#861 – 11MAY

Hold the Rail, Mom IS Right

My Mom is the best!!!

My Mom is Heaven-sent. I get to borrow her here on earth.

My Mom’s ever-spoken advice: “Hold the rail!” Even at age 50, I can still hear her say it, and thank God she still says it! Yes, there is nothing easier to do than fall down the stairs, and I have… Up and down the stairs we still go, “Hold the rail!”. There is nothing so simple a saying which is the best good idea. HOLD THE RAIL!!!

Hold the rail.

In life as well, let’s not overlook this as the best advice EVER.

Hold the rail. Yes the physical one.

Hold the rail. How about the spiritual one? Hold the prayer rail, hold the rail and draw a line against distractions and disasters, hold the rail and the rail holds you – as long as your grip is good. Watch each of your steps. Get a grip.

Hold the rail and in other words, hold onto what will steady us like none other. Hold the WHO most of all – hold the out-streched HAND of the LORD.

Hold the Lord. The Lord is holding you.  Hold the Lord against distractions and disasters, hold your grip, get a grip. Watch your steps.

My Mom knows the Lord in her own unique way. As we all do. My Mom holds the rail, even put in a second rail on the big stairs at home. Be extra careful now these long years… take advantage of the most safety you can to transverse day to day…

A Second Rail, Hmmm… an advocate to come alongside, a Holy Spirit to hold, to help… How Amazing… We HAVE a surrounding SAVE…

Hold the HOPE. The HOPE is holding you!

Why not hold the rail? The steadying presence is for your own safety.

Why not hold the Holy Hope Helping of Heaven’s Host.

Hold out your hand, He is here to hold.

HE who helps, HE IS THE LORD.

HOLD ON TIGHT!

Amen

#860, 08MAY

WHY Do I Wear a Mask?

Why do I wear a mask? and stay socially distanced? Because my faith is UNMASKED and I believe we are to do our part to inspire others, remind others –  and because I am alive.

Because my FAITH should be written all over my face.

Why do I wear a mask? Because I am blessed to know that the rules are not JUST for protection but trust that compliance is for DEMONSTRATING that I CARE.

Why do I wear a mask? and change it twice a day at least? Why do I wash my hands? Because I have to be aware of my surroundings and not take the things I have to do and get to do for granted.

Why do I wear a mask? Because I DO honestly want to go out and about, but NOT for flaunting my freedom. For now IS the time for finding our balance between work and worry, routine and risk. And while I wear a mask, I can still show that I CAN STILL SMILE.  We can still smile while wearing masks, we can still sing quietly in the grocery story while wearing one, we can still be polite and friendly,  we can still believe in the goodness of the Lord while wearing one. We can certainly show our humbleness while wearing one. We can still be His servant while wearing one. We should not judge while wearing one. We should be still.

Why do I wear a mask? Because it caught my overflowed tears just now as I watched (via a Facebook live feed) a dear friend lay BOTH her mother and father to rest in a cemetery – both 80 plus – both taken swiftly – BOTH passing away only a week apart – together in dear love 56 years married… I will re-remember today because I heard the sadness of those there at the service. I will wear a mask and know the “closer” of illness but the beginning of eternity. I will remember their closeness to each other and of each of them to the Lord, and I will wear my mask to mark the completeness of their earthly cycle.

Why do I wear a mask? Because we don’t know when, where, how we will participate in the spread of this virus(SARS2). We don’t and won’t see it coming – especially if we THINK it already came by, skipping us for now – but we just don’t know.

Why do I wear a mask? Because we know we are all to pass away someday. Wearing the mask draws me closer to the Lord knowing others are passing. Yet, we know that that is OK – that we have the Lord leading our way.

Why do I wear a mask? Because I am still a breathing, living, loving organism. Because I praise the Lord – and the Lord alone – because He has filled me with breath and life to make me His. The Lord has made me aware and allowed me to simply walk out the door today and go where I choose…  Even better, I best go where He chooses me to go – He allows me to wear the mask today because I am still on this Earth…

Why do I wear a mask? Because if I don’t set a good example, who will? If I don’t prepare for my children, who will? If I don’t show the synergy of my own knowledge of science, spirituality, and sensibility, who will?

Why do I wear a mask? Because I have lots of fun fabrics to sew and so that others will be seen smiling within these masks too – and if I am not colorful and singing and smiling, and crying and listening and learning, and being a person of faith behind my mask, who will?…  Many are all these things in their faith and therefore I also can be. I can be me in a mask. I can still be me.

Why do I wear a mask? Because I am still alive…

Why I am alive? Because the Lord said so…

Why did the Lord make me? To show my faith in Him. To be loved by Him and to love Him.

Why do I UNMASK my faith in Him? because He made me me.

I was unmasked to the Lord before I was made – He knows everything about me. And He told me, showed me He loves me. He told me that my job was to tell you that He loves you.

God loves you. Jesus saves you. Holy Spirit moves you.

Why do I wear my mask in faith? Because my FAITH should be written all over my face.

Amen

859

Mega Micro Mega-phone Micro-Crab, My Lord, You ARE in Control, 07MAY

Don’t ever think that the Lord is not in control…

Don’t ever think that you overthink the complexities of the world – but DO think of the BIG as well as simple little things that the Lord has helped control for you, in you, with you helping… DO think what the Lord can reveal to you, and ask with all your heart. If you think Micro, you may understand Mega. If you think Mega you may understand that it covers all the Micro too. God has it all…

I may have told you that we found a lost hermit crab (that we named Christmas for his colorful shell) in the camp woods about 3 years ago – saw him on a path after discussing a gut feeling for us to walk one path over another – TRUST that gut feeling…

I may have told you that Anna S. (Christmas’s Grandma) and I didn’t want to be late for the supper bell – TRUST that calling.

I may have told you that we were amazed but left the crab there, OOPS – TRUST the OOPS feeling. We went back – because others reminded us that hermit crabs are not native to PA woods in chilly October. others urged us – we went back the next day – TRUST the people giving you advice.

There he was – there he was – there he was waiting for us (well how would we think like a crab? he was just existing) – TRUST the SOMEONE was thinking about him and about us – TRUST that the Spirit gives us time to think and to pray and to act… THINK about THINKING.

The Lord wants us to think about thinking.

I LOST THE CRAB!!!!!

My mistake – I took the crab out for exercising from his small enclosure and then I forgot about him – lost my thinking like leaving the stove on – Christmas was “lost” in my house for 18 hours or so – OOPS – honest mistake – we are honestly HUMAN – KNOW WE ARE HUMAN.  Think about forgiving our humanness.

PRAYER – RESCUE – HOPE – TRUST… I prayed and the Lord revealed a hunch and an image to me. TRUST that I am NOT making this up but that prayers and revealing and hunches are NORMAL – gut reactions are there for a reason… I found him within 3 minutes of my prayer and vision – whoda thunk? not me! whoda thunk that the Lord would use my forgetfulness to teach me something, that when I ask He answers. I pray to never forget that – HE is in control!

If the Lord thru my gut feeling can reveal the whereabouts of the smallest crab, in my MICRO life – then tell me how amazing the MEGA plan is – a plan to save the world before creating it!  Tell me that your gut reaction is WOW – tell me that you can’t imagine the unimaginable because I can’t imagine it either – but imagine TRUSTING the gut feeling that Jesus was planning on saving each of us before they created the world. I can only imagine that by faith not by sight.

Imagine how our joy gets cultivated by revelations and encouragements that there are no coincidences, imagine and experience the fun about little miracles of connective-ness. If you can imagine the Lord knowing the hairs on your head, you will believe it when He makes your hair stand on end! Surprised for the little coincidences of life – which are not co-incidences!

God-incidences all around…

Imagine me simply walking up to say “Hi” to someone I don’t know but while chatting they randomly ask: “do you have a megaphone? we need a megaphone for the National Day of Prayer parade.”   Well, yes, YES random questioning person, i do have a random megaphone that is not mine but in my office, purchased by a sweet friend. Well yes, how NOT random the Lord knew to connect the big MEGA things to make the MICRO things fall together – how NOT random…

How random the conversation drifted to hermit crabs – how NOT random that this person had a story about hermit crabs too – how NOT random that the Lord is in charge.

How NOT random that making people THINK and PRAY are all in the works for the Lord’s Day. How amazing is that EVERYDAY is the Lord’s Day…  How could we forget?

I’ll take my awe of You Mega and Micro-capable Lord, I’ll NOT wrap my head around the huge-ness of You Lord, but I will wrap my heart up in Your warm embrace and LOVE. I will take my Mega-phone and Micro-Crab and totally know that neither of them are mine – never were – but I was gifted the strange duties of holding on to them for Your Purposes.  I will not even think that my life is my life – that my time is anything but Your Time – I will try to reduce my bargaining my own time, remembering that it is from You Lord, Your good graces that I even wake up everyday! and it is of Your good mercy, Lord, that I get to actually sleep at night…

I believe that You Lord need us to tell of your God-incidences, God-winks, God-sightings…

I believe that You Lord need us working Your work in the world this whole while.

I believe that You Lord need us.

I KNOW that we need You!!!

I know you have the MEGA and the MICRO, You are in control.

Amen

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Jesus looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN.” John 17

858, 02MAY

We don’t always “get it”, but WE WILL

What is going on today? Often we feel that we cannot understand all that goes on or thru our lives, nor have the mental capacity to process even a fraction. GOD KNOWS ALL but He WON’T tell all – He does tell us to trust Him.

In John’s account of the Last Supper, Jesus is explaining that He is leaving – that even if the disciples don’t understand all this heavy news now, THEY WILL… and if they don’t completely understand how it all comes together,  they will, but ONLY later… “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t hear then now. When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into the all the truth.” (v16)

Jesus didn’t need to tell His disciples everything, because He was with them, but now that He was going to be leaving thru crucifixion, He told them that they will need His Spirit to keep moving forward.  (We do too)

We also are on that same track – not always knowing why we are in a circumstance – but having been given the TRUTH, we are told to TRUST…

We are urged to have patience, perseverance as well as passion and praise – even in unknowns, for our future is secured by Jesus.  We stumble through life, and are picked up only by stumbling upon the TRUTH. We may live thru follies and frustrations, but we WILL get to a place where we WILL see it all fall into place. We won’t see it all now, nor could we. We won’t “get it” until we get to be where all is revealed – and we won’t need to look back, we will just need to be. We will just be.

Let’s hope that the Word permeates the world, so all will know that the Truth of Jesus leads the way.

Not now, but someday THIS DAY will be understood by us.

And someday, we will not even worry that we didn’t know.

Amen

857, 30APR

Found Again! Christmas the Crab!

Found Christmas the Crab… oh you know there’s a devotion here about me losing focus… and the Lord clue-ing me in.

I found the crab with the hockey sticks, behind the washer… I lost focus yesterday and left him on the living room floor, packed my lunch and went to work… home late, I saw the lid off of his home, I sadly realized I had lost focus… I was too exhausted for the exhaustive search, I went to bed knowing that I was going to have to tear the house apart.. I work up unusually early at 430 am with the realization that I better start looking. Better yet I best start LISTENING… Christmas the crab is active at these times… I took the battery out of the clock that was ticking too loud in the kitchen and just stood silent.  I probably looked like I was hunting for a hidden Easter basket. And I LISTENED.

I prayed to the Lord: “Please GIVE ME A CLUE!” and I rose my hand to acknowledge my lost unfocused self, I lifted my hand to the air to ask Jesus to pull me out of the water… I asked for help because how could I lose a crab I was so supposed to help? and honestly I prayed because I really didn’t want to tear my house apart!!!… and yes, just then, an image came that quick – I just envisioned the laundry room – I headed over. I listened for the crab but no. I simply kept thinking about the hockey sticks but those gaps seemed too small for a big crab… but there he was… THERE HE WAS!!!.. God knew… I was the recipient of His Power to forgive and focus. I was gifted a vision. I knew and know that I will forget how much help I got just then from the Lord…  I will forget that He flashed a vision to me. I will get a bit lost again and again the Lord will find me. If the Lord can find a crab for me, for sure He can find me when I am lost. Surely He can lead us back to Him.

God led me to find the crab, that I feel… that hunch and vision was real and undeniable… I could also say I KNOW that mini-miracle was from God because ALL GOOD THINGS ARE FROM GOD (Psalm 16, James 1)… So WOW, to feel that hunch is startling!!! That’s the feeling of getting help from Someone assembling my thoughts for me.

Whew… (and I didn’t even start cleaning, only listening)… Christmas lost and found again,  Easter-basket style… Whew Lord, Thank You…It was a simple bad mistake, like me forgetting the stove on, I am so very much human and get so distracted… I can be lost just as much as Christmas was lost in the sticks…

How blessed we are to know that the Lord refocuses us to His mission of seeing how much life is better when we rely on Him… Our focus is lost at times,  we are the lost sheep… we will always need to listen…

Amen

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Psalm 16 NIV, of David. (1-11)

Keep me safe, my God,

for in you I take refuge.

 

I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;

apart from you I have no good thing.”

I say of the holy people who are in the land,

“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”

Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.

I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods

or take up their names on my lips.

 

Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;

you make my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

surely I have a delightful inheritance.

I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;

even at night my heart instructs me.

I keep my eyes always on the Lord.

With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

 

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will rest secure,

because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,

nor will you let your faithful one see decay.

You make known to me the path of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

 

AMEN

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James 1 NIV (1-18)

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:

 

Greetings.

 

Trials and Temptations

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

 

Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

 

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

 

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

 

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

 

 

856, 28APR

Just Say Jesus

Remember that campaign of “Just say No”?

Well, how about “Just say Jesus”.

Jesus is NOT an excuse but a REASON.

Don’t want to let unwanted things slip into your life? Just say NO.

Got a bad vibe about something? Just say NO.

Want to choose good over bad things for your life? Just say Jesus is my justification.

Want to break out of an old habit?

Find Peace? Just say Jesus.

Just say Jesus and the REASON replaces the routine.

Want to stay away from temptations? Just say No. Want to give yourself a reason to treat yourself better, like a temple? Just say Jesus.

Just say Jesus

No more anxiety.

Just say Jesus

No more loss.

Just say Jesus

Just say YES, Jesus.

Just say Jesus

Amen

Love Still

Sing-out

Service 

Sacrificial 

Sorrys

Spoken 

Spiritually 

Slave-like

Strong 

Striving 

Skillfully 

Sadly 

Soulfully 

Soothingly 

Solemn 

Special 

Specific 

Seed-planting

Love Sowing 

Love Shows 

Savior love shared still 

So lovely

Love 

Still

854

Friendship Lines, COVID19 and Jesus’s Commandment to LOVE, 26APR

How heartbreaking the stories,  but how heartwarming the LOVE.

I had just finished reading about Jesus giving the disciples the great commandment to love one another, according  to John’s recount of the last supper.  I closed my bible and then read about the Friendship Line in California, and the pairing of college students and senior citizens, and about meal deliveries… about reaching out and loving one another… I love the LOVE.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35

Love is God and God is Love.

The love of all is held in such importance by the Lord that He gives this Command (at the time He is warning the disciples about His death) because He wants ALL to know that LOVE is the defining characteristic of being Jesus’s disciple.

I love seeing the Lord in His people. THAT’S HOW WE SEE GOD IN ACTION, THRU HIS PEOPLE SHARING LOVE.

Sacrificial love is the giving of time, resources,  hope.  Sacrificial love is not the easy way, but the Jesus Way.

Service love is the giving of time, resources, hope. Direction…. love we give is not self-serving,  should ALWAYS point to Jesus… Serving love is the Jesus Way.

Share love today,  the Jesus Way.

Amen

‐——–

In another move to expand resources for seniors, Newsom [Governor of CA] announced increased staffing for the Friendship Line, a telephone “warmline” that both answers phone calls and makes check-in calls to seniors. Students from California State University, Sacramento, and United Airlines — whose call center staff have been freed up by the pandemic-induced drop in air travel — are among those who will help staff the helpline.

https://www.kqed.org/coronavirusliveupdates/news/11814221/gov-newsom-supplements-senior-home-staffing-adds-new-hotline

853

Who is Your Plus One? 25APR

It’s Christmas in April !!! 4/25 – do we remember that Christmas day when the world got a plus one of a little baby? Jesus came in most vulnerable human form. He stepped off the throne to venture down to us.

When we are re-emerging after/during this Covid19 situation, we will have to figure out venturing back into society and whom will we see or hug first. Our parents? Our children? Our Amazon delivery driver? Our choice… Whom would we risk ourselves for in order to share our love… who is our “plus one?… And whom will risk their health for being with us?

Hmmm…. Christmas in April, is like everyday,  I know who would venture and risk themselves for us…

Christ.

Jesus Christ was called to take it upon Himself to seek each of us as His one. His “plus one” is each one… He sacrificed His skin for our sins. He’s the One and only One to bring us to God.

Plus One… Jesus wants us.

I want to feel the Lord’s love over all human love, I know that His comfort is like no other. I want everyone to know Him.  He wants everyone to know His voice and His Love and His comfort… He lived to be known.

Cast your anxiety away to accept the hug of His Hope.

Live. LOVE. Listen. Learn. Live.

Amen

852

WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER, 24APR

This Covid19 situation is unprecedented for our generation,  but not at all for the Lord. Oh the pandemics  that He has seen… The HOPE He has cultivated…

I could imagine the book of Job with the Lord modifying the Devil’s schemes… I can imagine the Lord morphing and helping us with this too. The ability to persevere is 100% from the Lord. We can show HOPE to shine light on the one who gives us hope. I believe we are also to learn that we really are all in this life together. Time to share, help, teach, sow.

You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. James 5

Scripture comes to mind that despite our situation,  we are to grow. Despite what we see in the world,  we are to cultivate Godliness… Jesus taught in parable (Matthew 13): “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them.  Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

It is a PATIENT Lord that we do have, One who could act swiftly but He may wait out the spiritual growth of the world so that as many as possible are found. The opportunities we have to learn about our path to Heaven are only as much as we are taught about Jesus. Therefore we too need to teach. Our own seeds need good soil in our existence and growth. So does everyone’s. As the parable of the sower reminds us – many people are not always strong in their faith. God WANTS good soil soul growth. God wants to harvest good wheat and a whole crop. God’s got to pick thru the weeds first, wheat from the weeds.

Can we remember to be in this world, this situation, for His glory and other’s growth? Can we support the weak, help them live and grow? Can we find strength in our weakness to demonstrate that we won’t just rollover, shrivel up and give up? Will we remember that we also are being encouraged to grow thru adversity.

There are plants that get battered by the wind and grow stocky and strong. There are trees that adhered to mountain cliffs and still manage to grow. There are people who don’t know the cushy life, but persevere and build deep faith.

The Lord has told us that we are all in this together.  Do we comprehend that and do we understand how we can spend our energies in building up each other? For when we work for the Lord, we want to reach the people who have ears waiting and wanting to open.

WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER. 

And are we to grow thru our experiences now? Today? Yes. Are we to take time to improve ourselves thru these experiences? Yes. Have we been gifted time to explore what the Lord needs us to do? And are we to help the whole Kingdom of God’s people? YES

Having Hope will remind others of the one who gives hope.

What will we do in our precious moments today? Shrivel or grow?

I hope we will all GROW.

Amen

 

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“God has put together all the parts of the body. And he has given more honor to the parts that didn’t have any. In that way, the parts of the body will not take sides. All of them will take care of one another. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part shares in its joy.

You are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it. (1Corinthians 12)

Amen Amen

——

Patience in Suffering

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. James 5

Amen

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From the Book of Job:  “If only you would prepare your heart and lift up your hands to him in prayer!  Get rid of your sins, and leave all iniquity behind you. Then your face will brighten with innocence. You will be strong and free of fear.  You will forget your misery; it will be like water flowing away. Your life will be brighter than the noonday. Even darkness will be as bright as morning. Having hope will give you courage. You will be protected and will rest in safety.  You will lie down unafraid, and many will look to you for help. (Job 11)

Amen

——

1 Corinthians 12: (NIRV)

One Body but Many Parts

There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ. We were all baptized by one Holy Spirit. And so we are formed into one body. It didn’t matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink. So the body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts. Suppose the foot says, “I am not a hand. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body.  And suppose the ear says, “I am not an eye. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how could it smell? God has placed each part in the body just as he wanted it to be. If all the parts were the same, how could there be a body? As it is, there are many parts. But there is only one body. The eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” In fact, it is just the opposite. The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are the ones we can’t do without. The parts that we think are less important we treat with special honor. The private parts aren’t shown. But they are treated with special care. The parts that can be shown don’t need special care. But God has put together all the parts of the body. And he has given more honor to the parts that didn’t have any. In that way, the parts of the body will not take sides. All of them will take care of one another. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part shares in its joy.

You are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it.

Amen 

—–

“Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;  yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.  But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” Matthew 13

Thanks Lord… AMEN

#851, 18APR

Spread JOY GERMS

What can you do in your walk with Jesus???

I believe that I am supposed to encourage, sometimes be the object lesson of God’s experiment (of me)… Others are gifted to warn, to teach, to prophesize, you name it.  I hope to keep a healthy fear of God, a solid respectful fear, we all should accept His correction…

But what really is the path the Lord needs us to walk? What role has Jesus been teaching you to take on? What do you want to tell others God means not just “to you” but “thru you” ???

I’m pretty sure that I am supposed to share JOY GERMS… if you’ve got them, spread them….

I’m pretty sure that I am blessed by God to tell of His HOPE… I am excited to learn in order to teach about Him!!! I CAN’T THINK OF A BETTER JOB!!!! So why wouldn’t I look for the JOY IN THE JOB? My job. His job. Why wouldn’t anyone look for the path that the Lord picked for them?

Yes, some choose to obey, some get forced to accept Jesus thru tough times,  so why not accept Jesus thru our own walks. Knowing that Jesus chose me in the Way that He did brings me to tears. “WHY ME LORD?” – well, He says: “WHY NOT YOU!”

Jesus said to His disciples “I know those I have chosen” ,,, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”  John 13

Jesus said this for all, pulling all closer to Himself, while pointing out the one (Judas) He foretold as His betrayer. Jesus told them all so they (and we) would understand in retrospect that He had full knowledge of the walk to death and life that was being required of Him – that they and we would know He was God, the Son of God, the fulfillment of the prophesies. He wants us to know Him as REAL. As Lord.  As Savior. AS FRIEND.

We need to remember to SHINE the Light by sharing the Lord in us, thru us, to walk as the living beings of Christ intent.

He who receives whomever I send receives Me;

and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.

If God picks YOU to share Him, share Him!!!

If God picks you to sing His praises, SING!!!

If you even have a chance to share a SMILE,  share a SMILE.  If you do have to rebuke someone, then rebuke for the good of others. If you have to correct someone,  do so with LOVE,  for building up the strength of the Spirit. Be receivable and approachable. Build up the body of the church,  which is EVERYONE.

Today – Especially today, LISTEN to the road map of the Spirit… keep learning and sharing your gifts.

Be His walk. It’s His High-Way.

Amen

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“Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me.  If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God, you will be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs. And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.” Matthew 10

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So if you speak in a way no one can understand, what’s the point of opening your mouth? There are many languages in the world and they all mean something to someone. But if I don’t understand the language, it’s not going to do me much good. It’s no different with you. Since you’re so eager to participate in what God is doing, why don’t you concentrate on doing what helps everyone in the church? 1st Corinthians 14 (MSG)

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“There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” 1^st Corinthians 12

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My Father is ALWAYS Right, 16APR

Well, my Father,  as in my Dad, is always full of wisdom and probably always right, even though I would have sometimes disagreed growing up…

My Father, as in Our Father in Heaven,  He is for sure always right.

Convergent advice both my Dad and Our Father have? Treat everyone with respect,  be helpful to all.

My Dad says treat everyone well on your way up,  because you never know when you will meet them on the way down. He says treat the custodian and the CEO the same. And he values a person who can sit down and have a cup of coffee with you,  in other words someone who doesn’t make themselves higher than they need to be… down to earth…

That advice about custodians and CEO’s??? SO FITTING for today I spoke with both! Guess whom I gave advice to, and whom gave me advice? Yup, as predicted by my Dad’s advice,  the custodian is whom gave me the best advice today,  filled with wisdom at age 85, he would be the one all of us should listen to.

The advice? Do a job well,  take care of the people whom you are employed to take care of, and never burn any bridges because you never know when circumstances change… the custodian came to my office and sat down giving me his wisdom… that’s what I will remember…

My conversation with the head boss was also fruitful as he was the one who wanted MY advice… and helping the managers set their manager’s tone is time well spent.

How does the Lord fit into all this? Listening,  learning,  sharing,  helping… we must ask why we are put into the positions we are put in. We are ACCOUNTABLE to Him to make the most of every moment. The Big Boss, Our Father, sets the tone.  He surely makes the weather and He wants us in ALIGNMENT with Him.

Our Lord Jesus serves. We need to SERVE like He does, not simply make small talk or give lip service, but LISTEN and meet the people where they are.  To reset our tone, we must give up our burdens, we need to shine the LIGHT and be the LIGHT while the LIGHT is still with us and in us.

We are to steady ourselves too, not be tossed by the wind and waves… and right ourselves because we do live in His Grace. And we have to keep walking…

My Dad would have been happy I had the opportunity to speak to the boss and tell him a piece of my mind, and ALSO listen to the wisdom of the custodian who shared his mindfulness with me.  My Dad is right, treat everyone well.

Our Heavenly Father, as shared thru His “Down to Earth” Son, is right too, saying: Love one another… Speak to each other in encouragement… Be real.

It is good to be walking and working in the Light FOR the Light…

Amen!

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God Says: “Take a Hint”, 16APR

I write thinking how we are just travelling through this world, yet our home is in heaven,  but we must make the most of each step here and now… there are good hints of how to live well and move on…

For example, I’ve been given hints, not quite like Paul who couldn’t go to Asia in the book of Acts, but hints that sometimes my act is NOT together. A small example: for some reason I am not in step yet for mask making! I’ve tried many times to find the time to sew masks, I keep hitting my own road blocks, maybe God says “take a hint” and do something else right now – there will be time for your agenda later. And yes, God not only hints but hammers home that my busy work work and my home work is important. God also hints that rest now is purposeful restful to gear up later…. So, my best mask elastic ran out, the extra wasn’t right, then my machine broke,  then I fixed it but I needed to test sizes, then my sizes were good but my new old elastic started coming loose. I thought I bought new elastic arriving this weekend but it is nowhere in my orders, boo. I never followed thru with the order… my mis-step of course, allowing God to say AGAIN “TAKE A HINT”… “WORK ON SOMETHING ELSE”…

But I did get like 40 masks made and given to neighbors and random people like the lady at the essential BUSY Rita’s water ice stand, I mean why not? She brought the hope of gelato normalcy to my kids, and I shared HOPE too… she said her husband  needed them to work construction, I was happy to help… when you keep your ears open for hearing hints, you can construct and share HOPE.

… and meanwhile, while my machine was broken, I gave away lots of HOPE, including 20 year old good fabric that I probably would have never gotten to use (I say that NOT to boast in American dream example of excessive living BUT because we all need to purge, giving things away before they rot)… I was able to absorb a lot of timeless HOPE and great fuzzy feelings giving away excess stockpiles… we certainly can share and feel helpful because our ability to bless mirrors when God says “don’t store up treasures here on earth”. So yes, clear your piles, take a hint, work on something else !!!

Not everyone has the same talents or missions from the Lord. Not all of our time needs to be filled either,  sometimes our time is simply for being still, being here, being present, being us.  My friend says: “why are you rushing to get everything done at once?  You can have everything in life, just not all at the same time.”

Sometimes we can end up being bewildered, so we best take stock, give half away,  and make room for new blessings… take a hint, God always wants NEW blessings for us.

Ultimately we can’t take anything with us… not our blessings of this life.

What we want to know and feel is the biggest hint of all: Grace – the gift of FOREVER FORGIVENESS that ONLY the Lord can bestow. The road map of the Kingdom is marked to lead us Home.

When we simply ask to Be His, we find out we already belonged to Him already, before we even believed.

And that’s all we really need to be, is really His.

So

Sew

Sow

Be blessed…

Be still…

Be real…

Be His!

Amen

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On Easter, You Count, 12APR

The moon reminded me this morning that there is a tremendous amount of math used to calculate the Easter date. Full moons, spring equinoxes and manmade picks, Easter moves, it’s been a very movable date always. Appropriate as Easter moves us to rise. It’s not actually a date anyway,  Easter is a truth.

The math that counts, on Easter and every day, is always one. ONE man laid down His Life to rise up for ALL, and especially for One – you.

YOU COUNT.

You count on Easter,  you count every day.

To our Lord,  no one counts to Him more than the ONE sheep – YOU. Jesus calls to us, chases after us, loves us and saves us.

You are the One He Loves.

No one is NOT counted.

Jesus died for one… for ALL…

Jesus rose for ALL…

Jesus rose for YOU…

“These are written that you may believe  that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” John 20

Jesus IS the TRUE Savior we can count on.

Believe in the ONE. He Believes in You.

Amen

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Maybe My Faith Needed Oiling Too! 11APR

My sewing machine got stuck, a small but big issue because I was the one planning out my day, I even took half that Friday off to sew masks!!! Well, NO!!!  Tell God your plans and watch Him laugh!   It is a workhorse machine, it hardly ever fails,  but wow it was loaded with crud, and not oiled in a while,  and it got jammed…

But I write this observation NOT for an amazing machine,  but for observing an AMAZING GOD.

After 2 hours working on unsticking the machine that is still stuck, I observed that apparently God had other plans for me that day… Yup… instead of sewing, I spent the rest of Good Friday with my daughter and son, time best spent… delivered couple things to folks (drop and run), made plans to give fabric away to another mask making group, got takeout food, and slept well, knowing God was in control.

And after another hour oiling it today and removing crud, it now works,  but not before I organized and cleaned up my stuff, and did lots of other house stuff… I think God repurposed my time on purpose, YES… I know  He did, so I un-be-grudgidly repurposed my own time and stuff too.

More importantly, now I have a GREASED AND OILED FAITH too… See my prayers worked out for the machine,  but that’s NOT what really mattered today.  What REALLY mattered were my groans of prayers this morning, see my son awoke to say he was extra tired. And I heard one cough and I took his temp. 99. Sure you can say 99 is normal-ish, and no other coughing occurred,  but when he went back upstairs, I went on my KNEES in prayer… There is no better way recapturing your strength than to first fall on your knees to bow and submit to God when you are overcome with fear. I wasn’t overcome or overwhelmed,  but I knew I needed the Lord nothing else…. We can oil our oil knees to bow in submission. We have to oil our fading faith when we worry, we can know that our prayers are heard.

I got back up from my knees, grabbed cleaners and got busy, returned to being half Martha, but NEVER stopped listening like Mary. I was praying and submitting all my plans to the Lord at that moment. . . Jesus also AGREES THAT HE IS THE BEST PLANNER…

My son is fine! My freakout, but he’s fine… of course I took measured cautions and measured fear in portions with my faith, so I prayed HARD!!!  His temp was not high, I KNOW 99 IS FINE,  he didn’t feel warm either, said he usually is tired from sleeping too long, and yeah that mop of hair in the front surely raises him a degree on that forehead thermometer, LOL… He’s FINE, within half an hour said he felt much more awake… I also know that he is the least at risk being young… but on your knees,  you simply pray in wordless groans… Well, God is good and I am STILL PRAYING,  but this time it’s for normal stuff, which I have plenty of prayers for… Whew!!!

God knows how much I thank Him for my good kids. I know God answers prayers. I know.

Since all things good come from God, that means God listens really good!!!! I could have shared my “freak-out” with Facebook, but instead shared my “faith-out” with God,  He can oil your plans and keep you moving.

My faith got oiled today.  My squeaky prayers answered.

God is good…  Thanks God.  Tomorrow we celebrate Easter, I know that every day is YOUR DAY…

THE DAY YOUR SON ALLOWED US TO BE UNSTUCK FROM OUR SIN…

We can now come back to You, JESUS ANSWERED YOUR PRAYERS TOO… THANK YOU JESUS…

Amen

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Spirit NON-Distancing, 11APR

Jesus sent direct messages to His Father through His internal connection of prayer as well as speaking out loud. We can too. Even in groaning, our prayers are understood.

When Jesus died on Good Friday – we call it GOOD because the veil in the temple was miraculously torn at the exact moment of His death – the symbolism is SO REAL – our path to God is opened,  we just have to push away the curtain and enter in…. Jesus came crossing onto Earth and then crossing back to Heaven, we are DIRECTLY connected to God – there is NO barrier.

Jesus also asked God the Father for the Holy Spirit to come to us,  as His advocate.  Now we have this immediate connection of being hard-wired internally for remote Holy access… God can use us, move us, block us, remote us in. He is our Lord. He is in us and us in Him.

Social Physical Distancing is the norm right now,  Spirit Distancing is NOT. Our bread of life, Jesus, is like spreading His sandwich bread and filling it to make Holy Spirit Double Decker Sandwiches… If Jesus is the Bread of Life and Jesus  is in each of us thru His Spirit, and we in Him, then we are OK moving our slices of bread a little further apart and letting the space instead be filled with Holy Spirit meat and cheese, veggies and sauces, “Oh God is so good”!

Each of us need to choose to FILL our gaps with Holy Growth and remember HOW we are connected even if we are far away… fill the space with Spirit not static…

Spirit NON-Distancing is the best thing since sliced bread.

AMEN

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Peacefully Lamenting, 09APR

I PRAY PEACE in the unknowns, focusing on the KNOWNS. Jesus knows.

Holy Thursday is a reflective time to understand peaceful lamentation, a sadness and sorrow that is allowed and understood by Jesus.  We say to not worry, to give up our burdens to Jesus, but we humans are human and ache thru lamentations of anger, unease, tears,  remorse, deep pain. Jesus did too.

JESUS KNOWS these current uneasy times. He knew them throughout our many troubled times.  He knows families are separated and have unknowns of when and if ever seeing each other again. JESUS KNOWS. God stepped off the throne to bring His children home. Jesus knows long time:  Jesus said REMEMBER ME, “I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” Matthew 26:29

Jesus and we can understand the remorse and frustration and woe. Jesus knew WOE.

The disciples didn’t understand that one of their own could even think of betraying Jesus. They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”  “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” Mark 19

Jesus knew of frustration in knowing how others would fail Him. Jesus prays for all to be strong facing horrific times. And use our strength to help others.

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, STRENGTHEN YOUR BROTHERS.” Luke 22:31

Jesus knew of Humble Service. We are to learn humility and yet the disciples were STILL arguing about who was greatest, even at the Last Supper.  They didn’t know until they knew.  We also STILL have tough times accepting humility. Jesus said: “the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” Luke 22:26

Jesus knows Forgiveness. We must show forgiveness for others in order to be forgiven ourselves.  What we struggle with can be handled by Jesus who knows our humanness and knows our failings. He knows why He came to serve. In washing Peter’s feet, truly He was teaching that He came to wash away ALL our sins in order to enter the Kingdom. Jesus WANTS US WITH HIM. Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” John 13:26

JESUS KNOWS THAT IT IS HARD TO HOPE WHEN WE ARE HURTING. JESUS WILL HOLD US.

And Jesus knows LOVE. He knew taking care of and cherishing His own those Last Earthly days.   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. John 13:1

Easter week shows Jesus lovingly leaving, on purpose, but not leaving us alone in our own lamentation,  JESUS IS ALWAYS WITH US THRU THE SPIRIT: “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:15

Jesus reminds us of FUTURE GLORY.  Nothing we suffer now compares to FUTURE GLORY.  We are to remember everything He gives to us: “PEACE I leave with you; MY PEACE I GIVE YOU. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.” John 14:27

We know Jesus brings us peace, we are allowed to have lamentations but with our internal spirit connection we are encouraged to have HOPE. 

Jesus will rise us to Him. HOLD TIGHT.

We must believe in JESUS LOVE.

Amen

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Passover Pollution, Blue Skies Peace and Hope are Here, 08APR

Why do BLUE SKIES remind me of JESUS SAVING US? Because we are being showered with Grace, Hope, Life, Peace, and Love. Jesus was lifted up for death and for eternal life. He made a Way where there was no way, for Moses and opening the sea and for us thru JESUS opening the Way to God FOREVER.

Romans 5 reminds: For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 

The blue skies, bluest this generation has ever seen are now showing up over India and China. And L.A. too. The pollution is lifting away as the activity grinds to a halt. Not a joy in how we are huddling in place due to this pandemic,  but an observation of God’s blue skies un-clouded by our pollution.  Our souls clouded by sins can be un-clouded too. How many could be saved if they looked for the Son-Shine save of Jesus.

Millions – worth repeating MILLIONS – of deaths are contributed to air pollution each year. How many future lives could  be save-able thru the life-sustaining pure air? Sadly damage is done for many living there already, but imagine how much clean air could help. HOPE

These blue skies are temporary as China returns to “normal”, India will as well, sending the pollution levels increasing again. It’s a balance of economic growth and clean atmosphere, the economy will win out for now… this is the same in our US metropolitan areas,  California, L.A. specifically, has clearer skies for now… this is a temporary reprieve.

But Jesus is NOT a temporary fix, is He? Jesus gives us a clear path forever – not temporary blue skies but FOREVER LOVE.  God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

It’s also Passover celebration time. We can remember proper fear of the Lord’s power as the darkness of death passed over and skipped the houses of the faithful slaves who marked their doors, allowing escape from the last and most horrifying plague at the time of Moses which Passed – over.

Exodus 12:11-14 “It is the Lord’s Passover.  For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.

SO, as EASTER comes closer to us, how much intensely can we feel how LOVE flows from Jesus, passes over us but also thru us as He is in us and we in Him. Our blue skies are sometimes filled with rain, cleansing life-giving rain, so that the fields and flowers can produce abundance. The Lord also showers us with LOVE, so we can produce abundance too!!! Surely when we are aware of His Reign, then we respect rumblings of thunder announcements of His authority…  After our attention is caught, His Son-Shine brings forth His love. If we were saved while we were still sinners,  think of the bluest of skies that exist for us now that Jesus has arose.

Easter is not simply a date in the calendar that moves, Easter is the movement of our lives to acknowledge we are SAVED. We must accept the cleansing Spirit. We must look to Him.

Share your blue skies with someone today,  tell of Jesus saving, recount the Son-Shine,  peace and hope.

LIVE

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Romans 5 (NIV) Peace and Hope

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!  Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

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Help Them Live, 06APR

Nothing more endearing these day than hearing throughout the world of people wishing each other: “Stay Safe”… When the times are sad and yet the JOY of living is shared,  we are now seeing the goodness of people ring out over and over. And we do see more people helping people – especially locally – people want to share HOPE,  not be overloaded by desperation.  I believe that God expresses His LOVE thru us in this way, not wanting anyone to perish, but to experience the desire to share some compassion.

We often can help others to live a little easier, as others help us too…. We are also called to live a little more Easter-ier too. Easter-ery by giving life over death advice. God’s great compassion became a gift in which we all can share in, especially remembered at Easter-time, JESUS.

JESUS.  Easter IS all about not perishing. If we can share knowledge of Jesus who opened up the Way to Heaven by being the Way, we will help others live.

I believe that we all have the instinct to help, if it is cultivated.  That comes from seeds of God’s love pre-planted. We may say it’s helping and welcoming the stranger – but God knows each soul. We are placed into the situations where God hopes we share attributes of Him.

I was chatting with a local very friendly homeless man, Mike, outside the store he resting in front of. He chooses street life freedom and he never asks for anything,  and he is SHOWERED with gifts. Mike always asks me about my singing,  I am not a stranger to him, nor him to me, from talks over the last couple years. At this moment, a mom walked up with a young man who gave him brown paper bags of prepared food. The boy was timid, but the mom urged him forward,  and she did the talking.  Mike was welcoming and thankful to the young man (he always is). In that brief interaction I saw God’s opportunity and love cultivated: teaching the young man, someone helping Mike, and someone approaching him more than simply as a stranger, because clearly she pre-planned those bag meals for specifically him.  AND I saw gratitude. Ah, the innate love of God being cultivated.

Similarly,  on a bigger scale, I heard of people showing goodness and compassion in seeming chaos 50 years ago, from a documentary streaming on Netflix about Woodstock’s 4-day peace love and rock-n-roll festival in 1969, same year as my birth.  People feeding people was a segment  that drew me in, a local woman interviewed spoke of the scriptures “welcome the stranger” –  a man interviewed mentioned he had a 19 year old as well and knew they all needed to eat because the food ran out and he gave thousands of eggs. One quote from a news reel read: “The people of Sullivan County, hearing reports of food shortages, gathered thousands of food donations to be airlifted to the site, including about 10,000 sandwiches, water, fruit and canned goods.”

Yes, in the documentary they showed locals bringing food to the school to be airlifted in. They showed volunteers passing out cups of granola and of course water to the crowds… there were volunteer medical teams too… 500,000 people in an instant city, volunteers galore…

So we probably can’t feed the whole world only in brown bags,  but we can help in small and big ways, we can help people live better by sharing our gifts, our tools. And God does give us tools….

Then, how can we help people live NOT for food but FOREVER? By shining Jesus and teaching like He did. By sharing the knowledge of God as the source of all good, of all sharing,  of all love. By telling others the meaning behind the sharing, and hope they dig deeper… It is a secret of life that MUST be shared. We are all in this together…

While looking up the scriptures on welcoming strangers,  a friend who works in the grocery store texted how much of an honor it was for her to serve the Lord in these times. She is being cheerful at her store stocking shelves. When many stay in their homes like a fortress, she puts her own troubles aside and ventures out (with protection of the full armor of God) to go serve – and remembers to share her JOY,  service to Jesus, to Others, before Yourself.  JOY teaches… JOY inspires…

Jesus is our Easter message of how to HELP THE WORLD LIVE. Take JOY in the opportunity to share Jesus today…

Amen

 

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Matthew 25:35 ESV /

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,

Hebrews 13:2 ESV /

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Leviticus 19:33-34 ESV /

“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Romans 15:7 ESV /

Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Romans 12:13 ESV /

Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Leviticus 19:34 ESV /

You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

1 Peter 4:9 ESV /

Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Matthew 25:40 ESV /

And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Exodus 23:9 ESV /

“You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Leviticus 24:22 ESV /

You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the Lord your God.”

Deuteronomy 10:19 ESV /

Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Exodus 22:21 ESV /

“You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

3 John 1:5 ESV /

Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are…

Hebrews 13:1-2 ESV /

Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Deuteronomy 10:18-19 ESV /

He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

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Hotspots of LIGHT, 06APR

Jesus is walking into Holy Week,  SO ARE WE. We first need to dust off our Easter road map. By following Jesus, He leads us where we are going, but we MUST put in our own legwork. We best not let our faith fail or waiver.

Tomorrow is NEVER promised on Earth. Many this week will pass away, due to the COVID19 situation and also normal deaths – many always do each day. Death is not new, the darkness is in our loss, and every day there is an opportunity to live as if it WAS our last day, to tell all the people whom we love how much they mean to us, to pull our heartstrings together to sing of the JOYS of life, and to step up our preparedness for the worst too. We know that we can NOT live forever here, so we best to make the mark of LOVE in our earthly pages that point to our HOPE in everlasting life.

I imagine the darkness of earthly death is NOTHING compared to the HOTSPOT of Heavenly LIGHT for us on the other side.

We have the Easter story within us right now, the Word of Words buried within us but ready to rise. In order to hear, we must un-bury the Truth in the Word. We must sprout the seeds. Jesus is the Word ready to be heard. Like seeds in spring, He was buried to rise.

Mary, Lazarus’s sister, anointed Jesus before He was buried with her family’s heirloom of oil. Her Spirit KNEW. Jesus said she will be remembered for sharing her love while He was still alive.  Her spirit created from love brought forth love as well as listening and knowledge – and these were in her before she even witnessed how He would die or rise. Our Spirits ALSO are planted with the desire to be Risen before we are even born.  We need to walk thru life, death,  life. Our Spirit knows the Way, thru Jesus, by Living the Word in our own days of LIGHT.

Let us step into the LIGHT today.  It’s our Only Way to get to Easter. There are dark days ahead, but the night comes before the dawn. Let us step into LIFE today and SHARE HIS LIGHT.

Amen

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John in chapter 12 recounted the 6 days before the Passover: Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

 

 

 

 

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Jesus IS in His Element, 05APR

How fitting – that on the video feed for last Sunday’s Eucharist preparation that my friend Terry shared with me on Facebook Watch Party, that you can see the reflection of the phone, beaming the spirited transmission. You can see the phone in the Cup’s Shine – and the Lord wants to SHINE – by us remembering Him – in the consecration of the Elements. We are to reflect on Him, His sacrifice, His life, His hope – reflect in our hearts as the phone reflects in the cup, resting at the feet of the cross and listening just like us. Jesus IS in His Element gathering all to Himself.

As we socially distance we are not alone, Jesus comes closer to us and thru His Spirit, His people speak so many shared prayers.

Jesus IS in His Element today – reaching out and meeting us all where we are.

Amen.

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Palm Sunday – yes Hand Palms!!! 04APR

Oh I have tears at this Word play!!!

It dawned on me that waving PALMS from the safety of one’s car – in a parade of cheer – would be so uplifting to those safely home and standing behind their windows!!! Imagine a local parade of passionate love outpouring on those waves!

So in these interesting times and ALWAYS, it’s not simply the palm fronds,  but the wave of the PALMS of your hands to share LOVE of God in hello’s and goodbye’s and in excitement – waving the WAVES OF GOD’S LOVE!!! Imagine a parade of waving the Spirit of 99 to the one – as Jesus leads the parade to each child He needs to comfort!

The deaf wave hands instead of clap for applause, just try it, it’s EXHILARATING to praise to share the JOY of the Spirit, the Joy of the Lord!!!!

Wave your PALM as a Hello Lord in praise! Both arms up in JESUS-JOY!!!  To every child of God, let your gifted God-love flow!!!

Amen!!!

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Prophecy and Plotting for Resurrection Day, 03APR

Well, whoda thunk the Spirit was plotting too !?!?!?! We know the authorities we plotting for Jesus’s death,  but how often do we appreciate the coordination of complex prophecies that were documented throughout the bible – setting up the scenes for resurrection! The Spirit stole the scene of death of one into LIFE FOR ALL.

We often think of the awfulness of Jesus dying, but His mission of securing eternal life was a calling for Jesus, He knew His planned days in Jerusalem, He continued… He knew His Own Word foretold His Own Walk. He knew God’s Plan for total reunification of His Flock. He knew He had a choice and He chose for ALL.

Our Spirit specifically lets us in on knowledge of this mission as well – at the time we need to open our ears – this is how we are also included in the fulfillment of the miracle of Easter. The best of all good happened from the worst of the bad. The Event of Jesus Rising from the dead was to (is to) enable the re-uniting of all of us as children ONCE AGAIN in Harmony with our Father. A process that we are still called to be sharing with each of His children by shining His Light on our lives. Teach it and Preach it – but most of all Live it as FREE and no longer enslaved souls.

Look at what happened in Jerusalem, the High Priest Caiaphas had a prophesy recorded in the Gospel of John,  chapter 11, which clearly moved this event along:  Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 

So from that day on they plotted to take his life. Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.

We know that Jesus knew,  but often we think of rash judgements of the accusers, yet this shows Spirit intervention and wisdom poured into a person, Caiaphas, for a purpose. People then like now were put in place for not a performance but for the showing of the glorification of God.

The bitter truth that Jesus gave about Judas, the sad story pre-told about Peter’s denials – Jesus knew all.  Jesus also knew the strength of the women who kept their duties to anoint His body after death, and He knew the cascade reaction to tell the world  of His Resurrection… So what does Jesus know of us? Of our strengths? The Spirit moves in step, on plan, YES, then and now, may use even the worst blinded evil to change the consequences into good….

Can we keep doing that too? Change our circumstances for good? Use our weakness to be filled with His strength?

God did not plan the suffering but gave Jesus the reason for tolerating it. US TOO. Jesus  understood the hard and human road to the cross and victory over death. It does catch our attention as cruel, but how much MORE we should  pay attention to His eventual resurrection for glory. So will we contemplate our own personal sufferings and look for good?

Will we likewise be used as an example here and now for how we tolerate thorns in our sides like Paul, our pains in our plans, and how we humble ourselves for a mission to show His Strength thru us. Will we keep walking to Jerusalem as well and not stop walking until we meet up with other children to share the Good News?

The story of Easter is known but it is ALSO THE FAITH,  OUR FAITH, which now must be shared and understood by others to help continue to see the prophecy of eternal life becoming real for others.

Jesus would die for ALL the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. You are one child, called into His fold under one God. You are the most important person in God’s eyes, because YOU ARE HIS CHILD.  GOD LOVES YOU!!!!

Jesus followed thru because God Loves YOU!

Amen!!!

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What If? 30MAR

What if the rain of seemingly endless days is to wash away virus?

What if the rain is to wash-out the plans that you had for going outside anyway, to make you more content at home?

What if the spring flowers bloomed early this year, to give us good distraction of looking at beauty, not bleak?

What if the pollen levels are being allowed to creep up and phlegm-you-up to keep virus particles at bay?

What if the Lord ALREADY knows the back story of this event and is watching how we handle everything.

What if we really are supposed to first figure out that we don’t have all this figured out?

What if we are SUPPOSED to learn lots of things for next time?

What if we are SUPPOSED to learn to cooperate and even cut across local, state and federal red tape?

What if LOVE is stronger than fear.

What if we are SUPPOSED to pay attention to hundreds of thousands migrating on foot in India because they have no work?

What if the poor always have had a tough time, but we only are noticing now?

What if?

What if we are SUPPOSED to help in places where there already was no clean water to wash hands, or medical attention, just like we were SUPPOSED to be helping them for years?

What if we learn that we have not yet learned where to put our energies?

What if summer-like thunderstorms in March, and altered climate wacky weather means we have wavered on what we should have been doing to help the planet, not hurt it…

What if seeing mountains for the first time in years due to low pollution is to indicate we are missing seeing beauty in what we have been given…

What if?

What if we are being made to understand to fear the Lord? Who could wipe out any plague but will let it linger JUST ENOUGH to teach His children lessons?

What if we were to be made to understand the Lord is ALL-POWERFUL?

What if we were to be made to understand the Lord LOVES US?

What if this COULD be much worse than it is?

What if the virus did not discriminate as much as it does?

What if the virus did not have such specific symptoms to know to stay away from others?

What if the non-living virus which has a name “corona” meaning “crown” reminds us that it is up against the LIVING CROWN?

What if thru our actions, we are the reason the outbreaks were minimized compared to what it could have been… or what it could still do?

What if we will never know?

What if we at least know that we were OK thru this?

What if we learn that we were held?

What if we learn that we were loved?

What if we remember His love, and all else in our lives will fall into place…

What if we put HOPE in His Unfailing Love?

What if we are the ones He has HOPE in to share this LOVE and this HOPE?

What if we are the ones who are called to call to others and remind them to count blessings?

What if?

 

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Job 36-37

Elihu teaches Job:

“How great is God—beyond our understanding! The number of his years is past finding out. “He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams; the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind.

Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds, how he thunders from his pavilion? See how he scatters his lightning about him, bathing the depths of the sea. This is the way he governs the nations and provides food in abundance. He fills his hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark. His thunder announces the coming storm; even the cattle make known its approach.

At this my heart pounds and leaps from its place. Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth. He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth. After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back. God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.

He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’  So that everyone he has made may know his work, he stops all people from their labor. The animals take cover; they remain in their dens. The tempest comes out from its chamber, the cold from the driving winds. The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen. He loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through them. At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever he commands them.

….

The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power;  in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress. Therefore, people revere him, for does he not have regard for all the wise in heart?”

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Psalm 147

Sing to the Lord with grateful praise; make music to our God on the harp. He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call. His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior; the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.

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Sewing and Sowing… 29MAR

If there are folks who ask for help – we are to help. This is how we show our example. “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” Matthew 5: 42

Regardless of perceived effectiveness of homemade masks, I know that medical servants are clamoring for them. I know of sew-many sewers are now stitching away in “Mask-production” “Mass-production”… It is inspiriting to see the good come out of the bad – it is an important comfort that we can help to give others – and with every stitch we can place prayers and HOPE… So it’s time to SEW and SOW… SEW stitches and SOW seeds of HOPE…

And now to enter in public, people are being asked to cover their faces so that we don’t spread seeds of sickness. We can keep sewing and supplying their needs – what a great way to just give of our selves and our time… surely we can give from our excesses for successes in preventing the spread of disease.

1^st Peter 2:13-14 Submission to Authority – Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.

Romans 13:5-6 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.

I thought the guard rail info was TMI… but I’ll post this anyway… it’s all true, guard rails are great prayer rails.

I think that ESPECIALLY NOW we realize that we MUST put our life plans into God’s Hands. Scripture is perfect: James 4:

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

———
Life and Living made possible by God – Guard Rail Prayer Rail

Friday night could not have predicted Sunday night memories of a great weekend… The Mercy of the Lord abounded to me… You could say that this is TMI for a devotion,  but this story is the truth: God rallies us – He rallied me when I asked…

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Seeking the Lord’s intervention…

That Friday afternoon I had FOOD POISONING! YEAH food poisoning, knew EXACTLY what food must have caused it… But Saturday I had major plans for my Polar Plunge with 8000 other crazy fun people, plus my daughter came home this weekend. On Sunday I wanted to be singing at church AND my son had been planning a rock climbing excursion with friends.

And I got FOOD POISONING…

And I put my plans in His…

And God rallied me… 

I turned my plans over to Him and He turned my life around. 

Why? Maybe because I ASKED. Maybe because of my stubborn willpower or maybe because I am greedy for my own plans? At any rate, that weekend with so many great memories now was ONLY made possible by God, requested by my fevered prayers at the guard rail, humbled and hurling…. if it’s TMI so sorry,  but a guard rail makes for an impromptu Friday evening, side of the road, PRAYER RAIL… I knew EXACTLY what I ate wrong (my fault, a bad opened can of coconut milk that I had left out on my desk, but drank a lot of anyway)… At that guard rail I went through hell and back in 5 minutes… I was SURE it was food poisoning not viral (an added fevered prayer was that I didn’t want my family to get sick. They didn’t, and I had no other symptoms,  my body rejected that poison soon after it went in)…

I made it. God made it better as soon as I collected my thoughts to pray. 3 hours later I felt recovered and I knew WHY. He’s saved me from worse.

Today my face, my bagged eyes, are still flushed and bruised from all that guard rail trauma and strain. But I made it, Lord.  God is good.

I prayed being so very aware that I had to SURRENDER ALL my plans to Him… how I recovered so certainly and quickly was because of God… I was so surprised,  maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised that God can answer so specifically… 

He does.

We did have a great weekend. I put my life in His Hands and He gave me back a beautiful set of memories…. I’m grateful with prayers of thanks and looking forward to rest all my life and plans into His Hands… whew… blessed.

Guard rail and Prayer rail… ALL GLORY TO HIM.

Amen Amen Amen

 

(Thanks God! Really, THANKS…)

 

 

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Faith Flow Facebook Flowers Family Flock, 27MAR

I started a Zoom class last night from my Facebook friend Pastor Pierre on listening for God’s voice… He says it is important to ask open-ended questions… I appreciate that in the short practice time we had I tried to listen – and the Lord told me to “keep smiling” and to “take care of my flock“. My job is to handle things,  de-stress,  keep going… my preparation includes gathering life assurance (as well as financial life insurance) for both are needed for current reassurance to keep living life now. Life flowing means everyday life is for living and sharing… My job is to help my kids keep living – even after I am gone… take care of my flock…  My job is to take care of Jesus’s flock too.

There are many different ways for us to behave in this current COVID19 world crisis, one must listen to the Lord always and especially now… especially we must study how to not fly off the handle or go down the drain… in doing so we are to share the Spirit in whatever way we can.

Many people before us must have had it REALLY awful with their pandemics.  I do pray for those who are ill and have passed away, I pray that they found the Lord in time… and I pray for the financial strain on so many, and I remember to count my blessings…  today is Friday – always good to end the week on a good note so I got to work, took a walk to see flowers, went socially-distanced grocery shopping, got paid, navigated traffic, made dinner, had prayers with my kids, and gave reassurance to them that we are ok…  and now I can rest on the couch to write. I would say I live a sheltered cushy life.  So what am I to do? Not turn my back on the stability that He gave me but COUNT MY BLESSINGS AND WORK FOR GOD…   I love the scripture Luke 1:38, my life verse, mentioned in this article,  I remember it often,  “I am the handmaiden of the Lord.”

We could all listen a little closer right now…

Sharing Joy is still tops on my to-do list…

Faith Flowing, Facebook, Flowers, Family, Flock

Faith-filled Friday

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Isn’t it Ironic? 24MAR

I have this song stuck in my head by Alanis Morrissette – Isn’t it Ironic? don’t ya think?!!! A little too ironic…

Isn’t it ironic that God DOES go before us and we MUST follow to look for His hand in our blessings.

Isn’t it ironic that my neighbors were setting off fireworks last night while I was gardening – because home and stir crazy people find things to do.

Isn’t it ironic that people used to get snowed in all the time and were fine, and we are called to be enjoying home time with no snow.

Isn’t it ironic people think they don’t know what to do cooped up at home, when many of us really need a month just to catch up!

Isn’t it ironic that the cat who sleeps all day wakes me up to work.

Isn’t it ironic that my retreat group stressed about stopping to retool, but the retreat they didn’t have would have been canceled anyway…

Isn’t it ironic that the Lord worked me thru the task of canceling VBS last year, then gave me MORE work for Him. Now not running it this year I don’t have stress about preparations that would’ve be iffy. When the season starts, I will hope to help someone else catch up with theirs.

Isn’t it ironic that I had no idea how to get my family together in one place, especially me, and now each night we have been praying to the Lord.

Isn’t it ironic that I asked the Lord why I had gotten a good bonus this year, and finished my taxes early, there must be something that I needed that money for – that He knew before I knew, He needed me to steward that money for Him, people to share with, my debts to pay down a little, as well as cover extra expenses for my family, and there are!

Isn’t it ironic that the world slows down – but our WORK SPECIFICALLY FOR HIM speeds up.

Isn’t it ironic that I gave birth 6 weeks early, July 2001, which I didn’t understand, to my daughter, but then I was in a good routine with her by the time 9-11 occurred and she got me thru that day and those times with purpose.  And as she went to school a year early and then college a year early, she got that all in when she should have been a high school senior this year.  Isn’t it ironic that she got a prom, graduation, college visits, and fearless college year (3/4) to enjoy and mature – all that would have been different if she were born “on time” in September like these other 18yr olds. Isn’t it ironic that God’s differing timing was gifted timing.

Isn’t it ironic that my broken tooth was fixed just in time before my dentist closed, I got in to a private office because they cancelled their appointments.

Isn’t it ironic that I decided to donate blood last week even if the social distancing was semi-compromised, but then my iron was just barely too low and I was deferred. There are hidden blessings we can’t see.

Isn’t it ironic that life timing gets reset for this or that, which is beyond our understanding… but it always works out…

Isn’t it ironic that God takes care of us even when we can’t see beyond ourselves.

Isn’t it ironic that the Lord draws us closer when we think about fear and death in order to give us peace and life.

Isn’t it ironic all the things that you or I are thinking about but don’t have time to mention here, God has taken care of.

Isn’t it ironic that things that haven’t happened yet, He already knows how to take care of.

Isn’t it ironic that God ALREADY knows how He is going to get us thru today,  if only we look for His Peace.

“Isn’t it ironic”…

“Who would have thought,  it figures…”

Isn’t it ironic, no it’s truth in the Lord, that we have to trust, that we must have faith without sight…

Isn’t it not ironic that the Lord is here and sends help in droves.

“… Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!  Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord and His Peace is at hand.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:4-7

Amen

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Jesus Tears and Smiles, 20MAR

I was excited to see this new plush Jesus doll that I ordered,  my 4th purchase, I have saved two for me and two bought for giving away. This new doll I had that feeling that I was supposed to give it to someone. I had bonus money and I thought to “splurge” on it – and I hoped this was the doll that someone, who knows the love of Jesus, could treasure. But who? I know now, but I didn’t know then whom God would lay on my heart to give it to. So I ordered it and then later, while the doll was in transit, I heard of a friend in need of cheer – ah, she might like it, a gift of love that stems from Him, that we get to share thru us.

If you know me, you would know I am excited to tell of Jesus when He is smiling and loving and holding and comforting. I am blessed to encourage the JOY. Why does Jesus smile? He smiles when someone believes in Him. He smiles when the little children come to Him – and aren’t we all called to become child-like in our faith?

So what smile would this new doll have? Each one so far triggered a distinct thought of the real Jesus. I was very excited when the box came. My curiosity was just supposed to be that, not for deep meaning but for fun, but I take the subtle triggers of my impressions to heart. What was the exciting message that God would lay on my heart from this doll’s squished position? And then – I opened the box.

First, I looked at His strong posture – puffed out chest and upright and attitude of ready to face the world, a knowledge of His future cross, His tomb, His destiny, His victory over death. Then, I was completely stopped in my tracks, and I started crying.  I never saw this coming, this doll looked like a crying Jesus.  A tear – this doll had a tear.

Smiling Jesus, yes – but one solid strong tear was coming down His right eye. Oh – my – soul. I started crying too. I knew in my heart why Jesus would have a tear, many tears. Oh His tears. My tears too. I know and I knew. I instantly had a Palm Sunday thought of the tears of Jesus: When Jesus came closer and could see Jerusalem, He cried and said: “It is too bad that today your people don’t know what will bring them peace! Now it is hidden……. because you did not see that God had come to save you.” Luke 19:41

The doll was not intended to be crying, it simply was a lose string, not cut off in the manufacturing process. But the tear was oh so real in my heart to the portion of His grieved spirit in me, in each of us who really know in truth that Jesus cries for each of God’s lost children… Jesus came to reach the lost children who don’t hear, don’t know, won’t believe until they believe. This thought is always heart wrenching to me when I enter a massive gathering of people. Yet at this very moment, the tears gave me a deeper smile knowing His love for all was why He came to save us all. I was then filled with heart-warming PEACE – this Jesus doll is truly smiling a warm and sweet SMILE (as I knew it would). A deep SMILE – alongside and as deep as his deep thoughts of His tear.

But I didn’t want to send my friend a doll with tears!!  I intended to send her a doll that would give her cheer.  It is a sweet doll, full of comfort when you hug it. And TRULY JESUS DOES SMILE for this friend of mine because she loves Jesus and she knows Him. And so, I cut this manufacturing flaw of a string tear carefully away from Jesus’ eye. It took only a couple small snips and even if there is a little bit of tear left in string you would have to look close to see it. So I hope that my friend ONLY and forever sees this Jesus doll’s SMILE.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.” 2nd Corinthians 1:3-5

Isn’t that the Holy Spirit for you, finding the right object to trigger teaching. Jesus came to save all, us who know Him and those who want to know Him. Plus He wants to save all the people who don’t even know Him, so He is going to try to introduce Himself to them thru us, thru His Spirit in us. Jesus is going to try to smile life into their hearts, strength in their spirits, conviction and correction into their lives, and move each one past their own tears of lostness. He wants everyone to feel His presence as He comes alongside them. Jesus is on a mission still, He wants us to help share our knowledge of the love of God.

On Palm Sunday, Jesus was SHOUTING to the Jerusalem crowd that He had cried over. Jesus, appointed by the Father to come to save the World, has now appointed us. God needs us to still work the crowds.  On Easter, Jesus found the way to life everlasting for us who accept Him. We do want to live forever for Easter is Every day, for our Lord God has already risen for the occasion.  So can we. So can we.

I took photos to remember this moment and this small token of knowledge is tucked away into my appointed job to cheer. Absorb the knowledge of the tear, and try to reach those who need to hear.

Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me. For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me.  I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark. I will not judge those who hear me but don’t obey me, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it. But all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken.  I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.” John 12:44-50

Amen Amen Amen

PS – a Pastor friend added:  Is this just like Jesus in another way? You’re right, the tear is simply a manufacturing mistake; and yet that’s what Jesus does: He takes all our mistakes, all our sins, all our brokenness and imperfection and first weeps over our pain and lostness. But then, O glory, THEN He redeems them, which is why the smile is always on His face whenever we look upon Him and come to Him!

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Keep Working, 17MAR

He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 2 Timothy 1:9 NIV

In the lunchroom, one coworker asked another: “So now that client audits are cancelled for 2 months, what are you going to do?”  She said: “My regular work.”

Yes, everyone has plenty of “regular work” to keep busy, keep going,  keep preoccupied…  We are gifted skills for mission and focus, we are to NOT forget why we were given them, we are to keep working!  No follower of the Lord will run out of work, even though HE HAD DONE EVERYTHING. We are not to be idle but must work in double time.  The Lord Himself continuously walked into His Work, so can we.

We may have to retool at times, redirect our resources, but we still have work to do.

Many are huddling at home, me too, but even if everything else in the world stopped, I DON’T mean tackling that pile of sewing, I don’t mean opening 267 unread emails for work. I don’t mean starting thousands of backlogged work projects, opening articles I could read or even the 1001 articles that I could write… I don’t mean we are to be busy with busy work either!

I mean we are to work at everything and anything that we can do to LISTEN to the Lord’s instructions, then help the Lord help everyone else. We need Him and His correction factors helping put everything in place, mentally more than ever.

Don’t wallow, work.

Don’t dilly-dally, do.

Don’t worry, but pray and petition.

Don’t despair, dedicate.

Don’t stop, share.

Keep working for the Lord and He will keep walking you in the path of His plan.

Don’t forget that we should never boast about tomorrow, if the Lord changes our plans, it’s for a reason.  Keep working the plan that works you!!

Amen

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James 4

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

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James 5

Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is Near.

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James 1

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

 

 

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Zone in, A to Z

 

Amaze, not admonish…

Behold, not belittle…

Conquer, not collapse…

Delight,  not destroy…

Engage, not enrage…

Fuel, not flee…

Grow, not gripe…

Help, not hinder…

Instill, not idle…

Juice-up, not jeer…

Know, not knock…

Live, not lose…

Minister, not mess-up

Name, not negate…

Own-up, not ostracize…

Peace, not perturb…

Quiet, not quiver…

Raise-up, not rebel…

See, not stumble…

Trust, not tumble…

Uplift, not undertow…

Visit, not victimize…

Walk, not wallow…

Xenograft, not xenophobia

Yearn, not yell…

Zone-in, not zone-out…

 

 

 

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Walk by the LIGHT, 14MAR

I love scripture that helps us live… this says everything about how we are to keep going:

Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

We are to keep going.

We are to keep doing our service to Him.

We are to keep spreading HOPE, educating, sharing.

If this isn’t the BEST time to share the Lord, I don’t know when would be!

Captive audience of stressed out people, we can share the peace and let Christ shine…

Keep walking in the LIGHT.

Serve, not speculate…

Sing, not sleep.

Walk, not wallow…

Share, not stifle..

See, not stumble…

Build-up, not break down…

Conquer, not collapse…

Live, not die, live to live forever…

Love, love, love…

Amen

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The Death of Lazarus, John 11 (NIV)

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.  (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”

Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

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“Is God Mad at Us?”, 13MAR

“Is God Mad at Us?”

This is the question my sweetest friend at work asked me yesterday. She is a devoted humble Christian and brings Jesus thru her actions and friendship to everyone at work. Workplaces are also needed places to share faith and comfort because there’s a captive audience of stressed busy people.  This friend surely strengthens me with hers.

“Is God mad at us?” She asks amid the panic and preparation for the COVID19 pandemic.

My gut answer instantly was the same as when I thought about it for a moment:  “No. “No, God is not mad at us, God LOVES us.”  Comfort…

If God puts you in a position to share comfort,  do so.

I said: “The world has seen worse pandemics that humans could not prepare for and it is a messy world already and surely the Lord is helping us thru this.  Look at how much time we are being given to prepare.”

I also know God IS watching how we act thru this, and seeing if our faith holds.

My friend said she’s been asking Jesus and He tells her to: “TRUST.”

I can appreciate having TRUST in Jesus. Having Him in my life these past 5 years have given peace beyond understanding. Often people ask me so many many questions as a scientist. I can speculate about the virus and the world as a good educated guesser. But for God, I KNOW THAT HE LOVES US. THAT’S TRUTH!

The first scripture story that came out of my mouth to answer my friend whether this crisis was a punishment for sin was about Jesus healing a blind man – John 9. The disciples asked Jesus: “this man was blind from birth, who sinned, him or his parents?” Jesus said it’s not because of sin.

The second story that came to me to share was about preparation – using common sense – stocking up with oil – Matthew 25. Half those waiting for the bridegroom stocked up on oil ahead of time, and half ran out.  That’s us…. We need to prepare for life AND for the return of Jesus at an unknown hour. God has been giving us many opportunities to get ready. You know that story of the man on the roof of a flooded house and the boats came to save him and he said God will save me – and then when he died from drowning he asked God – why didn’t you save me? And God said: who do you think sent the boats?!!!

Yes, in this new pandemic and in EVERY ordinary moment we are being given opportunity to prepare for the best and the worst…  and opportunity to share with others… We can stock up our houses, collect our children home, and reduce the fear. Yes – get your preparations but not selfishly – but servantly so that you can share your supplies too…

And remember that we have Jesus whether we live or die, we have the Kingdom to consider, therefore we must believe that we will be OK, we are to have faith in Jesus.

And then let’s get back to doing our normal jobs. (Later I remember the scripture – “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving”. Colossians 3:23)

Many of us have been brought to the truth thru the Holy Spirit, and we are learning more by taking time to educate ourselves… God LOVES us, I pull from the Truth I feel, not just from the facts I see… and so when we count our blessings, not our hassles, even thru this crisis, there is clear evidence GOD LOVES US.

How can we comfort concerned people?  We can recount scary news headlines OR we can repeat and encourage with the WORD that heals.

Another work faith friend asked me: even with all the preparations, what if there is a doomsday scenario? I said without thinking: “CAN I INTRODUCE YOU TO MY FRIEND JESUS?” Yes, in life and in death, I am always praying that the people hear and understand the voice of Jesus calling them – even if it is only seconds before they pass away. I know that any grain of faith is all that is needed…  I pray for comfort over pain.

Comfort, courage, education, FAITH.

Listen to the opportunities you are being given to cultivate FAITH. Maybe God is giving you the oars to the lifesaving boat for helping others…  Maybe also it is not the people asking with their fears but with their own Spirit in seeking to learn – why not give them the best GOOD news of the day.

Amen

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The Parable of the Ten Virgins

At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.

 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’  “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

 Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.    Matthew 25

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Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.  His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” Some claimed that he was.

Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”

But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”

 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.

He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”

John 9

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Thank the Lord – Dislike the Devil, 11MAR

Although I want to travel this weekend, I understand the fears of my family who don’t want me to show up with worldly germs. They also have created their own little mini fortress from having to venture out… Better safe than sorry.  But Hmmm… Hype is a strong force.

How blessed I am to be sitting quietly in my own bed with not fear but concern, not panic but preparation, and know that the Lord has been taking care of me and my children IMMENSELY these past couple years and forever… I have to count blessings – from a tax return coming to food in the house to getting my broken tooth fixed *thanks tax return * before the world shuts down… I will collect my daughter from college for break, and keep her until they reopen her closed “virtual” college…

I will work out what the Lord is working out for me…

I have a work blog coming out soon about the virus, about my Irish roots and their determination to get to the new land of America, away from the potato famine and fevers of the land. They also had the Lord helping them put things into perspective…

First I feel like I need to warn about panic – about the devil and the HYPE that he turns into fear.

I DISLIKE the Devil for the hysteria-building, the scare-tactics, and promotion of self-preservation.

Quiet the hysteria and behave sensibly. Watch rather than worry – then watch some more. Take on precautions not paranoia. Be careful and caregiving, be cooperative not kooky…

Beat down the horrible hype and hysteria,  instead say “Hmmm… How’s God going to take care of this?” and “How can I help?!!”

Yes, with our help, God will help us focus our diligence and drive… Don’t let the devil stop us in our tracks.  Don’t fear death so much that you forget to live. Don’t build fear. Don’t just DON’T.

Let us counteract the hype with hope. Let us remember that the Lord is here with us.

Portray PEACE not panic and it is time to count blessings…

Those led thru the desert were taken care of, so will we be. We need to listen and obey to forever be OK.

Amen

Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.  Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.

Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.  He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.  Deuteronomy 8

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DEAL? YES JESUS, DEAL. 09MAR

When getting nervous about so many unknown situations in life, especially current worldwide known fears, we as people of faith have to put our trust in Jesus. We have to remember we are saved thru Him, in life and in death, either way. We are to look to Jesus as our Lord. Then we can get on with the work set before us… it’s sticky situations like these in which we are taught to try not to panic, and yet we are TOTALLY human, but it is EXACTLY times like these which JESUS WANTS TO HANDLE and give us Peace… He wants to calm us down… He wants our trust that we will look to Him for mental peace in order to mentally prepare for all realities…  He does comfort us to calm the hype we might self-generate or hype that’s thrust upon us, and also realize the gravity without flying off… JESUS allows us as servants to Our Father to put our issues into perspective. Jesus wants us to be level headed in all. He himself saw much, He had to focus on His own mission. So do we.

This plush Jesus doll of mine has his hand stretched out – as if he is reaching to shake our hands in agreement as if he is saying: “DEAL?“…  “Do you trust me to take care of you? To take care of this situation? Will you remember that you have a job to continue to do for me?”… “Trust me and let us shake on it. ”

As people of faith,  we must agree,  we must accept that handshake and say: “Yes Jesus, Deal. It’s a Deal.”

“Yes Jesus,  I put my trust in You. I will depend upon You thru the Holy Spirit to use me, to move me. I trust You.”

We are to live in the moment – all while preparing for the future – and not fearing life.

We are to read signs of the times and interpret the actions we can make. The truth is that people need the comfort of Jesus right now – SHARED THRU US – and we are to agree to show our calmness because of Him.

Remember, we did not choose Him, He chose us to go out and bear fruit (John 15).

Deal, Jesus. Deal.

Amen

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Huddling, 07MAR

It’s quiet Saturday morning, just calm inside the house. The wind whips outside but the house and the huddle holds. Home. We are home.

It’s not just quiet and comfy at home, it’s healing in my earthly home. It’s my “Napping House” of the famous childhood story. All my creatures (children, cat, crab) are still asleep, for now… I expect this napping house to awaken soon (well with teenagers, by noon).

I’ve nested for years to provide the best space of peace for my creatures, even the spiders are resting now in the corners of the ceilings… It’s a good gift of peace,  I listen to the peace. Why was I given this peace? So I could LISTEN for the Lord’s plan for me to help Him. I have worked at my peace.

Earthly home peace is no comparison I imagine to the Healing Home of Heaven. The peace I am granted is beyond comprehension – so imagine how peace-filled Heaven must be. Now Jesus, Jesus has worked for ALL peace.

We get REST on occasion to get ready to work on the REST of our lives in the ultimate job the Lord gives us, of sharing the Word. Sharing the Word is the only way to peace for the REST of the world. Jesus, the Word needs to be heard!

It’s temporary rest to huddle and remain at rest on a Saturday morning, it’s a good and best to PLAN FOR THE NEXT MOVE. Momentary huddling in the game of life is needed, EVEN JESUS RETREATED.

We are given time in this huddle to STUDY THE GAME PLAN, to LISTEN what info is being relayed from the Coach, and is to remember to go apply what we have learned.

Huddle to overcome your next hurdle.

Huddle to Hear.

Huddle to HEED what you HEAR.

Jesus is already in the middle of each and every huddle with us, relaying advice, comforting with HOPE. While retreating and resting in the Lord, we can be learning His next action plan for us.

Let us REST up to accomplish the REST of life. The let us LISTEN UP to be LED.

This cat of mine is resting with ONE EYE OPEN.  Her ears are still LISTENING… She doesn’t expect that I will stay still, she is watching my mood and moves and although she would prefer that I don’t disturb her peace, she trusts me to be her keeper. We should trust our Keeper, our God and all His Ways. We should welcome Jesus peace as our destiny, and help with the Holy Spirit as He is actively working and planning our next moments. As we listen to God, God is listening for our calls too, as we ask for more clarifications. He is planning on how to bless us, tuning us up like His instruments of peace.

Huddle to overcome your next hurdle.

Huddle to Hear.

Huddle to HEED what you hear.

Who’s in our earthly huddle when the outside is calm? Jesus

Who’s in our earthly huddle when the outside is turbulent? Jesus

Who’s Spirit is inside us to calm? The Lord’s.

Who’s ready to take on the world? Jesus !!! Oh, He already did and won.

Oh yes, Jesus already overcame the world – now His game plan is to finish the race and bring us all HOME.

Be Huddled 

Be Home 

Be Heeding Him

Be His

 

Amen 

#825

It is Well, It is Unsettling, with My Soul, 04MAR

Many times I ask the Lord: “Why am I actually here, at this moment, in this place?”  Always the best answer is when the Lord says: “Because I AM HERE!”

I have the honor of singing the Lord’s praises in a church where you could say that how I got there was a fluke. Through it all, I still ask the Lord: why am I here? He answers “BECAUSE I AM HERE”… (and because I gave you time and an excellent car for driving.)

Thank you Lord, Your guidance helps me be more well with my soul.

I have met a wonderful woman named Lois Swenson, she exemplifies a pastor’s wife above all other pastor’s wives that I have met. She lives and breathes her faith. Most do, but there is a fire and peace that exudes… especially since I am blessed to see her encouragement to me as she sings along with us from her pew. Not that I had any doubt in her faith but reading her book of recollections “Steeple and Street Stories” of her and her now late husband “the Rev”, Jon Swenson. I know that I am here to hear her stories… and share how they touch me…

“It is Well with My Soul” – I had the privilege of singing that lyric this Sunday, part of a poem the author wrote about visiting the shipwrecked location where he lost loved ones… “It is Well” is a new song that includes that old lyric, which is important to sing for your witness of others and sing it for yourself, because of witnessing others who have been healed and are healing… I sang it in honor of the Spirit in Lois, having read her book chapter account of the short life of her beautiful baby boy Keith, with whom they shared four months of life and faith learning before his medical issues overtook him, I am reminded to witness her wellness of soul. One book passage states that they were comforted by knowing that the Lord is always present with their son and the Lord is always present with them. In life and death, the Lord is there. “The Rev” Jon told Lois that he realized that the Lord loved baby Keith to a level even more than he could love as an earthly father, and he loved him immensely. Therefore to put the trust in the Lord for Keith’s care. In addition, the book recounts of how they had to really trust the Lord for they were serving in a church in the middle of a Philly neighborhood riot in the 70’s.

It must be well in Lois’ soul because of the Lord. It IS the Lord who settles souls and the dust around them…

It is a bit unsettled with my soul in reflection, because this baby would be my EXACT same age, born about 1 month before me. It is unsettled work to settle as I look in my soul and as I pray to be the person whom the Lord made me and gave me an opportunity to be, for 50 years on this earth. My cousin also born with Down syndrome the day after me has also had 50 years…. My cousin Jeff’s down syndrome was not as severe, with complications of heart abnormalities, as little Keith.  It is a blessing to see that Jeff has always been an opportunist in life, like me. We are all to make the most of life. Why? BECAUSE THE LORD IS HERE.

By grace, Lord has us in His sights before we are born. He has us in forgiveness before we sin. He has us forever if we realize His gift of Jesus. He wants to settle the unsettled, hush the dust, harbor us in hope. Heal us. Hold us.

To be well with my soul, I must go through a phase of being unsettled with my soul, so that I know what it means to be settled by the Lord, so that I know what it means to be led by the Lord, so that I know what it means to be blessed through thick and thin.

While we are here, the Lord’s love must pour thru us as we see the love pouring out of others… our job is to be filling up our own wells of souls with His love to go out and share… to keep moving forward, always sharing His story in us.

I thank God for Lois Swenson’s witness of Jesus’s love,  captured like living water in her well. A well that she shares… a well that is replenished…

Because the Lord is HERE.

We should all be here to hear.

Amen

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What’s Today’s Witness? 28FEB

Yesterday morning I could not have imagined what by yesterday evening my witnesses from the Lord would be… there were MANY.

I wonder what today’s witness will be.

I have many witnesses from yesterday,  this past week.. I knew the Lord would send them… He did… He does…

And I have many prayer requests, too many to mention, some private and some public, my prayer and praise is that THE LORD KNOWS ALL. Prayers and praise are the clouds of witnesses billowing up and around the world. Thank you for prayers and praise all around.

Let me tell you about one specific amazing witness – I am trying to regather an Emmaus gathering group – I met a man at my gathering meeting who had over 200 surgeries! I looked at the tears in his eyes, rehydrating his jar of clay so the hands of the Lord could keep spinning him thru life. I heard the truth of his witness.  I saw his knowledge of saving grace. 200 surgeries, wow… Not all major surgeries, but over a hundred of those, wowza…. wow… I sat in witness to him saying: “The Lord needs me around for some reason”…

Yes.

Witness.

We are called to continually be a seeker of fellow travelers (in this world but not of this world),  who manage to scrape off the trappings of darkness, to see enough LIGHT for HOPE,  even in tough times. We get to meet new people who are old souls and we connect in the soulful way – in support of each other. In witness.

Even those who don’t know the Lord will witness that a force larger than themselves exists.

Even people who don’t know the Lord can know HOPE… stage 1…

Seeking people who know HOPE can seek LIGHT…

People following the LIGHT will see the Lord…

People knowing the Lord will want to start following the Lord.

People following the Lord will witness all their blessings as they travel.

Witnesses to the Lord will hunger to be fed.

Fuel from the Lord is an opportunity to tell others where to be fed.

Feeding others is the continuation or sometimes the BEGINNING of their HOPE…

Be a witness today, be increasers of their HOPE.

Tell of the HOPE over the horrors. Tell of the praise over the paranoia. Tell of the LIGHT over the darkness. Tell of the Lord’s intervention.

Tell the stories of witnesses…

Witness to others.

Be the one whom the Lord sends as a messenger.

“If we did not praise, the rocks would cry out.”

PRAISE

Amen

 

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2nd Corinthians 12

From Paul: Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. I will boast about a man like that….

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2nd Corinthians 4

5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

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Life is not for Self-Quarantine or Autopilot, 27FEB

I am ashamed to admit it but sometimes self-quarantine sounds REALLY appealing to me. Imagine how much I could catch up with at home! But isolation out of fear, like the scared folks who want to prevent the spread of the recent outbreak virus, would not be a good thing to wish for! A self-quarantine for dealing with busyness sounds appealing, then again knocking myself out of my planned fun activities sounds no good. A self-quarantine that is from a temporary snow storm? Yeah that sounds like a good thing,  the whole world has to pause, at least your corner of the world will. You can catch up on things or just do nothing, your choice.

So, why did Jesus retreat? The most powerful man in the world, the most all-knowing right hand of God who was in on the plan from the beginning. Why? What did Jesus have to catch up with? Himself? Thank God that Jesus came back out of the wilderness.

Our times alone are best consulting with God and NOT LIVING ON AUTOPILOT. It’s LENT, how easy it would be to autopilot into Easter… DON’T.

Yesterday I stepped into an Ash Wednesday service at the earliest convenience for myself, 8am, a local Catholic church, an anonymous community of people who were evenly spaced out in a huge church. No one too close to anyone else. Like self-quarantine. I had no sense of community (well I saw one woman smile at another, and I leaned into folks who just wanted to wave for passing of the peace), yet I don’t knock people for this self-quarantine because I was the same, alone and a loner. Surely we were all there personally to get a sense of connectedness to God.

No card-checking of my Catholic background or Methodist membership took place, so I eagerly took communion regardless of any corporate confessional requirement. My confession is: I NEED JESUS.

“Lord, I am NOT worthy to receive You, but only say the WORD and I shall be HEALED.”

The thing about God is that He already SAID “the Word” because THE WORD IS JESUS. Therefore it’s up to us to HEAR the Word – we MUST HEAR AND BELIEVE.  THE WORD is saying that we are WORTHY. We MUST stand before God and say we believe in Jesus’s truth.

** If we believe in God, we need to believe in Jesus.

** If we believe in Jesus, we must believe in God.

** If we believe in God, we must believe we are wanted by God.

** If we believe in Jesus, we must believe that we are sinners.

** If we believe in Jesus, we must believe that HE SAVES US.

** If we believe in being saved, then we must hear the Word.

** If we hear the Word, then we will be healed.

We are worthy because we are. We are worthy because Jesus IS. 

I didn’t come to get ashes because I am healed but because I am still healing, I am hearing and I am hopeful. Be hopeful. Teach and share hope.

On His retreats, Jesus must have been talking in His head to God. Alone is never alone when God is asking for your mental time. Alone with God can be self-quarantine and all good, but even Jesus eventually left the wilderness…  Was Jesus chomping at the bit to return? I wish I could have watched Him in action.

I bet you that Jesus never ran on auto pilot…

When is it time for us to leave the wilderness too? Now is a good time, YES, now is the time to live fully in His love.

What new work does THIS lent season have for us? We heard the Word, let’s share it.

For Ash Wednesday I came to stand before the altar, but instead someone came closer to me, quickly giving us ashes and communion, at least 8 servants were serving. Convenient and quick. I still had time to get on with LIFE… I realize that Jesus too was dispatched to come get us out of the wilderness, we DON’T have to wait. He’s come off the altar, He’s come off the cross, He’s come off autopilot to navigate each and every one of us thru life.

Don’t fear life. Jesus wants us to get on with LIFE.

I BELIEVE IN JESUS – because I believe in LIFE.

Don’t quarantine or autopilot life. LIVE IT.

Amen

822

With Jesus, Nothing Goes to Waste, 26FEB

I love the signs God sends… This is a sign from a trash recycling truck “What if nothing was considered waste” – but it certainly could be the message from Jesus today and everyday… What if we all considered that nothing is considered waste… I always like the thought that Jesus would say: “Go Fish for men but don’t throw any of them back”…

“From dust we came”… Jesus picks up the dustpan to save all…

He is our dustpan Savior… let us help His dusty people to find Him…

Even when there’s not the perfect world – the parable of the wheat and the weeds reminds us to keep growing in spite of the worldly worries… keep bearing fruit… Jesus will take care of the weeds and harvest you for His Kingdom. Matthew 13:24-30 recounts:

Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

“‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. 

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

“‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

Amen

821

Lord, Please Settle My Dust, 25FEB

Ahhh, Ash Wednesday, from dust we came, and to dust we shall return.

Lord, please settle my dust before I return. Lord, our dust is damaged and in disarray from earthly pain and perturbations of Your Spirit flow. Lord, soothe and rearrange us to Your standards and make us joyful instead of anxious.

Lord, settle our dust.

My dust Lord is missing a few pieces, but You know where they went. It is ok if You gave them away to help others,  it is even better that Jesus gave me some new dust from His dust to make me whole.

My dust Lord is sometimes clumped clumsily in me, my toil incomplete and often ineffective, please iron me out, bring me into Your usefulness again.

My dust, Lord, is dormant. I wish to reassert my ways for Your work. Give up my knowledge in exchange for Your masterful plan.

Lord, light our way and unclog our vision, settle down the dust we blind ourselves with, help us to clearly see You.

Our dust collectively will return to the earth, but Lord please use it to replant Your Garden.

Help us make the most of our dust and leave behind dust trails that glorify You. I want to know what I have done with my dust has pleased You.

Until the day we return back our dust, keep us Lord, in Your Fortress, magnetize us to see You, know You, follow You.

You are our refuge, in You, Lord, we trust.

Amen

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Psalm 91

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

820

Jesus, All the Buzz, 24FEB

Stepping out of the house this morning, I could hear the buzz of heavy traffic all around me… You could consider that a good working day or you could consider that too much noise… either way I will also add to the buzz of noise all day…

How we delineate life from background noise determines how we approach each day…

Life has a buzz… so does God’s Kingdom.

The swarm of birds roosting this morning in our trees started to overtake the mechanical buzz, that’s a good sound… The buzz of the electronics at band Tuesday night was interference or grounding issues, all I know was the noise invaded my reality check.  I was not upset at the buzz but distracted… instead of quiet prayers I was filled with thoughts of writing about the buzz that Jesus is always making in my ear and heart, trying to get my (our) attention. Jesus should be all the buzz.

Sometimes in the early years of His ministry, we see Jesus asking others to be quiet, He did not want to cause an uproar of people seeking healing over hearing. Jesus wanted the Truth to overtake the talk and the talk to overtake the noise.  Jesus wanted people to hear and know His Father, our Father and know His Manner not just know and expect manna bread’s of gifts. Jesus wanted to teach the people, reach those who would look past the side show attractions of crowds. His parables forced those who really want to hear to talk them out with each other first.

The skeptical Pharisees didn’t like what they saw, or what they heard. The establishment did not understand and did not want to believe the Father gave Jesus, as His Son, authority to do what He did, to say what He said. They could not see the forest for the trees, could not connect the times to the scripture predictions of the Son of man, and miracles or no miracles, they especially were upset these Works were WORK on a Sabbath…

Jesus was starting to be all the buzz around town… the authorities were getting nervous, the people were getting curious, the demons were taking notes…

Jesus and the Sabbath, whoda thunk God Himself would work on a worldly non-working day… well, God is always working on what connects us to Him. Jesus said “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” John 5:17 We should want to always be buzzing in tune with the Holy Spirit’s presence, which should quiet the earthly noise.

The buzz of the Kingdom is precisely beaming to us. Let’s try to tune in today. 

Amen

 

819

Double Blind, 21FEB

I really am enjoying my Gospel of John book by Michael Card, who tells us that John provides the “Gospel of Wisdom” – John’s recollections were written when he was in his 80’s – real stories he had retold for years – his own take and stories not in the other gospels… John knew his audience and how to tell a story with wisdom… he also was the closest to Jesus as a young teen… John was “the beloved one” who laid his head on Jesus’s chest, who took care of Mary, and was not killed like every other direct disciple of Jesus.

I don’t read these gospel accounts fast, I read them for steady learning, one verse then explanation at a time. I read the John 9 verses (and Michael Card’s explanation) TWICE, starting on page 117 about Jesus interacting with the blind man, placing mud on his eyes, “I was blind now I see”…   It’s a great story about how Jesus took so much time with just one individual…. That’s Jesus for you… cool…

What this story reminds me is of so many who just feel ostracized… that even when the community or the family or the rulers don’t understand us, Jesus specifically seeks us out, one by one. And Jesus introduces Himself to those He heals… I pray that folks do feel Jesus seeking them, especially when He is about to make a big change for them. I know Jesus looks for them (for us) in order to demonstrate the glory of God… it’s not about us, it’s about Him…. another aspect of the story that struck me is when the disciples asked: “Why Lord did this happen?” Jesus said it was so that the glory of God could be shown  – essentially each story can be used to show how God will see us thru trials, and so that we will credit Him when He does, because no one could know what deep repairs need to be done in us, only Him… Not everyone understands God or God’s plans,  but Jesus does want to work out the kinks for us… I know that… you know and trust that… I’m sure glad to witness in faith that Jesus works the kinks out of life for us…

Jesus also wants us to work on our issues too –  JESUS still needs us to WASH off our own MUD!

I trust God will work out the present sufferings for His Glory and our Joy… That’s not Pollyanna in me talking, or wishful thinking, that’s scripture! Romans 8:18… cool…

Jesus judges us to remove our blindness and He uses us to show His glory.

So, I got whacked in the eye yesterday by my purse strap that went loose. Was it to stop my loose tongue rattling on and on to the store clerk? Was it to remind me that accidents happen and not overthink it? Was it to NOW praise that I was OK, my vision saved, and I praised even thru the soreness… How could I not praise the big saves and simultaneously negate my small worries?

Negate small worries.  How dare we be blinded by what is small stuff compared to His Glory.

The blind man, in the Gospel of John, was kicked out of the temple but at that moment do you think he really worried about himself being ostracized? I would say no. He more couldn’t believe the others WOULDN’T believe that an apparent prophet healed him… and the blind man DID believe Jesus was from God, using both his logic and his heart. He was healed “in abstentia” while washing of the mud after leaving Jesus.  Actually, he met Jesus TWICE, once blind and once while seeing, he became Jesus’s disciple and ALL “that stuff” around him, all the ostracism FADED compared to THE GLORY OF KNOWING THE LORD.

The rulers, who could see, turned a blind eye to what they didn’t want to see. The blind man believed in whom he could not see. The belief came first.  How much better would we understand Jesus if we believed without seeing – if we do see, then let us not fall away from believing in His Glory coming for all. Let us not become double blind and forget.

The Pharisees were double blinded, they could not see the miracles for miracle-sake and they could not see the miracle man, Jesus, the Son of Man, for whom He really was. They could not see the sign of the times. The Pharisees threw out the healed man and worse, they threw out his witness.

Let us not be double blind too. Let us not let any present life “stuff” cloud our gifted sight of salvation, which is secured by our belief. Let all other things fade away. Let us BOTH see and feel the miracle of our healing and take an active role in it. Let us not miss the blessings of witness in others nor let us not be blinded by skepticism. Let us go from blinded to being bold for the Lord.

The LIGHT of the World is shining for the Message is to be seen.

AMEN

 

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John 9 (NIV)

Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.  “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”

But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”

“How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.

He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”

“Where is this man?” they asked him.  “I don’t know,” he said.

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”

Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”

But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided. Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”

The man replied, “He is a prophet.” They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”

“We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”

He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”

The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

Spiritual Blindness

35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

“Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

 

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Romans 8:18-31 (NIV)

Present Suffering and Future Glory

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

What, then, shall we say in response to these things?

If God is for us, who can be against us?

 

818

MACRO, 19FEB

MACRO

I was thinking about the definition of the word MACRO and thinking how macro is different than mega…

Mega churches are big, yet how about NOT being MEGA but being a MACRO church… A larger hierarchy of heaven’s forces bringing together the Lord’s people in a MACRO situation,  which is not just big like Mega. Macro would be all encompassing of the people plus their situations…

MACRO

Hmmm….

I often marvel that even when people don’t really know us deeply, the Lord does. So perhaps we can appreciate how much the Lord knows.

So in the Lord, MACRO encompasses all the small MICRO in life as well, the knowledge of every hair on every head. My favorite cartoon of Jesus is Him using the eraser to take away dividing lines that others are drawing… Macro means everyone together. If the micro level IS the individualized way God reaches every person spiritually, He is doing so to put everyone back in place for a MACRO WHOLE Kingdom.   

MACRO love is all encompassing… boundaries are broken… love overflows…

If God loves IN ALL then how can we only love in part? We need to share the openness of love.

How can we judge whether to love people or not, when the Lord already figured out how to love them, when the Lord has already judged how to save each of them, and save each of us. Yes boundaries exist for our humanness, our carefulness, our logistics, but LOVE OVERCOMES ALL.

MACRO LOVE – MICRO ME INCLUDED. MICRO YOU LOVED TOO.

That is the MESSAGE – WE ARE LOVED AND CAN LOVE – MACRO ALL THE WAY.

Amen

817

Peter and Going Where God Wants You to Go… 18FEB

A song by Michael Card speaks of going to where the Lord needs us to go … the lyrics (posted below) refer to the events in the book of Acts, the beginning of the church after Jesus ascended. Peter was called to the house of Cornelius, called to go against his upbringing and religion, called to talk to and eat with others that he would not customarily be allowed to socialize with… Peter was called to places he could not imagine, and given a vision that appears over and over again so that He knew that this WAS a calling from heaven and was not from earth… Peter was called to teach Gentiles and then go back to his own kind and tell them all he did and that God came NOT just for a select few, God came for all!

May we ourselves ALWAYS realize that we are in God’s Hands and wait for Him to place us, listen for Him to call us, and tell others what we have learned…

Peter was gifted this opportunity to teach in the early church – called to be different than the rest, Peter was sent… We too are sent in ways and places to serve Him. Are we to shy away? Likely not. Are we say we are not worthy to serve? The Lord goes with us and since He IS worthy, He will make us worthy. Yes, we are to tell of HIM – God wants us to share the same gifts He gave us, especially the gift of KNOWLEDGE to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. When God moves us to move, who are we to think that we “could stand in God’s way?”

He always finds us in His plan…

Michael Card’s song about Peter  in the book of Acts:

I’m Not Supposed to Be Here. 

https://youtu.be/pszAhSlWSGY

It was His final word as we walked beside the sea: “You will be led where you don’t want to go, “

I knew that He would test my faith and all that I believed

But just how far then I would never know

And He would send a vision then, once more beside the sea

To a rooftop where my ecstasy was seen

To ask what was unaskable, three times the vision came

And demanded I embrace what was unclean

You know I’m not supposed to be here

To cross the line no one has crossed before

To simply be one of the fools

That you’ve called to break the rules

And to go someplace I’m not supposed to be

My stumbling faith responded to what my mind said wasn’t right

So I left that place and followed in a dream

To find unfamiliar strangers who were hungry for the Light

Then I realized that no one is unclean

But I was born to be a winner

And not to serve some fallen conquered king

Who took up the cross and bled

When He broke Himself for bread

In a place that He was not supposed to be

You know I’m not supposed to be here

To cross the line no one has crossed before

To simply be one of the fools

That you’ve called to break the rules

And to go someplace I’m not supposed to be

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Acts 11 New International Version (NIV)

Peter Explains His Actions

The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.  So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him  and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was.  I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds.  Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’

“I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

“The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.

“Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’

“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

Psalms of Joy and Lament, FEB2020

I appreciated this information on the Psalms – which i found on the internet, especially Michael Card saying sorrow is allowed and that’s included in the psalms of lamentations….

“Through petition, praise, lament and song, the Psalmist articulates both the difficulties of living in a fallen world but also the eternal truths about the character of God. The psalms made up the songbook of Jesus and the apostles. If habits matter in the life of a disciple, I want the psalms to form my heart and mind every day.

Michael Card: “A Bottomless Resource”

The psalms tell us who we are, and we need to know that. They provide spiritual bread or living water, or all those metaphors that we sing about. The psalms provide meat that the congregation is so hungry for. The psalms are a connection for us. When I’m lamenting, I may feel disconnected from God. The psalms express that experience. When I’m joyful, the psalms give me language to connect to that joy and remember that it comes from God. He never slumbers. He never sleeps. In the end, the psalms provide for every need, all those misconnections, all the things we’re hungry for, all the correctives we need to remind us that life isn’t about us, but is really all about him. The psalms are a bottomless resource for all the things we need.

Jackie Hill Perry: “Connected to Glory”

If the psalms were written over a span of hundreds of years, then that means God wanted these songs to be read, God wanted them to be preserved. To read the Psalms points us to him in a way that he wants, because God’s greatest aim is his glory. He loves us, and he wants us to love him, which is to glorify him, to know him, to exalt him. There must be something in the psalms that pushes us to Jesus, that secures us in Jesus, that helps us to know God. It isn’t just songs or poetry that we read to learn about ourselves. The psalms push us to worship Jesus. That’s why they matter. If it’s connected to glory, then it should matter to all of us.

We Dare Not Lose the Psalms

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The first few words heard on Michael Card’s CD The Hidden Face of God extend an invitation to a very specific group of listeners– “If you are wounded…” Because after 25 years of composing and singing legendary songs, writing award-winning books, hosting his own radio talk shows, and ministering in churches worldwide, Michael believes he has finally recognized what is lacking in the life of the average Christian today – lamenting.

“Our theology tells us that if we complain to God, we’re being disrespectful,” says Michael. “But at least 80 of the Psalms are actually Laments. It has become a lost language to our culture, yet almost every major Biblical character recorded a lament. There must be a reason for that.”

So what is lamenting? Webster says to lament is to “mourn aloud; to express sorrow or regret; cry out in grief; complain.” Michael says lamenting is ultimately a place of pure worship.

In The Hidden Face of God, Michael discovers that place of praise and worship through tearful, sometimes tragic, lyrics. “Every lament in the Bible, with the exception of Psalm 88, ends in praise,” Michael continues. “The answer to all our laments is seeing the face of God. Job wasn’t going to stop complaining until God came down and spoke to him. And when God finally did that – even though He didn’t bother to explain to Job why his sufferings were taking place – His presence was enough to make Job’s questions go away.”

The song “Come Lift Up Your Sorrows” brings another Old Testament truth to life. “I have discovered that true worship involves a wilderness experience,” says Michael. “God told Pharaoh, ‘Let my people go so they may worship Me in the wilderness.’ We need to get over our misunderstanding that if we grumble to God we are somehow dishonoring Him. God doesn’t wilt from our complaints. In fact He says, ‘Bring it on.’ What He desires from all of us is complete honesty and truth. And sometimes, the truth is we are disappointed with God.”

Michael’s personal laments have come about in the midst of tremendous grief. He comforted his sister when she lost two young children, and then years later, watched while his 18-year old nephew died of cancer. During these intense times of sorrow, Michael found that “normal” worship was not working.

“I felt that my own experiences of praise and worship had become anemic. I would be in a corporate worship setting where people were going to places I couldn’t go. I felt like the only things I had to offer were confusion and pain. But then I realized, if that is all I had, I needed to share it with God anyway. He wants all of us – even if all we have to offer Him is our doubt and uncertainty.”

https://www.cbn.com/cbnmusic/artists/card_michael.aspx?mobile=false&u=1

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Who wrote the book?

Psalms, a collection of lyrical poems, is one of only two Old Testament books to identify itself as a composite work containing multiple authors (Proverbs is the other). Some psalms name their author in the first line or title. For example, Moses wrote Psalm 90. David was responsible for many of them, composing seventy-three psalms. Asaph wrote twelve; the descendants of Korah penned ten. Solomon wrote one or two, and Ethan and Heman the Ezrahites were responsible for two others. The remainder of the psalms do not contain information about their authors.

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The Psalms are traditionally divided into five “books,” possibly to reflect the five books of the Torah—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Today I’d like to point out two beautiful aspects of this organizing structure: first, our position in relationship to the Lord that is predominant in each book, and second, the doxology (expression of praise) that concludes each book.

Book One

Psalms 1 through 41, which make up the first book, emphasize how God is beside us. A good example is found in the very first Psalm where we read that the man who meditates on God’s Word is like a tree planted by streams of water—he prospers in everything he does. Another example is found in Psalm 23:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

David goes on to say that there’s no reason to fear any evil because God is always with us.

Book One closes with this doxology in Psalm 41:13:

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting!

Amen and Amen.

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Book Two

The second book consists of Psalms 42 through 72. Here attention is given to how God goes before us. David confesses his sin in Psalm 51 and pleads with the Lord to wash away his transgression and to create in him a clean heart.

Book Two closes with this expression of praise found in Psalm 72:19:

Blessed be his glorious name forever;

may the whole earth be filled with his glory!

Amen and Amen!

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Book Three

The third book (Psalms 73–89) reminds us that God is all around us. Asaph recounts the history of God’s people in Psalm 78, showing us that God has been at work the whole time. He admonishes the children of Israel to tell the next generation, even the children yet to be born, the great and mighty deeds of the Lord.

Book Three closes with this simple doxology in Psalm 89:52:

Blessed be the Lord forever!

Amen and Amen.

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Book Four

The fourth book (Psalms 90–106) focuses on how God is above us. Psalm 90 is the one psalm credited to Moses. In it, he speaks of how our lives on this earth are brief, so we need to number our days aright. God, on the other hand, is eternal, and He will reign forever and ever.

Book Four closes with these words in Psalm 106:48:

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting!

And let all the people say, “Amen!”

Praise the Lord!

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Book Five

In the fifth and final book (Psalms 107–150), the spotlight is on how the God is among us. Psalm 128 paints a beautiful picture of a man who fears God. He is happy and blessed. His wife is like a fruitful vine within the home, and his children are like olive plants around the table. And he shall see peace and prosperity in his nation.

Book Five closes with the doxology found in the Psalm 150:1–6:

Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his sanctuary;

praise him in his mighty heavens!

Praise him for his mighty deeds;

praise him according to his excellent greatness!

Praise him with trumpet sound;

praise him with lute and harp!

Praise him with tambourine and dance;

praise him with strings and pipe!

Praise him with sounding cymbals;

praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord!

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Summary

To sum up, here’s a quick look at the emphasis of each of the five books in Psalms:

Book 1: God beside us

Book 2: God going before us

Book 3: God around us

Book 4: God above us

Book 5: God among us

A Bedtime Prayer, 15FEB

 

Put Your Wisdom in my ears, Lord.

Put Your Words in my mouth, Lord.

Put Your Heart in my heart, Lord.

Put Your Hands in my life, Lord.

Put Your Time in my time,  Lord.

Reset me in my rest.

Good night Lord.

I love You Lord.

 

I long to see Your new tomorrow in my tomorrow.

Rest me then wake me to see Your Life in my life.

Put Your Love in my Love, Lord. Oh yes, it’s ALL Your Love already.

Lord, You ARE Love.

Lord, shine Your Love thru me forever.

Amen

 

 

 

 

 

815

Step into God’s Love, 15FEB

It was a blessing to step away from light pollution and see brilliance in the stars last night. No cell phone coverage in the backwoods area, almost to home.

How we have to step away from man-made interference to glimpse God-made LIGHT. Intense patterns. Orion and the big dipper are really surrounded by deep brilliance. I knew the opportunity was rare for me to be there and the crisp negative six degrees outside did not deter me at all, I had to seize an opportunity to see. And in reality I needed to wake up, as I was so exhausted driving at 10pm… so dangerous… so my desire  to see the LIGHT was also gifted to wake me to help guide me safely home (sounds like Jesus right there).

Home is a blessing for me to step back to and step forward too. Brought my son. My mom’s birthday and we get to see my dad whose health is steadily stepping down… sometimes 3 steps down, two steps up like last time, still this is a step down. A blessing  to be here and it’s important for me to see with my own eyes and not experience life in a vacuum, not shy away from processing. And also to count my blessings that this is the best stepping path of care he could have.

We all have to understand the steps of life.

Always a step in the right direction is when we can step closer to God. Like stepping away from city lights and barriers to  views, we best step away from the middle man of us, our humanness, our sin and worldly situations and distractions to step closer to our Gifted Grace. God sent Jesus not just as a “stepping stone” but as God Himself. To step us into forever love. It’s not JUST for our sake that God wants us close, it’s FOR GOD’S SAKE. Totally.  He in us and us in Him.

The best step is not backwards to God but forward. God does not change and we can move INTO His Love. We have stepping stones and can have a LIGHT load to carry on our path.  We have the forgiveness of sins thru Jesus. We have the gift of ultimate mercy. We have the opportunity to be alive and awake in our existence in God’s Amazing Plan.

So we have to take the steps. We have to not hesitate to step out of our fog, our sleepiness or confusion. The veil was torn and we can directly experience life with God. Like getting to see the brilliance of the stars, the strength  of the waves on a beach, deep sunsets, the majestic mountains, or the tiniest most intricate flowers, we want to leap into the moment, with enthusiasm and joy, to see God’s purposes for us. We want to experience God with cold wakefulness to stop ourselves from stepping away from Him. Just like no subzero temp could stop me from seeing those brilliant stars, we should have no hesitation to know God more. No hesitation to wake up. I want to want God in that same way. I want to step even further into His Love.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Let us do whatever we can to leap, crawl, step into God’s Love. Not a step back… a step forward…

See all there is to see, especially since God Himself is Whom gave us sight.

Love all there is to love, especially since God Himself gave us LOVE.

Amen

 

814

The SCENE, the SAND, the SILENCE, the SAVE, the STOP, 14FEB

What a wild scene, diffused by Jesus. Jesus stands alone with an adulteress accused and about to be stoned. The accusers then are silenced, leave convicted and the scene dissipates down to one to one conversation. Jesus simply uses the tactic of silence over scolding. ‘Whoever is without sin can cast the first stone’, stooping then to write in the sand. His actions saved Himself from the crowd too.

Silence in the crowd.

Sinners stunned

Stoning saved.

Sinning STOPPED.

Some say the sand-writing bought time for the men to realize older scriptures or to recognize their own sins. Some might say silence is the most powerful tool towards those making a scene.

Silence in a scene is impossible to bridge when there is no reaction to escalate tempers. Silence is saving grace when words would worsen it and cause woe. Standing firm in silence is still standing.

I can tell you that silence works.

So does our Savior.

See, the woman had the most intimate personal experience – one on one – with her Savior who told her to stop sinning.  Did she? Would we?

A Savior’s role in saving is not simply stopping punishment,  a Savior is all about STOPPING SIN.

So that accusatory tones are not spoken, we are ACCOUNTABLE to stop spying.

So when stoning words are not acceptable. we are ACCOUNTABLE to stand up for the sake of salvation.

So that scenes we invent or could escalate are silenced, we are ACCOUNTABLE to stand silent.

So that saving grace may work, we are ACCOUNTABLE to stop sinning.

So that our Savior can save, we are ACCOUNTABLE to be save-able. With Man it is impossible, but with God everything is possible.

The stones against us will fall, the Savior for us will stand. The silence breaks specifically and solely for us sinners to see the situation. He reads us. We need to get a read on Him.

If Jesus, the Word, can say something in Silence, then our listening can come from what He has written on our hearts. He knows that He would like to write more.

His desire is for us to read into His Love, FOREVER.

Amen

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John 8 KJV

Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.

And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.

And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

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Proverbs 15

A gentle answer turns away wrath,

but a harsh word stirs up anger.

2 The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.

3 The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

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Proverbs 17

27 The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered. 28 Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.

813

In God We Trust, 13FEB

We have a faithful God, so many times for many years when I fretted about money,  like this morning getting out of the car. I then saw a coin on the ground, right in my view. The Lord is saying  “don’t worry, I will take care of you”. And I do remember that.  I do remember I am blessed. Money is a tool to use wisely,  and surely to use for living and sharing. God will make more.

He is faithful to remind me (and us) that we will be ok, even better than ok, if we just “In God we trust”….

812

Faith in the Fire, 13FEB

“IRON SHARPENS IRON”, don’t get dull…

We are forged in God’s image, therefore we are NOT to be idle or obsolete, we are to find outlets for our skills to serve. The “irony” is Proverbs 27 has so much advice, but are we “sharp enough” to glean life lessons from it?

Be the iron where there is no iron.

Are we iron-enough to challenge and sharpen each other in faith? Sharp enough to sharpen, and iron enough to be sharpened by others? Will we survive if our faith is like butter?

Are we iron stakes to hold the railroad tracks together so He can steam ahead with His power?

Have we ironed ourselves out to be our best for His use in His Work? Surely the Lord will use us no matter what shape we are in, but can we be more fit to serve?

Have you been newly forged?

Did God place you back into the fire to work out your kinks?

Can you appreciate how He hammers away to make you His tool? His VERY GOOD tool?

Will you be instrumental in His Kingdom?

What will our Blacksmith forge from you today?

Are we an industrial age iron being heated for pressing down creases and wrinkles in our faith? Are we weighted enough to work? Have we grown cold or obsolete? Are we statues forged to demonstrate that the Lord’s faith in us has never wavered?

Are we an iron furnace to warm our corner of the world or sadly stingy as a miser with our allotment of fuel?

Are we souls on fire?  Will we shine His LIGHT for all to see?

Let us share our share, sharpen our skills and pour out our praise. When we walk thru the fires of life, we will be known for how we don’t lose our SPARK.

Let us stun the King Nebuchadnezzars of the world with our unwavering faith (Daniel 3) and witness the 4th man standing in the fire with us. Know that our 4th man saves.

Lord, let us know best Your fire in us. Let us search for You in our fires.

Faith in the Fire,  Forever…

Amen

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Proverbs 27

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

2 Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips.

3 Stone is heavy and sand a burden, but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.

4 Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?

5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

6 Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

7 One who is full loathes honey from the comb, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.

8 Like a bird that flees its nest is anyone who flees from home.

9 Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice.

10 Do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family, and do not go to your relative’s house when disaster strikes you— better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away.

11 Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart; then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt.

12 The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

13 Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger; hold it in pledge if it is done for an outsider.

14 If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.

15 A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping of a leaky roof in a rainstorm;

16 restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand.

17 As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

18 The one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever protects their master will be honored.

19 As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.

20 Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are human eyes.

21 The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but people are tested by their praise.

22 Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding them like grain with a pestle, you will not remove their folly from them.

23 Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; 24 for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.

25 When the hay is removed and new growth appears and the grass from the hills is gathered in, 26 the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field. 27 You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed your family and to nourish your female servants.

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Daniel 3 (best to read the whole story)

24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”

They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”

25 He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”

So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, 27 and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

811

Work IN the System that Works – PRAY, 09FEB

I’m working IN the system that’s working for me. I PRAY.

I work the system that works me.

I THINK.

I work FOR the system because I work for the Kingdom. I offer my gifts for HIS service.

I WORK FOR GOD. SURELY HE WORKS ME!

Who is GOD? He IS the GREAT I AM.

’nuff said.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

I was doing dishes, OLD DISHES, gotta get these chores done before I have fun. All day I had been busy, been SO patient and waiting for an opportunity to go to my girl scout camp Saturday, at least for dinner (I really really really wanted to be there all day, but also had the opportunity/obligation to be 3 other places, so I chose to let the Lord sort it out). I was not able to go full weekend camping but I just wanted to go see my friends, soul-sisters thru thick and thin, and of course I was excited about bringing science experiments for the girls to play with. Oh how I am always thanking the Lord for this wonderful girl scout family I have, even if my daughter has not been a scout for 3 years). I then said, doing dishes, wouldn’t it be nice to have somebody to ride with me who would appreciate going to girl scout camp (only 45 minutes away) and then back again tonight. First, I thought of scout friend Jen then the Lord Himself put the AMAZING connection in my brain and I realized friend Cristina would be the perfect scout mom who would appreciate the visit and would be appreciated. Cristina is so very sick from her amyloidosis illness. Working so hard for her family including super-energetic Sophia post liver transplants…  I was so blessed this day to give her a night out, and her middle daughter too, to see her scout friends. But I didn’t do anything special except LISTEN.

As a child of God and scientist, I’m always thinking and I’m knowing that the best ideas always come from God. “All good things come from God” –  and a math-head knows Boolean algebra pursuing of “if then” statements, therefore: if something is good, then it must then come from God.

When ideas click that good, they MUST come from Him. When I allow myself to listen and sort all that I have learned, He finds the match for me.

I pray to be working in the system that is working for me. I pray, I ponder, and I try not to get upset when things don’t go my way. And many thoughts do take time to percolate. God wants His Way. Our job is to comply. (And set up the percolator in us, no coffee needed. Not a fast drip but for time-consuming deep extracting thoughts.)

“You do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”… James 4

Blessed are those who have Subarus and full tanks of gas. Let’s drive. The travel was only possible due to the blessings of a few days prior, when I had a window of opportunity to see my family up north before their big snow storm. How slim the window was to be there. How important it was that I got my ducks in a row first and then I got home. I got lots to do in life. God is there already so I might as well let Him sort…

God can sort us out best. Hand Him our agenda books… and listen to what He lays on our hearts. There are only so many hours in a day. He knows that,  He made this day called “Today “.

I think it’s ok to humanly discuss, argue,  wonder,  pray. It’s really good to prepare for many opportunities. Prepare your fields for rain. In the end, the best plan is to LISTEN.

God knows how the minutiae fit in total. God knows the PLAN.

Work in the System that Works.

Pray and Hear. Listen and Follow. Follow and be led.

AMEN

 

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James 1

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

9 Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. 10 But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

Listening and Doing

19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

810

GOD USES FLASHCARDS, 08FEB

“His name is LOVE, a LOVE that always finds me.”

God looks for us, God chases us down, God IS Love. Don’t you just LOVE that?

ALL good things come from God. He called us VERY GOOD.  So Him calling to us now, seeking us out and seeking us in, is also VERY GOOD.

I had a discussion of spiritual gifts. (Hey, question, can one be the “Jack of all spiritual gift trades, Master of none?” LOL) So, my friend and I were speculating about God’s gift of “tongues”. I can speculate that phenomenon could be anything being used by God to say something that touches someone’s ears JUST RIGHT, and also could be us hearing something that strikes us as coming from Him. This concept may seem so foreign to us OR could be happening all the time. The tongues spoken by disciples at Pentecost were direct languages that the others visiting in Jerusalem for a pilgrimage could understand, yet I will stretch my opinion (maybe ignorantly) to include many mysteries of His communication…

I said to myself, visual learner that I am, ‘maybe God makes it more simple for teaching and reaching me – He probably uses FLASHCARDS’.

And why wouldn’t God used whatever method that reaches us best – some are visual learners, some auditory learners, some kinesthetic learners, etc… and some “Jack of all learning styles, Master of None”.

Yes, sounds funny, but ain’t that the truth that God will search us out; He will use anyway that reaches us.  When we start to recognize His signs, it is our belief in Him and His Love that means the most to Him. We should vet out the signs we see and seek the truth in our understanding.  But back to the basics, He just wants us to believe in Him and believe in the one He sent, Jesus.  “Seeing is believing.” Faith is believing even when you are not seeing.

In all this, our belief has to come not from others telling us, our faith must be experienced. Yes, it’s us that has to say “Oh, that was God.” Give credit where credit is due. And remember the simple truth that all good things come from God…   (Just this week I know that He helped me find the good window of opportunity to travel to my parent’s home, and then back to my home just before they got a foot of snow.)

I have seen some doozies of serious physical signs, as well as silliy-nesses that touch my heart (seriously driving under that turnpike sign that said “EXPRESS” that day when I doubted my drive to write and share, is a favorite meaningful sign!). Surely I’ve had stern warnings, even God giving me hard NO’s!!! Haven’t we all? Tough love and righteous love. I have seen windows of opportunities and thoughts put in me like flashes of brilliance that ONLY the Lord could have created. I have watched circumstances click into place, drop like from heaven into my life. People too. Signs are all around that God is in charge and He wants us to be all ears, open ears. And yet remember when faith may seem like personal interpretation, it has to ring true with TRUTH. All must worship in SPIRIT and TRUTH.

My visual flashcards would be different than your flashcards. Our experiences might find parallels and yet we all have tangents that only the Lord could reach us on – those moments when it’s UNDENIABLE that God sent you a message (or at least tried to) – those FALL ON YOUR KNEES moments. How best to just believe in His Ways – not our belief in earthly things.  Although earthly things are tools, it is our belief in connections to the heavenly realm, that will really speak to us – our turth comes simply and complex as us just knowing God.

In all, we know more if we study more. The bible stories are our roadmap to our minds, souls, hearts. We need to walk the WAY of Jesus seeking out people, study His encounters with people like us. Jesus wants us to know Him over any of His works. Just know.

In the wisdom writings of disciple John, Jesus points out that the crowds are looking for manna bread from God, looking for signs, not understanding that Jesus Himself is the bread of life, the Way, the path to the Father. They often will get signs, interpret them as another prophet, but oh how Jesus really wishes for them to have believed what the scriptures foretold. Jesus spoke directly to the Pharisees (who should have been up on their scriptures) to say, ‘you know the signs of the weather, but do you not understand the “signs of the times”?’ Jesus was looking for BELIEF, a desire to learn. He wants connectivity firing in our brains, for us to see where God has revealed truth. Like when Peter believed in Jesus and could verbally affirm his belief and love (John 6, Matthew 16). Jesus says ‘you believe in me because God has revealed this to you’…

LET’S PRAY ALL WILL OPEN UP TO THE LORD.

Each person has to find their own spiritual belief, which is revealed to them by the Father. Herding cats, herding children who run everywhere, herding sheep who don’t know any better. How much better it is for us, WHO KNOW BETTER, to WANT to KNOW MORE!!!

Our God is good, all good things come from God. How good is it that we get the opportunity to believe in Him? VERY GOOD.  God blessed us to be created by Him in order to believe in His love for us and to love Him.

Oh that’s so VERY GOOD.

Amen

 

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Romans 12

6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

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1Corinthians 12

6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.

…

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues ? Do all interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way.

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1Corinthians 14

1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. 2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. 4 Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified. 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.

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Galatians 5

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

809

My Dad the Comeback Kid, the Power of Praise, Prayers, Determination, Ice Cream and Acceptance, 06FEB

No doubt that your prayers are appreciated and WORKING for my family.  I witnessed great improvements in my Dad yesterday, which baffle doctors and yet show us the power of the complex human body and fighting spirit.  The power of time, 48 hrs, from catatonic-like stroke OR seizure OR sepsis-symptoms OR who knows to a man determined to eat ice cream by his own spoon last night. I believe in the motivation of ice cream.  My truth is that the Lord is in charge.

I walked into the hospital room and my Dad knew my name. Enough said.

I could say that asking for prayers makes me feel like “the boy who cried wolf” whenever I see rebounds like this (and he has had MANY, lucky blessed). But prayers are NEVER wasted.  I am EVER appreciative of your prayers and my dad is far from rebounded perfectly, this IS a step down the road as an 80yr old. And yes, it IS tough to see him and everyone get older and less robust.  But it is acceptance of the natural aging process, plus a refreshed outlook everyday of “what’s today’s reality”. I count blessings that I have parents who can get older, kids who are busy. No one could tell me that the Lord is not in charge… I count blessings for EXCELLENT health insurance and the spirited care of the hospital staff this time in a hometown hospital. It also reminds me to get my own physical and mental self more robust while I have the chance. My praise is most crucial, praise comes first.

And acceptance,  endlessly I can tell you when I and we have been amazingly surprised that after accepting a certain level of any situation,  the saving grace and SURPRISE of the Lord shines beautifully thru. Yes, everything good comes from God, this too. Doesn’t it seem that God wants us to not complain but understand? I witness to acceptance with actions and game plans ready, not defeat but resolution. With my mom and brother accepting the fact of increased work on their part in order to get my father home for his care, I witness their commitment, game planning, drive. How blessed am I to be from this great example of family strength,  blessed beyond my wildest dreams. My mom knew every nurses name, the ultrasound tech’s baby, knows the ever-shifting baseline of health too.

Well, isn’t that the Lord too?! Lord-strength, determination and drive in His Home-Kingdom combined with His ultimate people-placing power. Not people-pleasing but people-plan-pursuing. God works His system. It is HIS.

I believe in the power of acceptance.

I believe in the Lord tweaking our existence in amazing ways.

I believe in the power of praise.

I believe in my earthly Father’s and my Heavenly Father’s Willpowers. I believe.

I’m blessed to know that we are blessed and no matter the circumstances things could ALWAYS be worse.

Praise, Prayers, Determination and Acceptance.

Witness,  Witnesses,  Witnessed, Witnessing…

Amen

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“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

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The Golden Rule

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

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Build Your House on the Rock

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

808

Already There, 05FEB

I pray for my logistics often when to travel to visit my family up north, especially when I hear of my Dad’s failing health, I quiet the “drop everything” thought to think about my own children – what’s the best plan? My Dad would expect me to choose my children over him. It is a balance and I am blessed with a full plate. So, I prayed to find that window of opportunity and it came – I’m traveling this morning then back tomorrow.

I believe in finding the right window by being an opportunist and planner, and after starting to put my ducks in a row, I was realizing that they are the Lord’s ducks anyway, I should let Him organize my thoughts and plans. He did.

Clearly I was meant  to see this scripture passage, I felt the message DIRECTLY SPEAKING TO ME,  John 6:19-21, I NEVER saw the last sentence before. How perfect it is for explaining how we are to listen and sort life out. Logistics are best handled in the Lord’s wheelhouse,  ALWAYS.

When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened.  But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and IMMEDIATELY the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

I never imagined the finest little detail in this scripture to be the most important direction in my life. But it is TRUTH for all of us: They were willing to take Jesus into their boat and IMMEDIATELY the boat reached where they were heading. 

We listen for Jesus and when we welcome Him, we reach the destination that He has already planned us going to.  This is both small scale and heaven scale. Heaven-scale destination is our salvation by welcoming Him into our lives, realizing to give up control and letting Him steer our boat and life. Heaven-scale by allowing Him to put fire in our veins and burning His fuel to reach whom He wants us to reach. Heaven-scale by knowing He already knows the destination.

Small scale is also true. When I looked at my options for travel this week (and so many times) and said: “Lord, You know how to sort this out”,  He did.  [FYI – it WAS the perfect window because I got back home before a strong winter storm hit the next morning, dumped 12 inches of snow in less than 6 hours. God DID know the right window for me.]

Small scale is everyday scale – when I place my day of endless loose ends into His hands, He leads me on the right thread. I ask: what’s most important for me to do? When I evaluate my options, He sees me doing my part to settle the dust in my head – therefore He can shine the light brighter in the direction I am intended to go. But we are not to sit and wait – we must do our part and start rowing.

In the boat, we best let His Spirit be the “wind inside my sails, the anchor in the waves”… Can you imagine Jesus walking to you? He is.

Listen to Jesus and allow Him to save you small scale and Heaven-scale. Know His voice. Welcome Him and don’t be afraid for He knows the Plan.

Listen to Jesus and give Him the credit where credit is due.

Let the Lord establish your plans and you will get already there.

AMEN

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John 10:27-28 (KJV)

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

James 4:13-15 (ESV)

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 

807

On Edge, 01FEB

I am ever HUNGRY for the Lord’s Word. I think there is no better place than for me to be home tonight, reading my book on John’s Gospel of Wisdom, chapter 6, the loaves and fishes – with a cup of tea and peace. My Christmas tree is still lit up, even though it is already Feb 1st,  I still crave this peace that goes beyond understanding that He has placed in my life. I am AMAZED at His Peace. I pray it is not ignorance but gifted peace for purpose and likely I know it is for me to gain more wisdom to move forward to His next challenge for me. 5 years awakened – there is always a mission for me to fulfill. I persistently feel this. A cup of tea to ponder. A peace to behold. A mission to mission. A marvel of marvels. But always there is an edge to be on and to ponder – I am on the edge sometimes and sometimes just sliding back from the edge to understand it all…

In my Michael Card Biblical Imagination Gospel of John book, on the bottom of page 85, there is EXACTLY an explanation of what to do when being on the edge of life – for known and unknowns: “We shouldn’t be satisfied simply doing the things we are good at. We should strive to be right on the edge so that if the Lord doesn’t show up to help us, we will fail miserably. This is the kind of place the disciples are now in.”   Meaning that when we are placed in a position that only the Lord can solve, we can be amazed by the Lord and will have to rely on the Lord. This is not always the comfortable position to be in – not the easy road but the path that the Lord will show up on. Michael Card is talking about the nervousness of the disciples at the 5000 people who are hungry with only 5 loaves and fishes – Jesus knew what He needed to do – I expect He does that for our random life situations too… Sure He does.

I totally expect (and need) the Lord to show up in my life forever (He certainly has shown up big time in the last 5 years for me)…  I don’t need my socks knocked off – simply I need to hear His whisper – as to why I am where I am – and what He needs me to do…  situation by situation, edge by edge, moment by moment…  and a recount of where He did show up when I rest after the recovery of the edge… Yes, how better to look for the Lord to show up than to know that He has been showing up all the time…

I hope you also listen and hear that whisper of what the Lord’s plan is…
God comes in a still small voice…  I’m all ears…

“And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. ” 1st Kings 19

I believe this.

Amen

 

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Philippians 4: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.  Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;  do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus….     whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.  What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

806

The Science of an Unchanging God, 01FEB2020

Loved the science experiments my workmates and I performed at a school exhibit yesterday, of course I brought my favorite foaming hydrogen peroxide dish soap yeast experiment, how could I not? That is the experiment which catalyzed the notion in my own head that Jesus was sent by God for changing the world like a catalyst. An exciting overflowing foaming experiment where hydrated yeast, as the catalyst, changes the hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen, thus the bubbles.  Yeast has catalase enzymes to catalyze the chemical reaction, reduce the activation energy and make the reaction go faster.  A catalyst that does not change. (In class I said my “Cool CAT-alyst” also makes things happen faster and wakes me up from sleepiness every morning to play and get me to move, sometimes by trying to bite my ankles. Oh yes – that wakes me up!)

Seven years ago, I used this same experiment in Sunday school, a lesson about lost things – Jesus finding lost sheep, also teaching about the lost coin, the lost prodigal son…. I said “God sent Jesus as the catalyst to make the Word of God spread faster.” Something snapped in my brain. God was working on me as I did not really know Jesus in me. In the lost me, God was laying out a road map for Jesus to find me. Then 2 years later (which is my FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY TODAY) I understood how an UNCHANGING God changed me. Jesus was/is real. I WAS THE MOUNTAIN THAT GOD NEEDED TO MOVE MENTALLY. Jesus got thru to me. I am forever changed. Jesus is Lord.

This is a special day to me, but to God a normal work day. Five years ago today – Feb 1st 2015 – that’s when I knew God had introduced me to know and follow Jesus in SPIRIT and TRUTH as my Lord. 2 months of writing out my awakening. 2 years prior I made that pivotal mind-snapping statement: “OH!!! God sent Jesus as a catalyst!” SNAP! (I even have photos of that day’s class, wow, God made me document like a scribe what He did to me.)

A catalyst, does not change, but brings reaction components together closer and reduces the activation energy to get the reaction started. Jesus Jesus Jesus.

God is unchanging. Jesus is God. Jesus will work and work and work. God will love and love and love.

The Holy Spirit will move every item into place to reach us so that we then can explain, teach, worship, believe, and reach.

The yeast chemical reaction breaks bonds. The reaction is warm to the touch. The sting of medicine hydrogen peroxide is no more. Jesus Jesus Jesus.  Chains are broken. Warm LOVE and welcoming into the Kingdom, and the sting of death is no more.

As an UNCHANGING ETERNAL GOD. Jesus wants us to know Him. God brings us to Him. He will never lose us.

I was found. I am saved. I have work to do for the Kingdom…. I must sprinkle some Jesus today…

So, how was I going to slip in then mention of Jesus in a secular work presentation? Probably not to the school kids but to somebody? It came as an opportunity that surely even I didn’t expect, the semi-retired librarian helper came in during the lunch break and asked what we were doing, so I did the experiment JUST for her, an explanation just for one. She was amazed and I explained how I did this experiment in Sunday school. I explained my aha moment about Jesus.  I also showed her cornstarch  and water mixed as OOBLECK, a fun non-Newtonian solid, and I talked about pretending to be walking on water as Sunday school demonstration,  I said “of course ” – she said “of course” – I just tapped into seeds that were already planted in her previously – I only added a little more fertilizer and seeds… Using science to plant seeds… even the teachers can being taught everyday, I was one of them, I know. Share Jesus Today! Be amazed at what He shares with you!

AMEN!

805

Judgement to Save, 30JAN

John is shared as the Gospel of Wisdom,  so that we may understand Jesus more fully and completely.  John in chapter 5 recounts this crucial teaching from Jesus – that He as the Son has been given all authority to judge. God the Father has given all judgment to the Son, so that we honor the Son.

I took a step back to think about the scripture in John 3:17 as well, Jesus came not to condemn but to save.

Jesus is judging us in order to figure out HOW TO SAVE US!!!… NOT CONDEMNING to persecute, but judging the Way that He can reach us best. His will is to Work thru all the kinks in the hiccups of earthly life so that we will understand His Truth. This is case by case business.  He will AND has resurrected the dead of human life, even those walking dead. He has worked only thru the Father’s power to be righteous in judgement and He only works for the Father’s Will.

It’s God’s Will, worked and testified by Jesus, to Save Us. We are His testimony that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

To save you.

Thank God.

Amen

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John 5:

16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

805

Children of God are COGS in Something Turning, 27JAN

More and more I appreciate that the Lord reminds me that He has each of us in His plans, that we are “COGS in something turning” – as Joni Mitchell sings…. We are cogs in the machinery of the Lord’s inner workings. We are part of His plans and we are requested  to help get all Children Of God back to His garden, actually to His new Garden… In order to get there ourselves,  we best start walking with the Lord. HE KNOWS THE WAY!

Regardless of any lyric interpretation, WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD. We are part of His plans. “We are stardust” God’s VERY GOOD dust…

My thought while driving last night (after my 3rd church event of the day) stopped me in my tracks. I was playing with letters in my head, staying awake, as I continued a thought about starting a work prayer small group, and what could we call it on the work calendar that would be memorable and yet safe in “secular speak”… People Of Expanding Faith? POEF?  Children Of God,  C-O-G. Cogs…  COGS!!!!! That play on letters stopped me instantly, how does God do that? Hit my brain just so? It’s because we ARE cogs in something turning, and our praying and listening and making the connections is what He needs, our thought are populated from Him oiling our gears… and us oiling them too so the Holy Spirit can start working. 

I feel to be a cog in something turning… you know life IS for learning.

I thank the Lord for this small reminder, that he takes the time for me, gives me insights of how I am blessed to be “geared up” for His work.

We all can be “geared up” for His Purposes…. I KNOW busyness is not our role but participating in the Lord’s Business is our job…

To be a cog in something turning, the Lord is oiling our gears, I pray everyone is blessed in their work thru Him for Him.

We are all Children Of God. We need to walk and come alongside the walk of others too… be part of the movement…

Cogs in something turning – God’s plans.

That’s us. Gears moved by faith not by sight.

Amen

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Joni Mitchell – Woodstock – Live 1970:

https://youtu.be/cRjQCvfcXn0

 

I came upon a child of God

He was walking along the road

And I asked him, where are you going

And this he told me

I’m going on down to Yasgur’s farm

I’m going to join in a rock ‘n’ roll band

I’m going to camp out on the land

I’m going to try an’ get my soul free

We are stardust

We are golden

And we’ve got to get ourselves

Back to the garden

 

Then can I walk beside you

I have come here to lose the smog

And I feel to be a cog in something turning

Well maybe it is just the time of year

Or maybe it’s the time of man

I don’t know who l am

But you know life is for learning

We are stardust

We are golden

And we’ve got to get ourselves

Back to the garden

 

By the time we got to Woodstock

We were half a million strong

And everywhere there was song and celebration

And I dreamed I saw the bombers

Riding shotgun in the sky

And they were turning into butterflies

Above our nation

We are stardust

Billion year old carbon

We are golden

Caught in the devil’s bargain

And we’ve got to get ourselves

Back to the garden

804

“Come With Me”, 24JAN

My 3rd new Jesus plush doll looked like he was pointing in the squished plastic but now, fresh out of the package, this Jesus doll is extending his arm. It’s no trick. As this Jesus doll was packaged squished in such a unique way, I first thought Jesus was pointing the way as in “Let’s go”. Now, I think with this arm staying extended, it is just like Jesus commanding and beckoning to us: “Come with Me,  I will show you the Way because I AM THE WAY”. Not go – but come!

God does not want to lose any of us and Jesus beckons us to live Godly lives thru the Spirit placed in us – both for the benefit of us and for the Kingdom. The path is narrow but surely it is not like walking a tightrope. Instead, the path is a net – cast by the greatest fisherman Jesus. And imagine trying to step up on and walk a tightrope, or even a net, oh tough! Oh, how much easier and stabilized we would be IF we were holding Jesus’s Hand the whole time. And with the Holy Spirit gift of guidance. That IS the Way, Jesus forever holding on to you.

Come with Me. I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Thank You Jesus!

Amen

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John 14

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

6 Jesus answered, “I am the WAY AND THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

…

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

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PS. Thinking of direction that Jesus gives, i saw an arrow on the sidewalk and then another… Reminded me that every once in a while I walk into a particular grocery story and I re-see that “FIRE” painted on the ground – and remember how that stilled me those many years ago – that FIRE is fuel now – not just fire in the soul to wake up and catch wood on fire, but now as Fire to move the living water thru like steam in a railroad engine…  ah what a great analogy that just came out when typing that – this year the VBS theme is Rocky Mountain Railroad – I am so very excited about the railroad theme, my family has railroad blood… I already started trash picking things that look like railroad tracks…

“Let the King of my Heart be the Fire inside my veins!”

https://debbieupper.blog/2016/12/28/soul-on-fire-still-12sept/

803

“God Does Not Have Grandchildren”, 23JAN

Two by Two the Lord sends us out to minister and to witness and to have someone who sees what happens when we work in Jesus’s name and love, we are sent together to have someone who confirms our story.

Thru YouTube, I met singer and dynamic spiritual-cajoler Keith Green. I knew a couple of his early 80s songs for praise band,  I didn’t know his story. I learned. YouTube. Now that’s a blessing!!! Keith’s story is both very different and very similar –  a gift of mental pairing for me. The story is different in his upbringing – the story is the same in God’s “SNAP” call.

Independently, the Lord calls on each of us to realize our status as children of God. Keith Green says God has children,  not Grandchildren – meaning that young folks – each person – will have to hear their own call, understand for themselves, not ride in on coat-tails…

Yes, our jobs are to keep encouraging new children of God to find Jesus.

Keith and I have shared experiences of questioning, learning, knowing. Yes, Jesus is patiently waiting for us to follow Him. Receive Him AND Follow Him, two stages.  Keith is a pair to my witness, Keith would understand me, understand that SNAP of when we knew and acknowledged Jesus as Savior AND Lord. Yes, in this interview Keith states that he knew Jesus but then later when he acknowledged JESUS AS LORD, OH SNAP, it all came together… God wants commitment…

Keith’s testimony (discussed in this 1st YouTube video) and mine are 40 years separated by time, but God crosses all distances and medias. I understand that testimony.

Keith talks about Jesus to the viewing audience kids in his 1982 appearance on the television boob tube (those are his words in the second video link) that he knows how 70’s crazy he looks to mainstream American people, that he knows what becoming a fool for Christ looks like. And so with Keith’s charismatic ways, naturally, God found a use for him and his style.  God crosses all distances and media to reach people.

I’m blessed to know that when you know the Lord and WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH,  the Lord will snap you in. Born again. I pray that you know Him too. To give up your life to the Lord is to gain His life for you.

Keith Green would understand me and I him, oh that conversation,  oh that SNAP.   Just before the 10 minute mark on the first video, Keith speaks of how it was 2 years of Him praying to Jesus before he actually worshiped and followed Jesus – you have to be led and accept Jesus’s lead in order to be saved… at the 12minute 45 sec mark, Keith said he knew Jesus was real because He was the one God changed – a mountain could have skipped into the sea – but if God changed him then wow, that is how he knew.

Love these 2 videos – it’s the unplugged speaking at the piano testimony which is more important than the music…. I’m thankful for YouTube history… I’m so thankful to the Lord for being true thru the ages. Calling His Children.

Amen

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“Keith Green   1982 100 Huntley Street TV 01 Keith’s Testimony” on YouTube

https://youtu.be/oOYQSn46q08

Keith message and a song https://youtu.be/zwkrchALHG8

802

God’s VERY GOOD Dust, 23JAN

I have carried this crumpled red flag sign from vacation bible school for years… Psalm 147:3 ” He heals the broken hearted and bandages their wounds.”

The world is broken.  We are broken people.  I write in human brokenness always to record His ongoing repair…

In Brokenness is EXACTLY where we realize being In Jesus’s repair – He stepped INTO worldly brokenness – His Love was/is completely given because He was/is willing to become human to be broken and shared…  He understands repair…

We are broken-hearted people, the Spirit is trying to put the Kingdom back together.  We cannot know Jesus in us fully (although we surely know Him in stages) unless we open up to learn, to know of, and to share in, His broken heart too. Oh so incredibly painful to be part in the brokenness but this is our cross to bear, to sort through our pieces and those of the kingdom and to be part of the repair.

Scripture advises guarding your heart because everything you do flows from it (Proverbs 4)… well, we must often guard our heart “bits and pieces”… we have hope to be whole with the Spirit but still acknowledge earthly brokenness… I believe in the Lord’s plans to assemble ALL of our hearts back into Him with His repair, He does not want any pieces to be missing… We are in Him and He is in us.

When we let the Spirit glue the pieces together,  then He can rearrange us as needed. But if we try to hold back any of these pieces, if we try to re-glue our own selves back together without His help, then we are bound to feel pain in new breaks over old fault lines. It’s not our strong warriors strength (as in Psalm 147) that He wants, it is our strong FAITH in Him. We should want His hands holding our pieces together. 

Yes, God gave each of us, every child of God, a dust particle from His Very Own Heart.

We are built from dust, God’s VERY GOOD dust.

Yes, we are worth it because our worth is found in Him.

Jesus is longing to teach us how to go out and work thru the Spirit to recollect every dust speck, every soul, each and every one. Jesus is commanding us to continue His Father’s mission to regain His children for His Kingdom.

Jesus is the Word written in our hearts because we ARE to become one with His Heart while He moves. His Sermon on the Mount speaks truth: brokenhearted people who are crushed in spirit get rebuilt Spirits in His Kingdom. From Mathew: “Blessed are the poor in spirit,  for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ”

Can you help set up the staging area? Work the construction? Plant the seeds? His Kingdom’s planning stages had you in mind. Can you help in constructing areas so that the dust can settle?

We are crucial to the rebuilding of the Kingdom one soul, one dust particle, on repairing heart at a time.

Amen

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Psalm 34

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all;  he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.

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Psalm 147 

Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.

² The Lord doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.

³ He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

⁴ He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.

⁵ Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.

⁶ The Lord lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.

⁷ Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:

⁸ Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.

⁹ He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.

¹⁰ He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.

¹¹ The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.

¹² Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion.

¹³ For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee.

¹⁴ He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.

¹⁵ He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly.

¹⁶ He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.

¹⁷ He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?

¹⁸ He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.

¹⁹ He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.

²⁰ He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the Lord.

801

Jesus: “Let’s Go!” – a college visit to pray, 22JAN

I purchased another new Jesus plush doll, it was delivered squished through the mail. Silly I know but I was intrigued at how it would look coming out of the box – and yes I love the position this doll was wrapped in, as well as expression. It is as if Jesus says “LET’S  GO! THIS WAY!” I simply moved the tag for the photo otherwise the position was set just so, one arm up directing traffic and legs back as if He were flying or maybe kneeling towards you…

Today I was happy to participate with my church in giving goodie bags away and praying for returning college kids at a local university. About 20 minutes from work, I took the late afternoon off as a last minute decision to join, yes I was blessed. I recommend this activity for every church to visit colleges.

Was so nice to pray out loud with the returning students who came to the dining hall.  Awesome giving 100 goodie bags out in an hour and a half, a token to share love. Oh how wonderful that lots and lots of the kids accepted and appreciated prayers. Even kitchen staff came up for prayers. This was a big campus for only having 700ish students. There were 12 of us from church and some CRU members from campus, plenty of time to chat and meet each other. What’s so exciting to me is to be in a church filled with praying BOLD people, who want to share knowledge of God’s Love… What knocks my socks off is always a whole new set of people that I get to meet. HOW BLESSED AM I? !!!

The students appreciated it. Everyone graciously took the bags that had food, candy, scriptures, fliers for our church and the campus church services, and even a can of Red Bull energy drink… I was fed on the energy of the Spirit – nothing compares to Him.

I remember their faces for sure, and specifically the sense of these kids being shining stars, going places… specifically I remember my chat with an impressive graduating senior as we talked about grad school, and prayers for a young lady whose Dad, Fred, is having prostrate surgery, assuring her its highly successful treatment  and watching a team pray for a young lady on her first day as a freshman transfer student, she was wearing a great sock monkey hat…  I was able to pray in group or pairs for about 10 students or more. Cool…

Jesus says “Let’s Go!” and shine that Spirit smile that I gave you to share… let’s zip along our way!!!

Yay Jesus!

800

Merry-Go-Round Brass Rings, Jesus Rings True, 18JAN

This is one of those notions that I have NO IDEA why the Lord laid it on my head in the morning (BUT LATER HE MADE IT CLEAR WHEN I SAW A MERRY-GO-ROUND!!!).

After a wonderful night of sleep, this image/concept of brass rings and Merry-Go-Rounds had to be placed for some reason. If you think I work at writing, I DON’T!

Oh, I do appreciate meditating on Jesus, so maybe that IS what the Lord is trying to demonstrate, He wants us to connect Him to us. It is our direct movement and processing to understand Him – that is where our faith becomes real.  JESUS taught in ANALOGIES for us to ponder and speculate how we relate. Jesus always said: “Let those who have ears hear!!!!!!”

Merry-Go-Round – a favorite for young and old – and oh, in the “olden days” reaching for those brass rings to get a free ride was a feat. Not easy to reach, not freely given, not without danger to you, leaning off your horse. Brass Rings did lose their value when sadly the rides closed down, the horses sold, the band played no more. Sadly those rings are never won again.

Merry-Go-Round of Life – Jesus is the Only “Ring” we need. But Jesus is NOT a token.  Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Truth. Jesus is not a free ride but a freedom. Jesus is eager to be reached, Jesus already has His Hand out for us! WE JUST NEED TO KNOW WHERE TO LOOK.  The roadmap is thru His Word in the Bible – Jesus is the Word made flesh. WE LIVE THRU HIS SPIRIT. 

Jesus Rings True.

Jesus’s hand will reach for us EVERY TIME we look for His Mercy.

Jesus. No golden calf, no flash in the pan, no shiny brass ring that tarnishes, gets lost, or only gives one extra ride. Jesus’s Hand is forever the Hand to hold, to behold, to become Whole.

When we hold Jesus, HE HOLDS US FOREVER. 

That Shiny Brass is nothing like the Shine of Jesus – beaming until we notice Him – and oh how His Shine wants to beam thru us, forever.

Reach Jesus’s Reach.

Shine Jesus’s Shine

His Love Lives for all Time.

Amen

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Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God….  …Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is…  … be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.   Ephesians 5

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I am amazed!!!  The afternoon after I wrote this, I dropped my daughter and a friend to an out of town mall I had never been to. I turned the corner and guess what they have? A relocated Merry-Go-Round!!! WOW!!! 

I wrote this devotion this morning saying that I didn’t know why I had a merry-go-round and brass rings concept in my head, but it all connects… Life with God is AMAZING to me, we are all connected and woven into the Lord’s world…. cool… granted it is not unusual to see merry-go-rounds, and I’ve ALWAYS been a merry-go-round person… but today’s timing was WOW! I just chuckled and found money in my car to ride the ride… cool beans…

Joni Mitchell sings “I feel to be a cog in something turning ” Yes, we are!!! I always know that it’s more than just “the circle game” – we are to find Jesus by looking for connectivity and purpose.

Even 800 writings, 5 years, I am still surprised that God chose writing as my outlet and task… I do know that I am blessed to be a cog in something turning!

Oh Lord, I Love You!

799

Women “Get It”, 16-18JAN

Pondering about a Michael Card lecture about Luke’s Gospel…

https://youtu.be/3gs31_dfnbo

(Starting at minute 20)

A theory from Michael Card was that all throughout Luke’s Gospel,  women (as a secondary social class in those times) were listening and were demonstrated to “get” Jesus. (Actually many men in servant roles are shown to “get” Jesus too). It’s the servants who understand the Servant better than the kings.

Jesus does not shun women. He relates to them, shares to teach, seeks them out to get them to know Him.

Many of the non-servant religious leader classes are portrayed in Luke’s Gospel to “not get it” – to fail in understanding the Lord right away or at all, or take repeated teachings to grasp whom Jesus is fully… Even Disciples who follow Jesus will try to comprehend His Message, but are often shown as “works in progress”. God Himself and life must have blinded them to only understand gradually…

US TOO… We are blinded by life and when we catch a glimpse of the Light of Jesus, we do want to understand His Message, men and women alike. It takes us time for all of us to “get it”.

So, the blind, the sick, the second class folks are shown in Luke’s gospel to be eager and willing to understand Jesus.  Those folks were already looking for a save and a Savior.  The women mentioned in Luke’s Gospel often “get” Jesus, right away, the women in the stories grasp the truth of Jesus with understanding. Throughout all the gospels we are shown examples of people like us – From His mother to the women who approach Him for just touching a thread of His garment to wanting healing for their families as crumbs of bread gifts from Jesus. They understand Jesus can give Mercy.  Do we?

Do we want Mercy from the Father thru Jesus? Do we believe that we have it already?

Those folks were subjugated to being servants but are we WILLING to be servants?

God wants ALL or NOTHING…  to be willing to be a servant now is to understand and follow the example of our Servant Jesus who serves the Lord.

Michael Card teaches that Luke shows the world turned upside down. The first must be last. The last will be first. Jesus came to serve. Jesus came to serve His Father,  not Himself.

So….  Jesus is already in conversation with us. Do we “get” Him?

Do we serve the Father as was done by His Son?

Do we know our servant role?

Do we want to know Jesus better?’

People are to find the narrow path to Heaven,  so if we kneel in service, will it be easier to find the path?

Closeness to our Servant Jesus is what we want to “get”

Amen

Our prayer: “Jesus, You are our teacher and Messiah. You came to serve, to teach, to be the One to tell All. Jesus, You were misunderstood by many, left out to die but raised again, let us all know and feel that WE are among the dead who were raised with You.

Amen and Amen

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Luke 10

“Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.” The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

798

Carry the Cross of Crosses, 16JAN

How interesting the deep meaning of the cross. We bear the cross to make others aware of the cross and the ransom of Jesus’s life for ours. Jesus did not ONLY come to die and be raised, He came to reach us, to teach us, and to carry our burdens. How amazing the short time He had– I am sure he felt the weight of His cross to have had such little time to teach.

Jesus is the Message. His Cavalry cross carried not solely the Messenger but the Message Himself. His cross carries ours. Our cross?  What do we carry? We carry on.  We must be like Jesus and carry on the Message of God’s love. He asks us to love Him and one another. We are to believe in the one He sent – Jesus – The Message – believe the Message.

That is the cross we bear – to share.

This wooden cross, with many nails, is used to be filled to be emptied. The nails are used to hang more crosses, the crosses that carry prayers for pilgrims sent forward in service, continually venturing into our renewed world, serving Christ. This is the cross to carry many crosses. All crosses should be emptied once they are filled. Jesus’s cross was also filled in the purpose to be emptied. Jesus came to go.  All we lift up as well is taken by Jesus. The cross, the tomb, the waiting, now are all left behind. This helps us become free to go.

On the 4th day, Jesus ventures back out to the fields. Yes, the white fields are ready for Harvest. We must venture out now, the world awaits awakening… Let’s carry our crosses to make an impact, let us help Jesus raise more from the dead. Let us pray and work for the Harvest.

Let us cross over ourselves, leave our needs and sentimental ways behind, and go out to SERVE in obedience, serve HIS WAY. We carry His cross to many.

We are filled with His Message to be Shared.

Amen

797

I was Saved, now I Beam, 12JAN2020

Five years now, since God got my head on straight, This time span has brought me into some dear sentimental moments as I revisit some of my awakening amazement…

I felt my tears flow as I drove in to see the 911 steel sculpture yesterday, at the Garden of Reflection.  I knew my tears would fall. Yes fallen tears for fallen lives who were prayerfully heavenly found.  But this day my tears gush for me, because without Jesus I would never have been found. Never found is the worst thing I could ever imagine… oh my tears if I had missed Jesus yet again… I didn’t know that Jesus existed as the Word in me, I didn’t – I do now.  Two years after a crucial Sunday school science class, God made His moves on me, Dec 10, 2014 thru Jan 2015, it was 2 months of intense processing and writing, scriptures and sermons, and crucial conversations with God and God’s helpers. Then that day, on Feb 1st, 2015, standing at the garden of reflection, I knew that I grew.  I was lost in my driving that day, only to have been found that I had been led.

I was Saved. Jesus became and is my Lord and Savior. One cannot say that without knowing the truth of Jesus. I learned the truth, God’s Way. God relentlessly hunted me down until I was found.

Jesus finally got me. It took Him 45 years. This was not the end of a journey, but the beginning of a NEW walk with Him EVERYDAY. I pray you all continue your walk with Him.

Feb 1st, I confirmed that I would never go back to being iffy on Jesus. I asked: “Do I really believe in You Jesus? – Yes, YES I DO.”  That Feb 1st day, Superbowl Sunday, I flipped over a coin nestled in the steel I-beam, it was a token of John 3:16, how fitting: “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.” So today I left a little of encouragement to give back – a card that says: “God loves you. Jesus saves you. The Spirit moves you.”

I have been made an observer and scribe of my own intense mental rewiring 5 years ago, where I thought I was going crazy. Some early days I just sat all day and thought about God. I was being led and molded, and God let me know that He was the one doing it. With everything timed just so, the Lord Himself changed me. No one ever knew where my faith was or wasn’t. God knew. It is funny how prideful I was not knowing I was lost, but surely I can tell you humbly that I knew when I was found. Peace is from where I met Jesus in me. The eye of my hurricane. The peace in my life. The Savior for later, and the Savior for now.

Why me? Why? God gently regrafted me to the Vine. Unlike some blockbuster cases, I didn’t feel crisis or angst. But God knew I needed to feel loved and peace. I had pride, ignorance,  self-righteousness, I was half-blind. Lost without ever knowing how lost. And now I know we are sealed together, that JESUS DOES NOT LOSE ANYONE THE LORD GIVES HIM (John 6). SO WHY ME? Probably so that I can tell you to look for Jesus too, because Jesus is looking for you.

So where do I walk now?  Lord only knows.

I am His, and He reminds me of this daily. My Psalm 139 existence.

If you well up with tears, you can feel Jesus tears for the lost.

If you feel warm JOY, you are being washed in Jesus’s LOVE.

If you need to shed tears, no tears are as healing as the tears of God’s LOVE.

If you listen to the Lord long enough, He says – trade your tears for tasks, get moving.

AMEN

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Here’s a simple devotion poem, mentally written as I walked in tears thru the garden,  how classic of the Lord to make my tears absorb back in, and instead to let these words flow out:

911 I-beam, 

I see you thru my tears.

I came back to touch you.

You are cold. Jesus is warm.

I believe You Lord. 

You came to get me.

No one knew I was lost.

I became aware of You, and You in me.

Jesus, You saved me. I was there.

Jesus You BEAMED and I saw You.

Jesus You SHINE,  You’re forever mine.

I am commissioned Lord, lead me.  

You want all to know You.

Jesus, I BEAM for You. 

Amen

 

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Jesus says:

“All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life”… John 6

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“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2nd Peter 3

 

 

796

Flow, Grow, Go, 12JAN

God’s LOVE and Jesus’s WALK with us is not in an empty vacuum, away from life.

Likewise,  Life is not in an empty (or full) vacuum, away from God’s LOVE.

Jesus is always bringing God LOVE directly to us,  LOVE and LIFE are continuous.

Life may find us in our own little vacuum of just us, or mixed into the vacuum collection of every creature who walks this earth.  It can be very messy.

Jesus jumps right into the vacuum canister with all of us, then if we get separated and lost in the vast cluttered darkness, Jesus will SHINE thru the mess.

We may think we or others have it much messier in a bogged down sin-filled life, but all lives carry original sin and all their other sins too. No sin is little compared to others, and no sin shines out to be more fixable or less fixable than others. All sin is created equal, including the sins of ignorance, selfishness, envy, and a blah bah humbug existence. Sin is sin.

But Saved is Saved. Jesus will cleanse us thru and thru (again and again). Helping us pick up the pieces and allowing us to help Him pick up the pieces of others too. Saveall the pieces – God is cleansing and reassembling them.

Any vacuum cleaner which pulls in messiness will have to have equal air flow out. Can you see God holding the world’s largest Holy Spirit vacuum cleaner? Pulling us in? Our sin-filled souls filtered by Jesus. Leave the trash behind.

We are made whole thru Jesus.

We need to grow, as broken people with broken lives. When brokenness grows, more space separates the broken pieces making more space. More healing love can flow IN to sooth brokenness. More healing love can flow OUT like a flood. God wants us to grow.

Never stop growing in Jesus’s arms.

Never stop healing in flowing floods of love.

Never stop facing and forgiving the world with the loving kindness that is forgiving you.

Flow

Grow

Go

Amen

795

Whose Child? GOD’S CHILD, 08JAN

Such a precious gift from an even more precious dear friend. This sparkle-filled SNOW GLOBE musical box plays “O Holy Night”, in sweet reverence to the birth of our dear Savior, Jesus.

The snow sparkles, the Baby Jesus’s face and hands, All of Him, precious to bring us peace. Look at the marvels of Mary and Joseph.  The caption… wait, um, is it upside down? No, the caption is right side up when we adjust our view. Mary and Joseph and the Heavenly Hosts are reading it: “Unto Us a Child is Born”. At that angle even the angels can see this gift.

And Jesus does look up and see them looking at Him. We can all look up and see all of them now looking down on us. Unto us a Child is Born. This is Jesus for us all.

The world rejoices.

The Word made flesh.

The child is God’s child.

Adjust your view. Look at the angle, top down, to see the best view. God’s child is for you.

We are God’s children too. Look up and see God looking and loving over you. See Jesus came for you. Unto us a child is born.

You are covered by the sparkly Heavens.

You are covered with purifying forgiveness from His LOVE.

You are never alone.

You are made in Him and Him in you.

Unto God, you are His Child.

He loves thru you.

Amen

794

You Did It Again Lord, 06JAN

In God’s AMAZING Ways, He provided EXTREME mental clarity to an issue that I realized is way too complicated for me to figure out – something that I necessarily and repeatedly am called to put into personal mental fasting. Yes, timed with the repeat call to prayer and fasting at my church, thru reading the book of Acts, I renewed prayed for clarity, both last time and this time. Suffice it to say that God showed almost instantly that He wants to hold my back on this particular serious serious issue, which was already out of my hands. For when I tried to set my agenda before His, He woke me up again into clarity… not in judgement, not in joy, not in an answer I wanted, but a guidance I needed…

God’s clarity is powerful enough to knock your socks off or gentle enough to come in a whisper,  but either way it’s there for the asking… and it’s up to us to leave our agendas behind and LISTEN… Don’t expect to get a question always easily answered, but a guidance given.

God will guide us to make realizations. Better to teach a man to think than hand a man a thought…

So to add the icing on the God moment,  I turned on my car tonight and I thought how unbelievable that my blue-toothed phone grabbed “Do it again” from my phone – do it again or instead just God saying “I did it again to you” – but not the praise song,  this was the Kinks song from my iTunes playlist,  I laughed… better yet, the next song was “Better Thing”… classic God… God will answer with His best interest in mind,  I trust Him 100%. I pray to give Him my attention, trust, and obedience… yup… it always requires work to drop my agenda…

The repetition in teaching us is key, we are blinded people,  we are like Peter need multiple opportunities to restate our love, to see prophecy,  to get our acts together,  just like Peter’s vision in Acts…

God knows every hair on our heads, I thank Him for helping me – AGAIN. I pray Him to grow the numbers of kingdom people so they too can understand. ..

Thank God for everything… WHEW!

 

793

Healing is from the Healer, 06JAN

Healing is from the Lord, our Healer, only He can fill in our brokenness. To be a helping healer to others, one needs His healing first. He offers. To help, one needs to accept help first. He helps. We are supposed to be the messengers,  not the message. We can take purpose but not pride from helping others. His healing can come thru our hands and hearts. His Spirit flowing.

I do believe that trials help us heal pain from other pains, if only we look to our Healer. God takes my hand because I offer it to Him. He takes our lives into His Hands, even when we don’t try to give it to Him. We need Him in the good times just as much as the worst.

Our new lives in His Hope are from and for His glory.

We serve not to be served, but because we were ALREADY served by our Savior.  We are saved. He now needs us to hope for all.

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Psalm 30

I will exalt you, Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me.

Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me.

You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit.

Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name.

For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.”

Lord, when you favored me, you made my royal mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.

To you, Lord, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy:

“What is gained if I am silenced,

    if I go down to the pit?

Will the dust praise you?

Will it proclaim your faithfulness?

Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me; Lord, be my help.”

You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.

Lord my God, I will praise you forever.

792

How Deep is His Love? CHRIST-DEEP. 05JAN

This beautiful new-to-me Christmas ornament, a double cross, caught my attention all month. There were many like it on the church’s tree, double crosses in stained glass framework attached back to back.

The beauty of having our Savior is that HE HAS YOUR BACK.

“Through faith in him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” Ephesians 3

At Christmas I nestled in for quiet time, sermons, singing, all from the cozy corner of this tree. The depth of these cross ornaments struck me each time I glimpsed up. The depth of the Lord’s love to get me from where I was to where I am now is earth shattering and TRUE, as it is for all of us.

The depths of love from the Lord to each of us is purposeful and direct. Jesus steps into our lives. The deep catch we feel from Jesus can barely be described… Christ-deep.. Christ unique…

These unique cross ornaments remind me of His love. Deep.  His cross arms are spread wide, so is His love. The cross glass is intricate with design, the Lord knows deep intricacies of how to love us. The cross ornaments so still, Christ wants us to know peace.

There is space between the front and back of the anchored crosses – can you imagine how much LOVE the Lord wants to show you in the space between now and forevermore? Can you step out today knowing His love will guide your feet forward?  Can you trust and move ahead in faith?…

Perhaps we best remember that our crosses, that we pick up every day, are also attached to the cross of Christ, like in this ornament.  Christ intensely wants to take and carry our burdens. Yes, His cross is enough to carry your cross too.

Yes, how fitting, our crosses are attached to His, for we are to continue doing His work thru us. Our cross to bear is to share – to spread the news of His love, deep and wide. We are filled deep and wide with extra spirit to share.

We must help people be aware that His LOVE is always there.

If there is anything holding you back from accepting Christ more fully, please think of reducing the space between you and Him. Think of His LOVE wanting to pour into you to bring you peace. What barrier might be between you and Jesus? Did you know that Jesus has your back? That Jesus came to save and NOT CONDEMN (John 3:17) Jesus loves you so much it surpasses all knowledge. The Holy Spirit can bridge the gap and bring everyone to the Lord. Let us always pray to be guided by faith.

Apostle Paul writes:  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:16-18

Amen

791

Anchor, 05JAN

Not “my waves”, but “the waves”…

Jesus is my save.

There are so many lyrics to learn in praise band, sometimes I flip “you’s” and “they’s”, “my’s” and “our’s”… So the lyric that struck me today as truth was that the Lord wants to be our anchor in “THE” waves… Whose waves??? NOT HIS,  NOT MINE,  but “THE” waves of earthly life, messy life.

The lyrics: “Let the King of my heart be the wind inside MY sails,  the anchor in THE waves…  Our anchor is Jesus. “You’re never going to let me down”

The lyrics crucially reinforced my anchor as the Lord. My issues and problems are just the waves of life that are part of our broken existence.  These waves are not specifically “my waves”, these waves are simply LIFE.

Not saying LIFE is easy, or awful more than we can bear…. surely we have to put it all into perspective….

And in good and bad waves, we best believe that the Lord is OUR anchor in the waves.

Jesus still calms the waves that I cannot control.

My anchor holds within the veil. That means Jesus is already inside of us holding us close and together. The veil in the temple tore upon His death and thru His Resurrection there are no more blockages between us and God.

What’s mine here on earth? Not much, but my witness is mine. My hope is mine. My life is…. nope, my life is His, my hope is in Him, my story is His Story. My witness is His Spirit shining thru me. I’m His. He is MY anchor.

Jesus. He’s not just “the” anchor, He is MY anchor.

Amen.

790

Tilt, 04JAN

If we were in a pinball game of life,  we might be rolling around calmly OR be wildly out of control thru sin and lostness, felt bounced around and repeatedly hitting the painful bumpers and ringing the bells. When we feel like the devil racks up points in our confusion, it is causing more cracks in our brokenness.

We can ask the one person who can stop it all. Ask Jesus. 

Jesus will cushion you. Jesus will catch you. Jesus will tip the pinball table to keep you from going down those self-destructive and dark ways. Yes, Jesus even causes the TILT – a warning to the devil that not only was he defeated by Jesus, Jesus has won over sin and death by resurrection and life. Jesus Wins.

The Lord picks up the whole table and takes control. The pinball machine won’t flash “TILT” instead it flashes “SAVED!”

SAVED BY JESUS.

Who’s covering the wide gate of destruction and world exit? Which gatekeeper is herding us safely home? Thru His Cross, a life laid down, Jesus has bridged our way OVER the depth of nothingness. Our Savior is calling our names to set us towards the eternal LIGHT already illuminated in Our Father’s House.

Home. The path is narrow BUT IT IS SURE.

It’s our own pinball game of life that we must roll on thru. We can’t hide away, our Lord will find us. We can’t simply or ignorantly be lifted out from dealing with this broken world, we must roll with it. We must roll with grit, determination, even JOY. We are commanded to demonstrate calm passion and seek JUSTICE for others,  give LOVING MERCY, and ROLL HUMBLY WITH OUR LORD to places He needs us. Whenever we need to BE STILL,  we should.

“We abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.”

Keep rolling my friends,  look for the one true LIGHT of Jesus, believe in the One whom God has sent. JESUS has TILTED our lives forever into His Arms. Be saved.

Amen

“The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.  Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them“. John the Baptist in John 3

 

Waiting, Waiting, 03JAN

You ever get the feeling you’re supposed to be doing something? But rather you just roll over in bed? And then you see THAT FACE on the waiting cat? Yeah, that says everything (photo attached) – that annoyed grimace means “I’m going to wait here until you move – I’m not happy – I want you up to start our routine”…. The cat is right,  I should start the day… actually I was waiting to write today… actually my cat would expect that kind of delay from me…

What would Jesus say?

What would Jesus do but always wait for you?

My Jesus doll (sitting next to the cat) is also seemingly waiting… Jesus waits for me ALL THE TIME… I’m slow on the pickup,  He is patient. Jesus puts Himself in front of me to help, He waits. God may find other people to do the work He asks you to do, but Jesus waits at least until you realize that you should have done something…

Jesus is smiling on my plush dolls face (also sitting waiting in the photo). I often think of Jesus smiling because I try to have childlike faith and JOY, that’s my sanguine personality coming thru… Other times I see and feel the STERNNESS of Jesus,  sometimes the FRUSTRATION,  often His PAIN at so many LOST children.  Yes, PAIN. Especially the days I leave church only to drive by the FILLED football stadium or Wawa or Panera and wonder of all the multitudes of people,  do they know Jesus?  Jesus has all these emotions, and that’s why there is the waiting Jesus.  But not with idleness. Jesus waits INTENTLY. Jesus will get in your way until you notice Him.

This particular Jesus doll has been waiting,  I finally realize who I am going to gift Him to, a friend in need. I bought this second one for that purpose,  without knowing who I was supposed to give it to, Jesus knows everyone needs Him, but who would understand my intentions of gifting and praying Jesus’s comfort to them…  Ah yes, Jesus waited until my brain caught up with my heart.

I’m going to give this little doll to my friend  who needs all our prayers,  she is very sick with rare incurable disease, her body wasting away, she’s using all of it and her energy for her family. She is not waiting, she is working everyday for her family, for answers and for peace. They all appreciate that faith will bring them thru life. They all need prayers for comfort and peace.  Thank God they all have Jesus. They do appreciate our prayers… they appreciate time. They, like we, are being taught to “count our days”. I pray them all good days filled with LOVE.

Now, how can we be real Jesus today? and who is like “Jesus in need” today? Who needs our prayers,  our patience,  our path to cross theirs? Maybe it’s our smiles that are needed, our listening ear, our comfort,  our tough love even. What is Jesus waiting for? Only for you to share Him in all you do.  And I know that you do.

Thank you for whenever and wherever you SHINE Jesus thru you.

Jesus loves what you do.

Amen

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Psalm 90

12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

14 O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.

16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.

17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

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PS, I held this thought and this photo for a couple days to write, it was sitting  in my drafts folder. Today a friend sent me a devotion about God waiting, so I finished writing this piece in the WAWA parking lot BEFORE I read the Upper Room piece,  and wouldn’t you know, they were perfectly matched,  God is waiting… yup…

https://odb.org/2020/01/03/god-waited

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Glove vs Mitten, Why being in a Church Setting is Good, 02JAN

Holding my fingers inside my fist inside my glove on this 20 degree morning driving my son to school, I was making the argument that mittens are better than gloves to keep your hands warmer. It’s true.  Each finger helps the other, keeps it closer to complete body warmth, more able to do work when called upon. A fist warms.

That’s church, or how a church setting could be, together not just for warmth (as in warm bodies) in the seats, but warmth so that we work together better. Work our fingers, hands, feet, work our spiritual gifts for God.

Yes, together and functioning as best we can to support each other and warm the people who come thru the door. We are not to be people who just huddle close to the heater, but we are to actively work at the work the Lord intends.

Yes, together and functioning in order that we may also go OUT OF THE DOORS. We who are clothed in fabric of God’s Love, as a mitten, can step out, in faith, to serve outside our church doors.  We can find the people where they are – on the street, in the homes, on the couches, in need. Share the love of the Lord with them. Invite them to share His love too. Encouragement and warm smiles.

A mitten not a glove.

Fingers serve different functions,  so do church members. So do the masses of people to reach. There are thumbs, pinkies and the pointer fingers. Find out the Lord’s mission for you. Find ways to share your abilities for His Glory. Any cold lone fingers might ache, as a lonely person aches.  Togetherness is a way we grow strong for compassionate works and action. Together two by two, the Lord gives us moments to witness to each other, and realize our Lord’s power. A whole hand can function best connected to the rest of the body.

A mitten not a glove, the covering is together, like the Lord. Pull together when life separates. Be together to work, and together help the Lord warm the world.

Many hands make LIGHT,  His LIGHT, work.

Together.

Amen

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“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.” ~ St. Teresa of Avila

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Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;  and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.  For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 1Corinthians 12:5-13

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The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead two by two to all the towns and places he planned to visit. These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields. Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. Luke 10

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(PS, I am very grateful for my church families, and for the Lord that fuels my fire for Him and His people)

 

 

 

 

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Realness, Rawness, Rest, 31DEC-01JAN

When I prayed in the morning, December 31^st, the last day of 2019, there was one STRONG word that permeated my mind from the Lord.

REST

How I appreciate all advice when praying. The word REST didn’t mean stay idle, but REST in RECOVERY for the moment, REST UP for the next mission.

And the stronger meaning for REST is to REST IN JESUS’S ARMS.

EVERYTHING in between here and “eternal there” is an opportunity for us to be Spirit-led and help Jesus as He looks for the REST of His lost sheep.

REST.

REST up and REST IN Jesus’s Arms, both crucial to our service to the Lord.

REST assured.

Reverence not restlessness. Feel the REALNESS of Jesus calling us. Know the RAWNESS of Jesus as a “shake you awake” moment. Jesus flipping over the temple tables, where dove sellers were gouging the poor, was RAW and REAL. Jesus has authority to Work God’s Plan.

Realize His Plan. Remember we are in it.

REST.

Rest in Jesus because today’s new January 1^st New Year’s Day word, that I just RECEIVED in prayer is “GO!” Really… “GO!”

Don’t go alone, or go it alone. Remain RESTING in Jesus’s arms because Jesus will take you wherever He needs you. And Jesus needs you!

Go.

Jesus knows the REST of the Way.

Teaching, Living, Breathing, Beholding, Doing, Being and all the REST.

Live the LOVE God gives you. LOVE the Lord who LOVES you. LOVE all whom God LOVES.

LIVE.

It’s 2020.

GO with GOD.

Amen

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Cleansing LOVE from Jesus, 31DEC

Had to capture this pic…

I shook up a snow globe on the counter of my local take-out restaurant, while thinking about our pastor’s sermon last week about LOVE – how all LOVE stems from the Lord – and in his sermon he mentioned the romantic notion of “snow-globing”, the hip term for temporary relationships over the holidays when everything seems so romantic.

Think instead of the long lasting love of God – that is where all LOVE comes from.

We are called to share God’s LOVE.

I held the plastic snow globe and I shook it up but instead of nice flow of picturesque snow,  I GOT BUBBLES – like soap bubbles… And I laughed out loud – so loud I am sure people thought I was crazy… surely my energies were overflowing and over-powering at that moment compared to the little snow globe with half evaporated water.

Just in that soapy moment, I thought it was SO fitting an image and truth – for Jesus does LOVE us SO much in our snow globe worlds and crazy lives that He will wash us clean – not with soap bubbles but with His love, mercy, forgiveness and salvation…

I smiled in the forgiveness that Jesus gives before we know we even need it.

Jesus’s LOVE and Living Water will never evaporate!

Jesus shakes up our lives with cleansing LOVE!

Jesus’s LOVE is overpowering and true!

Jesus’s LOVE wants to bubble thru our crazy lives!

Jesus’s LOVE will never settle!

Amen

785

Liking Loving Kindness, 29DEC

it’s been a great visit up home to see my family, a rare opportunity to be here 5 days. I’m liking this kindness from the Lord to give me rest, and especially time together with my family…

Post the Christmas Craze,  we can stop running, we can simply appreciate life without running thru it…  Our Lord is in charge. He can put us EXACTLY where we need to be.

We are gifted loving kindness from the Lord, meaning mercy, therefore naturally we get “liking kindness” from Him too. God Blesses us AND God loves us AND GOD LIKES US TOO.

I’m liking this kindness as opposed to worrying.  We should not fear, but be ready to change when change happens. Meanwhile, we are to appreciate everything.

The Lord is in charge of everything.

Mercy is His gift to give – eternally and on the small scale too…

I am liking His Loving Kindness! I am loving His Liking Kindness too!

Now I kneel me down to pray,

Thankful for another day.

Blessings, mercy, spirit gifts.

Our Loving Lord is Life’s Lift!!!

Amen!!!

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January Thaw, 28DEC

Water is my theme of the moment visiting home, discussion of drinking enough water for health,  water flow to basements by disruption by road construction, and an opportunity to see waterfalls…. even water for soothing tea… it’s good to be home…

Water, Living Water and an early January thaw…

No wonder Jesus calls Himself the Living Water,  there are so many critical things involving water…. we need Him, we need to let Him flow…

We just finished a whirlwind of December and the Christmastime craze… Well, it’s  not as cold as when I was a kid of course, so honestly we need the cold December to snap us into mentally preparing for the Winter season….

When I was a kid, the winter locked down our part of the world into snow, frozen lakes and a pause for the ground to rest… US TOO… Winter came early and stayed late. The animals prepared, so did we.

Then and now we have a quick freak warm up, often called a “January thaw”, this was a break from the weather and a moment our mental health to recover, then to re-hunker down for 3 months of real winter.

Let us now pray for a virtual spiritual January thaw, to keep us hydrated and flowing in mental preparation for a new year… 2020

January 2020 thaw…  let the water, thoughts, and processing flow… refill the wells of our lives…

There’s no better time to pick up the trail of the Living Water of Jesus molding our lives,  hydrating our souls, soothing our pain. Soaking up Jesus’s mercy and love, an opportunity to live better. It’s not a surprise that we ALSO need the COLD WATER WAKEUP CALL that Jesus will bring us, like a polar plunge, TOUGH LOVE, snapping us awake from our sinful ways. Jesus seriously grabs our attention to live as we ought to.

Looking at one of our local waterfalls flowing in January thaw that came early this year, we are reminded that the water continually cuts all this rock into beautiful rippling formations. Water is TOUGH, as sharp as diamonds, forceful and persistent… Seeing the beauty of the resulting waterfall reminds us the truth of Jesus’s Living Water – we are molded and shaped by Him, He is STRONG and persistent.  By living Him thru us, we are now a beautiful flow and display of His power shown in our lives. Our healed and healing flaws is what He chooses for others to see.  The Lord’s Will is that we find Him just as He found us. Love Him as He LOVES us. Hydrate our parched souls, flow His LOVE to others…

Let us welcome this spiritual January thaw TODAY… Let us Flow into 2020 with the Living Water of warm LOVE.

Amen.

 

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PS – 2020 wow…

2020

Hope, Hindsight, Heading into a New Year….

2020!!! Let the philosophical thoughts start!!!  In 2020, will we have 20:20 hindsight for what we should have learned by now? What did we or should we have done better since last year, since year 2000, since forever?

In year 2020 will we have 20:20 vision? Do we need to adjust our thinking for the future?

Let’s start 2020 with a hopeful vision for the future!

783

The Christmas Crash, 25DEC

I planned to crash this afternoon,  I needed the crash, I had Christmas-ed myself out…

Crash…

Mine was not traumatic, a planned couch crash on Christmas Day, and then my witness of the crash wipeout of a Starbucks barista this afternoon was a huge WOW reminder to slowdown. She and 3 other baristas were working harder than ever, a rush dedication on Christmas day one hour before close – this was just a step down surely experienced by that of warzone medics.  What a glut of orders! With Christmas travelers quietly eagle-eye anticipating every move.

CRASH. She went down in an instant, slipped and luckily was just stunned not hurt,  then she marveled that the chocolate sugar-filled drink she was holding was still intact. That’s DEDICATION.

CRASH, do we know how to not crash? It’s a usual human thing to work hard, to the last nerve, even if it is us spinning wheels, at Christmastime.

WE NEED DOWNTIME!!! We need someone to protect our cup too.

Even my little Jesus doll at home looks tired!!! This doll at home seems less smiley than the one I have at work. Sadly I seem to have ignored this one, set Him on a shelf, even left it in the car in the box for a week.  The Jesus doll at work still sits in the sun and inspires me, but I’ve not appreciated this one. Which reminds me to ask: did I really keep Christ in Christmas this season? And do I really let Jesus hold my cup? You can’t pour from an empty cup. Jesus would be more than happy to fill yours.

Guess what? A new day, NOT Christmas but a Christ-cup-fill-ness day. Start fresh! Drink Living Water.

As a recovery day is purposeful and needed to get back up and shining tomorrow, a mental moment to pick up our crosses is necessary. A Holy Hydration and a Be Still moment.

Surely we will not be so hurried and rushed as we were pre-Christmas. Even if tomorrow likely we see life crash back in on us, LET US BE STILL BE STILL.

The Starbucks barista got back up on her feet, her boss then urged her to take a break. She didn’t want to. The boss then picked up the next cup sticker and I recognized the scooping of blackberries – this was for MY order, my daughter’s drink – whew I was relieved. I was tired of being still waiting, I wished I could have helped behind the counter, but I was forced to let them fill my cup. I had to take downtime to wait and let my cup fill.

Who will fill our spiritual cups? JESUS!.

Whose holding our cup INTACT when we crash? JESUS!

Whose writing your name on His sticker machine? JESUS!

Whose giving you downtime? JESUS!

Whose planning your Up-time? JESUS!

Jesus says: “My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Hand over your cup, JESUS wants time to FILL IT UP.

AMEN

782

The Joy of Sacrifice, 25DEC

It’s Christmas,  Jesus is with us. God sacrificed not only His Son’s life for us, He had to figure out logistics to accomplish His ongoing mission of bringing all His children Home, Eternally.

Logistics and Love.

There’s still a lot of logistics to accomplish. We are wandering sheep as a world. So many still need to hear Our Shepherd.

Shepherding sacrifice.

I have logistics to complete this Christmastime too, and sacrifice. I pull from an understanding between human Christmastime and Christ’s Christmas. The reason for the season is to share the Good News of Jesus, Salvation, Saving, Souls re-claimed…. Please don’t think I would ever try to equate the level of my Christmastime sacrifices to those of others or of the Lord. I am blessed and I know it. But the challenging logistics at human Christmastime are real. Yes, including me standing exhausted in the line of Target department store last night, where the whole store seemed stripped down like in a hurricane, fueling the Christmas craze – it had me looking for peace in my puzzle of life – whew – and yet I did find the perfect gifts that I THOUGHT I needed for my son, maybe I didn’t need them. Still, I felt I was a testament that the Lord kept me standing regardless of my foolishness. Therefore felt the JOY to converse with the clerk, who was punchy giddy from Christmascrazetime too. Yes, we are blessed if we have the time and money to create our own stress from excess… Yes, we are spoiled to the fact we even have time to work on the craze… I am sure the cookie graze helps begets the craze…. Yes, every year is a miracle of logistics, a sacrifice of time, money and serious brain power to get it all done.  Physically it is a challenge too.  Oh, but what a JOY even misguided Christmastime LOVE is, oh but to see JOY for my children, my community, my work. Then on Christmas I pray to find rest to know I survived my logistics.

Logistics and Love.

I’m tired blessed, of course you as well. I always say that working moms burn the candle at both ends, and at Christmastime we chew on the middle of the candle as a carbon source….. With so much work we humanly want to accomplish,  we undertake Christmas by focusing on a JOY end product,  JOY of completing and complying with the hustle and  bustle… JOY of even the amazed smiles of teenagers who might just now start to appreciate the logistics… oh yeah, there are no lights on the tree yet, eh, logistics will work out, I have a plan. Not that it is perfect but it’s a plan.

Is the consumerism too much at Christmastime? YES.

Is the stress overstressed onto the wayward material things at Christmastime? YES.

Is Christ JOY seeming to land second fiddle to temporary Christmastime joy? Well, Yes and No…

YES, of course, we are broken people in a broken world and our manmade attempt at Christmastime Christmas has seemingly spiraled out of control… but also NO, WE SERVE OUT OF LOVE.

Christ JOY is from CHRIST LOVE and LOVE begets LOVE.

I long to see the JOY on the faces of my children. I long to see Christmastime completion.

God has a plan, Jesus understands logistics…. What does Jesus’s loving logistics look like to bring His children true JOY? SACRIFICE. It’s His sacrifice that is unbelievable. Jesus sacrificed not only His human life portion, He sacrificed His logistics to even know the future, when He will accomplish His role in His second coming. Only the Father knows.

I have NO logistics compared to HIS.

I have no lights on the Christmastime tree but the Lord says look at the LIGHT within. Jesus is our JOY. Jesus is LOVE.

Jesus has already accomplished everything, we just need to choose to walk that Home stretch.

Can you imagine the JOY of the Lord when all His Logistics are complete? I humanly cannot imagine that INTENSITY of JOY. That INTENSITY of PEACE.

Follow the Light. Jesus is here. Follow Jesus and all else will fall into place.

Jesus is here.

Immanuel,  God is WITH us.

Amen.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

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Craving Christmas Cookies and Christ 24DEC

Craving Christmas cookies,  it’s real.

Christmas cookie sugar addiction kicks in, especially after being extremely low carb for a while… I  am not making it up, sugar is an addictive thing… Christmas cookies,  just a couple per day, maybe 4, feel worth it JUST for Christmas,  then I will return to my low carb healthy eating ways…. Only distinct homemade varieties seemed worth breaking the sugar fast. And what a blessing it has been to go low carb again, I feel so much better to have re-found my focus.

I am reminded that after Christmas, the most sentimental holiday that we indulge in, that I (and we) need start a fresh New Year start.

Christmas cookies – yummy crave…

Let’s crave Christ.

Not a sugar addiction, a Savior instead…

Craving Christ.

Craving Spiritual Milk (alone, not with cookies).

Worshiping Christ in Spirit and in Truth.

Christmas Christ is to be reborn in us.  He is already here. Catch His birthday party this year with JOY,  LOVE, HOPE,  THANKFULNESS, HUNGER, and PEACE…

Crave Christ’s PEACE.

Sentimental times abound at Christmas time, even the network TV folks put scriptures on the airwaves with “Charlie Brown Christmas”. Oh, that hush moment when Linus reminds us all of the true meaning of Christmas.  Everyone please hear!!! Let’s pray that ALL ears are opened, the Holy Spirit abounds in all that they gain the desire to truly hear: Christmas brings the gift of a Savior who came to live among us – Immanuel. To teach. To SAVE.

I’m blessed glad for Christmas, yes I’m sentimental as my humanness pervades my being. I’m ALSO grateful, super glad, that Christmas logistics and those cookies are almost gone. Let us shake off any sentimental times (or lack of them) to simply be blessed and glad we have Christ among us, Christ who will NEVER leave.

Immanuel. Our God is with us.

Christ Jesus is already here.

A Savior born to us for our Salvation.

Let us be craving a continued walk with Christ today,  tomorrow,  forever…

Share Christ this Christmas.

Abide in Wonder of His Love.

Merry Christmas!

Amen

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Luke 2: 8-14, KJV.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this [shall be] a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

Video from Charlie Brown:

https://youtu.be/DKk9rv2hUfA

 

780

Mary, Did You Know? 23DEC

Mary did you know,  that you became the servant to the Servant?

Mary did you know that your baby boy, would be a sacrifice that you bore to enable His sacrifice?

Mary did you know, that His birth, death, life was the birth of the new covenant?

Mary did you know, that allowing your baby to be held by God-seekers Simeon and Anna would mirror the future thirst of the world to complete their own spiritual, emotional and physical journeys?

Mary did you know, that chasing a lost pre-teen in Jerusalem would precede the chase of many who continue searching for a Savior they yet don’t know?

Mary did you know, that requesting attention to a lack of wedding wine became an opportunity for SERVANTS to be the FIRST witnesses to a miracle?

Mary did you know, that Jesus Himself was the Living Water matured by your help nurturing Him into a thoughtful, merciful Messiah?

Mary did you know, that being unable to get access to your Son within massive crowds did not mean that you had lost Him forever, only that you were going to have to SHARE Him forever?

Mary did you know, that watching Him die was a planned sacrifice?

Mary did you know, that you would witness to see Him Rise, to be the aroma of salvation, to be our Saving Grace?

Mary did you know, that retelling your story, singing your song to Luke for eternal Gospel recording, would create a source to reawaken the hearts of those He lived to serve.

Mary did you know that you were going to know all this sacrifice and then know all this knowledge when you were welcomed into the heaven by your own loving son Jesus?.

Mary did you know?

Mary, did you know PEACE?

Now you do.

And so do we.

PEACE.

Thank you.

Amen

779

Why Don’t I Dream About You Lord?, 20Dec

Not that I need to spend my time questioning how the Lord works but I’m just curious… I’m always curious AND I’m grateful that I am curious about EVERYTHING.

I am grateful for sleep.  I often have the most elaborate dreams.  Obviously we don’t always remember our dreams and only remember a couple clips before we wake up. As for me, I sometimes dream so intensely that they are major Hollywood movies. I dream about people and situations that I need to process. Dreams tuck away loose half-finished thoughts and surely de-stress us by letting us think more clearly.

But I don’t dream about God or Jesus, hmmmm…. Do you????  Well, I don’t.  I wonder perhaps it is because all day I so often think about them and their guidance… (perhaps I think too much)… perhaps our dreams are not external to the Spirit’s workings, like our daytime humanness, but the nighttime workbench are where our human reasoning is finally sleeping and the Holy Spirit can get to work.  I am surely a piece of work!

Yes, the scriptures are full of occurrences of the Lord coming to people in their dreams. I don’t doubt that He works thru mine. I’m blessed that He does. But i don’t see Jesus sitting in the movie scenes. Maybe He’s always the director behind the camera? Surely the spirit of our dust particles are already in His production. I pray for pruning and that He leaves some aspects of my life on the cutting room floor. The Lord is the Word to help the world, not just the script of the scene. The Word of Him will walk us thru our lives.

Well, dreams….  I don’t know what human reasoning I can or should draw into my thoughts on my dreams and the Spirit.  I have no answers so I won’t worry about it. Simply I’m blessed to be curious and grateful that the Lord has this and LIFE under His control…

The Lord LOVES us.

No doubt.

Life is under the LORD’S CONTROL.

I’ll just be THANKFUL for that.

Amen

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Going from Here to There, 16DEC

Life is going from here to there.

If I am afraid of losing control,  I best give it up to Him first.

If I am afraid of struggling,  I best Be Still.

If I am nervous about the future, I should focus on the present.

If I stop worrying about where I am,  I am free to be THANKFUL for where I am NOT.

If I am afraid of the potholes of life, I best ask Jesus to be my bridge over them.

If I fret, I best remember that my forever future is secured.

Instead  of asking: “What’s in it for me?”, I best remember that I’m in it for Him!

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In Life,

I just need to get from here to there.

I just need to be aware.

I need to not despair.

Jesus is already there.

I can’t imagine the future.

I can only live today.

I can do my best.

I will let the Lord take care of the rest.

Here to There, He’s everywhere.

Amen

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“Now that I’ve held Him in my arms”, 06DEC

Saint Nicholas Day

Today, Dec 6^th, it is a Czech tradition in my family to get a gift from Saint Nicholas on his feast day.

Coincidentally, I went to see Santa today, at the tree lighting with my friend, and I saw the sweetest newborn baby handed to Santa by his loving parents… In my mind I saw scripture! The Luke 2:25 scripture verses of Simeon who took infant Jesus in His arms and knew God had fulfilled a promise that Simeon would see the Messiah.

I was able to capture this precious moment in a photo…

Prophets  knew Jesus was the answer they were waiting for, like Simeon and Anna knew in the temple. The folks who truly believed in the Hope of the Messiah were led by faith not by sight. We too are let by faith to Jesus as the Prince of Peace. How precious to not only hold a baby in our arms but to know this Savior holds us in His Hands and His Heart, forever.

Luke 2:25

At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying:  “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised.  I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!” Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”

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“Michael Card – “Now that I’ve held Him in my arms” on YouTube

https://youtu.be/rBZiPRPogn0

776

Our Christmas Mess, 06DEC

Christmas can become a rushed MESS! Yeah, ask Jesus, even Jesus couldn’t get a room…

The times when Jesus arrived on the scene were a MESS. The world still can seem to be in a MESS, and we need to realize the real issues, therefore we especially need to remember to make room for Jesus and His Message of God’s Love at Christmas and always. We can help continually to clean up the MESS by delivering His MESS-age. Yes, Bless the MESS and the MESSage for the ages.

I’m blessed in my Christmas MESS, we are so blessed to have issues that involve boxes and bags, projects and parties rather than strife and sacrifice.  Amid the Christmastime prep chaos, I took delivery of my 2nd plush Jesus doll, wrapped so beautifully and simply in white paper and brown paper in a Hallmark Box, hand delivered by folks from the mailroom. They didn’t know the box they were delivering was “THE MESSAGE“. How beautifully blessed to see the sight of this new doll and that renewed sweet smile of Jesus, this time the doll was NOT squished in a plastic bag, like the last one. Oh, a Jesus smile! This plush Jesus already was extending His arms to show LOVE.

Even if that first plastic wrapped plush doll had been squeezed in plastic then a paper pouch,  He was at least protected from any delivery MESS, like rain and mud. This new plush Jesus doll came with no plastic wrapping, but He was hand carried by folks who took care of Him, kept the box out of the rain. They didn’t know what was in the box, but apparently no one in the delivery chain dropped the clean box into mud. Apparently they knew it was their own job to protect the box from a MESS. Hand carried in order to bring someone SMILES.

We can have SMILES even thru any life mess because we can carry His MESSage in our hearts.

Prevent your MESS – carry His MESSage. 

Time is upon us for us to make the world better and shake our MESS to help with the rest. Jesus shared His MESSage about sharing LOVE. This is the ONLY way to move away from the MESS.

How are we going to handle Jesus this particular Christmas? ChristMESS? Jesus started a precarious existence as an infant… The stable did make room for Jesus when a broken MESSY world was not ready for Him. Is the world ready now? Let’s keep trying. Let’s try to make it better, let us work for Him and take care of our corner of the mess then extend out into the deep reaches of the world. Let’s make room for His PLAN.

This plush Jesus came out of the box with hands extended low, surely to welcome and grab the little children running to greet Him, children whose faith trusted Him, who looked for direction.  We should too.

Our arms can also be extended low to scoop up baby Jesus into our hearts, let’s best use this Christmas to make room. Then our own arms should be extended up, ready to be picked up by grown Jesus our Lord and MESSiah at Easter, as we are raised WITH Him for eternal life…

Jesus is out of the box…

Jesus is ready to move…

Jesus rose from a MESS to be a MESSenger and MESSiah.

No MESSing around, His MESSage is LOVE.

Make room – make way for the King.

Merry ChristMESS.

God is with us.

Amen

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PS my mom always says: “you’ve got to make a mess to make it better” – likewise let us spread the MESSage which will save the world.

775

Waking 5:09, 06DEC

Sung to Dolly Parton’s tune “9 to 5”

 

Waking 5:09, cause the cat keeps on scratching.

Waking 5:09, better start your writin’.

Thought I’d turn on over, but the Spirit keeps on singing.

It’s enough to drive you crazy, don’t you even let it!!!

 

Lost my mind, Living Water found it.

I’ve got to write, but the covers are too comfy.

The phones right there, because God’s gonna call you.

I swear sometimes, the Lord is out to Save me!!!

Mmmmmmmm…

 

Crossing lines, God’s net keeps on weaving.

Amazing Lord, Your blessings keep on pouring.

Move ahead, cause the Spirit keeps on pullin’.

Jesus, yeah, He’s got you and He wants you!!!

 

6:09, yeah been singing for an hour.

7:09, time to hit the shower.

There’s a better life, and you dream about it, don’t you?

It’s loving life, so make the best time of it!!!

 

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9 to 5 original:

https://youtu.be/T-gqMpZroy8

774

ANGELS ON THE MOVE! 04DEC

I know many things, I don’t know even more…

I know that Jesus urges us to stay on the path.

I know Jesus IS the One keeping us on our path!

One Sunday, I was watching the church walkway from inside the foyer window. I saw a new friend recruited by the Spirit into helping another new friend. I am not sure they knew each other beforehand – but the timing was PERFECT for them to meet at that very moment.  The friend walking into church was blown away by the strongest of wind gusts, lost her balance, and nearly fell into the bushes – EXCEPT my second friend, walking out of church, CAUGHT HER!!! I watched the reach, the catch, the save. I watched an older mother falling and a recruited grown daughter catching. What seemingly seemed random in their meeting was surely NOT random. I watched the Spirit-timing of it all – I saw spiritual BUMPERS on the path, like gutter-guards on the bowling alley that allow children to play with JOY and not disappointment… I saw the glue of the human spirit flowing… I saw sure appreciation to help and to be helped.

Yes, that day the mother-friend was not using her normal walker, just a cane… Jesus understands we too are venturing out thru our own will… Jesus also understands how much guidance we really need in life. Jesus wants to keep us out of the gutters (or the bushes)… Jesus has many helpers working thru the Holy Spirit. I believe that there are always ANGELS ON THE MOVE! There’s a whole lot we don’t know because we can’t see all that God does.

Jesus reminds us to: “stay on the narrow path” (Matthew 7) and to head wisdom which reminds us to make our paths sure, so that we don’t stumble. (Proverbs 4)

Jesus spoke with God-Authority, volumes of advice from the Man who knows. Sent to save, Jesus gave us a directive for STAYING ON THE PATH.

Does Jesus love us even if we stray? Yes – and rejoices we turn back to Him, when we ask the Father for forgiveness. We are called to know that Our Father will take care of us: “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give GOOD THINGS to them that ask him?

Yes, I will ask the Father to keep the spiritual bumpers up for protecting me and all His children… spiritual bumpers to keep us on the path are a good thing. How blessed we are that there are always ANGELS ON THE MOVE.

I pray Jesus to continue to hold each of us on our way, the Spirit to navigate our lives, and that we help be angels for Him so that Our Father can be known to all.

Amen

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Matthew 7:

Judge not, that ye be not judged.

2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in there at:

14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

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Proverbs 4, a writing about WISDOM…

…accept what I say,

    and the years of your life will be many.

11 I instruct you in the way of wisdom

    and lead you along straight paths.

12 When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;

    when you run, you will not stumble.

13 Hold on to instruction, do not let it go;

    guard it well, for it is your life.

14 Do not set foot on the path of the wicked

    or walk in the way of evildoers.

15 Avoid it, do not travel on it;

    turn from it and go on your way.

16 For they cannot rest until they do evil;

    they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble.

17 They eat the bread of wickedness

    and drink the wine of violence.

18 The path of the righteous is like the morning sun,

    shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

19 But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;

    they do not know what makes them stumble.

20 My son, pay attention to what I say;

    turn your ear to my words.

21 Do not let them out of your sight,

    keep them within your heart;

22 for they are life to those who find them

    and health to one’s whole body.

23 Above all else, guard your heart,

    for everything you do flows from it.

24 Keep your mouth free of perversity;

    keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

25 Let your eyes look straight ahead;

    fix your gaze directly before you.

26 Give careful thought to the paths for your feet

    and be steadfast in all your ways.

27 Do not turn to the right or the left;

    keep your foot from evil.

 

 

773

Born to Save, 04Dec

Jesus on the move – a Savior born to make each of us new.

Jesus spoke to the people, “I am the LIGHT of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the LIGHT of LIFE.” John 8:12

I received my Hallmark plush Jesus,  delivered not by Mary but  online from Amazon with efficient delivery. Jesus is Light enough to be dropped into your life by even an Amazon drone, but I got Jesus thru the mail in a yellow battered envelop. We all received Jesus out from a squished brief moment of time 2020 years ago…

Look at the sweet face of this plush Jesus doll, squished in the packaging. Is He deterred? No, He is still smiling! Look at Him squished as if He was in the fetal position for a baby, but with His shoes on, ready to work. This doll has a sure demeanor we can imagine for the man Jesus would become.  One can look into the gentleness in Jesus’s face that is shown to His children. We are to know His STRENGTH and also imagine the STERNNESS of Jesus who surely could and will correct us (you and me) when we stray from the path. Surely, we also can know that plushness of His Loving Arms to Hug us, whenever we turn to SEEK HIM.

I birthed Jesus in my own heart 5 years ago, it was not painful labor but long and earth-shattering. I know that there is no fanfare for re-birthdays, only continued faith to guide me the rest of the way home, I still have much walking to do with Jesus.

I loosened this plush Jesus out of the bag and hugged Him before nestling Him in the corner of my work desk,  next to the beautiful cross painted for me by my friend.  I then ordered a second doll on Amazon for home as I discovered the JOY of seeing this Jesus doll sitting in the glorious sunshine of LIGHT! Yes, I know that in my future I will often need this placement of Jesus in my sight-line to comfort me. I know JESUS WILL BE THERE.

To get us from here to there,  Jesus came to help. Jesus came to light our darkness. Jesus came to save.

Jesus will be there.

The cross for Jesus was not sweet, the smile of a now beaten man gone and the pain of excruciating death was surely but a fraction of the agony He felt (and feels) knowing there were SO many lost children, there still are. As Christmas was the precursor to Easter week, our re-image of this pain is in Easter’s Risen Christ. We return to an image of a smile-giving Jesus when we remember our own personal Easter morning. Jesus is re-born in us. Maybe our lives leave us squished and tattered, but Jesus’s life and love finds us. Jesus makes us new.

Jesus was born to save and tell us that we are born to be saved.

Jesus came to seek and so that we may seek Him.

Merry Christmas and Happy Easter

Blessed Savior.

God is with us.

772

And the SOUL Felt It’s WORTH, 30NOV

I was so excited to practice O Holy Night,  I brought the music to my piano playing friend JUST IN CASE we had the chance to sing it… and YES, WE DID!!! Oh how I longed to sing it – BUT, instead I was blessedly SILENCED. My soul fell on its knees…

I wanted to sing all those fancy high notes that I hit so strongly in the car, but instead by listening to a dear friend sing it so amazingly, I HEARD the strongest message of all Christmas, Easter and all Life, all in just one lyric line…

“AND THE SOUL FELT IT’S WORTH”

I was stopped, like “Be Still” stunned, I had to stop singing. We tend to think that big events bring us to a halt and bring us to our knees – but what about those whispers directed SOLELY (SOUL-Y) to us.  Whew, SOULFULLY I never really heard that lyric like I heard it today – we sing these songs all the time but do we really feel the lyrics? We know the real “reason for the season” – but do we FEEL IT? And the SOUL FELT IT’S WORTH! Everything lacking, waiting, and hungering for the Lord could now be fulfilled, found, and fed when Jesus arrived. He made us new – renewed – worthy.

Jesus, our Savior, was born on Christmas, as prophets and faithful predicted AND THEIR SOULS WAITED. Jesus came and fulfilled our soul’s worth – each soul, your soul, my soul, all…

“Till He appeared and THE SOUL FELT IT’S WORTH.”

Yes, HOPE comes thru Jesus, we can have HOPE of peace eternal and in tiny increments.  Hope for healing, hope for home, and hope for WHOLENESS. The Spirit instilled into each of us makes OUR SOUL COMPLETE WITH JESUS. YOU ARE WORTH EVERYTHING TO GOD!!!

If you want to know your WORTH – think about how God loves you – how your SOUL-NESS becomes WHOLENESS and HOLINESS with the existence, presence, saving grace of Jesus.

Christmas is beautiful – and hopeful – and sorrowful too – the soul broken for us had to come first into the world – Jesus had to be broken to make us WHOLE.

I want to urge EVERYONE in the world that if anyone has not yet taken Jesus as your Lord, as your life focus, to live and to share life, please pray and reach out for Him.

Amen!

Merry Christmas – Thank You Jesus!

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O Holy Night the stars are brightly shining

It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth

Long lay the world in sin and error pining

Till He appeared and the SOUL FELT ITS WORTH

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices

For yonder breaks a new glorious morn

FALL ON YOUR KNEES

O hear the angels’ voices

O night divine

O night when Christ was born

771

Take Care of All Creatures – Especially when the Cat Walks Out… 01DEC

Oh my!!! We got the cat back in after she simply walked out the open door. Was my fault. I answered the door from a knock of an elderly gentleman with a cowboy hat and started a conversation about scripture… and I saw the cat saunter out ready to explore.  Called my daughter instantly and she calmly walked behind the cat and scooped her up.  Good thing the cat is simply uber curious about the world and simply stopped in awe and took the opportunity to smell EVERYTHING…. there is so much to explore outside her normal glass window existence… I am SO glad we got her back in…

Whew! My heart is still racing!

I’ve never seen my daughter more calm and seemingly knowing exactly what to do. So grown up… she told me that “you don’t want to show fear to the cat”,  keep the appearance of “everything is ok”… She and the cat are kindred spirits. A gift from God to each other.  Both my children are in love with this furry creature… all three are under my care, all curious about the world, all needing continued guidance.

The cat was in, the gentleman outside continued speaking…  believe it or not he was talking scripture about man’s guidance “over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  Yes, I’m not making this up, that’s the scripture I just nearly messed up in my own house. I’m responsible to know where that cat is, the kids well-being, and here I was DISTRACTED by my potential discourse about scripture…. Yes, these scriptures apply to our walk. We are created to keep our creatures and ourselves in step with the Lord…

Whew… my heart is still racing. The cat was in so I stepped outside. I calmly discussed this scripture and the broken world we have and he talked about Jesus’s ransom for us and I chatted about the book of Ezekiel,  that at the end of the Lord’s plan with this earth scenario, we will be beginning the next phase of our existence with God in a garden called “God is there”.

I think the gentleman was impressed or scared or satisfied or something – like I will just move on, she’s on her own scripture wavelength….  I didn’t mean to seem so thirsty for scripture discussion at that moment, I was excited to chat with a believer (just like city corner “Jesus Saves” sign-holding people)…

But seriously DON’T get distracted and accidentally let cat out. 

Our faith is not for grandstanding, faith is for gentle persuasion…

Our faith displays are not for impressing,  faith is for engaging…

Our faith fanfare is not for covering foolishness, faith is for fulfillment.

Our faith foundation is not for staying planted on the ground, faith is mobile for our sliding of stepping stones to move us forward,  move us closer to others, move the whole kingdom-tile-puzzle back to whole. 

Whew…

Getting back inside the house myself, back my allotment of creeping creatures…. I found my relief overwhelming – from the cat and the girl being together – I knelt on my knees, I bent down to thank the Lord.  Whew….  my creeping creatures, THANK YOU LORD for the save… whew… thank YOU!

Amen WHEW Amen!

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PS. I took my daughter back to college last night for a few more weeks before break,  I have been gifted the witness to see her step out into the world – see her growing up even more – opportunities and opening doors – giving her the keys to life…. I know I have a continued job of equipping her and her brother (and all our collective children) for good decisions and good choices… I thank the Lord for the opportunity, for the path, and surely for His resources portioned to me for tending this slice of His garden.

Lord, help me focus on my part not my portion…

Prayer from Giles of Assisi. 1200:

Blessed is he who loves and does not therefore desire to be loved;

Blessed is he who fears and does not therefore desire to be feared;

Blessed is he who serves and does not therefore desire to be served;

Blessed is he who behaves well toward others and does not desire that others behave well toward him;

And because these are great things, the foolish do not rise to them.

The Lord collects us often with believers as our PRACTICE ROUND, to speak freely of His LOVE, before we go out Great Commission-style to make new disciples… we practice the easy sell before the tough sell.

This is just like when I trained as a college freshman at the volunteer night for making phone calls for alumni donations, free pizza for your whole dorm, a social scene and then they sit you down in front of a phone bank for cold calls for money.  You are to express THANKFULNESS, of how donations help you get an education. First, they give you a stack of numbers from people who already donated in the past, small amounts, so likely to gain positive results for you, and a free hat, shirt or trinket…. you first are talking to believers in philanthropy to their Alma Mater…  THEN you get the next stack, if you were good with the first.  These lists are the people that may be more open to donate larger sums.

If you get some of those donations and the organizers hear your practiced pitch, there’s the opportunity that you may get to enter the “other room”. Not the “upper room” to wait in faith for the Holy Spirit guidance, but the “OTHER room” where you are to venture out on a limb. If you are planted in the “OTHER room”, you get the “NEVER donated” people… GOOD LUCK…

Great Commission – the Kingdom is on the Line – oh how similar – we are to practice and then work our way to the OTHER room – it is about witnessing and sharing – give it a try… actually we are giving the Holy Spirit the chance to reach the people, after you dial up the number…

As I pray for my path,  the Lord fills my thoughts with these straightforward instructions:

Keep sharing.

Be good. Be whole. Keep planting seeds.

Do your best, and let the Holy Spirit take care of the rest.

Yes Lord, we can try to do our best for the people in “the OTHER room” and share our knowledge of the gifts of GRACE, JOY, SALVATION, LIFE thru You. We are thankful to YOU for giving it. We are the callers but it is You and Your Kingdom which is on the line. Help us to reach others for You.

AMEN

770

Oh!!! GRACE!!! 27NOV

Visiting my hometown, I knew this was another of those slipping away opportunities to EXPRESS open faith to family members who seem to have grown cold in their faith, who shun the conversations, and may have anger at religion being jammed down their throats.

But somehow I knew I had to try to gently plant seeds. No jamming, just Gardening.

As being a “Soul on Fire” (like the song) is a way of life, we are to balance normal thankfulness with overt faith displays which unfortunately might lead us to be appearing to be swept up in a cult to those uninformed… a constant question of how to share faith when no one wants to be judged in their faith, not even those who are kneeling in prayer. “Souls on Fire” don’t want to be judged either, not many want to be thrown into the fire, only a few decide to walk into the fire of their own will…

God put me on the training wheels path to roll me in more easily.

I often can speak freely of our collective faith with known believers,  but in one’s own family (in my family) it is tougher than it seems it should be. It’s not easy for me. I know there are only so many opportunities to talk openly, most of our opportunities are left behind.

Oh…. Grace… I need it too…

It’s Thanksgiving,  I’m thankful for GRACE…

Sitting down for our family THANKSGIVING, everyone chattingly gets their yummy portions onto their plate… and then I looked for the opportunity to pause to say Grace…  my mom could tell I was waiting for the pause. And as I found the pause,  I said “can we say Grace” not as  a question but an opportunity.  I realized as soon as I started praying that it became easy to earnestly and freely talk to the Lord on behalf of everyone, thanking Him for dinner and togetherness. Ohhhhh… that this WAS THE OPPORTUNITY! Oh, how easily He opened up the window for me to talk to Him directly OUTLOUD for others to hear.  I was short and sweet, sincere and seeking. I told the Lord that I was thankful for Him loving EACH of us and I thanked Him for sending Jesus to Shine the Light FOR EACH OF US, and to ask Him to guide our steps, mine too.

Oh!!! GRACE!!! These were first steps for me, but guided steps for sure.

Even those who may have fallen off the praise wagon,  or never climbed on, will pause to let you to EXPRESS THANKFULNESS. So you can EXPRESS collectively for all. Even strong believers may be so very private, that is a respect to give as well.

Those non-believers in my family and friends are still normal people who watch me on my praisewagon, and honestly worry about me getting swept away by what they may see as a whim of religion… but they will still allow folks GRACE to EXPRESS thankfulness at family dinner. Each stage of faith, from non-believers to reluctant-believers to full blown believers, you can find souls who are thankful for family togetherness and blessings…

THEY ARE.

WE ARE.

The Lord collects us sometimes with believers as our PRACTICE ROUND, to speak freely of His love, before we go out Great Commission style… the easy sell before the tough sell.

Like when I trained as a college freshman at the volunteer night for making phone calls for alumni donations, free pizza for your whole dorm, a social scene and then they sit you down in front of a phone bank for cold calls for money.  You are to express THANKFULNESS, of how donations help you get an education. First, they give you a stack of numbers from people who already donated in the past, small amounts, so likely to gain positive results for you, and a free hat, shirt or trinket…. you first are talking to believers in philanthropy to their alma mater…  THEN you get the next stack, if you were good with the first.  These people may be more open to donate larger sums.

If you get some donations and they hear your practiced pitch, there’s the “other room”. Not the “upper room” to hide in faith waiting for the Holy Spirit guidance, but the “OTHER room” to try some more phone calls.

When you are planted in the OTHER room, you get the “NEVER donated ” people… GOOD LUCK…

Great Commission – work your way to the OTHER room – give it a try… actually give the Holy Spirit the chance after you dial up the number…

Oh… GRACE…

As I pray this morning for my path,  the Lord fills my thoughts with these straightforward instructions:

Keep sharing 

Be good

Be whole 

Keep planting seeds

Do your best, and let Me take care of the rest.

Yes Lord, we can try to do our best for the people in “the OTHER room” and share our knowledge of the gift of GRACE.

We are thankful to YOU for giving it.

AMEN

769

Down to Earth Jesus, 23NOV

We love people who are “Down to Earth”… from new employees or bosses or new friends – everyone whom we can relate with, who are humble, who are friendly and relate with our issues – that shows “down to earth” qualities…

Who was the first human to be labelled with being a “Down to Earth”? Jesus of course! This phrase MUST have been coined by people thinking of Jesus as God humbling Himself in order to come down to Earth.

Humbled to Humanness. That’s Jesus.

Risen for Relief of our sins. That’s Jesus.

Down to Earth, Jesus came as a Christmas gift in the most vulnerable human condition, a newborn baby, born in an earthly manner. He was later forced from this earth in His human prime, by crucifixion death. He was eternally raised to life again, allowing us ALL to also find THE WAY.

A Keith Green song, “YOU!”, resonated this mental moment to me in song – JESUS was HUMBLED TO COME DOWN TO EARTH.

The Word of Jesus fulfilled the old testament, He explained His own journey into to humanness in the least of Judah, Bethlehem. If we are to understand how very human we are, then maybe we have a glimpse into how Godly God is. And how humbling to become the servant, to become human.

Jesus, the best down-to-earth guy we could ever know. 

Amen

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Matthew 2:6
“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'”

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You!  by Keith Green

https://youtu.be/uCSKfMa3W_s

Who made the whole world with your hand? Walked along this land?

Humbled as a man.

You came down.

And You changing the water to wine

Gave your greatest sign

By changing lives like mine.

How did You know I’d eventually go

And take you for the Lord of my life?

768

Saved a Wretch Like Me, 23NOV

I attended a beautiful service (if you could call any funeral that) for a 47-yr old co-worker. It was needed presence for each of us to be there, to be witness that he touched many lives. It was so sad and yet so compelling for us to attend. It was a reminder that LIFE IS SHORT and the priest faithfully reminded us that Heaven is forever.

It was probably the best, most reverent mass that I have been to, in like forever… It was filled with quiet prayer. It was filled with stepping forward from disbelief and showing strong presence to support the family.

Beautiful, Sad, Solemn.

It was as solemn as you could get.

I walked in from the parking lot just as the priest left the rectory. What timing I always thought. I said hello,  he remarked at the packed church parking lot, especially for a 47-yr old. I wondered if he knew his congregant personally. I wondered if the service would be personal or impersonal, knowing my limited experience of Catholic mass funerals seemed too impersonal.

The quietness of the many minutes before the service, the solemnity was seemingly perfect because with so many people it felt more like each person had that quiet opportunity to talk to the Lord themselves. I felt like the Lord Himself,  fisherman that He is, fished thru everyone’s thoughts. It was as deeply personal an opportunity to talk ONLY to the Lord as you could imagine.

I was raised Catholic, I remember and respect these rituals, the solemnity, the kneeling and the quiet.  Even though I sing in a VERY spirit-raising praise and worship band, I totally appreciate the VERY spirit-raising QUIET. This is where Jesus can talk to you One on one.

A little later, I found that place in my heart that was questioning whether I should take communion or not. No, I have not been to Catholic confessional in 35 years. No, I didn’t want to be a grandstander and protest oral law (well,  maybe a tiny bit). No, I didn’t JUST want to taste that yummy wafer. No, I didn’t JUST want to be a crowd follower. No. But I wanted communion this day, this hour. So YES, I was wanting communion to ask Jesus for Grace, thank Him for His sacrifice, and most importantly acknowledge that YES, I believe that He saved a wretch like me.  How can I believe in Jesus if I do not believe that He came to save all of us. That I know as truth. I am overwhelmed that He wanted to save me – and let me know it.

We want Jesus for our future AND forgiveness of our past. We need Jesus in the here and now. I could anticipate that taste of the wafer, probably because I and we should always taste for Grace.

I was blessed to hear and mumble thru my words of preparation, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive You, but say the Word and I shall be healed.”  I waited for that exact line, because I believe it. I believe if you ask for mercy that the Lord will grant it – not because we deserve it but because He has the power and the desire to give it when we ask. Jesus.

The Word that says and saves everything in us is “Jesus”. We are His. We are Healed.

YES, the TRUTH that sets us free to be saved by Jesus is Jesus Himself.  The truth is when He died, THE VEIL WAS TORN. The blockage between us and God represented by a thick curtain in the synagogue worship places was completely torn, split open. With saving grace, we have 100% complete access to God, Our Father, by the death and resurrection of His son, Jesus.

I knew I wanted to share communion with Jesus when I remembered that opening, that brokenness,  that healing.

And then I watched the priest holding up and snapping the giant wafer in half. “SNAP”.

And then I placed the flat wafer in my mouth and “SNAP” it folded perfectly along the pre-pressed line. Yes, Jesus Himself was pre-pressed to save us. SNAP.

Can you hear the veil to have already been torn in your own life? Was/is it a slow rip or SNAP?

I was ready to go, awaiting the turn of my back pew, listening to beautiful singing of Amazing Grace. But wait, the words were changed – how could that be, it is Amazing Grace! That’s when I knew my appreciation of Jesus and me having a very personal relationship. (That’s when I knew I had the title to this writing, as I knew that I could not process this day without writing about the amazing grace of Jesus)… As I sang it while walking up to receive communion, she sang “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a SOUL like me.” – ummm, “WRETCH”.  WRETCH!!!  Ummm, how PC to change lyrics, but really? to change that word?… Yes, I am a soul but surely I am a WRETCH in need of saving.

It’s not that I (we) revel in wretchedness. nor should I (we) glorify ourselves in goodie-2-shoes-ness! I realize that from original sin and thru the hardships of the world we are born into darkness. We need LIGHT. We need Jesus. We are wretched and ready to be saved. We are already saved – it has been finished by Jesus – everything else is about getting thru this world to our eternal home.

Darkness, that must be wretched – that’s aloneness without the Lord.  Therefore LIGHT, hope, yearning – with even the smallest glimmer of LIGHT, we are experiencing the GIFT of our Lord Jesus directly. We experience, as do others, Jesus working out of the LIGHT of our hearts. All good things come from God, therefore all LIGHT of life comes from God too. We have HOPE.

Wretchedness is not the end of our story, “Amazing Grace saved a wretch like me”. The Way to grace is the Way. Jesus is the Way we must travel.  I once was lost and now am found, was blind and NOW I SEE!!!!!

How much easier to see now that the veil is torn. See, enter, approach, live.

When the veil tore, Jesus allowed us to see His glory. But guess what? We still need to choose to WALK THRU the curtain. We are allowed to see, but we must open our eyes and our minds. “Was blind but now I see”.

We must accept that we need to be saved and Jesus is already waiting for us.

I was grateful that I took communion from the shining smiling face of a server who did not ask if I was permitted to take communion – I was offered it, and she was grateful to serve. I returned to my pew and continued my ritual kneeling. It was a great beautiful outpouring of love. The sermon of LIGHT in the darkness also included certain personal aspects of a short but appreciated life, especially how our friend loved making a difference in people’s lives. Well, today was no exception, everyone had an opportunity to know that he loved the Lord and the Lord loved him too.

Everyone was able to talk to the Lord. We were all reminded that the LIGHT is going to overcome darkness, always. I pray that everyone listens, feels, wants for the SNAP and reaches thru the veil to see and feel the LIGHT of Jesus.

We are found wretched – we were lost – we are found – and now we see.

Thank You Jesus.

Amen

767

Jesus on the Move! 21NOV

Jesus, You are On the Move!

I have seen a plush doll of Jesus twice in my church – I love how it randomly showed up in my sight line. First time during Vacation Bible School in July, I found it gently sitting on a table – exuding warmth of love – oh what a sweet face on this Jesus – oh how I felt His warm smile and love at that very moment as a child of God – especially during VBS time. We are all children of God – our faith called to be childlike.

Then months later I saw this same doll in a tote bag in the kitchen – I don’t know whose bag it was – but all I needed to see was the cute placement in the bag – and to know that Jesus was on the move…

Yes – JESUS IS ALWAYS ON THE MOVE!

Jesus’s best moves are when we allow Him to move into our lives.

Jesus finds us before we find Him.

He found me lost.

He found me found.

Jesus brought heaven down to earth as He humbled Himself to find each and every one. Jesus is ready to go with you – go for you – go back and get you – go thru you. Why? Because Jesus loves you!

Jesus loves you!

Look for Jesus, because Jesus is looking for you!

Amen

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Jesus, You Lean into our Funk, 20NOV

Jesus, You step into our funk… lean in to take the brunt…

Jesus, You lean into danger for us.

Jesus, You catch us before we even know You are there.

Recently I bent over to pick up a pile of wood and just as I leaned a branch came at me – I leaned into the trajectory – ouch.  My cheek blessedly took the brunt instead of my eye. The scar is now shiny. Isn’t that just like Jesus taking the brunt of our sin and death for us? Stepping in…

Jesus ALWAYS is “Getting in the Way” – interesting Word play – Jesus is the Way. Replacing our way with His Way. We should always let Jesus get His Way.

Jesus is always ready to catch our funk – catch our downtimes – catch us when we fall – and to grab our hands just as we reach them up to Him.

Jesus, You hold us until we are ready to stand.

Jesus broke thru to save.

Jesus steps into our funk.

Have you ever had a bad day, wanted to remain upset but the Holy Spirit intervenes and steps you out of your funk?

Have you ever wanted to dwell on something bad in your life but find yourself present with someone else who had/has a worse problem? And find you really can’t complain like you were? And you begin to count your blessings instead?

Jesus

Have you ever dwelled on being stuck, when you realized that you were placed to deal with these exact emotions or circumstances for another issue, and that later moved you forward.

Jesus

Have you ever been filled with wholeness in loneliness? Happiness in hunger? Peace in pause?

Jesus

And perhaps we should not wait for the intervention, and we should today ask Jesus to take away our sins, our funk, our pain.

Jesus You Put Your LOVE into our Hearts for You… You shine thru…

Thank You Jesus for being You.

The Holy Spirit uses all His tools in His heavenly toolbox to construct our days.

We see Jesus move in our lives.

Jesus, You Lean into our funk. Thank You!

Amen

765 (a shortened version of #765)

God’s Score!!! 18Nov

Oh Lord,  there’s nothing not in Your purview to raise your children’s spirits…

The waves of Holy Spirit music, Lord, were rolling over and around and thru Your children.

The waves of children’s flags, Lord!!! That made my eyes widened, WOW. Your Holy Spirit knowingly brought JOY and childlike wonder to the surface of my whole personal being as a former VBS director when the pastor handed small colorful banner flags to the children at the beginning of the service.  I raised my hand for one too, my VBS-soul was screaming inside for one, but no one saw me up in the band section. Next time I will bring my own banner flag, well maybe not, truly I am perfectly content, I do have a microphone cord that I love to wiggle and waves of Joy out of my heart.  Flags or no flags Lord, I want to be in Your service forever, Lord. YOU ARE THE WIND INSIDE MY SAILS.

And You Lord are the Anchor in the waves.  Yes, You Lord are my song.

Thru His Living Water the Lord stirs each us out of His mud (dust plus Living Water). We are EXACTLY timed in His Score.  Pinned to His to-do list. On His sticky note to be moved around. Poised to be raised like a praise flag. To sing for Him.

God’s plan uses His own unfathomable checklist to find us where we are – down to knowledge of tracking every hair on our head. God’s love knows no bounds, and He’s got this giant elaborate Way to personally bring us to faith. Then bring us into the fold. Then bring us even further,  into the flag crew and into the praise team. It’s not a linear list that God has, it’s a mesh of His netted orchestration.

Our orchestrating score? HIS.

We are made HIS – to be HEALED – to bear fruit – to help others HEAR.

I am just men yet Jesus chose to call me. Jesus calls you too.

Jesus says to each of us as disciples: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last”

We are made to realize that we are HIS.

Grab your Banner for Him. Wave it for JOY. You were born into life and thru His lifeblood you can sing forever.

Forever, God is Faithful.

You were made from His dust – Make the most out of every speck.

Amen

 

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Jesus said:

“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.” John 15

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There Were FLAGS, Lord !!! 18NOV

Oh Lord, there’s nothing not in Your purview to catch the attention of Your children and to raise our spirits…

The waves of children’s flags, Lord!!! My eyes widened, WOW!!!

Your Holy Spirit knowingly brought JOY and childlike wonder to the surface when our pastor introduced small colorful banner flags to the children at the beginning of the praise and worship service.  I raised my hand for one too, my VBS-soul was screaming inside for one, but no one saw me way up in the band section. Next time maybe I will bring my own banner flag. Well, maybe not, I am perfectly content, I have a microphone cord that I love to wiggle like the children wave their flags.  Flags or no flags Lord, I am in Your JOY service forever, Lord. YOU ARE THE WIND INSIDE MY SAILS.

And You Lord are the Anchor in the waves.  Yes, You Lord are my song.

Those partially are the lyrics of the beautiful song intro: “LET the King of my heart….”

I was ready to sing – I practiced and I had a solo lead. I was SO nervous. If only I could put all these people inside my Subaru instead,  then they would hear my full voice praising the Lord with no nervousness.  No, and even though I have belted out that song in JOY and even woken up singing the lyrics in my dream prayers,  at that moment I had serious NERVES.

I can sing openly with no nerves when in accompaniment,  especially for songs that I know – I sing joyfully in nursing homes and solo at the Wawa and grocery stores along with the piped in music – especially for for Christmas music. I sing with VBS-hands each summer and stifle them in praise sets as i don’t have much room – I sing the best and sometimes silly sweet camp songs with my retreat group around a guitar – but in this band – with this NEW song to me, I was to be solo and this was my major stumbling block.  GOD PUSHES US OUT OF OUR COMFORT ZONES.

Then there were flags, Lord. Children with flags!!!

The Lord clearly herded me like a cat into singing praise music.  Five years ago this month,  He employed my Subaru sound studio as He awakened me. Gave me a Christmas Flood of His Living Water then stirred me all year. The Lord stirs us out of His mud (dust plus living water). Then 4 years ago I was in my first praise band experience because  I was made bold in the moment to ask for a song – then His plan took over, OVER my disbelief in singing.

But a solo lead? Scary. Yet that seemed to be the next thing on the Lord’s checklist for me. Especially since he dropped vocal coaches into my life too thru the Holy Spirit. No doubt, the Lord has me EXACTLY in His Score.  I am pinned to His list, on His sticky note, brought to this point to be a praise flag myself. If I won’t do my job for Him, He will find someone else who will.

So, I went through my own nervousness check list: held the microphone close, my hand in the form of a cup to both deposit my nerves into and accept any refill of my empty cup from Jesus, then listening for the accompaniment of my band leader’s guitar. He wonderfully turned to me to help me start. Whew.

I sang for Him. I started and I didn’t stop.

BUT, I had no idea my microphone was not working. I sang for Him but didn’t know I had failed to fully use my skills for His people too. I then had no idea my band-mates were trying to hand over their own microphones, because my eyes were closed in praise and nervous focus.  I had no idea no sound was coming out until someone pushed the button on the sound board to make my microphone live, and then I realized, this opened my eyes exactly at the “fire inside my veins” lyric. Oh! OOPS!!!!  OK, Verse 2 now, and I just sang it for the Lord. Whew… I could then relax into the rest of my praise. But my mistake was classic me. How we trip over our human selves…

My pre-singing checklist will now have to be longer – turns out that I had grabbed the other identical microphone sitting there, which was muted because the other singer was out.  Oh. Nothing can stop my human mistakes from being so very human. I am the only human in charge of my humanness, I need a better checklist.

God has His Own Checklist – God uses His Own unfathomable checklist – down to knowledge of every hair on our head. God’s love knows no bounds, AND He’s got this giant elaborate checklist to personally bring us to faith, to finish His Plan. He will bring us into the fold, then bring us even further, into His flag-waiving crew and into His praise team. It’s not a linear list that God uses, it’s a mesh of orchestration.

And this praise and worship service? Wow – it was overwhelming to watch the Holy Spirit move thru the church – the hands raised – the joy overflowed – the tears and the dancing… and the children’s flags… I was dancing – I am always dancing inside but today I was free to dance how I praised…  I was appreciative to witness everyone’s appreciation of their own spirit’s revival, because they know that Jesus showed them the Way.

Our orchestrating score? HIS.

We are made HIS – to be HEALED – to help others HEAR.

I am just me, yet Jesus chose to call me. Jesus calls you too. Jesus says to each of us as disciples: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last”

We are made to realize that we are HIS.

Grab your Banner for Him. Wave it for JOY. You were born into life and thru His lifeblood you can sing forever.  Forever God is Faithful.

You were made from His dust – Make the most out of every speck.

Amen

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Jesus said:

“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.” John 15

763

Blog on the Log, 16NOV

This scar on my cheek will fade, but right now it shines.

Shiny is what healing by the Lord becomes.

Shine how He has healed you!

This scar will fade and will look like more wisdom lines near my eye, and a wisdom reminder is what I surely see.

Wisdom from the Lord is what knowledge becomes.

Wisdom.

The scar line shows the trajectory of how I leaned into danger and the forceful impact after. The tree log ricocheted off my nose with blunt impact. How did it skip crushing my eye? How Lord? How?

The plank. MY PLANK. The tree log surely bounced off the wood plank built up in my own eye.

Not a speck of sawdust like in my brother’s eye, but a great plank of wood growing in mine… That flying branch drew close enough to scare me,  and kept just barely far enough away for me to know that I was truly saved (this time).

The branch hit my cheek bone with blunt force, drawing blood, but it’s the feeling of saving grace that continues to reverberate thru my soul.

My scar shows Your intervention  Lord. You saved me despite me.

I’m grateful Lord for sight to see.

Jesus’s scars, those are OUR intervention. He saved us despite us.

My shiny scar is not mine. Nor is my shiny face… For it is You Lord,  Your healing, that shines thru me.

Salvation is shining thru our flaws, for all the world to see.

Lord, I am not worthy,  therefore I am blessed that You shine on me.

Amen

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Matthew 7

Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.   —– If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!  So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

762

ACCOUNTABLE, 15NOV

Recent discussion at my retreat committee meeting was on the term “accountability”.

Fraying over it doesn’t matter, but while I was PRAYING on accountability (actually just letting God populate my thoughts),  I realized we have to think about what we are ACCOUNTABLE to and for – more like “Who” – WHO ARE WE ACCOUNTABLE TO?!

Here’s my devotion:

 

ACCOUNTABLE

To God we count – we are countable and we are held ACCOUNTABLE.

We are ACCOUNTABLE to remember we count as a child of God.

We are ACCOUNTABLE to respect God and respect His instructions.

We are ACCOUNTABLE to remember that we are worthy of saving.

We are ACCOUNTABLE to Jesus and believe that He saves us, indeed.

We are ACCOUNTABLE to remember there is NOTHING we can do to prevent His pursuit of us.

We are ACCOUNTABLE to ask to be moved by the Holy Spirit who needs us to be active in our spiritual growth.

We are ACCOUNTABLE to be ambitious in sharing the knowledge of our Lord.

We are ACCOUNTABLE to explain and expand our JOY in knowing Him.

We are ACCOUNTABLE to SHINE even when we feel dull.

We are ACCOUNTABLE to help others and help them SHINE.

We are ACCOUNTABLE to hold ourselves above the fray of life on earth, to know where His LIGHT invades our darkness.

We are ACCOUNTABLE to live WHOLE lives, only a fraction is from us, the rest is from the Lord.

We are ACCOUNTABLE to glue our broken lives together NOT from worldly glue traps but with healing from Him.

We are ACCOUNTABLE for NOT sweating the small stuff.

We are ACCOUNTABLE for not stirring up where old dust has already settled.

We are ACCOUNTABLE to BELIEVE.

We are ACCOUNTABLE to believe in Him even thru the most awful of awfulness.

We are ACCOUNTABLE to look up – not give up, not give in.

We are ACCOUNTABLE to be the EXQUISITE child of God that He formed from the most detailed pieces of His dust.

We are ACCOUNTABLE to be LOVED.

We are ACCOUNTABLE to LOVE.

We are ACCOUNTABLE to LIVE.

WE ARE ACCOUNTABLE TO BE FOREVER HIS.

AMEN

761

But Lord, I Want to Go Back Out and Play! 10NOV

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

I love all the passages about JOY in the Lord, but a key to life is to also understand all the passages about Fear. I have tremendous respectful fear of the Lord.  Actually my level of JOY and love could never match the awesomeness of the Lord.  Likewise, I can’t fear the Lord enough… We all must grow into our wisdom and respectful fear… We must take slowdowns and sidelining… We must look big picture, not weekly matinee or newsreel moments to understand the Lord.

I fear the Lord’s correction MORE than I fear the devil’s sifting… and sometimes I hear the angels smack their hands against their heads in disbelief of the rescuing they must muster up for me (AGAIN!). The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9). Even many of those who don’t actively seek the Lord still fear the Lord… That’s wisdom…

My retroactive wisdom often comes from the times I should have stayed still. My scratches from a tree limb incident yesterday are yet another type of lesson, a PAINFUL brush with wisdom… I could go on and on about my injury, but I have a better story instead. I need to tell you, and show you in photos, the “can-do-spirit” of a little boy, likely 4-yrs old, who wanted to come clean up his playground after a tree fell and crushed it… His spirit came to inspire men and women well over ten-times his age… He worked with fearless attitude alongside teachers and preachers… If you take time to watch childlike faith in an actual child, you will see an approach to life with an attitude of participation, determination and drive. He just wanted to work to be able to go back out and play.

In the attached photo, zoom in and see the intensity of hard work on this little boy’s face, a tongue sticking out of his mouth like basketball player Michael Jordan, every muscle and molecule he had was focused – he came with intent to accomplish a mission.

I paused to take photos and I saw lots of “big kids” also focused with intense mission to help… I am one of those big kids too. I felt the camaraderie of “all hands on deck” and I loved every moment…

And then I was benched. Who knew that I needed a break? The tree or the Lord?

My fear of the Lord came with full force this day.  I was lucky blessed to only have a scratch. I leaned into a flying branch a half-inch below my eye. No worries please,  I am fine, but the scratches made me stop first in pain, in wonder, in shock. I was knocked out of the game, I was sent inside for a wash, medicine and a Band-Aid. I was taken care of by a grandma in her own focused mission of helping too. I was iced. The coach pulled me.

I rested but I was antsy, I just wanted to get right back out there to help more…

“Send me in coach!” But God reminds: “Which game are you playing? Yours or Mine?”

“But Lord, I want to go back out and play!” But God says: “My Work needs child-faith, not your stewing.”

“But look at all the others Lord, I can’t wait to be back on Your team Lord!” But God says: “Benchwarmers are my workers too. THEY MUST WATCH AND LEARN. Keep your heart warm. I’ll call you in WHERE and WHEN I need you.”

“But it’s only a scratch Lord!” But God says “BE STILL!”

Understood.

I watched from the window with an ice pack on my cheek, the little boy in the red coat had also taken a break and was back looking at the crushed playground of his many memories. That’s work for another day… that tree removal will be a much longer process for professionals to handle, a specialized team.

Oh, yeah… I am reminded that God has specialized teams for everything, us too… we are to LET GOD PICK which team He wants us working on, playing on. We have work directives for tomorrow too, not just today. He may have us working and playing with our friends some days and other days be by ourselves.

I am often put on “Team Scribe” – using photos, watching, recording, and retelling – to tell the world what the Lord did for me.  And maybe eventually I will be put on Team Wisdom… but not until I wait upon the Lord for instructions and serve on “Team Respectful Fear” first…

In the playground and in the grove, there was intense tornado destruction but the crosses were still standing… a fitting sight for any scribe to capture… Yes, I see your message Lord, please keep us focused on Your mission.  Your Way is the only Way. The Way of Jesus on the cross is our Way back to You.

We are but a moment, but your Kingdom will reign Forever.

Thanks Lord.

Point the Way. For tomorrow, we are ready to work, TODAY.

Amen

The LORD favors those who fear Him, Those who wait for His lovingkindness. Psalm 147:11

Better is a little with the fear of the LORD Than great treasure and turmoil with it. Proverbs 15:16

Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way he should choose. Psalm 25:12

And He will be the stability of your times, A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; The fear of the LORD is his treasure. Isaiah 33:6

 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. Psalm 103:11

You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD; He is the help and the shield. Psalm 115:11

In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, And his children will have refuge. The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, That one may avoid the snares of death. Proverbs 14:26-27

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Throw Away False Gods, 08NOV

“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped ,,,,,, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve”,,, (Joshua 24) 

Throw away false gods that we still let interfere in our lives:

Throw away the god of falseness, know the God of FAITHFULNESS.

Throw away the god of fear, live FULFILLED.

Throw away the god of brokenness, let the spirit fill your heart with WHOLENESS.

Throw away the god of worry, KNOW the God of WONDER.

Throw away the god of distractions, KNOW the God of FOCUS.

Throw away the god of helplessness, KNOW the God of Healing.

Throw away the god of loneliness, SEEK and know the WHOLENESS of Spirit in you.

Throw away the god of separation, seek TOGETHERNESS.

Throw away the god of grumbling, praise God with WORSHIP.

Throw away the god of boredom, let God put you to WORK.

Throw away the god of indecisiveness, be still enough to LISTEN and then MOVE FORWARD.

Throw away the god of busyness, know that God already finished everything, just be the one who fulfills HIS PLAN.

Throw away the god of ineffectiveness, use your inherent unique skill set as God equips you, KNOW the God of PURPOSE.

Throw away the god of waste, conserve your energy and resources, so when the time comes that you may SHARE them.

Throw away the god of accepting weakness, KNOW it is God who gives you STRENGTH BEYOND MEASURE.

Throw away the god of stinginess, take all you have and share it liberally when called upon, with GRATITUDE.

Throw away the god of entitlement, know the God of INHERITANCE.

Throw away the god of thanklessness, be the giver of THANKFULNESS.

Throw away the god of “not good enough”, KNOW the GOD of GRACE.

Throw away the god of NO. Accept HIS LOVE with a resounding YES!

THROW AWAY hate, BE LOVE!!!

Be Truly His.

He is the real and only God, Let us be real in our faith.

Amen

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Joshua told his people this message from God:

14 “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

759

Amazed by God, 05NOV

The tornado that touched down on Halloween night certainly took down many impressive trees but it could have been much much worse…  There were no serious injuries, that is amazing!!

I am impressed by nature – but I am always AMAZED BY GOD…

There were trees that fell through the church’s playground and outdoor amphitheater where they host the living nativity. Yet clearly one could see the cross on the boat is still standing straight!!!  In the village, at the historic “yellow house” landmark, a giant tree that fell seemingly perfectly through the backyard and missed the house – I don’t know how that happens!!!

God is good…

This devotion is from over the summer and I am reminded again and again when I see these giant tree roots that trees are not deep, but wide-rooted!!!!

Likewise, our roots are not to be nestled deep in our worldly life but instead we are to grow our roots of faith, spread our roots out wide to our communities, and share the love of the Lord with everyone!!!

Previous devotion:

Deeply Rooted Thru Faith, 05AUG – #722

https://debbieupper.blog/2019/09/25/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 will…

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. When we nestle our branches in 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 the Vinedresser to bear more.

So then, consider the issue of a root canal to repair a whole other type of cavity in our own creature… visibly the tooth is 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 surface 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 wells are called to go deep. Our tree is called to bear even more fruit now… 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

758

I was sitting in the car – in the glorious sunshine – near a food bank yesterday morning.  I was seriously counting my blessings, past and future, and knowing that God gives and takes away but still we choose to say: BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD.  (just like the song lyric)…

Before the world closes in each day, our hearing of pain and suffering or even our experiencing of it, we can and should start each day in praise – for simply waking up, for anytime we are simply sitting in the sunshine, for anytime serving Him, and especially for any time that we have the time to rest and refuel to work again.

We praise because we ARE good to go… We are blessed and I often wonder how I was chosen to be so blessed – then I remember we are ALL CHOSEN – if we realize it… Here’s my devotion, written in the car, in the sunshine of God’s grace… (just felt like rhyming in God’s timing…)

Good to Go, God to Thank! 02NOV

Counting our blessings…

Counting my blessings…

We are Good to Go, with God to Thank!

Dropping off extra food to a food bank, we have God to thank for food from His bank.

Having food at all, including easy food from a drive thru, we have God to thank for blessings and follow thru.

Vistas of colorful leaves in the fall, we have God to thank for the chance to see it all.

Sitting in the car in the sunshine, we have God to thank for the extra time…

Being still, we have God to thank for us still being.

Knowing God, we have God to thank for knowing us. THANK GOD!

Good to go, and God to thank.

We count our blessings from God, because our blessings have our back…

Amen

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Lyrics of a song that I am blessed to sing:

Blessed Be Your Name by Matt Redman

https://youtu.be/PnWKehsOXu8

Blessed Be Your Name

In the land that is plentiful

Where Your streams of abundance flow

Blessed Be Your name

 

Blessed Be Your name

When I’m found in the desert place

Though I walk through the wilderness

Blessed Be Your name

 

Every blessing You pour out, I’ll

Turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say

 

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name

 

Blessed be Your name

When the sun’s shining down on me

When the world’s ‘all as it should be’

Blessed be Your name

 

Blessed be Your name

On the road marked with suffering

Though there’s pain in the offering

Blessed be Your name

 

Every blessing You pour out I’ll

Turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say

 

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name, oh

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name

 

You give and take away

You give and take away

My heart will choose to say

Lord, blessed be Your name

 

God you give and take away

Oh you give and take away

My heart will choose to say

Lord, blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name, oh

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name

757

Sifted? Remember Jesus is PRE-SIFTED… Praising Rumble Strip Sifting, 01NOV

Classic timing,  I was about to trash the empty bag of flour when the Word spoke to me thru the words… PRE-SIFTED. This flour was pre-sifted. So was Jesus.

Lately the term “SIFTED” has crossed my mind, as in Luke 22 scriptures about the devil’s temptations. I know that each of us have been sifted in the past – and clearly I was obviously sifted last night as my arrogance of having everything under control was severely jolted awake by God’s GRACE, God’s FORGIVENESS, God’s SAVE (More on that later)…

Jesus told Peter that he (and we collectively as disciples) are being sifted by the devil. That the devil actually asks God for permission to sift us like wheat,  see where the chunks of our faith are strong,  how the good seeds are mixed amongst the chaff…. Peter, like Job (like us, like me), was tested – and BOTH God and the devil watched as things played out. After Peter was sifted, denying Jesus three times, he received reconciliation by none other than Jesus Himself. In a warning ahead of time, on that Last Supper night, Jesus commanded Peter to strengthen his brothers and sisters when eventually he did reconcile…  Jesus saw the sifting coming for Peter – He knows that we also will be tested – Jesus prays for us.

The empty flour bag today reminded me that we are to become empty of our own will and instead be filled with God’s will for us.  So within me, and within you, is Jesus’s Word PRE-SIFTED and encapsulated like seeds until all gets sifted out… PRE-sifting means that Jesus Himself went thru hardships on our behalf, those retreats where He went to pray were also for His sifting – He survived His temptations and trials – Jesus was tested, sorted, sifted, then certified holy and effective.  Jesus surely defeated death and the devil.

Jesus kept working for the Kingdom despite all trials. We can too. We must keep working despite our failings.

We are being sifted, tested, tried, yet we have the advantage of seeing this sifting as purposeful, so that we persevere.  We will overcome it all with our faith and looking for Jesus as the Way.

Jesus saves and will help us return to Him after any temptation.

Jesus reminds the devil in Luke 4: “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only”…

The scriptures also say, “You must not test your God.”

We have to be bold to say those same things to ourselves and to each other.

I found this thought provoking piece while looking up scriptures. The last part reminds us that we are to encourage others in their faith, THE FAITH, as we are all in this together. John Piper wrote:

“There is a great lesson here for us. Sometimes God will deal with you directly, strengthening your faith alone…  But most of the time (we might say ten-elevenths of the time), God strengthens our faith through another person. God sends us some Simon Peter who brings just the word of grace we need to keep on in the faith: some testimony about how “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5). Eternal security is a community project. Whenever God encourages your heart with the promise that in Satan’s sifting your faith will not fail, then take that encouragement and double your joy by using it to strengthen your brothers and sisters.”

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-sifting-of-simon-peter (I recommend reading this whole piece by John Piper)

So I urge you, my brothers and sisters, to encourage each other. 

So, here is more on my arrogance and temptation where I was sifted by the devil to think that I handle everything well… Personally, I am very sorry now that I tested the Lord…

I was saved last night when I almost fell asleep driving. It wasn’t late, 5pm, I was just exhausted… I knew I was drifting asleep, but I thought I could make it, didn’t want to miss Halloween trick or treaters… and I really did nod off and those rumble strips surely saved my life… I heard them and I woke up fast – I could have lost my life or ruined my family’s future just because I was rushing home… Now I am encouraged by the PRE-THOUGHT of somebody else who went before me and invented these rumble strips and the workers who installed them on my bit of highway.

Therefore I believe the Lord went before them and knew those rumble strips could make noise to save lives…

Really I am not embarrassed enough, I should be to have tested the Lord with my thoughts that I could handle it all. I pray to know better next time, I feel my humanness and see (in hindsight and foresight) my devil-sifting temptations to say that I can handle everything… I am and will continue to be sifted by the devil. I will remind the devil that the Lord goes before us – I will remind him and myself to rely on the Lord. In my stupid arrogance of “having it all under control”, He reminds me that HE is the one who has it all under control. I am simply blessed to be on His Highway.

Jesus being pre-sifted allows us to now be SIFTED and live within God’s grace, still come out saved. Jesus is pure seed, no chaff left. The path to Heaven is narrow – but God has left these seeds of Jesus on the paths for us to follow – and the LIGHT of JESUS will nourish the seeds planted in us to bloom, and bear fruit.

I thank you Lord for your system. We must become the rumble strips for the world, to make noise, to warn, AND to praise. The rumble strips sound to you must mean: “one more save”. The rumble strips for me shook me awake and that does shake up my seeds and the chaff – let me pray that some of my chaff flew out the window that day. I don’t desire these temptations, but I do desire to always be brought back onto YOUR HIGHWAY LORD.

I thank You, Lord, for the save.

756

Jesus Wept, 27OCT

To me, the scriptures about Mary and Martha are crucial in understanding Jesus’s pain.  And His need to teach.

Jesus Wept.

Mary and Martha’s story, with brother Lazarus dead, prompts the crucial emotional Jesus to cry because His spirit was troubled… “Jesus wept”… I remembered a bible study which explained it was not just for love and loss of His friend Lazarus, Jesus wept for Mary, and all the others who previously sat at His feet in reverence and even though they had been taught about everlasting life – they then FORGOT that death is not an ending… They forgot – we forget.

Jesus Wept.

Jesus wept from His troubled spirit with Mary that day, and also later He wept entering Jerusalem, wept for the people who heard but did not believe, wept for those who heard but could not process it all, and of course wept for the multitudes who never ever get a chance to hear…

Jesus Wept. Jesus Weeps.

Jesus weeps for our human forgetfulness and flaws. Jesus wept a release of stress, then He picked Himself up and continued teaching His message…

Mary may have forgotten Jesus’s teachings when Lazarus died. Understandably,  she had great grief…… She stayed in the house and didn’t even leave her mourning until Martha came to get her, to tell her Jesus was there. Mary (and we) FORGET to rely on Jesus when times get tough… This “troubled” Jesus – His spirit was moved and was troubled… He knew (John 11) that Lazarus had fallen asleep and He knew that He was to use this moment to teach of God’s power thru Him: “for God’s glory, so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” (John 11:4)

Jesus re-taught Martha (verses 21-27) when she came out from the house first (not Mary, but Martha came to talk it out with Jesus first). Doesn’t Jesus want us to come to Him too? Without hesitation? Yes.

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”   –   “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Then Mary came:

32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

Jesus wept.

Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.  “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.  I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.  Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

So…..

Lazarus was dead, but Mary seemed to be sleeping standing up… Jesus knew what was going on with Lazarus on His death bed, but He had to wait until the right time to show up and teach. Jesus Himself became our lesson. Jesus came to teach…

We lose hope, over and over…  Jesus still returns His attention to us, He lives to teach…

Jesus Himself had to recover from His grief – then He Himself got back up to teach…

We hurt like Mary and Martha,  often we do… We must also remember the saving love of Jesus for eternity…

Amen

755

Surprise, the Lord Sends Signs, 16OCT

Maybe folks see me read into things too much, and it’s true that we can accidentally attribute things of the world too much as a sign from heaven… We are human and can convince ourselves of anything that aligns with our plans.

But I had a physical sign last night that I really appreciated!  So to get to band practice, instead of leaving from close-by work, I was driving directly from home this evening, rush hour traffic, yikes, it’s an hour and 10 minutes and I’m sitting in the car on my way at a red light, thinking “is this worth it?” How could it not be worth it? Is it me being silly for being so excited about getting to practice, is it me being silly to doubt myself? So I reminded myself that indeed I had the time, the good car, the good ways to pass the time in the car by talking on the phone,  and of course practice my singing… even a woman the day before said to me: “eh, when you love something, it’s not hard to do it at all.”…. YUP!  and I do feel it is worth the travel, because I love to sing and I love the Lord (and I really did need practice for 3 songs brand new to me)… Sunday powerful praise doesn’t come without praising on a Tuesday… (isn’t it amazing what can run thru your head so quickly?)

….and just then I looked at the license plate right in front of me,  and I burst out laughing and grabbed my phone for the photo and then was nearly in tears sending the photo to my bandmates…  the license plate said: “S-NG4HIM” – SING FOR HIM!!!… Perfect…  I did not ask for a sign this time (Jesus says do not put God to a test) – I was just reasoning it out in my head with the Lord (which I should always do) – and the Lord sent a sign ANYWAY – and HIS-WAY – on the HIGH-WAY – that’s because Jesus is THE WAY…

SING FOR HIM.

Our Lord sends messages – or at least His angels do His legwork – He knows every hair on our heads, He knows the right timing to catch our attention – He knows how to motivate us and reward us, to make us think….  He is sovereign… we are human,  there is NO WAY to comprehend all that, just go with it…

I always say that the devil of distraction is nothing compared to the Lord – the Lord makes any twisted schemes and things of the world even more useful to His cause… to be used strongly when the Lord needs to send us a sign… That license plate said nothing about my driving, it simply was saying everything about the end destination: PRAISING, doing it for Him, Singing for Him…

Do whatever you humanly can do to submit to Him. It is up to us to figure out how to get from point A to point B.  The 1st step is to follow Him.

Amen

754

The Lord Motivates, LIKE NORMAL, 15OCT2019

Today I remembered a crucial time of motivation from the Lord – and He used a song – LIKE NORMAL…

I hauled buckets and buckets of heavy materials into the car yesterday, out of the car today – LIKE NORMAL…

No sign of shoulder issues, NONE!  “Strong like a bull” my orthopedist calls me – thanks to his/His rotator cuff repair thru 2 surguries and my 76 physical therapy visits – all caused by one piece of paper I left on the floor – I slipped while rushing thru my house Feb 2017 to wake my kids up for school…  LIKE NORMAL!

So in all that struggling recovery, I had in serious serious pain, worry and strain – (see devotion below) – my external rotation was FROZEN – lots of hard work but I was stuck – I wondered if I had any hope to get back to normal and the Lord provided motivation…. LIKE NORMAL!

YES – the LORD PROVIDED MOTIVATION – the Lord and I and you, we are all Survivors – and we all have to share our hope… LIKE NORMAL!

I threw a pizza party for my PT folks when I was done – they became family – three times a week from May to December – and the  Lord knew I needed that time to process – I was BLESSED…  LIKE NORMAL!

I love the first line of the Survivor song, especially since these semi-heavy buckets were for my Walk to Emmaus organization: “Rising up, back on the street” –  That’s EXACTLY what Jesus did that Easter morning – rising up, back on the streets, walking the walk talking the talk… SO THAT EYES MAY BE OPENED TO SEE HIM (Luke 24)

JESUS OPENS EYES… LIKE NORMAL!!!

——————

here’s my previous devotion:

https://debbieupper.wordpress.com/2017/09/03/pt-divine-intervention-song-survivor-eye-of-the-tiger-23jun-483/

PT divine intervention – song – “Survivor – Eye Of The Tiger”, 23JUN2017

https://youtu.be/btPJPFnesV4

Survivor – PT-style… I’ve had major progress after surgery,  but this major frozenness in my repaired shoulder after the inactivity requires serious stretches and I’m grateful my therapists are stretching me hard… But quite often my doubtful thoughts flood in – that my doctor might not be happy with my progress even though I’ve been working my butt off… but that’s just because I’ve laid down a lot of scar tissue that I can’t help, my body just did it – no choice.

So the therapist, as well as a fellow shoulder stretcher Tom, were so wonderfully encouraging today, and just then my classic 80’s motivation song came on the radio – “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor from the Rocky movie. It came on as soon as I was in a moment of doubt – so I knew it was surely a divine reminder to keep fighting… A motivation to keep rising, to get “back on the street… hanging tough…  staying hungry”‘…

Oh yeah, could not have been more awesome timing, my fight song, oh the tears flowed big time while I laid on the table as I thanked God for the motivation, I thanked the Lord for knowing what I needed before I knew I needed it… He gave me the release of tears to appreciate His love and He gave me the fight to move forward…. The scripture “He knows every hair on your head…” – Yup, that was exactly the song I needed exactly at the minute I needed it… Blessed… Couldn’t hide my tears even in public, so I got to share (I had to share) with three people what that very song meant at that very moment… awesome to have the right people placed perfectly because as much as God knows I needed that moment, He ALSO knew that I would have to share that moment… much more that sharing His spirit to me – He wanted to share it THRU me… my tears for His glory!

His love I feel so much

His love is amazing…

I’m hanging tough – I’m staying hungry –

I’m Staying hungry for His level of LOVE…

Blessed…

Thank you for letting me share…

753

Wind and Waves – Sharp Words from Jesus, 13Oct

In my practicing of great praise songs, including “Oceans” and “My Lighthouse”, I remember that: “The wind and waves still know His name”… Jesus can still handle all our storms. That we will get “safe to shore”…

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Why do we doubt that the Lord can handle ALL of our storms?

Let us take a step back: Jesus is always with us, so why do we doubt that we will survive these current and future storms? Jesus was sleeping in the middle of what was probably a common storm for the Sea of Galilee – and yet it crept up on the disciples. When Jesus was awakened,  as the disciples were afraid, either He scolded the disciples, or He simply asked surprisingly: “Why are you afraid?” They were, and so are we…  Yet in the middle of that and our sudden storms, Jesus asks: ‘Do you trust Me? Don’t you realize you will be OK?’

Well, we do but not always and sometimes we plain don’t. We want to believe that we will be OK, yet we want to see the lighthouse. We want the waves and winds to settle down. We worry and we are not any different than everyone else, we are all in the same boat.

Oh! We are ALL in the same boat. EVEN JESUS. ESPECIALLY JESUS.

What did Jesus do? Jesus TALKED sharply to the wind and waves. Jesus talked calmly to the disciples but JESUS TALKED SHARPLY to the storm. Jesus “Used His Words“… Jesus would also tell us to: “Use our Words”, to tell the wind and waves to calm themselves down, to storm another day. Jesus would urge us, while we rest in Him, let the wind and waves work themselves out for a while. Because we can start to use OUR Words to tell the storms that we are UNWAVERING in our calmness – tell the storms Jesus is already IN the boat with us. “The winds and waves still know His name” (the lyric from Oceans).

Our words can be HIS WORD. Our power can come from HIS POWER. All we need to do is invoke His name.

Surely, the Lord has seen us each thru many storms. I pray we get more and more understanding that we will be OK, but we have to remind ourselves of that DAILY. That’s what old storm memories and new storms brewing can both do, make us look to Jesus.

If Jesus is sleeping in our boat, then maybe it is because He trusts us to work things out on His behalf. Yes, perhaps we can speak into the storms ourselves. Yes, we can. Perhaps we can even first steer clear of the next storm…

Sometimes all we need to EMPHATICALLY say to the storm is the name of “JESUS!!!!”

YELL IT!   JESUS!

whisper it!   JESUS

The winds and waves still know His name.

If we are looking for the lighthouse to show up in our sight-line, look close… Jesus is already holding our hand. Look not out, but look within for HIS LIGHT.

Look for Jesus then you won’t see anything but His Light. My Lighthouse.

Look for Jesus and know His majesty prevails.

The Light of Jesus will never go out.

Amen

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Matthew 8:23-27  (NLV)

The Wind and Waves Obey Jesus

Jesus got into a boat. His followers followed Him. At once a bad storm came over the lake. The waves were covering the boat. Jesus was sleeping. His followers went to Him and called, “Help us, Lord, or we will die!” He said to them, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then He stood up. He spoke sharp words to the wind and the waves. Then the wind stopped blowing. Then men were surprised and wondered about it. They said, “What kind of a man is He? Even the winds and the waves obey Him.”

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Oceans – “The wind and waves still know His Name ”

https://youtu.be/YNqo4Un2uZI

My Lighthouse

https://youtu.be/reAlJKv7ptU

752

Your Temple is for the Glory of God, 10OCT

There’s nothing like the realization that the Lord has led you somewhere (AGAIN!)…. Led you to a place in your life NOT by your own meandering but mostly by His Hand… Where you realize the Lord has spoken into your future, and He has you cornered EXACTLY where He wants you – and you realize He has given you renewed purpose, given you a job that you never applied for – all to benefit Him and His people – especially forcing you to give Him praise. 

I am the handmaiden of the Lord (Luke 1:38).

I owe EVERYTHING good in my life to Him. I accept every challenge to my life with a hope that I will succeed BECAUSE OF HIM.

I’m talking about EVERYTHING in life, but today I am talking about one of American’s biggest battles: OURSELVES.  We ignore the Lord, we ignore the TRUTH that He will power us thru challenges. It’s not that we don’t believe in the Holy Spirit’s power, but we forget (I forget) about calling upon His Power and Direction! We forget to call on Him first. We don’t realize how completely influential He can be in ALL aspects of our personal battles. Well HE IS. He wants to be the mover of our mountains. GOD IS THE GREAT I AM.

Today I am in a phase of talking again about healthy eating. (*phase 1, hoping to start exercising again too* – hoping)… Not weight-loss but self-loss and God-gain. Changing anything that you can change for the Lord’s benefit to use you to speak into the lives of others. Your gains for God. I am recommitting (AGAIN) to speaking about HIM as the source of ALL good things in my life,  because He is.

I’m SO blessed with the people that the Lord has gifted into my life. I hear the challenge to regain my “loss of self”, to wake back up…. Jesus knows I was starting to fall back asleep and He wants me to eliminate some sleep from my eyes, gradually lose the weight that I gradually regained both in order to live better but also so that I credit Him – He calls me back to recommit myself back to HIM.

When I get lost in myself,  He says (AGAIN): Take care of your temple which was created for praising ME, your Lord.

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own...” 1 Corinthians

We get lost in ourselves. We really do, we are human… We need to find Him in the gentle whisper that breaks thru our internal static and quiets the external stimuli.

Case in point, I point to myself, my passport has expired, I should have been paying more attention and be ready to travel, I am not. But now I can look at that 10-year old photo and remember that face, but only barely…  I am a new child in God compared to then. The smile on the old passport photo reminds me that my struggles weren’t so bad, I was a normal on-the-go American in a carb-rich world, classic emotional eating…  But, I couldn’t fit into the amusement park seats, I had induced and accelerated bad knees, I was less of a “Little Debbie” but became a candidate for “Little Diabetes”. I was old before my prime. I am human. Then Jesus woke me up. The smile on my face started to glow from seeing the Lord (I have a star-framed photo of me for how I found Jesus by walking towards His Christmas Star for guidance of His birth in me). The Lord gave me motivation, tools and friends at the right times to remove the layers of self-inflicted damage.  He has now called me to “do it again” thru HIM and renew a re-correction of myself into His Temple. I am HIS TOOL, His experiment,  His handmaiden.  I serve Him NOT for a boast in me, or from my will power, but His Power which is willed into me.

I boast only in the Lord…. The Lord melted me. The Lord can melt the mountains of our own selves. He can handle challenges inhibiting anyone from abundant life realization and He will bless everyone who looks to HIM.

My job is to be a witness to His power.  God is the biggest influence and inspiration anyone would ever need. Worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.

I fear the Lord enough to know that He wants me to give Him all the Glory. And tell my story as His-story.

Our friends, whom are also driven by the Holy Spirit within them, can be instrumental in our lives. Mine are Godsends. Holy Spirit-powered. We can be that too for others.

Share JOY. Share Jesus.

Shed self, gain Spirit.

Jesus Himself is the driving force of our re-renewal of taking care of our Temples of God within.

Number one lesson: put the Lord in charge of your life – ALL ASPECTS!!!

Then Watch for God!

From Proverbs 16:

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans…..  

In their hearts humans plan their course,  but the Lord establishes their steps….. 

Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord….

Amen

 

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Jesus as a Bull in a China Shop – Again, 07OCT

I thought of Jesus during some strife yesterday, I thought: “here I am again, being a bull in a china shop – not knowing my place. Then again maybe me being me was not the issue – I know myself and I know that yes, the Lord looks at the heart. If we have the best motives, then we are best to just be ourselves… I am best to just be me… We are even better when we try to be more like Jesus.

A favorite image of Jesus crossed my mind, thanks to writer Rick Lawrence, Jesus was sometimes like a bull in a china shop… CRASH… and Jesus was no one but Himself.

Later I was attending a nursing home church service. The first scripture I read was confirmatory to my comfort from the Lord, a letter from Paul to Timothy reminding him to be true to His calling – to not be ashamed – and guard the good deposit of sound teaching… “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.”

Yup – the Lord encourages us – thru scripture… the Word is the Way for our way. The protection of our good deposit…  worshiping in spirit and truth… if we suffer, we can be like the disciples in the Book of Acts and rejoice that we are suffering for the sake of Christ…

Sometimes a bull in the china shop, but regardless, always fan into the flame that is the gift of God to you. Work with your skills to be Jesus-like. Ask the Holy Spirit to guard – and He does…

We ask the Holy Spirit to guard our hearts, because everything we do flows from it…

Amen

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Bull, 29MAY2015 – #167  https://debbieupper.wordpress.com/2016/04/26/bull-29may-167/

Just the other day I called myself “A bull in a China shop”…. The rapid awareness of full Christianity, 0-60 in seconds flat…

So I laughed (outloud) when I saw this quote this morning:

“Jesus is the original “bull in a china shop.” Is Jesus nice? Yes, of course, but when He is, He’s scandalously nice. He’s nice to all the wrong people, and He’s offensive to all the wrong people.” — Rick Lawrence

So yesterday someone asked me what they should do for a not so popular person… She thought to herself “I will get advice from Debbie”… I said just be nice… This person was relieved to have confirmation of what she thought she should do…. She felt the guilt because the rest of her friends were just being resentful towards that person… I said: “Why not just be nice? Just be nice”… I reminded her that one should always “take high road”, and if anything she would feel better about being nice to this person… Sometimes the relief is simply in not inducing more strife.

“Is Jesus nice? Yes, of course…. ”

Is Jesus a bull in a china shop?

Yes.  I can hear His crashes still, 2000 years later…. Loud and clear!

Scandalously nice. Nice to the wrong people. Offensive to the wrong people. Real.

Jesus is Real.

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We Don’t Need Life All Figured Out… 04OCT

When we drop our identity in self, we are to be filled with the spirit. The beatitudes share this gem of knowledge: Blessed are the poor, those poor in their own self, those emptied out and instead filled with the Lord’s Spirit…

To come to the Lord is to drop the facade of having life all figured out… to be willing to be still and be real and be with Jesus as the only Way… We carry our own cross, to take up the realization that we have to lift our burdens to hand them over… and we can surely give them to Jesus – Jesus wants them – Jesus wants us…

We all need to know Jesus already pre-advocates for us… we need to ask forgiveness… We need to hear Jesus say: “You are forgiven” – because we are.

The coins gained by Judas to give up the whereabouts of Jesus weren’t taken back because they were “blood money”… We are to remember Jesus’s blood was spilled in order to become the ransom for our sins – and His blood can never and will never be taken back – we are forever forgiven and saved…. all that was broken when blood was spilled: Jesus, the veil, the rocks, the tombs – all were broken to be OPENED to eternal life…

Jesus said “Remember me” – “Love me” – “Love our Father” – “Love each other”…. Jesus will ALWAYS remind us that we are LOVED. John 3:17 “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world thru Him.”

Amen

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Gypsies for Jesus, 30SEP

Gypsies for Jesus, are you one too?

I should forever be a Gypsy for Jesus.  The Lord Himself does not change, so He needs us to be adaptable, flexible and lift-able. Perhaps we are free moving people… actually in Jesus we are already free, but if we are called to be Gypsies for Jesus, then we must NOT move of our own free will but ONLY move by the Holy Spirit calling us, moving us, pulling us, settling us.

Sure, we are free to move, but we ALWAYS need our roots to be fed by the Lord…  the Lord often sinks old roots really quick into a new feeding, where the people actually look thru root collections to learn how and where to connect with you and each other…  We often are placed where we can be useful. Simply put, we are planted to bear fruit, planted NOT in the world, but in His Word. Psalm 1.

I am fed so that I can feed.

Today in the middle of the 2 church services, I sat IN JOY on the back pew nestled between 2 wonderful gentlemen of my father’s age. The first gentleman, Lee, introduced me to Bob – I will call him Mr Whipple because he received a life-saving technique – after pain and medical issues, the doctor found he had pancreatic cancer – a 96% fatal disease – Bob is in the 4% – he survived – he said the Holy Spirit apparently needs him around. Not knowing why, he said that 4 times he was saved from near death. The Holy Spirit saves us because the Holy Spirit needs us.  Bob reminded us that even thru pain, God has a plan.  I immediately said back to the first gentleman, Lee, “Wow, wasn’t our earlier chat EXACTLY about just that?” He agreed and I said: “Look how the Holy Spirit connects our conversations: Even thru pain, God has a plan”.

Look for the Lord and wait out the storm… Psalm 121

Oh, how blessed I felt when I sat between Lee and Bob, learning just as much as I was talking, listening just as much as I was laughing, being at peace just as much as processing rough edges of life… I lingered… and I loved it…

The Lord often is stirring up His mixing bowl of life. I’m one of those unprocessed clumps of cookie dough stuck to the spoon and I happened to have gotten scraped off into another section of the bowl to meet these new people, to pick up their new chocolate chip bits of praise, to hear new faith stories, AND to put my own issues in perspective. I often ponder on how UNBELIEVABLE it is that I landed where I landed. It is no doubt because I was placed.

We are planted NOT in the world, but in His Word. Psalm 1.

I will always TRY to be a Gypsy for Jesus, rather than requesting a place to go, I will try to go where I am called, thru the Holy Spirit’s power, not mine, and both still be still  AND  be free to linger as long as the Lord needs…

I WILL LINGER FOR THE LORD.

Amen

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Love Will Find a Way – Look at the Helpers, 25SEP

Mr. Rogers always said: “look for the helpers” in a tragedy or any tough spot, which was advice from his mom. I will witness that is sound advice from Jesus as well… Love will find a Way!

Regardless of the severity of the change – whether a tragic school shooting, an upheaval at work, a simple little blindside on a TV show like Survivor – or any change in your day-to-day life… Look for the helpers to that situation – to your situation – they have been called by the Lord to help – yes even some assigned to you – all by the LOVE of the Lord. You are also assigned to be the helper to others.

Compassion is a number one attribution of Jesus – think about Him going thru a crowd – think of Him on his death cross when He verbally commanded John to be His mother Mary’s son and His mother Mary to be John’s mother. Jesus just knew to take care of His own – to take care of us – that we are both to be helpers and we are also required to be helpable, meaning to accept help from others.

We are called to realize that “Love will find a way” (cue the YES song).

Look at the helpers for people going through cancer, look at the helpers for caregivers, look at the helpers through social media for hurricanes and look at the helpers in your life – for the big and small.  Look at the college kids who study together, look at the neighbors helping each other with yard work after a storm, look at your best friends ready to lend an ear.

LOOK TO THE LORD – He is our Rock – our comfort – and sometimes/always our correction…  We are broken people moving from one healing to another – we have to be willing to be healed and willing to be helped… We are the ones who must accept repair.

Jesus knew that there were going to be intense changes for His disciples in their immediate future after His death. He tried telling His disciples about that future, but they were blinded by their closed ears as to what would happen. Think of those women on the hill watching his crucifixion, being so upset. Jesus could not comfort thru talking to them – only comfort thru them to each other. All Jesus wants is for us to understand that God had a plan. Jesus even wept at Mary and Martha not knowing that God has a place for us when we die. Jesus knew AND WAS AUTHOR of this long view that we are all to take…

Feel: Mercy, forgiveness, comfort, compassion, healing. Know: Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus.

We are reminded time and time again that suffering does bring us closer to the Lord. I always marvel at people who escape a fire and begin praising the Lord – they just lost everything in the fire – but they take such a long view – they know that they were blessed to get out of the fire.

The Lord goes before us, let us take the long view… let us be a comforting soul to others and to ourselves thru knowing the Lord…

Amen

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John 19    Behold Your Mother

When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

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Cough Drop Hesed and Michael Card, 21Sep

A light-hearted story but a real witness to the Lord’s timing and comfort and compassion thru others!

Massive massive coughing fit, I couldn’t get out my chair, my path was blocked from my seat, I sat back down, I was stuck… so embarrassing, so I prayed to stifle the cough, it got worse. I prayed harder, got tears in my eyes and the Lord answered in His own way… I stared intently at my “WATCH FOR GOD” Vacation Bible School bracelet in hope for help, deep prayer – and IMMEDIATELY a woman passed a yellow cough drop to me, RIGHT OVER THE BRACELET WORDS…

Less than 5 seconds from my fierce prayer of mercy, was an answer and act of Hesed – mercy – an action verb of loving kindness. Cough drop Hesed, no gesture is too small when it comes in God’s timing… the miracle was NOT the cough drop, as much as it was the TIMING….  10 seconds later, Michael Card himself stops his presentation and gives me a cough drop – more loving kindness… My experiencing the truth of the “Watch for God” bracelet is yet another witness that YES, God is real, God uses His people, God is a God of mercy, and where does my help come from? It comes from the Lord!

I did get outside, Michael Card handing me a cough drop caused me to stand and at that moment I saw the gap in the chairs where I had an exit path, I became unstuck due to that mercy, and as soon as I got outside – in the grounds of the stone church with a warm heart, I started crying intensely – not JUST from my cough embarrassment, but my realization AGAIN of the mercy of God… God is a God of loving kindness and forgiveness. We are to fear the Lord, but we are to feel the Lord’s LOVE.

God is a God of the big and small. MORE overwhelming than tears of embarrassment were my tears for His reminder that He is in charge.

When we ask for help, the Lord does not always give an answer in our time, but ALWAYS HE GIVES HIMSELF… Hesed is a verb, an action, a gift, exchanging Jesus’s life for ours… We live because God wants us forever.

So now, as my words flow like those tears, I am blessed to tell all of you of this littlest mercy miracle in the timing, the moving of the cloud of the Lord’s presence into my view… The miracle of comfort so that we can give comfort others (2nd Corinthians 1:3-4)… This woman comforted me, Michael Card comforted me… I could imagine how others may have been annoyed, but these two put an act of mercy into action.

I chatted later with the woman, her name is Charlotte, she said she’s a mom, could see me struggling and she could see me not able to get out from the blockade of chairs, and it was her last coughdrop. As she watched my angst, she was waiting for the right timing to share it with me…. yup… the Lord’s timing… my eyes filled with watching the action then filled with tears to wash that feeling into my heart, forever… Jesus is the forgiveness that washes us clean by washing us thru our tears as He collects them in His Hands.

I believe in the Lord. 

I know that He cannot help but give us mercy, comfort, and love.

I believe that the Lord is a God of Mercy.

I believe in Mercy.

I know HESED is the only way He can show us how much He loves us.

Michael Card says when we show Hesed, it often hurts us, just like God’s Hesed was tough on Him too. Either way, we show this loving kindness out of His spirit moving thru us.

We were made in His image so that He can love us.

Michael Card says that we resonate with His Heart.

Hesed is the Lord’s Way in every Way.

Especially in The Way – They gift of us Jesus to save us.

Amen, Amen and Amen

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Michael Card conference HESED part 1

“Michael Card is your guy” – that’s an apt description that a friend said of me…. and it’s true… how very blessed I am to meet Michael Card. singer and writer, for the 4th time.  Michael Card’s song Come to the Cradle is “my awakening song”… I love his books in the “Biblical Imagination” series… I appreciate and benefit from his nerdiness. I gave him my blog address on a business card with a mention that 50 of the 700 were inspired by what he wrote…

He showed me nerdy bloody photos of the removal of a squamous cell carcinoma on top of his head, like my Dad’s cured cancer on his neck, but not as developed. They caught and removed it early. Nerd, I loved his openness… I told him God put a hole in His head to fit more words in.

Michael is such a people person and loves to teach, a Jesus junkie like me, he started at age 14. This conference is about “Hesed”, God’s mercy, lovingkindness… so far we are learning about the 250 mentions of hesed, how the context of words are so important, how Greek vs Hebrew language differs in many words vs fewer deep words, and how Moses transformed in his understanding of a fierce God to be feared on the mountain to actually meeting God face to face and then understanding the hesed mercy of God… the slow to anger God… we are seeing how the whole bible is about the life journeys from obedience thru life’s wanderings in the desert into an intimacy with the Lord… that’s us and that’s the journey thru the bible.  God does His work on us in our wilderness, Jesus retreats and takes time in the wilderness retreats, we like Moses shine with glowing faces after wilderness experiences and meeting face to face with the Lord.  Beautiful message…

Michael said the name Michael is actually a question “who is like God?”

He spoke of language, we Americans think like the Greek language, in nouns, wanting to explain things in nouns… the Hebrew language is verb based, actions, deep words – 500 words conveying deep understanding vs 5000 Greek descriptive words – the apostles learned to understand God in a deeper way – the kingdom of God is both a noun and a verb. Likewise, “hesed” is not one meaning, but used 250 times in the Hebrew bible… hesed, mercy, loving kindness…

Michael Card taught that Jesus LIVES the bible, the reason Jesus wrote in the sand for the woman about to be stoned was that He was fulfilling Deuteronomy or Jeremiah scripture, He kept writing until the older then younger men understood the connection to scripture and walked away… gave time for them to understand forgiveness…

Hesed – God’s loving kindness – mercy… He walks with us in our wilderness until we have an intimate relationship with Him… He spoke about Moses seeing the face of God, and about how the Lord does His work on us when we are in our wilderness… (Moses people, Jesus retreats, Jesus develops His Sonship in the wilderness,  we are in our wilderness when God has most impact on us)… Michael spoke about God is still a corrective old testament God but now with loving kindness of forgiveness – our sins are still real,  God still is strict and corrective and yet our sins are paid for by Jesus who takes the brutal punishment… God is a gentle slow to anger God, the Bible and our lives are for learning and engaging…

The guilty don’t go unpunished, but Jesus intervenes for us… Suffering is a form of engagement – our questions are engagement… Jesus asks 317 questions, only answers 3. Sometimes the most loving thing is to not answer.

He witnessed about a few tragedies in his family’s life and the witness of that person who survives is uniquely qualified to speak into the lives of others who have suffered…

That’s also why Jesus understands all our sufferings, nothing we experience has not been experienced by Jesus. The 10 commandments times were conditional laws, too easily broken.  The life with Jesus is unconditional Hesed, mercy, loving kindness…

Jesus, it all points to Jesus.

Amen!

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Prayer Rail or Bed Rail, Get on Track with the Lord, 17SEP

I have to admit that kneeling at my bed rail has become most effective quiet time these days… I never did it before our “Acts 29” book reading and Pastor’s call to fasting and prayer. Most of my quiet time with the Lord has been in my Subaru…  it’s all good….

Time alone with the Lord is beneficial when one can listen alone without world distractions.

Time alone with the Lord is beneficial when I listen and not just spew my day thru my head, as I am my own distraction…

Anytime we give up our burdens to the Lord is beneficial – then we are free – and we simply can praise and listen…

I have to admit that the Lord has spoken to me most intensely lately in these kneeling moments.

My new church is encouraging people to come up to the prayer rail, even in the middle of the sermon or a song, yet I found myself most STILL and pensive these last 2 Sundays standing ALONE in the kitchen listening to the Pastor’s sermon on the speaker. He spoke of bearing fruit EXACTLY when I was noticing the kitchen theme of lemons all over the place. I mentioned this to the woman who came in a little later. I said my favorite phrase: “when life hands you lemons make lemonade, even if you bring your own sugar”. She replied: “keep going in life, even if you don’t have sugar”… Hmmmm, that was an apt reply to me… That resonated with me…  That is so true…

At the prayer rail that particular day I was distracted, but in the kitchen? I was quiet and pensive – that’s when the Holy Spirit moved in on me.

Kitchen or not, we are all blessed with the opportunities for ACTIVE worship… any chance to discuss the Lord and His Word is an opportunity for active worship… I waited for the pastor, but he has so many sheep to tend, so I moved back towards the kitchen. That’s when the Holy Spirit used me to share with the leader of children’s ministry a science experiment that caused a partial awakening moment for me teaching a Sunday school – Jesus as a catalyst. She was so amazed as she said she needed a Holy Spirit bump right then for her lesson – had one part and I told her the rest – well, wow, I am humbled to be used by the Holy Spirit by being bumped out of pastor’s line and into the flock.

The best listening conversation I had last Sunday was with a smiling survivor of breast cancer who said: “I don’t know how anyone gets thru life without knowing the comfort of the Lord.”  I noticed that she had smiled thru the whole praise music set with the glow of the Holy Spirit, she usually does.  During and after her breast cancer, she has been living the abundant life, so should we. Our conversations with another faith friend became a deep sigh of collective prayers for the lost souls – if only they would have open ears and hearts for the Lord, they would be comforted. The Lord comforts us then amplifies our joy. We wish all could hear Him.

In quiet time, like at the bed rail or prayer rail, the Lord can mute us as the speaker. He wishes for us to listen… My brain still races at times (lots of times) but at least I am practicing to slow it… You have to stop being caught up in your racing in order to be caught up in His plan.

Worship is so very personal, no wonder the Lord wants our full attention…

At the bed rail, I asked the Lord to help me decide how I am going to use my praise microphones for the rest of the day… and He helped me pick apart all the mishmash of audio clips that filled my head at the end of the day. I need Him to help me sort my loose ends…

We are His sheep and we know His voice. The Lord wants to direct us so that when we re-enter the world, we are ready to demonstrate the ABUNDANT LIFE that we have been gifted. Just like when we are fasting, we are to put a smile on our face to show His spirit thru us. Just like lemons without sugar – we are to be living lessons of perseverance – we still have fruit to be shared with the world – this time we don’t add sugar, we just add Spirit.

Prayers and praise – we are to make God known.  Prayers and praise – we are to apply our instructions from Him and not abandon them at the rail…

Prayers and praise – worship at the rails keep us on track…. We lay down our lives so the Lord can keep us on track. Then, we are to pick up ourselves and live for His purpose.

On track… All aboard for the abundant life! Get on track, stay on track – full steam ahead!

Amen

 

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Matthew 6

Prayer

“…when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.’

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Fasting

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

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John 10

Jesus said:  “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again.

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EXPRESS – “Stay on the Path”, 12SEP

EXPRESS – I was zipping under the Turnpike EZpass monitors while I had been stressing – I had been praying – I had been singing – I had not been “being still”…

Keith Green was singing “Stay on the path” thru my supernatural YouTube radio…

I often wonder why I feel so compelled to write and share my blogs – including this piece – is it brokenness? – is it to keep talking when no one is around? – is it holy thoughts that I am wanting to help simply to repair my own brokenness? – is it just jibber jabber out of my head? And am I inflicting people with sharing my experiences? I will never think that I am wrong to think – or that I am wrong to write – but how about the sharing?

EXPRESS – I zipped under the EZpass sign and started LAUGHING OUT LOUD at the sign… for the first time ever I re-interpreted this sign’s text to an alternate meaning – a message that I needed right then – God says “EXPRESS” !!! Wow He sent that message FAST!!!!!  EXPRESS! You have to EXPRESS the amazements and love of the Lord when you are an expressive personality…  not many understand my personality, but God does…

EXPRESS is not always an easy lane – it is a fast lane but it comes with a cost – and yet it is a directive – God says: “EXPRESS”…  I am an extrovert expressive sanguine personality just trying to comply with the Lord taking over my head… is it easy? it risks alienating the exact people I am trying to reach – is that tough as an extrovert? You betcha!!! Is there a purpose? there has to be – there has to be…

I questioned, and God sent me a one-line message today: “EXPRESS“…

Yes, I am probably so compelled to write and share my blogs out of the brokenness in me – our brokenness is what God wants to utilize for His purposes – and ALSO that I (and God) wish others to know the joy and comfort and direction that the Lord brings – yes all that… a dear friend speaks of an ‘Audience of One’ – meaning just focus on pleasing God not man..,

Do you know singer Keith Green? Keith Green would understand me – and he would keep singing his song to me, to all of us: “Stay on the Path”  https://youtu.be/eGlLS24kYaI … Keith Green was an expressive’s EXPRESSIVE… (and you got to love that hair)

Keith sings: “Yes ,I am gonna Thank You, Thank You Lord!”

Yup… I am an EXPRESSive… I am going to “Stay on the Path”…

Thanks for the peptalk, Lord…

Thanks for the sign…

Thanks for letting me share…

Thank you for letting me be me – for YOU!

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Covering your tracks is LESS important than your feet making new ones, 08SEP

Wow, another tidbit from scripture that I did not know about, found in Matthew, where our scribe to the life of Jesus tells us that the guards who had been stunned with fear at the angel (assuming they also saw the disappearance of Jesus from the tomb) were BRIBED to tell the world that Jesus’s disciples stole his dead body instead of them being allowed to be witness to the truth…

Yeah…

We don’t know if the guards believed in the Resurrection or not from this passage, but we do know that the authorities tried to cover up the tracks, used money as an incentive to try to rewrite HISstory, to spin what happened into their own reality. It’s hard to put money over angels, but they tried anyway…

I once heard, in a friend’s sermon, a speculation that the stone being rolled back was probably for show because Jesus seriously wouldn’t have needed to physically walk out… but since the women and the world needed to see that stone rolled away, and needed to imagine and see the divine truth, that the stone was rolled…

I truthfully love that angels exist!

Jesus was back on His feet! I look at the contrast between the women who went scurrying away on their fast feet, compared to the fainting of the guards who fell off their feet… The disciples, also on their feet, had to scurry to Galilee to meet the Risen Christ. Scholars say that journey would have taken them a week!

The last scripture written in Matthew as instructions to the disciples (and us) is the GREAT COMMISSION – we are to use our feet (and everything we have) to spread the GOOD NEWS… Jesus came to save us all from our sins, give us eternal life! Now, that’s a feat!

Scurrying women’s and disciples’ feet…

The crucifixion’s defeat – Jesus on His feet…

Oh Easter’s gift of Salvation, a marvelous feat…

Don’t worry about covering your tracks, just make NEW tracks, walk to the future, your future, and help increase the Kingdom, Hand over Foot!

Amen and Amen!

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Matthew 28

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

The Guards’ Report

While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

The Great Commission

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

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On the Seventh Day, God Ate a Magnum Ice Cream Bar AND Corn on the Cob, 08SEP

I want to start earnestly returning to my witness that the Lord awakened me to change MANY aspects of my life, to correct my path moving forward, to understand that I was not in charge of me – HE IS IN CHARGE OF ME, if I let Him be.  God dreams bigger than we do. So, 4 1/2 years ago, my mental focus and internal conversations with Him led me to Jesus, THEN my physical dramatic change of losing 70 pounds over the course of 9 months was a direct result of my focus on HIM. The changes were SIMULTANEOUS. A new exercise focus gave me stress reduction, and then came my crucial change of eating habits (and thus weight loss). All were all powered by my focus on HIM… Plus I got new friends to compare notes with… I do believe that was ON PURPOSE – so the Lord reminds me to give HIM all the praise and glory!!! I can take no credit for the focus of anything that “I put my mind to”…. that all belongs to the Lord… give credit where credit is due.

WHY? BECAUSE HE WANTS EVERYONE TO KNOW HIM! He uses us for His messengers.

I want everyone (YOU) to know that YOU can call on the LORD to help you lose weight, break bad habits, and live healthier – YOU can do it – if I can do it (and do it again) then you can too.

Call on the Lord and there is no better focusing power. NONE.

Our compliance helps our follow thru.

We all know that the mountain that has to move is us, WE OURSELVES ARE OUR OWN MOUNTAIN.

“Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.”

Yes, the Lord moves mountains – I was and am that mountain that the Lord wants to move.

This mountain means anything holding us back.

Yes, realizing my body was a temple was coupled with my awakening – BOTH started the same week – BOTH took months to see results – BOTH were well worth the time: HIS time and mine.

If the Lord doesn’t build the house, the builders are working for nothing.
If the Lord doesn’t guard the city, the guards are watching for nothing. (Psalm 127)

Focus is good.  All good things come from the Lord (James 1:17)

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

My weight was holding me back.  I realized I had my grandmother’s body before I was 30 years old and she had a stroke at age 60… My cousin Mike died at 52. I had gestational diabetes too…

I lost 70lbs because of the Lord over the course of 9 months – He gave this to me to be a witness to HIM –

I believe that I am to teach, to encourage, to plant seeds in people – that their faith can be their focus.

So, with shoulder surgery and life, I forgot my focus and lost my exercise, and then those carbs snuck back in. I forgot to teach what I was taught, until the Holy Spirit intervened (again) thru the urging of a dear friend… So, it’s time for me to refocus. And re-share…

And on my renewed healthy eating plan, carb snacking is allowed on the SEVENTH DAY. Yes, I can indulge in some carbs that I restrict the rest of the week. This 7^th day I had delicious corn on the cob, a perfect peach, and half a Magnum ice cream bar.

Today I am back to a 6 day regime of low carbohydrates…. Healthy foods are easy to find. Foods are for feeding the temple. I am also trying to pick walking back up to reduce stress… The Lord gives focus and great substitute foods and redirection… the Lord is good, the Lord is GREAT!

I am the mountain the Lord needs to move…

They say when the Lord wants to move a mountain, sometimes He hands you the shovel…

Move with me, won’t you?

Find your focus by finding your faith.

Be His

BE WELL

I believe in you.

God loves you and I do too!

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I will share the ketogenic eating plan too – which may work better with men –  my original weight loss was not ketogenic but low carb high protein – anything low carb is best!  https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ketogenic-diet-101

As always check with your doctor and all that jazz! 

BELIEVE and look for the tools… Find that the Holy Spirit moves the right motivations and motivators to you. Be real and Be true. Be sustainable. The Lord loves you enough to provide for you! The Lord never changes – the primary sustainable motivator!

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. James 1:17-18

I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.
Rescue me from my enemies, Lord, for I hide myself in you.
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. For your name’s sake, Lord, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble. Psalm 148

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Prepare for Rain, 07SEP

They always say watch out for what you wish for…

God wants to pour out His love on us.

He finds ways to seep love to your soul, even when you are not looking.

He will also cast into the fire all the fruitless branches of your life.

That means more flow of His love to the rest of you.

Prepare for rain.

From the movie “Facing the Giants”:

“I heard a story about two farmers who desperately needed rain. And both of them prayed for rain, but only one of them went out and prepared his fields to receive it. Which one do you think trusted God to send the rain?” Well, the one prepared his fields for it. Which one are you? Mr. Bridges, the seasoned adviser, continued to instruct the football coach in need of awakening his team, developing leaders and skills, letting the Lord grow the faith:

“God will send the rain when He’s ready. You need to prepare your field to receive it.”

Everything in our lives is subject to being blessed by the Lord, so get ready…

Everyone in our lives can experience renewed faith, so encourage them…

Every field can be watered if it’s ready, and prepared.

Every rainbow is different than another, and personal.

Every blessing will come in His time and perpetuate.

Prepare your own fields for rain.

God won’t send rain to wash-out your faith, only to grow it….

Prepare your soul for soaking.

Prepare your faith for fanning.

Prepare your eyes for opening.

Prepare your heart for healing.

Prepare your life for living.

Prepare your spirit for sharing.

Prepare your love for letting lose.

Prepare your fields for rain, the Lord wants to grow something out of you.

Amen

 

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I marvel at how the Lord aligns scriptures and us – the bible is so big and yet the same scriptures are placed in the same sightlines for us thru different avenues – that is because all roads lead to the Lord when we pick up on His clues…

Isaiah 58: THE LORD WILL GUIDE YOU ALWAYS!

“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.

Raise your voice like a trumpet.

Declare to my people their rebellion

and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.

2 For day after day they seek me out;

they seem eager to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that does what is right

and has not forsaken the commands of its God.

They ask me for just decisions

and seem eager for God to come near them.

3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,

‘and you have not seen it?

Why have we humbled ourselves,

and you have not noticed?’

 

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please

and exploit all your workers.

4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,

and in striking each other with wicked fists.

You cannot fast as you do today

and expect your voice to be heard on high.

5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,

only a day for people to humble themselves?

Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed

and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?

Is that what you call a fast,

a day acceptable to the Lord?

 

6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

    and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

    and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry

    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—

when you see the naked, to clothe them,

    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness[a] will go before you,

and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;

you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

 

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,

with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness,

and your night will become like the noonday.

11 The Lord will guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail.

12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins

and will raise up the age-old foundations;

you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,

Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

 

13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath

and from doing as you please on my holy day,

if you call the Sabbath a delight

and the Lord’s holy day honorable,

and if you honor it by not going your own way

and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

14 then you will find your joy in the Lord,

and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land

and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

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Capture HIS-story, 05Sep

Crazy dream!!! I woke up suddenly, instantly and completely.

In my power nap’s dream I was swerving in my Subaru and about to smash full speed into the middle barrier on the highway – instantly I awoke never so startled and calm at the same time knowing it was a dream!

Instantly, my eyes locked across the room on this inflatable thunder stick: “CAPTURE HISTORY” –  It was a noise maker from the inaugural season of the Overwatch video game league…  But instantly I read history as HIS-STORY.

You can say I think about God too much or not enough… All I know is that I don’t know how or when I will meet my maker – all I know is that for the last five years I have been obsessed with trying to make sense of my path on His plan… He wants me to tell His-Story. I want to tell His-story. I want Him to be known in the minutia as well as the whole.

He wants us to live our story which is His story…

I want to finish posting any backlog of my writings before I hit that wall… whew…

I want to help spread the Good News always…

His story, not mine…