We live on a hillside.  You don’t really notice it when you first drive onto the property.  The hill is shallow as hills go, dropping about twenty feet in five hundred.  In another climate one would seldom think anything of it.  But in Florida, in the summer, torrential downpours are common.  Not too long ago we had two and a half inches come down in less than thirty minutes.  Two or three days before we had six inches, but it took all day to accumulate that.  When nearly half that much pours out of the sky in such a short time, you feel like ten have fallen instead.

            It was as if a giant bucket were being upended over us.  We could hardly see the blueberries only a hundred feet away.  The roar on the metal roof was deafening.  The rushing water overwhelmed the culvert in the drive and washed over the road and out to the garden where it ran against the berm in a narrow creek clearly visible from the house.  We had built that berm precisely because of rains like this one—we were tired of wading “downstream” to rescue washed away garden plants. 

            Eventually we left our viewing station on the porch which was not much shelter in a rain like that—the merest breeze left us damp and shivering, even in the summer.  So we stepped back inside and looked out the windows to the north.  Now you could really tell—we are definitely on a hill.  Water ran like a river across the entire width of the yard, from the front steps to the fence, ten to twelve inches deep.  We watched leaves, twigs, and moss float “downstream” to the run on the east side of the property.  After the rain stopped, it kept running, draining the whole hillside, for another two hours.

            A week after that rain, I walked the path the water had taken.  Leaves were washed into piles a foot deep along the runnel.  Limbs hung up on some of the bushes but others, dragged by the running water, lay piled up against the fence which had acted as a sieve as the water ran through it.  Channels several inches deep marked the dried mud, and the grass was still bent over in the direction the water had flowed.  Running water is powerful.  And that leads us to an even more powerful Flood.

            The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep, Gen 7:17-20.

            The waters of the great Flood “prevailed.”  Those waters not only covered the earth, they drowned every living creature on it that was not in the ark or swimming in the newly created worldwide ocean.  Have you ever seen a flash flood?  No one can win against those “prevailing” waters.  If you try to hang on to something, you simply wear out and are washed downstream. 

            The same word is used in Ex 17:11: So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.  We are talking about winning a war with that word; that’s the strength implied in its use.  It should be no surprise that “prevailed” is also translated “strong” and “mighty.”

            So why is that important?  Because the same Hebrew word is used in Psalm 117:2.  For great [that same Hebrew word] is His steadfast love toward us.  God’s love for us is strong; it is mighty.  It is like rushing water that carries along everything in its path.  It is like an army winning a war.  Sometimes we seem to doubt that.  “But I’ve been so bad,” we say, “how can God love me?”  He can love you because His love is great. It can prevail against the worst of sins.

            The next time you doubt it, think about flood waters.  Think about an army that can win a war.  God’s love is just like those things.  It prevails over all.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, Rom 8:38,39.

Dene Ward

I think there is a part in all of us that wants to show off for our parents.  Over the last several years, I have gotten into distance swimming as an exercise routine.  I swim across a cove and back on the island every couple of days, roughly 0.7 mile.  Nobody in my family had ever seen me swim it.  None of us had ever been big swimmers until I stumbled into it.  So, when Mom and Dad came to visit late last October, I drug them to the beach.  (It was my day for swimming.  I had gotten to the point that if I missed, I got antsy, but there was a big part of "Look at me, Mommy and Daddy!" in it.)  I swam a longer route than usual, nearly 0.9 mile, and Mom and Dad were appropriately impressed.  (No, they didn't give me a lollipop.) 

Dad asked something regarding my concern about getting into trouble while swimming.  I grinned and said, "I don't get into trouble in the water."  His response was, "That's a dangerous attitude."  I completely understand his point.  Cockiness in dangerous situations is stupid and leads people into serious injury and death routinely.   And, make no mistake, open water swimming has dangers.  The Gulf of Mexico is not a big pool, as several tourists find out to their dismay each year.  Even the intercoastal waterway, which is where I usually swim, has tidal currents, wind driven chop that can get dicey, and aquatic wildlife that can range from cute, to annoying to truly dangerous.  Dad, however, had misunderstood my statement.  

You see, people don't drown because they get out over their heads and can't swim back.  People drown because they panic, then exhaust themselves flailing about, and then begin to despair.  It is almost like giving up and allowing oneself to go under.  Almost everyone can float.  Stay calm, roll over on your back and float.  While doing so, think.  How are you going to get back?  Then implement your plan, resting occasionally as needed.  The key is to stay calm.  I routinely go out a hundred yards or so on the days in between long swims and just practice being calm in the water.  I practice several different drown-proofing techniques.  I hang out in 8-10 feet of water for 45 minutes and learn to think of that as one of my natural environments.  Which is why when, on two occasions, my left shoulder just decided it was done for the day, I didn't drown.  I shrugged (one shouldered) and sidestroked to shore.  You see?  I don't get in trouble in the water, because no matter what happens, I can stay calm and handle it.  Which kind of reminds me of Psalm 46.  

1-3  "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah"

Do you ever feel like your world is falling apart?  In either your personal life or as you look around and don't recognize the country you grew up in?  Are there days you would be ready to swear that the earth is sliding into the sea?  Stay calm, because God is your refuge and strength.

6-7  "The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; He utters his voice, the earth melts.  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah"

I know there are times when it seems that everyone is against us.  When standing for even the concept of truth, much less God's truth, seems to outrage the world.  Stay calm and keep swimming, because the LORD of Hosts, who can melt the world with the sound of His voice, is with us.  

Just like in open water swimming, panic and despair are what kills in our spiritual life.  We start to think that we just can't handle the bullying and ridicule anymore.  We just can't keep ourselves from the ever nearer and easier to achieve temptations of the world.   We just aren't going to make it, as the waves crash over our heads.  Stay calm.  Breathe and know that you can make it, not because you are such a great swimmer, but because God is right there with you.  He is your refuge, providing rest if you will just avail yourself of it.  He is your strength, to keep you swimming.  He is with you.  Stay calm; rely on Him, keep swimming.

Ps. 46:10  “Be still, and know that I am God."

Lucas Ward

It’s one of those recipes you don’t really like to admit that you use, especially if you have a reputation for baking from scratch or cooking multi-course meals for your anniversary dinner, meals like a leek and Swiss chard tart as an appetizer, an entrée of veal shanks with sage over polenta with broccoli rabe, ending with pear croustade in a hazelnut crust.  Somehow this recipe doesn’t fit into that mold.

            But once in awhile life gets hectic, stressed, entirely too busy, and you find yourself needing a dish for a potluck with exactly one hour to cook it and no extra time for much prep.  So then I pull out this three can, two bottle, two bag recipe, dump it all in a pot and go on with my life.  I have learned not to let it bother me when this stuff gets more raves than another recipe I spent six hours on.  I have also learned not to tell anyone what’s in it until they taste it because it is truly a weird concoction, but oh, so good.

            Those Party Meatballs, as the recipe calls them, have been my salvation more than once.  Sometimes we need something easy instead of something elaborate.  If it meets the need and is just as tasty, who cares?  There will be plenty more times for elegant three layer cakes and brined, crusted. herb-infused entrees.

            God understands that, too.  When I was very young I thought you couldn’t pray except at certain times, using certain phrases, making sure it was long and full of heavy, theological words and concepts, usually from the King James Version.  Why I thought that I don’t know.  The Bible is full of examples of people praying in all sorts of situations, all sorts of postures, long prayers, short prayers, prayers of profundity and simple prayers of just a few words.  Maybe that was the problem:  I just hadn’t studied enough myself.  All I had done was listen to what others told me.

            Now I know better.  Now I know that in the middle of a crisis I can send up a quick prayer for control, for calm, for an easy resolution.  I don’t always need an opening salutation, I can just say, “Help me, Lord.”  I don’t have to preface everything with my own unworthiness.  Usually in the middle of a problem, that is already on my mind anyway and God knows it just as well as I do. 

            I don’t have to find a quiet spot alone.  I can talk to God in the middle of a milling crowd if my child has wandered off and I can’t immediately find him.  In fact, I can scream to Him if I want to.  God understands if there isn’t time to hunt up a closet right now.  In fact, He is more than pleased that I think of Him first in trying circumstances.  He is thrilled that my relationship with Him can be so spontaneous.  There will be other times for reverence.

            God makes it easy for you to talk to Him.  People who have set up word and posture requirements, with ideological notions of “propriety,” are the ones who make it difficult to approach God.  He went to a lot of trouble and pain and sacrifice to make Himself available at any time in any circumstance. 

            You may not want Party Meatballs all the time, but when the time is short and the need is urgent, they will do just fine.  We certainly need lengthy times of humility and reverence in our approach to God.  But God also made a simple way for us when we need Him quickly.  Don’t let anyone mess with His recipe.

May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you! May those who love your salvation say evermore, "God is great!" But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay! Psalms 70:4-5.

For the recipe accompanying this post click Dene's Recipes.

Dene Ward

Once before I gave you a set of short statements from a class I had taught that I called “Gleanings.”  It was well-received so I thought you might enjoy this latest set from the year and a half we studied faith—65 pages covering every single passage in the Bible that uses that word.  It has been a while since I learned so much, and I believe we all left it with knowledge that has impacted our daily walks—and isn’t that the purpose of studying God’s Word in the first place?

            First you must understand how this class works--we use the Word of God to determine the truth, NOT what Mama said, what the preacher says, what I’ve always heard, or what I’m comfortable with.  We learn—which means sooner or later we all completely change our minds about something, and ultimately the way we live our lives.  Light bulbs pop on regularly.

            So here is the latest list of “gleanings,” capsule statements that summarized whole lessons.  As usual feel free to use what you like.  Everything here came directly from specific scriptures.

            Faith is inextricably bound with hope.

            Both faith and hope involve full assurance, not just wishing.

            Faith can fluctuate but should be growing so that even today’s down times are higher than those in the past, maybe even higher than yesterday’s up times, and the fluctuation should gradually decrease.

            More faith is required to handle difficult times.

            Faith can completely stop, but it can also be revived.

            Faith is active and visible in a person’s life.

            There are such things as “works of faith.”

            True faith is accompanied by positive character traits like courage, morality, love, and forgiveness.

            Faith is a continuing condition in life, NOT a single instance that occurs early on and that’s that.

            Faith obeys.

            Faith protects.

            Faith is an asset in difficult times, not a burden.

            We live by our faith—spiritual survival, not physical.

            Faith progresses, i.e, it grows and matures.

            Faith fights and overcomes.

            Faith doesn’t expect Heaven in this life.

            Faith does not equal righteousness, but leads to it.

            Faith responds in obedience.

            Faith involves commitment, trust, reliance and acceptance of things we don’t like or understand.

            Our faith is in a Who not a what.

            Faith has less to do with great courageous feats than with an everyday recognition of God and His plan and His promises, and allowing those things to direct every decision, every action, and every word.

            Faith in God is not just about believing that He exists.  True faith is about becoming like Him.

            “O ye of little faith” was always spoken to his closest disciples.  God expects the most from those who claim the greatest faith.

            True faith is a product of humility.

            “Sound” faith in the New Testament is only applied to people who live sound lives.  A sound church, then, has more to do with how its members live from Monday through Saturday than with how it conducts itself on Sunday mornings or how it spends its money.

            Abraham became the father of the faithful only after decades of growing in that faith until finally he surrendered his life and his need for logic in two statements on Mt Moriah:  God is able (Heb 11:19) and God will provide (Gen 22:8).  He trusted God to do what He had promised whether he understood how or not.

Dene Ward

           There was once an English woman who took her driving test test forty times before she finally passed it.  Don't instantly think, "How dumb can you be?" and pat yourself on the back for doing far better than that.  Instead, ask yourself if you have the determination and persistence to do the same.

            How easily do we give up?  How many times do we have to fail before we say, “It isn’t worth it?”  If we’re talking about overcoming a sin, I hope we have the endurance of Mrs. Hargrave.  If we’re talking about praying, I hope we ask again and again.  If we’re talking about having a relationship with God, I hope persistence is our middle name.

            Remember the Syrophenician woman whose little girl was ill with a demon (Matt 15:22ff)?  The first time she approached Jesus he never even acknowledged her.  The second time he insulted her.  Yet still she kept coming and soon her great faith was rewarded.

            Remember the parable of the widow who pestered a judge to death until he finally gave her what she wanted (Luke 18:1ff)?  Just to get her off his back he relented.  Jesus’ point is if it works with an unrighteous man, surely it will work with a Holy Father. 

            Remember Paul’s admonition to the Galatians?  They seemed to be wondering if all their labor was worth it.  Paul reminded them of the law of reaping and sowing.  Sooner or later, he said, you will benefit from the good works you do.  Do not grow weary of doing good for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.  Waiting for God’s timetable may well be the most difficult thing He has asked us to do, and the greatest test of our endurance.  Don’t give up.

            The church at Ephesus may have had many faults, but the Lord does say to them, I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary, Rev 2:3.  Can He say that about us?  Or have we given up, whining about the pressures of temptation, not just bent but completely broken from the trials, deciding that being a disciple of Jesus’ simply isn’t worth the bother?

            What if He had decided you weren’t worth it?  What if he had told God that the cost was too high, that you weren’t worth the trouble, the pain, the anguish of taking on a human form and dying a hideous death after the spiritual torture of taking on every person’s sin throughout all history?  What would you say to him if you knew he had been about to quit?  How hard would you have begged him not to?

            Surely you have more grit, more tenacity, and more determination for spiritual things than a 62 year old grandmother had for a driver’s license.  Surely you won’t give up now.

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted, Hebrews 12:3.

Dene Ward