Blessed Father

Friday, September 8, 2017 (6:14 a.m.)

Blessed, Holy God,

Thank You. You are so very good. The news in the world is not. I confess to the struggle of keeping our faith and hope in You.

It’s so easy to lose sight of all the good You do. All the good You are. Thank You that You do not change.

My mind is all over the place this morning. Scattered. Going quickly from one thought to another.

Still I look to You. Your Word. Your promises.

Blessed, Holy, Father God, the one solid Truth we have on which to stand and hope is Your great love for each and every single one of us (John 3:16). I admit to wanting different than what I have. To who I am.

I struggle with self doubt. Not being enough. Not doing enough. Then I look to You. And the peace that washes over me as I sit in Your presence.

None of all the devastation going on in the world gets passed You unnoticed. Not the meanness. Nor the good.

Your Word tells us repeatedly of Your love. Your Truth. The hope we have in You.

I read in Psalms and everyday songs start singing to me. Music I don’t even know. A country western artist (Wade Hayes) singing ♪You Were, You Are, You’ll Always Be♪. Words I attribute to You Blessed Father.

I have places to go right now. Appointments to keep. Things to take of. Go with us. Before us; behind, beside, above, beneath. Completely surround us with Your presence Blessed Father.

It truly is a big and scary world out there. Left to ourselves we will be devoured (1 Peter 5:8). But with You? All things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

Thank You Blessed Father. We love You. Keep us in You we pray. Amen.

(307 words ~ 7:18 a.m.)

provision and deliverance

Thursday, September 7, 2017 (6:33 a.m.)

Blessed, Holy God,

Thank You. Thank You for Your PROVISION AND DELIVERANCE. Thank You for changing my focus. Thank You that as much as I know I want to be grateful, it is rarely my first response.

I confess to You Blessed God. Grumbling comes easy to me. As do growling. Grousing. And grudge holding. Praise and thanksgiving? I have to work at them.

Thank You that You do not give up on us. Your Word tells us often and repeatedly to love. You. Others. Ourselves. Simple enough when all seems right with the world.

Oh, but let the storm clouds come in. Or now, with even the threat of them, and I become surly. Sulky. Bitter.

Thank You Father that You do not leave us alone to our own devices. You set up a better system long ago.

(7:01 a.m.)

Up, down. Start, stop. Grumble… Grin? No. I refuse to grin.

(7:53 a.m.)

And just like that it all begins again.

Father, I truly AM grateful! You bless us profoundly. Of this I am absolutely aware. And appreciative.

Thank You for leading me to start singing ♪It Is Well With My Soul♪. It is. I know it is. Along with the hymn itself is the verse associated to it. Psalm 55:18.

Reading the verse, I start humming something else. What is it? How will I put it together? Oh, there it is. In the chorus. ♪Great Is Thy Faithfulness♪ Lamentations 3:22-23.

As I continue reading and singing, there are several hints to me smiling. I attempt to refuse and stay out of sorts. Thank You that You will have none of this for me.

Thank You for a phone call that got me up and started with putting our home back into order. Thank You for the difference that doing just this one thing makes. Yes Father. Thank You.

I confess to feeling peevish. It is absolutely not my best look. Refusing to care about simple, everyday tasks and other people is a complete defense mechanism that no longer serves me well.

I continue looking to You for a healthy balance to my heart, my soul, my mind and my strength. I push. I pull. I struggle. I stop.

(8:19 a.m.)

And then I start again.

♪Give Thanks♪ is singing to me now. And I do, Father. Truly I do.

I thank You for Your love. Your ceaseless, unending love. Your love that covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). 

You call us to live for You. In You. By, with and through You. Make it happen for me this day. Empower and enable me to actually BE the woman You [and I] want me to be. Not the one I continue trying to be.

Grateful. Thankful. Loving. Kind. Peaceful. Patient. Good. Joyful. Gentle. Faithful. Self-controlled (Galatians 5:22-23). Mm… yes Father. An extremely tall bill. One I absolutely cannot fill on my own.

♪Holy Spirit You Are Welcome Here Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. Your glory God is what our hearts long for, To be overcome by Your presence, Lord♪

Mm… yes please. Do all You must. All of which I am completely unable on my own. Let me love as You would have me love. Freely. Without reservation, or hesitation.

♪Freely, Freely I have received♪ Make it so I will freely give (Matthew 10:8b). Yes, Lord. Yes. Make it so.

I love You. And I thank You Blessed God. Do all You must. Thank You. Amen.

(604 ~ 8:34 a.m.)

a right spirit

Tuesday, September 5, 2017 (7:28 a.m.)

Fussy. Cranky. Out of sorts. These are very accurate descriptions of myself recently. And I honestly don’t know how to change it Father.

Thank You that You do! Thank You that we get to bring every single aspect of our being to You. ♪Change My Heart, O God♪ started singing within me. Thank You for the accompanying Bible verse.

Psalm 51:10. David’s psalm of repentance. “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me (World English Bible).

Mm, yes Father! So many different ways of asking You to renew my spirit! Such a variety of word pictures come to mind.

The Voice, “…restore within me a sense of being brand new.”

Tree of Life Version, “Let me hear joy and gladness, so the bones You crushed may rejoice.”

Skipping down to verse 17, I confess to being a fair weather rejoicer. When all is as I would have it, the “Hallelujah”s and “Thank You, Jesus”s come readily and easily. Let the storm clouds roll in and watch me grumble.

“The sacrifice You want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise” (v. 17). How embarrassed I am to admit to having my spirit broken by drastic changes in the weather.

Rather than continuing to chide and chastise myself unmercifully, it is indeed to You I keep looking. Asking Your forgiveness. Seeking Your guidance. Knocking on Your door of goodness and grace. Mm, yes Father. It is You I long to glorify and enjoy.

The Message presents Your Truth in such descriptive words. I read David’s Psalm (51) to You and am uplifted “Soak me in Your laundry and I’ll come out clean, scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life

clear view

Sunday, September 3, 2017 (7:07 a.m.)

Blessed, Holy God,

Thank You! Truly. Fully. Thank You!

I came out here feeling discouraged. There’s another setback. The list of “it’s always something” continues getting longer. And I don’t always remember to bring it to You… first!

Yes Father. Forgive my tendency to plow through. Straight on ’til morning. With little attention paid to You beforehand.

(10:04 a.m.)

And I’m back.

Still trying to figure out how to clear the water of our pool. Clarity. I’m seeking clarity. Is this some kind of metaphor?

Mm, most Holy God. I love You so much. I keep turning to Your Word. Looking up verses regarding “clear water”, “clearness”, “clarity” and now “clear view”. Mm, yes Father.

How I truly seek a clear view. Not just of the cloudy water in our swimming pool.

The Life Recovery Bible comment for Exodus 24:9-11 begins by affirming, “One of the best ways for us to see ourself as we actually are is to gain a clear view of God and His glory.” How very true is this?

Does my own murky thinking obscure the awesomeness of Your glory. Am I not able to see the forest for the trees? Can’t see the bottom for the water?

Guide me blessed God. Show me what You want me to see. Teach me what You want me to know.

antonyms and acrostics

Saturday, September 2, 2017 (12:09 p.m.)

Escondido, CA

Holy God,

ARGH! How quickly things change. One minute peace, the next? Calamity!

A misplaced item tips just enough to break a bottle. The next thing I know I feel juvenile all over again. 

Tears in my eyes right now affirm how deeply seated these feelings of failure and clumsiness run. Throughout childhood. All the way to present day.

How I thank You Father for antonyms. And acrostics. “ARGH!” Reminds me to “Always Revere God’s Holiness!” Even [or is that especially?] when I am feeling humbled. Humiliated. Ashamed. Embarrassed. Vulnerable.

Thank You Father. In my powerlessness just now I thought to come to You. I cannot control these feelings of worthlessness. Ah, but YOU can! Thank You Father. Praise You.

The antonym for calamity? Godsend! Boon, blessing, bonus, benefit, advantage, help, aid, asset; stroke of luck, windfall, manna, (from heaven).

I don’t know what stroke of luck a broken bottle [of wine, no less] could possibly be yet I am offering You my now nervous stomach trusting Your blessing in it all. Do whatever is necessary in helping me become the confident, God-created-in-Your-image woman You would have me know and believe myself to be.

I love You. I thank You. Amen.

(213 words ~ 12:34 p.m.)

incredibly good and awesome

Saturday, September 2, 2017 (8:41 a.m.)

Escondido, CA

Incredibly Awesome God,

Thank You for how good You are. Incredibly good and awesome. Mm, yes Father. Incredibly good and awesome.

I honestly don’t even know where to start with You this morning. Thank and praise always. Yes. “In all things give thanks” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 ).

(9:33a.m.)

Yes, Father. The longer I sit here, the more distracted I get. Then I take that one deep, cleansing breath that brings my thinking back to You. All You are. All You do. And once again I am thankful. So incredibly thankful.

Thank You Father. Thank You for the good You have brought into my life. Sitting in a place that is unfamiliar to me, I am at peace. A sense of deeply-seated love. That kind of love that leads to the true peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:7), ♫down in my heart♫.

Why? Because of You. And Your tremendous love for each and every single one of us. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that none should perish, but have ♫everlasting life♫”.

Holy God, how I thank You for the way You intersperse Your Word with music containing Your Scriptures in my subconsciousness. Without attempting to be aware of certain thoughts or ideas, Your Truth leads. Thank You for the eagerness I have to follow.

Jesus, I love You. Thank You for the privileges and blessings You have allowed me in this life. You came. You suffered. You died. And You came again. So all would not perish but have ♫everlasting life♫. There it is again.

There is currently a phrase that uses the word stupid to describe an incredibly good thing. There is no way I would ever want to refer to You as stupid. While at the very same time, that is exactly what I am experiencing. A stupidly good morning.

There truly is no intelligence involved here right now. I am genuinely enjoying being alone with You. My thoughts going to the happiest memories. Hope and joy leading the pack. Again, because of You. Your love. Your plan. Your grace. Your incredible goodness. And awesomeness.

Blessed God, use me this day. Exactly as You wish. Be in, with, by, through and for me in every single encounter I have. Let it be that You are magnified and glorified in some absolutely unexpected ways.

Thank You for blessing me and keeping me in Your glorious presence. I love You. I thank You. Amen.

(429 words ~ 10:15 a.m.)

healthy guilt

Friday, September 1, 2017 (7:32 a.m.)

Holy God,

Thank You. Thank You for so very many things. Electricity. Some sleep. Some more sleep. Rest. Air conditioning. Creature comforts.

And right here in the middle of thanking You for the things that help ease our existence I’m feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt. Other people are hurting. And still other people are helping. While I am not.

Talk with me this morning about guilt. I confess to not knowing what is true guilt and what is false. Mm, yes Father. Talk to me.

Reading an e-article concerning healthy guilt versus hurtful guilt, I feel a smile coming on. There’s a sense of power coursing through me. A legitimate, “Aha!” as I once again read of satan as being the accuser (Revelation 12:10).

Thank You Father. Yes! I admit to feeling much like a ping pong ball right now. Excitement over the Truth and promises of Your Word one moment. Followed almost immediately by the intense self persecution of a “Yeah, but what about…?” mindset.

Healthy [true] guilt smack up against harmful [false] guilt. The Holy Spirit and Your grace versus the father of lies (John 8:44) and condemnation. Mm, and here it is! “There is therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Yes. Yes. Yes Father, please. Equip me to live this day in the strength of Your mighty power (Ephesians 6:10).

I love You so very much. Let it be obvious in my thoughts, words and deeds. Be glorified, Blessed God. Yes. Thank You. I love You. Amen.

(269 words ~ 9:40 a.m.)