true joy and excitement

 Monday, April 19, 2021 (7:14 a.m.)

Holy God,

Thank You. Praise You, Lord. Just as I was waking up, the singing started in my mind.

♪I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart; I will enter His courts with praise. I will say, “This is the day that the Lord has made!” I will rejoice for He has made me glad♪

Smiling came next. Along with true joy and excitement.

Blessed, Holy Father God, You have brought so much delight to my being these last few days. How deeply I thank and praise You!

Following Your lead over to Psalm 100:4 I am thrilled! This brief psalm of praise has me wanting to shout it from the rooftop.

The Message, “On your feet now - applaud GOD! Bring a gift of laughter, sing yourselves into His presence. Know this: GOD is God, and God, GOD. He made us; we didn’t make Him. We’re His people, His well-tended sheep. Enter with the password: “Thank You!” Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank Him. Worship Him. For God is sheer beauty, all-generous in love, loyal always and ever.”

Mm! How blessed are we?!

Dearest God, I ask You to continue Your work in my heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). You alone are good, holy and all-knowing. Do all You must to Your good and perfect end. Continue teaching that we will trust and follow You as only You know is best.

I love You. I thank You. I ask You to use me exactly as You wish. Glorifying and enjoying You forever. You! Your gates. Your courts. Thanksgiving. And praise. Always. Ever. Amen.

(280 words ~ 7:58 a.m.)

ABC's

 Sunday, April 18, 2021 (6:35 a.m.)

Holy God,

How I thank You for You love. Mm, yes. Thank You that when I wake up I get to think of You.

(7:38 a.m.)

This morning it was alphabetically. Thank You God!

Yes! Thank You that this one small act on my part has led me again straight into Your Word. And Your presence.

Truly Lord, I am in awe of You! It’s when I allow You to change my focus from myself and my own fearful thinking to You and all that You are that I find Your peace. Thank You Lord.

Reading of other people’s experiences with this same practice, I ask You to guide and direct me where You’d have me.

Father I love You. Use me this day. Exactly as You know is best. Reminding me of Your eternal presence and power in every aspect of our existence.

Thank You. Praise You. I want to know You. Personally. Profoundly. Amen.

(165 words ~ 8:01 a.m.)

using kind words

 Saturday, April 17, 2021 (7:23 a.m.)

Blessed, Holy God,

You did it again! A word [praise] or two [the One] with enough of a musical interlude for me to finally recognize the song.

♪Jesus Paid It All, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow… O Praise the One who paid my debt And raised this life up from the dead♪

I got up to look into it and am learning so much more.1 Corinthians 6:19-20. ♪The Great Exchange♪ 2 Corinthians 5:21.

Kind words. Proverbs 4:20-22; 15:4; 16:24

(8:29 a.m.)

Oh Most Dear and Blessed God,

How I ask You to work in [with, by, through and for] me in the use of kind words.

(10:38 a.m.)

Oh yes Blessed God. I long to truly learn to ‘Speak YOUR Truth in love’ (Ephesians 4:15). And right here, I pause to scream out “Hallelujah Jesus!”

Yes, Father. Hallelujah, Jesus!

Turning to various translations of this one verse takes my mind in so many directions. All at once!

The Life Recovery Bible has a very lengthy comment for 4:7-16. As well as a Recovery Principle Devotional entitled Honesty (Ephesians 4:12-27).

It’s the Contemporary English Version that has my full attention at this very moment. With me asking You to “make it so” in my heart, soul, mind and strength!

“We must stop acting like children. We must not let deceitful people trick us by their false teachings, which are like winds that toss us around from place to place. Love should always make us tell the Truth. Then we will grow in every way and be more like Christ, the head of the body. Christ holds it together and makes all of its parts work perfectly, as it grows and becomes strong because of love.”

Oh yes Dearest Lord. Do all You must to Your good and perfect end.

I love You. I long to serve You. As You so rightly deserve. Cheerfully. Delightedly. Lovingly. Truthfully. Wholly. Make it so Dear Father. Thank You. Praise You. Amen.

(364 words ~ 11:07 a.m.)

mnemonic

 Friday, April 16, 2021 (5:59 a.m.)

Blessed God,

You reminded me earlier to sing. And right back to sleep I went. Thank You, Lord. Praise You. 

When I realized my back was hurting You helped me remember to change my positioning. Father, You set systems in place that take us out of the habits that no longer serve us. Praise and thank You Lord.

Not immediately realizing I was singing again, there it was for my heart and soul and mind to hear. ♪Your forgiveness [Is like sweet, sweet honey on my lips Like the sound of a symphony to my ears] Like HOLY WATER on my skin♪

How blessed and fortunate [TOOWAYHON] are we to have You provide our every single need? Thank You God!

(7:20 a.m.)

Taking over an hour to again look into the word toowayhon I find once more how much I want this to be a word I use often. Regularly. Without having to think about.

Smiling greatly as I even imagine it, Lord I truly ask You to make it so in me. Earnestly I ask You to do all You must that I will wholeheartedly come to the place where I absolutely know myself to be “enriched, happy, fortunate, delighted, blissful, content.”

Mm, yes!

And just like that? Another song! Praise You God.

♪You Make Me Brave I stand before You now The greatness of Your renown I have heard of the majesty and wonder of You King of Heaven, in humility I bow As Your love, in wave after wave Crashes over me, crashes over me For You are for us You are not against us Champion of Heaven You made a away for all to enter in♪

Oh, hallelujah, thank You Jesus! This is exactly what I’m talking about. I get out of Your way and You come and lead us. Thank You. Praise You.

All the way back to where I originally started in coming out here earlier. Singing. Smiling. Standing on Your Word. And staying my mind on Your promises. My own mnemonic device for remembering that I am here to love You with all my heart [singing], soul [smiling], mind [staying] and strength [standing] (Mark 12:30).

And with that I turn to the verse I believe You having me consider this morning . Micah 6:8. This from The Message. “But He’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what GOD is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously - take God seriously.”

The lightness I feel within right now stems directly from Your Word. John 8:31-32. Here [hear] from The Passion Translation. “The Son Gives Freedom Jesus said to those Jews who believed in Him, ‘When you continue to embrace all that I teach, you prove that you are my true followers. For if you embrace the Truth, it will release true freedom into your lives.”

That’s me Lord! Experiencing the freedom You provide! Praise You.

Footnotes for verse 32 says, “The Truth Jesus gives us releases us from the bondage of our past, the bondage of our sins, and the bondage of religion. Jesus was speaking these words to those who were not fully free from man’s traditions. Truth must be embraced and worked out through the divine process of spiritual maturity. The Greek word for ‘truth’ is reality. To embrace the reality of Christ brings more freedom into your life. See the book of Galatians for a clear explanation of the freedom Jesus referred to here.”

Oh praise You Lord! This IS what is happening in me! Your Truth setting me free! Free to once again be truly AGOG with You!

Use me this day Dearest Father. To “do what is right to other people. Love being kind to others. And live humbly, trusting [my] God” (International Children’s Bible).

Thank You. Praise You, Lord. I love You. Amen.

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

Hebrews 12:12

Thursday, April 15, 2021 (6:11 p.m.)

Hallelujah Jesus!

Praise and thank You Lord.

Hebrews 12:11-13. Easy-to-Read Version. “We don’t enjoy discipline when we get. It is painful. But later, after we have learned our lesson from it, we will enjoy the peace that comes from doing what is right. Be Careful How You Live You have become weak, so make yourselves strong again. Live in the right way so that you will be saved and your weakness will not cause you to be lost.”

Yes Lord. Teach me more about Your perfect discipline.

Illustrated Bible Handbook. “God’s discipline is effective (11). God’s training may bring a temporary pain, but it will produce righteousness and peace. God’s discipline calls for response. Rather than becoming listless or falling into paralyzed inactivity, we are to continue vigorously on, sure that the discipline will not disable us but bring healing.”

And how do we do that? In, and with, and by, and through, and for You. Do all You must Dear Lord to Your good and perfect end.

I love you! Thank You. Praise You. Amen.

(186 words ~6:44 p.m.)

♪ Praise and thank You, Lord ♪

 Wednesday, April 14, 2021 (6:18 a.m.)

Blessed God,

♪Praise and thank You, Lord♪ Those are the words I sang to You yesterday. Easily. Readily. With very little effort on my part. A seemingly brand new song given to me straight from You.

Hesitantly picking out the notes on the piano, I remembered the staff pages I have and wrote them down. My very first song. Apparently out of nowhere. Straight from my heart and soul.

♪Praise and thank You, Lord… Whether I feel glad or sad Praise and thank You, Lord♪

Holy God, I love You so much. Praise and thank You for the ways You’ve been working in me. Reminding me the importance of forgiveness.

Yes. The forgiveness we have in You. Allowing us to forgive ourselves and others. I confess Lord, I seem to have forgotten how important it is to forgive.

Oh look! Another song. From yesterday. ♪Your forgiveness is like sweet, sweet honey on my lips Like the sound of a symphony to my ears Like Holy Water on my skin♪

Father, I ask You to use me this day. Keeping my focus on You and Your loving forgiveness. Your mercy that truly brings joyful music to our souls.

Wholeheartedly I ♪ Praise and thank You, Lord... ♪ You alone are great. Glorious. Good. Gracious. And I, for one, am grateful! 

I love You. Praise and thank You Lord! Amen.

(234 words ~ 7:23 a.m.)

perfect provisions

 Tuesday, April 13, 2021 (6:35 a.m.)

Blessed God,

Thank You! I recognized the song immediately. A few times yesterday and often during the night.

♪Your forgiveness Is like sweet, sweet honey on my lips Like the sound of a symphony to my ears Like Holy Water on my skin♪ Mm, yes Lord. Your forgiveness. Holy Water.

Easily finding the lyrics I am again amazed by You. ♪God, I’m on my knees again God, I’m begging please again I need You Oh, I need You♪ It’s so true Lord!

♪Walking down these desert roads Water for my thirsty soul I need You Oh I need You♪ Father, how I thank and praise You for Your perfect provisions. Yes! You provide our every need. Perfectly.

♪I don’t wanna abuse Your grace God, I need it every day It’s the only thing that ever really makes me wanna change…♪ Lord, thank You for the way music sings Your Truth to my soul.

Searching to learn more of Your perfect provisions I come to Psalm 16. Here David asks You to keep him safe. He knew that ‘strength and security come from You alone’ (The Life Recovery Bible comment 16:1-6). Readily proclaiming, “You are my Master! All the good things I have are from You” (v. 2).

Father, truly I thank You for the perfect examples You have provided us. “I will bless the LORD who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me” (v. 7). Just like last night when I was reminded of ♪Holy Water on my skin♪

Lord God, verse 11 proclaims, “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of Your presence and the pleasures of living with You forever” (New Living Translation). Nodding my head in agreement I turn to see what The Passion Translation has to say.

It goes a little further. And again I am profoundly blessed.

“Because of You, I know the path of life, as I taste the fullness of joy in Your presence. At Your right side I experience divine pleasures forevermore!” (TPT). Thinking this to be what I needed to read, I follow down to the Footnotes.

“16:11 Jesus was pierced in His side with the spear of man’s hatred. Eternal pleasures are found hidden in the wounds of Christ, where Jesus responded to the world’s hatred with sacred blood and water flowing from His side. Forgiveness and grace splashed on the dirt. We are now seated with Christ at His right side.”

♪Your forgiveness is like… Holy Water on my skin… I don’t wanna abuse Your grace God, I need it every day It’s the only thing that ever really makes me wanna change♪

Keep doing all You know is best Dearest God. All the things that remind me to sing. Smile. Stand firm on Your Word. Staying my mind on Your Truth and promises. Your perfect provisions.

I love You Lord. I want to live this day for You. Glorifying and enjoying You.

Desiring God’s mission statement tells me, “Most people in the world have no experience of deep and abiding joy…You were created for something greater than yourself. You were formed for something awesome and magnificent. You were made to know glory - God’s glory. And the deepest longings of the human heart can be fully satisfied by pursuing that glory. In fact, God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”

YES! Empower and enable me to be satisfied with Your perfect provisions. I love You Lord. I thank You. And I ask You to do all You must with [in, by, through and for] me to Your good and perfect end. Praise You. Use me. Amen.

(623 words ~ 8:38 a.m.)