The Good Shepherd Prepares a Table

“The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want…Thou prepares a table before me in the presence of mine enemies…”-Psalm 23:1a, 5a (KJV)

We need to recall that the sheep is speaking in the 23^rd Psalm. Metaphorically, the sheep represents the believer, the one who follows and is directed by the Good Shepherd. Jesus Christ said, “I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep.” (John 10:11)

The sheep speaks in appreciation of the tableland of good grazing the shepherd has arranged in upland pastures. “Enemies” such as wild animals—cougars, bears, wolves, coyotes—hovered near and would attack, malign and even kill the sheep. But the shepherd, ever watchful, keeps the sheep safe from predators so they can eat at the “table prepared for them.”

The shepherd scouted out the summer grazing spots before he led his sheep there. When he found a pasture, he would take salt to place at strategic “salt licks” within the pasture. The salt helped them to seek water, another necessity for good health.

Growing up on a farm, I had first-hand experience of what it takes to keep cattle and sheep in good pastureland. My father, when I was young, kept flocks of sheep for the wool needed for the family’s winter clothing. The sheep and cows grazed in separate pastures. But in each, my father attended to providing “salt licks” for the animals. He also attempted to replenish the nutrients in the soil, and allowed some of the pastures to lie fallow so that the grass could be restored after close grazing. But even with good grazing in the pastures, the sheep and cattle enjoyed the additional food fed them when they were taken to the barns and stables for shelter.

Those sheep that wandered from the shepherd’s care would not have the good grazing found on the tablelands. They would also be out of range of the shepherd’s eye and might not receive protection when they were attacked, and would also be without proper nurture.

Spiritual application of this verse from Psalm 23 means that Christians fail to gather at “the table spread before them” when they neglect daily Bible study, prayer, the holy Spirit’s leadership, and the assembling of themselves together for worship. Because we do not partake of these spiritual feasts “at the Lord’s table,” (as it were), we are subject to the predator, Satan, who “as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8b. KJV).

The good, contented, nourished sheep fed and fared well and were at the same time protected. And so are we, when we follow our Lord’s provision for us through knowing and obeying His Word and following Him faithfully and obediently.   

-Ethelene Dyer Jones 05.31.2015

Living in Confidence

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” -2 Timothy 1:7. (NKJV) “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” –Colossians 2:6-7 (ESV).

Paul wrote to his “son in the gospel,” Timothy, that he had a “burden” for him. He was praying that Timothy’s life would be lived boldly according to the gospel and even in reflection of how Paul himself had been an example for Timothy. He also writes to members of churches, as noted in the quotation from Colossians, that the believers live “built up in Him” (the Lord Jesus) and “established in the faith.” Even in adversities, setbacks, persecutions…whatever situation life brings that may not be expected, we are not to have the “spirit of fear,” but live confidently exemplifying in our lives the gifts readily available from God: “power…love…and a sound mind.” And in all things, give thanks.

We live in a troublous time. If we consider the volatile situations in many places in the world and the persecutions that are now being perpetrated against believers in Christ, we would be completely filled with fear, thinking that these, conditions, too, can be our lot at any time. I do not write this to cause panic but to make us aware of the seriousness of our times and the necessity to stand firm and live confidently in the faith.

When I was a new Christian many years ago, my pastor, the Rev. Claude C. Boynton, taught us, as did Paul to Timothy and the new church members of the early Christian era, that we should be “rooted and grounded in the faith.” And this he urged us to attain by studying diligently the Word of God, making it our chart and compass for living, and following the precepts we hid in our hearts that we might not sin against God. “This is the will of God concerning you,” he would preach.

He taught us how to cultivate our relationship with the Lord by earnest prayer and diligent Bible study, and we did not neglect the assembling of ourselves together in a body of believers who can strengthen, teach, pray for and encourage one another. I can remember Rev. Boynton saying from the pulpit, with great conviction, “We are just one generation away from paganism.” He believed firmly that if we do not practice the precepts of Christianity, and teach them to the next generation after us, and also encourage them to do the same to their young, then the truths of God’s Word will slip away and people will not know them or know how to follow them. All too soon, unless we live out the spirit of confidence in God (instead of fear), and put into practice God’s available power for our lives, live in love and forgiveness, act in soundness of mind, we will be neglecting the spiritual gifts within us and the purpose God has for our lives as His redeemed children. This is a serious lesson to learn and practice. May we sincerely seek to follow the precepts set forth so clearly to Timothy and to the Colossians in our focal verses for today, and taught to us. Selah! -Ethelene Dyer Jones 05.24.2015.

A Deep Question: ‘For What Is Your Life?’

“Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” –James 4:14. :For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace…My days are like an evening shadow: I wither like grass.” –Psalm 1103:3 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” –John 5:14 (ESV)

Having just experienced a birthday this past week, I have given much thought to the question,”For what is your life?”

It is true, as James writes in 4:14, we “do not know what tomorrow will bring.” He likens the span of one’s life as a ‘mist that vanishes.” Wispy, non-permanent. The psalmist likened one’s life to smoke, again a vaporous element. Think how quickly the evening shadows pass into nightfall. Life is like that.

Chief Crowfoot, and American Indian Chief, wrote in 1821:

“What is life?

It is the flash of a firefly in the night…

The breath of a buffalo in the winter time…

A little shadow which runs across the grass

And loses itself in the sunset.”

The metaphorical representation of life by James and the Psalmist, I think, are geared to make us look soberly at the time allowed us for earthly life. At best, and even with an accrual of years beyond the “fourscore” accounting, life passes rapidly. I’ve done much remembering in this week of my birthday. Although I’ve had a happy life, and I want to think a useful and worthwhile life, I realize that it has passed quickly with no part of it standing still or seeming to pass slowly. Our time moves on; that is a certainty.

What is life?

It is our breath from God, the Creator of the Universe.

Our time on earth is a little while, compared to eternity.

Each of us came to earth for a purpose and a reason known to God.

He knew us before we were conceived in the womb.

Happy the one who can walk with God and find and perform His purpose for life.

I am a child of God.

Jesus called me, as a child of God, the light of the world.

A light’s purpose is to shine, to penetrate darkness, to illuminate.

I emanate a light ignited by His divine spark within my life.

I am not thinking of myself more highly than I ought to think when I consider that light has a purpose.

Jesus declared me, a believer, a light that shines in the darkness of this world.

Although my time is shorter than it has been, some more time seems still allotted to me.

I rejoice to know that to have life is to have light.

‘For what is life?’ It is light.

In the evening light casts a long shadow.

May this be true for those of us who have been granted a long life with purposefulness still intact.

Jesus urges, “So live that your light shines.”

-Ethelene Dyer Jones 05.17.2015

The Joy of Being a Mother

“I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure dwells in you as well.” -2 Timothy 1:5 (ESV).

On Mother’s Day we thank God for godly mothers and honor them as the Bible teaches us to do. Paul, in the focal verse from Timothy, praised Lois and Eunice for their godly influence on Timothy. For our thoughts today, I offer to you a poem, “This Clay to Mold” as a reminder of a mother’s responsibility to bring up the child or children entrusted to her in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

This Clay to Mold

(A Mother to her Baby)

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old,he will not depart from it.” –Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)

Tiny infant, flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone,

A living, breathing person gifted to our home.

What lies ahead on roads that twist and curve

As you grow up? Can we insure that you not swerve

From precepts learned at mother’s knee

And still give you the sense of being free

To choose what paths are suited to your gifts,

Give you assurance that the right way lifts

Above a mediocre path, a difference makes

In what you give to life, and what you take?

These are my thoughts, as close against my breast,

New-born, you take succor and sweet rest.

I’ll teach you of faith, for that intrinsic quality

Yields hope extending beyond reality.

I pray you learn to love, for love is giving

And colors all of life that’s worth the living.

Forgiveness must come, too, and greed must go;

And neither must offense nor selfishness sow

Their bitter seeds to sprout and grow at will

To choke your character, lend potential ill.

Your human clay is mine to shape and mold

Into a person of worth, rarer far than gold.

May God give me wisdom laced with humility;

Fill my Mother-heart with God-endowed ability.

I thank God for circumstances ensuing

That made our dream worth seeking and pursuing.

I dedicate myself anew to God’s great plan,

Accept humbly the touch of His loving hand.

-Ethelene Dyer Jones 05.10.2015

Strong in the Broken Places

“Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears: Let the weak say, I am strong.” –Joel 3:10 . “Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.-2 Corinthians 12:10. “My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” -2 Corinthians 12:9 (KJV).

Ernest Hemingway, the American novelist, wrote: “Everyone is broken by life and afterward some are stronger in the broken places.”

Senator Max Cleland, fourteen years Georgia’s Speaker of the House and later U. S. Senator from Georgia entitled his book of memoirs about his experiences in the Vietnamese War Strong at the Broken Places. Due to his injuries in battle, both his legs were amputated above his knees as well as his right forearm. At age twenty-five, he faced the rest of his life as a triple amputee. But he did not allow his infirmities to prevent his following the course he felt he should pursue in life. His testimony, “Strong at the Broken Places” has inspired many to reconsider and persevere.

Being strong at the broken places sometimes means making a complete about-face in the direction we are headed. The prophet Joel had some advice along this line as he advised that we turn implements of peace into defensive weapons. On the other hand, the prophet Micah, in predicting the ‘Day of the Lord,’ told of the time when followers of the Lord will turn swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. Paul claimed boldly that God’s grace is sufficient and enables him to “glory in infirmities.” With Christ’s strength, we can overcome and be “strong at the broken places.”

In late April, 2015, a portion of the nation of Nepal was overridden with a terrible earthquake. Persons I know here have relatives and friends living there who were in the path of the destruction and lost homes, goods and some lost lives. The sorrow has been deep and the efforts to overcome disaster has taken great courage and determination. But Christians among them have been able to yield gratitude for life and the ability to pick up the pieces, to “be strong and the broken places,” and move forward.

Troubles come to every human—

This is a well-known fact of life.

But with the right attitude and purpose

We can meet and deal with strife.

Sharp pangs need not long deter us

In the paths that we must take;

Faith lends strength in broken places

If right choices we can make. (-EDJ)

-Ethelene Dyer Jones 05.03.2015

How Beautiful the Feet of God’s Messenger

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘your God reigns.’ The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice, together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion. Break forth together into singing you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted His people: He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared His holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” –Isaiah 52:7-10 (ESV).

Today we cannot tune onto a television or radio newscast, read a newspaper or talk with friends without hearing bad news. Doom and gloom are too often the subjects we talk about and dwell upon. “In these times,” we often say, “all we hear is bad news.” Contrast our day to the time when Isaiah penned the words in our focal passage for today. He was writing a message to Zion—to the Israelites in Babylonian captivity. In this beautiful hymn telling of God’s coming deliverance and salvation, he implores “Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city.” How like Paul’s admonition in Ephesians 6:10-20 to put on the whole armor of God!

This message of Isaiah was intended to bring hope and encouragement, even joy, to the captives in Babylon. The day of the Lord, a time of deliverance was coming. No longer would they have to cower in sackcloth and ashes, but they could put on the garments of rejoicing; for oppression—the bad news, even living the bad news—would have its end. This message also speaks of “end times” hope and the triumph of the believers. So much is carried with the messenger with “beautiful feet”!

This section of Isaiah and subsequent chapters, especially Isaiah 53, constitute the Messianic hope message of the prophet. “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5). And how beautiful upon the mountains are those who tell forth this message! The good news may at times be ignored and seemingly lost amidst all the clamor of bad news. The main message, despite the naysayers, is “Your God reigns!”(Isaiah 52:7) God’s people are to take hope and listen to the messengers who bear God’s news. It is the news that will ultimately triumph. This is a sure promise from Sovereign God: “all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” (Isaiah 52:10) Isaiah wanted his own people, and us today to hear, for his message miraculously has come to us, and we hold forth hope.

Hope is at the heart of God’s message of love for any age. They who bear that message, are distinctive and engender hope:“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news!” (v. 7). Paul reiterates this theme in Romans 10:14-17: “How, then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?’ So, then, faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” The message can be faithfully preached, but people must hear, respond and obey.

My husband, the Rev. Grover D. Jones, felt the distinctive call of God to be a bearer of this marvelous message of the ages. His ministry was, geographically, to the people who dwelt in the mountain region of the state of Georgia. His were, indeed, as the prophet foretold, “beautiful feet upon the mountains.” Such are the feet of those who bear the good news of Jesus Christ wherever they are. Thank God today for the beautiful feet of those who are faithful to tell God’s message and who give hope amidst the bad news! Indeed, “our God reigns!” –Ethelene Dyer Jones 04.26.2015

God’s Work of Grace in the Believer

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” –Ephesians 2:8-10 (NKJV).

For everyone who is a new creation in Christ Jesus, we are the workmanship of God.

God’s grace—His unearned, unmerited favor—is the gift from Him that changed us from a separated, condemned, hopeless state to a new creation in Christ Jesus. Not from any works which we did or could have done are we saved. Salvation is the gift of God. And Jesus is the originator and bearer of that gift of salvation. God prepared and ordained it beforehand and Jesus died that God’s grace could be manifested.

A person’s works cannot save him/her. If we depend on a salvation by our works—which are “as filthy rags,” we cannot be saved. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. Our own personal faith is the commodity we bring to the Lord to accept the gift of grace He extends to us. How can we describe faith? It is a firm and unshakeable conviction, belief, trust and confidence. Faith gives believers the assurance that they can approach Holy God; He is reachable, accessible and already reaching out to us even before we approach Him in faith. If salvation came through our own works, we would have occasion to boast, to brag about what we have done. But it is through no merit of our own work or goodness that we are saved.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (v. 10). The Greek word poiema translated “workmanship” is the same word from which we derive our English word “poem,” and means “that which is made.” For myself, being a poet of sorts, and having a life-long interest in the pursuit of and love for poetry, I can relate to this idea of God’s workmanship in us being like creating a poem. The germ of an idea presents itself for a poem. Sometimes it comes “full blown” and easily; at other times much thought, rearrangement and labor go into a poem before the poet is satisfied that the work is finished. God’s grace saves us and His “poiema” (poem) workmanship begins in us. Then through His Word, the Bible, which teaches and woos us, our prayers, our diligence in study, and even trials and sufferings, God works in each individual to bring us to our fulfillment in Him. Look how long He worked in Moses: forty years in the wilderness; and Joseph, sold into slavery before he was made second in power to the Pharaoh in Egypt and ready to help his own brothers who had sold him into slavery; Paul, persecuting the Christians before he was called to be an Apostle. God’s grace saves us, and that individually through our faith. God’s workmanship in us, to form us into the meaningful “poem” our life can be takes our whole lifetime of walking in His way. Not only is faith required to accept His grace, faithfulness is required in practicing and growing in our faith. May we be found faithful! --Ethelene Dyer Jones 04.19.2015