Thunderstorms & Peace

Woke up this morning to the sound of thunder…

It rained all day yesterday and all through the night saturating the earth. Sometime in the early morning hours, I heard thunder in the distance. The sound of the thunder slowly grew louder until we were in the midst of the storm. As loud as the thunder was, the steady rain was what I found myself thinking about. I was comforted by the rain, the steady, consistent rain.

An so it is in life. There are times when you can hear the rumble of trouble in the distance, and soon you are in the midst of a trial. The sky grows dark, the thunder is loud. This is not how life is supposed to be. There is no peace, no contentment, no blue skies in sight.

But listen for the sound of the steady rain: the rain of the Holy Spirit wanting to saturate your soul with the presence of Almighty God. The rain that will wash away despair and fill you with life-giving hope; a love-soaking rain that will drive away the fear; a cleansing rain that will remove the shame.

Embrace the rain…


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Follow The Leader

If we are looking, God can use the simple every day things of life to teach us about Him.

As I was walking our dog this morning, there was a family of geese - Dad, Mom, and seven young geese.  One parent, let's say it was the dad, was in the front, and mom was in the back with the seven young geese in between.  This family of geese walked across someone's front lawn, and started to cross the street.  Dad sensed some alarm and immediately turned around and the whole family turned around and headed back to the yard.

I couldn't help but think how God does the same thing for us.  He wants to lead us and direct our steps.  There are times when he turns us around and leads us in a different direction.  We may not always understand why but He always has our best interest in mind.  God will never lead us into tempation, but He will always deliver us from the Evil One.  Our job is easy... we just have to follow Him.

"For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight; for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard."  Isaiah 52:12

One Desire

There is one thing I desire
There is one thing that I seek
A longing deep within my soul
A fire burning deep
Lord, I finally realize
You are all I need
I lift my eyes to heaven and
I seek Your face with my whole heart
I'll be satisfied when I look in Your eyes
Gaze into Your beauty
In Your presence I abide
When I awake, when I awake
In the likeness of You, in the likeness of You.

~Me

I wonder sometimes how different life would be if I truly lived like Jesus was all I needed.

In His Grace...

Always On His Mind

"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?  For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor."  Psalm 8:3-5

I am not famous - I do not know any famous people nor have I met any famous people.  I did get close enough once to snap a picture of Mel Gibson when he was in town filming Conspiracy Theory.  Dearborn Street was packed with people wanting a glimpse of a Hollywood star.  I remember people trying to get an autograph or shake his hand.  And I was one of those people.  I thought it would be so awesome to have Mel Gibson's autograph.  I didn't get my autograph, but I did waste an hour of my time waiting and hoping.

Mel Gibson may not have paid any attention to me, but God does.  I am always on His mind, and that is exciting to me!

Elohim, the Creator of the universe, the One who made the heavens and hung the moon and the stars, knows me.  He does not just know about me, He knows me inside and out.  He formed me in my mother's womb, He knows each hair on my head by number, He knows my thoughts.  And He loves me and wants a relationship with me.  He wants to be more than a  handshake or an autograph.  He wants to be my everything.  He wants to be my

• Healer
• Provider
• Counselor
• Hope
• Peace
• Joy
• Refuge
• Best friend
• Lover of my soul
• Abba Father or Dear Papa Daddy
• Shoulder to cry on
• Help
• Savior
• Redeemer
• Confidant
• Giver of good gifts

He is crazy in love with me and He cannot stop thinking about me.  What more could I ask for?  Nothing... He completes me.

With My Whole Heart

I want to love You more

I want to love You more

I give myself in sweet surrender

Totally to You

I want to love You more.

I wrote this little chorus years ago, but lately this has been the cry of my heart.  We are commanded to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, and so often I don't even come close.  There are days when He is not in His rightful place in my life.  There are days when my priorities are out of whack.  Some days I am laying up earthly treasure, not heavenly treasure.  Some days He does not have my whole heart.

I am grateful for His mercy and grace and unconditional love.  His kindness and goodness and faithfulness create in me a longing to love Him more deeply, to worship Him more sincerely, to serve Him more willingly.

So as I start my 21 day fast today, this is my desire, to love Him more each day, to hunger and thirst for His righteousness and to live in His presence where there is fullness of joy.  I want to live in His love.

In His Grace...

Let God Determine Your Usefulness

The other day I reached for my towel to dry off and realized there was no bath towel on the rack.  I hate when I do that!  I was about to yell for help when I spotted the hand towel on the counter.  That would do the job.

Now I would never choose a hand towel over a regular bath towel intentionally.  Hand towels are for hands, and bath towels are for bodies, beach towels are for the beach.  Each towel is designed for a specific purpose.  But that doesn't mean they cannot be used outside of their intended purpose.  Ultimately, I decide what the purpose will be.

And I think that is how God feels about us.

Too often I feel inadequate or under qualified.  I may feel like there are others more suited and equipped for the task at hand.  And there probably is.  But God (I love those two words!) is not concerned about my qualifications, just my availability.

He created me, and He determines my purpose.  He chooses how I will be used.  My job is to remain on the Potter's wheel and let Him mold me.  That is not always easy, but always worth it!

Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the  plans I have for you..."

Lessons Learned From "Big Waves"

Psalm 93:4, "The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea."

I have always loved the water. I have had the privilege of growing up and living by Lake Michigan, which I thoroughly enjoy. My family and I love to take our Sea-Doos to the lake, and nothing better than a day when the waves are 3-5 ft. Love it! But Lake Michigan doesn't compare to standing on the shore of the ocean waiting for the big waves.

Lesson One: Back in October 1993, my family and I went to Hilton Head, SC for a week on the beach. There was a tropical storm with the potential of turning into a hurricane headed our way. The rain was non-stop for five days. There was finally a break in the rain, and we walked down to the beach. Wow! The waves were crashing on the shore and the sound was thunderous. I remember having a difficult time talking over the sound of the waves as they crashed on the shore.

When I first read Psalm 93:4, I thought about the many voices fighting for my attention. I thought about how life can get confusing, and how I have often felt like I was being pulled in a million different directions. I thought about the times I was taunted by Satan - you're no good, you have no value, you failed again, why do you even try to live for God, you fail Him all the time... and on and on and on. But without fail, the voice of my Papa Daddy would drown out the voice of the enemy and comfort me with His love and assurance that I was His and He was mine.

Lesson 2: Back in December, 2004, we were visiting my sister who lived on Oahu's North Shore. The town was all abuzz with talk about the big waves that were headed their way. I am thinking 10-15 ft waves. Hah! How foolish of me! They were expecting 40 ft waves. The locals would stand on the shore for hours on end, watching the waves roll in. They were excited to teach me about wave formation and surfing the big waves. Everywhere we went someone would ask, "Did you hear about the 40 footers coming?" When we were not at the beach, my sister would have some website up monitoring the bouy out at sea. The anticipation was something to see! After a couple of days I was wanting to see the 40 footers as much as anyone! We weren't disappointed! The big waves hit in the early morning hours flooding the streets and creating even more excitement!

"The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea." and He is headed our way!

I wonder what would happen if:

We were excited about His coming and shared His love everywhere we went?

We allowed Him to invade every moment of our lives?

We were so consumed with Him that there was no longer any room for the things of this world that only leave us empty and unfulfilled?

We truly believed Romans 8:11, "The Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you..." or John 14:12, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works will he do..."

If 40 foot waves are something to get excited about, how much more should we be excited about the One who created those 40 foot waves! Try it... You won't be disappointed!