Refiner's Fire

Indiana grands

"He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness." (Malachi 3:3)

For a month now, one of our kids' family has had one adversity after another. I'm thinking enemy attack — pleading the blood of Jesus over them and praying Psalm 91.

This morning, I was reminded of Job's story. Every calamity the devil threw at him came only by permission of Almighty God, the Refine and Perfecter of souls.

Zechariah 13:9 says: "I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are My people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God." 

Therefore, "consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything . . . Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him." (James 1:2,3,12)

Up to you neck in trials, beloved? Be encouraged. For "I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finished [when you shine like gold] on the day when Christ Jesus returns!" (Philippians 1:6)

 

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Alone

 

grandboy and his castle




"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from Him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
He is my fortress,
I will not be shaken."
(Psalm 62:5-6)

A devotion read "alone with God." 

Hmm. 

If you're with God, you are not alone.

Selah

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Hope Deferred

 

L-R Aunt Mary Grace holding my hand, cousin Penny, my mother
July 1965

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is the tree of life." (Proverbs 13:12)

Cake baked. Groceries bought. Bags packed, but the girls' trip planned for months (three days in a cabin atop Lookout Mountain to celebrate my Aunt Mary Grace's 81st birthday) had to be postponed. Boo-hoo!

This I know:  I trust God is ordering our steps, and I thank Him.

Lord, please bless plan-B for Mary Grace's birthday and open a door for a future celebration trip!

Disappointed, beloved? Trust God and replan!

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Sweet Sixteen

 

grandboy in white

"And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." (Luke 2:52)

Our oldest grandboy is sweet sixteen today! Mind-blowing!

Happy birthday, hot-rod! May the Lord Jesus Christ continue to grow you in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man. Like Aunt Gabbi said this morning, you are a great role model for the grands behind you. I love you and am so proud of you! 

Memaw

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Mama's Pan

 

Mama's bundt pan

". . . serve one another humbly in love." (Galatiana 5:13)

I remember sitting on the kitchen countertop as a little girl watching Mama pour the best tasting pound cake batter in the whole world into her heavy-duty bundt pan.

my brother Mark and me, 1959

At Christmastime, she'd bake orange-glazed pound cakes for the paper lady, the milkman, neighbors, and Christmas dinner at my grandparents' house.

In the summertime, it was buttermilk pound cakes topped with fresh-picked strawberries and whipped cream.

In later years, she moved in with us and the bundt pan did, too.

Yesterday, I baked a chocolate, sour cream, chocolate chip pound cake for our oldest grandboy's 16th birthday in that old pan filled with a lifetime of delicious memories . . . and love. 

Lord Jesus, thank You for sweet memories and a dear mother who served others humbly in love.

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Confession. It's Good for the Soul

me at three 
Christmas 1959

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16)

An old adage goes: confession is good for the soul. True, but it's also embarrassing. Confession: When I allowed my feelings to get hurt this week, I acted like a three-year-old —hollered, burst into tears, ran, and hid. Sigh.

And the morale of this story is?

1. In the flesh, I'm capable of any wrong.

2. Without Jesus, I can do no right.

3. With Jesus at the wheel, I can do right no matter what another person says or does.

Today, beloved, may the Holy Spirit fill us to overflowing and produce an abundant crop of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithful, humility, and SELF-CONTROL. Amen?

 

 

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Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart

 

joyful grandboys

"Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord . . . Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"

Today, beloved, my prayer for you is JOY!

"Let all who take refuge in You rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread Your protection over them, that all who love Your name may be filled with joy!" (Psalm 5:11)

"I will be filled with joy because of You. I will sing praises to Your name, O Most High." (Psalm 9:2)

"The LORD is my strength and shield. I trust Him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving." (Psalm 28:7)

"Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!" (Psalm 32:1)

"So rejoice in the LORD and be glad, all you who obey Him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!" (Psalm 32:11)

"Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in Him!" (Psalm 43:8)

"So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while." (1 Peter 1:6)

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SON-shine

 

"But for you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in His wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture." (Malachi 4:2 NLT)

My almost-full rain gage tells Alabama's story over recent months and weeks: rain, rain, rain, and more rain! 

As I prayed for sunshine today, Holy Spirit nudged, "Pray for Son-shine."

According to The Moody Bible Commentary: the prophet "Malachi spoke of a future day of the Lord, the eschatological time of God's judgement and restoration. When God judges the world, He will also remember those who feared Him. Contrasting the blazing heat that will burn the wicked, God promises the faithful that the Sun of Righteousness will arise, bringing the warm rays of healing in its wings."

The New Living Translation of the Bible interprets the "Sun of Righteousness" in Malachi chapter 4 as a messianic passage referring to Jesus, the Son of God. 

Beloved, may the sun and the SON shine on you today!

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"O" is for . . .

Grandboys

"There's nothing better than being wise, knowing how to interpret the meaning of life. Wisdom puts light in the eyes, and gives gentleness to words and manners." (Ecclesiastes 8:1 The Message)

SMILE FOR THE DAY:

The grandboys had a day off school today for parent/teacher meetings, and guess what they wanted to play? School.

Memaw-teacher: "What's this letter?"

Five-year-old grandboy: "O."

Memaw-teacher: "Can you tell me a word that begins with 'O'?"

I'm expecting a simple word like oat or orange or ox, but without hesitation, the five-year-old shouts, "Oswald!"

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Open Door

 

illustration from my 2nd book: Secrets of Shiloh
by award-winning artist, Donny Finley

"Behold I have put before you an open door that no one can shut." (Revelation 3:8)

When God opens the door, beloved, walk through it!

https://youtu.be/p5sIwGW8X34  

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I C Radio

 

"So be content with who you are, and don't put on airs. God's strong hand is on you; He'll promote you at the right time." (1 Peter 5:6)

WonderfulFamilyStorybooks.blogspot.com began nine years ago as an effort to promote my first storybook, The Schoolhouse. In two short weeks, I completely ran out of things to say about one little children's book, thus the website changed to weekday devotions.

Today, I have a book interview on the Afternoon Drive Home Show with Donna Feazell on IC Radio to promote my lastest books — The Adventures of the Lookout Mountain Gang, The Secret Chest and The Window at Willow Springs. Fort Payne, Alabama, my childhood hometown, is the setting for both stories.

One of many things I've learned on this ten year book-writing journey is promotion is in the hands of the Lord. Trust and wait on Him.

Beloved, be content with who you are. God's strong hand is on you. He will promote the work of your hands at the right time.

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Blessings for You and Your Children

 

moms and their boys
(grandboy and our Gabbi on the right)

"I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live by loving the LORD your God, obeying His voice, and holding fast to Him. For the LORD is your life . . . " (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

Want blessings for you and your children? God gives the formula in Deuteronomy 30:

Love God + Obey God + Hold fast to God = Blessings

Is that to say that hard times will never come your way? Of course not. The promise is when we love, obey, and remain faithful to God, He's with us in the good and the hard times. And that, beloved, is a huge blessing!

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Beacon in the Night

 

St. George Island lighthouse

"Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." (Psalm 119:105)

As a lighthouse for a ship on a stormy night, so is God's Word for His children. Beloved, read and believe the Bible.

Coastline RV Park

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Forty-Four

St. George Island



" . . . give glory to the LORD; exalt the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea." (Isaiah 24:15)

Celebrating 44 years as Mrs. Phillip Glassco at St. George Island, Florida. The foundation of a wonderful marriage is a great God and a godly man. Thank You, Lord, for both!

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Road Trip

 

My Phillip and me
September 10, 1977

Jesus said, "But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:14)

Forty-four years ago today, I took a road trip from Fort Payne, Alabama to Auburn to pick up my husband-to-be. Two days later, I became Mrs. Phillip Glassco.

Atop the Mount of Olives over two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ told the crowd about the road trip of life: "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the way. But the gateway of life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it."

Beloved, the narrow way that leads to eternal life is found only by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Are you walking the highway to heaven or hell?

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How to Fight the Wearies

"Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." (Galatians 6:9)

It's easy to grow weary in troublesome times. Beloved, set your eyes, heart, and mind on Jesus. Read God's word. Sing His praise. And don't give up — no matter what!

grandboy and Granddaddy

The pickleball court is finished!

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Laborless Day

 

oldest grand
purple #10

"For all who have entered into God's rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world." (Hebrews 4:10)

Have you ever wondered why a day set aside for not working is called Labor Day? Perhaps the legal holiday signed by President Grover Cleveland on June 28, 1894 in an attempt to repair ties with American workers should have been called Laborless Day. Smile.

The book of Hebrews teaches that God has prepared divine rest for all who believe on Him. The gateway to God's rest is faith in Jesus and His work on the cross producing a new life in Christ that brings cessation of sin's dominion and an end to one's own effort to secure divine favor.

Happy Laborless Day, beloved! Enjoy God's divine rest — His peace, joy, power, fruitfulness, and contentment!

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Overflowing

 

DeSoto Falls
Mentone, Alabama
1940s

Jesus said, "Ask in My name, according to My will, and He'll certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks!" (John 16:24)

My prayer for you today, beloved: OVERFLOWING.  May Holy Spirit fill you to overflowing, splashing God's love, grace, and mercy over everyone around you!

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Eternal Perspective

 

Pastor Chris Hodges a.k.a. PC

"This world is not your home, so don't make yourselves cozy in it . . . Live an exemplary life in your neighborhood so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they'll be won over to God's side and be there to join in the celebration when He arrives." (1 Peter 2:11-12 The Message)

At last night's First Wednesday service, PC gave the best message ever on eliminating fear and anxiety by the correct eternal perspective. He closed with a quote by C. S. Lewis written in 1948 — a time when the world lived in terror of the atomic bomb:

“In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. ‘How are we to live in an atomic age?’ I am tempted to reply: ‘Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.’

In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.

This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.”

Let us pull ourselves together, beloved! Take courage and live for Jesus today with great hopes for tomorrow."We're citizens of high heaven! We're waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ . . . " (Philippians 3:20 The Message)

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V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

Our Ben and Gabbi
2013ish

"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!." (1 Corinthians 15:57)

Beloved, I'm praying VICTORY for you today. The Greek word for victory is nikos, meaning conquest, triumph — in other words, winning the battle.

Through the Lord Jesus Christ, may you win every battle of body, soul, and spirit!

O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever,

He sought me and bo't me with His redeeming blood;

He loved me ere I knew Him, 

And all my love is due Him,

He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood. 1

1 VICTORY IN JESUS. E. M. Hartford, 1939.

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