in my own words:

Psalm 19: 7-11
7 The law of the Lord, the self existent One, is complete and true.
There is nothing in it that would detract from its purpose,
to bring man into a right relationship with his Creator, God.
The law is necessary in order to restore man
to the relationship that God intended between man and Himself.
Its mandates, its commands, are trustworthy.
They can be counted on to bring wisdom
into the mind, into the thinking patterns, and into the actions
of those who are receptive, teachable.
8 The commands of the Lord are just and upright.
They cheer or make glad the core of man ~
his feelings, his will, his intellect.
They are clear and they radiate with light,
changing one's outward appearance or countenance.
9 The authority of the Lord is rightly His
and it will last throughout eternity.
His judgments are delivered with no vacillation
and are righteous and just, to the core.
No one can contest them.
10 They are more to be desired than gold,
than the purest of gold.
They are more delightful and pleasing than honey,
even honey dripping from the comb.
11 These laws, commands, and judgments
are given so that those who are in God's service,
his bond servants,
are alert to and protected from the dangers surrounding them.
They are as a hedge of thorns,
there to protect and guard those He calls His own.
Attending to them, observing them will provide
great and abundant reward.

Twila Charles Leichty
01/07/2012

Psalm 19:1-6

PSALM 19:1-6

1 The heavens declare the glory of God
and skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
3 There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
4 Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is hidden from its heat.

In my own words:

1 The expanse of the heavens,
that which we can see and that which is beyond our sight,
has God's signature scrawled over it.
His fingerprints are evident on all that is seen and known
in the created world.
2 Each day, through all of time, speaks abundantly, elegantly, and eloquently of God;
each night reveals, displays His knowledge and master craftsmanship.
3 This is a language that all understand,
regardless of their native tongue.
4 This proclamation (of God's glory) is made visible for the whole world to see,
its echoes reverberate, reaching all people everywhere.
The heavens house the sun
5 and from this place it emerges,
hastening eagerly and gladly on it's well-trodden path.
6 It rises in the east and travels its route, setting in the west.
In the course of a day, nothing is hidden from its light and warmth.

Twila Charles Leichty
01-12-2012

The making of a good marriage
and
playing an instrumental duet require
some of the same skills.

There is a composition written by the hand of the great Composer,
expressly for the two of you.
He knows you individually and has brought the two of you together,
knowing that the beauty of His composition
can best be known as you join together in the playing of it.

There is a central theme,
but there are many pieces that make up the composition,
with transitions and bridges that will bring it all together,
for His honor and glory!

Following the directives of the Composer is important.
Seek to know Him intimately.
Knowing His heart will enable you to play the composition as He intended.
Make sure that your instruments are well-tuned.
Commitment and persevering practice
will prove beneficial.
And others will find themselves enjoying your rendition of the composition
He's put into your hands.

We pray that your individual lives, and your life together,
will evidence His character and workmanship throughout the years,
so that others are drawn to ask
about a composition He has written with them in mind.

Twila Charles Leichty
January 8, 2011

INTEGRITY

An integer is a whole number.
It is complete.
There is no dividedness.

Integrity is the agreement
of what one values and believes
with what one says or does.
It is not allowing the wants of the moment
to determine what one does.

In the upcoming year,
I pray that you will live with integrity ~
living so that what you believe and what you do
are in agreement
and providing others with a model
they can copy.

twila
15. may 2008

God-honoring choices
take into consideration
who God is
and what He wants from us.

God is God, our Creator.
As our Creator,
He has a right to define
who we are
and how we should live.
He knows what is helpful
and He knows what is hurtful.
He has provided all that we need to know
in and through His Word.
He has told us in the Bible
and He has shown us
through Jesus’ recorded life among us.
A Creator is master of His creation.

Jesus is God’s Son and our Redeemer,
the One who has bought us back,
paid in full the ransom for us.
Our willfulness and wrongdoing
would separate us eternally from God,
were it not for Jesus’ willingness
to take our just punishment.

We owe our lives to God.
First, because He created us.
Secondly, He allowed His Son Jesus
to die in our place,
settling the debt we incurred,
freeing us from slavery to the Evil One
and returning us to our rightful owner.

I pray that this coming year
will be filled with
God-honoring choices.
Choosing daily and gratefully
to be His ambassadors,
living in ways
that reflect Him and His love
in all that we say and do,
is but our rightful duty.

Twila – April 2006

HUMILITY

“The most heavily laden branches always bow the lowest on the tree.”
(an old saying among orchardists,
according to Phillip Keller in A Gardener Looks at the Fruit of the Spirit)

Our society today is one of independence, self-assertion, and competition.
Greatness and success are determined by acquired degrees and accumulated of medals.
Not so, in the upside-down kingdom of God.
There it is based on servanthood.
And Jesus is our model.

Humility is positioning myself in right relationship with God and others.
It is acknowledging God as the good, gracious, and generous Giver
and agreeing that I am, as others, the grateful recipient of His benevolence.
Therefore, I walk “on the level” with my fellowmen,
seeking to relate in ways that are gentle, considerate, and encouraging.

Humility is the quality that reaches into the hearts of others
because it accepts them as they are but invites them, by example, to consider
an alternate way of relating
(than the one touted as necessary for success by our society),
the way of Jesus.

It was Jesus who willingly sacrificed His heavenly state
to dwell among us in a physical body
and teach us how to serve our fellowmen.

Prayer:

God, keep me mindful of who I am in relation to You,
aware of my humanity, my sins and shortcomings.
Keep showing me where I need to grow
so that I can more graciously relate to those
whose lives intersect with mine today.
Amen.

Twila Charles Leichty
August 9, 2010

(suggested read: “Head Into The Wind” from Come Away My Beloved by Frances J. Roberts)


* * *


TEMPERANCE

Not my will, but Thine be done. Luke 22:42
He must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:30

As my will, desires, thoughts, actions, reactions, and rights are relinquished
and God is given the right to govern all
that is within the domain of “self,”
I take on more and more of the character of God.
When my attitudes and choices are tempered,
directed and controlled by His purposes for me
rather than by my selfish wants,
the transforming work of God becomes visible to those around.

~ Prayer ~

God, I want you to be the Gardener of my life.
Cultivate the ground,
uproot and rid the soil of all that grows from self-control,
and plant only those qualities that will make the garden of my life
a testimony of Your presence and work,
a demonstration of Your character!
Amen.

Twila Charles Leichty
August 8, 2010

Advent
(definition of advent - the arrival of an important person or thing)

When those I know and love dearly have told me they are coming,
I anticipate their arrival.
I write it down on my calendar and focus my preparatory activities
so that I am ready to welcome them when they come.
I want everything to be taken care of before they knock on my door;
I want to meet them at the door.

I have been challenged to wonder:
Is this how I am anticipating and preparing for Jesus' second coming?

When I think of those in Scripture who awaited the coming of Jesus
in such a manner,
I think of Mary, Joseph, Simeon, Anna, and the magi.
They recognized Him because they knew the truth of Scripture
and they were looking for Him.

Do I long for and will I recognize the events
that foreshadow Jesus' second coming?
Am I prepared for that event,
or will I, as so many of the Jews, miss Him
because my expectations differ from the truth of Scripture?

Twila Charles Leichty
Christmas 2010