Sick and Tired

   In a conversation the other night, a friend confessed that she got sick and tired of something and didn't respond properly. She didn't justify her feelings. In fact, she condemned them. Yet, I suspect, judging by my own experience, that she felt a little bit of justification for her feelings. She knew the actions that sprang from them were wrong and also that they themselves were wrong --- but something in the situation almost required them.

   Though we can't help feeling some justification at wrong feelings when they are provoked by unrighteousness, yet the more we inwardly justify those feelings, the more we tend to feel guilty about them and to feel yucky about ourselves, especially if we don't distinguish between the feelings and the sin which we indulged in because of those feelings. If we separate our feelings and our actions, we can more easily apply The Shield of Faith and find victory in the situation.


   We ought never to indulge that irritable, sick-and-tired feeling, even in the worst of circumstances. We wish we never experienced it. We want to be like the Lord Jesus who in face of temptation "resisted unto blood." We want to have our Lord's patience and humility and never be bothered by the way others treat us. But, alas, we often are!


   Perhaps you have developed a high degree of patience, and you practice good habits. You have had your mind renewed by the washing of the word of God, and by the grace of God you have learned to endure in many trying situations. Perhaps you rarely feel tempted to indulge frustration. Nonetheless, if you are still in the body, there is still sin that dwells in you. If sometime you let down your guard a little or you meet with a situation more difficult than ever before, that sin may rise up and cause you to feel . . . .

sick.   and.   tired.

   When that happens, you might justify yourself, blame the circumstances and give in to sin. BAD IDEA.

   You might rather condemn yourself for your feelings, and give in to discouragement. Another BAD IDEA. It may seem a bit more spiritual than the first option, but it is likely to cause you to give in to sin as well as discouragement.

   The right thing to do when you feel irritated or annoyed is to look to God to forgive you for the feelings that you couldn't keep from welling up inside. Tell Him about the discouraging things that cause the feelings, and ask Him for grace to do right despite them. 

   It is possible to FEEL sick and tired, and yet DO what is right. It may be a better, higher thing never to feel irritated or annoyed by anything (though I am not certain of that,) but the sin for which we are held accountable before God is in our ACTIONS not our FEELINGS. Yield not your members to unrighteousness. "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof." (Rom. 6:12). You may feel "the lusts thereof" (i.e. the sinful feelings) without yielding to it. Sin shall not have dominion over us. (Rom. 6:14). By grace we have the power to do right . . . even when we feel sick and tired.


WholeheartedHome

Basket Weave Baby Blanket

Here is another baby blanket to keep in store for all the babies on the way. This one is made with Red Heart yarn that was given to me.

SIZE
28" x 34"

MATERIALS
4 skeins worsted weight yarn
size 8 circular needle
size G crochet hook

INSTRUCTIONS
CO 120 stitches
Row 1: (Right Side) Knit across
Row 2: (Wrong Side) K5 P3 across
Row 3: K3 P5 across (Knit knits and purl purls)
Row 4: Repeat Row 2
Row 5: Knit across
Row 6: P5 K3 across
Row 7: P3 K5 across (Knit knits and purl purls)
Row 8: Repeat row 6

Repeat rows 1-8 to desired length (about 33 1/2 inches), ending after row 4 or row 8.
Bind off.
Single crochet around all edges of afghan.

The Abiding Joy

An Excerpt from Chapter Nine of 

Royal Bounty

by

Frances Ridley Havergal

(1836 - 1879)

These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 

~ John 15:11

Who that has known anything of joy in the Lord but has asked, "But will it last?" And why has the question been so often the very beginning of its not lasting? Because we have either asked it of ourselves or of others and not of the Lord only. His own answers to this continually recurring question are so different from the cautious, chilling, saddening ones which his children so often give. They are absolute, full, reiterated. We little realize how unscriptural we are when we meet his good gift of joy to ourselves or to others with a doubtful, and therefore faithless, "if it lasts."

"To the law and to the testimony," O happy Christian! there you shall find true and abundant answer to your only shadow o the brightness of the joy. So long as you believe your Lord's word about it, so long it will last. So soon as you ask of other counselors and believe their word instead, so soon it will fail. Jesus meets your difficulty explicitly. He has provided against it by giving the very reason why he spoke the gracious words of his last discourse. "That my joy might remain in you." Is not this exactly what we were afraid to hope, what seemed toog ood to be true, that it might remain? And lest we should think that this abiding joy only meant some moderated measure of qualified joy, he adds, "And that your joy may be full," repeating in the next chapter and intensifying it in the next. And lest we might think this was said with reference only to an exceptional case he inspired his beloved disciple to echo the words in his general epistle: "That your joy may be full, and the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you."

Never in his Word are we told anything contradicting or explaining away his precious and reiterated promise. All through we are brightly pointed not merely to hope of permanence but to increase. "the meek shall increase [not merely shall keep up] their joy in the Lord." There are mingled promises and commands as to growth and increase in grace, knowledge, love, strength, and peace, and does not increase of these imply and insure joy? Is joy to be the only fruit of the Spirit of which it may not be said that it sprang up and increased?

Only One

I was encouraged today to have inspiration for a new poem. 

                    Only One

There’s only one shelter and only one rest,

There’s only one place I can go when oppressed.

I’ve tried other options and find they are vain,

But in the Lord Jesus there’s peace and great gain.

There’s only one refuge, one fortress, one tower;

One sure place of safety in earth’s present hour.

There’s only one hiding place; only one rock

That offers salvation to all who will knock.

In all of the lists of the noble and brave

There’s no other name that is able to save.

The only deliverer is Jesus, God’s Son,

For He and the Father and Spirit are One.

An equal to God in His power and grace,

Christ died for the sins of the whole human race.

He’s faithful, unmoving, unchanging, and just.

In Him, and Him only, I dare put my trust.

Psalm 18:2; Acts 4:12; Psalm 62

Favorite Verses

My friend Judith at WholeHeartedHome posted some of her favorite Bible verses, and it inclines me to do the same. I'm choosing verses that have been favorites since I was a very young Christian which have been my food through the years. There are many other good ones, but these stand out:

1. Psalm 34:5  They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. 

2. Galatians 1:10b  If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. 

3. Philippians 4:6  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 

Stash Buster Sampler Afghan

With three grandchildren on the way, I need to have a few baby blankets in store, so I made this one out of left-over and hand-me-down baby weight yarn. Here's what I did:

Step 1: Gather all yarn of similar weight. It doesn't have to be exact. You will be guessing at the amounts, but you should have a total of 16 - 18 ounces of yarn. Using a kitchen scale if needed, divide every yarn color and type into two equal piles. Put one pile in a bag and set aside.

Step 2: Choose a color from the pile not set aside. Using size 6 needles, CO 200 stitches. Work in double seed stitch pattern for approximately 12 rows. (If you have less yarn, CO fewer stitches for a smaller afghan.)

Step 3: Switch to a new color. Work 6 stitches double seed stitch. Knit across to last 6 stitches if your change is on the right side of work. Purl across if your change is on the back side. Work the last 6 stitches in double seed stitch. On the next row, work 6 stitches double seed stitch. Then choose a new pattern and knit across to last 6 stitches. Work 6 st double seed stitch. Continue with the new pattern for as long as you like, keeping your double seed stitch edging. Try not to use all your color up in one stripe.

Step 4: Repeat step 3 as many times as needed, changing the pattern stitch every time you change colors, and changing colors as often as you like, depending on how many you have.

Step 5: When you have used up your first pile of yarn, or your afghan is about half as long as you want it to be, get out the pile of yarn that was set aside. Match your color sequence going backwards. Don't match the patterns unless you want to. I didn't -- except the last color which is done in double seed stitch like the first.

Step 6: Bind Off.

Step 7: (The least fun one) Sew in all the yarn ends.

Double Seed Stitch: 

Row 1: K2, P2 across.
Row 2: K the knits and P the purls.
Row 3: P2, K2 across.
Row 4: K the knits and P the purls.

NOTE: Avoid rib and cable patterns as they will have a smocking effect.

You won't have the exact number of stitches for most of your patterns. When that happens, decide whether you want to stop in the middle of a pattern when you get to the end of the row or you want to have a few extra knit stitches on one or both ends. You may do it one way with some patterns and the other way with others.

I used the following books for patterns to sample:
Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Knitting
Sampler Afghans, Leisure Arts Pamphlet #932

A Gourd

A gourd sprang up to shelter me,

      And shade me in my grief.

I thought it would forever be,

      A source of sweet relief.

But after only one glad day,

      Which might my dreams confirm,

I learned it wouldn’t be that way,

      For God prepared a worm.

The worm attacked my precious shade,

      And smote it that it died.

The sun now beats upon my head,

      And I am sorely tried.

Like Jonah I am very faint,

      And wish myself to die,

But unlike him, make no complaint,

      Though unto God I cry.

I don’t deserve to have my way,

      Nor in the shade to sit.

The God who gave may take away,

       And I can but submit.

I can’t be angry, yet I plead;

      I dare to ask my Lord,

Unworthy though I am indeed,

       Please give me back the gourd!

                 PART II

I asked You for the gourd again,

      It was my only thought.

I felt its loss and cried in pain

      For shade that it had brought.

But when You took the gourd away,

      You never gave it back.

Despite my pleas, You said me nay —

      And let me feel my lack.

I don’t know why my hopes were raised,

      Then dropped and dashed apart;

Why I was left confused, half-crazed,

      And with a yearning heart.

But You have higher things in view,

      And know what’s best for me.

Without the gourd I can make do —

      But give me now a tree!

          PART III

Oh, Lord, if You would shelter me

      With some sweet second cause —

A short-lived gourd or towering tree

      Beneath which I may pause;

If you provide a resting place

      Where I may take a break,

Escape a while and slow my pace,

      And calm the breaths I take;

If I enjoy a short reprieve

      And revel in the shade,

Will all my strength for battle leave

      And idleness invade?

Will I expect to always rest

      And never leave the site?

Once of a little ease possessed,

      Will I refuse to fight?

Lord, help me proper use to make

      Of comforts that You send.

The benefits thereof to take,

      But not on them depend;

And not allow the gifts to block

      The Giver from my view,

But worthy of the Lord to walk

      In fellowship with You.

Wholehearted Wednesdays