Humbled by the LORD

[caption id="attachment_4514" align="alignleft" width="300"] It is not I and what I can do But the love of GOD shining through![/caption]

Deuteronomy 8:2, 16 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

 ² You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

 ¹⁶ In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that 'He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end.' (We will come back to these last words in verse 16 further down in this blog.) (I used bold print and bright green lettering at the end of the verse as a reminder to hold on to those words because they remind you that, "As long as grass grows green from season to season, GOD is still in control." By now, Y'all know that my phrase for this is, "Paint it green and keep on stepping." [Note - The bright green and the underlining is not a part of the NASB text.]

 

One Day You Might Be the 1st Person in this Poem

Now I understand the tired but victorious look

That I have seen on the visage of some soldiers

That have been on the battlefield for quite a while

And if you ask them about the triumphant smile

That they wear

They will tell that Being humbled and loved by

GOD put that smile there.

Then they might say to you,

"No matter where you go and what you do

Always hold on to your trust and faith in GOD

Because HE allows trials to come our way

To see if we will be steadfast under the pressure

And always remember that a shiny, brilliant

Diamond that glistens so

Used to be carbon, but the pressure and heat

Of the earth transformed it and the resulting

Brilliance is what you now see.

You can be like a diamond that glistens

Wherever it goes

For the pressuring and forming process that

It has gone through, makes sure that that

Diamond sparkles and glows.©

********

This morning, when I thought that I would take a quick hike through Deuteronomy's terrain, I had no idea that I would get sidetracked in Chapter 8, verse two, and completely stopped at verse 16.

Now, Y'all know that any time you talk about the lovingkindness that GOD has for man, I have to stop, smell the aroma of that fruit (verse) and taste the sweetness of its nectar. So, when I got to verse 16, I stopped and decided to hang my hat on the last words of that verse. And when I read verses 17 & 18, I received strength in my own journey concerning the heat and pressure that I have been laboring under.

Deuteronomy 8:17-18 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹⁷ Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ ¹⁸ But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

You see, those verses say to me, as they should to you, that GOD is telling us and teaching us, too, by letting us know that all that has been done to us was to humble us. It was done to make us aware of the fact that by HIS hand, we will be blessed. HE humbled us so that we won't get the bighead and think, "Look at what I have accomplished!"

Yes, yes, after our sojourn with the heated pressure of trouble, we will shine with the brilliance of the first-hand knowledge of GOD's tender care and provision. And we will go forth shining brilliantly like the diamonds that we will have become with the victorious assurance that, "in the end," I said, "in the end," GOD worked HIS plan that HE made (before we were born) for our good.

And you know what, Y'all

We will go forth to tell all

People that we meet

"This smile that you see

On my careworn face

Is a smile of great victory

Because I've learned first-hand

Of HIS attention to detail and

Of HIS intricate lovingkindness

That HE has built into the plan

HE made for me!

And one thing more

I know the wattage of my smile is bright

But I can't tone it down

Even if I might

I, I, I, I am a soldier whose

Armour is gleaming with the bright

Clear knowledge of GOD's love

And of having been tutored by HIM

The GOD, WHO dwells in Heaven, above!

And now, you know what I know

That the love of GOD ALMIGHTY

Can carry you through any terrain

Over which you may go

And that's why I tell Y'all

Every now and again or so

That I'm honored and blessed to be

Spiritual Israel, don't you know

So, don't hate me for my smile

And its brilliant glow

For it is a permanent part of me

And goes wherever I go!©

********

 

Walking by faith,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones