SERVE THE LORD WITH GLADNESS!

How does one serve the LORD with gladness?

This morning hubby and I listened to Cole Huffman's Gospel church July 5, 2026 podcast which espoused the value of serving the LORD......from Psalm 100. Just click to listen. You will be glad you did!

A few of my many notes....

• Gladness---a watch word for serving the LORD.
• Gratitude leads to gladness.  
• Serving the LORD aligns with His will and purpose.
• Thanksgiving and praise are a dynamic duo.
• Thankfulness is a Password to God's WiFi.
• Singing puts one into deeper joy.
• Happiness (a positive, but variable, on-slaught of emotions) comes and goes but joy remains. 
• For the LORD is good. (v.5) with an enduring love and faithfulness to all generations.

Join me today in making a joyful noise unto the LORD.

GOSPELICIOUS!

"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him." (Psalm 34:8)

But.....it's important to go beyond that. Let others see the truth of God in you in your actions of taking refuge in Him. 

The gospel being lived out is gospelicious! (my marginalia, Cole '20 ?)

It allows others to see the gospel message in action.

A gospelicious life style draws others to "taste and see".

"GOSPEL-ICIOUS" --WORD PLAY AT ITS BEST

3 yr. old grandson Jack has a language of his own. We call it "Jackanese." When he's out-grown it, we'll probably still remember it. A current word---Chok-it 'uhlicious! No verb needed!

For me, God's word is 'uhlicious!

"Thy Words were found and I ate them and they became for me the joy and delight of my heart! "(Jeremiah 15:16)

"Taste and see that the Lord is good." (Psalm 34:8)

His words are sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.....(Proverbs 16:24) when we consume them. 

In one word delicious!

What part of speech is delicious?

noun

adjective

adverb

All of the aove.

A descriptive adjective. Deliciously as an adverb. Deliciousness---a noun that says it all.

What about gospelicious?

 For God so love the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16 gives meaning to that one word!

GOSPELICIOUS! (Cole Huffman, according to my marginalia)

3 Rs in ONE'S SPIRITUAL LIFE

Yesterday's sermon had me remembering 3 Rs---Repent, Return to God and be Refreshed (Acts 3:17). Sometimes we get so caught up in the busyness of life that we live overwhelmed and need refreshing. Times of refreshing can come---when we set aside expectations set by ourselves and others in repentance and turn to the Lord.

This time in Memphis.
This time in the eventide with my personal vespers.
This time for worship.
This time inside in my prayer chair

Last summer I also sought refreshment according to God's formula.

Last time in Maine. 

Last time at mid-day, not in the eventide.

Last time, as always, for worship. 

Last time outside in a place for quiet meditation within a sanctuary of God's handiwork. (Psalm 96:11-12)

I felt as if I had ascended the hill of the Lord and was standing in His holy place. (Psalm 24:3)

I'm not young per say but times of refreshing are needed at any age mostly inside my own home but  this sanctuary, in Camden, ME, also filled the bill. It was worth the visit,

COOKING UP NEW WORDS

There are so many new words that even the Oxford English Dictionary and Webster add new words annually. Lately most of them are concerning our digital age or are words I have never even heard before. Of course, even we elderly know "fake news," selfie (a 2013 word), baby bump and brexit.

Here are a few new ones to me......

blamestorming---the word coinage might be new & very political but it sounds like the blame game siblings play in their early years of "not me."

"ping me"---Not sure of that---does that mean text or just any digital communication whose notification involves a "ping" sound?  I can't distinguish my phone pings from hubby's phone pings.

worstest---that just sounds like bad grammar to me

Friendsgiving---I like the sound of that if one includes inviting international friends or friends w/o family to their Thanksgiving table, but if the focus is more on alcohol with friends (OED) than giving thanks, then count me out.

fitspiration---I'm too old for that word to be in my vocabulary---it describes people or photos of fit folks that are inspiring. At my age, old people who are still sane and mobile inspire me.

word salad---sounds like the way I talk when I'm talking in circles and hubby and others don't have a clue to what I'm saying. 

But God introduced a "new word"  for our family this past week via Pastor Cole, who's really good at word creation! A fitting one as we "wait," with our daughter and her family, for adoption news.

Pop Pop's Hands

Hopetimist----I like the sound of it.
Not just an optimist, or an immature cock-eyed optimist---who thinks that thinking good thoughts alone, or working hard will make all things "perfect," because that's not always true.

HOPEtimist. (emphasis mine) One who is hopeful and on their knees trusting the outcomes to the Lord. (Zephaniah 3:17)

Be strong and take heart all  you who hope in the Lord. (Psalm 31:24)
That's Bible-speak for a hopetimist!

CHOOSE: FRETLESS

To be "Fretless in Memphis," one has to fret less and trust more. 
Cut out the worrying. That means fret NOT, Dots! (That's scriptural---just read Psalms 37: 1, 7, 8! Okay so it doesn't say Dots---feel free to insert your own name.

Choose faith not fretting.
Easier said than done, sometimes. Maybe if I were "more" fretless it would render me less sleeplessness. What a praise that would be!
But God....through Cole Huffman's  Philippians 4:4-7 sermon (3/19/17), reminded me of 2 things I know. Two things that give me peace.

1. I know I am not in control. (God is)
2. I know that I am cared for.  (By God)

Knowing those 2 truths reminds me that in the midst of fears (basis for much of my fretting) the Lord is at hand! (v. 5, ESV) Therefore, I not only can lean into His control but I can also lean into His care.

Fretless hot tea drinkers see their cuppa as 1/2 full, NOT 1/2 empty. A cuppa positive-TEA!

Name it! Nail it!!

Cole said it. Sin needs to be named and nailed.
I named it---WORRY. I confessed "it." I "laid" it at the cross.

I had a sleepless night.  I must have picked "it" up---that propensity to worry.
Lists of "what if's" about self, family, friends and others whirred throughout the night.

At Benny's funeral the Baptist Hospice singer reminded me to take "it" back to the cross, as he crooned verse 3 from "It is Well with My Soul."

My sin, not in part but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

This time, I must have nailed "it" there.....

I slept like a baby last night.

Commi-TEA-ment to Finishing Well

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 

(2 TIMOTHY 4:7, ESV)

Finishing well. Faithfulness in the long haul. 

in previous verses of chapter 4, Paul had exhorted Timothy to preach the word, to endure all for the sake of the sake of the gospel. Paul, himself, had put his life's effort into completing the "course" which God had set before him and now his time for departure had come. (death) Paul left nothing undone. He remained committed to the faith.

Faithfulness: a long obedience in the same direction. (Cole Huffman)

No cuppa mediocri-TEA served by Paul. He chose a cuppa full commi-TEA-ment until the end. He had poured his life into Timothy---for the sake of the gospel.

What "tea" is in your cuppa faith? Mediocri-TEA or full commi-TEA-ment? Something to ponder in the New Year.

Quotabili-TEA : a re-brew

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. (James 3:17, NKJV)

Having been dunked last night in the ALS "ice bucket challenge," my brain is a little fuzzy....or frozen. 

Thus, not much wisdom is easily recalled.

But God....reminded me of a few notes in my marginalia that seem perfect for sharing on such a day.......
......Words of wisdom. Proverbs 2:6 says that the "Lord gives skillful and godly wisdom".....and I so appreciate those who take His wisdom and put it into succinct phrases or pithy grabbers, as I call them, that enable easier recollection for me.
Quotes are from famous folks, often via not so famous folks, and other quotes are out of the mouths of friends and family that have "stuck in my mind" for whatever reason. 

Enjoy----

• Way we see God, shapes the way we see others. (Cole Huffman, 5/25/14)
• Compare and you despair. (JoLynn)
• When man works, man works; When man prays, God works (First Evan--World Prayer Focus w/ Operation World prayer guide)
• To say "if" a man sins is like saying "if" a Memphian drives on Poplar Ave. No matter how hard you try to avoid it, eventually, you will end up on Poplar. (Taylor Park, 6/29/14)
• "Bethel Moments"--God was there and I knew it not. (Cole, 8/17/14)
• When "stuck"--"throw an escape party, not a pity party. (Ibid)
• God always outlives the pallbearers. (Ibid) (Pallbearers are the church naysayers.)
• Saint---a person whose life makes God believable. (C.S. Lewis, NKJV marginalia)

A delightful cuppa "quoatibili-TEA" shared.

R & R = RETREAT

2/13/12 Reflecting and Refreshing-----that's the R & R I'm seeking this week. With the onset of funk #2 before 2012 was barely a month old, I knew a negative antidote was needed. "More of Thee, less of me." God affirmed that answer 3 times. #1 I received FOCUS newsletter from church. (p. 1) Cole's Pensées (a worthy read) included T. S. Eliot's poetic remarks in Choruses from the Rock. Although Cole didn't include, "The endless cycle of idea and action"----that was the hamster wheel I felt I was on. 

Endless invention, endless experiment, 
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness; 
 

Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;
 Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word. 

Where is the Life we have lost in living? 
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? 
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

  #2 My Utmost for His Highest entry  2/9. My THOTS, Trusting Him On This Subject/Scripture, (my version of penseés, though not as erudite) were: Spiritual exhaustion comes through service, though mine are not of the "headline" variety. Exhaustion depends on where you get your supply. Go back. Recollect where the source of power is. I need to be my best for God's sheep as well as God Himself.

#3 Guest speaker, Rob Bugh, author of When the Bottom Drops Out, took me to Lamentations 3 and reminded me that if my "strength has perished" I need to examine and probe my ways (activities, maybe) and return to the Lord. (v. 40) I need to.... seek Him, wait for Him, wait silently. So on Meditation Monday, I started there.

²⁴ “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I have hope in Him.”
²⁵ The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
²⁶ It is good that he waits silently 

To me, it all boils down to stillness. Time with the Lord. 

What will it look like this week as I "retreat"? I'm not exactly sure. But God.......will meet me where I am. I sense that less (activity) will be more. Less information, more knowledge. Knowledge of stillness and silence, not constant motion. Deeper, richer times with Him. It might include digital detoxing with e-mail and "googling" and letting go of the NY Times, USA Today and "Nightly News." I might blog or I might not. 

Pray with me that my reflection on God's hand in my life as I align my will with His will, will be a time of stillness.....in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; (Acts 3: 19)

1, 2, 3….............

8/19/10……………look at Me. (Me meaning the Lord) That’s been my customary reaction to spiritual things----sort of like a “rule.” Instead of 3 strikes you’re out, when something intersects with my life 3 times that means, a heads up for ole Dots.

As a result, I’ve been meditating in Psalm 71. This is a psalm of lament that expresses the faith of an older person, who has trusted God for many years but is still feeling attacked whether verbally or physically or both. I, as well as most folks, can understand his need for God as a refuge.

As I first began meditating on this psalm, I was indeed seeking solace---and not because of aging or gray hairs. (v. 18) My strength, both physical and emotional was spent. I was hurt. I needed a rock, refuge, Someone trustworthy on whom to lean.

On Sunday, Cole concluded his sermon suggesting this psalm for consideration---that for me was affirmation #2. I decided to camp out there a little longer. Affirmation #3 came in the Tuesday’s Upper room devotional reading, Psalm 71:17-21. God began to change my focus. He has been with me when I (Isaiah 43:2) “passed through the waters….and was not overwhelmed.” (I only temporarily felt as if I were drowning) This new focus in the same psalm reminds me that there is none like God---God who has seen me through many troubles and calamities will revive me again. Now I must continue to proclaim his wondrous deeds and ask him, “ do not forsake me until I proclaim your might to another generation.” (Psalm 71:18) My grands come to mind.

The Upper room gives a L2L (Link2Life) as way to encourage practical application of the scripture’s teaching. I’m calling mine D2D (Dare to Dance) to encourage myself and others to dare to go forth and dance (celebrate) these life truths with others. I’m going to pick up the phone and call a friend.

1,2,3….and....1,2,3……………….doesn’t it make you want to dance.