MARTHA VANCISE

Writing for 21st Century Pilgrims

All Parts Included

All Parts Included

by | | SIGNPOSTS

 

By the seventh day,
God had finished the work
he had been doing (Genesis 2:2).

God never came back to tweak or add to His creation. All that we would ever discover or need was present on that day.

No chromosome was added to produce the billions of people that would inhabit the earth. With the exception of the incarnate Christ, no atom, no DNA, no genome, no microwave, no sound wave, no light, no seed, came from another source. Everything that we know and use came from God’s original creation.

Whatever we may build, create, or discover in the future will come from what has been here from the beginning.

The heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. Genesis 2:1)  …his works have been finished since the creation of the world (Hebrews 4:3)

Martha Hawn VanCise©

 

Big Event

Big Event

by | | SIGNPOSTS

I’ve watched Big Events on TV—Super Bowl, World Series, Indianapolis 500, Rose Bowl Parade, Olympics, World Cup, Academy Awards, and weddings of world figures—but I have never attended one of these events.

Yesterday, in the Sunday morning worship service, words from the Revelation suddenly caught my attention. The Apostle John wrote of a gathering from every nation, tribe, people and language that will bow in the presence of the Almighty God and give praise. They will assemble for a Wedding and the sounds of celebration and praise will be like the roar of Niagara Falls and peals of thunder.

 Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.

As I heard those words, I suddenly thought “I get to go to that!”  I may never get tickets to other Big Events but I already have a reservation for that event. I will be there!

 

 
 
 
Martha Hawn VanCise ©
Helping God

Helping God

by | | SIGNPOSTS

 

I could never understand why God struck a man dead for trying to keep the sacred ark from falling off an ox cart (II Samuel 6: 1-7). In Streams in the Desert, however, I found the following Old Signpost posted by A.B. Simpson.

A life was lost in Israel because a pair of human hands was laid unbidden upon the ark of God. They were placed upon it with the best intent, to steady it when trembling and shaking as the oxen drew it along the rough way; but they touched God’s work presumptuously, and they fell paralyzed and lifeless.

Much of the life of faith consists in letting things alone.

If we wholly trust an interest to God, we must keep our hands off it; and He will guard it for us better than we can help Him. “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes (Psalm 37:7). Things may seem to be going all wrong, but He knows as well as we; and He will arise in the right moment if we are really trusting Him so fully as to let Him work in His own way and time. There is nothing so masterly as inactivity in some things, and there is nothing so hurtful as restless working, for God has undertaken to work His sovereign will.  A.B. Simpson (1843-1919)

It is such a comfort to drop the tangles of life into God’s hands and leave them there.

A.B. Simpson—Streams in the Desert, July 6
KJV Scripture changed to NIV.

Martha Hawn VanCise ©
A Thousand One …

A Thousand One …

by | | SIGNPOSTS

 

“So he made a whip out of cords…”

A thousand one plait
A thousand two plait
A thousand three plait
A thousand four plait
A thousand five plait
A thousand six plait
A thousand seven plait
A thousand eight plait
A thousand nine plait
A thousand ten plait

“Get these out of here!
How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”

Jesus cleansed the temple at the beginning of his ministry and near the end of his ministry. Both actions were deliberate actions. He took time to make a scourge during the first cleansing; the second time, Mark tells us that “Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.”

Mark’s narration continues with “The next day … Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there.”  For Jesus, anger was not a sudden emotional release valve. His anger was a deliberate response to theft, injustice and desecration of the temple.

Christians sometimes justify angry tirades by saying, “Well, Jesus got angry.” Counselors of every faith and non-faith persuasion have told people, “Don’t hold it in. Let it out!”  In a world so full of anger and volatile reactions we would do well to consider the advice of past generations to, “Count to ten (slowly) before expressing anger.”

Remember:
A gentle answer can turn away wrath (Proverbs 15:1)
…be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. (James 1:19-20)

 Martha Hawn VanCise © 

 

 

TRUST

TRUST

by | | SIGNPOSTS

 

 

Trust in You is paralyzing

I cannot worry
I cannot spend time imagining the outcome
I cannot act on my own understanding

Trust in You is demanding

I must rest
I must be quiet
I must wait

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you (I Peter 5:7 NIV)

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5)

In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength (Isaiah 30:15)

Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him. (Psalm 62:5)

 Martha Hawn VanCise©

Πνεῦμα (pneuma)

Πνεῦμα (pneuma)

by | | SIGNPOSTS

 

A breath of air has stirred
and moved over me
in a soft refreshing touch.
And now … it is gone.
I did not see it.
I don’t know where it originated,
or why it came,
or where it has gone.
It came as a welcome and refreshing surprise
on this humid, sweltering morning.

 Πνεῦμα : movement of air; Holy Spirit

In an article titled “The Lord’s Surprise Visits,” Oswald Chambers said, “The element of surprise is always the note of the life of the Holy Ghost in us. We are born again by the great surprise—“  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8 NKJV)  “Men cannot tie up the wind, it blows where it lists; neither can the work of the Holy Spirit be tied up in logical methods. Jesus never comes where we expect Him …”

You breathe on our spirits in unexpected moments. We seldom understand why. We just know that when your Spirit comes and gently passes over us anxieties loosen their grip and often drift away.

Martha Hawn VanCise©