Purpose....

In this world, what are the two darkest places to be in? From my own experience I would say first the darkness of sin, separation from God, without hope of eternity and then the darkness of being in the shadow of death. I have been meditating on a scripture that I read yesterday, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1:79) To be in either of these places brings hopelessness to a heart! Everyone that ever has lived or will live will experience the first, as for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and as for the second, we will all experience the shadow of death sooner or later, separation from those we love, whether young or old. As I thought about these places that people are in or have been in or will be in, there has to be a way out, a needing to be rescued. And that is where John the Baptist comes in, he has a purpose because God has a plan. John's purpose is to proclaim the way of hope, of being rescued, deliverance, he has been given a commission to tell of the light and peace to anyone that "sits in this darkness." Anyone that is in either of these places needs light and peace and it comes (v.78) Through the tender mercy of our God... Now getting back to John's purpose, he was to be an instrument, a means, a vessel to proclaim, to comfort, to compel those that are in this darkness and this is where as I read yesterday that an excitement came to my heart, it is with this idea of "purpose." What is my purpose in life and what is my purpose in this trial? To answer the purpose in life, the 1689 Confession states that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, and I want to share that with those who "sit in darkness of sin" and proclaim the light to them. What is my purpose in this trial? I want to share the peace to those that "sit in the shadow of death." People ask me "how" I am getting through this and my answer is; one scripture at a time, one is given, I step on it as a stone and then another is given and I step on it and just keep stepping and I am here today solely because of the "living words" of Christ that delivers and gives hope to the hopeless and He will and can do that for those that "sit" in either darkness that I mentioned above. The Lord has given me a few opportunities to share with mothers that are grieving and Lord willing He is directing in other ways for the future which I am very excited and hopeful if He brings it to fruition. Now to take another turn and make this more applicable to the most, because you are already delivered from the darkness of sin and you have not sat in the shadow of death. What is our purpose? On a broad scale it starts in Genesis and concludes in Revelation, but I want to be more practical so as I think about a mother, a wife, a woman we do have purpose because God has a plan. As a wife I think our first mandate, under the Lord of course, to be sober, to love our husbands first, then love our children to be discreet, chaste and to be keepers of the home, good and obedient to their own husbands. (Titus 2:4-5) For a time I had the wrong order on that, I loved my children more than Terry. Other purposes we can have is to do good works, be hospitable, teach the younger women. As a mother we have purpose, teaching admonishing and nurturing our children, to give light to the ones that have yet to trust Christ, to give them peace as they face "life," challenges, fears, dreams. I guess what I feel like the Lord gave me through this scripture in Luke is a new broader vision, and it starts with my own family first and then as opportunity gives, sharing the light and peace with others! You too have a purpose because God has a perfect plan, but it first has to begin with being delivered from the darkness of sin into the marvelous light and if you are facing the darkness of the shadow of death, there is peace for you too......there is hope......through the tender mercy of our [my] God..... may the Lord show you today!

We need to get in high gear this morning, way behind!! Plans and preparations are needed to get under way for the weekend, meals to be prepared, lists to be made for groceries, school to get done. We had a fun time with Danielle's visit yesterday and she "learned" soooo much in a Health and Science course, hehehe!!!! Joshua and Jeremiah are walking on the "moon." I will tell you about it.....it all starts with our trash problem....since we live out in the country we burn our trash, but in a BIG HOLE that has been dug by a bulldozer, this is our 2nd hole! Anyway as the wind is so breezy here in Ok, the trash before it gets burned blows and flows all round the hole area and lays hither and thither and is truly the biggest eye sore and truly quite disgusting!! So....since you know that Elijah (17) is a visionary and also a very generous person as well made a "deal" with Josh and Jeremiah!! They wanted a bow and were actually telling people in the family about their need of this item and Elijah being the very sensitive and generous guy offers to pay them for this deed of picking up ALL the trash that is literally everywhere and who thought it would take days for these little guys to do it BUT if your getting paid $100 each, it only takes ONE day as Elijah soon finds out last evening as he goes to check out their work!!! So I too ask if I can go pick up trash and get paid $100 seeing I could use some cash too.....but I only got laughs and no money or job:( I guess this job opportunity was only offered to the under aged, under paid and only those in need of a bow!!!!! So last night Caleb and Daniel take the little guys to the store to make their desired purchase and that is the end of the story!!!

Blessings to you today.......

Cindy