Food for thought

Do we laugh and cry with joy?

Lord I want so much to be with You in pain, trial, and tribulation but also in laughter and tears of joy, for it all encompasses Your love, sweet, sweet love.  In Jesus' name. Amen.

When we are doing anything outside the will of God, instantly our joy is gone.  Think back (and for most of us it won't be too far) to a time with friends or family when you discovered something about a mutual friend that irritated you both and how right you feel about them being wrong!...gossip.  You may in agreement shake your head about it or laugh about it but in that moment we have no joy because the glory of God's presence is not being poured out through us.  Christ cannot dwell in us any other way than who He is and was when He walked this earth.  When we bow to our flesh in the slightest way (which begins, by the way, with our thoughts) Christ can be no part of it.  "Lo I am with you always" this is true but we blatantly choose to ignore His presence and instead please our flesh.  "If any man hears Me knocking and comes to the door and opens it I will come in and commune with him and he with Me."  Now that's exciting, but are we so busy talking that we don't give our Savior any time to speak?  Oh, that we may be first and foremost listeners, not speakers!  We want this, but on our terms, not His!  Our focus must remain on Him - we must be so consciously aware of Him and His way until it becomes who we are.  The conscious awareness of His perfect love will guide our thoughts and actions if we let Him.  I pray the next temptation I have to speak out on an irritation I have felt due to others' behavior that I may see my Savior writing with a stick in the sand to the accusers.  When we gossip is that not what we are, accusers agreeing on the fault of another? judging?  Oh no, not us, we are Christians ( Christ followers, imitators.) Oh really? Can we even dare to think such nonsense!  We are saved by grace, the fact that our eyes are opened to how unworthy of that grace we are is His mercy on us.  So yes! Let us see Him writing in the sand our sins and we will be humbly blessed.  I know why my Father has to reveal this to me, for it must be rooted out of me.  I must see so I will detest in me what is not of Christ who is Holy and blameless and came to live through us, the church.  Are we there yet? 

Where we will do whatever it takes to be one with Him even if it means keeping our mouths shut?  Anyone who knows me personally knows that this is one tall order and I cannot do it, but Christ can and will if I keep the door open for Him.  The beautiful thing is this, I am (by my pride) being exposed, crushed, and shamed by my mouth and actions on a daily basis but I find indescribable joy in God letting me come to grips  with my shortcomings in such a conscious way and root out what is not of Him.  This is humbling and heart wrenching when we see how short we fall and it produces the sweetest fruit of all in us, the fruit of humility.  With great joy and awe we can serve but without humility it is devoid of joy.  So it is our heart's desire to be in God's presence in pain, trials, and in  laughter and joy for it is all encompassed in His love, sweet,  sweet love. 

Father I am deeply crushed by my shortcomings and at the same time in an awe of thankfulness for Your Son  who writes it upon the sand for me to understand.  If You did not give Him for us we would never know.  We tremble at Your grace and mercy which encompasses all who love You. Thank you for Your amazing patience in letting us learn; our joy is indeed in You alone!  Mold us into Your image Lord for only this is well with our soul.  In Jesus Christ our Savior's name I pray. Amen

Love to all in Christ Jesus C:) 

Food for thought

"Come near before the Lord for He has heard your grumblings" Exodus 16:9a

My dear friend Jill once shared a saying that is worth repeating often: "If this is the worst thing that ever happens then we have got it made!" Why? Because it gets the mind in the driving gear of developing a good attitude despite our circumstances. We whine, moan, and complain, and I call this "being an Israelite in the desert".  I know in this world we will have trouble, but for the most part we bring it upon ourselves.  I'm not talking about sickness and true "innocent" suffering, I'm talking about day in day out normal complaining.  Yesterday, for example, the wind was fierce all day, the day that leaves dirt and pollen heavily dusted everywhere.  Since I have asthma I know that it is best not to venture outside too long or better yet not at all. Funny, I can go for days busy working in my home but when it would be best for me to stay home I somehow get that restless feeling.  Maybe an ice storm  or a snow day, no school and the natives are restless, you know the drill.  Or perhaps we have had a drought and then like last spring it rains most of the time.  It's either too hot or too cold, and if we are not complaining, we go to a party or we throw one and someone is there to fill the gap.  Someone brings up a complaint and we all rush in like starving children to add our 2 cents worth, having us a grand ole time!  And it doesn't stop there, we return home to rehash the discussion. Solving nothing, and why? Because we are not putting our complaints in the light of God's word.  If we did we would find peace in the midst of our circumstances.  I love going down these rabbit holes because it helps me to grasp realities I otherwise would not notice, that I so easily dismiss.  The powers that can dominate me. The power of complaining.  I'm sure there are many more; lust, greed, etc., and we all face the flesh. But complaining seems less invasive than some of the others and I think that is but an illusion but I will go with it anyway.  Anything we yield to but Jesus Christ will produce bondage in our lives.  Maybe many of you remember singing  "I've got joy, joy, joy, down in my heart! Where? down in my heart! Where? down in my heart! and if the devil doesn't like it he can sit on a tack Ouch! sit on a tack Ouch! sit on a tack. I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart to stay!"  We all would love to be full of joy but few are willing to examine personally what it is in us that is robbing us of that joy.  "The first thing to do in examining the power that dominates us is to take hold of the unwelcome fact that we are responsible for being truly dominated." O.C.  We are slaves to ourselves because somewhere we gave into the temptation of our flesh.  We yielded to our fleshly desires.  A majority of the time it is so subtle we do not take notice.  I have found journaling makes me sit up and take notice - and I highly recommend it.  Get alone with God and He will reveal His truth and uncover what is not of Him in you.  We all fall short of the glory of God but few take the time to face it head on.  I, for one, would much rather face it now than later (or at least I say that right now).  "Every knee shall bow".  It's like putting off homework and the stress of it becomes so intensified that your whole attitude goes down the drain. Believe me when I say this I know this all too well.  However, what I have discovered over time (and a good part at first was pure obedience to my convictions) is that I love doing homework. I love learning God's truth.  Journaling has become one of the greatest blessings in my life.  We do not realize how dark it is until we ease into the warmth of the light.  Don't be dismayed if the light at times hurts your eyes, take time alone with your Father to adjust to the light because it is full of His Glory, glory you do not want to miss here and now.  " Open my eyes that I may see, visions of eternity."  "Draw me nearer nearer precious Lord; to the cross where Thou hast died."

Heavenly Father, I pray that our hearts would jar us when we start to complain, so we may at once put our eyes back on You.  May we be mindful that our joy in the midst of our circumstances is a light on this path we share with others.  In Jesus Christ name I pray amen.

Love to all in Christ Jesus C:)