The Stone

our grandson, "Flash"
Fastest 6-year-old on two, little legs

"The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." (1 Peter 2:7-8 NKJV)

On the way home from church Wednesday night, our granddaughter said that one of her leaders is going to be in the background of a real movie. Our six-year-old grandson replied, "Does that mean she's going to be a stone or something?"

In 1 Peter 2:4, Peter describes Jesus as the living cornerstone rejected by people but precious in God's sight. Dr. Henrietta Mears wrote: "Everyone in this world has to do something with this "Stone," Jesus Christ. He is in every person's path. We can lift Him up and put Him in as the chief Cornerstone of our lives...But if we do not, we must stumble headlong over Him, tragically, to our death."

Beloved, what have you done with Jesus - God's precious, living Stone? Your choice is a matter of life or death.

"Behold, I lay in Zion a chief Cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." (1 Peter 2:6 NKJV))

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Sweet Hands

My sweet toddler-grand

"I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the LORD..." (Gen. 18:19 NLT)

Earlier this week, I softly sang "Down to the River to Pray" while rocking toddler grand to sleep. Because my son has taught his boy to pray, every time I crooned "pray," he folded his sweet, little hands.

I would imagine that to Jesus there are no sweeter hands than those folded in prayer to Him.

Beloved, do you have sweet hands?

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Accentuate the Positives

Cynthia Marie Gordon Carriere, Christmas 2012
March 28, 1956 - April 8, 1913

"Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us." (Rom. 5:1 NLT)

My striking friend, Cynthia, once revealed her beauty secret: Her mother taught her to always accentuate the positives. 

When my flesh sits in the driver's seat, my concrete-sequential, pharisee mindset tends to focus on the negative behaviors of others and myself. God reminded me this morning, "Jill, accentuate the positives in others and leave their negatives to Me."

Beloved, got a bad case of the "critical"? Accentuate others' positives and entrust their negatives to Jesus!

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Special Abilities

Tara, the artist elephant, working in her studio:
the Atlanta Zoo

"Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us." (1 Cor. 12:1 NLT)

My sweet friend, Dawn, recently showed me a colorful "modern-art" painting her daughter gave her for Christmas.

"How pretty," I said. "Who painted it?"

"Tara," she replied, "an elephant at the Atlanta Zoo."

Dr. Henrietta Mears wrote: "All the gifts God gives were given that Christ might be exalted and others blessed. If God gives me any little gift at all, He gives it not that I may gather people to myself, but that it may through me be a blessing for others."

O Christian, got God gifts? Use those special abilities to exalt Jesus Christ and to help and bless others!

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Deep Sea Diving for Young Women

My Rebecca (far right, pink dress) and friends
high school play: "Oklahoma"
1999

"Older women...are to be reverent in their behavior...teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women..." (Titus 2:3-4 NASB)

Church of the Highlands 2016 small groups kickoff next week. Yippee-skippy! And I'm fervently praying for the Lord to fill the remaining spots in my group according to His good plans and purposes. 

Because the Lord Jesus gave remarkably specific instructions for this semester: "Older woman, teach the young women (Titus 2:3-4), and Jill, stop going over basic teachings about Me again and again - don't teach fundamentals - but move forward into deeper understanding" (Heb. 6:1-3), we're diving into the deep seas of Daniel and Revelation! 

P-r-e-t-t-y cool!

Beloved, need remarkably specific instructions? Dive into the Bible! The water's divine!

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Permission First

My brother Mark, me (mini skirt and saddle shoes lol) and our mother
Noccalula Falls Park, 1970

Satan replied to the LORD, "Yes, but Job has a good reason to fear God. You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property"..."All right, you may test him," the LORD said to Satan. "Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don't harm him physically." (Job 1:9-12)

In our leave-it-to-Beaver small-town of Fort Payne in the 1960s, my parents felt comfortable dropping me off at the dentist all by my adolescent self for a cleaning and checkup. The newly graduated oral surgeon, during that "regular checkup," discovered a slight swelling in the rough of my mouth and proceeded to cut it out and stitch me up. 

When Mama came to get me, she addressed the young doctor in a calm but notably firm voice. "Never again cut on my child ever without my permission first."

Spiritual warfare is a common subject of sermons, prayers, and discussions in the Christian circle. The Bible clearly teaches fear not, because Satan and his cohorts can't do one thing without God's permission first. If Jesus permits an attack, He has granted us the authority to make Satan flee and promised to work all things for good for those who love Him.

O Christian, are you battling the evil powers of darkness? Link arms with Jesus. Be strong in Him and in His mighty power. Put on God's full armor. Stand firm against that ol' trouble-making serpent's cunning strategies. For greater is God in you than the prince of the air in the world. 

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205 Mile Walk with God

My superman, sweet Bell, and granddog, Gabe
Summer 2015

"Enoch lived 365 years, walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him." (Gen. 5:23-24)

While Phillip and Bell walk the 2 1/2 mile loop around our neighborhood each morning, Phillip listens to the One Year Bible: an Old Testament passage, a New Testament passage, a Psalm, and a few Proverbs. "In 205 miles, I'll have covered the entire Bible,"  he said today.

Tucked in the middle of a bajillion "begats" in Genesis chapter 5 lies the fascinating story of Enoch - the man who daily walked with God and one day was not - poof - gone - vaporized - no trace left behind - totally evaporated into thin air (or celestial air rather) - absent from the earth and at home with the Lord.  

What a way to go!

Beloved, are you walking with Jesus?

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Better Together

My Dan and me
Home from summer camp
Valleydale Baptist, mid-90s

"Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of [Jesus's] return is drawing near." (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Because we moved umpteen times when our kids were kids, we changed churches more times than a Methodist circuit rider. At the time we joined Ridgecrest Baptist North in Trussville, our youngest had not yet made a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ. So during the last hymn of the service, I whispered, "Daddy, Rebecca, Ben, and I are about to walk down front to join the church, but don't feel pressured. Just pray and do whatever God tells you to do."

When four of us stepped into the aisle, seven-year-old Dan followed right behind. I asked, later, what helped his decision. He said, "God said it would be a whole lot easier to go down with y'all now than all by myself later."

Beloved, God designed us for "koinonia" - communion and fellowship. So get involved in mankind. Encourage one another and build each other up! 

No man is an island,

Entire of itself,

Every man is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less.

As well as if a promontory were.

As well as if a manor or thy friend's

Or of thine own were:

Any man's death diminishes me,

Because I am involved in mankind,

And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;

It tolls for thee.

Devotions for Emergent Occasions, John Donne, 1624.

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I, Stephen, take you, Rebecca

Our Stephen and Rebecca
2004

"For this reason a man shall leave his father ad mother an shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church."" (Eph. 5:31-32)

In the wee hours of this morning, as I drove down Double Oak Mountain to a prayer service, I listened to the Indian-born Canadian-American Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias's sermon: I, Isaac, take you, Rebekah. 

I smiled.

I thanked Jesus.

Years ago, in an effort to rightly steer my Rebecca through the hills and valleys, heart-throb and heart-breaking, turbulent dating years, I gave her a CD of that same message, which God used to guide her into the arms of Stephen - her husband, her "ana duo", her companion in the work of the gospel.

The wonderfully mysterious union of a man and a woman in holy matrimony is a beautiful portrait of Jesus Christ and His church. In his letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul wrote,  "Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her...He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just a Christ also does the church."

O Christian, you are the bride of Jesus Christ, nourished and highly cherished. Rest in His arms today.

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Rich Deposits

Our dock on the Coosa River

"No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening - it's painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way." (Heb. 12:11)

When recent flood waters receded, we discovered that ol' man river had deposited a couple of inches of mud on our dock. Bucket by bucket, I'm harvesting "free" topsoil for my worm bed. 

Beloved, in the storms of life, trust wholeheartedly in Jesus; then after the storm passes by, you'll find rich deposits of righteousness dropped into your character.

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A Real Friend

My dear friend, Sheri, holding my  Rebecca
1981

"There are "friends" who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a [sister]." (Prov. 18:24)

My Ben called yesterday. "Mama, do you know a Sheri from Louisiana? She contacted me on Facebook and asked me to tell you that you've been on her mind, and she's praying for you."

Nearing 40 years ago, Sheri and I met in a newlyweds Sunday School class in Bogalusa, Louisiana and instantly became steadfast friends. A few years later, her family moved to Baton Rouge. A few years after that, my family moved to Alabama; and sadly to say, we lost touch. 

Even though a mountain of sand has slipped through the hourglass and we're grannies now, real friendship and love have withstood the test of time and distance. 

Beloved, need a friend? Jesus is the Friend who sticks closer than a brother. For the Lord Jesus said, "I have loved you even as the Father has loved Me. Remain in My love...you are My friends...I chose you...now, love each other." (John 15)

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The Kid Keeper

Our precious toddler-grand

"Before the presence of the LORD; lift up your hands to Him for the life of your little ones." (Lam. 2:19b)

Because the dangerous RSV virus is raging through his daycare, I'm keeping toddler-grand this week. Yesterday, as we tossed acorns from the treehouse and marched a caravan of trucks around and around the playroom, I contemplated the evils of the devil, this world, and his own sinful flesh that will come against this precious little one. Nonetheless, like the Old Testament psalmist, my confident hope is in the LORD.

Beloved, keep on lifting your voice and hands to Jesus, our Helper and Keeper, for the life of your little ones.

I look up to the mountains -

does my help come from there?

My help comes from the LORD,

who made heaven and earth!

He will not let you stumble;

the One who watches over you will not slumber.

Indeed, He who watches over Israel never

slumbers or sleeps.

The LORD Himself watches over you!

The LORD stands  beside you as your protective shade.

The sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The LORD keeps you all from harm and

watches over your life.

The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go,

both now and forever

Psalm 21

Pilgrims Song of Ascent

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One Step at a Time

Cartoon of the old Chancellor Ferry
From soon-to-be-released:
A Chancellor Ferry Tale

"The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives." (Psalm 37:23)


I'm on a photo chase. With my new storybook, A Chancellor Ferry Tale, scheduled for release in early spring, I'm trying to get permission for my publisher to use on the cover an old photograph of the real Chancellor ferry from the January 17, 1937 issue of the Birmingham News Age Herald. Like a scavenger hunt, each contact has handed me another clue for my next step toward the answer. 

Beloved, need answers? Contact Jesus. He will surely direct you one step at a time.

The future veiled before us lies,

The path is hidden from our eyes,

And Jesus leads, while faith he tries,

Just one step at a time.

The road He takes we need not know,

But follow in the steps that glow,

And trust in Him as we go-

Just one step at a time.

We need not fear what lies ahead,

Nor anxious be nor filled with dread;

The saints before were safely led.

Just one step at a time. 1

1 JUST ONE STEP AT A  TIME. John W. Peterson, 1960.

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Because He Lives

Jesus placed His right hand on John saying, "I am the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever!" (Rev. 1:17-18)

My daughter's new sister-in-law asked her the name of her favorite hymn and then made her this beautiful plaque. I didn't know the 1971 Bill and Gloria Gaither hymn, "Because He Lives", was Rebecca's favorite hymn; and she didn't know that thirty-four years ago, I memorized verse two of that same hymn to strengthen and encourage me through my labor and her delivery:

How sweet to hold a newborn baby,

And feel the pride, and joy (she) gives;

But greater still the calm assurance,

This child can face uncertain days because He lives!

Beloved, because Jesus lives, you can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone; because you kno-o-ow He holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives! 

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Wise Men Still Seek Him

My boy and his boy

"If you look for Me wholeheartedly, you will find Me." (Jer. 29:13 NLT)

Our 20-month-old grandson calls his dad "da-da", his granddaddy "daddy", and his Uncle Dan "Dan-Dan". When I brought him to our house this morning, he toddled up the stairs and into the house as fast as his little legs would go calling, "Daddy, daddy!"  Not finding Phillip who was at work, he picked up the toy phone and called, "Daddy?"

Beloved, look for the heavenly Father with urgency, passion, and determination. "I will be found by you," says the LORD (Jer. 29:14a)

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Mighty Oaks of Righteousness

Our beloved grands
Uncle Aaryn's wedding, 1/2/2016

"In their righteousness, they will be like oaks that the Lord planted for His own glory." (Isa. 61:3b NLT)

For Christmas, our thoughtful, eight-year-old granddaughter created a beautiful "PEACE" painting and a fully-illustrated, Christmas storybook for Granddaddy and Memaw - my favorite gifts of the holiday! 

In her book, a little girl named Jeny asks, "Why do we celebrate Christmas?" Jeny's mother then tells her the true account of Jesus's birth; and a couple of months later, Jeny becomes a Christian and is baptized. (Spoiler alert!) The story concludes: Jeny loved God. She became a "mishinary". She traveled all over the world. The End.

My top-priority prayer request for our grandkids is for them to love God. For I know that if they will love Jesus, obey His voice, and hold fast to Him, then they will grow into mighty oaks of righteousness, planted for the Lord's glory!

Beloved, pray today for the generations growing behind you.

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Faithful in Little

Our precious baby-grand

Jesus said, "If you are faithful in the little things, you will be faithful in large ones." (Luke 16:10 NLT)

It's amazing how much time, energy, and effort it takes to care for tiny fingers, tiny toes, tiny ears, and a tiny nose. Speaking from experience, being a mommy is a full-time, very worthwhile job.

Beloved, does the work of your hands feel small and unimportant? Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord. Jesus is the One you serve, and surely He will reward your faithfulness (Col. 3:23-24).

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Five Loaves and Two Fish

Our dear friend, Ray, and his "big" catch at the farm

"Jesus took the five loaves ad two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them." (Mark 6:41 NLT)

I could kick myself for forgetting to take pictures of the impressive homeschoolers at Agape Baptist Church at yesterday's book-reading. 

Book-readings are my opportunities to share Jesus and God's truth through entertaining stories. With my fifth storybook scheduled for publication this spring, Horace Bushnell's notion is highly encouraging. He said, "Trust God for great things; with your five loaves and two fishes, He will show you a way to feed thousands."

Beloved, what loaves and fish are in your hands? Give them to Jesus and devote yourself to praying that God will give you many opportunities to speak about His mysterious plan concerning Christ (Col. 4:2-3).

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Declaration of Dependence

My amazing son-in-law, toddler-grand, and first grand

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take." (Prov. 3:5-6)

When toddler-grand struggled through the mud and puddles in his spider-man rain boots, he had to depend on uncle and cousin to get him through.

This year's theme for 21 Days of Prayer of Fasting is "Declaration of Dependence" - humbly acknowledging that we need God.

Beloved, are you struggling through life's mud and puddles? Declare your dependence on Jesus. Take His hand and let Him guide you through.

Additional information on 21 Days of Prayer of Fasting at:
www.churchofthehighlands.com

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Vast Possibilities

Babygrand
One month old

"Jesus replied, 'What is impossible for people is possible with God.'" (Luke 18:27 NLT)

After babygrand's conception, our kids were told by the doctor that their baby only had a 10% chance of survival. With God, their little one's chances were 100%!

Beloved, got impossible trials or dreams? Give them to Jesus - the only One who is able!

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Life is Like a Jelly Bean

Kids and grands
Christmas Day

"How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like a morning fog- it's here a little while, then it's gone. What you ought to say is, 'If the Lord wills, we will do this or that.'" (James 4:14-15)

Christmas Day, the kids and grands played a new game: the Jelly Bean Game. Each player spins the pointer on a color wheel and then eats a jelly bean of the corresponding color. The catch? there are two flavors for each color: one yummy and the other extraordinarily yucky. For example: black jelly bean flavors are licorice or skunk!

A New Year is like a jelly bean - you never know the what you're getting until you sink your teeth into it. Will 2016 be great or bad, happy or sad? We may not know what the future holds; but the ones who know Jesus, know who holds the future!

Happy New Year, y'all!

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