S-L-O-W-L-Y with my Lord

Do not BOLT into the day like a racehorse suddenly released.

Wow. ..it that me or what. I think of a lightning bolt that comes out of nowher that shoots across the sky with a loud crackling pop...Ouch....I wonder where did it hit, what did it strike.

Oh how I am like that...I wake up from a peaceful state...and then Bolt out of my bed like a speeding bullet, and then wonder when I strike something or someone with a crackling pop.

Instead I am to “walk purposefully with Jesus, letting Him direct my course..one step at a time”.

When I do that, I am able to see and experience all of the blessings God has for me. I am able to thank Him. I am able to be a light and a peaceful blessing in the lives of those who come in contact with me.

When I make my life a race, bolting in ever which way, I will eventually hit something that will bring me to an abrupt hult. To live that way is exhausting.

I will instead to choose to take my Saviors hand as I get out of bed, and allow Him to walk me slowly through the day that He has planned out with me. I don’t want to miss anything.

So as I walk through this adventure called life, I will...“Be joyful always. Pray Continuously. Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for me in Christ Jesus. “ I Thessalonians 5:16-18

In Quietness and Trust

As I am reading through todays "Jesus Calling" (February 16) about thanking God for the "conditions that are requiring me to be still"....I think about how that in all circumstances He is calling us to be Still...in Him. He is the one who gives that perfect peace in the midst of busyness...in the midst of the eye of a storm in our life....in the midst of even calmness...quietness. He is calling us to "Be Still"...because He is God. When I try to be my own God...when I fight the circumstances that I am in, when I try to play the Holy Spirit in other's lives, when I don't give Him my first fruits...when I fight His calling me to be still...I always end up exhausted from all "my" striving.

All He wants from us to serve Him in "quietness and trust". Being still before our Lord...is serving Him. Being quiet in our soul before Him...is a form of worship. That is all we have to do. How we fight the quietness....the stillness...when we are forced to be still...as many of us are experiencing this through transition. How our circumstances have provided more "stillness hours"....How our Lord has provided these for us to come and be still....before Him...so He can fill us with Him....

I ask myself....

Why don’t I chose God in the stillness and only choose Him when I want to be still?

A loaded question....When God provides the quiet times, I seek the activity....but when I am overloaded I seek Him to be still. Hmm....I never win...always wanting what I don't have.

May you find your Lord in every second of your day today...whether it is filled with quiet seconds or a whirlwind of activity. He is there. He is calling us to be quiet and trust....in all things.

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:

“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it. Isaiah 30:15

Shine Jesus Shine

God’s peace is like a shaft of golden light shining on me continuously.

If His light is shining on me continously what am I doing or allowing in my life that is dimming the light?

His light of peace is with me, so what do I have to start doing or stop doing so it shines within me?

On “sunny” days in my soul and in my surroundings, do I ignore His light? Do I not ask for His peace? Do I acknowledge that is still shining? Do I shine brighter?

And when the clouds come...those dark clouds...do I focus my eyes on the darkness or draw light from His peace?

The clouds are a reminder that I need the Savior’s light upon me. It is a gentle reminder that He wants me to draw closer to the light source.

I have a choice on the days covered with a cloud covering and the days which are beaming sun rays....where are my eyes focused? Do I focus them first on my Lord and give thanks through the rays and ask Him to shine through the clouds? Do I bring His light into my life so He is able to shine through me so others will see His radiance.

My Lord, the light of my life...”Shine Jesus Shine” in all areas of my life so I can be a light for you....

Shine, Jesus, shine

Fill this land with the Father's glory

Blaze, Spirit, blaze, Set our hearts on fire

Flow, river, flow

Flood the nations with grace and mercy

Send forth Your Word, Lord And let there be light

Lord, I come into Your awesome presence

From the shadows into Your radiance

By the blood I may enter Your brightness

Search me, try me, consume all my darkness

Shine on me

Shine on me

When I Seek His Face

*Seek my face...MORE and MORE

My seeking the Lord increases minute by minute. As I meet my Lord, face to face, my heart craves more of Him. As I go about my day, and “life” creeps in, it is a reminder that this world is not my home, and I desire more of the face of my Lord. His face...crowds out all that is seen...all that I feel. His face shines upon whatever I am facing...when I seek His face.

"When I seek His face, He lightens up my life,

In the midst of whatever I am experiencing, especially when it’s strife.

He tells me that He’s always with me, that I am never all alone

I just have to ask Him to join me, and make His Face my home."

*To think that I am only just beginning my journey of intimacy with Jesus.

Wow...at times I feel so close to Him and want to shout for joy. Other times, when I allow the world to clutter my being, I can’t even see Him anywhere. But to know that this is just the beginning...that every second I have an opportunity to meet my Savior at a deeper level is incomprehensible. He just waits for me, to come to Him so He can meet me at a deeper level. He wants to be intimate with me. It is a choice. He waits...and waits...and waits....for me. The funny thing is that at times I feel that I the one doing all the waiting for Him. He hasn’t gone anywhere...it is me that has moved.

My Jesus...so full of grace...just waiting with open arms to do my life with me. All that He asks is for me to “Seek His Face”...that’s it. When I seek Him, He will be found...which in turn means that I am found. I will be in His perfect will for me...to be in His Presence. Perfect Fellowship with the Perfect One.

*At times it doesn’t feel like an easy road, but it is the perfect road for me.

I am to see it as a treasure hunt...with the Treasure being Jesus. So I seek His face...in all things...and I will find the treasure.

Jesus is even gracious in the hardships for which I face. He does not give me more than I can bear. He gives me just enough. Wow does He trust me with at times, when the burden is so heavy. Burdens are supposed to feel heavy to remind me that I have Someone who wants to carry them for me. If I didn’t have any hardship would I seek out the Burden-Carrier?

When I believe that what I encounter is not too much for me, I will experience the peace which the Lord has for me.

So easily said, yet so hard to do at times.....when I stop seeking the Treasure in all things.

*Do not recoil (suddenly spring or flinch back in fear, horror or disgust )from afflictions

How often my first response is to “recoil”...to go backwards because of fear or disgust...instead of going forward and seeking the Lord’s face. It is all about choice....choice to choose to Seek my Lord or to seek the pain from my circumstances.

Thank you Lord for wanting me to Seek You. Thank you Lord for being with me in all things. Thank you Lord for your patience, in my impatience. Thank you Lord...for being my Lord.

So I will praise your name because....

“Surely God is my salvation;I will trust and not be afraid. 
The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense^; he has become my salvation.” Isaiah 12:2

Fix My Eyes...on Him

Feburary 3

God is with me and for me.

If He is with me, how would that change my mood, my attitude, my perspective on everything that I am facing at this very moment?

If He is for me, then why would I choose fear over peace?

There is nothing that I will face today...alone. His Presence is with me always.

Since God is with me always....I have a helpmate right by my side, when the silence around me is deafening, I will not focus on that....I will grab my Father’s hand and enjoy His company.

When I feel anxious....it is a warning sign that I am focusing on the visible world...and leaving God out of it!

This is so true. There is nothing in God’s character that is anxious. He is total peace. He gave us total peace when He sent His Son in our lives. God and anxiety can’t fit in the same sentence (oops...I just put them in the same one)...but they don’t. Whenever I choose anxiety I am leaving God out of the picture. Wow...just choose God...and I won’t be anxious. How simple!!!

I choose to Fix my eyes on what is unseen...what is in the heavenly realm...my Jesus...that is the secret in walking through my moments in peace. What is seen is so temporary...everything is one big distraction...satan’s playing field. He is the author of distraction. He so loves pulling our affections off of God and onto the world. He knows that when our eyes are fixed on what is seen...we will become anxious.

God is about right now. He wants me to walk with Him right now. He has taken care of the future, when I said “Yes” to Christ. I will live “Happily Ever After”, so why would I even start to worry about tomorrow...what is to come, when “what is to come” is the ultimate present...to be in the Lord’s Presence always.

Each day is a precious gift from my Father.

Every second that I have is a precious gift because God has given it to me and He is in all things. Why would I want anything more?

I am to receive today...as a gift “gratefully, unwrapping it tenderly and delving into its depths”.

How beautifully put...unwrapping today slowly, peacefully, savoring the taste of every second, as God brings me deeper into His presence, as He transforms me into the likeness of His Son.

What a precious gift!

So I will “...fix my eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporay, but what is unseen is eternal “(eternal defined: everlasting, never-ending, ceaseless). 2 Corinthians 4: 18)