“As I look I see His Face shining as a ‘Glory of Grace’…” (Sara M, Waiting Room) Dedicated to Wendy Davenport…
So often I have found grace touching the very core of my inner being. Grace has infused me with gratitude to want to serve my Lord by serving others. The glory of Grace to the health of my inner being is God’s love being so perfected in myself and others that I serve out of love and not duty or law.
“God’s Face shining as a Glory of Grace” has appeared to me so often in the last week through the face of my friend, Wendy.
” Dear Wendy, my friend, and a friend of Jesus, You struck a core of love in the depth of my soul that laid empty from a story untold. Your generosity of sacrifice drove out fear and gave my faith a chance to survive in the dark of the night. Thank you, Wendy, my friend.”
Psalm 23:4 (NLV) “Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.” As I read these words of the psalmist I heard a gentle voice in the breeze, “my child, walk forward! Walk forward close to Me.”
Psalm 30:5 “…Weeping may endure for a night, but Joy Comes in The Morning.” Walk Forward by taking a step of faith one day at a time!
And, I want to move forward and Wendy drove the ‘herd of sheep’ even higher. On my way home she greeted me with many beautifully packed shoe boxes that Noah and Luke, her most precious sons, have prepared for our “Samaritan Purse-Christmas Child project, 2009.” A big yell out to Noah and Luke! May you be blessed beyond your thoughts and plans. May this be the best ever school year for both of you. May you succeed in all you do. May God always fulfill His perfect plan in your lives and the lives of those you love and serve. You go Noah and Luke!
Through my tears of joy Wendy’s little caring hands gave me a big glimmer of hope with a beautiful bracelet that even made the sun look dim. Just wait until I show all of you! A greeting card packed full to the brim of words of encouragement, as well as hugs, and finances to lighten my load.
Yes, to be honest with each of you this is a ‘blog of tribute’ to a most trusted friend, Wendy, and her family, Brian, Noah and Luke! And, her Dad, too, for the help he gave. If any of you want to join in this tribute, stretch out your hands, love, prayers and thoughts to our circle of friends @thedailylily.org, Wendy and family!
Wendy Davenport
YouTube – Testimony/”Joy Comes In The Morning” By Dan Miller
thedailylily.com 
Praise God! May I join you in your joyous tribute to Wild and wonderful Wendy. West Virginia has nothing on this dazzling young woman. That’s the glory that we see in Wendy, a helping hand with humility. A winsome combination in the eyes of the Lord and her fellow Christians.
May the Lord increase her gifts of mercy and compassion, Jesus’ own mantle of agape love that emanate from our sweet LILY, Wendy.
God bless her and her family and increase her wisdom, understanding, counsel and discernment….so that she might carry out the kingdom work with joy and triumph.
MG, did you remember to watch the youtube below Wendy’s pic?
Love your description of Wendy, wild and wonderful and that she is! 🙂 OK Wendy, with all this praise you might need to diet your head!
I was very touched by the Utube Gaither video. What courage and determination. No matter what our lot in life, when we cling to Jesus, joy does come…that little trickle of thrill in the your heart that tells you Jesus is in there by His Holy Spirit and He’s crazy about you. God, how I love Jesus and all that He has done for us.
Don’t forget, Chickenfarmer, Not to be too PROUD of your humility.!! 🙂
Wendy after I read this blog, looked at your picture, and watched the video all I could see about you when I thought how to join in the tribute was a great big heart with vibrant pink climbing roses growing out from it.
Tribute to Wendy
Love perfected
Love given
Love grown in the depths where no one sees
The sweat, the tears, the perseverance
Etched in the heart of your seed.
May heaven’s greatest joys rain upon your garden
Nourish you always
Be an ample supply for every need.
May the sunshine of God’s smile light your way
Always
Enveloping you in His presence and in His peace.
May God richly bless you and your family.
Oh Sara, MG, and Debi, Thank you so much for the kind words. I can’t take credit for anything. God is the one who gets all the credit. He hit a homerun. He provided a way to help his beautiful daughter in need. Sara, he heard the prayers and He knew the situation. He provided for your needs and your brother’s needs. All I want to do is to serve God. All I want to do is be willing and obedient to God’s will. All I want to do is sit at His feet and have him speak to me and tell me what my next move is. I love each of these beautiful lilies and my heart is filled with joy that God provided a way to use me to help my precious friend, Sara. Lord, I praise you for Sara and how you used her to help her brother. Sara was willing and obedient and was used by God to care for her sick brother. God hears out prayers. Praise God for his beautiful will and his beautiful works. I am just happy to be a child of God and I am sitting at his feet, ready to be used by Him. It’s just so exciting to see God in action!!!
“EARTHEN VESSELS”
(Author Unknown)
The Master stood in His garden, among the lilies fair,
Which His own right hand had planted, and trained with tend’rest care.
He looked at their snowy blossom, and marked with observant eye
That the flowers were sadly drooping for their leaves were parched and dry.
“My lilies need to be watered,” The Heavenly Master said,
“Wherein shall I draw it for them, and raise each drooping head?”
Close to His feet on the pathway empty, and frail, and small,
An earthen vessel was lying, which seemed no use at all;
But the Master saw, and raised it from the dust in which it lay,
And smiled, as He gently whispered, “this shall do my work today:
It is but an earthen vessel, but it lay close to Me;
It is small, but it is empty – this is all it needs to be.”
So to the fountain He took it, and filled it full to the brim;
How glad was the earthen vessel to be of some use to Him!
He poured forth the living water over His lilies fair,
Until the vessel was empty, and again He filled it there.
He watered the drooping lilies until they revived again;
And the Master saw with pleasure that His labor had not been in vain.
His own hand had drawn the water which refreshed the thirsty flowers;
But He used the earthen vessel to convey the living showers.
And to itself it whispered, as He laid it aside once more,
“Still will I lie in His pathway, just where I did before.
Close would I keep to the Master, empty would I remain,
And perhaps some day He may use me to water His flowers again.”
This beautiful poem came to my mind as I watched God’s hand at work. We must keep our earthen vessels empty from our selfish self, so God can fill our vessel and use it to water His flowers. He will always use us when we are busy with our lives, to see if we are ready or we tell Him to come another day because this is a bad time. When we stop our busy lives, listen to God and do what He ask; He will ask again and maybe He’ll ask alittle more the next time. So we must be careful not to put God on hold because, He may not be willing to use us if we keep putting Him off until we are ready to be used. We must stay at His feet, empty from fleshly sins, ready to be used any time and any place. Waiting for the gentle Holy Spirit to let us know what our next move is. Thank you Lord, for all that you do and are doing in our lives.
Chickenfarmer, what an excellent illustration you have used. I have often said, “when I sit idle and waiting God has not a need for me. When I am busy as a bee, He seems to give me an extra pair of wings.”
I would love to see Q&A’s, comments, dialogue to help us with understanding and wisdom on the above poem.
Love the way you have worded “Close would I keep to the Master, empty would I remain, And perhaps some day He may use me to water His flowers gain.” Our emptiness being empty of our ‘selfish self.’ Hum, I am always busy with my daily chores but when He calls I must squeeze the old self a little more to ooze out the fluid of my busy day and give the Holy Spirit a little breathing room.
Even as I was reading the first part of CF’s comment and BEFORE I got to the poem that she quoted above I remembered it from our Lily retreat DRESSING FOR HIS GLORY, this summer.
It reminded me of a song I wrote right after I was born again and so wanted for GOD to use me.
A VESSEL UNTO HONOR (c) MGH
A vessel unto honor that’s what I’ll be
I’ll purge my life that I may be a vessel unto Thee
A vessel unto honor sanctified and meet for the Master’s use
I’ll purge my life that I may be a vessel unto Thee
Purge me Lord. Prune and hone and cast away
Strengthen my inner man each day
Break Thou the Potter’s clay
A vessel unto honor sanctified and meet for the Master’s use.
I’ll purge my life that I may be a vessel unto Thee.
Beautiful prayerful song MG. I just hope we recognize and respond to the purging, pruning and honing.
The ‘Earthern Vessels’ poem that chickenfarmer shared was an important chapter ‘Mid-Term Exam’ in the Daily Lily Retreat ’09’s book, ‘Dressing for His Glory’ by Sara. It was the subject of much discussion at our lunch table because we all wanted to try to understand/learn it and do well on our exam.
There’s a part of a scripture from II Tim 3:7, ‘always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth’ …that says to me that we can learn about truth, remember it, recall it…but we don’t really have a knowledge of it until it is so a part of us that we creatively apply it.
Now the beauty of chickenfarmer is that she excelled w/ higher level learning skill and applied it creatively. She didn’t just store this poem and the answers in her head and spout off recall. She integrated it into her being and applied it in a real-life situation. She made truth a part of her and through willingness and obedience ‘conveyed the living showers.’ She proved that she didn’t just ascend to some head knowledge about this exam, she understood its eternal value.
Debi, you placed the subject of this poem in a garden setting so all that pass by or sit in the garden can comment and learn the beauty of garden sculptures as useful utensils. A clay pot, an earthen vessel for watering the plot.
Needles commented @retreat that we were not able to follow-up with open forum and completion of Lesson 7 because of time and she missed that. I think this would be a good time to do this and right here on Wendy’s tribute since she has opened this subject up to us.
Now, I must find my workbook and get back to the computer. Hope to see all of you on this open forum….
Hey Lilies, found my book. Lesson 7, Who is the fountain?
“My lilies need to be watered,” The Heavenly Master said,
“Wherein shall I draw it for them, and raise each drooping head?”
Who is the fountain?
I think we discussed that it was the Holy Spirit
Debi, if the ‘fountain’ is the Holy Spirit as you have indicated…then we would need to be full of the Holy Spirt for the ‘Heavenly Master to draw from?”
“But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Acts 7:55
“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert,” Luke 4:1
Jesus always seems to partner with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit with us. I always seem to notice that the service we do when led by the Spirit is always so rewarding to the inner being even if the physical body feels weak at times. Finances poured out in service to others seems to multiple abundantly bouncing back on our needs with more than plenty to draw from when given by the guidance of the Spirit. This principal is not going to work in Spirit Fruit punch when we have self as the motive.
Thanks Debi for prompting my action thoughts on the Holy Spirit.
Oh okay, I was thinking that Jesus was the fountain. God is the Master, Jesus is the fountain, the water is God’s Living Word, the world is the garden and we are the earthen vessels. We must keep our vessels empty of our self and worldly sin and we must stay close to our Master. If we are empty of trash, our Master will take us to the fountain and fill us with the living word so that we can water his garden. Through Jesus Christ, God’s only son, we will be filled with the living water to water this dry dusty world.
Romans 1:5 “Through Christ, God has given us the priviledge and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.”
“…then we would need to be full of the Holy Spirt for the ‘Heavenly Master to draw from?”
Yes, Sara, according to the poem and the scriptures you gave above. The poem said ,”…So to the fountain He took it, and filled it full to the brim…”.
As chickenfarmer indicated ’empty from our selfish self’ or ‘ be careful not to put God on hold’…both of these take up valuable space in the vessel so that it can’t be filled to the brim w/ the Holy Spirit.
John the Baptist must have understood the principle of because he said the he himself had to decrease so that Jesus, the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit, could increase. (John 1:33; 3:30)
I was thinking that the holy spirit is the same as God’ living word or the water that brings eternal live. Didn’t Jesus tell the woman at the well that he could give her water so she’d never thirst again. I was thinking this water is God’s Living Word which is the Holy Spirit. Maybe, the lilies can make help me with this.
“Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,” an old hymn of the church…
begins by addressing the Lord in metaphor as a fount’ from which all blessings flow. This is imagery compatible with Scriptures (God’s living word as CF indicated above) referring to God as a fountain of life. Psalms 36:7-9 “How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings…and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.”
Second verse starts, “Here I raise my Ebenezer;” I understand Ebenezer to mean “stone of the help.” This seems to me to be our earthen vessel, gifts, talents, money, etc. things which serve as reminders of God’s love, God’s Real Presence, and God’s assistance are “Ebenezers.”
Just some thoughts from an old hymn I love..and I love this dialogue to water my mind and heart today…
Some scriptures for thought:
Revelation 1:5 “And from Jesus Christ, …the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Revelation 22:1 “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.”
John 7:38 “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”
The Hymn: “THERE IS A FOUNTAIN FILLED WITH BLOOD drawn from Emmanuel’s veins and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.” I heard a lesson that said wherever the Blood of Jesus is at work , it brings the Holy Spirit. Could it be that the blood-washed Christian believer is the fountain of living water because, as Sara quoted, out of our bellies will flow living water because we have gone to the fountain of living water..Christ Jesus by His Holy Spirit? Just a thought.
I think its interesting that God the Master chose an earthen (clay ) vessel to pour His water in and out, not an alabaster jar, not a gold or silver utensil, but a clay water pot/pitcher. Just a natural, earthy product made from dirt; easily broken when banged or dropped; porous; and probably cracks when frozen. All these disadvantages, yet chosen for His use if ready and available, to fill with heavenly, Living water.
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” 2 Cor 4:7
Love the vs. Debi has quoted as written in the KJ…2 Corinthians 4:7 (King James Version) “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”
“Close to His feet on the pathway empty, and frail, and small,
An earthen vessel was lying, which seemed no use at all;
But the Master saw, and raised it from the dust in which it lay,
And smiled, as He gently whispered, “this shall do my work today:
It is but an earthen vessel, but it lay close to Me;
It is small, but it is empty – this is all it needs to be.” from our poem
“So to the fountain He took it, and filled it full to the brim;” from poem
MG’s comment from “Fountain filled with Blood”…are we saying the Master is God, the fountain is Jesus and the earthen vessel (us) that is full of spirit and truth is being poured out to touch God’s Garden of Renowned?”
I thank each of you for this lesson and encouragement to help keep me focused and ready in season and out of season.
The comments and this poem ceratinly keep you searching the scriptures to understand the cooperation and interrelationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and their interaction with our lives.
In searching I see that even Jesus, the Son of God, was a vessel of service to His Father, His Master while He was on earth and was baptised and filled with the Holy Spirit. (John 3:21; 4:1). And while fully submitted to His Master, Jesus’ disciples called Jesus, Master. (Luke 8:24). Then we are exhorted by Paul, an earthen vessel filled from the fountain, to be cleansed vessels that He can fill: “Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” 2 Tim 2:21