This evening, as I was cleaning up after dinner, I was reminded of the wonderful old song "Ship Ahoy." I remember my uncle Dewitt singing it when I was a child. In the song, the phrase "Ship Ahoy" is a "wail of distress." This song paints a beautiful picture of what God does for us in rescuing us from the angry sea that can destroy us. The last verse is our call to those still in danger on life's stormy sea.

O soul, sinking down ’neath sin’s merciless wave,

The strong arm of our captain is mighty to save;

Then trust Him today, no longer delay,

Board the old ship of Zion, and shout on your way:

Jesus saves!

In Matthew chapter 25,we see the parable Jesus told of ten virgins. Five were foolish and five were wise. 

The wise virgins took oil in their vessels with their lamps, so they were prepared and ready for the Bridegroom to come. They were watching and waiting. When he called out to them, they ran to meet him and went with Him to the marriage.

The foolish virgins took no oil. They were not prepared. When the call came for them to go meet the Bridegroom, they found themselves not ready, in need of provision, with not enough oil in their lamps. When the Bridegroom came, they were distracted and gone to buy oil. Then when they tried to follow Him, it was too late. He said, "I know you not."

The ultimate message here is found in Matthew 25:13, "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of Man cometh."

Make sure you know that you know His oil is in your vessel. Don't get distracted. Nothing in this world is worth losing your soul.

This Same Jesus

Yesterday, I felt the thought “This Same Jesus” begin to turn over in my spirit.I asked the Lord what He wanted to teach me. I really did not remember the context from which the phrase came. I looked up the phrase and found it in the first chapter of Acts.

Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Acts 1:11

My first thought was that it is interesting that this occurred after the resurrection, considering we just celebrated Easter. I read Dake’s notes on the passage. He said pretty much that before His ascension into Heaven, Jesus was visible, He had a real body, and that He would come back in the same form in which He left.

While that is all wonderful, and the basis for our Blessed Hope, I was not satisfied. I felt that I was missing something. Then tonight in the altar, I remembered a recent dream and it all came together.

I recently dreamed that my kids and I encountered a woman filled with evil. Protectively, I began to utter the name of Jesus in an effort to protect my children and myself from any effects of evil. However, as I walked and made some distance between her and us, I became convicted. I had something she needed: Jesus. He is the breaker of chains, and she was bound by chains. He could set her free.

In my dream, I turned around and began to call down the alley, “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! There is power in the name of Jesus! There is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain. Break every chain, in Jesus’ name!” While I was praying outside, someone was praying with her wherever she was. That woman came out a door looking completely different. She was set free.

Tonight, in the altar service, I felt like the Lord was saying, “This same Jesus, whose name you use to protect yourself and your children, came to seek and save that which was lost.” While He wants to protect us, provide for us, counsel us, and be all we need. He came to save, deliver, and heal. People are bound by chains only He can break. It is time for me to let my light shine outward, love people, and lift up Jesus.

Whatever holds you down, there is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain.

I have not been here in years. I feel myself drawn to writing at times, and this seems to be the best place; so here I am.

I awoke this morning with thoughts of our Creator and how He made us for His glory. He made us for the sole purpose of worship and communion with Him. In my flesh, I wondered if that was a selfish move. He is the One with the power and authority. We are His tiny creations, and we are expected to exalt Him. In the same moment that I was wondering if God could be selfish, I was reminded of Jesus.

Jesus is proof that God is not selfish. God the Father gave us His Son as a gift on Earth. Then He gave His Son to die for our sins because of His great unselfishness. My flesh wanted to argue that God the Father did not die; God the Son did. Again, in the same moment, Truth washed over me. Jesus is God. He was man enough to feel pain and temptation, but He was God enough to give Himself to die, willingly, so that I could live. There is not one ounce of selfishness in my God. Jesus is the proof.

There is an old song called "So Much God" by Craig Edwards that says:

He was so much man that He slept in a boat, 
Yet he was so much God that the winds ceased when He spoke. 
He was so much man that He wept when Lazarus died, 
Yet He was so much God Lazarus came forth when He cried. 

He was so much man that He thirsted at the well, 
Yet He was so much God that He saved her soul from Hell. 
He was so much man that He died upon a tree, 
He was so much God that He rose in victory.

I am thankful.

Blessings!

Whose Perspective

I may be 44, but I will never stop learning, as long as I am conscious. The most profound thing I have learned in the last six to seven months of my life is so simple, so basic. I do not see from God's perspective often. He is infinite, and I am finite. He is holy; my righteousness is as filthy rags. He is all-knowing; my mind is limited to what He allows me to know.

After my daddy had received radiation for a few weeks, he continued to get weaker. He had no desire for food or liquids. My mother urged and prodded. He complied and consented, but he did not seem to enjoy eating anymore. He ate strictly to stay alive. He took in precious little. Thus he developed an intestinal blockage that made him even sicker.

Less that one month after being diagnosed with cancer, he was hospitalized. Everyday they x-rayed his abdomen and were unsure if he had a blockage or a growth. Each day we grew closer to believing it was a blockage and not another growth.

Since I was out of school on Friday of that week, I offered to stay at the hospital for Mom to rest. The night before, she instructed me to call her as soon as I arrived and let her know how he was and what kind of night he had. When I arrived, he looked better. He felt better. He wanted to eat. He wanted to go home.

I called mom to update her. After giving her our news, I told her I wanted to play her song I had heard the night before. It was such an encouragement to me. The song was "Child, Your Cries Have Awoken the Master" by the Isaacs and recorded by the Mike Bowling Family. She listened and rejoiced. Like the song says, she had prayed all night. She had not rested, and she was receiving a divine answer the Master had heard her cries.

She said, "Oh, that is my answer!" She received such a victory, and we were all very encouraged. I truly believed that God had answered our way. Daddy was going to get better. I did not know if He was healing him supernaturally or gradually, but I was convinced that the days ahead would be better for him.

As unpopular as the thought may be, I misunderstood. I was looking at things from my perspective. I cannot yet see from God's perspective. What I really never even considered was Daddy's perspective. Now, when I read or hear the words to that song, I have to try to listen from Daddy's perspective. It says:

It hit you without any warning,

The storm of your life had begun,

Seeing no hope in the distance,

You're frightened and nowhere to run,

By now your vessel is filling,

And you're thinking that you'll surely drown...

Daddy was the one going through the storm. Mother was always with him. Even in her own weakness, she took care of him and kept him bathed in prayer. My sister, her son, my husband, children, and I did everything we could do for him. We prayed for him and told him how much we loved and appreciated him. We told him we were believing God for a miracle.

A couple of days after he was home, we were back to the same old fight. He did not want to eat or drink. Mother prodded, and he would comply with some little something: milkshake, yogurt, popsicle, gatorade... I was very disappointed that our victory was so short lived, in my perspective. Each day he told us he was weaker. Each day he looked thinner. Even his hair thinned unbelievably.

When I spoke of healing, he said, "I have so much suffering behind me, it seems foolish to ask for healing. I might have to go through all of this again." When he spoke of parting, I did my best to be brave and tell him that we did not want him to go, but if that was God's route, then He would sustain us somehow.

After he left us, I really did not undersand what the whole point was for that song that seemingly gave us victory for a day or two, from my perspective. It was months before I could mention this to my mother. We talked about that song, and she expressed how wonderful it was that God gave us that in such a dark hour. I finally told her that I thought that song meant he was going to get better. It says, "Child, your cries have awoken the master." It says, "it's time to rejoice..."

She explained to me that the Lord sent that song in a time when she would need to be sustained. That song meant to her that He was going to be there, to hear her, to provide what we needed, in any hour in any circumstance. She said it ministered to Daddy. From Daddy's perspective, I guess it meant his sickness was almost over. It meant press on just a little longer.

There was cancer pressing against Daddy's vocal chord on one side. It changed his voice. That song also says, "He knows your voice." God never lost hearing of Daddy's voice. Daddy was too weak to really pray or outwardly rejoice, but God heard his heart. God encouraged him, His child, all the while Daddy was encouraging us, his children.

I will not be puzzled anymore. I do not even claim to know I totally understand it all now. I can only say I trust my Father fully to know better than I. I can say that I have no need to know it all or understand it all. I can lean on Him and not my understanding. He is big enough to hold the whole world yet small enough to care about the minute details of my life and even count the hairs on my head.

September 2, 2011, my family sat in a tiny exam room of a doctor's office and heard that my daddy had abnormalities in one lung. The chest scan report actually said that it looked like lung cancer. I did not know they could speculate on an official report like that. Stunned speechless...

A rough couple of weeks followed, filled with hurry up and wait. Hurry to get another test and wait a weekend for the results... This led to six weeks of radiation, a couple of weeks of homemade treatments suggested by a friend, one week of hospitalization, and too few days with my precious daddy.

Many days he would say, "If I lose as much strength from today to tomorrow as I did from yesterday to today, I will not be around much longer." We did not want to hear those words, but he knew the changes he was experiencing.

In his last days, he very wisely and lovingly prepared his family as best he could for our parting. He told his only adult grandson things he needed him to know. He told his oldest child, already widowed herself, that we were all going to have to part soon. He told all of us that the thief on the cross, as he faced death, looked to Jesus as his hope. He said that this was put in the Bible as an example for us to know that even in death, we have hope in Jesus.

We sang around his bed some but not nearly enough. Our time was too short. October 29, 2011, Daddy took his last breath and stepped into the divine presence of our loving Lord.

He has been gone over four months. We all miss him very much. His wife of over fifty years, his children and his grandchildren still cry at any given time, even at unexpected times. What I miss most is the pride and joy in his face that I saw when he saw me. It gave me a sense of value that I will never be able to explain.

Some people say that a girl links her daddy's qualities to God. That only works well if her daddy knows God and knows what a child needs to believe about Him. I learned unconditional love from my daddy (and mother too). My daddy made me feel safe, protected, loved, and treasured. It is easy to see God as all of these and more. I thank God for my daddy and mother. I miss Daddy, but I don't mind the tears too much. He is worth every one, and then some...

Blessings

Four Days

God promised me something once. He told me not to fear that He had a plan & when He worked out His plan, we would KNOW it was HE who did it. I held on to that promise for something specific many years. The devil would perch himself on my shoulder & taunt me and say it was never going to happen. I still held on.

One day I received negative messages that made me think I had hammered away toward nothing. I felt like I was at the end of the road. My dream died. I gave up. I even told my husband that I quit that particular fight. I was done. See, God is God & He is all powerful, and I believed if what I wanted was His will, He could drop it in my lap. I gave up my fight and decided to let the Lord fight my battle, but in doing so, I had to let go of the way I wanted it to be. I had to be open to God's way being different than mine.

You know what? He did drop in my lap what He wanted me to have. A few days later, I received the call that said what I had waited to hear for so many years.

Tonight, I was singing the song Karen Peck sings called "Four Days Late." I was thinking about my story. And then it occurred to me. I have never noticed this before, but my giving up was on a Friday, and my good news came on the following Tuesday. It was four days late.

My Grandmother used to say, "He is not on our time. His ways are not our ways, but when He steps in, He is always on time." How right she was. I am thankful God is on time, even when I don't see it.

Blessings

In His Strength

I remember learning the scripture, when I was a child, that says 'I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me." I also remember singing many times Jesus Loves Me, which says, "they are weak but He is strong." Even as a little girl, I knew that "they" meant me. All of my life, my parents, my Sunday School teachers, my pastors, my school teachers (at a Christian school) poured the Word into my mind so I could hide it in my heart. The messages are so simple a child can understand.

God, the Master Creator knows us better than anyone else, and He made His message simple on purpose: so we could get it. He did this so we could get it at a young age. Our minds are constantly inundated with all kinds of thoughts: duties, responsibilities, blessings, tv shows, radio programs, email, news, conversations, the kids' need for clothes to be ironed. Need I go on? As cluttered as our minds get, the simple messages from God's word are powerful enough to penetrate the most cluttered mind and bring peace.

I have had a stressful couple of weeks, and the thought that has been my stay is from a song by Steven Curtis Chapman: His Strength is Perfect.

We can only know
The power that He holds
When we truly see how deep our weakness goes;
His strength in us begins
Where ours comes to an end.

One morning last week, I prayed and asked the Lord how I would have strength to do all I need to do, and it was like He said: You just say the Word, and I will take care of it. So I am continuing to say everyday, "His Strength is Perfect," but I do not see it until I am out of strength myself. When I am emptied and can't go on, He steps in and takes care of it. He gives me what I need to keep pressing on. I am very thankful for His hand on my life.

Be blessed.

Peace

I have said it before, but it always bears repeating. What I value most, besides salvation itself, is the peace of mind that only Jesus can bring. Someone recently said to me that she feels peace when she is around me. My mind goes back to a homestudy we went through years ago when we started pursuing adoption. Our caseworker walked into our home (in the midst of our nervousness) and said, "The presence of the Lord dwells here." All my nervousness melted away.

O Lord, my Source of peace, always dwell in me. Always allow others to feel Your peace in my presence. Your presence, whether in me or in others, is the only source of peace there is. Thank You for the special person you have sent my way to prod me to "let go, and let God." It makes me want to dig a little deeper into what You have for me. Help me always to shine like a beacon in darkness, and help me to always share Your peace. Amen.

All Creation Declares

All creation really declares the handiwork of God. Nicole C. Mullen wrote a song (at least she recorded it, and as far as I know, she wrote it) that says:

Who taught the sun where to stand in the morning?
And who told the ocean you can only come this far?
And who showed the moon where to hide till evening?
Whose words alone can catch a falling star?
...
All of creation testifies
This life within me cries
I know my Redeemer lives

In the last week, I noticed that sometimes when you look at the ocean, it appears to go uphill. It reminded me of this song, and I could just imagine God drawing a line in the sand for the ocean not to cross. From what I understand, God designed the tide to be controlled by the magnetism of the moon, but He is God. He decided how far the ocean can go. That brings me comfort when the winds of life blow. The tide may come in, but it will not consume me. I am in the hollow of HIS hand, and HE tells the ocean where to stop.

Sweet Surrender

I have gotten hooked on a song I heard on Youtube called "I am Broken." The line that gets me is the last: "All I ever was, all I am and hope to be is broken at Your feet." I retrieved the words from another site that names Jim E. Davis as the writer of the song. A comment on the Youtube post names Sandy Blythe as the writer. Regardelss of who wrote it, it is very anointed and ministers to me everytime I hear it.

I never really thought about it this way before, but when we surrender to God and kneel at His feet, we give Him our past, our right now, and our future. The woman who broke the bottle of perfume over Jesus' feet gave Him her past, was giving him her present (right now), and was giving Him the precious ointment she had been saving for years, for her future. In much the same way, we surrender our past, present and future.

When Jesus went to Calvary and was crucified, He took my sin on Him. He covered the past, the right then, and the future. Only God in His love unconditional could create a plan so efficient. I am thankful for sweet surrender, not for my actions, but for His. I am in awe of all the God does for us when we surrender to Him.

Morning

I have never been a morning person! I am very lively at night, but I do not even want to whisper in the morning. I have always preferred quietness until about 9 or 10. God must surely have a sense of humor. He created me to teach. He placed me in a school over 40 miles from home. He has given me very lively, noisy children who are bright and perky, and even loud in the mornings. Even in the noise, I have a new appreciation for mornings.

A favorite old song says that God's mercies are new every morning. I have gained a passion for beautiful sunrises. They often remind me that it is time for God's mercies to be fresh again, fresh like the morning dew.

Be blessed!

Thinking Vertically

In the last three years I have heard a term at school called "vertically aligned." In the education world, that means people at various grade levels get together and organize better so that students do not reread the same books in different grades and so that our education transitions can be smoother (elementary to middle school and middle to high school).

It hit me last night that God wants us to be vertically aligned. You know on the Day of Pentecost, followers of Jesus were gathered in the upper room, and the Bible says they were all in "one accord" (Acts 2). They received what God wanted to give them because they were vertically aligned. They were centered on Him as they prayed and waited.

God has not changed. He has blessings for us: salvation, Holy Ghost baptism, His divine presence, joy unspeakable, unconditional love, peace that passes understanding... and so much more. He is waiting for us to turn our attention to Him so He can pour it on. Lord, here I am. You are God of all; my mind is on You. Pour it on! As a wonderful old song says, "I want to be so full of You that there won't be room for anything else." AMEN!

Christmas Gift!

It's Christmas! WOW! And in the blink of an eye, it will be gone. Christmas is a time to celebrate, to share, and to reflect.
I celebrate love from a holy Creator to an undeserving mankind.
I celebrate family and time set aside to be with them.
I share my worship from my heart for the One Who came down and took a robe of flesh so that I may have life abundantly.
I share my time, my blessings, my food, and my talents with those close to me.

My family has always played a game called "Christmas Eve Gift." It is a race to see who can say it first. The goal is to say it first to as many people as you can. Every other person willing to play it with you is your opponent. My mother's best friend and her daughter once came to our house at midnight, so they could "get" Mother at the first possible, and unexpected, moment.

That daughter now lives out of the country and has been known to call at midnight just to say "Christmas Eve Gift!"

I must admit I got a little bored with the game in my teen years, and let it slide. Now that I have kids, it is back, and with a vengeance. My eldest is competitive and loves the game. The fun is back. Somewhere along the way, I carried it over to Christmas Day. Christmas Eve has passed. All that is left now to say is

CHRISTMAS GIFT! Have a Merry Christmas!

Bits and Pieces

That is what I feel like these days: bits and pieces. My church family lost a precious member to cancer a week ago. She was a mother, sister, daughter, friend, minister of music, Sunday School teacher, Wednesday night teacher. She was the kind of teacher who was always prepared. She was the kind of friend who showed up to help you whether you had windows to clean, hair to perm, or a disaster to fix. If you were moving, she came and cleaned behind the furniture that had not been moved in five years. When you tried to shoo her away from your dirt, she shooed back and said, "Nah, I got it." She was my sister's best friend, and we are sooooo gonna miss her.

She, however, has choirs of angels all around and light straight from the Son. Streets of the purest gold are under her feet. The day of her funeral, at the graveside, there was a magnificent wisp of clouds that waved up like they were painted with giant fingers into angel's wings. Just after the dove release ceremony, we looked straight overhead, and one of those wisps was rainbow colored. I have never seen anything like it.

I have 3 projects going at the same time as I try to finish up my master's degree. Overwhelmed does not touch it. I am also an optimist and know that I will get through it. I can do ALL things through Him Who gives me strength!!!

All for now. Blessings!

Pray 7x7, inspired by Angie Smith

I copied this button from Angie Smith's blog. It has a link attached regarding praying for our children. I just think it is precious. How much more meaningful can a life be than if it is covered in prayer?

Unwanted

I happened on a website today that showed pictures of actual aborted fetuses. I did not know that was what was behind the link I lifted. I think it said, "Results of Abortion" and I thought it was a video of someone who had lived through a failed attempt at an abortion. What I actually saw was grotesque photos of pieces of babies. I do not understand how anyone can call them "tissue." They have arms, legs, ribs. I do not know how many pictures are available to view. I saw a few and began to weep.

Society deems abortion a choice. Some people say it is a woman's choice to abort an unwanted baby. It is justified because the child is unwanted. I have no biological children, so no unborn baby is unwanted in my eyes. I could never have adopted forty million. I know that, but that does not mean they were unwanted.

The only choice women should have is whether or not to become pregnant. I won't even touch the rape topic, because I do not believe that is why people abort. If a person makes a choice that could possibly result in a baby, then that baby deserves the same right to live that its mother has.

I am grieved. Images are etched in my memory that I cannot erase. God have mercy on us. Forgive our sins, and heal our land. Give peace to those who have aborted and repented, and help them to let go of the guilt of the past. What is done is done, but help us find a way to stop more atrocities. In Jesus' name.
Amen.

A Thin Line

I have been feeling a little differently about death lately. I have always felt as if the substance between me and death was thick like a thick, cushiony, padded room (and neatly bottoned like an old couch. It's quirky, I know). Lately I have been feeling like the substance is thin like a placenta.

I heard someone else talk about the following last weekend, and it made me want to look it up for myself. According to Philippians 1:21, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." What is gain? According to http://www.yourdictionary.com/gain, gain means "increase in wealth; earnings; profit." That sounds like one supreme payday!

Gotta stop for now. More later.

Chosen

I was thinking in the last couple of weeks about "a peculiar people." We have our own modern images associated with the word peculiar. It is a word in modern vernacular that is close to weird. I do not believe God calls us to be weird, but He does want to be different.

Anyway, I looked up the scripture I Peter 2:9, which led me to Exodus 19:5, where these phrases appeared first. They were to Israel. "Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation."

In my Bible, Dake's notes on the side make reference to the Greek word peripoiesis for "a peculiar people" and mentions something purchased. Peripoiesis means "a possession, a preservation, and obtaining." I got this information from here: http://www.searchgodsword.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=4047

Since I am adopted into God's family, I feel that these words apply to me. I have been purchased. I have been chosen. I am preserved. I am a possession. I am an obtaining. My favorite: I am peculiar treasure! WOW! I cannot fathom why He loves me so, but I am thankful that He does.

Put Out Doubt

Recently, I was reading about Jesus teaching and healing when I noticed something new -- for me anyway. I noticed two things, the first of which I am embarrassed to tell. I did not remember that the story of the woman with the issue of blood is in the middle of a whole different story! That other story is the one about Jairus' daughter. The second thing I noticed was Jesus' intolerance of doubt.

First, Jairus comes to Jesus because his daughter is dying. Then the woman with the issue of blood comes in on the scene. This itself is a magnificently beautiful story of desire, perseverance, and results. Then a servant comes to tell Jairus not to bother the Master, because the maid has died. They think it is too late. Jesus does not think it is too late, for He travels with Jairus to his home. When they get there, Jairus, his wife, Jesus, and some other people (a couple of disciples, I think) go in to where the girl lay. They wail and weep and say she is dead. Jesus says, "She is not dead. She is sleeping." Then somehow they go from mourning to laughing "Him to scorn." Then Jesus "put them out." He put all doubters out of the room. I love that!

My husband's grandmother used to tell of her sister being healed as a child. Someone notified the pastor and the church on a Sunday morning that without a miracle, this child could die. Her condition was grave. Well, I think we would have prayed right then. They did not. The pastor spoke to the congregation and told them to go home and make sure things were right between them and God, to make sure they could pray without hindrance or doubt. He told them if they were not sure they could get a prayer through, for them not to come back that night. They had to have a miracle and they had to remove doubt! They gathered, believed, and she was healed.

When Jesus removed doubt from the room where Jairus' daughter lay, He took her hand and told her to rise. The Healer spoke, and it was done, just like He said.

Wherever you are, whatever your need, whatever your storm, God is bigger. Put out doubt! If you do not feel you can, ask Him to help you. It is okay to say, "Lord I believe, help Thou mine unbelief." When you need an answer, or a divine intervention, you cannot afford doubt. Put it out. Let Him speak.

I once heard a woman (whose last name was Tennyson) share a personal story that included the following statement: Doubt your doubts; and believe your beliefs. But never believe your doubts or doubt your beliefs.

Amen!

Eheyeh: I Am

WOW! I am overwhelmed with His words so clearly spoken to me lately. I have a precious friend fighting cancer. The phrase God has given her for this time is "'I Am' is my healer!" I was praying for her this weekend and looked up "by His stripes we are healed." It is found in Isaiah 53. I was struck with the words "we are healed." You see, this was a prophecy. Jesus had not been physically born into this world yet. However, He is I Am. The original word for this is Eheyeh. The people who lived in Bible days recognized this word as a name for God which meant He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the One who always has been and always will be. Then when Jesus came and was criticized and questioned. He stated, "Before Abraham was, I Am." I imagine those around Him were shushed. They recognized his words to say He identified Himself as Deity.

He is I Am. He dwells in us. Therefore, we are. We are whatever He says we are. He says "we are healed." If He said it, then it is; because He is I Am.

Blessings