Baby steps. Baby steps.
Yesterday afternoon, Peter and I found the long-lost iPod. My husband and I had completely forgotten where we hid it a weeks back--so frustrating, these crummy memories! That iPod seemed doomed to oblivion, perhaps to be found years from now by one of our yet to be born grandchildren. And then, glory, as Peter searched and opened drawers, it suddenly dawned upon me! A flash of recognition with the memory of hiding it in the dining room sideboard! O thank You, Jesus, that I still have a few, a very few, remaining brain cells.
So, one item crossed off the list. Hmm, that still leaves the clutter, the church location, the messed up computer... and on and on. But for now, let's rejoice in those baby steps! I remembering way back in September--we are "prisoners of hope!"
Like I said yesterday, sometimes we forget. It's good to remember... and rejoice.
And so God gives us His Word to remind us, to guide us, to strengthen us in the rock-solid, bank-your-life-upon-it Truth. Just this morning, I read in Romans 15 "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
And "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."
Don't we all need that? Hope. God's hope. True hope, because it is hope based not on"hope so" but on "know so." Hope embedded deep in His unshakeable Truth, in His infinite power, in His unending love, and in His glorious grace.
I talked last night with a very dear and wonderful mama who is aching for her son's illness. I got off the phone and wept for the struggle and hardness and sorrow of it all. But overarching the pain, they are a family filled with God's hope. Because this son, this fine, godly man who will be speaking to our high schoolers in a few days, wants to glorify God through it all. To shine forth a God who uses disease and distress and weakness and somehow, someway produces glory, and ultimate good.
And, yes, hope. Hope, even in the midst of the hardest of places. O Jesus, give them more hope. Open our eyes to see Your unshakable hope and to share it with others.
I read this prayer the other day by Scotty Smith--it's all about gospel hope. Real hope. For we are prisoners of hope--even in ICU's or cancer wards or lonely, quiet homes or prison cells.
"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you." (Eph.1:18) O help us to know that hope, Father, and to share it and shine it.
For You have not suggested that we hope. You have called us to hope. Your hope.
Here is Scotty Smith's prayer based on this verse:
"Merciful Father, if a sheriff knocked at my door this morning with a subpoena, I'd be a bit unnerved. But today, like every day, the gospel is knocking at my door to subpoena me to hope. Nothing more settling and centering. Thanks for making hope a calling. You haven't extended a general notification or given me a polite invitation. I am called to hope in Jesus, just as surely as you called me to a saving knowledge of His grace and will call me to an eternal celebration of Your presence one day. I wouldn't think of ignoring a summons from the sheriff; I'd be crazy to ignore a summons from You... Free me from fixing my gaze on circumstances and people. I tend to give them way too much power over my heart. Paul wrote these words of encouragement from a Roman prison, not from a Mediterranean condo. What do I have to complain about? I have real needs, but You give an ever brighter hope. Bring enlightenment where there's been dullness and myopia of late. Throw the curtains all the way open; lift all the clouds; do more laser surgery on the eyes of my heart, if need be. Just show me more of Jesus--that's all I really need. I pray in His tender and triumphant name. Amen."
Might we heed Your call to hope in You this day. To God be the glory.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Morning-after gratitude
So... it's the morning after a joyous long weekend in the mountains. Quite literally, we've left the mountain-top experience and have slogged back down into the valley.
And here's the sad truth: I had forgotten all about God's astounding goodness, all about the innumerable answered prayers, all about His amazing grace, all about His glorious creation displayed continually before our eyes.
Nope, forgot about all of it and instead began to sport the old bad, ungrateful, frenzied but exhausted attitude of "Look at this messy house--how will I ever find time to get rid of all this clutter? How on earth am I going to plan a wedding? Where do we even start? And, mercy, where are some clean shorts for my son to wear to school? Why hasn't someone put out the recycle? What in thunderation is wrong with our email and how will we know anything about anything if we can't receive emails? And..."
Yeah, maybe you get the picture.
Too much to do... but too little energy and even desire.
Too much frustration...and too little joy.
Too much preoccupation with my circumstances... and too little praise of my Savior.
Too much me, myself and I... and too little Redeemer, Restorer, and Reviver.
Too much forgetting and too little remembering to give thanks!
O Lord Jesus how I praise You for lifting my head and raising my gaze--away from belly-button focusing and onto blessings You have showered upon us daily.
I just read, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Phil.4:6-7)
It's a choice--"Be anxious for nothing" (nothing includes not being anxious about finding a church for a wedding since our church meets at Broughton High School... and it includes computer/email glitches... and it includes finding my son's lost ipod touch that we put away and now can't remember where we hid it! Good night!)
And then it's a choice--pray about everything. Doesn't He who formed every single microscopic cell in the universe and who gave the dolphin perfect radar and who painted stripes on the zebra and who carved out the majestic mountains. also have the power and creativity to meet our needs--from trivial to trying? I'm thinking so.
But it's a choice to pray with thanksgiving. Good grief, how quickly I forget this. How easily we can slip into the "Poor me" or "Pouting me" or "Petrified me" or "Frustrated me."
Mark Buchanan writes: "All the wickedness in the world begins with an act of forgetting...The heart of wickedness and godlessness is that: a refusal to glorify God. It's the refusal to thank Him."
Wickedness isn't so much that drug dealer or that murderer or that boaster or that liar. Sure, that's horrific and that's sin, but wickedness begins with me, in me--in my ingratitude. In my refusal to give God thanks and instead revel in my worry or irritation or selfishness.
I love Ann Voskanp's prayer "Father God, You are the Begetter of grace. Forgive me for being a forgetter of thanks. This is no trivial thing. It leads to wicked things. Hear the cry of my heart: Forgive me for not giving You thanks. If thanks is the highest form of thought--make it my first thought. Turn me toward thanks first--so my life doesn't turn into the last thing I'd hoped for. Turn me towards You first--first things first means to give You thanks first."
And Joni Eareckson Tada says essentially the same thing--it all begins first thing in the morning. By setting our attitude for the day--away from ourselves and our selfishness and criticalness and ungratefulness and towards Jesus and His grace and goodness and power and provision.
It's about Him, not me. His grace and my gratitude. His power and provision and my prayer of dependence.
So... back to where I started, only now overflowing with gratitude towards my Savior, my Lifter-Upper of my gaze, my Giver of all good gifts, my Great Physician, my Creator, my Power, my Forgiver, my Finder and Revealer, my Sustainer, my Prayer-Answerer, my Sovereign, and my Lord.
He's got it all taken care of--from the lost ipod to the lousy email to the location of the wedding.. and everything else in between.
Lord, we thank You and praise You for all You've done..and all You're doing right now... and all You will be doing in the future, in our lives and in the world. Help us to trust You and to thank You even when we cannot see with our eyes... but we know with our faith. For You are forever worthy.
To God be the glory.
And here's the sad truth: I had forgotten all about God's astounding goodness, all about the innumerable answered prayers, all about His amazing grace, all about His glorious creation displayed continually before our eyes.
Nope, forgot about all of it and instead began to sport the old bad, ungrateful, frenzied but exhausted attitude of "Look at this messy house--how will I ever find time to get rid of all this clutter? How on earth am I going to plan a wedding? Where do we even start? And, mercy, where are some clean shorts for my son to wear to school? Why hasn't someone put out the recycle? What in thunderation is wrong with our email and how will we know anything about anything if we can't receive emails? And..."
Yeah, maybe you get the picture.
Too much to do... but too little energy and even desire.
Too much frustration...and too little joy.
Too much preoccupation with my circumstances... and too little praise of my Savior.
Too much me, myself and I... and too little Redeemer, Restorer, and Reviver.
Too much forgetting and too little remembering to give thanks!
O Lord Jesus how I praise You for lifting my head and raising my gaze--away from belly-button focusing and onto blessings You have showered upon us daily.
I just read, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Phil.4:6-7)
It's a choice--"Be anxious for nothing" (nothing includes not being anxious about finding a church for a wedding since our church meets at Broughton High School... and it includes computer/email glitches... and it includes finding my son's lost ipod touch that we put away and now can't remember where we hid it! Good night!)
And then it's a choice--pray about everything. Doesn't He who formed every single microscopic cell in the universe and who gave the dolphin perfect radar and who painted stripes on the zebra and who carved out the majestic mountains. also have the power and creativity to meet our needs--from trivial to trying? I'm thinking so.
But it's a choice to pray with thanksgiving. Good grief, how quickly I forget this. How easily we can slip into the "Poor me" or "Pouting me" or "Petrified me" or "Frustrated me."
Mark Buchanan writes: "All the wickedness in the world begins with an act of forgetting...The heart of wickedness and godlessness is that: a refusal to glorify God. It's the refusal to thank Him."
Wickedness isn't so much that drug dealer or that murderer or that boaster or that liar. Sure, that's horrific and that's sin, but wickedness begins with me, in me--in my ingratitude. In my refusal to give God thanks and instead revel in my worry or irritation or selfishness.
I love Ann Voskanp's prayer "Father God, You are the Begetter of grace. Forgive me for being a forgetter of thanks. This is no trivial thing. It leads to wicked things. Hear the cry of my heart: Forgive me for not giving You thanks. If thanks is the highest form of thought--make it my first thought. Turn me toward thanks first--so my life doesn't turn into the last thing I'd hoped for. Turn me towards You first--first things first means to give You thanks first."
And Joni Eareckson Tada says essentially the same thing--it all begins first thing in the morning. By setting our attitude for the day--away from ourselves and our selfishness and criticalness and ungratefulness and towards Jesus and His grace and goodness and power and provision.
It's about Him, not me. His grace and my gratitude. His power and provision and my prayer of dependence.
So... back to where I started, only now overflowing with gratitude towards my Savior, my Lifter-Upper of my gaze, my Giver of all good gifts, my Great Physician, my Creator, my Power, my Forgiver, my Finder and Revealer, my Sustainer, my Prayer-Answerer, my Sovereign, and my Lord.
He's got it all taken care of--from the lost ipod to the lousy email to the location of the wedding.. and everything else in between.
Lord, we thank You and praise You for all You've done..and all You're doing right now... and all You will be doing in the future, in our lives and in the world. Help us to trust You and to thank You even when we cannot see with our eyes... but we know with our faith. For You are forever worthy.
To God be the glory.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Simply "Thank You, Lord!"
Remind me, Lord Jesus, when I get worked up over the insignificant and the temporal and the replaceable in life, that the greatest gifts in our lives are not possessions that we hold or places that we go or accolades which we receive.... or perfect homes or bodies or circumstances or lives or anything which the world says brings happiness and fulfillment.
No! Our joy, Father, is in You. You are our hope. You are our Treasure. You are our Rock and our Stronghold and our Glory.
And You are the Giver of ALL good and great gifts. And other than our greatest treasure--the Lord Jesus--it is the people You have placed in our lives that are our most priceless and joyous and wondrous gifts. Oh, Father, forgive us when we take any of them for granted. Forgive us when we demean or diminish in any way any of Your beloved creations--Your children--each of whom You loved so infinitely much that You sent Your only Son to redeem and restore.
Help us to love them, love them all, Lord, as You love them. And remind us daily of the wonder of their presence in our lives. Sure, they're not always perfect (nor are we). Sometimes they may seem like "a bruising of a blessing!" But they are Your blessings in our lives, Your gifts. And we simply say, thank You, Lord.
Give us more wonder. Give us more love. Give us more Jesus. To God be the glory.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Wind in the mountains
A little food for weekend thought:
From today's, Daily Light: "How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give me them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light." (Ps.36:7-9)
"Since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, who acts for the one who waits for Him." (Isa.64:4)
Thank You Lord for the gift of a new, fresh day. Your glorious mountains reflect their Maker--strong, immovable like our Rock in Whom we take refuge. Lush, colorful, full of life and beauty, magnificent like our Redeemer and Sustainer and Creator.
And right now the wind rattles the windows and rushes powerfully through the trees and hills, and I cannot help but think of Your Holy Spirit. "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:8) "When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit..." (Acts 2:1-3)
Lord, might Your Holy Spirit blow through us, refreshing and reinvigorating those tired and shallow and worn out places in our lives. Lord, we don't want to just go through the motions, just barely surviving, but not really living in the fullness You desire for us. You didn't create us to just survive another day. No, You created us to live Your abundant, full Life--real Life, with a capital L--in living color, by Your power and to Your glory. But we can't do that on our own--it's only by and through Your Holy Spirit. That rushing, powerful Wind!
We want to drink deeply from the river of Your eternal pleasures. We want to live in Your Light, not in the pallid, weak shadows of our worldly selfishness and shallow desires. We want to know what it is to feel Your Holy Spirit blow through us, changing, resurrecting, restoring, reviving. O Lord, only Your Spirit can resurrect even those dead dreams and moribund hopes and barren relationships in our lives. And in their place bring Your glorious Life and Light and Love.
So Lord, do it! Just as You did it with those disciples thousands of years ago, just as You do it daily in the lives of believers all over the globe, Lord, do it again, do it in our lives! To God be the glory.
From today's, Daily Light: "How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give me them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light." (Ps.36:7-9)
"Since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, who acts for the one who waits for Him." (Isa.64:4)
Thank You Lord for the gift of a new, fresh day. Your glorious mountains reflect their Maker--strong, immovable like our Rock in Whom we take refuge. Lush, colorful, full of life and beauty, magnificent like our Redeemer and Sustainer and Creator.
And right now the wind rattles the windows and rushes powerfully through the trees and hills, and I cannot help but think of Your Holy Spirit. "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:8) "When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit..." (Acts 2:1-3)
Lord, might Your Holy Spirit blow through us, refreshing and reinvigorating those tired and shallow and worn out places in our lives. Lord, we don't want to just go through the motions, just barely surviving, but not really living in the fullness You desire for us. You didn't create us to just survive another day. No, You created us to live Your abundant, full Life--real Life, with a capital L--in living color, by Your power and to Your glory. But we can't do that on our own--it's only by and through Your Holy Spirit. That rushing, powerful Wind!
We want to drink deeply from the river of Your eternal pleasures. We want to live in Your Light, not in the pallid, weak shadows of our worldly selfishness and shallow desires. We want to know what it is to feel Your Holy Spirit blow through us, changing, resurrecting, restoring, reviving. O Lord, only Your Spirit can resurrect even those dead dreams and moribund hopes and barren relationships in our lives. And in their place bring Your glorious Life and Light and Love.
So Lord, do it! Just as You did it with those disciples thousands of years ago, just as You do it daily in the lives of believers all over the globe, Lord, do it again, do it in our lives! To God be the glory.
Friday, May 24, 2013
9 months later--a wedding!
Exactly nine months ago today, four special high school senior girls were in a terrible wreck. Life changed in a moment for all of us, and on the night of Friday, August 24th, we learned our younger daughter had suffered a shattered ankle and a traumatic brain injury. She lost consciousness at the time of the accident and for the next two weeks, the doctors were unable to wake her. We didn't know if she'd ever wake up or if she did, if she would ever be able to eat or talk or walk again.
But even at the darkest moments, God was there. We learned that there is no pit too deep that He is not deeper and greater still... and He never left us, not for a moment.
"Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I." (Ps.61:1-2)
And now today, nine months later, at about the same time of the day--at 5:00, our oldest daughter just got engaged!
Matt Tilmes proposed to Mary Norris in the mountains of NC this afternoon. And now our whole family is celebrating! God is so good! Who could have dreamed nine months ago where we would be today?
So now, we've just finished eating a big old dinner, taking a walk on a crisp, spring night (in fact, it feels exactly like a fall day--wonderful!), and we've just put on the movie, Father of the Bride. Yep, always loved that movie, and when we watched it the first time, Mary Norris was two years old. Where did the years go? We're liking Steve Martin's character's idea of a backyard cookout for the wedding reception... not sure that will fly with our daughter. Movie time so better sign off... thank You Lord for reminding us that You work all things for ultimate good. Even when we cannot see the way ahead, You are already there ahead of us. And we can always trust Your ways to be best.
To God be the glory.
But even at the darkest moments, God was there. We learned that there is no pit too deep that He is not deeper and greater still... and He never left us, not for a moment.
"Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I." (Ps.61:1-2)
And now today, nine months later, at about the same time of the day--at 5:00, our oldest daughter just got engaged!
To God be the glory.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
The Weeds... and trusting
"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'... your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you." (Mt.6:25-33)
Don't you love how Jesus uses such everyday but vibrant word pictures? Who among us has not marveled at the birds and considered with awe their graceful flight and beguiling song? I love birds... and so does their Creator. Think of it: the One who fashioned the birds out of nothing, points to them and says, "Look and learn--God created and cares for even the tiniest sparrow--so you can trust Him to care for you!"
And then there are the lilies of the field. Arrayed in splendor.
Just the other day, Moses and I meandered along the greenway. Most of our short walk, we are covered by a thick canopy of trees--the shade is marvelously welcome in the heat of summer, though it can become a bit dark on cloudy days or in the early morning. But just after crossing the long bridge, the path curves around and suddenly opens out onto a large open field. On sunny days, your eyes have to adjust to the sudden intense brightness. But the contrast of shaded trees to a sunny field always brings a lift to your heart.
Especially this time of year. For you see, right about now, the fields are full of yellow clover--
This picture doesn't even begin to do it justice, for it's a splashy, neon yellow field blanketing a vibrant spring green backdrop. If you have eyes to pause and truly see, it will take your breath away.
To think--weeds! These are all weeds! The kind gardeners despise when they crop up in their lawns. And yet, when you glimpse the canary yellow clover arrayed in all it's finery on the greenway field, well, you can't help but give glory to it's Creator. No one fertilizes or waters these lowly weeds. Nope--no one except Almighty God.
And so they just grow and grow... and boldly announce the glory of the One who makes something out of nothing. The One who takes that which the world despises and transforms it into a field of beauty. And the One who takes our failures and weaknesses--and incredibly, impossibly brings forth good and even beauty from ashes.
It all reminded me of the words of part of an old Livingston Taylor song I've always loved: "There are flowers in my garden. Pretty ones all in a row. But my favorite are the weeds--they don't know where to grow... but they know enough to grow."
So if that's what God does with old throw-away weeds that nobody wants, that's here today and gone tomorrow, how much more will He care for, love, nourish, and sustain you and me?
Jesus tells us, commands us, not to be anxious.. and then He points to the birds and the lilies of the field. We have 24 hour reminders all around us that God is forever faithful--just look outside your window and see the birds and the weeds!
Lord, open our eyes that we might see... and our hearts that we might believe and trust in Your never failing promises. When fear or anxiety begins to weigh us down, help us to remember the birds and the weeds... and trust in Your perfect love and care for us. To God be the glory.
Don't you love how Jesus uses such everyday but vibrant word pictures? Who among us has not marveled at the birds and considered with awe their graceful flight and beguiling song? I love birds... and so does their Creator. Think of it: the One who fashioned the birds out of nothing, points to them and says, "Look and learn--God created and cares for even the tiniest sparrow--so you can trust Him to care for you!"
And then there are the lilies of the field. Arrayed in splendor.
Just the other day, Moses and I meandered along the greenway. Most of our short walk, we are covered by a thick canopy of trees--the shade is marvelously welcome in the heat of summer, though it can become a bit dark on cloudy days or in the early morning. But just after crossing the long bridge, the path curves around and suddenly opens out onto a large open field. On sunny days, your eyes have to adjust to the sudden intense brightness. But the contrast of shaded trees to a sunny field always brings a lift to your heart.
Especially this time of year. For you see, right about now, the fields are full of yellow clover--
This picture doesn't even begin to do it justice, for it's a splashy, neon yellow field blanketing a vibrant spring green backdrop. If you have eyes to pause and truly see, it will take your breath away.
To think--weeds! These are all weeds! The kind gardeners despise when they crop up in their lawns. And yet, when you glimpse the canary yellow clover arrayed in all it's finery on the greenway field, well, you can't help but give glory to it's Creator. No one fertilizes or waters these lowly weeds. Nope--no one except Almighty God.
And so they just grow and grow... and boldly announce the glory of the One who makes something out of nothing. The One who takes that which the world despises and transforms it into a field of beauty. And the One who takes our failures and weaknesses--and incredibly, impossibly brings forth good and even beauty from ashes.
It all reminded me of the words of part of an old Livingston Taylor song I've always loved: "There are flowers in my garden. Pretty ones all in a row. But my favorite are the weeds--they don't know where to grow... but they know enough to grow."
So if that's what God does with old throw-away weeds that nobody wants, that's here today and gone tomorrow, how much more will He care for, love, nourish, and sustain you and me?
Jesus tells us, commands us, not to be anxious.. and then He points to the birds and the lilies of the field. We have 24 hour reminders all around us that God is forever faithful--just look outside your window and see the birds and the weeds!
Lord, open our eyes that we might see... and our hearts that we might believe and trust in Your never failing promises. When fear or anxiety begins to weigh us down, help us to remember the birds and the weeds... and trust in Your perfect love and care for us. To God be the glory.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Greenway Treasures
The other day, I joined a couple of friends for a walk on the greenway. First of all, can I just say, I love the greenway? It's a little slice of God's lush wild creation right smack in the middle of the city. Old Moses and I have seen countless deer, foxes (in fact a whole family of foxes one time), rabbits, snakes (okay, not as delightful to see them), blue herons (on the other hand--wonderfully delightful), a coyote (not delightful, though remarkable), and countless cardinals (delightful, once again), blue birds and on and on.
Then, of course, there is the constant joy for Moses of dogs and more dogs... and the smells. I've heard it said that sniffing the unmentionable stuff dogs love to sniff is their version of happily reading the morning paper. hmm, God has a purpose for everything, doesn't He... well, except roaches.
And this is all for FREE! Can you believe that? "There is no free lunch"--HA, wrong! Go walk on the greenway and breathe deep just after the rain has washed the earth clean and new. O, and don't forget to enjoy the sweet scent of the honeysuckle--and thank the Lord He just enabled you to take that air deep down into your lungs.
Anybody around here know how to create lungs that allow you to take that next breath or smell that scent of that honeysuckle... or that newborn baby... or that mint? Didn't think so.
The greenway beckons-- so we can listen to the symphony of birds on either side of the woods and marvel at the incalculable gift of sound and music. And ears that allow us to hear them. And hearts that allow us to feel wonder and gratitude.
Free, all free and courtesy of a God who adores us. "All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:3)
"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein" (Ps.24:1)
So today, might we rejoice in God's beauty all around us--His gift of creation, His gifts of hearing and seeing and smelling and feeling, and His gift of His Son through Whom He has given us the greatest of gifts: eternal life--
"For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether throne or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." (Col.1:16-17)
When we smell the rose or the freshly cut grass or the gardenia, might we rejoice in Him who created all things. And when we see our loved one's face or hear the sound of our child's laughter or gasp at the striking beauty of a pink-painted sunset, might we immediately thank Him and hand all the glory to our Lord. He is the One who sustains all creation and holds together every cell, every emotion, every thought, every person, and every entity on this planet, whether seen or unseen, by the power of His Name.
And He knows your name.
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for the common, everyday graces with which You surround our lives. Forgive us for so often forgetting that You are the Creator of all good gifts. Forgive us for taking so many treasures in our lives for granted.... for the free treasures in our lives are the greatest and deepest ones. Open our eyes, Lord, to the beauty and the wonder and the grace You shower upon us daily. Fill our hearts with thanksgiving to You and for You. Replace our restless hearts with hearts that rest in You.
And, Father, break our hearts with the things that break Yours--the need, the hurt, the emptiness, the sorrow, the fear. So many around us are hurting. Replace our hard hearts with Your tender heart. Give us gospel compassion and grace that pours out Your love upon those You made in Your image.
To God--our Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer--be all the glory.
Then, of course, there is the constant joy for Moses of dogs and more dogs... and the smells. I've heard it said that sniffing the unmentionable stuff dogs love to sniff is their version of happily reading the morning paper. hmm, God has a purpose for everything, doesn't He... well, except roaches.
And this is all for FREE! Can you believe that? "There is no free lunch"--HA, wrong! Go walk on the greenway and breathe deep just after the rain has washed the earth clean and new. O, and don't forget to enjoy the sweet scent of the honeysuckle--and thank the Lord He just enabled you to take that air deep down into your lungs.
Anybody around here know how to create lungs that allow you to take that next breath or smell that scent of that honeysuckle... or that newborn baby... or that mint? Didn't think so.
The greenway beckons-- so we can listen to the symphony of birds on either side of the woods and marvel at the incalculable gift of sound and music. And ears that allow us to hear them. And hearts that allow us to feel wonder and gratitude.
Free, all free and courtesy of a God who adores us. "All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:3)
"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein" (Ps.24:1)
So today, might we rejoice in God's beauty all around us--His gift of creation, His gifts of hearing and seeing and smelling and feeling, and His gift of His Son through Whom He has given us the greatest of gifts: eternal life--
"For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether throne or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." (Col.1:16-17)
When we smell the rose or the freshly cut grass or the gardenia, might we rejoice in Him who created all things. And when we see our loved one's face or hear the sound of our child's laughter or gasp at the striking beauty of a pink-painted sunset, might we immediately thank Him and hand all the glory to our Lord. He is the One who sustains all creation and holds together every cell, every emotion, every thought, every person, and every entity on this planet, whether seen or unseen, by the power of His Name.
And He knows your name.
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for the common, everyday graces with which You surround our lives. Forgive us for so often forgetting that You are the Creator of all good gifts. Forgive us for taking so many treasures in our lives for granted.... for the free treasures in our lives are the greatest and deepest ones. Open our eyes, Lord, to the beauty and the wonder and the grace You shower upon us daily. Fill our hearts with thanksgiving to You and for You. Replace our restless hearts with hearts that rest in You.
And, Father, break our hearts with the things that break Yours--the need, the hurt, the emptiness, the sorrow, the fear. So many around us are hurting. Replace our hard hearts with Your tender heart. Give us gospel compassion and grace that pours out Your love upon those You made in Your image.
To God--our Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer--be all the glory.
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