Thankful Food for Thought!

This morning is Thanksgiving and there is so much to be thankful for. Often times day after day I take for granted the things which I consider to be every day life- electricity, plumbing, shelter in a house that has more than one room, a job, a vehicle and the list continues to relationships, from my church family to my genetic family and the ultimate relationship that I have with God the Father through Jesus Christ.

Yesterday Psalm 27 popped into my head and was greatly encouraged by some of the words. The second part of Ps 27 states, "The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?" I looked up the word defense from the free-online dictionary and here is what it states, 1. The act of defending against attack, danger, or injury and from a sports view: 7. Means or tactics used in trying to stop the opposition from scoring. Talk about picking for a defensive team- if the Lord is on your defensive team, wow- and that is for our lives, what do we have to dread? I have been thinking about lies that we face. At times we might not even realize that we are believing lies- we may think our coworker has this negative opinion about us when that is not the case at all. We may think that some type or characteristic is true about our identity, when that is not what God says- by the grace of God I am what I am...we can never forget about grace. Later in Ps 27 it states "Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me and such breathe out violence." Again when I read false witnesses I instantly thought about those even being lies that we experience in our minds. Looking up the Hebrew meaning of false, this is what it states, "lie, deception, disappointment, falsehood" In the King James the word violence is actually cruelty- and it means violence, wrong, cruelty, injustice. Lies are injustice. As I was thinking this yesterday a phrase popped into my head- that the voice of the accuser will be silenced. I couldn't remember if there was a Scripture that stated that or not, so onto google I went. I couldn't find one, but then in God's goodness the Holy Spirit led me this morning as I listened to this broadcast- from Psalm 63 and verse 11 "But the king will rejoice in God; everyone who swears by Him will glory, for the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped." Again the word for lies is the exact same Hebrew word that we looked at with the word false. Those who speak lies, those who speak deception, those who speak disappointment and falsehood will be stopped; including lies that we believe. Praise God Almighty for His glorious truth. As Jesus stated the Truth will set you free. Yesterday I flipped opened this little Promise Book and what did it open to, but John 8:31-32; Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, 'If you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed, And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." I love what it said at the end. Let God's truth lead you to true freedom today. God's promise of freedom is linked to putting His words to the test. Get to know His words better by reading, meditating on and praying about at least one verse of Scripture each day.

The Bride

Lately God has been having me think about the bride of Christ- and how sweet it is envisioning yourself to be His bride. As I got to thinking about this, I was thinking first that God is His Word distinctively chooses the word bride and not wife. I thought- well, what is the difference and I thought there is so much excitement on the day for the bride. This is not only a special day for the bride, but also the bridgegroom. There have been multiple weddings where I have witnessed the bridegroom's face upon seeing his bride and he has been deeply moved, both where tears and an inexpressible smile. Jesus- this is what you think of your bride!

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

On Thursday this week I witnessed for the first time that I can remember a full arching rainbow. What a beautiful site! As I scanned from the beginning of the arch til the end of the arch I remembered the old saying that a pot of gold laid at the end of the rainbow. Then for some silly reason the song, "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" came into my mind. It's quite a catchy tune! ~ha! But, I've been thinking of the purpose of roads- it leads us to a destination. Many times in the Bible, God talks about His ways. Psalm 25:4-5 says, " Make me know Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. 5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day." Then in Psalm 119 verses 1-5 " How blessed are those whose way is blameless, Who walk in the law of the LORD. How blessed are those who observe His testimonies,
Who seek Him with all their heart. 3 They also do no unrighteousness; They walk in His ways. 4 You have ordained Your precepts, That we should keep them diligently.
5 Oh that my ways may be established To keep Your statutes!" Truly walking on God's path is so beneficial! ....which I will term the Yellow Brick Road....for following this road at the end will be the true treasure (and really treasure for us along the way). Truly God has granted us His precious and magnificent promises!

Celebration of Life

Today I went to one of the most impacting viewings that I have ever went to. I remember meeting this man at my place of work almost ten years ago. Despite his short stature due to having Down Syndrome, he had a huge heart. What impressed me about him was he was a TRUE gentleman; he always held the door, shook my hand and one time after some time had passed since our last meeting kissed my hand. Walking into the funeral home I was surprised to see a mass of bubbles being produced by a bubble machine. How fun it was to walk through the bubbles to see him one last time. In his hands were what looked like drum sticks; however, they were conductor wands as this was one of his passions. Music played in the background and my spirit was uplifted as this was a true celebration. Inside his casket, the embroidery read "In God's care." Today I celebrated this man's life- the bubbles, which to me symbolized the celebration there is in heaven! Jesus- thank you for this indescribable gift- Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. John 17:3

Wait

Psalm 62:5 My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him.
Psalm 24:17 Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.
Psalm 37:7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him

Wow, I am thankful that the LORD expands our view on waiting with words that some (me) may not include: silence, strong, courage, patiently. I have to smile as I work with infants and toddlers. Snack time with the toddlers can be a difficult waiting time. I have to say though, I gained new perspective as I sat back one day and delighted in the ones that waited patiently. O Lord, may I be like those little ones. As I continue to learn about waiting on the LORD- it's that, needing grace to wait on Him and Him alone- I do not wait on my circumstances it's on His character. During the waiting, our faith is cultivated. By waiting on the LORD, we say- God, we TRUST in You- we TRUST in Your Hand. By standing on His promises, we can be confident that He moves on behalf of those that wait on Him. I delight in one of he Hebrew words for wait, which means to dance, whirl. One night I had to have a praise session and declared to the LORD all of His promises on waiting. In the midst of that I processed out loud- that in dancing, one really stays basically in the same area. It's not like running, walking or driving, where one travels a distance. But, the key is as one dances they are being led and having fun! O LORD for grace to continue to let you lead in the dance and enjoy the process. Truly WAITING is about TRUSTING that HE is the Good Shepherd- He knows what we need; He is good and He loves us. No good thing does He withhold from those that walk uprightly. Psalm 84:11

Hmmm Volleyball :)

This past week I served as a cook for our local church camp, Tar Hollow. Wow, cooking for 240+ plus people is a job I had never done; of course I was not the only cook, and needed lots of direction on what needed to be done! I have much to say about the camp; however, this entry is going to be more specific to one incident: volleyball. On Sunday morning, the day after returning I found myself reflecting on being on the volleyball team. When I state these things I am not knocking myself- that is my disclaimer- I'm using this as an example. I had to chuckle as I was asked to play on what was to be the championship winning team. I am not a volleyball player; I have difficulties with even serving. Again I chuckled inside as people may have thought I look like a volleyball player. In junior high I loved volleyball and wanted to be on the team, but got cut. After that I really didn't play much volleyball. Since I hadn't been to Tar Hollow in 3 years I met some new people. Since I run, I have more of an athletic build; however, I was thinking on Sunday morning that does not equate to that I am a good volleyball player. I began to think about this simile with Christianity. We may have been trained in the Word, just like my muscles have been trained; however, if we are not exercising those muscles in the designated sport it really doesn't amount to much. I was equating this to outreach- the importance of actually playing the game, putting things into practice- working together as a team. Romans 12 continued to come to my mind even after camp, as Romans 12:2 was the theme verse for the week. As I read it again over the weekend the word exercise really stuck out to me- "Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;
7 if service in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching;
8 or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality;he who leads with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. "Serve em up" ha, ha let's literally serve others :)

Gladiator

After three attempts I finished watching the movie Gladiator yesterday. I recently heard someone mention it and I had never seen it. This piqued my interest and down to the library I went! My breaks in between watching the movie were not to a disinterest in the movie, but rather my schedule. This movie grasped my interest and left me thinking quite a bit. Viewing Maximas- I believe in the core each of us appreciate people of valor and integrity. We root for the good guy to win and for the bad guy to go down. I know corruption exists today, but in those days would have been shocked to see the actual brutality. As I watched the battles that ensued, my spirit realized how true this is of the spiritual world. Thankfully the Lord declares the battle belongs to Him. I have to say I closed my eyes on quite a few scenes because of the blood and gore. But, I did rejoice in seeing the sword come out- and in my spirit wanted to use the Sword of the Spirit not against people as our war is not against flesh and blood but against powers, principalities against the dark forces of this world. My heart hurt watching the scenes where people were enslaved into bondage, which ultimately would lead to their own death. My heart hurt even more realizing that this happens today- not in the physical sense but in the spiritual sense. However, today sin disguises itself as attractive, appealing, "fun" however, sin ultimately leads to death- there is nothing fun or attractive about it when the mask is removed. Another touching point of the movie was when Maximas raises up as a leader to unify the barbarians to fight together- he states we must work together to win. Oh- this is what we need to do- is truly be unified- not to operate solely; for we cannot achieve victory alone.