Archives

Fall Thoughts

Oct23

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Quiet time this morning was a bit different.

Instead of watching the sun rise in the east as usual,

I sat my my window to watch it rain.

Not much rain, just sparse, big drops.

Big drops, dropping on yellow maple leaves.

The drops caused some of the leaves to look like they were shivering.

Some other big drops caused the leaves to come loose from their branches,

and fall gently to the ground.

Hypnotically I watched as each leaf fell.

Some floated straight down while others appeared to drift off to the side.

What are the things in my life that hang on, and continue to shiver though dead?

What are the things in my life that let loose when hit with the water of the Word?

What are the things that fall straight away?

What are the things that drift off to the side, hidden from the path of the rake?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.  2 Corinthians 5:17

What will it take to shake loose the useless parts of my old life?

Those things that crowd out the newness that Christ created for me.

What will it take  to shake off the old to make room for the new?

Those things that no longer fit in my life.

If all things are new, then I am I holding on out of habit?

I get to CHOOSE to let them go.

It’s already been done!

He has made me new.

All I need do is accept it,

To CHOOSE it.

He has raked away the old to make room for the new life that is already waiting inside to bloom.

What do you think?

Are there any old leaves hanging on to your life that need to be loosed and raked away?

Are there any habits left that will slow the blooming process that awaits you?

Please join the “Rescue” tab at the top of this page if you would like some help with that.

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Fearfully and wonderfully made.

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Can You Hear It?

Oct19

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Hear what?

The voice of god.

 

This topic comes up so frequently in conversation.

 

I’m no expert,

but I have made some observations and asked some questions.

I’ve gotten some great answers,

and been quite bewildered by the answers of others.

 

Here’s what I think.

I believe God is always speaking.

Always.

I am just not always listening.

Sometimes I think I am listening,

only to find later how much I missed.

OR

I do not understand the manner in which He is speaking.

These two observations made me want to find a better way of hearing.

It’s been a long, long study,

but I’m learning more and more every day.

 

Questions…

How does God speak?

How do we know we are not just making it up?

What about all those coincidences?

If I connect the dots, will they lead back to Him?

What that one scripture that I simply cannot get out of my mind?

Can I HEAR His voice with my ears?

What about those “gut” feelings?

 

I am positive that you can add more questions to this list.

As many people as there are,

there are AT LEAST that many questions.

 

As stated earlier, I believe God is ALWAYS speaking.

Consider this thought –

What if –

  Babies were born with the ability to hear and communicate with God,

and they lost that ability through neglect or lack of knowledge or just plain unbelief?

Perhaps the big people around them didn’t know this language,

or they chose not to believe it if they did know.

Could be?

 

If we spend time each day getting to know God and His Word,

then our minds will become renewed.

Slowly, over time,

our thoughts will become more like His.

We will learn through His Word about His character.

We will learn through His Word His expectations.

We will learn through His Word that He LONGS to communicate with us.

We will learn through His Word the “sound” of His voice.

My sheep hear my voice and they know me.

The voice of another they will not follow.

John 10:26 -28

(That’s another couple of posts all by itself!)

When we spend the time,

We can be fairly certain that we are not making it up.

He is Faithful to watch over his Word to do it

Jeremiah 1:12

Do your thoughts align with God’s Word?

Do your thoughts align with the promises He has already written for you in His Word?

If so,

you can be pretty sure He’s been speaking to you.

Somehow.

 

In the late 80’s there was a program called “Perfect Strangers”.

In it, the character Balki was always saying “What a co-in-o-dink!”

He meant coincidence of course.

Well, I do not believe in them.

I choose to believe that it is God’s way of connecting the dots for our lives.

Look back on some things in your life.

Things that in no way go together,

but in the end,

the dots connect to the next big thing that God had for you.

 

He’s talking to you.

Are you listening?

 

Is there a verse that you have read that just will not let you go?

One of my biggest ones; Psalm 139 of course.

but especially verses 13-16-

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you  when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me  were written in your book before one of them came to be.

 

Oh yeah!

I’m NOT a mistake!

 

God’s voice,

God speaking to me,

will always make me know that I have worth and value.

 

I HAVE heard the audible voice of God.

This is not so common,

but I believe that God uses whatever it will take to get us to listen.

In the circumstance I was in,

I am so glad He spoke,

no,

He yelled!

People tell me that God wouldn’t yell.

 In my case He yelled “SHUT UP!”

(He would never say that!)

Well He did.

It WAS the only way I would listen.

It made all the difference in the outcome.

 

My husband has heard His voice audibly as well.

If he hadn’t listened,

we could have been burying our daughter due to a strangers foolish mistake.

 

I’ve had experiences where my insides just didn’t settle well in a given circumstance.

Some of those unsettled times I have not paid attention,

and later paid the price for “not listening”.

By the same token,

Some I have taken to heart,

listened,

and in the end seen exactly the pit fall Holy Spirit was trying to keep me from.

God was speaking to me.

In my gut.

 

I choose to believe that He uses all these ways and more

to communicate to a world that He so longs to interact with.

To SPEAK to us.

To build relationship with us.

To love and to bless us.

 

I have a little story I’s like to share with you on this subject

I have permission to do so.

My friend and I were talking a while back about this very topic.

We were talking about the fact that we want to teach our children and grand-children

how to hear God in whatever way He chooses to speak.

Recently she was sitting on her front porch,

She was enjoying the sights and sounds and smells of the beautiful fall here in the mid-west.

She spends her quiet time there.

Encountering God and listening for His voice.

On one day,

her not quite pre-school age daughter came to join her.

She was very quiet,

and after a bit her mom was going to speak to her,

and she put her little finger to her lips and shushed her mom.

A bit shocked,

mom asked why?

To which the little replied,

“I think I hear God talking.”

So of course mom asked,

“So what do you think He’s saying?”

To which the little answered.

“Chirp, chirp.”

 

A heartwarming story to be sure.

A surprising answer from a babe.

Purity.

 Sweetness.

A complete lack of guile.

A heart ready to HEAR what God has to say.

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Fearfully and wonderfully made

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The Invitation

Oct15

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I’ve been given an invitation.

It’s a special invitation.

It’s an invitation that fills my heart with joy.

It is an invitation to a secret place.

No.

 It is an invitation to a sacred place.

This invitation is from a dear friend.

She has invited me to join her in her secret place.

She has invited me to her sacred place.

The place where she meets with ……………..

God.

Alone.

The place where she encounters God.

 

What an honor and a blessing.

Her invitation is a reminder to me.

A reminder that my Dear Savior longs for me to come to that secret place with Him.

Reminds me that He is waiting in that sacred place.

Reminds me that He wants to have an encounter with me,

as much as I need an encounter with Him.

 

You Dear Reader,

If you don’t not have such a place,

A secret, sacred place of encounter with God,

I strongly urge you to get one.

Find one.

Make one.

 

Make a place where you can rest with your Savior.

A place where you can abide with Him.

A place where you can go daily.

Be it early before your day begins,

or late and at the end of your day.

It may even be when your children are napping.

 

No matter.

Just do it.

 

When you encounter Father God there,

even your problems will seem to have an air of grace in them.

 

Remember the line in “Field of Dreams”?

“If you build it, they will come.”

 

Well if you make this place for Him,

He will come.

 

My own secret place is not fancy.

This chair belonged to my Mother.

It is older than I.

It sits next to the window in my office.

It only has three legs with an empty can from some dark chocolate

rolled wafer sticks serving as its fourth .

 

When I place myself in that seat,

even for a few moments.

He comes.

We encounter each other,

and joy fills my heart.

 

If you make  it,

He will come.

I promise.

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Fearfully and wonderfully made

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