The Bread of Life

I came home yesterday from a conference, led by a godly young woman of God, in a state of awe. I had just observed a supernatural event. She broke the Bread of Life of just a few verses and fed hundreds of women just what each one needed.  It is amazing what God’s Word accomplishes in the hearts of those who are instructed by it. We are led, comforted, challenged, admonished, humbled, exalted and taught by it. Just as Jesus when He fed the 5000, she took what she had, asked God to bless and multiply it and fed us to satisfaction. 

What a gift to be called to feed others with god’s Word. 

What a calling. 

Women of all ages, cultures, backgrounds heard the same words expounded and each took to herself a different meaning and application for her own life. God Word speaks to every situation of our lives, no matter our age, position, circumstances or maturity.

Majestic Words

MAJESTIC WORDS

Romans 1:1  Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called [as] an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,  2  which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,  3  concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh,  4  who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,  5  through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about [the] obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, for His name's sake,  6  among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;  7  to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called [as] saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

LORD, as a “word hound” I stand in awe when reading Paul’s letters. He was so full of Your Spirit that words rushed out of him at breakneck speed, tumbling over one another into long meaty sentences with each phrase full of knowledge, wonder and awe at what You have done

for us,
to us,
in us, and
with us
to transform us into the image that You originally intended in Eden.

Goodness, I just made one of those sentences, but it comes naturally to use wondrous language when we describe You and Your work in our lives.

May I always think of You in the superlative...most, best, grandest, all powerful, all knowing, always present...most caring most just, greatest, majestic,

Psm 145: 5  On the glorious splendor of Thy majesty, And on Thy wonderful works, I will meditate.  6  And men shall speak of the power of Thine awesome acts; And I will tell of Thy greatness. 

Eph 3:20  Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,  21  to Him [be] the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Pain Can Change Our Focus

I have not written for my blog in about two months. Why? I have been consumed by thoughts about my body. (My hip slipped out of place and caused pain with every step) I am not accustomed to considering pain in planning my daily routine. But a trip to the doctor and, by his recommendation, a physical therapist, put “pain” treatment on my calendar. I have never been one to constantly take my “temperature” of how I feel. I have been blessed with health and energy and many interests that fill my thoughts. So this has been a new condition for me. As I have slowly gotten better I have realized how I have allowed “pain” to dictate not only my behavior, but my thoughts. Then I remembered something I have taught many times in the past...”Belief (thought life) controls behavior.” This experience has given me an empathy toward others who live in chronic pain and hopefully has reminded me that I can choose my thoughts to redirect my focus...even when pain is knocking at the door of my mind.

Heb 12:2 “fixing our eyes on Jesus”...this is where I find comfort and purpose in the midst of pain, not in the focus on my pain. For it blinds me to His working in my life.

Father, do not let the painful circumstances take my focus from You or blind me to the things You are doing in my life.

Be Still And Know That I Am God

Isaiah 30:15b In quietness and trust is your strength.

As I lay in the MRI machine (an enormous noise making monster) I tried to put my anxious thoughts behind me.  What was the doctor looking for that would cause her to order this test on my head?  Was there something terribly wrong?  I was wearing head phones to dampen the unrelenting noise.  I decided to pray and praise the Lord to ward off the “vain imaginations” I was plagued with, but it was impossible to concentrate, to focus on God.

Then God spoke to me....causing me to correlate the noise surrounding me with the noise of the world that keeps us from focusing on Him.  Worries, anxious “what ifs,” concerns about our finances, our health, or our loved ones can consume us and leave no room in our minds for Him.  There are so many things clamoring for our attention.

Jesus told Martha in Luke, when she was anxious about many things, that “only one thing was necessary” and that was turning our attention to Him. I have learned through the years that there is room in our minds for only one thing at a time.

We must make a quiet place in our heart and mind where nothing else can intrude and spend time with Him; shedding all our concerns and laying them at His feet where they belong...for He is capable of dealing with them and we are not.

He says “Trust Me. I love you. My purpose for you is not to be a “burden bearer” but to be a lover of  Me.”  We must learn to shut out the continual noise of the world and listen for His voice. It brings about the “peace that passes all understanding.”

 He is constantly thinking about me; should I not direct my thoughts toward Him?

Phil 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Our Misplaced Trust

Our Misplaced Trust

 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. Prov. 3:5-6

As I drove on one of our city’s six lane expressways going sixty-five miles per hour I was awed by the fact that  all these cars going around me at breakneck speed and there were no accidents. I remembered driving through Atlanta at rush hour with six lanes going both ways at eighty miles per hour. No one hit anyone else; everyone stayed in their own lane unless there was an opening and they wanted to move over or someone needed to exit. How did this “mass of moving of metal” do it? What was the key? Then it dawned on me! Trust!! I trusted the driver next to me to remain in his lane; we all had a common direction; we were all maintaining the same momentum. I trusted people I didn’t even know. I trusted the laws we were obeying. I trusted my vehicle to perform as it was supposed to. As I turned off the expressway and drove on city streets I trusted that the other driver would stop at the red light or a stop sign at the intersection as I went through.

So much of our lives is based on trust. We trust the pharmacist to fill our prescriptions correctly. We trust food manufacturers to package safe food. We trust the gas we put in our cars is what is advertised. We trust the water piped to our homes to be safe. We trust the bank to take care of our funds.

Why do we not trust God???  This is the God who created us.   Psalm 139:13 For Thou didst form me in my mother’s womb. This is the God who loves us.  Jer.31:3a I have loved you with an everlasting love;  John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.

Why do we trust everything and everyone but God?  Is it because we can’t see and hear Him?

I see Him! I see Him in His Word. I see Him in Gen 1 as he creates with such planning and purpose for a perfect place for man. I see Him rescuing Israel from slavery in Egypt. I see Him providing for them for 40 years in the wilderness...guiding,  leading, feeding, and keeping their clothes from wearing out. I see Him feeding 5000 people who had followed Him into the countryside to listen to His teaching. I see Him turning water into wine to keep the bridegroom from being embarrassed. I see Him lifting a woman who had been accused of adultery and sending her on her way forgiven and cleansed.

I see Him changing my life of emptiness into an exciting life of learning and teaching His Word and watching Him work in so many lives. I see Him bringing me through changes and challenges with peace and confidence and poise. Trust Him??!!?? Yes!! I trust Him!!

I hear Him speak to me through His Word...words of encouragement, comfort, conviction, love. I hear Him in my heart when things are changing. He reminds me that “I change not...Malachi 3:6; Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Heb 13:8; He is...”the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow. James 1:17

What a God!! I trust Him!!

My Psalm

My Psalm

How my soul desires complete communion with Thee, O LORD!'

How the world crushes in to destroy that union.

It unties the cords of trust that bind me to You.

It rushes in to fill the gap between us with concrete,

Which must be chiseled out with determined prayer.

It seeks to blind me to Your glory, with pride colored mist.

It is only when I wrap the arms of my heart around You,

And keep the eyes of my mind upon You

That I can withstand the world's invasion of my soul.

SIGHT AND SOUNDS OF THE HEART

John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled......

As I lay on the table with the cardiac technician, Janet, rubbing her stylus over my chest to record the shape, movement, and sound of my heart, I was reminded of how everything in my body is dependent on the function of this organ.  I began to compare this to our Christian life in which every part of our life with Christ is dependent on the condition of our spiritual heart.

In our culture the biblical “heart” can be translated mind, will and emotions, the seat of our being.  We live in a world of “heart trouble” for sin damaged our heart from the beginning. People’s minds are full of lies; their wills are enveloped in “I can’t,” and their emotions control them instead of them controlling their emotions.  Until we transfer our heart to Jesus’ control we will continue to have this “heart problem”....seeing everything from our selfish me, myself, and I perspective.  Until my heart beats in rhythm with His it will never be completely healthy. He tells us in Proverbs 4: 23 “Watch over your heart with all diligence for from it flow the springs of life.”

What does God see as He looks into my heart? One likeminded, whose heart beats in rhythm with His or one whose heart beats in rhythm with the world around me? 

Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.