Carl Sharsmith, an 81 year old guide in YOSEMITE National Park was back at his tent after a long afternoon with tourists. His nose was flaked with sunburn and his eyes were watery. He loved his work and wouldn’t want to be doing anything else, but one thing always upset him, and it had happened again today.
A lady had asked him “What should I do? I have only one hour to spend in Yosemite. Where should I go? What is the best?”
Sadly, the guide had replied, “Lady, if I had only one hour to spend here, I’d just walk over there by the river, sit down, and cry my heart out! A whole lifetime is not enough to appreciate the beauty here!”
Shouldn’t all blood-bought, adopted children of the living God say the same about spending time in His presence, talking with Him and listening to His marvellous voice as we read, study and meditate on His Word – His love letter to us?
A whole lifetime is not enough to appreciate the love, mercy and grace revealed there, or to marvel at the enormity of His precious promises to us.
2 Peter 1:3-4
Contemporary English Version
We have everything we need to live a life that pleases God.
It was all given to us by God’s own power,
when we learned that He had invited us to share in His wonderful goodness. God made GREAT AND MARVELLOUS PROMISES,
so that HIS NATURE WOULD BECOME PART OF US.
Then we could escape our evil desires
and the corrupt influences of this world.
Colossians 3:16
Contemporary English Version
Let the message about Christ COMPLETELY FILL YOUR LIVES,
while you use all your wisdom to teach and instruct each other.
Psalm 119:105
Contemporary English Version
Your Word is a lamp that gives light wherever I walk.
Psalm 119:133
New Living Translation
Guide my steps by Your Word, so I will not be overcome by evil.
Psalm 119:162
New Living Translation
I rejoice in Your Word like one who discovers a great treasure.
Though the cover is worn
And the pages are torn,
And though places bear traces of tears,
Yet more precious than gold
Is this Book worn and old
That can shatter and scatter my fears.
This old Book is my Guide,
Tis a friend by my side.
It will lighten and brighten my way;
And each promise I find
Soothes and gladdens my mind
As I read it and heed it each day.
Author unknown
Woodrow Wilson:
I am sorry for those who do not read the Bible every day and I wonder why they deprive themselves of the strength and pleasure it gives.
Thomas Manton:
We can never exhaust all the treasure and worth that is in His Word.
A W Tozer:
Whatever keeps me from the Bible is my enemy: however harmless it may appear to me.
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MEETING IN THE CLOUDS 
Pingback: I Can’t Get Enough Of You, Lord!! | godssceneryandpromises
I love this post!! I reblogged it on: godssceneryandpromises
Had to copy and paste, since reblog tab didn’t work!
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Reblogged this on godssceneryandpromises and commented:
Amen!! You’re everything, Lord!!
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Thank you for the reblog.
Yes, HE is everything, and praise Him, He has provided us all we need in His Word. I like the quote from Thomas Manton: We can never exhaust all the treasure and worth that is in His Word.
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You’re welcome…He worth everything!!
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Love this post!!! I’m reblogging it on:
godssceneryandpromises
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Thank you for this posting! Ah…its so good to remember, A friend and I drove through Yosemite on our way to Mono Lake. I’m relatively new to the west coast and haven’t seen much. I’ve seen plenty of pictures of Yosemite, but seeing it, feeling it, breathing in, basking in it was more than I ever could have possibly imagined. Wow! I was in total awe! My friend, who is the ultimate tour guide, stopped often, pointed things out to me, but he is also very spiritually-sensitive and he knew and respected that I was definitely communing with God. Thank you for the posting and the reminder.
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Thank you for stopping by.
I have never visited Yosemite but hope to. I live in Australia where we have an abundance of natural wonders, but I would like to visit places like Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon etc. Our eldest son now lives in Manhattan and works in New York, so maybe we will visit him and get to see a few sights.
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Thanks for sharing,Dear Angela
The entire post speaks volumes, but A W Tozer grabbed my attention!!! : “Whatever keeps me from the Bible is my enemy: however harmless it may appear to me.”
I am back on Genesis, and am doing my best to read with desire instead of reading out of obligation. I am believing Papa for revelation each time I read. I don’t want to spend ten minutes or an hour crying my eyes out because I can’t spend effective time in his presence.
P.S. I love your response to Debby!
Blessings
ann
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Hi Ann. I haven’t ‘seen’ you here for a while, but assure you I have at times prayed for you.
Yes, I thought the quotes were challenging. It shouldn’t be a surprise that reading the Bible is such an amazing experience, since we know the Author is so awesome. He knows exactly what we need at each moment and He is able to use His Word to supply that need. We find new lessons even though we have read the same passage hundreds of time before.
A whole lifetime would not be enough to exhaust the blessings of reading His Word, but a lifetime is all we have, so may we all give it the place of importance it should have and allow Him to work in us – and through us – as we discover the abu8ndance of its treasures.
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Good post! A friend recently asked where he could in Cornwall, and he only had two days! A bit like the “one hour in Yosemite” story.
I agree with what you’ve written, but wonder if all too often I only “tip my toe” into the word, rather dwelling in it more fully.
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I think most of us only ‘tip our toes’ into the riches of God’s Word. The amazing thing is that even though we have read passages hundreds of times, it is ever new, as our incredibly amazing God reveals another aspect to us.
A whole lifetime is not enough to plunge its depths, but praise God He knows what we need and as we submit to Him, He reveals what we need, when we need it. The sad part is that we too often fail to take advantage of all He has given and we are the losers.
As the quotes put it . . .
Thomas Manton: We can never exhaust all the treasure and worth that is in His Word.
A W Tozer: Whatever keeps me from the Bible is my enemy: however harmless it may appear to me.
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Great post, everyone who ever lived combined is not enough life to appreciate the treasure of grace and absorb the depths of His living Word. Keep up the good work!
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While one lifetime is not enough, it is all we have, and yet we all fail at times to give Him and His Word the preeminence, and we go our own way. Thankfully, He always draws us back to Himself, but we remain prone to neglect all the blessings He has given. We are easily distracted.
I long for the soon-coming day when we will worship Him wholeheartedly, with no distractions, for all eternity. Meanwhile, we need to appreciate His Word and depend on Him for understanding and empowerment so that it “completely fills our lives” so that others will see His light in us and be drawn to Him.
We serve an incredibly amazing God who alone is worthy of our praise.
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This wonderful rendition of Wonderful Words of Life holds what the Word means to me, Angela. I hope you can view this :
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Thanks for the video Evelyn. While I can’t watch it, I am reminded of the words of “Wonderful words of life” and praise Him that He not only saved us, but that He keeps us and gives us all we need to live victorious lives for Him. Foremost is His Word and His Spirit who gives us understanding of His Word and enables and empowers us to live accordingly.
A whole lifetime is not enough to appreciate all He has for us, but it is all we have, and we should not neglect to give our full attention to learning more of Him, to obeying what He reveals and to giving Him complete control in all our ways.
This is our desire, but we all fail at times. I so look forward to the time – coming soon – when we will worship Him wholeheartedly, with no distractions, for all eternity.
We are one day closer!
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I shout amen as I read this Angela. The word is a priceless treasure and my heart is drawn to it. The more I study the deeper it gets.
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“The more I study, the deeper it gets” – so true J! When we look backwards on our lives, we can see such a change and we praise Him because He continues to “grow” us. Then we praise Him because we know He will continue that work, and one day – soon – we will be presented faultless before Him, and we will praise Him for all eternity.
We are one day closer!
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Oh you did it again, brought us a story then turned us to fall at His feet! Thank you, Mentor Angela. I loved the Colossians 3:16 verse .. “Let the message about Christ completely fill your lives . .. ” Oh yes, that is what I desire and pray. Thinking of you and praying too, for His mercy, grace and love to completely cover you. God bless you.
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“Completely fill your lives” . . . that wording in the CEV challenged me too Debbie. In some ways, it is true, but I think we all have to admit that there are times we fail to submit to Him and go our own merry way.
People visiting Yosemite had no doubts about Carl Sharsmith’s love and appreciation. It showed. I wonder if people we meet can so easily tell what ‘holds’ our affection? If His Word ‘completely filled our lives’ the light of the abiding Christ would shine forth from us and HE would draw them to Himself.
One day – soon – we will know that joy and we will praise Him wholeheartedly for all eternity.
We are one day closer! Meanwhile, let us be so filled with Him and His Word that others will come to know Him and be with us in eternity.
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Hello Angela! I especially like this: “We have everything we need to live a life that pleases God.
It was all given to us by God’s own power, when we learned that He had invited us to share in His wonderful goodness. God made GREAT AND MARVELOUS PROMISES, so that HIS NATURE WOULD BECOME PART OF US. Then we could escape our evil desires
and the corrupt influences of this world”.
Indeed! A whole lifetime is not enough time to spend in His presence. However, that is all time we have to make it right with him.
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Yes Noel, a whole lifetime is all we have – and most of that is already past. The present, the ‘now’ is all we are sure of and while our desire is to praise our triune God for all He has done and is doing, we are too often distracted. Yes, we worship and praise Him and enjoy His abiding presence, but I long for the time – coming soon – when I will worship Him wholeheartedly, incessantly, with no distractions and no thoughts other than Him.
We are one day closer!
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Glory hallelujah. You are exactly right, Angela.
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My dear sister Angela… this is so truthful! Our precious redeemer Jesus Christ who willingly gave of His life in a horrific, brutal death on the cross AND had the eyes of the Father turn from Him… why? So that we (sinful mankind) can be reconciled to the One True God. WOW!! What grace, what love the Father has bestowed upon us who have accepted that free gift. As David said “While I live I will praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.” Ps. 146:2 (NKJV) Thank you for a very poignant post!
Blessings and prayers for health
Stephanie
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Thanks Stephanie. Your comments (and your posts) always uplift me.
Yes, we will sing praises to our incredibly amazing God while we have breath. We cannot do otherwise, because we know and experience the REALITY of all He has achieved in us, and of knowing His abiding presence as He guides us and sustains us. However, I know we DO get distracted. We do sometimes ‘forget’ to turn to Him and go our own way. We do sometimes fail to allow Him complete control.
One day – soon – we will worship Him wholeheartedly, incessantly, with NO thought of self and NO distractions, and we will know His fullness of joy for all eternity.
We serve an incredibly amazing God who alone is worthy of our praise.
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Reblogged this on My Delight and My Counsellors.
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Thank you for the reblog.
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Angela,
How very true…. the Word should be more important to the Christian than our daily food or the next breath we take. Sadly, we all fail in this area. There is no one, apart from Christ Himself who has given the Word the proper value for our lives. Lord bless. Thanks for your faithfulness in presenting the Word to each of us.
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Sad but true, Rob, that we all fail. How it must grieve our loving God when we ignore His blessings – when we put more importance on ‘things’ than on feeding on His Word and enjoying His abiding presence! What a tremendous eternity awaits us, when we will wholeheartedly worship Him with no distractions!
We are one day closer!
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This is wonderful, Cloudwatcher! I especially like the quote by Thomas Manton.
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Amen Anna! His blessings are indeed inexhaustible – and even in eternity we will not diminish them even one iota. It is mind-boggling to even think about the joys of true worship, with no distractions. What an incredibly amazing God and what a glorious eternity awaits us!
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The Word is living and active and discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart. He walks and talks with us when we take the time to listen and know him.
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Amen! We know the REALITY of His presence now, and thrill to the joys He bestows as we spend time with Him, but in eternity we will have NO distractions and will know the complete joys of worship as we praise our incredibly amazing God.
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“A whole lifetime is not enough to appreciate the love, mercy and grace revealed there, or to marvel at the enormity of His precious promises to us.” This is such a true statement and that is why I am so glad I will have an eternity with Him. Amen!
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“An eternity with Him” . . . what a wonderful experience awaits us Debby! We spend amazing times in His presence now, but the time is coming (soon) when we will have NO distractions and will worship Him wholeheartedly.
We are one day closer!
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