Come and See....

I read this verse, John 1:39, He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. It spoke to my heart in two ways. The first being, He gives us as believers an invitation of faith, to "come," to follow him in the joys, the sorrows and the trials. It is the mercy of the Lord that we do not know what a day may bring forth. In my humanity I do not know how well I would have done if I "knew" what the end was going to be with Joel. God asks us to follow Him as He unfolds plans and providences in our life. It is by faith that we follow to the unknown and unseen, (at the time) He bids us an invitation of coming and "seeing." He will do great things even in the darkest, most difficult times. He spoke of the glory to follow after his death. The folks there in the scripture came and saw where he dwelt and abode. We must never forget that we are not above our master, He dwelt and abode in joys and discipleship, fellowship with his Father as He walked the earth yet He also dwelt and abode in the place of sorrow, mockings, ridicule, sin was laid upon him, death and much more, so as He invites us to come and see, we too might have paths the same as He. Are we still going to come?? The other thought was towards those that have faced a trial, maybe grieving, as our family. There is an invitation to Come and see. A few verses down it reads, (46) And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. That is a question that I know I asked and most, will likely ask it if we have faced a difficulty. I think the question comes and it is almost like a fork in the road for us. We can either become disappointed with the Lord and look inward and say within He did not grant what I prayed for and we then take the road of loneliness, bitterness, even anger and other fruit is born from that path or we can look upward and receive the invitation to Come and see the good that can come out of Nazareth. It is only by His mercy that I am coming and seeing what can come forth from Joel's illness. I do want to "see" the glory that is to follow.
So the invitation is to us, those that have faced a "giant," won't you come and see?

I enjoy sharing scriptures that "leap" out to my heart with you, but I hope you know that my insights and applications are so limited and one thing that is so neat about the scriptures is that they meet us where we are. You see, someone else can read the same scripture and it can minister to them in a totally different way. The word is "Alive and Powerful." I hope each will seek to make the Word a priority in their life, if we do not feast upon it our spirits will suffer hunger. It is through the Word that our faith grows!!

Hosanna asks on many days "how long is it until my birthday?" I want to cheerfully answer her with an excitement of her birth yet in the shadows of my answer it is the days that Joel has left to live as this time in 2006. She is having a Princess Party and I always like to share it too as Joel's Happy Heaven Day and we will incorporate her theme and the idea of royalty that Joel is experiencing with the King of Kings. I would not have thought it then but I like it that Joel's day was on her birthday. If it were a separate day it seems it would be so dark and dreary and we would be trying to find a way to celebrate in the midst. I would not have picked it that way on the front end but it just shows the Lord has all wisdom and He knew how this would bless me now.

I love the tenderness of the Lord, that "He knows things and us." Sometimes we might think does He even know about my petty situation, does He know I hurt, we might ask the question as Nathanael (48) Whence knowest thou me? I like the verse 42, And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said Thou art Simon, the son of Jona: That says to my heart, Thou art Joel, son of Terry and Cindy. He knows.......

Guess I am going to cook hamburgers outside for dinner and FREEZE!! My choice, I know. Not a whole lot on the home front today. Oh....Lori, this one is for you, because I know you will.....we are taking Duffy and Dooley (dogs) to a boarding kennel while we are gone, and Duffy has already been sooooo depressed since Bethany is not here so I am hoping he will make it at the kennel, so if you remember pray for him, that he will not be to sad and that they will not escape...remember his adventure awhile back?? Dooley, I think will be ok, its the little Duffy fellow!!

Happy Tuesday!!!!

Cindy

P.S. that picture of Mercy....her nose and mouth and even her teeth look so much like Joel's.