The D Word(s)

This post has been on the back burner for awhile.  As you read, you will clearly know why.  Originally, the title of the post was to be Discipline, which usually brings the thought of children to mind. I've been reading some things about being better Disciplined as the Lord revealed to me that being organized is not the same as being Disciplined.  
     The next thing was to understand that my lack of Discipline seems to be due mainly to being so easily Distracted, which makes it hard to be Disciplined when you are Distracted....  are you following me on this ???  My first step was to "organize" a notebook (I can hear some of you already snickering) to help keep my focus on being Disciplined.  On the front cover:  More Discipline ~ Less Distraction.
     The Lord brings some wonderful thoughts & revelations in my own life to blog about, but I tend to get Distracted with something else, whether it is important or just a time waster.  Yes, I need to relax and enJOY  down time, but I know in my heart that I waste more time than I should.  Because of some other things in my life that I am sorting through, the Distractions seem persistent & the Discipline seems elusive.
     Let's not forget two other D words - the devil who is the great Deceiver.   It is his intention to keep Christians Distracted by bombarding us - even with important issues: sanctity of marriage, sanctity of Life, ungodly leadership throughout our nation, loss of purity & morality in our society, struggling to raise children with a knowledge of God ....
     In the midst of it all, those of us who feel the "need" to give to every cause, save the world, who never do enough for the Lord will get Distracted, becoming over-whelmed, sometimes losing hope & the assurance of God's peace.
     Keep in mind that we need to begin with habitual acts of faithfulness/Discipline.  It's not what we Do every now & then, but what we Do everyday, that changes everything.  Find 10 minutes of stillness everyday - no cancellations.  Be still & cease striving.
     Where do we turn ?  To the only place we can be released from our Distractions - God's Word.  When He is our focus, the Discipline will follow.
       Commit to the Lord whatever you do & your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3
       Delight yourself in the Lord & He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He will do it.       Psalm 37:4,5

Here is a great book (also e-book) that encouraged me Do What You Can Plan by Holly Gerth.  A quick & encouraging read.  Blessings.
        

What will they say?

     Having celebrated another birthday, the older I, and maybe you, get, the more reflective we become.  Ever since my father passed away in 1992, funerals are something I'd rather avoid & did for a few years after his death. I recall speaking at his funeral but not what I said.  Some friends experienced the passing of a relative in the past year.  A few were not unexpected due to age & illness, but it doesn't make it any easier.  The other was the father of f Amanda's high school friend, Anna, who I treated much like a daughter.  He left behind a wife, a son, 2 daughters & their husbands, grandchildren & other family members.  Words are never enough at times like those & my heart grieves for them.

     I attended the funeral of Dick, age 88, who was a friend & attended church where I do, as do most of his family.  He had been a widow for 25 years, but often talked of his wife in his emails to his family. He had a great smile, a special wink, & kept butterscotch candy in his pockets.  Often you could hear him unwrap them in church a few rows back.  I enjoyed, yet cried, at the testimonies of his children & grand-children.
     It made me give thought to my own funeral & what would be said.  I hope there is laughter among the tears.  I hope that it might be said, "She was kind, generous & compassionate."  One of my daughters might say with a grin: "although she was a compulsive-A personality which could be annoying, she kept things organized.  If you needed something, she knew where it was."  But most of all, I hope it is said, "She was far from perfect, but you knew she loved the Lord & wanted others to know Him as she did.  Her deepest desire & prayers often focused on raising her grand-children in the Love & Knowledge of the Lord."  If that's all that was said it would be enough.   I have no idea when that day will be, so until then I need to MUST be living out the things I believe.  Some days it's harder if I let a bad attitude or pity party, for whatever reason, creep in.  Most days it's a  JOY because the Lord has been gracious & merciful to me & my family.

An epithet with an added ending:
Pause, stranger, when you pass me by,
For as you are, so once was I.
As I am now, so will you be.
Then prepare unto death, and follow me.
(Pushing the grass aside a bit more, he found the following scratched on the stone, done with a crude instrument: To follow you I'm not content until I know which way you went!)

Matthew 5:16  Jesus said, "... let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
 John 14:1-3  Jesus said "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. In My Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am."
image: ehow.com

Sounds of Silence

So, was your first thought Sounds of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel?  I guess that would depend on your age, but either way, is there really a sound  to silence? I don't do well with silence, needing some "noise" in the back ground, even if I'm not paying attention to it.  I'm still working on one of my earlier blogs "Be Still" which falls into the same category.
I am reading through The Uncluttered Heart - making room for God during Advent & Christmas by Beth Richardson again this year. A few days ago there was reference to times of silence before God.  In Beth's early walk with the Lord, as she attempted to be silent before God, she wrote this: "my brain chattered louder during the silent times than when I was engaged in conversation...a wave of thoughts & emotions tended to drown out anything God might be wanting to say to me."  OH BOY, does that sound like me !!!  And I'm sure many young mothers feel this way often.
    Beth goes on to share: "...we can & need to carve out space & time to sit in silence (include your children in the practice of quiet time), to quiet our inner noise & turn toward God. When feeling overwhelmed & hurried, turn your attention inward, close your ears to outward noise, take deep breaths & come into the welcoming silence of the Heart of God."  Like anything we do, it takes commitment & practice to grow in a discipline (a topic for an upcoming post.)
     Beth includes this prayer. I encourage you to copy & place it in a prominent place to remind you.  "God of stillness, it's easy to overlook you in these busy days.  Create in me a longing for your quiet presence, that I may stop, breathe, & listen for Your Wisdom & Instruction.  Amen."

Mark 6:31   Jesus said, "Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place & get some rest."

Psalm 46:10  "Be still (cease striving/return/let go of your concerns) & know that I am God."

     I pray that you & I will step out of the chaos we sometimes find ourselves in for it is only through the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, that we are able to step into the Presence of God & quiet are hearts & minds before Him.
     Let me know if I can pray for you in this way & please pray for me, also.

Image: freedigital.com      

Not My Home

In a few weeks the year 2012 will be over, well unless you believe the Mayans knew what they were talking about & the world "ends" on December 21st.  A few days into January, the calendar will remind me that I will be a older  As I see more gray in my hair, which I do cover, I now see a few in my eyebrows, along with the wrinkles around my lips, the spider veins on my legs, etc.  While  putting on  makeup yesterday, as I use a 10x magnifying mirror to see all those "flaws" close up, the thought came to me: This is NOT my home.
       That phrase is used often by Christ Followers in reference to living here on earth as opposed to one day being in Heaven. Yet, it also applies to this earthly shell we are contained in that in Heaven will be flaw free with no more disease, pain or tears.  What a glorious thought, but often hard to grasp or be content with while we are here dealing with the process of aging.
       If you are like me, you try not to complain, but I find even the little physical issues annoying.  I just want to feel good ALL the time.  Often I am quickly reminded of others who are suffering much more & I feel a twinge of guilt for being so selfish/whiny or whatever you want to call it. 
      I truly am grateful that my aches &  pains are few & minimal, thanking God for His mercy upon me.  I know full well it is undeserved.  Sometimes, in my heart, I feel my thankfulness sounds so trite to the Lord & it bothers me.  Yet His Word clearly says in I Thessalonians 5:16-22  "Be JOYful always, pray continually, give thanks in ALL circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
      Whether it is our bodies or our house that we reside in, both are deteriorating.  BUT the GOOD NEWS for Christ Followers is found in many Scriptures.  Here are just a few & they are truly something to be JOYful about:

II Corinthians 5:1,2  Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.   For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 

I Corinthians 15:53,54  For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die. When this happens -- when our perishable earthly bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die -- then at last the Scriptures will come true: "Death is swallowed up in victory.

Philippians 3:20 " But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ"
Revelation 21:3-5  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be his people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.   He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"

PS - Don't forget that if you sign in by Anonymous to leave a comment, please include name within post so I know who you are !!!! (Image: modernmedicalguide.com)

Trust Me

     Oh how often we hear those words during the political cycle, but they are also insinuated about so many other things in commercials, magazine ads, by news anchors and on and on.  Whenever I hear those words whether spoken or "unspoken" the pic I posted is the one I visualize.  
     We teach our children to trust what we say and, out of respect, to believe what their teachers and Pastors also say.  At some point in our lives and theirs a decision needs to be made.  As the old TV show said, "Who Do You Trust?"
     Because of fallen human nature - i.e. sin - at some point along the way people will fail us - from family, friends, co-workers, employers and even members of the Clergy.  There is only One that can be trusted to do what He said He would do - God, the Father of our Savior Jesus Christ.  The Bible calls us to be Bereans:  Acts 17: 11   Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
     The Bearans did not take Paul's word for it, but searched God's Word to gain full knowledge of what was being said.  I pray that we do the same, asking for God to give us His Wisdom and Discernment as we seek to know His Truth.  Many things are not directly addressed in the Bible but there are precepts that clearly tell us where we should stand or how we should respond to what the world tells us.
     May I simply leave you with the Word of God in these uncertain times.  

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in Me."    John 14:1

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.   Romans 15:13

Those who know Your Name will trust in You, for You, LORD, have never forsaken 

those who seek You.   Psalm 9:10

But I trust in Your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in Your salvation.  Psalm 13:5