REVIVAL!

REVIVAL! 

What does that mean? In the the Hebrew words, “chayah” and “michyah,” and the Greek words, “anathallo” and “anazao”  mean revival  "to live,"

“to live again,” and “to come to life.

What does that look like among many young Americans these days?Saturday football games give many glimpses of the one who brings revival in the hearts of college kids, who want to pass on the one who revives...... JESUS!. 

DON'T GIVE UP. TALK TO JESUS

LET'S BE REAL. WE ALL HURT. CALL OUT TO JESUS

ESPN EVERY SINGLE PERSON NEEDS JESUS

THE REALITY OF LIFE IS TROUBLE DON'T GIVE IN TO IT. JESUS OFFERS COMPASSION.....

DON'T GIVE UP. TALK TO JESUS

                                (Wherever you are)                            

PLEASE, I BEG YOU, GIVE YOUR LIFE TO JESUS BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!

Then we will not turn away from you; revive us and we will you and call upon your name. (Psalm 80:18)

Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? (Psalm 85:6)

REVIVAL seen on TV screens everywhere today!

May it be seen in hearts tomorrow!

HEART CONDITIONS

Heart problems---a diagnosis none of us like to hear. My cardiology appointment is the 25th of this month. Dr. Infeld, cardiologist, will deal with my physical condition.

What about the spiritual condition of one's heart! How does one "deal" with that?

Whole-hearted

Half-hearted

Cold-hearted

Heavy-hearted 

Ask.....where am I spiritually on the heart spectrum?????

Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10, KJV)

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10, NIV)

No matter how you say it, assessment of one's heart condition is important and needs to begin with God and continue with encouragement & fellowship of friends.

UNDETECTED INFECTION!

Undetected infection. Sounds like an inside job, doesn't it. A heart problem undetected.

Last week  I unexpectedly entered an unknown antigen area as I donned my mask and visited a loved one. 

Three days later she tested positive for COVID! I was advised of my exposure to her and followed CDC protocol. She and I had both been vaccinated. She ended up in the hospital and remains there. I had my first test 3 days later and today I had my 5th day test. 

Between the two tests I had enough time in quarantine to do a little heart/soul searching. 

If I have spiritual infection residing in my own heart, others might never see it. In some instances even I might be unaware. A pure heart is created by God. What's more, He must continually recreate it.

The solution? Ask God to search you & show you where you are infected with sin---maybe sin unbeknownst to you. (Psalm 139:23-24)

Today my COVID test was negative!! Hallelujah!

Create in me a clean heart, O Lord and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10) 

Hallelujah, also that the Lord can keep "cleaning me up" until I walk through heaven's gates and all infections will be gone. HALLELUJAH.........forever!

Spiritual Sepsis

Negative thoughts come from a negative mind. Impurity can reign in a mind empty of God's truths.

Inlet Port & Discharge Port  In this picture it is all septic.

The adage that "what goes in is what comes out" is certainly important of the words that enter ones' mental pallet and then permeates one's heart. 
In the illustration above, the actual contents waiting to b discharged are septic. It says so right on the truck. 
A spiritual sepsis can permeate the body once it gets in. It can affect the heart. Even the brain can be affected as oxygen and nutrients are blocked from ones system. 
What is the remedy for spiritual sepsis? A thorough cleansing is required.

Sepsis can also invade one's spiritual life. I call it stinkin' thinkin', and if not held in check, it can block understanding of God's word thus destroying vital truths leading to godly living.
 Stinkin' thinkin' needs to  be treated by a washing of the word, God's Word so that the grace of God can come in? (Ephesians 5:26)
The cure to stinkin' thinkin' is a grateful heart?   

Create in me a clean heart O Lord and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

A Good man brings good things our of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. (Stinkin' stuff!) For the mouth speaks what theheart is full of. Luke 6:45)

So....don't fill your heart and mind with stinkin' thinkin'---the result could be septic.

CHOOSE: 3Rs

In choosing 3 Rs, I'm not talking about Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, though those Rs are crucial for the continuance of our environment. I'm not even talking about Readin', Ritin' and Rithmetic. Though education is certainly an important factor for many an individual's success in life, I'm talking about the need of our society as a whole.

We need to rise up and pray; for Repentance, for Revival, and for Renewal of basic moral fervor, tender hearts and an increased sense of caring within our communities.

Repentance--includes turning away from wicked ways (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Revival--revive hearts (Isaiah 57:15)

Renewal---renew a right spirit within (Psalm 51:10)

In a prideful culture that is all about self---self-satisfaction and instant-self gratification, the more folks who choose others over self will certainly bless our nation. An outward focus more than an inward focus certainly refreshes and restores folks around us.

WOW another calculation--repentance, revival and renewal of one's own heart = refreshment and restoration for others! A multiplication of sorts.

Not sure I will be able to attend "Prayer for Revival" group meeting at church next Monday; the beauty of the 3RS for prayer is one can choose it  at any place and anytime. 

Revival is God's arrival.........wherever we are!

CHOOSE: FIVE FOR THE 5TH FRIDAY

Choose: Acts of Kindness could have been this entry because kindness is key in relationships.
According to a google search, I've already written 5 entries on kindness and according to the marginalia in my NKJV Bible, a needed reminder....
"Desire a life measured more by kindness than by competency."

So...you can "choose" to search through the links below for your favorite of the five:

Kindness Reciprocated pays it forward.
Mature in Kindness.
Kindle Kindness.
Kindness "gentles" responses of others, even family.
Be Kind.

https://dotsydetails.blogspot.com/2009/02/kindness.html (2/24/09)

http://dotsydetails.blogspot.com/2009/08/watermelon-kindness-analogy.html (8/18/09)

https://dotsydetails.blogspot.com/2011/11/kindness-kindled.html (11/7/11)

http://dotsydetails.blogspot.com/2014/11/loyal-tea-adams-family-cuppa.html (11/7/14)

http://dotsydetails.blogspot.com/2017/01/choose-kindness.html?m=0 (1/24/17)

Desire a life measured by kindness more than by competency. (Marginalia, NKJV)
Choose: To Be Kind in at least one of the 5 ways. It will bless your heart!

CHOOSE: CONFESSION

Sensitivity has a way of showing one her sins. That's when Wednesday becomes a day of confession for me, aka "Weeping Wednesday." I desire to "confess, renounce and find mercy" (Proverbs 28:13) and forgiveness (1 John 1:9) as He purifies my heart. (James 4:8)

It's not like going into a confessional booth or opening up to a friend. It's just me before the Lord asking Him to "Search my heart." and show me my heart. (Psalm 139:23) Did He ever!
That's why it's a scary thing to do. It's hard to truly "see" the wickedness of one's own heart. A heart that He needs to "clean and restore."(Psalm 51:10) Confession and repentance are heart issues. Restoration is from God.

Forgive me, Lord, for my self-protective and self-promoting ways.

Glad I chose "Confession." It took away the guilt (Psalm 32:5) and as Mama Davenport always said, "confession is good for the soul."

TEA-lightfully clear----or NOT!

TEA-lightfully clear----Certainly that blog entry was NOT clear.

I can see clearly now---thanks to some help from blog readers with younger eyes. Clean NOT clear is what they read.
How right they were----Tea-Rightfully "clean" is what was written on the bottle of "refreshing shampoo from tea tree essence."

But God.....showed me a whole new idea for TEA-lightfully clean! 
Seeing truth in God's word is predicated by a clean heart. It's the only way to clearly see the truth from His word. And it's God who gives that clean heart. (Psalm 51:10) which renews a right spirit allowing clarity of seeing and hearing from Him.

Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow (Psalm 51:7)
TEA-lightfully clean heart leads to TEA-lightfully clear truth. 
Clean and clear---a spiritual duo.  

MELTDOWNS

How can one FINALLY sleep through the night, without a single sleep aid, wake up refreshed for the first time in recent memory and then.....have 3 meltdowns before 10am?

IMPOSSIBLE. It should be impossible for one seeking to serve the Lord.....but it's what happened.

It's also embarrassing. To make matters worse, as I printed off my grocery list and my "teaching" list, I lost them in the computer room as I was looking for another list. I sat and literally "cried" out to the LORD---the tearful kind of crying out.

Answering friend JoLynn's phone call, I acknowledged that I was heading out the door for the grocery (prep for said trip was a BIG part of meltdown #3) and that I was in such a pitiful state that I hoped I wouldn't have a meltdown on aisle 7. BTW---In "my" Kroger, aisle 7 is the "tea aisle."
Who knew? I didn't......but for sure it's a hangout aisle for me.

I could just hear it over the Kroger intercom. Meltdown on Aisle 7---Clean-up needed!"

That was it----clean-up was needed. So.....back to the prayer chair before I walked out the door. 

After all, Wednesdays, on my weekly schedule, have always been "Weeping Wednesdays," a time of confession. 

Create in me a clean heart O Lord and renew a right spirit within me.
(Psalm 51:10, ESV)

Faithful spirit. (GWT) Loyal spirit. (NLT) Resolute spirit. (NET) Right attitude. Right spirit. (KJV)(ISV) Steadfast spirit. (NASB) 

Right spirit is the antithesis of a meltdown.

"Integri-TEA"

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9, KJV)

There is more to writing than a really SHARP pencil and a high quality eraser. That's just my starting point, as I jot ideas on my "blue for blog" notepad. One of those is integrity. It's sort of a Christian blogger's "TEA-ology" gut check. "Integrity" brand is actually stamped on my #2 pencil.

• Check motives. Thy glory, not mine. 
• Check author. Thy words, not my words. 
• Check audience. Thee, not readers. 

Blogger's Prayer by Ann Voskamp (2010) summed it up well.
Yahweh, You alone are my God, not Google. Jesus, You alone are my Savior, not site meters, And Holy Spirit, You alone are my comforter, not comments.

Her prayer was the impetus for me trying to "do it right." Blog with integrity. It's why I cite when I know a reference and indicate unknown source as just that; a note from my marginalia, a memory scrap, or a jot on a scrap of paper used as a bookmark, etc.

Prayerful beginnings: Examine me, and probe my thoughts! (Psalm 139:23) Test me, Lord for my heart is deceitful in ways only you can know.

Integrity is a quality that I certainly need to keep "brewing" in all areas of my life, not just my blog----tho that's a good place to start with this morning's entry and my cuppa integri-TEA.

As I sit before the Lord today with my cuppa, may he reveal to me areas in my life where I need more of Thee and less of me.

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)

DREGS

6/18/13 In previous blog entries I have given a variety of euphemisms to the word "dregs." Dissatisfactions. Disappointments. Leftovers. Remnants. Worthless parts.

Last weeks simplici-TEA assignment /discussion encouraged looking at a specific "dreg" in one's own life. Identifying and dealing with dregs in our lives is one part of the meditation process. This week the focus was to be on that component. Component #3.

Using the Tea with Thee form, to aid in the blending, brewing, steeping and serving of our scripture meditation we were to ask God to show us our hearts....to see if there be any hurtful/wicked/offensive way in us. (Psalm 139:24) Allowing God to investigate/ cross-examine/test us can be so revealing, and even painful. But God....can use it to bring one to the point of crying out to Him, to "create in me a clean heart, O Lord" (Psalm 51:10) which can lead to a renewed Spirit within, i.e. a change in attitude or behavior.

1. Sip---find a verse or passage of scripture and "steep" it in prayer
2. Savor--think on it with prayerful guidance of God's Spirit 
3. Discard the dregs--eliminate the distasteful parts shown in your life
4. Pour out--not only to yourself but share what God has shown you thus benefitting others as well

The dreg, which God brought to my mind, was EXCESSIVE PLANNING. Though difficult to savor (think on) something so "bitter" in one's own life, it is necessary in order for God to teach truth and for change to occur.

I had to ask myself these hard questions:

• What brings on this distasteful "driven" attribute? 
• Am I still desiring  perfection, even though I know that's unattainable? 
• Is it fear based? 
• Is there a root of unbelief?

In Jesus Calling entry 4/25, author Sarah Young states, "fear often manifests itself in excessive planning." Christians know that fear is not from God because He has said, "I will always be with you." (Hebrews 13:5) Do I truly believe that? If I do, then my actions are not showing trust. Certainly a lack of trust can thwart intimacy with Him.

This dreg my friends is nothing but sin. By any other name, it's still sin. 

It's taking God out of the equation of my life's activities and actions.

It's a lack of trust. Lack of trust is rooted in unbelief.

That's not just a bitter dreg. That's sin. 

Watermelon-Kindness: An Analogy

8/18/09 Kindness

The mountains shall depart, but my kindness shall not depart from you. (Isaiah 54:10)

I’ve been wondering why two of the “fruit of the spirit characteristics” that I’m most lacking in are side by side in the list. (Galatians 5:22-23) Patience and Kindness.

BTW, before you read any further please remember this—Don’t compare your insides with someone else’s outsides!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve said that before but I’m having to remind myself over and over as I study these spiritual fruit characteristics. Why? Because that’s what I’ve been doing and it’s brutal. This is God’s work and His grace is sufficient in our weaknesses.

Remember when it used to be a big deal to get to eat the “heart” out of the watermelon----you know, that sweet plug you’d always want to take right from the middle! There were no seeds in that location, just cold, refreshing, sweet red fruit----without a doubt, one of the sweetest treats of summertime in the South. But rarely did anyone in my family have access to the heart, except Daddy that is. Mother would always cut a piece for him with lots of heart. In my mind’s eye, I can see him sitting on the top step of the latticework back porch at 2211. Watermelon slice in one hand, salt shaker in the other---enjoying every juicy bite. Refreshment was written all over his face. My brothers and I enjoyed ours as well letting it drip down our chins---juice, seeds and all. Since we had a lot more of those big ole black seeds to contend with---well you know what we did with those. Spitting contest, anyone?

Two weeks ago for just $3.99 at Wal-Mart one could purchase a seedless watermelon---that’s like all heart. The small, soft, white, seeds that are present are virtually undetected and can be eaten along with the flesh of the melon. When these hybrids were first developed they were not as tasty/sweet but nowadays they are delish----a real “nummy-nummy” as Owen says.

I know a few folks whose insides are like that watermelon---they’re hearts are ripe with kindness. No yucky, bothersome black seeds get in the way of their sweetness. They exude sweetness. This is not contrived---not just manners or superficial social graces or compliments for compliment’s sake-i.e. flattery. Their lives manifest this fruit of the Spirit. As God’s lovingkindness is great toward them, their benevolence is great toward others. I did not say their situations were perfect, only that they have thankful hearts and see God’s kindness in their lives regardless of their circumstances. Just like the watermelon that remains close to the vine until maturity is sweeter, these folks who abide in the True Vine have an eternal sweetness about them. Their sweetness counts for eternity as they “do good” to others regardless of the response, invest in others’ lives, bear the burdens of another, listen to others, pray for others and give thanks in all things.

Though my mother tried many methods to ensure the selection of the sweetest watermelon, no amount of thumping, taping, sniffing, or shaking actually gave a clue to the inside condition of the melon. 

Oftentimes, maybe most times, our outsides don’t give a clue to what’s really on the inside either. Sometimes we don’t even know. (Jer.17:9) But God…………”create in me (you) a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me” (you). (Psalm 51:10)

Now that I know watermelons do not continue to ripen after they have been removed from the vine, I know that if I’m going to mature in this area, I need to move closer to my Vine. I need to abide. Sweetness/kindness in my heart doesn’t come naturally.

In 1974, I couldn’t have found the book of John in my Bible without the Table of Contents. But God……I not only found John but I found chapter 15. It changed my life. This weekend, I plan to return to that “ABIDE” chapter for a refresher---maybe I’ll do it with my Bible in one hand and a piece of watermelon in the other. How refreshing is that!!!

Weeping Wednesday (Don't stop here---read further)*

1/28/09

These tags of alliteration for the days of the week have been a part of my life for a long time—reminders that help me focus. So, though today is a day for weeping, it's not for crying physically as I have done on some days in this journey, but…..it's my day of asking God to "create in me a clean heart, O Lord and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10) To do that He has to show me my sin---not a pretty picture---but necessary, especially for one whose SELF can rear it's ugly head. Actually, my subtle sin is self-protection. (Inside Out by Larry Crabb p.100---almost erased this citation to put in an APA or MLA format---old habits die hard for librarians) Self protection is pain avoidance esp. at a deep level---one often builds walls in relationships to have that protection. Sometime it's pride—not willing to let people see all the warts---and now God is allowing me to practice showing my humanity, warts and all. BTW, I read today that there are over 2.5 million blogs but *only 4% of people read writings of others.......... basically bloggers are having conversations with themselves--- it has been therapeutic.

Just reread parts of Ortberg's When the Game is Over it all Goes Back in the Box.

 (can't you see yourself clearing the Scrabble board and dumping all those wooden tiles into the little faux velvet bag?? ---a great read) I was reminded of so many truths---

The board you & I play on is in the shape of a calendar---live one square at a time.

In Ethiopia, a man's wealth is measured by his friends---In said measurement, I am indeed WEALTHY!

Arrange your life around what matters most to God----People matter.

On a lighter note, I have also learned, that there is no such thing as too many post-it/stickie notes. My dear ljj used to say I needed a Velcro bra----hm-m-m, maybe she's right---she usually is.

Family matters: As I wait, we are also awaiting by-pass surgery for Larry's dad & trying to aid his mother who spent the night here b/c they live in Oakland & she doesn't need to be alone. I was able to read Jesus Calling aloud to her as we sat at the breakfast table eating and watching Larry's (Pop-Pop's) birds feasting outside the window. How special is that?

My brothers and their wives from KY are coming Friday to bring Daddy so I can see them all before the Big MAC event. He won't spend the night but I'm grateful for their sacrifice---that's a lot of driving in one day.