ANOTHER BOUQUET OF BEAUTIFUL THOUGHTS
Mike Cunningham
January 11, 2014

Because of all the positive feedback I received about last weeks sermon, most of which didn’t appear on my blog, I knew you folks would appreciate another bouquet of beautiful thoughts today. I’ve arranged this Sunday’s sermon in a way, which, Lord willing, will be as helpful to each of you as last weeks was. Please let me know.

This morning I want to address the issue of something each of us is very familiar with. From the moment we leave our mothers womb and enter this sin-drenched world, we experience it. In one form or another, in various degrees of intensity and lengths of time, regardless of whether we are young or old, rich or poor, no man or woman or girl or boy can escape it. Right now I’m sure that some of you know that I’m alluding to pain and suffering and God’s involvement with it. The Sacred Scriptures testify to this fact. For instance,

Psalm 42:7 (TLB)
7 All your waves and billows have gone over me, and floods of sorrow pour upon me like a thundering cataract.

Psalm 66:12 (ESV)
12 you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water.

Jonah 2:3 (ESV)
3 For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.

Job 16:7-16 (MSG)
7 I feel worn down. God, you have wasted me totally—me and my family!
8 You’ve shriveled me like a dried prune, showing the world that you’re against me. My gaunt face stares back at me from the mirror, a mute witness to your treatment of me.
9 Your anger tears at me, your teeth rip me to shreds, your eyes burn holes in me—God, my enemy!
10 People take one look at me and gasp. Contemptuous, they slap me around and gang up against me.
11 And God just stands there and lets them do it, lets wicked people do what they want with me.
12 I was contentedly minding my business when God beat me up. He grabbed me by the neck and threw me around. He set me up as his target,
13 then rounded up archers to shoot at me. Merciless, they shot me full of arrows; bitter bile poured from my gut to the ground.
14 He burst in on me, onslaught after onslaught, charging me like a mad bull.
15 “I sewed myself a shroud and wore it like a shirt; I lay face down in the dirt.
16 Now my face is blotched red from weeping; look at the dark shadows under my eyes,

Job 5:17-18 (MSG)
17 “So, what a blessing when God steps in and corrects you! Mind you, don’t despise the discipline of Almighty God!
18 True, he wounds, but he also dresses the wound; the same hand that hurts you, heals you.

A YOUNG GIRL’S SECRET
By J. R. Miller 1908

“Whom having not seen, you love.” 1 Peter 1:8

One tells of a young girl who became wondrously beautiful in her life, growing into a rare Christ-likeness. Her friends wondered what the secret could be. She wore a little locket upon her bosom which she always kept closed, refusing to allow anyone to see within it. Once, however, when she was very ill, a friend was permitted to open it, and found there only a small piece of paper, bearing the Scripture verse, “Whom not having seen, I love.”

This told the whole delightful story. Her love for the unseen Christ was the secret of that beautiful spiritual life which had so impressed itself upon her friends.

If we love our unseen Friend, our life will be steadfast in every trial, and we will be transformed little by little into the beauty of Christ!

“Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious!” 1 Peter 2:7

God’s Chisel And Hammer!

By J.R. Miller, 1907

“Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A book of remembrance was written in His presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored His name. ‘These shall be Mine,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘in that day when I make up My jewels!'” Malachi 3:16-17

In the prophet Malachi’s time, when nearly all the people had forsaken God, there were a few who were faithful. These met together and spoke one to another. They became very dear to God, and a book of remembrance was kept in which their names and their faithfulness were recorded.”These shall be Mine in that day when I make up My jewels!”

Jewels are valuable. God gave His beloved Son for the redemption of His chosen people.

Jewels are prepared by cutting, grinding, and polishing, until they shine in brilliant beauty. God’s people are subjected to many painful trials and experiences in preparing them for their heavenly home.

Jewels are used for adornment and for honor. They shine in the king’s crown. The saints in Heaven shall shine as jewels in Jesus’ crown!

If only we knew how precious we are to God, and what hidden glory shall be ours, waiting to shine out at last–we would rejoice with unspeakable joy!

What do a few troubles and pains matter now, if it is only the work of God’s chisel and hammer cutting away the hindering crust, to reveal the precious diamond.

Job 23:10 (NIV)
10 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

Proverbs 17:3 (TLB)
3 Silver and gold are purified by fire, but God purifies hearts.

Psalm 119:67 (NIV)
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.

1 Peter 1:7 (NIV)
7 These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (MSG)
1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
2 If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
3 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
4 Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head,
5 Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
6 Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
7 Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.
8 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit.
9 We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete.
10 But when the Complete arrives, our incompleteness will be canceled.
11 When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
12 We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

The Way Before Me
By Fanny Crosby

I know not the way before me,
But Jesus will guide me still;
And so, in His mercy trusting,
I patiently wait His will.

I know not the cares or sorrows
That into my life may fall,
But Jesus, my loving Savior,
Will give me the grace for all.

I know not the way before me,
But Jesus my Lord is near,
To shelter, protect and keep me;
Then why should I doubt or fear?

I know not the way before me,
But this to my soul is given-
The promise of life eternal,
A home and a rest in Heaven.

IN GOD’S TIME
By Beverly L. Anderson

Dear one, be still and wait on God.
He knows your tangled ways,
Your prayers He’ll answer, but sometimes
He does allow delays.
It does not mean God is unkind,
He wants what’s best for you.
He has a purpose in your trial
And in the waiting, too.

‘Tis hard for you to understand
This puzzle in your life,
One day the pieces all will fit
The hardship and the strife
That cause you so much heartache now
In God’s time shall unfold.
The tangled skein will brightly shine
With blessings manifold.

So wait and rest within God’s care,
His grace He will impart;
And when you cannot see His hand,
Dear one, just trust His heart.
For it’s in love the Father shapes
Your beauty to refine
To be revealed a masterpiece
In God’s Own perfect time.

Black Seeds Without Beauty!
By J. R. Miller
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28. 

God does not send us two classes of providences–one good, and one evil. All are good.

Affliction is God’s goodness in the seed. It takes time for a seed to grow and to develop into fruitfulness. Many of the best things of our lives come to us first as pain, suffering, earthly loss, or disappointment–black seeds without beauty–but afterward they grow into the rich fruits of righteousness!

 “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:11

Footprints In The Sand
By Mary Stevenson 1936

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.

This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord, “You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”

The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 (MSG)
13 No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.

It’s been a privilege to deliver Another Bouquet Of Beautiful Thoughts to you folks this morning.  My prayer filled hope is that this one has been as helpful to each of you as last weeks was. Please let me know.

Lord willing, next week….