Until the Throne of God!

But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus - the work of telling others the Good News about God's wonderful kindness and love. Acts 20:24 NLT

"God is so GOOD!" That's a frequent phrase I heard Evelyn Gardner repeat. Her faithful teaching and witness was salted and peppered with her dear southern-isms made more delightful by her Georgia drawl. Each one followed by a smile then a quiet but genuine laugh. After moving from NC in 2003, I have missed Evelyn, although our paths crossed several times over the years. Today her memorial service was held at Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayetteville, NC. I am in Augusta,Georgia, only a few hours from where she was raised in Toccoa. Evelyn is most certainly with the LORD! 


I don't remember exactly when I met Evelyn, but it is likely by being in one of her Bible Studies. For the 20 years I knew Evelyn, she was always teaching Sunday School and leading some Bible study, sharing the Good News about God's wonderful kindness and love. I have fond memories of both Evelyn and her sister, Martha, as I listened to stories of growing up in their beloved Toccoa, Tift College days, career decisions, and military adventures in Hawaii. I once had the opportunity to drive them to Chapel Hill for a doctor's appointment for Martha. It was a good day! On Cool Spring Street, lunches at Heritage Place and afterwards the casual conversation in Martha's apartment provided all three of us with soul food. Even after I moved, and Martha's cancer worsened, our visits, while fewer, continued to delight my soul! Evelyn was a faith-full prayer warrior and regularly prayed for me. Often her cards would arrive to remind me of her prayers at a divinely ordained moment. Yes, God is so Good!


Paul wrote "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. [2Timothy 4:7]. Evelyn can stand before her Creator, Redeemer and Friend and humbly repeat Paul's words. She has written a living letter for Christ on the hearts of those she touched, including mine. My life has been blessed by Evelyn and her living testimony. Matthew Henry's Commentary reflects on Acts 20 and shouts to my soul: It is good for friends, when they part, to part with prayer. Those who exhort and pray for one another, may have many weeping seasons and painful separations, but they will meet before the throne of God, to part no more. Despite moving, in spite of death, there will be reunion in Christ! Now that's the GOOD NEWS!

Evelyn shared the Good News with great joy, carried her life sorrows with dignity, enriched the lives of countless women directly and indirectly, and always remained faithful to the Lord. This is the example I hope to follow. So, until we meet again before the throne of God, dear friend, I will strive to use [my life] for doing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus - the work of telling others the Good News about God's wonderful kindness and love. I'll be seeing you! ~ dho

Meaning in Life

"Here is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey His commands, for this is the duty of every person." Ecclesiastes 12:13 NLT 


The writer of Ecclesiastes is searching for the answer that most all of us desire ~ the meaning of life. For each person, there are particular paths or callings that influence his or her choices of career, family, and community, but I believe this question reaches deeper and, if honesty prevails, becomes a common desire for all people ~ what gives my life meaning? After an exhaustive survey, the researcher in Ecclesiastes reaches a final conclusion, a universal answer to finding meaning in life: Fear God and obey His commands.


In his book, Living the Resurrection, Eugene Peterson gives insight into what demonstrates our truest Christian identity. How does one live the resurrection? He writes, "We embrace and cherish a firsthand, personal life with God and one another." Peterson explains, "we engage in a life that is permeated by the presence and companionship of the resurrected Jesus in the company of friends." The meaning of true life always comes from the Giver of Life. At the core of our being, this personal relationship refines the soul.


What gives my life meaning? It is having a personal, intimate relationship with God and growing that relationship through obedience to His Way. Living the Resurrection gives God glory and allows God's faithful to fully embrace His promise of Everlasting Life. While life will always be full of mystery and unanswered questions, God remains full of majesty and blessings. Remember, worship God, and let your obedience to Him define how living the resurrection is the greatest secret to the meaning of life! ~ dho

Dwell in His Presence

One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD and to meditate in His temple. Psalm 27:4 ESV

The world rumbles with distractions and disappointments and gives voice to self-focused agendas. Desire for approval and applause comes from every direction. More replaces need. In the chaos of so many possibilities, our ability to discern God's voice diminishes. Our minds become numb, and our deeds become rote. How do Christians live in the world and in God's presence?


The presence of God must become my dwelling place, the one thing, my heart's greatest desire. To dwell in God's presence brings peace even in troubled times, gives assurance in uncertain times, offers hope in all times. To "meditate" is to be in "constant communion". Without listening in prayer for His voice or being in study and contemplation of His word, we do not see God's beauty and overlook God's faithfulness.


I first claimed this verse in January as God's verse for me this year (2012). There are copies in my Bible, near my computer, and beside my bed to remind me of where I need to stay ~ in constant communion, to dwell in God's presence. Paul tells us in Philippians 3:13 that while he has not achieved complete success, "one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead." Reaching forward toward God's call through Christ is the goal. Paul's words give voice to my efforts, my striving toward the goal, even when I fall short.


LORD, my soul needs constant communion with You. Help me nurture our relationship that I may dwell in Your Presence all the days of my life, to behold Your beauty and to meditate in Your Dwelling Place. ~dho

Preparing for Easter ~ Grace

EASTER Sunday ~


Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you." But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.

And He said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."

When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, "Have you any food here?" So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence.

Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you . . ."

And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.

And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen. Luke 24:44-53 NKJV

As believers, we are transformed, made new in Christ. We are to be witnesses for Jesus. Just as He commissioned His followers Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you, we must go. And we must go in worship and in joy and in praise for the Promise of God is everlasting. GRACE ~ the incalculable, immutable, incomprehensible Promise of God ~ is ours! 

Our sacrifice of praise ~
Take the Promise of God into the world ~ in worship and in joy and in praise! ~dho

All rights reserved ~ used with permission of the author

Copyright 2010 by Donna Oswalt

breathing room for my soul

For more information about this ministry visit ~

MangroveMinistries.org

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"May you be blessed by the Lord Who loves you best!”

Preparing for Easter ~ Silence

Later, Joseph from Arimathea asked Pilate if he could take the body of Jesus. (Joseph was a secret follower of Jesus, because he was afraid of some of the leaders.) Pilate gave his permission, so Joseph came and took Jesus' body away. Nicodemus, who earlier had come to Jesus at night, went with Joseph. He brought about seventy-five pounds of myrrh and aloes. These two men took Jesus' body and wrapped it with the spices in pieces of linen cloth, which is how they bury the dead. In the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden. In the garden was a new tomb that had never been used before. The men laid Jesus in that tomb because it was nearby, and they were preparing to start their Sabbath day.

John 19:38-42 NCV

Buried in an empty, borrowed tomb, Jesus' body lay surrounded by darkness in the silence of earth. Separated from the Father by death, Jesus' body lay in the stillness. The Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday and nothing more can be done but honor the Sabbath.

Scripture does not say anything about this Sabbath Day. We learn nothing more about Jesus on the day after His crucifixion. As His followers go about their worship this particular Sabbath, one can only imagine the many recollections and questions that filled the minds of the disciples. There is silence in the Word of God on this day!

Our sacrifice of praise ~
In the silences of life, meditate on the assurance and the glory of God ~ because you know what tomorrow brings! ~dho

Preparing for Easter ~ Confession

Good Friday
Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, "Truly the Man was the Son of God!"

Mark 15:38 NKJV

Today we must look to the cross of suffering that Jesus endured as a ransom for our sin. Until that day, the Jewish people, the Chosen of God, worshiped Jehovah with blood sacrifices and burnt offerings. At the time Jesus breathed His last breath and died, the High Priest sacrificed the unblemished lamb, preparing the sin offering of Passover. Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies to place the blood offering on the Mercy seat for forgiveness of sins.

On this day, when Jesus died, the curtain of the Holy of Holies was torn from top to bottom. The Scriptures do not say what happened to the High Priest or the blood of the slain Passover lamb. We are not told the thoughts of the High Priest who witnessed the torn curtain that represented a veil between sinful man and the Holy God. Until this moment in history, the High Priest would have taken the blood sacrifice into the Holy of Holies as an offering for the forgiveness of sins for God's people every year at Passover, but now, the altar of the Lord was exposed.

These historic religious customs tell the God-story of Jesus, a Perfect Lamb slain for the forgiveness of sin. The once veiled Holy of Holies, the Presence of God, is now revealed. To all who seek a relationship with God, Grace is given through Jesus, the True High Priest. What remains? Our confession, "Truly the Man [is] the Son of God!"

Our sacrifice of praise ~
Who will you share the God-story of Jesus with today? ~dho

All rights reserved ~ used with permission of the author

Copyright 2010 by Donna Oswalt

breathing room for my soul

For more information about this ministry visit ~

MangroveMinistries.org

LIKE Mangrove Ministries on Face Book

"May you be blessed by the Lord Who loves you best!”