LAST WORDS
Suggested Reading: 1 Chronicles 23-24
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
At the base of the Timna Cliffs in Timna Park (in the south of Israel), you can see a replica of the Tabernacle of Moses.
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verses: 1 Chronicles 23:27-28
For by the last words of David the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and above; because their duty was to help the sons of Aaron in the service of the house of the Lord, in the courts and in the chambers, in the purifying of all holy things and the work of the service of the house of God…
The leadership of God’s people was about to be handed over from father to son, from David to Solomon. David was not only passing on the crown, but also his cherished dream of building the Temple. While God did not permit David to build it, He did allow David to assemble the building materials. David was able to leave financial resources for Solomon as well. Most importantly, David left to Solomon people who were prepared to worship God and work in unity with each other, making sure all the details were cared for. Before long, our daily readings will be in the Psalms, where we will discover the true secret of what made David a great man. Psalms 22, 23 and 24, the cross, the crook, and the crown, came from David’s relationship with his Father God. As not everyone will find today’s reading very inspirational, we may want to read those writings of David (click here). Many blog participants will be able to quote the Psalm of the shepherd’s crook by memory. If not, why not memorize it today. David was about to “walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” He declared, “I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff they comfort me.” We can have that same confidence! Amen!
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, Your servant, David, never lost his vision for Your cause and specifically for the building of the Temple. I pray that I will never lose a vision for the future. May the exciting possibilities of Your work always be in my sight. May I be diligent to leave my affairs in order, providing what I have prepared for family and for the ongoing success of Your work. In Jesus’ Name I ask for wisdom and guidance, Amen!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
Norma-Jean and I have moved from a house into an apartment over the past three months. We’ve passed onto our children lots of pictures and keepsakes. We’ve sent mementos and pictures to the churches and to Crossroads, places where we’ve worked through the years. We even came across a copy of our Last Will and Testament. The children and God’s work are remembered in our bequests. There is not much money, as we’ve tried to live modestly and to give sacrificially all along. Nevertheless, remembering King David’s last words has caused me to think again about these things.
Today is Father’s Day. When my Father stepped aside from his responsibilities in the college, he took on two country churches, his first love. I was 12 years old. My mother died just five months later. Dad would take me with him as he visited the farmers in his congregation. It was common to see in large letters on the barns signs like, “James Thompson and Son.” I knew that I would never see such a sign reading, “Roy Mainse and Son.” At the same time I was aware that my Father was giving me the inheritance of a life lived for God. If I can, I’ll attach below a copy of one of his hundreds of handwritten poems from his journal.
As a Father myself, I bear a huge responsibility for helping to bring four children into the world. I love you Elaine, Ellen, Reynold and Ron. I love your spouses, your children, and your grandchildren. Life goes on! I know I would be a basket case without the Lord. I can say with King David in Psalm 23, “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Yours for honouring always, “Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name,”
David
A handwritten poem by my Father, Roy Lake Mainse (click on photo to enlarge).
Fathers Day has been one of the most difficult days of the year since my Dad went home in 1979.Today I also grieve for my husband that lost his battle this last May 2nd. However I realize that every day we celebrate the love and blessings of our Heavenly Father. Therefore with His guidance and strength He will take us thru. Take time today to thank our Father God above all.
Happy Fathers day, my Lord and to my father in heaven. To all dads, may the strength of our Father, Son and Holy Spirit surround you, today and always!
Lyrics: In the Living Years
Every generation
Blames the one before
And all of their frustrations
Come beating on your door
I know that I’m a prisoner
To all my Father held so dear
I know that I’m a hostage
To all his hopes and fears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years
Crumpled bits of paper
Filled with imperfect thoughts
Stilted conversations
I’m afraid that’s all we’ve got
You say you just don’t see it
He says it’s perfect sense
You just can’t get agreement
In this present tense
We all talk a different language
Talkin’ in defense
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It’s too late when we die
To admit we don’t see eye to eye
So we open up a quarrel
Between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future
It’s the bitterness that lasts
So Don’t yield to the fortunes
You sometimes see as fate
It may have a new perspective
On a different date
And if you don’t give up, and don’t give in
You may just be O.K.
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It’s too late when we die
To admit we don’t see eye to eye
I wasn’t there that morning
When my Father passed away
I didn’t get to tell him
All the things I had to say
I think I caught his spirit
Later that same year
I’m sure I heard his echo
In my baby’s new born tears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It’s too late when we die
To admit we don’t see eye to eye
Say it loud, say it clear
Say it loud
Don’t give up
Don’t give in
And don’t know what you can do next
You are so precious to us, David Mainse. We love you very much and are so thankful to you for guiding us through the storms of life by teaching us how to read, learn, and understand the daily Word; inviting Jesus into our hearts; and Holy Spirit into our souls.
Such utter joy you have to look forward to, fine sir. Be at peace in knowing you have lived a true sainthood in honour of thy Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. You will always be with us–in every way. Praising God for the gift He has given to us in you!
Father’s day is hard for those of us whose fathers have already passed. This Father’s day is very special to me because of today’s post. Thank you, David, for the beautiful poem your father wrote. I will cherish these words.
Happy Father’s Day, all saints. We worship You with hands held high in praise!
Happy Father’s Day to my dad, Larry, who is in heaven. See you there, some day, dad!
HAPPYFATHER’S DAY.
Thank you fellow bloggers for those precious words above and to you David for sharing your Father’s poem with us….such precious memories and much better than a FATHER & SON sign!!
You are a great man of God David and we are so blessed to have you walk with us through THE WORD especially on the days when the names can get tedious…..you always seem to provide us with a gold nugget in the midst of all the sometimes horrific actions taking place. Thank you will never seem enough.
I lost my dad at 15 years of age but God placed many godly men in my life thankfully but none as precious as MY HEAVENLY FATHER when I accepted JESUS as my Saviour.
Blessings to all as we worship The KIng of Kings today.
Happy Father’s Day David!!
Thank you for being such a beautiful example of our Heavenly father’s love for us!! You are a tremendous blessing and an inspiration to so many!!
May God abundantly bless you and your loved ones on this special day and always!! Peace and love,
Anne
Happy Father’s Day David and to all the Father’s out there this Lord’s Day. May God’s abundant blessings be with you as we sing praises of our everlasting Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in His house, this day.
Happy Father’s Day, David and what a great father you are. A true blessing!
I know today is Father’s Day, but reading your blog, I thought of my dear Mother, Minerva Kitt Anglin who has been in Heaven for over 15 years now. When she was leaving this earth, she told me “she did not have much to leave me”, but oh she left me everything – a Christian upbringing. I thank God for my godly Mother! What a blessing it is for children to have godly parents. I pray that my five children and eleven grandchildren see Jesus in me.
Thank you, David for your inspiration, wisdom and love shown to all people.
God bless you and Norma-Jean and family. Praying for your healing. We need you!
It is Father’s Day and sometimes that relationship is not always the easiest one. This is a poem I once wrote for a father in my life
Whose Eyes
When I looked through my eyes
I saw your arrogance.
When I look through God’s eyes
I see your humility.
When I looked through my eyes
I saw your insensitivity.
When I look through God’s eyes
I see your vulnerability
When I looked through my eyes
I saw you self-righteousness.
When I look through God’s eyes
I see your self-sacrifice
When l looked through my eyes
I saw your sinfulness.
When I look through God’s eyes
I see your goodness
When I looked through my eyes
I saw your stubbornness.
When I look through God’s yes
I see your repentance.
God sees more; I saw less, but what I saw can never undo God’s best.
For we do not create ourselves, we aren’t who we or they think we are,
but who God knows us to be.
Therefore for all the things through you God could have given,
your unwillingness to pass it on has been forgiven.
For I rather look through God’s eyes rather than my own.
Happy Father’s Day to you!! Thank you for your daily posts and sharing your wisdom!
Happy Fathers Day David and to our father above
My father passed away in 2008 after that I decided to give a cheque
to the Gidieons to give out scriptures in honor of him. I echo the same as
Anne
I hope everyone has wonderful day
Lianne Hogg
Father’s Day can give us so many different memories, some of those may be wondeful and others maybe not.
But belonging to our Heavenly Father above is the best celebration of all.
Blessings to all the men reading and partaking of this blog.
The poem by your father was beautiful. A Blessed Fathers Day to you.
We certainly enjoy all your Blogs.
Dear David M. and precious fellow bloggers,
Finally able to chat and thank you for your support during these past days that were challenging, to say the least! But all is well in our Heavenly Father’s hands.
So generous of you, David M., to share with us your father’s poem. I fully agree with Catherine that thank you is unsufficient to express all our gratitude to you for being so open to share your life’s memories with us.
Thank you David for this beautiful song that I will share with my children and all my family and friends via Facebook.
Have a blessed day on our Heavenly Father’s birthday and all the precious fathers on earth and in Heaven!
xxx Carole
Happy Father’s Day, David and for being a spiritual father to us; for teaching the Word, sharing your life’s stories and sharing your father’s poem with us. Your blog is especially meaningful to me today; the leading of the Lord I believe. I thank God I had the opportunity to lead my father to the Lord on his death bed and he was willing to pray with me. He was a hard working and courageous man to raise thirteen children and went to church the last ten years of his life. Although he was not very expressive, we knew he loved us all. God bless all you fathers and as you said, David the best gift you can leave your children is a godly heritage.
Happy Fathers Day to you David.M. and all the fathers on this blog
Iwant to wish you a very happy fathers day and many , many more
years of father days…..R…
Thank you David M. for sharing that beautiful poem, Happy Father’s Day to you and my fellow-bloggers who are dads. To God be all Glory, Honor and Praise always in all ways. God bless each one!!!!
Enjoying all your blogs and especially all the pictures, brings it to life for us that have never visited there!!
Good wishes today and always!! Especially for health and healing, we need you here David!!
Much love!!
Nancy
I was not able to blog on fathers day . I can see I truly missed out. But I can feel the love even reading this many days later. My father is 99 years old born 1914 .
Conceived in Palarmo Cicily. My Dad was a dedicated father and a hard working
soul. He still enjoys good health.
I too had the wonderful experience of leading him to Christ through a pasture that I asked to pray for my Dad while he was hospitalized in 2001. He was 87yrs old at that time and some one backed into him with their car while he was on his Harley motor cycle .His injuries werebad enough to say that I can thank the Lord for adding more years to his life.
Funny but looking back what was a horrific ordeal at that time turned out to be a blessing. Most of my family are non believers who are head strong against the
Bible and Jesus. I am an out cast to some of them. Point is if not for the accident my Dad might not have accepted Christ and asked for forgive ness of his sins.
Such beautiful fatherly memories shared. David your father was a special man .
That was a beautiful poem he wrote. This blog is the best.
M. 🙂
PS Happy Belated Fathers Day