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back -- GEMS Vol. 9, part 2.
Inspirational Gems for Each Day -- VOLUME 10.

            Written by Marilee Miller

Copyright (c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller.

PLEASE READ THIS!

Copies may be given privately to about six friends, providing that text is not changed, and
that this full notice accompanies each document or part thereof.
One GEM or parts of two, per Volume, allowed for a public review or article, under the fair use clause.
No other public circulation, no mass copying or commercial or for-profit use without consent
of the author -- e-mail to: kingfisher crossing at gmail com (close up the spaces, etc.).

See the complete archive of 365 thoughtful Christian devotionals -- Gems -- at:
www.wordforlife.com/kingfisher/gems-complete/gems-menu

Scripture texts are from the King James Version.

1. FULFILLMENT

     How may I affirm the personhood of
others in valid ways that touch them exactly
where they're at, yet maintain my integrity
and wholeness as a believing Christian? And
how is it possible for the Lord's perfect will
and plan of the ages to be done in me -- and
through me, for others? Only you, Lord, are
able to fulfill yourself in me!

              "...My meat is to do the will of him
[the Father] that sent me, and to finish
his work." (Jn.4:34)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

2. GOD'S PLAN

     God has a plan for you. He prepared it
long ago. Circumstances of life may have
thrown your own personal hopes and plans
off track. But if you have given your heart
to his keeping, his plan can still "work good"
in your life.

     In fact, the Lord isn't at all surprised or
taken aback by this turn of events that you
find yourself facing. He has known your way
from the beginning. He is already working
out that great original plan of his, for your
good, and for his kingdom's sake. Someday
you'll see how everything fits together.
Someday you'll see his wisdom and love in
everything. Meanwhile, he will carry you
through whatever you face. It is safe for you
to rest in the assurance that you will, indeed,
"come out on the other side" of the problem
or frustration or sense of being laid aside.

       "For he [Paul] mightily convinced
the Jews, and that publickly, shewing by
the scriptures that Jesus was Christ."
(Acts 18:28)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

3. MAKE IT HAPPEN

     Oh Lord, every believer is a part of
your church. Glory! Part of your army!
Glory! Get us ready to march, and put the
starch in our beings where it needs to be,
that we may march for Jesus, and on to
victory! Glory! Hallelulia, Lord, make
it happen.

            "I have no greater joy than to
hear that my children walk in truth."
   (III Jn. 1:4)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

4. GOD IS

God is greater, stronger;
He is love.
God is mightiest, rightest;
He is power.
God is holiness, righteousness;
He is truth.
God is life, above strife;
He is peace.
God is wonderful, powerful,
He is joy.

He's in heart and mind,
      showing me he's kind;
He's my hope.

              "Thus saith the Lord the King of
Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of
hosts: I am the first, and I am the last:
and beside me there is no God.
           "Fear not, neither be afraid: have
not I told thee from that time, and
have declared it? ye are even my
witnesses. Is there a God beside me?
yea, there is no God; I know not any."
   (Isa. 44:6, 8)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

5. HOME

Homeless. Oh, God -- homeless.
No roof. Sleeping in a car. Or box.
Isn't it a shame?
City shelters closing for lack of funds;
Human need turned out the door.
Rescue mission shelters in uprising,
Since neighbors don't want
               the people any more.
Other people call a tent or camper, home.
Have mercy on the people, please, God.

Hear the cry of your homeless ones, Lord.
And raise up hope for them.
And convince them that
           you are their hope,
Their love and light and home.
No security in this life, on earth.
But oh, you've promised
         that your anchor holds:
Oh lift up their hearts and lives;
Lift up the homeless unto
           yourself, the Rescuer.
Lead, oh Lord, lead your people home!

            "When thou goest out to battle
against thine enemies, and seest... a
people more than thou, be not afraid
of them: for the Lord thy God is with
thee, which brought thee up out of
the land of Egypt."   (Deut. 20:1)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

6. GOD IS ALL

God is all I need him to be,
            and even more.
He is who he says he is, and much more.

He gives me sustenance and strength and
finances.
He is the "glue" that holds together my
motives, thoughts, and
              fragmented parts of me.
He is my fullness, my life.
I'm glad I have allowed him to my Lord.

"But upon mount Zion shall be
deliverance, and there shall be
       holiness... And the kingdom shall
       be the Lord's." (Obad. 1:17a, 21b)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

7. SEND, LORD

Oh Lord, send the power
For this hour,
And shower
Your love, and bring to flower
Your fruitfulness for my hour,
That I may be whole, in your power.

            "The Lord is with you, while
       ye be with him; and if ye seek him,
       he will be found of you; but if ye
       forsake him, he will forsake you."
          (II Chron. 15:2b)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

8. AWAY WITH TUNNEL VISION!

     Too often we look at our own needs,
our own concerns. What we "want" is very
important to us. What we "don't have"
seems a very great lack. We look at the
problems in our own lives, our own
community, and think there is no more
world than that. But let us look beyond
ourselves. Let us look, first of all, to
our Creator who made us. Then let us
remember there's a whole world out there.
People are hurting, are sorrowful. The
whole world has many problems.

     However, let us not concentrate on
the lacks, the problems. May we focus on
the goodness and mercy of the Lord. Away
with tunnel vision! Let us envision what
we may become, as Christians. Think what
God can do, and is doing, in every life!
Our problems and challenges are his
opportunities for showing his "bigness".
Let us look to him in every area of life.

            "...God would make known what
       is the riches of the glory...which is
Christ in you, the hope of glory..."
   (Col. 1:27)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

9. SEND

     Lord Jesus, send your fire to pour
holiness and mercy and hallelulia-choruses
all over all of us. Please, we pray,
stack your blessings so high our "barns
can't contain them". Let your glory just
spill over -- and your full Resurrection
power -- until it flows all over us, and
spills onto everybody we meet. Send
yourself to us, dear Lord. Help us to
receive you and lift up your name. Amen.

            "...Let the power of my Lord be
great, according as thou [Lord] has
spoken..."    (Nu. 14:17)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

10. SURVIVAL

     The survival rate for migrating
salmon is very low. Less than one and a
half percent actually stay alive long
enough to make the round trip back to the
spawning grounds. In the stream (as the
small fish go down to the sea), otters,
kingfishers, and other predators take a
toll. Once in the ocean, the fish contend
with sea ducks, seals, and all types of fish
from killer whales on down, as well as the
nets of commercial fishermen. On the
return journey, some salmon get caught in
boat propellers. Others have no strength
remaining to jump hindering waterfalls.

     What is my survival rate with my
journeying in God? If I am willing to
belong to him, and keep following him as
best as I am able, and trust him for all
that I cannot do, then he has promised
that my spiritual survival rate will be 100
percent. I really will get past all the
obstacles that life and circumstances
present. Not because I'm "great," but
because of his greatness.

            "For thou hast delivered my
       soul from death: wilt not thou
       deliver my feet from falling, that I
may walk before God in the land
       of the living?"   (Ps. 56:13)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

11. THIS TRAIN

     Never let us forget that "this train
is bound for glory".* Our time on earth is
but a "sojourn," a part of our journey
toward a "hope and a future" with God.

     We are his "beloved." Our strength
comes from him. Jesus is coming soon to
work in his people and church, and fulfill
his words to them of victory. To get them
ready to meet him, and ready to change the
world. Let us be willing to be a part of
that moving. May we know that God is God,
and the Resurrection power is still viable
and truth today. As we praise the Lord
and offer him our "Hallelujahs", may we
be comforted, and start to get warmed up
in our spiritual selves.
--
* from a gospel chorus

            "Behold now, thy servant hath
       found grace in thy sight, and thou
       [the Lord] hast magnified thy mercy,
which thou hast shewed unto me in
saving my life..." (Gen. 19:19a)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

12. EYES THAT SEE

Give me eyes that see
            the beauty of the Lord,
Ears that hear his message and command;
May I touch the hem of his garment --
         and more;
Give me the sweet taste of his holy Word.

All of my senses, I bring to him;
That he who is wonderful, may fill me up
With his love, until
           there are no empty cracks
Of darkness or hidden secrets
                hindering me.

            "But he [the disciple Thomas]
       said...Except I shall see in his hands
the print of the nails, and ...thrust
my hand into his side, I will not
believe.
            "Then saith he [the risen Jesus]
to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger,
and behold my hands; and reach
hither thy hand, and thrust it into
my side: and be not faithless, but
believing.
           "And Thomas answered... My
       Lord and my God.
            "Jesus saith unto him, Thomas,
       because thou hast seen me, thou
       hast believed: blessed are they
that have not seen, and yet have
believed."   (Jn. 20:25b,27-29)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

13. GOD IN THE MIDST

     God is present in our midst, for us,
when we are happy. Also when we feel
sad. God is there, for us, when we hurt,
cry, or are in pain. Also when we are
overflowing with joy. Everything that we
go through in this life, becomes a reason
to hope for more of God in the midst of
us. Everything that we have to face in
this life, prepares us for a life of
fulfillment in him.

            "...We have access by faith into
this grace wherein we stand, and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
             "And not only so, but we
       glory in tribulation also: knowing
       that tribulation worketh patience;
            "And patience experience; and
       experience, hope;
            "And hope maketh not ashamed;
       because the love of God is shed
       abroad in our hearts by the Holy
       Ghost which is given unto us."
          (Rom. 5:2-5)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

14. NEGATIVE EMOTIONS?

    Christians seem to have gotten the idea
that it's almost a sin to admit to negative
emotions. (I wonder what they think of
David's Psalms, in which he shows his
lowest moods, and then adds his greatest
assurances of God's caring? If negative
emotions are not allowed, what would
we make of the Apostle Paul saying --
"crushed until we despaired of life"?
But no one, more than Paul, went on to
express his utmost faith in God's
faithfulness.)

     Yes, we as Christians have our "down
days." We do have negative emotions. So
let us be honest enough to admit them.
But let us also determine to hope again,
so that we may yet say, "All things are
possible..."

            "...Christ is the head of the
church: and he is the saviour of the
body."   (Eph. 5:23b)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

15. GIVING

     The adult fish, such as the salmon,
spawns in a stream. Then it dies. The
fish gives up its own life. But its
decomposing body improves the health-
iness, the food supply to young fish, of
that tributary. Its death is, then, necessary
to new life.

     As Christians, we are called to "lay
down our lives" for others. There's the
Biblical call: "deny yourself, and take up
your cross." Does this mean, then, that
we must plan to literally die for someone?
No, not unless the Father allows this for
a certain purpose. However, many
Christians around the world have had to
sacrifice their lives for their faith.

But certainly we can give up our
self-will, our selfishness. We may be
ostracized from family or friends because
of what we believe. We may have to give
up comforts and pleasures in his service.
Christ did not call us to a "hard thing"
just on a whim. But he knew that our
death, our laying down of "self," was
necessary to the new life of the whole
community.

            "...Except a corn of wheat fall
into the ground and die, it abideth
alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit.
            "He that loveth his life shall
lose it; and he that hateth his life in
this world shall keep it unto life
eternal." (Jn. 12:24-25)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller
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