Author Archives: Blue Host

Advent 2015 Day 17 – Peace

Advent day 17
light the 17th candle

Advent 17

Advent 17

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.


luke 2:14

When Jesus was born, the angels sang.

Isaiah 9:6:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

So many people talk about the peace of Jesus. BEing right with God through Jesus is peace indescribable.

In the midst of the storm, Jesus says Peace be still:

Mark 4:39

And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

To the woman who had suffered years with an incurable illness,
Mark 5:34

And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

Jesus knows the fears and anxieties of our lives, and he speaks peace into us.
John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

“let not your heart be troubled”…honestly, that’s easy for Jesus to say! He’s God!!!

Romans 5:1

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

I do have peace that I am justified by faith, and that I have peace with God through my Lord Jesus – I have peace that my salvation is secure in Him. It’s the stuff around me that causes anxiety! The world. The diseases. The suffering. the tribulations of my friends and family. And Jesus even provides peace for those situations:

1 Peter 5:7

casting all your care on Him, because He cares about you.

Ps 55:22

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.

Matthew 6 – do not worry, do not worry, do not worry! here, Jesus lists quite a few things that cause me anxiety. food, clothing, and everything else is implied by pointing to the flowers and the birds that are cared for.

John 16:33

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

This gift of peace, is also a gift of rest…fear and anxiety and worry are just constant poisons within that weaken the spirit.

2 Tim 1:7

7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

And Romans talks about striving to enter into His rest – being the rest at the end of our walk, and stepping into Heaven. But the peace of God can abide with us now.

Phil 4:7

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Col 3:15

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

an added bonuse to God’s peace:
1 cor 14:33

For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

When I am anxious, I get confused, and I am definitely NOT in peace. Concerns for the health of my family, dealing with pains in my body, listening to the news around the world, and even here in America – these things can get me confused, and I can forget Who reigns. He’s not the author of confusion! Therefore, if I take my anxiety, my fears, my concerns to HIM – he will fill me with His peace, and more.

Romans 14:17

For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Romans 15:13

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

 

More Advent Devotions

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

I want to thank

for the ability to search the Bible online.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

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Building a Lenten Cross

Christi and I started our plans for the Lenten Cross thinking that we would use some pallet boards that we had in the garage.  They are thin, rustic and about 5″ across. 

Pallet boards

I knew we would have to do layers to get enough thickness.  After looking at the boards, I decided they were too brittle and twisted; we wouldn’t be able to get them into a solid sandwich.  

A visit to Lowe’s ensued.  My original thought here was to use untreated fence boards.  Alas, all they had were treated ones.  I knew these would not take stain in a way that would achieve the rugged look we wanted.  As I was wandering around, I found a 2x6x8 rough sawn cedar board.  Perfect!


 
The cedar board was a solid 2”x5 1/2” which didn’t look quite right with our original plan.  

Since I had plenty we made a first try on the following plan

The first layout

The general plan was to

  • Rip the board to 4 1/2” (this seemed to fit the votive holders about right)
  • Make the cross bar from 3, 4 1/2” squares (13 1/2” total)
  • Make the vertical from 5, 4 1/2” squares (22 1/2” total)
  • I dado’ed the pieces (a bit too deeply) so they would fit together

In the end, this did not look quite balanced.  The cross piece seemed stubby and the top pieces (above the cross piece) was too short.

Comparing perspective.

After some puzzling, we decided to add 1” to each end of the cross piece and 1” to the piece above the cross piece.  This made the cross piece 4 1/2” x 15 1/2” and the upright 4 1/2” by 24 1/2”.  The top of the cross piece was left at 4 1/2”.  I cut new pieces and redid the dado (this time getting it the right depth.)

In the following videos, I grooved the board with a circular saw, then cleaned the dado with a router and a stiff putty knife (bought chisels later).  It was a matter of using the tools I had.  A ‘better’ way would be to use the table saw with a dado head, or I could have done it all with chisels.  The best tool is the one you already have that will get the job done.

 

Once the dado’s were cut, I put some wood glue in the dado, and used 4 deck screws from the back side.  I was careful to keep the screws towards the outside of the center so they would not interfere with the insert for the votives.

Back side of the joint (after staining).

For the votive locations we started by centering them on the beams of the cross.  Since the piece above the cross beam was still 4 1/2”, we used 4 1/2” for all the vertical and horizontal spacing.  Once the centers of the holes were marked, I used a 5/8” Forstner bit to make an initial hole 3/8” deep.  We did not need the votive inserts to be snug fitting.  I used a 2 5/8” hole saw to mark the outline of the hole for the router.  I just eyeballed the depth.  I was concerned about the router splintering the cedar or “running away” as I tried to cut the hole.  The hole saw did snag the wood a bit and left a somewhat rough edge, but this was ok with the overall look and feel.  Once all the holes were outlined, I set the depth on the router and routed out all the holes.

Hole saw on left. Forstner bit on the right.

Clamps are required to keep it from spinning.Now it was Christi’s turn for the stain.  She used a vinegar and steel wool solution to distress the wood.  This took only a few minutes to dry (winter is the dry season in Florida).  I added 4 plastic furniture skids to the bottom of the cross and it was all done!

The bleed over on the back side is just the vinegar and steel wool stain.  The back is unstained.  Christi bought the votive candles and holders on Amazon