"His Way" for Meditation

6/11/12 The Red Sea Rules---a great little read with BIG truths. Today, Jamie S. recommended it to me during a summer refreshment book study. I bought it on the way home. I’ve already read most of it, but will read it again and again I’m sure. As our leader, Margie Andrews commented, “Everytime I find a great book, I want everyone to read it.” I so understand what she is saying.

Nestled in this book are also some gems of scripture that are worthy of meditation. Verses that remind one that God’s way is the only way through all the difficulties that life can seemingly throw our way. His way might be refuge or His way might be deliverance.

When you pray, keep alert and be thankful. Be sure to pray that God will make a way. (Colossians 4:2-3)

Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me. (Psalm 50:15)

SABBATH SNAPSHOTS: A Mountain Journey, from treetops to rivers below

6/10/12 Trekking "from the treetops to the rivers below" with a friendly bunch of sisters in the faith is a great eye-opener to the hand of God in every facet of life. 

Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family. (Proverbs 18:24, The Message)

Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it!
 Shout joyfully, you lower parts of the earth;
Break forth into singing, you mountains,
O forest, and every tree in it! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
And glorified Himself in Israel.  (Isaiah 44:23)

Flame azaleas growing wild

A Day Lily for my "Day Lilies" a common mispronunciation

Henize Pavilion at Buzzard Rock---what a view!

Mountain rhododendron, often confused with mountain laurel, especially in the Great Smoky Mountains

Clingman's Dome viewed from a zip-line platform 85' up with 12 folks on a zip-line platform built for 4!

Though we were the oldest in the treetops, we had the most fun on all 13 zips.

Isaiah 43:2 came to mind on the Nantahala raft trip. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you." We might have been the oldest on the river, but that could have been the reason we had the most fun in 48° water or at least the reason we made the most noise.

Cullasaja Falls on Hwy 64 outside Franklin, North Carolina

Methodist Church in The Highlands. Our host was a retired Methodist pastor and his wife.

Saturday Question

Okay, I know it’s Sunday. But…..I was too tired to post when I got home last night from a glorious “get-a-way” with girlfriends….but God has had me querying myself thru the week,  and a BIG question came forth for consideration.

Am I hammering homiletics?

Answer: Yes, sad to say, too often I do.

In other words, am I always just “preaching” at friends and family or am I living the “gospel life”? As all folks know, actions indeed speak louder than words. If I am just viewing others thru legalistic lens, the lifestyle I reflect would be more of hammering and very little of grace. “Hammering” might easily be construed as disdain rather than love. 

If God views me thru the love lens of grace, shouldn’t I extend that to others as well?

Answer: Yes. A resounding YES!  I need to testify in actions as well as words to the “good news of God’s grace.” (Acts: 20:24)

THIS BLOG’S FOR YOU!

6/5/12 Yes, blogs are a cheap form of self-publishing. Yes, most blogs are read by the bloggers themselves. Yes, most of my blogs are God’s way of teaching me as I separate and simplify His truths. But, today this blog’s for you----a blog that might turn you on your ear. Just hope you can still “hear”. Actually this blog has been  “just for me” these last few days so I can now share the  Lord's truths which I gleaned.

Psalm 5 is David’s individual lament; 

• Asking God to hear his prayer, 
• Acknowledging God’s hatred of sin and evil people, 
• Requesting guidance, 
• Securing God’s protection and blessing. 

Not exactly a “sweet” read with my morning cuppa. But God….used it to show me an appropriate response to suffering.

Suffering is everywhere. It’s easy to spot. Globally, it makes the evening news as it beams across one's flat screens. Individually, it takes the sparkling beam out of one’s eyes. In this psalm, the arrogant ones, the ones who are living a life of lies and deceit appear to cause David’s suffering. Suffering can come when one trusts in mankind. Yet, all too often a man’s words cannot be trusted because words are an overflow of the heart and a man’s heart is filled with destruction. (v.9) David further describes the wicked ones who are causing the suffering as dangerous, with deceit and flattery on their tongues, saying what they think one wants to hear to attain their own goals ----all signs of rebelliousness against God. David even prays that the intrigues of the wicked will be their downfall and they will be caught in their own traps. How intense must have been David’s suffering to bring such petitions before the Lord.

Now that I’ve “rained on your life’s parade”, don’t stop reading here & don’t do as I did and eat 3 large slices of fresh baked pull-apart cheese bread slathered in real butter (is there any other kind) We all assuage pain and suffering in different ways. Some medicate or take to “drink”, I take to “butter” even if my suffering is mainly over someone else’s pain. As warm and comforting and distracting as “butter” (or your choice of poison) appears to be, that’s NOT the answer. Rather reread verses 1-3.

These first three verses include David’s response to suffering. Even in the midst of suffering, He still seeks to be led by the Lord’s righteousness. He approaches the Lord in a worshipful way, with mind and heart engaged, asking Him to pay attention/ to consider his (David’s) sighing/lament/groaning/meditation. (all words offered in parallel versions of verse 1)

Resolve to spend time in the word with the Lord as David did. That’s a needed discipline, which David alluded to twice, (“in the morning”, v.3) as the time when he articulates His condition. My words, v 1. Voice of my cry, v 2. My voice, v 3.  Then, David waited expectantly. Eagerly watching and waiting to see what the Lord would do on His behalf.

Ah, that one would follow David’s method: 

• Disciplined time in the Lord’s Presence,
• Willingness to articulate again and again his needs as he/she suffers, 
• Expectancy of the Lord’s answer whether it’s relief or assurance of God’s Presence, 
• Acceptance of God as the only Refuge who will be both a protector and a defense

David sums up well for us as he finds rejoicing and singing of joy for those who love the name of the Lord---for the LORD will bless the godly and surround them with His love even in the midst of suffering.

If this blog is for you…..blessed are you when you take refuge in the Lord and allow Him to surround you with His love. (v.12)

FIRST LOVE

6/4/12  A recent Pinterest You-Tube showed 5+ minutes of 60 lip-syncing friends and dancers helping a young man propose to his girlfriend in a BIG way. It was showy, sweet and entertaining. It’s gotten lots of hits. But….the real question for the young couple would be, “After the “hype” of the proposal, The BIG wedding and honeymoon to follow, what path will your marriage take?”

The “Big” productions will be over and the marriage will settle down to the ordinary, the mundane, the “day-to-day-ness of loving another person.” (Mead p, 17) Will they continue to be there for each other---listening, caring and “doing well by doing good” for their spouse? I suspect they will be wanting an “abiding in the trenches” kind of intimate love, not the You-Tube love song version that the entire world has seen.

Similarly, new Christians can ask themselves the same questions. Accepting Jesus as Savior, becoming the “bride of Christ” and receiving God’s grace can be a “heady” experience. But….as the years pass and the “hoopla” and exhilaration wane, it will take discipline and commitment to still be spending time in His Presence, being alone with Him, listening to Him, obeying His commands and loving Him well.  If not, the “slide away” can begin, excuses can take over and fellowship with the Beloved One loses its intensity. But God….will remind them of their faithlessness just as he did in the time of the prophets as He spoke to His people through Ezekiel.

31 My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. 32 Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice. (Ezekiel 33:31-32)

What does a Christian gather from meditating on this? God wants us, not our words, or our bits and pieces of time thrown His way to appease our guilty consciences. He wants undivided devotion that He might remain our first Love.

Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. (Revelation 2:4)

As Carol Mead so eloquently expressed in Practically Holy, God doesn’t care about BIG events, “God wants to speak of our Beloved”…….that we might not forget our First Love!

SABBATH SNAPSHOTS: “Sunday-go-to-meetin’ day”

6/3/12 Today's perfect Sabbath through the imperfect lens of a point and shoot.

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—(Hebrews 10:25)

Chris Tomlin Praise Music---perfect for a communion morning!

“Dance” always gets my attention

PRAISES!!! There’s gonna be dancin’ in heaven!

Saturating Saturdays

6/2/12 During my working years, Saturdays were routinely my time to soak up the scriptures---about the only “me” time I had. Nowadays, Saturdays have taken on a new slant with the same intent. Now I “mull” questions and see how scripture answers the questions or how I measure up with scripture in the “questioned” action? If latter part is negative, I look for the solution, i.e. God’s answer. Still requires some scripture saturation for me.

Past weeks’ sermons from Cole’s series on “The gravitational pull of small orbits” define small orbits as “any action or attitude, any intention or idea, that tilts our axis away from God----such that a vibrant spiritual life becomes unsustainable.”

It’s his way of metaphorically asking, “How do we get off kilter with God?”

Thus, this weeks questions:

• What’s pulling me off balance in my spiritual walk? 
• Which has greater pull in my life, self or God? 
• My small orbits seem to change? Does God ever change? 
• Am I dull toward God and excited toward everything else? 
• Is my spiritual life vibrant? 
• What eclipses God’s light from shining through me?

Answers to these questions for us, as well as the Israelites of days gone by, are found in the Old Testament book of Malachi. As Cole suggests, for those who have a book Bible (as opposed to an app) go to the first New Testament book of Matthew and hang a left.

Answers gleaned from rereading (taking heed and beholding) Malachi and my notes: 

• Self is my “biggest” small orbit. 
• God does NOT change (4:6) on the sinfulness of sin (chap. 2) and the graciousness of grace. (4:7)  
• Judgment of God is both punitive and purifying. Behold---“the Sun of Righteousness will arise with healing in his wings,” those wings that carry us to freedom and joy because we love God (4:2). 

Those who fear the Lord will love Him, serve Him and serve others. Now there’s a measuring stick for your spiritual life.

Maskil--מַשְׂכִּיל NOT a “light and easy” blog

6/1/12 NOT a “light and easy” blog….but needful for heeding.

Started the day early in the Psalms---not too unusual, But God….showed me an unusual word in the subscript of Psalm 55. A maskil of David. (After maskil was a lower-case v) After a refresher in cross-referencing, I found the bold print in the margin , 55:1-23, indicating chapter and verses where I would find “v”. A quick scan showed “v” in verse 11

Wickedness is in the midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her streets

Hm-m-m that sounds like our world, doesn’t it? Just as in David’s time, destructive forces of sin and wickedness are all around us and, like David, we need to be aware of what we’re up against. That verse (11) had a cross-reference to Psalm 5:9 and I pretty much “camped out” in Psalm 5---which is a blog waiting to happen.

Continuing in Psalm 55 long enough to gain insight, I began to understand that this psalm of David was written as he was in great anguish over rebellion and rejection by his son, Absalom. But…not only was his own flesh and blood against him, he also encountered treachery from a close friend, one with whom David had worshipped and had sweet fellowship in the house of the Lord. David was caught off guard by such reproach from another who seemed a “saint”. But God, the “searcher of our hearts" knows the difference, so He is the one David cried out to for relief. David lays his heart open before the Lord needing to “vent” his grief before Him. We too have that same privilege which is a great reminder when we began to understand (maskil) that in this world there will be tribulation (John 16:33) and it might even come from within the house of the Lord. But also knowing that “greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

A clearer defining of “maskil” comes in as David recounts the moral teachings that are part of this psalm. Yes, wickedness may abound and David may long to “fly away” from it all and be at rest. (v.6) (Ever felt that way?) Yet, David in his distress continues to call out to the Lord morning, noon and night. (v. 16 & 17) Not sticking his head in the sand thinking wickedness ends up in someone else’s yard, but taking heed and learning from the circumstances and consequences that surround him. That’s being circumspect and that’s saka. Saka the root word for maskil.

That’s the maskil (wise teaching/understanding) in it for us---learn from this. Be aware but continue to seek God knowing, as David did, that if one “casts his cares on the Lord, the Lord will sustain him.” (v.22) Take heed of David’s last words, “But as for me, I trust in You.” (v.23)

BEAUTIFUL BLACKBIRD

5/31/12 Grackles, crows, jackdaws, whatever their regional common name, have a glossy black plumage. At our house, they eat all the pricey bird food that hubby buys for the flickers and jays. Very territorial, their raucous “threats” scare off other birds, namely our little songbirds. (Wish they would scare off the squirrels.)

On a more positive note, I do appreciate that blackbirds are a monogamous species, and the established pair will usually stay together as long as they both survive.

Plus, blackbirds preening in front of our breakfast room window, another daily activity, is actually kind of fun to watch as they display immense “self-satisfaction”.

 Blackbirds usually displayed in literature as destructive were given a new “light” by dear friend and author, Ashley Bryan’s, depiction in Beautiful Blackbird.” (2003)

Blackbird in Ashley’s book says, "Color on the outside is not what’s on the inside. You don’t act like me. You don’t eat like me. You don’t get down in the groove and move your feet like me. (my favorite line)….Just remember, whatever I do, I’ll be me and you’ll be you.”

Those lines spoke volumes to me of acceptance and are so easily lined up with scripture’s admonition to not just look on the “outside.”

For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. (I Samuel 16:7)

Remembering

5/28/12  Memorial Day---my first without my favorite vet, Daddy.

 Listening and Doing--- After we sit and listen during times of scripture meditation, we should rise and act accordingly.

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. (James 1:19-20, NIV)

Interestingly enough, this morning's Commercial Appeal included James 1:20 in the King James version as it's "Today's Bible Verse". For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
Scripture worth remembering on Memorial Day 2012.