Throughout history gold has been a highly-valued commodity. During the Gold Rush, many people left everything...homes. families, some devoting their entire lives to the pursuit of it. God is a treasure far more precious than all the wealth on Earth, but unlike gold, He is not hard to find. He truly is a God who shows Himself. His truths are richly woven into the fabric of all creation. Our greatest insight into the very heart and mind are the Scriptures, but to find the real treasure, we must dig deep into the remote recesses of the Rock himself. One thing you will most certainly discover is the deeper you dig, the deeper He gets. In all eternity we will never be able to plumb the depths of God. It is my hope that perhaps through my own search for that 'Treasure above all Treasures' you will find something which will have some meaning for you. R.Whelan

Saturday, April 30, 2011

NEVER MORE THAN YOU CAN BEAR

Just this week a friend of mine was telling me about a health problem that will require a somewhat risky medical procedure. She has already survived a battle with cancer, several heart attacks and a stroke. She has raised her children on her own, endured financial woes and more. Anyway, she said to me, 'I don't know how much more I can take. I know they say God will not put more on you than you can bear, but . . .' To which, I mumbled something about praying for her. So much for always being prepared to give an answer for the hope that is in us.

At any rate, I couldn’t let it go, the thought nagged me all afternoon – where does that thought come from? Where in the Scriptures does it say that God will never put more on us than we can bear?

I know there is the Scripture, 1 Corinthians 10:13, that promises God will not allow us to be 'tempted' more than we can bear, but that He will provide a way out, but that’s about temptation, isn't it? It doesn't seem to cover her situation. I don’t think she is exactly being 'tempted' to be ill.

Next, I thought of the apostle Paul when he described all that he had suffered - thieves, shipwreck, hunger, exhaustion, being cold and naked. Then there were the beatings, imprisonments, being stoned and, in his words, ‘exposed to death again and again. Added to all that were what he called 'the daily pressures' of his responsibilities to the church. The situations he endured might come a little closer to what she is feeling she has been through and yet Paul called them ‘light afflictions’. Light, really?

As I pondered the point, I feel God gave me an answer. Do you remember Jesus saying, ‘come unto me for my yoke is easy and my burden is light’?

Jesus wasn’t saying there wouldn’t be any burdens. He wasn’t saying life would be easy. What He was saying was that He wants us to allow Him to get up under that burden with us. That He will shoulder most of it and lighten our load, if we let Him.

I heard a story once about a little boy who was trying to open a jar, his dad walked up and asked him if he had used everything at his disposal to open it and the little boy said yes. He had tried everything he could think of. His dad then reminded him that he had not used his greatest source of strength, because he had not yet asked his father to help.

It’s when we try to carry our burdens on our own, fight our battles on our own, or when we try to live in our own strength that we are overwhelmed. That’s why Jesus came, that’s why He gave us the Holy Spirit, because He knew we could not do anything in our own strength. As He said, ‘apart from Me you can do nothing’.

So will God allow us to have more problems than we can bear? Yes - if that is what it takes to bring us to the realization that we need Him. A loving parent will often do things that on the surface may seem harsh in order to do what is best for the child.© 2011 Rachel Whelan

Saturday, April 23, 2011

BOWING TO THE DARK SIDE

A young girl appears to have caused a bit of a stir this week at Disneyland when she chose to bow to Darth Vader instead of the Jedi, essentially 'choosing the dark side'. At first it's a bit of a shock, Darth Vader does cut quite an intimidating swath. You would think she would run from him, but instead she bows before him. Still, I guess it really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, after all, Mankind has repeatedly made the same choice since the Garden of Eden - choosing wrong over right, lies over truth, evil over good. People seem to have a strange attraction to evil in just about every form. But As Jesus said, "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light - John 3:19 © Rachel Whelan 2011

Saturday, April 9, 2011

JESUS KNELT IN PRAYER

Jesus knelt in prayer
As His friends around Him slept
And in the silence of the Garden
All alone the Saviour wept

He knew His hour was nearing
His time on earth was through
But the silence soon was broken
As the guards around Him drew

He was taken, bruised and beaten
A crown of thorns placed on His head
Then He was led up Calvary’s mountain
Where He suffered in our stead . . .

The sky grew dark and dreary
As the sun refused to shine
And the earth began to tremble
At the death of the Divine

His enemies triumphant
With their guards placed by His tomb
His friends in shame and suffering
Hid within the upper room . . .

The cries of women mourning
Echoed through the lonely night
They could not conceive the gladness
That awaited morning’s light

Just as the sun was rising
They made their way unto the grave
But instead found angels waiting
In the place where He was laid . . .

‘Come and see the place they laid Him
Then go tell’ the angels said
‘For the One that you are seeking
Lies not among the dead’ . . .

The garden tomb is empty
The stone is rolled away
To the Father’s He’s ascended
And is at His side today

But soon He’ll come in clouds of glory
To carry us away
Be prepared the Lord is coming
And today may be the day

Rae Holbrook/aka Rachel Whelan
© 1998
(can be adapted to the tune "The King is Coming")