Jesus Knows

Remember the story of Zacchaeus found in Luke 19?  In my devotion this morning I was reminded of him as I read verse 5 of Luke 19. 

Zacchaeus’ background is found in Luke 19:1-5

“Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.  A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.  He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd.  So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.”

And then I read verse 5:

“When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately.  I must stay at your house today.”

As I read these familiar words this morning I thought, “Jesus not only knew someone was in the tree, he knew the man by name and he wanted to make a difference in the life of Zacchaeus.”

God reminded me that Jesus knows my name and he knows where I am and what I need.  That’s just the way Jesus is.  He knows my every care, my every concern.  Psalm 56:8 tells me he even knows each and every tear that I shed.

I hope that you will be encouraged this morning to know that Jesus knows where you are as well.  Perhaps you have just lost a loved one, perhaps you are concerned about your children, the loss of a job, or health issues.  Maybe your “today” finds you tired of just dealing with life and all the issues we face every day.  Then again, perhaps you are just tired of being tired. 

Do you wonder today if anyone knows what you are dealing with or just question if anyone even cares.  Maybe your world is relatively stable right now and there is no major crisis that you see.  Wherever you are today, Jesus knows where you are and who you are.   He not only knows our status today, but He knows what tomorrow holds.

Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you.  He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” (NLT)

So wherever you are today and whatever you are facing, I pray you find comfort in Him and His Word as I did this morning.

“The Lord is my shepherd.  I have all that I need.”  Psalm 23:1 (NLT)

Pruning the Hydrangea

I have two hydrangea bushes that were in the yard when we moved to our present house.  They are just beautiful and I truly don’t want to do anything to keep them from blooming.  So far, so good, but you never know.

Every year I have to read up on when I am supposed to cut them back because I can’t remember what I did the previous year.  Recently I went to my “source” book and was reminded that my particular variety of hydrangea should be pruned in early spring because this type will “bloom on OLD WOOD.”  It goes on to say that “Old Wood” are stems that have been on the hydrangea since the summer before the current season.  So with that bit of knowledge, I took my clippers and proceeded to do my pruning. 

As I was cutting off those blooms from last year, I started thinking about how this plant that is several years old now, is going to bloom on old wood in just a few weeks.  That’s an interesting, especially at my age.  I certainly have been around for several years and my stems in many ways may have bloomed last summer or perhaps even several summers ago.  And yet, just like my hydrangea bush, I want to bloom on “old wood.”

As I was reading about this, the article said that some hydrangea varieties bloom on new wood.  The author of this article said, “It is a joy to grow these type hydrangeas because they are determined to bloom every single year, no matter how they are treated.”   Now how about that!  Wouldn’t it be even better if we bloomed like that, “every single year (or day), no matter how we are treated or what life brings our way.”

I have several friends who are doing just that – some who are “blooming on old wood” and others who are “blooming on new wood.”  Life may not be going exactly like they would have hoped, yet they continue to bloom.  Giving a smile, a word of encouragement, living out their faith in the midst of difficulty, death of a loved one, an illness, or just having a gloomy day.

Lord, I thank you for my friends and how they are continuing to “bloom.”  They not only are blooming on old and/or new wood, they are blooming where you have planted them.  What a testimony and encouragement to me.  My prayer today would be that I can do the same.

The Wonder of God

"The heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.  For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord?  Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings?"  Psalm 89:5-6

The wonder of it all!  Do I see it?  Today, yes.  I see how God provides for His children in so many ways.  I pray I can always recognize His hand as He orchestrates my life. 

A praise Him in the midst of life.  I praise Him for His faithfulness.  So what is my task?  To be available.  To be sensitive to His voice.  

And then?  I first trust.  Then follow.

Trust that He knows my destination.

Trust that He has a plan, especially for me.

Trust that He has already prepared the way.

Trust that He will guide my feet as I pick up my feet and put them down, one step at a time.

And then I follow Him, not my plan.

I follow Him, not my desire.

I follow Him, not my logic.

I follow Him, when I only see the next step.

I follow Him and no other for no one else compares to Him.

Today I Trust.  Today I follow!  I will rely on His strength and power to accomplish this.  

Do you need to declare this today as well?

God Speaks Through His Word

Sometimes in the most round-about way, God sends just the right Scripture that is exactly what I need to encourage me and make me smile. Today was such a day! 

Thank you God for reminding me of your love, your message, and your faithfulness through Your Word today. 

As I wrote these words above in my Journal this morning, I began to reflect on Scriptures that remind me of just a few ways God speaks to us through His Word. 

My husband and I have a habit of getting up early.  It is in those early hours that I begin my day in God’s Word during my quiet time.  Psalm 5:3 tells me that He hears me. 

 “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before                  you and wait expectantly.” 

              

Some days He gives me insight into a particular passage I’m studying, but sometimes I am refreshed by a familiar passage, as He gives me a “fresh” look at its meaning.  Jeremiah 33:3 says:

“Call to me and I will answer you.  I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that                  you  could never figure out on your own.” 

As I come to Him each morning, needing direction, I can depend on this promise in Psalm 143:8.

“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in                      you.  Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.”  

No matter where in God’s Word my quiet time directs my thoughts, I am reminded of this promise in Romans 15:4:

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through                the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we                    might have hope.”  

God tells us in Psalm 81:19, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt.  Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.”  

I think that He will fill my mind with His thoughts if I will commit to Psalm 119:15-16 

“I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.  I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.” 

Lord, help me commit to the faithful study of Your Word!

A Spring Blog Makeover

It's spring, a time for fresh beginnings and I thought it was time to update the look of the blog. My friend Katie from Fun Home Things helped me find the perfect look for this blog that better represents who I am and want I want to share with you.

I have also started a Facebook page to better connect with you! To join the page, just click on the Facebook button below and 'Like' my page!

My Praise

O God, I ask, why’d you choose me?  Why me? 

           You who set the world in place, who made each bird to sing. 

Who with one stroke made mountains tall and all the seas to be.

O God, why me, why me?

Each blade of grass you make to grow, the mighty oak, the tiny toad.

            Each star is there because of you, the sun, the moon, the oceans blue.

The seasons all, you made them.  The warm, the cool, the spring and fall.

                        O God, the wonder of it all.

And then with paint brush in your hand, you paused, and then created man. 

           Man to fellowship with you, to talk, to walk, to listen to.

O God, O God, ‘twas man you wanted to reflect your goodness, power,

and yes, O God, your grace.

Then man did sin and once again you set in place your plan.

            A babe, your Son, would come to earth to pay the price of sin men bore.

He left your side, where all was good, where pain was not a part,

 and felt my sins as on that cross they nailed His hand.

O the hurt you must have felt as Jesus wept 

           and asked to pass this cup from Him, as there He knelt.  

I can’t begin to comprehend the love it took for sinful man. 

Now Lord, I ask again of you, why me, why me did you so choose?

           You saved me and I’m now your child.  From out of sin you lifted me,

to higher ground you set me free. 

So richly blessed in many ways, you wipe my tears and brighten days.

Why me, O God,  I ask?

I don’t deserve to have so much, to know your love, your peace, your grace.

           O yes that’s it!  Is that it Lord?   It’s grace that made it so.

Not because of who I was, or what I’d done or would become,

but grace, just grace - and now I see.

O God, my God who did create it all, whose power is seen in all you’ve done.

           I cannot keep from praising you, you are my song, my very breath, my all in all.

I’ll shout it now for evermore, yes Lord I know, yes Lord I know,

           You did it all for me,and, yes, ‘twas grace that made it so.

 

Isaiah 43:2

For the deep waters of life, for the darkest of nights, 
For the hurts of this world, for my search for right - I thank you God.

For its in the deep water and throughout the night,
Its in every hurt and in wrongs made right - You are God, You are there.

You loved me and called my name.  Thank you God.

Thoughts on Psalm 18

“I love you, O Lord, my strength.  The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.  He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.  I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.”

I love these words and the promise found here.  As I read this verse this morning, I remembered specific times when words were more than a promise, I lived them!  I continued to find reminders in this Psalm of His response to me as I called on Him in verses like verse 6 from the NASV,

“In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry for help before Him came into His ears.”

When I call out to God for help I am acknowledging that I can’t do it by myself.  He hears "my" voice.  This verse tells me – "He hears me.”  He knows it is me, not just “a” voice crying out.  That means He knows all about me and He knows where I’m coming from in my distress.  The verse goes on to say, “my cry for help comes before Him into His ears.”  The Amplified Bible says “into His very ears.”  Oh how I love how personal that is to me, to you, as we call out to Him.

I continued to read Psalm 18 as the verses that follow describe His response (my paraphrase): 

The earth trembled, the foundations of the mountains shook – he was angry

Smoke rises from his nostrils and his mouth spits fire.  He parts the heavens and comes down with dark clouds under his feet

He soars on the cherubim on the wings of the wind,  Darkness is his covering as dark rain clouds the sky.

As hailstones and bolts of lightning come he shoots his arrows and scatters my enemies.

               

And just as the valleys of the sea are exposed and the depths of the earth lie uncovered. . .

He reaches down from on high and takes hold of me as he pulls me out of deep waters.  

              

He rescued me from my enemy, from those who were too strong for me.

My enemy had confronted me in my distress, but the Lord was my support!  He rescued me because he delighted in me.

As I read these words it was for me better than any action movie I’ve ever seen, more riveting than any account I’ve ever read from the most exciting book.  Why, you ask?  Because this is real and I know - that’s My God. 

He Loves Me.          He Is My Strength.          He Is My Rock.          He Is My Deliverer!

“The Lord is my light and my salvation - Whom shall I fear!  The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?”  Psalm 27:1

My Valentine to God

Valentine Day!  The holiday when all hearts turn to love and all of the advertisements tell us we need this giant teddy bear or that large box of chocolates to express our love to someone special in our life.  In addition to all the words of encouragement to express our love to another, this month most of the scripture I’ve been reading has been about love.  My thoughts were definitely on love! 

As I reflected on love and God and a gift I was given for Valentine's Day, I began to realize that far too often I am much quicker and also more verbal in expressing my excitement and gratitude about a gift someone gives than I am in expressing my joy and gratitude about the day to day things God provides.  I keep an ongoing list that I started several months ago about the simple things for which I’m grateful and today I want to share just a part of that list with you.  These thoughts were taken straight from my Journal.  Perhaps you can relate to some of them and have your own time of gratitude to God as well.  

Eyes to read

       The sun as it shines on wet grass

              The feel of dirt in my hands

                      God knows me, yet still He loves me

                              The last hydrangea of the season

                                      God’s Word.

Laughter

       Healing

              Laundry

                      Broken seashells

                              A good night’s sleep

                                    Yellow butterfly.

People different than me

       Busy days

              My past

                        Bugs that bite and cream that heals

                                 Cell phones you can silence

                                         My journal.

Order brought from chaos

         Strength to work.

                 New experiences at my age

                          Noise in the house and the quietness that follows

                                   Not knowing what tomorrow may bring

                                            A difficult day.

Fresh starts.

        Answered prayers

                  Knowing He hears

                        The one who controls nature

                              Missionaries who go

                                      A red VW Beetle my husband surprised me with.  

And, yes, it was that gift that began this reflection and realization once again that all good and perfect gifts are from God above.  

God first showed His love for us by sending His Son to die for our sins.  John 3:16 in the Phillips translation reads like this, "For God loved the world so much that he gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in him should not be lost, but should have eternal life."  

Thank you God that you gave the ultimate gift, Your Son, as an expression of your love for the me. Thank you for painting pictures of your love for me each and every day in the little things of life.  I want to always express my love for You and for all you do for me with even more joy and gratitude than I do for other gifts.  I love you God, forever and ever, Amen.

Valentine from God

“Hey there!  Hey there, over here, look up just a bit I’m talking to you.”

“Who me?”

“Yes of course you.  Who else comes to you in a small quiet voice?

I’ve been thinking about you again.  I think of you all the time but especially have I thought of you as the world is talking about love and candy, flowers and bears.  It seems like everyone is talking about love and how to show someone they care.  That’s what made me think of you.  Can I ask you the question of the day, “Would you be my Valentine?”

Now I don’t have a dozen roses or any of the things advertised on TV for you today but I have been trying to tell you how much I love you.

After all, just for you I created the world just for you.  The seasons, the flowers, the oceans and snow capped mountains – all of it.  Just for you to enjoy every day. 

And you know, it wasn’t just the world I created, I even designed and planned to the last detail YOU.  I know you so well.  I shaped you first inside, then out; I formed you in your mother’s womb.  You are marvelously and wonderfully made!  I have watched you grow from conception to today.  Each and every day of your life is on my radar screen.  I have a plan, a wonderful plan for you.  I get pretty excited when I think about it and I hope you do too.

Not only did I form you, I keep track or every step you take, every sleepless night you have.  Why I even keep every single tear you shed I keep in a bottle with your special name on it.

My love doesn’t just stop there.  I am with you as you confront every enemy and every battle.  I am there, by your side, ready to hold your hand or carry you over the rough terrain, ready to take charge and take control, as you let me.

Even though I know your every thought and every deed, I continue to love you.  Nothing will ever come between the two of us.  You can read of my love and my promises to you in my Word, which I long to implant in your heart.

I am always faithful and will keep my promises.  Even if you are not faithful, I still am steadfast in my love to you.

Now, like I said, it’s not roses – but then I created the roses.  It isn’t candy, but every ingredient in those chocolates was created by me.  It isn’t a cuddly bear, but I long to wrap my arms around you and let you rest in me.  Now, may I ask again, “Would you be my Valentine?  Would you please be mine?”

I love you,

God

Psalm 1:1-3 Meditation

Psalm 1:1-3 NIV

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.  That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do they prosper.”

Dear God,

As I sit here this morning determined to spend time in Your Word before the day “happens,” I was struck by this verse.

What a refreshing picture your Word has planted in my mind.  I see an oasis where you would find trees planted near the water, ready to refresh and nourish those traveling in a hot dessert.  As I think about that scene it makes me want to pull up my chair and just meditate on You this morning.  God, you know I have had those times in my life when I felt so empty and dry or so busy I longed to just sit and think, to just stop the merry-go-round of this thing called “life.”  

I guess that’s what caught my attention as I read this Psalm.  God’s Word is that refreshing water to a dry and weary (and busy) soul.  I used to say I really didn’t have the time to sit and meditate.  But you know it doesn’t need to be an hour or more.  It doesn’t even need to be 30 minutes.  But if we could just give our attention to God’s Word for perhaps five minutes in the morning, God will bless our effort and we can meditate on it the rest of the day.  Just like The Message version of verse 2 says, “instead you thrill to God’s Word, you chew on Scripture day and night.”  I am reminded of Psalm 51 when David was in the dessert of Judah.  He said, “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you in a dry and parched land where there is no water.”

God that’s what I seek this morning.  I want the desire to spend time in the Word.  I want it to be a priority in my life.   That’s my prayer today, Lord, I ask for the desire, for that thirst for your living water.  For the satisfaction that only comes from you.  Amen.

Sing a New Song - Day 5

Psalm 149:1

“Hallelujah!  Sing to God a brand-new song, praise him in the company of all who love him.” (MSG)

Hallelujah!  What a God we serve.  

I treasure my quiet times when I am alone with God.  However, I love to join with others as we worship as a body of believers.  Especially have I been blessed to sing with others who speak and sing in another language.  I can remember getting goose bumps the first time I heard a room full of believers lift their hearts in praise in multiple languages at the same time.  

I can’t help but think that’s what heaven will sound like as God's people from the ends of the earth, from every tribe and nation, sing a new song of praise in the “company of all who love him.”  What a day that will be!


Thank you God for your reminders throughout the Bible to Sing a New Song.  Thank you for putting a song in our hearts as we praise you every day!  Amen.

Sing a New Song - Part 4

Psalm 98:1

“Sing to God a brand-new song.  He’s made a world of wonders!” (MSG)

Sing a new song today about this world of wonders!  As I looked at His world of wonders today, this was my new song of praise.

Praise Him for. . . . .

For the way he has made our bodies to function and work as a unit. 

For the seasons and how each season has a purpose.

For all the creatures he has made, from the smallest bird that sings his song, to the giraffe who must have made God smile as he gave him his long neck.

For trees that provide us beauty and the plants that spring forth at just the right time.”

For this and more I praise God for his world of wonders!

Why not start your list today of God’s wonders and praise him.

Sing a New Song - Part 3

Psalm 96:1-3

“Sing God a brand-new song!  Earth and everyone in it, sing!  Sing to God – worship God!  Shout the news of his victory from sea to sea, Take the news of his glory to the lost, news of his wonders to one and all.” (MSG)

When I read these verses, and actually the remainder of this Psalm as well,  I was reminded of the old hymn, "Jesus Saves."  Do you remember that hymn?

I looked up this old familiar hymn and listed just some of the lines here:

“We have heard the joyful sound, 
Jesus saves!  Jesus saves!

Spread the tiding all around,
Bear the news to every land,

Tell to sinners far and wide,
Jesus saves!  Jesus saves!

Sing above the battle’s strife,

By his death and endless life,

Sing in triumph ore the tomb,
Jesus saves!  Jesus saves!

Let the nations now rejoice,

Shout salvation full and free,

This our song of victory,

Jesus saves, Jesus saves.”

It is an "old" song but the message is always new:  JESUS SAVES.  JESUS SAVES!

Look up all the words of this hymn and sing this old, new song to God today!



God, thank you for this good news that Jesus saves.  Help me as I share that news with others.  Amen.

Sing a New Song - Part 2

Psalm 40:1-3

“I waited and waited for God.  At last he looked; finally he listened.  He lifted me out of the ditch, pulled me from deep mud.  He stood me up on a solid rock to make sure I wouldn’t slip.  He taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise-song to our God.  More and more people are seeing this; they enter the mystery, abandoning themselves to God.” (MSG)

This passage reminded me of those times when I pray and pray and wait for an answer.  Then when he lifts me up out of that ditch he is careful to make sure I don’t slip as he puts me on a solid rock.  I love the thought that God does not just lift me out of the ditch but how he is careful to help me stand on a solid rock.  Don’t you love it how he cares for us?  

Then in verse 3, he teaches us how to sing the latest God song. . . not just the routine, “thanks for all of my blessings songs” but praise for this specific answer and this specific time of lifting me up.  Oh, how I love to praise Him!


Thank you God how you care for me and for how you encourage me every time I open your Word.  Amen.

Sing a New Song - Part 1

Today in my quiet time I was challenged to not let prayer become routine but rather to “sing a new song.”  From there I began to look at various scriptures with the phrase, “sing a new song.”  Over the next few days I will be posting my thoughts on some of these passages.  I hope as you read my thoughts God will lead you to think about how you can “sing a new song” as well.



Psalm 33:1-3

“Good people, cheer God!  Right-living people sound best when praising.  Use guitars to reinforce your Hallelujahs!  Play his praise on a grand piano!  Invent your own new song to him; give him a trumpet fanfare.” (MSG)

These verses mention different instruments to use as we praise God, but verse 3 says to “invent your own new song to him; give him a trumpet fanfare.”

Maybe today I will try praising him with my singing voice (now I can promise you I’ll be alone when I do that).  Then instead of just "Amen" at the end I will close with my rendition of The Hallelujah Chorus!  

The point I believe is to praise Him in a new way.  My prayer is that our "new song" will be pleasing to Him and perhaps even make God smile.

Teach Me to Number My Days

Recently as part of my quiet time I read Psalm 90:12-17.  This passage begins, "Teach us to number our days. .  . . ."  After reading this passage in the NIV, I went to The Message to read verse 12.  In my copy of the Message I had previously underlined not only Verse 12, but Verse 10.  Verse 10 from The Message reads, "We live for seventy years or so (with luck we might make it to eighty) and what do we have to show for it?  Toil and trouble and a marker in the graveyard."

This verse has given me pause to consider before and now again during my quiet time. Perhaps it's because I've lived my seventy years and I'm now working my way toward eighty so I want to make every day count.

And so I ask, "How do I number my days?  How do I make every day count for something?" I believe the rest of this passage helps answer that question.  Verse 14 of Psalm 90 reads, "Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days." (NIV) What better way to number my days then to begin every day than in God's Word?  

Verse 16 tells us to live so that others will see the work God is doing and how He blesses His children.  As the Psalm ends, David asks that God affirm the work we do.  Isn't that what our goal should be, that others will see God at work in our lives and especially that God affirm our work?  

As I thought about this that morning, I read I Corinthians 15:58b which gives us yet further understanding, "Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

The Message says it this way, "Throw yourself into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort."

If everything we do is done with the purpose of pointing others to God, reflecting Him in our life and our work, our day will not be wasted and I believe that is the best way to make every day count.  

Thank you God for Your Word and how you can answer our every question as we study. Amen.