2015??

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Shall I say, “Life has been busy”?  In my last post I was seeking a vanishing 2015, and now we’re into 2018.

The major development of 2016:  In March, I turned 60 (imagine the “OH my GOSH” emoji here).  A month later, I bought a motorcycle!  A few weeks after that, I learned how to ride it, and 14,000 kilometers (about 8,600 miles) later, I can’t believe I ever lived without one!

Turning 60 on two wheels:  A Honda CB500X named Sheila

I had a complete left hip replacement in February 2016 before the bike (Sheila) came on the scene, and the right hip replacement in November of the same year.  They were just worn out, and how wonderful that I can walk and ride without pain!

I’m now trying to recap 2017…  Stay tuned!

Is it just me?

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My favorite rosebush

My favorite rosebush in my garden

…Or has 2015 nearly vanished?  It’s going on eight months since I wrote my New Year’s post and I remember typing it up like it was last week.  It is August, and the major retailers in Guatemala City are setting up their Christmas decoration aisles; and I’m trying to remember what I’ve accomplished this year.

Looking at my list of “hopes” I posted on Jan. 1st, I am glad that they were realistic accomplishments!  I can honestly say that I am much more at peace with myself and my life than I was eight months ago, and I am conscious of those self-sins that I constantly work to conquer.  I have spent more time on family, but feel I have fallen a little bit short on building friendships.

I have worked diligently to keep my morning “God Time” sacred, and am actually on schedule with my ‘read the Bible in a year’ plan… whew!  I am still working on memorizing 24 verses of scripture–I have 16 of them written in my little book so far, and maybe have half of them really memorized.  As I look through them, I recognize a persistent theme running through the verses I’ve chosen and think that perhaps they have fueled my incentive and success in achieving those hopes I set as goals last January.  I just wanted to share a few of them with you:

Romans 15:13   Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  (NASB)

Philippians 4:6-7  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  (NIV)

Psalm 19:14  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.  (NASB)

Psalm 120:1  In my trouble I cried to the LORD, and He answered me.  (NASB)

Blessings to all of you.

 

2015 New Year’s Hope

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New Year's glory in Guatemala

New Year’s glory in Guatemala, two very happy bougainvillaea on my terrace!

Last night a good friend phoned to wish me Happy New Year, and asked if I had any resolutions.  I replied that I don’t make them; seems to me the very word “resolution” is a jinx.  And generally, if I decide I need to do something new / better, I prefer to start immediately, no matter the date.  But her question got me thinking and I believe I do have some resolutions, but prefer to call them “Hopes” for the new year, as I believe hope is not so easily broken:

1) That the year is full of hope, peace and tranquility
2) To spend more time in prayer, meditation, and just talking to God
3) To banish the self-sins: self-love, self-pity, self-trust, self-admiration, self-content, etc.
4) To be better family to my family, and a better friend to my friends
5) To discover that all of the above can really bring me that peace, hope and tranquility that I desire!

I have also joined thousands of women in Beth Moore’s “Scripture Memory Team 2015” vowing to memorise 24 new bible verses throughout the year.  So, I have made some commitments for improvement that I think are realistic.
I spent noon- / diet Coke-time with Mom and Dad today, as usual, and at Dad’s request took a “family photo”, sent with our best wishes for health, happiness, and many blessings for all of you, in 2015.
Happy New Year from the Guate Denhams, beneath the Florifundia (Dad’s pride and joy)

Happy New Year from the Guate Denhams, beneath the Florifundia (Dad’s pride and joy)

P.S.  If you want to debate the spelling of bugan..bouganv…boganvilla…be my guest!  The version above came from the WordPress spellchecker.  🙂

Big Fish

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Something about the discussion in my evening Bible study class this week reminded me of the movie “Big Fish”.  The lead (Ewan McGregor) was a brave character throughout his life, and in older life, enjoyed weaving tall tales as he recounted his various adventures.

When he was a young boy he went with a group of friends to the house of an old woman whom they believed was a witch.  Legend had it that if one looked into her glass eye, they could see how they were going to die.  When the brave boy looked, he merely said, “Hmm, so that’s how I go.”

At 18 the boy leaves his home town on his grand journey into life.  He comes upon many frightening circumstances in which, at times, it seems death is certain.  Yet, always at the peak of his fear, he pauses and says, “Wait a minute…this isn’t how I’m going to die!”  His bravery returns, allowing him to overcome the tribulation of the moment, and he continues on his journey confident as ever.

What struck me during the evening’s discussion, was that as we go through life, we all face countless trials and tribulations; but as a Christian, I will go fearlessly forward; because even if the next tribulation costs me my life, I always know how I am going to die…I die with Jesus!  And so, I march boldly onwards towards my final destination, where I will worship at the foot of His throne.  Hallelujah!

My devotional from yesterday wraps this up beautifully:

“Wherever Jesus may lead us, he goes before us. If we know not where we go, we know with whom we go. With such a companion, who will dread the perils of the road? The journey may be long, but his everlasting arms will carry us to the end. The presence of Jesus is the assurance of eternal salvation, because he lives, we shall live also. We should follow Christ in simplicity and faith, because the paths in which he leads us all end in glory and immortality. It is true they may not be smooth paths—they may be covered with sharp flinty trials, but they lead to the “city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

Spurgeon, C. H. (2006). Morning and evening: Daily readings (Complete and unabridged; New modern edition.). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.

Hello again, family and friends

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Having recovered from my post-Israel trip (2013) letdown, followed by hand surgery and seems like hundreds more interruptions and distractions, I am booting up my blog again.  At present, my only travel is towards Heaven, but my intention here is simply to share occasional insights and inspirations.  You are welcome to subscribe / unsubscribe as you wish; and I always look forward to your comments to help us keep in touch.  Blessings to all.

jerus

To live is Christ

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Morning, January 7:  “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”— Philippians 1:21

The believer did not always live to Christ. He began to do so when God the Holy Spirit convinced him of sin, and when by grace he was brought to see the dying Saviour making a propitiation for his guilt. From the moment of the new and celestial birth the man begins to live to Christ. Jesus is to believers the one pearl of great price, for whom we are willing to part with all that we have. He has so completely won our love, that it beats alone for him; to his glory we would live, and in defence of his gospel we would die; he is the pattern of our life, and the model after which we would sculpture our character. Paul’s words mean more than most men think; they imply that the aim and end of his life was Christ—nay, his life itself was Jesus. In the words of an ancient saint, he did eat, and drink, and sleep eternal life. Jesus was his very breath, the soul of his soul, the heart of his heart, the life of his life. Can you say, as a professing Christian, that you live up to this idea? Can you honestly say that for you to live is Christ? Your business—are you doing it for Christ? Is it not done for self- aggrandizement and for family advantage? Do you ask, “Is that a mean reason?” For the Christian it is. He professes to live for Christ; how can he live for another object without committing a spiritual adultery? Many there are who carry out this principle in some measure; but who is there that dare say that he hath lived wholly for Christ as the apostle did? Yet, this alone is the true life of a Christian—its source, its sustenance, its fashion, its end, all gathered up in one word—Christ Jesus.

Lord, accept me; I here present myself, praying to live only in thee and to thee. Let me be as the bullock which stands between the plough and the altar, to work or to be sacrificed; and let my motto be, “Ready for either.”

Excerpted from:  Spurgeon, C. H. (2006). Morning and evening: Daily readings (Complete and unabridged; New modern edition.). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.

Oil for the Light

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My brethren;  This devotional may be challenging to comprehend, but once it sinks in, the impact is amazing…

Morning, August 28:  “Oil for the light.”— Exodus 25:6

My soul, how much thou needest this, for thy lamp will not long continue to burn without it. Thy snuff will smoke and become an offence if light be gone, and gone it will be if oil be absent. Thou hast no oil well springing up in thy human nature, and therefore thou must go to them that sell and buy for thyself, or like the foolish virgins, thou wilt have to cry, “My lamp is gone out.” Even the consecrated lamps could not give light without oil; though they shone in the tabernacle they needed to be fed, though no rough winds blew upon them they required to be trimmed, and thy need is equally as great. Under the most happy circumstances thou canst not give light for another hour unless fresh oil of grace be given thee.

It was not every oil that might be used in the Lord’s service; neither the petroleum which exudes so plentifully from the earth, nor the produce of fishes, nor that extracted from nuts would be accepted; one oil only was selected, and that the best olive oil. Pretended grace from natural goodness, fancied grace from priestly hands, or imaginary grace from outward ceremonies will never serve the true saint of God; he knows that the Lord would not be pleased with rivers of such oil. He goes to the olive-press of Gethsemane, and draws his supplies from him who was crushed therein. The oil of gospel grace is pure and free from lees and dregs, and hence the light which is fed thereon is clear and bright. Our churches are the Saviour’s golden candelabra, and if they are to be lights in this dark world, they must have much holy oil. Let us pray for ourselves, our ministers, and our churches, that they may never lack oil for the light. Truth, holiness, joy, knowledge, love, these are all beams of the sacred light, but we cannot give them forth unless in private we receive oil from God the Holy Ghost.

Spurgeon, C. H. (2006). Morning and evening: Daily readings (Complete and unabridged; New modern edition.). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.

Am I blessed like this?

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On frequent occasions, I wonder if the Lord rearranges the pages of my devotionals for maximum impact on current “themes” in my life.  The morning after my Shekinah post, my daily devotional by Oswald Chambers was as follows (text emphasis mine):

July 25th:  Am I blessed like this?

Blessed are … Matthew 5:3–10 .

When we first read the statements of Jesus they seem wonderfully simple and unstartling, and they sink unobserved into our unconscious minds. For instance, the Beatitudes seem merely mild and beautiful precepts for all unworldly and useless people, but of very little practical use in the stern workaday world in which we live. We soon find, however, that the Beatitudes contain the dynamite of the Holy Ghost. They explode, as it were, when the circumstances of our lives cause them to do so. When the Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance one of these Beatitudes we say—‘What a startling statement that is!’ and we have to decide whether we will accept the tremendous spiritual upheaval that will be produced in our circumstances if we obey His words. That is the way the Spirit of God works. We do not need to be born again to apply the Sermon on the Mount literally. The literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount is child’s play; the interpretation by the Spirit of God as He applies Our Lord’s statements to our circumstances is the stern work of a saint.

The teaching of Jesus is out of all proportion to our natural way of looking at things, and it comes with astonishing discomfort to begin with. We have slowly to form our walk and conversation on the line of the precepts of Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit applies them to our circumstances. The Sermon on the Mount is not a set of rules and regulations: it is a statement of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit is getting His way with us.

Excerpt from:  Chambers, O. (1986). My utmost for his highest: Selections for the year. Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications.

Amen!

Reflections on June 29, 2013: My Shekinah* Day

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Hotel terrace and Sea of Galilee

Hotel terrace and Sea of Galilee

My camera started “acting up” the night before when I tried to take a photo of the Sea of Galilee, as seen from the pool terrace of our hotel in Tiberias.  The images came out all white, except this one (out of 7) which came out normal.

Next day we started with a visit to Capernaum, where Jesus lived (in Peter’s mother-in-law’s house) during most of his three year ministry.  It was early morning, the sun still low in the sky, but contrary to the other days, which had rich blue skies, today the sky appeared brilliant white.  There was a bright white light everywhere.  We started in the synagogue where Jesus once taught.  The light reflecting off the white marble was so intense, the columns around the perimeter of the building seemed without shadows.  In fact, nothing and no one had shadows, though there was shade under the trees.  My camera would barely capture any image that had sky in it, but those taken indoors, or in the shade came out fine.

The synagogue where Jesus taught

The synagogue where Jesus taught; a day without shadows

 

Then, by the time I’d walked to the edge of the sea and taken a photo over the water, and even facing away from the sun, there was a huge white blaze of light over the water, I started to realise something strange was happening.

Soon we were back on the bus, en route to the Mount of the Beatitudes.  A church surrounded by beautiful gardens now covers the area, and after a brief look around, we

Light on the Mount

Light on the Mount

had a half hour for private reflection before moving on. I was snapping photo after photo; but again, the bright light made it almost impossible.  I was getting frustrated, trying over and over to get at least some images to turn out well…

I didn’t hear a voice per se, but I was told clearly, “Put away the camera.”  I obeyed, then found a nice spot in the shade, where I sat down to read chapters 5-7 of Matthew.

How many times in my life have I read or heard the Sermon on the Mount?  Dozens?  A hundred?  This day, on The Mount, His Sermon came to life; as I read Jesus’ words, it was as though I heard Him speaking them to me, hearing them for the first time.  It was as if Jesus was standing at my side with His hand on my shoulder, as He said…

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

“You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world.”

“…love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

Had I never heard these words before??  I began to weep in an unconscious, uncontrollable way.  As the torrent of tears spilled from my eyes, these years of mourning, uncertainty and inquietude were lifted from me.  I felt weightless, at peace, forgiven; truly happy and content with where I am in my life right now.  I couldn’t stop the tears.  They flowed until they were spent.  Words are inadequate to express the comfort I was feeling.  All at once, everything was right.  I received His assurance that my present situation is exactly where He wants me now.  It was pure joy.

It was later that evening, alone in my quiet room, sorting through photos and events of the day, that I realised this was God, revealing His Glory… to me!   This was my Shekinah moment, in His Land!  And I almost missed it.  I saw God’s pure light shining over Galilee.  Indeed, it shines perpetually over all this earth; the secret lies in being ready, and willing, to see it when He chooses to reveal it to us.

While writing this, I have remembered I was reading these exact words in Matthew at the age of 17, when I experienced my first ‘a huge weight was lifted from me’  moment.  How great a distance I have traveled in these 40 years (!!) since then; literally and figuratively, near and far, desert and paradise.  How great and glorious is our Lord.  Hallelujah!

 *In the Targums “shekinah,” “glory of God,” and “word of God” are used synonymously. Shekinah became a comprehensive term for any form of the presence of God; it could be used as a designation for God or as a circumlocution for references to the face or hand of God. Only in the later rabbinic sources does the Shekinah become a separate entity created by God as an intermediary between God and man.

The NT frequently alludes to the concept of the Shekinah, even though the term itself is not used. God’s presence in the NT is frequently associated with light and glory…Paul also identifies Christ as the Shekinah of God. (Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988).Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.)

home sweet home

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Trip home went like clockwork.  Woke up in Jerusalem at 1 a.m. today, and walked in the door in antigua at 5pm today, but 23 hours later.  Thanks for following my journey.  It was fun to get all of your comments!

See you soon,  traveling pam