Shade Tree Wisdom 7/31/15

          I wonder whether we often forget this wise counsel St. Paul offers to the Philippians:

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is pure, whatever is just, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Philippians 4,8.

         In our daily life, our speech, or our thought, do we really keep such things in mind?  St. Paul really sets things on a higher level, does he not?

          He seems to expect that anyone who is a Christian will keep his thought level constructive, not destructive.  Is that really expecting too much?

          I send this your way to think about.

GPD 7/31/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/30/15

          Ever said something like, ”once in a blue moon“?  Well, come to find out there is

such a thing as a ‘blue moon'.  The next one comes on Friday at 5:43 a.m.

                In the normal celestial cycle a full moon occurs every thirty days, which leaves several days out of the normal cycle, so every 2 1/2 years or so the left-over days will bring two full moons in one calendar month.  The second full moon is called a blue moon.

          To us Christians it simply undergirds what the Psalm says:

“The heavens declare the glory

Of God, and the sky above

Proclaims His handiwork”

Psalm 19,1

GPD  7/20/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/29/15

          Here is a bit of wisdom to help along the way.

“Our God, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come.

Our shelter from the stormy blast,

And our Eternal home”

LSB 733,1

          I hope it helps remind us of our Eternal God, who sends His angels to protect us.

GPD  7/29/15

          

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/27/15

          Have you ever looked at your prayer as you express it in verse? Seems to me that many hymn verses lend themselves to prayer.  Take a look at some.  Here is an example.

As holy conversation

in silence or by word,

in every situation

through Jesus, we are heard.

So let us pray securely,

Expressing hopes and fears

With confidence that surely

Our Father ever hears.”

LSB 772.3

          When one thinks  about it, it makes a lot of sense, doesn’t?  Many hymn verses say just exactly what we might have in mind to say, and we use the words to express  our thoughts.

          And we often do it subconsciously.

          Yet we feel relieved because our feelings have been out front, and we shared just what we wanted to share.  And the wonderful thing is, often phrases stick in our mind, and we find ourselves using the wording again and again which is one of the blessed gifts for using the hymn words.

          A benefit from our prayer if we discount or don't think about.  But it is so true.

GPD 7/27/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/26/15

          God does hear our every prayer, and answers it in His best way.  Believe that.

“These holy conversations

Begin in childlike ways;

We bring our supplications

And words of thanks and praise.

With care our Father listens

To every thought expressed,

Then answers our petitions

In ways He knows is best.”

TLB 772,2

GPD 7/26/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/25/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/25/15

                                                                                                                                      Here is one verse (of many), describing an apostle, for a quiet Saturday to think about before your busy day claims your valued attention.

“For Mark, O Lord, we praise you

The weak by grace made strong,

whose labor and whose Gospel

Enrich our triumph song.

May we, in all our weakness,

Reflect your servant life

And follow in your footsteps,

Enduring cross and strife.”

LSB 5l8,15

GPD 7/25/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/24/15

          I was thinking  of how our mind works, that wonderful instrument God has given us to work with, and this ditty suddenly popped up out of nowhere.  I learned it first  from Sherlock Holmes who was debating on the working of the brain.  (What made Sherlock such a successful detective was he used his brain to out-think criminals.)

 When he explained his methods to Dr. Watson the answer always was, "immutably”. At any rate this ditty popped up.  Here it is.

“I do not like thee, Dr. Fell,

The reason why I cannot tell,

But this I know, and know full well,

I do not like thee, Dr. Fell.”

          There’s the bit to stuck in my mind and it got me thinking just how the mind does work.

          Just what things have a bearing on this event?  You know the good detectives are good simply because they out-think criminals.  And that really isn’t too hard because we are creatures of habit.  It worked once, let’s do it again.

          The real question is, how does this work in my life?  How can I use this tool, my mind, to best usage?

          Well now, set Dr. Fell aside and go to work on the assignment I just gave you.

          So my work is done, yours, just beginning.  Good luck.

GPD 7/24/15

         

         

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/23/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/23/15

        The Book of Hebrews tells us:

“Let us then with confidence

Draw near to the throne

Of grace , that we may

receive mercy and find help

in time of need.”

Hebrews 4,10

        The Message gives us this passage:

“So let’s walk right up to

Him and get what  He

Is so ready to give.

Take the mercy,

Accept the help”.

        The King James asks us to ‘come boldly’. And that is the meaning here. When we approach God with our needs and our urgent desires, we should keep nothing back. After all, The Almighty God is also all-knowing, He knows what we have been up to. We need to hide nothing from Him.

        For our needs are ever urgent and necessary.

        So How boldly do you pray?  Let it always “come boldly” that we may get the help we always seem to be needing.

GPD 7/23/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/22/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/22/15

          In some of his remarks of advice to the Christians at Rome St. Paul said:

“I want you to be wise

as to what is good

and innocent as to what is evil”.

Romans 16,22

          That’s a neat way of saying, ‘don’t be sinning all the time’, or’ don’t join those who do.’

          St, Paul is simply reminding  them, and us in these days, to  be careful what you do, and make sure others know who you are, Christ’s people.

          The company we keep often helps shape our character and our outlook on life. Be true now, are you still offended when you daily hear men and women   swear rather freely? See?

          So just imagine you are saying goodbye to St. Paul, probably for the last time, and he gives you these words if advice. Just suppose it happens, will you listen?

GPD 7/22/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/21/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/21/15

St. Matthew reads so:

“Come to Me, all who labor

And I will give you rest.

Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me,

For I am gentle and lowly

In heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For My yoke is easy,

And My burden is light.”

Matthew 11,18

          I was going to talk about the burden we find too heavy to carry. I have in mind the ‘forgive and forget’ we do during our life time. Do we really?

          It seems to be human nature to hold on to those slights and things that happen to us  inadvertently. Things that might hurt and folks had no intention of giving is hurt, but we find it very hard to forgive and really forget.

Don’t we?

But if do what St. Matthew suggests, “come unto Him.. .to find rest for our souls”, we will truly  find a gentle relief, and with a sigh let loose and let God, as they often remind us.

I simply point out what our God offers us for our soul’s sake.

GPD 7/21/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/20/15

          St. Peter ends his second letter with these words of encouragement.

“But grow in grace and in the

 knowledge of our Lord Jesus

Christ. To Him be the glory 

Both now and to the day of

Eternity. Amen

11 Peter 3,12

         Which brings up this question, “How much are you growing in grace and knowledge?”  Are you moving at all, or very little in your grace and knowledge?

St. John writes of Jesus in the temple, “and He taught them” (John 8,28). John reports the same thing when Jesus had the disciples aside “to rest a while”.

Growth is essential to knowledge, and knowledge leads to a stronger faith.

          In the culture we are living in, strength of faith is a ‘must’.  The culture we are living in derides faith and all it stands for, faith in Jesus as our Savior for all eternity.

          The word then, for Christians, is growth and knowledge of the Lord always.

“Praise to the Lord,

O, let all that is in me adore Him.

All that has life and breath

Come now with praises before Him.

Let the Amen

Sound from His people again;

Gladly for ever adore Him.”

LSB 790,5

GPD 7/20/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/19/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/19/15

                    Since it’s Sunday, nice time for this reminder of this precious gift stated poetically, thus,

Pascal Lamb by God appointed,

All our sins on Thee were laid.

By Almighty love anointed,

Thou hast full atonement made.

All Thy people are forgiven,

Through the virtue of Thy blood;

Opened is the way to heaven

Reconciled are we to God.”

GPD 7/19/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/18/15

Shade  tree Wisdom 7/18/15

          The Scripture teaches is that

“The wages of sin is death, but

 the free gift of God 

is eternal life

 through Jesus Christ

our Lord.”

Romans 6,23.

          How freeing that promise of God is to our soul’s well being. For when God first created man he saw the end result was “very goodow freeing that word from God is for our well being.

. So what went wrong Sin entered the world, so the weakness began. In effect, sin is an invasive harm to our soul’s well being.

                It like a strange plant that invades an environment and destroys it. Like the kudzu vine in southern states that, if left go, it kills native vegetation by simply overshadowing it.

          Or the Chinese Tallow tree in areas of Texas, and the vine that invades lakes and grow so thick it can simply smother a lake.

          Eastern Australia and New South Wales are fighting an invasion of an alpine plant probably brought in by a skier. Hawk weed is hard to identify unless it is in flower, and by then it has already spread over an area. So they are using Sally. A dog’s nose is 10,000 more sensitive that of a human nose, and she can find snippets left over from cultivating an area. Cost of loss to agriculture by this week

is figured at l.3 billion dollars.

          So it is refreshing to hear our God say,

“I will remember this sin more”, and even that it

“droned in the depths of the Sea.”

          Isn’t it?

GPD 7/18/15

         

ShadeTree Wisdom 7/17/15

Shade Tree  Wisdom 7/17/15

          Ever have one of those days when you feel rather lackadaisical. You  just don’t feel like doing anything. The work that lies there to be done just lies there, and it doesn’t seem to matter at all.

          Jesus told His disciples after a rather busy period, “come ye aside and rest a while”. 

          Scripture tells us Jesus Himself went aside to be with His Father, often  spending the night in prayer on a mountain alone.

          So that is the wise word from Shade Tree Wisdom on this day. Please understand my laziness.

GPD 7/17/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/16/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/16/15

            Here is  bit of truth expressed poetically,

Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed Thy hand has provided,

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.”

            That is so often expressed in Scripture. Consider Joshua’s final speech to his people, the children of Israel. He said to them,

“Not one word has failed of all the good things

that the Lord your God promised

concerning you, all have come to pass,

not one them as failed.”

Joshua 23,14.

            Those words give me comfort, and strengthen my faith that the Lord’ Words are

ever truth to be remembered.

GPD 7/16/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/15/15

Shade  Tree Wisdom 7/15/15

          Today  I cannot help but comment on the remarkable achievement when, after 9 years and 3 billion miles, NASA’s spacecraft passed within 7800 miles of Pluto on the outer edge of unexplored solar system. While making this pass, it was traveling at 30,000 miles per hour. Today scientists will see what they look like.

          As I said, this a remarkable achievement, and t shows How man can use the skills God gives us to do this.

          And I can only say, Praise the God of creation who allows this.

GPD 7/15/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/12/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/12/15

          Scripture records that:

“When Abram was ninety-nine

 years old the Lord appeared to Abram and

 said “I am the Almighty God, walk

before Me and be Thou perfect” Genesis 17,l.

          and added:

That I may make my  covenant

Between Me and you.”

          God never left or changed that covenant. “I will be their God and y e shall be My people.” Stands as true today as it did when it was made.

          He our God, the Almighty One who sent His only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross to save us from our sin.

          This Almighty One is the Creator of all things. An example of His perfect work is the Arctic Tern.

          This bird lives in the Arctic, but his breeding ground is on the opposite end of the world, and he makes that flight twice each year. With no machinery to guide the flight, the Tern finds his way the , going some 55,000 miles round trip every year for his 39 year life span. Indeed,

“I am the Almighty God,

Walk before me and be thou perfect”

GPD 7/12/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/11/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/11/15

“Have mercy when I .

Come defiled;

”ave mercy when IForgive, lift up, restore

Your child”.

LSB 590,3b

          A hymn verse or even the part of one contains eternal truth. It speaks directly, sharply to the point. And the point is that we are sinners, born that way, can’t help it, till we are rescued by the workings of Jesus, our Savior, who died on the cross to win the battle.

          And that is what the bit of verse refers to.

“Have mercy when I

Come, defiled;

Forgive, lift up, restore

Your child.”

          And the Lord hears, and answers. Thank His holy name.

GPD  7/11/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/10/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/10/15

          In his letter to the Church at Galatia St. Paul takes time to warn them about “any other Gospel”. He wants to make sure they are being taught the Truth. So he writes to them:

“But even if we are an angel

Should preach to you a Gospel

 Contrary to the one that we preached

To you, let him be accursed.”

Galatians 1,8.

          Those are very strong words because St. Paul Just wants to make very sure what they are hearing is the Truth.

Because “My Word is truth”.

Indeed, it falls to us to search the Scripture daily, whether they be truth.  just to be sure we have and the keep God’s word in mind and heart, to bolster and strengthen our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The warning is meant for us, my friends.

GPD 7/10/15

          

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/9/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/9/15

          This s what the Lord calls His people.

“But you are  chosen generation,

A royal priesthood,

A holy nation.

His own special people,

That you may proclaim

The praises of Him

Who called you out of

Darkness,

Into His marvelous light.”

1 Peter 2, 9.10

          Out of darkness” What is this?  Peter is talking about the darkness of sin in which we are live by birth.

          It was not our doing. Christ did it by dying on the cross for us.

          And for what?  Why, to live “honorable lives” and so “glorify God” by our behavior and our example.

          So there is St. Peter’s guideline. Be sure to follow it in order to “glorify God” by the example we live fir our neighbors.

GPD 7/9/15

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hade Tree Wisdom 7/6/15

Shade Tree Wisdom  7/8/15

         

          Here is a prayer for the clergy.

“ O Spirit of the Father,

Breathe on them from above,

So searching in Your pureness,

So tender in Your love

That, guarded by Your presence

And kept from strife and sin,

Their hearts may heed Your guidance

And know You dwell within.”

LSB 858,3

GPD  7//15

          

Shade Wisdom 7/7/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/7/15

        When he had finished his work of bringing the Children of Israel into the promised land and had apportioned the areas to the various clans, Joshua called them together for his farewell speech and said to them:

“And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, that not one word has failed of all that the Lord  your God has promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you, not one of them has failed.”

Joshua 23,14.

That is so true of every promise God has given us, every one has come to pass

        St. Peter tell us the same thing. Every Word of God is truth.

        And there lies the comfort for our salvation, for this is God’s promise to us:

“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.”

        There is our comfort for salvation. Believe it and cling to it always .

GPD 7/7/15

        

Shade tree wisdom (An extra)

An extra

God of grace and God of glory,

On  your people pour your pow’er;

Crown your ancient Church’s story,

Bring its bud to glorious flower.

Grant us wisdom,

grant us courage,

For the facing of this hour,

For the facing of this hour.

LSB 850,1

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/5/15

Shade  Tree Wisdom 7/5/15

           A prayer for this day:

“Save us from weak resignation,

To the evils we deplore.

Let the gift of your salvation,

Be our glory evermore.

Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,

For the living of this hour,

For the living of this hour.”

TLS 850,4.

GPD 7/5/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/4/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/4/15

          Happy July Fourth

“God bless our native land,

Firm may she ever stand.

Through storm and night.

When the wild tempests rave

Ruler of wind and wave,

Do Thou our country save,

By Thy great might.

So shall our prayers arise,

To God above the skies,

On Him we wait.

Thou, who are ever nigh.

Guarding with watchful eye,

To Thee aloud we cry,

God  save the state!”

LSB 965,1.2.

GPD 7/4/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/3/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/3/15

“Sing to the Lord a new song;

Sing to the lord, all the earth!

Sing to the Lord, bless is ame;

Tell of His salvation from day to day.”

Psalm 96, 2.3.

          For the third of July.

GPD 7/3/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/2/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/2/15

A Prayer to begin your day with blessing:

“Let each day begin with prayer, Praise and adoration.

On the Lord cast every care, He is your salvation.

Morning, evening, and at night, Jesus will be near you.

Save you from the tempter’s might, With His presence cheer you.”

LSB 869,2

GPD 7/2/15

Shade Tree Wisdom 7/1/15

Shade    Tree Wisdom 7/1/15

          A prayer for the end of the day

“My loved ones rest securely,

For God this night will surely,

From peril guard your heads.

Sweet slumber may He send you, e sebnd you

And bid His Hosts  attend you,

And through the night watch o’er your heads.

GPD 7/1/15