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2 Corinthians 4, DO NOT Despair, 26FEB

This scripture gives hope… I pray if there us anything else to change in me then Lord, please do it – because I don’t want to become complacent or forget that my fortunes are from God… I don’t want to think I have nothing to still work thru, I know I do and I know I will only improve with God’s help…

We see many folks who go thru much harder things then us, and come out more thankful and stronger…. It’s because our trials mold us like jars of clay, we are hard pressed on every side, but we are not crushed… and the beautiful LIGHT that we shine is FROM GOD, no one can dispute that, and it’s clearly not from us…

This scripture has the perfect analogy… The scripture stands alone and not much explanation is needed by me except the take home message is: DON’T despair, God has us… We have God… Jesus IS the LIGHT, HE is our treasure!!! Do not lose heart, our eternal glory outweighs all our troubles…. 🙂 thanks God!!

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2 Corinthians 4 (NIV) Present Weakness and Resurrection Life

Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

6 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.

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

11 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. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. 13 It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, 14 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. 15 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.

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 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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Release, 26Feb

Jesus wants us to forgive to be FREE to live WITH God, always… Let that resentment go… It’s very freeing to just let it go…. Jesus let go of the resentment to those who crucified him, and ignored his teachings (and still ignore them)… And His Hands went FREE – forever FREE to live again and LOVE always…

We need to step back from our anger and know that we are in this world, but not of this world, and be FREE to accept God’s forgiveness by forgiving others… It’s not easy, but Jesus will do it for you… And you will be released even from that yoke.. It’s NOT forget the wrongs, DON’T get fooled again, and yes you need to illuminate the wrongs, but let God handle the rest…

Remember the story of the two monks – here is a version from the web: “[Two monks were making a pilgrimage. During the course of their journey, they came to a river where they met a beautiful young woman — an apparently worldly creature, dressed in expensive finery and with her hair done up in the latest fashion. She was afraid of the current and afraid of ruining her lovely clothing, so asked the brothers if they might carry her across the river.

The younger and more exacting of the brothers was offended at the very idea and turned away with an attitude of disgust. The older brother didn’t hesitate, and quickly picked the woman up on his shoulders, carried her across the river, and set her down on the other side. She thanked him and went on her way, and the brother waded back through the waters.

The monks resumed their walk, the older one in perfect equanimity and enjoying the beautiful countryside, while the younger one grew more and more brooding and distracted, so much so that he could keep his silence no longer and suddenly burst out, “Brother, we are taught to avoid contact with women, and there you were, not just touching a woman, but carrying her on your shoulders!” The older monk looked at the younger with a loving, pitiful smile and said, “Brother, I set her down on the other side of the river; you are still carrying her.”] “

Remember Matthew 18:
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

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1 Corinthians 10… Musings, 25 FEB

Yeah, good scripture for this week’s sermon and always…  I like pre-reading the scripture before our Pastor’s sermon, just like I like pre-practicing before band practice… Yeah, it’s so convenient that the Bible is written down, isn’t it!?!?! It’s sad those folks in Moses’ time couldn’t carry the whole bible in an app on their phones!!! God’s Word on the go!.. no curtain can hide Jesus – as Jesus is conveniently heart-localized – that is so awesome…

1st Corinthians 10 serves both to remind us humility (just like that white bead on my everest/dead sea bracelet), and also to be on our best behavior because “compliance makes a difference”, which is a saying on a bracelet I wear on my other arm… “12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 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.”

And the 1st Corinthians verses also match the sentiment of Ephesians 5:29-30 ^“After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body.” When I asked (and still ask) God to reduce my temptations He has answered me… HE did not have to always take the object away but reduce my urge towards it – yes, HE has answered me, BIG TIME… Proof to me yet again that God hears us when we call, and that my “compliance makes a difference”… This is clearly been a blessed whole past year of health focus, and where out of left field I have seen challenges left and right… God providing that way out from temptations has been AMAZING…. putting out fires when I ask, and removing that “it’s all about me” feeling… This can seem like a conflict because God has been building me up, that feeling of “I want you to be fulfilled” but actually God is really saying: I want you to look to ME, Your Master, to fill you and look for my fulfilling ways, do not feast from earthly ways… Yup…

We see so much these days of “I have the right to do anything” attitude…. But folks DON’T remember 1 Corinthians verse 23-24 – not everything is beneficial – not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. “not everything is constructive.”

In the world these days, we hear so many say: “what’s in it for me” when they should say “how can I give of myself and make a difference?”… But the biggest idol we see is SELF… Self importance…. It’s saying “God BE good to me, I AM worth it” rather than “God IS good, even though I am NOT worthy”… Oh, if only folks would remember it’s God’s plan, not ours….Just be grateful God wants you in HIS plan…

Verse 13 means your problems are nothing new, and temptations are common and you can’t repeatedly blame the devil in your failings like “the devil made me do it” … Since these are “ONLY” mankind’s failings, God can help – easy for God but hard for you – because YOU have to WANT to change…

Hey we all mess up… We are human… But we can can overcome temptations WITH God’s help….

Remember: Luke 1:37 (NKJV) “For WITH GOD nothing will be impossible.”

Matthew 19:26 (NIV)  “Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but WITH GOD all things are possible.””

Cool…. It’s great to have HIS help… Thanks God!

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1 Corinthians 10 (NKJV) Old Testament Examples

Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. 6 Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. 7 And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” 8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; 9 nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; 10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

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“That’s How God Works!”, Michael Card’s concert, 23 Feb

BLESSED… Singer and writer Michael Card is awesome!!!!…. I got to say “Hi” before his concert… I gave him my two journaling writings about his last concert… I was SO excited to see him, the ride of the day!!! I went with such great faith family!! SO BLESSED!!!

I actually gave him two months total of my writing, and the link to the others… I said he didn’t have to read them, but maybe for the plane or the bus, he said he would show his wife to show her that he was still popular, LOL… He eagerly fanned thru the pages… Who knows, maybe he will read, maybe not, I just wanted to share them to again say how much I appreciated his gifts and his giving… And at the end to give him a hug like a old friend, to say thanks and “God bless you”!

The concert was amazing! Laid back, just him and a Steinway and a Martin guitar, which he re-tuned constantly… If he missed a note he blamed it on age.. He did look a little skinnier than last time, I do worry about him and his jet-hopping schedule. We sang all together as he taught the audience a few times. I only recognized a couple songs, and his newest songs were wonderful… He spoke of his writing and fascination of the differences in the 4 gospels – Luke was a doctor like his dad, an old-fashioned doctor who worked constantly and they only saw him at dinner… As the youngest, Michael would have to go retrieve his dad from his study for dinner, and he would wiggle his fingers under the door… which his therapist told him he was still doing – wiggling his fingers for attention… Everyone gushed with love and compassion for him… He said God takes our brokenness to use us for His will… The more broken we are the more he calls us… He also spoke of his book about slavery, how much writing in the bible was about how we are slaves of God, not servants but slaves… How even Mary said “behold I am a slave to the Master” when she was told by the angels that she was chosen.

Many wonderful stories, wonderful atmosphere, praises in song.

But what was a classic God-intervention of the whole evening was HIS obvious timing of when I got there, where I sat and with whom….positioning is everything with God… It’s when you realize God’s been working His HOLY SPIRIT assets-off to move HIS children around so that they run into each other and inspire each other… So when I entered the beautiful small 300-seat chapel, I zoomed right up front because I saw Michael Card sitting with someone in the front row. We arrived about thirty minutes before concert… We needed four seats, PERFECT spot front row (with room for my friend’s wheelchair)… And I zoomed into the seat next to Michael to say “Hey-remember me?”… He probably didn’t but after Michael and I shared for five minutes, and I handed him my writing. He got up to finish mingling and these two ladies sat down… The one next to me turned and said they saw him in center city two months ago at the tiny 200-person concert, and I said “me too!”… And she recognized me, (yeah really!) and she could tell I had lost weight (!!crazy!!)… I said I was supposed to give a ride to a new friend I had met at that concert – but he got another ride… well they go to church with him!!!… Actually they got the concert info from him because I had sent the info to him!!!… Yeah crazy!.. wow – they thanked me… She said “That’s how God works!” …

Yup! That’s how God works!!!!

Our conversation SO natural, our PRAISE in our singing and our nodding along with the music… After we exchanged contact info, I told her my story and she said she used to be a writer and God has been nudging her to write again, write her story, and she resists and doesn’t take the time… I said God forced me to write, I did not choose to write! except if I didn’t dunp it down, God would NOT release my brain… God made my writing convenient at quiet times, woke me up for the processing, now I write for both processing and praise, and to convince others that God is alive!!!!!

She said she is going to get herself writing, I hope she does… She said her story is like Daniel’s scriptures of the friends in the furnace fire who stood with Jesus and came out unscathed… Yes, aren’t we all like Daniel’s friends who are going to come out unscathed when we eventually hit eternal life because this life will just drop away and we will be with God forever??? yeah that’s why God’s working his assets off…

… and that’s why I think Michael Card is working his assets off to… he said he could sit at home and watch TV but he would miss the people too much… I’m so glad Michael Card loves the people…

I’m so eternally glad God loves HIS people.

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B-52s, 23FEB

Really God? Really? The B-52’s – I never put it together that number 52 was in their name until YOU just put this song on my radio to wrap up my driving time in my blessed borrowed little Subaru… I know You Lord control the radio when You want to help me out… YOU just now took me from a very sad and down place to intensely smiling… Thanks God everyday for smiling my way… No one can lift me like YOU do…

“Roam if you want to, roam around the world – Roam if you want to, without wings without wheels – Roam if you want to, roam around the world – Roam if you want to, without anything but the LOVE we feel”

Then the very last song after these 1065 miles was from Elvis… “Can’t help falling in love with you”…

I can’t help but LOVE you more and more everyday Lord…

Oh I feel the LOVE, the Subaru LOVE…

I KNOW the LOVE, GOD LOVE… nothing compares to the LOVE of GOD…

Amen

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Ephesians 5:2, 22Feb

You know how I’m stuck on the 52 numbers? and think God is in charge of 52 numbers showing up absolutely everywhere?… I still get the number 52 showing up five to ten times a day, this is my new normal… I notice everywhere things that have 52 – especially license plates – and oh yeah a big mack truck that almost hit me when i was taking a chance walking across the street – it had big 52 on it’s mudflaps – God said PAY ATTENTION!…. There were very unusual 52s this past weekend…. BUT this was a very important 52 that showed up today… Ephesians 5:2 – a photo from my notes at a prayer breakfast last May, where the wonderful speaker spoke about the aroma of Christ and how her mother always said “Don’t dare leave this house until you are smelling good” and how when her mother died her body smelled of roses, a miracle… Well I wrote that verse down for a reason, back in May, and certainly never connected the 52 with it… SO I’ve been carrying it in my Praise Pumpkin ever since with my other praise memorabilia – (like my Vacation Bible School snowball, that small devotions book, and the completed sets of praise band music that I am so blessed to sing) – it’s ok i am sentimental especially towards God…

Ephesians 5:2 speaks of the aroma of Christ…. Yeah all Ephesians 5 is tremendous advice…. 5:14 “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” is my witness to everything that is good that has happened to me since accepting Jesus’ wake up call!

I don’t doubt that God has many plans for me and throwing 52s in my way always makes me think..  yes, I appreciate the clarity of the scriptures which are just trying to make us better – and heal our wounds of the sins that drag us down….

Ephesians 5  (NIV)

¹ Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children ² 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.

³ But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. ⁴ Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. ⁵ For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. ⁷ Therefore do not be partners with them.

⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness,righteousness and truth) ¹⁰ and find out what pleases the Lord. ¹¹ Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹² It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. ¹³ But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. ¹⁴ This is why it is said:

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Pseudo-Yoga, Sharing the REAL LIGHT, 22FEB

So in this mixed bag of a crazy weekend, I had two particular moments that I want to share – where i am pretty sure Jesus was smiling and embracing the “two or three –  people who meet in MY name”… I had many many others incidents of encompassing love this weekend (of course) but these stand-out for the discussion of yoga and worshiping false idols… And for the smiling appreciative reinforcement that Jesus is truly in OUR hearts… And both conversations involved girl scout cookies and health and weightloss…

Here’s the vent part: Yoga is being bashed in sound-bite form by some folk as false idol worship – JUST bashing…

Yoga – OF COURSE it’s origins are from a different spiritual path, but it is a generic term these days for a type of exercise, but they didn’t change the name… It’s years ago when they took the yogi out of yoga to see how it could be used in the fitness realm… (I bet the yogis might say that fitness folks did was the equivalent of “taking Christ out of Christmas”)… Nowadays “fitness yoga” (maybe use the term “pseudo-yoga”) is low impact, heart-rate-increasing stretching for the body, it’s attention to breathing, it’s finding PEACE, acceptance of self, but with a goal of feeling better… That’s the same message person to person, but HOW each person’s mind is stretched truly IS different person to person…

Here’s my praising -> My mind says Jesus is stretching WITH me when I do my yoga. Jesus is meeting me here at a crossover of cultures, helping me use the best from others to better myself in the vast universe – to LIVE better to enable me to spread HIS LOVE… JESUS-enabled GOD LOVE and PEACE…

In “fitness yoga”, you don’t have to worship the Sun or false idols in order to raise your heartrate to do the plank position… Besides, holding the yoga plank position for a LONG time just might make you call out to God for help! Face down to the ground – you better believe there’s praying!

My two particular faith discussions involving yoga (as well as eating more protein and greens, less carbs, and less processed foods for weight and health improvement) resulted in the BEST Jesus sharing, where both of us stood mutually agreeing that Jesus was in OUR hearts, that Jesus IS shared out from OUR hearts, and that Jesus IS the LIGHT… That’s what God wants us to share – share that ALL this “strength” and “dedication” for any task is ALL FROM GOD… isn’t that AWESOME? Isn’t that the point? God is WITH us regardless of our mindsets, we are supposed to realize that and listen deep into our hearts using our God-is-love mindsets to develop our Jesus lives IN ME “heartsets”… It’s amazing when we realize OUR God is working HIS ASSETS OFF to wake us up – to work HIS plan – and return US to HIM. Cool…

It’s important to stretch your mind to find out what’s actually in your mind…

In the yoga routine, the end catch phrase is “The LIGHT in me salutes the LIGHT in you”…. That’s the most Christian statement I have EVER heard!!!JESUS IS the LIGHT… Share the LIGHT!!!

Amen

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PS… It’s convenient that my paths cross with a wide variety of people and faith systems… It’s convenient to have the gifted family-trait mindset of “I have an hour in between scheduled tasks, what five things can I get done?” Because that’s where God can use us for others when we are already in motion… I know God must have caused this focus in my brain for health sharing and for sharing faith, because even I don’t understand why I was chosen for this task except that when I accepted Jesus, I also said “God use me for whatever you need”… “correct my ways for your purpose” … it rings true: Luke 1:38 “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.”

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PPS… Likewise “fitness kickboxing” doesn’t mean you want to kill people LOL, it’s a exercise focusing routine… And when I kick and punch it’s the best feeling – because sometimes I am visualizing pummeling the devil… I know it’s God who is best to fight the devil, but I like to help God the best I can, if I at least stand up to the devil, Jesus can kick for me… Jesus is LIGHT on His feet for sure!!!

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This is another “processing therapy piece” for my old Catholic upbringing… I sat and prayed just ten minutes in a new huge expensive Catholic church on Thursday with new ornate stained glass, and such beautiful Mary images… But it’s my old churching that floods memories to me for processing… My memories and two completely independent “random” discussions with former Catholics last Thursday night… a triple play of memories… Then BINGO at son’s school Friday night…. Noisy and fun BINGO, not so serious as those Friday night memories as a child working Catholic school BINGO… Memories of ALL those old Catholic RITUALS flood to me….

BINGO, 21Feb

It’s fun to play BINGO, i was raised Catholic and it was part of the fabric of the community I was in. Yet I know that John Wesley forgo all games of chance in the Methodist tradition, and I do understand his reasoning… God picks you for HIS own, just like He saved John Wesley from that horrific fire as a babe, God is planning a life for YOU, if you accept it… God is NOT blessing you by chance, but God is gracing and gifting purposefully…. God gives HOPE…. LIFE by GRACE – NOT by chance, so in the Methodist tradition there are no raffles, no games of chance, no BINGO….

I was raised Catholic, I was raised on BINGO… The smoke-filled gym at my Catholic school… My parents forced working the high stakes event (seemingly because there was a’lot of money raised) BINGO, top prize $200 at the end of the night… We as kids worked the concession stand, sold candy on a cart down the aisles… those real glass soda bottles, candy and more candy… And cleaned up after under the guidance of tired tireless workerbee custodian Mrs C… And the people, those regulars Friday nights… Yelling “shake’m up, shake’m up” when they were displeased with the numbers (OR the caller)… And the rituals, number 66 (I think) made the faithful ring bells, I can hear the cow bell, the lady actually brought a cow bell to BINGO… Other numbers other rituals… The clink of the magnetic chips… The claps of them flipping the pressed wood-like “lap boards” over… I hear them, I smell the smoke, I know the rituals…

Mary’s statue was discolored by smoke at Bingo… We Catholics (former and current) revere Mary as you were taught to revere the old people at church… They had lived thru a lot of pain… a war and great depression… Children of poor hungry immigrants ripped from their homeland to find freedom in America… They wanted the best for their children… They were the ones who sacrificed for your successful life in America… Likewise, Mother Mary was the one who sacrificed her “normal-life” to birth and raise God… and then only to see the brutal death of her son AND her God…. PS – You don’t have to worship Mary as a Catholic, but it’s good that you respect her, you must remember your pain was probably nothing compared to hers losing her Son… Her choosing by God means you are chosen by God too… Let her remind you to rely on God too… perhaps the role model as told in Luke 1:38 will help you – “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.”

Many of those people at BINGO probably thought they were getting their little dose of church in, just like folks today… Sometimes even a pancake breakfast with prayers of Grace suffices for some… Likely the feel of a warm community was what drew the people to BINGO on Friday nights, as opposed to other gambling meccas (and you know how pervasive games of chance are ingrained into our society)… Here they raised money for the Catholic school… for the children… For teaching God’s children… The people were praying for BINGO, but their donations were for me, my education, my future, my future walk with God… Where two meet in God’s name…

Catholic rituals, can’t shake them, and yes many of us “recovering Catholics” miss them… I paid attention to stay awake in Catholic masses as a child… But I memorized the rituals… The kneeling, the hand motions, the bells, the reverence…. Sure it was quiet time for prayer (or not)…. But you had to respect the reverence… No Latin masses for me, but those old people – they remembered… They revered and knew their rituals cold… It was cold in that huge church… It was warmer in BINGO…

The Passion of Christ – that I paid attention to at Lenten Masses… The priests (who normally were stick-figured randomness to me as a child) all of a sudden spoke reverently and feverishly during HOLY Week… Strong and passionate about the Easter story… They ALL came to that service, they read the play by play of Jesus at the last supper, of Jesus being betrayed by Judas – I could hear the clink of the silver pieces…. Yes, the stories of the garden, the slice off of that ear, the rooster crowing, Peter denials were my denials too… The long dragging of Jesus and HIS Cross thru the streets, up the hill… the blood, the sweat, the onlookers pulled in to help… The cries of the mothers…. The stations of the cross made real…. The crucifixion… The nails… You could see and feel the nails and the pain in the actual wood painted figure hanging there… Jesus’s face not dead on that cross, but writhing in pain, sad for his lost children.. Powerful passionate purposeful portrayal… Pain…. Mockery, gambling for HIS clothes, a crown of thorns, the dark death… The thundering skys scorned… The tomb…. Gone… Jesus was plain gone… … Jesus simply gone from his devoted and now terrified and confused disciples… How could God work like this? How could God leave all of them hanging…. Yes Jesus told them he would go away but surely they must have felt LOST…. It wasn’t just Jesus who died, but probably the faith of many who believed but were then lost… This was God’s plan… Why?…

Why stir the souls so passionately with this death story?… Perhaps to awaken them to the LIFE story… To awaken our souls to NEW LIFE… Forever LIFE…. Jesus died to give LIFE… Jesus was passionately living to die… To LIVE again… GOD’S PLAN IS FOR US TO LIVE FOREVER WITH HIM.

RITUALS… Real… reawakening…

The kneeling, the stations of the cross, the clap of wooden lap boards as they flipped them over at BINGO…. The life of the people going thru the rituals… The clinging to each other for support in joy and troublesome times…The clinging to HOPE for a BINGO win is nothing compared to the clinging to the CROSS for ETERNAL HOPE…

JESUS bore HIS cross, to bear you LIFE… Be reborn in Christ to feel HIS pain to FEEL that released freedom of LIFE in heaven… when HIS arms went free so did yours… Your sins forgiven… Free pass to heaven for you and me…

Free salvation… FREE LIFE… FREE LOVE…

But you have to believe that… You have to KNOW you were freed…

The passion of God IS for YOU… It’s YOU, God wants…. It’s ALWAYS been about YOU…

Follow the passionate life, death and life of Jesus… Help take Jesus down off HIS cross this Easter, to believe that in three days you can RISE with HIM… He knows the way home. Home is for all those who believe they need Jesus as a Savior.

Whether you ritualize your memories OR make them all new… God is alive so your faith can be too… God wants YOU forever…

Thanks God for your passionate LOVE for US… FOR ME…

The passion of God IS FOR YOU…

BINGO YOU WON!

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WOW this proverb speaks to me volumes, but it is like a deep puzzle…

This was from the scripture of the day and I want to tease it apart all the situations in my life that pertain, but I think it will take a while… Suffice for now that I call on God to make all things clear in HIS time…. Dry toast, peace….

Proverbs 17 (NIV)

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The Trash Too, 20FEB

Up at 545am to feed my daughter in preparation for a 30hr fast event to raise awareness and funds for world hunger relief… I pray for the youth famine weekend and that the messages are heard and understood by the kids(and parents)…. “Those who have ears, let them hear”

There was a skit from last year called “The Trash” where Jesus was trying to help someone remove their baggage and sin in the form of trash – and it was AMAZINGLY true to me… but little did I know that over the course of this one year that I would truly witness this happen to me in big ways… I incrementally gave up SO MUCH trash to Jesus this past year and I don’t even miss it… Namely my faulty beliefs, my emotional eating ways and ignorance of my holy temple, my ignorance of feeding myself the Word of God, and that stress about things that God can handle MUCH better than me… Oh yeah especially giving up that stress… The trashman taketh away…

And YEAH – that dancing feeling? YEAH, totally…. I’m dancing and singing HIS praises everyday…

There’s still more trash to give up, there is ALWAYS going to be big and little pockets of trash WE hide in our hearts, that WE cling to, and that WE take back… And I think that devil delivers extra too… But blessedly this trash man comes on a routine basis….

Once you see the benefits of giving up the trash, you WILL want to be purged and polished by God!!!

SO BLESSED… THANKS JESUS…. REALLY YOU ARE ALIVE in those who cling to YOU. Amen and THANKS youth!!!!

THANKS all current and former youth leaders for bringing Jesus in living form to our children and to us.

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A friend asked me to start some more evangelical pieces, meeting people where they are… It’s true that I long to hear about others’ faith and how they found the LIGHT, and how they are still looking.. Some folks slowly peak thru the window-of-your-soul blinds, some open them fully… It takes time to adjust to the LIGHT…

LISTEN, LIGHT, LOVE, 19FEB

What’s your perception of God?

Is He close or near? Does He call out to you? Do you call out to Him?

At night, the moon calls me out… When it is setting, like this really early morning, and as it approaches the horizon, it is HUGE! It’s a trick if the eye? Is it parallax as my physics teacher might say? No, it’s a trick from the light in the curve of the earth… Light that bends, bends your perception, changes what you understand.

Whatever your perspective is, the moon is the same size. Whatever the light brings to your eye there is no different amount of cheese, no half eaten crescent from mice that finally made a rocket ship to reach the moon. And the light from the moon? That is not even made on the moon, it’s from the Sun.

What’s your perception of God? What’s your take on Jesus? I ask because I want to know… I don’t expect answered emails, and I don’t expect you to have God all figured out either, I sure don’t! I just ask that you think about your perspective on God – because when I previously thought about mine I was totally confused… Blessedly, God cleared it up for me as only God could… I understand more deep truths now, not shadows of truths, I saw the LIGHT and want you tell you the LIGHT is looking for you too. The LIGHT wants YOU to understand God. God loves you FOR YOU! And loves you for YOUR benefit, He wants to be WITH you.

Reflections of LIGHT… The light affects your perception of the moon… But you must believe that the moon doesn’t really change… even though every night it looks that way.

Reflections of LIGHT… The LIGHT affects your perception of God, and God changes how you see the LIGHT… But please believe that God doesn’t change HIS LOVE for YOU… It’s YOUR perception that affects how you relate to God.

God is waiting on you, calling to you, wanting you to notice.

Is God a blinding LIGHT? Maybe? or does He reveal just enough light for what He thinks you can handle? God has just the right and perfect LIGHT to help you walk on YOUR path in the dark times. Think about His Grace and the blessings you have been granted IN the light – think about those times when you knew He was with you, and therefore I ask you to know that He IS with you as well in the dark times… He wants you to be less distracted by the false light and see only the true LIGHT from Him.

Please know God GIVES the LIGHT. And you can take it stepwise, gradually unshielding your heart to feel a gradient effect of more and more LIGHT.

So look inside yourself, that is where God placed His guiding LIGHT, just waiting for you to fuel it. He created you in HIS image, God is IN YOU, REALLY!!!…. Make Him feel at home, welcome HIM. With God, you are never alone, and you are always walking and welcomed home. You are anchored and no longer adrift.

God gives the LIGHT that bends but does not break, He can bends your perception, change what you understand, if you let HIM.

What’s your perception of God? Do you call out to Him? You may have to change how you perceive God’s LIGHT. It’s alright, God WILL help!

Call out to Him, He’s there…

He’s ALWAYS been there.

He’s ALWAYS shining the LIGHT.

He’s ALWAYS calling YOU.

He’s ALWAYS listening.

LISTEN, LIGHT, LOVE…

LOVE GOD because GOD LOVES YOU!

LOVE GOD because you once were LOST, but now are FOUND. LOVE GOD because you once were BLIND, but NOW can SEE.

LISTEN, LIGHT, LOVE…

GOD is LOVE

GOD LOVES YOU!

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Woven Nets, 15FEB

When I was caught then secured into God’s net by Jesus, it was multilayered… Thick, strong, and yet allows for water to wash on thru, cleansing me continually…

I was caught – then – I was woven into the net myself.

Love layers… Layers of LOVE…

One layer was/is worship music that permeates and resonates and initially made me rest against the net to feel the vibrations before the net wove into my soul thru my ears. I didn’t know I was getting caught in the net but I was…

One layer was/is worshipful people that bless and encourage me and initially enabled me to rest against the net to rest in the LOVE, before that net wove into my soul thru my heart. I didn’t know I was getting caught in the net but I was…

One layer was/is the spoken word and personal testimonies that made my head spin and initially enabled me to rest against the net to STILL my own mind before the net wove into my soul thru my consciousness. I didn’t know I was getting caught in the net but I was…

The layer of the bible stories stopped the static noise of what we are manipulated to focus on. The written word quiets the mind, focuses the thoughts, stirs the heart… gives the net elasticity and bounce… the written word flows and has room for interpretation and integration into your own storyline of life.

The Word of God IS the true net we should weave into all the other nets, we should get caught up in the Word of God, and live thru it.

It’s the layers of all these nets that we need to live and need to grow… And they are ALL backed by the last layer, that foundation layer in the LOVE OF GOD…

When you are woven into the net you are FREE. You are caught but stabilized to flow with the life that God will lead you on.

When your soul is attached it to the net, it can be cleansed by the water and not get lost…

When you are secured by the net, your hands are FREE to do God’s work, your mouth is FREE to sing and preach God’s Word, your eyes are FREE to see all that was good and all that IS good emanates from God.

God WILL take you, make you, and love you ALWAYS…

God will make you WHOLE.

BE the net. LIVE the net. LOVE the net.

Amen

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Apparently this week’s theme was “rapture week”, this theme of “The Rapture” and God sending Jesus back to earth had permeated the WHOLE week… Kinda takes your mind off your other troubles, huh?…

This is a long set of rambling writings composed over a week, but I think God is saying to me, to ALL of us as Christians to STAY AWAKE, just like HIS disciples in the garden… STAY AWARE, stay on your “A” game… keep working to show others Jesus’s love, and show yourselves to be faithful followers and teach, preach, but most importantly REACH!!!

Whether it’s thru music or reading or people, or so many God-sightings, God continually reminds me and us He’s the ONLY one who knows ALL….

God practically says after one’s salvation realization that “[You’ve come a long way, Baby” – now you need to delve into the harder stuff – you have EVEN MORE work to do…. I called you to REACH… Don’t brush over the painful truths!!!]”

Life can be hard, confusing, I know this and this week alone I discussed with multiple people their job losses, their pain, their anguish over dying family members, and even brutal attacks and killings…. I know life isn’t always a piece of cake…

BUT God wants folks to come to Jesus to find PEACE, to KNOW ETERNAL LIFE. Being a Christian means stirring up the hunger in others for God’s word – and then staying AT the table WITH THEM, if they can’t feed themselves. Here’s the writings…

Rapture, 10-11-12-13 FEB

l’m not making this stuff up… These awesome God-coincidences, these “duplicating themes of the week”… I’m reading an awesome book, one small chapter talks about the “Rapture”, I read it Tuesday, then while talking about my sacred Salvation Subaru car repair, I challenged a man nicknamed Satan (!) and later I talked to an undertaker (!)… Then Ash Wednesday my pastor’s sermon delivered more from the book of Joel… “For the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.” …and then Thursday, on the Supernatural Radio (a Tom Petty song) in my loaner Subaru, Blondie sings “Rapture”… Rapture is the theme of the week apparently… Thurs night at praise band practice I had to reach out about this repetition to my pastor (conveniently our keyboard player too) and four of us discussed the time when Jesus will be sent back to Earth to wrap it all up… I learned how history tells us how awful things were (50,000 people killed every day) at the time when Jesus came 2000 years ago – wow (FYI $2000 is the repeating theme of the financial week too, my car will cost $2000 to fix , it says “I’m not dead yet” like in the Monty Python skit, but I digress…) …

… and then Friday I had at least three instances of random mentioning of the Rapture – including a paragraph in a scientific philosophy manuscript my friend is writing… PLUS endless music about death and life… So conversations abounded because of this repetition and I listen intently to it all – as I have so much to learn – yeah it’s rapturous!

God knows when to turn on the heat… Just give Matthew 24 (and 23, and 25) a read, you will see…

SO, in this awesome book I’m reading, called “Accidental Saints” by Nadia Bolz-Weber, I appreciate the section about “The Rapture”, quoting Matthew 24… And about how the pastor has to discuss the apocalyptic text in the Bible which she knows scares so many people! It’s not easy to convince non-believers to follow a God who is coming back for such a seemingly brutal end of the world scenario where Jesus becomes a thief, stealing people… Her sermon was really offered as an opportunity to be aware and to get ready, about Jesus coming to be a HOLY good thief NOW who wants to take the crap from us NOW beforehand, take out our sinful baggage to get us ready sooner than later, well before the second coming…

I agree, Jesus did come and IS here in spirit and is physically coming again to do the clean up work for God… Let us be AWARE, know what sins YOU can shed before HE comes and the more YOU do now (and YES, GOD WILL HELP) will lighten HIS load of cleaning up YOUR mess… You can do it, God WILL help.

All this I have been thinking about on my commute Wed morning, in my little borrowed Subaru, when even more rapturous themes flooded in … I was thinking about what next tune might come up on the Eighties station on Sirius radio… (you know I want to fill this little car with prayers and pause and praise for good music and for a good life to whomever drives it after me) … So, what comes on the radio? Blondie “Rapture” !!!!! I’m not making this stuff up!!! She sings about rapturous eating of Subarus… “go out at night, eatin’ cars / You eat Cadillacs, Lincolns too – Mercurys and SUBARUS !”

God must control the radio…

When I got the brand new borrowed car last Monday I heard the first song “Whip It” -Devo – whip it into shape, yup I know what God means… After Blondie I put it back to the 60s station (I’m trying to balance out ALL the music for a good car upbringing since I’m the first driver of this car, 300 miles so far). Yes my friends, God controls the radio for me – OR I can just connect everything I hear and see to God – either way God is awesome… I’ve got 60s and 70s, classic Vinyl… After “Rapture” played Creedence Clearwater Revival – everybody wants a revival right??? Then the Eagles singing about “turning water into wine”.. then Billy Joel singing about red and white wine… then some Grateful Dead… then Electric LIGHT Orchestra “Living Thing”…

So many songs right in a row about living and about death!!!… I like to listen to praise music too, and I like Christmas music as classic Christ-centering and I LOVE my church praise band music the best because it speaks TO ME and i speak it right back out – and because I know all the Sinners-turning-into-Saints who are synergistic in their PRAISE together… I find ALL music has some sort of praise in it – because those people singing them are ALL God’s children too (whether they know it or not… but I’m pretty sure they know it when they are thinking and singing about God and life and death).

The only CD I remembered to bring with me in my backpack contains, of course, “Come to the Cradle” which is my awakening song and contains a gem of a new song from my friend called “The Gift”, about how if we are to fully accept this gift of Jesus we must gift our whole hearts to HIM… I LOVE listening to the first song about coming to find PEACE, then singing about gifting myself to God by following Jesus…

The other random CD I found in the bottom of my backpack was Warren Zevon’s last album before he died way too early – the best song is “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” a fitting remake – and aren’t we ALL knocking on heaven’s door?! When the rapture comes I think Heaven will scoop down to see what it can recover from Earth – best to start knocking now and get our acts together sooner than later..

So, to wrap up this soulful Rapturous week:

I pray that hopefully Christians will stay on their “A games”… Awake, Aware, Appreciative, Alive, remembering God as “All in All”…. So when the Rapture comes it won’t be a surprise catch up to clean up our acts… perhaps if it happens in our lifetimes we will get to do what the “Accidental Saints” author speculated – rise up like Mary Poppins people and get taken up by God – I don’t know!!!!… BUT I AM glad that Jesus is on my side and looking out for me for eternity!!! We are the chosen ones if we choose God …

But the trick for everyday, not JUST for rapture, is that we MUST be ready to go when He calls! We must not fall asleep… The mission is not be complacent in our own salvation but keep working the system, keep shining the LIGHT, KEEP the Faith by SHOWING the Faith…

Keep listening, keep singing praises, keep reaching to God’s children… Keep Jesus in your heart as tightly as He keeps you in HIS… Then spread that Jesus heart… Cast HIS net… He’s got you!!! Be brave… Go help Jesus get some more fish…

Meanwhile, keep watch, because “you do not know the day or the hour” !!!

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Joel (NIV)

The day of the Lord is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it? Rend Your Heart 12 “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” 13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.”

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Matthew 24 (NIV)

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times

Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. 15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. 22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time. 26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. 29 “Immediately after the distress of those days “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ 30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. 32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. The Day and Hour Unknown 36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f] but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. 42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. 45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Footnotes: Matthew 24:15 Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11 Matthew 24:29 Isaiah 13:10; 34:4 Matthew 24:30 Or the tribes of the land Matthew 24:30 See Daniel 7:13-14. Matthew 24:33 Or he Matthew 24:36 Some manuscripts do not have nor the Son.

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Matthew 25:

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. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ 9 “‘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.’ 10 “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. 11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ 12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ 13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

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Loophole, 12Feb

I didn’t get to the big 911 Memorial on February 1st like I want to, but near the Amish market, a local fire company has a beautiful 911 Memorial… Tonight I decided to stop and there were beautiful snowflake kisses falling from the sky… I held on to the recreated lighted towers and also held onto a piece of a tower’s twisted steel and I prayed, I truly felt a surge of energy from those blue lighted towers…

In the plaques I noticed the AGES for the fallen firemen, police, and Port Authority officers… nearly all these ages were my age or younger… So many people not even made it to their prime… Wow this made me the most sad to know these lives were lost so young… I know they served so bravely and did so much in their short time on earth…

God bless their souls…

And I pray that God took all 3000 up into heaven, no questions asked… I KNOW it doesn’t work that way but I prayed anyway that God found a loophole for the non-believers too, convinced them last minute, and let them in…

Maybe, just maybe…

Loophole please Lord…

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God Knows, 10FEB

God knows me, knows the things I need, knows the ideas to put in my head, knows the songs to fill my ears, knows the people to put in my path, knows when to use me for others.

God knows when I have to sleep, knows the madness I go thru, knows how to make me rise…

God knows me…. God knows you too…

God knows the images to make me see, knows when to repeat them over and over again, God knows when to make me notice it WAS God who created this very moment JUST for me, God knows every hair on my head. God knows yours too…

God knows when to make me smile, God knows when to change my day, even if it means the day becomes ruined for my human desires…

God knows how to fix it all…

God knows HIS plan for me…

God knows HIS plan for you too.

God knows my heart… God knows when I have to cry, knows when I have to sing, God knows when I need a hug, knows when I need cheers, knows when I need quiet.

God knows when I need to hold a baby, knows when I need snow kisses, knows when I need sunshine power, knows when to place the stars and the moon in my eyes, God knows to turn me the direction that He is taking me…

God knows where HE wants you too.

God knows I need to tell you about God.

God knows…

God knows what I need, I need God.

God knows what you need, you need God too.

Because God needs YOU!

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The Who – Love Reign O’er Me, 09Feb

Freaky really…. Whenever I wonder why God hadn’t put anything in my head over the last few days to write about, then God inevitably puts something very quick in my head within a couple hours. This is no exception – I turned on the radio to my favorite DJ and the song he put on by the WHO. This song is exactly fitting to my awakening experience of God sending rain for Christmas Flood. The lyric “the dry and dusty road. The nights we spend apart alone… I need to get back home to cool, cool rain”… That’s me as the dry soil (Luke 8) not able to absorb Jesus as a real entity in me… I need JESUS to get me back home to God, eternally… We all do… So many just don’t realize that they need God in ALL HIS forms… “Oh God, I need a drink of cool cool rain…”

I had this Christmas Flood and wrote that piece independent of all other rain connections, I swear it was from original thought of what was happening to me… But how it has duplications over and over in so many songs and scriptures overwhelms me… Every hair on our heads, YES God knows what we need… We are blessed from His rain – and Reign…

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“Love, Reign O’er Me” – The WHO

Only love can make it rain

The way the beach is kissed by the sea

Only love can make it rain

Like the sweat of lovers layin’ in the fields

Love, reign o’er me Love, reign o’er me

Rain on me, rain on me

Only love can bring the rain

That makes you yearn to the sky

Only love can bring the rain

That falls like tears from on high

Love, reign o’er me

Rain on me, rain on me

Love, reign o’er me

Rain on me, rain on me

On the dry and dusty road

The nights we spend apart alone

I need to get back home to cool, cool rain

I can’t sleep, and I lay, and I think

The night is hot and black as ink

Oh God, I need a drink of cool, cool rain

Love, reign o’er me

Reign o’er me, o’er me, o’er me

Love, reign o’er me, o’er me Love

 

357

I feel blessed to have had an amazing weekend with my girl scout family – and that continued into cookie booths this afternoon – and honestly I knew I was tasked by God for many missions this weekend (I won’t detail it all – but know that I really did feel blessed to be God’s worker bee) and also there were many others who were tasked by God to affect each other – actually we are all working for God whether we know it or not… but like I write in the devotion below, a favorite author of mine reminds us that “You are NOT the blessing, but the sharing IS the blessing”… 

One of the sweetest moments was this cute little girl, about 11 or 12, who was very direct and cheerful and said while walking in the woods – “you have lost a lot of weight haven’t you? you look amazing!” this from just a little girl with no motives – so sweet – so made me smile – I said thank you and we had a lovely little conversation between the five of us who lagged behind the others near the end of our two hour walk… All thru the walk we had a wonderful time looking at amazing natural wonders with the eyes of children… Then this morning I was cleaning in the kitchen and the same little girl comes up and says “I had a really nice time walking with you yesterday!” – yeah – how awesome does that feel?? – – how awesome when someone appreciates you and shares that with you – yeah it feels awesome – thanks God for the boost…

After a solid seven hrs deep sleep at camp (seriously unheard of) I awoke in the early morning to write this devotion piece about being in God’s Candy store – about how we are to be open to be the worker for God – it’s not actually us who are the blessing – it’s the act of sharing love which is the blessing… This concept is not novel, but it is true… After I wrote this, I went out to see the sunrise (2 mornings in a row) – in addition I saw the sunsets – it was a nature-filled weekend… it was a blessed weekend… It was God’s weekend at His candy store…

God’s Candy Store, 07 FEB

This sharing of Jesus’s LIGHT, of HIS LOVE, this openness of giving…  this is the CHOICE we have… God says it’s HIS WILL that we share LOVE….. This AMAZING GIFT of Jesus is meant to be shared… And God will use us like crazy to share HIS love. God already used me like crazy my whole life, so now God is having a field day!!!! He’s like a “kid in a candy store” except God owns the store too… They say God is Jealous God and wants your respect… Well, I also say God is an opportunist God… He says “I can, so I WILL!!!”

There’s an amazing book that I am reading called “Accidental Saints”… One chapter has this unique child of God is being baffled by God, she is being called by God to minister to someone whom she would have thought had it all perfectly together and wouldn’t need ministering to, but this person, a bishop, had a wife with terminal cancer and he was in great need of a strong person to lean on. God was the opportunist in paring them up. And this author writes how she realizes that we “are NOT the blessing” … meaning don’t take the credit for the work God wants YOU to do, DON’T get a big head, realize it’s the sharing of Jesus’s love you are working with… It’s God’s plan, don’t take the credit… It means YOU are NOT the blessing, but the sharing IS the blessing…

“M18:20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” You are happily chosen to work for HIS glory…

God is an opportunist God… He says “I can, so I WILL!!!”

The book was lent to me by one of my amazing friend/mentors whom God marched in front of me in one of those opportunist moments. God still picks and has picked hundred and hundreds of mentoring people for blessing me thru my whole life… And since I am open to the advice (and take it MOST of the time), God knows whom to bless me with and when… God REALLY cranks up the Holy Spirit “Brownian motion” (a science term to mean all objects are moving at various energies), and puts us together… I am BLESSED to be awake, to be aware of a living God, and along for the ride…

Just like God put me in situations where I get great nourishment of my soul, God ALSO knows whom to put into MY path for working HIS plan… And God puts people in YOUR path too… It’s HIS opportunistic plan, it’s HIS candy store… we are just the candy combinations that He likes to test out in His mouth… to chew on us for a while… It’s either “YUM!” or try another combination… Pray to be made as a premium quality candy or pray to just be good enough for the moment, either way it’s all good… When you realize you are in a yummy situation, hold on tight, let God chew, it’s a sweet yet sometimes sticky ride… But you know sometimes gunk gets stuck to the gooeyness, and YES, sometimes ants come marching in for stealing a free feeding… And even salt is sometimes added to the mix… Salt that enhances the sweet or ruins it… Crazy God, just crazy…

REMEMBER, IT’S GOD’S CANDY STORE, NOT ours… He picks the combinations, we are there for the chewing… You know who God lets us be in that moment IF/WHEN
we take the responsibility to work for HIM… Let us be glad when we are being used by God… It’s much better than for us to be washed away, discarded, because we didn’t see HIS LOVE sharing opportunity placed right in front of us…

I feel this humbleness but specialness when I remember that God chose me, to work FOR HIM….

SMILES to God for His great plan…

So, what kind of candy are you for God to chew?

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Matthew 18 – The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”

….

” 10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.”

….

18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

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I am uber “go with the flow” these days with the many many places and activities God wants to take me…  I have to be, because God is certainly taking me down quite interesting paths…. God loves me and I appreciate His support always, but I do feel sorry for those uber devout atheists out there…

Here’s my devotion about how I am blessed with going WITH GOD, ride the waves WITH HIM…

Ride the Waves, 05 FEB

In the storms of life we have to reach out for the loving arms of God to keep us afloat… We need to seek HIM to be calm in the eye of a hurricane. There’s lots of rooms in God’s house, but somehow some folks miss the boat of God… some folks put up a fight and don’t want to go with the flow, don’t want to be pulled into the vortex… but if they were inside they would realize how peaceful it was deep deep inside God’s LOVE… Pray for those who are skipping the boat, those who are swimming the opposite way. For without hopping on God’s boat, there is NO way they might ALSO want to put on the life jacket of Jesus… But you and I all know that it’s not too late for anyone – and we urge them: “hop on, hop on”…

God never promised us smooth waves in life, even when we get in the boat WITH HIM… but HE sent Jesus to SAVE us from sinking… and sent Him for us to find our peace… We are all sinners and often might take for granted these God-supplied travel provisions… God will take us back home, but we will have to accept the free ticket.

It’s a long way home, the seas are rough, so put on your life jacket and know that it is Jesus making the path to God FOR you.

Please, put on your LIFE jacket of Jesus and ride the waves…

PEACE…

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Psalm 25 – Trust, 04FEB

Instead of writing this morning at that crazy wake up time of 430 am, I read from the Psalms…

It’s morning, so after running thru all those many stresses in my brain, I know I have to TRUST in the Lord to see me thru… And HE WILL… His Grace has kept me “safe thus far”… It’s a shocking and amazing calmness that God can give you, there is no other feeling like it. BLESSED…

TRUST is my theme for this year, TRUST is what we need in God because we have to TRUST that He can sustain us even with our issues, our failings, our angst… TRUST in God was also in a recent strong sermon that our pastor gave. and at the beginning of this year “TRUST” is the word I picked for one of those silly Facebook challenges… to strive for more TRUST in God in my daily life this year.

So this morning, i started by electronically reading Psalm 18,  which was the emailed “verse of the day”, then i read forward…  By Psalm 25, gratefully I felt  sleepy again and got two more hours therapeutic sleep… It was Psalm 25 that spoke to me the most, because it’s all about TRUST…

Before I had these repeating 52 numbers, I had 25 numbers repeat for my whole life… 25 of October is my birthday… The number 25 is one I always loved for it’s the date of Christmas too… And every time I see that a clock says 10:25, it’s cool, my birthday minute…

Psalm 25 is perfect, there is nothing I need to write to process, Psalm 25 says it all!!! TRUST in the Lord, He will see you thru!!! TRUST and ask forgiveness, TRUST and seek refuge… Our Lord God shares all this because we are forever in His love, and He will triumph over all… Amen…

Psalm 25 (NIV) Of David.

1 In you, Lord my God, I put my trust.

2 I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.

3 No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.

4 Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths.

5 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

6 Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.

7 Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good.

8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.

10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.

11 For the sake of your name, Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

12 Who, then, are those who fear the Lord? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.

13 They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land.

14 The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.

15 My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare.

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.

17 Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish.

18 Look on my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins.

19 See how numerous are my enemies and how fiercely they hate me!

20 Guard my life and rescue me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.

21 May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord, is in you.

22 Deliver Israel, O God, from all their troubles!

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Email with a friend, Psalm 5, 03FEB

“This might be for you today”, a friend wrote,

“Verse of the Day: But let all who take refuge in you celebrate. Let them sing out loud forever! Protect them so that all who love your name can rejoice in you. Because you, LORD, bless the righteous. Psalms 5:11-12 CEB

Totally  – that verse is fitting for me today and all this year!!!! I used to feel guilty singing out HIS praise SO much, and listening to too much praise band music, but God took care of that worry and decided to put me IN the band – crazy – so now I praise and practice, talk about a convenient life turn of events with God at the helm!!!

And Lord knows I am floored when I look at a new photo I took of my weight loss… I praise God everytime I see my smile, God made me ALWAYS smile, I am so floored…. I fall down on the ground in gratitude then get picked up to show my gratitude with my smile…

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Shadow? 02Feb

You see your shadow today? I saw mine, there was a great LIGHT shining…

I don’t know if tomorrow will repeat (ala the movie Groundhog Day) any of today, but the LIGHT that God put in my 11yr old son is surely bright and BRILLIANT!!! When I was kneeling putting him to bed l told him that kids in the old days prayed at the edge of their beds, kneeling in humbling themselves to God… And he said he knew how to make the wolf submission position, and he laid still and said he had prayed the Lord’s Prayer… Or at least what he could remember… So I asked if we could pray it together… And yes he remembered it well…

Then he told me that his sleeping bag was God covering him, and his two jumbo stuffed animals were Jesus and the HOLY SPIRIT surrounding him, keeping him safe… Then he told me about his dream that he might turn into a dinosaur and was worried that I would experiment on his DNA… I said I would only take some spit to experiment on his DNA) and we talked about how God must have had this amazing plan envisioning the mechanisms of DNA, RNA, and protein to make the world work so well for so long…

I prayed kneeling for us and prayed again while writing this to have Jesus shine this great LIGHT on us tomorrow once again and make us a shadow of HIM. I know HE will, that I faithfully know… When we live thru our storms with HIS beautiful calming presence we know we are blessed to live in His shadow…

I opened the VBS package and read the bible stories for this upcoming year, Tuesday is Jesus and Peter walking on water, of course… perfect… Perfect calm in the storms of life… Perfect LIGHT to find our way, with our shadows at our back we face the LIGHT…

Sweet… Beautiful… BRILLIANT…

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A last thought about today, Feb 1st, when one year ago I stood in the Sept 11th memorial garden and I KNEW I was 100% with Jesus…

Two ones, 01Feb

Two ones, me with Jesus stand together on Feb 1st, 2-1, HIM first then me, fallen and picked up. Both of us fallen and raised… Him by God, me by HIM… Me raised to be His CHILD of God.

Sept 11, two ones…

Two 1’s are 11, twin towers together that look like two 1’s or 11. They fell, and all those people raised to Heaven and sadly some fallen into Hell… Two 1 beams, two beams that I held on 2-1 with Jesus inside me, causing me to raise praise for Jesus raised up in me. We 2 became 1 heart that day.

Sept 11, a preemie baby screaming kept me together, I have been raising her ever since, tonight HER hugs raised ME up, made ME smile. Tonight I kneel at her bedside and pray for her. Tonight I kneel at my son’s bedside too and pray for him. Two ones… Two children of God I raise for Him to raise even higher… Two 1’s to whom I say “Goodnight you 2, I LOVE YOU, JESUS LOVES you two too” …

Goodnight to YOU, Jesus my Lord,

THANK YOU GOD… THANK YOU…

PEACE

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Well after yesterday’s boastful post, it’s fitting for God to have humbled me (gently)… Pulled me back to Psalm 51 instead of the tail end of PSALM 52…

On this FEB 1st day anniversary day of 100%, it’s clear God wants me to BE humble and have a clean heart…

Humbled Christianity, Proceed with Caution, 31JAN -01Feb

Grumble grumble… I got a traffic ticket tonight… sigh… I WAS having such a wonderful day too, RATS! But I feel SO humbled by God right now… I really have to find the praise in this for being humbled, because being humbled really sucks…

I know, I know, I am over critical of myself, this is NOT the end of the world, people are dying in this world and this is JUST a traffic ticket for making a right on red when the light was clearly yellow in an intersection I drive multiple times a day… Of ALL the offenses I’ve could have, this is probably the safest, annoying as it is minor, but it IS a big deal if it signals that I am not paying attention in life – if I am NOT being as aware and present in my driving as I should be… even if some say the officers are trying to meet ticket quotas on the last day of the month, like perhaps they were today, and even if the officer herself encouraged me to go to court to see if I could fight the points, it still means I need to be MORE safe and humble in my driving. STILL, talk about a downer… Boo…. A hundred twenty-eight bucks I doubt I can spare and points… not something I had envisioned today. Not even envisioned it when she stopped me, thought it is had to be JUST a warning for a tail light bulb or something… I WAS too overconfident, NOT humble, even with those lights flashing, really i was trying to assure my scared daughter in the back seat… Who is still upset… Sigh…

Of course, this humbling has to do with me and my Subaru…And no, I am not overstating Subaru life lessons… and OF COURSE there’s other things going on in my head about my car and my driving and my life right now, that’s why it’s not shallow, that is why it ALL comes together in this piece… It’s ALL related to my thoughts about: What’s in store for me next Lord? I recently boastfully talked about Your gift of salvation too, Lord… I beg your mercy for that!!!… My path this next year Lord is probably going to have to accept humility, isn’t it…. I thought so… I project too much with where I feel I want to go in my next year of wholeness with Jesus. I project that I can make things happen. I know but I forget, too often, that it’s YOU Lord who makes things happen and should direct our steps… It’s YOUR plan not mine!

I was bold to speak to thank the church congregation for their support as I wrapped up this year, I praised God for so many blessings… Yeah well, I better start this next awakened year by praising God for being humbled by God in a relatively safe and light fashion. Because truly, God’s humbling could be much much more harsh… So I praise God’s gentle touch on me when I am being too harsh on myself or too prideful of my own angst?

I do need God’s hand in my life because the day before I made a MUCH worse traffic faux pas, I turned as soon as the light turned green neglecting that they were cars coming my direction… THANK GOD the angels were with us that moment and especially since I was driving a friend in HER car. WE were fine, the other car stopped. I was so stupid to drive being distracted by the GPS and ignoring regular traffic… I was SO embarrassed and SO blessed to have escaped that one, because honestly I think that’s probably the worst thing I’ve ever done in a car. My friend said “you almost were NOT singing with the praise band, but with the angels”… Yup! It’s this traffic ticket today that reminded me of escaping that worse ticket and especially worse consequences yesterday… of being over righteous, overconfident, not paying attention… and worse I remember yesterday that I was NOT embarrassed enough and I was NOT humbled enough by the incident, I put it past me TOO quickly…

God says you missed the boat, I will gently humble you again…

Yeah there are life warnings like car warnings sounds and a flashing light that I’m thinking about but ignoring… yeah I can’t ignore them I have to address these too… I can’t just turn up the radio like I usually do…

So what have I learned about Christianity here? A LOT… No I’m not going to stop being bold about JESUS as SAVIOR, about my faith in Christ to save me, about my LOVE of Jesus and about the blessings He has given me and my friends… and I’m not going to shy away from pushing a little bit of what I think is God’s agenda… BUT – I have to learn more humility and how to proceed with caution… Again I have not been seriously taken down for my overzealous ways but I certainly have seen borderline cases this year where I was misinterpreted or just plain over righteous, not humble, boastful, and hurtful. Times when I was setting up my Christian agenda and not reading God’s… And remember to try to not read a year ahead, but stick with today…

I’ll figure this out WITH YOU God, because I rely on you more and more, even more than before… Last year at this time I thought I was going to save the world because if God did this to me and made me aware of my salvation in such an amazing way – well then everybody’s going to believe me and everybody’s going to turn towards God!!!!! Everyone!!! But it was a fleeting righteous thought because in my heart I knew, humbly, that I wasn’t going to do all that by myself – not just because i was saying “why me?”, but because I knew if God was going to save the WHOLE world by one person, well then He would have done it by now!!! and He could have done it with HIS OWN SON in some explosive, spectacular, miraculously global-reaching amazing fashion – a one shot deal… But NO, God instead put Jesus into the individual personal conversion business… God designed and desired that individually each ONE person would turn their lives over to HIM on their own time, and keep their lives in HIS hands.

God chooses God’s time, not mine, not Jesus’s time frame either – but HIS… God made the plan, we are to try both to not screw up God’s plan, and then to also work within God’s plan, not ours…

God wants to use knowledge in Him – and God will find a way to save whomever HE wants to save… It’s not supposed to be my agenda (i do have my lists though, LOL, yeah)… BUT IT’S NOT UP TO ME… But up to God…. This is what it means to humbly being blessed to work FOR GOD…

This is why we are to be “at the ready” for His service… To be blessed is to put ourselves completely into HIS hands, to encourage and shine HIS light by being the best reflection of Jesus’s LIGHT… It’s not for me to put the best filter on my LIGHT, it’s not my LIGHT but Jesus’s that I am borrowing while on my short life here on earth… It’s Your Grace shown on me that I should want people to notice, Your Grace to me being able to loss this weight, to sing, to even to smile… Those are ALL from you…

It’s not my gifts to give but Yours to use… It’s NOT my words in my writing (or my choice to write) but YOUR words wrote thru my heart… It’s YOUR words that I should want to change the world, it’s YOU not me… You have taught me Lord by using me. You made me your servant Lord to spend my time humbly sharing. I may want to achieve and feel like PSALM 52: “8 But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God;”… But I NEED to be Psalm 51: “10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me”… Psalm 51 repeated twice yesterday in scripture song too, repeating as we all need to surrender to God’s Will first, be cleaned and then STAY as humbly clean as we can, instead of wiggling out of being surrendered…

I need to ask for more cleaning… Psalm 51 message of wanting to be cleaned of my righteous ways… that humbles me because I even if I thought I already achieved so much in just over a year growing Jesus (I mean God has achieved thru me) there is still deep down hidden soil in my soul that God needs me to work on WITH HIM… Yes I need a more humble heart for the gifts God has bestowed on me… We all do…

I really really know that my whole blessed life is from others praying for me before I was born, and from God planning to use me before I was born, and from God telling me to BE humble… and from God wanting me to ask him to humble me (gently) and Be Still, and KNOW that He is God….

God, YOUR plan is so much more incredibly amazing than mine… Shine on God thru my cracks and flaws, make me humble to do YOUR work Lord not mine…

Save me Lord for YOUR purposes… Create in me a clean heart… Shine on thru…

Amen

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Feb 1, 100% with Jesus, one WHOLE year…

Thanks again to all for your unfailing support of God exploding in my head… Thanks for helping me sort out the pieces… SMILES… GOD BLESS YOU, always…

PSALM 52: 8 But I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God’s unfailing love
for ever and ever.
9 For what YOU have done I will always praise YOU
in the presence of YOUR faithful people.
And I will hope in YOUR name,
for your name is good.

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THUNDEROUS GOD… One WHOLE year awakened.. 31Jan for 01Feb

Thank you all for this wonderful one WHOLE year anniversary of BEING WHOLE!

God saw that I was lost and He sent Jesus to find me.

God saw I was a sinner and washed me clean.

God detoxified my mind from ignorance.

God worked my @$$ off, literally…

God knocked me down so that Jesus could pick me up, then HOLD me UP for all to see me become BEAUTIFUL as a CHILD of GOD.

God took my voice and replaced it with His Holy Spirit to sing His Praises.

God chose me to tell you that YOU TOO are a CHILD of GOD.

God wants YOU.

God will find you.

Look for God.

I will never ever be able to thank Jesus enough for running after me. I will never ever be able to pay Him back for my new life. I will never ever stop speak the gospel truth, or singing His Praises or reaching out for His hand to steady me. I MUST tell of HIS good works and of HIS forgiveness, and of HIS LOVE…

This year you all know the AMAZING journey God has taken me on because HE moved you to be present and as a blessing to me and my family… SO BLESSED… THANKS ALL for being a part of my awakening. Thanks for understanding my growing pains… THANKS especially for tolerating my exuberant “Child of God” ways…

One year awakened, I have been thru the most amazing reverberations of God’s thunder, of rolling thunder because God rolls me from one AMAZING event to another… I call this year THUNDEROUS…. I felt the LIGHTNING and became WHOLE with Jesus.

I encourage everyone who hasn’t committed to be there, who hasn’t given their WHOLE lives over to God by knowing JESUS as SAVIOR, to do so,… the reverberations of God’s blessings are powerful and well worth it!!!! Let go… Let God…

So Sunday Jan 31st, I wanted to write and say all this (forgive the length).. Say how Jesus MUST be holding me up because IF this were just me there is no way I could have done this, there is NO way I would still be standing…

There is a fitting scripture from Timothy for reflecting on this year of realized salvation… “that I am the worst of sinners and therefore I have been shown the most mercy…” There is also a Genesis song lyric that matches this: “God always fights on the side of the bad man” … Both these statements are true for me and for many of those of us who were SO distant from Jesus… We are the ones God worked the hardest to catch and because of His efforts, He has shown us so much mercy… We cannot claim “plausible deniability” that our salvation and our situations have been blessed by God because WE KNOW the distance we have come from and we know the blessings poured upon us are totally NOT of our own doing, they are SO amazing they could ONLY have come from God.

A dear friend is letting me borrow a wonderful book called “Accidental Saints” and in it, the very unique pastor says: “those most qualified to speak the gospel are those who truly KNOW how unqualified they are to speak the gospel. Never once did Jesus scan the room for the best example of holy living and send that person out to tell others about Him, He always sents stumblers and sinners. I find that comforting.” Yes I am one of those stumblers, yes I am one of those sinners now sent by God to teach about God.

I am STILL Blown Away by Seeking the LIGHT, I had to choose to leave my darkness and enter into living with JESUS as He lifted me… and after touching the LIGHTNING, as it was striking all around me, I had the energy of realization of Jesus strike my heart… My life fell and i felt the continued THUNDEROUS reverberations of God… blowing thru the dark spaces of my heart, purifying and shining my soul from the soil of my many sins… I rose again as Jesus lifted me… God provides Jesus’s strength to hold me up in this STILL continuous process…. I am still a sinner… In this aftermath, I see my God-polished glorious blessings… WOW WOW WOW.

So one year ago today, Feb 1st, was when I knew I was 100% in my belief of Jesus as the Son of God, and as the SAVIOR to bring us ALL back to God for eternity… One year ago I stood at the 911 Garden of Reflection in the SNOW, held the twisted steel, and picked up a coin placed as a tribute to the fallen, the coin had the scripture of John 3:16 engraved…. God so loved the world HE gave HIS one and only SON for ALL of our ETERNAL lives… and I confirmed in my soul: “YES, I REALLY DO believe this now!! I DO believe that Jesus was REAL and Jesus IS REAL and I knew Jesus really grew and lives inside my heart…” It WAS and IS an intense and amazing feeling to know and to LOVE JESUS… and to allow Jesus to shine me where HE sees fit. I am NOT afraid to be an open book because it’s easier for people to read the tale God has written on my heart…

John 3:21 “whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

Feb 1st last year came after an amazing two months of intense but brilliantly orchestrated events… of God opening up my mind to accepting Jesus full force, of flooding me with Christmas and a baby beckoning me to “Come and find PEACE”, of me opening my ears AND opening my closed mind of ignorance… God writes on disciples’ hearts to tell the glory of Jesus. He has written on MY heart as He re-grafted my soul to Jesus on the vine. Feb 1st I was finally awake from Jesus reaching FOR ME and saying “she’s not dead, only sleeping…” like Jarius’ daughter… It’s been a year making me NOT hungry for food BUT hungry for the Word, and especially hungry to understand how God calls each of us, independently and uniquely, until we listen and obey. God called me and DROVE me home into Jesus’s loving arms. God knew I needed Jesus for holding me up.

Nearly two months prior to Feb 1st I felt I had to slowly share because I didn’t know what was happening to me… to that time point, I only shared with God… I had to let it out and started sharing with only trusted souls whom I begged not to judge me and help me pray for discernment, and I was steadied… for this helped me feel God’s precise clean re-grafting of me to Jesus, the vine. I didn’t know I was awakening… then I slowly I was able to share with a few trusted and faithful children of God, then a dozen… now openly hundreds… I WAS embarrassed, but NOT now… now I understand… And I understand that I (and you) CAN’T keep Jesus bottled up, you MUST openly discuss your faith. And that’s what God intends.

So, every God action since a year ago has continued to reverberate like rolling thunder… So loud!!! God continues to blow me away… A sculpture photograph I saw is fittingly called: “You Blew Me Away” – it’s a bronze sculpture by Penny Hardy of a woman tall and flowing. It’s a fitting image of me because the woman is STILL standing, and standing STILL… As in BE STILL and KNOW that GOD sent JESUS to hold you up… Jesus is holding me up and the HOLY SPIRIT blows me under God’s directive. Jesus pulled me up out of his cleansing water, He let me sink and cleanse in His LOVE and then HE raised me to new life. Jesus says face the hurricane because I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS!!

It’s that AMAZING GRACE I have been blessed to understand this year… I am still here, STILL standing, and standing STILLED by most importantly God’s GIFT of our ETERNAL LIFE… Plus this gifted strength for survival of these trials past and future… And then the 300 plus writing blogs of processing this amazing journey… And then my travels and being touched by many souls… And then the 55 plus pound weight loss, and burst of energy… and then this NEW GIFT of singing IN the same PRAISE Band that had a MAJOR part of my awakening… (I wasn’t even a singer – crazy huh??!!)!… And when I was asked to sing, I literally fell on my knees bowing to the Lord in disbelief… Only Jesus himself must be holding me up now!! Oh my strength to be able to stand is only from Jesus! And Jesus knows I feel so alive now that I have to dance in HIS LOVE…

God knows, the amplification of salvation that we collectively feel is translated into very strong and loud praise because every reverberation of the THUNDEROUS music is a tremendous way to mimic that explosive feeling of God in my head this past year. And every quiet note whispers of GOD’S love. Those loud continuous explosion feelings, well I know ALL my fellow travelers to the garden have felt them too. I wish everyone could you feel comfortable to dance it out with childlike exuberance like I do. There is a very fitting praise song: “LOVE CAME DOWN” – “Everybody’s got a story… Everybody’s got a song…” “You can say that I am a witness… I was there when His love came down…”…”His LOVE came down – Like rain from Heaven”…

And how amazing was/is the support system God set up inside this church and out… How amazing the people who made up God’s net have been to catch me… How Heavenly… How earthly… Just like Jesus’s LOVE – human and heavenly.

This whole year I have been STILLED by God to sing HIS praises… the WHOLE year God said: “You work FOR ME, I will lead you… and along the way I will bless you as well… Try letting my amazing SON Jesus lead for a change… You won’t be disappointed!!!”

Jesus took me and not only has He held me above the water, He takes some time to dance over the water with me too in delight… God says “I WILL BE WITH YOU”… And HE has, BIG TIME…

I will never ever be able to thank Jesus enough for running after me. I will never ever be able to pay Him back for my new life. I will never ever stop speak the gospel truth, or singing His Praises or reaching out for His hand to steady me.

I MUST tell of HIS good works and of HIS forgiveness, and of HIS LOVE…

I love HIM. And I need JESUS, ALWAYS…

THANK YOU GOD for ALL in ALL.

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1Timothy 1:14

The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

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“LOVE CAME DOWN” LENNY LEBLANC, LINDELL COOLEY

Everybody’s got a story everybody’s got a song

Everyone’s a little different but we all went wrong

Then a Savior came and He took the blame Changed everything

Then a Savior came and He took the blame Changed everything

I could sing about His forgiveness I could praise Him till the sun goes down

I could say that I am a witness

I was there when His love came down

Love came down on me

Love came down on me

Love broke through my darkness now I can finally see

He paid the price for my freedom no more chains on me

Since the Savior came and He took the blame

Changed everything

Since the Savior came and He took the blame

Changed everything

I could sing about His forgiveness

I could praise Him till the sun goes down

I could say that’s I am a witness

I was there when His love came down

His love (His love) came down

Like rain from Heaven

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I had this already written but I waited to finish, because I knew that I had more church family activities for the day that I knew would bless me and I would have even more to write about… but at intermission at this AMAZING event, “Dare to Be”, that my church family brought me to, I knew it’s time to send this! The Q&A touched EXACTLY on my journey this year… Their mission is to raise awareness of human trafficking in addition to raising the praise and increase the kingdom of God… When they opened the main event with a most powerful version of “HOW GREAT THOU ART”, which we also sang at today’s funeral, and which I wrote about earlier, well you KNOW God is in control with that kind of duplication… Here is my devotion, there are likely more things to write, but it’s time to send and get back to daring to BE…

How Great Thou Art… to have given me my church family, 30JAN

… I was late to the Saturday funeral of a dear man at church, but that’s not surprising because I will likely be late to my own funeral… but actually I found out the funeral started so early so I would have been late either way, even if I was “on-time”…

SO I know there was and IS a blessing to be had in EVERY minute of EVERY hour of EVERY day, therefore I look for those blessings… I know God has blessings for me to share and when I look to work for HIM he always had a surprise in store for me… I know God wants me where I am, when I am ready, and no matter how my state of mind is… I am supposed to be mindful and totally present in HIS work… Even “down time” is the best time to check back in with God…

Blessings… connectedness with my church family, that’s a blessing today and always… My church family gives such amazing blessings to me which come from their attentiveness, their LOVE, and their thoughtfulness… They have provided me support endlessly for years, not just emotional support but they have provided support in everything…. when they say it takes a village to raise a child I think it’s more important to say “it takes a church to raise my family”… and my church family certainly raises me to praise God even more…

Late to church today… It’s okay because here was my first blessing – I got to meet up with someone who had stepped out of the service, someone I had meant to send Easter photos to –  from 10 months ago – yeah well, I JUST found them again in my Christmas card pile (which are also a month late) but that’s the way I roll these days… It WAS a blessing to listen to him… to listen and silently pray for his situation, his angst and just BE present… I was already late, so I wasn’t worried about hanging out in the parking lot, because I realized that I knew God wanted me to be there in that conversation!!!… Then in the funeral service, I enjoyed the beautiful sharing of this gentleman’s life, he was truly someone changed by God… really somebody who’s touched the lives of so many…. As pastor put it, he was humbled by God and turned his life over to serve Him. And this, of course, touched so many other people’s lives… This I also know personally to be true because he and I had a shared a wonderful Subaru car conversation on the way to a conference last April. I felt comfortable to share the story of my brand new faith awakening, and he openly shared his… such a relief for me to open without fear. Such a blessing to hear how God completely changed him, to know God creates us children as kindred spirits, to experience his encouragement in my writing and continued openness… He blessed me simply by being able to be present to do the Lord’s work, which often is to listen… And to share…

After the service I caught up with maybe 30 dearest friends, ever so briefly, some just with waves, but all with deep love and concern in our hearts for each other… one friend seemed to need more help today and having a church family to rally around you is amazing… We celebrate together, we mourn together, we are present together…

God places us together for good reason – alone we are fine – alone with God because He is always WITH US… BUT together, we can amplify HIS mission, we can live in praise for togetherness… Together we can live and love, and appreciate those who fill our cups because they want to share from what God gifted them… This is heaven on earth, this is cross-table feeding, this is where you pay it forward because you were the recipient of sharing too… This is where your vast church family shines the LIGHT of Jesus… This is the WILL of God – to raise each other in praise to have us then go back out of those doors of church and raise praise in others… To tell of GOD’S good works, to tell of GOD’S promise for eternal heaven..

HOW GREAT THOU ART, GOD, HOW GREAT THOU ART!!!

HOW BLESSED I AM TO HAVE MY CHURCH FAMILY…

THANKS FAMILY…

THANKS BE TO GOD…

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I also wrote a similar piece back around Memorial DAY, about knowing and NOT knowing my own powers of prayer… thanks folks for letting me release my thoughts again… I pray for our individual and collective power of prayers, I truly pray to God that I may pray and I may act with His best interest at mind, and be a blessing…

Mountains???, 29 JAN

I would LOVE to have the behind the scenes tour where all is revealed when I reach heaven (I should say IF I reach heaven of course, because I would hate to mess that all up now by being so boastful! Forgive me Lord)…

For me personally, I know exactly where doubt has been placed in my head – likely by the devil – during this last year and it made me NOT trust that God had ALL my issues under control, or that God was working on them as rapidly as I thought He should…  Now I see better – whom am I to doubt God like that??? God DOES answer us and HE DID and DOES take the time to make my quandaries so very obvious to me…. They had huge red flags – prime examples of where I was being a doubter in HIS power. He totally threw me some softballs this year to see if I could catch them, and thankfully I did, mostly… There are many new times I will have to step up to the plate this year, and I pray I remember to trust God always – if I don’t? – then God ALWAYS reminds me that HE is in control…

This Mark 9: scripture passage reminds us to pray in Jesus’s name: “Everything is possible for one who believes.”… And it does show us that people HAVE to believe that prayer works: “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?”…

We must believe… Jesus chastised this child’s father as an “angry/disappointed Jesus”, admonished him for not believing… I also now ask Jesus to forgive me of any doubt I have in YOUR power… “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

I do know that God has the power to move mountains and sometimes it’s like this unknown quote: “Faith can certainly move mountains, but don’t be surprised if the good Lord hands you a shovel.”

Prayers for obedience and believing in the power of prayer… and to pick up my active role in prayer!

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Mark 9: Jesus Heals a Boy Possessed by an Impure Spirit

14 When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 15 As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. 16 “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked. 17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”

19 “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” 20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.

28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 29 He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”

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Safe Thus Far, 26JAN

Way before these silly repeat “52” numbers there was a MAJOR repeat that I am sure God wanted me to notice – and notice again this year… last year, the song Amazing Grace was playing when a truck started swerving at a particular stretch of highway on my commute… three particular but different God sightings i have had on that stretch of road – and this one today reminded me once again that God answers prayers… God knows us and knows our specific requests and even knows our groans… “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.” Romans 8:26

God just knows, because He is God….

Specifically – back on the 23rd of Feb last year I was repeating one version of Amazing Grace from a Feb service – a beautiful rendition by our amazing praise band… I was repeating this song over and over and found myself in a situation where I was called to act to try to wake up a swerving gas tanker truck driver – I can’t say that I knew God wanted me to act – but I would have acted anyway because I had to try something to wake up the driver!!!… and I honked and honked to the tune of Amazing Grace for about three to four miles and then finally – FINALLY – he pulled over to the side of the road – finally he woke up from his erratic way…

I had to sit and digest this for an hour before getting out of my car that day, praising and thanking God… But what really sealed the deal for me – in knowing it WAS God Himself in this intervention – was because on the NEXT day I was driving on that EXACT same stretch of highway and “by chance” the same Amazing Grace song randomly came up on the shuffle of the CD – I smiled because I knew – I knew this was God giving me a glimpse of how He works – of how He uses me (and all of us) as His tool … and how He comforts me in a whisper to know that He was the one keeping me safe… Yes, to know God is to be thankful of His thoughts of us and us being thankful for the Grace He gives…

So – today – I KNOW God IS in control and I trust in the Lord… Another God sighting – I “randomly” put in the same CD when I left the house an hour prior – and when I hit that same stretch of highway and that same version of Amazing Grace came on – well, yeah the memory flooded back into me!!! I gave smiles to God for such sweet a sound… Today, this God sighting had no swerving trucks or crisis – but I was praying a prayer of discernment at that very moment – I was running thru potential scenarios with God for a particular convoluted and sticky problem – I was talking to God by praising and praying, thanking and singing – just focusing on the blessings He has given me so far.

I believe that it’s God and God alone who can just answer our sticky questions – and even if I can’t even vocalize my issues well enough, God knows that sometimes we ONLY have wordless groans (Romans 8:26) and understands anyway… So while I was singing Amazing Grace on that stretch of road, I thought “what are my options here God” – and God answered – from LEFT FIELD – His answer came by pulling a random thought to try to address my problem – wow wow wow – out of the blue? Out of the Grace of God. Even if this answer won’t fix everything – at least He answered because I asked. He showed me support to say “I’ve got this”.

Even though my asking was convoluted and not concrete, He knew I needed an answer and a direction and the assurance that He DOES answer. He gave me an option – He was just opening my mind and He found that random tidbit of info and put it into the forefront of my thinking… Brilliant!!! Brilliant God!!!… You made me smile – You essentially knew I needed You to light my path… You found me in that special highway spot with that special song. So I smiled and said – “Oh – there has to be a “52” around here” – and YUP – it was 9:52 on the clock – YUP…

Thanks Lord for bringing me “safe thus far”…

“Through many dangers, toils and snares… I have already come. Tis Grace has brought me safe thus far… and Grace will lead us home.”

Thanks God – THANKS for the support – THANKS for the Grace

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Sadness and JOY, 25JAN

Wonderful sitting with my teen daughter watching the movie “Inside Out”… on a Sunday afternoon of a “snowed in” weekend… How sweet she is… to want ME to watch it WITH her because she loves the message of this movie, and she REALLY wanted to show ME how it really explains human emotions well… She told me I would cry, and she was waiting for me to cry, and she was ready to comfort me… Of course I cried during the touching scene of the teen girl remembering her childhood and the devotion and LOVE of her parents… And crying because my little girl is growing up fast before my eyes to be a beautiful young woman, and to know she is STILL sitting BESIDE me, STILL pausing to be WITH me (and also chastising me whenever I picked up my phone to see who texted me…)… Yeah, cherish these moments of sadness and JOY… Sadness for the eventual empty-nest feeling, but JOY for the LOVE we share and appreciate in the here and now… And for the beautiful memories we are making.

The movie seriously and comically addresses the mix of emotions – and how these emotion-tinged events become core memories… Without giving the movie plot away too much (I hope), the fix to the issue at hand is when the sadness (blue) and JOY (golden yellow/green) characters team up together…. The colors of the two emotions are mixed and swirled together in the core memory sphere created, and the family is brought together in LOVE…

Sweet movie, made even sweeter watching with my daughter. At the end we look up to see the brilliant sunset over the mounds of glistening white snow… She points out the sunset colors are EXACTLY the same as the mixed sadness and JOY memory… EXACTLY… WOW…

Sweet memories are often tinged with both sadness and JOY phases… The memory of a couple sweet folks at church, who suddenly passed away recently, brings us both sadness and memories of joyful conversations, and of course JOY in their eternal rest, away from pain, in the house of the Lord, of their tremendous devotion to Jesus… They had JOY in the Lord… Sadness AND JOY are combined in Jesus’s existence for eternal life…

Sadness too is key in our deaths, sadness is palatable for the brutal death of Jesus, God’s ONLY son… Who died for OUR eternal JOY… Who died a human death to bear OUR sins to accomplish the most important task – to unite us with our Father in Heaven – sadness and JOY…  Sadness too that God had to give His Son to get us back…

How profound, how unreal, how amazing it is for us to have God Himself reaching out for us… by asking us to focus on Him, telling us to set down our earthly desires and follow HIS SON… And allowing us to blend in HIS sadness and JOY which miraculously He combined for OUR eternal salvation… ! ! ! ! ! !

How blessed we are to serve HIM… How blessed we are to share in HIS pain, to weep with His tears… How joyous to acknowledge and participate in His desires… for HIM to bring us home for HIS LOVE… To share in the JOY…

Yes, God’s LOVE given thru sadness brings JOY…

That is the miracle of LIFE.

That is Jesus, Immanuel, God with us….

That is eternal JOY.

THAT IS GOD.

Amen

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Old Posts – New Life – God Moves Me, 22JAN

It was really really good to get a nap this evening – with energy recovered, I got to get the kids to bed in our blessed routine – a time to chat – a time to remember that they won’t be under my roof forever – to cherish the time – the routine… Even when I am exhausted, God gives me a focus to be able to put my kids to bed and keeps me from completely falling over in exhaustion…. so now I am up early and going to post a few of my old posts up on my WordPress site – it is good to re-read and edit – so good to know God really really did all this – – some of these make me chuckle and some really blow my mind as to how God really really did all this to me and orchestrated all of you and everyone… REALLY still blows me away… I think these old posts PROVE to me the major BIG movements of God thru my awakening… I am looking forward to this predicted snowed-in weekend to get more of these posts edited and up…

Today I had a wonderful lunch at a fancy restaurant with my co-workers – and sitting next to us I couldn’t help but overhear the table sit down and say Grace before they ate… I quietly paused my eating to secretly listen and pray… some of my co-workers know my faith ways but I am quiet and respectful of the work situation… but it comforts me and gives me joy to speak openly – to connect –  so with these people at the table next to me is where I saw an opportunity to say “hey” – so I hopped up to the buffet room and spoke openly to two of the four folks – turns out they were attending the hotel to pre-plan a retreat for some of their 5000 member church from center city – yeah I said 5000!!! – and we chatted about singing praise music and also how God enabled me to lose a tremendous amount of weight – and one of the women eagerly listened to my tips… It was sweet – it was me being able to gush about God for a short moment… and when I went back to the table the older leader of the group spoke openly to me and caught my eye as he said “Praise God” as I walked by – so I also said “I agree, Praise God!” – and excused myself to my co-workers to speak to them for a minute…

See – this new life perks my ears to both opportunities to witness faith and opportunities to just pause in faith conversations with the faithful… it’s awesome and I love praising conversations… and they can be short and sweet affirmations of the faithful collected together without having to rehash my whole story – just kindred spirits passing in the day…

Praise God for a new life!

Praise God for a new day to praise!

Praise God for moving me to where I am the encourager as much as being encouraged…

Praise God for God…

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Here are just a few of my favorite posts from tonight’s editings… sweet – thanks God for choosing me for YOU! there are not many hits on my blogs but that is perfectly fine – they are either quietly sitting there for me – or when God decides others should read them He will find the right doors to use them in… whatever God wants – I just am open to tell my praises whenever God deems OK…

https://debbieupper.wordpress.com/2016/01/23/my-condensed-story-for-umw-presentation-my-conversation-from-soda-bread-to-yeast-leavened-10mar/

https://debbieupper.wordpress.com/2016/01/23/god-therapy-tears-and-re-confirmation-soubirous-subaru-style-10mar-91/

https://debbieupper.wordpress.com/2016/01/19/peas-seeds-snow-as-rain-sustained-04mar-85/

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For me, I bargain with God for control of my time… it’s totally time discernment I pray for… because there are SO MANY tasks I think God is pleased with, BUT how much time do I spend on each?…

Why do I write? I think I write not only for me to process God exploding in my head, but to tell others that GOD wants us to listen for Him – watch for Him – and work FOR HIM and that we will be blessed by it…

Why do write quickly and so much and so often? I am hoping to dump my brain and move forward… I am NOT hoping to shake people awake, but tap then gently to let them know God is calling for them too… To do HIS work.

I question what I see and hear all the time – like why do I see silly repeat 52 numbers? A little girl at the museum this week said to her Mom “What’s number 52?”, as I came upon the exhibit, that STILLS me, God STILLS me about 10 times a day (really) showing me that number… He STILLS me in little doses to keep me awake to the fact that He is in control, lest I forget and fall asleep.

I am thankful for the blog audience out there in the ethernet for letting me share my thoughts of God (or my head would explode)… Always it’s beneficial to talk about God with others because we can compare notes as for what God is doing to us and with us… We are HIS minions, BUT, because we are discerning thinkers, we question God ALL the time!!! I STILL don’t think He minds, as long as you and I actually listen and watch for HIS answers… I appreciate that freedom of discussion, I know that I am NOT alone in being called by God. And we KNOW God calls us to think good thoughts of Him to tolerate the less bad thoughts of the world, AND to keep us moving…

Here’s my devotion:

God in Our Heads, 22 JAN

Why is God in my head? Why does it seem HE meddles? And how do I really know it’s God? I have written about this before, but that puzzles me STILL, but I think I know that answer… God calls us to keep busy for HIS WILL…

God occupies our brains with thoughts of Him and how WE can serve HIM… He is a jealous God, the Bible says. The Bible also tells us “BE STILL” – where we are to STILL our minds of human things… so that HE can FILL IT… Or at least we pray for HIM to fill it…

This scripture reminds us to ask God for help… I think the most important thing we can ask for is guidance and discernment… Matthew 7:7-8 NIV [ Ask, Seek, Knock ] “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

My brain is distracted by God, God often keeps me from doing MY planned work – especially taking away a couple hours of sleep I apparently didn’t need to write about Him. All year, I bargained with God, AND when I put a curb on my desires, He gave me more work for HIM… Sure, He lets me bargain, He let’s me squeak by in my day to day tasks. I am selfish and I want to work to feed my family and I want to keep a roof over their heads, as well as use my God-given skill set… so God has allowed me to keep working for money (Thank You Lord!) AND because there IS God work to be done at my workplace (science AND situation)… See, He lets us discover ourselves thru our work, then He uses our work for HIS work… That is 100% apparent to me. God let’s us play, but it’s His sandbox.

SO I urge you to keep working folks, but keep listening to God. He has this plan, He fills our minds to distract us from upsetting things. He shows us His miracles of the world… He is distracting us for a reason, AND listening to Him WILL delight us, even if it means some hard choices initially… But He will see us thru those dark places as we seek the LIGHT and clean out our souls making room for more Spirit.

BE STILL, KNOWING THAT GOD IS IN CONTROL… Then be busy, BUSY FOR GOD…

God is IN our heads, He wants us to work FOR HIM!

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Lifting my Sails to Praise, 21Jan

It’s one of those things, I NEVER EVER imagined… from me being bold once to ask to sing one praise song privately, that I would land here, singing praises WITH the band for three Sundays so far as a substitute (and it’s so much spirit fun-filling in our Thursday practices too)… I guess be careful what you ask for, because God is an opportunist!!!

The scripture this week is sweet… It’s true, the HOLY SPIRIT IS the reason for us raising our praises, just like we can NOT take credit for any of our own skills and blessings, we can NOT even take credit for praising… because it’s the Holy Spirit within us that sends those messages out of our mouths. “and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.” 1Corinthians12

Jesus had to come but just as importantly Jesus had to leave His physical body behind so that the HOLY SPIRIT could enter our bodies… God gave me a voice but it’s up to my FREE WILL to decide to use it or NOT… and it’s up to me to learn when to chime in, how loud to sing, and most importantly how to blend in with the group, AND when to be silent… Pray I don’t mess that up, and I learn and listen to the cues…

In ALL ways God intends HIS children to live in HIS harmony… I pray to be “a Spirit of all trades”… Letting Jesus the Lord lead me where-ever the wind blows…

So HAPPY to follow the universe’s Big Band director!!! Lifting my sails for the HOLY SPIRIT directives. Waiting for the direction from God himself.

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Gladly I praise: “One King held the frankincense, one king held the muir, one king held the purest gold – ONE KING held the HOPE of the world”

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1 Corinthians 12 (NIV)  Concerning Spiritual Gifts

Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. 4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 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. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

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John 14

¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. ¹¹ Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. ¹² Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

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^[c] 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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Singing to Sing, 20Jan

Sitting on the train to the city this morning, I had the MOST amazing conversation!!! God sends angels everywhere and wow does it make you shine and smile when you realize God directly sent someone to tell you something!!

A well dressed young gentleman started our conversation, asking me where I was going, said he forgot his phone and was actually grateful because he could just ride and absorb the sights and sounds of the commute that day.  As an industrial artist, a vice president of technology, he loves his job, loves interacting with people… He loves my hometown, which he has visited… Loved that I was taking the day off to go visit my friends, no plans made but a trip to just ENJOY… Loved how I love my job and talked about how what we bring to work, those extra skills of ourselves we can share, they change us and we discover who we truly are… (And sometimes when things don’t work it’s time to move on)…

Then he told me how freeing it was to be an artist without worrying about it… And used the example of when he was in my hometown… They were walking the trails and four women randomly asked him and his mom if they could sing a song for them… so they sang an Irish acapella song… it was beautiful… And then his mom sang something back for them… He told me that if I sing then I must be a singer…. Yeah, I smiled – there was NO WAY he knew about my recent new temp gig as a singer – and wow my heart felt so warm, oh I shined as he spoke from his heart about how one should just enjoy and live without worrying, sing to sing… He spoke that art is truly for art, for us to discover ourselves… Yeah…. I then had to tell him about what has recently happened to me – about how I was NOT a singer, but that I am now singing!!! …and am truly floored that I am – that I am not sure how I got here, but that God placed me and moved me and grew me this year… and I had the EXACT same conversation over and over to “just go with it, don’t question, just let it happen…”

Yeah, God is SO in control, so knowing what I need to hear when I need to hear it – even on a train…

God knows… Thanks God for your angels, for your pep talks…

Thanks God for thinking of me… For using ME in YOUR plan!

SMILES God SMILES

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Moving the Mountain that is ME! 19JAN

I started a fitness encouragement page, Facebook is so easy, snap a photo, share a recipe… Encourage!

And I have lots of tools and tidbits to share (and of course will make clear that I am NOT a health professional)…. It is tough to not appear boastful, but I have studied the pages others have, and I want to educate and encourage… Honestly it’s accountability too, encouraging each other keeps us on our toes… Don’t fall asleep in your health, (DON’T fall asleep in your faith either…)

Wake up and move your mountains, God will be there with the tools… (The old adage… God helps those who help themselves… Well, God helps everyone, it’s up to us to accept the help).

When God moves a mountain, sometimes that mountain is YOU!!! That was ME!!!!!! I WAS the mountain – asleep in my health – and totally asleep in my faith!!! God awoke me, I am HIS child and excited to play on HIS team…

The key to life is discernment… Knowing what you can change and what you can’t… My first outreach for prayer (and constant prayer) is for discernment… I honestly didn’t know I could change my health, I thought I was trapped in my grandmother’s body. I didn’t even start out last year to lose weight, I started fitness workouts to gain energy to play basketball with my son, and hockey… and then changed my eating and it all fell into place… And I am NOT perfect, I put in the effort and I was and I am forgiving of myself… I had NO goals, just FAITH in that this was the right thing to do… looking back now I can see the tool set I was gifted with and I simply wasn’t using the basic knowledge we all know, calories in… calories out… it’s ALL math… God loves math… and Lord knows I do too… (FYI, you know the silly “52” numbers God throws my way? 5-10 times a day still… Well on the 25th of October, my birthday, I had lost 52 pounds… Yeah, God makes my head spin, He tells me to BE STILL, so that HE can be in charge of spinning it, LOL)…

I like to make the best with what life has handed me… not everyone gets the same tools that I did, but it’s up to us to pick ours up anyways – and start working… my neighbor and her workouts and her health advice REALLY was the HOLY SPIRIT placed right next to me… the church fitness club started a few months later an amazing “coincidence”… my awakening most definitely was involved and there a very poignant early conversation that made me realize my faith and health were connected –  that this was a gift of God’s correction bringing it all together… this was ALL because of God moving me to get my act together… THIS was happening because HE wished me to be the best I could be for HIS purpose… See NOT just for me… If it is the “field of dreams” movie – and that catch phrase: “ease HIS pain”… Well God fixed-fixes me for Himself, to work HIS plan… I just now understand that Jesus was the ticket to ride along… Thanks God!

The tools… Again, I didn’t ask God to move the mountain of my health, I realized the mountain was in front of me already, instead HE moved tools into place and wanted me to climb, HE moved ME… When they say God moves mountains, sometimes you, yourself, ARE the mountain!

Yes, your mountain can be your mindset… You can have misery or joy in the same circumstances depending on your mindset…

I do feel like I had cheated, because I was awakening at the exact same time I started my fitness-eating regime… Salvation is the best free ticket for focus…

So, it’s NOT going to be the same for everyone, but either way I have tools and tricks of the trade to share thru e-mail and Facebook… May God bless this venture, there is nothing to sell, it’s all for God’s glory in seeing HIS people moving their mountains.

SO, I want to encourage and educate people on my tricks of the trade… Food, exercise, and for me spiritual growth… Your body is a temple!!! A temple for worshiping GOD!

It wasn’t overnight to lose the weight, because it didn’t take me overnight to have gained that weight in the first place… Simple changes pay off over time…

God moved the mountain, that mountain WAS ME!!!

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Verse of the Day, 18JAN

OH – this is an excellent scripture – never heard it!!!! God will provide you a way out so that you can bear it!!!! No wonder I LOVE pen chewing – LOL – and yeah all those other temptations God helps me with too – yeah God IS Good!!!!

There are SO MANY instances that I was about to say something and then something falls or distracts from saying them – those have to be God helping to draw my attention – they are warnings – and still when I am stress talking I still get this terrible jaw clenching – it goes away when I stop my complaining – it is a sign – it’s all a sign – a warning sign sometimes and a helpful corrective sign sometimes……

I am so appreciative of the faithfulness of God – it is up to me to learn the signs of the times… just like I have to learn to adjust my singing to the monitors at band practice – I have to learn how to read God’s road signs – and I have to learn to adjust my actions and thoughts to what I hear from God – God’s monitor is conveniently located in my head and my heart and it’s important for us all to keep our batteries charged to pick up on Him…

Here is the verse and then the whole scripture: 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 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.

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1 Corinthians 10 (NIV)

Warnings From Israel’s History

For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 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. Idol Feasts and the Lord’s Supper

14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.

18 Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? 19 Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons.21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. 22 Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

The Believer’s Freedom

23 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. 24 No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.

25 Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience,26 for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” 27 If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience. 29 I am referring to the other person’s conscience, not yours. For why is my freedom being judged by another’s conscience? 30 If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?

31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— 33 even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

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Awake not to write but I will anyway…. “Journaling”… Up because of this stupid meatloaf upsetting my tummy… But my family likes this one I get from the market, ready to go, so easy for me since I am busy… I don’t make it myself – because I am busy… Chores…. But regardless, wakefulness in early morning ALWAYS is calling me to read scripture and to write… Busyness is a privilege not a chore… Writing is therapy, never a chore… God is ALWAYS a blessing, not a chore…

Chores, no grumbling… BUT there are ONLY so many hours in the day… But that doesn’t mean you can’t use your chores time as time to think and BE STILL and ponder the great works of God…

Here’s my devotion:

Dishes, 17Jan

This is the perfect verse for the dishes… Philippians “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.”

I don’t mind doing the dishes, it’s just when there are a week’s worth waiting for me, I think of all the other things I could be doing… And thinking…. And Yeah….

So, actually, I don’t mind doing the dishes at all… I actually don’t mind doing chores, I don’t mind hard work, I am blessed and relieved to have lots of skills and be efficient with my time…. Even God wakes me up to write and God is VERY efficient at using my time and my sleep… and I don’t mind… I don’t mind at all, GOD… You have fulfilled more in my life and for after my death than in my WILDEST DREAMS… I don’t mind, put me to work God, YOUR work…

But dishes? Are they and the laundry and the cooking and paying bills and… are they more than just chores? I think so… I KNOW so… I think they are there to prove that I have a LIFE… That I am BLESSED to own a house, to have beautiful children… To have mouths to feed… I think so much of what we grumble about – we are actually blessed with… I think those dishes are both there to remind me that I need to get back to buying paper plates AND to appreciate there WAS food in the house to make the mess… (And also to give me the opportunity to thank and pray for my earthly handy house carpenter who replaced the old dishwasher in the spring, blessing me with installing an expensive dishwasher on a damage sale for a fraction of the cost… Who also is the only reason this house hasn’t crumbled because of termite damage repaired… Yeah, praising God for HIS blessings of both earthly and heavenly carpentry…)

Of course dishes are chores, but also mean I have an opportunity to be in my house and not “on the go”… I of course multitask – cooking healthy food AND practicing my praise singing while I do dishes… And it’s time to think… Time to ponder the greatness of God…

All my chores yesterday were for others, which turns out were/are for me too…. Working for others who bless me…. Labors of LOVE: cookie booth work, six different stores for groceries and essentials, and I barely remember what… I do remember that it was peppered with blessed people interactions and that it was all done efficiently and rapidly and ONLY on six hours sleep…

Today, Sunday, will be the same… BLESSED to be busy… these are all activities for me because they ARE for God’s greater purpose – to show HIM working IN me to keep me upright and smiling… In the meantime, Sundays are a great way to restart the week: family time, church, band practice and praise time, church family time, lunch with the girls, more kid family time, cookie booth set up with crazy girl scout moms… Blessed to be WAY too busy to be stressed…

No grumbling… Chores… Just ride the waves of today’s tasks… Soon I will take some vacation days, take care of myself… Take time for me – and time to ponder the greatness of God…

No grumbling, God provides life, just go live it…

LIVE it, LOVE it, for God.

Philippians 2:14-16 NIV

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.

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We Can Change the World, 16JAN

“Stand up straight and realize who you are, that you tower over your circumstances. You are a child of God. Stand up straight.” Maya Angelou.

John 3:21 “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

We are empowered by God!!!! All we have achieved individually and collectively – ALL our earthly blessings are ours ONLY because we have received these as gifts from God… Plus we are blessed with the greatest GIFT of them all, JESUS, OUR SAVIOR! We should count our blessings here on earth and those we will see in heaven!!! YES, raise collective praise because together, we are in it to win it!!!!…

Jesus is “OUR ticket to ride”… We ride the HOLY SPIRIT because GOD wants to move us into the LIGHT!!! It’s a WILD ride, so YES, “Hold On…hold on.. Maybe the answer is looking for you!!!”

And that’s the truth… If we LIVE by the truth and LOVE by the truth we will vine into the LIGHT… God sent Immanuel, “God with us”… It’s up to us now to accept this GIFT of Jesus, the greatest GIFT of all! And then we are to share this GIFT…

With this GIFT, we can realize our status as children of God – first we can change ourselves and then we can change the world for others… We can help God reach the others who need HIM… for the cups we set up in others are for God to fill with HIS SPIRIT- these are the cups of our brothers and sisters – God’s beloved children…

And YES! We Can Change the World! YES sings it out: “You and I can change the world” – – – “The more we live, the more we learn, the more we know. From this moment on we share the world. The more we give, the more we love, the more we grow. The spirit of imagination can lead us through the dark; The more we see, the more we try, the more we show.”…. “As we walk into tomorrow (Turning away from the path we know) Holding the future with our hands (We carry the weight of the world we go) It’s up to you and I — We hold the key; we hold the answers” (YES)

So, YES, let’s change the world… We can live out the lyrics: “Happy and I’m smiling, Walking miles to drink your water. You know I’d love to love you, And above you there’s no other. (Jethro Tull)…

Fear not, God binds us together, God holds us children in HIS right hand!!!

Realize who you are!!!!!!!!

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“Stand up straight and realize who you are, that you tower over your circumstances. You are a child of God. Stand up straight.” Maya Angelou.

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“Yes “The More We Live – Let Go””  https://youtu.be/6ajxABx3Zn8

“You and I can change the world; The more we live, the more we learn, the more we know. From this moment on we share the world; The more we give, the more we love, the more we grow. The spirit of imagination can lead us through the dark; The more we see, the more we try, the more we show. The evidence of our confusion, life has left its mark; The more we fear, the more we lie, the more we hide. As we walk into tomorrow (Turning away from the path we know) Holding the future with our hands (We carry the weight of the world we go) It’s up to you and I — We hold the key; we hold the answers All our thoughts of doubt and fear are leaving one by one The more we live, the more we learn, the more we know. For each of us the road is clear and life has just begun; The more we give, the more we love, the more we grow. It’s time to reach the goals we’ve set for ourselves; The more we fear, the more we lie, the more we hide. All we need is just to believe in ourselves; We face the truth, we see it clear, with no disguise. Cast away our doubt and sorrow (Turning away from the past we know) The Universe at our command (Conserving the fate of the world we grow) Together you and I, we hold the key to all the answers Let go Let go Let go Let go Let go

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John 3

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.

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

KEEP MOVING, 15JAN

It’s fitting that I was always a person in motion, then I was stilled here and there by God to realize my salvation… So now, a year later – when I ponder and ask what’s next – God says “KEEP MOVING”…. YUP – keep moving and growing your faith…

A priceless piece of advice a good friend said was: “never stop learning the stories in the Bible.”

Yes, there is a whole Bible full of wisdom on how to live… Once we attain realization of Christ, once we are “Living as those made ALIVE in Christ” (Colossians 3), now it’s time to accept that we have been changed and go with it, and “put your money where your mouth is” by doing the Lord’s work great-commission-style, not just speaking the word but be a do-er of the word… AND (just like this road sign instructs us) KEEP MOVING… even if you change lanes…

As one studies the advice of how to be a Christian in Colossians, one will notice there is a BIG “IF”!!! One is: “holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation IF we continue in our faith, established and firm, and “do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.”

We are not saved and done and “good to go” to slip back to our old lives – BUT we should live to continue in our faith… Yes, after saving grace there is still work to be done! You and I “must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips” – yeah those little sinful ways that are dark spaces in our hearts have to be lighted by the new you… painful but it’s necessary to address them… And this is a life long task because “to err is human”… To accept a divine savior means we are to accept our human failings.

Scripture says we are to “clothe ‘ourselves’ with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another” – and this is not just forgiveness for the past but a daily forgiveness we should ask for our transgressions. Scripture says we are to “teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” – wow, yeah I certainly can sing the praises of Amazing Grace – yeah sing it out – sing it loud – sing it clear!

We “do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” And we are to “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.” Yes thankfulness and wisdom and opportunist living is key… It is NOT a salvation for selfish living but salvation for servant living!!! And the tasks set before us are to be performed with glad hearts.

To KEEP MOVING still means we are to stay mindful… to keep checking our actions and words with how we are to follow the laws set by the Lord. It’s also a mission to support each other in LOVE, to keep a servant heart and remember that others are still moving too, pray God to make their journeys as fruitful as yours has been!

Amen

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Colossians 1:21-23

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.”

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Colossians 3:1-17 (NIV) Living as Those Made Alive in Christ

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

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Colossians 4:2-6

Further Instructions: “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

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Blessed am I that I HAVE to rely on the HOLY SPIRIT fumes sometimes, because I KNOW it’s not running on fuel from my own tank…

Jesus is Our CUP Holder, 13-14Jan

Friends, friends bring us hugs… Friends lift us up, friends steady our cups. We need pray for God to fill our cups, and when we ache and when we feel empty, we have to rely often on others and we have to accept their grace, accept their help, AND accept their functioning arms as hugs from Jesus…and when we are full or have even just a little, we are best to share that with them too. When our cups were/are filled from God, then we know that source and we can share and then go back for more.

Friends will steady our cups, friends will help us find our lost cups, but it is US who need to tip them UP-right if they are sideways, or have a leak. Our cups won’t catch the holy flow from God IF we don’t actually hold them UP and take the lids off. And we need to drink.

The best place to safely put our cups is in the permanent cup holder of Jesus’s ARMS… Think about it, think about that shape, Jesus’s arms outstretched for giving a hug are the shape of the perfect cup holder… Slide your cup right into Jesus’s arms… Slide Jesus’s arms right into your heart. Steady your cup with your friends who are hugging you to health… Each hug a little hot glue to keep it stable, a little cement for the side, a cushion to absorb the shocks of life. Accept the help of those who truly support you.

When you physically feel a hug, where are those arms squeezing? Right around your heart… When you ache, the hug can let you take the pressure off your frame and rest your heart… Jesus hugs, Jesus wants you to rest your whole body in HIS arms and especially let Jesus support your heart from within in HIS hands.

When you cup is empty, or when it is full, tip your cup UP…. Take off the lid, don’t block the flow, don’t forget to drink. Hold onto it so that your cup is UP and not up-set. And you don’t own that cup, and you don’t get to choose the flavor it’s filled with (DON’T chug or spit it out)… the truth is that really GOD OWNS YOUR CUP and HE wants to fill it, and wants us to drink it, because HE wants to BE WITH US.

Immanuel, God with us – God gave us His ONLY begotten cup holder, so that we may live an eternal life with Him…

Drink up, God’s pouring!

 

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I can’t help but praise this morning, please don’t take this as a boast, but after rough last week I feel shined by God’s power buffer… Working out my rough spots can be painful…And we have to TRUST in God’s plan… Thanks God for the sunshine and Son-shine. Thanks for the fountain of PEACE.

SHINE, 11Jan

I am not supposed to draw attention to myself, but God seems to be doing that by sending hundreds of HIS children of God to support me… In return, God uses me to show what happens when you try to endlessly praise God… In return, God uses me to pour my overfilled cup back out and splash it about.

So much overflow of LOVE I feel… I can’t help but to SHINE because God is making me feel tremendous, to be an example of what happens in just one year of awakened life when you set your empty cup upright… and when you accept help of friends and strangers to help stabilize your cup… It’s the counseling and support of your earthly family that packs the solid support around your cup, once stabilized, you can finally catch what God has ALWAYS been doing, never ceasing, HE was ALWAYS flooding His LOVE to you… Now it’s up to YOU to catch it, and drink it in.

ALWAYS praise God… Because God sent Jesus to find your cup when it was lost, and sends others who want to share their cups with you. Soak up the LOVE.

In one awakening God had changed me and woke me to work for HIM.

I was NOT a writer and yet God has made me one this year to write HIS praises.

I was NOT a singer and yet God has made me one this year to sing HIS praises.

Oh, and I was NOT and I AM NOT a fashion model, but God is making me try to stay healthy and to feel beautiful…. Because HE wants to show how HE has HIS power over my life…

God forces me to use my gifted energy to PRAISE HIM and He polished me to SHINE… I shine His sparkle, not mine, in order to PRAISE HIM and ONLY HIM for ALL in ALL….

I am a child of God – and God is raising me because I’m drinking out of God’s Cup in me. I am just a vessel for HIS LOVE.

LORD, I pray to fulfill YOUR WILL… I pray to full-fill YOUR HOLY cup back up in return, oh MY LORD…

I Praise YOUR Name, Lord.

LORD I praise how You make me feel.

Jesus, I praise how You hold me up and fill my cup…

You SHINE!

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(LOL – that 333 is half a devil of a number and this is a devil of a piece with me being boastful of fitting into my wedding dress after so much weight lost – LOL – God forgive me!)

This writing was fluff-ish (balancing pagan therapy and God therapy) but God made me feel like it was unfinished for a few days and today triple sent the scripture to finish it and bring real meaning to the thought “don’t worry”… From Matthew 6… “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” and today a friend in church stated EXACTLY what that scripture speaks to – this essay and that Matthew 6 scripture meaning quadruplicated in showing up.. plus the “do not worry” scripture #34 has quadruplicated too – with the pastor’s sermon today and a lunch conversation with the girls making it the theme of the week – cool God, cool!

So here is the “fluff” piece that addresses what I should address – that I need to address my issues with God – and listen… And TRUST!!! and I really really need to thank God for I feel I have been given all these wonderful things this year because I am the recipient of verse #33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

A Dress Inward, A Dress Outward, Address God, Dec28, JAN 09

So I posted a photo on Facebook of me re-fitting into my wedding dress to say how blessed I am – to have God focus me and reduce my weight burden over a course of one year, from a size 22 down to a 12… I had wanted to try on my wedding dress ever since I started losing weight, and yes it fit – 23 years later! I love the freedom of new things I could never do before – like run – like sprint to catch something – like climb a mountain if I wanted – gaining a life doesn’t hold me back attitude because I left my old arthritic knees behind with the old me! Health-wise I feel better than I did as a teenager and i certainly appreciate it more!

SO blessed… So much to PRAISE God for – a new life inside and out!!! God truly makes me feel beautiful inward and now beautiful outward too…

And then I put the dress away… that was nice but it was human fluff concern and not really what God was making me change my ways for – yes it was fun to dress – but as Matthew 6 states… “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?”

So I rolled the crinkly dress and veil and 15 foot train back up and put it back in the acid free box… Only God knows what I should do with this dress because it is strange to keep a dress in a box 23yrs or more, very few daughters want to wear their mother’s dresses – I paid more for dry cleaning it then I did for the material for the dress itself, as I sewed it with my two aunts help for less than $100… the “going away dress” material I also re-used for my daughter’s baptismal dress… functional and sweet…

Out of my vanity I aggravated my mom (which I should not have done) by making her delete all but one photo, I truly shouldn’t have done that, she wouldn’t have posted them – but still – I wanted control of what’s out there with my vain concern of how I look in this dress… Which is silly, why am I now MORE concerned at size 12 in how I look then when I was at size 22! Why do I act more like a teenager now then when I was a teenager with this new life?…. it’s strange that I let my inside inner thoughts fly free on the internet, but try to control my outer image…which is the least important part of what makes me me… it is something I need to address with God – and I do ask every time I catch myself looking in the mirror and marveling about this God-gifted weightloss – I pray I don’t become like the Greek God Narcissus – I can see the people who do fall into the trap of outer appearance obsessions… Gee, in the old days I just used to be happy if I matched my socks – silly – but perhaps I will get used to this new me…Same issue with wearing a new pair of fancy boots – I love the fact that I can dress up now… they were inexpensive and a gift but still pride in self is half praise and half waste – and yet God I think lets me have a little fun…

Yeah – that is the big concern – when I realized I was too boastful in my salvation I thought maybe I should become a nun – well that is not going to happen!!! but at least I need to worry less about dress – because to worry about “a dress” and how to dress is so less important then to “address” inward thoughts about how am I stand up to God’s law – and to ask forgiveness… To show a boast of pride that I fit in the dress (even though I feel it was God who changed me) is just as sinful as any other sin… And yet, one has to try to conform to community standards of expectations to give the appearance that you care enough about yourself – because they say if you don’t care about yourself then how will you care about my concerns… So, it’s good and fun to present yourself well… And I am in a re-balance of pride vs God’s wish that I show humility… God knows that I do want to praise all of HIS blessings gifted to me – just like ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

I also do not want to show pride that it was God-himself who showered me with all this affection and show pride that it was God-himself who caused my salvation. I wish to demonstrate His wide-spread power to focus on and change my heart and my body – while He also (at the same time) handles the WHOLE world of people. He has so much scope because He is GOD!!!

I acknowledge God as our greatest blessing, I hope all my excessive outward overflows of appreciation “a-dress-es” all my outward outflows of how beautiful God has made me feel…

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Matthew 6: 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

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Matthew 6 scriptures were duplicate (triplicate) comforting scripture for me this week… And they match this new writing and also an old one I didn’t finish, but will now and send later…

This one set of scripture; it’s my God therapy this week… It covers the doubts and stresses of life both real and ones that I cause… And certainly reminds me “If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of LIGHT”… We NEED God to see ourselves thru the day. I certainly do… It takes retreat into the heart at times, but that’s where you can hear God with less distractions…

Putting my Heart in Heaven, 09Jan

Putting my heart in Heaven is NOT a longing for death, instead it’s a living for life. Putting my heart into Jesus’s hands means Jesus being welcomed into my heart, and feeling HIM protecting my heart… Treasuring heaven is appreciating Jesus as a slice of heaven – to help focus me. And once inside my heart, Jesus makes good company inside our armor of God.

So, look to Matthew 6… Look to the promised future… if you have worry about this world – then looking how to get to heaven is the answer to protecting your heart… So to live a good life “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…… For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

If you long for joy, and peace, it’s the same answer: put your heart in heaven!!! Treasures… the only jewels of the crown are the thorns Jesus bore in order to bear your burdens… And because YOU are in God’s company, shine your LIGHT… So that others know who gave you leave of your worries (even if you just compartmentalized them while God is working on them)…

Smile, and try to shine the peace…

Jesus, God with us, likes to shine like heaven on earth…

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Matthew 6 NIV [ Treasures in Heaven ]

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”

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Phases, 07JAN

Phases – life has phases…

Faces – life has faces too, just like the moon… Our faces…

The moon’s phases change but the moon’s face never does. The moon’s phases are dependent on the Sunlight… and so is our visualization of the moon’s face… The light from the Sun tracks the moon and allows US to see its beauty and ponder its meaning…

Our life phases and faces change… And we ever shine like the Sun when we become dependent on THE SON. We too are raised in the sky… this gifted LIGHT from the Son tracks us and allows our faces to shine in beauty. We pass thru our life phases while we ponder our meaning, but we need ONLY to look at the LIGHT to future guide our way… The LIGHT saves us from eternal darkness.

The moon’s orbit is 5 degrees offset different than the earth… It is never still and neither are we. It reminds us to move steady. Like the revolving earth and moon, we must move. Life phases move slowly but surely we are always moving and as long as we continue to move TOWARDS the LIGHT, then our lives will be bright and illuminated for all to see. With Jesus’s LIGHT in us and in us, others see our beauty and ponder life’s meaning… They will know we are blessed from the LIGHT. Perhaps they will catch on and gain the LIGHT too.

Yes, we ARE blessed, for we HAVE seen the LIGHT. And we FEEL the LIGHT… And we long to SHINE YOUR LIGHT, OH LORD…

Thanks, God for the Jesus LIGHT… Your beautiful Bright, Right, LIGHT…

Thank you God for choosing us – thank you for choosing me – to feel your LIGHT.

Amen

 

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Get Back to God’s Work, 06JAN

A silly God note, today those repeat “52” numbers repeated like fifteen times or more (it has slacked off to ONLY half dozen a day)… I think God flashes them like snowflakes to remind me to stop worrying and to instead “KNOW I AM GOD”… And to remind me to get back to doing God’s work rather than do God’s worrying…

Mark 6:25-34 says “seek first His Kingdom” – meaning ASK God first (just like duplicated theme in Psalm 4) and then actually listen to what He puts on your heart, and take His answer as the right plan of your action.

So, it wasn’t just silly repeat numbers but serious repeating stuff today… I missed a turn while driving today because I was worrying, and so instead pulled thru the mall… The same mall parking lot where I then realized was where I witnessed a God-incident with an old man nearly getting hit crossing the street, and saved just in the nick of time just five days ago… It’s again God’s duplicate reminder to me to stop stressing – stop wasting awareness time on something not worth worrying about – and “KNOW I AM GOD”… Stay AWAKE and AWARE for God. Get back to doing God’s work rather than do God’s worrying.

Just now I reheard two separate sermons and both preachers cautioned to watch out for false idols, people, promises and things where actions don’t jive with the actual bible teachings… in other words Stay AWAKE and AWARE for God to spot these false prophets…. And always check them against the Bible.

God is concerned with our relationship to HIM… One sermonist (our Pastor) talked about the sin of omission, reminding us: “don’t sin to avoid thinking of God….” Yeah – think about God – Ponder Him! So for me: Get back to doing God’s work rather than do God’s worrying!

One more duplicated scripture: John 1:1-10… Jesus is the gatekeeper and HE provides the SAFETY… With God we have direction, provisions and safety… Which brings joy…

God’s duplications for me are never expected but numerous and always appreciated… Comforting and blessing, giving understanding and knowledge of the direction in life to take when we ponder His Word…

God answers, He really does…. because you ask… sometimes in silly numbers, sometimes in snowflakes, and ALL the TIME in scriptures – and on our hearts…

So THANKS ALL of you who ponder and DO God’s work rather than do God’s worrying.

There is JOY and SAFETY in the LORD… And He WILL remind you of that, again and again…

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Psalm 4 (NIV) For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.

1 Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer. 2 How long will you people turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? 3 Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him. 4 Tremble and do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. 5 Offer the sacrifices of the righteous and trust in the Lord. 6 Many, Lord, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?” Let the light of your face shine on us. 7 Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound. 8 In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.

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Mark 6:25 Do Not Worry 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

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Awake and Aware, 01Jan

It’s the first day of the new year, I said just tonight that I wonder what God will make me write next?… because I haven’t written in a while and I don’t write to write… IT’S MUCH BETTER when He makes me write…

I’ve been busy so much, too much to write, especially at this busy Christmas time of year… my mind filled must as much as my hands, from Christmas, to an enjoyed trip up home but with my aunts sad passing, to a FULL week I’d hard work, too today…. today, NEW YEAR, I was first working as Cinderella, scrubbing… I spent a solid seven hours cleaning and cooking for a party tomorrow, only breaking to play some kitchen hockey with my son, to do an exercise workout and yeah to shower… it’s not ALL good on this day, but my workout lifted my spirits, and had escape time this afternoon as I went to see Star Wars with my daughter… and that was EPIC!!!

But it’s NOT Star Wars I’m writing about, although one certainly could write volumes about LIGHT and dark, good and evil, in the Star Wars films… It WAS an EPIC movie and the best movie since 1977, when I saw it as a seven year old… That WAS EPIC to see only my second real movie… See those words scroll and hear the roar of the crowd in that velvet-lined classic theatre, packed with kids for a free police benevolent society sponsored matinee – WOW… So to see those words scroll again and hear that music in this episode seven tonight (gee that’s allot of sevens), well, yeah, I got goosebumps…

BUT, that’s NOT what I want to write about… Indeed, I was so taken by watching this strong movie “the FORCE Awakens” with my daughter (who is double 7 at age 14 and saw the movie twice this week) because the female lead character is SO strong, such such a great role model… and I had to dilly-dally Facebook that praise while I was listening to the score during the end credits and quietly saying THANKS for an awesome escape time that was also cherished time with my first born… awesome… Awake… Aware….

Timing…  that is what i want to write about… Yes perfect time to dilly-dally by sitting and enjoying the music, epic classic Star Wars music…

We were freezing coming out of the theater – hopped into our car while watching an old feeble man crossing the parking lot… just saying to myself “What a curious man” and saying to myself: “I wonder why I noticed such a man, and where was he going?” just something that hit me… So we hop in the car, he starts crossing the sidewalk to the other side of the mall…. a lady in a truck barreling down the road…TOO FAST!!! I look left – The old man, I look right – she’s going WAY TOO FAST!!!! Horn – HORN – HORN….. my brain can’t catch up with my eyes, I just lay on the horn… God made her stop… God was the true FORCE in that moment… in that “Cary Grant catching the baby carriage in the Bishop’s wife movie” moment… I swear it was a miracle… MAYBE it was just a stupid careless lady waking up JUST in time… Maybe… SO CLOSE!!!! WHEW!!!

Why God? Why God is your timing SO exact? Was this coincidental? Was my dilly dallying timed to help the man? or just to watch YOU to save him? to watch you help the lady stop just in the nick of time? Yes YOUR timing also allows me to see it all play out and witness YOUR hand on the situation… I’m NOT a miracle worker, I am just an awake and aware lady, with a horn – there is no reason to believe I helped at all – but I am glad I laid on the horn anyway… A Subaru horn that I have used A LOT this year… Oh thank you God for making me need to write about your good GOD timing… I shuttered!!!! It was too fast to process anything but horn blowing, I said to my daughter: “WOW, we just saw the REAL FORCE awaken…” the FORCE of God… GOD IS all good, ALL the time… Thank you God for making me Awake and Aware… THANK YOU GOD for being the FORCE… THANK YOU for focusing your LIGHT on our world!

THANK YOU GOD for allowing me to process your goodness by looking straight up just now and quickly finding the Pleiades to pull my eyes to PRAISE… to write of how You are IN CONTROL, oh how that thought sustains me and causes me to BE STILL…

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU, GOD!

Awake and Aware… That’s the God worth writing about!!!

That’s the PRAISE… BE STILL and know GOD’S IN CONTROL!

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Putting Jesus’ Words into Action, 31DEC

Best advice for this new years? For us – it is to put Jesus’s words into action! But how? – But wow! – These commands are pretty tough! Love your enemy! & don’t judge others! & don’t be a hypocrite!

It’s not enough to simply JUST accept Jesus – but now we have to strive to be like HIM – yeah how EASY it is to be Angry Jesus overturning the money changing tables – but how TOUGH it is to be the forgiving non-judgmental Jesus – that IS going to be a lifetime of work!

Whew! – tall order for anyone to adhere to these commandments ALL the time! Perhaps as sinners we can try to ask for forgiveness AFTER we disobeyed one of these orders – perhaps we can ONLY do all preventative work pre-sinning IF we rely on the One and Only One who can help – Jesus… I will never be a perfect person and I will always be a sinner – so the BEST I CAN do is TRY – TRY to Love, TRY to be non-judgmental, and TRY to fix myself first before I try to fix everyone else… TRY TO TRY…

Building a firm foundation on God’s Word is the best precaution to live a solid life – it is spiritual preventative maintenance – just as LUKE 6 reminds us – and building building building our faith is what we are called to do this New Year – and every New DAY! We need to be scrapping the old work that keeps us sinning and we need to continually become NEW in Christ – that’s better than hodge-podge fixer-upper work! Start fresh – start fresh each day and not just because it is New Year’s Resolution time… Start each day fresh to TRY to do your BEST – strive actually to do God’s Best…

Blessed are those who TRY!

I will try – I feel blessed to be able to try – my work is cut out for me! Luckily I know the best Carpenter to be my role model!

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Luke 6 Love for Enemies

27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Judging Others

37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

39 He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.

41 “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? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit

43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

The Wise and Foolish Builders

46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

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Psalm 23 – Found Peace, 28DEC

I had penned this during my early wake up this morning, but waited to send to a friend… Got few more hours rest then heard about my Aunt passing away… I am glad my Aunt knew Jesus and was strong in her faith… She was chipper and she had Christmas… Last days at Christmas…  Well… GOD’S timing… sorrowful… But peaceful now for her… Sigh…

Not surprising that God wakes me up to shepherd me to songs (at times in the middle of the night) because I need them before I realize I need them… Before hearing about my Aunt’s passing I had been thinking about Psalm 23 and how nice it would be to have a song so that I could use to remember the words – then I just stumbled across this psalm 23 version by Michael Card… (I also came up with a little music of my own – but haven’t pursued my music writing – so many many things to do!!!)

I never listened to Michael Card’s music before this year (or hardly any more contemporary praise music) but I hear and feel his gentleness and his persuading personal praise when he sings just with a piano or guitar –  I hear it personally for real because I understand the praise and also that I connected directly with him… Faith is a gift that keeps on giving!

And one of my most peaceful feelings this Christmas, and there have been many,  was after being shepherded into his Christmas concert, as I sat for a little, maybe twenty minutes texting friends and said to myself: “that really did happen, this really is happening!”…. I utterly was in a state of not wanting – was so satisfied at that moment – the multitude of blessings on top of everything else – wow I got SO MUCH PEACE in return…

I figured out what the “stop your pondering, fall on your knees” song was, it’s called “To the Mystery”… But he played unplugged at the concert which I liked MUCH better than this album version… I am sure with Michael Card, I would love his LIVE performance any day so much better than any album version because I can see the praise in his face when he sings.

Here are both:
Watch “Michael Card – 05 To the Mystery – The Life – 1988 (lyrics)” on YouTube
https://youtu.be/wDi4tMU3Ss8

Watch “My Shepherd -Michael Card” on YouTube
https://youtu.be/kCdSYls5riU

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I was a little busy past couple of days, yeah – but I did have this draft written but not sent – so here’s my christmas eve devotion – another end of the year recap – I hope I am not repetitive but I have to praise praise praise as I sit here in the glow of this Christmas tree – I have so much re-pondering for the blessings of the year – so much AWE of God – I mean from God HIMSELF calling me to accept Jesus – to Holy Spiriting all the people, situations and tools into place – “knowing every hair on my head (Luke 12)” kind of guidance – to the adventures in travel, and of course of music… most importantly blessings of friends  – plus this forced writing of over 300 devotions/blogs forcing me to share the good news of Jesus for my own sanity of processing, which I never saw coming, and OH YEAH, lest I forget, this 55.5 lb weight-loss and a bursting feeling of health – yeah UNREAL – WILD…  If you asked me last year at this time what my wildest dreams were, they could not have been wild enough for this journey God has taken me on… thank you all for being part of the journey!

Now PLEASE I am trying NOT to boast but to praise – because I didn’t cause any of this, I just became an opportunist of blessings and God handled the rest… and trust me that I have had my share of heartaches this year too – we all do – I just don’t write about them in detail – but please know that the big and little devil attacks (sometimes massive ones) are being truly combated by God on my behalf, making many really obvious, and equipping me with Jesus to withstand and allowing me to learn life lessons… and oh yeah, that feeling of Jesus picking me up? WHEW, I cannot overstate the need for everyone to really seriously rely on Jesus – oh yeah the most powerful pick me up EVER – if you go back to read devotion # 254 Back in the Boat, 02SEP – whew – that was a rough chapter… Trust me that Jesus truly does save everyday – not just at the end of your life… and as I re-read #259 Settling Your Heart into Jesus’s Hands, 07Sept – yeah God KNEW I needed Jesus this whole year – we all need Jesus – and how fortunate I was to have the loving support of so many friends – which is sent from God too!

Tomorrow I go up home, will be a trip filled with joy and also stress as a family member is not doing well… either way it’s time to go home… either way it’s time to rely on Jesus for strength and serenity…

Here is my Christmas Eve devotion… THANK YOU ALL again for both supporting me and humoring me this year too:

Wildest Dreams, 24DEC

Christmas Eve – today is filled with peace and pondering (and a little last minute shopping and the anticipated blessings of being with my family and church family tonight). Yes, it’s CHRISTMAS EVE, so today is an extraordinary day for us, BUT an ordinary day for God – because like every other day THIS day really “IS the DAY that the LORD has made” and I am REALLY REALLY GLAD – and I AM REALLY REALLY GLAD TO REJOICE IN IT!!!

Every day this year was filled with pondering and praise – every morning was Christmas to me this year – I truly feel next year will be just as wild and wonderful…  I reread a piece where I spoke of entering the corporate open enrollment of Christianity at Christmas last year… how convenient for us to have Christmas EVERY year to reinforce this open enrollment! This year was SO filled with opportunities and gifts – every evening a multitude of treasured memories I held in my heart – what an amazing year – what an amazing gift of JOY everyday when I ponder the wondrous works of God… All from accepting Jesus only one year ago – seems like forever and seems like just yesterday… You know I used to double check myself those first months of “do I truly believe?”  yeah – I always checked out OK!  “I have decided to follow Jesus – no turning back” that is one of the new VBS songs for next summer – yup awesome year behind me, and ahead too!!!

At the Michael Card concert last week, he told us that many of the songs that come out of the bible come out of LUKE – and that likely Luke lived near or with John who was tasked by Jesus to become His mother Mary’s son at the crucifixion. So Luke got to speak to Mary and his writings detailed her recount of her life with Jesus… Michael Card sang and spoke of Mary being in AWE – “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” – And he spoke about how we have to STOP our pondering we approach the cradle and WE should fall on our knees – yeah – accept and BE STILL and know that God is God…

It is not lost on me that I have musical bookends on my faith journey this treasured year with a whole library of music new and old to fill my head (and it is certainly nice to NOT have to close any chapters)… This treasured music journey was as intense if not more so then my writing – because where I couldn’t write ALL the time, I could still sing praise ALL the time!!!!  I sing waking up and I sing going to sleep… God wrote lyrically in my heart.. When I am stressed, I start singing to cover any thorns poking my ears – when I am happy, I start singing – and whistling is a gift…  This Christmas to Christmas year, started with “Come to the Cradle – come and find PEACE” – music plus sermons and scripture and more music (old and new, from Genesis to the Grateful dead and all types in between)… so to be able to speak to Michael Card HIMSELF one year later – truly I have to question: how does God make that happen? Do you ever wonder if God has it out for you too????  I KNOW GOD had it in for me and chased me down when I wasn’t looking – and not only filled my cup but gave me an overflowing “Flood” feeling which caused the need to step outside my normal faith circles and set up rain buckets to catch my overflowing faith.

The Michael Card song line to describe this year would be “For a thousand years the dreamers dreamt, and hoped to see His love, The Promise showed their wildest dreams Had simply not been wild enough.”

Mary accepted being “the handmaid of the Lord” Luke 1:38… She pondered the future, I do too…   I know Jesus came to us and so importantly He made the path so that the Holy Spirit can enter into us ALL… I am God’s handmaid… You are too…”I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.”

It’s Christmas – let us let the HOLY SPIRIT move us all together as we celebrate God’s ultimate gift to us… The best way to appreciate God is to appreciate sharing God with each other, because Jesus is “GOD WITH US” Immanuel… And to have us with God is God’s WILDEST DREAM!!!  That’s why waking up every day is like Christmas!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, thank you all for being my biggest blessing amplifiers this year!!! Thank you for sharing Jesus with me – and for letting the Spirit move you – it’s been a wild year – blessed blessed blessed…

Happy New Year!
Wild!

 

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Thank you faith friends on this journey with me, 24DEC

I wish for you all to have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and I have to thank you for your support this year…. Just now I saw that I had lost my baby Jesus foam figure that was hot-glue-gunned to my car… That figures, because I have lost about half a dozen decoration baby Jesus’s these last couple of years… But it’s ok, because I have back up foam Jesus babies that I made myself out of scraps… And THAT is Jesus in a nut shell, you have to bring him out and make the most of what you have to bring Him alive…

Most importantly I have to thank you all for the many blessings in knowing all YOU because YOU are the ones who have shined Jesus thru YOUR hearts to me and my family..

So today I am happy, but pensive and pondering all that this gift of Jesus means… I have to ponder the gift of a GOD’S sacrifice JUST to get to know me better and the gift that GOD wants to have us for eternity… Wow

I’m wondering like Mary during that first year with Jesus…  I have to wonder where this baby Jesus plans to go next… Just like the foam decoration that flew off to adventures unknown, how could I even predict where the real one in my heart will go in the future!!!… But with you all there I know we will be blessed!!

I am at AWE at where God has taken me this year alone… I praise and wonder and ponder but I don’t NEED to do anything BUT fall in my knees in AWE today…

MERRY CHRISTMAS GOD, your gift is us and we you…

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!!! God bless you ALL!!! Thanks for shining Jesus to me!

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There are so many devotions that I re-read now as I am uploading them more rapidly to my wordpress blog and I say: “wow thanks God, thanks for making me write that..” this is definitely one of them… just in 10 minutes in front of microwave…

Give Christ at Christmas, 22Dec

Just got back from the dollar store and unlike every other store this clerk actually said “Merry Christmas”…WOW… now I don’t want to get her in trouble, because you know how politically correct these stores are trying to be – they don’t want to say MERRY CHRISTMAS, even though they ARE pushing red and green Christmas merchandise out the wazoo…  But even if the clerks are not supposed to say it, I know plenty of non-Christians who are NOT offended by someone wishing then the BEST of whichever holiday they celebrate… And saying happy holidays is perfectly fine to say as well, in my opinion, because that does not offend me.

So yes, it’s nice to hear Merry Christmas, and this year I REALLY mean it!  and to hear Christmas music in the stores is awesome, nobody faults you for singing along (except your own kids who are embarrassed to be with you regardless if you’re singing or not..)… Christmas music for Christians is a good excuse to celebrate faith without people thinking you’re overly weird or pushy…

You see a lot of signs these days to combat the politically correct push of the holiday season… the signs say “Keep Christ in Christmas”… I don’t know, it kind of sounds a little threatening… a little “bad cop-ish”… Like “Keep Christ in Christmas OR ELSE!”… I know it is for good intentions but remember I’m not the “bad cop”, I’m the “good cop”… so I think I would prefer a sign that instead said: “Give Christ for Christmas” … Yeah, that’s the sentiment I like!

When we GIVE Christ, it means we are giving to others the BEST of us… it means we are not keeping Christ for ourselves for our own salvation but we want to share HIM to help God’s action plan… because God wants to be with ALL of us.

So that sign you could leave up all year round because we should give Christ not JUST at Christmas, but every day. We give Christ by being Christ-like… there’s another sign floating around the internet that says “people can tell your faith not by your religion, but by your actions…” yup, that’s true because the best Christ-like behavior is to LOVE…

I bet you Christ would have walked around with Your OWN T-shirt that said “Smile, I LOVE you”… We should too… That’s the sign of the times, time to show our inner Jesus, it’s time to give out the LOVE…

Give Christ at Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, the happiest of holidays!

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The Old Peace, 21DEC
“maybe I must may be lost, right where I need to be…”

One of the best feelings in the world is when I realize that I am in a place right where I need to be – because I KNOW the Holy Spirit moved me there… moved me to do something that is not my privilege to know why – but the Holy Spirit works to enable God’s amazing plan for all of us – for us to have some impact on someone else EVERY DAY – to achieve the ultimate realization that God’s desire is to BE WITH US.

It’s OK if we don’t always know what that plan is – but recently when I saw that God’s plan also benefited me, I just had to accept and smile and feel warm… and at PEACE…

At Michael Card’s concert on Friday night it was just that – all the swirling of the many places I could have been – I was here taking my chances on passing a letter to Michael Card to thank him for the impact he has had on my life – I was not intending to wiggle my way into his concert – I hoped I could get a ticket and got there 2.5 hrs early for that chance – but I left it up to the Holy Spirit at that point – either way it was worth the try… to know I had tried – either way I had “prepared for rain” as in the Facing the Giants scene (The scene that I discuss in my pivotal awakening piece “Christmas Flood Dec17”)… either way I would just see what would happen and adjust my plans accordingly and adjust my peace of mind based on that… so to sit in the worshipful concert after actually walking in the door, chatting with Michael Card for fifteen minutes, you know I was at complete PEACE…. the “Old Peace” that comes once in a while – not a forced peace by pushing an agenda to get someplace like vacation planning – but a peace that comes when you could have easily had a heartache too IF you had put your hopes on results and not on the execution of a plan…

The song that replays in my head and out of my mouth from the concert is “El Shaddai” – even though I don’t really know the words… And the two images stuck in my mind are Michael and I chatting like old friends and also him lifting his hands while letting the Holy Spirit take him to where he was supposed to be – purposefully there to be lifting us – to sweetly sing Christmas carols with him (only 200 of us there as a full house in a tiny tiny church) is a caroling event that I will never forget – we were praising God by uplifting each other.

So the other song I have been listening to right now (over and over for about a week) for processing this swirl of life (both for praises and angst-dealing) is not a Michael Card song – but one penned by a 26yr old cancer-stricken man, Alec Wildey, and set to music and sung by an amazing pair of artists Mariusz Duda and Steve Wilson – “The Old Peace”…. I love lyrics that are interpretable to whichever situation you are in…

“maybe I must may be lost, right where I need to be…”
“But nothing is more perfect than the smell of harmony”

Because that PEACE feeling in the midst of chaos is what we are God-willed to look for… and how do we bring that about? It is up to us focusing on God – and it is not always knowing the right move at the right time – but trusting Him to put us where we are supposed to be… He will be the most efficient decider of our time… “maybe I must may be lost, right where I need to be…”

After Friday’s concert I was home and everyone was asleep – I felt guilty not being with them that evening and would try to make up the time – but I was pretty sure God wanted me at that concert – if not for me personally even though I got a lot out of it, then for some other purpose – but for me it was a chance to say thanks you for his “Come to the Cradle” song that was key to my awakening – and to witness to the organizing folks and other guests, and those I recounted my adventure to… Full witness to this year of amazing blessings that God has bestowed on me after I accepted this powerful salvation by accepting Jesus as my Savior.  It’s not JUST that I accepted Jesus as a savior for later, when I eventually die, but ACCEPT JESUS as a savior for RIGHT NOW – by taking HIM into my heart so that I carry God with me – because the peace bestowed by following Jesus every day is what God intends us to have!!!

Michael Card eloquently sang “Immanuel” – God with us – and he spoke about this being the pinnacle purpose of God – to “Be with us”.  Michael spoke about how God chased down Adam and Eve after they hid from him in the garden – and how God had to give the most sacrifice ever – to give his one and only Son Jesus to be GOD WITH US… not God when we are dead – but God with us everyday – to live the God way… to love the peace and strive for it always.

This acceptance of Jesus-driven peace means Jesus pulls me into the eye of the hurricane of life every time I turn to Him and tune HIM IN – daily – hourly – sometimes minute by minute – and He holds me up – and I keep moving forward for those I need to do God’s work for…

A friend also just now emailed me while I was writing about being at peace and happy.  She is being stretched thin and has limited time (5 kids, work, life, you name it) but with the best attitude… I couldn’t ask for a more perfect phrase cementing this feeling in my writing this morning – she says:
“I would like to do a lot more with them but there is no time. So I cherish the time we do get and I am happy with that.”

THAT is true on so many levels…
of being at peace, being where we think we need to be to work God’s plan, or be with who we need to be with…  peace will come when we consult God for our action plan…
and we can find PEACE when we cherish the time, and proportion it appropriately, for doing the best we can in the limited time we have…

I often say that when God gives a snow day you get to be where you are supposed to be and there is a peace – a world peace that is only caused by complete shut down of your little world and encourages nestling in for that feeling of peace… God-caused peace…

And God peace is just that – nestling into your mission and calling of working for God – nestling into letting Jesus lift you and letting the Holy Spirit move you – “maybe I must may be lost, right where I need to be…”

This is a daily – hourly- minute by minute achievement of PEACE.

I urge you all to try the Holy Spirit flow, which keeps JESUS alive in you so that God can work His plan – it brings such Old Peace…

God with us.

Amen.

——

Immanuel, Michael Card Lyrics

A sign shall be given a virgin will conceive
A human baby bearing undiminished deity
The glory of the nations a light for all to see
That hope for all who will embrace His warm reality

Immanuel our God is with us
And if God is with us who could stand against us
Our God is with us
Immanuel

For all those who live in the shadow of death
A glorious light has dawned
For all those who stumble in the darkness
Behold your light has come

Immanuel our God is with us
And if God is with us who could stand against us
Our God is with us
Immanuel

So what will be Your answer? Will You hear the call?
Of Him who did not spare His son but gave Him for us all
On earth there is no power there is no depth or height
That could ever separate us from the love of God in Christ

Immanuel our God is with us
And if God is with us who could stand against us
Our God is with us
Immanuel

Immanuel our God is with us
And if God is with us who could stand against us
Our God is with us
Immanuel

—————————-
The Old Peace
Mariusz Duda/Steve Wilson
poem by Alec Wildey,
https://youtu.be/AsghYYv0EKI

You could be wise
Spend in a lifetime
Under your tree
watchin’ apples fall from above
You could be lost
Still you see your hometown
Nothing in that moment matters more
Than the book in your hand
And I see impressions
and I see fingerprints footsteps
Tears in the rain
But nothing is more perfect than the smell of harmony
You got your solitude
And I got my peace
And nothing in that moment matters more
If only in just this one fragment together it grows
This tree… maybe I must may be lost
Right where I need to be…
And I see impressions
and I see fingerprints footsteps
Tears in the rain
But nothing is more perfect than the smell of harmony

———-

Postscript: dec25 – Well – imagine that!  Michael Card is coming BACK in February HERE! – earlier in that month he will in Asia then back over here – that’s a crazy trip… Cool Cool Cool!!! can’t wait to go!

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Job 38 (NIV)

The Lord Speaks

38 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:

² “Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
³ Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.

⁴ “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
⁵ Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
⁶ On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
⁷ while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels^[a] shouted for joy?

⁸ “Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
⁹ when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
¹⁰ when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
¹¹ when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?

¹² “Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,
¹³ that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
¹⁴ The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.
¹⁵ The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.

¹⁶ “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
¹⁷ Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
¹⁸ Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.

¹⁹ “What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?
²⁰ Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
²¹ Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!

²² “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,
²³ which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?
²⁴ What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
²⁵ Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
²⁶ to water a land where no one lives,
an uninhabited desert,
²⁷ to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?
²⁸ Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?
²⁹ From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
³⁰ when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?

³¹ “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion’s belt?
³² Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons
or lead out the Bear^[d] with its cubs?
³³ Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?

³⁴ “Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?
³⁵ Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
³⁶ Who gives the ibis wisdom
or gives the rooster understanding?
³⁷ Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
³⁸ when the dust becomes hard
and the clods of earth stick together?

³⁹ “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions
⁴⁰ when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?
⁴¹ Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?

 

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I was thanking one of the early folks that I was able to reach out to in faith discussion and this email blog came out, a conversation about God becomes thanking God for the LOVE………

God Tennis Anyone? 19DEC

This explosion of God in my head – one year ago this month…  had to get it out – and I was the one regulating my sharing… I let it come out piece by piece to a trickle of people whom I trusted – until I felt like I wasn’t going to be ridiculed for my thoughts – or thought of as weird ( I mean extra weird because I am already weird) – but honestly I really thought I was losing my mind – I think that is the real reason I had to step outside of my normal circle of friends and consult an outside voice (one who seemed so sure in his faith) to help me pray for discernment because I just didn’t know where these writings and thoughts were coming from – that was one year ago this month  – and to a confidant/pastor friend who became a one woman pep band for my early faith building…

Now I know that there are SO MANY people who are in the place mentally where I was and that is not always their fault – it just isn’t their time yet – but I do pray that more people can learn to open up – and I pray that we never ridicule them, that we encourage them…

 

Sharing faith whether you are a beginner or a seasoned pro is best really when it is like a tennis match… God says release and wait to hear the other person and then speak again and make it a conversation of God and not just a telling of God – my best interactions are were when others share their faith with me too – and the blessings of being in a church congregation is that you get a zone of friends where you can openly discuss and hash out your faith – I love that – I needed that – and now I am ready to be out in my zone of friends and beyond where others can come chat about their faith… and WOW God has given me some awesome opportunities to hear about other’s faith walks…  It’s exciting to work for God!!!

 

Although I know I am not supposed to worry about the future I sometimes think about that time, 25 yrs ago, when I was working the college alumnI donation calls – they give you a set of people who donated previously to get you “warmed up” and get your confidence established before they gave you the people who never donated to try to convince…  I see God doing that too – giving me (and us) easy low hanging fruit Christians who are “almost” there – these are the people who DO come to church and are just still searching for 100% whether they know it or not – and these are the ones who seek you for your advice – and then there are also those die hard non-believers – those folks you only hope to plant seeds of faith into before they fruit – and it’s not us who judges but God who does a hard sell to them – it’s supposed to be a planting of seeds in love from us so that God can come and do the watering – or in my case a Christmas Flood…  see it’s a tennis match between each person and God – God puts a miracle in your face – you have to say “oh that’s from God” – then God answers – and you lob a faithful hit back to God by accepting and attributing HIS miracles to HIM – and so forth – but the best thing about God is that He is an endless automatic tennis ball machine – He lobs endlessly – never ceasing to refill – He will lob at you FOREVER even if you don’t pick up the racket – it is YOUR CHOICE to pick up the racket – hit them back to God and you can have wordless grunts and screams if that helps you serve God – to get those faith thoughts back over the net – back so God can play your blessings back to you… even if you don’t win a point – even if you don’t get the point from God – your score is still LOVE…

 

Thanks for the LOVE God.

Endless LOVE

 

Amen

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Mind Blown… Michael Card… Mind Blown…, 18-19DEC

God blows my mind, constantly, but leaves just enough intact for me to write…

Mind Blown, Michael Card concert…

Michael Card coming at Christmas for a concert?… you know God has placed him on my radar screen this year… Hey, if your name is Mike or Michael, you were/are probably on God’s radar for me this year too… But I digress…

I didn’t have a ticket, no one from that church ever called me back after several tries, so I said WHY NOT just go down?!… And off I skedaddled from work because everyone was taking off early from the holiday party anyway, perfect timing…
1 hour trip from work, not too bad traffic, found a parking spot close… small church, giant tour bus parked in front.. I wasn’t worried that I didn’t have a ticket I figured the Holy Spirit was in charge now…take care of it or not  for me but I thought at  minimum  that perhaps I could slip a letter to him… I wrote and emailed Michael Card in March of this year… Never heard back… But here I could slip it physically into somebody’s hand who would get it in his hand…  BUT the rest I couldn’t have imagined, but God certainly has a great imagination…

Two hours early for the concert I thought maybe I could get a ticket or hear him practice so I walked up the steps, opened the door and he was immediately five feet in front of me!!!… they had just finished practice, so I waited patiently to chat because I KNEW at this moment that the Holy Spirit wanted me here!

Michael Card is in the category of one of my “cousins in Christ”, we talked like we had known each other for years… of course it’s not hard for me, I have an easy time stepping into a conversation, that’s a family trait…  and it wasn’t hard for him either,  as he patiently listened to my condensed  awakening story helped by  the lyrics of his “Come to the Cradle” song,  We chatted music, weight loss (he just doesn’t have a appetite and lost about ten pounds thus year), about blogs, and awakenings of course… you name it – we chatted bible – how the surprise in the Old Testament was how KIND God was and the surprise in the new Testament was how much a servant Jesus was/is… we chatted how I used to be ashamed  but I am NOT ashamed now of where I was in my faith… Michael quoted scripture “don’t put your lamp under a basket” Michael saw my before and after 55.5lb weight loss photos, and he said I glowed… And he said that will really resonate with people….  Holy Spirit activated this flood of Jesus spilling in and out…

We took a photo, he said grab a seat and I said “I don’t have a ticket I need to buy one” and he said “no you’re with me as a guest”…  no charge… I found out later it WAS a sold out show anyway so it’s a good thing – no it’s a GOD thing – that I didn’t have a ticket because I may have gotten deterred and not come if I had known it was sold out… Later I tried to pay the $20, but the pastor said no, that I was a guest. Sweet…

Well I was aghast with how God likes to blow my mind then allow me to sit and absorb all the delights that HE gives me… I was there 2 hours before the concert started which gave me time to integrate into the family of these wonderful believers. This church congregation has a few sites and three services – 1 English, 1 Latino and 1 Indonesian, the pastor says he has to go back to school  to learn the other languages to help facilitate their worship… Yeah, that’s dedication…

For 2 hours, Michael Card just mingled! He hopped around from person to person – and there were many excited kids running around… I chatted with “D”, with the former pastor and his wife, with “A”, her special needs brother “N” and their mom, with “J”, an awesome girl who has that wonderful extra chromosome which facilitates extra LOVE just like in my cousin, and with “L” sitting behind me, who lives in my hometown too and after the concert I chatted with so many others… it’s a family trait we just love people… I just don’t know anything other than making conversation… that’s what Michael Card did too he was so gracious before and after the performance…

So there are new lyrics for his Christmas version of “Come to the Cradle”… He told them to me in our 15 minute conversation, SO when I ran into him again as he was be-bopping around the room for 2 hours before the concert, I asked him “what were the lyrics again?” So he hopped up to the music stand and found me an extra copy and marked them up… I asked him to sign the paper for my friend “A”, who introduced me to Michael Card’s music including a presentation of “The Promise” — because that’s where I heard the first time the music speak to my heart… That’s how I REALLY heard the lyrics for REAL, Subaru-style… from the praise band on last year’s Christmas Festival CD that I copied, as gifts from the United Methodist women to out homebound… Must have listened to it a thousand times now, Subaru style… “Come to the cradle, come and find peace, alone in the cradle, simplicity sleeps”…I sang the song in my awakening as I was finding peace – but I did not realize then that I was “chosen” by God. God was trying to bring the Prince of Peace to me – and so I reached out for prayer to my generous guiding friends – and asked for prayers for discernment… fitting to the lyric: “So you were chosen, and called out for prayer”… YES, being called means God exploded in my head!!!!! Yes, I was called and I gladly thank God for the call…

The concert was amazing … it was so worshipful… it was precious because he was having trouble tuning brand new strings and said ‘ it’s okay to make mistakes, Christians are more apt to like you because you make mistakes.’
I knew it was going to be the most intimate Holy Spirit moving concert but when he started talking about song lyrics he wrote that says ‘give up your pondering… fall down on your knees…’ it brought tears to my eyes because  pondering is one of the major themes and words for this year. Oh how my pastor and I ponder… Pondering IS awesome but when you approach Jesus in the cradle and have to realize that Mary  gave birth  to the God who formed her – gave birth to her – well, you can’t figure that out – so just stop pondering!!! JUST accept God is God and there’s no way for us to understand it all…

He also sang a song written by Michael McDonald whom he sees in the grocery store on occasion in the Nashville area. He talked about how faith in the Old Testament means waiting and faith in the New Testament means following. And he so eloquently stated that “God with us” IS God’s ultimate goal… he recounted the Bible stories that essentially say God wants to walk with us… That is the ultimate goal of God, to be with us.

So the audience loved singing “El Shaddai”… then we finished by singing Christmas carols together as a congregation – it was the most worshipful …

On my way out the door I got my goodbye hug in and Michael told me he loves people, he could easily be a recluse instead and just sit in front of the TV flipping channels, but he loves people…

BLESSED…

Why does God like to explode my mind ??? God wants ALL of me… God wants all of you… God wants to “walk with us”!!!

BLESSED to have my mind blown, with no other explanation that God is God… No pondering needed…

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My Soul My Soul Must Sing, 17Dec

Worship is such a personal thing, worship with song is even more personal… Only God knows how HIS love touches our souls.

In all worship, Holy Spirit movings are taking place, but it’s how the receiver person tunes that in that changes. And not everyone is on the same wavelength…

Gregorian chanting probably was best understood by those chanting it, but who knows… So what did the probable peasant workers, helping the monks, think about it when they heard it?… Did they understand it? Did they get to talk to the monks who wrote it, and hear the monks salvation stories? probably not..  When they were hearing it, perhaps some found the pulsating repetitive incantations enchanting and moving but some likely did not… Like I said, worship is a personal thing based on what you’re thinking about… God calls us individually in His Own Special Way…

JUST as I stood on Easter Sunday, portraying the resurrected Jarius’ daughter, not many in the crowd knew my story was EXACTLY that story… Jesus took my hand and said “she is simply sleeping, arise!” and I awoke in salvation grace, I felt the hand of Jesus then and I still grab it today, I am ready to be a child of God forever…

This Christmas I will get to read Mary’s part, how awesome is that!!! I pray the HOLY SPIRIT to use me in worship there and everywhere to witness new life IN Christ… and everyday I worship everywhere… I have to, I have SO MUCH of God’s work to do, so I make sure I spiritually feed myself purposefully while praising my realization of His promised Son.

ONLY God knows our hearts and ONLY God can wake us up, we worship to payback the favor, we worship to witness, we worship to rest in Jesus’s arms while we recharge our strength, and we worship to lift others… God’s primary goal is to get us to increase HIS kingdom.

“My Soul My Soul Must Sing”, the lyrics of “Beautiful One” strikes my chord… The intense strumming of the praise band? I understand that deep in my soul, I know the loudness is not for everyone, but I feel it as worship because my soul my soul MUST sing. The lyrics call to me and the band’s intensity matches the explosion of God in my head this year…

Last night after our fitness workout at church, I snuck over to absorb the worship at the praise band’s practice night – this was a treat for me to pause in praise, even if stealthily, with a fellowship of believers. A quick mid-week recharge, time I barely have to spare but time I allow myself respite as an offering of thanks before I am again scooting off to life’s many duties… A moment of praise not in an actual worship service but just as powerful, because I am outside and able to sing really loudly and bee-bop dance without a congregation watching… My car praise is the same way, LOUD… Like I said, God explosions in my head come with music to match…. and I understand the worship from those in the band, is it a different kind of Gregorian Chant and I am a peasant worker appreciating it – I am appreciating that worship is amplified by the collective spirit… If a drummer boy’s humble offerings were amplified by his desire to please a baby Jesus, so are mine. His soul sung with rhythm, he felt every beat – so do I.

“My Soul My Soul Must Sing…”  Worship to me is NOT JUST corporate worship… But everyday thanking Jesus for my second chance to live now and my knowing that living forever is forever being able to witness… “It’s not a great hardship”, as an imagined Easter play would have Jarius’ daughter say, “worship is a way of life”…

“I must give my life to the one who had given it back to me. I have to surrender my desires and follow his teachings instead. It’s not been a terrible sacrifice. After all, if not for Him, I would have no life to give.” 

Thanks God, that I get to help others count their blessings… I feel that facilitating worship in others is God’s plan for me… It is not a great hardship… 

Merry Christmas God, and Happy Easter too!

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Thus was stuck in my drafts, I got the gift of an email last night with the right words to wrap this email up… to wrap my thoughts in swaddling clothes… Smiles….

Our choir director asked me to read the part for Mary in the Christmas eve service… WOW, and he has NO idea of what happened this year to me… I didn’t tell him yet… but I certainly will now… Actually he asked my son to read the child’s role too, my son is “thinking about it”…  I didn’t have to think AT ALL, I figure the HOLY SPIRIT had some hand in this, how could I say no??!!!! I am honored being belief … to “represent” for women who acknowledge Jesus born in them, wow…. Oh how I hope to help the HOLY SPIRIT wherever the wind takes me (just like the Genesis lyric, “Whose seen the wind not you or I, But when the ship moves she’s passing by. Between you and me, I really don’t think she knows where she’s going at all.”…  which mirrors conversations in the spring time about really not knowing where God is taking me on this journey… One year later with Jesus holding me up (no wonder God wanted to lighten Jesus’s load by my 55.5 lbs weight loss LOL), I am still enjoying the ride… Even with the rough spots this year, the light outweighs the dark, always…. I am EVER blessed…

I KNOW it will be the most hectic weekend for ALL of us, so let me take the quiet moment now to wish you ALL and your families a very MERRY CHRISTMAS, or as a friend put it, “a pensive reflection of the true meaning of advent”… Luckily for me Christmas will continue ALL year again next year, I just have that feeling…

Stay Hopeful, Feed your Inner Jesus, 15/18Dec

My bracelet has a black bead with Dead Sea mud in it to remind me to stay hopeful in life’s low points… I recently got to cradle a precious little ten week baby, he took ALL my blues away instantly…. so precious, so BLESSED to be entrusted with a child…
While I was holding him, I could feel him breathing, stretching, and I could feel all his tiny gut gurgles too!!!!  Even though he eventually cried and I didn’t know exactly what was wrong, I could understand that his cry was for attention.

Babies, they remind us that we ALWAYS should “stay hopeful” for their whole lives are in front of them… And we should stay hopeful because our MOST precious Christmas baby is born IN US. We are to know Jesus first as a baby, LOVE HIM, then know Him as a grown man to lead us to eternal life. Jesus is at full ready – to comfort us whenever we ask – but IF we are to take full advantage of knowing and understanding Him in order to be feeling comfort from HIM, well then FIRST WE NEED TO RAISE HIM!!!

If we are just guessing why baby Jesus is crying, then we need to ask Jesus directly and our heavenly Father to help us understand…  Christmas baby Jesus is just like every other baby, and HE will cry…. even though we don’t always know exactly what’s wrong, baby Jesus cries for our attention…

Baby Jesus is hungry for our LOVE and TRUST…

Good God knows I have been blessed with raising a son and a daughter in real life, and now this Christ child growing “in me” actually grew me because I grew HIM.

I was asked to read the part of Mary in our church’s Christmas eve service…. How blessed to portray the woman entrusted with birthing God… How blessed to have God entrust MY salvation to Jesus. How blessed to feed myself on HIS word to nourish my inner Jesus AND the outer Child of God that I am.

While we ourselves become more childlike in appreciation of God, we must devote time to understand how God works in us for God’s greater glory, not ours. We should remember to be thankful we are along for the ride, Jesus is driving…

Jesus is born in us, let us feed HIM forever…. Precious, BLESSED to be entrusted with Jesus…

Mary – Christ – Mother and Child – MERRY CHRISTMAS to us ALL.
——————————

Scripture Lesson (Reader – A Mother)
“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.” – Luke 1:26-3
————-
Second Lesson – MY child will read:
– Poetry by Sara Moores Campbell

Give us the spirit of the child.

Give us the child who lives within – the child who trusts, the child who imagines, the child who sings, the child who receives without reservation, the child who gives without judgement.

Give us a child’s eyes, that we may receive the beauty and freshness of this day like a sunrise.

Give us a child’s ears, that we may hear the music of mythical times.

Give us a child’s heart, that we may be filled with wonder and delight.

Give us a child’s faith, that we may be cured of our cynicism.

Give us the spirit of the child, who is not afraid to need, who is not afraid to love. Amen.

– Poetry by Sara Moores Campbell

316

MERRY CHRISTMAS LORD, 15DEC

Merry Christmas Lord,
Thanks only to YOU.
Merry Christmas Lord,
My best gift was YOU.
Merry Christmas Lord,
You will never leave me,
nor I YOU.
Jesus is OUR glue.
Merry Christmas Lord,
Like the full moon,
You and I will shine on thru.
MERRY CHRISTMAS LORD,
From ME to YOU.

315

A Very MERRY Subaru CHRISTMAS, 14DEC

I’m so pleased that as a result of being too cheap to get my windshield gasket replaced that I have created a great platform for my craftiness… I am NOT an artist but I’m definitely a hot glue gun crafter… so I thought of this decoration instantly for Christmas… A foam nativity plus three dollar store wreaths of leaves and flowers that I cut up…  a Subaru nativity scene…

I cannot be more pleased as I am this year to display baby Jesus on the outside of my car – because He came to me on the inside of my car!!! He took the driver’s seat and drove me to salvation. My car remains an important tabernacle to me, but it’s just a tool, it’s just a car, but I love it….

I kept losing the baby Jesus’s from multiple foam craft nativity scenes over the years…. they would just disappear then just show up in random places… one even stuck to my arm while I was sleeping… and so I even had to craft new babies to make those sets complete…  and of course, because I am a thinkerer, I contemplate “WHY?” why that happened… Yes, I see where my faith WAS and where it is NOW…  those little baby Jesus’s kept trying to sneak in to my heart but I had my brain firmly against it… it’s not lost on me that others are like that too, all year round they lose that little baby Jesus’s meaning… So, when my brain opened and my Christmas Flood (dec17writing) occurred,  no hot glue gun was needed to make Jesus stick… And he remains there because Jesus is the glue that keeps me whole….

Eternally stronger then the hot glued foam baby on my car racing down the highway at 73.5 miles an hour (I mean 65) this real divine baby Jesus will stick with me – in my heart – forever. I will keep him in my heart and have Christmas everyday…. Last year I wanted to be Mary, now this Christmas I AM – I’m here – stronger than ever – more at peace then ever – and ever more ready to face the world’s new challenges in the new year with now grown-up Jesus holding me up by my heart and by my hand.

One last decoration for my car will be to string the lights on the roof, yup, I borrowed a special converter box for the car lighter – not only for the glue gun, but for these lights…. It takes a special converter for displaying God’s LOVE too….that converter is called Jesus – Emmanuel – God with us…  Yes, God sent the biggest and brightest star of all when HE gave us Jesus…and HE IS FREE!!!  But WE need to choose to PLUG HIM IN… Unplug the security barriers, and insead plug Jesus into our hearts, only then will HIS LIGHT shine most brightly thru us.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to and from God’s Subaru… Subaru means “to unite”…

Praying that JESUS ALWAYS shines HIS LIGHT through our hearts, our words, our eyes and our smiles!

Amen

314

GOD WITH US, 11DEC2015
I awoke from a car nap (usually I am driving but I needed a break)… A ten minute nap, Subaru-style… I awoke to see 3 faint stars, I focused on the most faint… Wow, I realized instantly it was the Pleiades… Wow, how does that happen??? That’s my Subaru logo, It’s a special constellation I write about all the time… It’s visible only as six stars (although there are hundreds)… I sometimes feel to be the seventh of the mythical seven sisters that the stars are associated with…. Yeah God? So how DOES that happen that I wake up and YOU logistically have me perfectly zero-ed in on the faint tiniest but BEST set of stars??

It’s God with us… Yup… It’s us attributing life’s little gifts that make us smile to God because all good things come from God…

God’s best gift? Emmanuel…. JESUS!!!

I was singing “Emmanuel” in a Christmas song yesterday and thinking, “Umm, I don’t remember the right translation for Emmanuel….oops!! God knows I am not perfect… I googled it, of course…  OH YEAH, Emmanuel means “GOD WITH US”…  We know God sent Jesus to us because He loves us – but why? God sent Jesus to be human while still being God – to live, die, and rise – to forgive our sins – and give us eternal life with God… Plus, Jesus had to leave to let the Holy Spirit come as “Another” part of God… It’s logistically amazing how Jesus got here… to be with ALL of us… We are made by the stardust materials made by God, so it makes sense that it is Jesus holding us together when we feel content or upset… God with us… God with us gives a more content feeling than the content feeling of sipping a cup of tea with a friend like I had today, more content than the peace that I had sitting and absorbing praise band music last night, more content than waking up from a Subaru- nap… Jesus IN us, Jesus WITH us….. Yes, ETERNAL contentment…

I wondered, while watching the Pleiades, about Jesus coming to forgive our sins… I ask forgiveness for mine, but I wondered how do we atone (how do I atone) for sins that we DON’T EVEN KNOW we committed or when were just sinfully complacent??? God often answers me with a shooting star (dozens this year)… so yeah, a nice short steak I saw just now was certainly appreciated, God…. It’s God with us… I know we can’t atone what we don’t remember, but who can? JESUS… That’s why God IS with us, that’s Emmanuel, that’s Jesus coming, living, dying on a star-shaped cross, then rising to atone us ALL, It’s God’s logistics… Amazing huh? But perfectly logical for God… God knows our sins and forgives even what we can’t forgive in ourselves.

The fire of a shooting star burns out, but it’s really the fire of God we want to look for… to sustain us… THAT fire burns eternal because of where we keep it, where we stoke it…. THAT FIRE IS IN OUR HEARTS…

My son recently noticed the stars too, when we were outside the city lights – they were intensely bright and numerous. I told him about that shooting star, and he asked if I made a wish… I didn’t, but I will now – AND I will tell my wish to you… I wish for you and everyone to follow their God-given star to find Jesus for forgiveness, for contentment, for eternal life. But may I suggest to all that they DON’T just look up to the skies for that one star, like the Wiseman did, because it’s not there… THAT star you won’t see by looking up, but instead you will see the star when you LOOK IN… God’s logistics put those bright stars INSIDE our hearts… Look for Jesus there, internally, you will find HIM, you can feed him, you will feel HIM grow, and you will want to share HIM – always!

If you can’t see or feel the fire yet, or if it needs re-stoking in your heart, then my wish is for you to walk by faith not just by star-sight… Read of God’s wishes in scripture,… I wish for you to seek others who shine their Jesus lights openly…. Open your hearts and “release your guilt and breathe”…  Sharing Jesus with others lets oxygen into your own fire…

Jesus is the promised Emmanuel…..
God IS with us….

IT’S CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY IN OUR HEARTS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

313

Transformation, 08 DEC and Tom Petty, 08DEC
Most of the time I am struck with a thought that I can’t get out of my head until I write it… sometimes I acknowledge it and say “Not now God”, but that haunts me…. sometimes I want to write… and sometimes I HAVE to write, no choice.  Not to begrudge the moment, but I say “OK God, I will write this quickly and then I have to get up, get moving and onto my earthly duties”, of which we all have plenty…  sometimes I get lost in my writing and go off on a tangent  that I didn’t want and have to reel it in.  Often I feel the need to split jumbled thoughts to write but the truth is that God layers them in to work in concert…I appreciate the encouragements of my co-workers for God who want to help people find saving grace, and I too want to be one – forever to serve… With a music therapy flood of Tom Petty Songs at the same time as flooded thoughts I wrote separate pieces – but I send them out together… and these ones were not quick – olus I sometimes get trapped in editing ugh…

When I feel God forces me to write, it sometimes interferes with earthly life – it’s just the time factor is a problem – not the thoughts themselves – it is God who knows best how I struggle to process this explosion of God in my head – and  I can’t get them all out and down – I just have to move on sometimes… God knows that – and like today instead He simply sends music to just accompany my thoughts – so I DON’T have to write it out – I can just sing along with that child of God who is singing on my wavelength of understanding God, like today it is Tom Petty…

OK God, for this writing I definitely appreciate your guidance… I WILL be STILLED enough to get these pieces out  – I will be still and pause and praise You when you force me to write and I appreciate the time you penciled in so that I get to work on my thoughts, YOU are guiding me to “something good coming” just like Tom Petty sings…

Devotion #1

Transformation, 08DEC

This is an encouragement to my fellow faith workers – please keep working – keep planting those seeds of faith…. Don’t lose hope when some people don’t get it…  It especially hurts if they can’t even see the transformation in you as something that comes from God… Some people are blind or simply doubt…  Yes folks, real spiritual and physical attributes truly change people when they give their lives over to Jesus. Not everyone can understand that…  or they simply don’t believe it happens…  Some folks DON’T want to acknowledge that changes might happen to them as well – and don’t realize that they need to use their OWN FREE WILL to make those changes – oh yeah, they are scared – they don’t want to give up their limited understanding of their lives – they are just hold on grasping their earthy desires and sinful ways.

God’s plan might scare some, but I know many many people who DO take the final plunge into Naaman’s river – they accept Jesus fully and have been completely transformed…  and those who don’t? well… yeah, it’s a shame – and honestly I have to say that I think that it is NOT always their fault that they don’t understand transformations.

Jesus encourages faith workers, He said if you are not welcomed into a house then shake the sand off your shoes and move (Luke 9:5) and in Revelation it is stated that not everyone will be saved by the time of Jesus at the second coming…. So I send this note today to my fellow worker bees of Christ, to encourage them – they are doing a great job so far – and let’s keep working – and don’t get upset that everyone is not yet where we are…  we do what work we can – we try to be efficient to work God’s plan.  We are trying to wake up as many people as possible to the saving grace of Jesus, but we have to start at square one with some folks – square two might be to at least get them to acknowledge adherence to the Ten Commandments – or maybe because we too sin so much just over the ten commandments we too have to let folks know God is a forgiving God. We DO have a lot of God’s work to do as His hands and feet while we are here on Earth, don’t we??? So, put your sandals on my faith co-workers, let’s keep moving…)

Although many may have seen our changes they don’t want to acknowledge that it was God that changed us. Is it because they are afraid they would get pulled that way too?. .. Are they just are blind or not tuned in?… Are they are standing on a different wavelength??? Maybe…   Eventually we hope that God shakes their wave, increases the frequency of His faith guiding strikes and He knocks then down to another wavelength, until they find that salvation transformation… Sometimes that will never happen because they grip too tight to their current lives… God has many rooms in HIS house, therefore He has many waves of salvation…. we can only pray some people catch a wave at some point.

I have a sweet friends and they might NEVER understand what happened to me in the way I think they could … They won’t comprehend the way Jesus-mediated transformations occur. And even though I try to explain, they can’t get it, BUT that’s OK… Yes we will remind folks, but He our Lord is the only One who will convince folks to take up Jesus and grow Him in their heart. Accepting Jesus causes spillways of goodness into the rest of our lives… Some see it, some don’t… So my faith friends – keep working…  At the bare minimum, God has ALWAYS has given us our smiles… even those who DON’T know smiles are from God can still smile back…

So yes, there are many waves of God’s works – individually tuned to each person – these tunes sound so sweet when you are part of God’s almighty band… With a Salvation acknowledgement comes a wondrous transformation… It’s a Jesus “pick me up” for sure.

————–

Devotion #2

Music Therapy – Tom Petty – Something Good Coming – Somewhere Under Heaven – Saving Grace

So – yeah – God put that thought of understanding Jesus transformation in my head – that other people are on different wavelengths of Jesus’s light, and I wanted to encourage the workers out there…  So, while writing I listened to all these Tom Petty songs – because music is an awesome way to focus me – and so I am pleased to hear them as embellishments to God’s scriptures – they are interpretations of God’s children that speak to me….  “I am just a singer in God’s Rock of Ages band” to modify that great Moody Blues line…

So – for music therapy here is my “the director’s cut” description of my Transformations devotion – three songs: Something Good Coming – Somewhere Under Heaven – Saving Grace…  I acknowledge them as God-focusing songs to me, but I didn’t want to clutter the writing above, so in post script let me explain them on my wavelength, which may be so different in wavelength then most people’s…

With a Salvation acknowledgement comes a wondrous transformation… It’s a Jesus “pick me up” for sure…

“Something Good Coming” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – yep, “somethin’ good comin’ ” is SALVATION in God’s house  – I know how it feels and I know I need to stay in this “God state of mind” (Thanks Billy Joel) which enables me to continually appreciate that all things are from God – yes, and I will “ride the river” and I will stay focused on God even though honestly there ARE distracting pulls (I know you must have them too because I certainly do) — but Jesus wants me to “HOLD ON”  and I will!!!!  I KNOW  “Somethin’ good comin’ ” Tom sings “I know it will –  And I’m in for the long run – Wherever it goes – Ridin’ the river – Wherever it goes” –  – – I truly wish everyone understood that holding onto their faith is the best part of saving grace… I LOVE riding this river. I am just happy there is a river!!!

“Somewhere Under Heaven” – Tom Petty – This is so easy for me to see that Tom is singing about me, after I DID give my whole life over… Jesus pulled me into the eye of a hurricane of life; there I find rest in HIS arms!!! There is another “Eye of the Hurricane” Paul Simon song too, that I have written about as well… Tom sings about people like me, because I hit an understanding that when Jesus holds me (and I trust in Jesus’ arms) then sometimes He just lets me DANCE in delight (another song is “I will delight in the Love of the Lord…”), I don’t just get lost in his loving arms, I get to dance in the rain…  Tom sings “In the eye of a hurricane, Little Jenny would dance in the rain”…. Yeah, it’s me… “smell the earth and sky – and off her mind would go….” Yeah – that’s me…It’s not hard for me to feel that lyric.. and this one too, where God says “Hold on to what LOVE you find. You’re gonna need all you can get”… THAT, my friends, is what we ALL have to do – that is the LOVE of Jesus…. Don’t let go… Another song pertains here too, Genesis “You’re Own Special Way”… Yes, I have written about that being me too, many times Jesus has been pulling me up, out of the water, when I grab and hold on to HIS hand… “Don’t let go”

“Saving Grace” Tom Petty – The lyric is about running to find the saving Grace and knowing that “there’s a corner of the floor – They’re telling you is yours – You’re confident but not really sure – And it’s hard to say who you are these days – but you run on anyway – don’t you baby? You keep running for another place – to find that saving grace”…  Yes, it was clear that I stopped running and found Jesus by virtue of God’s saving grace – and I wish others would find and accept that too – all us working with Christ…. but it’s in God’s timing for them to acknowledge that they HAVE saving grace. They are on their own wavelengths and we can only shake those waves and pray they wake up to hold onto their faith – God says only a few get thru – when we see those that are on the tipping point of acknowledging their saving grace it is exciting to see their transformations – but we are not responsible for that – we are just seed planters – and God will do the rest…  but yeah – I want to help God out and tell of HIS Good Works…

Smiles God, thanks for the songs, thanks Jesus for the lift – thanks for the Jesus pick me up and thanks for the dance – I will dance in this Christmas Flood everyday if I can – I will dance “somewhere under heaven”

 

——-

“Something Good Coming” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

https://youtu.be/rSvlJe1mwlw

I’m watching the water

Watching the coast

Suddenly I know

What I want the most

And I want to tell you

Still I hold back

I need some time

Get my life on track

I know that look on your face

But there’s somethin’ lucky about this place

And there’s somethin’ good comin’

For you and me

Somethin’ good comin’

There has to be

And I’m thinking ’bout mama

And about the kids

And the way we lived

And the things we did

How she never had a chance

Never caught a break

And how we pay for our big mistakes

I know so well the look on your face

And there’s somethin’ lucky about this place

There’s somethin’ good comin’

Just over the hill

Somethin’ good comin’

I know it will

And I’m in for the long run

Wherever it goes

Ridin’ the river

Wherever it goes

And I’m an honest man

Work’s all I know

You take that away

Don’t know where to go

And I know that look that’s on your face

There’s somethin’ lucky about this place

There’s somethin’ good comin’

For you and me

Somethin’ good comin’

There has to be

————–

“Somewhere Under Heaven” Tom Petty

https://youtu.be/hqp6euOfd6E

Jenny’s father was a working man
He worked hard to be his best
In the middle of the afternoon
He would give little Jenny a kiss

Somewhere under Heaven
In the eye of a hurricane
Little Jenny would dance in the rain

In the afternoon thunderstorms
The Sun’s shadow’s movin’ slow
She could smell the earth and sky
And off her mind would go

Somewhere under Heaven
In a field of sugarcane
Little Jenny would dance in the rain

One day you’re gonna fall in love
One day you’re gonna pay the rent
Hold on to what love you find
You’re gonna need all you can get

Somewhere under Heaven
In the eye of a hurricane
Little Jenny would dance in the rain

Somewhere under Heaven
Somewhere under Heaven

——————
“Saving Grace” Tom Petty

https://youtu.be/vPYFWnzjIy0

I’m passing sleeping cities
Fading by degrees
Not believing all I see to be so

I’m flyin’ over backyards
Country homes and ranches
Watching life between the branches below

And it’s hard to say
Who you are these days
But you run on anyway
Don’t you baby?

You keep running for another place
To find that saving grace

I’m moving on alone over ground that no one owns
Past statues that atone for my sins
There’s a guard on every door
And a drink on every floor
Overflowing with a thousand amens

And it’s hard to say
Who you are these days
But you run on anyway
Don’t you baby?

You keep running for another place
To find that saving grace
Don’t you baby?

You’re rolling up the carpet
Of your father’s two-room mansion
No headroom for expansion no more
And there’s a corner of the floor
They’re telling you is yours
You’re confident but not really sure

And it’s hard to say
Who you are these days
But you run on anyway
Don’t you baby?

You keep running for another place
To find that saving grace

Don’t you baby?

You keep running for another place
To find that saving grace

Don’t you baby?

 

312B

It’s Christmas time to “Come and Find Peace” 06DEC
……
It’s an annual anniversary this evening of me hearing a song that moved me beyond belief just ONLY one year ago… “Come to the Cradle”…”come and find peace”… I should say that it moved me INTO belief!

I found my PEACE with Jesus by acquiring him into my brain and grew Him in my heart. He WAS already seeded there, an immaculate birth only God could have made in me. God KNEW, Jesus grew. It was my time, so Jesus shined.

This Christmas gift of Jesus coming to me as a baby, I have surely treasured,  I have shared, and I have grown…. I have grown Jesus ALL year, and now my gift this year is FROM ME to HIM, a gift of my LIFE.

It’s true, I did keep my mystical musical merry-go-round of Christmas ALL year… And I had JOY to the Lord… On top of “Come to the Cradle”, I now have layered many new songs all year… Including “All in All” because truly God is EVERYTHING to me. And there is nothing like hearing old songs that are like new to my reborn ears…. And now, a newest song lyric, Holy Spirited to a friend who has the God-gift to write it all down and layer it with mystical music…. “Oh Jesus we give you OUR lives” … I have sang it a hundred times this week in TRUTH!!! I hear it strike a chord for all of us who have come to Christ, with a reminder of “humble hearts”, especially at Christmas…

Being proud of Jesus in us is NOT the message here… Being humbled – that WE NEED JESUS – IS THE MESSAGE…
5 “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. ”

In due time I will be lifted by God’s hand from my sinful ways… EVERYDAY my Father asks me to recommit myself to Jesus, ever day he sends signs, guiding me by FAITH and LIGHT. God knows how to emotionally remind me that I am nothing without Him, I am everything for HIM.

I get to teach Sunday school today about how God humbled a mighty king, by taking his mind away, made him an animal, then restored him (Daniel 4, KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR ). He was lifted when he recommitted to God.

In due time we can all be lifted by God’s hand… EVERYDAY our Father asks us to recommit to Jesus, everyday He sends signs, guiding by FAITH and LIGHT.

Be humble, be filled with Christ, BE STILL. Come and find PEACE.

I begin this new gifted day today, praising…
My devotion today to my Lord, fittingly is with Psalm “52”:
“But I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God’s unfailing love
for ever and ever.
9 For what you have done I will always praise you
in the presence of your faithful people.
And I will hope in your name,
for your name is good.”

Amen… I truly believe…

 

312A

“52”, 06DEC

“52, why God?”

I have written about God and silly numbers before, but the last few days have been ridiculous… I have stumbled upon or caught the eye of that number “52” probably TEN TIMES everyday for the last few days…whew…. The time shines at the 52 minute mark about five times a day, the temperature shows 52, a video stops at the 52 mark, the mileage on my car stops with a 52, my phone battery hits 52% just as look up, obviously my house number is 52, my late cousin’s age 52, Santa’s autograph book yesterday had a random giant 52 written by a child above his name… Lest you think I am going crazy, can YOU EVEN imagine how I feel??? I am staggered by God overwhelming me…. My analytical mind coupled with my melted heart explodes this Christmas…. And the reason???  I think God is trying to distract ME from ME. And he does this in fun ways (oh the joys of the last week!!!), I am distracted from anxiety-riddled ways and therefore fortified in clear, sober and necessary discussions… And yes, with the number 52, He is trying to humble me, reminding me that ALL my joy flows from HIM!

But honestly I don’t know…

God requests that we gently humble ourselves… Trust me, minor humbling is better than major humbling…  It’s better that I just trip in my new shoes, both in my faith shoes and on my feet, then to fall hard… God says “pay attention!!!”… “Stay on task”. God is conditioning and commissioning me…

I know God is reminding me all this thru my trials, my thorns…. He says: “I got this…. Remember?” Psalm 46 reminds me to be like a river….  “God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day”.

Yes, like HE reminds me,  And I plead to you all: let God remind YOU TOO who is in charge: “7 Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”  1st Peter 5.

“Be still and KNOW I AM GOD.”…. Psalm 46…. God STILL knows how to STILL me, to emotionally and physically remind me that I am nothing without Him, I need to be everything for HIM.

This week He sends “52” to me, next week it will be something new, God likes to mix it up… God repeats himself until I get the message. The message is “I woke you (like Jarius’ daughter) now DON’T fall asleep!!!”… God says you are young now but you are rapidly growing into an elder not because you must but because you ARE willing (1Peter 5)… Elders must take their roles seriously, “NOT lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock”.
——
Scriptures:

1 Peter 5New International Version (NIV)

To the Elders and the Flock
5 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud    but shows favor to the humble.”
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Final Greetings
12 With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.

13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

—–
Psalm 46
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song.

1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.[c]
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
8 Come and see what the Lord has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields[d] with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

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Psalm 52
For the director of music

1 Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?
Why do you boast all day long,
you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?
2 You who practice deceit,
your tongue plots destruction;
it is like a sharpened razor.
3 You love evil rather than good,
falsehood rather than speaking the truth.[c]
4 You love every harmful word,
you deceitful tongue!
5 Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin:
He will snatch you up and pluck you from your tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living.
6 The righteous will see and fear;
they will laugh at you, saying,
7 “Here now is the man
who did not make God his stronghold
but trusted in his great wealth
and grew strong by destroying others!”
8 But I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God’s unfailing love
for ever and ever.
9 For what you have done I will always praise you
in the presence of your faithful people.
And I will hope in your name,
for your name is good.

311

Tiny Tim, 05DEC

Surely we worry – even though Philippians 4:6 states that we should “Not worry but pray”… “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Surely I DO trust in the Lord – surely I DO pray and I DO listen and I DO petition and I DO accept and I DO give great thanksgiving to God everyday… I say “I DO” like a bride of the church to Jesus…  And I DO know that I have been saved for eternity by His death and resurrection and keep Him alive in and thru my heart.

And yet…  Anxious…  Worry… Yeah how can we be expected to not be anxious?  That is a tough one – we are anxious – and often that does motivate us… It’s human nature and that is one sin I cannot yet shake…  but I am working on it… God knows, I truly am.

God wants us to praise Him – He is the founder of our feast – our maker -our Father – and we are such lucky children that we were gifted Jesus in our own flesh – and we get to carry Him always and we get to  understand that HE LOVES US!

Psalm 91 is recited in the 1951 Scrooge/ A Christmas Carol by the family of Tiny Tim – who had such hope and petition – and yet mourned his death – surely they also thought the Lord would rescue Tiny Tim – I think that Tiny Tim never doubted his salvation and he was to be delivered to a better place – rescued into Heaven – “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.”

So,  I know the prayer of Psalm 91 DOESN’T mean that I will NEVER enter a state of harm here on Earth – because we are all frail humans and at the mercy of humans. We are at the whim of our earth…  I have seen so many many good souls who are struck down here on Earth – but I know that God’s purpose and plan is NOT ours to understand.  Wasn’t even Jesus struck down in his prime? Yes, He was… And Tiny Tim reminds us with his sweet demeanor that God rescued him from tormenting himself about his situation – God gave him a cheery disposition – and Tiny Tim had acknowledgement of HIS purpose –  to remind us – he stated that perhaps he was the way he was so “everyone could KNOW THE ONE that made the lame walk and the blind see.” Tim used himself to teach about God…

We can NOT use our troubles and trials as an excuse to be angry with God – or think that He is not listening… we have to GIVE God thanks because He DOES listen and we DO have life with purpose to live here on Earth – and someday He will bring us the best everlasting life… We are to keep Christmas EVERYDAY here on Earth – and remember to stay in Christ always and keep working the Spirit of Christ within us and SHINE HIS LIGHT thru us – no matter how we feel  – no matter what – God purposes us to rise above ourselves and be with Him.

SURELY God will certainly keep us forever… We will feast in Christ – “Christ – mas” means Christ feast – and he will grow in us always and give us Peace.

God Bless Us – Everyone

 ————————–

Psalm 91 NIV

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

3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

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

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

310

God is Beautiful, 04Dec
I can see photosynthesis working in a Christmas way.

I can see Christmas working God’s WAY.

I can set myself right into the plants thylakoid stacks and dance around with the protons and electrons… I am happy blessed to have glimpsed the natural beauty of life by scientific exploration…. How elegant it all works in miniature, harvesting light into energy….

I can appreciate it all without understanding all the complexity.

I can appreciate God’s plan complexity without understanding all the details.

I can follow God’s LIGHT…

A glittery cross scatters light like music to my eyes…
The promises of life everlasting swirl…

Light intensifies…
Light internalizes energy…

How elegant the world works in silent concert for wholeness…
How beautiful it is displayed for us to appreciate….

Light scatters and dances…
Light spills into and out of our souls…
Light splits into rainbow promises…
We can feel the rainbow…

The LIGHT energizes and makes us WHOLE…
The LIGHT internalizes and makes us smile…

God is beautiful…

309

Revelation in Music Therapy – Patchwork Quilt Bible, 03DEC

Ah – my Music therapy became a great bible lesson today – the whole book of Revelation in song!

I have never read the whole Revelation chapter – but it sounds fabulously complex as a song – it’s Genesis – 1970’s – “Supper’s Ready” – I really really love how the music changes over the course of  – and I really really love the image of being in the bride of Christ – my blue eyes are ready for HIS…

Of course reading the scripture is key – and there is so much to understand in it… it will take me a while to tease it all out of the song – but yeah – end times is going to be some crazy unreal set of events – whenever it happens!  (and actually I hear that Revelation events might be ongoing, hmmm…).

I am not embarrassed to say that I have not read everything in the Bible – and certainly God has brought me to a place where He will feed scripture to me – even in song – so I wrote this statement for God – thanking Him for making me His patchwork quilt:

I am a patchwork quilt of Bible understanding – God makes a warm blanket out of me even though my bible knowledge looks to be a patchwork quilt made of a multitude of bible scraps… God’s WORD is sewn delicately and strongly together into my heart by God’s gentle hands…

——————————–

Here’s the whole book of Revelation – so complex – I love that at the end Jesus will come for his Bride, the church:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+1&version=NIV

12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

——————————-

 

Here is part of the Genesis song:

https://youtu.be/szJq1lwnkNw

Supper’s Ready – Genesis

[I. Lovers’ Leap]

Walking across the sitting-room, I turn the television off.

Sitting beside you, I look into your eyes.

As the sound of motor cars fades in the night time,

I swear I saw your face change… it didn’t seem quite right.

…And it’s “hello babe, with your guardian eyes so blue.

Hey my baby – don’t you know our love is true.”

 

Coming closer with our eyes, a distance falls around our bodies.

Out in the garden, the moon seems very bright,

Six saintly shrouded men move across the lawn slowly.

The seventh walks in front… with a cross held high in hand.

…And it’s “hey babe, your Supper’s waiting for you.

Hey my baby, don’t you know our love is true.”

 

I’ve been so far from here,

Far from your warm arms.

It’s good to feel you again,

It’s been a long long time. Hasn’t it?

308

LOVE COURAGEOUSLY, 03Dec
It’s clear that being a child of God not only gives you the youthfulness to see God as a wonderment, but it also gives you the strength to use God as YOUR guide and NOT rely on YOUR own understanding of the world….

With these mass shootings in the last few days, and even small sins and everything in between, we know forever in history that some of the world’s people are and have been convoluted and imperfect… Sadly, this is NOT new but better publicized and certainly more immediate in our minds… today we see more weapons of mass destruction as opposed to simply pouring boiling oil over the castle walls… poisoning ones neighbor, or even sending atomic bombs to kill innocent lives…

God is a courage builder… It’s up to us to progress… to progress into practicing PEACE… to commit to a path to move our anger into teaching, reaching and love, just like Jesus did. Jesus came into a tumultuous world and it remained that way when he ascended… It’s up to us now. It really is…

The recent mass shootings… Oh the anger is all around us and sometimes even worse is the complacency of ignorance… Evil begets more evil… when anger becomes retaliation it is used as an excuse by many to produce more anger… It’s a never ending cycle. The world does not owe anyone a place in it. The world does not owe anyone peace. The world going against you does not mean or give you the right to go against it. You must accept and improve your lot in life, but not at the expense of other lives… Oh how we sinfully forget that as a society.

But how do we not become complacent Lord and how do we not perpetuate that sin of hate?

LOVE, Jesus said LOVE courageously… How? How to love your enemies? How to love yourself? No matter what  – the advice has to be put into practice. Love comes from God – all love.

The bible says the way to love is to forgive… You can’t find forgiveness from God without forgiving others. And yes, it’s hard to forgive or understand mass shootings, it’s hard to live in a weird world where brother kills brother… But God never promised you a garden here on earth, rose or otherwise… God promised us an eternal life if you can find your way, narrow but sure…

Jesus was angry too!!! Was it because so many sinners were complacent?, perhaps not angry THAT they sinned, but angry because they had NO remorse and didn’t want to change?…. Status quo?… Jesus did not hate them but He did petition His Father’s forgiveness for ALL of them.

The world has too many pockets of status quo, of ignorance and want, of complacency…. People sometimes say that other people’s problems are not theirs to worry about – but honestly they are, because other people’s problems are God’s problems…  and God’s problems are our problems too….

The world doesn’t function as one whole being and therefore it’s not surprising that the world does not want to change… But YOU can change, you can buck the trend of hate, you can LOVE.

Love courageously, LOVE to live up to God’s challenge…

If God gave up HIS son for US, we could help God by not killing the rest of his children… Learning to live with all of God’s children…

And we could take on some of God’s problems by taking on some of the world’s problems and making a difference in it. We can make a difference, rely not on your own understanding  but ask God where to put you to work.

How to love your enemy? God ONLY knows….
Help them Oh Lord, help them, help us stop the violence…
But more immediately Lord, help us learn how to not be complacent with the people’s problems in the world, and please teach us how to Live to Forgive just like your son…
….and please guide us children, oh Father, as we learn how to LOVE courageously… walking by faith not by sight… We are courageous for YOU because we have YOU in us. We love because you love.

Amen

307

Yes, My Elf on the Shelf, There is a Real Jesus, 30 NOV

It’s quite often that I bump into a conversation about God and Jesus – and tonight I have to pause to tell you that I got to share the REAL meaning of Christmas with one of the most important people in my life – my son. My son IS my elf on the shelf – my director of activities, my wisdom-speaking genius – the most thoughtful kid ever known to man. He is my baby – he and my daughter are my joys – they are why I work, why I have life insurance, why I lost weight, why I am up out of bed before anyone and why I go to bed well after everyone – they are my purpose, they make me a mom blessed to raise them.

And tonight, over a conversation about an elf on the shelf, I witnessed a miracle and told of a miracle…

SO – elf – my elf is adorable, 11 years old, a thinker – a gentle and sensitive soul… he can explain a bible lesson to me better than anyone after hearing it just once – he takes it to his heart – he truly believes in Jesus and God. But as any eleven year old – he still needs training – he still needs guidance – he is still a product of our society – robbing children of their child-like wonder and making them grow up too fast. Blessedly my elf wanted to clean (yeah unheard of) the living room area so that we could start our Christ-mas village and especially cute is how he set up the nativity scene because he wanted his robotic dinosaur to be looking at the baby Jesus. He patiently waited for me to get off the phone – and sure, it was a very important phone call, but he was waiting and he is much more important than anything else swirling in my life right now. So yes, I shut my phone off and refocused all my attention to him – I only have my little ones for a few more years – and I need to focus on them – my plans are secondary…. God will put me where HE wants me, and not where he doesn’t, and I am not sad at lost opportunities because God’s plans are MUCH better than mine.

So, my adorable elf paused after setting the baby Jesus into the manger scene and then he asked the age old question – “Mom, people say Santa is your parents – and people say your parents move the elf on the shelf” – pause – pregnant poignant pause – what is mom going to say?  I replied “Well… what do YOU think?”  He answers that “I think Santa is God and Jesus and the presents drop from heaven” – pregnant pause – but I of course feel blessedly empowered to explain this: “Well, that is a great thought, but why did God send Jesus to us? – it wasn’t for toys and presents – so why is Jesus God’s present to us? ” – my son says “to give us forgiveness for our sins” – “Yes, but why did Jesus have to forgive us” – “Ummm…” – it is now that I know my mission everyday is to teach why – “Jesus was a gift from God to us – to forgive us from our sins so that …., why?” – “Ummm…” – “Jesus wants us to have ETERNAL —-” – “LIFE!” … Yes! – I knew that bible lesson was in that 11 year old head somewhere – and I hope and pray it stays in his heart and grows there – “Jesus came to save US by forgiveness to give US ETERNAL LIFE with God in Heaven” – silence – pause – thinking – processing… And absorbing ones faith takes time – takes repetition – takes teaching but most importantly reaching and nourishing conversations….

“So Mom – what about the elf on the shelf? – can you tell me if parents move him?”… Ok – time to come clean – I know that it is important to tell the truth and I say “Yes – your parents move your elf” – silence – pause – thinking – processing..… our elf on the shelf was not intended to be that – he is a GREEN elf – an ornament from the 40’s? 50’s? well before this myth started and I was not too pleased to hear the hoopla about it (sorry folks who have fun – but it’s quite a feat to generate even more work for yourself due to a successful movie) – yeah I wasn’t going to buy into it… but my then 9 year old wide-eyed and precious boy discovers this ornament in the box and declares that we have an elf on the shelf – and thank you God he didn’t know that the elf was supposed to be moved every day because neither did I – whew! and then the following year, after he was safely whisked away to Santa’s land at the end of the season, my then ten year old waited patiently for his return… Ummm… where did he go?… Ummm – where is “Hider”? – lost – hmmm… now what?  Yikes, oh dear – and I looked and I looked – and “Hider” was in such the safest spot – that he was so safe that I forgot where he was… rats… crushed hopes for a patient young soul… So my son writes “Hider” a note – about how he is the best hider in the world and how much he loves him – sigh… mom has failed – mom, who never wanted this myth perpetrated, is now caught in the middle of a sad boy longing for his elf… sigh… So tonight – tonight I came clean – I answered truthfully a natural progression of an eleven year old’s questioning… Probably the most important conversation about God that I have had this year – reinforcing that God sent Jesus to be real – to be real for each and every one of us – he wants Jesus in our own hearts to grow us to God – to remind us that we are HIS children… So next question – my son went to go ask his Father the tough next question – “Do you really have Santa’s phone number?” – I paused – I was in peace that I came clean about the elf and that I also shared the Good News!!! – AND THEN I SAW THIS RANDOM TIN CAN – and I don’t know why I picked it up –  I felt something draw me to that can – and poof – there he was!!! “Hider” – our elf – over two years LOST – LOST I tell you – and poof – within three minutes of sharing Jesus – of knocking that elf myth down a notch – there he was – hidden in that can for two years… my son hugs “Hider” and says “I am going to put him in the nativity – he is going to watch baby Jesus for us” – yeah – oh my tears – “YES MY Elf on the Shelf, there is a REAL Jesus.” There is no better blessing than to witness Jesus being born every day in people – especially your own children…

See, I think knowing Jesus is often born in us in stages – we get only enough understanding each time so that each individual can process at that very moment… And so yeah – Jesus is this miracle gift – I understand this in JOY and tonight in tears, when I was stilled by God… I thank you Lord for YOUR hand on my life and in my thoughts – on my family – guiding me every day is a miracle because God IS REAL – Jesus is REAL – the Holy Spirit alive and well – trust me – I know this – I just do – I really really do…

Jesus came to save YOU – to save us – in order to reach us into God’s eternal life – in order for US to reach the others… We want to be REACHING the others – near and far – we have more work to do – and our Father wants us to work at it – and He will reward us with a God-sighting WOW moment when we see His hand at work – it’s not silly- it’s just God watching me and knowing – thanks God… See, I talked about Jesus’s purpose – we all are Jesus’s purpose.

Thank you God for reaching me today – I long to work for YOU always…

Your loving child,

Me

306

I Surrender, 29NOV

Well, I have a lot that happened this long thanksgiving weekend that would normally spin my brain ten-fold! That coupled with a lot already going on in my life, it would have normally led to therapy writing, but I actually DON’T have to write about ANY of it to process it now, and I don’t need to process over a cup of tea, or anything else… BECAUSE in ONE moment it was processed ALL INSTANTLY. INSTANTLY by surrendering it ALL to God.

Yes, when I sang the praise song “I Surrender”, EVERYTHING was lifted, released, and processed…poof…. Truthfully nothing was solved, nothing disappeared, I still have to take the actions to solve the issues, but EVERY stressful angst dissipated and I felt God’s LOVE as I sang that song. I swayed in the music with eyes closed… I felt satisfied in God’s grace.

Jesus grew in my heart as a baby.

Jesus crossed me into eternal life.

Jesus crossed me into PEACE.

I surrendered ALL at that moment to YOU my Lord, the big YOU.

Thank You God, You gave me PEACE!

I wouldn’t tell you ALL of the details of my angst anyway – not only because it would take too many pages, but because my myriad of joys and angst are unique to me and yours are unique to you. But I KNOW, ALL in ALL, God wanted to take care of those issues for me in one swoop. And God wants to take care of them ALL for YOU too. And not JUST my past, not just your past, but ALL of our future too! Dreams and stresses, bliss and blisters…

Yes, God does and will send Jesus into your heart to absorb all your worries, joys, questions, pondering thoughts, and tears…

Surrender it all.

Praise His gift of BLESSED PEACE.

Praise Jesus for changing you, growing in you, as you lay down your own rights… Jesus lays down His own life for yours…

Praise and pause to surrender…. trust me on this… you will admire God’s gifted PEACE. You will want to surrender more and more!

Thanks God for your gift of our Prince of PEACE

———————————

Surrender, Lincoln Brewster:

“I’m giving You my heart, all that is within
I lay it all down, for the sake of You my King

I’m giving You my dreams, laying down my rights

I’m giving up my pride, for the promise of new life

And I surrender all to You, all to You

And I surrender all to You, all to You

“I’m singing You this song, I’m waiting at the cross

And all the world holds dear, I count it all as loss

“For the sake of knowing You,

for the glory of Your name

To know the lasting joy, even sharing in Your pain

And I surrender it all to you, all to You…”

305

Honesty, 28NOV

Honestly I want to be clear that my intentions are JUST to praise what God has done and spread HIS GOOD NEWS… I have nothing to prove to people, that’s not why I want to tell them about my spiritual growth… I was raised to be thankful and honestly I bubble, I can’t help it….. And I try to be humble, but honestly I have to find that balance of humility and just EXPLODING with excitement.

I pray I don’t come off as boastful… People say it’s ok how I am, but I just don’t want to be like the Genesis song “mad man moon” and fly too high with wings of my own from excitement and lose focus… That’s not what God wants. He wants focus… He wants me tethered, because I can’t reach others unless I am seen as down to earth, as one of the fellow travelers to the garden. So sure, l have felt more dancing on the water with Jesus than sinking without Him this year, especially after recovering after a surprising set of devilish trials (doubt, doubt, and doubt) but maybe it’s weird but it’s just me…. Yes, i have heard previously awakened folks tell me I would encounter many trials and I did, and I do, and I pause to praise God for His “own special way of holding my hand” (another Genesis song) thru them… I think God has allowed me this feeling of dancing in my heart to sustain me, to constantly remind me that my smile (our smiles) come ALWAYS from HIM shining thru… And to NEVER want to let go of HIS hand. And since I can still look at my life from an outsider point of view, I know I have such tremendous trials ahead of me…

And before those rough times come my way, I can see how God found this window of opportunity to wake me up into HIS service…. He is continually cementing me strongly into wanting to share share share….

So, I thought I really want to tell my Facebook and friends world about my spiritual writing in the more public forum of blogging. – I am going to share at the 1 year anniversary of my first diatribe writing in mid December.

See I think I became bold (in this still safe blogging manner) for processing AND for teaching… Because those are not mutually exclusive… You don’t have to understand and have processed everything before you can speak about you and your relationship with God… I mean if I hadn’t spoken, questioned and processed out loud, I surely never would be where I am now… and I know God does position me in my friend groups because my friends ARE protecting me from being too loud – too questioning – too processing… I know that God is working THRU them… and yet I know when it is right for me to stretch my wings a bit wider – I don’t think God minds (yet) – because I am trying to stretch ONLY with Jesus holding me up – Jesus will make my heart light and fly – I know – it’s the truth…

God will remind me to stay humble if I don’t…

304

The Bishop’s Daughter, 25NOV

It’s one month to Christmas day… Wow… It’s just about two weeks until I boldly release a new blog at my one year anniversary with one year of chronologically-posted awakening writings… With my amazement of how Jesus was born in me and still grows, I hope you can understand my self-reflective writings… I try also to write reach-out writings, but there are more reach-in writings that I have to still get out, there’s more marveling at the angels that surround me, those “perfecting saints”, as my pastor would say, who touch my life and bless it….

I have written about many of my favorite movies (Miracle on 34th Street, all the Christmas Carol versions, the Song of Bernadette) and this Christmas movie about becoming mindful, “The Bishop’s Wife”. Cary Grant is an angel called to help a misguided Bishop (David Niven), and as an angel he steps into all the roles that the Bishop should have been doing if he was being mindful of his God-sanctioned roles in life. These including guiding a widow over how she spends her money for a wasteful cathedral, guiding a lost professor, and of course the main segment of the storyline, he stepped into the role of making the bishop’s wife feel happy, adventurous, worthy of gifts, worthy of love. How the Bishop eventually wakes up and deals with this is a key lesson. How the angel deals with his jealousy of a mortal man’s richness is a key lesson. How the wife and daughter accept the generous benefits of this angel (not knowing he is an angel) and accept it with grace is a true lesson for me. I have so much from so many.

The Bishop’s daughter is also named Debbie – hmmm…. Angel Cary Grant is teaching her confidence (snowball fighting… Debbie’s love SNOW) as well as sound biblical stories… His fatherly role enables him to teach and help her process the immense blessings of God, and I need that too, we all need that… Any chance to process God’s great gifts, especially with other faithful souls is a blessing…

The biblical story that our angel recounts is that of David fighting the goliath…. GOD gave him the strength that he didn’t know he had, and David thanked God by writing Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd”… The bishop also overheard this story, he also needed to know that he has SO MUCH because of God…. “I shall not want”

When am I the daughter? All the time… “HE restoreth my soul”… A friend made me breakfast and snacks for work yesterday after a girls night-out sleepover at her house. Another friend is allowing my adventurous spirit to come out in safe, mind clearing and so satisfying motorcycle rides. Another friend shined my shoes, another friend shined my car and is helping me look for Christmas deals.

And scripturally I am the Bishop’s daughter – I have been feeding on spiritual milk… Just today hearing two pastors of mine recounting two stories of gaining strength FROM God, which fortified my heart. First the story in Daniel where three strong souls withstood an actual furnace fire, and the son of God stood strong with them and they not only survived but were witnessed by a king who learned who the real God was. Pastor’s message was that our challenges are testing God… He can overcome even the worst of Satan’s pulls… God will stand with us thru the fires of our lives… We just need to grab for His hand… We CAN reach and we CAN teach that God is the one keeping us alive and at PEACE… Hold on…

A second sermon by my other pastor fortified my heart with the armor of GOD by recounting the story of Mary having been chosen by God. I too am a great child of God chosen for HIS purpose. Mary had to be accepting of the challenge of growing Christ in her, and raising him as God’s son…. God needed her and she accepted God’s challenge, we all SHOULD… we all should accept those challenges in us because we know our strength is from God trying to grow us. I know where God is trying to grow ME right now, I know God will fortify me, and restoreth my soul. It is clear for me that as a daughter, as a child of God, I can play the snowball fights of life… my angels will take care of me! And I can be filled and not want – over and over again – because the Lord restoreth my soul… Surely my angels will take care of me! And I can reach for God in the fires of life and I will NOT perish… my angels will take care of me! And I can accept challenges, I can be bold especially when I accept God’s help and His values to fortify me. While I am graced to be the Bishop’s daughter always (and sometimes the Bishop’s wife, and the Bishop too), I REALLY realize now that I am ALSO tasked by God to become the Angel too… and I have many many children to teach, many professors and bishops to help…. God needs my help… I accept the challenge, boldly… God is with me. And so are HIS angels.

Thank you Lord, You are my shepherd.

——————–

Psalm 23 King James Version (KJV)

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

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Potluck Angels, 24NOV

It never ceases to amaze me how small efforts on my part are amplified by God to make amazing things happen…

I didn’t think we would have a ton of people for our work thanksgiving potluck, which I organize each year, but I always say it’s just that, luck, and whoever comes comes, even if it is just two of us eating pie… So ten minutes before the event I rush in late from parent teacher conference and here’s five items plus two great dear friends (who appreciate all I try to do for our 120 work family) and they brought sandwich fixings, cold cuts, awesome, it so made my day… Even if it was a small gathering we would appreciate our work thanksgiving together…

AND THEN…. it was the scene from “The Bishop’s Wife” movie… It was synergy… It made my heart go from a smile to a gush… Cary Grant, movie angel, makes things happen… ANGELS create blessings, make miracles, bring perfection of God’s love together… SYNERGY… In the movie scene, the choir boys are supposed to be gathering for practice, a special rehearsal for the bishop (David Niven) and his wife (Loretta Young), and there are just two boys and the priest is sad to disappoint his special guests… And the angel (Cary Grant) says, “well we don’t have to be disappointed”, he promptly chats with the two boys and gets them to start singing… And as these two pure tones lift, more individual boys start filtering in… One by one adding their voices, the room fills with angelic harmonies, purest of graceful singing, and the Bishop’s wife beams in delight….

That was me, beaming today…. that’s what happened at lunch, to lunch, within ten minutes of those first few generous souls, the room amplified with more and more people and dishes to pass, thirty maybe forty maybe fifty… All these sharing souls filtered in to amplify lunch, amplify laughter, amplify thanksgiving… And there was even extra goodies for those who had not brought anything… They were welcomed in to share the excess… Amplified excess – luck – lunch – LOVE.

Faith in good things and in good people amplifies faith… Faith in accepting and appreciating the bountiful harvest amplifies the meaning of thanksgiving… And we can pour it out to others…

I feel to be the Bishop’s wife SO MUCH because the angels have been coming non-stop to me this year and always… I have been blessed down to the nooks and crannies of my soul… satisfied by saintly angels, my cup overflows, and they fill it up instantly… The bottle of God fills my cup and satisfies… It’s just like in another scene of the Bishop’s Wife, where angel Cary Grant enables the Professor’s wine bottle to always stay full no matter how much the professor (Monty Woolley) pours out into his cup… Our movie angel also helps the professor discover amazing abilities he always had but didn’t realize… That’s our angels too… That’s my angels daily… They luck me up, they fill my pot of gold so I can redistribute blessings to so many more, they make me realize the abilities I have and make me want to share them.

Yes I can amplify God’s gifts – you can amplify God’s gifts – you will want to share, and that will make you smile!

I have Faith in all, especially these “Potluck angels”, because they are no luck at all… They are amplified in thanksgiving… They are amplified in LOVE. And they make me SMILE!!!

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Grounded Grace, 23NOV

Being a child of God – so many of my prayerful, peaceful times and mystical feelings come from living the words of such soul-searching praise songs…

I LOVE this particular song: “I will delight in the law of the Lord, I will meditate day and night, and like a tree firmly planted I’ll be – grounded in the Word…” (words are based on Psalm 1). Just the other night I sang it to myself during my yoga workout because I forgot my mat and grabbed VBS material which happened to be a patchwork quilt tree trunk i had sowed (haha an appropriate autocorrect for sewed)  – So, I sang the song while stretching on the tree and also while standing in yoga tree pose…

Soul-searching songs and soul-shining songs… that song is both because it reminds us to “delight in the law of the Lord” and search in our souls for where we don’t follow God’s law (yet)… AND it reminds all of us to delight because these blessings flow so very abundantly from God. HE fills our cups and makes our souls shine with the LIGHT of JESUS – especially when we decide to pour from our cup into others …

Yesterday was a prime example of recognizing blessings – an outpouring of gifts to me – all filling my cup… First, I was sitting with many many friends in the first church service, holding hands with a soul sister “L” while we were coming up to the pew. Later, a church member donated $25 towards pizza for our new children’s living nativity party… then a Subaru-friend researched and bought me new windshield wiper blades… So many blessings the Lord poured out… and on top of all that  my neighbor cut down a giant tree for me in my yard encroaching the wires (this same neighbor previously raked and bagged my leaves out of neighborly friendliness). Just like the wayward tree, God’s does gentle pruning in us too – and He urges our souls to be grateful with His blessings, to be satisfied with Him… and to focus on bringing this satisfaction to other by sharing His Ways.

SO many faith friends, to whom I reached out, also had reached back to comfort me… yes I am blessed. I am grateful. I am satisfied with grounded GRACE. “And like a tree firmly planted I’ll be, grounded in your Word”.

I REALLY REALLY appreciated the blessing of being able to sit thru THREE services yesterday… a diverse richness – traditional with a “bell choir” – contemporary with an “electrified choir” – and the special needs service with the “unfiltered choir”… nice – all three were blessed… Of course my great Sunday School kids are always ready to teach ME lessons too – bouncing 5-8 year olds… We started with using the train engines toys as a perfect segue into our story – a scripture from Daniel – These three God-strengthened and obedient men were thrown into a fire so hot (just like the train engine’s furnace) BUT they did not perish and when the King (who had built a giant gold false idol statue) saw them and also saw the Son of God standing in the fire WITH them – WOW – the King knew that their God was the real God and God had saved them!!! The faith of these men was so strong that they were willing to go into the fire because they knew that God was a faithful God – and that I know is the truth! Our Pastor also preached the same themed story this week, so eloquently he shared that when we are IN THE FIRE – it is ALSO a test for God and this is EXACTLY when we will see and feel Jesus the most, and where others will witness how God was the most faithful to us. Yes – I can attest to that – I can feel HIM the most when I burn for HIM and have Him in my heart – Jesus will be there for our fires! Jesus is here with me right now in mine and I grip his hand so tightly, with a warming joy.

During my singing of a beautiful song at the second service, I clasped my own hands and wow I felt like there was a extra strong hand inside my grip… you know when you someone else hold your hand it feels different than when you hold your own hand?… Yeah, I truly have to say, humbly, that it was like Jesus’s muscles holding my hand tight. Wow… Jesus ALWAYS finds a way to me in the fires of my life.

And I was so blessed to stay for the third service (a hat trick) – I so ENJOY singing with these delightful special needs and brain-injured folks!!! I get a chance every couple of months to sit thru their wonderful service – that just makes my day. The woman on my right wanted me to sit with her and she loves to check the colors of all my jewelry and clothes and shoes – and the woman on my left moved up to sit with me – she wanted me to hold her coat and then put her coat on later because she was cold – she HELD my hand and gave hugs and hugs… it reminds me that even though I am away from home and my extended family in their tough times, that we ARE family for these folks because their family is very distant.. these folks are my substitute aunts and uncles who need hand holding – they are my cousins in Christ….these are ALL of our children of God… musically mystical songs came from the woman to my left – who sang the songs before they came – Christmas songs too – that was a true and sweet witness of God taking care of everyone filling their cups with songs of spirit and blessed spilling of excess spirit out into our cups – songs as spontaneous excitement for her and she knew the right words too – more than just memory filler, those songs came, most importantly, directly from her HEART… Oh I was so blessed to share with those children of God…. They lifted my SPIRIT…

I will delight in being a Child of God too…

Grounded in the Word…

Grounded in Grace…

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Psalm 1 NIV

---

Jeremiah 17

Aleph

Beth

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I Will Delight (In the Law of the Lord)

Words and Music by Walt Hurrah and John A. Schreiner

I will delight in the law of the Lord

I will meditate day and night

Then, like a tree firmly planted, I’ll be rounded in Your Word

Blessed is the one Who follows the way of the Lord

Blessed is the one

Satisfied Oh, so satisfied

Satisfied

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Mountain Climbing by Faith, 21NOV

So God has moved mountains for me this year, and in actuality moved them for my whole life…. he has dissolved so many that I didn’t even know a mountain was ever in front of me, because He was making them into flat plains (Zechariah 4)… He did this BECAUSE I was determined to climb them… and I certainly appreciate that God!… Because I always wondered why You Lord made SO many things easy for me in my life.. Did I really have it that easy? Or is it that you made me equal to my challenges? Or that so far you made my challenges equal to me? So God, I never ever doubt that You made me, I never doubt God that You gave me my skill set. Even a dear atheist friend calls me a force of nature… Yup, I have to agree with him, I am a force of nature, because we ALL are forces of nature, because we are ALL made FROM GOD – we are made from the dust and HE called to work the soil that we are made from. Yes we are made from the dust but we are so complex – we have been made in the most unique and God-caring way… God knows every hair on our heads… He molds us like the gentle potter He is. “O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.” Isaiah 64:8

God knows He wants to use ME for HIS WILL – He is a potter and i am clay – He will smooth out my imperfections or He will break me and use my dust again for His purpose (Jeremiah 18).

God knows me and my mountains…

This awakening year God moved me. In addition to the continuous easy to climb plains, God also brought at least three mountains directly TO ME this year… He moved me, awoke me and made my vision clear to see the mountains were already standing there, waiting, and I wasn’t climbing… God can’t make my mountains into plains if I don’t even acknowledge their existence. And now I acknowledge… Acknowledge I did and started my climb…

First my FAITH – I acknowledged it was not right and I started to climb… First I was allowed to take my car and drive partially up the mountain, second I was able to climb by foot and by sight AND by sound, and then for the final summit I had to climb by FAITH…. FAITH and FAITH alone. I was not blindfolded but blinded by the glorious LIGHT OF JESUS. I had to take the final leap of faith by FAITH.

Second, a mountain of physical health… I didn’t realize I had the power in me all along. I just didn’t know I was capable of this, God made this migration to healthy eating an easy climb, a mountain into a plain because I started climbing with His willpower. I started climbing and have reduced 25% of my body weight… 25, a blessed number…

Third, a mountain I am choosing to climb NOW, because it won’t move… I will tell you later what it is, after I see where I am going… But know it’s a mountain that impacts my happiness which impacts everything else. I am surprised but ready to climb along a completely different route that I didn’t expect. First…. it’s time to FIRST crawl out of the cave below; just to get up to the base of the mountain. This cave I didn’t know I was in, and how to get out? BUT Jesus lit my way and there is that mountain, standing in my way, plain as day, right in front of me.

I now stand at the base of this next mountain, and I question: “God, is this REALLY the mountain I scale next?” “Yes my child. It’s time to scale” – “Yes my child, first drive, then start out on foot and climb. Climb first by sight then by faith… look and listen to ME, I will call YOU. I AM here and when you are blinded by the dark AND blinded in the LIGHT. You won’t know where you are going until you get there, but that’s ok because I AM there. My child, walk by faith and this mountain will crumble too. I will bring you thru safe because I LOVE YOU. This mountain will crumble under your feet but you will be safe. I have you safely IN MY ARMS.”

I have to believe that Jesus will catch me for my new leaps of faith because He already caught me on my biggest jump. He is in me, He will carry me, I have to HOLD ON, life’s a bumpy ride.

Thanks Jesus for lighting my way. I cling to your cross to climb. I have your hand in mine now. Dip me into the water when I fail, lift me up when I reach.

It’s time I climb.

I will be fine.
God’s LIGHT will shine.

Jesus’s LIGHT is forever mine.

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Thanksgiving Grace, 19NOV

I missed seeing my homeless friend Mike, he went somewhere else for a couple weeks but I guess it didn’t work out and so he is back at his original spot. I was pleased that perhaps he found a good spot for the winter to stay warm but I also missed him, of course you also would enjoy rolling down your window to hear “Good morning, Gorgeous, how’s things?”

Well I was happy to see him yesterday… talked to him for a second until the red light changed… “Good morning gorgeous” he said and asked how I was doing and how my family was doing and I said please pray for my family and he made the sign of a cross… I did too… it was a instant way to share in caring prayer, a silent prayer that was oh so meaningful… there’s a Bible story about the Widow’s Mite and giving everything she could to help… Mike didn’t have much but he shares the most important thing… a fun personality, a love of life, encouragement, and a smile… and today a shared prayer – his purpose is to uplift the world just be being himself. Those attributes are worth more than any gold or diamonds….

WE think of the homeless population far off and tucked away…. Mike’s stuff is semi-hidden, tucked away.. I saw the edge of a tarp from my car when I went to dump my paper recycling at a church next door, so I slipped over for a photo just cuz he wasn’t there… but I thought I’d like to share with you how the other half lives.

Sunny disposition was graced on him… he appreciates what he does have not what he doesn’t. And oh how the people have been donating and donating all this stuff that you see. I appreciate that he has a suit hung up in a tree. he knows how to take care of his stuff it’s just a little bit unorganized but then again so is my car!!! You would totally believe that I lived in my car!!!

So it is a travesty in America that we have not figured out how to help ALL the homeless… granted many of them DON’T want to go into the system, they don’t want to be constrained, they want their freedom… and honestly, in this area, they can live day today out in the open because we DO have good weather here. They can experience freedom even if they don’t know where their food will come from.

So, this Thanksgiving week I’m thinking about all those who are out in the open… and perhaps their purpose is to keep reminding US of our graced lives. This year the hoopla has been on not taking in refugees and about red cups without the right symbols… Wake up people, life us but about people fighting over these topics, but about honestly just getting down to business, taking care of what needs to be taken care of, and giving thanks…

Think globally, act locally… reach out and figure out what we can do… if nothing else, people like Mike remind others to stay thankful, to smile. It’s important to keep important issues out in the open, in the light.

So I give thanks this thanksgiving week for Mike. I give thanks for the true treasures of life – the priceless time I have, and the abundance of grace that we ALL have received.

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Rainbow Cup, 19NOV

Just saw a beautiful subtle rainbow, it’s not raining just misty, not really sunny… So delicate but so real… It came as I was talking to God – wondering…. I have pondered and pondered…. “Lord”, I said, “I know prayer is the best first and last option… I know you move mountains but I don’t know always which mountain to pray to you to move for me, and when to move it… but  i know that YOU know, Lord, you will take care of me….” And then i caught glimpse of the rainbow…

And the next praise song i heard was “Just to be with you… Here’s my cup Lord fill it up…. I’m face to the ground… I’ve come to the end of me – you made a way for me…” yes, God gave this timely rainbow, a path to follow…

God gives the Sun thru rain, Son thru pain, smiles thru tears…

He gives us ALL a promise that He will take care of us in the most important way…. “nothing compares to knowing you Lord”…. Yeah, even through tough times God still finds how to make smiles thru tears.

God puts rain in my cup, today the rain was in the form of a rainbow… His promise eternally refilled…

Thanks for listening God… Thanks for being God…

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Daniel, 16NOV

Currently, this sermon and Sunday school series on the book of Daniel has been really \ good for me, bible education with “new to me” scriptures that I get to learn and teach…( it’s not lost on me that Daniel decided to be purposeful with his eating vegetables instead of the kings food and was much more fit… as my last year has blessed me with fitness).

Daniel reminds us, reminds me to keep praying to God for answers…. Daniel interpreted the king’s dream and God can help me interpret my own… Even and especially when my dream is filled with fears….

I know I rush God sometimes and ask HIM for things out of frustration instead of praise, and yet HE knows my prayers of “wordless groans” he knows my dreams…. Even in my joys I worry that I have escapism into God’s loving arms, sometimes my praises masking my fears. And yet I know as jumbled as my mind can be – God is solid, understanding, and forgiving. And in God I find PEACE.

BE STILL AND KNOW I AM GOD… We need to “still” ourselves and LISTEN… And that will always be where we gain strength…

God twinkling in heartaches

inside dreams means He is ALIVE and working on our way to light.

Open my eyes Lord…

Your Grace IS sufficient… Lord guide us, guide me, I trust YOU.

Thanks for listening God…

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Thou Shall Not Covet, 15NOV

I am up, 2:30am… Why Lord?

I need sleep, I slept all five hours really well, so if I write this all out, will you let me go back to sleep, Lord?

I will write this backlogged thought… My great sin right now is a basic one – a ten commandments basic one: “Thou shall not covet”…

See, my old greatest sin used to be NOT believing in Jesus as the Son of God (minor point, huh? oops). But now, I know am truly NEW in CHRIST, just like 2nd Corinthians states, and I know I am blessed to have been made new… I do feel new, I am new, I am SO different… But there are many NOT so different aspects of my life, still rough spots to iron out, hmmmm…

So God had been taking care of a lot of those things that started changing life for me for the better – God changed them in rapid fashion – and God always would like to hear some appreciation Hallelujahs from me to praise HIM, so YES, Lord, “Thank You and Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah”)….

The things that changed were rapid – but now in my accelerated time frame of expectations, I am not sure if I am allowed to say “what’s next God?” Am I allowed to make a laundry list of improvements I would like to see? What’s the next moving mountain, Lord? Do I push God? Do I let it be? Do I instead try to change me and not the situation? Am I simply being impatient? Am I asking too many questions because this is ALL new to me???

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT”

God wants me to focus on HIM, of course, and we all desire Jesus to grow in the most intense way in our hearts, so why should I want even the slightest bit more? I know God wants us HAPPY, happy enough to do HIS work – and He wants us content. So I ask Lord, why am I still tinged with jealousy and want for even more than you already gave me? There are small scale wants and large scale wants… I want more sleep, sure, but that’s small scale – no biggie – and I know I might catch a nap later today after church… But large scale wants? are we allowed to want? Hmmmm…. !!!!

See I know it is NOT always jealousy over things… NO, for me it’s coveting the LIFE THAT I THINK I COULD HAVE… !!!! God gives real commandments warning about jealousy. I don’t have a quick fool-proof answer or solution for this perplexing issue of how not to be jealous, but I do know I want to be content – But perhaps God doesn’t ALWAYS want me to be content, otherwise how would I’ve stayed motivated? I don’t know the answers here –  And just like when we put on a sweater when we are cold, we seek out others when we are lonely, and we strive to be the best we can be… perhaps God says “OK, I will give you free will enough to motivate you to improve your lot in life as long as you are doing it for the right reasons… TO PLEASE ME…”

His Grace IS sufficient and it’s my job to show and to tell others that too… And if you improve your lot in life enough to help that cause, perhaps God says OK… Good works won’t get you into heaven, so since we are IN already (we hope), it’s time to spend time instead working the rest of HIS WILL – which is spreading the Good News, and improving the lot of the masses.

So I ask you Lord… if I strive for my desired plan and I pursue it, am I a sinner? Well, yeah, I am already a sinner; we all are sinners… that’s why Jesus came!!! But OK, but do I become an even GREATER sinner then?… So can I pick and choose my sin?

I don’t especially expect any answers here Lord… I don’t have wisdom that deep, but I do appreciate Your PEACE when you give it to me… So, I will try to be at peace at being a sinner, and I will use this burning sin question of mine  to depend on Jesus even more…. I WILL depend on asking YOU each time I become jealous of what I THINK I could be and what I THINK I deserve… If I decide to improve “my lot in life”, I will pray to ask “am I doing it soulfully for You and YOUR ultimate goal? Or am I doing it solely for me?”

I pray Lord, that sometimes we can get our goals to align, just like stars… I will pray to contribute greater to further YOUR will… and if it pleases YOU, then please make our desires mutual… Please let Us agree sometimes…

I LOVE you Lord, You know I do.

Thanks, and let’s get some more sleep, ok? Thanks for the chat, Lord… You rest up too ok?

PEACE

LOVE,

Your growing child.

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It’s 5:45am, what am I doing up so early on a Saturday? God says my Grace is sufficient for you and so is seven hours sleep, you got solid sleep, now wake up and let’s write….

The stars are so faint here in the offcast of city lights, but the planets shine… It was Venus who called me outside this crisp November morning, to see how it aligns with Mars and Jupiter… Perfect, straight and sharp…

And then I turn to see the Pleiades…. They are SO faint but I can find them. They are mini, they look like a mini dipper with half a handle… They twinkle…. Oh how faint they are and yet my eyes catch them twinkle as bright as a Christmas tree. My eyes have seen their light. Mine eyes have seen THE light. I know God blessed me and kindles a great FIRE in me for Him. I am YOUR child God, please shine me where I can do the most good for you.

God wants me and wants you to see HIS twinkle… The twinkling of God working in all things…

Ah, thanks God, that’s what you me to write about today…. I just wrote that twinkling part while leaning against my Subaru with its Pleiades logo of six stars, as I fancy being the seventh sister… And yes, I fancy that I personally twinkle with a different light, the LIGHT of Jesus shining thru my soul… I write to let you know that God loves YOU… That is a warmth I pray you all know. The warmth of Jesus in your heart and the clarity of Jesus in your mind.

Twinkling, 14NOV

God twinkling… God can come with the full force of nature, but God likes to make things twinkle, dabbling extra sparkles in all our lives. God puts the twinkle in our sight. God puts the twinkle in our eye. God loves us.

God shows us glimmers of hope when someone is awakening to the concept that they are worthy of God’s graces, they start to twinkle. God brings joy and peace to sorrow, brings LOVE and understanding, brings healing and hope, and brings salvation with forgiveness. We ARE forgiven when we forgive others and forgive ourselves. We have God in us to twinkle. We can shed light on others and give them hope. We can be the spark to light or relight the realization that God wants them to shine.

Staring at the stars, even when the city lights are too bright, you can watch the twinkle. Not only do we gaze upon this glorious display of light orchestrated and piercing the dark to reach our souls, we get to see the stars twinkle subtle and focussed… Light generated so long ago still being moved thru the universe, we are seeing the past because these stars are so far away. We see twinkles of explosive fires too faint to hear and feel with our other senses, but it is truly dazzling to our eyes… It will draw our focus.

We can focus, we can see twinkling in our favorite uplifting friends, they shimmer, they shine, their cups overflow with sparkles. Their smiles and their kindness kindles hope.

We can focus, we can try to see the twinkling still left in those down and out people when we look long enough and deep enough. We can tease apart thorns in jaded and frustrated folks and ask God to send some HOLY SPIRIT wind their way to light a FIRE to burn away some thorns. We can pray for them to stoke the FIRE of Jesus in their own hearts.

God wants me to show the FIRE in my soul, He wants me to focus the fire on His plan, He wants me to urge you to look for yours…

Because you are made of God’s Spirit, He can make you twinkle. He wants you to focus on your fire then get ready to shine.

If you have shined and burnt bright, keep your embers going, you now have the most intense heart, you have the most intense heat to light others.

Jesus burns bright, follow the internal LIGHT…

God loves YOU…

Jesus saves YOU…

Jesus brings YOU home forever…

God IS forever…

Twinkle…

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BE THE CHURCH, 12NOV

VBS scriptures still ring true…. Today as I put away 4-month-old VBS material I remembered that God provides, heals, forgives, gives eternal life, and comforts us…. But this is NOT JUST for us, He comforts us so that we can comfort others….

Initially my phone autocorrected to “He churches us so that we can comfort others…. And yeah, that’s true, God puts us in churches to help others. He “churches us” by surrounding us with HIS fellow children to help us and for us to help them.. “Be the church”…. I am NOT talking about the building but about church the faith community…. God wants us “churched” because as saved souls we are tasked to disciple all nations… Every week our blessed pastor always says “Go out and BE THE CHURCH.” And he means it! It’s because out there is where WE are needed, it’s where Jesus is needed! Our churching is not always for us to be fed, but for us to multiply the feeding… just like Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes… Turns out that the ones being fed by us will feed us back too. We are blessed always by sharing HIS LOVE.

See the bigger church in Jesus’s frame of mind is not the building at all, the church is the people under the steeple and outside the walls….

It is easier to BE THE CHURCH when you ALSO allow yourself to “be churched” by God. Unless you allow God to place you where you are supposed to be in HIS plan, it’s going to feel like fighting an uphill battle (you know ultimately God will win anyway)… once you feel comforted, once you feel searched, churched, and saved by God, then it’s time to go and be the church yourself… You were saved for God and HIS glory, not yours… It would behoove you to tell others of God’s power to provide, heal, comfort, forgive, and give eternal life…. Likely, you are already doing this! And you likely don’t have to reach much further then using your own God-given skills, and if you are questioning how to help God, well just ask Him… I betcha HE already knows what skills HE wants you to use. At minimum, it’s not a stretch to be your own witness to how God has blessed you… Yes, others will be able to see the genuine God-workings in you.

Being THE CHURCH also means feeding the masses, feeding their souls and taking the time and opportunity to heal wounds… And trying not to inflict new wounds… And yet we are human, we make mistakes. Well, God wants you to “go and sin no more”… God can help you on all this, because God is ALIVE and working on YOU. Perhaps others seeing you repair your human brokenness will be inspired to ask God to work on their brokenness too.

Jesus and the whole church as His bride, will come together, and oh – that will be the most glorious sound ever, I betcha ALL the bells will ring then. Grab your flowers… Hear the bells…

Remember that God loves YOU so very very much.

————-

PS… although you can witness and feel God’s love anywhere, I truly do believe it would behoove you to be in a physical church building-setting too (maybe a couple) with church people to help you be “churched”… because even though God works on you independently, having a net already set up will catch you both from falls and from overreaching leaps…. Personally when I started falling into Jesus’s arms and started tossing and tumbling in initial confusion, I turned to people who were already waiting with the net… My personal net wasn’t always in the worship service, but in front of the copy machine, in front of a repair shop, pushing a baby in a stroller, in discussions over sweet potato fries, in email chats, and even that day when I reached to my pastor it wasn’t over breaking bread and wine but pizza and birch beer…. So yes, “be churched” because Jesus can take care of you best with HIS woven net of family. Weave in for strength, then reach out to catch more fish. And those fish will continue to strengthen the net for all. I am ever BLESSED to be in GOD’S net.

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Media Christian – I am a Christian as a direct result of media…. Media Resources were/are preveniently conveniently placed so that I could realized how Jesus mediated God’s Grace…

Here is my devotion (I feel this amplification to my first “real” Christmas starting in me…):

Media Christian, 10Nov

Media at my fingertips, easy, accessible, freely shared…

Media of recorded sermons, God opened my ears,

Media of recorded music, God opened my heart,

Media of prevenient Facebook faith friends, God opened my eyes…

Media of biblical scholarly websites, God opened my brain…

Media-enabled email conversations, God opened my soul…

Media-enabled writing….

 

Writing

Writing

Writing…

 

Writing God…

Writing from my heart,

Writing to my brain,

Writing to warm my soul,

Writing to touch YOUR soul…

Media enabled God sharing thru email…

Media enabled God sharing thru blogs….

Media enabled God sharing Salvation thru one’s internalized Jesus…

Media Christian…

 

Christ a Media-tor for God.

Media me Jesus, mediate me…

 

ME-D-I-A Christian spelled out = Me, Debbie, I Am Christian

ME-D-I-A-T-O-R CHRIST = Me, Debbie, I Am Telling Of Risen Christ

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Soften Your Heart and Thrive, 07 NOV

“Women saved thru childbearing”… Paul could mean so many things in 1st Timothy, I can’t read Greek or Hebrew for my own slant, and I KNOW the customs of the time were very DIFFERENT…. But what does this Jesus baby (now a growing child) in my heart say to me TODAY about being saved thru childbirth?

Soften and Thrive, 07 NOV

In 1st Timothy, Apostle Paul wants this for women: “9 I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10 but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.”

Before we jump down Paul’s throat for such expectations of women being silent (and I highly doubt they were) at that ancient time and i am NOT going to go into those discussions in this piece, let’s also look at what Paul wants for men: “8 Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.”

Well, sure, what’s the chance of that? Men without anger? Even Jesus had anger towards men… Anger and strife is human… But anger towards God? No…. See Paul may have desired what God desires, men to be praising (regardless of thorns in their sides) and NOT take anger WITH GOD for one’s lot in life… Paul urges the raising ones hands in praise and surrendered belief that Jesus took the judgment consequences for us all. Men (ALL OF US these days) are to have no dispute with God – settle your anger, forgive each other, soften your heart to feel Jesus’s compassion and weep with HIS tears, just like the song states…

When we think of childbearing for women, we see (and I certainly felt) the giving of one’s whole body for the baby. Not just carrying the strain but physically and mentally, hormonally and nutritionally, all aspects of childbearing changes the whole body. Women saved thru childbirth also means that it is US bearing Jesus into and thru our hearts. (note: to read when Jesus was being born in me please see writing # 7, Christmas Eve Labor, 24 Dec)… I so felt this amazing change in my heart – and so bore Jesus thru my physical, mental, hormonal, and nutritional states… In body and spirit, Jesus was born anew in me from the seeds God placed into me, which he carefully watered. Then he sent the HOLY SPIRIT to DRIVE all the players into position – so that when HE flooded me with a Christmas Flood (writing #2, Christmas Flood), I was ready to give birth – with spiritual doctors and nursemaids aplenty… A baby Jesus, that i could no longer deny, was being born at the proper time in my life – at time when i was emotionally ready to raise and grow this child. I pray you have born or will bear Jesus when you are ready. Bearing Mary’s tears at the death of her son and weeping Jesus’s tears at his crucifixion will cleanse your soul.

Trust me that adorning oneself with a baby Jesus is beauty – not from gold or pearls or fancy clothes… Oh, there is no greater beauty then that which can been visualized when Jesus’s smile is on your face…

After childbearing, life-calling is not done… there is child-raising, Of course Jesus is not going to feed himself, he was a baby – He and all babies need to be cared for – nurtured, taught, and fed. A women’s work is not done at childbirth – NEVER done when all the world are God’s children. Truly BOTH men and women can begin this journey of raising God’s children in TODAY’S customs… Once born, Jesus in ALL men and women needs proper spiritual nutrition – less junk – more of a healthy diet that we can feed into our temple bodies and minds… Jesus will eek by with all our non-nutritive ways – but he will THRIVE when we feed him right. Because of Jesus’ growth we will THRIVE as well…

Babies (and especially baby Jesus) will soften your heart – babies will kick you mentally into surviving and thriving because you have to give yourself to raise them – and when you can compassionately give of yourself – the baby will grow and thrive… Yes, YOU can grow Jesus and not begrudge the situation – you can thrive because Jesus grows in you. You can weep with Jesus’s tears for compassion for the world when yours dry up – and YES Jesus’s Godly tears will fill your cup – from the inside. I hold my cup up, Lord, fill me up….

Soften your heart and Thrive…..

Amen

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“Soften my heart, Lord Soften my heart From all indifference Set me apart To feel your compassion To weep with your tears Come soften my heart, O Lord Soften my heart” Graham Kendrick

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1 Timothy 2 (NIV)

Instructions on Worship

2 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. 7 And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles.

8 Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. 9 I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10 but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 15 But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

291 Clarity of mind, balance of life…, 04 Nov

1John 4:4, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

So, yes I am ever blessed…. I had a sweet motorcycle ride today… only the fourth in my life, two when I was 18yrs old as a gullible college teen finding her new way in a big big world, and two recently, 28 yrs later, now established, now found, now assured of my place in the world, but trying to rise above…

It’s a balance between faith that you won’t get hurt and the thrill of life on the edge… And I mean that for BOTH riding the bike and loving life… Honestly, I knew and trusted the safe care of my wonderful generous friend (who knew I just needed to clear my mind that day)… I felt very little fear… I was likely more safe on that bike than some other thrill situations I could have put myself in… I was being taken care of the best I could be, and we rode a sweet fifteen minutes thru beautiful fall foliage over back roads, past flowing water, into the valleys, and warmed by the Sun… Yes, I went from initially gripping tightly for my life to soon feeling the balance. I was nestled on this massive (and new) Harley and my fear dissipated… but as ALWAYS my respect remained for I was being held in the balance of life by both the bike and by the firm hands of God’s faithfulness…. I do respectfully fear the Lord, I trust in HIM, and because of that, I found how (both in life and on the bike) I was able to loosen my gripping fear of death, relax and enjoyed the ride…. Life is for enjoying the ride…

With God, we will overcome. We will overcome this world and the evil ways of torment because God blesses our journeys when we walk with HIM… We have the One who overcame in our souls – that’s Jesus… Yes it is… Yes HE is… He is right there, homegrown in our hearts, ready to lead us home.

Clarity of mind and balance of life…We pray: Clarify for us, oh Lord, the path… Clarify your WILL… so that we can loosen our fear of this world and walk in line with your LIGHT. Clear the fog from our lines of sight Lord, to see ourselves – actually so that we can see YOU in us. To balance us Lord, we need YOU ahead of our steps, we need to rest our fears in YOUR precious gentle hands. We need to hear YOUR voice inside, please quiet the clamor… Oh our precious Lord, rise us above this world… when we overcome fear to find peace IN YOU, then we will know we are made OF YOU…

I will wait on YOU, Lord, and trust in your WILL. I will return myself back to YOU, and then I will be balanced and whole.

Amen

 

290 Fasting, #2, 01NOV

So, a couple friends asked me about fasting…. My.cousin in (a strong fit 70 yr old) told me that when you do yoga you should fast twice a month… So, I do it for BOTH health and spiritual reasons… And it really does help remind you NOT to do mindless eating… To be conscious on all thoughts… Last time I fasted (Sunday after Halloween excesses), I mindlessly grabbed and nibbled on something small not out of hunger but out of mindlessness and then a second later said, “WAIT! I am fasting today”…. And it clued me in that I wasn’t as focused as I thought… That subconscious emotionally eating happens in a flash.. Emotional eating is both for stress and for rewarding… Like I said before, I didn’t hate myself or my body, I just didn’t realize the damage I was doing mindlessly… now I realize to “treat my body like a temple”…. the real reason that I have a mind, that I exist, and I am happy is because of God’s graces. I rewarded myself with ice cream and snacks, sugared drinks just as much if not more than when I would do negative stress eating… Had a nearly a pint of ice cream after shoveling snow last year as a reward… That mindless arm to mouth motion… So yeah even now I am not perfect under control for mindless eating, but at least THIS time I grabbed a healthier option… This time I mindlessly ate a pack of tasty mustard… Free at the stores, and gives a feeling of a treat… A great tool when you feel that stress…

When you autonomously eat and act, you are not clued into the life you were gifted to have… When you break the fast, you should do it purposefully – this time I broke my fast by gratefully sitting with my family for dinner. I eat purposefully all the time now… Filling my body with good healthy stuff, and purposefully a treat on occasion, especially this birthday/Halloween week. So, you all know me… it’s not over the top for me to jump for joy in my life… The joy and praise I have is for GOD giving me the gift of a NEW LIFE, life is for living, life is for mindfulness, life is for praising…

Smiles…

(I could post a photo of the difference that nine months makes…. If one could have a baby in nine months, then one could certainly change your WHOLE life in nine months too! and God did that for me – thank you Lord!)

290 Fasting, 01NOV

Why am I fasting today? Um, I am not sure…. But it’s a combo of things…. Fasting from food to remember God, yes it’s a very valid reason, but honestly I can easily fast nowadays, so hmmm just doesn’t seem I have done enough sacrifice to serve the ALL in ALL magnitude of our majestic God, to feel the sacrifice of HIS son… I hope my fast is not diluted in meaning when also I fast from food for diet health because I certainly overdid the sugar treats this birthday and Halloween week (not excessive but still)…..

Yeah, probably the real reason I am fasting today is to simply to remind myself that I have been blessed to hunger for the Word instead of food… and that 100% is what factored into fifty pounds weight loss(to date), I just changed everything… Since I don’t hunger for food, now I get to place just the right body nourishing foods into my temple for God. So healthy food nourishes, therefore I think I need a better fast to focus on HIM in a way that helps me remember withdrawal and lacking and the suffering Jesus had… Maybe, just for one day, I should stay away from feeling happy for myself? Or maybe I should not internalize so many compliments I’m getting lately both for my writing and for my improved health? Maybe I should not be so proud of myself? Maybe I need to sacrifice doing things I enjoy? Hmmmm… Fasting from critique? Fasting from judgment? Fasting from self righteous thoughts? Do I need that? Yeah, I need to withdraw from feeding my head… I wonder if I need to witness that I am truly giving up something, that I am really sacrificing… What should it be, Lord??? How?….

Maybe I also need to fast from self pity, anger, frustration at my situation and other people’s situations…. WAIT…. NO…. Maybe withdrawal from stress is NOT what I should fast, but instead add extra prayer about it all…it’s really about asking Jesus to hold hands in stress AND in JOY… And of course what if these events are NOT for me to control? What if these are affirmations and challenges FROM God? From and through other people, who go out of their way to do or say complimentary things…. So yes, I have been blessed from God working in them… And they want to encourage me… Hmmmmm…. THIS complicates things because I can NOT fast from the works of people… Even if i escape the world, those people still would be there working to bless all I hold dear… Maybe just maybe… What if I’m not supposed to fast from feelings at all? Maybe am I supposed to feel ALL those feelings and use them ALL to remember that God is the one who will help me through the feelings, good and bad… Elation and sorrow… ALL in ALL…

Yes, God is the one who brings rich blessings… So to be enriched by others, joy and strife, it’s a gift, I am comforted and blessed to feel every feeling… praising HIS works… Today, I remember it’s God in me to do HIS works. I am made from God in spirit and flesh, HE wants all of me to work on FIRE for HIM. From dust (stardust) I came, and to dust I will return… Fire burns longest from solid fuel sources, and Jesus-fuel will never cease burning… GRACE has brought me safe thus far and Grace will bring me home…

Fasting or not, it’s God’s saving plan.. I’ll think about TODAY and EVERYDAY….

God’s AMAZING GRACE. God focuses everything and anything for HIS plan in my life…

I will NEVER fast from God

289

The Moon, 31OCT

If you have read my writing, you will know that the moon is following me. (Or am I following the moon?) And why did God place the one moon (with such a pondering face shape on it) JUST SO for me to fascinate about this year? NO, the moon IS the same beauty it has always been, I am the one who is DIFFERENT…

I woke up thankfully after a full eight hours needed rest, I rarely wake up to write at 230 am anymore, I know now that God was then telling me to wake up to talk to him and write it out. And now I talk to him comfortably, never ceasing, all day long, even when I say “OH GOD this is wrong for me to say or do”…. So I write this devotion now “just to write”, this Saturday morning, rested before an exciting day ahead…. no angst or bounding geyser ready to blow, I write in the peace and warmth of appreciating what I appreciate now.

So this moon…. it’s right perfectly there smack dab in my sight, photo attached. Lying here at 5am, I just woke up, tipped my head up and there’s that blinding bright moon looking at me… just like I saw outside last night coming home… just like always, tracking me. The moon gets my attention like no other, the Pleiades I have to search for, but not this moon!!! I notice it before I look for it…. I hear every song lyric about the moon sing special to my ears. So many many songs, no wonder that after I awoke with the help of music that I STILL have such an awesome soundtrack running thru my head… And alas, when the moon is gone for a few days I miss it, I truly do. I feel BLESSED to track it by sight and when it’s gone there is a void.

And that’s what I think I am supposed to write about this morning, the moon I notice fresh and new now, just like I newly notice Jesus now…

Jesus has ALWAYS been there for me, I just didn’t see HIM, i wasn’t looking either and I certainly didn’t track him… but HE WAS THERE… I am awake now and my appreciation is amplified SO MUCH. Jesus waited ever so patiently for me to notice HIS saving arms. God worked and worked HIS system shifting and blowing all the pieces together again and again – but I had to realize when it was my time to grab on to Jesus’s hand. Maybe I wasn’t sinking in the water because I was already embedded in the water – swimming sometimes, but often floating the dead man’s float, until I realized the presence of Jesus – He was patiently waiting for God to drift me His way. Jesus was in the ready postion, waiting to wake me.

So – now it is important for ALL of us to remember to walk by faith.  ALL who are now up and out of the water are now needing to stay ready…  We walk by FAITH and NOT by sight… We walk with Jesus. We need to close our eyes to suggestive distractions, and faithfully let Jesus lead.

Unlike the moon which clouds out of sight, Jesus can be IN sight and IN mind always, we have to stay awake, we only have to feel for Him in the dark.

So yeah, I see that moon this morning… and forever I will know that God sees me in times of comfort and conflict. I know God sends that moon for warm fuzzys and for stern warnings… Don’t stop noticing that moon! Don’t stop noticing God’s gifts! DON’T try to float on gifted grace that is not generated by your own self… DON’T try to take your own wings and fly so high (like in the”Mad Man Moon” Genesis song) and get so far away from Jesus’s grip…. DON’T go thru life on your own power. Hold Jesus’s hand, ALWAYS.

You are ALIVE because of God’s grace.

You are AWAKE because of Jesus’s death and return trip to and from earth to take you along WITH HIM.

You are SAVED to realize that you are saved THRU Jesus.

KEEP NOTICING…

KEEP THANKING GOD…

KEEP FEELING THE HOLY SPIRIT GUIDANCE…

KEEP NOTICING YOU ARE ALIVE IN JESUS…

KEEP JESUS ALIVE IN YOU…

288 Today, 27OCT

New to me scriptures are powerful and sweet… Just like, but on a smaller scale of course, new to me songs from my favorite artists… They are sweet treats…. And scripture from powerful teachers of God’s ways are gifts for salvation realization…

These Hebrews scriptures talk about “TODAY”, what are we going to do today? If you hear from God TODAY in any way then don’t harden your heart to it. I truly feel this means ANY sign from God… This means EVERYTHING… for everything good is from HIM. “12 For the word of God is alive and active”. …. “it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight….”

And although we look past TODAY to the future and our future rest that HIS work will bring in us, we must first work on TODAY for the blessings of all of God’s wishes for the collective WHOLE. Our work is to LOVE, to count blessings, to encourage others, to not tear down, to NOT harden our hearts when things don’t go our way… And don’t get pulled into sinful ways just because it’s a more attractive or easy path, just don’t do it…

“7 God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.”” “we are HIS house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.”

TODAY is the day to work towards our Lord’s goal of being in HIS house, it is then He will give us rest, eternal peace…

Amen and have a great TODAY !!!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

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Hebrews 3 (NIV)

Jesus Greater Than Moses

3 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.

Warning Against Unbelief

7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. 10 That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”

12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. 15 As has just been said:

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” 16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

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Hebrews 4

A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God

4 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. 3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

“So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” 5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”

6 Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, 7 God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

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PS – when this all started for me, I was so amazed and confused at why God was in my head so much – every single day (and privately I really thought I was going mentally ill)… And a friend said maybe I was in the movie “Groundhog Day”… well I think this scripture helps me remember that this year-long repeating “Groundhog Day” is actually called TODAY… and TODAY is another great day to praise God

TODAY was created to turn hearts towards God – TODAY was and is needed because there are so many who need it – to appreciate it – to find God in Today to find Rest in Tomorrow…

PRAISE EVERYDAY!

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A near midnight writing – minutes before my birthday – sitting and pondering around the campfire…

Believe, a Belief-Blessed Birthday, 24OCT

Well, Maureen O’hara has now passed away, beautiful lady, beautiful transformation in my all time favorite movie… Miracle on 34th street… This was a writing (below) when I was awakening, jan 4th, three weeks only after my first writing, still one month before I was done awakening and I was only realizing that I was going down the path of Doris (Maureen O’Hara) and Susie… that I was letting faith take over my life completely and I was telling myself to believe… I did not quite believe 100% yet, so I fondly look back now at how all this awakening cracked me open…. So blessed… I didn’t even realize that God was using all HIS resources to pull me into Jesus. I was about to be transformed. I stopped and questioned and that sped and smoothed the process. God said it’s ok to ask, God answered again and again.

And I thank you ALL for letting me naturally voice Jesus’s birth in me… I believe He was born in me and made me new even though I didn’t ever realize I wasn’t ok already. It may be my chronological birthday now, this strike of midnight, but I have been eating Jesus’s birthday cake all year this year. I pray to ALWAYS be HIS lighted birthday candle perched on a rock of HIS faithfulness, just like this pic from today’s hike 😉

SMILES and such TEARS of JOY because I believe in You Jesus, I believe YOU. I’m yours to keep now, forever. “Believe – it was and is that belief has to be there first – the rest follows – you have to believe – to have faith when common sense tells you not to… BELIEVE”

———- Forwarded message ———-

Date: Jan 4

Subject: Fwd: Miracle on 34th Street -I believe, I believe, its silly but I believe

I had this title for weeks – meant to get it written – but when the first sentence came to me – and it flowed – had to grab the computer and dump it out – no edits – but a little help from the web to get the right scripture lines – but 30 minutes top for this piece… figures that it is my favorite movie and this is my current pre-occupation in my brain – believe.

Miracle on 34th Street – I believe, I believe, it’s silly but I believe, 04JAN

My favorite movie – not just christmas movie – but all time movie – is Miracle on 34th Street. Not the ’70’s version, not the colorized version but the original 1947 version – Edwin Gwynn a Kris Kringle – Maureen O’Hara, Natalie Wood… and Fred Gailey (don’t remember his name – but wow what a catch!). yes my favorite movie of all time – ever since i was a teen…

Little Susie says “I believe, I believe, its silly but I believe”. She was talking about Santa Claus – but the movie goes much deeper than that – see Santa (Kris Kringle) was looking for belief in people – in everyone who didn’t believe – looking for hope to continue in his line of work – to continue hoping for the world. Fred was asking Doris (Maureen O’Hara) to believe – to believe in him – to believe in anything – she swore off fairy tales, swore off any belief in what she wasn’t in control of. she suffered from too much reality check – “should be realistic and completely truthful with our children and not have them growing up believing in a lot of legends and myths” … “And by filling them full of fairy tales they grow up considering life a fantasy instead of a reality.” Fred will work on Doris – Kris Kringle work on Susie too – together they can make this happen – it is a movie after all – together we will see how it all unfolds…

At the pinnacle of the movie – Doris is upset that Fred throws away his career by taking on the seemingly winless case of proving that Kris Kringle is indeed Santa Claus – the one and only Santa Claus… Fred urges her “Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to. It’s not just Kris that’s on trial. It’s everything he stands for. It’s kindness, joy, love, and all other intangibles.” “Someday, you’re going to find out that your way of facing this realistic world just doesn’t work. And when you do, don’t overlook those lovely intangibles. You’ll discover they’re the only things that are worthwhile.” Fast forward to Doris trying to reassure Susie that Mr Kringle will be ok – Doris is not sure she yet believes what she is telling her daughter – but Doris tells little susie that she has to have faith – Doris even adds to Susie’s letter that “I believe in you too” – win – Kris Kringle gets the letter and all the other dead letters at the postoffice and Fred wins the case – Kris is recognized by the federal government to be the “one and only santa claus” – win Susie has asked Mr Kringle for something big – bigger than a normal present – she asks for a house – those cape cod’s – similar to the jubilee that i live in today – quaint, quiet and family friendly… Susie expects Mr Kringle to deliver – big time – expects a miracle – expects that snap and she will have this house – puts it as a test to him… No – she doesn’t get it at the Christmas morning party – Doris has to say – “You must believe in Mr. Kringle and keep right on doing it. You must have faith in him.” … “you’ve still got to believe in people. I found that out.” “I believe. I believe. It’s silly but I believe” – Kris has orchestrated a car ride home with Fred – down a quaint quiet street – in a family neighborhood. “I believe. I believe. It’s silly but I believe” – Susie repeats and repeats – and then – oh snap! there it is – the house – on a quaint and quiet street – the perfect house – it’s for sale – its’s unlocked – with a swing in the back – win. Fred learns from Susie that Doris told her “Mommy said if things don’t turn out right at first, you’ve still got to believe. You were right Mommy!” – WIN – Doris to Fred “I never really doubted you. It was just my silly common sense.” WIN – BIG WIN. Kiss – realization that believing is seeing – believing came first – then seeing Kris Kringle’s cane in the house – hmmm…. Believe – it was and is that belief has to be there first – the rest follows – you have to believe – to have faith when common sense tells you not to… BELIEVE

 

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287

When i woke up from a very sound sleep, the chorus of “True Joy”, a song written by a dear friend, was running through my head at FULL volume…. Oh, was a great song to start my birthday – and fitting since in the middle of the chilly night my son and I redid our sleeping bags and put them together, so I woke with my sweet son warm inside my arms and the “True Joy” of God’s Son warming in my soul… So blessed… Thanks God for putting a tune to praising – it’s so easy to sing along… SMILES and THANKS And then later I saw there was quite the appropriate verse of the day too from Ephesians… nice… ———- Forwarded message ———-

From: Bible Gateway Date: Sun, Oct 25, Subject: Verse of the Day – October 25 Ephesians 5:19-20 NIV “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.”

285

Tending Others Gardens, 23OCT

Yeah, late night camping, can’t sleep… enjoying the weekend, been meaning to finish this one, and now I had a reminder… tenting in this chilly night… I am blessed…

“Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit”… This Simon and Garfunkel song sings “oh Lord…. I had tended my own garden much too long…”

The line is after asking why the Lord has forsaken the singer… I have tended my own garden speaks to me as an allusion that the singer has not tended to God’s garden and not felt God’s faithfulness. So this gives me pause to think about what we can give and what we can do for others….to love freely, to give what we can and to carry each other’s burdens… and like Jesus instructs with the Widow’s mite scripture, we are to give all that we can give… I don’t think you are forced to sell everything in this day and age, but sometimes it might be just as simple as a smile, or a kind word here and there.

You can ALWAYS share a smile, no strings attached.

So earlier this week my work sponsored volunteer day was at a local food bank distribution center sorting 11,000 pounds of meat with about 40 people… and the woman behind me (not from my company) had the most sour expression on her face all day long… I don’t know that’s probably just her, I don’t think she was complaining, she just had that expression… And when I would turn from sorting my pork products and talk to her at the beef station she would just answer me very succinctly, no extension of extra friendliness, nor desire to know me…that’s ok, even though I tend to just try to be friendly with everyone, I certainly know not everyone is like that.

Now, the woman in front of me was very friendly so we had a good time dancing to the music keeping our souls warm in meat packing 37 degree temperatures. That’s a nice connection to make, affirmation of smiles and silliness to pass the time in a fun way.

It’s cold tonight, I am tent camping again… Mid forties…. So I am thinking of a homeless guy, Mike, that I see when I drive on a main road… I open my window and say good morning because he is the most friendly guy ever, he does not ask for anything and he ALWAYS has a kind word…. I don’t reach out to him just because I want to feel good, that’s not the point, and I do not intend to boast of good works, I just want to say I appreciate his friendliness…. but sure, i do I feel good when he wishes me well… you’re better believe i smile when he says “you have a great smile” in a sweet way. Yesterday I stopped (yes it was safe and out in the open) and he said “I love your colorful shoes”, hey doesn’t every woman like it when someone praises their shoes, LOL… Mike always has a friendly kind word, gives me advice about eating well, about getting my car ready for winter. I dropped off a bag of clothes that another friend had given me and asked me to give directly to him because he wanted to see it goes directly to the people who needed it and Mile was so appreciative and he said something like “I have a friend for life”…. Now, granted our interactions are very short and he’s probably going to have to move on somewhere else in the deep winter…he’s not sure what he will do… I don’t have resources to help him, and he NEVER asks… i can give him advice but I can’t and don’t over give… Actually many people give him things because he is so friendly…. It’s not so simple to just hop into a shelter… He likes being on his own.

We have not much more than a friendly word exchange, no strings attached. Does it make my day??? you better believe that, it’s an awesome start to my commute to get a smile… I am not super needy for kind words, I am truly BLESSED… But it’s a reminder that kindness begets kindness no strings attached. Mike was first kind to me, he was tending to my section of God’s garden… He blesses me, not just vice versa.

I think it’s also a very good lesson for our children that we drive by and say “look there’s the nicest guy and he has almost nothing, we should be so grateful…”… yes this is an important lesson for our children… Please remember Mike in your prayers this chilly night, as I feel that his smile tends to multiply blessings thru our whole community every day…

Yes, let’s ALL tend to God’s garden, God is faithful, we should smile more to remind people…

Galatians 6:2 NIV “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

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Don’t worry about this mini diatribe post, it’s just me checking in with God… Thanks for letting me write this one out, I do feel much better now.. Luv ya all!

Pauses and praises for God.

Wasted? 18Oct

So, my son broke his video game screen, ugh, and since he forgot his kindle charger at a friend’s, it left him with NO ELECTRONIC DEVICES!!! YIKES! So guess what he brought out tonight?? His guitar, YAY, hasn’t played it for four months…. And even he asked his Dad to tune it for him, so double yay, and guess what he found in his guitar case lost since June? his glasses… Found… LOL, geez after four months, wow…. but it was just another reminder of more wasted money, because I got him new ones… Oh the endless examples of wasted money fleeing out of my hands this week/month, ugh….

And that time too… Time that he could be doing something else…. Grrr….. and then just think of all that time and money WE ALL waste, how wasteful… And I probably shouldn’t even be writing THIS, am I wasting my time? I am also choosing precious moments away from family time to process my head… Yes, should I even write this out? because I SHOULD be doing five thousand other things in my path… so WHY GOD? I know why, I am upset I don’t have control, from a great morning things went downhill, nothing horrible and still bright spots tonight, but still…. And I am now stilled, forced to write it out… I just don’t know why things get out of my control, probable because it’s not even my control, is it? Too many independent variables… Accumulated little things… And just now I blew my top at another just stopped working item…. Grrr…

I guess I could either complain to Facebook or complain to God….But I like to keep my Facebook posts cheery…. I should do that for God too, be cheery, but HE already knows my angst before I angst write it…. Sigh… So, yes, we do tend to waste our time, why? And waste our resources? Or are they wasted out of our control?

So let me ask YOU, God, this related question about Your resources…. What happens with non-believers? Today I had a discussion on purgatory as a myth, yesterday a friend asked for my take on whether everyone (all religions and not) goes to heaven or if JUST Christians do… And I thought: hmmm, well that is sad, isn’t that a waste? All those precious people God had created and only a few get thru the narrow path to get back to the garden ? Hmmm…. What happens to them God? Straight to hell? Compost their bodies and souls? Are there “get out of hell free” coupons? Of course I know Jesus IS the way… I live in Jesus’s lighted path because of God driving me gently right into Jesus’s loving arms… I understand now my place in the world as a child of God ONLY because of direct intervention by God… Lord knows I write only because of God pushing me. And I will make my way to heaven ONLY because I have to beg forgiveness for my past and future sins and 100% rely on ONLY Jesus to take me there… I KNOW I can’t get there by myself…

So, I really really don’t know if and when there is hope for the rest of the world who doesn’t get an opportunity to discover Jesus… If they don’t, are they wasted? Hmmm… Is it their fault? No it’s not their fault always… What happens to them, Lord? But I think we are left knowing that it IS an unknown… It really is… I don’t know what happens in those last few brief moments before death… Does Jesus show up in the nick of time in a death vision? Yes, I wish everyone could catch the Jesus train early, but many don’t. So does God have many rooms in his house so that people are in a “waiting room setting” until they get Jesus? I KNOW the bible says a day could be a thousand years? Yes, I KNOW, I KNOW, Jesus says only a few get thru… The path is narrow but it IS sure… But REALLY, is there ANY hope for those lost souls? I HOPE SO!

If God answers prayers, wouldn’t and shouldn’t my first and most deep intimate prayer be that ALL lost souls find Jesus? If I pray this, is that prayer like kinda cheating on the magic genie by asking for more wishes…. And yet, I do ask YOU God, can I still add a sticky note of names to Your long list in order to save each atheist that I love dearly? Can you save them a spot too, God? Maybe it won’t matter to me when I get to heaven? But it DOES matter to me now God, so what am I going to do???… What am I to do with such a short time myself here on earth with so many demands on my time? How Lord can I be most efficient in your commission?…  or am I JUST being a realist? Is it just normal for us who feel your saving grace to just be ok with being normal? I don’t know God, but it’s not my business to know, I do appreciate YOU letting me ask though…

I surely am not the first or last that a story would be repeated to make everyone saved… I thought WOW, God did this, I just want people to believe HIS power… But I know Lord, shake the sand off, shake the sand off… It’s a personal journey, there is fire that each soul needs to kindle itself… Shake your sandals so that you can keep walking… Grab your waking stick, grab your co-travellers and your sticky notes, get extra seeds from God’s pocket to keep planting along the way…

I may never know how efficient I am supposed to be, God knows my skill set and I ask him to let it grow. God knows where I am supposed to go. It’s not wasted time to think of my path… JUST checking in God… Ten months since my “Christmas Flood”, my birthday coming up soon, my first real Christmas just around the bend… I am just checking in… I know you are still holding me tighter than ever…

I know tomorrow it’s time to prepare for rain again, I best not delay… it’s time to go back out there, start walking, and LOVE…

Thanks for the pep talk Lord… Thanks, Luv Ya!

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PS – This was an over bubbling of angst and fear after little but big stressors of life – so much eating at me… I see the turn in my writing when God took my angst away and then changed what I was writing about! I didn’t mean to go where I went in this piece, but God refocused my mind away from my troubles, and thought about HIS troubles and I appreciate that refocus… It was a therapeutic cry, “downtime” in my hyperspeed faith journey… We did not have a Women’s Retreat this year and I missed it – but instead I have been blessed with mini-segments of the retreat that God lined up for me over the past month… From an extra hour of yapping after the UMW meeting last week, the evening with another friend couple weekends ago, the beautiful cross stitch devotion that a friend gave me, this camping trip Fri night with trusted friends – all true blessings… So much LOVE for me to soak in… I am HIS child rejuvenated; my cup was refilled with LOVE poured from others cups into mine…

So, yeah, remember to do the best that you can and just accept that you did the best that you could…. And take solace in praying for God’s help with everything you CAN do. ENJOY what you CAN do – don’t worry about what you can’t…

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This writing is dedicated to my friend Pastor “P”, I “pulled a Pastor P” and randomly prayed for someone…

How Strange How Random, 15Oct

I can’t be expected to understand most of the things God puts in my path, NO one could… There is no way to figure it all out… Understanding a couple things a day is a blessing… I understand that my weight loss and new found healthy initiative is not just about me, yes it’s a little for me, a lot for my family who depends on me, but a WHOLE lot for encouragement to everyone else to get inspired to get healthier… I get that God, I am happy complying on that one… I get easily three to five people a day who ask about it and I freely share my “secrets” to healthy eating, which aren’t really secrets… The bonus I get back is this nice stream of compliments… Even from a random grocery store shopper today, she loved my blue flowy dress, she’s a nurse and we chatted health and meditation and she complimented how healthy and happy I looked… God knows it feels good to hear those things, even though it’s God’s eye, not the human eye, that I am trying to please…

Anyways…. So what’s up with today, God? Random… Gas station guy in a Cadillac.. No cash, he seems frantic… picked me to ask for help, a more unusual event then the rest of the week combined… Something about him having no cash, had to pay a cash locksmith fee half a hour away, a golf ball setting off the security system, ADT fines, police fire fines, forgetting debit cards at office the other direction, and trying to prove to me that he was legit with this whole stack of credit cards and IDs… Whew!!!! And he’s trying to sell the place, just him and his wife and dog, and huh? I am a fast processor but this whateverness???

…. ME??? he randomly picked ME to ask in a gas station of bays of thirty cars? I AM patient God, therefore you must have picked me for him, picked me to listen and understand, I get that, God… Money? did I have ten or twenty dollars? I don’t care if you are driving a Cadillac, have Donald Trump hair and stylish clothes, that’s not my nature (I am not stupid) to give out money… Which I told him, and I had none… But I did listen for clarity, I just tried to understand and work thru his dilemma WITH him for three minutes, THAT I could give… Just a little of my time is free (don’t tell my boss)… Clarity, oh!!!…. Three minutes later he reworded and it clicked in my head, he would pay for my gas fill up and I would get the cash from the ATM… Oh that computes in my brain… Oh that’s okay… I processed that it was safe to do that… So he pumped 25 bucks of gas into my car, and YES my car was completely locked and safe and I walked into the convenience store and got out 25 bucks. Ok, no harm no foul (i think… unless he wasn’t supposed to have cash – I hope I didn’t enable something wrong)

Then as I walked out, I thought ‘you know? either way I should pull a “Pierre” and ask to pray for him!’… Pierre is a friend Pastor that is thrilled to run up to random people and ask if he can pray for them… so that’s what I did… I figured he could always say no but he said YES… so as he’s getting back in his car, I said: “Kevin, I am asking God to just fix and do whatever he can do for you, whatever it is, and see him thru his challenges”. It was the most random discombobulated jumbled prayer I have ever blurted out… but I know God got the meaning and Kevin smiled and then went on his way. He probably thought I was nuts (which I am) but I bet I wasn’t any more random than he was… because God has random things for us to do… They are random whateverness, in our minds, but God figures it all out. The last thing, before Kevin sped off, I said “oh thanks for pumping my gas”… See, I really don’t like to put my own gas so my hands don’t get stinky… I can do it no problem but I don’t like the smell of gas on my hand and if I can get full service I do… and this one time I forgot to fill up at home at the full service was already thinking I have to pump my own gas, ugh…. So randomly some guy pumped gas for me today…hmmm… “Well, THANKS God”… I’ll take that as a side benefit for today randomness whateverness…. God only knows… Only God…

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Second of my “devotions-ponderings” to God after GS camping and our 7.7 mile amazing hiking trip to see 22 amazing waterfalls…what a blessing to have a God-gifted increased energy to power thru a long hike as well as gifted vision to delight in the many natural LOVE displays of the Lord!

Church is My Nature, 14Oct

There was a plethora of nature lovers on our 7.7 mile 5 hr hike in a glen with 22 beautiful waterfalls. My GS leader, fellow camp mom and I were able to mentor to the teen girls both allowing the freedom to leisurely appreciate brilliant nature displays and also learn important safe hiking skills (like shimmying over logs and navigating precarious terrain). Over the course of the evenly paced five hour hike, I appreciated SO MANY people out and about on this crisp fall day.

Since our troop is based out of a Christian school, it is acceptable for us to mention the beauty of nature as God’s masterpiece, and that it’s our appreciation and our consciousness of the world that if truly a gift from God… These free associations organically bubble out… One scout, who is also a VBS volunteer, spoke out of the pureness of her heart when she saw a dazzling red leaf glimmering in the sun and said it’s “just like Jesus’s LIGHT shining”.

On the hike our leader noticed a hikers t-shirt which boldly stated “Nature is my Church”, and we could really appreciate that and we discussed how we are blessed to see all of God’s hand at work in this dazzling display of nature’s power and peacefulness. We called out to praise the rocks and trees, the water and the beautiful maturing young ladies with us.

All thru our appreciation hike, we were continually interacting with our fellow hikers… taking their photos, petting their dogs, and conversing of the beauty all around. I LOVE alone time but I REALLY LOVE connecting with others time…. “words with strangers”… I love to offer to take photos for couples and those group selfie attempts… “SMILE”… After I bounded up one rocky section I needed to rest and there was a group wanting to shimmy out on a ledge for a photo, but the woman had a backpack with two puppies and so I offered to hold the puppies (and catch my breath). I am a bit afraid of dogs (I’ve been bit) and there were SO MANY dogs, but one of the changes God has made in me this last year is that I am so less afraid of dogs.. And aren’t puppies God’s gift to sneak dogs into my heart (just like a sweet baby born at Christmas grew inside of me). Well, holding two puppies tucked inside a backpack, it certainly felt like Christmas!!! I felt like Santa with a dozen teen girls gaga over petting cute puppies, I was warmed immeasurably with this love and life in my arms… A gift of puppy love… The hikers thanked me, but I REALLY thanked them for an opportunity to cradle God’s Love in the form of squirming nature come to life…

So, for that t-shirt that says “Nature is my Church”? well, I want a reverse worded shirt, instead… I want a shirt that says: “Church is my Nature” because I am blessed to be part share in this live action (love action) expansion of God’s LOVE in “BEING THE CHURCH”. When I partake in sharing myself freely, oh how I gain a thousand fold back. I gain an eternally blessed feeling when I reach out to expand God’s church by walking the walk of faith, trust, generosity and partaking WITH OTHERS.

“GO AND BE THE CHURCH” my pastor always says, and He means it… We are built as temples for God… we are to have Jesus as the cornerstone… we are collectively filled with spirit as “the church”. And so church should be our nature… church should be us reaching out filled with spirit that lifts us up then spills out of us… We pray to have our cups over-filled by the spirit to be forced to spill it out to others… Encouragement with SMILES, understanding with compassion, and comfort-giving with shared tears. BE the church by your nature because Jesus showed us how. Jesus showed us how to BE. Enable yourself to “Be the Church” by refilling your soul often… Look around you and not JUST see but take in glorious nature…. search for the beauty and appreciation in all things, especially others around you, be a treasure hunter, and realize ALL IN ALL that YOU TOO are part of God’s intended immense beauty… And SMILE… Smile, because God loves YOU because God lives IN you.

“Smile God, Smile”, we are taking a picture of YOU.

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Ephesians 2:20-22 (NIV) 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

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Long drive Friday night in the pouring rain but SO worth it!! I drove three scouts, including one whom I had in my car that ice storm January morning when God’s GRACE was so ever clearly keeping us safe…

This was an amazing camping trip, fifteen of us total…a dozen 14yr old cadettes, 3 moms. Amazing waterfalls, amazing nature. Here’s devotion #1 written Saturday early morning…

FOCUS… GOD… WARMTH… GRACE…. 10 Oct

Camping in the mountains, crisp air, God everywhere.

Walked in the stars at 430am wide awake because my girl scout leader – sister mom came back to our tent after a check on a camper and said: “Debbie, YOU have to go see the stars!!!!!” Of course I knew it would be the best viewing ever, no light pollution in pitch black at 2400 feet!!! The beauty and brightness so intense.. The Pleiades, I saw the Pleiades finally, they were at the zenith, I saw the best you could ever see by eye… Plus detailed star studded Orion, Taurus, and the Milky Way…. I didn’t feel the urge to do anything else at that moment, I just stood there in PEACE… I stood there in the presence of God. I was in God with God, not admiring His works from afar, but embedded in PEACE, embedded in the FOCUS of ALL creation… Through the tall trees whipping in the wind, the pitch black darkness gave way to the closest I have ever been to the stars… it was as if there were poked holes in a moonless black sky making brilliant crisp spotlights. Good God, how blessed to see and feel the shining of all creation, one star, one creation just as brilliant as the rest… When you have been gifted the vision of God sightings, WOW, it’s seeing EVERYTHING as FROM God and OF God!

No, I didn’t feel I needed to write about the stars at that moment – because I humbly lived that in the moment…. Actually I really really felt the need to write a piece flooded into my brain about something else… this toasty blessed hand warmer… This warmth which gifted me FOCUS … and I have to write how God’s warm love gives focus….

Yes, warmth in my hand focusing me away from the upper 30’s chill at 430 am… yes I am still holding this hot pad now… it’s 8 am, camp just barely starting to stir (late but well yeah, at 1:30am we realized we should go to bed… even the dozen teenagers went to bed before us 3 silly scout moms yapping around the campfire). Cold night, wind whipping a massive cold front of thunderstorms and brilliant lightning, which had made our three hour trip into four and oh that clogged Friday getaway traffic, ugh… But we made it safe, made it 2400ft up in the desolate mountains, temperatures rapidly dropping, and what’s did we see? SNOW?…. Yes SNOW flurries and chunks shooting down, above freezing degrees but SNOW… in early October?? Well I said “Thanks God, Hello to You too!”… ” You know that I LOVE your show of SNOW kisses”… Yes it was just enough snow as God said “I love you, my child”. Smiles God, smiles.

Warm in the focus on God… This gifted hot pack from my sister scout mom gave me focus to forget the upper 30’s tent camping and rush outside for the star show of my dreams… Well, 430am the snow blown away and so the stars came out to play!!! The focus of a hand warmer is EXACTLY like the focus on God… God warming my heart takes away the angst and the uncertainty in the moment. The stressors don’t go away, but focusing on God gives me strength, gives me motivation, gives me warmth, gives me the freedom to live. Your gift and my gift from God – IS God. You have meaning, you have focus, you have oneness, you have existence in this world to just BE. BE WITH GOD. If the world is collapsing in you, but you focus on God, you will find God there to hold you in LOVE.

We have been graced LIFE, therefore we are made of God’s warm LOVE, made for God… He wants us to be HIS gift to the world, to display HIS fruit, to tell of His ways… Tell how HE has made us who we are… Tell the cold world how we feel HIS warmth when we realize we are HIS.

Thanks for the Focus, Oh God. Focus on You, God.

PS… after writing this Sat morning, well Sunday morning was a repeat performance of brilliant stars. Pleiades again, hot pad focus on warmth again, God at work always… BUT this time, with a teachable moment shared with those three scouts WIDE AWAKE at 430am… Time to ponder is a gift, time to teach a gift as we made out Taurus’ face and Orion’s bow so clearly… Oh, just then a tiny shooting star caught just in time in our focus, sweet… God shared it with all these girls, including Grace… He shared that moment with me – just like he shares equally beautiful moments with each of us… Oh these gifted moments of FOCUS… Stars in the sky and the beauty of natural curiosity… Oh these gifts from God to focus on… Oh how blessed we truly are…

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Nothing earth shattering here… Just enjoying writing how fun God can be…. I like to embrace the silliness of life A LOT, as you know … Nerdy Fun for Friday… Perhaps numbers show up like this for you too… I am NOT into numerology; I just like numbers and math.

Silly numbers, 08Oct

Fun silly little numbers, they make me smile… When I was a kid and still today my parents live at 403 as their house number… That number came up in various places growing, so of course it was fun when my mother noticed that my then boyfriend had a license plate with 403 on it, lots of silly appearances… and now even my father’s prepaid cemetery plot number is randomly, you guessed it, number 403 !

I’ve always liked the number 25, born on Oct 25th… 25 is a cool number because after October 25th comes November 25th near Thanksgiving time and of course December 25th for Christmas! Three fabulous months in a row in my favorite fall season… and so I always play 25 at the raffles, and of course money is divided into quarters… So what’s my house number? not 25… but 52… Yeah reverse 25 is 52, I didn’t think about that much until recently when now the number 52 started popping up ALL OVER the place… Now, if you take it one step further and add the numbers, 52 as 5 + 2 equals 7, so yes 25 or 2 + 5 = 7… yes 403 added together = 7… my kids each have birthdays on the 29th, and 9 – 2 = 7…. yup yup… and 7 is one of EVERYONE’S lucky numbers…. And when I started my blog as “Debbie Upper” apparently it was common enough that they assigned a number to it, yup 7, I am “Debbie.Upper.7”. The Pleiades constellation (Subaru symbol) are the seven sisters of mythology… There’s six on the emblem (maybe I am star number seven)…

God loves numbers…. Nature is full of geometric repeating and consistent patterns. “Donald Duck in Mathemagic Land” can be found as a YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_ZHsk0-eF0 – I wrote about this before) and there are so many amazing mathematical descriptions of nature from the golden rule to natural spirals to geometric crystals for metals (pure solid elemental metals can form perfect cubes, even pentagram-like… I grew perfect salt crystal cubes in grad school in an evaporating stock solution, cool). Then there are the symmetrical snowflakes, leaf and flower patterns, etc. The Mandelbrot set and lots of really cool fractals can even be used to describe repeating nature mathematics…

God loves math.. God loves numbers. Yeah, so OK, even in nature God does bend the rules at times, and not every mathematical rule holds true for every creature that exists… We probably just haven’t “figured” it out yet… Even Plato tried to figure it all out, but it’s tough for humans to describe everything we DON’T understand… (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/blogs/physics/2011/12/beautiful-losers-platos-geometry-of-elements/ ).

We think we can bend God’s rules sometimes too – but quickly God catches on…. and God is the best one at changing your life up for you, when you haven’t “figured” it out yet…

So, numbers…. cool God… Thanks God for giving us nerdy people some extra fun… We all often say we are lucky… but in actuality we are all truly BLESSED… luck “probably” has nothing to do with it… God’s watching and waiting to see how we catch onto his plans – i think i am very very lucky to notice what God lets me see… I will still strive to invoke my internal lucky leprechaun status… Lucky? I mean BLESSED..

“Figured” it out, finally…

PS – follow up Nov 4th – You know, God is cute sometimes… In addition to me seeing the number 52 about five times in a 24hour period: at the gas station, the time of day, all over Facebook, etc… I was reminded by my “52” trash cans that when inverted read 25… Yeah – not only are they reverse numbers, they are of right symmetry when you invert them they say each other… Silly God, silly… Thanks for the smile, God.

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The devil may put doubt in my mind, but it’s God who gives me precious pause…. discernment between those two is vitally important… God gives pause for us to listen, learn and grow. Pause is prayer time to ponder – to enter a transient transition state – to get back to a time where God can mold us… return us to a child of God… it takes time and we are to be patient with what God is trying to teach us…

And so this essay grew out of a healthy faith conversation – a discussion about the importance of “Regenerating Our Faith”. These thoughts populated my brain this morning as i got into my tabernacle Subaru – my brain connected them to the thought of “a quiescent center” – a place in plants where the generation of new growth occurs – the “meristematic zone”. I haven’t thought about that word in about ten years, it just now popped into my head.

Quiescent, 05Oct

Yes, God and botanical lesson here: the tips of the growing regions of plants are meristems – they are a collection of cells which are undifferentiated until acted upon by internal and external factors. This region is called a Quiescent Center and has the potential to grow into anything (roots, shoots, flowers) when acted upon by clues (hormones and protein growth factors). In the laboratory, in plant tissue culture, you can take pieces of certain plants and put them into proper nutritive culture conditions and you can return to growth of undifferentiated cells… Differentiated somatic cells still have all the genetic material needed to regenerate a whole plant. This regeneration of cellular material is not JUST to bring a similar leaf back from a leafy tissue – it is potential to bring back the WHOLE plant from one cell’s growth… that’s the SAME with God…

To regenerate our faith, we really want to ask God to bring us back to a place where we can grow into anything. We don’t just bring our faith back into where our faith was before – instead we ask God to bring our faith to a NEW elevated state – we want a “God-determined” level of faith.

The quiescent meristem is not truly a quiet place. Sure you cannot visually see what is going on in those cells, but internally they’re working really really hard – new proteins – new RNA molecules to direct the development – within each cell it’s setting up a whole new potential life – and the cells will work together to create a new tissue…

The quiescent core of a soul is not truly a quiet place – you can not visually see what is going on in another’s soul – you may feel it in your own though. And God is working internally there – working really really hard. God is setting up a whole new potential life for you – for Him. This work becomes easier if we try to rest our lives in God’s truths. God wants us to ask Him to do this work…

What we can become depends on us asking God to restore our wholeness with Him and looking to Him to point us in the right path.

Quiescence may infer quiet but it’s not quiet time… God wants us to “Be Still” and know that He is God, He is doing the work. Quite often we rush. We can’t see the work, but it’s happening.

God knows He has flooded me with so many blessings that I don’t know what to do with all I have gained…. And yet, I keep saying: “What’s next God? What’s next?” So yes, we (and especially I) should be patient because the places where I’m petitioning God to work is EXACTLY where I must learn to realize that He IS working, and He needs the time that He needs… He will take my challenge zones and will regenerate them into quiescent centers. He will redo me from the inside out and He will need to line up the internal and external signals to make it all work for the best for HIS Wholeness and Holiness … it’s HIS timing not ours. Wait upon the Lord.

So yes, Lord, I shall be patient. I will know that you are faithfully working on every single situation. I will not doubt what I cannot see. I will praise when I see small steps taking your direction. I will watch you work and learn how you do it… and I will wait upon YOU and your quiescent ways and I will learn to keep my faith even stronger, because you are an ALL powerful God.

I believe in YOU forever.

Amen

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PS – an email reply from my Pastor – Yeah, it’s no accident that Pastor and I walk together…. God’s plan plays out… I love watching God at work….

From my Pastor: “It’s very interesting that all you had to say and the share is what has been on my mind and in my devotions lately. The whole topic of Regeneration. Just today I’ve been thinking about Regeneration, Degeneration and Generations in light of conversations about the state of the church, lackluster attendance or wet blanket apathy. To be like a child means surrendering a lot of self and allowing God to grow us into the likeness of our brother Jesus. It has to be taught to the generations. Too many other things want to do the teaching and human nature prefers the dark even though it knows the Light, and when it opts for the dark, degeneration takes place. Holy Spirit and Spirit touched people keep shining the light into the darkness.”

And my reply to my Pastor: It’s NO accident – there is NO WAY any of this is a coincidence…. it is so clear to me that God has aligned us like stars in his universe – you me and the rest – for how long I don’t know…

and yes – LIGHT is what is being shined on strong right now – but people have to realize it – and it’s not easy to do that when they are blinded by the glitz and glamour out there – honestly yes, it’s easier for people to follow the dark that they know and the easy road away from the light than to face themselves in the light of God – one has to be ready to face the dark corners of their own lives that they KNOW God is looking at – it’s easier to run than to stand and be inspected… but I pray God will be gentle – I know HE will…if God isn’t forgiving then i don’t know who is!

I have myself experienced an interesting phenomenon:  A REGENERATION – I say and feel like I am getting younger – younger AND wiser… but yeah – it’s amazing to me how humans are human and will look at surface things and not take enough time to think to go deeper. Some folks forget to stoke their own spiritual fires and thus forget to stoke everyone else’s too – it’s that “soul on fire” song – it’s about re-kindling – re-generating – re-invigorating – yes – that means giving up what we know to an unknown – but wow I can attest that this unknown is amazingly filled with JOY.

As for the destructive forces at work, well if I am calling myself a “child of God” then I feel this pull to being a PEACEMAKER – I strive to encourage peace – I took a personality test once and it said my career should be an academic dean – in other words a peacemaker – it hurts to sometimes get caught in the middle but I remember that I have nothing to lose IF I give it ALL to God…

PEACE

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Some of my conversions make it into my essays…. today’s was a prime example… I really have been blessed to have opportunities to share my faith EVERYDAY… This essay started as a text message to someone about eating oatmeal, and general health… and because of my mindset of praising lately and giving both the praising and the eating up to God combined with my pastor’s Sunday message today, this essay flooded into my brain and out my fingers.. A connection between healthy eating and healthy praising – do them because you’re supposed to… And you will be blessed by both!

Pastor’s sermon was a great message today about God providing, and about us giving our testimony of how God had provided for us… I listened to it twice…. the first time in a traditional nice quiet moving service and the second time in contemporary nice loud moving service… (I like them both… And, speaking of God providing, I was pleased to have the freedom and the time to sit and smile in the traditional service, and I also was pleased to have the freedom and the time AND THE GUTS to sing crazy loud with the praise band music like no one was listening, and beebop praise dance like no one was watching, LOL). Not everyone will understand one’s ability to praise in their own crazy and sometime seemingly over the top way… some may even think it’s boasting… But God knows what’s in your heart and will likely correct you anyway… Therefore, praise as thoughtfully as you can… (Eat as thoughtfully as you can too…)

Anyway, I had to write this essay in one of those “Oh! Write that down!” moments… My whole deal with my testimony for my weight loss is that it never crossed my mind that when I made my healthy diet changes that the weight would come off… I’m more shocked than anyone, and sure the weight appears to have melted off, if you haven’t seen me in a while, but actually it’s been a very safe gradual process… No crash diets, listen to your body… Healthy eating, healthy praising…

Here’s the piece:

Healthy Eating, Healthy Praising, 04 Oct

Eating healthy is just like praising God…. Both are done for the sake of doing the right thing…. You are supposed to do it…. You are to eat healthier because it’s the right thing to do. You are to praise God because it’s the right thing to do. Guess what?

Eat healthy, we all know that, yet we fail to at times. Praise God, we all know that, yet we fail to at times. We are to praise God for everything, everything good and bad. We are not supposed to understand everything but understand that God has it all in His plan.

We are not supposed to eat healthy just for the sole purpose of losing weight, NOPE, we are supposed to eat healthier because it’s what are bodies were made for, it’s because God said our bodies are temples FOR GOD, treat them right (no crash diets – do what is sustainable!). Our minds, bodies, souls and words are NOT for us to revel and luxuriate in, but for GOD TO USE as mouthpieces to let us tell of HIS faithfulness, and how HIS fruitful blessings have taken ahold in our lives. We are not supposed to approach God with the sole/soul purpose of begging for favors, we are supposed to praise God because it’s the right thing to do. This may sound so simplified, but for me it’s the TRUTH… How I have seen the blessings when I praise!!!

When you eat healthier, oh my gosh, you all the sudden realize the great benefits to your body… perhaps you’ll even lose weight. No crisis needed, when you praise God, and simply TALK TO HIM about everything, oh my gosh, you all the sudden realize the great benefits to your LIFE… perhaps you will gain endless blessings. This may sound so simplified, but for me it’s the TRUTH…

By hearing testimony from those who just survived a horrific plane crash or building fire, the first thing they say is “Thank God! God was looking over me” they don’t say “God how could you do such a thing, letting my house burn”, NO!!! the first thing out of their mouthpieces are “Thank God I’m alive”. They praise, God kept them alive. We should do that too.

So let’s all pause to praise today…. God is the”All in All”… When 7 rare wild turkeys walked by me today in the middle of a conversation with a friend about healthy eating, I took it as a reminder that you never know what is coming in life, so just praise it either way. Maybe you can put it together and you figure out that God has a plan for everything… Maybe you can’t figure it out, but know God has a plan anyway.

Whether you look at the turkeys in life (often a paraphrase for not so good things) as a RARE blessing or a disastrous dud, praise the turkeys either way…. God put the good, bad and the ugly in your life for a reason, walks them right in front of you to teach you something…. I know this to be the truth…. So ask God: “Why?”… “What lesson am I suppose to learn here?” “Why are there thorns on the roses?” Well, take time to praise the thorns as well as the roses.

THANKS GOD, and I will continue to pause, praise and ponder…. I say thank you with healthy praising because it’s the right thing to do!

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Health and Peace, OCT 1

So, it’s the sweet graces that counteract the sour grapes always… God making the day sweet and worthwhile… To counteract one person’s potentially hurtful mis-understanding about my “healthkick”, I was blessed with 75 praises via Facebook…. Then the phone rang at work today and I had the most awesome conversation with a computer software saleswoman about HER health, blood pressure and getting in shape, God is good!!!! We are the same age… I encouraged her, made some suggestions, especially about oatmeal, extra protein and walking…. it was a good five minute discussion, and we exchanged text numbers to continue discussion and I sent her the yoga YouTube link….

My health corrective action is not just about me, I knew that, and I continue to be encouraged to encourage and share “tricks of the trade” with others…. Healthy sustainable changes… Changes for LIFE.

Just like Paul says…. In everything, petition God for HIS will and HE will protect you from sour grapes, HE guard your heart (and it’s ok to share your heart) and He bring you PEACE.

Philippians 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

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I awoke 430am, Why God?… So after looking up the verse of the day, I took the verses adjacent, John 3:6 and 8, those spoke to me…

It’s about letting the SPIRIT move you, about getting yourself out of the way… My writing was done on half an hour, but when God causes me to become immediately sleepy and pause before emailing it out, I know he hasn’t finished the piece…

I slept over it and woke up to a dream where I was in church and the next brand new song was “The Evil of Stades”… Stades? What are stades? I only remember the statement, sitting there in my blue dress, and sitting back into the pew to absorb the song, but that’s when I woke up… “Stades”? NO CLUE… Google says a “stade” is the original footrace of the Olympics, one lap, and is the origin of the word stadium… and so by teaching me this new word in a dream, I think God is trying to warn me and thus I warn us about the evil of stades, the evil of running in circles… don’t run in circles instead run ahead, look forward and not back, plow ahead… keep running God’s race and let the SPIRIT take you… and now I can send my written piece, God finished it:

Let the SPIRIT move you, 29Sept

John 3 (verses before the famous 16) details that this pivotal set up to the famous 3:16-17 is a conversation not with a tried and true disciple, but with an outside Pharisee, Nicodemis, seeking his own truth… Jesus answered: “6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the SPIRIT gives birth to SPIRIT…”  and “8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

So you don’t have to know where you are going… (I don’t know where I am going either, but I am going to enjoy the ride)…
So, if you have been born of the SPIRIT thru Jesus, and thus committed yourself to follow God thru Jesus’ teachings, then you got to this place by a path that the SPIRIT blessed you with and you should not expect to know where the SPIRIT will take you next….
So you have to give up your preconceived notions and you must listen to the wind…. You must listen to the SPIRIT as life is blown your way… You can’t just say “Thanks for the boost God, I see where I am going now, see ya later”… No, you have to say: “Take me SPIRIT, where are WE going now?”

Sondheim lyrics from my favorite “Sunday in the Park with George” musical: Bernadette Peters sings to a troubled and mental roadblocked out-of-ideas George (Mandy Patinkin): “Stop worrying where you’re going – Move on… If you can know where you’re going – You’ve gone…. Just keep moving on…”

My pastor and I discussed many times, early on, about getting one’s self out of the way… About Naaman allowing himself to go with God – to fall completely into the water which cleansed him of his leprosy… His spots are our current day remaining bits of self – those things – those parts of our life that we have not yet let the SPIRIT take a hold of… Those are vestiges of identity in us NOT shown thru the Jesus in our hearts … Whether we have been Christian for 8 months or 800 months, there are still little bits of self that impede our way, get us hung up, snag our steps, and get us in trouble… We have to learn from them… It’s not unexpected, it’s human, we are still journeying, we know to follow the LIGHT, but we must still walk there – one step at a time…

So stop worrying where you are going – get yourself out if the way – and let the SPIRIT take you…. Ask the SPIRIT to blow you, but make sure you funnel the wind thru the sails of Jesus holding you up… Don’t forget that we are going to be standing in front of God as who we are – but we stand there saved only because of Jesus saving us…

Did you ever think God may have better plans for your life than your own plans?

If God gives you skills, then use them for His glory – whether you understand it or not. If God plans for you to reach others then DON’T question who He puts in your path, learn… ALWAYS learn… God put the thorns on the roses to protect the flowers for the world to see their beauty… The thorns are there to warn you… To say “Don’t touch; Don’t mess with this beautiful creation”… God plans are for the rose to have time to bloom without a creature eating it’s delicious delicate bud.

So take a step back to ponder how God beautifies this world, then let’s the thorns protect that beauty from our plans to take the roses for just ourselves… God says let the world see the rose bloom, be patient for God’s plan.

Let the SPIRIT move you. Let God have the control… He has a plan… Go with HIS plan and run God’s race… Look forward… Plow straight.

“8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

————–

PS

Figures God would laugh at me thinking my piece was done and so I was thinking about round grapes, and being fruitful branches for God and I realized my music was stuck on the song “Roundabout” by YES. The best full circle God has made realize in awhile…. instead of “the evil of stades” (or the “evil of going in circles”) perhaps the song in my dream I was supposed to hear the band play was Roundabout, LOL… Enjoy… Thanks God, Beautiful!

Watch “Yes – Roundabout” on YouTube
https://youtu.be/-Tdu4uKSZ3M

Roundabout, YES
“I’ll be the roundabout
The words will make you out ‘n’ out
I spend the day your way
Call it morning driving thru the sound and in and out the valley…..”

---

PPS

Email:

On Sep 29, “H” wrote:

I can’t remember where I was or what I was doing (scary…. especially since it was this past weekend) BUT, I had a discussion with God about the people he has put in my path and what my role is.  Wish I could remember more, but anyway your writing hit home with me.  Thanks,

Reply:

Awesome….. was just listening to a Billy Joel song that says home to “be the Pennsylvania Turnpike” and I believe home is wherever we are when we have God in our hearts and amazing people in our lives….thanks for being one of them!

D

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A POPE MEMORY, 29Sept

These are great videos on the Vatican youtube channel to play in the background while I work – the music is SO beautiful – and there is NO COMMENTARY like you would have on mass media silly TV – no interruption of commercials etc – it’s just live feed video – so you can fast forward, pause etc…  i always said i would never go back in time…  and I left my Catholic church upbringing for multiple GOOD reasons (no offense intended) – and so I don’t feel nostalgic at all, but the music in these videos IS very comforting and I have a true appreciation now that I never had – appreciation as a child with the TRUE JOY from following God into Jesus’s arms into God’s eternal life brings – and I am so blessed to be touched by the optimistic enthusiasm of all the people who are so excited in these videos….  its kinda like music that you don’t understand in Latin and in Spanish that allows your mind to wander into yourself and into your faith – almost like a Quaker service – where you return to center in yourself….  nice to have that reflection time…. nice to reflect… oh what a joy is to ask God questions while you center your heart, soul and mind together and welcome His spirit to move you….

 

https://youtu.be/Pp6-dQ8RoPQ   this has the beautiful music that touched me today- when they sing each saint’s name it is just SO BEAUTIFUL at the 54 minute mark… and then at the 1 hr mark the spanish song just makes me want to dance….  I was very very moved when I saw the “Day of the Dead” shrines in Merida, Mexico when I visited fifteen years ago….  the faith of the bus drivers too with their plastic Jesus statues and rosaries everywhere was also so moving…

 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9tK3J1RlaYEG9DdLtKljIcPvPq1-mQx  is the whole playlist of the Pope’s American visit  – I was touched by the Pope’s JOY and openness when I saw him drive by and speak…

 

smiles

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A firm sense of God’s faithfulness, 27Sept

You know a good messy science experiment always enhances my Sunday school class experience…. Today the older kids made oobleck (cornstarch and water) to bring home the point that a firm rock solid foundation in God is what we need for strength… This is what David had when he went to fight the giant… oobleck may seen strong and firm when you squeeze it, but like us without God, it is weak, it can’t hold its solid form, and therefore it’s not a solid foundation at all…… God is the solid foundation we should rely upon…. God had faithfulness to David… David found and relied on his faithfulness to God – knowing that God valued him and protected him… David acted upon that faithfulness…
David walked with God that day… So can we…
David was chosen for the task at hand… So are we…

 

1 Samuel 17 (NIV)

³⁷ The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

⁴⁵ David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied”

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This is a travelogue (and it’s very very long so don’t read it unless you got a good chunk of time), so it’s not an overly profound piece, but a couple people couldn’t wait to hear about my Pope experience… so here it is…

So, the whole day taken as individual pieces rolled into one journey…. this is how I wrote the day… I think the profoundness IN LIFE is that God allows us to experience LIFE…. God allows us a random-feeling mixture of things… Free will with individual blessings – and that we have NO concept of how it all fits together – but it does some how…. God knows, but we are clueless, and that’s just fine…. And sometimes, just sometimes, God gives us a chance to take a step back and ponder it all…

Individual, 26 Sept Travelogue, 27SEPT

The Pope, giggles, sand, decompression with friends, the full moon, and bird poop… I didn’t think I would write about these together… Yes I expected I might have to write about my visit to see the Pope, but the journey was so varied, it was so unique, and it invoked the word of the day: “individual”… And so I will write how all these individual events, the individual people with their individual varied life experiences all came together in a God-blessed day, in a God-blessed way…

Bird poop….
Yup, today there was alot of bird poop, as we staked out our spot under a sap-dripping tree on the fence line waiting three hours for the Pope…. We sat in old bird poop, the birds pooped on my head, on my sunglasses… It’s ok, they were small birds, I survived, I shook it off… “Blessings” people say when a bird poops on you!!! Well, we were TRULY TRULY blessed in the shade in small bird individual doses… It was a great vantage point near the podium and friendly people…”words with strangers” – we had chats with folks from Seattle, Florida, you name it… real people not any different than those in a store checkout line passing the time…it was not overly crowded and actually a shame and a blessing how easy it was to get in and out!!! They did a good job at scaring the people away in my opinion… got into the city and out so rapidly, quickest trip EVER… Best $2 train plus $2.25 parking deal EVER…$6.25 + $2.50 for a Vatican flag = deal! “Trip of a lifetime” people said – under $10, hmmm…. Blessings…

Pope…
Ah, the Pope, a sweet grandfatherly like man, with a heart of gold and a mouth to tell the world to live the way Jesus taught us… to have compassion, to respect individual dignity, and to LOVE… A pope for the ages… His speech was moving and passion touching… He even used a math example for how we should live…. “The religions thus have the right and the duty to make clear that it is possible to build a society where “a healthy pluralism which respects differences and values them as such”… foster a “sense of the dignity of each individual and the ideal of a community united by brotherly love”…
The Pope was awesome… But more awesome were the people who there to be inspired… to hear the roar coming down the street as the Popemobile moved was truly electrifying…  you could sense what was coming and then you saw him come and we were SO close – 20 feet maybe – and he stopped and kissed baby after baby … The feeling was awesome (I saw an accidental selfie photo of my face as he came by- yeah sweet joy).   And awesome were the people at home who lived this trip thru me, so super EXCITED for me… Between family calling me, and the two house parties I went to afterwards, and even the eye glass lady at the store the morning of… Everyone was so excited… My neighbor (who is Jewish) ran over to me to say “let me touch you, you touched the Pope!”… Sweet and no I didn’t actually touch the Pope, but I do know the crowds touched his heart and he touched mine with his compassion and his message… Everyone is inspired by this Pope, he so “gets it”… They appreciate his message of tolerance, individuality, and forgiveness… He brings a reminder of God’s LOVE where he goes…

I feel a little guilty that it was SO easy to get in and out of the city, that it was no hassle, and guess what? I felt the same way for my salvation realization, God made it as convenient as possible for the start of my journey – He put all the right pieces together at the right time for me to be an opportunist and take advantage and take a “God-vantage”… It’s a good feeling that by our individual journeys we bring God’s love by our presence as believers… Sharing HIS love in an open non-judgmental way….

Children…
The BEST interactions I had that day was with children… sweetest little spunky children 5-7yrs old in front of us, good as gold, engaging, loving, cute… A Seattle teen smiled as her mom and I chatted, engaged in conversation with her smile and nodding as she appreciated our discussion about me being known as being wacky and my reputation for tolerance as well as easy-goingness, which is why (plus my open faith) that I was chosen by my friend to accompany her for this free ticket… and which has enabled me to be where I am in life… appreciating life being a blessing. After the Pope trip I had enough time to be at the two other places I was invited to – two parties – and it was the young people who made me feel welcome.  First to a renewal of vows wedding (which I made with only a minute to spare) – at the reception the daughter of the bride gave me a glow in the dark bracelet and said to her friend “this is Miss Debbie, she’s cool”…. And then at my neighbor’s party, my son wanted ME to play, waited patiently for ME to stop talking,  to play “cornhole” bean bag toss with him.. I was paired with a nice young man named Mike, and we won! Sweetest to feel the love from my son, and also from my daughter, who both instructed ME in the morning on how to stay safe in the crowds, drink lots of water, and watch myself. Sweet kids…

Pierre Robert…
I got to hug Pierre Robert, my favorite DJ, a local icon in rock!!…. Both the Pope AND Pierre are Godly gentle-men who love to spread love…. I have loved chatting with him both at other events and on the phone to the radio station, sending texts and hearing a couple of shout outs, he’s real… people love Pierre because he is real. Pierre loved my rainbow and shamrock earrings which I wore for luck… fun… Besides my fun earrings, I also wore my hometown famous t-shirt, I brought my Vacation Bible School snowball, a photo of my kids, and the business card for my late cousin Mike, and I also wore my newest special cross – my Aunt’s Irish Connemara marble Celtic cross…..  I seriously thought about being like Mr .T and wearing every cross I owned…. but that would have probably taken forever in the metal detector line…. So on this trip was thinking of my blessings of ALL my family and friends who truly make me smile…  And I wore a gift of the zipper bracelet from a friend who was touched by my “Zipper Faith” writings… So glad God smoothed out the bumps and I zip all the way now passed those original naggin questions of if Jesus was real – yeah I got it now…)  So blessed!!!

My Grandfather’s birthday…
This day was my grandfather’s birthday, a man who worked so hard… I’m sure he appreciates all that his grandkids have accomplished in life… one of our last photos together was me and my PhD cap and gown  – but with me knowing that he accomplished more on a 8th grade education and 90 years of life then many of us could ever hope to achieve.

Giggles…
Grains of sand together to make something more beautiful…. a marriage union strong and vital…..l actually made it to the wedding vow renewal ceremony that I was destined to miss by going to see the Pope but I made it just in time because they rearranged the day for other reasons… I can’t believe God fit that in… I’ve never seen so many giggles and giddiness at a wedding, a renewal of vows from a spring wedding of a blended family, these giggles were cute and happy… I became a photographer… I knew God place me there for some reason… for cheering, for photography, for bustling my friend’s wedding dress train after, and most definitely for experiencing a reminder of God’s graced timing allows appreciating giggles, blended sand, a full beautiful blue moon, and beautiful fellowship…. and a faithful God…

Decompression…
One more party my immediate neighbor’s house (see, I told you I live a cake walk life)… best parties ever in the best neighborhood when we all can get together and this was exactly what I wanted and needed to decompress this day… Discussing the Pope always brings about faith discussions… this was an awesome way to share faith…. over a rum mojito, we could relax into our conversations, take heart in our blessings, and co-miserate in the “bird poop of life” times… when the day brings the greater ratio of blessings to sorrows then it’s great to thank God. And when God sends the bird poop? well, thank God for that as well…

Home, a moon rainbow…
Yes the full moon in the clouds was so bright that the ring around it was a rainbow pattern hue… stunning…. God is stunning… He is pleased with us loving Him… He touches us as an individual, and He delights in delighting us on our journeys…

God woke me up in the morning – God brought me home…

Thank you Lord, let’s travel again tomorrow, ok?

You lead Your beautiful way.

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Journeying, 26Sept

I am journeying today, things fell into place for an unexpected trip to see the Pope…. “Ten thousand people maybe more….” – that’s how the Simon and Garfunkel song goes… Well it’s going to be much much more, ten thousand is JUST the number of tickets for this speech about religious freedom (in a city founded on brotherly love, the freedom from tyranny for a country founded by those who journeyed here because they desired religious freedom…)… Yes, there will be many many more than just me journeying to see what they can see, a speck of white in a sea of humanity…. I pray they get what they are coming for…  I am going for the journey… It’s always about the journey… Seeing the humanity because of the speck of white… It’s THEIR journey…

Don’t get me wrong, I will be super excited if I actually see the Pope (with my luck we will see him I am sure) but first I will be super excited if I actually can get through the masses down to the event… just to be on the trip with my faith friend and to have been chosen by my friend to accompany her is a blessing! Yeah, sure she chose me not just because I have felt and told of the overwhelming blessings of my being made alive by God’s hands, but also she choose me because I can journey and yes, because I’m crazy enough to brave the blessings of crowds… But isn’t that what God does too? Chooses your blessings based on YOU?!!!! I get crazy blessings because I appreciate them, I handle them, and I try to find the hope in the crazy life I lead!!!

I feel that when I am actually on the journey in a few hours that I will feel the excitement building immensely, I will feel the excitement of my fellow travelers… I will feel THEIR journey….. I have mostly ignored the hype news of the crowds issue (just no time to watch tv), but I know that I feel for these millions who wish they could be in my shoes, free to travel… I have friends with illnesses that are hoping to be blessed with miracles, I have friends who could care less about the Pope’s visit…. But the fact that I get the chance to journey at all – that’s what makes me feel blessed the most. I picked up my walking stick, grabbed Jesus’ hand and said and continue to say, “Ok God, what’s next?”

Ever, I am blessed and humbled to be in my shoes, for this trip and for my whole life… excited but humbled to have “lucked” into this and ALL of my life’s blessings – but I KNOW it has nothing to do with luck at all (but thanks to God, I do always appreciate my leprechaun status!!!)…Yes, it’s not luck when I am journeying through my faith every day,  Life’s free will… while some others are still questioning where to start, I became blessed to realize what was happening to me and to make a running leap off into the deep end of a God-centered life… And even though I came into this place and PEACE of mind more gently than most, I have a brave appreciation of how long a trip I still have to make… The journey won’t always be smooth sailing, but the wind will be there always to guide me… The road is narrow but it is sure… And I will pray to EVER grab the hand of Jesus to keep me above water.

I journey because God said you are capable, I want you, I have plans for you… You are a child of God…

Thanks God… I will try to be ready in your timing not mine… Let’s go!

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Atone anew, 24Sept
It’s the day after the “Day of Atonement” and yes brand new sins I have accumulated already this year, sigh… just while writing part of this I made my son miss the bus…. I apologized, and I drove him in time and he did have a lot to carry… so I guess it worked out… but still I need to be more mindful not just about this, but about all the accumulating trespasses I make…. I deserved him chastising me because I am on my phone too much…. A sin of writing and thinking about myself too much comes to light even if it was the writing and thinking about myself that brought me to this spiritual awareness of Jesus’ light…I feel like if I can get my writings out and done I can move forward, otherwise it’s processing that would just accumulate like my sewing pile…  but it’s a gamble I take with time…

Love and sin balancing remind us that we live life precariously… Our glory-seeking life goes both ways… When we live life for God’s glory then He is getting us into a path of wholeness, and we are going to know it – we are going to see and feel those blessings… BUT, when we work for our glory, then we are getting in the way of His path for us to achieve wholeness with God, that’s when we sin, and we are blind to those blessings we already have…. And if we are “in tune” with God’s wanting us to be whole, we might feel the hurt that we are inflicting on others with our trespasses… If we are not feeling that pain we cause in others by our own hands, then we are blind sinners…. I feel the pain…. I am sorry, God, sorry for my sins big and small… I am humbled that Jesus came to forgive me, forgive us all…

Yes we are forgiven by Christ existence and resurrection, and that is because we need it…  We ARE sinners, thru and thru… and we ARE human… and it is hard NOT to sin, but we are to remember God’s law and atone for our trespasses… “I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”…. And if we do sin, if we fall, if we sink,  then are we to pick ourselves up?… No… We are to ask Jesus to pick us up… we are to draw our strength from HIM and not from us… Refocus on Him to guide us to His LIGHT. Return us to holiness. Heal us. Be our advocate, as in 1John2 NIV “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”

I Praise God for sending HIS Son, our Jesus, to remind us (to remind me) the He felt and feels all our human trespasses so deeply… He took on our pain, He humbled himself into human form in order for us to humble ourselves back into the fold of God’s children… We are created from God by God to return to holiness and wholeness with God…

Thanks God. Thanks Jesus

From HEBREWS, “I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”….. “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary. ”

———-

HEBREWS 10:
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll – I have come to do your will, my God.’”
8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” – though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do Your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”

17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”
18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

270

Beautiful Story from one of our Women’s Retreat Cousins-in-Christ, 23SEPT

So I asked a women’s retreat friend (and she said it was ok) to share her email of a wonderful testimony about God taking care of her after she got lost (and while she didn’t have her guide dog in his harness)…

God was taking care of her using the positions of rocks and trees, so that she could find her way home…  Praising those rocks that call out!

I love her love of God and her love of all of us… it’s so blessed to walk with sisters and brothers in Christ – I would say all of us “Cousins in Christ”!

————–

On Sep 20, 11:57 PM, “L” wrote:

Hi Debbie,
When Pastor asked in church today if anyone had a praise offering, it was silent. Then a few people spoke up. I was thinking about saying I was thankful for being at church since I haven’t been there in awhile and also wanted to thank God for rocks and trees and of course, I thought to myself, people are probably going to think I’m crazy.
So Pastor’s message was about how we do not praise God enough and praise God for the simple things. He went on to say how God created nature and the things in it, to sing his praise i.e. rocks and trees especially since we who were created in his image, don’t realize how important it is to give thanks and praise.

Ok, so this is why I wanted to say praise for rocks and trees and after you hear his message, you’ll understand how it all connected for me. Friday morning after putting my son on the bus, I stupidly decided to go across the street to a very familiar corner to walk my dog without his harness on. I wasn’t feeling that great but I go there often and besides that, I had my trusty I-phone. So he and I walk across the street and then I realize we are not where I wanted to go. I felt around with my foot and was trying to get oriented by listening to the traffic but the more frustrated I got, the more disoriented I became., “Light bulb moment”, use your I-phone to call someone or use GPS. Well, my phone was not working because before the boys went to school they told me to update my phone but they neglected to tell me I need to go through setting up my phone.

I was getting upset with myself since I haven’t grasped this technology and have become so dependent on it. So I stopped and prayed asking God to send me someone or something to get me back home. I was already lost for about a half an hour and was panicking because I left my house open and Mom was going to be coming over but she always calls first to see where I’m at and of course, she wouldn’t be able to get hold of me.

So I waited a little longer for a sign but no one or nothing clued me in so I calmed myself down, prayed again and decided to walk towards the sound of traffic in hopes I would figure out which intersection I was at. I told him to go home and he started pulling the leash a little but then stopped and he seemed confused as well then I felt the sun. I started thinking about where I am when I can feel the sun when I go for my regular walks. I decided to turn around and walk the opposite direction and I started getting closer to traffic. Then, a tree branch brushes across the top of my head this branch feels like the one I always bump my head on while passing my neighbor’s house who lives across the street from me. So I keep walking and find a driveway and decide to cross the street and if I’m correct, it will take me to my driveway. Well, it didn’t. So I step up on the curb and decide to still head toward the traffic but use my foot to trail the grass line hoping for a clue. I didn’t have to walk too far before my foot bumps into a pile of rocks which I immediately recognize as the river rocks my husband placed around the sump pump pipe sticking out of our yard. I say out loud, “Thank You God!!!!” and I immediately get the message from God, God is my rock. He is there no matter what I’m going through and as long as I believe and have faith and hope, he will take care of me.
I found my way back to my house and went inside and cried tears of joy. God is awesome!

So when Pastor said about the rocks singing praises and then he mentioned the trees, it just confirmed my belief. I know you will understand what I mean. I shared this with him, others and especially L. H. today after church. L. H.  said to me so what did you learn? my response, “to always trust God and yes, he is my rock and to never leave my house without putting the steering wheel on my dog. We had a good laugh about it.

Hope to talk soon. Love you.

---

From: debbie

Oh what a beautiful testimony of trusting God… I have tears of joy… The rocks will cry out if you don’t praise HIM, and river rocks and trees and YOU and God are so awesome….

I have an idea…. Perhaps you can take some river rocks and make a pattern at each of the neighbors, three rocks at this one, five at this one…. As a double check emergency GPS – God Positioning Stones.

I am remembering VBS Kingdom Rock where we used those river rocks…

Jesus is the cornerstone as He and we are building God’s church…

Take care, and can I share this beautiful testimony with the other women’s retreat folks???? It is a great reminder to trust in the Lord and praise!

Love ya!
Debbie
—————

Hi Debbie,
Yes, I do not mind if you share my testimony.
I am a big nature lover too. I take any chance I can to be out there and experiencing it.
I love your idea of God Positioning Stones. LOL
I’m praising God for Debbie, my beautiful sister in Christ.

Love you

269

email about Family Stone Cross, Sept

I appreciate how I really appreciate this stone cross now…and I wanted this photo, vain or not…  I am a combo of my irish Dad’s side plus my Czech mom’s side… and her maiden name means cross. I am blessed to physically cling to this stone cross, a rock of ages, firmly planted in the ground to represent our family tree… and of course I am blessed to emotionally cling to the cross to be a branch on Jesus’s tree of life…

I had a great few days at home… Good to see my brother, my parents were thrilled to have us both home….

268 email to others and Pastor P – with reply from Pastor P

Praying for God’s Ministry Thru You, 22SEPT

God bless you Pastor P., you are hitting the target with your blogs,  they resonate with me and because I am tapping into so many other people I can usually find where they will fit with their situations…

Yes, God always used me in HIS ways but these expanded ways are so exciting…

We are so blessed

—

On Sep 22, 7:53 AM, “Pastor P” wrote:

Thanks for sharing, Debbie!  God is going to keep using you!!  Blessings!

—

On Tue, Sep 22, at 7:36 AM, debbie wrote:

Hi my favorite local Ministry leaders,

I like this blog from Pastor P about growing ministry… I was tasked by the “rally day” little leaf hand out from the stewardship committee to pray for our church leaders…. Well yeah that’s a easy one to pray… I pray for SO many to bear fruit in their ministry to REACH…. I pray for the “abide” that Pastor P speaks of here … (and he had a previous blog about us not being the fruit-maker but about God growing the fruit and we are to bear it by just being the sturdy branch.

So I pray for your ministries (mine too) inside and outside the building: reaching the sheep out there, and reaching the people in feeling their worship and also reaching the people to want to help God as a co-laborer… bearing fruit that God places there, because we are just the branches to abide… To display what God bears thru us.

Thanks my co-laborers – thanks for your leadership and for accepting that even if you are putting the work in, it’s NOT your ministry at all to take credit for, you are purely the branch for God’s ministry THRU you.

God Bless! Luv ya!

—————

Three Keys to Growing Your Ministry – by Pastor P

“I was journaling with the Lord the other day and asked Him, “What are the keys to growing my ministry?” I felt like the Lord gave me three very clear and simple keys. I want to share them with you with the hope and prayer that your ministry will be expanded as you apply them yourself.

“Prayer

“The first key to seeing an expanded ministry is simply to ask God. The Bible calls us co-laborers with God. (1 Corinthians 3:9) As those working with God on kingdom assignments, we must be in good communications with the commanding officer. (2 Timothy 2:4) Prayer is not just about getting things done, but about intimacy with God, loving Him just for the sake of loving him and enjoying his presence. It is also important as a leader to raise up spiritual lieutenants who will pray for your ministry. [ Pray for this ministry! ]

“Produce Fruit

“Ministry can be defined in many ways. One biblical way to describe ministry is that it is the laboring of workers in the harvest fields. It doesn’t take being in ministry long to realize that working a ministry is a lot of work! The harvest is plentiful as Jesus put it. (Matthew 9:37) The good news is that we do not need to produce this good fruit out of striving, but out of abiding! (John 15:5) This brings us back to point number one, prayer and intimacy with God. As we spend time with God, we will hear his voice and be able to produce good fruit that feeds others’ souls.

“Partnership

“The Gospel was never meant to be a sole-proprietorship, but a partnership. Jesus set the model for ministry by working alongside other men.  Paul spoke of his partnership in the gospel frequently. (2 Corinthians 8:23) If you desire to see the kingdom of God expanded in the world, it is essential to find people you can raise up and train to do ministry.  Secondly, you need to partner with other people who have a common heartbeat, but different ministry that you can support and run alongside.

“I want to leave you with the words of our Lord that touch on all three of the above points as a final encouragement: “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’” (Matthew 9:35-38)”

http://mobile.dudamobile.com/site/christiangrowthnetwork?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiangrowthnetwork.com%2Fthree-keys-to-grow-your-ministry.html&utm_referrer=#2848

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Bonus Day at Home…., 21SEPT

So I have to question but I have to praise God’s timing, it’s always going to be a praise when you take God’s point of view in your situation.

My brother (who is my ride home) booked his flight for today but then changed it for tomorrow then promptly forgot that… the rest of my relatives are also leaving tomorrow… so early yesterday I was stressing about who do I spend more time with on my last day? out of town relatives? my parents? home with the kids….all that and yeah, I was saying to myself that it WOULD be nice to have more time here at home….

Although not seeing my kids gives me some angst, I am being the kid here in my hometown for my parents, who are thrilled both me and my brother are here…, although for sad circumstances of my cousin’s and aunt’s funerals, it was a placed family reunion to honor them…

Well… I walk in the door my brother says guess what, he messed up the flights… I just started laughing… I said really God? You answer SO quickly…. A bonus day at home?  could we make it work? Would my boss be mad? Hmmm…. Yeah, a bonus day at home was just what I wanted, and what I got…

And so I attach this praise photo… As I walked the gorge leisurely over the course of three hours with my family… Zoom in on the photo, see me praising with my arms up, I am the tiny spec on blue on  the right…. getting wet in the spray…. Wet in cold powerful pounding water as well as the living water of Jesus…. praising the rocks of God,  and the living trees of life, both nature’s leafy green ones and our Dormady family tree, filled with love…

Yeah bonus days…. Thanks God!

PS… After the hike and picnic lunch, we went to the overrlook… And ran into great friends, two of our church missionaries, just driving thru!!! Amazing “co-incidence” each of us five hours from home… God-incidence…. Praise God…

PPS… Oh geeze…. I just realized that yesterday the bonus day at home was September 21st which is (in the Czech Republic) my naming day which is kind of like a second birthday…  so cool… JOJOJO

266

The Rain WILL Come Again, Go With the FLOW, 20Sept

It rained, twice…. It rained at our cousin and aunt’s double funerals/interments…. It rained twice in the bible account of God’s seasonal blessings… according to Joel 2:23 NIV “Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.”

We were forced by the warm rain (rare all this dry summer) into a beautiful chapel at the cemetery for the services, which enabled a closeness, a comfort in the way of chairs, a comfort in the way of going with the flow…. A natural comfort that ALWAYS can be found in giving up the angst of the minute details of life and going with the FLOW. God allows us to rest and delight in his good works when we go with the flow…

We reconnected sides of the family at the services, we rekindled, we re-appreciated… We let the SPIRIT move us just as easily as we moved from chapel to grave to grave, we let God flow thru us… we had the rain, the autumn rain to replenish our souls… We laid our family love onto their departed souls, as God has laid HIS LOVE into ours….

It stopped raining, after lunch we took our out of town cousins to a cathedral of God’s creation to a beautiful natural place beyond words .. Then we flowed back to base camp… Dinner, brought all of us together again in the same room by… you guessed it… rain… Family closeness in SPIRIT always, and now new family moments facilitated by God’s rain…

Going with God’s FLOW means listening, means feeling how He can move us gently and with His PEACE, move us into our PEACE. It’s giving up our angst to God… It’s giving God HIS rightful place over our hearts and actions, because we stem from him, we drink the living water of Jesus to nourish and repair our human ways. When we drought, there is only one source of living water replenishment… It brings our salvation… It’s us resting in Jesus’s arms and going with HIS FLOW, please hold HIS hand and you will stay afloat…

The rain WILL come again, whether spring or fall… or even a Christmas Flood… Will you let God flow thru you? Will you flow?

Let go…. Go with GOD’S FLOW…

PEACE

265

Funeral day.19Sept…. Remembering Cousins and Connections, Blood and Blood, 17MAR

So today is funeral day for my cousin Mike, and my Aunt (his Mom’s cremated ashes from many years before) … It’s 6AM and already an emotional day… Some of my cousins have gathered here in my home town, we stayed up last night gazing at the milky way, we are way out of town at a camp, it’s so dark here, and the last bit of the night I talked one on one with one of my wonderful cousins about my spiritual growth and everything… At the end of my yapping, and she sharing her faith too, I saw an amazing shooting star… Good God, God is good…

My 23 first cousins and our spouses are the best and I am the youngest of those 23.. I have so much crazy love from them, stemming from my five uncles and five aunts and my parents… We support each other immensely because that’s how we were taught to live, we were taught to LOVE… I learned a new word from my brother… Avuncular…Kind and friendly towards a younger or less experienced person: reassuring, and trustworthy…. Yes, that’s EXACTLY the word for what I feel, what I have experienced from SO many…

Cousins… My cousin Mike’s passing evoked one of the biggest emotional pieces for me to that date, on St Patrick’s Day… If I call you a cousin it is because you are… If you know me, you know I can skip all the formalities and just “luv ya”.. I just do, it’s a completely Agape LOVE of cousins in Christ…..

Thank you for letting me exude the love that I can’t help but exude, I have way more than my share and am humbled to be God’s instrument to share it….

Here’s that emotional piece… Thank you… LUV YA!!!!

—

Recap #97 I love this piece !!!!!!!

Cousins and Connections, Blood and Blood, 17MAR

> Yesterday I felt so glad to get some “unfinished” writings out… Because I told myself that I was now going to fill my mind with things that I (with a capital I) wanted to fill it with….that I asked God to empty my mind – and yes He did… and I did get about 3 hours of real work work done in the morning. > > … and then God filled my brain, unexpectedly, in the afternoon with the thoughts HE wanted me to have – and HE filled my mind with actions and connections and LOVE. Not my mind anymore is it? – it’s HIS…. sigh… a new normal i will try to remember this always…I am God’s instrument…tune him in not out… God…sigh…. > > So my beloved cousin Mike died on Saturday, he was mid 50’s… i learned via Facebook (of all places), someone posted on his wall RIP. i said “wait what??”, I messaged that person and was trying to balance my fear with my disbelief – turns out Mike dropped dead instantly in a bank from a nearly 100% blockage from heart disease – with complications from diabetes and not taking care of himself – which very few of us do…. Heart disease and diabetes and stroke are our Irish destinies – our whole family struggles… > > My flood of emotions – sorrow and questions – we hadn’t talked in years – couldn’t get a hold of him – but we loved each other – all my cousins – we love each other even if we don’t connect… we are connected by Grace and by our family tree. > > Well, God filled me with sorrow first but then with so much action. He chose ME to start spreading the news – I have the connections to the whole family – I had to get the word out, as my mother’s generation would have – it is now my generation’s job… I spent the whole afternoon and into the evening on the phone, only to look up at 7:30, when the people locking up work said “it’s time to go”… I spent the whole afternoon on the phone and email and texting with my cousins – there are 23 of us third generation Irish. My cousin Mike was an only child – the first one to pass of our first cousin generation. We stem from 6 brothers and their amazing 6 wives (my father being the youngest) – the number of children are 23 AND then of course the marriages and children and grandchildren of our cousins – we have exploded across the US and are spreading family love and spiritness everywhere. Yes, we are a family of Leprechauns if there ever was!!!. So God filled my mind with memories and the love of my cousins – the best family gift ever! > > If people ask where i draw my strength – that is an easy easy answer – i draw it from my family – and there is an overflow of strength… > > Oh, I just made the biggest epiphany about my church family…not lightbulb in your in your brain epiphany but fireworks going off epiphany… > > My church family, I love them so much in the agape way… but I just realized they are not my brothers and sisters in Christ they are my cousins in Christ!!!! Agape love is so reflected in the love of cousins. Just because I don’t know them all yet, and they come from different backgrounds (and I want to know them all more), doesn’t mean I don’t already love them. Our ancestors would tell us to love them even if we don’t know then. > > Cousins. Some are distant and some are close. Some are lost. Some are found. Some are blind. Some can see. > > Some of our cousins need to have a God connection made… maybe we are their connection… maybe they’ll find their own connection. Maybe we just need to remind them and us that we are all connected. > > My mother’s family cousins in Europe… I am so longing to see them… I will see them next week. I will embrace them. I was the one that made the connection between the Old World and the New World. God gave me the gifts to make this connection. And, I so feel like the connection of my father’s Irish cousins to our recent ancestral homeland. > > God gave me a ministry of connection. A ministry of encouragement someone said… of friendliness…but, NO it is a MINISTRY OF CONNECTIONS. I will make the connections. I will write about connections. I will connect to my words and thoughts and I will connect my people to their God and all that is good. > > Blood relative cousins ….Blood Christ cousins… > > Life is good. > God is good. > God, thanks for my cousins. All of them. > God, thanks for connecting me to you. > I believe in connections. > AMEN!

264

The Thoughtfulness of a 4AM God, 15Sept

If you know me, you know I have a good imagination, am silly to a fault, and I love life… But what touches me more and more is the thoughtfulness of God… At every hour of the day… I don’t understand it, I don’t know why I am blessed so much… I feel that the signs God throws my way are truly gifts from HIM… I question and HE answers… I am not making this up, I don’t have as good an imagination as God does… I just don’t…

I know I have to focus on God… I have to stay in HIS plan… He will call me, and I will follow.

Tonight I woke up, not to write, I’m just up… thinking about the day… today my doctor diagnosed some arm numbness issues (I will be fine) – and I was also worried about my shoulders and neck too, but he said my shoulders were strong and then this serious smart doctor made this funny face and arm curl and told me in a great voice that my shoulders were “strong like a bull” – nice, nice affirmation…

4AM….The Pleiades, ah yes, there is Orion the hunter, usually viewed on a winter night. But if you’re up at 4 in the morning you can see it bright in the southern sky. I made a mistake thinking the Pleiades star cluster was in Orion for years but it turns out the Pleiades are in Taurus, being hunted by Orion… I told myself next time I was up at 4 in the morning I would certainly try to find the Pleiades stars, which God uses as a true connection to so much in my life (especially including the Subaru)… I searched the sky maps for the right direction to look… They say look for the stars in the left shoulder of Taurus, the bull… The Bull… Bull… the Bull Shoulder!???!
REALLY GOD?
That doctor told me that my left shoulder is as strong as a bull today, and tonight You show me that’s where the Pleiades are? Bull… I stopped dead in my tracks… Really God???

Bull… You are THAT thoughtful God? Or am I just fooling myself? Maybe I don’t want to know… God You know I am enjoying this, I am enjoying our time together… Maybe just maybe You will let me know only as much as You need to… But please let me praise You God for Your thoughtfulness… You make me smile… You give me pause… You give me a chance to praise 4am wake ups, You give me life and You fill it with Your beautiful imagination… How blessed am I to see Your thoughtfulness…how blessed I am to revere You God.

Job 9: 5-10 “He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in his anger.
He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble.
He speaks to the sun and it does not shine; he seals off the light of the stars.
He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.

Amos 5:
8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion,
who turns midnight into dawn
and darkens day into night,
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out over the face of the land—
the Lord is his name.
……
14 Seek good, not evil,
that you may live.
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.
15 Hate evil, love good;”

—-

This is why I write, I have to process… I can’t believe my eyes, my ears, my life SO filled with the thoughtfulness of God… Well I can now, because really God is that just that thoughtful… to everyone… Just listen, just look, just pause to praise….
“Hate evil, love good”…
Love God

—————-

And then….one more shoulder surprise reference this morning…  I opened this little devotion calendar a dear old departed friend gave me years ago, it lives in my car, I looked ahead to next week, Sept 21 is my Czech Republic “Naming Day” as big a celebration there as one’s birthday… And it reads:
“There is no surprise more magical than the surprise of being loved. It is the finger of God on a person’s shoulder.”

Such a nice whisper of God’s love….

LOL, I add this earlier blog piece from Rick Lawrence about being Jesus being “a bull in a China shop”  – like Jesus with my burst of awakening……. Matches my piece about the doctor telling me my shoulders were “as strong as a bull” and the Pleiades in the shoulder of Taurus the bull… Nice…

LOL

God is good!

———-

LOL, 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 (out loud) 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

“Is Jesus nice? Yes, of course…. ”
Yup, He loves being the bull, I can hear the crashes 2000 years later…. Loud and clear! Nice!

263

Love it when random bible verses (these from flipping thru an actual paper not an electronic bible) bring my thoughts together…

I praise pausing for thought…. it’s forgiveness that gives you peace…. And it’s forgiveness that God gives us, we have to reciprocate, and forgive others… here’s my devotion/pondering…

Forgiving the Wrong Road, 14Sept

I used to know someone who would start complaining (not unusual) but then I noticed that she was trying to pull you down that road too (I don’t know if it was on purpose, but I think it was)… She would start complaining about specific people, get your opinions, and then go blab what you complained about to others to make herself look better… Yeah that’s bad… Yeah that’s both causing sin in you as well as sinning oneself…. And I think you could imagine other sinful instances where others may have pulled folks or you down the wrong road, or even yourself did this too… And maybe not even on purpose to harm, but just to have someone along for the ride….

Praise God when you see those times coming, praise if you can see them a mile away, praise if you can come to a full stop then just don’t go down that road… That is the gift of discernment…

My random bible perusing came across Mark 9:42-43 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed….”
So, your hands, feet, eyes  – all these better for you to maim to prevent yourself from sinning against others…   “Have salt among yourselves…. and be at peace with each other…..” Yeah, use discernment of your words and actions like how salt is used for a fire….

And yet suffering is part of our lot in life, so we can’t avoid getting hurt… And suffering helps us to appreciate the comfort thru Christ: 2nd Corinthians 5 “For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ“…. And Psalm 146 says “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.”

FORGIVENESS
I have my own trespassers, whom I have to forgive… I always think about that road rage guy who cut me off and punched at my face in my closed car window (yay strong Subaru)… I forgave him on the spot because I was not hurt and because I saw old pain in his face, I told myself I was fine and because of that I forgave him, and I was able to move on with my life… And I now I try to apply this forgiveness (after some processing) for MY peace of mind… Yes, forgiveness for PEACE….

Perhaps you have had a trespassor who didn’t even know that what they were doing was wrong in the eyes of God, maybe actually thought they were helping… disregarding that they may have chanced you and themselves a walk down the wrong road… And because of that, your angst was 100-fold theirs because you were on the grieving receiving end of that trespass…

And thus it’s a tough spot…. stress at keeping true to Mark 11:22, 25, which says FORGIVENESS is the key to your forgiveness from God (and I will add is key to your PEACE of mind)…   “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. – “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Forgiveness leads to PEACE… If you still have trouble with that forgiveness of any situation, try to figure out what you were supposed to learn from it and then give that angst to God… That will get you closer to PEACE… God will correct that wrong (in HIS timing not yours). So, LIFT up your hands to grab HIS to pull you out of your anger and tears, and let your heart be lifted…. I did and it works…. Blessed are those… Blessed are us… whose “hope is in the Lord our God”…

Pray to always walk down the right road, walk to the light, and pray for discernment always…

LOVE is the greatest commandment…

LOVE demands FORGIVENESS….

FORGIVENESS is a gift from GOD

GOD is LOVE

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Scriptures:
Psalm 146 NIV
1 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
2 I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.
4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.
5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.
6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
he remains faithful forever.
7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
8     the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,  the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
10 The Lord reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord.

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Mark 12:29-34
“Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

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1Corinthians 1:3-11
Praise to the God of All Comfort
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. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,[a] about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

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“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

262

Soul on FIRE – Still, 12Sept

So many duplications of God reminding me HE is in charge this week… Just yesterday I had double scriptures in Ephesians 3 then 4; then I was singing about ‘Better one day in God’s courts, than thousand elsewhere’ at the same time I drove by ‘Ivy court’ Road… Yeah, at the same time as the song.

Last night, I was thinking about something that a friend cautioned me against months ago… warned me, in genuine concern, about me burning out from activity after having such an explosive awakening…

I said then, and still I say now, I could never burn out on God, maybe I will run out of time for everything I want to do (and be a bit weary at times), but my soul right now is still a “Soul on Fire”, like the song, and I pray it always will be, and I have faith that God won’t let me forget that….

And this soul-on-fire thought, in my constant conversation with God, was what was running thru my head while I was walking out of the Subaru and into the grocery store last night. Exactly at that thought of “FIRE” I walked right on top of the word “FIRE” on the ground…. “FIRE”… I smiled, said ‘REALLY God?’… I had to turn around to look again, I took a photo and smiled… THANKS GOD….. Thanks God for FIRE, for kindling and re-kindling my fire for YOU every day…. Praise God, you have me swept away in your love already and yet you remind me EVERYDAY to praise, every day to know your joy.

Oh how blessed am I to realize that!! … I know God, that YOU are ever-faithful to everyone, I’m so grateful that YOU take care of us all.

Thanks Lord for the FIRE, again.

261

9-11- Lost Then Found in the Garden, 10SEP

Tomorrow is Friday Sept 11th – I am enclosing a photo of mangled steel from the twin towers in a reflection garden, those which i held on Feb 1st – the first day I knew I was 100% with Jesus…

It was after a swirling blessed church morning and blessed lunch with church family, that I got LOST driving to my friend’s house and then I FOUND I had driven to the 9-11 reflection garden, having never visited there before… Holding those pillars I knew God was totally in control of my life – and knew it was Him who took me there… He drove me to realize my salvation – drove me NOT out of distress and crisis but drove me at a time in my life when I had peace and love.  Feb 1st, I was able to finally say “Yes, I am sure. Yes, I 100% believe that Jesus was real, is real, is the son of God” 😉  

I will always remember standing there – in the crisp winter air – it was as peaceful a moment as you could ever have standing in a sea of sad memories, feeling angst for those 3000 people…  Forever ago it seems, but 14 years ago on Sept 11, 2001 I was holding my brand new 6-week old preemie baby (whose original due date was the day before Sept 10th) – I was holding my baby trying to make sense of it all – not knowing what to do while watching the towers burn – seeing the second crash – but knowing I had to keep moving for the sake of this little miracle who was still demanding 100% of my focus… she was crying for my attention – I had to keep moving…

Feb 1st – God was moving me and I let HIM – I was holding those twisted rusty pillars – praying – picked up a coin from the pile with John 3:16 written on it (it was also Superbowl Sunday) and I smiled to myself that YES I actually believed it… I really did believe that God gave His ONLY Son for our salvation – I really did believe it 100%.

I get so choked up thinking about that day in the 9-11 garden – I will remember my prayer wishing that all who died made it to the realization of salvation in Jesus in the nick of time ….even the perpetrators… I prayed that they ALL found peace and salvation…

I got lost into that garden because I was getting found…That moment in time was a culmination of a head spinning awakening, but I was still standing… I was stilled in praise… and I was ready to walk… Walk with the Lord the rest of my days… in SPIRIT and in TRUTH… 

Thanks God, once again for walking me/driving me/guiding me into the right Holy Spirit-led people who got Jesus awake in me – then got me into Jesus’s arms in order to get WHOLE with You Lord.  God, thank you always for the garden – and for letting me find this path with Your gentle whispering Holy Spirit’s guidance. Thanks Jesus for holding my hand, my heart and my soul as you keep me moving – eternally blessed – ever walking with You to the eternal garden…  

Amen

260

Email with my Professor about Go and Tell- turning the world right side up,  09SEP

Awesome, yes thanks,  I like how you said “right side up”, as I was thinking both in my “perfection” writing yesterday about turning the pieces(people) right side up for God to grab, and as also way back I my penny piece, about flipping (or kicking) pennies and sometimes people right side up so that that could reach a hands up… you duplicated that with your email about Jesus wanting to turn the world  “right side up”… God wants to bring us back to whole with Him – to not lose anyone – to make the world realize that only thru Jesus will they get back to eternal life…

On Sep 7, 9:07 PM, Professor wrote:

Not only that, but if you read the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) carefully, he actually tells people (and demons occasionally) NOT to tell everyone about healings and exorcisms he does. It’s like he doesn’t want to blow his cover or something.

All that changes however AFTER the cross- after the resurrection, when he tells his followers, GO, and TELL. Go invite, go make disciples. Now that the work had been accomplished, he sends them to turn the world upside-down. Or, rather, right-side up again, since the world was so broken and he had come to heal it and make all things new.

259

Settling Your Heart into Jesus’s Hands, 07Sept

I have experienced Jesus awakening me, grabbing my hand to wake me.

I have also experienced Jesus raising my whole body from when I lost focus like Peter and started sinking into the water… Jesus not JUST grabbing my hand, but truly by picking me up BY MY HEART, by scooping HIS hands under it… Lifting me up with LOVE.

I was in the water by choice, so Jesus let the water rinse my heart and then when I rose my hand in surrender, Jesus picked it and me up to drain from being waterlogged and heavy. The water poured in and out, with a cleansing rinse…

I need ALWAYS to be the one to let go completely and release my heart into HIS hands, let it sink low into protective custody… To hide my heart in Christ (following poet Maya Angelou’s advice).

Yes, the trapped air pockets are what Jesus and I are now working on… The big bubbles and the little ones… all these will have to be bubbled out, sometimes painfully… But out they must go, one bubble at a time until there are none left preventing completeness.

Here is my devotion:

Rest your heart, you’ve traveled so far, it’s ok to be weary… Rest your tired soul, settle in…

Jesus came to raise us up to God’s eternal home. To hold us up so we could hone in on the focus we need to make it thru life. Jesus came not to judge the world, but to save it (John 3:17).

Let your heart nestle down into Jesus’s hands… Wholly and solidly you surrender your body into HIS supporting arms, let your body sigh and let your soul rest down into love. Let your heart nestle in, surrender into the protective shield, wear Jesus on your heart as your armor of God. Feel your whole heart in contact with his gentle yet strong hands.

We need to make it thru life, but we will find salvation wearing the bloodshed from Christ, and only then we find ourselves living the life of the good news, in life everlasting.

Please Lord, when we are sinking, let the cleansing living water of Jesus rinse thru our hearts.  Please Lord, pick us up to drain us from our waterlogged and heavy lives. Please Lord, scoop us up, lifting our hearts with Your hands. Lifting us into salvation…

Lifting us with LOVE.

258

Perfection, 07Sept

Ok, so you’ve accepted Jesus, accepted you were loved enough by GOD to be saved thru the bloodshed of Jesus, and yes, you have even been treasured so much that you still have to question: “This was all for us? For me???”

Ok, now what??

Yeah, you aren’t on your death bed, YOU actually pray that you have energy to live out God’s plan picked for you….

Perhaps you feel that you need to accept God’s command to go make disciples?…
Yet perhaps you feel more work needs to be done to clean out every corner of your heart first?…
Perhaps God says DON’T wait….

Yes, God says sing your praises and share His Grace and HE will see you thru each storm as you arrive at it… But God ALSO asks you to work the soil in the lives of the people around you, as well as within your own life….at the same time…

God wants wholeness from society, not piecemeal pockets of salvation…. He wants perfection and HIS game is no game at all, He wants a time where we ALL accept our salvation at His appointed time.

Perfection, one of my favorite games growing up… Fit all the pieces in the spring-loaded puzzle board before that timer is up and POP!… The whole board pops out throwing all the pieces everywhere… Finish the board and the timer is stopped… Perfection for eternity…

Each piece must be fit individually into the unique spaces. Each piece is different from all the rest, some are tricky, they all must be studied (or shape memorized) for uniqueness… and they ALL must get into the board before time is up…

Each SOUL must fit individually into HIS plan. Each soul is different from all the rest, some are tricky, they all must be studied (or shape memorized) for uniqueness… and they ALL must get into the space marked by God’s plan before time is up…

And whenever that is, when time is up, are you going to have your skull and soul “safe” nestled into a space? Done and just pray the board will get finished before time is up? Or perhaps you might consider to be out ON the board, finding space for all the other pieces? Since you know your space is marked out, saved for you, and you know how to hop into it at the last minute… Well perhaps it would behoove you to work on the other pieces, to help God… Especially since time could be short or time could be long…  Be busy and help God work on their souls by sharing your unique tool set to support them. Help set as many of these pieces of God’s plan upright so it’s easier for all of us to prepare for eternity… It is God who will grab them to fit them all in before time is up… Before we all pray…

Shareholders, we are ALL shareholders in HIS plan, we all have a stake… We can work for the company or wait gathering dust while we slowly turn into dust. We can find use for our lives by being out there, working to increase the return on the investment of God’s capital… We can’t finish the job unless we are working in the job…

Who wants to help God?
I DO…
DO YOU?

It’s the plan for us ALL to be in God’s plan.
I want to work the plan…
DO YOU?

257

from an email discussion with my professor

Trickle Effect, 05SEP

It interests me how Jesus truly didn’t want to be considered a sideshow attraction… He wanted people to dig deep within themselves, He wanted individual conversions…. And obviously He had a few miracles that also worked to convince folks, but He was likely simply showing mercy – simply kindness to deserving believers who were in bad straights…. He could have done grandeur-flamboyant miracles, but He didn’t…

This calls into question our avenues of teaching and trying to spread the Gospel to the masses, what is the best way to reach people? God could have waited and sent Jesus now, in our day and age, when mass media would have spread (or squashed) His message like wildfire…

But God choose a trickle effect…

Some mega churches try a big scale approach… Kinda like the debate people had with free education when it started, questioning if it is better to water down education for all to understand?, or keep education at high level for a few?… I think with faith, God wants the trickle effect – Yes, even at mega churches there is the trickle effect – it might be the person sitting next to you, with whom you can discuss the message’s meaning, where conversations about Jesus occur… It’s the way of the personal trickle down/bleed over effect – where God becomes REAL to you…

Hmmmm…. I wonder where God will take all these pockets of faith next….. Hmmm…. God sure is interesting in His approach….

The trickle effect is watching and seeing the Holy Spirit in action…

God wants us to come one by one – on our own realization that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life!

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Oooh!!!! GOD duplicated this verse for me – about healing the mute man from the book of Mark today at church here in our getaway city…. Crazy!!!!   God loves that crazy duplication….. Fun

Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man
31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.

33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

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Oh!!! This trickle effect is not just believing but also doing (which we knew)… Verse 12… I always thought it was “you will see greater things;, but actually it’s “you will DO greater things”

John 14 (NIV)

Jesus Comforts His Disciples
14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus the Way to the Father
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

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.”

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
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And later in the scripture I love how we think of us going to the father, but Jesus says how they will come and make their home with us….
———–
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 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.

 

256

Staying Humble, Staying Hopeful…. 05Sep

Cleaning my purse…. Love this little book buried in it, today I read about Paul in it…
Paul, as amazing as his momentous transformation, remembers he always will be human, as wonderful a writer, preacher, leader he always remembers he is human, especially with that thorn in his side… And he uses a eraser…. it’s good to stay humble….
Just like the reminder from this bracelet I still wear (a Christmas in July gift at VBS Everest from my pastor) the white bead (with SNOW from Mount Everest in it) means when you are at your highest highs, remember to stay humble! I slide that white bead up and try to remember that … I try but fail at that often 😉  thanks folks – thanks Lord – for tolerating my follies…

And (gratefully only a few times) I have held onto that black bead (containing mud from the dead sea) to remember that when you are at your lowest to remember to stay hopeful! Thanks all, especially over these past couple weeks, for all your support!!!

Grateful always for the Jesus hand-ups, God heart-guarding, as well as those humbling thorns….

255

Found this in my drafts…. Probably a bit rambling, or full circle, depends on how you look at it 😉

my thoughts were  thinking about those who do not value themselves enough, that if they focus to do HIS work that they might find purpose… And also about finding others find their purpose and not neglect them… or discard them as worthless…

And sadly there are those folks going too far in the other way… Deluding themselves into thinking they are helping for God but absorbing the praise meant for GOD along the way… hmmm….

Whole God, 28 Aug
Believe in one’s self…. believe in one’s self worth… God sent Jesus to save the world, not condemn it (John 3:17)…. So shouldn’t we do the same thing? We are made of God because God is the ALL in ALL, everything, dust to dust…. we should not condemn the world but find our place in it.

John 6:29 NIV
________________________________

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

So we are to believe in Jesus because God sent a servant savior, to save us, because our WHOLE GOD didn’t want to lose any of us, we are pieces in HIS puzzle, we are ALL worth saving, we are ALL worth the effort…

So we are to believe in ourselves too…

Jesus was sent because HE was the living example of God, this is how you are meant to live, love, forgive, reach…. You don’t have to forget or shy away from pain, try to embrace that you have the strength to face life because that strength is from God… God gave you a direction to work forward towards: Jesus. You are made from God, you are made to go to God… You were dust and will return to dust. It’s all connected…. We are all connected… We ALL matter to God, therefore we should all matter to each other too… and although we should 100% love ourselves and take care of ourselves – it’s not always about us!…  it’s about WE… It’s about GOD…

Growth, God wants us to grow – God wants to use us as a resource – if you think of a plant where the leaves, shoots, roots all have roles then it makes sense that we are all in this together – that certain people have certain roles, certain gifts, and we all work together – to survive – the goal of a plant (of all organisms) is to survive and to prosper just enough to have offspring – to pass on their genetic material for the good of the whole community – to enrich the gene-pool – to help the community thrive in the diversity – that is a God-sanctioned event – God wants us to survive and prosper and feed back to the WHOLE community – to the WHOLE God – we are not to be islands of our own…  Have you have been in a situation and said – “wow i was here at the right time and the right place?” – realized because YOU were used as a saving grace for someone else? Yeah, you have been there – I have been there – you were there because God wanted you there (not that you had a choice anyway)…

Sure this is work!  It’s work to navigate life on the go and not take a few detours… Yes, it takes needed retreats at times to recover and refocus on how to move forward – retreating is a chance to reflect on your role in society in life – it’s a recovery to reenter, to re-engage to re-invigorate to re-vine for the will of God.

Aristotle said “the whole is mightier than the sum of its parts” – so that’s God in a nutshell – God is the synergy of everything WHOLE – and the WHOLE thing is GOD – He sees the parts and he puts them together – but they are supposed to work as a WHOLE – and unless we connect ourselves and live our lives to connect us all, then we are not holding up our end of the bargain.  If God makes US whole – then why should we not do the same for God – help to make HIM WHOLE?  Yes, believe in yourself and your role in life – make a difference – because God has a plan and he is working His plan – so why not make it easier on God and make your life purpose to work for HIM – (or at least stop working against Him)…

Believe in yourself and your role.  You are here on this planet for the SYNERGY – the summation of the parts – you are here for a WHOLE GOD ….

254

Back in the Boat, 02SEP

This amazing thing happened to me yesterday after stressing about a really bad situation on and off for a couple of weeks… I was stressing awful… Yikes my stress thru the roof that instant!!!! But WOW how Jesus calmed it… I won’t tell you what those stressors were, but this was my text to a few folks immediately after my heart was released from that pain….. The stressors didn’t completely go away, but giving it to God made all the difference…

“Wow, I was just feeling so stressed this morning and it caused a real physical heart heaviness feeling, but it’s now GONE due to a refocus on Jesus…  stress pen chewing, gum, and ate my lunch early, no help, stressing my heart SO heavy… And so a friend came into my office, she is a good Christian friend and I was able to explain to her this tremendous stress feeling (and what caused it)… And then I explained that often when I was feeling under a storm I would ask Jesus to come back into my boat… when I (and Peter) reached a hand up out of the water while sinking, that it was what we need to do to re-focus….  while telling her this, I actually motioned reaching up for Jesus with my hand and grabbing HIS… And I am not kidding, my heart felt such relief!!!!! It was amazing, instant relief, the heaviness gone!!!!! WOW!!!!! Good God!!!!  Thank you Jesus for this peace!!! “

I told another friend about this amazing release feeling and she said “Welcome back into the boat!”

PEACE

 

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253

I am the Mustard of Life, 30Aug

Mustard, it saved me yesterday. Awesome to get to the amusement park with my son for his birthday, a friend gave us free day passes, we gave up season passes this year because my kids are old for this tiny kid park, but it’s always fun for us big kids too.

Spinning rides, I can’t do them anymore, a bell went off when I hit a certain age, and my system just can’t…. He wanted to ride all the new rides, he directed the day, he was in charge of where we went in the park, he beamed with pride… He is a good soul and so thoughtful, but needed me and wanted me by his side on those spinning rides, how could I disappoint… I did ok, but not good…. Fun yes but spinning… Pray Jesus to come into the spinning teacup like that boat on the Galilee, nope Jesus was already there, spinning too… My head kept spinning, the ride was done, still spinning… How could I let this ruin the fun day planned? That stressed me out… How could I recover…

Mustard… Mustard saved me (that and sitting still for five minutes)… I could finally stand and walk again… my son wanted popcorn and me too, I wanted food, but I had left my packed healthy lunch in the car… I was hungry, stress hungry, not real hunger… Mustard…. Free packets at the end of the counter, free in this charge you “an arm and a leg” for just popcorn kinda place. My head and stomach said food as your addiction of choice for stress relief, but my eyes are open now and I KNEW this was all stress, I had breakfast and in the past I have fasted with no problem on many days, this was STRESS…. Spinning stress… Jesus holding but not fixing what I desired as a quick fix… Mustard, I have used this awesome spice when I started changing my eating habits, I crave salty, spicy, and wow flavors… mustard, horseradish, vinegar, shock your system kinda spice…. Snap, the second the mustard hit my mouth I was cured…WOW… My brain and body snapped back to the scene of a happy day… A peaceful oasis of me returned within thousands of screaming kids, scrambling grandparents… and parents getting the most bang out of their buck, being big kids…. that’s the fun in this park, we are free to be little and rambunctious again….
Mustard, mmm…. It zapped me like one of those automatic defibrillators… I could continue, onto the water rides, day saved… Son happy…

Jesus, I should not have expected you to fix my spinning stress, I inflicted it myself and I certainly didn’t detach from you… I was balancing life this day (actually every day)…. The body has limits you know, but our free will doesn’t… and free will puts us at dangerous spots… Inflicting both injury and inappropriate quick fixes if our boundary lines are left in the dust and we go too far… Confuses our focus, spins our heads…

Can we control our free will? We have to! Test it sure, I got thru the rides, happy boy to have mom by his side… But sanity prevailed and limited the actions that would have thrown me over the edge… Mustard snapped me back, I focused on moving forward… I shouldn’t have had to use it, but it substituted with a spicy kick… It’s not a bad thing, and I was grateful, it’s just mustard… it’s good to find safe ways to get yourself into gear… better to find safe ones than risky ones… And I mean this for not just amusement rides, I mean this for big people problems… If you put yourself at risk, you may not see the best way back to the path…

Thus the connection of mustard to Jesus… Snapping back into reality, into the feeling of peace, or at the minimum finding the will to move forward, to move on…. All these are necessary when you stray… All these are things to reposition your mind, and to focus on the necessary… Jesus could be the spicy mustard you need, “I am the mustard of life”…. Jesus could shine a light into your stress or even your shame or even your vain… whether minute or major; He could be there for you because actually HE never left… He carries you, heavy burdens and all, perhaps if you shed some of those burdens the trek will be easier… Perhaps you will even go so far as to find internal joy, true joy…

Spinning heads or not, Jesus is along for the ride. If you are happy, HE is there; if you are sad, HE is there. If you are in the pits, HE has an amazing light source to shine you out… He didn’t judge, he doesn’t judge, but he wants YOU along for HIS ride… So DON’T give up on HIM, HE isn’t giving up on YOU, EVER!

252 Cling, Aug

I know they say Subaru love is a cult, I think it’s a way of life…. But, it’s God’s car to me, my true tabernacle that drove me directly into Jesus’s loving arms, so I love it, and I show it… The car, the moon, the stars, and this weight loss (20lbs since May, 42lbs total) – they all make me LOVE and appreciate God’s good works in me and around me even more…. So I don’t know if I am too vain, too boastful, or just too EXCITED about God… I wonder this, I also wonder if I spend too much time thinking about God… I don’t know about a lot of things… I still pray for discernment… Constantly… It’s just where I am right now…who knows where I will be in the future… NO WAY would I have believed I would be at this state nearly eight months ago!

But YES, sure, I cling to my Subaru and to Christmas and Easter and to music therapy (both regular and praise band music), and to the hundreds of people who bless me and witness Jesus to me… I cling so that I DON’T get off this “Christmas merry go round”… I cling because I really DON’T want to lose this blessed cloud nine feeling… I really don’t think I will, and HIS guiding hand wouldn’t let me so how dare I doubt HIS power!!!… Daily joy buffers this latest feeling of an avalanche of life tasks…. at work and home, financial crushes, stress of starting new counseling – opening old wounds…. But of course it’s expected that I am weary, not a surprise, this past month is always the pinnacle of summer busyness in my year… within one month I had three family birthdays to prep, VBS, scout trips, full time work at full steam and no time for vacation, and back to school on top of my normal life running a household… Christmas time is calming peace in comparison!! Oh how I could use a snowday right now) and then these new blindside devil attacks layered and interlaced within good things… Which really are like God peaking into the dark corners and urging me to cleanse even more of the crap out of my life… Like I wrote previously, the devil is the toilet paper that stuck to Jesus’s foot when he walked into my heart…. I will sink and rise again holding Jesus’s hand…

And yet thru all my “perceived” trouble (which is perceived and not any trouble for God to handle), I know it could be much much worse and I am truly blessed, and I have God throwing me miracles and messages constantly…. I praise God above my Subaru (and in it and on it, LOL I had to take this pic, fun)…

Above all I praise…

I praise God allowing me to absorb the good works that HE laid at my feet, I praise God for giving me a “vehicle” in my situation, smile, words, and now improved health…  my living example that shows witness to others about God’s good works (and his golden repair)…

I praise God to be used as HIS tool, and truly truly I praise God for letting me witness into the secrets of eternal joy…. And then letting me witness it back out to ALL….
God is MY “ALL in ALL”

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This essay is long, but another of a series of God teaching events for me… God will repeat scenarios until we learn what He is trying to teach us. I appreciate this lesson because it helped clear away the jetsam in my brain… Just know that the Holy Spirit blows the dust from your goggles so you may see… Thanks God!

Crossing Lines, 23Aug

Ah, sitting in the airport… Uses up three precious hours of your life before your flight even leaves….
But, it’s not so bad, actually reflection time well spent…

So, hour to kill, or maybe hour to live? It is air travel you know, you just never know… No worries… better than driving… The server comes up from the bar… “You asked for help?” Three of us looked puzzled… Oh! the one gentleman had hit the request for help, couldn’t figure out how to order a beer… Apparently he already had one too many! He said this is the most expensive beer he had ever bought. I said “well you don’t need it, maybe you should’ve just used your money going to the duty free and we could have all cracked open some liquid refreshment…”  Laughs all around… that started the chit chat, small talk you know that you get to enjoy in public places, grocery store lines, the dentist office… killing the time… this isolating Ipads? nope, don’t need those anymore! we had fallen into one of those delightful fun open conversations, I will call it “Words with Strangers”…

This buzzed gentleman asked me and the other man next to me if he and I were a couple, we both say no. He asked why we were each traveling; we both said for business… the gentleman to my left works for a security company and told us about the terrible food at his conference. I tell them about the great food at my conference, especially at the gala party – the oysters.. I tell them about the exciting science that I have been learning, about its uses to help the world … Our buzzed gentleman stops me mid-sentence and exclaims to security guy: “Wow, she’s pretty AND smart!” Blush… Security guy put his hand to his head in embarrassment. Buzz says, “well, she is pretty isn’t she?”. Security nods, says “yes she is”, but cringes, embarrassed for me… I start to say “it’s ok, I just lost 35 lbs, it’s nice to hear that, it’s a novelty for me, I have been working out at home, at church…”… I can’t finish my sentence because Buzz interrupts with: “Wow, she is pretty AND smart AND goes to church!!” Ha, smiles…. “Well your smile just lights up your face, you glow” (no I am not making this up, he really said that, like SO many have since my awakening last December). I don’t recount this to boast but to say that yes, Jesus changes your whole life and even how you look. Jesus makes you shine.

I can’t help but smile, it was sweetly said, in an inebriated cute way, nothing more… no harm yet… but ok, I REALLY want to get back to my science talk!!

And then we change the subject… Talking about food and then alcohol again… Security guy told us of his boss throwing a fabulous party.. I told them about the Canadian whiskey mixed with maple syrup and lime juice and cherry biters at our party, delicious!  Buzz says, “I bet you enjoyed them, huh?”
“Sure I did, yum!” Leading me, he then says “I think you enjoyed quite a few of them, I bet you really REALLY enjoyed them, huh?”…

SCREECH!!!!!! Oops….

There my friends is where I felt the tipping point of the conversation… I SCREECHED it to a halt… Bells and whistles, flashing lights, you name it… Signals a blaring, stop the train! Stop this conversation before it goes too far! …

There my friends is where the boundary lines needs to be drawn and held… Buzz can’t draw the line, his brain/mouth filter dissolved with his last pounded beer. I was not offended, just aware… He was leading a conversation down the wrong path for a married woman, for any unknown woman…. a conversation that is not proper often occurs because someone has blurred the lines… He was intrigued about my partying more than my science that was for sure… So, I had to step back and not cross that line. He erased his line, BUT I still saw my line, and I held it… Luckily, I also had “security” next to me. My eyes are open, my sober ears alerted my sensibility which alerted my mouth to correct my worded path. I halted the conversation with… “oh no, they only let us have two drink tickets, I didn’t have too much fun.”… Whew… Saved the line… “Security” then changed the subject for me.

A famous weatherman slipped into a trap a few years ago… some eastern European mafia girls plied him with alcohol, drugged him and ran up his credit accounts like crazy $100,000 over a weekend. Devious! Devil’s play…

Oh how in a devious situation someone could have taken this Buzz guy for a ride, emotionally at least… Could have blurred the line on purpose, like those eastern mafia girls, for financial gain…. Both parties could have given the devil delight in the banter. But it’s not right, not righteous, not even smart…

Yes, sometimes you feel the devil pull you across lines sometimes… And if there is a willing partner or player whose own devil is working hard at pulling them past their lines, well you can get that “snowball effect”…  or maybe call it dancing with fire… Either way, you are apt to get burned….  A Genesis song, Mad Man Moon, speaks to this… “And took off in the air. I flew to places which the clouds never see, Too close to the deserts of sand”. The lyricist never gets to come back from the desert sadly – BUT God would take you back in a heartbeat, God would forgive if you truly repented…

Solomon speaks to this reality, urging God to hear the repenting cries:
1Kings 8:46 “When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near; 47 and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’; 48 and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them ……  49 then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. 50 And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy…”

A book my pastor gave me was my flight companion… I read it in the spring, and am re-reading it now. Guess what? I missed a chapter… read that as I sat safely on my flight, away from Buzz who probably missed his flight… “Security” was on my plane though, good deal…

Guess what? This book chapter four fits EXACTLY this scenario… Figures… Yeah I shouldn’t be surprised how God works in my life, always tossing me the right answer, the corrective learning situation… and then backs it up with text from the Bible!! So in Chapter 4 of Rob Fuquay’s book “The God We Can Know” he writes about knowing God’s care… Jesus is the gatekeeper for the sheep. the gate represents security. Sheep would go out through the gate for enjoyment – the gate led to joy. The sheep came in through the gate at night at the dark times for security.  Who was in charge of the gate? Jesus.
Jesus, the shepherd, our shepherd, our LIGHT of the world, would let the sheep go in and out (just like us)… but when it’s time to stay in for security at night, the shepherd sleeps against the door to keep the sheep in his fold. Jesus is our gatekeeper… The scripture is John 10: 7-9 “So again Jesus said to them: ‘Very truly I tell you I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture’.”

So yes, as we, HIS sheep, look for Jesus as our gatekeeper. We are really supposed to be looking for that gate, that boundary line. Jesus will hold us in with His body, hold us as one of His own. And if we are lost, Jesus will still come find us and shine HIS LIGHT on our dark path.  His real shepherd flesh and blood saves us…  So that we are not deviled away by our enemies or by ourselves. Yes God will take us back, but it’s safer and it’s less painful if we stay away from crossing the line in the first place.

Will I approach that line again? Will you? Another day another adventure… I even saw that line drawn and redrawn and approached that very evening… a train car with six 20-year olds quite punchy from a night of rabble-rousing at the ballpark… Thank God, I was a fan of their team, slid right into their train car and conversation… One dude starts at me for sitting there and we banter back and forth, in fun… His foul mouth at the other guys (not me) wakes up the sensibility of another toasted 20 yr old who said, “Hey, watch your mouth, there’s a lady here”… See, there are people who know the lines of etiquette… There are lines being upheld every day.

So you better believe that we will all approach those boundary lines again and again! And I won’t be afraid to step out in fear of someone crossing that line. I won’t let fear rule me. I mention this story to a church friend and he motions like a baseball player drawing a line in the dirt with his foot. Yeah draw your own line, hold your line, and get ready for the next pitch.

I was about to finish this essay in my head as I put my son to bed.  He told me how he told his friend that night that God does not want us to be afraid. Truth from the mouths of babes, he is a spirit-led boy! He’s right, God does not want us to be afraid… God wants us to prepare ourselves for life… God says “I AM with you always”!!!

I pray God’s grace always to keep my and everyone’s eyes open, and our boundary lines clear… I pray for others seeing the LIGHT of Jesus that God sheds on my lines so I may plainly see them. Thanks God for security, for Jesus, and for the opportunity to step up to the plate. Batter up!

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Timing – Unfailing Love – email to praise band folks

Of course the verse of the day pertains today to the last praise song that I heard in church…. Psalm 94:18… Unfailing Love…. since I missed most of the service I loved singing that extra song, “Unfailing Love” at the end with them today, because I needed it, because God truly blesses me with unfailing LOVE, consolation and joy…

I was way late because the friend I was helping at church had fallen, I helped her and then took my son home, checked on someone who was not feeling well, then hauled back to church in a rush to get some organized praise in… Timing is everything with God. I was coming up the road a florist truck was swerving all over the road, really glad he didn’t hit me… I mean left lane, right lane rumble strips, and back, maybe texting? I don’t know… (I’m not making this up, I REALLY seem to get these crazy drivers allot)…. I started honking my horn at him of course (a Christmas tune this time)… I pulled him next to him at the light and rolled down my window… he almost hit the car in front of him but got it in park and I yelled “what’s wrong? you’re swerving all over the place, are you ok?” and he said “I know i know I’m sorry, I’m just trying to get somewhere”… he looked so out of it, so dazed and confused, I pray he stay awake as he turned onto the main highway… Thanks GOD for once again putting me in the right place at the right time.

Crazy day, crazy week, crazy year… but God is the great consoler… I was happy to get in my praise out in the unfailing love song…. Thanks for your music… it reached me when I needed it today, it always does…God’s unfailing love… The right place at the right time…

———

From: “Bible Gateway”

Psalm 94:18-19 NIV

When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.

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Pray Outside the Box, 22Aug

Beautiful flowers from the church for a beautiful woman… Her services were beautifully heartfelt. I pray for the family, her mother father and sister, she was only 37 years old and died of natural causes. Pastor’s sharing was such a comfort to the family…. even though I barely knew her, she was a faithful Facebook Church friend… She always encouraged me in messages when I knew she herself did not have an easy life… Even in her situations she always found the energy to love others… truly embraced being a greater member of the church outside the building and into the Ethernet… after the services her mom brought her ashes over to a friend and me and asked us to pray over them  … I am reminded of the phrase to think outside the box… well we all need to love outside the box. Love for those we know and love especially for those we don’t know, but who need our prayers greatly. I prayed holding the box but I know that God has already taken her into His loving arms… Jesus was waiting there to pull her into heaven where she was able to finally find PEACE from a trying array of situations. But through it all she always gave love and she always had love, especially with her immediate family. I prayed to share love and comfort outside the box and back to this faithful family … Being able to pray out loud in SPIRIT and TRUTH is a new gift God has given me and I am honored and humbled to share prayers when called upon… it’s a blessing to have God help us LOVE outside the box… RIP, sweet child of God… eternally you are loved…

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God’s Eternal LOVE, 21Aug

I look back a year ago, at a photo of me at the state fair posing with a Coke can personalized with my name on it… “A Coke and a smile.” I look happy, I was happy, I am happy… I was and am always enjoying life. It’s genetics, it’s upbringing, it’s God’s gift to me. It’s a conscious decision to have an underlying contentment – or it is conscious to want to dig down deep past the sorrows of humanness and look for the deep joy.

If I am unhappy and stressed, then there’s something I need to learn from it. If I learn it, I might be able to change it. If I can’t change it, I will have to change me. I will change to be happy. Even more happy means I chose to continue to change. Both because I want to change into a joy state and because God wants us there.

The Coke photo was with my daughter, happy in the moment…. But waiting as we took the photo was her unhappy brother who wanted to go to somewhere else at the fair… When we went to his event, my daughter was then unhappy… That’s life, sometimes happy in the moment, sometimes not.

Life is here and now, life is for living, life is for loving, life is short. Eternity is not.

Eternity is not the “here and now”. But how you deal with the “here and now” will teach you what you need to prepare for eternity. Life brings unknown and known challenges, sometimes blindsides, sometimes clear as day hurdles. Life is for living past those challenges. Life is short. Eternity is not.

Life brings surprise and expected joys. Life is opportunity knocking. Life is for loving beyond those temporary joys, preparing for eternity. Life is short. Eternity is not.

Life is what you make of it. Life is short. Live in the moment, but love for eternity.
Eternity is an unknown, promised by a known.
Eternity is promised by one with eternal LOVE.
Eternity is a gift from God.

Therefore life itself is a gift… EVERYDAY a new gift from God to use life to prepare for eternity. Life is short. Love life and live it fully. Love life for eternity sake.

Your body is temporary, so use your mind to make it a temple for your spirit. Your spirit will live for eternity. I learned the secret to eternity – t was no secret – it was LOVE.

Of all the commandments, the greatest is LOVE. Love isn’t just a state, love is a commandment. Love completely, love fully, love without conditions, love forever and forever you will be loved.

God is LOVE.

LOVE is eternal life with God.

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Here’s the first writing from that awesome book Pastor gave me, I so appreciate the “Subaru in Christ” inscription he wrote…. No WiFi at night and plane rides great for book reading…And writing… God knows I need him more than ever…. Reminds me to stay vined…

I AM, book review, chptr 1, 19 AUG

Jesus re-vined me and entered my heart after I dropped my walls and feed the baby Jesus within me. He was already there in spirit guiding me, but now he became real in truth. Jesus became truly GOD to me. If I became Jesus-like then I worship God in SPIRIT and TRUTH, because we are intertwined, inter-vined.

I AM…. This book I read and am rereading I want to write about each chapter…. So what does I AM mean?

For Jesus it meant I AM God.

For God it means I AM, I EXIST, I AM ALL IN ALL, I AM Grace and grace is sufficient for you, don’t complicate it, don’t predict, don’t worry.

For me?
It means I AM God’s being here on earth… I AM made of God and therefore God’s CHILD. I am to be Jesus’s mini-me. No I am NOT God but I AM made from God, and connected as a branch on HIS vine, connected as part of His body in the church. If the whole of ME dies, the He will flow thru my whole being, be my whole energy, I AM IN HIS SPIRIT, I AM IN HIS TRUTH.

I AM a CHILD OF GOD growing everyday.. I AM growing EVERYDAY into A GODCHILD. I AM everyday growing GOD.

The ME is dying and GOD is growing….
“ME ME ME, play with ME, God”, children will say…
I am your child, so let’s be together, forever. Let me play in YOUR garden. I will swing off YOUR vine. I will play as YOUR child, I will learn YOUR voice.
I AM fine on the vine.

I AM
I AM ME
I AM going to be with YOU forever GOD
I AM HERE NOW
I AM

 

 

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This thought of focusing on Jesus while walking with him really really
comforts me right now – actually had a wave of comfort flow over me
this morning when I thought this and wrote this – truly we have a powerful God.
whew…

Walking on water with Jesus, Wash that Devil Away, 19AUG
When I let Jesus walk into my heart, that devil walked in too because
he was like a piece of toilet paper that was stuck to Jesus’s foot.
Now I envisioned myself as Peter with Jesus holding my hand on the water…
I will walk with Jesus on the water and trust him 100%. We will stand
there, eyes locked, and start walking  – and yes that devil will
dissolve away… and i will have peace…
Amen

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I had been in a (private) storm for a few days –so this was powerful for me to see God’s comforting presence tonight… I am fine – but know I am in a God-gifted retreat

Be Snow and Know I AM God, 17AUG

Well, yeah…. God is God… I know this because He knows me…Reminds me EVERYDAY…

I needed a retreat – I didn’t know I needed it so badly  because the things to retreat from happened AFTER I booked this trip – to is a science conference in Canada – the Great White North – in August – but there is no air-conditioning in the dorm room I am staying in – yet it’s ok – sure it’s hot, humid and sticky but this is how I grew up – this is not terrible, this is summer and I am grateful for it – it’s just that I could have had a nice a/c room with wifi – but I booked this last minute and wanted to be on campus and “I get what I get and I won’t throw a fit” because it’s an amazing series of events that got me here in the first place…

Conference starts tomorrow morning – that area is all A/C and wifi-ed – it will be a productive week and science-rich… therapeutic… it will of course be a God-rich week too – alone time – very therapeutic – retreat for 5 days – no kids – no work folks – no phone – no texting – no problem…

But it’s hot – sticky – I needed to process tonight like I did ALL DAY on the train, the airport the plane – I needed to reflect – I needed to ponder life and what has been happening (which I won’t detail) – but please know I am in a deep reflection right now – a devilish pull to top all other things going on this week –  I am fighting – I am relying on God to fight for me but I am fighting too – picking up my words to fight the good fight – and God gave me a week’s retreat away to reflect – thanks God –

But it’s hot – and God gave me a place to wander and rest comfortably on this hot sticky night – three minutes from my doorstep – a place to sit – a place to think – a place to work (library closes at 7 but this place is open until 11 and it is UBER A/C-ed) – AND it’s a place that has SNOW – yes – it’s Canada folks – yes I wondered if there would be snow…  snow in August…. Yes there is SNOW… and not just because I brought a fabric snowball with me too…

Yeah – Be Snow and Know that I am God – yeah, it’s a hockey rink – filled with cool ice and there is SNOW – well at least snow-like ice from the zamboni  – yeah that’s snow-enough for me in God’s summer. Yeah it’s God’s hand at work alright – God’s gentle touch in my life – yeah it’s GOD’S SNOW to comfort me – thanks God – I needed this…I needed snow… I needed You…

I need You God today and always… You are in control – You will give me retreat and rest – You remind me to stay humble and lovingly fear your mighty power…

Be Snow and Know that I am God

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Covering your face? Or Radiate?, 17Aug

Moses saw God.
Moses’ face shined, his face was radiant when he brought down the Ten Commandments… His face scared people… He covered it so the people would not be afraid…

So what do I do with my face?  People tell me I radiate, kinda like the glow when you are pregnant… physically I am not pregnant but spiritually I certainly feel that way… That plus my words have certainly scared some people… Imagine how I feel!!! God will continue to shine on your face everything that is in your heart… How you feel will show on your face… Trust me…

But do I cover my face? Or let it shine? I am pretty sure God wants me to show HIS peaceful blessings and joy. Maybe God does want me to scare the devil out of some people? If God’s will is to use me for HIS purposes then how can I not show my face? How can I not use my whole self to proclaim HIM and HIS works? I scratch my head sometimes and pray for discernment. Lord how do I use myself for Thy will?

I doubt I am supposed to hide my face… I think people like to see resilience and radiance and reaffirmation… I caught my own face in a mirror yesterday, scared myself with the glow then smiled…. Yeah don’t put your light under a basket (Matthew 5:15). Yeah this God is a powerful God!

BUT tell the people why you radiate! Don’t let them think it is from anything else but God Himself! (because they will, trust me) When praised remind them you are just using your God-given skills.

Simple truth shouldn’t scare the people, today’s people have likely heard about God… “In God we trust” is on our money and surely they have heard about money…  so tell them the truth, the truth is that you are nothing without God! The truth is God and God is truth.

So one should hide scriptures in one’s heart (Psalm 119) but I think it’s ok to show God on your face… Shine on!

Scriptures:
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11 ESV)

——
Proverbs 11:30
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
And he who wins souls is wise
——-
Psalm 119: 11
I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
——–
Exodus
The Radiant Face of Moses
29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.

33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.

—————-

PS… Yes, googling to find the scripture about hiding scriptures I came across my favorite poet : “A woman’s heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek Him first to find her.”-Maya Angelou  And Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

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Devil Stand Down, God Help me Chase Those Birds Away, Kindle and Rekindle,16Aug

I really wanted to  write this piece in a strong and forceful way because I’m in the middle of some tough devil chasing…. But when I can feel myself forcing the writing I know it’s not Spirit led answers from God… my pieces usually take half an hour and I sat at this piece for 2 plus hours…. Was it a waste of my time? I doubted myself, the devil causes me doubt… No, because it was spirit-led for God to make me write in order to humble myself in editing… I see how God convicts me in that I am not to battle the devil myself, I am to rely on HIM, which is a good thing because HE is God… And when God pulls me long enough and I end with a very familiar lyric to myself then I know God has closed my circle on this piece… Thanks GOD for teaching me, for loving me so much to encircle and hold me as YOUR child in YOUR garden.

Here’s the piece:

Devil Stand Down, God Help me Chase Those Birds Away, Rekindle,16Aug

Right now I am in the middle of the planting season…. Planting the seeds of the good news of Christ… I am knocking on doors anew, sometimes walking away, shaking the sand off my sandals… but many I am working already cracked open doors and spending some time appreciating being welcomed into someone’s house, blessed blessed, blessed! The great commission can be done, it just takes you figuring out where you start… Start easy until you gain more tools in your toolbox… There are tough projects but easy ones too…
… Actually know it’s not you alone doing the work… And know it’s not YOUR work, it’s GOD’S work… Plant seeds to spread the good news, but don’t stop there… You might be called into duty to work the soil while God grows the seeds. You might be there to chase away the birds.

Don’t just plant the good news and walk away, stay to work the soils of some of the people… I found it’s a combination of new and renewing faith, of kindling and RE-kindling dying or dead embers… It’s not just about NEW commissions, its RENEWING-commissions… That’s a good place for new gardeners with excess blessings to share. Show the weary commissioners that their work is not wasted… Renew their spirits too.

Like in the four soils parable, people are at different faith conditions… No one said you couldn’t get in there and help them with their soils (or souls)… Till some old dried soil, and lend hands at trimming thorns, removing rocks and filling them in with extra soil… And yes, take some time to chase away those birds that swoop like the devil ready to eat the seeds of the good Word….

Use the old and new tools in your shed in new ways…

Why doubt your work? Did you do your work in God’s name? It’s the devil, I tell you from experience, which will make you doubt… The devil can sneak in with blindside attacks. But the devil also flies in “plain as day” like birds to eat fresh seed… and when you approach they all flutter away… A big whirl of feathers reacting all at once to the smallest scare. If you can see the devil come like birds then surely you can scare them away… By yourself? No! Don’t forget to call upon and rely on God… Command that devil to see God’s almighty power strengthening inside of you and holding you and ask God to make the devil stand down for you, your family and for others…. Put God firmly on your face, in your heart and in your walk. It’s God’s will to change hearts, it’s your job to witness that He did this in your heart.

Maybe you want to make it a game to scare that devil and he will get tired of playing (for now)… Await him knowingly and run directly at him with Jesus power and watch those birds flutter so fast… But don’t tempt yourself too much… It’s God’s power not yours that is scaring the devil away… And you might slip up if you think it’s a game… It’s NOT a game…

But do what you have to do to be God’s tool for this Great Commission… Remind the devil (and remind yourself) that you are following God’s command to grow the kingdom and to be fruitful.  Be part of the vine that is Jesus and be ready to help God takeover the world… But don’t let go of that vine… Rekindle your own flame for the Lord; don’t wait for more gardeners to fertilize your own soil, but fellowship with them to do so together.

But do still your soil from time to time to let it rest and replenish nutrients…
Be Still and re-listen… And re-kindle…
“Be Still and KNOW that I am God”

But then get back out there for next growing season. God needs you out there refreshed and renewed, rekindled and re-vined.

Grab your tools folks! Game on! Got to get ourselves back to the garden…. GOD’S GARDEN… Let’s go… let’s grow…

242

Discernment, 14AUG

Oh wow, I was getting the scriptures for Sundays sermon to post on Facebook…. first I thought cool I never read this one before… And then I read it was about asking God for discernment…. I didn’t fall off my chair, but I could have… Discernment!!!!, that’s what I have prayed for this WHOLE time….what I asked prayers for myself – that first time… WOW…. now I understand why I feel over blessed with riches of spirit gifts, WOW, thanks God!

1Kings 3:
3 Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.

4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

7 “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you

241

Subaru Sermon – Strange – Surprise – Salvation, 11AUG

An email to my pastor:

Hi Pastor, that was a great sermon, very thoughtful… Listened in the car…

I so appreciate the fruit that appears in the orchard that God has given me… just like you read from Galatians 5…. that fruit seems to pop up awfully frequently for me these days…. it does still takes me by surprise, as you know…

Even just now I am listening to our praise song “ode 15, eternal life”  and I reached down to pick up a random vbs tag which is not mine, I have no idea how it showed up in my car… it’s the one about eternal life… I attached a photo… Strange

Another example is the next big Girl Scout trip to the exact same place where we planned then cancelled a vacation for us…. strange…

And strange wonderful to receive a work award yesterday… not so strange, because I write some nominations every year and have a good track record of them… Not so many people write them, people don’t realize the golden opportunity… kinda like salvation, many people don’t realize the golden opportunity… they have to choose to embrace it…. yup!

Have great fruitful day!

---

Galatians 5 – Life by the Spirit

¹³ You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. ¹⁴ For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

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. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited,provoking and envying each other.

240

God’s Stars, God’s LIGHT, 09Aug (camping on the beach)

Like the stars in the sky, there are infinite points of LIGHT that God shines on us… There are endless stars in the sky…. if we could see them all, if we could see infinitely far, they would all merge together to make one bright continuous light. If at night we see the Milky Way and the brilliant stars, then we know we are so tiny, so mini in the vast universe, and yet still blessed to God’s children, to be loved in the most personal way. You can look up and say, I know you are listening God, I know you can hear me, I know you can see me.

If there is less light pollution then you can see more stars. It’s not like the stars aren’t there… it’s you just can’t see them all… the man-made light blinds you to them. It’s just we have to move ourselves, get  ourselves out of the way, and get to a place where we can notice them more brilliantly.

Same with God’s blessings, just because you can’t see ALL of God’s brilliant points of light that bless your life at this very moment doesn’t mean they aren’t there… The man made blight can blind you to all your blessings. God is there alright, it’s just we have to move ourselves, get  ourselves out of the way, and get to a place where we can notice them more brilliantly.

For the light of the stars and the LIGHT of GOD… Move yourself…
When life is at its darkest you can see the most LIGHT.

At day or night…
God is there alright…
God is LIGHT…

Amen…

239

God’s Atmosphere, 08AUG (camping on the beach)

Sunrise at a beach…
God woke me up in time…
I was camping on the sand, I ran to the water so wouldn’t miss the sunrise, I knew it was close, but I had just about 10 minutes before the Sun actually rose…  and so I sat on the sand… God had made enough time for me to reflect… reflecting on how good God has been to me, to all of us. The praise song lyrics “everything you hold in your hand, still You make time for me, I can’t understand” sings through my head…
God makes time for me… God stills time for me….  not just taking the time to listen to me and to act for me, but truly He makes time because he really causes time….   The earth is turning, we understand time chronologically but we can NOT fathom how long it FEELS from when God created the earth until we are in the present day. God could speed up or slow down time if He chooses… He is the maker of all things; we are on HIS time clock….

The clouds are still…. the steady wind is whipping here at the beach, the waves are fierce but these clouds don’t move, they are cemented in the sky… it’s unreal and you can even see in the distance, to the north, pockets of rain showers, but the clouds DON’T move. You can see the reflection of the sunrise in the cemented clouds… Be still and know that I am God… these clouds are still… the waves are not… the wind is not… but the clouds are still… they are reflecting God.

The clouds are part of the atmosphere; they reflect this rising Sun in red, yellow, orange, pink against a blue sky. The clouds are being held still by God to reflect His beauty. The atmosphere on earth causes a reflection. For us to be God-like we are to be atmosphere-like. We are to reflect His beauty, we are to shine brightly as the Sun…. maybe we have some interesting clouds that are still in our lives, but these clouds will reflect the Sun in brilliant color, they will reflect the beauty, they will reflect truth and they will be still.

Be still…  just before the Sun arose I was joined on the beach by another and another and another, appreciating God. We camp together,  we laugh together, we love life together…  we together make the atmosphere…  I realize that it was not “be quiet and know that I am God” time but it was “be together and reflect God” time… reflect the beauty of God in our friendship… the beauty of God in our appreciation of life… and the beauty of God in creating ALL that is held in His hands… for us it was exactly at the right time… these friends of mine together this morning… on the beach, as the Sun crested, someone turned around and then called out to all of us so that we could all see the most beautiful rainbow… a rainbow of God… A rainbow promise created NOT by rain but caused by God’s reflection of the Sun in the STILL clouds… behind us! I would have missed it completely just sitting by myself but God sent these friends to reflect His beauty to each other, to make an atmosphere of beauty, to create an atmosphere of appreciation and awe of God…

All of God… Awe of God.

It takes the atmosphere to reflect God in all those colors – to show HIS brilliance – to show His love…
God makes time for me… Thanks God

238

Mathtime is God’s playtime, 06AUG

No doubt in my mind that God is a mathematician of the highest form… from fractals to Fibonacci numbers, God has it covered in such fun ways… Golden ratios and a great way to learn all about this amazing math is this fun video of Donald Duck in Mathmagic land…. it’s a must view!!!!  check out the section at the three minute mark to see how math is the basis for music!   the 11 minute mark for natural patterns… everything is arranged in mathematical shape and the rules are always the same….   https://youtu.be/U_ZHsk0-eF0

I also am amazed about patterns in nature – patterns that lend themselves to spirals and repeating structures in everything from flower petals to snail shells….

here are more cool things on this webpage…  http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/emat6680/parveen/fib_nature.htm

Studying math and science leads me to God in every direction – the more you know the more there is to learn – its endless…. it’s forever… more questions appear as soon as you answer one – a fractal of forever questions  (these concepts are not new but this article with the author’s name “A Heaven-rich” is a good quick read)

 

237

I found a New One !!! Romans 8, 06AUG

Aside from the three sound bites in here, Romans 8, I have never read this whole passage….
It’s a blessing to have electronic bibles, scrolling and re-learning what God already had put on my brain….

I just relistened to Pastor’s sermon about Jesus calming the waves… calling to rebuke them and I thought this is also exactly what the Romans passage is about… we are already children of God we are Jesus brothers and sisters He is so intercalated into our soul that we are to call out and rebuke the waves to calm them because we’ve intercalated Jesus into our hearts and we have already been saved by grace therefore we just need to recognize it and call out “Father, Abba”  using Jesus’s voice in our mouths….”nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Yeah when we are one with Christ, He is our soul, our hope, and we are HIM when HE is in us, nothing can separate….  We are whole… We control our waves when HE is with us…. Thanks GOD!!!

“Hope that is seen is no hope at all….” Grown inwardly… hope is patient….Yeah, we’ve already gained those “first fruits” as children of God, we already have that Amazing Grace…. “Bright shining as the Sun… we’ve no less days to sing God praise, then when we first begun…”

….. “24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently…..”

And we already were made in the image of God son therefore children of God … God calls us before we were even born…

“29 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. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

Thank you Lord for calling me anew each day, each hour, each minute….

Romans 8:
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[f] And by him we cry, “Abba,[g] Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Present Suffering and Future Glory
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that[h] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 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. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
26 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. 27 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.

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[i] have been called according to his purpose. 29 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. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

More Than Conquerors
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

236

Holding on to Jesus, 04AUG

An email to my former Pastor R…. Thought I would share…

Now I have a post-VBS, come back to reality check… Scale back down the mountain without falling… It is now more than ever that I truly need to stay connected to the LIGHT… it’s now when I feel the need to let Jesus hold me up… Arms raised surrender style… Financial bills, life worries, work worries, family worries, yeah swirling…. HOLD me inside the hurricane please Jesus….

This bracelet (photo attached) that my Pastor gave me is a good reminder for me to stay in Jesus’s circle of life and hold on… (oh if you could have seen the such excitement he had giving it to me on “Christmas in July” of all days, because the white bead contains water from Mount Everest our VBS theme… I was truly speechless with such a thoughtful gesture and such amazing loving support). This bracelet’s white bead representing the highest of highs in your life remember to stay humble and the black bead containing mud from the Dead Sea remind you when you’re at your lowest of lows to stay hopeful…. and for me the many beads in between in camouflage earthly tones are where I am scaling down right now… holding on to my faith to keep from slipping. The VBS slow song I’ve been listening to is “as I hold on to my faith, Jesus you are holding on to me”…

Truly I’ve been so blessed to feel the connection to the LIGHT of Jesus that will find me if I ever get too close to escaping to the dark… Psalm 139… I pray I will keep my joy, and I truly feel I will…

Truly I know I will keep my joy with my memories, my present tremendous blessings, in my hope in the future… As summer is still in full swing then winds down… I will enter my favorite season, Fall, and guess what comes after that? Christmas… this will be my first REAL Christmas, 100% now in Jesus’s loving arms… I feel he was planted as a baby in me last Dec/January and I’ve been growing him in my heart and in my arms all year and now he’s grown big enough to carry me through….

Yeah, that’s TRUE JOY…

Jesus holding me in JOY…

235

Praising God for Strength and Snow, 03Aug

Still got a snowball… This one fluffy soft, good for squeezing for stress relief….left over from VBS… Reminding me of HIS power to comfort me… so many times with his gift of snow in jan, feb, march…. Once even dropping me dead in my tracks… “Be still and know I am God…”

And still now… the snow comforting and reminding me of God’s power… last week I pretended to be the VBS fairy snowmother with the power of snow, (saving lots of snow from February to share in July), fun but I used it to teach that we truly truly need to look to GOD because HE has the REAL “Power to Heal…HOLD ON!” “He heals the broken hearted and bandages their wounds”… Psalm 147… It turns out that psalm 147 also mentions that God spreads the snow like wool… Yeah, it really does mention snow… Thanks GOD… You know every hair on my head…

So a few down moments for me today… hearing of folks very ill nearing death, and a sad lost opportunity to get away with my family for some needed vacation… So besides the armor of God to stay strong in preventative ways, my “go to” remedy today to pray thru it all was that I listened to Amazing Grace, date recorded is the same as my mom’s birthday… a beautiful rendition… Then I remembered why I had this as a recorded song because I wasn’t in regular church that day but instead was away, up home for my mom’s birthday… immersed in blessed snow up to my knees… Immersed in my family’s unparalleled love… Love so much from my mom that she collected two trash bags of snow for me to save for vacation bible school…  yup… snow

Yes, God made it full circle:  LOVE… SNOW… Providing… comfort… healing… SNOW… LOVE…

Thanks for making and loving every snowflake uniquely…

Thanks for making and loving each of us so uniquely…

Thank you God for the loving strength today, and thanks for the SNOW…

234 Jesus makes work LIGHT!, 01AUG

Whoa!!!!!

I don’t know if anyone else has made this connection about this phrase… Wow it’s too profound for me to have thought off it on my own, it’s God who connected my thoughts in HIS timing… put it together in my head… It’s powerful to me when I let God take charge… Here’s the thought:

“Many hands make light work”… This really means: “Many hands make LIGHT (as in Jesus’ Light) work!!!

Tell me others have made this connection…

I  freaky really realized that double meaning (GOD put it in my head) after a ten minute power nap just now… Praise God…. I was up with my son, not feeling well at 430am, he is fine now)… So when I felt God’s powering me down for a reboot, I took it… Ten minutes…

Many hands make LIGHT (as in Jesus’ Light) work!!!
We do Jesus’ work…
We are Jesus’ LIGHT…
We are Jesus’ work…
We are Jesus’ LIGHT…
Jesus works….

Whew God… You blow me away… and bring me back for more… Blessed… I feel as LIGHT as a feather when I let you take over… Blown onto the air and floating down into Jesus’ arms. Blessed… Light with life!

 

233 email about VBS to Pastor and co-chair, 31JULY:

Full House awesome… I was definitely nervous tonight… Definitely felt that uncertainty of “I have a captive audience to tell them everything exciting Jesus had done for me, tell everyone of my blessings, etc etc…” VS. NOTHING about me… Good thing I had planned that giant snow ball to calm me down… Blessed…
I was nervous in the prayer room… Funny how I can write all I want, and be so free at the actual morning VBS, sing as loud as proud as I can, and up!!! Our music leader and I sang a song everyday – just the two of us -pumped up for the Lord!!…  but nerves got me tonight…. I was nervous about how to share my burst in faith without it looking like it was about me… Because I know it’s not about ME being proud that God took an interest, but me telling how humbled I am that God uses me and my WHOLE toolbox… And how God uses OTHERS… That is where I should put my story telling… 2nd Corinthians Paul said I will boast about this other man who got to see layers of heaven…

So I realized all I REALLY have to do is JUST share my faith… (And then in the right settings with the people who already know me or not, I can explain the burst of my faith in as little detail or as much detail as feels appropriate..)… So tonight I shared that my faith was strengthened by boasting about the audience’s awesome children who enable ALL of us at VBS to see Jesus at work… To praise them because it’s thru teaching children (and teaching/reaching adults) where I have seen Jesus at work…

I know at some point I will nail down motivational stories in short and in long format… I already have audiences to tell other people stories to…. And it’s ok to tell my story too, I’m going to have to continue to tell everyone that it’s God who caused this weight loss and healthy life. I do that now, when I get those “wow” reactions I say in short “that’s one powerful God, I had nothing to do with this but follow HIS plan”…

Thanks for everything this week!!! You two and everyone kept me from a potential snowtastrophe of climbing too fast and too high… next year down down down… Deep into the earth we will go…

Day 1… Jesus gives us hope.
Key Verse: “O Lord, you alone are my hope.” (Psalm 71:5)…

Yup Yup Yup, spelunking for Jesus… when things are dark, finding the light of the world… Light up OUR world, Jesus… Thanks GOD! Thanks for our VBS family!

232

I Saw Jesus, 30 July

I woke up early to tell you this story of seeing Jesus yesterday…When I rolled up out of bed, the moon was smack dab in my face. I see that blessed moon and I always say “Thanks GOD!”    Here’s my witness:

I Saw Jesus, 30 July

I have a story about seeing Jesus…. A little 4 year old sweetie – Barbara – I got to witness Jesus in her…

A little 3 year old boy, who truly truly didn’t know any better, yanked her hair so hard it pulled out a big clump. I was there… oh to hear that scream, see the clump pulled out, and see others comfort this little girl. It was so painful,  she cried so much…. And her grandma emailed later to say she cried on and off for the rest of the day… Barbara said she didn’t want to go back to VBS because she didn’t want to get hurt again, but she wanted to be with her friends and it was breaking her heart not to be with them. So her grandma urged her to come back to VBS, and we encouraged her grandma, and I said to please tell her how happy her crew leaders and I would be to see her come back… And yes, Praise God, Barbara came back the next day with the biggest smile on her face. Praise Praise Praise.

For the bible lesson, we talked about that God has the power to heal… I pretended to be the Fairy Snow Mother with the power of snow (yes I saved 3/4 of freezer with snowballs from February), asked if there was anyone I could make feel better with my snowball, nope, as much as they loved holding it – it did not have the healing power that Jesus has…I reminded them that it’s actually God who has the power to heal… “He heals the broken hearted and bandages their wounds”… and that God has the power to forgive.

I was teaching but actually I was the one who was taught that day about Jesus – I witnessed Jesus in Barbara coming back to be with her friends at VBS despite being hurt by someone.  I was told by Barbara’s crew leaders that the first thing she did when she came back was to sit down next to the boy who pulled her hair and she said directly to him: “DON’T pull my hair” and then she gave him the biggest hug…. if that’s not showing Jesus is LOVE, I don’t know what is… She was being Jesus – at four years old she was shining Jesus love…

Jesus says I LOVE you, I don’t judge you, and “go and sin no more”. This little girl essentially said: “I forgive you” with her smile, “I love you” with her hug, and “go and sin no more” with her words. Will she forget? I don’t know…. But she forgave that day…. Jesus forgave that day. Jesus says: “They don’t know what they do, Father, forgive them… “

And we are all called to be Jesus as well… Not judge… Just Forgive… Always to Love…

Yes I saw Jesus today… And Jesus smiled…

231

Perfect Love, 27JULY

I promised myself that if I wrote during bible school that I wouldn’t send them out until next week… But I changed my mind… I love this piece… Called “Perfect Love” below… I love God’s love…

I had this on my mind at 530am… Couldn’t shake it, had to write it… I know that I am not perfect and actually embrace my “wing it” ability too much…
But God loves me anyway…

It was such a blessed VBS day that I can’t even begin to write about it… And I don’t have to because I witnessed “God will provide” to 175+ people and then another 2 dozen at the homeless dinner… And like 300 on Facebook…

My favorite yapping at the homeless dinner was with Sir Bruce, singing songs, talking TV shows, and just kicking back to absorb his energy level when he is so much worse off than me… Better conversation with him then some regular ole people I know… I helped him write, he traced lines I dotted and we made a VBS mountain together… Free flowing fun conversation, no strings attached… another one was at church Sunday, I sat in the back with a brain damaged man… he was telling me about Jesus… Perfect when I am in that chatting mood, which is where I am right now… Which is how I always was… Chatting with no strings attached…

Perfect Love 27 JULY
God called me – why THIS timing is not mine to know – but God waited until I was ready and he waited until he saw that now is the tipping point between what I wanted to do in life and what HE wants me to do in life…  Luckily for me – those tasks were not all that different…  at least as far as I interpret God so far… It tickles me to know that God loves me SO MUCH that he just wants me to be me….

God called me to use my skills and my vast toolbox of physical and psychological learnings… God certainly wants me to use my smile and silly ways – God certainly wants me to use my organizational skills.. God certainly wants me to use my reach to touch people’s lives for the better…  But God wants me to channel those skills through HIS plan, NOT mine.  God knows I am NOT perfect and that i strive NOT to be…  God wants me to do the best I can with the time I have and the tools and circumstances…  He will place my work right in front of me every day if I just pay attention…

Do I have a perfect life?  no way…  not then and not now…  do I have perfect anything?  NOPE – never did and never will!  Should i have/be perfection? Nope, except  ONLY in ONE thing… LOVE…

Jesus came to earth to show us PERFECT LOVE… Jesus came to show us to not judge…  to care for people…  to become right with God and SIN NO MORE…  but Perfection?  LOVE is what should be PERFECT in Jesus’ eyes… It is my opinion that you are to do the best you can in everything else – but try to LOVE perfectly…

What does PERFECT LOVE mean?  it means you and I have a LONG road ahead of us…  we are tough cookies to crumble…  we have put up a fight for a long time to dislike and judge and push our agendas…  we confuse corrective actions and love… yes we do need to push ourselves, right our wrongs, and complete ourselves… and we do sometimes feel the need to teach others to be better at whatever God calls them to do… but we also have to accept people as they are and know that God is working in parallel wit them…  and YES we need to maximize our time doing all this with the short time we have here on this imperfect earth (even the earth is not perfectly rounded).

I do feel that it is important to take a step back and appreciate the tools in others which will help achieve this striving towards perfect LOVE. As leaders we need to draw upon peoples strengths, and reach people to effect good change…  we need to examine our toolboxes too – we need to say “How can I deal with this situation and these people?”

Perfect LOVE is only obtained thru Jesus filtering of our hearts and Jesus filtering of our mouths… God is patient with us, he made us and he knows we have become human sinners, he knows our motives before we act and speak – he knows all…

We will do our best to please Him…

We will do our best to perfect ourselves in all aspects of our lives… but ONLY to the glory of God… ONLY to please God and not please ourselves…

We will do our best to PERFECTLY LOVE…
We will find that GOD loves us perfectly, teaches us perfect through Jesus, and moves and molds us through the Holy Spirit…
We will find human Jesus in our human selves and share HIS LOVE…

JESUS is LOVE…
JESUS is PERFECT…
PERFECT is LOVE…

228   Merry Christmas in July, 25JUL

How could I miss this opportunity to wish you all Merry Christmas in July…. Is it silly? I KNOW silly, I work hard at silly, and NO, I assure you it’s NOT silly. It’s Christmas.

This time seven months ago I was in question, I was in flux… I was reaching to stabilize myself to only a few souls who wouldn’t betray my sinful secret that I wasn’t truly a believer in Jesus as the son of God… I prayed for discernment, and I got it… And I got Jesus big time… Actually He got me…

I still do pray for renewed discernment… New questions… Where do I go from here, God? How do I share your promised salvation? Who do I tell and when? How do I honor YOU without disobeying YOU? How will I stop asking so many questions? How will I “Be Still”?

I still reach to stabilize my new life, I never knew this path would take me where it has, I never knew I could find more joy than I had and I never knew I was to find true sorrow and true temptation too. Yeah light and dark.

So, a few days after Christmas, at our open house party, many brought me a candle as a gift…  And my daughter made candles too, I made a couple myself… A couple days after Christmas I found myself with about 10 new candles… Yeah, why so many candles? I pondered… Why so many when I NEVER burn a candle, ever… Why so many people thought I needed the candles? That I needed the light…? Oh yeah, didn’t take me long to put it all together… God orchestrated this… and He said let there be LIGHT! And He found the people to bring it. He found the people who beam it!

Well yeah, I do boast my God sightings way too much, and I want to stop screaming how excited I am…. but I just try to tell the truth… God smiled… God said this sleeping child of mine needs CHRISTMAS, needs CHRIST. God said you the people, “Bring My Light”

Yeah, God gifted me Jesus, I got Christmas… I got Jesus… Thank you God! I got to share…

God’s timing shook me, but now I reflect… God picked the ways, God picked the people, God knows what HE is doing… comfort in His plan… I turn to God to see the light, I turn to Jesus to feel the light, I turn to the world to shine the light. I turn to God to focus His light, gifting my heart and my eyes to shine Him…

Yeah, I still reach to stabilize while I broadcast… Yeah, I am scared because I don’t know what sacrifices I must make now… I felt and have been told that the devil is out to get those who turn away from evil and ignorance… Yeah, God told me to look for Christmas everyday this year, lest I stop listening, lest I stop looking for the light. I was sent to deliver HIS message.

God assures me the LIGHT won’t go out, that I won’t burn out… I know that God knows I don’t take any chances… I reach out just wanting to stabilize myself until I stand unshakeable… I will stand for you God, I will beam Your light. God willing I can make a difference no matter what…

Merry Christmas God. Thank YOU for taking me, sinner that I am, imperfect in so many ways, for giving me your LIGHT, everyday. Thank YOU for YOU, everyway.

I give all of me to You.

Merry Christmas God.

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Christmas again, 26 JUL

I knew it was Christmas everyday but it’s extra sweet when God shows me it in different ways… I was sitting in a random pew for Sunday services and opened the pew hymnal to find a Christmas program 1 ½ years old… from 2013… How blessed to feel God’s love in every little detail in my life … I’m sure God saved this paper for me to find… “Come to the cradle”, come and find peace… Yeah, thanks God… That’s exactly what I found. Jesus is my peace everyday… Awesome! Blessed! Christmas! That’s the real ABC’s…

Merry Christmas again

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Christmas Times Three?  Geez God?, 26JUL

And this….?
Really God? Just sitting here in the choir loft, I look to my left and guess what I found another year and a half old 2013 Christmas program like earlier today… this one from candlelight instead of contemporary… same year… Geez God… Thanks for duplicating yet something else for me… You will explain this to me some day when I get to heaven?

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Not patience but discernment, 26JUL

So I had a good conversation with a Christian confidante…  I said I have to pray for patience he said “NEVER pray for patience or else you will be tested on your patience by Satan”… I said oh really…yes i know that for sure!!!  and he then said I should pray for DISCERNMENT… I nearly lept out of my chair when I told him that was exactly the prayer I asked for from the very beginning… discernment… you remember oh so long 7 months ago…. yeah I renew my own prayer for discernment for everything now… I love how God duplicated things for me.

224 VBS snow praise, JUL

Today I was hiking and hands raised I praised Jesus on the mountain, and next week he will LOVE the snow!!!! I had to take this photo  – so EXCITED for VBS!!!!
God had the power to provide, to comfort, to heal, to forgive, and to give us an eternal home!! I am living proof! I praise HIM for helping me lose myself to find myself…

225 email VBS 23JULY

Yeah, what a fitting bible verse of the day….
Matthew 19:14. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

VBS is about the children, showing them (some for the first time) the LOVE of Jesus alive in all OUR hearts, encouraging them to look for, long for, and run towards Jesus in JOY – so that in times of joy AND especially in times of troubles they can also look for, long for, and run towards Jesus.

VBS is about ALL of US becoming that child again and reminding ourselves and showing ourselves (with rekindled youthfulness) the LOVE of Jesus alive in all OUR hearts (alive in MY heart, alive in YOUR heart), encouraging our ownselves to look for, long for, and run towards Jesus in JOY – so that in times of joy AND especially in times of troubles WE can also look for, long for, and run towards Jesus.

Because the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who follow and make Jesus alive….

Amen.

I believe Jesus lives.

 

 

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VBS email July

Build a Mountain

Going to build a mountain today… I’ve been carrying it around in pieces for a long time…. This mountain is not made of rocks, but lightweight styrofoam for Vacation Bible School. It will also be easy to dismantle. What will be hard is for me to decide is what to do with the pieces after… do I throw them away? do I save them in case I need them? It’s a lot of baggage to carry around… yes just because the mountains is down doesn’t mean it’s gone…

But honestly I know and you know the mountains we are building our lives are hard…. Not ready to take down… they are made of rock stone dirt sin crap from us and crap we absorb from others… all the things that we put into our lives and then find them hard to move. It’s heavy … it’s no fun … it’s mountains that will hold you back….

We ask God to move mountains for us…. And He will… If you BELIEVE…. Mark 11:23 “I can guarantee this truth: This is what will be done for someone who doesn’t doubt but believes what he says will happen: He can say to this mountain, ‘Be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it will be done for him.”

And remember, God asks us to believe it can be moved I the first place…. Believe first, then think… then look… be aware…. we have to look and see and ask “Did I build this mountain myself?” Perhaps it just built by itself?… Perhaps it’s the mountain in somebody else that I can’t move?

All these mountains…. we don’t know what to do…. we can ask God to move …. we have to believe God will move them…. He will dismantle them but is it those mountains in US that God would certainly enjoy US helping…. God appreciates the efforts, and rewards the work… WE can work on our own mountains, dismantle them break them down into smaller pieces easier to deal with.. What will be hard is for US to decide is what to do with the pieces… do I throw them away? do I save them in case I need them? it’s a lot of baggage to carry around… yes just because the mountains is down doesn’t mean it’s gone… and yet smaller pieces are easier to throw into the sea…

Yes if it IS going to take time to move a mountain in your life…. Be proactive… ask God… believe, pray and ask him to move this mountain… but be ready to know what to do with the pieces after its dismantled. Perhaps God likes action plans.

If it’s a mountain in somebody else’s life which is holding you back pray to God for your own patience. God moving that mountain may take a while its not at your pace but at that person’s pace and it’s God’s timing, not yours… maybe what you can offer is how to help that person take care of the dismantled pieces. Perhaps God likes action plans. So believe God will help then with their own action plan… KNOW and TRUST GOD to do what is RIGHT.

SO believe JUST believe… BELIEVE like you’ve never believed before. Sometimes mountains are moved slowly, sometimes we have to take the long way around and keep travelling while the mountain is being moved. Either way, know God is working on HIS plan… and BELIEVE…

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Feel the Love – Fill the Bag, 22 JULY

Fitting bag I keep hard copies of my writing in, huh? “Subaru… Feel the LOVE”

Got it from a very spiritual friend, who thoughtfully got it for me at a car show a couple of years ago… He was the one who called me out of the blue on this mother’s day to wish me a happy mother’s day and when I called back we caught up from a long while… How blessed I could share how God had changed me…

How blessed also I was this morning to have someone check on me, worried I was ill with my head down, when actually I was just so deep in thought sitting in my car, writing a text…. It’s nice to have thoughtful people around isn’t it???

Just counting blessings… And Subarus…