THINK ABOUT IT

“Pray without ceasing.” (I Thessalonians 5:17) How do you do that? Has that question ever come to you? Do you wonder how, in all the busy times in your life you can possibly pray all the time since, after all, that is what to pray without ceasing seems to mean?
With the many examples and teachings we have of the prayers of Jesus, we know He did not always position Himself on His knees in a private area to pray. The one example that immediately comes to my mind is of the gravesite of Lazarus when Jesus used prayer as an example for those standing there: “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me." (John 11:41b-42) Jesus took advantage of the moment. It wasn’t the length of the prayer we have recorded in John, chapter 17, but still shows His life as an open line of communication with His Father. Think about it.
Lately between our own family and dear friends, my heart goes to God more often than ever with thought and prayer on a regular basis. As a result I am frequently in memory of a discussion I had with John's very wise and wonderful Nana who lived 107+ years and who I believe, loved and taught about the Lord from the time she was able to think! We didn’t have a lot of time together and on one brief visit I noted that she had several handwritten pages tucked inside the flyleaf of her Bible that I assumed to be a list of folks for whom she prayed on a faithful basis. If my assumption was correct, and if as I suspect, her retreat to the guest room each morning, noon, and evening was to pray, she was indeed a faithful prayer warrior. On one particular day I said something to her about finding time to pray for so many people who were on my mind and her comment that has stayed with me this quarter-century in between was, "I believe that just a thought is a prayer." If her wisdom was/is correct than many more prayers than even those of which I am very consciously aware have been and are being prayed!
Just think about it! And continue to pray without ceasing.
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 4-29-09

ALWAYS THE SAME

In this world I have grown to expect that things are ever changing but I was really thrown for a loop a few days ago when I heard that the area known as “Four Corners” where the four states of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico come together has been declared to be off by two-and-one-half miles! We have been there, had our pictures taken there, and even bragged to folks that our Little Doggie Tray once posed for a picture with one foot in each of four states at one time. Now we learn that the boundaries we once thought true were not based on accurate surveys.
Now I wonder: Is it possible that the original survey was accurate but the earth is subtlety shifting in the interim due to earthquakes, etc? Since I know nothing of land surveys and have no other way to prove or disprove what I am being told, I have to depend on those with expertise and allow them to state the facts as they have determined them to be even though I find it so difficult to accept as true. I am not sure why I find this occurrence such a difficult concept except I don’t like change and this involves a big change in thinking that came about suddenly. I guess I’ll have to continue to wonder about it while I wait to see what the news will bring as the surveyors continue their work of determination.
As I thought on these things I considered the fact that one unchanging thing I know is that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8 NASB) I will not wake to TV news one day that Jesus has changed in any way because I have His promise to the contrary not only in one place but several in His Word.

"In the beginning you made the earth secure. You placed it on its foundations. Your hands created the heavens. They will pass away. But you will remain. They will all wear out like a piece of clothing. You will make them like clothes that are taken off and thrown away. But you remain the same. Your years will never end."
Psalm 102:25-27 (New International Reader's Version)

Since I don’t like change I am very thankful to know that in Him I have found The One Who will always remain the same.
©Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 4-24-09

THEY ALSO SERVE WHO SIT AND WAIT

There’s a wonderful story in the Old Testament that I have always loved. It’s found in I Samuel, chapter 30. As you read it ask yourself, “Do I know anyone like this?”
That story tells of several battles: David and the men of the city are away when the occurrence of the first battle on the horizon affects each one of them greatly, a raid occurs where David’s wives and families are living and they are captured along with all the other inhabitants; no one is killed, but the city is burned to the ground.
The next battle is between David and his men who are angry with him and want to stone because their wives and families have been captured. David seeks God’s counsel and learns that they are not only to pursue the captors but that the captors will be overtaken and the captured will be rescued!
Of the six-hundred men, two-hundred were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor so they stayed behind. Can you imagine the battle that waged in their minds, knowing that their wives and children were somewhere up ahead being held hostage and they simply could not go one step further?
As the four-hundred pressed on the next battle came in the form of a servant of the captors whom they found in a field. He had been left behind because he had become ill. He explained that he had had no food or drink for three days and nights but once fed, he revived, told them he knew of the destruction of the city, and agreed to lead them to the band of captors once they promised to not kill him.
Then came the planned big battle and as God had promised, the victory belonged to David and his men. They won back all that the captors had taken including all the wives and children, safe and sound…nothing was lost…spoils were gained…the battle had been won! Hallelujah! Rejoicing? Songs of praise? Oh, but wait! Once they arrived back at Brook Besor, yet another battle was looming when some of the four-hundred men said, “The men who stayed behind can have their wives and children but that’s all! None of the spoils belong to them since they stayed behind!”
Now here’s the part of this story that speaks out loud to me! Hear for yourself as David answers, "You must not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us, who has kept us and delivered into our hand the band that came against us. And who will listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike." (I Samuel 30:23-24 NASB)
Oh, yes, they also serve who sit and wait! Do you know anyone like that? I suspect you do and whoever comes to your mind right now, why don’t you send this little story to them just as a reminder that God knows who they are and sees them as they serve Him by sitting and waiting?
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 4-20-09

IT WAS A SPECIAL TIME

Yesterday would have been my daddy’s 99th birthday. I wonder who besides me remembered. I am sure one of my brothers was as aware as I and perhaps a few others as well. As the day approached I knew my niece would be aware of the day since from her birth she had shared Daddy’s birthday and we had many happy family meal celebrations topped off with her mother’s creative confections. It was a special time in life.
It seemed to so many of us that Daddy just prior to his 57th birthday was taken from this life too soon, yet we knew that God’s timing is never wrong and we knew that regardless of his age, Daddy was ready to continue his walk with God in the Heavenly Realm.
As memories have taken me back over the days of Daddy’s life and death I have once again been reminded of God’s plans for Daddy as well as for each one of us so beautifully described in Psalm 139 (NASB):

13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them


1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar.
3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all.

17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand When I awake, I am still with You.

Daddy’s life was precious to those of us who knew him well and as we read these verses from Psalm 139 we know God knew him best, planned for his life before it was…even to the number of his days. Daddy’s path was a walk with God and that night when he made his final bed on this earth he was a breath away from waking still with the Lord!
It was a special time!
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 4-18-09

UPDATED VERSIONS OF OLDER MODELS

A few weeks ago I took a picture of an updated version of an older model of a car. I took the picture because it reminded me of a car my oldest brother had once owned and because I knew my next-in-age-to-me brother would fully appreciate it as much as I did, not only for it’s aesthetic beauty but for the shared memories it brought to his mind as well. I was right but later I started thinking about a spiritual application to the scene I had captured.
Since my brother explained the car was a 1938 Chevrolet, yet the outside which was all I got to see looked brand new except for it’s fashion lines, it was obvious someone had taken great pains to do one of two things: either the car had been kept in pristine condition from the day it left the manufacturer or it had been totally refurbished from its undercoating all the way to it’s outer sheen. Since the color was as bright a red as any Santa’s suit ever seen and as shiny as a reflective ornamental garden ball, my guess is the latter best fits the car’s past. It was definitely eye-catching and a beauty to behold with memories to recall. With those images in mind, I wonder, is that how I appear as one of Christ’s attractions and reminders in this world?
Oh, but I am no longer fresh off the showroom floor and the dust of this world keeps trying to dim the shine! Family members and dear friends are suffering severe physical ailments, precious loved ones are dying, and personal daily life changes are discouraging. However, just as with that antique car (only with a “forever inside and out fix” for me!), “I do not lose heart, but though my outer woman is decaying, yet my inner woman is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for me an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while I look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. That is why I never give up. Though my body is dying, my spirit is being renewed every day. For my present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for me a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So I don’t look at the troubles I can see now; rather, I fix my gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things I see now will soon be gone, but the things I cannot see will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (Paraphrased MSM)
Come, stand beside me and let’s shake off the dust of this world together while we share this shining spiritual scene!
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 4-16-09