God Thoughts No. Forty Four

Isn't it funny

~Ha Ha

that as soon as I said I had nothing to say,

Holy Spirit gave me something to say?

Hmmm

Anyway,

I was thinking about and marveling at the wondrous love of God

when I had an epiphany of sorts.

Or better said, Holy Spirit made it simple and clear.

God loves you whether you respond to Him or not.

Often, man’s response to that love is based upon one’s own experience(s) with love

-human love.

But His love is made perfect in Christ.

An acceptance of His love

and a determination to remain in relationship

with Him will bring about a revelation of truth.

A revelation of His perfect love changes you forever

and then

finally,

you are able to walk in complete freedom

and to Love the way that He loves

~ unconditionally and truly.

Why would we settle then

 for any other kind of love?

I'm An Unbeliever* - The Jesus Trip

I have time to write today,

but nothing to say.

So, instead,

I'm sharing this video.

Be blessed.

Be free!

Ebb & Flow

I absolutely love the ocean.

If I could be anywhere right now,

it would be on a beach somewhere.

Preferably,

a cool, balmy beach.

So many thoughts

have swirled around like a whirlpool

in my mind already this morning;

Bits and pieces of Scripture

doing their perfect work in my spirit.

Looking over my posts so far this year,

I realize that my thoughts, moods and emotions

seem to ebb and flow like the ocean.

One day my faith comes crashing in like the surf of a high tide.

The next day my faith is calm and peaceful like the flow of a low tide.

Then the next day my faith ebbs;

 back into the sea of thought, mood & emotion.

What a human mess I am!

The past couple of weeks,

the Lord has been reminding me that faith is a gift

(1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 2)

I don't have to strive for more faith,

I simply need to use the gift I've already been given.

I read a quote this morning;

"Don't trust in your own faith. Faith is trust in the work of Christ."

Without the work of Christ,

I have no faith anyway!

As I share my thoughts in these posts,

I ask you to please pardon

the soggy, dripping gift I present

as it has been swimming around in the ocean of my messy life.

 

And hey, Jesus just said,

"Lysa, you're a beautiful wet mess;

Just like the ocean that you love so much."

Thank you , Jesus, for that wonderful word of gracious encouragement!

How about you;

 are you using your gift of faith today;

allowing Jesus to have His perfect way in encouraging you?

Robbed

People are robbed every day.

Children ~

of innocence.

Men and women ~

of dignity.

Workers ~

 of wages.

Innocent ~

of justice.

Citizens ~

of what’s right.

We’ve been robbed.

It’s not the first time.

Probably won’t be the last.

We live in a place where we have had to turn the other cheek so many times

we don’t know which one to turn next.

Bruised. Bloody. Tired.

What gets me through it all?

God.

And His promise ~

To protect.

I don’t desire revenge.

I desire for people to do what’s right.

I know ~

That would be a perfect world.

And until Jesus returns to rule and reign,

our world remains imperfect.

One can always hope.

Right?

Good Days and Not

A ray of light.

Erased by the clouds.

A moment of calm.

Swallowed by the storm.

Forward motion.

Turned around.

A glance at victory.

Blinded by the enemy.

Hope in promises.

Dashed away.

Another day.

Pray no more delay.

God Thoughts No. Forty Three

Most of my mornings begin with my asking the Lord for a word, a verse or some sort of encouragement.

Hearing from Him first thing in the morning is what gets me through the day.

This morning I was thinking about alot of things; the children, the hubby’s new job, finances, etc.

Before I knew it I began wondering if I really was on the right track.

I could feel doubt and fear beginning to creep up.

I began to question whether I have been hearing God correctly.

As soon as I realized where my thoughts were going, I asked the Lord for an encouraging word.

He said, “Look at Matthew 17.”

Verses 1-8 read, “Jesus took Peter, James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain privately. As they watched, Jesus began to change form - His face shone like the sun and his clothing became white as light. Then they looked and saw Moses and Elijah speaking with him. Peter said to Jesus, ‘It’s good that we’re here, Lord. I’ll put up three shelters if you want – one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them; a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!’ When the disciples heard this, they were so frightened that they fell face down on the ground. But Jesus came and touched them. ‘Get up!’ he said. ‘Don’t be afraid.’ So they opened their eyes, looked up and saw only Jesus by himself.”

These few verses revealed several things to me.

First, Jesus loves to spend time with us. It is His delight to walk with us and to show us things that our “natural” eyes cannot see; the things of heaven.

The second thing I noticed was how Peter was so quick to want to “DO” something (build the shelters-which is so like Peter!) but while he was speaking about it, God interrupted him.

The Lord reminded me that I don’t always have to be “doing” something.

He desires to bless me anyway.

Third, is the fact that God said, “Listen to him!”

I do listen. I’m pretty good at it.

 Where I struggle is in simply taking Him at His word.

Now I know that in a previous post, I said that my motto was, “Jesus said it so I believe it!”

- And it is my motto. I just struggle with living it every day!

I noticed too, that in fear, they looked down (away from the Lord).

Sure, it may have been reverent fear of God, but it still caused them to look away.

And when they did, they missed out on something (Moses and Elijah left).

Yeah, fear causes us to miss out on things of and from the Lord because our eyes are turned away from Him and focused on the fear.

Ouch!

I can’t even think about how much I have missed because of fear!

And finally, I saw that Jesus touched them.

 And when He did they opened their eyes.

They placed their focus back on Him and all was well.

That is the beauty of the Lord.

 We go through so many things; inflict upon ourselves our own misery,

yet He is always there, ready with a touch; to set us back on course.

With these verses, the Lord reminded me that often, I make things more difficult than they need to be.

When He says something, He means it.

 He has said, “Listen to me, Lysa.

Don’t doubt or worry. Instead, look up! Your redemption is near!”

Yes, He said it and I believe it!

Thank You, Lord, for setting me back on course!

What has He said to you today?

Fitly Spoken

"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver."

Proverbs 25:11

The other day I was looking back over my blog when I had a fleeting thought,

 “I wonder if people read this and roll their eyes.

I’m always talking about the Lord and His goodness. I wonder if they get tired of it.”

Immediately, the Lord spoke the above verse to me

 then reminded me of something a wise young man said some time ago.

I had made some sort of comment about the fact that most of my blog posts and social media updates are about praising God or telling of His goodness.

The young man’s response to me was,

 “Lysa, you can’t help it. It’s your very DNA.”

He’s so right and it’s so true! I can’t help it.

I’ve known the Lord since before I can even remember.

He has always been the center of my being.

 And I can’t not speak of Him.

Listen, I am a real person with real struggles.

 Like so many others out there, my life circumstances are a mess and things appear to be out of control.

The past several years have proven to be the greatest test that I have ever encountered.

 But through it all, the one thing that remains the same is God and His goodness.

If I hadn’t had this to hold onto, I would have fallen into despair.

In fact, I probably wouldn’t be here today without the knowledge of Him.

Fear, despondency, grief and depression would have driven me to something drastic.

Yes, death.

But, God.

He is amazing.

Jesus.

A true friend.

Holy Spirit.

The guide to all Truth.

These writings are my offering

to the One who gave me life

and who has preserved me.

They are the reason I live;

who I am.

My decision (the Lord's decision really)

to make them public

is so that others may be encouraged;

filled with hope,

driven from despair

and into the loving arms of the One who created them.

I am so thankful to the young man who said those words to me.

They truly are words fitly spoken and I treasure them even more than I would

valuable gold and fine silver.

So, I do pray that what I share encourages you.

Thanks for taking the time.

Shalom!