Positive Attitudes for a Christian to Follow

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.” -1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 (ESV)

Paul the Apostle gives excellent advice for the Christian in these verses. With pertinent and short statements, he gives straightforward and clear advice concerning attitudes a Christian should practice daily to live a victorious life in Chris.

First is “rejoice always.” Is it possible for the Christian to have a joy-filled heart no matter what the circumstances? How can this be? When troubles come, when adversity is a constant companion? How can one rejoice always?

We do not depend on our circumstances to bring us the joy Paul writes about. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit and comes from knowing Jesus, not from our circumstances or the conditions we face in life. Remembering this truth, we can truly “rejoice always!”

Praying without ceasing suggests a mental attitude of prayerfulness. We should walk so closely to God that we can commune with Him about anything at any time. In our prayers, we also give thanks, knowing that even difficult circumstances help us to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

As a Christian, I should live a prayer-filled life and one that gives thanks to God consistently and regularly. Alfred Lord Tennyson, noted English poet, wrote, “More things are wrought through prayer than this world dreams of.” In our praying, we should be regular, consistent and thankful.

A wonderful Christian hymn written by Johnson Oatman, Jr. (1856-1922) tells us:

“Count your blessings, name them one by one;

Count your blessings, see what God hath done;

Count your blessings, name them one by one;

Count your many blessings see what God hath done.

Thank You, Lord, that You give us deep-seated joy from Your Spirit living within us. We thank You for joy, peace and salvation. Let us count our blessings and rejoice always over what You, Lord, accomplish in our life yielded to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen. - Ethelene Dyer Jones 03.26.2017

Thoughts, Like Time, Flow with a Good Theme

“My heart is overflowing with a good theme;I recite my composition concerning the King;My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” -Psalm 45:1 (NKJV)

Where does time flow? From here to Mars

Like the wind, it comes, is gone soon;

Quickly, quickly, like falling stars,

Or shadows briefly covering the moon.

“Make the most of time,”* the sage’s advice

Falls sometimes on deaf ears.

Interruptions are a cunning device

To steal our time. And then the years

Accrue to fourscore and more,

As I, body aging, mind still much aflame.

When I consider all the days of yore

They seem like yesterday. But can I blame

Time’s passing, like the wind in trees?

The ‘music of the spheres”** is heard;

Some memories, soft as whispers, seized,

Captured in thoughts, in written words.

Inspiration comes, like the wind, rapidly, sometimes raw.

My King, my Lord reminds me that I am but mortal,

With my allotted time, and what these eyes saw

Happen, will soon be subsequent to my earth-life’s portal.

Maybe when I have passed beyond

To mansions somewhere on the other side of the sky,

Many will still read written words and respond

To thoughts preserved and “storied-up” by such as I.

-Ethelene Dyer Jones

Written March 18, 2017, for devotional, March 19, 2017; may we have a blessed Lord’s Day, with worship, prayer and rest.

*“Make the most of time,” shortened from “Make use of time; let not advantage slip.” -William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

**“The music of the spheres,” from “For there is music wherever there is harmony, order or proportion; and thus far we may maintain the music of the spheres; for those well-ordered motions, and regular paces, though they give no sound unto the ear, yet to the understanding they strike a note most full of harmony.”

-Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682).

--

Ethelene Dyer Jones

Hear and Heed Jesus, God’s Beloved Son

“He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” -Matthew 17:5 (ESV).

Jesus had taken three of his disciples, Peter, James and John, to a mountain and there the Transfiguration occurred. The event was a marvelous confirmation of Jesus as the Son of God, with Moses, the lawgiver, and Elijah, the prophet, appearing, and the voice of Almighty God pronouncing: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”

Jesus knew that his death as a sacrifice for sin was immanent. Scholars believe that the transfiguration occurred in the summer before his death and resurrection the next spring. Some denominations observe “Transfiguration Sunday” in August. Matthew 17:5 is reminiscent of Isaiah’s word in Isaiah 42:1 when he wrote, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.”

Jesus wanted the disciples to know that he must suffer, die and rise again, and so He had taken three of them apart to be in on an affirmation from God of who His Son is. This was in God’s plan for His Son as he fulfilled His mission on earth. It was important that the “inner circle” of disciples, Peter, James and John, know and understand this truth, because they had been expecting the earthly Messiah to set up His kingdom and deliver them from Roman oppression. Going down the mountain from the Transfiguration, Jesus charged the three not to tell of the transfiguration and what occurred on the mountain until after His resurrection. God’s command given at the Transfiguration added an important phrase to what the voice of God had said at Christ’s baptism by John the Baptist: “Listen to Him.”

That command and its accompanying reason for us to listen echoes from the Mount of Transfiguration and from the pages of God’s Word which we now have to study and follow: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.”

Peter testifies in his letter about being an eyewitness to the “Majestic Glory” of God the Son that he had observed on the Mount of Transfiguration. This experience was extremely important to Peter, beloved disciple, preacher on the Day of Pentecost, missionary and writer: “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:16-21).

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that we have the Word from You, Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Thank you that even today we can hear and heed Jesus, God’s Son. Amen. - Ethelene Dyer Jones 03.12.2017

Well-placed Trust

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will direct your paths.” -Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)

In Proverbs 3:5-6, we have God’s Word to give us three important commands and one sincere promise.

The commands are:

1. Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

2. Do not rely on your own understanding.

3. Think about Him in all your ways.

The promise is:

God will direct your paths.

Can our way and God’s promise be more clearly stated than here in Proverbs 3:5-6? I have shared that in my early years, from the time I was fourteen when my mother died, I had to assume adult responsibilities. I was already a Christian, five-years (since age 9), when I joyfully accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into my heart. I had already started at that early age of 9, to read and study my Bible daily and to pray earnestly that God would guide me. At age 14, with the responsibility of cooking, keeping the house clean and in order, doing the family’s laundry, taking care of my 11-year old brother and keeping him in school, and keeping up my own school studies, I sometimes felt overwhelmed by it all.

God put the idea in my mind that if I trusted Him and did not rely on my own understanding, all my responsibilities would work together for good. If I gave my ways and my life to God, he would work out what would be best for me. And God’s magnificent promise to me was that He would direct my paths. So I prayed, worked, studied, accepted and knew without a doubt that God would give me the understanding and strength—yes, and the “know-how” for all the tasks thrust upon me.

And the beautiful lining to this tapestry thrown over me at such an early age is that it was laced with gold and silver threads as I wove day by day the cloth of my life. I do not want to picture myself as the “unstoppable kid” who lived beyond her years, beyond her acumen to do, to accept, to press on. There were times when I temporarily took my eyes off the Lord and wanted to do things my way instead of His way. But for almost all of the time I had solid goals in mind and sought to follow God in all that I had to do.

Kind Aunts and other ladies in the community would sometimes visit and give me a hand with the hard things, and especially when work tasks accumulated beyond what I could physically do in the time I had to do them. This was especially true at “canning time” when our fresh vegetables and fruits grown so well on our farm needed to be preserved for winter. We would have “food preservation” parties, all-day work-days to get me through these hard tasks when gardens and crops came in to be preserved. We would take the prepared beans, corn, peaches, apples, peas, and “soup-mixture” (as my Aunt Northa called the vegetable soup we made and canned for winter use) to the “cannery” where the processing time was more expedited than in our home in a pressure canner or water-bath canner that could only take but about seven or nine cans respectively in each “batch” to cook according to the canning guidelines. And how proud I was of those beautiful glass cans lined neatly in the “can-house” shelves (a storage space, well-insulated to prevent freezing, built by my father for our home-canned goods) preserved for healthful, good winter meals! I think God forgave me my pride in admiring and showing off these rows filled with glass Mason jars of good food to eat in the winter.

Much later, I read that every morning when President Gerald Ford walked into the President’s office in the White House he quoted Proverbs 3:5-6, claiming its commands for his day and its promise from God that He would direct his paths. And since I was a child, I, too, have had Proverbs 3:5-6 memorized, a handy reference for my life and my work. Doing so provided a good and sound principle for me to follow, and it has guided me in seeking God and following His directives. Praise be to God! - Ethelene Dyer Jones 03.05.2017