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           Inspirational Gems for Each Day -- VOLUME 5.

              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.  RIVER

     Our days in this existence are a little like
swimming in a river.  God does not expect
us to linger idly in quiet pool or head for a
dead-end rivulet.  For he intends a life-giving
river to flow out of us.  He is our River of
Life flowing in to us.  Running water is not
stagnant, but fresh and clean.  May we be
fresh and clean for him.  When we feel as if
we are stuck, awash in a back-current, let us
look to him as our Strong Deliverer.  He is
our hope.  Our refreshment.  May we ever
move with his river-flow.

            "God is our refuge and strength, a
       very present help in trouble.
            "Therefore will we not fear,   
       though the earth be removed, and
       though the mountains be carried
       into the midst of the sea;...
            "There is a river, the streams 
       whereof shall make glad the city
       of God, the holy place of the
       tabernacles of the most High."
          (Ps. 46: 1-2, 4)
 (c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller   


2.  AM I WILLING?

Am I willing to fail, for Jesus' sake?
Am I willing to be weak, for Jesus' sake?
Am I willing to be ridiculed, look like a
fool, for Jesus' sake?
Am I willing to be useless,
              for Jesus' sake?
Am I willing to be broken,
           for Jesus' sake?
Am I willing to give in, but not give up,
            for Jesus' sake?

            " ...Jesus answered and said, 
       Are ye able to drink of the cup
       that I shall drink of...?  ...We
       are able."   (Matt. 20:22)
 (c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller   


3. PRUNING TIME

     This is a hard time in history.  But
in this time, God is pruning the trees
that are our lives and character-traits. 
This is necessary if we are to produce
good fruit for him.

     One thing we must be sure of, is that
we remain connected to the vine.  Jesus
said, "I am the vine, you are the
branches."  He's separating us from the
things in life that don't matter.  He is
making us truly "his".  Our fruits will be
seen, in part, by our outward deeds.  But
mostly, God looks at the heart.  He wants
to make us "clean" before him.  There will
be room for new growth to appear.

            "I am the true vine, and my    
       Father is the husbandsman.
            "Every branch in me that       
       beareth not fruit he taketh away:
       and every branch that beareth
       fruit, he purgeth it, that it may
       bring forth more fruit.
            "Now ye are clean through the  
       word which I have spoken unto you.
            "Abide in me, and I in you.    
       As the branch cannot bear fruit of
       itself, except it abide in the
       vine; no more can ye, except ye
       abide in me."   (John 15:1-4)
 (c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller   


4.  SATISFIED

     A well known Christian author writes:
"There will be no such thing as that
hateful word 'disappointment' up in
heaven...  I wonder what it feels like to
be satisfied!" *

     This is something to think on.  In
this life, there are many disappointments
and heartaches.  But God has promised that
someday, we shall be satisfied.  When we
feel low, when we feel like giving up or
giving in, let us remember God's promise. 
There is coming a day, when we shall be
fully satisfied.  Even so, Lord Jesus,
come!
--
* Grace Livingston Hill, "For Each New Day,"
1991, Barbour & Co.

            "As for me, I will behold thy  
       face in righteousness: I shall be   
       satisfied, when I awake, with thy
       likeness."   (Ps. 17:15)
 (c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller   


5.  (from the Scriptures)

     "Make haste, O God, to deliver me;
make haste to help me, O Lord.
     "Let them be ashamed and confounded
that seek after my soul: let them be
turned backward, and put to confusion,
that desire my hurt.
     "Let them be turned back for a reward
of their shame that say, Aha, aha.
     "Let all those that seek thee rejoice
and be glad in thee: and let such as love
thy salvation say continually, Let God be
magnified.
     "But I am poor and needy: make haste
unto me, O God: thou art my help and my
deliverer; O Lord, make no tarrying."  
(Ps. 70)


6.  GOD UNDERSTANDS

     This is a new time in history.  God
is doing a new thing.  Don't cling to any
preconceived notions about how God is
going to bring forth his promises.  Just
believe he will do that!

     The Lord sees our hearts.  He under-
stands that we may have many feelings and
emotions that we would rather not have.
But we don't know how to "feel" or "think"
any differently.  So he takes our first
committment to him, when we decide to
trust him for his word to come true in our
lives.  He takes the intentions of our
hearts, not what we "feel" at any given
moment.

            "...Behold I make all things   
       new..."   (Rev. 21:5b)
 (c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller   


7.  PLENTY

     How many fish return from the sea to
local rivers depends on ocean conditions. 
During years when the food supplies are
the most plentiful, more salmon survive
long enough to come back to our streams.

     The upwelling of the ocean -- where
the water comes up out of the deep ocean
and slides in on coastal shelves -- brings
up an abundant harvest to give the whole
food cycle a boost.  During years of
plenty, there is more "detritus" (nutrient-
 laden debris), there are more small
creatures to nourish the anchovies, squid,
herring -- which, in turn, wind up as more
food for the salmon.

     Unlike the fish, we do not need to
rely on outward circumstances as to our
"being satisfied" and appreciating an
abundant inner life.  Rather, may we
depend on the good Lord, who is a food
supply for our souls.  His upwelling
goodness brings us his plenty, his mercy,
and his watchful care.

            "They shall call the people unto
       the mountain; there they shall  offer
       sacrifices of righteousness:  for they
       shall suck of the abundance of the
       seas, and of treasures hid in the sand."  
                    (Deut. 33:19)
 (c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller   


8.  TREASURE

     Our past can be a lovely treasure.   Or it
can be like Pandora's Box, opened to spill out
trouble which can never be put back.  We
have the choice which it will be.

     Let us treasure those things from our  past
which help us to grow, to learn, to mature,
to be kinder and more considerate.  May we
learn to overcome our weaknesses, so we
won't make the same mistakes over and over.
But let us cast into the Lord's hands, and into
his "sea of forgetfulness", the obstacles which
would hinder our walk with the Lord.  Let us
not dwell on how terrible we've been, or how
"unloved feeling".    But let us ask God's help.
Let us think on his goodness and mercy,
remember his tender care.

            "...This one thing I do, forgetting
      those things which are behind, and
       reaching forth unto those things that
       are before, I press toward the mark for
       the prize of the high calling of God in
       Christ Jesus."   (Phil.3:13b-14)
 (c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller   


9.  HELP US

     Help us, Lord, to know the power of
life and death that your Son gives us. 
Help us to know that your resurrection
power -- "that same power that raised
Christ from the dead" -- dwells in us.  We
always need your help.  Thank you that you
are willing to help us.

            "And [God] hath raised us up   
       together, and made us sit in
       heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
            "That in the ages to come he   
       might shew the exceeding riches of
       his grace in his kindness toward us
       through Christ Jesus."    (Eph. 2:6-7)
 (c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller   


10. CASTING OUR CARES ON HIM

     J.B. Phillips translated the Bible
into one of the modern English versions. 
In a book called "Ring of Truth," Phillips
describes his findings of word meanings
about the Scripture text in I Peter 5:7 --
"Casting all your care upon him; for he
careth for you."

     From his studies, Phillips found
"casting" to be a forceful word.  In fact,
he describes it as an "almost violent
word."  We don't simply lay our troubles
on God's shoulders -- we fling, or hurl
them there.  Our "care", or anxiety, is
such an intolerable burden to us, that,
according to Phillips, the Scriptures
advise us to throw "this humanly
insupportable weight upon the only One
who can bear it".

     At the same time, we are to
understand that God genuinely looks after
our needs and hopes and who we are.  He
hasn't lost sight of any of us.  Each one
of us is very important in his eyes.

            "Casting all your care upon him;
       for he careth for you." (I Pet. 5:7)

            "Are not two sparrows sold for 
       a farthing?  and one of them shall
       not fall on the ground without your
       Father.
            "But the very hairs of your    
       head are all numbered.
            "Fear ye not therefore, ye are
       of more value than many sparrows."
          (Matt. 10:29-31)
 (c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller   


11.  PROMISES

     It has been said that there are 7,700
promises in the Holy Bible.  Promises God
made to those of us who are seeking to be
his children.  Promises about himself,
about his work.

     God can't do anything else but keep
his word.  For he has promised that his
word is true.  It is his work to keep the
words he has spoken, and he will bring
them about.  We can't always understand
how his word can be absolutely true.  How he
can keep his promises.  But let us simply
trust that what he has said, he will do.

           "He [Abraham] staggered not at  
       the promise of God through
       unbelief; but was strong in faith,
       giving glory to God;
            "And being fully persuaded     
       that, what he [God] had promised,
       he was able also to perform.
            "And therefore it was imputed  
       to him for righteousness.
            "Now it was not written for    
       his sake alone...
            "But for us also, to whom it   
       shall be imputed, if we believe on
       him that raised up Jesus our Lord   
       from the dead;
            "Who was delivered for our     
       offences, and was raised again for
       our justification."  (Rom.4:20-25)
 (c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller   


 12.  COMMITTMENT IN PRAYER

    The act of prayer is a paradox.  We
must be willing to pray, and to exert our
own efforts to love and serve God.  And
yet, we also receive a gift of "Himself". 
We can't organize or "demand" of God, or
tell him what to do.  But we must keep
coming to him, seeking him, wanting him,
in order to receive him.

     Sometimes, we try to shape God, and
our ideas about prayer, to our own notions
of what we need out of life.  But God can't
really be "manipulated" or worked into our
own wishes and plans.  Effective prayer does
not set the terms and conditions, but is a
reaching out to God on his own terms.

     Some people have the idea that God is
no good unless he answers all our requests
immediately.  But prayer is more of an
adventure than that.  Our God is not a
"fairy godmother" who gives us what we
want, whether it is good for us or not. 
He is out to build character in us -- and
to secure our love and obedience to him. 
If we let our Lord do so, he leads us away
from "gimme, God, and make it quick!"
until we come to know a God "whose love
knows no limits."

     We can't base our walk with God on
whether he answers our every prayer
instantly (maybe sometimes our prayers are
wrong; maybe sometimes he has a better
way).  Neither can we say, "Today I'll be
a Christian, and try to live like one. 
Then if it doesn't work, tomorrow I'll go
my own way."  When parents have a child,
they make a committment to raise that
child, no matter what happens in life. 
When people marry, they make a committment
to love each other (even in spite of the
gray hairs or the broken legs or other
flaws or hardships that will develop). 
When children go to school, they make (we
hope) a committment to work to the best of
their ability.  Can we do any less in our
walk with the Lord?

     May we all see the need for Jesus
Christ, Son of the Living God, in our
lives, and be willing to seek to "walk
with him" every day, whether we feel like
it, or not, whether we see answers to our
prayers, or not.  And let us pray that God
will strengthen and minister to us as we
make this committment to prayer, and to a
life with him.

            "...He will bring me forth to  
       the light, and I shall behold his
       righteousness."   (Micah 7:9c)
 (c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller   


13.  SUN

     One cannot stare for long at the sun
that warms this earth, else blindness
would occur.  But on the other hand, one
may certainly gaze at the Son of God a
long time, trusting that there will be a
"bringing into" the glorious Light.  There
is safety and love in the light that God's
Son shares with us.

            "...Let them that love...[the  
       Lord] be as was the sun when he
       goeth forth in his might..."
         (Jdg. 5:31b)
 (c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller   


14.  GOD CREATED

     God created us.  He gave us
distinctive, individual  personalities. 
Sometimes we don't much like ourselves. 
But that shouldn't be.  He didn't create
us to hate us, but that "all flesh should
see his glory."

     Let us accept ourselves as we are. 
(Not meaning that we won't ask him to
change us, or remake our bad habits.)  Let
us not fret at our own faults and
imperfections, however.  But may we trust
him to fulfill the plan for our lives,
which he placed within us from the
beginning.

     We need not be afraid we'll never
have the power to become who he has
intended us to be.  For he is the
empowerer.  Let us rest in faith, and
trust for a completed work.  God created
us.  He is able to finish the job he
started!

            "For we are his workmanship,   
       created in Christ Jesus unto good
       works, which God hath before
       ordained that we should walk in
       them."   (Eph. 2:10)
 (c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller   


15.  A WILLING VESSEL

     God never asks you to do anything you
are unable to do, in him.  He will always
enable you to do his work.  (If he calls
you to it.)  Make yourself available to
him.  Come before him willingly.  Ask to
be made a willing vessel, fit for his use.

            "...As the children of Israel  
       bring an offering in a clean vessel
       into the house of the Lord."
          (Isa. 66:20d)
 (c) 1995 & 2009 by Marilee Miller   
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