Wonderment Wednesday - Job 38

And the Lord spoke out of the storm...

"Have you ever given orders to the morning,

or shown the dawn its place--

that it might take the earth by its edges and shake the wicked out of it?

The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment.

The wicked are denied their light and their upraised arm is broken.

What is the way to the abode of light?

And where does darkness reside?

Can you take them to their places?

Do you know the paths to their dwelling?

Father, help me to remember that when I question You, I question who You are and what You've done. That is was You who set the foundations of this earth. You who lights up the night sky. You who brings the dawn to wake us. Each and every day is a gift. May I cherish You and the many gifts You've bestowed on my life. May I trust that just as You formed the earth with your very hands, You also have formed me. I know You love me and desire only the best for me. I will trust in that. I will face each obstical knowing I'm cloaked in that love. Amen!

J.

(Scripture taken from Job 38:12-15 &19-20 NIV)

Pictures of my orchid soaking up a morning sunbeam

Compassion That Never Fails

Pulling this from the archives. Some things bear repeating... enjoy and be blessed!

Lord, I feel so weighted down. So weary of it all. I know you require
me to lay these hurts, these burdens, down at your feet, but I'm at a
loss. How do I let go when they seem to be made of a sticky substance and wont
let me go? I want to shake off the frustrations, but they seem so binding I
can't break loose...

So I stood, head bowed in church as the worshippers encouraged everyone to sing praises, to let go of the things hindering true and free worship. Eyes closed, I begged for answers, at a loss of what to do.

How, Father do I find freedom? How, my Lord, do I break free from these
situations that drag me down?

Suddenly, the worship team went into this song. Sit back and listen, take in the words. Be sure to turn off the music on the sidebar. Because as this song played, I began to understand....

I began to understand that it didn't matter what was going right or going wrong. Because Oh, how He loves us. His love for us is a jealous love. It's powerful like a hurricane. It's beautiful. It's overwhelming like the deep seas.

If I really thought about it, like the song says, "I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about... the way...

He loves us..."

Lamentations 3:20-26- (NIV)
My soul is downcast within me.

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, the one who seeks him;

it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

You Tube Video of Kim Walker from Jesus Culture singing "Oh How He Loves Us"

Photo of sunrise over elementary school where I work.

Wonderment Wednesday- Ephesians 6

Therefore
Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground...


And after you have done EVERYTHING

TO STAND FIRM

Then...

Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and request.

Support yourself with TRUTH

Cover your heart with RIGHTEOUSNESS

WALK in the ways of the Gospel of Christ and His teachings.

PROTECT yourself with FAITH in God and His word.

Set SALVATION firmly in your mind....

And when the enemy comes against you, fight back with the WORD OF GOD.

(Complete scripture found in Ephesians 6)

The Chair

It sat in our garage for over a year, a $5 price tag on it. In its present shape, no seat, splintered, scratched... it wasn't even worth that.

But I needed a chair for a quiet place to sit. A corner to stop and contemplate. Pray. Meditate.

I looked at the battered piece of once-considered-furniture and thought, "Yeah, I think I can fix it."

Husband cut a seat for it and I began sanding away the rough spots. I didn't want it too perfect. I wanted a rustic, old look, so I just made sure to make it smooth. Then after rummaging through the cabinet of stains, I found one to match the table it would sit next to.


I didn't have much hope at first of it looking all that great. But as I began to rub in the walnut pigment, something amazing happened.

The woods grain began to show and I couldn't help but think, "Wow, this is really a beautiful chair."

Then another thought struck me. How often does the world look at us and think, "That person isn't worth the trouble."

Yet, Jesus paid such a high price. And when God gets his hands on us, begins to rub away the rough spots, brings out our natural beauty and talent, the results can be staggering.

Just as my little chair was to me.

Staggering...

And now it sits in a quiet corner next to the prayer table. Its a place I felt God asked me to set in my house in the midst of all the redecorating and painting and moving items around. "Set aside one spot where the family can come sit and meet with me when they get tired."

Of course, God is with us wherever we go. But it's good to have a place to sit and meet. A place meant to find nourishment when we get spiritually thirsty. A rock to cling to during the storms.

In this quiet corner, we give God the opportunity to smooth our rough edges, to bring out our natural talents and beauty, to polish our spirits so they can shine in a dark world. Here, His word can speak through the various devotional books, the scripture cards, or the Bible itself. Here, we can journal our prayers and thanksgivings, our fears so others can pray.

Its a special place, put together with cast-away furniture remade new, for a cast-away soul to find renewal.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Phil. 4:6 NIV)

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30 NIV)

J.

Wonderment Wednesday- Jeremiah 17

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord...

whose confidence is in Him.

They will be like a tree planted by the water

that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes, its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.

Heal me Lord and I will be healed.

Save me and I will be saved.

For you are the one I praise!



Jeremiah 17:8&14 (TNIV)

Leaving a trail of clutter

The seed cast in the gravel--
this is the person who hears the word and instantly responds with enthusiasm
But there is no soil of character...
so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives
There is nothing to show for it.

Matthew 13:20-21 (MSG)

I stop.

Water drips from paddles. Another burden poised on the boats edge, ready to be tossed overboard. Waves laps against the sides of my hard pressed vessel.

Looking back, I notice a field of debris cluttering my wake. Discarded projects, ideas, dreams... people. All things that had become too hard to deal with anymore. So they'd been cast aside for something brighter, shinier, obviously better.

Only something else to add to many other bundles bobbing along behind me.

This scripture of the Sower...

It causes me to stop and think. I paddle hard through life.

I want to be liked...

successful...

accomplished...

productive.

Yet so many failed attempts are left by the wayside. Why?

Because, says Jesus in this lesson, because there is no good soil of character.

Shallowness.

So when the funness wears off, when it begins to get hard, there's no depth for the seed to take root and it withers away. The person gives up... falls away.

Wood on Rock

"In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point
of shedding your blood..."
Hebrews 12:4 (NIV)

I can hear it...

wood scraping over hard packed earth, as I think about how He carried that cross up to Calvary. Dragging it, leaving a trail of blood right across my rocky heart.

My shallow heart.

My give-up-way-too-easily heart.

He never gave up. I break a sweat and I'm ready to abandon.

Oh, but I have such a long way to go. I'm glad His mercies never fail and are new every morning. I'm glad he's patient and loving and kind and willing to give second chance after second chance.

I'm not sure if I can go back and retrieve those things I've cast overboard. Not sure I can take my carelessness back. But I can open my heart to Him, ask Him to dig deep into my soul and clear out the rocks that keep me from growing seed.

I really, really, really want to be good soil. Don't we all?


Father God, break up the hardness of my heart. Forgive me for becoming shallow and allowing circumstances to make me stone and gravel. I wish to be a good planting ground. I wish to be productive, but I can't without You. I desperately need Your hands in my life. Dig, Lord, dig deep. Amen!

Pulling the burden back inside. Looking at it a little differently. Not so much as a burden, but an opportunity to soften my heart and prove to myself that I can stick with it and produce good fruit. I'm not working it out alone. God has his garden gloves on and trowel in hand....

And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing
our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before
him he endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of
the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so
that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)

Be Blessed,
J.

It's been awhile...

Once again, I've let posting to my blog lapse. . .

Life has taken me on a meandering side trail this summer. I began stressed over finding a job until I finally realized that since I've put my life in God's hands, He is the one calling the shots. And He has a plan, and it'll be a good plan... when it's all said and done.

I'll tell more about this later.

For now, I want to tell you what I've been up to.

I've been giving my house a make over. It all started with wanting to paint and make our bedroom a relaxing place with a bit of romantic flair. (I'll post pictures of it in a later post.) Just when I was nearly done, I woke up one morning with the words, "If you change the atmosphere of your home, it will bring about a change in attitudes as well."

I asked a few friends if they felt this was a true statement, and they felt that there was truth to it. So I began looking around and seeing possibilities. . . .

At times, I feel I should be doing other things. Like getting out more and doing summery type stuff. But it's really hot and there's nowhere we really want to go.

Or I should be writing more... but I've been dry of words lately.

Definitely, I should be looking for work... unfortunately, there simply isn't many positions and those that are open are being filled by people who have more experience. Of course.

However, decorating ideas flow like spring water after a heavy rain.

Thoughts and worries about Tomorrow often come banging on my door. I peer out and consider them a moment, but have refused to let them in.

Sometimes, I think, the best thing one can be doing is to simply BE.

BE in the moment.

BE there to listen.

BE flexible.

BE at peace and rest in the truth that the God of this universe promises to take care of our lives.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34

So, in the enthusiasm of turning my house upside down, and working on changing attitudes: both inside and out... the days have flew by. I'm living in the moment. Or trying my best. And this moment seemed to call for me to stop in here and visit awhile.

Who knows where the next turn of the clock will take me. . . .

J.