ATTACK-A-STACK

"Plop and Drop" is not usually the best way to study God's words.

But....this past week as "State of Emergency" was declared by our President, I have been using a "stack and attack" method along with my regular quiet times of study and prayers.

During this time of isolation, recommended by the CDC to prevent spread of the coronavirus, hubby declared he had "tested positive" for boredom. Not wanting to give-in to that, I've been reading a different devotional each day---sometimes 2. It's amazing how my eyes have been opened to these familiar entries with new insight.

Have a look at what truths I have seen. Glean truth from them as you read my impressions (sometimes w/ emphasis) or read entire entry if you have that devotional book.

3/13~All to Jesus~We can trust Him with loose ends and unsolved problems ....He expects us to depend on HIm with life's outstanding problems. 

3/14~Streams in the Desert~Do not fear these unknown things, but be content to accept the things you cannot understand and to wait. (Exodus 20:21)

3/15~My Utmost for His Highest~ As they followed, they were afraid. (Mark 10:32)" When darkness of dismay comes, endure until it's over, because out of it will come that following of Jeuss which is unspeakable joy." 

3/16~God Calling~ "My children I am here beside you. Draw near in Spirit to me. Shut out the distractions of the World. In quietness and confidence will be your strength. (Isaiah 30:15)

3/17~St. Patrick's Prayer portions (Allen Bible)~I arise today with God's strength to pilot me; God's might to hold me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me--Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,  Christ on my right. Christ on my left,  Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I rise....

3/18~Jesus Calling~ Don't get tangled up in...worry- webs. Trust me one day at a time. Do not be anxious about tomorrow,....Sufficient for the day is it's own trouble (Matthew 6:34) The next entry stated, "Let the Spirit change your mind , combing out tangles of deception."

3/19~Practically Holy~"Hope rises. ...live out the hope of the gospel even in the face of stress and loss, and grimness of this place. ...but I trust God. I choose to hope in God". (Colossians 1:22-23)

3/20~Edges of HIs Ways, I spent lots of time this morning meditating on passage from 2 Chronicles 7:10-16.  As I finished that time of meditation I picked-up Amy Carmichael' daily devotional notes. She began the March 20 entry with a question, "Have you ever noticed this? Whatever need or trouble you are in, there is always something to help you in your Bible, if only you go on reading till you come to the word God specially has for you." Carmichael continued, You will know it the minute you come to it, and it will rest your heart." The words I found this morning during my quiet time had done just that...."humble self, pray and seek God's face....He will hear from heaven and heal our land." 

It was as if I had received a God wink of affirmation for my "attack the stack" endeavor this week.                     

It's been fun trying a new way to "attack the stack" as a way of refocusing on the Lord anew each day!

Vic-TEA-ry

For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory. (Deuteronomy 20:4, NASB)

I know placing "tea" in the middle of victory is a bit of a stretch----but I so needed a cuppa vic-TEA-ry today so I decided to s-t-r-e-t-c-h it to suit my purposes.

Recently an “invisible” enemy has tried to conquer more areas of my mind. Captivity of thoughts. A real tug-of-war. I need God to go to the frontlines for me.

Today’s Edges of His Ways devotional helped me stay the course reminding me that I need to remain constant and draw my battle lines. I know where the victory lies----triumph in Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:14)

Regardless of clamoring thoughts, possibility of misery, injustices or pain, I, with God’s help can be more than a conqueror.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57)

Knowing the outcome, makes my cuppa vic-TEA-ry quite tasty!

"rep-TEA-tition"

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do it: (Psalm 37:5, NASB)

Dr. W. Kay's version of the Psalms gives the Hebrew for "committing one's way." The "way" is the worn down trodden path of our life's journey. (Edges, p. 100) But, committing is the idea of rolling---rolling everything that is to heavy to lift. Roll thy way upon the Lord. Over and over again, anytime His strength is needed. An act of repetition.

Such repetitive action is not boring to Him. He wants us to continually cast all our cares upon Him. If it concerns a child of His, It concerns Him. 

Recent physical therapy, coupled with traction, has had me struggling with the repetition and the not so desired results---then, voilà. Behold, not only was the prayer for diminished pain answered, but God provided the $$$$ instrument from dear, sweet Drenda's attic. He did it---exceedingly, abundantly above all I could ask or imagine. (Ephesians 3:20) 

Thank You, Lord. I will gladly sip the cuppa rep-TEA-tition with my traction gizmo! 

Relief is the kind of repetition I like.

Mis-TEA Med-TEA-tation

This is my comfort in my affliction, That Your word has revived me. 
(Psalm 119:50, NASB)

Misty eyes from conviction of unworthiness. An affliction of sorts. An overwhelming need to "feel" God's love. Yet, knowing that I need to trust that He loves me, whether I "feel" it or not. 
...feelings are like the mists that cover the mountains in misty weather. The mists pass; the mountains abide.(Edges of His Ways, p. 83) I need to remind myself that my Father God abides with me. He loves me whether I feel it or not. God goes with me wherever I go, whether I feel it or not. (Deuteronomy 31:6)

The King James Version of the Bible says, "Thy Word hath quickened me." Quicken, as a transitive verb, makes alive. To revive; to cheer; to reinvigorate; to refresh by new supplies of comfort or grace.  (King James Version Dictionary) His truth revives me and becomes my feeling of comfort.
I need to sip that cuppa truth daily. Believe it. Then, pour it out to Him as I sing of His love forever.

"migh-TEA to Almigh-TEA" : a transfer

Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty. (Zechariah 4:6, NIV)

“Have you ever had one of those days boys, have you ever had one of those days?  When nothing goes right from morning 'til night, have you ever had one of those days?" Those old Elvis (?) song lyrics whirred in my head recently. Did you ever......?

Have you ever felt crummy from the "get-go?" You awake feeling "down" and that feeling continues throughout the day. Edges of His Ways (April 26 entry)

No matter how hard I try---my (mental) strength gets me no where. I cannot change this mindset.

Carmichael's entry helped me understand why this is so.
It (trying in one's own psyche) is useless. Trying to feel different does not "touch" feelings. One can't even argue with self because feelings elude arguments.  In psychology 101, I learned that feelings follow action.
Prayer is an action.

But now, I pray let the power of the Lord be great..... (Numbers 14:17)

Turning to the Lord is an action.
Even waiting on Him is an action. Especially if patience is involved.

One chooses to turn and to wait on the Almighty.

Not my might but His.

The Almighty serves up a cuppa migh-TEA to everyone who turns to Him.
Almighty might!

PRAYER BRIEF

10/20/11 Brief 2. using few words; concise; succinct: (Dictionary.com) Edges of His Ways, uses the phrase “little prayers.” (Carmichael, p.192) Friend Margie H. calls them breath prayers. Spontaneous prayers. Hardly prayers at all in the “formal” sense.

Prayers evoked by a mere thought and a touch as the woman in Matthew 9:21 who reached to touch the fringe of Jesus’ cloak. “for she was saying to her self, If I only touch His garment, I shall get well.”

Wordless prayers. “Breathe's,” metaphorical lyrics for that close communication with the Lord ….”This is the air I breathe,
This is the air I breathe, Your holy presence living in me….” (Michael W. Smith) In such close communion that the Lord knows your prayerful thoughts.

I call them necessary. Lately mine have been, “Lord, forgive me.”

SHATTERED and GATHERED

9/30/11 Life can happen in "shattering" ways. Blots on our life's pages.
Interruptions abounding. Often we are caught unaware.

Revelation 1:17 speaks of the Lord as the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. I like the way the prophet wrote of that concept in Isaiah 52:12. For the LORD will go before you, And the God of Israel will be your rear guard. As our Alpha, he goes before us----our paths and stage are set by Him as we follow Him. As our Omega He is there in eternity. Amy Carmichael's devotional book, Edges of His Ways, opened my eyes to this glorious truth. Rotherham phrased it thus, "For your Van-guard is the Lord." "He who begins, finishes." (Edges, 9/29) God's there first and He's there as our rear guard. He is first and last and every where in between.

So what's the glorious truth? For me, it was not just the guidance we receive from the One who goes ahead, nor the protection we receive from the One who defends and brings up the rear. It was the job description of the rear guard that had me gratefully seeing Him as Gatherer. The rear guard follows after "to gather us up if we flag and are weary." (Edges 9/30) He gathers up----that's my favorite thought. My rearguard gathers up my mistakes, my bumbling intentions, all the detritus that I have left on my life's path and He takes care of them. He is first and He is last, and we are gathered up in-between, as in great arms of eternal lovingkindness. (Edges, 9/29) So, as we travel on into another month we need not fear: Eternal love is our Vanguard, the glory of Eternal Love is our Rearguard. (Edges, 9/30) His everlasting arms will gather us up.

More refreshment---

4/14/10 There’s an icon (a curved arrow which I can't get to paste into the blog) on my computer browser’s URL line---Just click it and the current page refreshes itself. Wouldn’t that be nice to have for our own lives. We could just push our refresh button and God’s truths would become relevant in a new and clear way. We’d be on a new/right path.
Though it might not be as instantaneous, we do have that capability. Time in His word (not nano seconds) can be just the refresher needed to walk in a godly and fresh way.

…so we too might walk in newness of life…. (Romans 6:4)

…so that we serve in newness of the Spirit… (Romans 7:6)

Amy Carmichael, in Edges of His Ways. (April 1 entry) searched the word “newness” in a Young’s Concordance and found that the word, “newness” in the above verses was rendered in the Greek as “freshness.”

To learn more of His truth and His ways, spend time in His word today. Doesn’t that sound refreshing!

God’s Love = Undaunted Radiance = aglow with the Spirit

3/8/10 Yesterday’s My Utmost for His Highest entry was all about the love of God---a love freely given and not earned. A love that gives us power and radiance ---power to conquer all of the circumstances life seems to throw our way........

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. (Romans 8:37)

.......and radiance. Even the Edges of His Ways entry this past week dealt with “radiance.”
Paul says this (indwelling love) is why we are, “super-victors, with a joy we would not have but for the very things which look as if they are going to overwhelm us. …..Apply that to our own circumstances……tribulation, distress, persecution, produce in us the super-joy; they are not things to fight. We are more than conquerors through Him in all these things, not in spite of them, but in the midst of them. The saint never knows the joy of the Lord in spite of tribulation, but because of it. 'I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation,' says Paul. Undaunted radiance is not built on anything passing, but on the love of God that nothing can alter.”
Undaunted radiance---a phrase to hang your hat on or sink your teeth into---a fearless, unperturbed acceptance of all that life in a fallen world sends our way while emboldening us with joie de vivre, vitality or spring in our step. I once used a Revlon make-up called Vital Radiance---marketed to women over 50. Maybe the company thought that a more mature woman needed a little sparkle to help her glow. A spiritually mature woman already has a glow. It comes from obedience in serving the Lord. Years ago, Mrs. Wheaton Ennis, (Dink) a mature believer from Highland Heights Presbyterian Church, exhibited that as she lived out Romans 12:11 “not flagging in zeal, aglow with the spirit, serving the Lord.” (RSV)
Because of her, I memorized that verse. Today it’s your turn.

R + S = C

3/1/09 23rd Psalm Revisited
Journal jottings: Steeped my tea, while looking at my backyard steeped in snow, opening my Bible to again "steep" in God's word from Psalm 23....while contemplating whether to have homemade sourdough bread from one of my dancers or homemade banana bread from a MS friend.
Wouldn’t we feel blessed if those were the hardest choices we had to make in life? But I, my friends, can tell you that God’s children are blessed, even in the places of deep difficulty---“independent of all circumstances.” (Jesus Calling)

Streams in Desert 3/1 says, “Your situation is filled with uncertainty and is very serious, but it is perfectly right…..for it is a platform from which God will display His almighty grace and power. He will not only deliver you….(He) will impart a lesson that you will never forget.”-----which brings me back to my "steeping" of Psalm 23.

Verse 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

As a teenager I spent many days traipsing back and forth between my house on Virginia Street and the Fairleigh’s house on Alumini Avenue. The quickest, and in those days, safe, path was the alley. Winslow and I knew it by heart b/c most days found us together at one house or the other. But at night it was pitch black and though we pretty much knew the way like the back of our hand, we much preferred to travel it together. Some nights we would leave from my back porch, cross the yard cut through behind the garage, where our baby blue Valiant was housed, just past the vacated house of John Tom, Clara Lee and Hattie May, on the old Albritton place, and scoot down the alley to Alumni where there was a street light ---though dim by today’s standards. Then we’d race to her 1962 turquoise Corvair (w/ tab shift, trunk in the front & motor in the back) and she’d drive me around the corner to my front door---Virginia Street was well lit. You see, light dispels darkness.

Death, even the “shadow of death,” and fear can be synonymous with darkness. And darkness can be overwhelming without “protection.” Winslow and I had each other---silly as that sounds---and that made all the difference. Today, the Lord understood that my MAC fear, not only of the endurance of pain, but the fear of the unknown, would begin to creep in as I neared the time of the Dallas departure----so, He’s had me in this psalm for three days now. He also had “no-fear” verses written on my Dotsy quilt and a "fear" entry today in Edges of His Ways.

The verse doesn’t stop with, I will fear no evil---that would make fearlessness possible by my own “human” effort & trust me, it’s not possible for me to conjure it up. The next phrase, "for Thou art with me,” tells us why we don’t have to fear---the Lord God, our shepherd is with us.
And He comes prepared, just as the hillside shepherds of old. He’s equipped with a rod and a staff.
Insights from Meeting God in Quiet Places---more like my loose paraphrasing:

Rod—protection from enemies---gives feeling of assurance---but if God offered protection without the care and concern of friendship (staff) it would be stern & cold

Staff –for peaceful walking and guiding---friendship, like an old walking stick but if it didn’t go hand in hand with strength and protection (rod) it would be soppy, sentimental, and without power.

The result of the two together is comfort. (Thy) Rod and (Thy) Staff = (my) Comfort(R+S = C)

Soothing Psalms

2/28/09 Psalms Soothe the Soul-- so does the falling snow out my window as I type Psalms in the Hebrew Bible is Tehillim, which means "praise songs." Descriptive praise psalms offer praise to God for Himself or for His general working rather than for a specific instance of His working. The psalms are Hebrew poetry. That’s probably why the psalms speak to my heart b/c I love poetry---a poet can say so much with few words and yet we get the big picture or the analogy. 

I need to soothe my soul. Maybe it’s because this time next week, I’ll be in Dallas. I’ll no longer be in the comfort of the familiar---my home for the last 32 years---my bed, my blankies---though I will take 2 “squish” pillows (down--that’s worn way down) with me---Those thoughts give a creature who loves habit a little pause. So, I’m turning to the most soothing psalm I know to learn from my Good Shepherd. I only know (by heart) the King James version---possibly another 4th grade memory assignment. Psalm 23 (wherein lies my security) 

 Read the entire psalm. Look closely at the first three verses. 1) The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2) He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3) He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Ever heard the story of the Sunday School teacher who asked her pre-school class is any one could recite the 23rd psalm? One little girl made quite a production out of it as she stood before the class, said, “the Lord is my shepherd, that’s all I want,” bowed and sat back down. ‘nuff said, don’t you think?---quite poetic---summing up in just a few words the big picture of that psalm. 

I am drawn to this psalm of David (the shepherd boy and then king) as a psalm of trust and confidence in God’s goodness in the present and in the future. (Constable) Verse 1--Because the Lord is my shepherd (my Yahweh Raah or named by many as Jehovah Rohi) I shall not want. I will not lack for any good thing. He, my caregiver & friend, will provide for my needs. 

Verse 2 He maketh me to lie down (be still) ---sometimes He really has to “make” me---taking out the phone or internet or putting me flat on my back---that way I have to “look up.” In green pastures---a great place for sheep to be easily fed---He nourishes/feeds me with His Word. He leadeth me---(He guides me & knows my name just as the shepherd leads & calls his sheep by name, (John 10:3) beside the still waters. ---calming, yet living water---the water of life. Bishop Handley Mouley used to say, “Even if you have not a long time to spend in the morning with your God, hem it with quietness. (Edges of His Ways, 2/22; emphasis mine) 

Verse 3 He restoreth my soul; “Unto Thee O Lord do I lift up my soul” (Psa. 25:1) spiritual rest and renewal--I can’t do it on my own. In His grace, He feeds the hunger in my soul and that nourishment keeps me. O people of God, be great believers! Little faith will bring your souls to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to your souls. (Charles H. Spurgeon) he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness---I can trust His guidance to keep me on a level path (Psa. 27:11) His path (Psa. 25:4) for his name's sake.----as One who directs His people for His reputation, His glory. 

In every situation even ones of adversity, to God be the glory.

Assignment to self or you can join me if you choose---as you put your head on the pillow tonight, recite these 5 words.......The LORD is my shepherd---each time emphasizing a different word and just see how many different ways those words will speak to you. 

Forgiving Fridays

1/30/09
This week the ole pragmatic mom in me, seeking to advise my daughter, was appropriately rebuffed by her. "Mom," she said. "Get out of my Kool-aid!" To all of you reading this today------If I have gotten "up" in your Kool-aid, please forgive me. I'm sure that I rationalized that being "up in your Kool-aid" was for your well-being. My, how easy it is to label CONTROL as good intentions......as easy as pushing the control button on my iMac computer.

Trust me on this one folks, only God is in control! And that's a good thing.
That's what "Forgiving Fridays" are all about ---making amends with God (asking forgiveness of sin) and making amends w/ others. In a "12 step" program my Forgiving Fridays are similar to their Step #5 which admits to God, self and others (when appropriate) the exact nature of the wrong. It goes hand in hand w/ their Step #4, where they take a moral inventory. The two steps are done together to be effective. I think that's right---
Do you ever get caught up in yourself? My confession---when Dr. B. (Memphis doc)
called the other day and said Dr. H. (Dallas doc) was awaiting my phone call , I envisioned
him standing by the phone. NOT!! I'm still waiting—- but there's a great lesson there for me.
Have you ever felt singled out in a positive way? Lately, every time I read one of my 5 different devotional books I think they are written just for me---but they are written for each of us who allows the Presence of God to use them in his/her life. New devotional book (from GI), Amy Carmichael's, Edges of His Ways----

-----today told of ST. Paul letting his letters break into song---WOW, just where I was yesterday. It concluded w/ the importance of praying against barriers, "which are nearly always made of self-love in one way or another." Journal excerpt: "Forgive me Father. Take me back to square one---review with me the basic steps of "our dance" ---enable me to continue to say, "move over self----it's not about me ---it's all about Thee!"