Psalm 87:7 “Singers and dancers alike say, ‘All my springs are in you.’”

Are you a singer or a dancer?

I can tell you I am a singer and not so much a dancer.  There have only been a few times where I felt the urge to really let go and move with abandon to music of any kind and when that urge came, I quickly pushed it aside – a dancer, I am not.

I love to sing.  I sing to the radio, I sing to a CD in the car and sometimes at home.  When I ring bells, I sing the songs internally most of the time.  Often, when I wake in the morning there is a song in my heart and I sing it all day.  Songs, words put to music, are beautiful to me.

Whether we sing or dance there is only one thing that gives us the desire to do it.  The well within our souls is what moves us and that is the living water of our creator, God.  He is the headwaters and he never dries up, his living waters flow forever.

We may need him to clear away some debris in the riverbed but once he does, all flows freely and we cannot help but sing and dance to the music of the soul.  Feel the spring of the Lord flowing in you and rejoice in his living waters.  Sing and dance in the Lord today!

Lord,

Thank you for the unending nourishment you give our souls.  Refresh us, clear away the debris and let our love in you flow free and clear.  I lift my voice and my heart in praise to you, my holy God, my Redeemer, and my Life.  Amen.

Esther 4:14 “For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.”

Why here and why now?

I have asked myself these questions occasionally over the years and maybe only have glimpses of the answer.

Why was I born into the family I was, in this spot of the world and in this time of eternity?  Am I a random drop in the sea of time and space or is there a plan at hand?

When I look at all of creation it seems very clear to me there is no randomness in it.  Everything that exists has been created and placed by careful design.  So I must believe that we, too, are created and placed by God in just the way he designed us to be.

It is amazing to talk with other people about their journeys and see how God used experiences in their lives to bring them to where they are right now.  It confirms, even more, that we are all called to our lives for just such a time as this. 

Lord,

We like to give ample time for someone else to step forth and take on the challenges we do not want.  Thank you for the story of Esther and Mordecai to remind us that your purpose will prevail but we are called to step forth and do our part to serve in your plans.  Give us the courage and strength we need to serve you today and all days.  All glory, honor, and praise to you my God, my King.  Amen.

Hebrews 3:12-13 "Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin."

This morning I reach another bench mark in my fledgling career as a writer.  I have my first book signing party.   How is this possible?

I still shake my head in disbelief that there is a book out there with my name on it.  I get words of congratulations and praise but I do not know what to do with them.  I did write the words but I do not take credit.  It only happened through the strength and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

I began writing to encourage my family and close friends and make daily readings of the Word of God easier.  Getting into the Bible daily had changed my life and I wanted to share that incredible blessing with those I love.  As I practice my signature and what I will write in each book I sign I thank God for all he has done.

I pray the words I send out via email and on my blog encourage others.  I pray the Word of God keeps all of our hearts abiding in the living God, today and all days.

Lord,

I am humbled in your presence this morning.  Once again I am reminded that I am weak but you are strong.  Thank you for blessing me with writing and thank you for blessing others with my humble words.  I pray your Spirit remain in us and we in you as we encourage one another.  Amen.

1 Corinthians 13:1 "If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal."

Noise gets on my nerves.

The kids have toys that make noise and depending on my frame of mind I might be able to tolerant the noise for a little while but, usually, it is not long.  Sometimes they barely begin to play and I tell them to take it somewhere else or put it away.

What noise do I make?  I rise each morning and spend time with the Lord.  I write my little devotion and send it out.   Where do I go from there?  When I am teaching with a voice of frustration, when I am nagging my kids to get their chores done, when I am lamenting to friends about some random bother, do I have a voice of love or am I am noisy clanging gong?

I need to take a breath or two.  I need to allow the love of God to well up in me.  Only then am I able to teach in love, discipline in love, and fellowship in love.

When I allow the love of God to fill me am I a vessel of his love and only then can I send sounds of love to the world around me.

Lord,

Soften my heart to be more like you.  I receive your love and I pray for many in love but when I get to the mundane things of everyday life, I become a noisy gong.  Help me see and do with eyes and hands like yours.  Keep love flowing in me like an ocean so that it never stops, ever.  Amen.

Revelation 1:3 “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near.”

For the time is near...

I know we, as people, have been hearing that for a very long time.  We read it in a book that was written thousands of years ago and yet, we wait.

The masses seem complacent in our time.  Most are happy to do whatever they want, seek self-promotion and climb the ladder of ambition to glorify their own work.  This is definitely something easy to see.

There are many who strive to seek God in our time as well.  Scriptures tell us many will be deceived and led astray in the last days.  They will believe they follow the truth but they are deceived.  How can we be sure we are not deceived and led in denial as well?

John tell us we are blessed if we are ones who read the words of the prophecy aloud, and we are blessed if we hear and keep what is written in it.  The word of God is given to us as a guidebook to Truth.  The Holy Spirit is given to us as a moment by moment guide and protector from deceit.  Let us all be blessed to hear and keep what is written, for the time is near.

Lord,

There is an underlying sense of urgency in my soul and I know you put it there.  I pray for those of us who seek and hear Truth to stay the course.  I pray for those who are lost and deceived to find Truth and embrace it soon!  Amen.

Ephesians 4:8 “Therefore it is said, ‘When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.’”

In the middle of the night last night I was thinking about captivity.  Moses and the Israelites came to mind along with the words of Moses to Pharaoh when he told Pharaoh to let his people go.

During my quiet time I was led to this passage in Ephesians after reading a portion of the Exodus.  Paul quotes Psalms 68 in this passage; captivity is a battle throughout time.  From the beginning and even into today people have been held captive.  In recent news there are kidnapped girls that the public is crying out to bring home.  It does not take much to find oppression and enslavement in the world today; just as it did not in biblical times.

We claim our freedom strongly in this country but I pause this morning and search my heart.  I may not be bodily enslaved or captive but what about my soul?  How do I ensure freedom for my spirit?

I claim freedom through Christ!  Just as God freed the Israelites in the Exodus, he frees us today through the redeeming blood of Christ.  Hallelujah!

Lord,

Open our eyes to see what oppresses or enslaves us, what keeps us from truly worshiping and celebrating with you.  Raise our hearts and our voices to shout in your name and claim the freedom you graciously offer to all.  Help us shake off the chains and sing in glory to you today!  Amen.

1 Corinthians 6:19 "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?"

As I begin or restart, as the case may be, a journey to a healthier body this verse shouts to me.

How do I treat my body?  I am ashamed to admit I do not treat it as a temple or a sanctuary of the Lord.  I try to eat healthy but there are so many temptations and so many excuses for me that it seems hardly a day goes by where I really treated my body well with food.

I also don’t work my body like I need to.  Stretching the muscles and ligaments, strengthening the heart and lungs; these are ways of building the sanctuary that is my body.  I am more apt to sit and read a book or drink another cup of coffee than to go for a brisk walk.

The Lord is working on me, something has to change.  I have been coasting along, it seems, and I feel the challenge to step it up.  I have asked the Lord to help me grow closer to him, to become a better disciple, but that will not happen unless I am willing to move away from my fleshly desires and more deeply into the Spirit.  I ask the Lord to help me again.

Lord,

Please forgive me for trying to do this on my own, or hoping it would just happen without work.  Thank you for the continued whispers that encourage me to seek help in becoming a more holy sanctuary for you.  Help me deny the flesh and live in the Spirit more and more each day.  Amen.