SPIRITUAL HOKEY POKEY!?

Monday Musings from a Sunday Sermon.

Beginning our COLD, SNOWY Day with a bit of Hokey Pokey practice so we would be ready for a "Snowy Hokey Pokey" was a bit crazy......especially when we still get our left and right hand confused. We also trip a bit when we try to take our left foot out. Could be because there is a spiritual lesson there. It's okay to be "odd for God" to learn life lessons. (Pace McKee)

All of this to teach a youngster that in Christianity there is no Spiritual Hokey Pokey. it's not one foot in and one foot out. (Pace McKee)

It's ALL in for Jesus!

A good reminder for all of us.

May the Lord hear our WORSHIP from afar on this COLD, SNOWY day!

CUPPA GENEROSITY

Generosi-TEA! Let's start our last day in 2021 with that cuppa!

As we turn the corner to a New Year, lets turn from getting to giving!

Robert Morgan would punctuate the above sentence with a divine exclamation point! (All to Jesus, Day 365) 

Where do you find yourself? 

I have to give. GRUDGINGLY

I Need to give. UNDER EXTERNAL COMPULSION

I want to give. CHEERFUL, EAGER & READY TO GIVE

How is your spending trending?

A year in Paul David Tripp's, New Morning Mercies has kept me focused on More of Thee and less of me......aka give to others more than to self. "Give us the grace to look at ourselves in the mirror of God's word. Powerful redeeming grace to remove of our heart of stone and replace them with hears of flesh"----giving hearts. (New Morning Mercies, December 10)

TAKEAWAYS:

Give self first to God.

Generous Giving is rooted in the grace of God.

Generosity is about Spirit, not resources.

Donate to your church or favorite charity. Give your time to pray for others.

Keep sipping your cuppa generosity-TEA throughout the coming year!

ALL......SAYS..........IT..........ALL!

All says it all. The dictionary defines "all" as an indefinite adjective. In Scripture, I see all often used as complete, definite. In English, all has several functions---as an adverb, noun or pronoun. Most often I think of "all" as completely.

"That's all she wrote." That could mean something is finished and that is all there is to be said. For me,  it could mean, if I were the "she" that tonight I'm finished typing. Nite. Nite.

It was all I could do not to get up in the night to finish this because thoughts were whirring.

As thoughts are still whirring about current circumstances, I went back to Robert Morgan's All to Jesus Day 297, whose thoughts were not whirring but were clear and concise.

With all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and...be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:18, NASB)

All kinds of prayers---arrow prayers (Margie Hornor) "HELP, THANKS, WOW prayers, (Anne Lamott) silent prayers, spoken prayers, travel mercies prayers, walking prayers (JoLynn)

All hours of the day---morning, noon and night.

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16, KJV)

With all perseverance.....Keep on keeping on....(I Thessalonians 5:17)...for all the saints as many as possible specifically and by name. (Morgan, Day 297) 

All to Jesus I Surrender!

All says it all! That's all I have to say---today.

NEWNESS OF LIFE

NEWNESS...lots of synonyms for this noun. Freshness. Originality. Uniqueness. Newfangledness. (an old school word) For me, newness can connote brightness/shininess. Something can be "brand spanking new" or "bright as a newly minted penny." In scripture, how is newness expressed? Anyone in Christ has a newness to his life. (2 Corinthians 5:17, NKJV) A new way of  living has come into existence. (GW translation)

I like Robert Morgan's spiritual list from his All to Jesus, Day 291.

A few "new" insights on Morgan's list with my inferences;

• A New Name---Saul became Paul (Acts 13:9) Believers are called Christians.
• A New Nature---created according to God's likeness. (Ephesians 4:24)
• A New Motto---to live is Christ, to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21)
• A New Lifestyle---we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4b, ESV)
• A New Future---eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:21)

A shining bright witness. Aglow with the Spirit! (Romans 12:11)

Newness---New every  morning! 

TROUNCE TEMPTATION!

For worry-warts of the world their besetting temptation is often WORRY! "What if's" invade their minds in subtle ways and not so subtle ways. The recent Collierville shootings not so subtle. Prayer ensued immediately!

"Stewing" over things with outcomes beyond one's control can seep in and catch him off guard. Fear ensues.

Such thoughts require immediate action. 

A battle of the mind....a temptation that must be dealt with before it can reach the heart and begin to permeate every action. 

Thoughts reflecting worry are stepping stones to temptation & need to be taken captive to destroy those worldly arguments. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Focus is needed! Remember Who is sovereign in this world!

Remain............................

F IXED

O N

C HRIST'S

U LTIMATE

S OVEREIGNITY

Thoughts are okay when when brought into obedience of Christ. He's the only One who can trounce our temptations. 

Morgan says, "Our ability to trounce temptation is in direct proportion to our fellowship with Christ. (All To Jesus, Day 269, emphasis mine) 

So when the devil knocks, let Christ open the door!

MULLING MORGAN

Some of Robert Morgan's quotes have a way of sticking with me. Many come from his All to Jesus book which was a gift to me from Marje Andrew (2016)----a gift I passed on to my Quad Squad. 12/25/2020

A few recent ones I am mulling.........

• ....an addiction-prone society 7/6
• ....seasoned with salt 7/16
• ....for spiritual health, know what is temporal and what is eternal. 7/20
• ....stress mess....(stress strangles me) 7/24
• ...cacophony of confusion (sounds like my mind) 7/29
• The New is in the Old contained; the Old is in the New explained. (OT & NT) 7/30

Am I mulling alone or do these catch your attention as well?

IMPORTANT INFINITIVES

Today's morning devotional, All to Jesus, (Day 301) listed verses in Proverbs dealing with word usage and speech patterns. 

Author, Robert Morgan, listed 3 infinitives:

1. to shut up (Proverbs 10:19) There are definitely times we need to close our mouths. In 2020, My One Word has been "listen." I have learned, sometimes the hard way, the necessity of listening in order to hear from others.
2. to build up (Hebrews 10:25b) Edification and encouragement are so needed especially this year of COVID & elections. Political ads tear one another down yet, God's word continues to remind us..."but encourage one another."
3. to speak up (Proverbs 31:8) "Speak up for the ones who have no voice." "Be prepared (in gentleness and respect) to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give an answer for the hope within you." (Hebrews 10:25b, my paraphrase) Two excellent times to choose to use your voice.

So there you have it----speech patterns from the Proverbs that give "important infinitives" for life.

G.R.A.C.E.

Acronyms of Grace for Wordsmith Wednesday.

Acrostics often help me to recall truth, especially as I age. I often remember  EGO= Edges God Out. GRACE= God's Redemption At Christ's Expense.

All to Jesus, my Robert Morgan devotional guide, has seemed to emphasize "grace" this week.

8/10 Indeed we have all received grace after grace. (John 1:16)

ended with, a new to me, acronym for G.R.A.C.E.

God's Riches Available to Claim Everyday!

Hubby reads Bob Goff's, Live in Grace-Walk in Love to me each night. Last night grace jumped off the title page and right into my psyche. Love to others is an overflow of God's grace to us. Grace's practical application =Walking in love! 

This morning, (8/12) Titus 2:11-12 was the "grace" intro to Morgan's entry.

For the grace of God......teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled....lives in this present age.

One more "grace" filled verse had me humming, "Grace, grace, God's grace" as I stirred in extra measures of God's grace in my  morning cuppa and praying Acts 4:33 for our country during these tumultuous times......that we might be of one heart and one soul with...."much grace upon us all". (Acts 4:33)

G.R.A.C.E. acrostic as prayer prompts for our nation....

God Releases Altruism, Compassion & Empathy....so that we might give

Give Real Assistance & Care to Everyone! 

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!

LEAP DAY LOVE NOTE

Some things "bother me".  Having no devotional on February 29 is one of those.

Don't misunderstand me, I had my morning quiet time BUT the first devotional book I chose did NOT have a 2/29 entry. As I checked the copy right date I noticed it was not published in a leap year, so maybe that was the reason for the omission.  

As a somewhat OCD female, I like order and structure. So...... the absence of a day's devotional in my "2nd choice book" labeled, A Year of Devotionals had me a little off-kilter. Plus, it was published during 2012, a leap year, no less. In another of that author's books, he had stated, "There's Nothing wrong with devotional books, ---Ive written some myself---but they are to be supplements to our spiritual diet, NOT the main course." (Morgan p.60) I sense his absence of a 2/29 entry emphasizes that.

But God, who knows me well....had me look up and right on the table in front of me was my old favorite, Jesus Calling DayBrightener. As I flipped the card to today's devotional, there was February 29. How special for an OCD soul.

Plus, I was affirmed as Sarah Young's entry spoke right to my heart because earlier this morning, I had prayed for others to find the right pathway to love......and "My One Word" for the year is LISTEN. "Listen more to Me" leapt right off the page and into my heart. 

My today's love note reminder from the Lord.

MINDFUL MEDITATION: A GREAT REDUNDANCY

Robert Morgan's, All to Jesus, day 203 was last Monday's  (July 22) devotional reading. It was right on the money for this gal whose life is too often filled with fear, flurry and fretting. His reminder was from a quote by St. Francis de Sales, "Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in in a calm spirit." Mull over God's word. No flurry.

For me, cultivating a quiet mind requires much mulling over scripture. Perfect assignment for Meditation Monday. As I will be teaching "Meditative Prayer" at Town Village tomorrow, the reminder was very timely for that lesson as well.

THOTS

Trusting Him On This Subject/Scripture

Today, God used another Morgan book, Redeeming the Lost Art of Biblical Meditation, to continue my "mulling over mindful matters"---as I call to mind, holy thoughts of what God has for me today and allow Him to show me the way to go. (Psalm 143:8)

This month I have had this picture posted near my kitchen table---a great morning reminder. A verse for meditation. A verse to pray for my adult kids, their spouses and all "my" "grands. Plus, God has brought many others to mind so I've prayed for them as well. Psalm 143:8 is also on typed card by my prayer chair and on a post-it note upstairs in our computer room. 

Mindful meditation on this one verse has me focusing again today on, "show me the way I should go." Not "my" way.....but "Thy" way, O Lord.

Trusting God instead of my "to-do" list has calmed my spirit and allowed me to see His priorities and today that means I "stay put" at 1152. Obviously more mindful mulling is still needed.

CHOOSE: MVP

Last night the Houston Astro’s became the World Series champs for the first time! What an uplifting moment for that Texas city which has endured so much hardship since hurricane Harvey. Hubby even came to bed late because he wanted to see who won the MVP. In the baseball world a World Series MVP is pretty important! Of course, can I even remember the name of the person who was awarded MVP last night? No.

But God reminded me how important “MVP” is in one’s spiritual life, especially concerning Scripture meditation.

I know, because  my Joshua 1:8 marginalia showed Robert Morgan‘s three necessary steps in Bible study from that one verse.
1) Read it. 2) Keep on reading God's Word aloud. 3) Don't stop reading and repeating it.

Reading, reading aloud and meditation are all on-going.
Meditate on it day and night. As Morgan states in All to Jesus, “Meditation is the missing link in getting the words from the page of the Bible into her bloodstream.” (Day 302)

The Bill Gothard seminar (1975) emphasized the MVP method of meditation; Memorizing, Visualizing and Personalizing. 

 It’s when one personalizes scripture that they bring in obedience that leads to applying truth to their own lives.  Just knowing more scripture is worthless unless it is applied to one's spiritual walk. 

Memorizing and visualizing are both good but personalizing is key.
When you choose MVP, choose the whole package. 

CHOOSE: "WHATEVER"

Whatever! Whatever? Maybe I should have been more descriptive in my choice this morning.

Choose, "whatever" without an attitude. For, I'm not talking the cynical "younger set" use as a way of negative compliance or agreement. 

To me it can be sort of a snarly word. A slang for indifference, maybe.

Even Webster's gives "whatsoever" 4 different parts of speech when used in a sentence. But these days "whatever" is a sentence in and of itself. 

Whatever varies greatly according to its usage. Whatever is complicated,

Complicated unless you turn to God's word as my All to Jesus devotional had me doing this morning.

Whatever you do.............

• Commit it to the Lord. (Proverbs 16:3)
• Work hard at it. (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
• As unto the Lord. (Colossians 3:23)
• Do it in His name and be grateful. (Colossians 3:27)
• Do it faithfully. (3 John 5)

Whenever I choose to do "whatever I do," as unto the Lord, I've made the right choice.

CHOOSE: TO RELY

In my weird idiosyncratic way, I have a 3x "heads up" system on appearances of a word, verse or events. If something occurs just once, I probably rarely notice. Two times becomes a head tilt often with an expectation of #3. This past week, the word rely has been on my radar. First seen, In All to Jesus 10/11 devotional entry. At Monday's Prayer for Revival time, our passage was 2 Chronicles 15:1-7, great verses for meditation so relevant to our nation today. Opening my Bible, 2 Chronicles 14:11, on the opposite page already had, "Help us O Lord, our God for we rely on you" underlined, with some words highlighted. Rely emerged again......That's two.......and I WAS counting.
Last night as I finally picked up Sunday's Commercial Appeal to try and calm my mind for bedtime, I came across the Clue for 40 across, "Hinge (on)."

And the answer was.......rely! Of course it was!
Nudged by 3x rule, today I began a word study on rely. A quick glance at my Strong's Concordance (KJV) showed me 14 uses in the parent tense and 2 past tense entries in the Hebrew with 3 uses in the Greek. I'm sure this varies with Bible versions. 
One definition was used over and over---to trust. Therein was my life lesson. 
I need to trust Him rather than relying on my own strength. I am definitely a work in progress but being armed with His word which is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:17) is the truth I can "lean on to support one's (my) self" another biblical definition of rely.

In my own life, I have run out of strength in many areas and I need more than ever to rely on Him just as Asa did.

Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, "LORD, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on You, and in Your name....(2 Chronicles 14:11)....

(My paraphrase of the remaining words...."we come against all the multitude," I see multitudes as synonymous for struggles which life can bring, in my life, especially as I age. DAL)
Robert Morgan, author of All to Jesus, says, Rely on the grace of God. He says he can rely on the Lord who is the all-in-all all his life and quotes the verse, "I have relied You all my life." (Psalm 71:6) 

I cannot say that I have relied on the Lord all my life but I can say, I chose to rely on Him today.

CHOOSE: ALL

"All" is only 3 letters but in a grammarian world, it speaks volumes. "All" assumes 4 of the 8 parts of speech depending on its usage. That makes me think all is an all important word. (adjective) So....I'm going to give my all to get this right! (noun) If I don't lose all of my mind in the process (as pronoun, substitute for noun)

Are all of you already confused? Or am I all alone in my confusion? (adverb)

The main idea is that generally the usage of all expresses the entire quality or extent of something. 

Today, I choose ALL only as complete, in its entirety.

I remember a favorite old hymn of my grandmother. "I Surrender All." 

Not I surrender all except; that bit of resentment I keep well hidden, my health, my home, my children, my spouse, my savings account, etc. 
No buts or exceptions with total surrender.

The hymn says "All to Him I freely give."

Reading Robert Morgan's devotional, All to Jesus,* this year, I am amazed at the power of that word throughout scripture----from God's commands to the Israelites to His comfort to all believers as the God of all grace (1 Peter 5:10) whom He invites to cast all anxiety upon Him (not some or part) because He cares.(1 Peter 5:7)

I choose this day to surrender all to Him who works all things together for my good. (Romans 8:28)

*I thank Marje Andrews, with all my heart, for giving me this gem of a book.

CHOOSE: FRUCTIFICATION OF FAITH

Wordsmith's unite. Do they ever!
Word-A-Day Flip calendars. YouVersion verse of the day. A.Word.A.Day which comes right to your email in-box. K-Love's Encouraging Word via radio waves. 
Wannabe wordsmith's even have their own twitter accounts and URLs.

Wordsmiths choose words that are not normally in their speaking vocabulary and learn from them. Sometimes one wordsmith will challenge another.
I, a fledgling word nerd, took the challenge though I am VERY weak in the spiritual "wordsmith" community, compared to my challenger. 

"Fructification." I started with my old stand-by, my hard copy American Heritage Collegiate, 2nd edition. (a gift from my Aunt Dot Seay)

Fructification--noun, the process of fructifying. (Wow, that was "un"-enlightening.)

More research opened my eyes to a synonym of growth. In the spiritual realm, that made sense. 
Growth in grace and knowledge of truth = fruit bearing in my faith.

Starting with knowledge of God and accepting Christ as the cornerstone of one's faith many Christlike virtues begin to take root. A new believer often begins studying God's word and seeking God's grace in order to grow in his faith.

Do your best to improve your faith. You can do this by adding goodness, understanding, self-control, patience, devotion to God, concern for others, and love. If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful. (2 Peter 1:5-7)

In my own faith walk, after I added knowledge, it was in the midst of struggles that God "ripened" my faith." Faith growth for me hurt deeply at times. 

Yet, for me, the real fructification of faith began when I chose to share my faith with others. 
Fructification of faith is, at its best, when it bears fruit in others.

Faith that was my anchor in my cancer journey gained strength as I shared it to encourage others.
Faith continues to give me strength and courage when I have no control in life's "hard places," knowing I can lean in to God's goodness in each new struggle. 

Sharing is a new branch/off shoot of choosing fructification of faith with each new struggle.


Before posting this blog entry, I opened my All to Jesus, devotional book for March 22 and read, 'The gospel....has come to you....bearing fruit...and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it.' (Colossians 1:6)

Not only was the "CO"incidence affirming, but it opened my eyes to the One who did the "choosing" for my "word" for today---certainly strengthening my faith as together He and I choose: fructification!