Time

Bronte Sunrise Photo by popejon2 from Paddington, Australia

And everything You hold in Your hand
Still You make time for me
I can’t understand
Praise You God of Earth and sky
How beautiful is Your unfailing love
Unfailing love (Chris Tomlin, Unfailing Love)

Higher than the mountains that I face
Stronger than the power of the grave
Constant through the trial and the change
One thing remains
One thing remains

Your love never fails it never gives up it never runs out on me (Passion, One Thing Remains)

Love brought Jesus here. Love brought Jesus to this week, intensity unmeasured. These two songs have played on my Pandora. Sometimes I just need to remember, my love isn’t like the Lord’s. I love with issues. Right?! We put our designs, our thoughts, our past on God’s love for us and for others. These songs remind me, I don’t understand how deep His love is for us. What does Paul say in Ephesians 3?

I ·bow in prayer [kneel] before the Father¹⁵ from whom ·every [or the whole] ·family [^Ca play on words, since the words “father” and “family” are related] in heaven and on earth gets its true name. ¹⁶ I ask the Father ·in his great glory [or from the treasures of his glory; or out of his glorious riches] to give you the power to be strong ·inwardly[^Lin the inner person] through his Spirit. ¹⁷ I pray that Christ will ·live [make his home] in your hearts by faith and that your life will be ·strong in love and be built on love [^Lrooted and grounded in love].¹⁸ And I pray that you and all ·God’s holy people [^Tthe saints] will have the power to ·understand[comprehend; grasp] the greatness of Christ’s love—how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is. ¹⁹ Christ’s love is ·greater than anyone can ever know [beyond comprehension/knowledge], but I pray that you will be able to know that love. ·Then [^L…so that] you can be filled with the fullness of God.

Be filled! I stare at the list of what happened on each day in the Passion week on the Blue Letter Bible. They’ve made a concise list of the events, teachings that occurred. I count 17 different things. 17! Seventeen. Ten and seven. (Here’s a link) If you knew you only had a amount of days left, what would you want whom you love to know and remember? Jesus passionately gives and teaches in His last week. On the other hand,  I wonder He  must have treated every day as a gift .  John 21: ²⁵ There are many other things Jesus did. If every one of them were written down, I suppose the whole world would not be big enough for all the books that would be written. I sit in wonder at that statement. I love books. I fill my house with them. We spend much time at the library. I love, love, love the treasure of books and John is telling us, yes, we couldn’t write it all down.

Keyingham Cemetery Photo by Paul Glazzard

It seems though, the gospel writers sure tried to give their readers a very clear picture of Jesus’ last words! I think of the disciples walking with Jesus, I think it was a blessing they didn’t understand the events as they unfolded this week. They followed. They listened. They nodded. Then like dawn falling on a new morning, after He died, all of the pieces fit together beautifully. Matthew 27:⁵⁴ When the ·army officer [centurion] and ·the soldiers [^Lthose with him] guarding Jesus saw this earthquake and everything else that happened, they were ·very frightened [filled with awe] and said, “He really was the Son of God!”

Today, I want to work on time wasters in my life. Things that detract from God’s mission for my life. This has weighed heavily on my mind. Treating my life more as a precious gift, and not being assured of my tomorrow. Teaching my kids to value quiet, to value time spent away from all things plugged in, to enjoy rest, to enjoy the beauty of a book. This number seventeen that burns in my head. Jesus treated His life, His time on this earth as precious time to communicate all things of God. I have a choice to bring this day under the glory of God.

Sitting on my computer, researching all things, pinning on my boards of Pinterest, checking a friend’s status on Facebook about her child learning to use the toilet aptly…really? Are these the fillers I need in my life? I think it’s time to get out my 25 Point Manifesto. You see, part of my problem is our schedule has had to change. So now I need to review without losing all the ground I fought so hard for with my children and me for the routines. I flop, I flip, I flop when I am outside of my routines. My work. My calling.

Spring break when there is no spring in sight does not bring the rest. Knowing, however, that I accomplished my routines and lived with the glory of God in my sight. Yes, that is a good day.

So my thankfuls :

3 gifts almost gone (Ann Voskamp):

240. My children…how fast time flies

241. Ruby and Arlene

242. Chocolate (why is it when I eat a piece it’s gone before I know it??)

Pray on. Pray on.

Related articles

• Passion Week (apreachaskid.wordpress.com)
• Palm Sunday-tears of Sovereign Mercy (ioan17.wordpress.com)
• Are You Willing to Surrender Your Will? (joleneengle.com)
• Palm Sunday Homily: We Must Live the Faith With a Young Heart (visnews-en.blogspot.com)

 

Transparency…

Zodiacal Light Seen from Paranal. ESO/Y.Beletsky

Good morning, beloved,

Ever have a day with the best of intentions and what you hope and what actually occurs are miles apart? I finished my study in the morning and was refreshed and encouraged and ready to face the day. And the little “sinners“who live in my house began their arguments, declaring their innocence in said arguments, shocked that anyone would insist that they were culpable. Each child had been robbed of their rights and needed me to know of the injustice that was occurring right in my home. First couple of occurrences, my head was level and I was controlled.

I want you to hear I lost it. I sinned. I yelled. I cried. I asserted my rights when my kids were just plain disobedient. I wasn’t asking the Lord to intervene. I had taken the wheel and whoa, my course gave me a chance to see my flesh in a whole new light. It crushed me.

This morning, I talked through the day with my hubby. I confessed my faults, my sins to Joshua and I knew my heart was healing. I was being restored to a spiritual tone of mind and heart. I pray for tremendous power only found in Him.  ¹⁶ Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]. (James 5 AMP)

James had it right. Speak what swirls in your mind to a trusted friend or confidant. Don’t hide your sin. Don’t be ashamed of the fact, yes, fact that you are NOT perfect. We need people in our lives who are willing to be transparent. Asking for prayer for the deep things, the painful things, the things that are not solved with one conversation but with joined years of prayer. Jesus said, ⁴⁸ You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete maturity of godliness in mind and character, having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5 AMP)  We grow. We mature in godliness. Not in ourselves, but as we are transformed by the perfection of our heavenly Father. The question we should be asking is not what would Jesus do but what is Jesus doing here? (Scotty Smith)

“For the grace of God (His unmerited favor and blessing) has come forward (appeared) for the deliverance from sin and the eternal salvation for all mankind.  It has trained us to reject and renounce all ungodliness (irreligion) and worldly (passionate) desires, to live discreet (temperate, self-controlled), upright, devout (spiritually whole) lives in this present world,”        Titus 2:11-12 AMP

My thankfuls today:

88. I’m thankful for the blessing of confession.

89. I’m thankful for music that touches my heart and sings my heart.

90. I’m thankful for friends who love me and my family just they way we are.

Can I just ask one more thing? If you are on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest, and you enjoy my meandering on this blog,  would you consider sharing my blog with your friends? Thank you so much. Pray on. Pray on.

A time..

Panorama from the summit 2.416m in north on Karhorn. by Böhringer Friedrich

Good morning, beloved,

We are a week away from Thanksgiving. I am three wake-ups away from my appointment with the surgeon. Yet, what I can’t get off my mind now is a book I started yesterday and finished. I could not put the book down. Fearless by Eric Blehm gave me  an appreciation for our military.

This man, Adam Brown, suffered from a great many ailments, yet that was not the focus of this book. He just kept coming back to serve and protect our country. He was fearless. His hope was built on the solid rock of Christ and he lived it out. He was not perfect and this story is also about this man facing his demons and conquering them in the Spirit of God.

He had a wife who steadfastly remained by his side through it all. Never did she leave him. The sacrifice that they both made on behalf of their country compels to stop taking moments for granted.

As my kids are not with me, as I stay at my parents’ house, I believe the Lord is asking me to live in this moment. When Adam Brown was home from deployment, he was home. He was present with his family. One story that stays very strongly in my mind is when he was home, and he went to take a bath. An intruder started to break in, and Adam flew out of the tub to face the burglar..the burglar did not touch the foyer, he turned tail and ran. As quickly as he responded to the threat, he calmed his wife and kept her safe with comforting words and gesture.

He kept boundaries on work as a Navy Seal and home.

How about you? How about me? Are we present in this moment with the blessings that we have now? Do we complain about that which we cannot change or control? If the opportunity arises to be with your kids, your husband, your friends, are you also using your smart phone or computer to keep you up to date on your Facebook?

I admit I take for granted my moments. I want to get to the next moment.

Ecclesiastes 3:

To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven:

² A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted,

³ A time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up,

⁴ A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

⁵ A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

⁶ A time to get and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to cast away,

⁷ A time to rend and a time to sew, a time to keep silence and a time to speak,

⁸ A time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

Each moment we have is a gift from God. I know I’ve written about this before. Will you take a moment to thank God for our military? Thank God for the service, the protection, the sacrifice they make for the freedoms we enjoy. They are true heroes. They should be on the sides of cereal boxes. They should get the commercial endorsements.

However, I don’t think they would ever want that. Pray for these men and women. Pray for their families.

Pray on. Pray on.

1 Peter 2:

¹⁴ Or to governors as sent by him to bring vengeance (punishment, justice) to those who do wrong and to encourage those who do good service.

¹⁵ For it is God’s will and intention that by doing right [your good and honest lives] should silence (muzzle, gag) the ignorant charges and ill-informed criticisms of foolish persons.

¹⁶ [Live] as free people, [yet] without employing your freedom as a pretext for wickedness; but [live at all times] as servants of God.

¹⁷ Show respect for all men [treat them honorably]. Love the brotherhood (the Christian fraternity of which Christ is the Head). Reverence God. Honor the emperor.

 

Stay…

Good morning, beloved,

In the night, I listened to a new program for me with Susie Larson called, Live the Promise. I get posts from Susie frequently on Facebook, loving her morning and evening prayers. In the mail yesterday, I received a package from a dear friend, which included four wonderful CDS..one was Aaron Shust‘s latest. Her program featured an interview with him. It was not lost on me the coincidence.

What resonated so strongly with me was the reminder, faith that is based on our feelings can never be trusted. Faith built on what we know to be true, i.e., God‘s Word, is our firm and solid foundation.

Our feelings change, what we think, what we see…I am reminded that is not our basis of truth.

Psalm 27

Light, space, zest—
that’s God!
So, with him on my side I’m fearless,
    afraid of no one and nothing.

²     When vandal hordes ride down
ready to eat me alive,
Those bullies and toughs
fall flat on their faces.

³ When besieged,
I’m calm as a baby.
When all hell breaks loose,
I’m collected and cool.

⁴ I’m asking God for one thing,
    only one thing:
To live with him in his house
    my whole life long.
I’ll contemplate his beauty;
    I’ll study at his feet.

⁵ That’s the only quiet, secure place
in a noisy world,
The perfect getaway,
far from the buzz of traffic.

⁶ God holds my head and shoulders
    above all who try to pull me down.
I’m headed for his place to offer anthems
    that will raise the roof!
Already I’m singing God-songs;
    I’m making music to God.

^7-9 Listen, God, I’m calling at the top of my lungs:
“Be good to me! Answer me!”
When my heart whispered, “Seek God,”
my whole being replied,
“I’m seeking him!”
Don’t hide from me now!

^9-10 You’ve always been right there for me;
don’t turn your back on me now.
Don’t throw me out, don’t abandon me;
you’ve always kept the door open.
My father and mother walked out and left me,
but God took me in.

^11-12 Point me down your highway, God;
direct me along a well-lighted street;
show my enemies whose side you’re on.
Don’t throw me to the dogs,
those liars who are out to get me,
filling the air with their threats.

^13-14 I’m sure now I’ll see God’s goodness
    in the exuberant earth.
Stay with God!
    Take heart. Don’t quit.
I’ll say it again:
    Stay with God.

Do you think David saw God? Visibly saw God? Or perhaps was David holding onto the truth that His God was near. His God was protecting him. Keeping him. Holding him, therefore, he could be fearless. Even though he is surrounded by enemies, he is calm. Friends, that does not come from looking at the world through our own eyes. It is putting on the lense of truth and declaring, I am not afraid because God is with me!

No matter how noisy life can be, peace can be found. No matter how busy, God can be found. He sings praises to his God. We can sing praises! We can look to God for our present and future and know that we can…

Stay with God. I can think I know what is going to happen. I can think on how I will react to getting my head shaved for surgery. Or what the epileptologist will say on behalf of Danny today. These thoughts do not bring peace. However, if I work with the understanding of Scripture, peace.

So I encourage you, no matter how bleak things appear, hope is here. God is here. Immanuel…God with us.

Pray on, pray on…

Autumn scene at Woodleigh by Thomas Tolkien

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