the Rubber meets the road

Saturday, October 29, 2011 (9:51 a.m.)

Birmingham, AL

♫Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

♫There’s just something about that name♫ I noticed it yesterday right after I had posted and shut down the computer. It’s been almost three decades and I still call You “Lord”. Your name is Jesus. I need to practice saying, “Thank You JESUS”. Not just Lord.

I had the opportunity last night. I didn’t use it, but it was there. I received some unexpected, unsettling news and one of my first thoughts was to announce, “You know what? I’m going to thank Jesus in advance for what He is going to do in this situation.” I thought it. But I didn’t SAY it.

Today Lord, I mean, Jesus, I want to do better. You ARE my Savior! My hope. My Shepherd. And I want to announce it regularly to all I meet. Not hiding behind Our Father’s most holy, more socially acceptable name. No Jesus. I want to say Your name. Loud and proud!

Who ♫paid it all♫? All to whom do I owe? Who ♫took my crimson stains and washed them white as snow♫? YOU did Jesus. You did! Who is “the Gate for the sheep” (John 10:7)? Who came “that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (v. 10b)? YOU did Jesus. That was You too!

Help me learn to speak Your name as easily as all the others of people I know and love. I’ve been “agog with God” for years. I want to be as free sharing Your name as I have in using His all this time.

There truly IS ♫something about that name♫! ♫Master, Savior, Jesus Like the fragrance after the rain Jesus, Jesus, Jesus Let all Heaven and Earth proclaim Kings and Kingdoms will all pass away But there’s something about that Name♫! Let me start saying it freely. Often. Unreservedly. Loudly. Lovingly.

“Jesus!” I love You. I thank You. I want to come to You as naturally [spontaneously, genuinely, unpretentiously] as the little children whose mothers brought them to be touched and blessed by You (Matthew 19:13-15, Luke 18:15-17). Help me, Jesus, to share Your blessed name as readily, freely, boldly as did the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:28-30, 39). I love You Jesus.

♫Take me, teach me to be more like You All that You are Jesus I want to be… Teach me to weep for the times that I’ve failed You Teach me to wait Lord for Your hand to move Teach me to watch for the dawn in my darkness And teach me to walk in a way You’d approve… Take me, teach me to be more like You Touch these blind eyes Jesus I want to see I want to see♫ YOU! Jesus ~ my Rubber that meets the road ~ “the most important point for something, the moment of truth”. You, Jesus. It IS ♫all about You Jesus… the heart of worship♫ I love You. I thank You. Amen.

(505 words ~ 11:41 a.m.)

"Thank You Lord!"

Friday, October 28, 2011 (7:52 a.m.)

Blessed Lord God,

Thank You! Thank You for plans. And hopes. Dreams. Ideas. Friends. Family. Beauty. You. Mm, yes Lord. More than anything at all, thank You for YOU! Your love. Your kindness. Generosity. Your plans. Hopes. Dreams. Ideas… You provided us them all.

Lord God, how I thank You for the way You are changing my thinking. The Way. Your Way. Mm, yes Lord, Your Way!

I used to be so cocksure of all the things I thought I knew. I had an air of overconfidence. Smugness. Presumption. You’ve changed all that Lord.

Then for an extremely long while, I stumbled around in the dark. Feeling my way around, fearful of making ANY decision on my own. And now, I keep looking to You. Funneling, filtering my plans, hopes, dreams, ideas… through You. Thank You Lord.

Thank You for continuing to show me that even though there are so many things I am not sure about, I KNOW You are good. I may have no idea where the next step may take any of us, but I absolutely know that You are good!

It’s a choice. A conscious decision to trust You. Something I didn’t use to readily do. I thought I had to trust myself. My parents. Teachers. Authorities. Those with higher educations... It’s when I look to You, Your Truth, Your Will, Your Way I find peace. Calm. Hope. Joy.

Lord God, thank You. Thank You that You came into this world. Not “merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was” (John 3:17 The Message). You “came to help, to put the world right again.” And in doing so we have the Truth of which John wrote (see chapter 16).

You came and told Your disciples ‘these things to prepare them for rough times ahead’ (v.1). You told them what was ahead for them: being thrown out of meeting places (v.2), “There will even come a time when anyone who kills you will think he’s doing God a favor. They will do these things because they never really understood the Father” (3). You came Lord to prepare us for what was to come. “I’ve told you these things so that when the time comes and they start in on you, you’ll be warned and ready for them” (4).

Thank You, Lord! Thank You for coming. Preparing. Warning. Teaching. Promising. I can’t even begin to thank You enough for all You’ve given us. Hope. Life. Your promise that “when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is” (13).

And right now, for me, the biggest promise of them all? Verse 33. “I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.”

When things appear to go wrong, I can practice saying “Thank You Lord!” I’ve thanked You for the good things for decades now. Here is where I ask You to help me become obedient to the call of 1Thessalonians 5:16-18. “Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.”

What can I add? Just my most sincere and robust, “Thank You Lord!” I love You. Amen.

(579 words ~ 9:14 a.m.)

turn of events

Monday, October 24, 2011 (3:09 p.m.)

Awesome, Blessed God,

How I thank You Lord for turns of events. Mm. Yes. Turn of events. I almost didn’t even bother to look in Your Word for the chance that there might be a verse [or THREE J] referencing this phrase. Three individual verses. Two separate sets of circumstances.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 (7:50 a.m.)

A day and a half later and I’m still looking around thinking, “How quickly things change.” One moment we had a fifty-minute drive planned for the week and the next we have nine hours of flying and connections to look forward to. A HUGE turn of events!

Lord God, I read here in Your Word of people making decisions based on overconfidence (Joshua 7:5) or foolishness and self-confidence (1Kings 12:15, 2Chronicles 10:15). I read the overall theme of both accounts and I am filled with quiet awe. I respect You Lord. Admire. Revere. Esteem You.

In the retelling of the event in Joshua, the commentary says, “The Israelites grew overconfident.” How often do I resemble that statement! “Their small force was soundly defeated because God was angry at Israel for the sin of Achan… We must be careful not to take back control of our life once we see what God can do when He is in control.” Oh, Your goodness Lord! Isn’t that the truth?

Concluding the comment my head nods in agreement. “On our own, we may allow some seemingly insignificant area of our life to lead us away from God’s plan. Our call is to submit our whole life to His control.” Yes Lord! Every aspect of my being.

The section in 1Kings tells of the two kings who followed Solomon. Both “made foolish, self-serving decisions.” One (Rehoboam) followed his own selfish inclinations, while the other (Jeroboam) led out of fear of losing his kingdom [even though YOU appointed him king!]. The commentary here says, “The selfish attitudes of these two men led entire kingdoms on the path toward sin. We need to realize that our decisions always touch the lives of others. We should measure our decisions by God’s truth and by how they will affect others.” Oh, dearest Lord. YES!

The comment in 2Chronicles regarding the rebellion of the people and the splitting in two of the kingdom of Israel accurately reminds us, “Two wrongs never make a right.” The people made things worse for themselves by acting rashly. As tempted as we may be to take matters into our own hands “when we are mistreated by others or when they fail to take our claims seriously. Before doing anything, we must be extremely careful.” Lord God, how I thank You for the ways You get my attention. You are so good, so very generous. And You love us so much.

Keep us in Your care. Guide and direct our interactions with others. Thank You Lord for the love You’ve given us to share with others. Continue Your work in each of us, making us people after Your own heart. I love You so very much blessed Lord. Thank You. Amen.

(513 words ~ 8:36 a.m.)

blessed

Sunday, October 23, 2011 (7:52 a.m.)

Awesome God,

You blessed me yesterday. You blessed me with a plan. A desire. A gut instinct. I didn’t know how it was all going to come to pass. But I knew what I wanted to do. Thank You Lord. Thank You.

From the very first realization earlier this month that I wanted to make puppy dog tail cookies for my brother, to us sitting in a van in his driveway last evening reviewing the happenings of the past several months, it was You Lord. ALL You!

Thank You that You blessed me with the ideas and I was able to bless him with the execution. Thank You that his traditional birthday dinner (ground beef enchiladas and coleslaw) was precisely prepared and lovingly served to him as his after moving meal. Perfection Lord. Start to finish. Perfectly executed. And it was YOU Lord. All You!

Rarely do I get to experience the satisfaction of completing a plan. The ideas come. They get questioned. Analyzed. Doubted. Then scrapped. Yesterday was different. One thing just ran into another. Effortlessly. BLESSEDLY. From the loading and unloading of moving vehicles to the sharing of food we were blessed Lord, by You. Thank You Lord!

Thank You for the desire You gave me to clean windows and screens. Thank You that when help was offered to me, I was able to respectfully take back my strategy and continue with it at my own pace until completion. Blessed, Lord. That’s how I feel about the whole of yesterday.

Even upon returning home, I knew if a certain car was here my job was done for the day. If not, I would mow the lawns. Thank You for the foresight Lord. Effortless. Knowing. Certainty.

A ‘hiccup’ occurred shortly after and even that was short lived. Not taken too personally. It was just a matter of fact. A misunderstanding. A preference of one person, not readily endorsed by the other. No big thing. A matter of fact, left alone for awhile and then completely resolved. Again, YOU Lord! ALL You.

It’s days like these that help remind me of how blessed we truly are. You guided me Lord. From the very first bite of a purchased cookie that didn’t taste anything like our mom’s, to the celebratory hugs at the end of a very exhausting weekend You blessed us Lord. With safety. Guidance. And love. Most importantly, Your love. Bless what You have put together with the hard work we were able to accomplish only through You.

Thank You Lord. I truly can’t thank You enough. I love You. Amen.

(421 words ~ 8:46 a.m.)

Make a Difference

Friday, October 21, 2011 (10:45ish a.m.)

Victoria Gardens Parking Lot

Loving Lord,

Saturday, October 22, 2011 (9:55 a.m.)

Stater Bros. Parking Lot

Blessed Loving Lord,

Thank You! Yes Lord – thank You for righteous anger. Talk to me at this very moment about being angry and not sinning in my anger (Ephesians 4:26). Talk to me about setting, enforcing and maintaining healthy boundaries. Talk to me Lord. Speak to me about being strong (Ephesians 6:10) with Your mighty power, being alert (v. 18b) and persistent in my prayers for Christians everywhere.

Empower and enable me to “Be faithful (Revelation 2:10b) even unto death” and to “Be earnest and repent” (Revelation (3:19b).

Lord God, I confess to You the tendency I have for letting slide things I ought to be taking care of. Perhaps it’s my attempt of taking an easy way out. Lord God, I KNOW You can make a HUGE difference in me. And on this national “Make a Difference” day that is EXACTLY what I’m asking.

Lord, our family IS making a difference today. A mother and her son are coming to live together under the same roof for the first time in over nine years. They are being surrounded by loving, helpful family and friends. Bless this move Lord. Let it make a HUGE difference in Your Kingdom. We love You SO much Lord. Use us to Make YOUR Difference Lord. It’s in Your blessed name I ask these things. Thank You Jesus. Amen.

(250 words ~ 10:11 a.m.)

unprepared

Thursday, October 20, 2011 (7:50 a.m.)

Blessed Lord,

H-E-L-P! I am completely unprepared. And now, after reading several verses containing this word, I’m in tears.

Lord God. Thank You for Who You are and the Way You work. When we choose to put our faith, hope and trust in You, You do indeed show us Your Way! Thank You Lord. Thank You.

My plan was to come to You this morning with a list of all the things I am unprepared to accomplish this weekend. Instead, You broke my grieving heart wide open! Thank You Lord for the opportunity, the PRIVILEGE to come before You completely uncensored.

I didn’t know I was hiding. I thought I was being proactive. Go to a funeral and then distract ourselves by going and hugging a baby. It made perfect sense in the planning of it. Of course, I didn’t think to stop and ask what YOU thought of my idea.

Thank You Lord that this morning I don’t have to judge myself harshly for being unprepared this morning. I get to consider the circumstances. Out of the five obituaries I read in the paper yesterday, I knew three of them. That’s big odds. That’s a lot of grieving friends and acquaintances. Lord God, how I ask You to come along side each and everyone of them and be their comfort.

As I sit here, not at all ready to do the things I had planned for today, I turn instead to You; asking, seeking, knocking (Matthew 7:7-8) while at the very same time singing ♫Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is and is to come♫ (Revelation 4:8).

Most blessed and loving God, I do NOT know what today holds. But, I DO know that You hold it! Thank You Lord. I love You. Amen.

(307 words ~ 8:30 a.m.)

I danced

Wednesday, October 19, 2011 (7:55 a.m.)

Blessed Lord,

Thank You. I danced last night. I smiled. I had fun. And then I slept. Really well. Thank You Lord.

Thank You that the first song that came to mind this morning reminded me of a friend, now long passed. I remember singing it with her in church. Her favorite. A lively “catchy” song about YOU dancing, ♫I danced in the morning when the world was begun I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth At Bethlehem I had my birth♫

Thank You Lord. In looking up the words, I read about its origin and learned that in 1967 Sydney Carter “adapted the tune from the famous American Shaker dance song ‘Simple Gifts’.” I read. I sing. And get ready to dance again. My heart smiles at the thought of You calling all to dance with You. ♫Dance then, wherever you may be I am the Lord of the Dance, said He! And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be And I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said He! ♫

Yes Lord. In learning to dance I must learn to follow. To be led. Who better to be my Teacher than the Lord of the Dance Himself!

Thank You Lord. Thank You for music and for dance steps. Thank You for joy and laughter. For friendships and most importantly for Your love. Your surrounding and enveloping love, calling us all together to ♫Dance then, wherever you may be…♫

I ask You this morning to lead and guide me in the dance You have for me this day. I love You Lord. Thank You. Amen.

(290 words ~ 8:56 a.m.)