Intimate gifts

Think of your favorite place to be.

 Somewhere where you are struck by the awesomeness of God.

Is it the mountains?
The Beach?
The woods?
Your own back yard?

Have you ever thought that God created that spot thinking of you and how YOU would enjoy it? That when he fashioned it he said "She will love it here". That's what I call God's Intimate Gifts to me.

Have you looked at your favorite spot with that kind of thought before?

God is just that intimate in his love for us. We were not a surprise to him, and the things we love are not a surprise to him. However much we believe we are discovering something for the first time, in God's eyes, he planned it that way. It's much like when we quietly put a new toy in a toddlers play area and watch to see them discover it. What joy it brings to us to see their joy... what joy it brings to him when we discover and adore his sweet gifts to us.

hmmmm. Makes me love him more. Makes me desire him more. Oh how he loves us!

Look around, and discover your gifts. I assure you they abound. Be thankful for them today and I promise you will find a joy only found in him!

Our God knows how to give us good gifts.

"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Matt 7:11

Blessings today my friends!

Thoughts from the Beach-The Glory

Have you ever been struck by how amazing God really is? His Glory is everywhere, if we choose to look. These are some of the scriptures that came to me as I pondered this while sitting on the beach early one morning.

"I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple." Isa 6:1

"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all." 1Ch 29:11

"Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness." Psa 29:2

"Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth," Num 14:21

"Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking." Ezekiel 1:28

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." Romans 1:20

I woke up this morning Anxious to be on the beach. Have you ever smelled the Pacific Ocean in the Morning? The Air is Crisp and salty. The sand is cool  and the only sound I hear are the gentle lapping of the water along the shore, a distant boat, and the cry of a bald eagle who is sitting high above me in the top of a tree.

Oh this place is peace to me. Gentle. Calm. Natural.

God's Brilliance is evident in this place. How amazing is our Creator.

I know when he formed and fashioned this very beach he made it with me in mind. He knew the peace and happiness I would find here in my retreat... so he made it.

You see God is just that intimate, and just that big.

Who can fathom his wondrous limitless love? Or understand his bounty. He loves. He is love.

Thank you Lord for this place. Your glory is evident here.

The train of the Lord fills the temple...

By The Grace of a Holy God

I am a safety person. While many other parents I know are very lax on car safety, I avidly follow the car seat laws and insist that mine wear a belt, sit in the back till they are 12, and sit in the proper car seat until they are old enough.

I mean, it takes nothing to buckle them in, and only a moment to lose them in an accident.

So yesterday when we were careening down the freeway at 70 mph with our kids, I didn't have any fear of problems.

When I saw the traffic up ahead come to a sudden stop and my husband wasn't slowing I began to scream for him to stop. As the car in front of us came closer and closer I knew we were going to hit it hard. At the last second my husband veered to the left shoulder and narrowly missed the car while sending us almost into a steep ditch that would have flipped the car had he not been able to keep us on the thin edge.

Somewhere in the craziness I heard my son yell from the back seat "Sarah fell out!" Panicked I turned and yelled "What?!" and saw her on the floor of our truck.

In the hustle to get out the door to an event we were to attend I just neglected to buckle her in. Something I rarely do. In a moment I could have lost my precious girl!

A flood of thoughts came at me all at once as I realized just how bad that "could" have been. I pictured in my mind that if we had actually hit the car in front she would have flown through the windshield. How if we had rolled the car down the embankment she would have rolled around the car and probably been thrown out of a window and killed too.


I immediately was so thankful.... Words can not do justice to the thankfulness I had for Gods protective hand yesterday. I sobbed in thankfulness. Later last night, as I heard the news highlights of children killed in plane crashes in my area, of concert stands killing people, of car crashes in other areas... I was in awe of why God saw fit to protect us from this tragedy.

I have no answers, just this scripture

"For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."" Romans 9 :15

And I was struck at how he is a HOLY God. Have you thought about how HOLY he is lately? In our culture we think of our 'Friend' Jesus... and the 'Grace' of God... But have you thought about his utter  Holiness lately? I think we need to have a fresh revelation of just how holy he is. I think we need to learn to be thankful for the privilege of having a breath today, and realize that we have no rights apart from what he gives us. I think we need to remember that though he is loving and though he is full of grace he is also a Holy God who is to be revered.

"Day and night they never stop saying: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.' Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: 'You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.'" Revelation 4:8-11

Blessings,

Purpose

I love Psalm 138:8

"The LORD will fulfill his purposes for me..."

Let that hang in your mind for a minute. It's not YOU who will fulfill your purpose in your life. It's the LORD. Doesn't that give you a bit of freedom? It sure does me.

I think sometimes we can get caught up in the search for our purpose.

We seek where we are supposed to serve.
We Pray for a direction in our purpose.
We seek the right fit.
We think we will feel fulfilled when we find it.

Sounds more like searching for a pair of jeans...

But that isn't what the word teaches. It teaches us that we are to serve where we can, love everybody, follow the Lord explicitly, and that GOD almighty will fulfill in us the purpose he has for us.

That is PURE FREEDOM to know that it's up to God to work and direct us. So what is our part in this?

If you know me at all, you know that I adore Beth Moore. I have learned so much from her over the years of doing her bible studies. But one thing she says that sticks in my mind goes something like this..."If we are just all out loving God with everything we've got, and living to serve him, we can't help but run smack into our purpose."

Love that.... It's still all about loving him. 

"May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance." 2 Th 3:5


Blessings ~

Character in Question...

Luke 7: 20,22 "When the men came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, 'Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?'"..."So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor."

John the Baptist knew who Jesus was. Just a few chapters earlier he heard the voice of God declaring him the Son of God, and Saw The holy spirit come down on him. Yet here, he questions who he really is, what he really is doing, and what his real motivations were.

My heart was hurt the other day. Someone I love and respect questioned  me on something I was doing.

The very nature of the question called my personal integrity into question. I was completely innocent of this and horribly hurt by what the question insinuated.

I denied the charge and asked them if there was anything in my life or personality that would warrant them to believe that I would ever do such a thing.

Of course they said no. But there it was, hanging there, and building a wall in our relationship. I forgave them of course, but I will not deny the hurt it caused.

How much more does it hurt our relationship with Christ when we think or believe he is against us?  When we accuse him, even in our hearts, of being anything other than what he really is, I can't help but believe that it puts a strain on our relationship

I have heard some say

"I just can't win"
"God is against me"
" He doesn't care"
"He is angry with me"
"He just wants to punish me"
"I am not important/ my needs aren't important"

Instead he says

"I gave all that you might win the Holy Spirit"
"I am for you, who can be against you?"
"I intimately care about you, and have lavished my grace on you"
"I have given you peace with God"
"I want to bless you with every spiritual blessing"
"You have been saved and set apart"
"You are precious in my sight"

We need to see Christ for his true character, what we see as evidence about him in scripture and in our life transformations, rather than our momentary feelings in a time of crisis, doubt, or worry.

Know him today friends. Know his character. And when you are tempted to believe otherwise remember...

..."The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor."

Blessings ~

 

In Weakness....

2 Cor 12;9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

2 Cor 11:30 "If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness"

If I were honest with you and I revealed a part of myself that I reserve from most people, you would see that I am a weak woman. I love Jesus with everything, but I am weak.

I worry
I become confused
I doubt
I question
I get angry
I get resentful
I get judgmental.
I try to control things myself.

But the Lord says that in Our weakness he is made strong.... And Paul writes that he will boast about his weakness so Christ is glorified.

So I will boast about my weakness because...

He is able.
He is strong,
He is patient,
He has mercy!
His love never fails.
His plan never is thwarted.
He is never out of control of the outcomes in my life.

He doesn't ask for perfection.  He has asked only two things... to Love him, and tell everyone else about his grace for us.


The world says we must be perfect to be strong and to win. But the bible says that our greatest strength is in our weakness. What could God do with our weaknesses if we stopped listening to what the world says we should do and instead started boasting about them? I know one person who did just that...

Jason Grey is an amazing christian music artist with a gift for words. For a man with a studdering  handicap that may seem strange, But that is the kind of God we serve. He took Jason's biggest weakness and put it on display, and made it beautiful.





Blessings,