Tag Archive | habits

Thanksgiving Face

Nov25
*
Our Thanksgivings and Christmases have not quite been the same in the last couple of years for various reasons.
We are thankful just the same.
We have an amazing God who supplies every need we have.
The end snapshot seems to appear a bit different than we like perhaps, but it’s still a fine picture of His great provision for us.
Philippians 4:19 (NIV)
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
*
Time spent pondering these things must give way to the telling.
The thoughts must come out,
they must be shared.
*
Is thankfulness held inside simply holding on to a warm fuzzy for our own comfort?
Is it thankfulness if it is not spoken?
Or is our thankfulness a contagious thing?
Something that when spoken,
makes a warmth begin in another’s heart?
*
I am and have been thankful to God for a very long time.
Yet, I do have a problem.
My heart somehow forgets to notify my face.
My voice box should proclaim this thankfulness to my God and to others.
Scripture says so.
Luke 17:15 (NIV1984)
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.
And yet,
I do not live out loud as much as I would like.
*
I used to live out loud.
The raucous, rude, out of line kind of loud.
Now that my heart is aligning more and more with the Spirit of God,
Quietness is more my style.
The quietness and peace in my heart is definitely a gift from God.
I no longer stress so much about most of the stuff I used to stress about.
He is in control.
My interest revolve around him,
and so I believe His interests revolve around me as well.
Isaiah 32:17 (NIV1984)
The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.
Quietness of heart I believe,
not necessarily of mouth.
*
So I begin.
To encourage myself to use my voice.
To thank the Maker of heaven and earth for the peace that resides in my heart.
To live out loud again.
I ask Him to help it to reach my face.
That His countenance will shine through my being,
and encourage others to trust Him as well.
Colossians 1:27 (NIV) To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
*
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made.

Can You Hear It?

Oct19

*

 

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.

—————-

Fearfully and wonderfully made

*

 

 

 

 

Just Show Up

Oct17

A while back, one of our pastors told us that if we did not have a time and a place to meet God, the chances of actually doing it were slim.

I had to agree with him wholeheartedly.

I had established a time and a place,

and meeting God there was on some days the only place I wanted to be.

This intentionality caused my heart to yearn for Him even more.

The more I knew Him, the more I wanted to know Him.

This is still true today.

In fact, many of my Significant Encounters happen in this very place..

What I’ve learned is that when I put myself into the position to find Him,

suddenly, I see Him.                       

Not with my eyes, but with the peace of Him that settles in my heart.

Whatever might happen the rest of the day,

is not as likely to ruffle me as much as if I haven’t spoken to God first.

Note, I said spoken to God?

Well, know that some days I say not one word.

Some days I read my Bible.

Most days I write in my journal.

Somedays I read an inspirational or instructional book.

I even have a little devotional that I like to peruse.

Whatever I sense that is right for the day.

Sometimes it’s an hour or more.

Some days it’s ten minutes.

Long ago, Tommy Barnett taught us that you should “Read until you burn”.

What he meant was simply to stay in that place until you sense His burning in your heart.

In my case, I sense His pleasure with our time together.

There are no set of defined rules.

If there were, these times would grow flat and boring very quickly.

But a time and a place?

Any time best for you.

Any place you can be undisturbed.

What a difference this makes.

Psalm 27:8 (NASB)

When You said, “ Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, O LORD,

I shall I seek”.

Then really, all you have to do is show up!

Do you have a time and a place?

Care to share?