25 Days of Christmas: Day 1

"But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.”  

Luke 1:30

 

 God found favor with a hidden teenager. She was not famous. Her family was not wealthy. She had not been trained for a great future. And yet, God found favor with her.

We can see the heart of submission that dwelt deep within her, when we see her answer to the angel. We all know that she said “yes” to God’s call.

But what if she had not obeyed?

Join me over at 

PurposefulandMeaningful.com 

to read more of this first day of

"25 Days of Christmas."

 I am so excited to be sharing with my friend, Ifeoma Samuel,
 daily words, activities, and prayers
 for your family during this Advent Season. 

And for a #HolyHaiku offering,

I will be popping in now and then with my friend Susan Shipe, @hopehearthome 

throughout this month sharing on Instagram. Visit me there 
@bettiegsraseasons 
for Haiku reflecting a daily Advent prompt.

This first day of December the word is "Light:"

May you be blessed with more of HIS 

love and light

this Advent Season!

I am linking with:

Brenda Bradford Ottinger #Chasing Community 

 

He Gives Us More Grace

"Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness."

Luke 11:34 NIV 



This branch is from my Flowering Almond bush. It has had its share of suffering and disease. At one point, several years ago, I considered removing the whole bush because it continued to die back and shed more leaves than what it was gaining. But the patient gardener in me decided to give it another chance, and pruned away the dead branches one more time. I would have missed out on these beautiful blooms if I had focused solely on the diseased portion of the plant.



And so it is in my own life. Where are my eyes choosing to focus? Where is the light within them?



This week a friend sent me a song, and because it was a reworking of a hymn that was one of my favorites, I went on a search to find the original. In so doing, as often happens with me, the history of the hymn drew my attention just as much as the song itself. Maybe you have heard of Annie Johnson Flint, poet and hymn writer from the early 1900's? 

Before this search, I had known she lived a life of suffering, and I had known her beautiful work came from a fountain of grace within her.  What I had not known was that her disease was one with which I am well acquainted:
Rhuematoid Arthritis.

But she suffered in the years when there was no relief for pain, and no medicine to halt the crippling effects. Where I might suffer some pain and weakness, and some residual tendon damage,
she suffered the full effects of a horrible disfigurement
and pain beyond compare. As the disease progressed,
she was forced to type out her poems using only her bent knuckles, because her joints had swollen and twisted to a point of uselessness.


What do I know of that kind of uselessness?
How would I have borne that kind of suffering?


In these days of stillness, as the Lord brings fresh convictions to me daily, I know that my heart has so far yet to travel. For you see, Annie Johnson Flint had let the Lord bring the true Light to her eyes.  When the darkness of a cruel disease could have crippled her heart, she chose to let the Light of Christ permeate her soul and body. She chose to let that Light redeem her suffering, and bring forth encouragement that would bless others who were facing darkness.


She chose Acceptance in the Pruning
from her own Master Gardener
and embraced HIS Light 
in the very place of her suffering.

"For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him"

Philippians 1:29 NIV 


 He Giveth More Grace

"He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
To added affliction He addeth His mercy;
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace. 

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father's full giving is only begun. 

Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.

His love has no limit; His grace has no measure.
His pow'r has no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again!"

---Annie Johnson Flint


In this Lenten Season, as we pause to meditate on the suffering that our Lord bore for us,
would you join me in prayer?


Dear Lord Jesus,  
I thank you for the suffering
that you bore 
for me.  
I rejoice in the salvation and grace 
that you won 
for me there.
And, now I ask that you would
purify my eyes
to see the light in my days
and the Grace within 
my own suffering.
May I let you bring Joy from Pain
and Beauty from Ashes,
And may the Love you have granted
sink deep into my soul,
body, mind and spirit.
Amen.     

Sadly, the biography of Annie Johnson Flint is out of print. However, if you are interested in reading a short history of her life, and a collection of her beautiful poems, then check out this site:

The Homemakers' Corner

And to hear Ravi Zacharias speak about Annie's life, here is a short clip:

I am linking today with:
Debbie Kitterman, #TuneInThursday 

Shadows in the Stillness

Wow. Sometimes when I look in the mirror, I wonder who it is that stares at me.  When did the eyes sink low, and the grey paint this hair? 

Do you ever feel that way?

The years flow swiftly 

and my heart has trouble

keeping pace.

But there is ONE who sees with eyes 

that are true,

and HE would call me close

to see with eyes

made new with HIS sight. 

 

 Shadows

Turn my eye to you

Love bids my heart come, look in

The shadows all fade   

--Bettie Gilbert

Beauty

The beauty of youth

Fades, the mist and shadows spin 

Eye of Love sees true. 

--Bettie Gilbert 

"The eye is the lamp of the body. You draw light into your body through your eyes, and light shines out to the world through your eyes. So if your eye is well and shows you what is true, then your whole body will be filled with light."

Matthew 6:22 (The Voice) 

 

Are your eyes weary with the shadows

or the fading of light?

Will you look with me
for eyes made pure
and vision restored 
from a light within?


I pray that we will lift our lamps

to catch the light

that Jesus brings

and take Joy in a Love that sees true. 

 

 

 

These poems are offered as part of the challenge put out by Ronovan Hester at his site RonovanWrites, for his weekly #Haiku #PoetryPrompt, where the words this week are "Eye&Fade."  

 

And I am linking today with

#TeaAndWordTuesday, Meg Weyerbacher 

 

 

The Stillness of Poetry, Part 2

"Be Thou my Sun, my selfishness destroy,

Thy atmosphere of Love be all my joy;

Thy Presence be my sunshine ever bright,

My soul the little mote that lives but in Thy light."

--Gerhard Tersteegen

On such a day as this, with our Land facing such inner turmoil,

 my own heart is choosing to look up,

to remain in that place of

Stillness before my God.

He is the ruler I will cling to,

when all else might feel shaken,

He remains constant

and ever loving.

"The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine on us."

Psalm 118:27 

And, thanks to the encouragement of my dear blogging friends 

Gayl S.Wright

and

Joy Lenton 

I have taken another "poetry plunge"

and taken on a new challenge

issued by poet and author, Ronovan Hester,

for his weekly Haiku Challenge at

#RonovanWrites.

This week the word prompts are

Flame & Kiss,

and the challenge is to use both words in a Haiku,

and then link back to his site to read 

the writing of many other wonderful 

poets and bloggers.

So, while I am praying for my Country,

and Resting in the Place of Stillness

that Jesus has called me to be,

These words have dropped like dew

to bring me encouragement.

Candle kisses Flame

Light sparks over darkened room

Softly falls the heart

                                  --Bettie Gilbert


May your own heart find encouragement 
in the light of Jesus
as well.