New view of trust

The Lord allowed me the privilege to serve at an Easter Seals camp this summer alongside my daughters and friends. What a fantastic experience that was! One of the most powerful things I witnessed was seeing handicapped campers on the zipline. We placed the campers in a harness then hoisted them up to the zipline platform about 40 feet up. Once they arrived at the platform, two men would pull them onto the platform, sit them on a chair, unhook them from the first line and connect them to the zipline. Once the camper was securely attached to the zipline cord, they would be set down on the edge of the platform, then gently pushed off of the platform in order to fly down the zipline. What made this so amazing to me - someone not too fond of heights- is that some of these campers were paraplegics... they had no way of helping themselves or hanging on to the ropes. They were completely at the mercy of those handling the zipline and then the zipline itself! They exhibited complete trust. Some campers cried, some yelled, some rode silently, but they all courageously trusted the staff to bring them safely to the platform, down the zipline, and off at the other end.

How little I trust God sometimes in much less scary or potentially dangerous situations. But in the zipline of life God has got the ropes firmly in hand. How trustworthy and faithful is He? Great is His faithfulness! He will not ever leave or forsake His children; from the beginning of the zipline (of life) to the end, we are firmly in His grip.

"The Deeps" - Valley of Vision

LORD JESUS~
Give me a deeper repentance,
a horror of sin,
a dread of it's approach;

Help me chastely to flee it,
and jealously to resolve that my heart shall be thine alone.

Give me a deeper trust,
that I may lose myself to find myself in thee,
the ground of my rest,
the spring of my being.

Give me a deeper knowledge of thyself
as saviour, master, lord, and king.

Give me deeper power in private prayer,
more sweetness in thy Word,
more steadfast grip on its truth.

Give me deeper holiness in speech, thought, action,
and let me not seek moral virtue apart from thee.

Plough deep in me, great Lord, heavenly husbandman,
that my being may be a tilled field,
the roots of grace spreading far and wide,
until thou alone art seen in me,
thy beauty golden like summer harvest,
thy fruitfulness as autumn plenty.

I have no master but thee,
no law but thy will,
no delight but thyself,
no wealth but that thou givest,
no good but that thou blessest,
no peace but that thou bestowest.

I am nothing but that thou makest me,

I have nothing but that I receive from thee,

I can be nothing but that grace adorns me.

Quarry me deep, dear Lord,
and then fill me to overflowing with living water.

Whatsoever things are lovely...

Lovely is word that conjures up thoughts of lush, inviting gardens or a serene lake surrounded by trees at sunset; lovely reminds me of sweet tempered, servant-hearted women I know that I can't help but be drawn to. What does it remind you of? Lovely is a picture painting word isn't it?

I am grateful for "lovely", it cheers, brightens, and beautifies the world around me; it is winsome.


Just so, our thoughts are to be lovely - friendly towards others, with love toward others, agreeable. Our thoughts have the potential to reflect beauty and love drawing others to Christ. How do they do that? The Word of God tells us that what is in our hearts/minds will overflow into our lives (Matt. 12:35).


Thoughts full of the love of Christ, compassion, tenderness, mercy, and sweetness. Lovely thoughts have no room for bitterness, anger, malice, envy, jealousy, self-pity, or the like. These are not passive, enabling thoughts, unwilling to face the sinfulness of others but thoughts that are for their best interest, willing to reflect true Biblical love in a winsome way... they are thoughts that are purposeful, carefully chosen, and resonant of pure Christlike love for others.

How can we begin to think on whatsoever things are lovely? By filling our hearts and minds with the living word of God... hide God's word in your heart and that will be what flows out of it.