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The Lord is There, “Overview: Ezekiel 1-33” on YouTube…

Well this is cool, I should read the whole chapter myself but this is a great overview of the book of Ezekiel, everything he went through and the whole vision of heaven and Earth together – wow God’s chariot!!!…. and the new Israel after the people get new hearts to love, and of the messiah and the re- gardening… return to Eden. but more importantly a new garden where God returns us to Him…

The new garden is called “The Lord is there”…

Cool

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Part 1

https://youtu.be/R-CIPu1nko8

Part 2

https://youtu.be/SDeCWW_Bnyw

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Kick Off Your Shoes in Church, Get Comfortable with Christ, 08AUG

Get comfortable with Christ, He wants to serve you, so that we can serve the Lord together.

I am a scribe, now I have to tell you this “no shoes” story about the amazing moving of the Holy Spirit!!

I felt so blessed to be at VBS last night in the city, at a Worship Center where the Pastors are so welcoming…. I came because I love the Lord so much, want to encourage others and be encouraged myself that VBS is alive as a ministry. At this church, His Good News is lived there, not just preached but lived and shared. They are energized with the Holy Spirit… How could I pass up one more “VBS-fix” for the end of the summer…

Traffic said an hour and a half drive due to accidents – ugh – but I left work early, took back roads past multimillion dollar homes on “the mainline”,  a hot bed of money, to get to this old old city church which has a hot bed of SPIRIT – not money but SPIRIT. Do you think it is crazy to drive an hour and a half? I knew it was OK – especially after I watched the VBS “kidvid” video of a boy living in Africa, His name is “Fortune” and he walks an hour and a half to school every day – and back…  His mom is in a wheelchair, yet look at me, I am mobile, I am in a Subaru searching for the spirit – no, I’m not crazy at all…. I am energized to want to feel the Holy Spirit.

I LOVE to hear the ROAR of God’s LOVE…

I raced into VBS late, took a moment before getting into the sanctuary and I noticed the bathrooms are really really nice, a good creature comfort for us in America, and of course very important in a very high trafficked and alive church… Then in the sanctuary, I found the Savannah tribe… Actually, they found me. See, my last VBS this summer I was ALSO in the Savannah tribe – we are giraffes reaching out for a spiritual feeding!

As I was going up and down the decorated stairs of this very old church, narrow steps, chasing the Savannah crew and the Zion crew, I was praying that I would not trip. I had my big boots on, great for my orthotics and knees, NOT for navigating stairs… I wish I had taken my shoes off!

Funny thought, see, taking off your shoes in church is my theme of my week…

Not wearing shoes gets criticism in some “proper” churches, but in this worship center church it became the symbol of the real live Holy Spirit in the house…

In Jesus’s time – taking ones shoes off was normal – even blessed… In bible adventures, we heard this evening the story of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples – a strong visual act of our Servant’s service. And barefoot earlier this week, I practice a praise band song that was authored by a man who never wore shoes when he preached – no shoes on Holy ground, he once said…  Plus Jesus washing the disciples feet causes me to remember a wedding washing ceremony between friends as blessed bride and groom, which was probably the MOST beautiful act of wedded love that I have ever seen, promising to serve one another as Christ served us. We are to be servants to where the Spirit leads us – servants to each other.

At the end of the night, I sat at the back of the sanctuary with one of the Pastors and Pastor J told me his great “no shoe story” involving his wife, Pastor D…

He told me after we sat for a moment and marveled at the teenagers AND local college student missionaries visiting and serving the Lord as guides – these were miracle gifts from God to help staff this VBS. I watched one dedicated student assigned to one escapee-type child, I was blessed to witness paraclete protection and presence in action. I told Pastor that my now college-aged daughter, was in church at age 4 and had no shoes on. Someone complained to me. I laughed it off, said “She’s 4!!! You are lucky she has clothes on!!”… That was truly judging of me as a mom and her as a child – and my daughter remembers the story to this day and it makes this mom’s heart ache for that scar. We should make children AND teens comfortable in church… We should show forgiveness and mercy.

At that point, Pastor J was chomping at the bit to tell me his shoe story… About ten years ago they took a $100,000 broken down church,  revitalizing it – but ONLY enough to NOT divert money from serving the people, it is not about the building, the building is ONLY a tool… They worked hard to prep the church, they just didn’t have time to upgrade the bathrooms before a big event with a guest famous evangelist… He came early to prep to preach, his wife stayed back at the hotel settling in for the 3-day event… Pastor J told me that Pastor D started preaching and she kicked her shoes off – comfortable  with Christ…. The evangelist called his wife immediately and said to come right over – this place is the real deal. They had been to so many church events and he knew the Holy Spirit was alive here...

During the set up for the event, Pastor J had apologized to the evangelist for not finishing the bathroom upgrade in time for the event… at the end of this spirit-moving weekend, the evangelist preached that he knew there was $20,000 in the room to make that bathroom renovation happen. HE EVEN KNEW THE NAME OF THE PERSON with the money.  Pastor J was stunned, thought “is this hocus pocus?” Nope, the evangelist spoke HIS OWN NAME. The evangelist himself donated $20,000 of his own money to renovate the bathrooms in this spirit-driven church… WOW…

It was because that evangelist saw how when Pastor D’s shoes came off He witnessed a true moment of her being COMFORTABLE WITH CHRIST – she was ready to emphatically share the Good News. The global church grows when Christ is shared…

We should be worrying about the salvation of spiritual souls not shoe soles…

We need to get back to the heart of worship – it is about Jesus and nothing else… Jesus understands our trials, our hopes and our pain. We teach love, we are to be that forgiving love, that servant love. Jesus would ask us to take our shoes off to wash our feet. We are the recipients of His service, His daily bread… He died for us, He lives for us… He serves… He heals… So should we.

Don’t worry about anything else, get comfortable with Christ…

Amen

PS – On the way home I drove barefoot, as I often do, and I thought of the POWERFUL preaching teaching in the Bible Adventures station – how Jesus died for our sins. He was brutality beaten, whipped, spit on, mocked, nailed to the cross for humiliating death… “My Jesus! They did this to My Jesus!” – our teacher exclaimed – oh how passionate, the kids paid attention! And so did the grandmas! She reminded us that not only did Jesus know this was going to happen, He warned His disciples, He asked for them to stay awake and then He was forgotten at the Garden of Gethsemane. After Jesus was arrested, they scattered, they were gone, they left Jesus hanging – just like when our friends betray us, scatter and go… Jesus understands! Jesus know ALL our pain. Jesus is Lord and “the Lord is close to the brokenhearted”.

Jesus knew His death was coming and still chose to proceed at His Father’s command, BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU AND ME. Jesus knew His Father’s plan to reunite all of us with Him. Jesus’s death for our lives…. roll the stone away… Jesus ROSE – “when life is sad, God is Good”

The kids won prizes and candy for being quizzed about the story… We have all won LIFE, without even trying… Now that is a servant for you – Jesus saves…

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John 13:1-17 (NIV)

Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.  After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”  For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.  Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

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Itching and Scratching to Share, 07AUG

Christmas the Crab loves exploring – he is even going to a picnic Saturday to reconnect with the people he met on a retreat! Christmas the Crab is always itching and scratching, ever since Christmas in July, to get out of the aquarium to see our fellow creatures in Christ! Me too!!!!! Christmas loves looking outside (like Snowy, the cat does). They dream of exploring the world… Me too!!!

See, like Christmas, we all have the Holy Spirit itching and scratching to get out of us! The Holy Spirit wants to be known to the world, show that we are alive in Christ thru Christ… and that we were placed in the world to make a difference and connect…

It’s a tough world out there, so put on your shell armor of God, just like the crab does, but don’t fail to peek out from the shell to see how you can help spread the Good News…. Keep crawling…  Keep walking… Keep sharing…

Often miracles fall right into our hands – we should share them….

Use your skills, experiences, and story to tell how God chose you to send His message…. sometimes God drops hints from the sky, big and little. Sometimes God drops hermit crabs into the middle of the campground woods in October, for us to find and rescue. God always and especially wants us to find simple ways to share His wonders…

Always, we can show the miracle of a Risen Christ shining thru us – be the hands, feet, mouth, claws, and feelers for sharing God’s gifted skills to us…

Keep itching and scratching to share the Good News…

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Deeply Rooted Thru Faith, 05AUG

We say that we can “put our roots down deep”…  We can become “deeply rooted in our communities”…

But tree roots are actually NOT deep, are they? Tree roots are wide but not deep… that’s how our faith, not our physical supports, also need to be, soul anchoring is how we become stable and strong… not tossed and turned in the wind… Sometimes “deep rooted fear” plagues us, yet our human roots won’t save us in a storm as much as our faith does and wants to… Like jars of clay, we are hard pressed on all sides with challenges, and so our internal spirit takes over where the gap in our human strengthening falls short… Deep rooted fear is darkness, but the LIGHT of the Spirit wins every time.

The giant old-aged trees that tumble in a windstorm will rip the earth wide open, exposing the root shallowness… wide roots, not deep. So, we too must reach out to fellow believers and pre-believers to witness to the Lord’s strength supporting our lives.  Our wide roots, our wide faith reaching endlessly into every crevice of our lives, here and forever… our shallowness disappears, and His power displayed, we can faithfully spread our wings wide, like the crown of branches on the tree. We can bear fruit by being planted by His nurturing stream (like in Psalm 1).

We know it is by God, not us, that we ensure our futures. But if we lose our faith – lose our way – we are likely to fall. Yet when we nestle our branches into His Vine, then we will be fine. Apart from our Lord, our branches will wither, die and be cast into the fire (as in John 15). With Him, we bear fruit, we are gently pruned by our Vinedresser to bear more.

So then, consider another issue, the issue of a root canal to repair a cavity in our own creature… visibly the tooth may be cracked, so carefully the root structures are preserved, and the canal is widened as the dying nerve is removed – an apt analogy for us too. Leave the human anchor intact as a shell, but clean it up, remove the frayed and decayed elements, repair the damage and also deepen the well for good faith to take hold. Then, Crown it….

Crown our root – hmmm, that’s what Jesus did for us too… His Resurrection Crowning His Glory, for He and we now have victory over death.

A cracked tooth will be replaced with a crown. Our humanness, our surface life can now being filled by a wellness from our soul. Our root is shallow, but our souls are called to go deep. Our tree is then called to bear even more fruit… and even though our trees will eventually fall, and our earthly time will finish, our lives will be preserved with a Crown… His Crown… because our roots were established NOT in this World but in His Kingdom.

Our Lives Preserved…

His Reign Forever…

Amen

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I’m NOT in charge, but I made a Splash, 01AUG

I stood up at my company’s managers meeting and extolled the importance of participation in our company carnival,  which is today, I encouraged involvement and reminded all of them, 60 plus people, that I was excited about knowing every one of them because we ARE family… I tried so hard to not be emotional about it, but that’s OK, because they all know me, and they knew what my message was going to be an emotional appeal as soon as I walked up there.

If anything, I bet some were amazed or even embarrassed for me to risk emotion for the sake of a dunk tank event, but just like sliding off the seat to splash into the water, once you are in motion there’s nothing you can do but to continue – and yes, you can even appreciate the opportunity… I appreciated this opportunity, I had no fear for God was PUSHING ME just like He pushed the plunger of life and SPLASH I was in the tank.

No one else in that room could or would have the history that I do to extol participation for fun and crucially for team building. It was me. See, even though it could be considered someone else’s job to motivate our people, God picked me.

I appreciate also, that I am no longer in charge of this event.  I used to be, now there is a team. I show up and I do work very hard, but it’s not my job to command anything.  I try to see where work needs to be done and do it.

NOT being in charge is humbling, but it’s OK!!! Actually it’s GOOD. Actually this is EXACTLY what my Dad’s advice has been – when you see a need, work it… then get others involved,  step back and let them go with it, you’ve done a good thing… you increased engagement and leadership…

Not in charge… but ever present…

And, that’s a life message too.  I’m humbled to say that I am not in charge of my life. I thought I was, and I participate FULLY, but now I realize that God is in charge.

We walk thru life and if we are knowing of our spiritual connectedness, then we know God has us as a piece of His puzzle.  If we give up our hopes and dreams of being the boss of our destiny, we find His ways are above ours. His plan for us beyond our wildest dreams. His salvation as our safety net? I mean we even get to cheat death… Doesn’t that make you relieved? God’s got this.

My comfort zone is now not very comfortable anymore. How about yours? Does God push us out of our comfort zones? You bet. I can’t rest on my laurels. I cannot be a slacker. I can rest assured (and be assured of rest) but I cannot be idle. I fear the Lord enough to know that He needs me and is going to work me until He doesn’t.  I best show up.

I’m NOT in charge, it’s humbling, but it’s OK!!! Actually, it’s GOOD. Actually, this is EXACTLY what my Lord’s advice has been – when you see a need, work it… then get others involved, step back and let them go with it, you’ve done a good thing… you increased engagement and leadership… You are building the Kingdom…

God is in charge. God will handle things big picture regardless of my abilities, efforts, or lack thereof.  If I don’t accept my role, He will find someone else to do the job (Ask Moses and Joshua). I will appreciate too that I got an extra day to dodge a bullet and extol the reasons to find joy in our journey… I get to extol His greatness and His power and that He is my boss above all earthly bosses. He has taken the pressure off…

I used to be the boss of today, I’m not anymore, but I expect that God will work me hard today. I best show up. I best wear good shoes. I best come ready to hear what my ultimate boss is needing me to do to achieve His goal.  I best be His…

Smile, it’s God’s Carnival!

Find Joy in the Journey…

God picked you!

Make a SPLASH!

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A Garden to Tend, 26JULY

I found the quiet rooftop garden at the hotel to finish a writing… A nicely dressed lady, who maybe never left the bar from the night before, was still sleeping on a bench. I am glad she had great weather and good rest, no roof garden visitor disturbed her for hours… that was nice of them – that was a gift to continue her sleep….

There are SO many people in NYC, in the world, who are sleeping in faith – not just sleeping in exhaustion. Thankfully many are awake – many are curious – that is why in the church and out on the rooftops of the world we are asked to witness and asked to teach so that EVERYONE with ears that MIGHT hear… the curious, the hopeful…. truly if God moves us to act, we are to tend the soil, and yield a crop so NEW seeds can be sown…

We personally need good watering to maintain our faith and get back out to tend the crop. Did I shout the Good News from the roof top? Not today. But by tending my writings I hope I did tend to my own little farm crop to get some fold increase for the Kingdom. We all have unique ways to serve, You have an unique understanding and sharing style, I do too…

We are to teach, process, be human, process, know, teach, show Christ, sometimes explain ourselves, sometimes not, and always talk it out with Him… We are to show others that we care enough to help them process… just like Philip and the Ethiopian.

Just like a flat communion wafer of Jesus’s body, we have to rehydrate the Word and re-nurture a changing audience. The Word does not change but:

For this people’s heart has become calloused;

    they hardly hear with their ears,

    and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

    hear with their ears,

    understand with their hearts

and turn, and I would heal them.’

Yes, Jesus heals… THAT IS THE GOOD NEWS! Keep spreading this hope.

Keep tending the garden – wake up the sleepers – let the Lord be known.

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Rehydrate the Word, 26JUL

A flat communion wafer was held and beautifully illuminated above my head this morning then placed into my hands, destined for my feeding. I wish I had a photo – but I surely have another vivid memory.

I remember my childhood – more vivid memories of that particular communion wafer taste of my youth, it was so cardboard like and yet I still savor that taste. Thankfully now I savor the Savior.

That memory, like the wafer, was pressed and processed into my mind. Even if they have strict recommendations about taking communion in a Catholic church, I thought how nobody there would know how many confessions I have missed in 30 plus years. So, I did take communion this day… Most people did… No one stopped me (I figured Jesus was not too keen on man-made rules anyway).

I wanted Jesus for real. I took communion because I want to share in Him – the living Christ…  “Lord I am not worthy, but only say the Word and I shall be healed”. Jesus said the Word. Jesus is the Word.

Just like the dried flat wafer, we have to REHYDRATE the Word, give it fresh new life, change the shape of our lives, heal and grow to be re-nurtured and to be fed.

Our sharing is contingent on our own nourishment – we must take in Jesus to apply Jesus…

Jesus as the Word does not change – but our spirits are appreciative of being re-hydrated. It is our own application of Living Water that makes the flat pages of the Word in the bible become real.

Jesus is Rehydrated, Re-Living, Resurrected and Real…

We become Re-born when Jesus becomes Real to us.

Really.

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Where NOBODY Knows Your Name, 26JULY

I was so thankful for an alternative spiritual morning.  I was glad to wake early, walk and hoped to get spiritually fed. It’s Friday of vacation, so I made my way to a fancy church – a BIG one – Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, NYC… I’ve been in big churches in Europe, there’s lots of gawking over gold… Everyone is a guest, NOBODY knows your name.

Well, Somebody here knows, God knows…

What caught everyone’s attention was a random presence of a perceived “troublemaker” – caught security’s attention right away as he came up late with arms flailing up and a pre-defensive stance. Loud talking, he exclaimed “So what if I am late!” The priest looked out, said OK, then continued. He was OK, it was OK… Nobody knew his name but people knew his presence… It seemed OK so I nestled in for a message.

Actually I heard THREE half-hour masses this morning, LOL, 7 AM was 30 min, 730 was 22 minutes, 8 AM was 19 minutes,  hmmm..  Now the 7 AM had a beautiful singer, hymns I actually knew… the others had no hymns,  that’s quite the 11 minute difference… I had plenty of time to sit and think while others dashed to work. My daughter was still sleeping in the hotel 10 minutes away, I pondered my position…

So after the first mass, I moved to the side chapel, still within earshot, but in a corner where I could write.  The chapel of Mary of Guadalupe. Beautifully displayed is my favorite painting of Mary, this image simply sticks with me…

Scriptures were PERFECT – one old testament- one new – covering old covenant and new covenant….. Exodus “I am the Lord Your God” 10 commandments and the Parable of the Sower – MY FAVORITE!!! I was the DRY soil kind of soul – I did however put the seeds in my pocket, the evil one didn’t get them all, I simply spouted late, God FLOODED me… I bloomed… COOL…

At 7 AM I sang and then there was NO sermon, HUH? WAIT WHAT? Oh, rats, only half hour masses before work, I see, in and out… I did learn that Saints Joachim and Anne are not names in the Bible, but assigned Saint names to Mary’s parents, as Jesus’s grandparents… prayers are said to Anne for fertility… A sentence but no sermon, at 7 or 8, I was sad…

Yet at 730, THERE WAS, the priest made no mention of the fertility but explained the scripture, YAY!!! Kingdom fertility, Good Soil…

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103

The 730 priest’s mini sermon was a five minute explanation of the seed sowing scripture!!! I loved it…

He explained that Jesus took His disciples aside to explain that parable because they were His friends and so they too could process and understand (me too! I ask Jesus questions too!)… Then the Priest explained we should want this Good Seed planted in us, nurture it, so we too can go be the people that Jesus wants us to be…

“What kind of a seed will we sow today?

Is our heart open to receive the seed?”

Oh, I was HAPPY with a personal mini-sermon… The prayer of Saint Patrick posted on the altar rail (photo attached) includes being Christ to everyone you meet… Jesus explained to His disciples that not everyone understands the Good News, you might have to explain it… LET THOSE WHO HAVE EARS HEAR!

Jesus needed His disciples to understand deeply, in order to teach this… US TOO… Jesus needs us too…

Jesus said:

“the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

We know that for the lost, for us all, that indeed SOMEONE DOES KNOW OUR NAME!

JESUS DOES.

We know that in the world that it seems that nobody knows Your name, Lord, but we do and so we will tell of Your Love!

JESUS LOVES US.

JESUS LOVES ME.

JESUS LOVES YOU!

JESUS KNOWS YOU.

AMEN!

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St Patrick’s prayer for us to EMULATE Jesus:

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

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Matthew 13, Jesus said:

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;

though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;

you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;

they hardly hear with their ears,

and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

hear with their ears,

understand with their hearts

and turn, and I would heal them.’

16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

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Exodus 20:1-20

And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you. “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

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Thirst, Christmas in July, 25JUL

Christmas the Crab finally has emerged from a month rest, a hibernation of sorts. He disappeared long enough to make you worry that he was not going to re-emerge…

He did. I didn’t worry too awfully because he did the same last July… but still… was he ever going to come back up? It was like…, waiting for Christmas! (LOL)

Today. I heard that familiar clunk of his shell against the food and water dishes. Whew! Hooray! Today of all days for Christmas the Crab to emerge is 7/25, Christmas in July…. (not making this up, really!!!…)

Thirst.

Christmas is thirsty…

Hermit crabs carry water in their shells in addition to using it for protection.  Christmas stretched his limbs out, scooped in the new water. Thank God for water. Stockpile it for later too.

Thirst.

A Living Water kind of thirst…

My friend came over to learn about a new sewing project – making dresses for Africa for our missionaries to deliver.  Gifts are always appreciated, hope is delivered just as much as gifts. In addition to the dresses and shorts, our missionaries are working to satisfy the THIRST of the people – teaching so that NEW people may hear about forever living, about salvation thru Jesus Christ, our LIVING WATER.  Perhaps they have heard about Jesus, but maybe not. Perhaps their thirst for knowledge will be sparked.

THIRST.

How can we help? We can be missionaries from home, we can be mission-minded sewers for helping the sowers of the Word… Making these dresses is going to be a great hands-on project for my friend and myself, joining a few dozen others. Many hands make LIGHT work. Sewing is super therapeutic, our hands are busy, eyes focused, ears happy with the roar of the stitches and our minds decompress… whew… we thirst for rest too… for help while working thru life… Sewing is good.

Helping is good.

Hope is good.

Knowing that we can make a difference all while quietly decompressing is golden…

Visualizing our handiwork to travel across borders makes my heart smile.

Knowing the Word of Jesus is spread makes my spirit leap for joy!

Thirst. See, we all thirst to be productive, to make a difference and to know it matters.  Granted dresses might be sourced elsewhere but within these dresses we have stitched personalized prayers for the recipients. We send a visual reminder that strangers across the globe really do care about them.  We pray for them to help them make a difference in their own worlds and simply to live better. Our prayers are for them to feel like Christmas morning with a new outfit. More importantly, we hope that with the teachings of the missionaries that they continue to know not just the Christmas morning feeling but the Christmas forever feeling – to know the gift of the Lord Jesus, to understand that He quenches the deepest thirst.

We thirst, and Jesus quenches…

We travel, and Jesus delivers…

We sew and sow, for Jesus IS the present.

Thirst.

Jesus thirst.

No better time to reach for Living Water than Christmas in July…. Reach out for Jesus, ask for His gift, He is willing to share!!!

Christmas the Crab has emerged to reach and refill with the life-sustaining water. We too thirst, and Jesus’s Living Water is all we really need… What a gift!!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Amen

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John 7:37-39 (NLT)

Jesus Promises Living Water

On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!  Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”  (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him.

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John 4 (NIV)

Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman

4 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

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Dance People Dance – VBS Confetti Canons, 22JUL

A friend told me he tailored his sales presentations to his specific clients’ needs and that WOWED THEM – won his company a gazillion dollars in business…

Isn’t that what God does too? Tailor our blessings, and be understanding of our needs, and show us plans that will win us to Him? Whether corrective steps or simple changes, AWARENESS is surely what God wants from us. And even better, FAITH is what God requires when we have no clue…

I’m sure that this is EXACTLY what God is doing for you and for me… herding His sheep, tailoring His sales pitch until we finally understand His Message.  Surely, He could go harsh on us. Surely, we should fear the Lord with awe. Therefore if He needs us spreading His JOY, isn’t that also still a command?

God is so powerful and effective and good that He Himself is both in charge of us and also wanting to convince us of His plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11)… He is all knowing of every hair on our heads, He is all knowing of what will motivate us… He is allowing us to heal from our pain, to taste His Joy, to move forward, and He wants us to share our stories…

I believe that 100%…

This is yet another reason why I smile during the summer Vacation Bible School weeks. I got multiple opportunities this year. I love to watch people enjoying life and setting aside their ongoing pain for His plan… I love to see JOY eclipse life’s JUNK… Not ignoring the pain, eclipsing it by knowing the Abundant Life…

God ordains our steps.  Today at my new Praise band singing gig for the Lord, I watched vacation bible schoolers dance effortlessly for the Lord! And I watched grownups drop their worries and dance knowingly for appreciation of the good that the Lord has provided them. And I watched some parents be hesitant to dance and yet be very thankful their kids had a good VBS week. And I watched some staunch no nonsense church members stand dead still (but they watched).  As for me? I sang sang sang, I did hand motions while holding the microphone, I did twirls best I could without cord tangles. And I danced while watching God’s people dance…

I did ALSO take some quiet time today, and seeing a little Jesus doll sitting, smiling, amongst tie-dye coffee filter flowers almost made me cry, this photo still does,  I had to take a photo of my feelings… I feel so blessed to have a child-like wonder of the Lord… with a wisdom that I must work for Him… with a knowledge that God is all good but still does major reality checks on us.

Childlike wonder, yes, but I know that it is NOT childlike knowledge we are being instructed with… it’s the deepest most intense feeling to know Jesus – to walk with Him. To be carried by Him.

(after not knowing Him in me for 45 years – this feeling is still INTENSE, and I am RELIEVED to talk about Jesus… a relief to know there are people who also know Jesus, with whom I can chat with… with whom I can dance with…)

I loved partaking in this repeat VBS celebration service (DURING the church service!) And at the luncheon, because these children of God share the same joy with us that God shares with them. Joy that we came to be together – children learning from the Father of how to be welcoming to each other and their neighbors…

And how did the celebration end? WITH CONFETTI CANONS!!!! 

WOW!!! I never saw that coming!!! I felt like I died and went to Heaven! I watched from the praise band vantage point into the faces of God’s people and they rejoiced!!!

At the end of our earthly roads is an open call into Heaven… Jesus walks with us each step, Jesus triggers the confetti canon as He and you step together into our Father’s heavenly place… it means you made it HOME…. maybe there is an internally very quiet moment of a heavenly breath catching when earthly breathing ceases… and then WOW, I am certain there is no feeling that I could explain that would equate to how Heaven will be. Therefore on our journey, we choose whether we dance, hesitate, stand staunchly still with Jesus, but as so as long as we believe, reach for Jesus’s hand, there is a place reserved for us. There are many rooms in Heaven.  There are many styles of sharing the JOY of Jesus.  Presence is needed in every case…

My friend in my band told me after the VBS celebration: “I don’t care if I looked silly dancing – I would have looked MORE silly NOT dancing”. TRUTH!

You know what? I KNOW the Lord has a place for me in Heaven – I would look MORE silly NOT dancing my JOY for Him EVERYDAY…  TRUTH!

Praise the Lord… Today is a new day WITH HIM… So take a moment to dance with Jesus, TODAY!

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Where Do I Fit? a One Sheep VBS Moment, 20JUL

Ah, my friend caught a precious VBS moment in a photo…

VBS is not just about fun, it is having faith that God needs you to be present where He places you.

Where do I fit?

The most important scanning of a new situation is to see where you plug in and where you can make a difference and to discern why God put you there that day.

I didn’t feel that weird in a new Vacation Bible School church because I figured I could be helpful, somewhere…  I did wonder how I could contribute, I wondered how God would use me and I made myself available for His plan. That morning I saw random needs: I folded t-shirts and I placed nametags on people who didn’t think they needed them – they did… A former VBS director always scans the scene…

In the opening session for one particular day, God made clear His answer to my question of “why am I here?” The answer came in one sheep – I noticed Jayson pouting on the floor, 2 rows back from the well-behaved 16 five-year olds that I was assigned to…. I saw him not participating, disgruntled, ANGRY at Grandma and the world…. No, I never met him – but knew what an angry 7year old’s “HMMPFFF!!!!” was all about…

The five-year olds were fine with 6 leaders present, so I was able to break away and down I sat, on the ground in the sanctuary… Eye to eye… Really it didn’t matter what I said to Jayson. I just tried to listen.  And then… in a flash Jayson took off!!! Running down the side!!! I ran!!! Yes I ran!!!….I  yelled “Catch him!” but three adults were totally oblivious, they did not… I caught him just at the back door – and I was thankful!!!…

WHEW!

“God, this is why I am here today”… “Thank you Lord that You enabled me to be aware, to run, to catch, to be present…”

That afternoon and the next day I stood guard watching him in the pews, he was much better, doing the singing, he was OK for his Grandma. I even saw him chatting with a friend.

See, that’s what working for God is all about – it is about being present, aware, asking the Lord: “where do I fit?” – it is NOT “what’s in this for me?” – but “What’s my role – where can I be the servant?”…

Running AT camp is where God used me – this year I was NOT running a camp but running AT camp… “Where do I fit, Lord?” EXACTLY where You placed me.

There’s no better week than VBS week… NONE…

Thank You Lord for VBS sheep! I am one of them – thank You for catching me too…

Amen

     

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VBS Friday – a GOOD FRIDAY – a JOY of Eternity with Jesus, 19JUL

Today at Vacation Bible School we explored (and tasted) the salty and sweetness of life…

The prayers during the staff meeting were for us to be impactful in sharing the Good News – for us to be helping the children bring the HOPE that they learn to home. The campers LOVED the stories – I did too!

Life has salty rough times and sweet good times – but because of Jesus, we can give up our worries and burdens to Him – we placed stones at the cross to symbolize our burdens that we carry around – our burdens which we try to give to Him for freedom by the power of the cross and empty tomb… His pain for our gain.

JOY is for now AND JOY is for LIFE eternal. Jesus’s empty tomb was SO intriguing to these 5 year olds that they jumped up from their seats to peek in… We too can be curious about life and about the miracle of Jesus – we can take life in stride – we can look for JOY…

JOY – HOW ABOUT FILLING 35 WATER BALLOONS AT ONCE! VBS IS AWESOME!

One last observation from this VBS week: This was a gift from God for me to be involved – a gift for me to be able to help – this was a journey of healing and a focus of new direction… The Lord KNEW I needed this – the Lord also urged me forward, to see the needs, to keep helping to spread this Good News that changes lives…. Jesus changes lives – people don’t know to look for Him. I see so many loose ends and places that I can be of service… I see a lifetime of work… I see JOY in my journey… We all can. We can all learn – teach – encourage – support… at bare minimum we can BE PRESENT.

Little Joshua, who led us into the Promise Land in yesterday’s bible story, had not “high fived” me all week during the music video routines – even one time he completely “dissed me”. WELL TODAY, he came over to me to give me a high five – I thought: “YAY, I MADE IT TO THE PROMISE LAND!”

When Life is Good, God is Good!

The TRUTH is, we all have made it to the Promise land and more – IF ONLY we accept the invitation. Jesus made our way to be FREE from our salty burdenings of life – into the sweetest of PEACE forever… Life will be bumpy for sure –  but we have to know our roles here are only temporary, and we need to do our part, not fear, and share the Joy…. trust me, that JOY is far better than VBS water balloons – this JOY is FOREVER!

Thanks for journeying thru VBS with me… Can’t wait to see where and how God calls me into VBS next year!

AMEN!

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Stay Out of the Pits, VBS Sheep Get the Green Flag, 19JUL

OH, the VBS SMILES – especially at day 3 VBS as I watched a camper SHINE while he was watching the live action skit.

Let me tell you how GOOD GOD IS – about how this day 3 VBS bible point came to life for me: “When life changes, God is good”.

My VBS friend is also a number one youth race car driver, that has been his passion FOREVER, his parents pour their energy into preparation. The ONLY activity that pulls him away from the track is VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL… Well, he was so very excited about ROAR as a potential theme, but I wanted to go with retro Power Lab instead – but as our church’s VBS got cancelled, we were welcomed into another church’s VBS… Guess what? Their theme was: ROAR… (I hear giggling from the angels watching us) … ROAR…

Oh this camper’s SMILE – the HOLY SPIRIT poured out of his smile and oh that GLOW…  ROAR…

“When life changes, God is good”…

And here is the bible story: Moses and his people were in the desert wandering and wandering and the people complained, and it got them nowhere… ACTUALLY, all that complaining extended their time spent in the desert, oops… And Moses ended up overreacting and that prevented him from getting to the promised land… the people were in the pits…

Yet God did provide everything that the people needed… So, they got manna and they got quail and they got clean drinking water – and Moses led them thru change… God took care of them…

I am the witness to God’s Hand taking care of all of us when our VBS cancelled, and I promised that I would work to find a VBS that this child of God and his mom and I could do together… and wow, it was just one mile down the street… that was good ROAR of the Lord, huh?

It is my humbling witness that the 5 MOST vocal supporters of picking Roar, all got to participate in Roar… I puzzle at how things worked out so amazingly, but I do NOT doubt the ALL-POWERFUL HAND of GOD acting in this very moment… one sheep, actually many sheep, and again the demonstration of the Lord knowing EVERY HAIR on our blessed heads… I too needed Roar, for the bible messages about Moses’s trials, I did not know that months ago, but I BELIEVE IT NOW!

Thank you, Lord, that I got to see our camper’s smile, his mom’s comfort, our helpers help… They got the green flag into Roar… They kept their VBS hope alive and that kept them from being stuck in the pits… I believe that obedience to the Lord’s guidance gave me a major realization that I had to move forward when I could not change where I was – the Lord got me out of the pits too, in life and in repair – and that then allowed me to arrive here – to see that VBS smile – to see these children of God smile…

Lord, I barely scratch the surface of how you take care of us, of so MANY sheep.  But You do – that I BELIEVE.

All joy and praise to You Lord. You gives us ALL the green flag to keep racing – FOREVER…

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NEVER Fail to Give the Reason – As VBS Draws to a Close, 18Jul

I am guilty of this – I often omit the name of Jesus and talk about God in generalities to people… It’s a hang-up that many of us have, we don’t want to offend, or we don’t know how it will be received… Jesus is the reason for our salvation, our future with God.  Even one sign language symbol for Jesus (in a song for VBS) is a rip open of a curtain – the thick heavy temple curtain tore when Jesus died…. no longer was there a barrier between us and God…. JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY TO GOD.

There is an amazing ministry opportunity of VBS. See, in this sesame street generation (me included) singing and dancing, bible buddies and real action portrayals of bible stories are teaching vehicles. VBS makes it easy and fun to get these bible truths and stories to the children who then bring them directly home. In VBS, it is easy to talk about Jesus – because we tell great stories – plus it’s the bible stories and messages that need reinforcement in those who have heard them – over and over. It’s the bible stories about Jesus that are new and fresh each time when applied to the current circumstances you find yourself in.

One of the past themes that got me SO EXCITED was Power Lab. It had 5 stories relating directly to Jesus. Yes, the science theme was so cool, and I have sentimentality for my first VBS and because I am a scientist. I discovered, at my first VBS, that VBS was not bible thumping but praise raising! Even as un-awakened as I was 12 years ago, I was excited about these stories about Jesus…

So, let me share my sentimental first VBS set of stories – Jesus Healing Lepers, Jesus giving sight to a blind man, Peter and Jesus walking on water, Jesus saving us by His death and Resurrection, and Jesus asking God to send us the Power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and always… What a nice progression of Jesus healing us, awakening our eyes, calling us out in faith, making the path sure, and giving us His power to share the Good News as truth…

Yes, these bible stories thrilled me and still do… See, I too am Peter – walking out on that water and having faith that Jesus will hold me when I listen to Him – when I sink (and you know that I do and will), Jesus is there – it only takes me reaching up my hand to grab His. We all venture out in faith, we try to keep walking – yet when we sink we can be caught if we look to Him – when Jesus reclaims us into the Kingdom, we are NEVER ever lost – remember that veil is torn – even our sins cannot keep us from salvation in that reaching hand of Jesus…. GRAB IT…

Ah, but VBS lasts only a short long week… lightning in a bottle.     After VBS week, there are 51 more weeks to serve… maybe not as fun, but just as open for fulfilling our calling – sharing faith…

So, what are our next adventures with the Lord? We are called to climb out of our boats of comfortability… We will have rough seas, but we can hang-on… At minimum, I pray to never fail to give the reason for my calm boat – my rescue of choppy waters – and my saving Savior – JESUS.

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1 Peter 1:3

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever lacks these traits is nearsighted to the point of blindness, having forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

Therefore, brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these things you will never stumble, and you will receive a lavish reception into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Therefore, I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have

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(Group Publishing’s POWER LAB five stories, 2008)

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I am a Sponge!!! 17JUL

My favorite EXCLAMATION of the VBS week was from 5-year old Joshua, echoed by the other boys, just after water games at Vacation Bible School: “I am a sponge!!!”

They were only slightly drenched from the water game, “Drip, Drip, Squeeze” – like “Duck, Duck, Goose” but with a wet sponge. The Bible Point was “When Life is Scary, God is Good”…

“I AM A SPONGE”, Joshua held his arms out and showed the world his wet shirt… I realized instantly the truth that little kids ARE sponges, they are soaking up learning so very much and so very fast… they are sponges and they naturally crave to be fed…

That’s us too, yes, any and all of us who crave knowledge are sponges, who hunger for it… We want to be learning the world, when we learn about the Lord and His ways, we want to know MORE… Oh, how blessed to CRAVE having tasted and seen…

“Like newborn babies, CRAVE pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

The nice thing about being a sponge is that you can carry the information you learn, and you can drip it many different places, teach, share, love, and you can go back to the bucket and absorb more…

“Coincidentally”, I have recently been learning about Moses from a recent sermon that struck a deep chord within me. I found myself so very much looking forward to the VBS Bible lesson, learning about the plagues…  I crave spiritual milk, I crave teaching, I am a sponge!!!! Moses was taught what to do by the Lord – He questioned and doubted – he saw the consequences when he and his people overreacted and were not grateful – he and his people saw relief when protected from plagues – including the most precious Passover saving – Moses was the hands, feet and mouth of the Lord – to help his/His people – we can be too…

Moses was led so that he could lead – I understand that – IMMENSELY!

The kids in the “Drip, Drip, Squeeze” game eventually realized that it was not so scary to get wet and run, we laughed, even the leader ran and wiped-out, but he still laughed… I was not afraid of water games – put my phone to the side and sat in the circle… When God is in control, we don’t have to fear.  When God is in control we don’t have to miss out on the amazing opportunities that He presents in front of us.

Now that we have tasted what is good, WE WANT TO BE A SPONGE!

“When Life changes, God is Good!”  is today’s Bible message…. 100% of the time life changes, we have all been thru many changes!!!  And because of the Lord, we crave to know what spiritual milk flavor is next… we crave to know what JOY comes out of a world of unknown… Since I work for the Lord, and we all work for the Lord, we can participate in life without fear… (remembering a past VBS tagline: “When you worry, Jesus RESCUES!”)

We have the Abundant Life of Forever Salvation bought by Jesus’ death and resurrection – that’s why it’s OK to walk thru the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23), because we are to keep walking…

Moses kept walking in the desert… the people got cranky, the Lord promised the best, but the road there was rough… the people had a hard time believing…. do we? Did the Lord take care of them? He did! Has the Lord restored us to hope before? Yes, He has. Will He hold us safe forever? Yes, He will.

Let’s be sponges for what God is teaching us today!

Because of Jesus, our future is secured… let’s go teach the others about Jesus too… “proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light!”

Bring your bucket of Living Water stories, there are lots and lots of sponges out there waiting to soak it all up!

Amen!

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1 Peter 2

Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “See, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.” To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

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Life gets Wild, God is Good. We Need to Take the LONGVIEW, 15JUL

Life gets a little WILD sometimes, Well all the time… So, when life changes, God is still good. What a blessed morning I had at Vacation Bible School with a dear child who has been recovering very well from her double liver transplants… giving her mom a great relief to know she was OK at VBS – this was my honor and privilege to let her mom rest assured…

At Vacation Bible school we learned about Moses and his people – in the dessert – “When life is unfair”, “When life is scary”, “When life is good”, “When life changes”, “When life is sad” – God is still good…

You see, God owns the LONGVIEW…  The people wandering the desert could not comprehend God’s plans and often we cannot comprehend…  But when God promises He will take care of us, He really will…  We need to take the LONGVIEW as well…  We may have many wild moments but in the long haul we are going to be all right!

Our excited 5 year old VBS-er went thru many life changes last year but this year she is an energetic and a wonderful child excited for life!!!  A new liver and a new life!!!  God is good! We also will go thru many changes – but the saving grace of God is His gift of Jesus to us – to make sure we will also be ALL RIGHT – Heaven is our home – life on this earth gets wild – but keep walking my friends – keep walking…

 

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The “Tongues” of Vacation Bible School, 15JUL

You can say that I’m stretching this scripture too far, but I don’t think so… God knows what I mean… and Vacation Bible School-ers know what I mean… The language and emotion of Vacation Bible School is like a “tongue” in that some people get it and others don’t…. So in some small way, it’s up to me to explain what the appeal and purpose of Vacation Bible School is for others, for education and edification of the church…

I could show you photos of VBS-ers, but unless I explain that the GLOW on their faces is from the Holy Spirit, how will you and the rest of the world know that GOD has a plan to use the energy, joy, thrill, and study of HIS children and teenagers to change the rest of the world….

I’m serious!!! Some may think VBS is all fun and games, but this is SERIOUS WORK for the LORD.  JESUS SAID LET THE LITTLE CHILDREN COME TO ME. And that includes the parents, grandparents, neighbors too… see VBS is fun, but it’s most importantly for the FAITH.

I once saw a 5-year-old so EXCITEDLY explaining to his Grandma all the bible buddies and messages – I was touched by the Grandma’s AWE… I was amazed by the Lord’s timing that allowed me to be edified and know He was building me up so I could keep working to do the seed planting work that I do… I needed that too – God’s timing was just right that I saw both the impact of VBS and also the TRUTH that if we are to share the Word with the children, we need our community focus…

A wheelchair-bound special man in our congregation is always THRILLED to wear his VBS T-shirt and support the campers and staff in prayers…. I felt those prayers too, I did. “There are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning.” Clapping and smiles and JOY overflowing is the ACTION of a Spirit that can NOT be denied. Prayers are purposeful. I have another wheelchair-bound friend in a nursing home, Joe, who wears His VBS bracelet everyday…

Recently I drove carefully, but easily, into an impoverished neighborhood. Why? To deliver VBS supplies of course…. I put my ARMOR of God on,  and went to see the oasis of God’s church growing in this real neighborhood, growing the peace in spirit… From hula-hoops to brown craft paper,  trash to treasures of a whole overflowing preschool craft closet – there was nothing more important that I could have flowed and delivered than HOPE… I am not the source – just the conduit – to bring HOPE… the prayer is that the unbelievers will see and say “God is really among you!”

It was not hard for me, I have a Subaru… it was not hard for me to carry stuff in the summer heat or recruit others into helping me carry stuff…. the only hard thing was parallel parking – but it’s a Subaru – you can climb curbs if you have too… Just sayin’…

The surprise of the pastors and hope from the onlookers was NOT for me to see, but for me to EXPLAIN to others… I easily accomplished filling and emptying the cargo area of stuff – but the strength, courage, grace, and time schedules are all a gift from the Lord… He’s got work for us to do, grab your Subaru and go. You can fit a lot of stuff in your Subaru, but it’s nothing compared to the capacity of seeds stored in your heart for spreading… your own glow is purposeful for the Lord to shine, to show up all over your face… VBS does that…

The Pastors and I have connected on Facebook – “Faithbook” – this is a tool – understanding that God Himself empowers us to use tools is priceless… we build disciples with the gifts and tools God gives us…

So today I will help at another church, not running the camp but being present and I will help a 5yr old miracle, survivor of 2 liver transplants,  actually she’s amazingly good to go, I’m really simply helping her mom, who is very ill, by being a relief that her child will be OK. GOD HIMSELF opened this window of opportunity for me to be a servant, helping one sheep is as precious as the 99… I tell you this NOT because I am special, I am not, but because this is the mission of VBS, make disciples and reinforce HOPE that servants are made by God for HIS plan and MOVED by God in HIS timing…

And the teenagers, where else do teenagers get up before noon in the summer? For VBS of course…

VBS is lightning in a bottle, you are only allowed to hold it for a short time. It is a privilege to work for the Lord, we should never forget that… is it a luxury to do VBS, YES! It’s a luxury to sing and dance in air conditioning, to eat cookies, to make crafts. It is a luxury that we don’t have to send these teenagers out to scrounge up food for the family,  work the cotton gins and industrial age equipment with tiny hands, let alone send teenagers to fight wars… we live in luxury,  therefore we risk complacency, we sin in situations of failing to use our resources… fear is no substitute for faith… step out in faith and you will find that God actually made the path of stepping stones. Step up. God has a plan.

Vacation Bible School is seeing teens shouting “Jesus Rescues” – then remembering that affirmation years later when they are in a bind.

Vacation Bible School is also comforting a secretly weeping crying mom who heard the bible messages from the back of the room at the wrap up session and felt them touching and HEALING her broken heart.

Vacation Bible School is for a Grandma handing over 20 bucks to buy pizza for the teens and knowing that the Lord Himself allows her that generosity, the gift of providing…

Vacation Bible School is for the pastor who brings a leaf blower into the fellowship hall to deal with the glitter situation… and for a director who smiles and cries at EVERY single speck of glitter knowing the JOY of camp, remembering and memorializing the friend whose glittering faith will never be diminished.

Vacation Bible School is for RAISING DISCIPLES.

Vacation Bible School is camp. Ooey gooey glue and glitter, dancing, learning,  singing,  living… learning… camp…

If you can feel the energy of kids RUNNING IN CHURCH, then you only have a glimpse of how God needs these kids to bring the bible messages home and to the world…

If you stop to read the scriptures glued to messes of mishmash handful of old crafts, you have experienced spirit-flowing from camp back to you.

I bet those kids speak in explained tongues of Spiritual flows that their parents understand, don’t they? Those parents will hang on EVERY word…  Vacation Bible School is for the Spirit to Spread…

Tap into that energy, interpret the “tongues” of VBS-children from age 3 to 103 and GROW your faith that God indeed has a plan to grow His kingdom, one child at a time…

Have fun…

Have faith…

Save me some glitter…

AMEN

1 Corinthians 14: 6 Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? 7 Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? 8 Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? 9 So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. 10 Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning.  11 If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me.12 So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.

13 For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. 15 So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. 16 Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say “Amen” to your thanksgiving,since they do not know what you are saying?17 You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.

18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

20 Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. 21 In the Law it is written:

“With other tongues and through the lips of foreigners, I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.”

22 Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24 But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, 25 as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

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Some Fields are Blooming Now, Other Fields are Dry, 13Jul

There is a new praise band song that I sing that reminds us: “we work the fields of souls, together you and I…. Some fields are blooming now, other fields are dry…. ”

VBS season at my old church is now all dry, and we all move on to fresh soil, new blooming fields, to work for the Lord…

I was blessed to distribute some of a MASSIVE volume of excess materials to new blooming fields. Pay it forward. The bulk of excess went to 7 different places: some VBS and Sunday school programs, growing churches, a nursing home, two schools and even a children’s hospital… Much was from my dear friend Miss Bonnie, I could see her smiling down from Heaven as I hauled her buckets of crafts which included leftover supplies from when she taught my own children oh so many years ago. I spilled some glitter in my car, surely Miss Bonnie laughed at that…

I too haul my own self to new places… I myself am helping at multiple different VBS’s this summer in some small capacity with sharing materials, sharing presence, and of course prayers… turns out I know like 5 local VBS directors or more, and I also know how to make carpet tube trees at 6AM… Jesus was a carpenter, so can we be…

“We work the field of souls, together you and I, some fields are blooming now…. ” (this is a lyric from my new band’s song set)

And blooming they are – that’s why we are to look forward to our jobs that the Lord is laying out for us – look for the light, listen for the songs, follow the smell for the saving aroma of Christ – shake the sand and glitter from our sandals where we don’t fit it – and Follow Him… the un-chartered fields mean we have to see the need BEFORE we set the seed, and nurture the crops. The fields won’t bloom unless we remember to mature the seeds we planted…

Every time I bit my tongue and downplayed my own thorns these past 2 weeks, and INSTEAD spoke of God’s abundance for us, I was working the fields… every time I was comforted by a friend, they were working the fields too… God comforts us so that we can comfort others…

The Lord has work for us to do, that’s our job to keep looking forward and plowing forward… go make disciples means go find the people who need to hear the Good News… take nothing with you, just the Living Word… Don’t worry, there are dollar stores everywhere, glitter can be re-found…

Don’t worry and work the fields of souls and know that we will be VERY BUSY – there is a harvest of people out there, HUNGRY for HOPE….

God never promised that we would be walking thru a rose garden in life, however HIS path leads eternal… “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me”…. Psalm 23… Just keep walking… the Lord is with you!!!

It’s good to remind our friends to keep walking too…

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PS, the glitter is travelling too, you never can get rid of the glitter, can you?…

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PPS – God occasionally gives us an echo back, we don’t need to hear praise, however we like to know God is working…. and He is… oh my tears flowed after I read an email today from a VBS family last year – a child reminded her Grandma that JESUS RESCUES… I “adopted” these 3 grandkids and grandma for the week because the Lord knew I needed them just as much as they needed VBS – and all I did was share the Word, give them rides, buy some pizza and ice cream – a big banana split… And do what I could do..

We need to help the ministry of VBS seed itself…

Shipwrecked, rescued by Jesus!

TRUTH 

707

Bee Me Bee His, 08JUL

A passage in “Accidental Saints” calls us reformed candle wax. When brought to the warm LIGHT of Christ – we are melted in order to be made anew… and then we are able to be shining His Light thru our renewed selves…

These thoughts always remind me that we are worker bees for the Lord…

I certainly am as busy as a bee, and my name Deborah, in Hebrew, means Bee… Bee-ing a Debbie is as blessed as I can bee. Bees collect pollen and go back to the hive to make honey and wax… How blessed I am now to witness that we are wax melted by Christ – for the purpose re-creating, re-pollinating, re-vining… We all work for God in our own special ways, this is intensely unfathomable…  Yet we must simply keep working…

Working for God is all the buzz, you know…

For my near 50 years on this Earth, I have been recollecting the spiritual pollen materials that God has placed in my sight. Even some stuck to me when I was not looking. We all have this opportunity for collecting and stockpiling, bee-ing an opportunist for a new creation as we take and make His many gifts into wax as fuel in order to burn His Light, to shine to all. He Himself recreates us – as it is not us who does the reforming, we are His clay, His wax, His children…  Likewise, we can process His resources into honey to share His love so sweetly. In our own special way, we are able to tell of His love, joyfully sing His praises. We can bee His bees…

Bee-ing still for a moment, I let my tears flow, because I can feel blessings again and again for realizing I work for the Lord. God made us able to work for Him forever… oh, how blessed that we get to experience and tell of His love…

As God is Re-Vining His Garden, I’m just Bee-ing me… actually no, I am Bee-ing His… a bee can not help but bee beckoned to work the fields where His love blooms…

Bee-lieve in the Lord.

Bee still in His Service.

Bee His, Eternally Bee.

Bee.

Amen

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“We will work the field of souls, together you and I“…

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“We expose ourselves to God’s light and it warms us, melts us – melts our resistances, our schemes, our pride… Then we are poured back into another form that still bears the marks of how we got there… Then we become something that can bear light again…   Jesus’s power reforms our wax to shine HIS LIGHT”….

From Accidental Saints…

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2nd Corinthians 5

  For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.

  So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

706

Dazzling LIGHT from the Lord’s Fireworks 06JUL

I was driving home thru a wild thunder storm last Tuesday – I had just had the most marvelous evening at my praise band practice – a new church and new band for me –  new friends, fun, faith, fellowship, flutes, flowing, fabulous…

And then the church lost electricity! But no one was mad or scared – we were safe and sound in a seasoned building from the 1800’s – we admired the power in the storm, checked cell phones for radars… We were in the red zone…

We were all right.

So, no worries, this old church had seen these storms before, our leader was not deterred and grabbed a battery music stand light and we gathered around the piano to practice the last song with acoustic accompaniment… I held my cellphone as the light for our piano player… But really the Light was holding all of us! How BLESSED – the Light of Jesus set forth to guide us, His Spirit to flow thru us, His comfort to hold us. We have become like His flashlights to share His light into the world’s darkness… We are but a glimmer of His lightening, if we chose to flash it.

My drive home was long, an hour thru the storm, but it flew by in a FLASH, because I was watching some brilliant ball lightning dance across the sky.  I actually drove south back into the red zone of the storm before driving East and North up thru the city and beyond…

The flashes of lightning was so brilliant that I knew I was to recount this moment to remind all of us that when we are in the darkest worst storms there are exquisitely beautiful brilliant flashes of power, just like the most elaborate Light of the Lord. When we are surrounded by our most dark and dangerously awful life storms, the LIGHT OF THE LORD SHINES the most brilliantly – the LOVE OF THE LORD feels the strongest – and the surprise of how His Love reaches us – spectacularly and specifically directed to us, to heal us, is unfathomable… every hair on our heads is known…

As I drove north, the brilliant lights of the brotherly love skyscrapers dazzled my eyes, That’s the LOVE OF THE LORD shone through our fellowship with others. Philos – Philadelphia – LOVE, Brotherly LOVE is LOVE from the Lord shining thru us. We can embrace it and we can share it.  Oh, what opportunities abound… we don’t need to shock, only shine…

On the last bit of my drive, near home, there were flashes from neighborhood fireworks, oh how fun! See, the storm had passed, now neighbors were re-emerging into the backyards. They sensed safety and longed to celebrate. Fireworks were displayed for all to see.

Turning into my driveway, my home is all lit up, my children are lively, my journey not done but changed in direction once again as I put my “mom hat” on… “Storm? What storm?” Not even the cat was afraid… Home, the Lord comforted me knowing that they were all right…

We are all right.

Jesus is never absent in our storms of life. Jesus wants to change our pain into passion. Jesus is our Light in the darkness – and reminds us that our home is heavenly, and we are no longer adrift in the storm.  Light pulls us home.

The missions in life, that the Lord has given us, we can therefore embrace with passion. We know that challenges are ever-present. We know to put on the armor of God. We can walk into the red zones and be the healing light.

Those brilliant displays of Your Power Lord, we are in awe. Power for all to see.

“Don’t tell the Lord how big your storms are – Tell the storm how big and powerful your Lord is. ”

Lord, You are the most dazzling Light in our darkness.

You are the Power. The darkness tries to hide… “it trembles at Your sight…”

Because of You, Lord, we know everything will be all right.

Amen

705

Freedom Isn’t Even Freedom, 04Jul

We love saying we are free in America, don’t we?. And it’s true that we are uber blessed to live in America, live the American dream and have so many freedoms not afforded to the world’s populations.  BLESSED!

We also remember the phrase: “Freedom isn’t Free” knowing, but barely knowing, how intensely sacrificing our soldiers have fought for us to have the lifestyles that we are accustomed to.  Likewise, in all free countries we will never completely understand how amazingly BLESSED we are for our ancestors sacrifice. And oppressed countries as well, those who fight and have fought for freedom pay heavy prices, endanger and sacrifice their own lives for the sake of those who come after them. My immigrant great-grandparents even left their whole lives behind to give me my future. Sacrifice.

So, freedom for me, for mankind, is earned thru blood, sweat and tears. Sound familiar? Whose blood, sweat and tears have been sacrificed to bring us into ETERNAL freedom? You know this – ETERNAL FREEDOM IS FROM JESUS.

Jesus was ransomed. Jesus sacrificed and was sacrificed for each and every one of us. Jesus lived day to day by praying and living by His Father’s instructions. So should we. Jesus showed obedience… Light came into the world. Follow the Light. We should live as the servants of our Father, like Jesus. Find Light in darkness. We should realize the level of sacrifice we can and must make to follow our Lord. We are His!

“For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.”

My life phrase should not be “I need freedom to be me!” should it? My personal phrase should be: “I am the servant of the Lord” – “Live as God’s slaves”  – ask Mary, ask Paul, ask anyone who drops their nets and follows Jesus if they regretted their decision to Follow Jesus – NEVER.  It is not easy to sacrifice what we are called to sacrifice but if you have “tasted and seen of the sweetest of Loves” (a song lyric streaming thru my ears) then you know servant life is the only choice.  Complete obedience – NO LUKEWARM FAITH. You must trust that the Lord Himself has your best interests at heart even when you can’t fathom reasons. You must also accept and embrace your humanness and mistake-sin-prone ways and REACH FOR JESUS.

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1Peter 2

I know I can personally witness to this “hunted down by the Lord for my own good” feeling, a Psalm 139 existence, that Freedom isn’t Freedom… Faith means Following.  “I am the handmaiden of the Lord”…. Oh yes, I see it, I have been picked up and moved by the Lord in unbelievable ways… especially recently… If I forget that I work FOR HIM, He will remind me.  I have seen situations go down that I have no control over, but HE DOES.  We all work for the Lord, are blessed servants/slaves to His Plan.

PEOPLE WORK THRU THE SPIRIT even if they don’t know it.

I have seen situations where I have been picked up by my ears and transported into life experiences – I have lived the VBS theme “Shipwrecked Rescued by Jesus” over and over – I have seen myself transported in hyper-speed like Philip called to paraclete-alongside to teach and baptize the Ethiopian along the road, then INSTANTLY be transported by God into another place. ZAPPED OUT of one scene and into another. Yeah, that’s me. I work for the Lord.  Therefore, I best learn to buckle up, get ready for the ride of my life. PUT MY LIFE LAST, HIS LIFE MISSION FIRST: to work to bring all to eternal life. SERVE

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Postscript – SERVE.

While writing this, I am up at my childhood home. My Dad is declining in health but still commands respect and has points to make. His slowed processing from his strokes make him upset when he can’t get a word in edgewise in our VERY talkative family.  He came into a break of the dinner conversation with a story that seemingly didn’t fit the current conversation (strokes do that, steal the quickness of processing  – Plus we are REALLY talkative, hard for ANYONE to get in a word edgewise)…  My Dad retold a story that made him chuckle – at the end, my brother asked what prompted that story at that time (seemingly out of place) my Dad pointed to me. I got it. My brother understood only that my Dad wanted to relate a church story knowing about my devotion to church work. Late to conversation but spot on to my processing, I understood what the Spirit was telling me (and retelling me) deep in my soul at that very moment. My faith, my work, my non-freedom, my servant role, my gratitude to how the Lord uses me, ALL that rolled into a small detail within the story my Dad told…. I could see the connection.

Here is the story that connects: my Dad in life and in his volunteer work for the Lions Club (motto is WE SERVE) knows/knew many people. Howard, was a Lion from Long Island, fellow volunteer,  gregarious man, loved and loving, was a great friend to my father.  Jovial, larger than life, fun, giving. He and his family were camping near the camp that is a Lion’s work project. My father already started laughing at the thought of his dear friend. Howard was Jewish and called my Dad “Saint James”. So, one summer my father needed a minister for the Lions camp worship service.  Howard mentions: “my camp neighbor is a priest or retired priest, but he doesn’t have vestments to wear”. My father in all his connections locates and borrows vestments in a slim compact case and carries them to the Lions camp and hands them to Howard. A third Lion, Tony Renzi, shockingly says: where did you get those! My father and Howard start pulling his chain about my father having been a Monseigneur before getting married. (Pause for my father’s rolling laughter). The story is so funny to my father, one would have to know the characters to understand the laughter, but I KNEW the connection the Spirit had made with me at that very moment  – in that box – in that small box.

See, I have heard the story many times. It is the part where my father describes how compact and unique these vestments were. That’s it. That’s my connection – in my church work I remind people that we are called to serve in singing and dance and teaching children, in leading worship, dinners and committees, IN JOY!!! We are personally NOT having to serve in foxholes, with bullets flying, mortars crumbling lives and at battle fronts.  (Actually, many traditional and new warzones still exist but we are in a first-world cushioned life). We get the joy in living because of the sacrifices of our battle-brave warriors.

AND eternally-minded, we are to serve ALREADY knowing WE ARE FREE from death.  Christ, ransomed for us, has given us His life in exchange for ours. Therefore, we give ours in honor and sacrifice for His. We must continue to run the good race.

My Dad pointed to me, that story was relating to me. I needed to hear my own advice – to remember the intense JOY in how I get to serve the Lord and the opportunities that I am given. It was a story retold for me – deeply – much much further than even my Dad could know… but the Spirit does see in and thru my head heart soul. The Spirit flowing inside my exhausted self knew I needed to rehear how blessed I was to be in His service with the gifts He gave me and the knowledge of how to use them. My gift to Him in that moment was presence.  My gift to my Dad and Mom and my family was to bring my children back up North to connect over dinner and monopoly and fireworks.  To be the meat in the logistical sandwich generation of children and aging parents. To recognize the opportunity… To be the opportunist He has made me… To serve…

Our Father, our all-knowing Father is pointing to us. Are we ready to hear what He is saying? Where are the opportunities to serve? What obstacles is He asking us to find tactful ways thru? Are we ready to serve Him and His mission in thick and thin? Our challenges in serving are definitely NOT as grueling as jumping into and out of foxholes. How could we even compare our stress of organizing music and singing, children’s activities, church services and small groups to jumping into foxholes. We don’t know how BLESSED we are with our “first-world problems”… Yes, we have serious issues, plagues of our time, but we have to HUMBLY put it ALL into perspective and SERVE. So yes, in addition, we need to do what we can in teaching others to find their own chariots, their own paraclete moments, their own mission fields. These activities and war-fronts and joy-fronts will change. God stays the same. We must change and allow God to zap us like paraclete Philip into the new scenes. Go ahead, ask Moses if it was easy moving a nation of people. It is NOT always easy work is it? But God is there. It is still our duty to serve Him. Moses picked up a snake, by its tail no less. So surely, we can pick up the work that God commands us to do. We can even move away from our comfort zones into compliance with His Plan. 

Our freedom is not freedom and our service to Him is required. Thank the warriors for our future. Thank Jesus for being the Way the Truth the Life. Thankfully we can be living our lives for Him.

Snap in your seatbelts, my paraclete friends, God has us on the move.

Find and pack your service tools for travel. Hold onto Him. It is time for us to GO SERVE.

Amen

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12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. John 3

704

VBS CEO Moses, Give up your Staff, it’s His Staff Anyway, 02JUL

A MAJOR processing devotion to how God changed my role – how He is using me NOW, and about me leaving my old role as the VBS CEO, as I let it go…

Over and over I’m being reminded that I am handing my VBS staff over to be the Lord’s staff, which they already were and are… just like some kids and volunteers (including me) are going over to an Africa VBS theme experience at a friend’s church next week – the perfect tag line for all of us is: “When life changes, God is good”

I had a $2 African photo box sitting unused ever since springtime. How fitting that now the few VBS core volunteers, who had fought for a “Roar” theme over “Power Lab” theme, are all now going to be able to go serve in a ROAR VBS! Yeah, hilarious Lord…

They are changing locations for their children’s ministry focus. I got to help coordinate to get them to a personal “Promise land” VBS theme of the year. You parted the seas and I pointed my staff in that direction. Actually Your staff, Lord, Your staff not mine.

“When life is unfair, God is good”…

“When life is scary, God is good”…

“When life changes, God is good”…

“When life is sad, God is good”…

“When life is good, God is good”…

How blessed… I am calmly watching my team dissipate into the future as if I was a retiring CEO. I had to close my company, lay them off and lay myself off too…

I feel to be the retired CEO of this VBS, I was the transition leader for just until You Lord made way and I settled the loose ends, finished my cleaning and moved ahead… I moved on because You assured me Lord that everybody will be OK. I am OK.

But Moses, I’m in tears now realizing that GOD HIMSELF made me realize that I am just like Moses….. that’s why a recent Moses sermon really touched me… It really did – Moses had to give up control of his walking stick staff to God’s needs for it… Moses had to move his/His people – I too move to where the Lord is calling me. Like Moses at the end, I will stop and rest and know God loves me and see everyone move on…

So don’t worry about me, He found me a place to rest. I’m uber blessed to rest, learn, SING. I know God pulled me to where I am… Oh, my shock is that I get to feel His peace in where I am today. Peace.

Now I am watching HIS people go into their future – to serve HIM!

It is a shockingly accurate description in scripture of how God knows EVERY hair on our heads – He knows how to shock me too – I wrote this title: “VBS CEO Moses, give up your staff” – and then GASPED at the wordplay of the word STAFF – I give up my VBS people staff – Moses gives up his staff to be HIS staff, the physical stick – and that’s the crux of the sermon I just heard – WOW. Yes, scripture that “sticks with you” is meant for you to find how it pertains to your own situation…  oh…. amazing…

I myself have future opportunities galore, I’m first going to be sewing dresses for Africa, another skill that the Lord gifted me – I have a serger, a sewing machine, a skill to share, and yet another gifted decompression opportunity while I remain busy as a bee… Perfect Lord…

I’m always on YOUR STAFF, Lord. Ready to bee me.

703

Indubitably, I’m Still the Bee –  02JUL

A VERY fitting sermon to me. An emeritus pastor delivered a sermon about Moses in my new church – I sat in the very very back – I sat there knowing that this sermon was speaking directly to me – that I was supposed to be there – at that EXACT moment – in a new church – in a new adventure – in HIS service… I had just sung in my new praise band. I had my phone in my hand (shut off) when the minister said: “What did the Lord give you to serve Him?” – yes, it totally reminded me of the gifts that the Lord bestowed on little ole me to be a campaigner for Him. My new singing, my confidence and how I share thru my phone – these are gifts for His glory – He uses me for my writing, my encouragement, my connections.  I totally felt that I was supposed to hear that sermon about Moses (and his stick) and have it “stick with me”.

“WHAT’S IN YOUR HAND?”   You are supposed to be using your gifts…

As I sat there, I knew that I became like Moses this past week, watching his walking staff become His Staff – meaning the Lord used the physical wooden staff as a tool for showing His miracles to convince Moses’s people. As I am now ending my time as CEO of VBS, I see my VBS staff leaving, dispersing, now a “walking staff” to be His staff, as they always were and will be… I am His worker bee too.

I buzz along to new places too, I love that I am singing in this new church!!! How blessed…. God moved me swiftly for Him to use my many gifts, singing being only one of the skills He gifted me… I get to learn and listen and heal…. and hear others SING… and just BE… BEE… I saw how God aligned many events to get me here (oh, what a story)… I did have to take bold steps of my own, but He made my stepping stones clear, more clear as I prayed… God is “constant in the trial and the change” just like the lyrics I sang… When life changes, God is good. Indubitably!

A new band and new church and me…. a new chapter, but me as the same BEE… my name Debbie means bee… I am older and wiser…. I am a bee ready to learn His new roles for me… Indubitably…