The Devil Is In the Details?????



We have all heard the saying, "The Devil is in the details." I got to thinking about that, due to recent events in my life. Details are what make up daily life and circumstances. Little or big, they ARE IMPORTANT! EACH ONE of these details are not haphazard, or by chance. Just as an artist creates a picture, each detail drawn is deliberate and done with artistic precision. Our lives are the very same. They are each designed and drawn by the Master Artist, according to HIS Will! The pictures of our lives are FULL of details that create depth and distinction!!  So, it is actually THE LORD that is in the details!!!


The details of our lives show us God's GOODNESS. It was His Goodness that led us to salvation to start with! (Romans 2:4).  How many times a day do we neglect to see things in our lives? They don't have to be major things. It can be the smallest, simplest things we take for granted. The fact that you woke up this morning, had something to eat, and were well enough or able to start your day are a few to note."It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22 & 23. EVERYDAY the Lord is constantly adding details of His Goodness.  The detail of His Goodness provides us with our daily needs. "Give us THIS DAY our daily bread." Matthew 6:11. If it weren't for this detail of God's providing daily for us, we would do without! "EVERY GOOD and every perfect gift is from above.." James 1:17. But, thank God for His promise in Psalm 23:6, "Surely GOODNESS and mercy SHALL FOLLOW ME ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."  

Details show us God's Guidance as well. "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand." Psalm 37:23 & 24. Detail is shown here by the word "steps". The Lord is concerned with our EVERY STEP in our daily life. These steps are what ultimately sets our direction and destination. The Lord is with us each step of the way."My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." John 10:27.  Should we choose the wrong step or path, He IS THERE, to help pick us up, and put us back on track. Details of trouble and hardship may seem unbearable at times, but the Lord knows each of us and what it takes to get us where HE wants us to be. Sometimes, the Lord will use His Word for guidance, the Holy Spirit, or even other Christian brothers and sisters. The Lord has used countless people in my life to help me along the way and to give a word of encouragement, AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME! Was the timing by chance??? Nope! It was guidance and encouragement sent from the Lord Himself! May the Lord help us to do the same for others, even if we think it is little, or insignificant! The smallest gesture, or word may be just what the Lord wants you to do to give this detail of guidance to a seeking heart!

Lastly, God's Grace is ALWAYS in the details! Though we bear troubles and heart aches, God's Grace is ever present even then! "But though He cause grief, YET WILL HE HAVE COMPASSION according to the multitude of His mercies.For He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men." Lamentations 3:32 &33.  "...But where sin abounded, GRACE DID MUCH MORE ABOUND!" Romans 5:21. The Lord has promised to not put more on us than we can bear, I Corinthians 10:13. He wants to use the "hard" details to strengthen us spiritually and teach us to depend on Him more. It is ALWAYS with PURPOSE! "My GRACE is sufficient for thee: for MY STRENGTH is made perfect in weakness..." I Corinthians 12:9.

ALL details in our lives show God's Goodness, Guidance, and Grace to us! All details are drawn out with purpose for us, as well as others. The Lord is the One that can see the picture as it should be before it is finished, but reveals it to us one detail at a time. Let's not miss the big picture FOR the details! Let us look at ALL of the details in our life and see what the Lord is trying to show us. Just as Joseph said,
"But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but GOD meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." Genesis 50:20. May we remember, that whether good or evil, the DEVIL IS NOT in the details, but THE LORD!!!!

Love's Strong Cord

 

Love's Strong Cord

My Granny, Alice Geneva Burke Vining, went home to be with the Lord on December 27, 2013. I wanted to honor her with this post today.

Anyone that knew my Granny knew she was something! She lived life to the fullest, and was always full of surprises and spice, (sometimes more of that than sugar! ;)!  She lived 79 years on this earth. During those early years, around the age of 12, she accepted Jesus Christ as her Saviour at Clarendon Baptist church in Alcolu, SC. She told me many times about riding the church bus there. She loved to go to Sunday School and really loved her teacher and preacher. She said they really cared about you and took time with the students in her class. She always loved the Christmas parties they would have there. She said they were some of her best memories as a child.

Granny was always a hard worker. She took care of her family, always to the best of her ability. She would ALWAYS put her family before herself. She would not even eat her meal until she was sure that everyone else had their food first and was satisfied. I even remember one Sunday dinner as a child, that I wanted creamed corn like she had made from the previous Sunday, and she didn't have any that day. She got up, put the whole kernel corn in a blender and all the fixins, and made me some right then! (Can you say spoiled? lol). That is just a small example of how she went out of her way to do for others. 

 If you came to Granny's, you were well taken care of! She made sure you at least had something to drink and  eat, and sometimes you even got something even if you didn't want it! She would make sure you left with something too! She would help take care of all of the grand kids as we were growing up. We would have to stay with her when we were sick and our parents were working. She made sure you have a cover over you, even if you told her you didn't need one.

 Granny was also full of excitement! She loved to shoot her pistol! One example is one morning all of us kids were at the bus stop. There would always be large dogs from the area that would congregate there too. Well, we were scared to death of them! I went and knocked on Granny's door, told her they were there, and the next thing we knew, she was out the front door in her housecoat, SHOOTING HER PISTOL IN THE AIR, to scare off the dogs! NEEDLESS TO SAY, ALL the kids at the bus stop dove behind the bushes in her yard hollering, "Granny's got her gun!!"

She loved to ride roller coasters too! She rode them until her 60's and even last year at our county fair, she rode the Swings, twice! (pic at the bottom). She also loved to watch the Nascar races! She loved Jeff Gordon! The pic at the bottom is one of her a few months back playing a racing game at our Fall Festival at church!She was so short, my niece had to press the gas pedal for her! Go, Granny, Go!!

 

My Granny was a great example of what a mother and grandmother should be. She helped raise me and took care of me well into my teen years. At the age of five, I had been thinking on the cross from my Sunday School lesson. I asked her at supper one night all of the questions I had. She told me all about the cross and Christ dying for us, and how we only had to ask Him to save us and forgive us, and we would be saved. On my way out of her back door, going home, I asked the Lord to save me. I am so thankful for the Lord giving me a Granny that loved her family and grandchildren to tell us of The Saviour!

 

 As many of you know, I have had a lot of health problems since a child, and she would help take care of me after ALL of my surgeries, and even stay at the hospital with me. Many days it was just me and Granny until Moma & Daddy got home from work. She was a second Moma to me! Oh,how I miss those days!

 

I am so thankful for the promise that I have, from God's Word, that I will see her again. What a blessing it is to know it is sure, it is reality, and not just something we say to try to comfort ourselves.  It has only been a week, and my heart is still hurting. I know she is more alive and well than she has EVER BEEN right now. I wouldn't WANT HER to come back because she suffered many health problems. We may be separated physically now, but we will always be bound together spiritually because of Christ.~Love's Strong Cord.I look forward to the morning that I will see her again, just like I told her I would! Until that day, I can praise the Lord for the blessing He gave me to have her as my Granny! This is the poem I wrote for her from her memorial service.

 Love's Strong Cord

Love is of God, Sending ALL blessings from above. Every good and perfect gift ONLY~ for ONLY GOD IS LOVE!

Of ALL these blessings He bestowed, The Greatest anyone can know, is that of Love Eternal~ The Scarlet Thread~ Christ's Love Supernal.

Greater Love hath no man, than our Saviour's gracious Salvation Plan. Giving His Life for YOU~yet included are ALL~ Hear today His loving Call!

Bound to Him and His children forever, Fully by Love's Strong Cord, Death cannot separate us, for precious is the death of HIS SAINTS in the sight of our Lord!

Until that glad day, When He calls ALL of us Home, All that Salvation's gift have received, He will very quickly come!

That glad Reunion Day~That Great Home Coming! Weeping may endure for a night, But Praise God, Joy cometh in the morning!

Gathered at His Throne, Then all together~ our Heavenly Home! All our loved ones there will be, with us for all Eternity!

The tie that binds us to the Lord, to each other, and those gone before, WILL ALWAYS BE AS SURE AS HIS WORD! Bound to Him Eternally by

LOVE'S STRONG CORD!