A-MAZE-ING!

Memphis has received bad press lately---

going beyond the local and state level to national & world news.

But.....the September/October 2022 4MEMPHIS Memphis, delivered to my driveway, reminded me once again, 

"Seek the peace and prosperity of the city 

in which I have placed you. (Jeremiah 29:7)

The same day, the nightly news shared another reminder! The Halloween maze will open once again but without the planting of corn in a design. A robot will now do all the work!

That was not the best reminder. The best reminder.....

....to me was recalling Acts 17:26. It was God who made all the nations ....to inhabit the whole earth, marking out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their dwelling place. (paraphrase & emphasis, mine) ESV verse 27 states God's purpose for those boundaries, "so that they should seek, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet, he actually is not far from each one of us." (Though it might sound like me, even "actually" is ESV, not mine)

4MEMPHIS publisher Jim Walker's comment said it well, "....brokenness is their inspiration to bear fruit by loving their fellow Memphians. (p.26) 

The A-MAZE-ING truth is that God is near me right here in Memphis; He has me here for a purpose, regardless of scary reports from Nightly News. (Psalm 34:18)

CHOOSE: 901

Believe it or not, choosing 901, for me, is a biblical choice.

Acts 17 reinforces my belief that God who gives all men, life and breath and everything else (Acts 17:25) has placed me here. He chose my time in history and where I would live. 

"...He determined allowed periods and the boundaries of their dwelling places." (Acts 17: 26, ESV)

God chose 901 for me so it only stands to reason that I would try to make a difference in the 901 area for His glory. 

More than that, I choose to inhabit my habitation with prayer. I think the prayer choice is key to receiving God's blessings on "my" city.

CHOOSE: TO LISTEN TO YOUR HEART

Words can come at us from every direction. A cacophony. Too loud to discern......
....But a picture can speak volumes enabling one's heart to "hear" with a quiet, yet distinct, voice.

In this instance, the Memphis representation of Jeremiah 29:7 by our pastor's wife, Lynn, spoke straight into my heart. It was her depiction of the verse which gave personal relevance to an already brewing conviction of my heart.

I desire to "work and pray" on behalf of "my" city, starting on "my" street, knowing that the Lord "...has determined the boundaries of my dwelling place." (Acts 17:26)

This "visual encounter" aided me in Choosing to Listen to My Heart."