The Grey Days

Oh, the day is dreary my dear friends! It is cold, wet and rainy out. My bones are chilled and my chilly feet tell me that it is time to go home and curl up in bed. I don't wish to succumb to the grayness of the day, but it is ever so easy to let the cold of the day seep in and make me feel  as the day looks.

I know in my heart that it is a beautiful day that the Lord has made. I know that He sends rain when He sees fit. How can I say that He should act otherwise? How can I look out at His creation and call it less than perfect. Yes, it is not what it could be, it was certainly perfect before the fall...yet even now, it is beautiful.

No matter how gray the day, I should always be ready to look up and praise Him for His awesome goodness.

One Sacrifice of Christ is Sufficient

One Sacrifice of Christ Is Sufficient

10 For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very ^[a]form of things, ^[b]can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. ² Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? ³ But in ^[c]those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. ⁴ For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. ⁵ Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says,

“Sacrifice and offering You have not desired,
But a body You have prepared for Me;
⁶ In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure.
⁷ “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come
(In the scroll of the book it is written of Me)
To do Your will, O God.’”

⁸ After saying above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the Law), ⁹ then He ^[d]said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. ¹⁰ By ^[e]this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹¹ Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; ¹² but He, having offered one sacrifice for ^[f]sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³ waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. ¹⁴ For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are ^[g]sanctified. ¹⁵ And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,

¹⁶ “This is the covenant that I will make with them
After those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws upon their heart,
And on their mind I will write them,”

He then says,

¹⁷ “And their sins and their lawless deeds
I will remember no more.”

¹⁸ Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.

I read this today in my time with the Lord. I had several chills go down my spine as I read this passage.

If you read the Old Testament, you will find that a priest offers sacrifices every day. There is one sacrifice that he offers once a year  on a specific day. This day was called The Day of Atonement. The High priest (Aaron, if you are reading in Leviticus 16), on this day would take a live goat and place both of his hands on it's head. He would then confess over all the sins of the sons of Israel. He would then have the goat driven into the wilderness where it would bear their sins of the people far away.

You see, this was done yearly, and it was only a small portion of what went on in or around the temple. There were daily sacrifices taking place to cover the transgressions of the people. Thousands of offerings were given, thousands of animal were slaughtered to bring atonement for the iniquities of the Israelites.

All the while, Christ and the Father were looking down, knowing that soon, they would be sending a sacrifice that would cover all, once and for all. This sacrifice was perfect, innocent, and blemish less. It would come as a child in a humble stall. It would walk as a man of sorrow. It would speak as one with authority. It would stand before the High Priests...and at the hands of a sinful and perverse generation would die. 

This sacrifice is Christ. The day He died, the last Day of Atonement faded into memory. He was the ultimate sacrifice. He was the Darling of heaven come to earth to die as if a thief or murderer. He came to fulfill the prophecies and to bring salvation to the lost, He was slain at the hands of those He came to redeem. He was mocked and whipped by the ones He chose to love.

Because of the perfect plan of God, the Son was crushed on our behalf. No more scapegoats where needed. The blood of lambs and bulls was worthless to the Lord after the death of Christ. His blood flowed forth covering all who would be called His own, from age to age. He died to save the nations and the generations both before us and those to come.

Who is this that I follow? Who is this that I serve? 

I serve the ALMIGHTY of Heaven! I serve the Lamb of God who was slain! I look to the One who rose from the grave on the third day and who ascended into heaven! I serve a mighty Savior who is coming back again...  

 

Sitting at my Window

I am sitting at my window...waiting...watching...hoping...praying...wanting something great to happen. Not really in the sense that most people would think of greatness, but in the sense of a small miracle. I just want to see the sun come out and smile at me. Or maybe watch as a happy old couple walk by holding hands. I want to hear birdsong and not the pattering of the rain. I want to see blue sky instead of gray.

I guess I want a lot of things...

The sun shouldn't have to shine in order to make me happy. I shouldn't have to see what I long to see or get what I want in order to be content, should I?

No.

When I sit at my window with a thousand thoughts swirling around in my head, I need to look through the gray and see the beauty behind it. I need to know the peace of God in the sound of the rain pattering down. Maybe He wants me to find joy there rather than in bird song. Maybe I need to look to the heavenly Son rather than the earthly sun that gets clouded over and drown out by the storms. Even in the storms I have a hope and a promise that Christ the Son of God will never stop shining. He is my light and my strength when I am weak.

 "He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distress, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong"

 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I pray from the deepest, most feeling part of my heart asking that God would grant these words to be the words of truth that come from my lips. I want to be happy when all the world is crashing down around me. It isn't just about being happy either, it is about being completely satisfied and content in Christ, and in nothing else. 

Here I am, at my window looking out into the gray. Here He is, right next to me. He's got his arm around my shoulder and His pierced hand in his lap. 

My hand is folded in His and my head is laying on His shoulder...

I am right where I need to be. I am right where He wants me to be. I am being taken care of. I have nothing, absolutely nothing, to worry about. What more can I ask? What more do I need?

Nothing.

Naughty Mornings with a Smile

Despite the naughty scheming calf, two rascal pups, a sink full of bottles to wash, and soggy shoes, I am happy and somehow still smiling! God has given me the grace to get through this morning (trust me, I do have my bad mornings!) with a smile plastered to my face! It's a truly beautiful feeling.

 I stop in the bathroom to look at my hair...

Whew! Bad idea. Who in my family really notices when my hair is disheveled and I'm not wearing makeup anyways? No one (Not that I don't ever do my hair and makeup...). So, I have even more reason to smile! God loves me, my family loves me, and somebody (Christ) died so that I could be alive this amazing morning. How cool is that!?

   

That is awesome!

Smiles and laughter,

~ Rachel Rosebud

(This was a post from a long time ago...not sure how it got up here at the top...)

Barricade of the Mind

Have you ever stood and thought about something for way longer than you really needed to? Have you ever super hyper-analyzed something to the point that there seems to be nothing more to explore? Have you ever heard something and examined it from every humanly possible angle?

Why is it that logic is the basis of how we think about God? Why do we stuff Him into a box? Why do we place "limits" on what He can do?

I thought about it this morning as I traipsed around the field.

I take God and fit Him into my life, instead of letting Him take me and fit me into His life. I take His word and try to cram it into the walls of my finite mind. I think about possibilities and I say, "Well, that couldn't happen because of this, that, etc..." when truly, God can do anything.

I prayed, asking Christ to break the barriers of my mind and to work through the Spirit, not through any thought or bound of my own. I asked the Holy Spirit to break the chains that keep me from praying bold prayers and expecting great things from a great God. I asked for a trust, hope, joy, and peace, that fully leans on the faith that is my foundation, rather than leaning on what I think or find to be correct or believable. I asked that the Spirit would push aside all doubts and fears, allowing me to step forward and run hard after Christ. Sometimes when we think, we never act because (in our minds) it (whatever we are supposing to accomplish) is impossible. Only if we could act upon the prompting of the Spirit, and think about it later. Because we cannot comprehend God fully, we cannot comprehend His actions and abilities fully either.

There are so many ways I need to learn to let go and "free fall" into His arms. I know (deep down) that He will always be there. I also know that He is prompting, leading, and teaching me to lean on Him. Sometimes leaning on Him means letting go of me. 

If you are in a position where you are thinking through a big decision, say, to go to college or to stay at home, what college to go to, buy that car or not to buy that car, invest in this person or not to invest in this person, start a business venture or not, buy this house or that one, move miles away or stay where you are at, start a church or not to start a church, take this job or that one...and the list goes on.

I don't know what you are going through, I don't know what your thought process is. I don't know what you have analyzed and what you have not. I don't know how you have chosen to make this decision, but I do know that you could be over thinking it. Maybe "free-falling" is exactly what God wants you to do! Maybe Christ wants you to take a leap of faith and say, "Lord, I want to honor you. I believe this is what You have for me even though there are so many "what if's" and "maybe's". I know that I can place it on your shoulders." Please, don't jump if you feel God screaming "no"! Don't do something stupid like, "Well, I'm going to take this super risky business venture and possibly lose everything because maybe God is in it..." Do put some thought into it, but don't let your mind tell you that it is impossible, even if it seems that way. God can do anything. He wants you to place the trust in Him and He wants you to have faith outside of what logic would offer.

We all have this barrier in our minds that seems to separate what we see, what we believe, and what faith does. Consider asking God to break down this barricade of the mind. If we all stopped putting our God in a box, can you imagine what faith would begin to grow among us??

(I found this post way back in my drafts...I though it might be worthy of publishing)

Well that's it for our "Ten Days With Oswald Chambers"

It was so encouraging just posting those every day. I enjoy the deep and thoughtful style that Chambers brings to the table. I do not agree with everything he writes, but it is really a matter of eating the fish and leaving the bones.

Anywho, I better be off. I have a list of things that need to be done around here. I may pop in later to write a post, but I can't promise you anything.

Blessings,
Rachel

Ten Days With Oswald Chambers - "Faith or Experience?" - November 13th

"Faith or Experience?"

November 13th

By Oswald Chambers

"...the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

Galatians 2:20  

We should battle through our moods, feelings, and emotions into absolute devotion to the Lord Jesus. We must break out of our own little worlds of experience into abandoned devotion to Him. Think who the New Testament says Jesus is, and then think of the despicable meagerness of the miserable faith we exhibit by saying, "I haven't had this experience or that experience"! Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims and proves--He can present us faultless before the throne of God, inexpressibly pure, absolutely righteous, and profoundly justified. Stand in absolute adoring faith "in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption..." (1 Corinthians 1 :30). How dare we talk of making a sacrifice for the Son of God! We are saved from hell and total destruction, and then we talk about making sacrifices!

We must continually place our faith in Jesus Christ--not a "prayer meeting" Jesus Christ, or a "book" Jesus Christ, but the New Testament Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate, and who ought to strike us dead at His feet. Our faith must be in the One from whom our salvation springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute, unrestrained devotion to Himself. We can never experience Jesus Christ, or selfishly bind Him in the confines of our own hearts. Our faith must be built on strong determined confidence in Him.

It is because of our trusting in experiences that we see the steadfast impatience of the Holy Spirit against unbelief. all of our fears are sinful, and we create our own fears by refusing to nourish ourselves in our faith. How can anyone who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief.

Ten Days With Oswald Chambers - "The Changed Life" - November 12th

"The Changed Life"

November 12th

By Oswald Chambers

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

2 Corinthians 5:17

What understanding do you have of the salvation of your soul? The work of salvation means that in your real life things are dramatically changed. You no longer look at things in the same way. Your desires are new and the old things have lost their power to attract you. One of the tests for determining if the work of salvation in your life is genuine is--has God changed the things that really matter to you? If you still yearn for the old things, it is absurd to talk about being born from above--you are deceiving yourself. If you are born again, the Spirit of God makes the change very evident in your real life and thought. And when a crisis comes, you are the most amazed person on earth at the wonderful difference there is in you. There is no possibility of imagining that you did it. It is this complete and amazing change that is the very evidence that you are saved.

What difference has my salvation and sanctification made? For instance, can I stand in the light of 1 Corinthians 13, or do I squirm and evade the issue? True salvation, worked out in me by the Holy Spirit, frees me completely. And as long as I "walk in the light as He is in the light" (1John 1:7), God sees nothing to rebuke because His life is working itself into every detailed part of my being, not on the conscious level, but even deeper than my consciousness.