Placing the day…

Winter Sunset in Pennsylvania Photo by SloMo2639

Good morning, beloved,

This morning found me awake earlier than usual. With coffee in hand, I begin my day with the Lord. I place my day in His hands.

²² The stone that the builders rejected
became the chief cornerstone [Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:7].
²³ ·The Lord did this [^LThis is from the Lord],
and it is wonderful ·to us [^Lin our eyes; Matt. 21:42; Mark 12:10–11].
²⁴ This is the day that the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad ·today [^Lin it]! Psalm 118 EXB

I look over my yesterday and ask Him to teach me. I look to my tomorrow and remember, grace. Grace for yesterday, grace for today, grace for tomorrow, so thankful for His grace. Why is life so calm in the garden?  Walking with Him, talking with Him, it’s so peaceful. and then I have to jump into my life. My life feels a little like a snowball at the top of the mountain and by the end of the day, a huge ball. I’ve said things, done things, I regret.

So I truly believe that His Spirit resides in me. So why is it so hard to live out that in front of my family?

I hear myself. I hear the fear. Do you hear it? Do you ever approach a day wondering if, in your time of prayer, what you prayed will bear fruit?

I ·look up [^Lraise my eyes] to the hills [^Cthe hills surrounding Zion, the location of the Temple],

Sunrise over the Jerusalem hills. Photo by Super Jew

 but where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth [Gen. 1].Psalm 121  EXB

He is the One who helps. He is the One who made it all. So as I begin the day, I lift my eyes. I bring my day before my God, my Helper. I am not ever going to attain perfection this side of heaven, but God promises He will help. He will come.

³ He will not let ·you be defeated [^Lyour feet be moved/slip].
    He who ·guards [watches] you never sleeps.
⁴ He who ·guards [watches] Israel
    never ·rests [sleeps] or ·sleeps [slumbers].

We will not be defeated by the enemy. Our feet will not move or slip. We have the Divine Guardian. He never dozes. He never takes a nap with His favorite afghan. He guards us, He guards Israel always. Promises that we can stand upon.

Western Moon setting over Mountains, High Desert, California by Jessie Eastland aka Robert DeMeo

⁵ The Lord ·guards [watches] you.
    The Lord is the shade ·that protects you from the sun [^Lat your hand, your right hand; 91:1].
⁶ The sun cannot ·hurt [^Lstrike] you during the day,
    and the moon cannot ·hurt [^Lstrike] you at night.

So friends, we live with the promise. The Lord is watching, He is the shade. I’m so thankful that God gives us pictures in His word. He is our shade. He is covering us from the sun. He is at our hand. So, as I begin my day, breathing in, breathing out. I am realizing I think tooooooo much. It is so good to remember. SO good to ponder. And duh, where are my note cards during the day with His Word scribbled? Yes, I stopped doing that, and I am going to work on that as soon as I finish.

What disciplines do you have in place that help YOU to remember? A lit candle? Music in the background? We battle. I battle. When I have these different “triggers”, I can look all over and recall.

 

⁷ The Lord will ·protect [guard; watch] you from all ·dangers [trouble; evil];
    he will ·guard [watch] your life.
⁸ The Lord will ·guard [watch] you as you come and go,
    both now and forever.

We are in His sweet care. We are protected. Five times, in this Psalm, we find the Hebrew word, shamar, to guard, to protect. We know. We can trust. Faith. Faith that He will be there always.

Ann Voskamp, Joy Dare:

A gift on a paper, in a person, in a picture:

154. My kids’ pictures, writings, drawings…priceless.

155. Staying in touch with friends, near and far.

156. Seeing pictures of family vacations, delight and relaxation. Remembering…

So, friends, we have a choice. We can grab hold of what we know to be true. Place different triggers around the house, verses, candles, songs. As our world gets more complicated as the day goes by, we can stop, take a breath and remember. I’m game, how about you?

Pray on. Pray on.

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my Victor

Tarvasjõgi at Kõrvemaa Nature Park in Estonia. by Ireen Trummer

Good morning, beloved,

What do you do when the words won’t come? When it feels as though your thoughts are not connecting with the keyboard?

Our heat has still not been fixed. (They are waiting on parts.) Our sewer problem has been cleaned up but we have no hope of this being a permanent solution.

My boy is having a very hard time emotionally. (Ergo his siblings are too..) There, so far, has been no set diagnoses. They can guess. They give directions. Yet, his symptoms baffle. They send us somewhere else. It will be a long wait. In the meantime, how do I remain calm? How do I hold this sweet boy together? At times, we all feel we are in a blender. He is the blades and we are the liquid whipping around him. We never know what will be his undoing. Oh, how I love this boy. How I love his hugs, his conversation starters, his nightly routines…

Where do we go when the ground feels like it is fall out beneath us?

Island View Beach, B C photo by Brandon Godfrey

I will be honest. I would like to go to this beach. To sit in the sand, dig my toes until I reach cold sand, watch the kids frolic in the waves…

¹¹ Why ·am I so sad [^Lare you cast down, my soul]?
Why ·am I so upset [are you groaning/in an uproar]?
I ·should [or will] ·put my hope in [wait for] God
and ·keep praising [or will again praise] him,
my ·Savior [Victor] and my God. Psalm 42 EXB

I groan, friends. I hurt. This morning just feels grainy and rocky.  My eyes struggle to look up. Why am I cast down? Why am I groaning?

I have to go back and slay the lies. I have to start this morning in the truth. Just four Psalms later (those four are very similar to 42)…we are entranced by these words:

God is our ·protection [refuge] and our strength.
He ·always helps [is an ever present/timely help] in times of ·trouble [distress].
² So we will not be afraid even if the earth ·shakes [quakes],
or the mountains ·fall [reel; totter] into the heart of the sea,
³ even if the ·oceans [^Lwaters] roar and foam,
or the mountains ·shake [tremble] at ·the raging sea [^Lits surging]. ·Selah [Interlude] Psalm 46 EXB

He is my protection. He’s got our house. He’s got my boy. He’s got my family. He is our strength. I feel so weak and yet I know, in His strength I can do all things.

He always helps us. O, Lord, come to our aid. To those who read this today who need to know that You come to our aid, Lord, I pray for their needs. I pray for those who just need to remember: You always help. You are always here and Your help is timely. When we feel the world caving in…we know that we can trust in You. Hope in You. Believe in You.

⁷ The Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts] is with us;
the God of Jacob is our ·defender [refuge; fortress]. ·Selah [Interlude] Psalm 46 EXB

Slavic refuge castle Raddusch (Raduš) in the evening, Germany Photo by Pudelek (Marcin Szala)

¹⁰ God says, “Be still and know that I am God.
I will be ·praised [exalted] in all the nations;
I will be ·praised [exalted] throughout the earth.”

¹¹ The Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts] is with us;
the God of Jacob is our ·defender [refuge; fortress]. ·Selah [Interlude] Psalm 46 EXB

So I sit at my computer..and I hear my God saying to me, be still. Cease striving. And KNOW that I am God.

Cease. Stop, Cara, resisting what He is accomplishing here.

Ever just need a reminder that:

So I lift up my hands. I stretch out and praise. And I remember to be thankful.

I missed a couple of days so bear with me! Ann Voskamp, Joy Dare

Three graces found in friends:

145. Old friends who stay in touch, love me.

146. New friends who love my kids and invite them.

147. Watching the Lord work in powerfully in their lives..

A song heard, a soft word, a light:

148. Be still and know

149. My neurologist…

150. Our candle we light everyday to remind us of the Light.

Three old things seen anew:

151. My Grandma’s ring…beauty.

152. Psalm 46..coming alive for me.

153. Old pictures.

So 9 thankfuls, and you know, my heart is lighter. I know. I know.

Pray on. Pray on.

 

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He lifts me up…

Path to the Swanbourne footbridge by Nick Bridge

Good morning, beloved!

An interesting question was posed to me today. What is the Lord’s message to you in this? The “this” has been a challenging couple of weeks. We have been essentially without heat. We have space heaters. The heat in the bedrooms upstairs has worked but that’s the only area, oh, and the laundry room. Last night, the sewer line began backing up into the house. I finally hit my limit. I threw some clothes, the kids and we began to pull out of the garage. (Joshua and the dog are staying to let men into the house today..) As I pulled out, the car hit something. And I had a mini-collapse. As many of you know, our last dog was hit by a train. My fear that I had somehow hit our dog…

The garage door didn’t open entirely. It was okay. As we drove on, the kids began singing to me. You Lift Me Up by The Afters, songs by Matt Maher, and then we began singing Veggie Tales Silly Songs. We began to lift our eyes. The kids coached me to sing. I needed it. I needed to remember.

The Lord‘s message to me, first a reminder,

Heavy black clouds of dust rising over the Texas Panhandle, Texas Photo by Arthur Rothstein (1915–1985)

 ¹² [For] Our ·fight [conflict; struggle] is not against ·people on earth [^Lflesh and blood] but against the rulers and authorities and the ·powers [or cosmic powers/rulers] of this ·world’s darkness [^Ldarkness], against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly ·world [realm; places]. ¹³ ·That is why you need to [^LFor this reason,] put on God’s full armor. Then on the day of evil [^Cpersecution generally or end-time tribulation] you will be able to ·stand strong [keep your ground; resist the enemy]. And ·when you have finished the whole fight [^Lafter you have done/accomplished everything], you will still be standing. Ephesians 6 EXB

I look at this picture, I see a car racing to stay ahead of the impending doom. Here’s the interesting thing to me, on this side of the camera, it is clear. The enemy will always be at my heels. He will always taunt me. Schemes will come and go, yet I stand in the power of the blood of Christ, which has NEVER lost it’s power. Ever.  With God, He is my blue skies. He is my clarity and reason. He brings the gifts, like children singing, like parents welcoming us in, like my Joshua staying behind to welcome the workers in…God wants me to thank Him for this day. To find the gifts, to find the treasures He has provided…

The armor of God will keep me standing. How about you? Will you remember His word when the sewer backs up, when the heat stops working, when personal conflicts threaten to overwhelm? I am no superhero. I lost it last night for a time. Yet, He reminded me.

I waited patiently for the Lord.
He ·turned [bent down; inclined; stooped] to me and heard my cry.
² He ·lifted [drew] me out of the pit of ·destruction [or desolation],
out of the ·sticky mud [miry/muddy pit/bog/swamp].
He ·stood me [^Lplaced my feet] on a rock
and made my ·feet [^Lstep] steady. Psalm 40 EXB

Three gifts in the kitchen (Ann Voskamp, Joy Dare)

My thankfuls:

142. My Mom in the kitchen this morning..making breakfast while I type.

143. My boys in the kitchen eating breakfast and not arguing.

144. Food. Thank You Lord for all of your provisions…

Pray on. Pray on.

 

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Focus

Rose Island Suspension Bridge Photo by Vaido Otsar

Good morning, beloved,

I followed Ann Voskamp’s 25 Point Manifesto for Sanity yesterday. It flows so very well with my other routines I have begun. One thing that was an amazing  reminder for me was a lit candle. Here’s her response:

Light a candle first thing in the morning.

So you remember: You are the light that is put on a stand so that it gives light to everyone in the house.

Now, I’m sure you don’t have anyone in your house that bends toward the dramatic. I have no idea where one in my household would view this type of personality. Ahem. One of my blessings woke up grumpy and it deteriorated from this point. I kept looking to the light. Remembering who lives in me and in this grumpy gus. I finally was pushed to the brink and I gave in. I went to hide in my room to calm down. and I remembered our verses we are memorizing. “He does not slander with his tongue…” and “⁵ Love is not ·rude [disrespectful], is not ·selfish [self-serving], and ·does not get upset with others [is not easily provoked/angered].”

And I walked back down into the chaos. The child came to me and asked for forgiveness. The frustration broke within me, within my blessing. We began anew, focused on the brightness of the flame. Remembering our verses, we started again.

Luke Manor Park by Valeo Otsar

⁷ And God’s peace, which ·is so great we cannot understand it [transcends/surpasses all comprehension], will ·keep [guard]your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ [^LFinally; In conclusion; or Now then] Brothers and sisters, ·think about [focus your thoughts on; fill your minds with]things that are true and honorable and ·right [just] and pure and ·beautiful [lovely] and ·respected [commendable]. If there is anything that is ·good [morally excellent] and worthy of praise, ·think about [focus your thoughts on; fill your minds with]these things. ⁹ Do what you learned and received and heard ·from [^Lin] me, and what you saw ·me do [^Lin me]. And the God ·who gives [^Lof] peace will be with you. (Philippians 4 EXB)

God’s peace. So great…surpasses all comprehension…

Rõuge Parish, Võru County, Estonia. by Valeo Ostar

We were watching an episode of Drive Thru History yesterday and my kids were struck by the costume, outfit of the Roman Soldier..

Roman soldier in lorica segmentata

God’s peace protects, guards, keeps your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. My heart. Your heart. My mind. Your mind. Look at the protection given to this soldier. God’s peace is better. His Son’s blood…gift.

When our minds begin to focus on our rights, (how dare he be human? why can’t she be perfect like me?) we have such a battle! We are in the midst of the battle. Fill our minds. Fill…powerful to remember love. Cry out for His peace.

A girl pouring cold water from a plastic bottle with a blue lid.by Clementia

Here’s the list. Fill our minds with:

true:

…· 24become [put on; clothe yourself with] the new ·self [^Lperson; or Man; ^Cbecome like Christ]. That new person is created ·to be like God [or in God’s image; ^Laccording to God]—truly good and holy [or in the righteousness and holiness that comes from truth].

²⁵ So you must stop telling lies. ·Tell each other the truth [^LLet each one of you speak truthfully to his neighbor; Zech. 8:16], because we ·all belong to each other in the same body [^Lare members of one another]. Ephesians 4 EXB

honorable:

¹⁸ Pray for us. We are ·sure [convinced] that we have a clear conscience, ·because [or and] we always want to ·do the right thing [act honorably]. ¹⁹ I especially ·beg [urge; exhort] you to pray so that ·God will send me back [^LI may be restored] to you soon. Hebrews 13:18 EXB

right [just]:

7 The ·path [way] of life is level for ·those who are right with God [the righteous];
·Lord [or Upright One], you make the way of life ·smooth [straight; level] for those people. Isaiah 26:7

pure:

³ And all who have this hope in ·Christ [^Lhim] keep themselves pure, just as ·Christ [^Lhe] is pure. 1 John 3 EXB

beautiful [lovely]:

1 Corinthians 13

respected [commendable]:

⁵ Be wise in the way you ·act with [behave towards] people who are not believers, making the most of every opportunity.⁶ When you talk, you should always be ·kind [gracious] and ·pleasant [winsome; engaging; or wholesome; ^Lseasoned with salt] so you will be able to answer everyone in the way you should. Colossians 4 EXB

worthy of praise:

⁵ So do not judge before the ·right [appointed] time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light things that are now hidden in darkness, and will make known the secret ·purposes [motives] of people’s hearts. Then God will ·praise[give appropriate commendation to] each one of them. 1 Corinthians 4 EXB

Focus your minds. I think of this picture:

Canal tunnel

Where will your focus be as you travel through the tunnel? Will it be, as you are steering, to look back? To look up? To look to the sides? No way, we need to focus on what is ahead. The light. And as Christians, we place our focus on the Light. Focus on the truth that one day these trials, temptations will be aside and we will be forever in the Light.

My thankfuls:

A gift before dawn, at noon, after dark (Ann Voskamp, Joy Dare):

139. Waking up in the dark, watching the sun rise as I type away at my Bible study..thankful for sun rises.

140. Thankful for kitchen appliances that function and help me feed my blessings. Thankful.

141. Thankful for routines that set us all up to succeed the next day. Thankful for each child’s way of saying goodnight.

Pray on. Focus on Him. Pray on.

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Thankful

Footpath over stepping stones across River Rivelin by Chris Wimbush

Good morning, beloved,

So good to be in His presence this morning, to look out on our fresh snow, remembering:

The Lord says,
“Come, let us ·talk about these things [reason together; or settle this matter; or consider your options].
Though your sins are like scarlet [^Cstained with blood; vv. 15, 21],
they can be as white as snow.
Though your sins are ·deep red [^Lred as crimson/purple],
they can be white like wool. (Isaiah 1:18 EXB)

I’m so thankful that God is in the business of redeeming, restoring us.

This morning is a powerful reminder of these truths. Our house, which has struggled with heating issues, will be given an entirely new heating system. They will begin the work, most likely, on Monday. So, yes, we need to cope with the cold until then, but, my children and husband seem to be immune to the chilly atmosphere. I add layers, they walk out in t-shirts and shorts.

Today, I was able to cancel my injections for my neck. I pushed back the appointment. Wow. So thankful. I’ve been doing so well. SO grateful. So thankful.

“When I pray, coincidences happen, when I don’t, they don’t.” William Temple

Found this website today through looking for Ann Voskamp’s Joy Dare.

25 Point Manifesto for Sanity

I’m printing that out today. How about you?

Thankfuls today:

A grace borrowed, found, inherited (Ann Voskamp, Joy Dare):

136.¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I ·stopped [set aside] those childish ways. (1 Corinthians 13 EXB) My parents raised me to believe, however I was on borrowed grace. I’m very thankful that my parents gave me a heritage of faith. Maybe you did not grow up with this, but who shared grace with you? How did you learn of grace?

Living on borrowed grace…

137.  Thank you, Lord, that I found Your grace found me.

138. ¹² We do not want you to become ·lazy [sluggish; ^Cin contrast to diligent; v. 11]. Be ·like [^Limitators of] those who through faith and ·patience [endurance] will ·receive [inherit] what God has promised. Hebrews 6 EXB

Thank You, Lord.

Pray on. Pray on.

 

Lörrach: Park “Grütt” with lake in wintertime. Photo by Taxiarchos228

Good morning, friends,

James 1: ⁴ [^LAnd] Let your ·patience [perseverance; endurance] ·show itself perfectly in what you do [have its full effect; finish its work]. Then you will be ·perfect and complete [mature and whole; or completely mature] and will ·have everything you need[^Llack nothing]. ⁵ But if any of you ·needs [lacks] wisdom, you should ask God for it [Prov. 2:6]. He is generous to everyone and will give you wisdom ·without criticizing you [without finding fault; ungrudgingly; Matt. 7:7]. ⁶ But when you ask God, you must ·believe [ask with faith] and not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like a wave in the sea, ·blown up and down [driven and tossed] by the wind.

Let patience, perseverance, endurance show itself perfectly in what you do…

Psalm 37:7 Wait [^LBe quiet before] and ·trust [^Lwait for] the Lord.

Hypericum orientale Photo by Lokal_Profil

Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord.
He ·turned [bent down; inclined; stooped] to me and heard my cry.

Galatians 6: ⁹ We must not become ·tired [or discouraged] of doing good. We will receive our harvest of eternal life ·at the right [or in due] time if we do not give up.¹⁰ [^LTherefore; So then] When we have the opportunity to ·help [do good to] anyone, we should do it. But ·we should give special attention [^Lespecially] to those who are in the ·family [household] of ·believers [^Lfaith].

So that you may be perfect and complete…

John 17²⁰ “I ·pray for these followers [^Lask not only for these], but I am also ·praying [^Lasking] for all those who will believe in me because of their ·teaching [message; proclamation; ^Lword]. ²¹ Father, I ·pray [^Lask] that they can be one. As you are in me and I am in you, I ·pray [^Lask] that they can also be ·one in us [^Lin us]. Then the world will believe that you sent me. ²² I have given these people the ·glory [honor] that you gave me so that they can be one, just as you and I are one. ²³ ·I will be in them and you will be in me [^LI in them and you in me] so that they will be ·completely one [in perfect unity]. ·Then […so that] the world will know that you sent me and that you loved them just as much as you loved me.

Philippians 3: ¹² ·I do not mean [^LNot] that I have already ·achieved [obtained; taken hold of] it or have already ·been perfected [become mature; or reached the goal]. But I keep ·trying [pressing forward; striving; pursuing] to ·take hold of that for which [or make it my own because] Christ ·took hold of me [or made me his own]. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I know that I have not ·yet reached that goal [taken hold of it], but there is one thing I always do. Forgetting the ·past [^Lthings that are behind] and ·straining toward [stretching/reaching forward to] what is ahead, ¹⁴ I keep ·trying to reach [pursuing; chasing] the goal and get the prize for which God called me ·to the life above [heavenward; ^Lupward] ·through [or in] Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 5:¹⁰ And after you suffer ·for a short time [or a little], God, who gives all grace, will ·make everything right [^Lrestore you]. He will make you strong and support you and keep you from falling. He called you ·to share in his glory in Christ, a glory that will continue forever [^Linto his eternal glory in Christ].

Friends, I just needed to hear Him today. My thoughts are jumbled and fractured this morning. However, after reading, pausing, quieting I hear Him.  He is never, ever jumbled. He is never fractured.

Now you are probably what I’m alluding to..right? No worries, what is God saying to YOU through these passages?

My thankfuls today:

3 gifts found in Christ (Ann Voskamp, Joy Dare):

133.  I’m so thankful that Christ took hold of me and made me His own. I’m His kid.

134. The glory in Christ? I get to share in that…it’s forever thing.

135. I LOVE that Jesus prayed for me, prays for me and will continue on, praying for me.

Friends, pray on. Hope in Him. Pray on.

 

 

Where would I be?

Aqueduct of Segovia photo by David Corral Gadea

Good morning, beloved,

I wake up now in complete darkness. Joshua and I are on week three of changing routines for our whole family. One of them for us is devotions and time with the Lord early. Routines are, for me, never easy to begin. Now looking back, I’m grateful we began. Last night I called Danny ready to remind him and he came trotting in saying, Mom, I know what you are going to say. I’ve already laid out my clothes and I know I need my meds. Thanks. Mom.

Open. Close Mouth.

Complete darkness in the morning? Here I come. I know daylight is coming.

We long for light. Our bodies cannot function, well, without the light. We stumble, we get depressed, we stub our toes, we fumble..it’s not pretty. I have to share this with you.

Light therapy might be as simple as getting up early and walking outside on a bright winter morning, Rosenthal tells WebMD. “You can also increase light in your home,” he says “Make one room a sun room.”

A technique called “dawn simulation” — in which a light is programmed to turn on early in the morning in your bedroom — can also help, Rosenthal says.

Light boxes are widely sold over the Internet and exposure to them can help. When buying one, get advice from your doctor and choose bigger ones — one that is at least 1 foot by 1.5 feet, Rosenthal says. These larger boxes have more supporting research, he says.

Patients sit in front of the light boxes daily for a specified amount of time. “Using light in the morning for a half hour to an hour is very effective,” says Stephen Josephson, PhD, a psychologist in New York City and associate professor at Cornell University Medical School and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York. (Fending off Depression Symptoms in Winter, Kathleen Doheny, WebMd)

Light therapy. Our bodies crave light.

Dawn simulation. One of my favorite, favorite names of Jesus is the Bright and Morning Star.

¹⁶ “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to ·tell you [testify/witness to] these things for the churches. I am the ·descendant from the family of David [root and descendant/offspring of David; ^Ca messianic title applied to Jesus; 5:4; Is. 11:10], and I am the bright morning star [2:28; Num. 24:17; ^Ca messianic title].” Revelation 22 EXB

Have to share with you Numbers 24:17:

I see someone ·who will come someday [^Lbut not now],
·someone who will come, but not soon [^LI see him, but not near].
A star will come from Jacob;
a ·ruler [^Lscepter] will rise from Israel [^CSaul, then David and his descendants, including the Messiah].
He will crush the heads of the Moabites
and smash the skulls of the sons of Sheth [^Cidentity uncertain].

I’m suggesting to you…in addition to sitting in front of a light box, getting fresh sunlight, how about adding a regime of kneeling in front of the Light of the universe?

Where would I be without the Bright and Morning Star?

Oh friends, I don’t even want to dwell on that one. Look at Peter’s response to Jesus…

⁶⁶ After Jesus said this, many of his ·followers [disciples] ·left him [^Lturned back to previous things] and ·stopped following[^Lno longer walked with] him.

⁶⁷ Jesus asked ·the twelve followers [the Twelve], “Do you want to leave, too?”

⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord [or Master], who would we go to? You have the words that give eternal life. ⁶⁹ We believe and know that you are the Holy One from God.” John 6 EXB

I ache with these words. How often have I turned my back? How many times have I worked on building my own kingdoms (only to realize they are sandcastles..)? Barf. Gag.

Peter! Peter! He’s got it. Where would we go? It’s wild. It’s encouraging. It’s heartening.

Friends, Peter did go. Peter did deny Him. You remember that. When you turn your back, you start building your own kingdoms, you remember Peter.

Peter didn’t go anywhere Jesus couldn’t find him. Rescue him. Jesus rescues. That’s His business. Next time you see the light brimming over the dashboard. Rising over the houses. Setting over the soccer fields. You remember: He’s the light.

And He’s in the business of rescuing YOU.

My thankfuls:

A gift wrinkled, smoothed, unfolded (Ann Voskamp, Joy Dare):

130. My family three years ago, newly moved in here.

131. My family, the past year…smoothing…

132. My family…today. Thankful.

Pray on. Pray on.

131.

 

Contrasts

Pig’s Ear (Cotyledon orbiculata) by JJ Harrison

Good morning, beloved,

We let the kids stay up late last night. Shockingly, some are still sleeping so I am hiding out in my room watching the sky lighten and planning my week. Listening to worship music and allowing my mind to drift. I keep coming back to this Psalm. God, Creator of the universe, forming me, molding me, knowing me intricately and loving me. How often to we pause to just thank God for our life? How often do we look in the mirror and realize just how beautifully God made us?

I have the divine pleasure of looking out my window now and seeing a beautiful male cardinal. He is a stark contrast to the browns, grays of the barren trees.

 

¹³ You ·made [created] my ·whole being [inward parts];
you ·formed [knitted] me in my mother’s ·body [belly; womb].
¹⁴ I ·praise [thank] you because you made me in an ·amazing [awesome] and wonderful way.
What you have done is wonderful.
I know this very well.
¹⁵ ·You saw my bones being formed [^LMy bones were not hidden from you]
as I ·took shape [was made] in ·my mother’s body [^Lsecret].
When I was ·put together [^Lwoven] ·there [^Lin the depths of the earth],
¹⁶     ·you [^Lyour eyes] saw my ·body as it was formed [^Lembyro].
All the days ·planned [^Lformed] for me
were written in your book
·before I was one day old [not one of them existed]. Psalm 139 EXB

Stop. Pause. Breathe. You have a marvelous Creator God who knows you. Loves you. Nothing remains hidden from Him, and He still remain faithful and loves you.

Good grief, now I have two male cardinals outside in my trees. So beautiful! Now the female is close by. How can I marvel at His creation outside my window and not marvel at the creation that is me?

Friends, the battle of the mind is so fierce. I am so very convinced of this. Our thought life can transform us either way. We can be transformed by the renewing of our mind with Scripture or transformed by negative thoughts of criticism for self and others, fear, doubt and worry.

Today, my family will wrap up (I hope) our memorization of Psalm 15 and will continue to 1 Corinthians 13. I say that not for a pat on the back but because I am convinced of the power of His WORD in my family’s mind and especially mine. What Scripture is going to be the sword you will use when the evil one whispers today?

My Thankfuls:

A Gift in Sky, Water, Memory Ann Voskamp Joy Dare

127. My thankful in sky are the beautiful birds that have joined me for my quiet time this morning.

128. I’m thankful to have stepped out on the ice last night and watched my girl ice skate for the very first time.

129. I’m thankful for my memories of my friend, Jo.

Pray on. Pray on.

 

Sunrise, Norton Sound, Alaska by ra64

Good morning, beloved,

Parts of our house are not heated now. Now the nice here is we rent our house, so when a problem occurs, such as this one with incredible money needing to be poured out, ahem, it is not our bread. Bad here is when the company we use is so busy, they can’t come until Tuesday. I got to thinking about this, um, issue that has arisen in our house. Curiously, the kitchen remains warm, the laundry room remains warm and the upstairs bedrooms are comfortable.  (Guess where we stay?)

I don’t mind the cold except in my hands and my feet.  I cannot sleep unless my hands and feet warm. I wear socks to bed. I’m thinking of wearing mittens. My husband, my kids do not seem to have such a deal with cold.  In fact, my daughter loves to sleep with her feet exposed. We call that her temperature feet.

We went to the funeral of a dear, sweet friend of our whole family. As we walked in RIGHT on time, ahem, the church was pretty near packed. As we walked to join my parents, I prepared my heart for the next hour. Or tried. Then I began to watch the slide show of this rock star’s life. (Ok, she wasn’t a rock star to the masses, she was a rock star to me.)  Friends, children, grandchildren came to share the story of their own life intersecting with Jo.

However, as I shared with my family on the drive home, the blessing of this hour came in my Dad. Jo loved my Mom and Dad and was a friend to them. She loved them, accepted them and cared for them. I cannot list here all the ways her life filled my parents’ with joy.

Dad made a comment about Jo’s singing voice. He said his daughter’s voice was nearly as beautiful. It was a comment that could have been missed, but it was a complement that blessed me. I reflected with my family how in my life as I reflect, I can remember many of the blessings my Dad has given me. I cherish each one.

There is great power in our words. Words that pour out of our mouths without thought. Speaking God‘s word over a dear one. Encouraging, complementing, or hurting, yucky…we have a choice.

We can either warm our family and friends with our presence or we can be an icy room that people can’t wait to hustle out and shut the door.

Not only that, our thought life, how we see ourselves, how we talk to ourselves can be equally damaging. You see, my singing, I critique and criticize my voice as I sing on Sunday in front. I easily can forget the blessing of just plain worshiping our God. I think God knew I needed to hear my Dad’s blessing. I needed to remember why I sing. I sing not for the applause of the church. I sing for the applause of my Jesus.

Church today. Are you going? Are ya getting ready to worship?

Psalm 104:

³¹ May the glory of the Lord [^Chis manifest presence] be forever.
May the Lord ·enjoy [rejoice in] what he has made.
³² He just looks at the earth, and it ·shakes [trembles].
He touches the mountains, and they smoke.

³³ I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will ·sing praises [make a psalm] to my God as long as I live.
³⁴ May my ·thoughts [meditations] please him;
I ·am happy [will rejoice] in the Lord.
³⁵ Let sinners be ·destroyed [obliterated] from the earth,
and let the wicked live no longer.

·My whole being [^TO my soul], ·praise [bless] the Lord.
Praise the Lord.

My thankfuls today (well, first yesterday’s):

3 gifts that might never have been (Ann Voskamp, Joy Dare):

121. When Luke was born, the doctor discovered a knot in the umbilical cord. He looked at us and said, this must be very recent. You are very blessed. Yes, yes we are.

122. During the first weeks of Ella in the womb, I began to experience horrible pains. They thought I was miscarrying, nope, appendicitis. The surgery could have snuffed out her precious life. Many ultrasounds later, and months later, we met our sweet girl. Precious.

123. If we had never read a certain book, Almost Amish, and had a weekend to pray and discuss, I’m not sure we would be at our church today. We had a chance to pause and listen. God’s grace. God’s blessing.

Today’s thankfuls:

Three gifts seen only up close (Ann Voskamp, Joy Dare):

124. I’m really thankful for the snowflake. The individual, beautiful snowflake reminds me of the beauty that we are..God sees us as the individual. He made us beautiful…

Snow flakes by Wilson Bentley. Bentley was a bachelor farmer whose hobby was photographing snow flakes. ; Image ID: wea02087, Historic NWS Collection ; Location: Jericho, Vermont ; Photo Date: 1902 Winter

125. Friendships…sounds like a great idea but you have to get up close and share deeply for friends to become sisters. It can be messy. Imperfect.

126. Suffering…sounds like a horrible idea but I’m never closer to Jesus than when I carry His cross and it leaves scars. From afar, we would never wish for pain and suffering, up close, I understand He carries me.

Pray on. Pray on.

 

Pour

Tree with visible roots in Kiental, between Herrsching and Andechs, Germany by http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Poco_a_poco

Good morning, beloved,

I wonder, this day, what it will be like to open my eyes and behold the glory of Heaven for the first time. Sometimes, I think, on this side of heaven, my courage is small. I say these two statements after beginning a three-hour movie last night. Five stories of men and women from across the Muslim world who had radical encounters with Jesus in dreams and visions. Their lives were radically changed as they beheld the glory of Jesus.  Their hearts’ cry was to know and understand more about God. He came to them.

The movie is, More Than Dreams and here’s a blurb:

For decades, a phenomenon has been recurring in the Muslim world. Men and women – without any knowledge of the Gospel and without any contact with Christians – have been forever transformed after experiencing dreams and visions of Jesus Christ. Reports of these supernatural occurrences often come from “closed countries” where preaching the Gospel is forbidden and where converting to Christianity can invoke the death sentence. A common denominator appears to be that the dreams come to those who are seeking to know and please God. We decided to capture some of these stories and use them as a witnessing tool to Muslims all over the world.

Real-life Stories
Through many personal interviews, we selected five true-life stories of
former Muslims who now know Jesus as their Savior. From the outset, the producers endeavored to represent a global cross-section of Islam, and for that reason, stories were selected from Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Nigeria, and Indonesia. More Than Dreams re-created each of these stories, producing each in its original language, in a docudrama format and shot in high-definition video. The movies include a ministry segment explaining what it means to follow Christ and leading viewers in the salvation prayer.

After an encounter with Jesus, these people, each one, made radical decisions to follow Jesus, no matter the persecution that followed. And it was severe. The rage of the families who saw this transformation…

Give me Jesus. As we watched, Dad quoted a passage from Joel 2

²⁸ “After this,
I will pour out my Spirit on all ·kinds of people [humanity; flesh; Acts 2:17–21; Is. 32:15;Ezek. 39:29; Zech. 12:10].
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men will see visions.

The word pour here, shaphak, means:

b) (Niphal) to be poured out, be shed, 

2) to pour out oneself

Pour out. Not holding anything back. Being poured out like a drink offering, pour out one’s soul.  What does that look like in Scripture?

Isaiah 32:

¹⁵ This will continue until ·God pours his Spirit [^Lthe Spirit is poured] from ·above [heaven; ^Ton high] upon us.
Then the desert will be like ·rich farmland [a fertile/fruitful field]
and the ·rich farmland [fertile/fruitful field] like a forest [29:17; 35:1, 2].
¹⁶ Justice will ·be found [^Ldwell] even in the desert,
and fairness will be found in the ·rich farmland [fertile/fruitful field].

Ezekiel 39:

²⁷ I will bring the people back from ·other lands[the nations/peoples] and gather them from the lands of their enemies. So I will use my people to ·show many nations that I am holy [^Ldisplay my holiness in the eyes of many nations.]. ²⁸ Then my people will know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into ·captivity [exile] among the nations, but then I ·brought them back [gathered them] to their own land, leaving no one behind. ²⁹ I will not ·turn away [^Lhide my face] from them anymore, because I will put my ·Spirit [or spirit] into the ·people [^Lhouse] of Israel, says the Lord God [11:19; 36:26–27; 37:14].”

How about in the New Testament?

Acts 2 describes such an occurrence:

When the day of Pentecost [^Ca harvest festival fifty days after Passover, celebrating the firstfruits of the crops (while on this day the firstfruits of the Spirit); Ex. 34:22; Deut. 16:10, 16] ·came[arrived], they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a ·noise [roar] like a ·strong [violent], ·blowing [rushing] wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw something like ·flames [^Ltongues] of fire ·that were separated [that were divided; or that spread out] and ·stood [came to rest] over each person there. ⁴ They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak ·different [other; or foreign] ·languages [^Ltongues] by the power the Holy Spirit was giving them [^Creversing the confusion of languages at the Tower of Babel; Gen. 11:1–9].

For me, bells are ringing. Lights are flashing. (Okay, not really). Remember what we worked on yesterday?

Philippians 2:

¹⁷ Your faith makes you offer your lives as a sacrifice in serving God. [^LEven] If I ·have to offer my own blood [^Lam poured out as a drink offering] with your sacrifice, I will be ·happy [rejoicing] and full of joy with all of you. 

Paul willing to be a drink offering, willing to be poured out and his soul’s response? Joy. Joy to the fullest measure.

God pouring out His Spirit and then men and women would dream dreams…the response of those people who meet Jesus in dreams? Willing to sacrifice it all for the sake of the One they encounter. As each one describes Jesus, eyes light up, demeanor changes…joy has been gifted to them.

We offer our lives as a drink offering to Jesus. Yet, we aren’t the only ones here pouring out. Are we? God’s Spirit pouring out across barriers, reaching, touching, blessing, encouraging, asking each, will you follow Me?

My thankfuls today:

3 gifts from God’s Word:

118. I’m thankful today that God does not hold anything back. I’m thankful He gave us everything. He gave us His Son.

119. I’m thankful for the word pour today. He pours. We accept. We pour. We are blessed with joy.

120. I’m thankful for courage. Not because of anything I’ve done, it’s all because of pouring.

Pray on. Pray on.