CREATOR PRECEDES CREATION!

HALLALUIAH! 

Yesterday's temps allowed for a bit of time enjoying sitting outside! Along with the lower temps and bit of a breeze, I "took in" the beauty of the gooseneck and the Tiger Swallowtail by my weathered fence.

It was a much needed time of being still. But God allowed it to become more than that. More than "beholding" creation, my heart began to "behold the Creator." "Beholding we become," as author Jackie Perry writes. 

If our hearts are beholding Christ, Christ will be mirrored and manifested on our hearts. (holier than thou, p. 149)

Think reflection. Our lives reflect what we behold. We live it out.

John Piper's book title, Seeing and Savoring, says much.....not just about the beauty I was beholding from God's creation but the Scripture I was led to which reminded me that I need to enjoy the Creator above all else, even his creation/creatures! (Romans 1:25, NLT)

Yesterday I was able to enjoy both in the correct order.

Sa-TEA-sfaction of Answered Prayers

A cuppa served in Tyler's Georgia Tech gift mug was a satisfying way to begin my day! It spoke of kindness and generosity of a young adult, who has been the focus of my Saturday prayers for many years. 

Watching him hug his "Grammy" recently at The Varsity evoked all these memories!

It also stirred my heart to pray for all my Saturday "Kingdom Kids," especially those in college, that they not grab at the "things" the word offers. May they empty themselves today and fill themselves with "all the fulness of God" as they grasp the deep love of Christ, which is the only true and lasting satisfaction! (Ephesians 3:14-19)

Memories from a mug of sa-TEA-sfaction and God's Word satisfied me this morning with a reminder of "God's steadfast love." (Psalm 90:14) 

CHOOSE RANSACKING

I default to ransacking pretty often....but it's not often a joyful choice. It's usually necessary to "find" lost or misplaced items and requires much "hunting" which leaves a ransacked type trail.

This morning I ransacked my pantry in pursuit of some Werther's Caramel Chews.

No where to be found----I had to settle for the "original" hard candies for my sweet tooth.

Persistance paid as ransacking continued after blogging.
Note two twisty caramel chews between book and Werther's bag.

But God....through John Piper's meditation book on Savoring the Supremacy of God in All Your Life, (#55) I saw that ransacking the Bible for truth does indeed bring joy. Plus, it was such a follow-up for yesterdays "Meditating Monday" blog entry. Piper's points sound like meditation to me. (my THOTS below.)

1. Pray and Read. Read the Word. What a privilege. What an obligation. What a potential for seeing God. (p. 166)
2. Pray and Study. Must pray or we'll not see in the Word, the one thing esp. THE Book, needful---'the glory of God in the Face of Christ.' (2 Corinthians 4:4, 6) On knees and in books, a great combo. (p.167)
3. Pray and Ransack. Ransacking is the way to seek God in the Bible. Think Dotsy and her caramel search. (p.167)
4. Pray and think. (2 Timothy 2:7) Consider what I say for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. (KJV) Reflect on... (NIV) Think about...( NLT) Think over (ESV) Mark well...(WNT) Combine the eye-opening work of the Spirit with the mind-informing work of the Word. (Psalm 119:18) (p, 168)

I should choose ransacking to satisfy my sweet soul rather than  my sweet tooth.

Just do the next right thing…….

1/29/11 We have lots of these NIKE swooshes around our house to remind us to “Just Do It.” But I think there should be delineation to ”it.” Doing “it” in life can be very self-serving if we don’t define “it.”

Confession in Thursday’s blog (1/27/11) showed that my “it” is sometimes defined by ease and convenience. I’m still musing on that conviction.

The Hasslens’ recent Twitter entry shared, “Hardly anything worth doing is easy, until we get to heaven.” (John Piper) The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. is quoted as saying "The time is always right to do what is right." II Corinthians 13:7, Paul states "Now we pray to God that you do no wrong; not that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right,...." Even a recent SGA sign outside the HHS cafeteria had a reminder for me, “It’s important to do the right thing even if it’s not convenient.”(There's that convicting term again.)

All of those comments, quotes, and signs just kept hammering at me. But God……………lead me to my blue blog folder.

That folder had a CA article notation for “just do the next right thing” that not only delineated “it” for me but also gave an antidote of encouragement---aka prayer. Dr. Scott Morris told of an encounter with Dr. John Nash, who without prompting, shared the following: "Every morning I pray for one thing. Courage. I pray for courage to do the next right thing in the eyes of God.”

When I choose to do “it” in the upcoming days in my own life, I hope this wisdom will stick with me!

BLOGGLE

5/28/09 Blog + Boggle = BLOGGLE A game we always take to the beach each summer is Boggle------it’s a game where you try to take the jumble of letters and create words before the sand runs out in the hour glass (3 minute glass) Tonight’s blog is similar to that. You, reader, have to try to take the jumble of words here and try to make coherent thoughts out of them. This is a peek at my random thoughts as I have continued to think on subjects/ideas jogged by earlier blogs. Good luck.

Journal Jottings---relevant to breath --- Liking holding breath when big boys fell on me at the Kiwanis Pool one summer and I struggled to untangle from their weight and BREATHE--- felt desperate to break the surface of that water and gulp the air----or at the Duncan’s home where I learned to swim with other girls in my brownie troop and we tried to see who could hold their breath the longest.---- ---no other thought but wanting to win but..... SO needing that air---felt that way the night my mouth was sewn together and my nose was stopped up---am I that desperate for Him, yearning to be filled and quenched by Him, my living water? Filled with the fullness of Christ.

THOTS--- Breathe on me O breath of God---how do I know that phrase----hymn, maybe? 

Journal Jottings---relevant to “self” entry Love is conscious acts of self-giving, self-sharing, self-sacrificing and self-abandonment. Opposite =selfishness (source unknown, but taken from old Sunday School class notes) Affirms my earlier thought. 

THOTS---Do I hunger and thirst after rightousness? 

Journal Jottings ---relevant to a “real meal deal” blog My notes from John Piper’s, Taste and See, entry #65 “Faith feeds on the Word of God.” No steady diet of God’s Word----you get weaker and weaker---(like Grandaddy’s heart when it isn’t pumping that life giving blood w/ oxygen through his body) If your walk is getting weaker, check what you’re feeding on. Compare it (eating God’s word) to way you eat---one gulp of juice in the am while reading paper and packing lunches at same time won’t last very long. If such an eating habit continues, you won’t last very long---neither will your faith---you’ll starve it. What does starving faith look like---not much like faith/hard to recognize it (DAL) hard to trust, worship and rejoice in the hard times and lots easier to embrace sin, sometimes even “justifying it.” A starved faith walk is more of a stumble. God’s Word fosters faith. God’s Word is within us so that “your (my) trust may be in the Lord.” (Proverbs 22:18-19) If one really want to feed his/her faith night and day, he/she needs to meditate on the Word of God. We need something of substance (meat of truth) to bite into---that’s the nature of faith. “Faith exists by what it trusts. It has no life but what it gets from the truth it believes.” 

THOTS---Meditation and memorization helps feed our faith hourly, day by day. God’s Word is the best nutrition for a healthy faith walk. “Put faith food in the pantry of your mind”…and walk in faith.