A little boy walked carefully along a crowded beach,
Where starfish by the hundreds lay there within his reach.
They washed up with each wave, far as the eye could see,
And each would surely die if they were not set free.
So one by one he rescued them, then heard a stranger call,
“It won’t make a difference… you cannot save them all.”
But as he tossed another back toward the ocean’s setting sun,
He said with deep compassion, “I made a difference to that one!”

Did you ever read that poem? I have no idea who the author is. But I so appreciate the heart of this little boy.

I don’t know about you but there are days when the challenges before me are so many and/or so big, I just can’t seem to focus on what I can do…….one at a time. I work in a public Middle School/High School. There are so many needy children. Often I forget to remember what the Word says in Matthew 11:29-30 “Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (NLT) Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary reveals that the word “yoke” in this reference comes from the word “zugos” meaning that this references a yoke that serves to couple two things together. The word is used metaphorically as a picture of submission to authority, of Christ’s “yoke,” a yoke that is not simply imparted by Him but shared with Him.

What a beautiful picture!! No matter what challenges we face in our day when we remember to first seek the Lord and ask Him what “we” are going to accomplish in the day and submit to His guidance, we can be not unlike the little boy in the poem. We can positively and joyfully give life to one situation at a time. When naysayers or our own stinkin’ thinkin’ invades our mind, we can easily dismiss it just like the little boy was able to do. We may not solve all the problems we face in a day but, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, we can make a difference with some as we submit to His authority and share the load. We will look back upon our day and find it is well with our souls.

Ladies, let us enjoy facing our challenges today as we, first of all, seek direction from the Lord. Allow Him to share the burdens, knowing we were never meant to carry them alone, for all burdens were meant to be shared with Him. It is for our good and His glory. For His yoke is easy, His burden is light.

Patricia L. Wenzel
Women of Character Graduate

DIGGING DEEPER
Proverbs 4:
25 Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
26 Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.

“May the words we speak to others offer hope and healing. May the words we whisper to ourselves be just as comforting. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14” 1

I copied the above from Liz Curtis Higg’s status post on Facebook this morning. I have struggled with words my whole life. I was, unfortunately, “blessed” with the gift of sarcasm. And I’ve battled with it for a long time. Some days I’m victorious, some days I fail. James wasn’t kidding when he said, “Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell” (James 3:5b-6) So, while there is small comfort in knowing that I am not alone in this struggle, I know that I need constant vigilance to battle it.

Psalm 39:1 (NIV) I said, “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth …” Boy, do I need a muzzle some days! Psalm 141:3 (NIV) “Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.” I think I should make this my life verse.

Again, James says, If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man [woman!], able to keep his whole body in check (James 3:2b NIV). How much easier is it to avoid other temptations – push away from the table when I’m full, walk past that shop where those shoes [or dress, purse, necklace, whatever] that I don’t need try to lure me in, turn off the TV, etc. – than it is to shut my mouth! I need to learn to put on my heavenly muzzle every morning when I’m putting on my makeup, instead of waiting till I’m tempted to say what I shouldn’t say.

How about you? Will your words today bring hope and healing to others, or even to yourself? Or will you wish you’d put on the muzzle?

“…Lord, Fill my mouth with worthwhile stuff, and shut it when I’ve said enough. Amen”2

Ruth

Ruth Schmidt is on full-time staff at America’s Keswick, and grateful to be a daughter of the King.

1 – copied from Facebook post, Liz Curtis Higgs
2 – copied from Facebook post, Karen G.

DIGGING DEEPER
Proverbs 4:
23Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.
24Put away from you crooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.

I was just reading in the first verses of Matthew 6 as Jesus taught the disciples how to pray. Verse 7 says, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” And I got to thinking about what it means to use “vain repetition.”

I must admit that when I pray at prayer meeting or in another “public” setting, I often find myself beginning the same way, praying for the same sorts of things in a fairly formulaic way, thinking to myself, “have I covered everything?” and if the answer is “yes,” ending my prayer usually in the same way. I don’t know if this is what Jesus had in mind when he warned the disciples against “vain repetition,” but that’s what it seems like to my mind. Maybe this is why Jesus also instructs his disciples to “enter into thy closet, and . . .pray to thy Father which is in secret. . . .”

So,why do I find myself praying this way? Is it because I want to sound good, or pious or religious? Maybe I don’t want to embarrass myself because I don’t use the proper language (whatever that might be). I find myself thinking, as I listen to someone else pray, “boy, do I wish I could pray like that.” I find I am impressed by the words, perhaps even more than by the thoughts being expressed.

When I pray at home, or with someone else or by myself, I have no one there but God. I don’t need to – and can’t – impress Him. He knows my heart and how I feel. I can have a conversation with Him just like I might talk on the phone to a friend — laugh, cry, ask questions – openly and honestly. There is no reason for me to try and sound like someone I am not. He knows my innermost thoughts and feelings, and what He wants from me is to just open my mouth and heart and share my joys and sorrows, my hurts and disappointments, my thanksgiving and praises. No need to sound good – just say it.

I am not there – yet. I still find myself being too much concerned about how I sound when I pray instead of what I pray. But I am trying to get over my prideful self so God can use my prayers for my good and His glory. As Jesus says at the end of this passage, “. . .and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” (v. 7)

Lynn Randall

Lynn Randall is the Director of Human Resources at America’s KESWICK. She is active in her church and is a gifted planner and organizer. She has a real heart for people as evidenced by her care, concern and practical encouragement.

DIGGING DEEPER –
Proverbs 4:
20 My son, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Let them not escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.
22For they are life to those who find them,
and healing to all their flesh.

It is hard to believe that we have been meditating on Scripture each week for nearly 10 months. I trust you are being blessed not by my words but by His words. There is great value in wisdom, knowing and living it out. May I encourage you to select one or two verses from this week’s meditation and commit them to memory? I believe you will be blessed.

Proverbs 4:20-27

20 My son, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Let them not escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them,
and healing to all their flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.
24 Put away from you crooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.
25 Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
26 Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.

Commentary:
This appeal consists primarily of imperatives that encourage the son to attend to wise instruction and guard wisdom’s presence in his heart (vv. 20-21, 23a) by turning from evil in speech and actions (vv. 24-26a, 27). That is because wisdom brings health (v. 22) and continues to sustain (v. 23b) and secure (v. 26b) the path of the one who does this. [ ESV study notes pg. 1142]

Diane Hunt is the Director of Addiction Recovery and Development at America’s KESWICK. In addition to her Keswick responsibilities which keep her busy, she loves to read, write and teach, travel and laugh with her grandchildren. Diane has been married to her husband John over 25 years. She has 2 children, 2+ grandchildren, 3 step-children, and 7 step-grandchildren.

Proverbs 3:5-8
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.

It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Trust God and not self. But I have found it is anything but simple. And we are to trust Him with ALL OUR HEART; that doesn’t leave room to do it our way sometimes and His way sometimes. Our flesh wants to lean on itself all the time. Trusting the Lord can be difficult because it often doesn’t make sense by the world’s standards or even our own minds. We know our understanding is marred by our humanness but it still whispers to us – “this makes sense, this is right…”

6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.

In all our ways .. This goes beyond just what we think, trusting God must influence our actions, and it looks like something. The only way this is possible is by dying to self and yielding to His Spirit living in us and through us.

7 Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones.

This is the section of our meditation this week that is not as familiar as the first portion. To fear the Lord requires we not be wise in our own eyes, because if we are wise in our own eyes we think too highly of ourselves and edge Christ off the throne in our hearts. Fearing God will be healing and refreshing to our flesh and bones. Like a breath of fresh air to fill our lungs. Inhale deeply.

Diane

Today I read Proverbs 10. WOW!! How wonderful and pure and effective is the Word of God for us to read and keep close to us throughout the day, everyday!

The word RIGHTEOUS is the Word for today and my prayer is that the LORD will not allow our souls to famish; that He give us the desire to live according to wisdom and knowledge and understanding and to walk with integrity all the days of our lives.
The words from this chapter that speak of righteousness and the fruit, the blessing, the reward therein are as follows:

Notice all that are blessed by the righteous. Praise Him and be blessed!!

The LORD will not allow the righteous soul to famish.
Blessings are on the head of the righteous.
The memory of the righteous is blessed.
He who walks with integrity walks securely.
The mouth of the righteous is a well of life.
Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has understanding.
The tongue of the righteous is choice silver.
The lips of the righteous feed many.
the desire of the righteous will be granted.
the righteous has an everlasting foundation.
The hope of the righteous will be gladness.
The righteous will never be removed.
The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom.
The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable.

The righteous know, the righteous feed, the righteous bring forth and the righteous are never removed. Halleluiah, for the LORD our God the Almighty reigns!!

May we all receive the comfort, hope and security eternally bound up in the Word. May we all receive the fresh and everyday manna from the hand of Abba, for our nourishment today! May He be glorified in all that we do-even the things that we may consider mundane and insignificant minutia. In all of it, give God the glory and the praise and watch how you are changed. Taste and see and know the goodness of our God!!

Today let’s remember that we are the redeemed of the LORD and then let us, the redeemed of the LORD, say SO to whatever the enemy of our soul seeks to thwart us with.

Stephanie

Stephanie Paul, wife and mother of two grown children. An “intrument of change” in the Redeemer’s Hand, in the lives of wounded and hurting women. Currently serving as a part of the Addiction Recovery Team at America’s Keswick as Woman of Character Program Administrator.

DIGGING DEEPER
Proverbs 3
7 It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones.

In this final devotional on the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives, let me just discuss briefly some of the things we can do to help with crop production. First and foremost, we must plant the Word (Luke 8:11, Psalm 1:2). Nothing can grow without coming from seed. The Word is the seed which produces the fruit.

Now, if you are like me, the next step is actually harder than the first, both in my life and my garden. We need to be plucking weeds. That is, the weeds that grow up in our hearts (Matt. 13:18-23). We need to be careful of what wealth or the desire for wealth can do in our lives (1 Tim. 6:9). “So, whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is a sin” (James 4:17). Sin comes into our lives and literally chokes away all good that is trying to grow.

After planting and in the process of weeding, we need to continually water our garden. How do we do that? We do so by allowing the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts and minds. We need to make room for the Spirit through the putting off process. For everything we put off in our lives – we make room for the Holy Spirit to put things into our lives (Col. 3). We especially have to put off bitterness, rage and malice because they choke out love and can eat away at even the good in our lives. With those things out of our lives we can be blessed with kindness and forgiveness, which acts like fertilizer in our lives to help our fruit produce in abundance and quality.

Once our fruit is produced, God can harvest it to feed others, to bless others, to glorify Him and bring praise to His name. Remember we reap what we sow!

“The growing of fruit does not happen in a day – the process is a slow but steady unfolding of the blossom, the formation of the fruit and at last it’s ripening. Luscious grapes are not produced in one week nor does a gracious mind mature in a moment.” (W. Phillip Keller)

Take a look at your garden
1. What is it producing?
2. What kind of crop?
3. Is the Master satisfied?
4. Is He getting what He hoped?
5. Is the fruit marketable?

Lynne Jahns
Christian Counselor
Director, KESWICK Institute of Biblical Studies

DIGGING DEEPER
Proverbs 3
7 Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

This group of fruit pertains to our relationship to our inner selves, which speaks volumes about our character and inner life.

Faithfulness is loyalty or trustworthiness – Heb. 12:2 tells us that Jesus is the author of faithfulness. Not only is the Lord our best example (Lam 3:22-23, Isaiah 25:1), but His name means Faithful and True (Rev. 19:11). I like this quote regarding faithfulness from Phillip Keller: “I actively, energetically give of my best to another outside of and apart from myself.”

Why be faithful? Because the Bible commands faithfulness (Prov. 3:3), and because it brings to us the blessings of God and Man (Prov. 3:4). There are many ways to demonstrate the fruit of faithfulness in our lives. We need to be truthful in our words and promises (Prov. 12:22). Our work needs to be exemplary – without question (Col. 3:22-24). Showing faithfulness and stewardship in our finances is another way we display this fruit in our lives (Luke 16:11, Psalms 37:21). Most of all we want to be known for our faithfulness to the Lord. It will be grand to someday hear “well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:21).

GENTLENESS is “power under control.” A gentle person is not weak, but very strong and able to control their emotions and actions – this is also referred to as spiritual tenderness. Think of it this way: MEEK MEN are not WEAK MEN. If we are not gentle then fruit flies or weeds begin to spring up in our lives: pride, self-assertion, arrogance, self-indulgence, aggressive and abrasive behaviors – which overwhelm the other fruit.

To be Gentle we need to: Tame our tongues (Prov. 15:1 and Psalms 141:3), some of the ways we do this is by:
o Blessing Others – Luke 6:28
o Refusing to retaliate with words – I Peter 2:23
o Avoiding Gossip – Prov. 16:28B
o Being strong enough to forgive and not hold grudges – Matt. 18:22, Gal 6:1 (restore in Love)

We must deny ourselves, take up the Cross…

SELF-CONTROL is also known as “Temperance” in scripture (Gal. 5:16, 2 Peter 1:5-7).
Prov. 25:28 tells us that self-control is that wall that protects from temptations of the evil one like the ancient walls that kept the enemy out. When I have self-control over my emotions, passions and appetites (1 Cor. 13: 1-7) then my whole self comes under the control and surrender of Christ. I become governed by God.

If you have “wild vines” you are not self-controlled. Areas in our lives that especially need to be tamed:
* Our Tempers: Prov. 29:22
* Our Words: Prov. 12:18a
* Our Responses: Eph. 4:26
* Our Appetites and Rights when we refuse to concentrate on temptation: Eph 4:27
* Our Finances: Ecc 5:10 and 1 Tim. 6:10a

The Good Gardener wants to come into your garden gates. He wants to be given the ground of your entire being to do with as He wishes to do, to produce what His will is, the way that He wills. He wants to be the controller of crop production in our lives, not us. Who are you allowing to cultivate your inner self?

Lynne Jahns
Christian Counselor
Director, KESWICK Institute of Biblical Studies

DIGGING DEEPER
Proverb 3
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.

This week’s verse, much like last week’s, is an oft-quoted verse. The problem with oft-quoted verses is that sometimes they are recited without much thought to their meaning or promise. Let’s slow down this week just long enough to really consider the truths within.

Proverbs 3:5-8
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
7 Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones.

Commentary:
“Trust in the Lord is necessary for fulfilling any of the wise ways of life taught in Proverbs: trusting the Lord is closely connected to ‘fearing’ him….With all your heart indicated that trust goes beyond intellectual assent to a deep reliance on the Lord, a settled confidence in his cared and his faithfulness to his Word. Do not lean on your own understanding further explains trusting the Lord. One’s understanding in Proverbs is his perception of the right course of action. The wise will govern themselves by what the Lord himself declares, and will not set their own finite and often-mistaken understanding against his. … To make straight a person’s paths means to make the course of the person’s life one that continually progresses toward a goal. In Proverbs, the emphasis is on the moral quality in one’s life path (here, its moral ‘straightness’). ” ESV Study Bible Notes Pg. 1138

Diane

Diane Hunt is the Director of Addiction Recovery and Development at America’s KESWICK. In addition to her Keswick responsibilities which keep her busy, she loves to read, write and teach, travel and laugh with her grandchildren. Diane has been married to her husband John over 25 years. She has 2 children, 2+ grandchildren, 3 step-children, and 7 step-grandchildren.

Psalm 139:23-24
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

Points to Ponder:
I don’t know about you but the last person to see and recognize my sin is me. From my experience, it is much easier to see other people’s sins than it is to see our own. There are those that thrive on pointing out other’s sin, but for the most part, we tend to avoid those kinds of people because they are more interested in other’s faults than taking a good, hard, healthy, godly look at themselves.
We will never go wrong if we ask God to do the searching and revealing of our hearts for He knows the hidden things, the deep things of our hearts. If our soul desire is to be righteous and to be like Christ, we will welcome the searching of God’s eye even in the deepest parts of our heart, even when it hurts because we know He already has a way out. I really appreciate it when the LORD enlightens me to the sin of my heart. I don’t always like it, but I appreciate how intimately involved He is in my life.

Lord, search the hidden things of my heart and lead me in the everlasting way.

Diane

Diane Hunt is the Director of Addiction Recovery and Development at America’s KESWICK. In addition to her Keswick responsibilities which keep her busy, she loves to read, write and teach, travel and laugh with her grandchildren. Diane has been married to her husband John over 25 years. She has 2 children, 2+ grandchildren, 3 step-children, and 7 step-grandchildren.