SelahV Today

I Come to the Garden Alone

I was only thirteen when I walked into the ballroom and stared at the breathtaking sight.  Giant columns dotted the room and held the massive ceiling in place.  Beautifully decorated tables filled the room.  I'd never seen even one table decorated with flowers and candles; this room had to have 100 or more.  Ladies were all dressed up; there were over 600 people there.  I almost turned around and ran.  I was scared to death.

I had no idea when my 4-H leader asked me to sing a song for her ladies club that her club had so many women.  I suddenly realized why she'd worked for weeks getting me ready, teaching me how to hold notes and sing with more volume as she played the piano in her living room.  Until I walked into that ballroom, I'd felt pretty confident. I literally wanted to cry.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  Mrs. Keys hoped I would get a scholarship by singing in front of ladies in her lodge.  I didn't.  I was disappointed that she was disappointed.  However, there is an up side to this; I never forgot the song:

"I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses...".

I suppose the most wonderful part of learning a song, and failing to please my 4-H leader, is the difference it made in my life 38 years later. In our last pastorate, a dear elderly lady, Mrs. P, was devastated when her husband suddenly died of a massive stroke.  Our music director usually arranged to sing for the funerals, but when we went by to see the widow, she tearfully asked if I would sing a song.  I immediately said "yes", even though I had never sang a solo at a funeral.  I asked if she had a particular song she wanted me to sing, and she said she'd leave that up to me; she was so grief-stricken she couldn't think. 

As a minister's wife I've sang "In The Garden" many times in church.  But I've never sang it solo; I'm usually in a choir or a congregation. On the day of the funeral, I could barely breathe as I began singing. Mrs. P sat right in front of me and looked into my face through tears of sorrow.  I wanted to break down crying--just like many years before. Instead of crying with her, the Lord pressed upon me to smile as I sang. Her face slowly filled with a peace that I can only describe as passing all understanding. Her tears stopped falling down her cheeks.  Pure contentment radiated from her eyes.  I wanted to stop singing and go hug her, but managed to finish without dissolving into an emotional puddle.

Days after the funeral, my husband and I went to visit her and she took my hands in hers, and kept telling me how wonderful my song was and how much she appreciated it.  Then she asked me how I knew it was her husband's favorite song. I didn't know.  But God did. Amazing how God works, isn't it?  I can't begin to count how many times I've sung that song through the years, but I can count the one time it felt like I was truly in the garden with my Savior.  selahV

Source: gypsypurplehome.tumblr.com via Pat on Pinterest

What I Want to Do

I don't.  What I should do, I won't.  What others say to do, I can't.  So betwixt and between, I sit.  Wondering.  Should I or shan't I?  Will I or won't I?  Could I or can't I?  Yet, Paul says:

"To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.  1 Corinthians 9:22

"Become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some."

Is it doable?  Is it practical?  Is it worth it?  All?  Everything?  The whole ball of wax?  Reputation?  Position?  Popularity?  Reward?  Integrity?

Where is the compromise?  Is there any?  Should there be? selahV

Cries At the Cross and Thoughts to Ponder

No other could know the agony as well, nor experience the pain of loss as much as Mary, the mother of Jesus, on the day we call Good Friday.  Long before she gave birth to the Holy Child in Bethlehem, Mary pondered the monumental change growing within her womb.  More than the physical changes...more than the cultural challenges, Mary pondered that she, a lowly Hebrew virgin, would conceive the long-awaited Messiah...the Savior of Israel.  Her first child.  An awesome responsibility for any woman to have a child, but Emanuel?  God with us?

I can't imagine all the thoughts Mary carried throughout her lifetime of her first-born son.  I relate only to those I hold inside my heart and mind for my own son.  Though my first I only saw through a plate glass window 15 hours before he died, I was gifted with my second son for 33 years.  The same age as Jesus when He gave his life on the Friday, we call "Good" in remembrance of the crucifixion.

Needful to say, Mary probably did not feel so "good" that day as she followed her son about to be accused, tried, beaten, mocked, spat upon, nailed to a wooden cross with spikes that tore into his flesh.  As horrific as it seems to me the death I am told claimed my son as his head was crushed, beyond recognition when he met boulders on a bank when the driver of an ATV rolled the 4-Wheeler over and instantly killed my son, it is nothing compared to that which the mother of our Savior experienced as she watched in vigil at the foot of the cross as Jesus drew his last breath and said "It is finished".

What went through her mind?  How unfair did it seem to Mary?  How many memories of joy and laughter and hugs did she recall?  How many tears did she shed?  Did she kneel there in fear for herself by being the mother of the Man from Galilee? How did she feel as she watched all the things she may have expected to occur be destroyed that dark and lonely day on Golgatha's hill?  What did she think would happen? Had she been forewarned?  Could she have fathomed the heartache she would have to endure because her son would have to die that she could live forever with him?  I do not know.

But as I contemplate this day, I know I will some day.  I will know why my son lived only 33 years...before God took him to live with Him for eternity.  I will know, as Mary, why we mothers were left behind.  And it will be a good day.  The best day among all.  And I know then and there, I will have no more sorrow, no more pain, and no more emptiness for the void left behind when my son left me to join Mary's son.  selahV

HOW DO WE KNOW GOD LOVES US, OR...

...THAT WE LOVE HIM?

Among other things...we "pursue righteousness".

When I think of righteousness, I think of Jesus.  I think of His complete allegiance to God and Scripture--the words He used to overcome temptation in the wilderness..."it is written".

I think of how pure Jesus thought, how focused He was on His Father's will, how obedient He was to His Father's purpose and plan.  I consider how he rebuked those who lived in hypocrisy--like "white-washed tombs"--those preaching and teaching one thing, yet doing another.  I see His kindness to the children, His gentleness towards Mary, His compassion with the woman who touched His robe, and His forgiveness for the adulterous woman, His concern for Zaccheus, His love for Peter in light of betrayal.  I think of devotion to prayer and communion with His Father early in the morning, before a day intrudes upon His life and demands its way with Him.  I think of His boldness to speak the truth.  These are the righteous things of God.  And for those who pursue these things, God loves.

"The way of the wicked is an abomination, extremely disgusting and shamefully vile to the Lord, but He loves him who pursues righteousness [spiritual and moral rectitude in every area and relation]." Proverbs 15:9 Amplified.  Emphasis mine.

"[spiritual and moral rectitude in every area and relation]"

That covers a broad territory of things, don't you think?  It is a short, but profound, definition of the kind of "righteousness" required as noble for pursuit, isn't it?  Each Believer is under the grace of God, and is made righteous in His sight and set apart for His glory.  Yet, is it each Believer's desire to pursue the righteousness of our Lord's example?  Or is it our desire to be one action better than the next person in the pulpit or pew?  Or to admonish another for some perceived flaw and failure?

Do we even care about the pursuit of righteousness for ourselves, or are we too busy to notice the log in our own eye for our preoccupation with the specks in a brother's or sister's eyes?

Yes, I know none of us are righteous...not one.  Our righteousness is in Christ alone.  And in my pursuit of righteousness, I often find myself very far afield of all Christ is.  It is in those moments when I see my full-blown inadequacy to be all He is, that I see how very much He loves me--to have given His life to make me righteous and make me an heir of His kingdom.  What a loving God we serve!  What an amazing Savior!  selahV

Revisiting WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS...

I return to my roots and...

I SURRENDER...

My inabilities.

My expectations.

My weaknesses.

My capabilities.  My failures and my needs.

I surrender all of me.  All to Jesus.

I take all my talents which He has so richly given to me and lay them at His feet.  I yield all my gifts to His divine control.  I abandon my preconceived ideas of what He expected of me when I fail to see results.

I wave the white flag and give Him all that I am--the dregs of my endeavors.

He takes my dregs and casts them into His heavenly compost heap and adds some heat to the dung of my offerings.  In time, He takes a seed of His own choosing from that dung and helps me put to death my own desires to sprout and bloom with dreams of becoming a rose without a thorn.  With His own breath my death gives way to life and in the paths of others who demand I bloom as they desire, I burst forth as a thistle in the wind.  Attached upon my stem a banner waves of all He seeks of me and all I can become in the meadow of His choice and design.  A white flag--shaded blue--in honor of His royal purpose for me, I give to thee this day, my readers.   selahV

This post is slightly edited today and dedicated in honor of all who seek to know my Lord through the words I write, in my hope of bringing glory to His name.  It is my prayer that eyes which see this rendering will know the heart of my words and the hope I see in Jesus Christ my Lord.

[For further posts of which I find most joy in writing and purpose in publishing go HERE@DailyImpact, and HERE@DevotionalChristian...and HERE@Kids'Matters]  [first written and copyrighted, on February 1, 2008 by selahV Today]

I AM...

i am lowly and meek because i want to be;

i am mild and at peace because i'm conditioned to be;

i am brave and courageous because God tells me to be.

i am saved and sure because He died for me.

i am satisfied now, because life happens to be

                           totally fixed on eternity.

i am set apart as Christ sanctifies me;

i am chosen in HIM to live righteously.

i am grateful He keeps me consistently;

i am blessed to rest in Him peacefully.

i am happy to know He abides in me.

i am less than another who yearns to be

                    totally free of hypocrisy.

i am full of the faith God gave to me

        to hope in tomorrow's destiny.

i am granted peace that assuredly

        each morning brings more of His mercies for me.

i am all i am because God created in me

        a love for the cross that has set me free

        to worship the King, His Majesty.

"I AM", so you don't have to be...

whoever the world says you need to be." selahV

Who do you say i am?  Who are you?

[Who you are and who "I AM"/link]

Some Folks...Can't Be Friends

Some folks are friends, some are not.  Some are better friends than others.  Some folks are better off not pretending to be friends.  Friendship is so much more than facebooking, texting, and internet socialization.  I have some true true friends in life and I cannot begin to thank God enough for them.  They are the kind who will drop everything for you when you need them.  They'll sacrifice their time, and put their lives on hold, just to fly across the country and help you when you lose a loved one.  Friends who live near you will meet you for lunch a couple of times a week to listen to you share the grief in your heart--the questions in your mind.  They'll pray with you and for you.

You probably have friends like this, too.

Some friends truly care what we think about various things in life, and how we are when they ask.  I realize life has a way of revolving around our own thoughts and personal struggles, needs, joy and pain.  I try very hard to be that kind of friend for others.  I really want to be for them what they need.  I want to be this for them because I have so much myself.  God has truly blessed me.

I have one friend on the internet, whose blog I always read.  Even though I do not always understand where he is going with his posts, I do know from whence he came.  I know how much he cares about life and his relationship with our Lord. I know he endeavors to follow Him with every thing he does.  It's a blessing each time I pick up the phone and talk to him.  Or get an email from him wherein we banter about goofy stuff, or opine about serious stuff.  We do not talk every day.  We talk a few times a year.  But when we talk, it's like we were when we shared many a cup of coffee and bowl of popcorn over thirty years ago. True friendship never dies, even when geography separates and time prohibits interaction.

I have other friends who take time to be with me in a one-on-one visit and that is also a major blessing.  Of late, those times have been very few and far between.  Lousy health has kept me from socializing much.  I think I'm getting out of sync with the world.  I occasionally wonder if I've lost the ability to connect.

Ever have one of those odd conversations wherein you answer the proverbial "How-was-your-day?" question with a lot of stuff and someone picks out the most mundane thing of what you say and ignores all the rest?  Here's an exaggerated example: "How are you today?"

"Well, today has been rather tumultuous...I found out I had cancer, my dog died, I painted a picture for my living-room wall, and always chew gum when I paint.  I wish I had some chewing gum, forgot to buy some."

The friend writes back, "I bought five packs of gum when I went shopping today, I like Dentyne."

And that is the jist of the conversation.  It's weird.  You close your eyes and think..."gum?"...that's what they picked up in the reply to talk about?  Hmmmn.

What does one do when a person seems that disinterested in a conversation they begin?  Are we so consumed with ourself, that we fail to focus on the thoughts and the needs of others?  Or is it us at all?  Could we be too sensitive?  touchy to a fault?

It begs an answer, though...

When folks ask how we are, do they really want to know?  Does anyone actually want to know how we are?  I understand the insincerity of that question in the passing one another in the check-out line.  The clerk really doesn't want to know how I am.  And they do not really care whether I "found everything I was looking for" that day when I shopped.  It's just a question they are trained to ask.  I wonder if we've so conditioned ourselves in the way things are in the world that we only care when it is convenient to care.  When our minds are free of our own concerns.

Lord, I pray I am able to be more like Jesus.  To see through the chatter of a woman at the well--or laundry mat.  To feel the touch of needy fingers at the hem of my robe--or elbow, when they seek a moment of recognition.  To notice a person above me in the trees, while others clamor for my attention.  I want to see like Jesus.  I want Him to help me see, feel, touch and know...so none go through life as lonely as I once did.  How about you? selahV

WHAT I WANT, by hariette petersen

I want to know Jesus.

More. 

I don't mean I want to know about Jesus either.  I can read His words, His actions, His deeds, His history--birth, mission, death, and resurrection.  I want to know Him--fully and completely.  I want to be swallowed up by Him.

I want to be so intimate with Him that my every suffering is but a glory to enjoy with Him.  I want to be so close that when I sneeze I hear Him say, "Bless you".

I want to be so at one with Him that I see others with His eyes and from His viewpoint and perspective.  I want to have less answers for the world and more questions for my Savior.  I want to spend all my time at His feet, resting in His love.  I want to fall asleep with Him on my mind, and waken with Him on my mind.  I want to hear His voice the first thing each morning and the last thing at night.  When I look at a rose, I want to praise Him for its beauty.

I want to walk through my daily routine with Him by my side, following in His way ever-lasting... never wavering, always trusting.  Never balking.  Always hoping and waiting expectantly to hear His voice behind my right ear. 

I want to drink of His living water, and feed on His bread of Life.  His peace is my peace, His comfort my comfort.  His love is my love, His goodness my goodness.  His righteousness is my righteousness, His hope is my hope.   

Don't you want what I want, too? selahV

I Cannot Control It

The world is a big fat mess.  We allow the media to tell us who is the best person to lead us.  We allow society to direct our culture and redirect our values and principles.  We allow government to control our thoughts, our words, our spiritual lives.  It's ridiculous.  Especially for Christians.  We live in liberty, under grace given to us by the sacrificial, submission of Christ to the cross of redemption for our very lives.  We have everything we need to live an abundant life:

filled with peace,

consumed with love,

permeated with goodness,

saturated with hope,

assured of mercy.  Everything.  

Yet, we cower.  We get all antsy and look to elections for hope instead of a Sovereign God.  We place our faith in our choices rather than the God who allows those choices.  We trust in pundits and reporters to stand as watchmen over our lives rather than being the watchman over the souls of men.  I cannot control the "voices" that rattle on, day after day, nor those minds bent on force-feeding the world negativity, evil, and deceit to achieve an end that justifies their means.  However...

I can control:

what I allow to pierce my heart with discouragement.

what I allow my ears to hear.

what I allow my eyes to devour.

Yes...I can control my time and where I spend it.  I choose to look to the Triune God to direct my life by the inerrant Word He gave us.  I choose to rely upon the Holy Spirit to keep in line with God's will and purpose for my life.  I choose to rest in the promises of my Redeemer, Savior, and Lord to give me hope.  I choose to resist the temptation to dwell on the mantra of gloom and doom and set my mind and heart on the blessings of God and the history of success through the Victor of the world.  No longer is my life directed by laws written on stone.  My life is directed by the Word dwelling within my heart and soul.

If only we Christians would each let God's Word dominate our lives rather than society's foolishness, we'd really be better off.  No, I cannot control the world, I can only control how I respond to the world.  And through the Holy Spirit I've been given fruit of self-control.  That encompasses what I hear, how I react, what I do.  I will not shudder, nor will I quake as the world gets messier and messier.  The Word of God told us this is the way the world would go.  The world would be a pathetic mess.  People would be stubborn and not heed His Word-- would fall-away from faith they'd been taught.  Children would rise up against parents.  Decadence and debauchery would rule the hearts of man.  Faithful doers would lose their First Love. Yes, the world is a mess.  But folks, we have more than the world.  We have everything we need to live a Christ-filled, Spirit-fueled life in God.

"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. 2 Peter 1:3

God is in control.  No one else.  I can trust Him over everything, with everything, and in everything.  Can you?  Will you?  selahV

All That Is Necessary

I am downsizing and finding that 80 to 90 percent or what I have is not necessary.  Clothes, shoes, cooking utensils, linens, books, decorative items, furniture.  So much is unnecessary. What a yardsale I'm going to have!

I was thinking about how that applies to blogging.  How much of our yada yada is necessary?  How much of what we write is needed?  I looked in my mirror and wondered.  In the scheme of things, just how necessary is my blog?  Other than me...who does it benefit?  Thousands and thousands of people write blogs.  Millions actually.  Thousands upon thousands write Christian blogs.  How necessary is my voice in it all?  How needed am I in the mix of conversations?

I don't know.  I really don't.  Sometimes I read another blogger's post and think, what good is this to me?  What does it benefit me?  Do I really need this in my life? I read my own stuff and wonder the same thing.  If I disappeared from the Land of Blog, I doubt that anyone would notice or send out a search party for my words of wit and wisdom.  I tried this idea out on a blog I use to contribute to...not a soul has missed my voice.  None.  Wasted time.  Wasted thoughts.  Wasted emotions.  

Life is getting shorter and shorter.  Weeks seem to fly by.  I take a breath and a year is over.  All that matters is what is eternal...where rust, nor moth, nor decay can destroy.  So, what really matters?  What is necessary in my life?  What is not?  What can I eliminate from my life that will afford me more room, more energy, more time for what is eternal?

I think my computer is necessary, especially in this day and age.  I love to read Scripture because I can enlarge it for my fading eyesight...I know that is going with me on my move to smaller quarters.  But I certainly don't need checkbook registers from ten years ago.  250 different channels on television are not necessary, either.  There's something to be said for foxes that have lairs, yet our Savior not having a place to lay His head.

I think less is more necessary than more.  And the more I think about it, the less I find necessary to live as He did.  A heart full of love, a mind willed to obey, a soul at peace, and a body to house His Holy Spirit.  Yes...I think that's about all that's necessary.  What do you think?  selahV 

It Is Worth the Leap

Seriously!

What is our problem?

We have every reason to shout!

We have it all!

Love, peace, hope, joy, goodness, grace, salvation, forgiveness, righteousness, eternal life.

What else do we need?

Yet, all too often we sit silent in the face of praise.  We yawn when worship runs longer than an hour.  We nod off when the preacher begins to share God's Word.  We walk about in the world like we are dead rather than alive in Christ.  What in the world is wrong with us?  Do we buy into Satan's lies?

Perhaps.

But I think there's a simple reason we are so complacent and filled with apathy.  Our focus is on us.  Ourselves.  We worry about the economy. We fret over what name we are affiliated with.  We listen to strife and divisions.  We battle the flesh and ignore the real enemy:  "the prince of this world".  The powers of evil and darkness in realms beyond our sight.  We swat gnats and swallow camels then choke to death on our own efforts and words.

We stare at the temporary lives we have and covet the life we don't have.  We dwell on the things we find uncomfortable and strive for what makes us "feel" good.  We war with our own rather than stand guard over the walls we've conquered together.  We battle with those in our midst and give our enemies weapons to destroy us.

We, my friends, are our own worst enemy, to whom we are daily-devoted.

We wallow in past mistakes.  We won't let go of yesterday's failures.  We stare in awe at the giants in our lives and think we are small, alone, without help. We sit on the edge of the Red Sea and camp out while waiting for the Egyptian pharoah and his soldiers to destroy us.  Rather than remember what God has accomplished for those called by His name, we fall down in fear.

We all need to go back to the altar of God and stay awhile.  We need to sit by the calm waters which swallowed our enemies and give thanks.  Thanks that we are not alone in our struggles. Thanks that we have a Savior who has overcome the world.  Thanks that we have another day to honor His name in all we do and say--with family, friends, and strangers.

We need to bow in humble adoration to our God, our strength, our Redeemer.  Then we need to get up and kick our behinds as we leap for joy and sing praises to the Most High God.  selahV

"The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusts in Him and I am helped.

My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song." Psalm 28:7

Another devotional:  Are you LEAPING to Conclusions?

There's More to ME than SelahV TODAY

Yeah...that's right.  I find the more I write on SelahV Today, the more folks see me as that writer/person, blogger.  Some of you know I write devotionals, but few realize my interests are far-reaching.  When I started blogging in 2006, I had a dream to make a website that allowed me freedom to publish the stuff I like to write about I even hoped to one day have like-minded, joy-brimming, honey-coated, creative-soulmates contribute to my site (that's coming).

For me, one blog was rather limiting.  When God gives you an over-active creative brain, you simply can't put it all in one shoebox --(at one time I had 12 blogs...crazy).  The problem back in 2006 was the feed-features weren't available to me without enormous costs and a degree in html and website design.  Today...thanks to Typepad's user-friendly hosting, I am able to do tons of stuff I only hoped a webmaster could do. Sooooo...

Integrating my blogs together with rolling feeds in my sidebars seemed like a great solution.  That way you can see a pinch of most everything I write at various spots.  This is a work in progress.  I've been spending a great deal of time creating, organizing, and designing my dreams.  Amazingly...

since I began my quest to integrate my blogs in this fashion, my Google Analytics say my visits are up nearly 60%; and folks are staying 48% longer.  This means I am doing something that helps my readers.  And this is my goal at SelahV Today:

To bring uplifting, edifying encouragement, information, and devotional thoughts.  At times I am a bit opinionated when a subject riles me, impassions me, or disturbs me-- (I admit, on occasion, I have to repent and lean on God's new mercies each morning--good thing He's not finished with me).  But even with those times, I hope to reign in my ego and point us all back to the ultimate help we have as Christians...the LORD Jesus Christ.

I am particularly interested in expanding my Kids' Matters and Feminine Matters sliver of SelahV Today.  Would like to link up with more of those kind of blogs so we could connect others to the unbelievable creative gifts throughout the internet.  I go some places and it's simply bleh.  I go to others and think, WOW...I like this idea, technique, useful gardening craft, or artistic business.  So, it's my hope that you'll catch the drift of where I'm headed.  I'm excited about what God will do with me next as I use the gifts He has given me for His kingdom. 

I hope you'll take a bit of time and peruse the various parts of this site to see Daily Impact, Feminine Matters, Food Matters, Kids' Matters, and my weekly newspaper column (republished) at Common Matters. You'll see little picture/button/icons and below each are portions of my other blogs with links (will add more each week).  I'm hoping you know someone somewhere who'll like something I have to offer.  I yearn to be that virtuous woman.  I plan on working more and more on this as time goes on. 

"Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates." Proverbs 31:31

Let me know what you think.  Oh...and also, send my your links with cool posts you find while internet surfing.  Especially if they involve kids adventures, and interesting innovative women.     selahV and "ME"

At The Risk of Annoying R.C. SPROUL FANS

...I find some of what he says worth repeating.

In his book, Pleasing God, Sproul bases some thoughts on Romans 12:2:

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

He writes:  "I learned very early not to trust the cheers of the crowd.  But I never learned to disdain them.  They remain a seductive force in my life.  I still struggle to please men.  I still struggle with the mystique of popularity.  I still hate to be booed.

To be 'conformed' to this world is to be with (Latin con) the forms or structures of this world.  It means doing the popular thing.  The conflict is this:  What is popular with men is not always popular with God.  To be pleasing to God is not always to be pleasing to men.  Sometimes we must choose whom we will please.  That is a daily struggle in the Christian life." (page 61)

Peer pressure can invade the minds of preachers as well as pew-sitters.  No one is exempt from temptation to seek the praise of man.  We seek approval and get all flustered, anxious, and impatient with ourselves when we are not complimented, praised, and validated.  We can get so caught up in what others think of us, that we get depressed when we don't receive positive feedback, are criticized or rejected.  On the otherhand, we can get all puffed up and filled with pride when we receive accolades and roses.

Friends, either reaction is of the flesh.  Our flesh, which was crucified with Christ on the cross, can lead us into unrighteousness, evil, unholiness, and sin.  Our desire to be liked by man should never supercede our desire to love God, to obey God, to grow in the image of His Son.  As Sproul says, "Sometimes we must choose whom we will please.  That is a daily struggle in the Christian life."

I contend that

NOTORIETY Breeds Jealousy

Notoriety enters a room and swallows the applause of adoring masses.  It rarely notices its reflection of pride in the mirror hanging on the wall.  Nor does it see the faces of jealousy in the crowds behind it.  It gets so caught up in the praise of man, it confuses it with selfworth and personal value.  When the applause dies down, when the lights dim, when adoring fans walk away, or get distracted by another, notoriety may find itself looking into a mirror reflecting back shadows of distorted importance.

I was reading a post a few days back.  Evidently, the author had popularity and notoriety on his mind.  He couldn't sleep so out of curiosity he decided to go check the statistics on Technorati of various blogs in blogland.  He wondered why Technorati rated one blog above another and how they came to their conclusions. He listed a group of folks he thought germane to his post and gave their ratings with Technorati.  When I saw my name grouped with another I had to chuckle.  I can't remember the numbers offhand.  It's been a few days since I read it.

I know a little bit about Technorati's ratings and how it all comes together.  I checked into it when I started my blog in 2006.  Didn't really understand it all then.  Know a lot more about it today.  For me, the only reason it is of value is if one wants to develop a strong powerful voice in their respective focus group of readers, or because they want to make money from their blog.  Technorati can give you an analysis of how you are rank with a competitor based on their standards of block popularity monitoring.  Checking on your stats is interesting on occasion--competition is fun.  But in the end, I think comparing oneself to others breeds a bit of jealousy.  Notoriety does that at times.  Especially if a person isn't liked by a certain other person or group.  It gnaws at one's core to think someone they find arrogant, appalling, brash, or controversial, could be influential in forming ideas and views.  Pity the jealous among us.

I must admit that I would like to be a force of influence within our community of faith.  Not to boast a high ranking.  Not so much to make money, though that would be nice.  I want to help folks to know Jesus.  Admittedly, I sometimes get carried away and rant and ramble about some goofy political issue.  Or I may vent my thoughts on the perils and evils of blogging.  But for the most part, I want to share my Lord and how He gives me strength, peace and hope.  In a world dominated by entities and personalities which seek to destroy the things I count dear, I strive to stir up hearts and minds to grow in Christ.  I long to manifest His Spirit to the world by encouraging others, having patience, showing kindness, goodness and love.

It's not always easy.  I'm not always successful.  Sometimes I get so lazy I don't care.  Yet, I know this is a calling for me.  It is a ministry I love...especially since my health keeps me from doing other things I once did.  So, whether I rank high with Technorati or people "like" me with Facebook, click Follow, subscribe to my feed, or I have any commenters, I will still keep on writing...at least for Today.  selahV 

Heavy Heart

Ever have a heavy heart?  A burden for someone you cannot get off your mind?  Every verse you read whispers their name.  Words that come to my mind are mercy, grace, peace, consolation, strength, joy, comfort, encouragement, rest, hope.

Yet all these words are so empty to someone who is at their wit's end.  Their physical condition has taken its toll.  Depression has wrapped around them like a warm blanket on a cold dark night.  They cannot take it off for fear of freezing.  They know God.  They know He loves but they feel none because their heart is in the throes of earthly battles beyond their control. The thorns have not been removed.  The pain is persistent. The turmoil returns with the morning sun.  The weight of emptiness is crushing.  Faith is an ember.

I can only pray.  And continue to pray.  May God's mercy be upon my "someone".  In fact, I have a couple of "someones".  My heart may be heavy, but not nearly as heavy as my "someone" so far away.  May light be upon them.  Lift their spirit, oh, LORD.  Return hope from where hope has hidden.

Sometimes I Want to Disappear

I want to run from the daily difficulty, the harsh reality of grief, heartache and aggravations.

It's on those days I feel as dry as these hydrangea petals...brittle, starving for moisture--thirsting for the refreshment of Morning Dew.

I am as empty as these jars...silently waiting for the Spirit's filling.

It never ceases to amaze me that when I most yearn for this kind of peace, I am clinging mostly to myself and my desires, and what makes me happy, pleased, and accomodated.

What duplicity!  What oxymoronic behavior.  What an allegiance split!  It isn't until I sit awhile by the still green waters of silence, that a deeper thirsting and hungering stirs within me.  I do at those times want to disappear...truly lose myself in Him...the Way, the Truth and the Life.

I want to be so deeply in Christ...so enveloped by His love, so encased in His Spirit of peace, love, joy, and comfort--that I see nothing of myself--nor want nothing for myself.    Bebo Norman best describes this desire for me in his song Disappear.  CLICK HERE /link to hear him and read the lyrics as he sings.  selahV

BE CAREFUL...somone is watching you /link. 

Mother's Day In Review

For many, yesterday was a day of remembering Moms.  In fact, on Facebook (the world-wide social network site), I saw precious tributes.  One gal even asked everyone to change their profile picture and replace it with one of their mothers til Monday.  I thought that was sweet.  I didn't do that.  I have no idea where any pictures are of my mothers.

My biological mom is barely a memory...she abandoned us when I was just three, the three or four times I saw her afterwards leave fanciful feathers fluttering in my mind.

Step-mother #1 stirs memories of sadness as a whole--although, one cannot toss aside the years in which she washed my clothes and cooked meals.  I have to give her credit where credit is due.  Most of what she was in my life was not her fault.  Albeit hard to suffer the anguish of abuse, mentally ill people need our forgiveness, especially when they let you pull taffy on a cold winter night.

Step#2 didn't really consider me much more than my father's daughter. She and her children got some of the better parts of my dad's time, money and affection.  Enough said.

Step#3 was a gem.  I do call her blessed for giving my father the best 4 years of his heartbreaking 82 years of life.  When I watch others share how much they miss their mothers, the heartbreak they have without them, I often think I may be more blessed for never having known the joy of moms. In a sense I have been spared that kind of pain.  Admittedly, it makes it harder to empathize with another's burden...that makes it easier for me to understand how folks feel who cannot fathom my loss of a son...two babies.

Given the post I shared on Mother's Day, and due to the prayers so many offered on my behalf, I thought I'd take a few moments to tell you how things went for me yesterday (and also share some family photos).  Before I do that I want to acknowledge the gorgeous flowers you see pictured above.  My son's dear childhood friend (and a former youth I taught in the first pastorate we were blessed to serve), sent them to me.  She's been rather faithful to me as a friend and sister-in-Christ since Chad's death.

[Karen Pollock contributes to Devotional Christian now and she wrote one of the sweetest tributes to my son (HERE).  But make sure you subscribe to Devotional Christian while you're there so you don't miss any of her moving devotionals.]

So...the flowers come in the middle of the night, at about 8:15 on Saturday night.  Such a gift I stumble to explain.  You see, Karen doesn't know this, but one of the hardest times I have through the Mother's Day extravaganza is May 7th...the night before Mother's Day.  That was the night six years ago I last spoke to my son--last heard his voice.  As usual, he had a story to tell, and part of it was his joy in going to see the Texas Rangers play ball in Dallas.  That evening at around 10:15 was the last time I heard his sweet words, of good-bye and "I love you, momma."  So often at that hour of each Saturday before Mother's Day, my heart fills with a bitter-sweetness of gratitude and regret.  Gratitude that God gave me that last "I-love-you, Momma" --- Regret that we hung up before I said I love you too, my precious son.  It's hard to forgive myself for that lapse in motherhood.

So, Karen...you are, my friend, another portion of Chad's never-ending story of a life. The love he shared with you nearly 30 years ago in friendship, blossomed into a basket of roses and daisies for me on a day only Chad, and I, and God would know is a day I find especially difficult.  Your flowers blessed me more than you'll ever know.  It was like a gift from heaven above.  I can almost hear my son say, "forgetta bout it, Momma; just stop and smell the roses today."

Secondly, my friends and new readers, that is just one facet of what I call God's divine interventions in life...a comforting Balm through a love cultivated years ago in a little country Kentucky church.  Corrie ten Boom was right when she wrote, "Every experience God gives you, every person He puts in your life, is the perfect preparation for the future, that only He can see." 

Thirdly, My daughter did what she does naturally for her--she loves through acts of service.  She prepared a brisket dinner for me and her own family.  Every single Sunday (for the most part) she makes Sunday dinner.  I couldn't help but think of how much I appreciate her gift of love.  A menial task, some might say.  But special because I have her in my life to share my heart, to embattle, to love, to plan stuff, to undergird and etcetera, etcetera.  Some folks wonder why I don't write much about my daughter.  I realize that it a curious thing considering the attention I give to the relationship I had with my son.  I'm simply following orders.  You see, as precious as my daughter is, and as much as I would love to give you all the nitty-gritty details of her life and her older children, Holly is a private kind of gal.  She makes me keep my thoughts closer to my chest, my fingers holstered, and for the most part, pictures stored in scrapbooks. 

To say she doesn't like to call attention to herself rather belies the kook she is at ladies' retreats. But she doesn't like to announce to the world all the things she does as she serves the Lord.  She doesn't tweet, friend, or blog.  This world is rather foreign to her.  It's doubtful she even reads a single thing I write--go figure.  But she owns a humongous portion of my heart, always has, always will.  I'd die for her.  She could have both kidneys and my liver.  I know she loves me...and while she's never stood up in the city gates and called me blessed, I know.  I know she cares.  I know because no matter how heated we may get over trivialities of life, she and I are on the phone talking and sharing by 10:00 a.m. the next day.  It's just the way we are.  It's not how we've always been.  And most of that is my fault.  I have learned a lot about motherhood from my daughter.  I think most mommas do.

Lastly...yesterday...Mother's Day was one of the most peacefilled, comforting, blissful, and God-infused days I've had in a long long time.  Here is just a sampling of things that held my attention.  Most of it is pictures.  I hope you have as much fun looking at them as I had cropping and adding captions today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click to enlarge me

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  
So among others, these were some of the sweet memories the Lord brought my way because of you, my friends who prayed for me.

Life is not always a happy time.  It's not always perfect.  It has moments, though -- snapshots in the course of living which we need to be vigilant not to miss.  Moments flash before our eyes, and can be blurred before our cameras grab the perfect shot.  Often in our desire to have the perfect day, we waste time trying to catch the perfect smile, the perfect pose.  Then we miss the seconds of love and lose a memory we could capture and lock inside our hearts forever.  Enjoy today.  Enjoy tomorrow.  Be like my son...stop and smell the roses.  Smell them today.  selahV   

Close Encounters (Continued)

Pity parties are odd things.  I often throw mine and realize I have not one soul I can invite.  Who'd want to join me in feeling sorry for myself after all?  I don't even want to talk to me.

Enter the blogosphere...Facebook, Twitter.  There's always someone somewhere to join in commiserating with me.  That can be a dangerous thing for some folk, but I've been blessed by some of those folks who encourage with scripture without beating my head in with Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of verses from their 7-pound Family Bible.  I'm humbled that a person takes the time to care for someone they've never been physically close enough to to even so much as nod at a four-way stopsign.

It seems odd, to say the least, that we find ourselves spilling our guts to people we've never had the privilege of seeing face to face. It's quite baffling when one finds more understanding, and encouragement via internet access than from a person they've shared years of details in an up-close-and-personal relationship.

How can this happen?  Is it true we can't see the forest for the trees?

I never know quite how long to hold a pity party. Occasionally, for me, holding one is what makes life most bearable to deal with an arthritic infested spine, a painful vertebrae, the dreaded day others find joy in remembering Mothers, and the petty disappointments of daily living.  Until the last guest leaves (uh, that be me), I tend to wallow in this time and write.  I write.  I gripe, complain, whine, and consider the bunk stored in an unguarded heart which always seems to surface in my mind when I am at my lowest point emotionally and physically.

Yet, when the tears dry upon my cheeks, and the pity party begins to lose its charm, I rediscover an age-old truth.  By some extraordinary twist of providence, only God can make a difference in disappointments.  Only He is wise enough to give us the exact person we need at that particular time in our lives to deliver His word of comfort.  Only He can fuse the broken spirit, and turn the life-wheels to form a pot worth having from the dust and water of a corrupted earth.

Only through writing, praying, and weighing my thoughts, do I find any purpose for the chaotic friction, fissures, and misunderstandings...if there be any purpose under the sun.  There is a time for everything--a time to live, to die, to dance, to not dance, to weep, to laugh.  Today is my time to mourn life in general.  It's my way of running like Forrest, biking, painting, doing yardwork and purging the closets of my soul.  Since today gave way to self-indulgence, perhaps tomorrow will bring the joy.  If not, there is always the next day--and the next.  For without Hope, without expectation of God's intervention, would there be any sense at all in this world?  I think not. 

There's therapeutic deliverance in thinking, in writing, in praying through discouragement.  God changes me and things seem to change around me.  It's not that I can change the circumstance or fix the situation.  No, there is no fixing what is.  Only living with it as is, and accepting "such is life".  C'est la vie.

It's hard to admit, since I haven't really ended my pity party, but I am quite grateful for the close encounters He brings my way when I least expect it.  I really am.  They often show me a side of myself I cannot see for the trees.  Their pain puts me in my place.  Their struggles help me see my own in perspective.  Their love makes me want to love the ones I'm with a bit more, a bit stronger--with greater tolerance and patience and understanding.

 

How about you?  Has God brought about good from what others intended, or unintentionally intended, as evil?  Have you had "close encounters" from a long distance? selahV

If Only Disappointment Didn't

leave you with so much baggage...maybe it would be easier to get over.  But each time I'm disappointed, I have this thing about remembering all the other stuff that's broken my heart and hurt me in life.  Emotions are fragile things.  Expectations are like rainbow colored bubbles.  Wouldn't it be nice if when something or someone bursts your bubble, that all the expectations incased within it would be swept away...so there is no residue of disappointment?

People will always fall short.  Life will always disappoint.  Should I not have expectations?  Should I not care?  Should whatever happens be just hunky dory?  Sometimes I think I must need to think that way so disappointment has no hold on me...no power to make me frustrated, sad or angry.  Hmmmn.  Just when I think I've learned to be content in whatsoever state I am in, God throws me a curve-ball.  I need to take myself out of the equation.  I need to think about this differently. 

Seriously.  When I consider those things which break my heart, upset my day, or burst my bubbles, it's all because I take my eyes off God.  It's all because I look at anything temporal as more important than those things which are above.

It does make me wonder if God ever gets as disappointed with us as I get with stuff in my life.  If so, He sure wouldn't feel very good right now.  If I were to take all my disappointment of my nearly 63 years and pile it in the middle of the floor, it couldn't begin to touch the disappointment God must have stacked up from all the self-centered lives He has created since the beginning of time as we know it.

As much as my disappointment feels at this moment, and it is pretty weighty, how in the world does God carry the weight of His?  Maybe, His was lifted up upon the cross as He hung in perfect sacrifice for the sin of all mankind.  For in heaven there is no sorrow, no pain, no disappointment.  That's all the more reason to remember when I set my sights on things above, I am assured there will be no more disappointment.

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." Proverbs 4:23

Temporal things have a way of crowding out eternal things of God.  Perhaps He wants me to see the world a little less appealing, a little less satisfying.  Otherwise, I may want these things with greater desire than Him...His glory...His purpose.  Yes, I must guard my heart and mind...for if everything within my heart flows from it--my attitude, my witness, my example.  I must guard what I trust, who I trust--my emotions must be guarded.  If not, I'm going to be disappointed not just with life--but myself.  selahV

When Things Look Hopeless

I can only pray.

He's my brother-in-law.  Married to my husband's sister.  His name is Mike. He's been through surgery, chemo, radiation, more surgery, more chemo.  It started with a small cancer on his tongue, a couple of years ago.  He's not doing well at all.  He's battled long and hard.  On Easter Sunday they took him to the hospital because his legs were swollen so badly.  His kidneys are obviously toxicly stressed out.  He's a young fifty-something.  Very young, full of life.  He needs your prayers; he's so tired of taking morphine for pain.  His wife needs your prayers. Valerie.

Things look hopeless this side of heaven.  So all we can do is pray.  May God give them grace to endure, comfort to ease, and peace that passes all understanding as they deal with each new day.  For this my heart cries out with words I cannot utter.  May the Holy Spirit give meaning and wisdom and send God's perfect will in this hour of hurting and heartache and fear.  Be enough, Oh LORD, be enough for them right now.  hariette 

Can We At Least...

Tell?

Tell what?

What God did.

What did God do?

He sent his only begotten Son, Jesus.

What did Jesus do?

He died to pay the price for my sin.

Why?

Because the wages of my sin is death.

Why?

Because God is holy and cannot tolerate sin.

Why would Jesus die to pay the price for my sin?

Because He first loved me.

Why?

Because I am precious in His sight.

Even though I sin?

Yes.

Who should I tell?

Anyone who'll listen.  selahV

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How To Pray In Christ, Believing

There's a ton of stuff about prayer I do not know.

There's a bunch of stuff about prayer I've come to learn.

There's a bit more I've experienced through much sorrow, pain, struggle, surrender and acceptance.

In the final analysis, I find the most overlooked area of power in the Christian's life (including mine), is intercessory prayer.

A powerless faith is a faith which fails to lift up prayer for ourselves and others believing God is the One and only One Who can answer our prayers according to His perfect will.

Some things I've learned:

We can't help God out.

We can't change the answer.

We can't use emotion to sway God's will.

We can't always understand.

We can't always be happy.

We can trust the Father to answer without our intervention.

We can be persistent when He doesn't answer on our timetable.

We can rest without worry and have peace in the process of God's perfect timing.

We can believe God's promises and learn from our inability to understand as part of the growth process in the sanctification of our faith and growth as Believers.

We can have joy even when we are not happy with the situations we live with as we wait upon the LORD.

We can find completeness in the brokenness of our lives left in the hands of God.

There is a hunger within our hearts, souls, and minds when we pray believing and wanting God's complete will in a situation.  The Holy Spirit clears out all the baggage (sorta like html stuff that only techies can fix in a website to make it work correctly and show up on a page) Then the Holy Spirit puts it perfectly at the feet of our Father in Heaven.  Then He directs the course of events to bring about the answers to our prayers according to His perfect will.

For Daniel, God sent Gabriel who battled Satan in the realms between heaven and earth before finally answering His prayer for help.  For Jesus He gave all He needed to "drink the cup", He would rather have been left untouched.

Our problem, as humans, is we tend to think we know better how that perfect will ought to look when it comes about.  Sometimes it is not pretty...but as we learn to trust the Lord God Most High, He perfects in us the ability to accept His will as His will and relinquish our claim upon what the answer should look like.

I've had a ton of experience in this since my son was killed on Mother's Day 2005.  And I mean to tell you the Lord and I have gone to the mat several times.  Each time I find myself enjoying it when I'm pinned down and looking up into His glorious, merciful, loving, compassionate face through the magnification of tears in my eyes.  He is good.  He is very good.  He is Sovereign and His answers are perfect.  Praise His Holy Name.  Whew.  I feel like shoutin' !!!!  selahV >>>>>>>

Please, don't rush off.  Stand up and shout a bit with me. LOL. Take a moment and post a comment and say hello.  That way I can be praying for you, too.  God bless and keep you until we meet again. selahV 

When We Fail

It's hard to admit failure sometimes--even to ourselves.  We tend to want to explain the circumstances surrounding our failure.  We are tempted to take the sting out of our mistakes by giving facts and, sometimes embellishments, to paint a brighter picture than pure honesty reveals. 

It's strange when you think about it.  The Bible is full of those accounts.  From beginning to end, we see the warts of all the saints later listed in the book of Hebrews as examples of faith.  Yet, today, most folks have trouble simply apologizing for a simple wrong, an irritated mood, impulsive action, or critical spirit.  It's tough to confess bitterness we cannot purge from our hearts, a judgmental attitude we embrace because of it.  It's just so hard for people to say I'm sorry and ask to be forgiven.  Unfortunately, most times that's because we know forgiveness is not easily given or received.

Jacob felt that way when he fearfully returned to meet Esau, the brother he'd wronged after stealing their father's blessing through deceit and scheming. They both lived years and years in estrangement and brokenness.  When Jacob humbled himself before God, he met Esau and there was no problems.  Esau hugged him and forgave him. (Gen. 32)

"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." James 4:10 NKJV

It's difficult to open up our lives and expose less admirable events in our past, to let the world see we are less than we want to be seen.  It takes a humble person to simply admit a wrong, then grow from it.  I think it takes a virtuous woman to bring glory to God by sharing what she learns from her mistakes.  Amy Carroll is 'that kinda of gal" as she writes devotions and speaks to help encourage others. 

It also takes a meek man to admit an error of judgment the moment the Holy Spirit quickens his spirit to see an area in need of correction. It's refreshing to read where he yields his pride to Christ's control and allows Him to change the direction of his witness.  Brian McMillen is "that kinda guy".  Rather than let a weak moment be his own little secret, he shared it on his blog.  [*see Amy's and Brian's posts below.]

How about you?  Have you made an error in judgment?  Do you wish you could hit replay on a moment of your life?  Is there someone you know who needs your encouragement, who needs a pat on the back, a hand up, or hand outstretched?

If you see yourself somewhere in this post--perhaps just a mediator for another's relationship--I pray God gives you courage to deal with it, wisdom to counsel, and abundant compassionate  love to express. If you are hurting because you have not forgiven yourself for past mistakes, I pray you're able to turn it all over, let it go, then live in the righteousness of Christ without regret.   selahV

POSTS WORTH READING:

STAY by *Amy Carroll ~~~ THAT KINDA GUY by Brian McMillen

How To Soothe A Troubled Heart

I received an email from a friend yesterday.  He sends me little snippets of this-and-that each day.  I laugh at some, shake my head at others and then some, I am pressed to ponder a bit.  Yesterday's was a quote by Warren Wiersbe:

"When there is peace in the heart, there will be praise on the lips."

Sounds sweet, huh?  I thought so, too--at the first read.  Then I looked at it again and recalled a time when the phrase was reversed for me.  When there is praise on the lips, there is peace in the heart.  There was a time so dark and full of sorrow and blackness I thought any second I was going to die.  In fact as much as I feared it, I wanted it.  I saw no light in the abyss.  No comfort to come from mourning.  No filling to come from hungering and thirsting.  No strength to come from weakness.  No hand amid the waves of pain.

Wiersbe says, when there is peace, there is praise.  I don't know if that is always true.

You see, my heart is at peace quite often without an utterance of praise or a thought of adoration toward my Maker.  But when I am troubled, when my heart is broken, when heartache seems to squeeze the life right out of my soul, it's then that peace eludes me.

I have found when I take time to exalt the Lord, to sing a chorus of praise:  "I exalt You.  I exalt You.  I exalt You, Oh, Lord;" it is then my heart is stilled.  It's then my heart relaxes and my weakness turns to strength.  It's then the darkest night becomes day.  Most certainly when a heart is at peace it can praise the Lord for His presence.  But do we?  always?

When a person has a troubled heart, praise on his lips will create the peace his heart cannot produce on its own.  It transforms the heart flooded with itself.  God is the keeper of the secret longings and needs of our hearts.  We can praise Him for the hope we have in Him and then our hearts will give Him room to sit enthroned each moment of our day.

"But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted Thee and Thou didst deliver them." Psalm 22:3-4 KJV

If you have a troubled weary heart today, try singing Jesus Loves Me till you feel He does and know He is your refuge and stay.  I am praying for you, too.  May His peace be the praise you offer to others who find themselves torn and broken today. selahV

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GOD AIN'T NO BEAN BURRITO

To hear some folks talk, you'd think God is impersonal.  He sits upon His throne above and lets us all run around like ants at a picnic--each racing over the pages of His inspired Word in search of satisfaction.  I wonder.  Does He give out gifts of the Spirit and then say, have at it?  

No.  God sent us His only begotten Son so that we might see the Father through Him.  Then Jesus went on to Heaven because in His physical flesh He could not be with all those who believed in and relied upon Him.  So He gave us His Holy Spirit to live within us--to direct, guide, comfort, teach, console, counsel, convict, remind us of His commands and fill us with Himself so that we never walk alone.  We dwell in Him and He in us.  Make no mistake that when John told us "In beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word is God", that he meant the Word (Logos) would remain silent within our soul and spirit as He walks alongside us through life.  Jesus Himself says, "He who is able to hear, let him listen to and heed what the Holy Spirit says to the assemblies." Revelation 3:22

Jesus told his disciples, "What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim upon the housetops."  Matthew 10:27

He sent his disciples out to witness of Himself.  He told them they would hear whispers in their ears to proclaim upon rooftops.  Jesus also said that what his disciples did is nothing compared to what those who never saw Him will do through Him.

Folks who say we cannot hear God today, give me great pause to think God looks down from His lofty grandeur and says, "Lean not to your own understanding.  But don't turn to Me for direction because I ain't talking to you.  Just read the scripture and figure it out for yourself.  Be kind...love others as yourself...avoid sin and the appearance of sin.  Obey your parents and those in authority over you.  Be holy as I am holy.  Resist the devil and he shall flee.  You're in a war-zone, so put on your armor.  If you get in trouble and don't know what to do, just do what you want to do.  I gave you a brain; use it.  Mess up? don't fret...I'm your clean-up man.  Read, child, read!  Read my Word.  Be still and KNOW...but remember when you pray, you don't have to listen...'cause I'm not speaking. If you think you hear My voice over your right shoulder...you just need to lay off the bacon.  Don't expect to see Me in the darkness, or feel My calming presence in your moments of terror; or feel My peace when you walk through the valley of death; or feel My comfort when you mourn the loss of a child; or feel My strength when you are weakest; or sense my assurance when you're walking in the right direction.  When I move in your life, you don't sense anything.  If you do, then you should probably check the expiration date on your milk carton."

Sorry, folks.  I can't buy that.  I fellowship with the Most High God who says He inclines His ear to me.  He doesn't sleep nor slumber.  He speaks in the heart-piercing splendor of His Spirit, and His Word.  He uses each of us to convey His messages of encouragement, edification, reproof, and admonition.  He speaks to me in the stillness of the night, and the upheaval of life's storms.  If I can't hear Him, it's because I'm not listening.

A reading of John 10 shares an example of the wicked who could not hear Jesus because they chose their own way. They were Pharisees, well-learned men of scripture.  Yet they did not know the Master's voice when He spoke. They ignored Him again and again because they wanted to do what they wanted to do.  Some folks are doing this today.  They lead the hungering and thirsting to disregard the discerning voice of God imparted by the Holy Spirit.  It's non-existent. They tell us we are no different than the Israelites of old--who had to go to the priest to hear the message of God, to prophets who spoke directly from God, to apostles who wrote the Words of God, to the Bible of which has many translations, interpretations, and doctrinal bends.  I think the reason I bristle at the words of such voices is because they are strangers.  The Shepherd is Who I hear.  From all others I tend to run.  selahV

"...his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” John 10:4b-5.

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." John 10:27

WHEN THE VESSEL CRACKS

The world seems abuzz with the excitement of Christmas.  Lots of festivities scheduled on the calendar.  Cookies to bake, shopping to do, trees to trim, packages to wrap.  Then snap!!  Life gets in the way.  The furnace breaks down, the car needs brakes, new tires, an alignment--didn't anyone tell my house and car it is Christmas? my body is forced to move in short, guarded steps to avoid muscle strain and greater back pain.  So much to do...so little resources to do it with.   Then....a scripture thought is delivered to my inbox from Adrian Rogers.  And I say, "Ah...that's me."

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."  2 Corinthians 4:7

Ever have that happen to you?  The words are exactly what you need to hear.  The frustrations of the world melt a bit.  The energy you're holding onto to face another day, another hour, an unexpected crisis, seems to seep right out of your frazzled mind.  My ideas, my plans take a back seat and I let God prioritize my life.  Again.

All too often the fuel I use to propel me through a day is self-infused.  Thinking a positive thought.  Resisting the negative.  Seeking an answer, then acting on what I deem appropriate for the situation...thinking, thinking, thinking.  God wants me to relax...let go...stop doing, going, thinking, just let go of the tension and rest in His arms.  Let His power carry me where I think I have been taking myself.  Christ in me is the "treasure" in my "earthen vessel".  Christ's power flows through me and so often I let life get in the way of His grace and glory.  I stand in front of His windows of opportunity.  Instead of letting Him shine, I pull the curtains of discontent, irritation, and sheer exhaustion over windows of hope, strength, and power.

Today I rest.  I rest in Him.  I need His filling, His refreshment.  Today the cracks within my soul and mind need His mending.  How about you? 

IS THE BLOOD SUFFICIENT TO SAVE? Part Three

Nothing has had a greater impact upon my life than the transforming power of Jesus Christ in my soul.  It is a total mystery to me how Christ did what He did inside my heart, my mind, my body and soul that would take a self-centered, self-motivated, vile and disgusting person who lived her life contrary to all things godly, and created desires that were the direct opposite of what she was one minute to what those desires were in the next minute.  I will never be able to adequately explain what happened in my life as a result of Jesus...but the impact of His presence in my life was as creative and life-producing as the moment God entered Mary through His Holy Spirit and gave life to His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with Us.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it as C.B. answers his critics and continues to explain the Sufficiency of Christ's Blood in the act of salvation for humanity:

III. The Impact Of Christ's Blood

The shed blood of Christ in his death on the cross has tremendous power (impact) and brings to the repentance, believing sinner numerous benefits-blessings, including redemption. Three words in the Greek N.T. expresses this truth: (1) agorazo - to purchase in the marketplace, Gal. 3:13, where the figure is that of a Roman slave market. The subjects of redemption are sold under sin (Rom. 7:14) and under sentence of death (Rom. 5:12). The purchase price of the sinful "slave" is the blood of Christ who dies in the sinner's stead (Rev. 5:9). (2) The second word is exagorazo - to purchase out of the market place(Gal. 3:13). Purchased by His blood, believers are never again exposed to sale, being eternally secure (Jn. 10:28-29). (3) The third word is lutroo - to loose - to set free by the payment of a price (I Pet. 1:18-19). Through Christ's ransom payment, we are forever loosed - set free from sin's power. Thus, the blood "shall never lose its power."

The second impact of the blood of Christ is righteousness ((Rom. 3:25) "..... through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness..." Through the merit of Christ's blood, the repentance sinner is declared righteous - justified - in Christ (I Cor. 1:30). The same passage (Rom 3:25) also indicates that there is complete remission (forgiveness) of sin (Eph. 1:7), with the slate wiped clear with regard to the believer's eternal position in Christ. This total remission is again based solely upon Christ's blood (Heb. 9:22)

The blood also brings reconciliation - the reuniting of God and man (Col. 1:20-22, Eph. 2:16), a relationship that had been severed by man's sin (Eph. 2:14), plus reception ("accepted in the beloved" - Eph.1:6) - accession to God's presence by the "blood of Jesus" (Heb. 10:19).

The final impact of the blood of Christ is the bringing of rejoicing to the believer's heart ("..we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the atonement" - Rom. 5:11). The believer can now joyfully sing "Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb."

I am sure you can spend the rest of your life finding additional evidence to the fact that the Blood of Christ is sufficient of itself to wash away our sins.

I will place Phil. 2:8 before you also. If you take this one verse and exegete it, you will find ample evidence to be able to joyfully sing:

"WHAT CAN WASH AWAY MY SINS? NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS.
WHAT CAN MAKE ME WHOLE AGAIN? NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS...."

You have every right to say "He died on the cross but it isn't the cross itself that is our focus." You do not have to focus on the cross if you have no desire to do so. Yet, I think I shall "focus" on the cross. I shall even "glory" in the cross. I shall even "boast" of the cross. And...I think I shall be in good company in doing so. Paul did:

 "But may it never be that I would boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Gal. 6:14)

"For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." (1 Cor. 2:2)

Here are a couple more passages for you to ponder in answer to the question you asked me about the Blood of Christ as it relates to our salvation:

"Remember that you were at one time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and stranger to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without Christ in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST." (Eph. 2:12-13 emphasis mine)

"For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having MADE PEACE THROUGH THE BLOOD OF HIS CROSS; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. (Col. 1:19-20 Emphasis mine)

It is the Blood of the Cross that rids us of our sin. I hope you never forget that, for that shall sustain you in the darkest of days."  CB Scott

Is the Blood Sufficient to Save? Part One

Is the Blood Sufficient to Save? Part Two

IT MAY BE TODAY

It may be today that grace is manifested in all its glory--when truth is more than another's opinion of reality.  It may be today that we see pride swallowed, and grace truly abound.  It may be today we read truth instead of embellished fiction.  I do not know.  I can only hope.

Sometimes I so long for Christ to come, my soul burns.  My heart reels, my stomach churns.  I so yearn to hear the trumpet sound, the Eastern sky to part and see my Savior's face--to greet Him and see man perfected--flawless, pure and holy--without guile, deceit, and self-centered ambition.

I am not alone.  Paul wrote, "We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." Romans 8:22

I sometimes grow weary.  I really do.  I groan so deeply I cannot pray when I see some things Christians write about other Christians.  I am comforted to know that the Lord Himself bears witness with my spirit and cries out to the Holy, Holy, Holy for me.  For my heart breaks that some people show so little regard for fellow Christian brothers, they write falsehoods and call them truth.  I know I am not alone.  I have brothers and sisters who join in heart and mind, who seek a more fruit-filled spirit manifested in the lives of the Body--the Bride of Christ.  Peace.  Love.  Forgiveness.  Tolerance.  Patience.  Kindness.  Humility.  Joy.

Where is the fruit in our words, our actions, our deeds?

Where is the ministry of reconciliation?  Hidden behind words of retaliation?

I'm not so naive that I think Christians will all agree on every iota of every issue.  But our words mean things.  And some words are just plain mean.  They're hateful.  They are unholy, unkind, and unworthy of the blood shed to forgive us of our sin.  If this is the kind of witness we are to the lost in the world, it's no wonder our efforts are fruitless, our baptismals are dry. 

I've been praying quite a while for another spiritual awakening.  How, pray tell can this occur when God's people find nothing but fault to lay at one another's door?  Can we not look at our own hearts and see the evil within and praise God for the attoning grace we have in Christ?  Can we not smell the stench our unholy attitudes and careless words offers up to the nostrils of our Lord?  What kind of sacrifice is this?  Where is truth?

Oh, Lord, forgive us.  May we all bow down and confess and repent and seek Your face.  May we weep for the souls of men and the growth of each brother and sister.  We cannot know.  It may be today You come to take us home.  May we be found faithful in Your sight, true to our calling, and abiding in You.  selahV

AM GLAD TO KNOW...

I'M WORTH MORE THAN MANY SPARROWS.

If I didn't know that, the hailstorms of life would consume me.

Sometimes the storms are close--so close, I hear the threatening stones against my window pane, expecting glass to shatter any moment.  Sometimes they thunder loudly in the distance--instead of my roof, they pound my loved one's or friend's.  Even when winds destroy the strangers in my life, I feel the force, the power of destruction in their lives.

And it hurts.

I feel so incompetent, so helpless.  But that is because my eyes cannot see beyond the space of circumstance.  I must rely on faith to carry me to the other side of the storm--beyond the horizon of looming mountains--into the peace afforded at the still waters of God's grace.  I must believe.  I must see what cannot be seen in the midst of blistering difficulty.  I have to let go...and let my Father do what I cannot.

That is why I am glad to know my life is worth more than many sparrows.  It's why I rest in Him when there is no rest elsewhere. selahV

FOR MORE RELATED THOUGHTS:

ANSWER ME

ONE GOOD WORD

MORE THAN MANY SPARROWS

JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS

Ever felt the urge to confront someone?  Perhaps you've been wronged.  Perhaps you see another being wronged.  Ever follow through and confront someone, only to discover you totally mis-judged a situation, and or, the party involved?  If you're anything like me, you feel like dirt. It's kinda like jumping into a mudpuddle and splashing everyone around you.  All you can do is say I'm sorry.  But often, fall-out follows you.  The person you confront tells someone else, and pretty soon the "how-dare-they" emotions erupt within a second, or third or more parties.  Within a few hours, you not only feel like dirt--you are dirt among the conversations of man.

By nature I like to give folks the benefit of the doubt.  Yet, sometimes, I allow myself the luxury of taking someone at their word and been sorely disappointed.  When that occurs, it breeds a kind of skepticism; if I indulge that skepticism, it soon evolves into complete distrust of any party.  I hate to hear folks share a bunch of negatives about others, especially when you are not acquainted with others.  But anytime one is fed negative stuff about another, it tends to take on a life of its own.  It can sit in the back corner of one's mind till another does something similar--then it pounces upon the scene and destroys any chance of building a relationship--or reconciling one.

I'm beginning to believe that jumping to conclusions without all the facts, is a lot like jumping off a cliff without knowing the depth of the water below.  Sooner or later, you are bound to get hurt.  The only way to avoid becoming one big grease-splat in the scheme of life, is to avoid jumping in the first place.  You might disagree and say, the best thing to do is not to listen to someone dump negatives in the first place.  I like that, but it is not the norm.  Many times you cannot stop a person from unloading their garbage on your front lawn.  It just happens.  So my advice is not to go picking through another's trash.  And if you happen to get slapped with some unwanted garbage, go wash yourself off before trying to make it to the curb. 

^7"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

 ⁸Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

 ⁹Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

 ¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51:7-10

[NEXT post:  BEFORE YOU CONFRONT SOMEONE....] selahV