SelahV Today by hariette petersen

Trust the Still Waters

Here at SelahV Today, my readers have come to trust a rather upbeat, potpourri of posts from me.  For nearly 4 months, I have been in a funk that would bore you to tears if I tried to explain the why of it all.  Suffice it to say, the enemy is alive and well on planet earth, my friends.  The Bible warns us that he is "like a roaring lion, traveling to and fro, seeking whom he may devour".  I didn't notice his growl.

We are forewarned to "put on the whole armor of God" to ward off his assaults and stand our ground in Christ's power.  I think I forgot a piece or two of my equipment.  We cannot trust in chariots or horses from some foreign land for our own faith and our own understanding. We can only "trust in the Lord with all our hearts and acknowledge Him" as the one who keeps us in the paths of His righteousness and order.  Not any man.  None.

Sometimes the ones who seem the strongest among us are the weakest.  I've learned this truth in ways I wish I didn't have to confess.  But it's true.  And when that occurs, our trust in man and his fraility is all too apparent in our own walk with the Lord.  We soon find ourselves off the grassy path of peace and onto a well-trod path of war with folks we never dreamed possible.  Kinfolk.  Brethren.  It's a path we think is noble at times.  A path we must walk upon to right a wrong, to challenge a falsehood, to defend a truth, to forge a new pathway.  And...

If we are not vigilant, the tares will wind their vines around our legs and sneak their way up around our necks and choke the life out of us, so that we no longer breathe or see beneath the leaves of discontent, dissent, and controversy.  Our voices become hoarse, our cry is barely heard in the fields white unto harvest.  And, well, the "moth and rust" eventually robs us of our joy, our hope, and our desire to care one way or the other. 

From watching the infiltration of unsavory viewpoints beat down upon what I once considered a band of faithful brethren, I am totally without ideas.  I am empty of solutions.  I am speechless and inept and wisdom fails me.

Therefore, I am going to do what I have always done here at SelahV Today.  I am going to keep writing the thoughts the Lord lays upon my heart and try and make a bit of sense of "today" and see if tiny things I see are as significant to others as they are to me.

I haven't been at peace for several weeks. I wandered upon a knoll on which I had stopped grazing...and began to eat of the fodder. Since then, I have struggled to keep my eyes on Jesus and the purpose He has for me.  I've let the enemy drag me into a woodpile of burning embers of animosity and sin, and found myself digging through the ashes of discord, pride and ego.  It weighed me down, my friends.  It surely did.

God is a merciful God.  His mercies are new every morning.  Have you found yourself in a minefield of frustration?  Have you wondered how in the world you landed where you are?  Have you questioned the ground you stand upon?  Have you allowed the foundation of your faith to be so shaken by the evils of man that you struggle to dwell on that which is pure and good and positive?  Have you lost trust in others and doubt your own worth in the world around you?

May I remind you that in Jesus, you are an heir of all He is?  His riches are unending.  His glory is incomprehensible.  His peace beyond all understanding.  His goodness beyond all measure.  His love unceasing and His power unequaled.  Rise up, my friends.  Walk away from the quagmire of faithlessness.  Set your sights on things above.  Live today as if everything you do is eternal.  Trust only in God-- and let Him lead you by the still Waters of His Word...He will never ever let you down.  selahV

[Daily Devoted ...by hariette petersen]

The MERCIFUL Thing To Do

Last week was a low-point in my life.  As sixty-three-plus years flew by, I’ve witnessed death in many forms: cats poisoned by neighbors, favorite dogs hit by cars and trucks.  As a minister's wife, I've spent many hours at the bedside of dying family members; and sat with them alongside caskets as friends came by to show their respects for the life they knew.  I've hugged teens who lost grandparents, parents and siblings. I've hugged parents who lost their teens and spouses.  Death...From grandparents, to my own children, strangers, friends.  From accidental deaths to suicides.  I buried my granddaughters' daddy.  Death is no stranger to me.

You'd think I could handle putting a suffering dog out of his misery.  Such a humane act seemed like the merciful thing to do.

I've written quite a few times about Rowdy over my blogging years.  He's provided great subject material and given me several analogies for life (see below).  His spirit and stamina are second to none other dog I ever knew.  Even the amputation of his front leg did not deter his determination to root out Oklahoma armadillos, skunks and snakes.  He literally kept coyotes from the door.  When his lone, front leg finally failed to support his 91 pounds of mete strength, it broke my heart. No longer could he lift himself to walk.  He scooted on his belly, pushing himself with his virile back legs.  From the porch to the field, he pushed himself in an effort to relieve himself away from the house.  Then he'd push himself back to lie in the shade for the day.  I carried water to him and fed him hotdogs stuffed with extra-strength Tylenol by hand.  Each time I came near, he wagged his stubby nub of a tail.  He looked into my eyes with all the trust and devotion he’d shown since I loaded him in my Astro van and hauled him back to my daughter's house to live with us following my son's death.

I knew it was time.  I knew his days had come to an end.  I sat and patted his head, scratched his ears, and listened to him groan with pleasure.  His buddy, Minnie, stood guard by him and seemed to begin a mourning process of her own.

I drove down to Texas to get my son's daughter so she could say goodbye.  I made the appointment with the vet.  It was the merciful thing to do.  I took pictures of him with my two youngest granddaughters so they'd have a tangible memory to hold.  My eldest grandson drove a tractor in the woods and dug out a 4-foot grave.  I prayed (as did other internet friends), that my grandson's broken foot would not be damaged further by his act of compassion for me.  He and my daughter loaded him into the back of her Suburban, so we could take him to the vet.  I placed an old quilt in the trunk which my granddaughters once used on their beds in Texas. We'd wrap him in that after...

The vet's staff carried him in for us so my grandson didn't have to stand on his booted foot.  Waiting for the vet to treat other animals was not easy.  Rowdy sat there staring at us, whining, then panting wildly, coughing now and then.  His ears perked up and he wagged his stub.  It was hard to believe he was so sick.  I rubbed his ears to keep him calm.  My grandson talked soothingly to him and patted his thick neck.  We chatted about different things to avoid talking about the obvious.  The merciful thing to do.

Tears rolled down my face in waves as the vet shaved Rowdy's front leg so she could find a vein to insert the overdose of anesthesia. Rowdy didn't have a good vein...I suppose he was already "shutting down".  I'd so prayed the Lord would take him so I wouldn't have to do "the merciful thing".  The vet explained to me what would happen with Rowdy and told me I could pet him as she inserted the needle in his vein and put him to sleep forever.  As I patted his head and stroked his ears the last time, I recalled the sweet memories of him, and the annoyances. I pondered his connection with my son.  No words can express how my heart felt to watch the act of mercy.  One second he’s staring at me…the next his eyes closed shut, his breath stopped, and he is gone.   Lifeless.  And it was my choice to do it.

Oh, yes…Rowdy was suffering--how much, I do not know; he could not say.  I know when he tried to stand on that front leg he whimpered in pain.  His labored to breathe.  He choked each time he ate the third piece of hotdog stuffed with Tylenol.  He choked and sputtered when he drank from the pan of water I kept near his chest.  Yet, to order Rowdy’s death crushed my heart in a million pieces.  My son's teenage daughter told me it was like "losing another part of Dad".  I don't know how long I'll struggle with what I did--the thing of mercy that feels so unmerciful.  I still haven't reconciled myself with the fact that I had Rowdy’s life snuffed out.

It made me consider the heart of God when He gave His permission for soldiers to nail His only begotten Son to a rugged, humiliating cross.  He watched him suffer a sacrificial death and make the payment for our sin. God in His mercy, gave His life, in Jesus, so we might live eternally.  And on that dark day, I sincerely doubt it made God feel any better than I--even though it was the merciful thing to do.  selahV

ONE FIRE KINDLES ANOTHER

BANDAIDS DON'T FIX EVERYTHING

I CAN'T HELP IT, HE IS FAMILY

HOPELESS SITUATIONS

 

The Gospel Project Commission

What is a Gospel project?  To me, it's a project we initiate and undergo with the hope of sharing the gospel with a lost world.  For me, it is not a philosophy, it is not a viewpoint or curriculum; it is not a doctrinal statement, nor is it simply a mission accomplished.  It is Jesus living within the heart of a Believer and seeing that Believer transform from darkness, and manifest the light in the world and to exemplify and verbalize the Savior's love for others.

Any project to which we commit ourselves, be it homemaking, career, entertainment, outreach, mission, visiting the lonely, should each be saturated not only in the idea that we are the Light in the world--but that we are indeed light made manifest by Christ Himself--not of anything we are, but as His ambassadors.  We are the salt in the earth--the preservation catalyst, the sting in an open wound of cancerous sin, the antiseptic offering the only Cure for sin's disease, which is not our judgment or condemnation, but Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.  When our conversations fail to glorify and uplift Jesus Christ, we fall short of the glory of God and all we accumulate for our efforts is hay and stubble...we are the savorless salt on the side of the road.  Worthless in eternity.  Useless in life.

Never in the history of this earth has there been a greater opportunity to share the Gospel message:

God saw man's sin and knew that the world He created chose to go its own way and follow after the lesser of things of pleasure...the sin of pride, the arrogance of self-sufficiency.  God in His infinite wisdom knew that man would break every commandment and every covenant with Him.  Therefore God sent His only begotten Son to build a bridge across the great divide--the gap between sinful man and the Most High and Holy God.

His Son, named Jesus, was born of a virgin, showed us the way God wanted us to live, then sacrificially gave His life and poured out His blood to pay the penalty for our sin.  Then God began standing at the door of our hearts, and conscience and spirit and soul and knocked, and knocked and knocked some more.  And anyone who answered the door and confesses his sin and recognizes his need of a Savior is saved.  The Bible tells us none are righteous, and nothing we do could ever bring us to a saving relatiohship with God apart from Jesus. We need Jesus. He is our only hope, our only salvation.  He is the balm of Gilead for all our ills.  May we go forth and present the "gospel" and perform the "project" that only He can lead us, individually, to do and enable us to accomplish.  selahV

Because Of A Bunch of Self-centered, Self-saturated, Rebellious, Pride-Dominated, Arrogant and Angry People

that God so loved...

a virgin named Mary

found favor in His sight

and conceived His only begotten Son, that whosoever

believed in Him, he would have everlasting life.

Believed in Him?  Yes...

whosoever believed His words and relied upon His words, and heeded His words, and confessed with their lips that He is Lord...then...

no matter how snarky, arrogant, mean, bitter, angry, abusive, self-centered, self-saturated, rebellious and pride-filled person he was, or is, he will be saved and Christ will begin a work in him that is beyond miraculous and never ever leave him alone.  He will be made totally and completely perfect.  Forever and forever and forever, he will dwell in Christ and receive a reward when He returns to earth to gather His people unto Himself.  selahV

What to Say and When to Say It

Several years ago I wrote a post entitled:  Words Unfit To Print.  I revisted that post recently and felt it was probably a good idea to ponder my own words.  I wonder if there are those who find themselves struggling with what is acceptable to print, but more-so, what a person needs to say while balancing what one should not say.

Of late, I have found that when we are accused of specific things, and are wrongly perceived, our first reaction to diffuse the stick of dynamite placed in our pathway and the paths of others, is one of defense.  We defend ourselves.  We do that in several ways.  We try to pull the fuse that has been lit.  Then we gather others to our side to defend our actions.  Then we go on the offense.  We circumvent what others say by saying things to make ourselves less "guilty-of-charges".

I do believe that blogging can be one of the most destructive things on earth, with the exception of Facebook.  The world has entered a new age with multi-media and social-media.  Things which use to be said in private, dealt with in private, has become completely public.  Much of what we might never have voiced in a face-to-face, is easily squeezed out of the proverbial toothpaste tube with no way to squish it back in.  Many areas of disagreement that were once settled over a cup of coffee, or private sidebar discussion, are now displayed in the living-rooms and office laptops for all the world to witness.

Blogging provides the perfect outlet for an instantaneous "letter-to-the-editor/writer".  That letter then invites the next response.  Admittedly, I have hastily written a few of those myself and been on the receiving end of a response.  Some warranted, some unwarranted.  However, if we are going to jump into any frying pan in life, we must accept the fact that we are liable to get burned in the sizzling fat.  Clearly, the best way to avoid blisters is to stay out of the pan.  In fact, sometimes the pan is so hot, it is best to station oneself far beyond the fryer, or  chance an errant hot oil hitting your hand or popping you in the eye.

So, what is the best thing a person can do?  Stop entering conversations--whether invited or uninvited?  Stop thinking our viewpoint is necessary to a conversation?  Refrain from opining?

Let anyone say anything, write anything?  Stop challenging opinions?  Stop debating issues with others whether or not the issue is germane to us or those we love?  Stop reading blogs?  Let the world do what it wants to do without any input?  Ignore unseemly stuff?  Refuse to wallow with pigs?  Just keep your toes clean and stay away from pig-pens?  Do not hold anyone accountable for their views and actions?  Keep your thoughts to yourself?

Scripture offers muliple instruction on controlling our tongue, our thoughts, our attitude, our spirit.  Several bloggers I know have given some really sage advice on these things through the years.  I have written multiple posts--most of which have received little attention.  When a person is a peacemaker or an encourager, we tend to have less company in the midst of strife, struggle, and sour situations.  That does not mean others are not reading or hearing our words.  Nor does it mean our words of wisdom and admonition return void upon a hearer's or reader's mind.  It just means, we follow what the Lord leads us to say, then leave the fall-out and the consequence of our seed-sowing, watering, and fertilizing to Christ for manifestation of obedience to Him.  I am not the Holy Spirit; I'm merey an ambassador.

I shall not grow weary in well-doing.  I shall not faint in the day of adversity.  I shall choose this day Whom I shall serve.  I shall do all I can to live at peace.  So does the Lord want from me?

"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8

"DO justice?  love kindness?  walk humbly with your God?  How does one "do" justice and condone the unjust?  How does one "love" kindness and behave unkindly?  How does one "walk" humbly with God and run proudly with man?  It's quite a balancing act, isn't it?  What is "good" to me, may be totally bad to another.

Search me, O, God and know my thoughts.  Give me discernment in what is wise, what is good, kind and just.  Help me walk in that discernment with humility before You.  selahV

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

Sunday Afternoon, Kindle Fire, Facebook, and Friends

Dinner has been consumed.  The dishes are clean and put away.  My granddaughters are laughing and squealing as they hide their colored eggs, over and over again outside.  Oklahoma skies are filled with grey un-threatening clouds.  The sun has taken a vacation day. It's a sleepy afternoon.

Hubby is sitting here reading his new birthday-Kindle Fire... well, not really.  He's trying to figure out how to get on Facebook and read my wonderful blogs....hee hee.  I think his interest was piqued since he discovered someone deleted one of my, uh-hmmmn, brilliant, yet, not so politically correct comments on a blog a week or so back.  Hubs has kinda sat in the shadows of my internet connections and watched me flit from place to place talking about all the people I meet on the world-wide-web.

I think until, a fellow blogger from Fort Worth, Texas stumbled into our church sanctuary today and wanted to see me, my hubby thought all this bloggin' stuff was a figment of my virtual imagination.  Now, he sees that people are real, and, that some real men still wear ties and suits on Easter morning!!  Hey, hey, hey!  I must say I was quite honored to have Ron Phillips, Sr. drop in on our church service to meet me while in town visiting his family.  Quite honored.  We took a photo for posterity.  I hope Ron doesn't get a bad reputation, hangin' out with the likes of me.  We talked about a bunch of things, and touched on, my deleted comment.  I had to laugh.  Much ado about so little.  BUT...

Now, hubby wants to know: "So what does it mean if someone deletes your comment?"  Guess I'll have to educate him on the finer points of SBC bloggin' and the dangers of talking to just anyone who wants to call you "friend" on facebook.  Scary world we live in, ya know?

Anyway, it is Sunday afternoon.  Nascar has no races.  So what else can hubby and I do but read books and play with our gadgets (we don't want to find colored eggs).  I'm having fun watching my Bob trying to figure out how some of this internet stuff works. 

He keeps trying to log on to a Facebook account I set up for him a long long time ago.  It wouldn't let him get on.  One time he can get on the web without problems, the next, they are giving him flack...ha ha.  Now, he's just pecking around, trying to find his way around our virtual world.  He's been searching for answers (he's not one to give up easily).  He keeps getting a message that tells him they've lost him.  I'm so glad God never loses sight of him....nor me.

Even though I may follow all the wrong links at times (or get dumped off a few others), God keeps me linked to Him.  I may click all the wrong buttons one day, and say stuff He would rather I didn't, I may forget all the rules and throw caution to the wind at times, and find myself disconnected from my internet server.  But, God stays connected to me...and I to Him...always.  We may forget my husband's password to connect to Facebook, but it doesn't mean we can't connect to our Lord.  We'll figure out a way to make a new password for him on Facebook.  But we always have our password saved to reach God.  His name is Jesus.  What a glorious Easter afternoon it is.  Amen?  selahV

Where Is Jesus?

From the Lord's last supper to the Garden of Gethsemane.  From the agony in the Garden to the courts of accusers, liars, and mockers.  There He suffered scourging, his flesh ripped from his bones.  Weakened by the loss of blood, the lack of sleep, Jesus stood His ground and answered not a word.  I AM was in their midst, yet they did not see Him.  One last chance, they offered Him up to the crowds who sang Hosanna, Hosanna, just one week before.  Crucify Him!  Crucify Him!  The shouts were loud and clear.  And so a thief, a liar, a depraved individual goes free and does not face the fate of crucifixion as was his just reward.  Pilate washed his hands as if that washed away his guilt by association.

We are Barrabas.  We are.  We were let free as the Savior of the world took our place and punishment that day.  He took upon His back our burden to be pure and righteous.  He took upon His shoulders, the cross that we should bear.  When the sky turned dark as night, and the earth began to quake, the temple veil was torn from top to bottom to signify the Hands that ripped it in two pieces.  Men gambled for his robe, others mocked His naked body and laughed at His humiliation.

Then...

Jesus died.  And angel voices cried.  So did Mary, mother of the Lord.   Mary Magdalene who hung on His every word, now questioned all she knew and fell short of faith that day...but...where was Jesus?

He had some time to kill between crucifixion's hour, and when they'd see His ressurrection power.  Mary knew her son was dead. She'd seen the water mixed with blood pouring from Christ's side from the soldier's sword.  No longer would she walk with Him and talk with Him, for He was dead and gone.  Her heart was like the empty tomb.  Only remnants of her precious son remained.

Where exactly did Jesus go?  to preach the sermon of Life everlasting to those who'd died before Him with barely a whisper of hope?  To give fair warning to satan and his demons?  To crush His head beneath His feet?  To pay the price for all my sins?  I wonder...yet, does it matter in the scheme of things?  I know where He is today.  He sits at the right hand of the Father and points me out as one covered by His blood. "She's mine", He says.  "No longer is she bound by sin, nor even by its power.  On Friday I was crucified; on Sunday I arose to life and conquered the grave.  Death no longer has a sting, pain and sorrow end."  Somehow, I sense a presence as the Lord says to me:  I AM preparing a place for you...that where I AM, you may also be.  I have overcome the world.  I made a bridge to heaven, "that whosoever believeth in Me shall have everlasting life." John 3:16  "Go tell; go tell it on the mountain...go now and tell."

Ain't No Power On Earth Can Tie Me Down

When you begin to question God, it may just be the best day of your life. Through your investigation and your inquiries, you will find The Answer, The Way, and The Truth. And it will be a very GOOD day for you, even if it is not on Friday. 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

Do YOU Desire to See GOOD Days?

Do you love life?

Do you want to see days where the sun shines and rainbows form from crystals in the rain-blessed sky?

Do you want to see your seeds sprout, your corn grow, the tares controlled, and reap a bountiful harvest of "good" days?

1 Peter 3:10-12 offers some help:

" For whoever desires to love life
              and see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
              and his lips from speaking deceit;
let him turn away from evil and do good;
let him seek peace and pursue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

I thought about this passage a lot in the last few days.  I wondered when I shared the heartaches I had, the brokenness I felt, the misunderstandings and false perceptions of others toward me.  Does anyone really know what I desire with the words I use?  Is what my tongue utters "evil"?  I wonder this because, when I feel no animosity, nor anger in my heart, nor any ire, nor wish no ill-will against anyone, how are my words "evil"?

I think if I do my best to be as forthright, forthcoming and honest with my words, not hiding behind flattering phrases or pacifying language, is that "speaking from deceit"?  If not, then what must I do to have better days?  Days empty of angry emails, days where the emails do not notify me of canceled subscriptions to my words, days where people are as friendly as the waitress who hopes to gain a tip for serving me.  Days wherein folks I know who hold a different opinion than I, find I have not changed my heart, simply because I share a thought or two from my mind.  Where are those days if my words are not intent on doing the work of Satan in a faith-based community?

Could it be?  Could it be I am in the midst of evil, and darkness and had not seen the forest for the trees of ego-mania and self-centeredness towering over me?  Could it be I am in a meadow filled with thistles, tares and poison ivy?  Perhaps that is it...perhaps the problem rests in turning away from that attractive meadow of brilliant colors, where stately cactus stand ready to prick the life out of me as I pass through.  Perhaps, another path is where I need to turn.  I need to get out of the briar-laced thickets.  I need to get back on the beaten path, one walked by the saints before me, then "seek peace and pursue it".  At all costs.  No matter what seeds are carried and implanted around me.  Then I will find the "good" at the end of each day.  I will find the peace and joy and love by the still waters.  And my heart will overflow with God's grace and love.  Do you desire "good days", too?  Let's see if we can make a few together...okay?  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

Yet Another Reason to WEAR CLEAN UNDERWEAR and NOT BURY BLOGPOSTS of VITAL IMPORTANCE in a Sea of Mundane Blatherings by hariette petersen

No.  Unfortunately, this post is not really about mama's sage advice for you to don clean boxers or undergarments, in case you are in an accident and wind up in the emergency room of life.  It is about a court system that makes us wonder about the brain cells of aging Supreme Court Justices and ANY Justice appointed by any president--be they conservative or liberal, with liberal or conservative majorities in the House and Senate of the United States.

Thanks to Marty Duren for calling attention to this obscene ruling and unreasonable logic of the highest court in the land of free-thinking, law-abiding, countrymen who just happen to believe in the 4th Amendment and have read the Bill of Rights when they were school-children.

In what is certainly one of the most grotesque disemboweling of civil liberties since Congress last took a vote, the Supreme Court of the United States has granted unfettered authority to police or jail officials to conduct strip searches on any person arrested for any crime. So, dear reader, the next time you are stopped for a traffic violation by an officer who decides to make you an example, you could find yourself standing naked, exposed and exposing while a police officer or jailer looks you over in a way that would make a nearsighted urologist blush.

Duren writes:

"In what is certainly one of the most grotesque disemboweling of civil liberties since Congress last took a vote, the Supreme Court of the United States has granted unfettered authority to police or jail officials to conduct strip searches on any person arrested for any crime. So, dear reader, the next time you are stopped for a traffic violation by an officer who decides to make you an example, you could find yourself standing naked, exposed and exposing while a police officer or jailer looks you over in a way that would make a nearsighted urologist blush.

This kind of corrupt, Third World, dictatorial ruling opens the door for unreportable, unprovable molestation and rape."

I have not read all the briefs and opinions of the Supremes (Justices on the United States Supreme Court).  However, if what Marty Duren, respected pastor, author, and voice among Christians, is right in his understanding of this ruling, my stomach turns, my mind goes beserk, and my spirit groans.  How could this be?

How can a panel of robed elitist, and highly respected wise men and women come to such disgusting ruling?  Do they not see how their decision ushers in sanctioned abuse of power?  That's right...sanctioned and approved abuse of power.  Do they think that this ruling exempts themselves and their children and grandchildren--their moms and sisters and little cousins?  Are there any...I say, ANY, exceptions to their ruling?  I do not know--according to Marty's well-researched article, it does not appear so.  Surely the advocates of all-things-legal and right are looking into it with precedent-set microscopes and scapel-driven precision.  To think that "anyone arrested" of the least infraction of the law, shackled in handcuffs--be they guilty of any alledged violations or not--could find themselves stripped down to bare skin, is absolutely dehumanizing.  It begs for better definitions of the words absurb, deplorable, irrational, and insane.

It's sick!  Demented.  Beyond the pale of reasonable thinking.

Given the unreasonable violations of human dignity imposed (upon little old ladies wearing Depends and Poise pads, and toddlers wearing Huggies and Pampers when boarding jets to fly from Podunk, Kansas to Disney World), by TSA agents who show no respect for humanity, nor the common sense of a snail, we can only foresee the most horrendous of violations and constitutionally guaranteed rights of the electorate.

Folks, we do well to get to the bottom of this ruling.  We need to strip-search the entire wording of every brief and if need be, expose it to the world in its unflattering naked truth.  [All puns intended.]

If this is a ruling that negates and shackles law-enforcement officers from doing the unthinkable, and the most demeaning of actions when a preacher is arrested for reading the Bible in front of a DMV office, or a young woman is arrested for a sit-in protest at the Occupy Wall Street gatherings, or a teenage girl who stands too close to an Abortion Clinic...then we need to know.

We need to know when we parents and grandparents, send our unsuspecting (and sometimes foolish), children out into the highways and byways with their brand new shiny driver's licenses to pick up a gallon of milk, that if they weave, or roll to a stop, or heaven forbid, forget to buckle their seatbelt, then they will be arrested and strip-searched without the presence of an attorney or parental permission.

We need to know, to walk the line of law, set our cruise controls, air up our tires, and obey the rules of all cities, counties, and states before we dare hop in our cars and drive to grandpa's house to hunt ducks, or deer and not check the laws of the land for transporting weapons across state lines.

We need to know.   We need clarification.  We need details.  We need more folks to find out what in the world we are doing talking about Obama's ire regarding the decision of the Supremes concerning his unconstitutional Health Care Bill, when stripping that bill of a forced compliance to purchase insurance, is nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to strip-searching of Americans and foreigners alike. But when you consider the fact that uninsured Americans could be strip-searched if Obamacare as it is written, is ruled legitimate, and we fail to purchase health- insurance, we have got to rethink EVERYTHING we think.

Tell me you are mistaken, Marty.  Tell me I'm over-reacting to an over-zealous blogger's opinion and interpretation of the Supreme's recent ruling.  Tell me I'm a reader gone wild.  Please. Otherwise, I'm gonna move to Canada, sit inside my cabin in the woods, shut down all communication with the outside world, and never come out. God have mercy.  selahV

In what is certainly one of the most grotesque disemboweling of civil liberties since Congress last took a vote, the Supreme Court of the United States has granted unfettered authority to police or jail officials to conduct strip searches on any person arrested for any crime. So, dear reader, the next time you are stopped for a traffic violation by an officer who decides to make you an example, you could find yourself standing naked, exposed and exposing while a police officer or jailer looks you over in a way that would make a nearsighted urologist blush.

This kind of corrupt, Third World, dictatorial ruling opens the door for unreportable, unprovable molestation and rape.

In what is certainly one of the most grotesque disemboweling of civil liberties since Congress last took a vote, the Supreme Court of the United States has granted unfettered authority to police or jail officials to conduct strip searches on any person arrested for any crime. So, dear reader, the next time you are stopped for a traffic violation by an officer who decides to make you an example, you could find yourself standing naked, exposed and exposing while a police officer or jailer looks you over in a way that would make a nearsighted urologist blush.

In what is certainly one of the most grotesque disemboweling of civil liberties since Congress last took a vote, the Supreme Court of the United States has granted unfettered authority to police or jail officials to conduct strip searches on any person arrested for any crime. So, dear reader, the next time you are stopped for a traffic violation by an officer who decides to make you an example, you could find yourself standing naked, exposed and exposing while a police officer or jailer looks you over in a way that would make a nearsighted urologist blush.

In what is certainly one of the most grotesque disemboweling of civil liberties since Congress last took a vote, the Supreme Court of the United States has granted unfettered authority to police or jail officials to conduct strip searches on any person arrested for any crime. So, dear reader, the next time you are stopped for a traffic violation by an officer who decides to make you an example, you could find yourself standing naked, exposed and exposing while a police officer or jailer looks you over in a way that would make a nearsighted urologist blush.

In what is certainly one of the most grotesque disemboweling of civil liberties since Congress last took a vote, the Supreme Court of the United States has granted unfettered authority to police or jail officials to conduct strip searches on any person arrested for any crime. So, dear reader, the next time you are stopped for a traffic violation by an officer who decides to make you an example, you could find yourself standing naked, exposed and exposing while a police officer or jailer looks you over in a way that would make a nearsighted urologist blush.

BORING "Church" May Just Be a Thorn in An Average Joe's Flesh

THEN AGAIN...

it might just be a figment of a Christian's imagination.  "Boring church" could be the inability to focus on more than three words at a time, absent of vowels. I read where some folks are having a tough time sitting in front of a computer without web-surfing to eleven things in a twenty-minute period.  They get antsy.

Many folks go to work, turn on their computers, and don't feel like balancing the books from last month's checking account. They get bored entering data, analyzing business particulars.  So they let their fingers run wild finger-clicking from eBay, to Craig's list, then back to the spreadsheet they're working on for the boss.  Within ten minutes they get bored with themselves and their inability to think creatively, so they click on over to the latest BUZZ, or check their Twitter feed, and Facebook "walls", to stimulate their braincells and get some inspiration for how to make the boss believe they worked all day on a project that only took thirty, very interrupted minutes.  

Or "boring church" could be the need to be entertained with Hollywood-style productions-- the bling, the lights, the dry ice and fake snow.  Of course, it could be that a few preachers just don't know how to preach and walk and dance and act and sing and dramatize and sit still on those uncomfortable, but trendy stools.  Some old preachers have a bit of a problem balancing their floppy Bibles without a podium.  Others don't like that little wire, draped around their ears and down their backs.

Others just wanna have fun.

I went to the directory of SBC Voices today to see if my post had loaded into their website correctly (sometimes it gets caught up in a time-warp somewhere).  In reality I think it's because Satan is battling Michael and trying to keep my warm fuzzies and witty wonders from getting to you in a timely manner.  While I was scanning to see if my last post made it out of the gate and into the pool of greater thinkers than I, I happened to notice a question in the titles.  I love titles with questions, don't you?  you can sit back in your recliner and answer that question without even bothering to read the post.  After all, we have a right to answer a question posed to us don't we?  No?  Uh, oh, I need to go back and tell a blogger friend of mine, that I answered his question instead of reading his post to get his answers.

Rhetorical questions are sooooo annoying, aren't they?

Just when you think you have the right answer, the questioner whips out their own.   Kinda like google's search engines.  They automatically type in what you are thinking before you even have it figured out.  Gee.  Anyway, I was ready...I'm talking greased-and-primed ready... when I saw fellow blogger, Joe Thorn's question in the featured blog titles.  He asked: "Are You Tired Of Your Boring Church?"

...yeah, buddy.  I had the comeback.

I was gonna tell him my church ain't boring.  Between choruses of hand-clapping praise harmoizing with tradition Victory-in-Jesus-style hymns, then a few minutes of shaking hands, and hugging on people, we switch to specials that reach inside your ears and melt your heart to tears, till you know God is in there--stuck there stirring up an appetite in your spirit for the main entre.  Bro. Doug stands, and walks up all calm and cool to our portable podium, opens up his Bible, and begins to break the Bread of Life in expository fashion.  Soon you're so filled up you don't even notice that it's time to leave and go home for dinner. (You were so caught up in the Words, that you didn't even remember to think about the roast you have cooking at home or whether or not it's getting dry).

But before you head for the back door, you realize you have a front row seat to the next hand-clapping, celestial celebration of the angels in heaven, as some lost soul hears God telling 'em He wants 'em to join His family forever and ever and ever.  So you get to go and introduce yourself, and let them know that you are gonna be around for eternity, so you hope they get use to your chubby cheeks and happy face while they are here on earth.

After answering that rhetorical question inside my brain, I clicked on over to see how Joe Thorn answered it, and if you think I'm gonna spoil the whole thing for you, well...you're gonna be sorely disappointed.  Go HERE if you are "tired of your boring church" and see what (the not-so-average) Joe says.  Never let it be said that I think I have all the answers.  Oh, no.  Not I.  selahV

WERE YOU AMUSED On April Fool's Day? I wonder...

This past Sunday, April 1st, 2012 marked a variety of things for me in my life.  One, it was a blessed day because we celebrated my husband's birthday. We gave him a Kindle and made a crown from the wrapper.

This year he is in the last year of his sixties.  I cannot believe he is going to turn 70 next year. It marks a milestone of sorts because it's within one month of the major heart attack he had on May 8th, 2007.  The doctors told him that most men who have the damage he had to his heart are not around to talk about it 5 years later.  I suppose that is because most men don't have a wife like me who makes him mind his "P's and Q's", eat properly, take medications faithfully, and exercise regularly.  I was so grateful to be celebrating his special day. 

The day is bittersweet for our family.  My son who was killed on Mother's Day of 2005 was not here to give my husband his annual Boston Red Sox cap.  The fact that April 1st comes and goes without Chad's presence leaves a void, only God can fill.  And He does. With family surrounding us and sharing one another's love.

Another thing about April 1st in our family is my sister-in-law, Valerie, married her husband that day in honor of her dear brother.  But Val's husband died last year of mouth cancer that he battled for several years.  So, she was meeting her anniversary without him.  It was a hard day. I spent some time trying to encourage and comfort her with empathy I learned through the loss of my son.  She emailed and told me she was too messed up to even call her brother and wish him Happy Birthday.  We understood.  Completely.  Sometimes the pain is too fresh, too deep and too difficult to even pick up the phone, nevermind, call someone to wish them happiness when we should have been able to return the greeting with a Happy Anniversary.  She sent me a sweet email the next day about the grace of God.  I sent her an email back with a link to a super uplifting song about how Mom's look the other way when their sons are not all they want them to be.  She has two sons.  Val said she cried again, but that time it was a good kinda cry.  Emotions ran from one spectrum to the other on Sunday.

Of all things, one of my best email buddies, whom I've known since I started blogging in 2006, emailed to tell me her first grandchild arrived on...drum-roll please. April 1st.  I'm so excited for her.  What a joy to hear!

Couple that with the wonderful fact that we were able to have our son's two girls with us to celebrate my husband's birthday dinner, and that both my shift-working grandsons had schedules that allowed them to be with us to celebrate the big 69, it turned out to be a wonderful day.  My daughter's girls and my son's girls and I went for a meadow-walk in the back 40 acres.

It was so much fun to watch them gather wildflowers and ooh and aah at the horses and new foal, which the horses would not let us near. (click on photos to enlarge)

To top it off, it was Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter.  We celebrated how Christ entered Jerusalem to the praises of the multitudes and the shouts of Hosanna!  What a perfect way for us to fuse our celebration remembrances of earthly things to the eternal remembrance of our King. Celebrations. Praises. 

Some folks may be amused to take April 1st and concoct ridiculous hoaxes, and treat folks as FOOLS. Some folks find sport in spending the day thinking up ways to trick others into believing a lie for their own pleasure and amusement. You wouldn't believe the jokes my husband has had played on him at times. This year we got a flat tire on our way back from Texas from picking up our granddaughters. Nail in the tire. Not funny.

However, something unique and significant occurred this year-- much different than most years.  And some folks paid no mind to it.  They had no regard to what might be objectionable...or dishonorable for remembering Christ's entrance to Jerusalem, or His weeklong preparation to shed His blood on the cross for us.  I do wonder sometimes what in the world we find amusing about some things made for secular godless thought.  As I considered sharing this post, I happened to open an email I received.

And I opened up a devotional from Dr. Adrian Rogers delivered to my email several hours ago from his daily devotional site.  In light of all the events and circumstances which surrounded my life the last few days, and the life of Christ so many years ago on Palm Sunday, I found it rather ironic that Dr. Rogers shared the origin of the word "AMUSE":

"It's a combination of two words. Muse means to think, and the alpha prefix in front of it means "not to."

Perhaps that is the major problem with us in the world today.  We want to amuse ourselves with basketball, Nascar, hoaxes, and pranks at another's loss or expense.  We want to amuse ourselves, please ourselves, and don't think what it may cost another for our amusement and pleasure.  We fail to take time to consider the marvels of our Creator as we rush about our day to amuse ourselves.  We muse amiss.  And when our muse gets away from us, our thinking is out of control.  Simply put, we don't think. We don't think about feelings.  We don't think about consequence. We don't think about another's perception.  Nor do we think about God's.  And that may be the least amusing thing about "April Fools Day" to date.  If so, the joke is on us, don't you think?  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'D RATHER BE IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND

"Faith can see right through the circumstance
Sees the forest in spite of the trees"

If I could have the world and all it owns
A thousand kingdoms, a thousand thrones
If all the earth were mine to hold
With wealth my only goal

I'd spend my gold on selfish things
Without the love that Your life brings
Just a little bit more is all I'd need
'Til life was torn from me

I'd rather be in the palm of Your hand
Though rich or poor I may be
Faith can see right through the circumstance
Sees the forest in spite of the trees
Your grace provides for me

If I should walk the streets no place to sleep
No faith in promises You keep
I'd have no way to buy my bread
With a bottle for my bed

But if I trust the One who died for me
Who shed His blood to set me free
If I live my life to trust in You
Your grace will see me through

I'd rather be in the palm of Your hand
Though rich or poor I may be
Faith can see right through the circumstance
Sees the forest in spite of the trees

If I could have the world
If I could have the world and all it owns

(Ron Block/Moonlight Canyon Publishing, BMI)

I Am Not Alone...

When Arrows Come

and pierce my soul...and I am mocked...I am not alone... [continue reading HERE.]