be possible, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·   “If my attitude be one of fear, not faith, about the one who has disappointed me; if I say “Just what I expected,” if a fall occurs, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·     “If I do not give a friend “The benefit of the doubt,” but put the worst construction instead of the best on what is said or done, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·     “. . . if I put my own good name before the other's highest good, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·    “If I can write an unkind letter, speak an unkind work, think an unkind thought without grief and shame, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·   “If I do not feel far more for the grieved Saviour than for my worried self when troublesome things occur, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·    “If I make much of anything appointed, magnify it secretly to myself or insidiously to others; if I let them think it “hard,” if I look back longingly upon what used to be, and linger among the byways of memory, so that my power to help is weakened, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·    “If I hold on to choices of any kind, just because they are my choice; if I give any room to my private likes and dislikes, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·    “If the ultimate, the hardest, cannot be asked of me; if my fellows hesitate to ask it and turn to someone else, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

I remember when I first went to Nigeria the reaction I got each time I would go into a village to witness and invite them to church. Many of the Nigerian kids had never seen a white lady before, and I was very strange to them. One day I visited a village called Ekolaba. As I entered the village the kids that were playing outside started gathering around me and staring. They followed me from house to house, and each house we went to seemed to produce three more children for our caravan. By the time I got to the center of the village there must have been 20-30 kids standing about 5 feet from me giggling. If I looked in their direction at all, they would run and scream with laughter. None of the kids spoke English, so when I came to a house with a Yoruba lady on the porch, I said, “They don’t like my white face.”  She replied, “Oh, they like it and your long hair.”  I had worn it down that day, and so it was long and very light compared to theirs. One girl came very close and touched me. This seemed to be the go ahead sign for the other kids because pretty soon they were all swarming around me.

In situations like this, the kids would often pull at the skin on my arms, rub my face, and stroked my hair trying to figure out what kind of breed of “animal” I was. These children . . . scruffy, dirty faced, half-clothed . . . had my attention, and since I could not speak their language and they could not speak mine, I would just hold them in my arms, smile at them, and love on them the best I could.

Believe it or not these kind of children, the ones you can see so desperately need love and attention, are the easiest to love. It is those like an obstinate teenager, or a church member who has gone astray, or the church busybody that we seem to have a hard time showing love to. Amy’s love for the people God called her to serve was never ending. It never gave up. It never relented. It reached beyond what others might have felt fulfilled what was necessary or required of another. Her love was not dependent on the actions of others. It came from a source deep within her and from the example of Jesus’ love toward her. Her love for others was a Calvary-type love.

Bible Study:  A Love Like Calvary

Long before Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote the now commonly used phrase, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways,” God spoke these words in Jeremiah 31:3b “. . . Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” The Bible is full of some of the most amazing stories of love like that of Solomon and the Shunamite woman or Hosea’s love for his unfaithful wife. We can see the great love between a parent and a child in the stories of Abraham and Isaac, Eunice and Timothy, and Joseph who loved Jesus as his own. One of my favorite stories in the Bible is that of the love shared between David and Jonathan, a friendship whose love surpassed that of a spouse, but no greater love story has there ever been or will there ever be than the love story of Calvary. So many adjectives come to mind when I think of the kind of love that Jesus had for me on Calvary, but here are few:

1. Calvary love is a Forgiving love. Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

2. Calvary love is a Forbearing love. 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

3. Calvary love is a Forever love. Lamentations 3:22 “"It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.”

4. Calvary love is a Formidable love. Romans 8:38-39 “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

5. Calvary love is a Forthright love. I John 4:10 “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

6. Calvary love is a Forgetful love. Hebrews 10:17 “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”

7. Calvary love is a Forward love. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

8. Calvary love is a For everyone love. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The love Amy showed toward everyone challenges me to look at what kind of love I have toward others . . . the lovable and the unlovable . . . the deserving and the undeserving. What kind of love do you show to those around you? Is it a Calvary type love?

Copyright 2019 www.sharihouse.com

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*Disclaimer:

I have chosen to highlight the life of these ladies because of what they have accomplished for the Lord not because I agree with their doctrinal beliefs.  As with all study of man, our focus should be on the character traits they bestowed in their lives that allowed the Lord to use them, how the Lord used them, the methods of ministry they incorporated that allowed them to be effective, etc.  We do not study man to get our doctrine.  Our doctrinal beliefs should only come from the Bible.  To that end you may find you don’t agree with the doctrine of a particular person that I write about, but I believe there is still much wisdom we can gain from studying their lives.

Crackers and Dip

Crackers and Dip 

Tis the season of snack foods! I love this time of year, there is always so much fun baking to do! 

One of my family’s favorite holiday snacks is Crackers and Dip. Sometimes we have crackers, sometimes we don’t. Such is life when you live 3 hours outside of town. Whenever we’re in bind, we make our own! It’s super easy! 

Crackers:

Combine dry ingredients in a blender or bowl and pulse or mix until combined. Add the butter and pulse or cut in until mixture resembles sand. Slowly add water until you have a dough that is easy to roll out. I used ½ cup plus a teaspoon last time I made these… but the time before I didn’t need the whole ½ cup. I guess it depends on your flour weight. Allow dough to rest for at least 15 min. Roll dough out as thin as you want the crackers. (Actually, slightly thinner, they will puff up a little bit) Cut out circles or squares, and place them on a cookie sheet. Stab each cracker with a fork. Beat the egg until completely smooth. Using a brush or your fingers, brush each cracker with the egg. Bake until edges start to brown. Cool, and enjoy! 

Dip:

Combine ingredients in a jar, and mix well. You can also add the dry ingredients, and keep them in ziptop bags in the freezer. Then use them as you would use an onion soup mix 😉 

Dips are so easy to be creative with! You don’t have to have a soup mix or a packet of premade spices to make a good dip. Get creative and start throwing some spices into your sour cream! Maybe some shredded cheese or some cracker crumbs. Maybe even some diced jalapenos or something. The sky is the limit! 

Amber Wells 

Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬