Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
Peter told women in the body of Christ to adorn themselves with spiritual riches instead of concentrating on decorating the flesh (1Pet. 3:1-6). To honor my mother, who as a young woman did exactly as Paul directed, I offer the poem below that I ran in the local newspaper after her death. She was born April 4, 1927 and lived exactly fifty-seven short years on earth. Nevertheless, I am confident that she still lives, no longer on earth but now in Paradise with the Lord Jesus.
During her earthly sojourn, she touched the lives of many people for good. She was respected in the community as a godly woman and loved by all who knew her. Her doctor at Duke Hospital told us that he had never seen such a large cancerous tumor in a person's lung as he had found in her lung, and that he had never had a patient with a sweeter spirit than she had. I am thankful that I can say that I am her son.
A few days before she died, I stopped by the hospital one evening to visit her on my way to teach an Old Testament class. By then, her lungs were so filled with fluid that she could not breath easily if she lay down, so she sat up in her bed. During my visit, I asked her to tell me her secret. I wanted to know why people who met her, even those who had met her only once, loved her so much. She could no longer speak, but she could whisper, and in a low, raspy voice, she looked up at me and humbly said, "Look for the good in people." We would all get along better if we would put that simple advice into practice.
I've never seen a beauty queen
upon
a gilded stage,
With painted grin, parade for men,
to earn
a handsome wage.
True beauty's test is not the flesh,
bedecked with
earthly treasure,
But godly living, selfless giving,
Is beauty's truest
measure.
For beauty true is what we do
in Christ for one another.
And,
oh, the queen that I have seen
at home, in my dear Mother.
While
others pranced and sang and danced
and strained to be a star,
how
quietly humility
shined through her deeds afar.
So, plaudits raise upon
the stage-
that beauty's not the thing.
Of holiness and gentleness
and
kindness will I sing.
Oh, beauty's face is filled with grace.
It
took some time for me,
But when I saw, did I in awe
my Mother's
beauty see.
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