40 Days of Discovery - Day 37

I'd like to share a few quotes from "Come Away My Beloved" that blessed me today.

I am aware of your needs and will provide in abundance, but it is for my glory and honor and I will  have praise.  You will tread lightly and not allow your feet to be ensnared in the net of undue concern for the things about you.  They are mine, just as all things are mine and you are mine and I am more interested in you than in things.  Likewise, I want you occupied with Me rather than my gifts.  You will be my mouthpiece in places where there are no other voices to be heard.

You will magnify my name in a dark corner.

You will not allow your foot to be bogged down in the mire of earthly cares and riches.

Thank you Lord for speaking so clearly to your people.

40 Days of Discovery- Day 19

   Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, [21] to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

If God is able to do immeasurable more than I ask (exceedingly, abundantly more!), why do I ask so little of Him?  My sights are too often too low.

Father help me to ask you for greater things--higher things--those things which fulfill your immense plans and purposes for our lives.  Help me to trust you more.  More than I ever have.  Let me rest soundly in your loving care.  Help me to have full confidence that YOU WILL TAKE care of us--of every need.  Help me Lord. Help me.

Just recently, the Holy Spirit has given me a special gift.  His gifts are amazing, and often surprising.  They are given when we least expect them, and I've decided to receive every gift He wants to give me.  I know I cannot manipulate Him into giving me gifts.  I am absolutely in awe, that my Lord loves me so much as to give me another gift.  He's blessed me so lavishly already.  I have so, so much, and here He comes with arm full of gifts again.  Let me tell you, I'm like a kid on Christmas morning.  I'm so enjoying His gifts to me.  Each one is so perfect for me, so special, so beautiful...  Jesus, thank you for making it possible for me to be in the family of God.  Thank you for sending me your Spirit, and thank you for ALL of the gifts.  Amen. and Amen.

Oh by the way, just in case your wondering...

I've been given the gift of a greater sense of God's presence and power.  I can literally feel His presence--physically.  I've also been given the gift of tongues.  I feel like a two year old trying to talk, and I guess I am.  This is all so new and unexpected.  So unexpected.

40 Days of Discovery- Day 7

Today's been a good day.  I had the privilege of praying for someone who is struggling to forgive himself for past failures.  What good news I had for him.  I was able to share from my own experience.  I was able to speak truth from God's word.  It's amazing how many of God's people still can't believe that God's grace is truly sufficient for our failures.  It's amazing that the enemy continues to hold God's people hostage with regret, unforgiveness, and guilt.  And Jesus set us free!  What a liar the enemy is!  And I'm not believing his lies anymore!  And I'm praying that God's people would no longer believe his lies.  We are free!  We been bought with the precious, and perfect blood and body of Jesus Christ.  There is no other sacrifice needed.  We don't need to punish ourselves. That's been taken care of by Jesus.

You're free!  I say it again.  You're free!

That is, if you've received His gift of freedom through Jesus.  God doesn't force His good gifts on you.  He only offers.  You must receive.  It's that simple.

I was thinking today that if I were to have a conversation with Jesus, and I came to Him asking Him to forgive me for my sins, mistakes, failures, rebellions.... How would He respond?  First, I know He wouldn't be shocked.  He knows my failures, and weaknesses far better than I.  Second, He wouldn't rebuke me.  I'm reminded of how he responded to sinners when He walked on this earth.  Those who came to him in humility with repentance received forgiveness.  His response was so simple, "Go and sin no more." or "Your sins are forgiven."  I love Jesus' simplicity.  I believe He would say the same thing to me. I imagine Him lifting my chin up and  looking me straight in the eyes. He would look at me as if looking into the very depths of my soul.  He would not let me look away as He lovingly pronounced  "You're forgiven.  Go and sin no more."  Then He would embrace me as His daughter, His dearly beloved daughter.  I believe I would leave His presence lighter than air.  My heart would be at rest.  I would know that His love for me hasn't diminished one bit.  And then I would make it my life's aim to serve Him-- the Great King.

Indeed, this conversation has happened, and continues to happen.  And that is why I love Him!

Another thought I pondered today:

Focusing on ourselves does nothing good.  When we focus on our strengths, and successes we become prideful.  When we focus on our failures, mistakes, and weaknesses , we sink into despair.   When we focus on Jesus, we will have the right perspective of ourselves.  We are free to receive His power in our weakness, and His redemption for our failures.  We can rejoice for the marvelous gifts we've been given.  We can offer Him praise for His lavish grace.  And we can live our lives as servants of this All-powerful, and benevolent King!  Amen!

What's on Your Mind?

We've been reading Ninety Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper.  As we read today, the Holy Spirit gave us a very practical illustration of a truth that He continues to sear into the core of my being.  We become what we continually think about.  Don talks about a man who became blind.  That blind man was bitter, and angry because of all the things he couldn't do anymore.  But that man had a friend who challenged him to make a list of all the things he could do.  So the man did it--reluctantly.  It completely transformed the man! Suddenly, the man realized that there were thousands of things he could do, and he resolved to spend the rest of his life doing those things.  He moved from bitterness, to thankfulness.

We, too, can transcend the problems and imperfections of this earth, by focusing our minds on Heavenly things, by choosing to dwell on the blessings which flow out of Heaven's gates to earth, by keeping our eyes gazing upward, seeing glimpses of Heavenly treasures, and enjoying the pleasure, beauty and rest that we find in God Himself.  Out of Him flows every good thing.    Praising this magnificent King and thanking Him for His lavish gifts brings us to His gates, allowing us to enter His courts.

Simply stated, praise God and thank Him for everything in your life, good, and bad, small and large.  If we do not do this small thing, we cannot expect to enjoy the delights of His very presence.

There will always be a hundred million things that we don't have in this life.  There will be pain, suffering, and disappointments, but we have the opportunity to choose how we will respond.  Aren't you thankful that we can choose?  I tell my children all of the time, "You choose your attitude."  And aren't you glad that when we choose thankfulness and praise, that we are blessed with sweet heavenly treasures that transcend all human understanding?

I challenge you.  Get out a sheet of paper.  Make a list of everything that you are thankful for--small and large. Nothing is insignificant.   Fill up the front.  Turn over to the back and fill up the back side.  List every positive quality in that person that gets on your last nerve.  As you fill up the paper with your thanks, God will fill up the treasure chest of your heart with peace, contentment, joy and confidence in this God who loves you so dearly.  As my youngest son said to me after completing this activity, "You feel rich!"  It's a promise directly from the Heavenly Throne.

And when you realize how much you've been blessed, you'll want to bless others with the gifts you've received.

Phil 4: 6-9 [6] Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [7] And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

    PHP 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. [9] Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

The Pebble and the Majestic Water Fall part 3

Finally, one day the pebble saw it.  It was a most glorious sight.  It was a grand and glorious palace.  A palace fit for one of great majesty and power.  A dwelling place for a Great King!  There was only one problem.  The palace wasn't complete.

The pebble wondered about this.  How could a palace so grand as this be started and not completed?  The pebble decided to ask the Great Water Fall about this.

"Oh Great Water Fall, who is this beautiful Palace for?"

"It is my Palace."

This disheartened the pebble very much, since the palace was not complete.

"Do not be downcast my little  pebble.  You will help me complete my palace.  Remember I promised you that you would do something beautiful for me.?"

Of course, the pebble thought that was an impossible task, but this was the Great Water Fall speaking. It was this same Water Fall that had taken a rough, ugly, seemingly useless pebble and made it into a sight to behold.  Actually, the pebble didn't really know how beautiful it had become.

While the pebble was giving itsself a headache trying to figure out how it could help complete the castle, one of the Great Water Fall's servants picked it up.

"This is just what we need over  here."  And with one quick and fluid movement, the  pebble was  placed along side of other brilliantly shimmering  jewels in the palace itself.

"Oh, no!"  The pebble thought.  "I cannot be here.  I am too ugly.  This palace is for the Majestic Water Fall.  He should only have the best."

His servant replied, "That is why you've been chosen.  You are among the  pure, radiant stones that have been made beautiful by the Great Water Fall Himself.   He prepared you to be a living stone in His dwelling place.  And because the Great Water Fall has crafted you Himself, you are a sight to behold, like these other living stones."

The pebble was confused and speechless--again.  But then the pebble remembered the Great Water Fall's promise.

"I will make you a beautiful gift--a worthy offering that I may enjoy forever."

So the little pebble pondered this.  It thought about all that it had endured, even remembering the day it discovered that it was beautiful.  It looked all around itself at the other stones--jewels actually.  Each one was glistening in the sun.  Each one was a small part of the Great Water Fall's Marvelous palace.  As the pebble, absorbed all of these sights, it began to wonder.  Could I too be like these other jewels?  Just as this thought had entered its mind, one of the Water Falls's servants approached it with a mirror. And it saw itself.  Actually it did not recognize itself for it had never seen anything so uniquely brilliant.  It was as if it saw a glimpse of the Great Water Fall itself.  The pebble gasped.

This was far better than it could have ever imagined.  Oh, what joy filled the little pebble!  Oh, how proud it was to have a gift to give the Great Water Fall.  Oh, how elated it was to do something beautiful for the One it loved!

It was about that time that something extra wonderful happened.  The pebble began to hear every melodious harmony of what sounded like thousands of birds.  It could see little water creatures gleefully dancing through the water towards the Palace.  It could hear the echo throughout the Palace, "The King is arriving!  The King is coming!"

The winds began to swirl all around the palace, with joyous laughter, "He's here! He's here!  Behold the King!"

Then all at once, the water surged into that palace like a Great Tidal wave,  terribly frightening but simultaneously more beautiful and glorious than anything the pebble had beheld.  It was the Majestic Water Fall, but somehow the Water Fall was different.  I mean... the pebble recognized the Water Fall, but it was as if it was seeing the Water Fall clearly for the first time.  The little pebble, now a radiant jewel, never knew that it had only seen a faint reflection of the Majestic Water Fall before.  Now it saw the Water Fall face to face in the FULLNESS  of its glory!

This is where words fall miserably short, for there are no words to describe what the  pebble saw.  It was as if all that was good, glorious, brilliant, radiant, pure and marvelous had come to rest in one place, only with an intensity that was actually unbearable, yet at the same time completely satisfying.  The pebble felt complete, whole, and in a perfect sate of contentment.  It was as if it had waited for this moment its entire life.  In fact, it had waited for this moment its entire life, yet it did not know it was waiting for this moment..

One more part left:  The conclusion of the story coming soon!

The Little Pebble and the Majestic Waterfall part 1

This is the first of several posts of a story I've written, inspired by the Holy Spirit, tentatively called The Little Pebble and the Majestic Waterfall.  This may end up being my next book.  Stay tuned.

There was once a little pebble, simple and ordinary and rough around the edges.  It was a tiny pebble and actually quite ugly.  This pebble lived beside a Great Majestic Waterfall.  Oh what a beautiful, and magnificient waterfall it was.  That waterfall thundered day and night singing its glorious song.  Oh, how the pebble marveled in hearing that sublime melody.  Oh how that pebble loved that glorious Water Fall.  So one day that little pebble decided it wanted to do something beautiful for the waterfall to show its love and devotion.  But what could it do?It could not sing and if it could, its tiny voice would never be heard over the thunderous voice of the Mighty WaterFall.  This little pebble thought and thought and thought until it hurt all over.  It couldn't come up with even  idea on how it could  show its love and devotion to the waterfall.  So it began to weep pitifully.  Suddenly through its sobbing cries it heard the Mighty Waterfall ask a question as it sang.

"Why are you crying?"

The pebble stopped immediately.  Was the WaterFall talking to it--the little pebble?  Couldn't be.  So the pebble didn't reply.  Again the Water Fall replied,

"Why are you crying?"

The pebble froze.  Its heart began to race.  It looked left, and then right.  The waterfall had spoken to--it.  "What do I do now?" the pebble thought.  A wise and noble bird sitting in a nearby tree responded, "Answer Him.  Answer to Great Water Fall, little pebble."

So it did.

"Oh, Great Water Fall, I am crying because I have nothing to give you.  I want to show  you my love and devotion, but what can I give one so great as you?"  The Great Water Fall laughed  thunderously with such joy and glee that it actually frightened and shamed the little pebble.   "I knew it," thought the pebble to itsself.  I was foolish to think I could ever give the Great Water Fall anything worthy of Him.

"Nonsense!" the Water Fall bellowed.  The pebble was startled.  "I have been deeply desiring a gift from you little pebble.  You have something beautiful to give."

"Me?"  said the Pebble completely puzzled.  "What do I have?"

"I want you little pebble.  You are my prized possession."

The pebble was speechless.  After thinking to ittself, for what seemed like hours (but it was actually only a few minutes), the little pebble replied.  "So.... you want me?" the pebbled asked timidly.

"Yes."

"You want me?" the pebble asked again, this time feeling a bit more confident.

"Absolutely!"

"You want me!"  the pebble shouted with joy and gladness of heart.  He had something to give the Great Water Fall.  Oh how the little pebble beamed with happiness.  The Great Water Fall had seen it and even desired it.

Then unexpectedly the Great Water Fall quieted down to a faint whisper.  "Little Pebble, would you give yourself to me, for you are a gift I greatly desire?"  I love you, little pebble and I want to do great and wonderful things with you--things which you could never imagine."

In that moment of quietness, the pebble deeply connected with the Water Fall in a new way.  It had experienced the love of the Water Fall.  It had not known that it could be loved.  It was only a pebble.  It have never known love.  It had seen what it thought was love, but it had never experienced it--until now.  Well, I really cannot fully explain how the pebble felt at that moment, but I will try.   That pebble felt, whole, brand new and more alive.  Yes, that pebble felt--ALIVE!

"Oh, yes, Great Water Fall!  I want to give myself to you!"

"Jump in the river" whispered the Water Fall.

Well, you've never seen a pebble more determined to get to the river.  That pebble had really never moved very much.  I mean...it moved a bit here and there, but it was usually because the wind had blown it or some creature had dislodged it from its position.  That poor pebble tried with all of its might to move itself to the river, which was only  a few feet away.  It struggled and strained, and managed to barely move.  It persisted, trying and trying and trying until it was utterly exhausted.   The little pebble began to slip into utter despair.  It felt completely helpless and hopeless.

"Little pebble," said the Water Fall tenderly, "will you give yourself completely to  me..."

The pebbled interrupted, "I've already tried, and I can't!"  Oh what sorrow the pebble felt.   To be so close to experiencing life's greatest joy, only to have it snatched from its grasp was more than the pebble could bear.

"Little pebble, I wasn't finished.  If you will cease striving, I will help you.  I, myself, will bring you to the water, and I will do something beautiful for you.  I will make you a beautiful gift--a worthy offering that I may enjoy forever."

"Ok,"  the pebble replied unassuredly.  " I don't understand what you ask of me, but I will give myself to you.  It is obvious that I cannot do this without help."

Suddenly, the Water Fall rumbled, laughing a deep hearty laugh with such joy that it tickled the pebble.

"Be still and watch what I will do!"

My Song

There's a song that begins to stir in my heart,
that begins to surface as I think on the goodness of God.
As I meditate on His goodness,
His grace,
His love,
His Holiness,
His purity...
A poetic prose begins to rise from my soul
It's been hidden there waiting to be found
It's composed by the Holy Spirit and uniquely song by me.
It is a song that's being song in the heavenlies
by the angels
and by saints throughout the ages
This song is a song our hearts have been waiting to sing
Like a woman with child who eagerly awaits the moment of giving birth
She eagerly anticipates the joy of holding her sweet baby in her arms
But there is discomfort,
there is pain to endure
MUCH PAIN
But in the end, it's worth it
for in her arms is a baby
Oh the joy to hold that precious baby!
This song is our baby
Our heart anticipates giving birth to this melody
As we experience life this song grows within us
developing, gaining understanding, maturing
And often there is much pain that must be endured in order to give birth to this song
But Oh the joy that is felt
Oh the relief that the song has finally been freed.
for this song was meant to be song
An unsung song is a travesty.
We must sing our song.
I must sing my song.

Heavenly Father, enable us by your Spirit to sing beautifully, powerfully, truthfully, pouring ourselves out, holding nothing back, singing in this life until all that we know by faith becomes clearly known.

An Oasis in the Desert

 Isaiah 58:11 The LORD will guide you always;
    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
  You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail.
With the recent drought in Texas, I've found myself blessed to enjoy more flowers this year than I ever have.  God has given me an "Oasis in the Desert".  Don't get me wrong, all my grass is brown, and my poor little veggie garden has struggled to survive, but my flowers are flourishing.  I thought you might enjoy some of my photographic art featuring my flowers.

I pray that God Himself will satisfy your needs in this recession, and drought.  May He make you an Oasis in the desert-- a place where many will be refreshed, and healed.

Are You Smarter than a Rock?

Our God is so Great, so Majestic, so powerful, so beautiful, so Holy, so good, so righteous, so exalted, that if we stubbornly refuse to acknowledge Him, to praise Him and to speak of who He is, the most lifeless object will praise Him in our place.  Rocks will rise up in their disgust and indignation of humanity.  They will turn to one another saying, 

"Do you not see the Ones the King made in His image, the ones He died for?  Do you see how they carry on as if their own hands made themselves, as if they sustain this universe?  Those foolish people!  If they won't praise the King, then we shall!  They were made with mouths to shout and sing praises.  They were made with arms and hands to lift them up in adoration to the Most High God.  They were made with feet to jump and dance with all of their might before the Creator.  They were made with minds to create beautiful gifts, to meditate on Him and to learn of Him.  But what are we?  We are only rocks.  Yet if they will not praise our King, we shall have to find a way to praise Him for our King MUST be praised!"

Are we dumber than rocks?  Why are we so unaware that the King of the Universe is Greatly Exalted?  Why do we not humble ourselves to Him.  Why do we think our knowledge, our technology, our wealth, and our sophistication is greater than He?  Why do we not have the sense of a rock?  Think about it.  A rock.

If rocks will shout the praises of the Mighty One, why not I?

^{Luke 19:37} When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

 ³⁸ “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”^[b]

   “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

 ³⁹ Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

   ⁴⁰ “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”