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Inspirational gems for each day     --
VOLUME 1, part 2.

             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.

15. GOD WALKS THE WAY

     I am Alpha and Omega, the first and
the Last. I have come before you, my
people, to show you the way. I intend to
"get you there," to cause and enable and
equip you to follow after me. The way you
take is my way. And I will lead you
surely. Despise not knowledge or wisdom
that comes from me. But most of all,
simply cling to me. For I know the way --
I've walked your whole distance before
you, and I AM the way.

            "For the Lord knows all about
       the way of his righteous ones."
          (Ps. 1:6a MM paraphrase)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

16. IN HOLINESS AND STRENGTH

     Lord, teach me to worship you.

"My child -- in my holiness and
strength, from thence shall your wisdom
for living come. I am the fountainhead of
life and all knowledge and learning. Do
not worry or be afraid. I am with you.
Let not your heart be troubled, but
believe in me. I am yours.

"Come unto me, weary and heavy laden
though you are, and I will give you a true
rest. Desire to worship me, and I shall
let you find me. (For I have already
found you.) Your gift is to communicate!
It is a sweet savor in my sight. I am
with you, so you may be full of grace,
overflowing with my favor."

            "Come unto me, all ye that
      labour and are heavy laden, and I
       will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

17. HEAVEN IS WHEREVER GOD IS

Heaven is wherever God is found
Walking the dusty steps of earth;
Wherever hearts are tuned to him
He flows forth in new birth;
Whoever gives a child peace,
Or "cup of water" or Christly mirth,
The Lord shall bless and make more pure
For revealing taste of heaven on earth.

            "Blessed of the Lord be his
      land, for the precious things of
       heaven, for the dew, and for the
       deep..."   (Deut. 33:11a)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

18. I AM WITH YOU

I suffered pain for you, my child,
When I died upon the cross;
I rose again on the week's First Day
To lift and ease your loss.
In dark Gethsemane I sweat drops of blood
To fill your cup of love;
Today I stand beside you while
You see love wrought from above!
I care about your every daily need,
So count your blessings, child,
For I am with you in most bitter rain,
And when the dew of life falls mild.

            "My presence shall go with thee,
and I will give thee rest." (Ex. 31:15)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

19. GOD REMAKING

God is so big, so holy.
I see myself to be a mess, chaos,
        full of trouble everywhere.
But God is bigger.
"I drew a circle to shut me out,
heretic, rebel, a thing to flout;
But love and God had the wit to win;
He drew a circle to draw me in."
     (M.M. paraphrase of a poem by
                   Edwin Markham)

God brings Beauty, Life, Hope
In the midst of my Turmoil.
So may I let God "remake" me,
           beautiful in him.
God please -- I say yes to that!

            "Remember, I beseech thee,
       that thou hast made me as the clay..."
(Job 10:9a)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

20. HOPE

     Hope is an inflationary spiral. I
must hope.

     When hope deflates, when all expect-
ation pricks out of me, then I sink.
But I must "choose" to hope in God, even
when I don't "feel" hopeful. For when
hope refills my heart like the swelling of
a bright hot air balloon being readied for
flight, then I am "okay" -- or even great
-- again, even if my circumstances haven't
changed, and life still seems very hard.

     Lord, help me to hope. I can't even
do that much by myself. I need you so
much, in every part of my life.

            "For to him who is joined to the
living there is a hope..." (Eccl. 9:4a)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

21. GLORY

The glory of God:
              promises us life.
              brings a spirit of truth
              to break down pretenses.

            "For thine is the kingdom,
      the power, and the glory, forever.
       Amen."   (Matt. 6:13b)

            "Why art thou cast down, o my
       soul? and why art thou disquieted
       within me? hope thou in God: for
       I shall yet praise him, who is the
       health of my countenance, and my
       God."   (Ps. 43:5)

The glory of God:
   shines forth, his Shekinah radiance.
   is our safe and secure dwelling place.
   is present with us to give us
        guidance, comfort, and strength.

            "The Lord our God has shown
       and revealed to us his glory and
       his incredible greatness..."
          (Deut. 5:24a, MM paraphrase)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

22. HOW?

     Lord, how shall I overflow with your
joy, peace, love? How may I reflect the
image of the man of victory -- when often,
I hurt so much?

     "You shall be known and know your
own, my love, my own. You shall be
equipped and empowered. Say not that you
lack the Holy Spirit -- for you see its
evidence working in you. (Only, 'Rome
wasn't built in a day', as the saying
goes, and neither is a Christian's life in
God made perfect all at once.)

     "You have much to give. I have given
much to encourage you, and I will keep it
up. Not your work, but mine, for you to
become an "overflow-er". Not your will,
but mine be done. Bring me your willing
heart. That is gift enough."

            "...The Lord working with
      them, and confirming the word... "
          (Matt. 16:20b)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

23. NOT MY FAITH

It is not my faith
   that's going to get me into heaven,
It is his faithfulness;
It's not my faith
     that will cause him to say
     "Well done thou good and faithful
   servant, enter into God's rest,"
But his faithfulness through and in me.

It is his work to do in me
       what is mighty and right and best.
It is not my love
           that is going to give others
     a cup of cold water in his name;
It is his love without end that
           surely will bring
life and love and hope to the world,
and, for me, a closer walk with him.
It is not any power within myself that
       causes his work to go forth;
But it is simply, that HE IS
                  the Mighty One
who finishes every battle he has begun.

He is the Lord of the whole universe;
He created me.
I must be about my Father's business,
But this only happens by resting in him:
For his is the work to bring me through
safely to his Eternity.

            "The time is fulfilled, and the
kingdom of God is at hand..."
           (Mark 1:15a)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

24. LOOKING TO HIS DWELLING PLACE

No earthly tent or frame or
       dwelling place may hold you,
Oh blessed spirit kissed by breath
           from on high.
No earthly ministry may seem "enough,"
When your sights are set on him
           drawn nigh.
You are his building here on earth,
        so let that be enough;
He guides your feet along the path
When the many rocks seem rough.
So may he soon enlarge your heart
        to take his goodness in,
And so you shall live in
                his dwelling place,
All free and whole within.

            "By faith, [Abraham]
       sojourned in the land of promise,
       as in a strange country... For he
       looked for a city which hath
      foundations, whose builder and
       maker is God."   (Heb. 11:9a, 10)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

25. WILLY-NILLY

What has hurt me?
Life pulling me willy-nilly,
without my control.
Too many bumps along the way.
Ah!
(deep breath)
God is still in control!

            "Thy borders are in the midst
       of the seas, thy builders have
       perfected thy beauty." (Ezek. 27:4)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

26. LITTLE THINGS

How good the little things:
Wonder, love, life, joy;
Twig, branch, root, shoot, leaf.
"I love you": as a phrase, it's brief,
Such a simple thing to share;
   (it can be transported anywhere.)

How pleasant the little things:
Sea shells, band shells (the stands,
                 where bands
      play music in the park),
Freedom in God from the hounds of hell,
Sweet contentment like a chorus yell.

Little things:
        hot, some not,
        pure and holy, some all roly,
        natural and spiritual,
   Give more meaning to my life
          than I can identify.

God is in and over and through
And in the midst of all.
Joy he brings
As I enjoy the little things.
If I allow God to "happen" to me,
A "Little" becomes very much to see.

            "Better is little with the fear
of the Lord than great treasure
and trouble therewith."
       (Prov. 15:16)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

27. I AM NOT INSIGNIFICANT

Sometimes, I feel like a "little thing,"
An insignificant person,
              hardly worth noticing.
But that's not the way God sees me.
May I accept myself the way
           he perceives me to be.

     I am: "accepted in the beloved"
   (Eph. 1:6)
           "justified" (just as if I'd
      never sinned)   (Acts 13:39)
           "faithful in Christ Jesus"
    (Eph. 1:1)
           "his body, the fullness of him
      that fills all in all" (Eph.1:23)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

28. HAPPENING

     So much has been happening in my life.
Good, bad. Depending on my mood, I perceive
life to be up, down, bad or good. But God,
even so, you are in all! Thanks, Lord, for
your generosity. May you give me the
courage and good sense to look, every hour,
for the ways you're "happening" to me.

     May I feel your presence, Lord. Let
me take communion with you in looking at
little things and past rememberings and
now-time happenings. Let me live to trust
you. And thank you that when I don't have
strength enough left to trust you, you trust
in me anyway. How I appreciate you!

              "What shall one then answer
the messengers of the nation? That
      the Lord hath founded Zion, and the
      poor of his people shall trust in it."
   (Isa. 14:32)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

29. COME, OH LORD

Come, oh Lord, like morning sunlight
distilling the dewy grass blades
to set my heart ashimmer.
Come, O Lord, like evening starfall,
quiet, wonderful,
filling heart and mind and eye with
wonderful you.
Let the beauty of Jesus, the
    treasure of the Lord, be mine today.
Come in all things, and make me new.

            "The mighty God, even the Lord,
hath spoken, and called the earth from
the rising of the sun unto the going
down thereof. Out of Zion, the
perfection of beauty, God hath
shined."   (Ps. 50:1-2)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

30. EACH DAY

Each day, Lord, may I trust you more highly,
Each day, may I feal your presence more near;
Each day let me look for the highest in others,
And let me be free from a load of care.
Each day let me climb just a little higher,
Appreciate more all the love that you've planned;
Each day I come, trusting you only,
Putting all that I have into your dear hand.

            "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all
that is within me, bless his holy name."
   (Ps. 103:1)
(c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller

31. from PROVERBS

     "The eyes of the Lord are in every
place, beholding the evil and the good."
     "A wholesome tongue is a tree of life."
     "In the house of righteousness is
much treasure."
     "The prayer of the upright is [the
Lord's] delight."
     "A merry heart maketh a cheerful
countenance."
     "He that is of a merry heart hath a
continual feast."
     "The way of the righteous is made plain."
     "A man hath joy by the answer of his
mouth: and a word spoken in due season,
how good is it!"
    (Prov. 15: 3,4a, 6a, 8b, 13a, 15b, 19b, 23)

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