storms

Saturday, April 30, 2011 (9:27 EDT)

Drury Inn Birmingham, AL

Loving Lord,

I haven’t been here with You these past few days because I honestly didn’t know how to start. I knew tears would be involved [they are] and I was afraid. Afraid that once I started to let them fall I wouldn’t be able to stop them.

Lord, I want to thank You for our safety and that of those around us on this particular visit to the storm beaten south. Oh, but Lord there are SO very many that did not fair nearly as well. Thank You Lord for our son who wants to help others. Thank You for the opportunity to offer hugs to those in need of them.

Blessed Lord, I confess to You the opportunity I missed the other day to share You and Your Word with one who was truly terrified. I used the rationale that I didn’t know her well enough. But that’s not at all true is it? Having just met her, I knew her well enough to hold her until I felt her give in to the emotion and relax. But when I thought to offer to pray with her. I choked. I thought my way out of it. Forgive me Lord.

I wanted to call upon Your Word right then and there, but nothing came. Looking last night under HELP IN TIME OF NEED in the Bible placed in our room by The Gideons, I came to Psalm 121. Listed under the heading “Protection in Time of DANGER”.

There we truly were, in the very real danger of the passing storm. How I sincerely wish I had had the words of this exact psalm to offer. I had Your essence. I KNEW You were in charge. I confessed my own fear to You at the time. But I didn’t share that knowledge when I knew full well that I could/should have. Again I ask Dearest Lord that You would forgive me.

So here I am Loving Lord, ready, willing and able to do the very next best thing. I will write this offering out and have it passed along to her. You are our every strength in times of trouble. It IS in You that “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Help me Lord to not only stand on that very truth, but to SHARE it as well.

I love You Lord. I need You and I truly long to share You with others. Thank You for this desire. Make me able to follow through on it. I love You. Amen.

(437 words ~ 10:02 a.m.)

interesting

Tuesday, April 26, 2011 (5:02 a.m.)

Beautiful Lord,

It’s interesting. I woke up singing ♫Joyful, Joyful, we adore Thee♫. Part way down the hall I realized it had changed to ♫Beautiful One♫. The most interesting thing about it is that I didn’t notice when it happened.

Lord. Thank You for helping me sing. Thank You that even when all the words aren’t right here with me, often times I find them rather easily.

(6:38 a.m.)

But I didn’t stay here with You, Lord. I was feeling especially tired and went back to lay down. And now what I am experiencing is sadness. Deep. Powerful. Seemingly overwhelming sadness. Do You know from whence it comes?

I am on the verge of tears. It seems that just about anything would send me right over the edge. Rather than stay there trying to figure it out on my own, I’m turning to You Dearest Lord. The ♫Beautiful One I love Beautiful One I adore♫ to the ♫Beautiful One my soul must sing♫

And right there in the midst of singing to You, something I read last evening just ‘popped’ into my mind. “Spiritual DNA”. Hmm. Interesting.

As much as I don’t understand the science of physical DNA, I’ve just recently begun to again ‘embrace my inner giant’. I’m tall, Lord. You know that. You knew it before I was born (Psalm 139:13). Because of something in my physical DNA make-up, I’ve been considered tall my whole life. The weight may go up or down. The height? Not so much. I can wear flats to try and minimize it, but it’s not going to change. Stand tall and be proud or slouch and try to hide it. It’s my choice. But I can’t change the truth. I’m tall.

Today I’m examining Bible verses that reference our Spiritual make-up. Isaiah 49:1, “Listen to me, all of you in far-off lands: The Lord called me before my birth. From within the womb He called my name.” Jeremiah 1:5, “I knew you before you were formed within your mother’s womb; before you were born I sanctified you and appointed you as my spokesman to the world.” Romans 8:29, “For from the very beginning God decided that those who came to Him – and all along He knew who would – should become like His Son, so that His Son would be the First, with many brothers.”

Lord, I won’t pretend to understand any of this. I’m tall because my dad was tall and so was his. It’s in my physical DNA. I’m Yours because You said so. Not only do I find this interesting, I think it’s fascinating!

Emotionally, right now, I’m a wreck. Physically? I’m tall. Spiritually? Rock solid in the Truth that You created and called me to be Yours. Lord, I love You. I’m not going to try and figure any of this out. I’m just going to rest in Your Truth. Trust it. Allow it to wash over me.

Interesting, Lord. VERY interesting! Thank You. I love You. Amen.

(505 words ~ 7:46 a.m.)

ridiculous

Monday, April 25, 2011 (7:24 a.m.)

Beloved Lord,

I am behaving ridiculously. Pouting. Sullen. My feelings got hurt and I’m not willing to let it go without an apology. This is in NO way good behavior on my part. I am not honoring You. There is bitterness and resentment and all kinds of justifications brewing. And here I sit. Believing one thing (I must forgive), yet doing another (holding a grudge).

Work in me here Lord. I am told in Your Word (Philippians 4:13) that ‘I can do all things through YOU who gives me strength’. Soften my heart. Make me willing to drop my guard. Ridiculous doesn’t look good on me. It’s not my strong suit. It goes against everything You suffered and died for.

You offered forgiveness to those who crucified You. And I’m waging war because I didn’t like a tone of voice. Ridiculous, Lord! Forgive me I pray.

I could choose to just let the whole thing go. I could offer up a good heaping dose of mercy and grace. I could take another stab at turning the other cheek. I could. But I haven’t.

For more than fourteen hours I have nursed this grudge. I’ve ever so quietly called names. I’ve built up my case in my mind. And through it all I’ve waited for the object of my scorn to notice. To care. This is NOT Your best for me! I know this.

I sit here Lord. With Your Word in my hands. I read. I believe. And I attempt. And then recoil.

I begin to pray. The Serenity Prayer has merit. Even The Lord’s Prayer. But I don’t want to do anything so casually. So rote. Instead? I pout. I sulk. I continue to hold on to gunk that does not glorify You in any way, shape, or form.

The best I can do right now is to confess to You, using the words of the prodigal son in Luke 15:21. “Father, I have sinned against heaven and You, and am not worthy of being called Your son [in this case daughter].”

I waged a war I stood no chance of winning. Using ridiculous earthly weapons of silence, passive aggression, self-righteousness and justifications.

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned! Rather than ask You to make me an instrument of Your peace, I set out intentionally to sow hatred instead of love. I offered injury rather than pardon. Darkness, not light. Sadness, not joy.

Continuing with this prayer from St. Francis of Assisi I ever so humbly ask You “Oh Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.”

Forgive me Lord that I didn’t come straight to You with all of this last night as soon as I recognized what was going on. Thank You for Your willingness to wait me out and to love me anyway!

The Life Recovery Bible commentary of Luke 15:20-24 says “The father’s great compassion for his younger son portrays God’s response to anyone who repents. Like the father in this story, God waits for the addict or sinner to come to his senses and return of his own volition.”

Here I am, Dad! SO tired of being ridiculous! Thank You that You are willing to love me no matter how ridiculous I may behave.

One last quote about this section of Scripture is from a devotion entitled Restoration. “The fact that we are able to recognize our life as degenerate or insane proves that there is hope for a better life. We are reminded of a time when life was good, and we long to have it restored. When we turn in the direction of God who is more powerful, who represents the memory of something better, we will find the Power who can restore us to sanity.”

Thank You Lord. I forgot. I slipped. I fell. I dug myself into a much deeper hole than necessary. And You were ever willing to help me up – JUST like You did Peter when he took his eyes off of You while walking on the water (Matthew 14:31). Paraphrasing this verse only to fit this occasion, I read it as such “O girl of little faith, why were you so ridiculous?”

Thank You Lord that even in this, You rescued me first and then asked the question. Thank You Lord. Now can we go play together?

There’s much to be done around here today. And I won’t be able to accomplish a single thing without You. I love You so very much and I am ever so grateful that Your forgiveness for me is SO much greater than mine for others. Thank You Lord. I love You. Amen.

(828 words ~ 9:09 a.m.)

tears

Easter Sunday, April 24, 2011 (6:30 a.m.)

Blessed Lord,

You are risen! You are risen indeed! Never do I remember the tears streaming down my face at just the reciting of this Truth. Oh, look! Here they come again.

Never can I thank You enough Dearest Lord. You came. You taught. You obeyed. You suffered. Then died. You were buried. People mourned. And You rose. All so that those who believe in You would be saved. I’ve given this a lot of lip service through the years. But this morning Lord, Your Truth goes extraordinarily deep!

Thank You Lord. Thank You that for all the years I have sought to reenact that ‘perfect’ sunrise service shared with my brother eight years ago, this particular rainy morning is succeeding in it’s own way. It has none of the physical beauty. There was only one small glimpse of color caught through the bathroom window. But the Truth Lord. YOUR Truth is practically SCREAMING at me in the softest, most gentle ways. Thank You Lord.

Thank You that even though the roll dough requested for the celebration dinner in honor of Your Resurrection didn’t rise like it was supposed to, it’s okay. Because YOU did! Thank You.

Thank You for the unusually loud singing of the birds this morning. Many of them, Lord. All together. In great chorus. It was beautiful. And very brief. Just enough for us to imagine them joining together to announce Your Good News to one another, "Christ is risen!" "He is risen indeed!"

It’s rainy and dreary outside. Not at all what I would normally describe as ‘the best Easter sunrise service ever’. Ah, but Lord. I think it just might be! Another layer of YOUR power and the hope is coming alive for me here in Your Word.

Here in the commentaries for Luke, chapter twenty-four, in The Life Recovery Bible, your disciples are described as having “showed complete helplessness in dealing with the circumstances at hand.” How often do we today resemble that statement?

“But after the Resurrection, in the book of Acts, a new Power enabled them to recover their courage and go into the world with the message of God’s Good News.” This Power is available to each and every one of us! It’s ‘greater than death itself and is more than able to help us overcome our dependencies and compulsions.’

This Truth is not new to me. But somehow the following sentence brings an element I’ve never truly considered. “The Resurrection is the very source of our recovery.” Lord, I am asking You this morning that I would not only believe this Truth. I want to LIVE it Lord. In YOUR Power! The mighty Power of Your Resurrection!

As I continue in this particular Eastertide, I ask You to prepare me to truly be ready to receive the Power of Your Holy Spirit. That I would use it well in becoming the woman of Yours that You have deemed me to be.

I love You Lord. And like the little girl part of me that still remembers holding a flower in my hand to place on the cross at the front of the church once again I sing on Easter morning, ♫Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia! Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia! Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia! Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia! ♫

Praise You indeed Blessed Lord! ♫Hymns of praise then let us sing… Unto Christ, our heavenly King… Alleluia! ♫

Thank You Dearest Lord. I love You so much. Happy Easter. Amen.

(598 words ~ 8:04 a.m.)

appropriate

Saturday, April 23, 2011 (7:36 a.m.)

Beloved God,

Since around 2:30 this morning I’ve been thinking about today. With yesterday having been Good Friday, in my humble opinion today could very appropriately be known as Sad Saturday. And in some Internet searching I confirm that what I have been feeling ever since first having a conscious thought SO much earlier this morning is indeed appropriate.

Thank You for leading me Lord. Thank You for guiding me to a couple of sites which endorse my thinking. In two of them I read that today is often referred to as Holy Saturday or even Easter Saturday. I also learn of “The Easter Triduum” ~ “The Three Days” beginning Thursday evening of Holy Week with Holy Communion [to commemorate Your Last Supper] and ending with evening prayers on Easter Sunday.

Lord, how I thank You for showing me the appropriateness of the ‘lowered feeling tones’ surrounding me this morning. Thank You also that after falling back to sleep much earlier, I awoke with the Truth of Psalm 30:5. “…weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”

Blessed Lord, reading more of the accounts of Your last days I truly thank You that we have the expanded version of knowing what takes place at the tomb on Easter Sunday. Thank You Lord that we are not without hope!

One site says this about Holy Saturday, “This is the seventh day of the week, the day Jesus rested in the tomb.” What a unique way of presenting that dark day in history. I never thought of You ‘resting in the tomb’.

This same site in describing “The Days of Holy Week” tells of some church services that observe a “Service of Darkness [or Shadows]” on the evening of Good Friday where ‘Scripture readings and meditation are done in stages with lights or candles that are gradually extinguished to symbolize the growing darkness not only of Jesus’ death but of hopelessness in the world without God.’

Yes Lord, how I thank You for confirming that this feeling of sadness is appropriate! The writer of this particular webpage again refers to today as “traditionally a day of quiet meditation as Christians contemplate the darkness of a world without a future and without hope apart from God and His grace.” Oh Dearest Lord, how appropriate sadness would be if that were true!

Another webpage writer refers to the vigil that some people keep to remember the faithfulness of the women at the tomb, “even when it didn’t make sense”. He goes on to say that ‘sometimes the best you can do is to stay faithful to God when He doesn’t make sense, or after your dreams have died, or your life is in shambles, or after you’re doing great and life is good’.

He goes on to say how You, Lord, remain faithful to us, even when we are unfaithful to You. And then he ends with this most appropriate blessing. “May this day be for you a vigil of faithfulness to the One who is faithful to you, even should you fail to keep watch and pray. And then, may your Easter encounter with the Risen Christ – who, it turns out, is establishing His realm, and it’s not business as usual – may this Lord of Life surprise you with a healthy dose of new life.”

Oh most Dear and Precious Lord, how I thank You for guiding and directing me in learning more of what today truly represents. You are so good and I am so grateful. Thank You. I love You. Amen.

(601 words ~ 9:22 a.m.)

sacrifice

Good Friday, April 22, 2011 (7:17 a.m.)

Loving Lord,

Today marks the day that You made the ultimate sacrifice for the benefit of mankind. I can’t even begin to imagine all it took for You to endure the seemingly unendurable.

I’ve been reading this morning of Your willingness and Your sacrifice. The sacrifice I can’t fathom, but am truly grateful.

Lord Jesus, I didn’t plan to be reading in Hebrews this morning. In fact my thoughts are spinning as I am referred back to Genesis and the original sacrifice. In chapter three, verse 21, animals were slain to provide skins to clothe the couple who brought sin into the world.

Coming back over to Hebrews 10, I read more of Your sacrifice and how it truly paid the price once for all. As I continue hungering and thirsting to know more, I read backward in this book. Chapter 9 titles You as “the Perfect Sacrifice” and lists more of the old rules of worship. Chapter 8 names You as “Our High Priest” and tells what all that entails. Chapter 7 describes You as “like Melchizedek” which takes me to Psalm 110 and Genesis 14:18-20 to learn even more about how Your sacrifice ties it all together.

And throughout the reading and the meditating and the peacefulness I get to experience because of Your great sacrifice on my behalf, a tune continues to ebb and flow within me. Finally recognizing and looking it up I get to sing to You ♫and I love You for the cross I’m overwhelmed by the mystery I love You for the cost That Jesus You would do this for me When You were broken, You were beaten, You were punished, I go free You were wounded and rejected In Your mercy – I am healed♫

Lord, this Truth is so very hard to wrap my head around! Instead of even trying to understand it any deeper, I truly just want to accept and embrace Your sacrifice on my behalf. To sing wholeheartedly and with such appreciation ♫I will love You for the cross And I will love You for the cost Man of sufferings Bringer of my peace You came into a world of shame and paid the price we could not pay Death that brought me life Blood that brought me home… By Your wounds I am healed… For the cross I thank You Oh Lord, for the cross…

Yes Lord. Thank You for Your sacrifice of the cross. Thank You. I love You. Amen.

(419 words ~ 9:06 a.m.)

good God

Maundy Thursday, April 21, 2011 (3:57 a.m.)

Good and Gracious God,

Here I thought I was going to talk to You about it again being so early, and just one word in, I’d rather learn more about how good You are.

(6:43 a.m.)

Thank You Lord. After finding two verses (Psalm 34:8 and Matthew 19:17) in The Message that refer to You as good, I got to go back to sleep with that on my mind. Two verses which open the channel to all kinds of thoughts and ideas. Make me aware of Your truth here Lord.

The verse in Matthew quotes Jesus as saying, “Why do you question me about what is good. God is the One who is good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what He tells you.” Well, that sure seems easy enough! Ah, but that it were!

This is where I come along, in all my humanness and complicate things. Thank You Lord that You are ever near to remind each and every one of us to keep things simple. Which takes me over to the whole of Psalm 34.

1. Bless God every chance I get

2. Live and breathe God

3. Join together in spreading the news and getting the word out

4. Seek the Lord and be freed from anxious fears

5. “Look at Him; give Him your warmest smile. Never hide your feelings from Him.”

6. When desperate, call out and let God get me out of a tight spot

7. “God’s angel sets up a circle of protection around us while we pray.”

8. “Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see – how good God is. Blessed are you who run to Him.

9. “Worship God if you want the best; worship opens doors to all His goodness.”

10. “…God-seekers are full of God.”

11. Come, listen, receive

12. Love life? Desire beauty?

13. Guard tongue, no more lying

14. “Turn your back on sin; do something good. Embrace peace – don’t let it get away!”

15. You keep an eye on Your friends, Your ears pick up every moan and groan

16. You won’t put up with rebels; You’ll cull them from the pack

17. Anyone crying for help? You are listening, ready to rescue

18. You are right there for the broken-hearted; helping those kicked in the gut catch their breath

19. “Disciples so often get into trouble; still God is there every time.”

20. You are our bodyguard, shielding every bone; that not even a finger gets broken

21. “The wicked commit slow suicide; they waste their lives hating good.”

22. You pay for each slaves freedom; NO ONE who runs to You loses out

It’s all right here Lord! Telling us exactly how to live our days in You. Sitting here, reading Your Truth, trying desperately to absorb it into every fiber of my being, knowing that when I leave the confines of our time together here in Your Word, human nature will again fight for ultimate bragging rights of my soul.

Jesus said that You are the One who is good and that we are to just do what You tell us. Make it so Dearest Lord. Work in and through me so I will be able to ‘just do what You tell me’. I love You so darned much. Thank You for loving me first! Amen.

(560 words ~ 8:39 a.m.)