SONSHINE: BEULAH BECKONS

This blog is a new experience for Joian and myself and we have been taken back in awe at the many and varied places in the world from which some have come to view our small effort in proclaiming the Glories of Christ and His Kingdom.

There is a tracking devise we hooked up to this site and with this devise, is a world map which allows us to see the different places from which people come to pay us a visit. The most amazing and unexpected revelation we have been receiving when checking this map is to see how many log in from China. What a tremendous blessing that is.

For all our visitors, I share a simple message that God placed in my heart this morning. It seems even more so there is a special God felt desire to share this word of encouragement with our Chinese brethren today. I often weep when I share His Heart with others as I do now.

**************

But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me-and not without results. For I have worked harder than all the other apostles, yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. 1Cr 15:10 (NLT)

I so believe Paul was hard driven by God's "sovereign grace and calling" to labor not by his own direction nor by his own strength. Paul found rest as God labored in and through him. So I also see God driving hard His sons today and they have grown faint to the things of this world and to their own efforts.

Take heart because the Jordan is at hand and Beulah beckons. Feel the promise within the poetic and inspiring words of the prophet Isaiah this morning. Be encouraged my brothers and sisters ............ be encouraged, I pray.

Isaiah 62

1For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.

2And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.

3Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.

4Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.

5For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.

6I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence,

7And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

8The LORD hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast laboured:

9But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the LORD; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness.

10Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.

11Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

12And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.

Jack

Joian Ruth Schroff

God is good. And Joian, more than any of us, knows this. Our sister, and my best friend, rests in the Father's bosom, today. Dear Joian's sojourn, on earth, ended early last winter, after a period of illness.

Together, Joian and myself began "SONSHINE" in "07". Last June, we took our rest from the blog.

Great battles, were waged this last year, by both Joian and myself. One was taken and one was left. Neither, the taking, nor the leaving, lacks in His perfect providence, afforded each. I can't explain, nor fully understand, how each can be perfect. Never the less, I do know, Joian understands it perfectly.

Today, Joian, more than any, knows God is good.

Jack

PS. Thoughts of your joyful rest relieve my tears, tonight. I miss you, my friend. I'll see you soon.

Great Quotes

Those who believe they believe in God but without passion in the heart, without anguish of mind, without uncertainty, without doubt, and even at times without despair, believe only in the idea of God, and not in God, Himself. Madeleine L' Engle
________
"If anything about my salvation or right standing with God depends on my faithfulness, I'm toast, damned to hell." Gavazzoni
________
Any infinite Being who feels it is their duty to torture me for eternity, should switch to decaf. Joe
________
Everyday people are straying away from the church and going back to God. -- Lennie Bruce
________
"He took responsibility for all the evils that have befallen man that day He gave His life. This has never been adequately appreciated by religion. It needs to be appreciated." (Roy)
________
"Isn't that what man always wants- a divine force he can control? That's actually the definition of witchcraft." (Florian)
________
"Christianity is not about polyester and pot roast. It's about Christ and what He's doing in you and me at the moment." (Holly)
________
"It's his life for ours. We die, he lives, and then the mystery is that we live again." (Joian)
________
"God's Spirit, is a pure motive" (Cardinal)
________
"I would rather train twenty men to pray, than a thousand to preach. A minister's highest mission ought to be to teach his people to pray." (H. MacGregor)
________
Pretty soon, everybody will get what they deserve, which is Salvation, Reconciliation, Restitution, Restoration, Immortality and Incorruption - now ain't that the coolest thing! (Keith)
________
The bible is not an owners manual and trying to apply it to our lives reeks of salvation by works. (Cam)
________
I live all the daytime
In faith and in might
And in holy rapture
I die every night (Novalis)
________
Where shall we find an abandonment that is as comprehensive as the will of God. (Fenelon)
________
He wanted no one but God to witness what he did, just as the only reward he expected was God Himself.(description of Bro. Lawrence)
________
The humility of the cross became more desirable to him than all the glory the world had to offer. (description of Bro. Lawrence)
________
Prayer is helplessness casting itself upon power; it is misery seeking peace; it is unholiness embracing purity; it is hatred desiring love. Prayer is corruption panting for immortality; it is the eagle soaring heavenward; it is the dove returning home; it is the prisoner pleading for release; it is the mariner steering for the haven amid the dangerous storm; it is the soul, oppressed by the world, escaping to the empyrean, and bathing its ruffled plumes in the ethereal and the divine.(unknown)