The Whole Earth is Full of His Glory!

"Spiderweb" - photo by my Rebecca


"I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train
of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him...one
called out to another and said, 'Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of
hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory!'" (Isaiah 6:1-3)



Each morning, I ask the Lord, "What would You tell the nations today?" Today, I believe He responded, "Tell the people to open
their eyes, for My glory is all around them!"

"Brown-eyed Susans" on our farm

"Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do
they spin" (Matthew 6:28)



"Mama and her ducklings" - photo by my Rebecca


Jesus said, "How often I wanted to gather your children together,
the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling." (Matthew 23:37)



"Mossy Garden" - photo by my Rebecca


"As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You,
O God! My soul thirsts for God, for the living God!"
(Psalm 41:1-2)



Sunset on Chancellor Ferry Farm - photo by my Ben


"The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display His craftsmanship!" (Psalm 19:1)

Therefore, brothers [and sisters] let us draw near [to God] with
a true heart!" (Heb. 10:22)

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A Boy, A Deer, and Father God

Game Camera shot of two bucks on our farm, August 2013

"Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; how blessed are all those who long for Him!" (Isa. 30:18)

          Monday, while walking the fields under the power lines on the farm, our 8-year-old grandson asked, "Granddaddy, where are all the deer?"
          As soon as that question shot from his mouth, a doe suddenly shot from the nearby woods, and Phillip said, "There's a deer!"
          Silently I prayed, thank You, Father! You are the Almighty God of the universe yet, in Your grace, You delight in surprising a little boy on a farm in Alabama. O God, You're an awesome God!

          Did you know that Father God longs to be close to you, yes you, through your faith in His Son, Jesus Christ? "Thus says the Lord, your Creator...who formed you...I have called you by name" (Isa. 43:1). But your sins have made a separation between you and your God (Isa. 52:2). "Come now, and let us reason together," says the Lord, "Though your sins are as scarlet, [I will make them] as white as snow" (Isa. 1:18). Jesus said, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28)!
          Father God longs for you to COME close to Him today. Will you go?

"Even before [God] made the world, God loved us and chose us to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. So we praise God for this glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son [Jesus]!" (Eph. 1:4-6)

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Antsy Pants

My Dan, on the heights of the Shenandoah National Park, 2001

"Do not be anxious about anything..." (Phi. 4:6a)


         When a book is published, the marketing phase normally involves author interviews on radio and television. Yesterday, my publicist called to tell me that I have an appearance on abc 33/40's "Talk of Alabama" with Nicole Allshouse next Tuesday, Oct. 15th at 9:00 a.m.. When I got off the phone, I asked Jesus to please change my antsy-pants frame of mind to caaaaaaaaalm-as-a cucumber.
         Today's devotional in L.B. Cowman's Streams in the Desert reads:
      "Quite a few Christians live in a terrible state of anxiety, constantly fretting over the concerns of life...What good has worrying ever accomplished? It has never made anyone stronger, helped anyone do God's will, or provided for anyone a way of escape out of their anxiety or confusion. Worry only destroys the effectiveness of lives that would otherwise be useful...So scale the heights of a life abandoned to God, and your perspective will change to the point that you will look down on the clouds beneath your feet." (Darlow Sargeant)

         Are you an antsy-pants - sitting on pins and needles dismayed, disquieted, anxious, apprehensive, and worried? God says, "Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand (Isa. 41:10)!"
         Let us be strong and courageous, my friend, for the Lord our God will be with us wherever we go (Joshua 1:9), helping us in whatever circumstance we face!

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Fall Family Fun

family fun on the farm for fall break

"...I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may life, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him..." (Deut. 30:19-20)

 fall flowers

"You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the [flowers] of the field will clap their hands." (Isa 55:12 NIV)

kids, grandkids, granddaddy, and granddog

       "One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall 
                    declare Your mighty acts!" (Psalm 145:4)

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Earthquake!!!

Family Fun on Lookout Mountain, 1997
(97 earthquakes were recorded around the world that year)

"For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, and My covenant of peace will not be shaken," says the Lord who has compassion on you. (Isa. 54:10)

        As a little girl, I lived atop Lookout Mountain in the northeastern corner of Alabama. One day, when my family was in the playroom of our house, a laundry basket on the floor strangely started moving and the wagon-wheel light above us began to gently swing back and forth, back and forth. We later learned that a very mild earthquake had rumbled through our town.
        Violent political, economic, and social earthquakes around the globe seem to be shaking this old world apart at the seams. The Bible, however, gives high hopes and good news to people in relationship with Father God through faith in Jesus Christ!
        We are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable (Heb. 12:28) - a better country, that is, a heavenly one (Heb. 11:16). We are citizens of heaven where the Lord Jesus Christ lives, and we are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Savior (Phil. 3:20)!
         Therefore, dear friends, (the Lord urges) us as temporary residents and foreigners (of this earth) to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against our very souls and to be careful to live properly among our unbelieving neighbors (1 Peter 2:11-12a).
         In these shaky, unstable days, let us cast our burdens upon the Lord. For He will sustain us and will never allow the righteous to be shaken (Psalm 55:22)!
         Brothers and sisters, stand firm, therefore, in your faith in Jesus!

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Squeaky Clean!

My muddy Ben, age 2
(That's CANDY in his mouth, by the way!)

"Jesus Christ, the faithful witness...and the ruler of the kings of the earth...To Him who loves us and washed us from our sins in His own blood...be the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen!" (Rev. 1:5-6)

       I love this picture of Ben! Covered in mud with cowboy boots on his feet and a candy cane in his mouth, he looks like a mini-buckaroo just returning from a long, hard cattle drive. Needless to say, Ben and his clothes got a good washing that day!

     1 Cor. 6:9-11 says: "Don't you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people - none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God!"
       And, praise Jesus,
"What God has cleansed, (is) no longer consider(ed) unholy!" (Acts 10:15)

      Have you received God's free gift of eternal life and the forgiveness and cleansing of sin by faith in Jesus Christ?

      YES? Then rejoice! Though your sins were as scarlet, they are now white as snow (Isa. 1:18)! As far as the east is from the west, so far has (God) removed your sins from you (Psalm 103:12)! In Jesus, you have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of your sins, according to the riches of His grace (Eph. 1:7)! Hallelujah and Amen!!!

      No? Then Jesus offers you His cleansing right now, today, this very minute - His free gift of everlasting life in the Kingdom of God. Jesus loves you greatly and gave Himself up for you, so that He might make you holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God's Word (Eph. 5:25-26). If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raise Him from the dead, you will be saved from eternal death (Rom. 10:9) and squeaky clean! 

"Let us draw near (to God) with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith (in Jesus), having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." (Heb. 10:22)

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Light of Life

Moonrise over the Coosa River:
God's light in the darkness

"The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." (John 1:5) "This is the message we have heard from Him...that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all...walk in the Light, as He Himself is in the Light...and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:5-7)

       In the late 1990s, my mother lay in a hospital, sick with cancer. The doctor told us it was time to call hospice, but I understood the Lord to say, "I will open a window of time for her to feel better for a while; then the end will come quickly."
       Contrary to all the doctor could see, determine, or feel, Mother improved, returned home, worked in her flowers, and mowed her lawn until Jesus, our Beloved, took her to the gardens of heaven in 2003 - five and a half years later!

        In last night's First Wednesday message, my pastor taught, "Base your perspective on what God's Word says not on what you see or feel." God's Word is the true reality - the Light of reality in Jesus. Today, I pray that you will read the Holy Bible, heed the voice of God, and walk in the Light!

       "Then Jesus said, 'I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the Light of life!'" (John 8:12)

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God Can Change the Teeth of Lions!

My Ben, age 7

"...things work out when you trust in God." (Prov. 16:20b, The Message)

      
     At 7, my Ben studied and studied this picture of the lamb beside the lion and then asked, "When God changes the world, what will the lions eat?"
      I said, "That's a good question, Ben. Let's see what God tells us in the Bible."

"And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will
lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion
and the fatling together; and a little boy shall lead them."
(Isa. 11:6)

      Together, we found Isaiah 11:7 which reads, "Also the cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox."  
       With no doubts and in unwavering faith - fully believing God will do what He says He will do - Ben said, "Cool! But He'll have to change their teeth!"
       
        This past summer, my heart sank when I learned the retail price assigned to Secrets of Shiloh, because I'd hoped my storybook would be affordable for most families. When I took my concerns to Jesus, I believe He reassured me, "Jill, trust Me to work things out."
         
        The Lord is worthy to be trusted! God of the universe who parted the Red Sea, raised the dead, and will one day change the teeth of lions is able to work out your problems, too! So, today, let not your heart be troubled - trust Jesus!
          

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Bearing Abundant Fruit

My Rebecca and family among beautiful autumn fruit, 2009

"...we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of (God's) will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." (Col. 1:9-10)

        A few years ago, while visiting Birmingham for an SEC baseball tournament, the Lord told a man that he would one day pastor many people in my home city. The following year, that man moved his family to Alabama and planted a church of 34 people. Only twelve years later, that man, Chris Hodges, is now the senior pastor of Church of the Highlands - a congregation with over 20,000 active members and multiple campuses in several Alabama cities and correctional facilities.

      There is no limit to what God can do through one obedient servant walking with the Lord Jesus Christ. This morning, I prayed for you - yes you who is reading this post right now - that God will fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of Jesus, to please Him in all respects, bearing abundant fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of our God!

To learn more about Church of the Highlands, visit:
www.churchofthehighlands.com

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Seed Time and Harvest

Austin at The Foundry Community Center
To learn more about the Foundry Rescue and Recovery Ministry visit:
www.thefoundryonline.org

Jesus said,  "...wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest!" (John 4:35)

       

         On Thursdays, I get to study the Bible with 60 plus men, women, and children at The Foundry Community Center in Bessemer, Alabama. In September, six precious souls raised their hands expressing their desire to receive God's free gift of eternal life and forgiveness of sin through faith in Jesus Christ. It's harvest time in Bessemer!

        Jesus commissions Christians to labor in the fields of the world - some to sow seeds, others to water, and yet others to reap the harvest. Go to the fields, dear followers of Lord Jesus, and work until He comes!

"They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest." Psalm 126:6

        Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness,
            Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve;
        Waiting for the harvest, and the time of reaping,
        We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves! 1

1BRINGING IN THE SHEAVES. Knowles Shaw, 1874

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Happy Birthday, Hot Rod!

Memaw and Granddaddy's little Hot-Rod, 2007

"The boy grew up and became strong, filled with wisdom, and God's grace was on Him." 
(Luke 2:40)

          Happy 8th Birthday, 
               Hot Rod!!!

     Eight years old! WOW! It seems like yesterday that your mom, dad, granddaddy, and I were taking turns holding you all through the night because you slept only if you were snuggled up in our arms.
      God has given you amazing gifts and talents. You are an incredible builder! Even at two and three years old, you blew our minds with your seemingly impossible creations. 
       I'm so grateful that you are growing up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord - learning to love and obey Jesus. I hope you will always hold your memaw's hand; but more importantly, I fervently pray that you will forever hold tightly to the hand of Jesus! I love you sooooooooo much!
                                                                                          Memaw
   

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Ordinary to Extraordinary

Frison Chapel 

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest commandment. The second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself." 
(Matt. 22:38-39)

       In Jesus's goodness and glory, sometimes He graciously pours an extraordinary blessing onto an ordinary day as we go about our ordinary routine. He did that for my family once upon a summertime in 1997.
           On a hot July afternoon, I loaded the kids in the van and dashed to a neighboring subdivision to pick up another teenager for football practice. As we passed a tiny church on the edge of that neighborhood, the Lord said, "Jill, I want you to paint that church!"
           At supper that night, I told my husband and children what I believed I'd heard. Phillip wisely advised, "Jill, you can't just walk up and start painting a church. You need to ask permission."
           After several calls, I located Joseph, Frison Chapel's pastor at that time, who told me that he and his wife, Mary, had been praying for months for someone to come help! (Yes, Mary and Joseph - can you believe it!)     

Work day at Miss Mattie's, 1999
L-R Dan, Ben, and Phillip

          Within an hour after we started painting the chapel, enthusiastic people from their congregation joined in on the fun, and among those wonderful parishioners were two godly saints: Mattie B. Taylor and her brother Fred Cross.
         We grew to love our Miss Mattie and Mr. Fred like family, and our children's lives were deeply enriched by an extra set of grandparents sent straight from heaven!

Miss Mattie (in her 90s) and Rebecca, 2000

        As you go about your ordinary days in ordinary ways, please listen for the sweet voice of Jesus. He may just drop an extraordinary gift into your life if you'll trust and obey!    

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Possibilities

L-R Ben, Rhett, Rebecca, April, and Dan
Shenandoah National Park, 2001

"When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went away rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea." (Acts 8:39-40)

    "With people it is impossible, but not with God..." (Mark 10:27a)

     The Glasscos and McKenzies met in 1984 and instantly became fast friends forever. In 2006, I told Rhett about my "impossible prayer list" - things I was asking God for that were possible only through Him. Rhett asked, "Miss Jill, would you please put me on that impossible prayer list, and ask God to help me meet this year the girl I'm going to marry?"
     Months passed, December ended, and a new year began with no new girls in Rhett's life. He said, "I guess God said no to my impossible request." 
      HOWEVER, only a few months later, he and Lauren - a girl he'd known since middle school - began dating and were married in 2008. God had already answered Rhett's prayer before it was even spoken! For their wedding gift, we gave them a beautifully framed rendition of Matthew 19:26 which reads:
                "....but with God all things are possible."

     Bring to Jesus your list of impossibilities. Who knows, Almighty God may have already set into to motion the circumstances to make your dreams come true!

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My Hilarious Faux Pas

Miss Spindle (me) and Sweet William, senior play, 1974

"Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes."
(Proverbs 19:2)

     You've probably heard the old saying "think before you speak." Well, yesterday, I undoubtedly spoke before I thought.
      In preparing for my first radio interview to promote Secrets of Shiloh, I had predetermined in my mind that when the show host said, "Good morning" that I would respond with an enthusiastic "And good morning to you!"
      But that shrewd man "tricked" me by saying instead, "Welcome to the show!" And before I knew it, with great haste and no forethought, the ridiculous words "Welcome to you!" spewed from my lips! It was hilarious!!! The poor guy probably thought what kind of cuckoo bird am I interviewing today?

    SO....I encourage you to always think before you speak or perhaps, better yet, say nothing at all! "For even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered, wise (Prov. 17:28). James, the half brother of Jesus, wisely taught, "be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger" (James 1:19). 
     And if you make a mess of your words like I did, I hope you will laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh and then learn from your mistake.

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