The Master of My Ship

The Master of My Ship

(by my Grandmother, Belle Sandefur)

Thy Word was planted in my heart; I fell in love with Thee.

I cried, "Lord, be the Master of my ship.  Come on board and pilot me."

"I took You even as You were into my life that day;

But many times in the midst of the storms, I almost lose my way.

photography by Katrin Blumenschein

I try, and fail when I take the helm~~as if You are asleep.

I cry out in fear, "Oh Lord, don't You care?"  With a broken heart, I weep.

You've always arisen and rebuked the winds,

and said unto the sea, "Peace be still."

And oh, the joy that floods my soul

when I know I'm in Your will.

So even today's there's another storm raging from deep within;

But You're the Captain of this ship, and You guide it safely in.

You know the cares. You know the fears, and deep down inside there's rest.

For I know the Master of this ship doeth "all things" for the best.

You're wonderful, Lord. 

You're very near, and each day that I live

May I never forget Who the Captain is,

And that "an abundant life You give."

Enjoy the following video of one of my favorite pianists, Dino,

playing "Wonderful Peace."  May the Lord use this to minister to you and bring peace to your hearts. "Thank You, again dear Jesus for being our one and only true source of Peace! In Your name we pray, amen."

Is this "The END" or "The NOW" ??

I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say:

My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.

Isaiah 46:10 (NIV)

Walk with the Lord for a little while, and you'll soon realize that the only way to find true joy and peace is to be in the center of His will, obeying His calling for your life.  I've been wondering, pondering, praying over His will for my (and my family's) life.   He pre-packed us for the specific journey He has planned for us to take.  Each of us have gifts, abilities, special ways to serve Him and bring glory to Him while we live here on earth.  We're here for His purpose, not our own.

For months now I've been so focused on "what IS The END?"  What is Your purpose for my life?  I got caught up in trying to figure out what was going to be The END.  How foolish and exhausting!  I guess it's our nature to try to "figure it all out." (especially if our earnest desire is to please Him and live out His purpose for our lives.) 

Have you noticed that focusing on "the END" tends to blur the NOW?   Yesterday, I read in My Utmost for His Highest (by Oswald Chambers) that we tend to get so caught up in "the end," wondering about His purpose that we fail to see God is more interested in our NOW.   How are we responding to this situation now?  Are we trusting Him now?  Are we praising Him in the midst of it, now?  Are we seeking others' counsel or HIS counsel now?  Are we anxious now?  Are we running to His Word now?  Are we growing now?  Whew...these are the NOW results that God is after.  Sooner or later, He'll eventually get us to that "end"-- or "the REASON" we've been placed on this earth.  Remember:  It's the time spent in the desert, being so parched and thirsty for HIM; the being ALONE with Him in the mountain-top AND valley moments---these are the moments in which He is preparing us for that END, or that special "purpose."  

Being shaped or conformed into His dear Son's image, (in other words being a "vessel in the Potter's hands") is sometimes uncomfortable isn't it?  The stretching, the pressure from all sides, the having more "clay" dumped on us, the dizzying affects of spinning around and around on that Potter's wheel---all of these things takes a toll doesn't it? 

This summer is quickly coming to a close, and another chapter of my life may be too.  A new one is beginning.  Do I have "the answer" I've been calling on and waiting for over the past several months?   Well, at first, I was looking for that specific END:  WHY AM I HERE, FATHER?  What is my purpose "for such a time as this?"  I've not really come to "THAT end" yet.  However, I HAVE come to a conclusion..and it's this:   Why rush to "The End" when God is after "our Now"!   The journey, the lessons, the learning to LET GO and TRUST HIM, and LEAVE IT TO HIM to get me to that specific "end" or purpose---THAT is what life as a vessel in His hands is all about---for it is in the NOW that He is shaping us into the image of His OWN Son.  (Did you catch that?  N-O-W....O-W-N.)  We are His OWN special purchase and He's not going to throw us out!  He's going to conform us into the image of His OWN Son, Jesus.  No matter HOW long it takes!  The time is NOW!

Thank You Father, for these wonderful, eye-opening lessons You're teaching me.  We're all a vessel in Your precious hands...and You gently ask us this simple question:  "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, *O house of Israel (You want us to put our name there.)  "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Tammi."  Shape us, add more of Your OWN dear Son into our vessels, take away the dross, purify our hearts and prepare us Father...for one day You will use these vessels of clay to take forth the message of Your Love and Grace, Your OWN Special Son, to others.  You're preparing us NOW for The End.  Thank You for being the Alpha and the Omega...You're the Beginning AND the End...and ALL the In-Between too!  In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Are You Fed Up with the Delivery?

Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.   Psalm 37: 3

 

Have you been holding on to something so tightly, and not being willing to let go?  Sometimes our unwillingness to let go stems from a lack of trust--full, wholehearted, trust in Him.  Lack of faith blinds our eyes.  II Corinthians 5:7 says, "for we walk by faith and not by sight."   It seems that having a lack of faith actually blinds our spiritual eyes from seeing the truth in God's Word:  His unfailing promise to never leave us, to provide for us, to shelter us, to lead us, to protect us, to strengthen us, to uplift us, to comfort us--you name it, anything we could ever ask for or need, He's promised to meet that need by His All-Sufficiency.   In our unwillingness to trust Him, we "think" we are walking by "sight," but we're really walking blindly.  

 

The only thing we see is our circumstances.  But we fail to realize that our circumstances are just the "wrapping paper" enclosing a hidden blessing from our Lord.  Looking at our circumstances from that perspective should stir us to run TO our circumstances instead of running from them.  Embrace the storm, and go for the blessing that is within--in the midst you'll find Him there!  

 

Everything comes with permission from our Father, Who has promised to work them out for our good and His glory (if we desire to serve Him) (Rom. 8:28)  And it's all coming to us as a gift from Him.  He purposely wraps them in "not so desirable" paper to test our faith...do we really trust that THIS is coming from our Lord, with a hidden gift and purpose for our growth in mind??  

 

Instead of getting "fed up" with these "special" deliveries, we should trust in the Lord, and do good--because He promised we will dwell in the land of promise and surely be FED.  :o) 

 

Trust Him.  I'm in the learning process too.  In this land of promise where I'm dwelling, He is surely feeding me.  I'd much rather be "fed by Him" and grow, than simply "fed up" with life's circumstances and blindly miss the gift He sent to me.  In this "letting go, yet embracing the hidden gift" process, He gave me a special arrangement of "Only Trust Him."  To take a listen, just click here..Only Trust Him  (it should load automatically.)     

If you're hungry for more out of life, embrace this life and its being wrapped in "brown-paper-bag" circumstances, and be fed by our Lord. 

 

 Dear Father, Please help us..help me...as You're teaching me to let go of "life as I know it," help me embrace the hidden gift of blessing You're sending my way.  But I will go so far as to ask for You to help me share this gift with as many people as You see fit.  Please let these lessons, sometimes difficult as they may be, be given for not just my benefit, but for others' benefit as well, and most of all for Your glory.  One more thing, Father, it would we very wise for us to remember that the greatest Gift You have sent to us is Your Son, and the salvation He offers to us was wrapped up in the most unattractive paper imaginable---the grief and pain of a brutal death on the cross.  To receive this requires us to embrace Your gift of salvation by faith, and "only trust You!"  Thank You, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, for being Our Greatest Gift!   In Jesus' Name, I humbly pray, Amen.

When the Ink Runs Dry

For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. 

Jeremiah 2:13

What comes to mind when you read the following phrases:   Ran out of steam.  The end of the line.  Nothing left to offer.  End of your rope.  The well's run dry.  Empty as last year's bird's nest. 

All seem to conjure up a feeling of an empty hopelessness where human strength has run out and you're at the mercy of circumstances, right?   Well, that's exactly how I was feeling this evening.   Ironically, when I picked up my pen to begin writing some thoughts on a passage of Scripture I had read, I could only write the date because my pen ran out of ink.  "Lovely!  How fitting for the moment!" I thought.   

But it's true.  When we try every avenue, seeking God's will, but in the energy of ourselves, and not RESTING in the power of His Holy Spirit, we will run dry...all energy is zapped, and we're "down to nothing."  

Who's Being Exalted?

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 
I Peter 5: 6, 7

We're all familiar with these verses of Scripture.  It's especially helpful to remember them when we're facing difficulties that are beyond our abilities to handle alone.   To realize that we have no control over the circumstances of "tomorrow" can be humbling, especially when we have a tendency to fear the unknown.

I was pondering the idea of "being exalted in due time."  Why would The Almighty God even want to exalt US at ANY time?  The Greek word for exalted is "hupsos" which means "to lift up."   One can glean from this the idea of God encouraging us, lifting up our spirits, in due time.   But could there be a deeper, hidden truth that we're missing?  HHmmm.

Well, He says, "Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you."  So, I did just that.  "Father, You are the only One worthy to be lifted up or exalted, and yet here Your Word says that if we humble ourselves under Your mighty hand, You will exalt us in due time.  Why would this even be necessary?  We should be lifting You up."  

God's sovereignty deems everything that happens to us as being a part of His higher plan for our lives, even the "bad stuff."   Even if He did not cause the problem, He sure does allow it to happen, for our greater good, and for HIS glory.  So as we cast our cares upon Him, it's helpful to remember His purpose in everything:  to purge the dross from our lives and make us more like His Son. . .which leads me to this verse:  "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto Me."  (John 12:32) 

That's when He showed me: "Tammi, when in your storms you humble yourself before Me, that's when I begin to purge that old nature of yours and make you more like My Son, Jesus.   Then, as the purification process evolves, less of you is evident, and more of My Son surfaces---therefore, when I 'exalt you,' I'm really exalting My Son's life IN YOU.  I can tell when it's 'due time' when I see more and more of My Son's image in you.  That's why it is safe for Me to say I will lift you up.  Of course to lift you up, just you, would not be wise.  I am well aware of that!  But to lift MY SON up, IN YOU, that is when others will be drawn to Me through what I do in and through you.  Just rest and yield to My plan.  Soon My very Son's life will be evident in your life.  Be still, My child...and remember He must increase and you must decrease." 

I'm so thankful for God's omniscience...He is all knowing!  SO wise, unlike any other!

Thank You, Father, for knowing the little questions we have as we walk with You.  Thank You for even taking the time to answer us in our quest to know You more.  We can trust You because this process is purging us of ourselves, and making us more like Your Son, Jesus.  Thank You that He was lifted up on Calvary on our behalf, so that we may not only have the hope of eternal life with You, but also the joy of getting to know You now and being used by You, for Your glory.  Help us quietly yield to Your hands.  In Jesus' Name, Amen.