Jubilation

Papa was more than willing to share his birthday cake with his son and grandson.
Our little lady bug is all clean after her bath and ready for bed.

This young man stripped down and ran and jumped in the lake!
Never mind that it is still March!
He swam again Sunday morning and then said, "Mama Boo, I am cold. Let's go inside and get warm by the fire." I said, "Would you like some hot chocolate?" He enthusiastically replied,
"ABSOLUTELY!"
March 19
The weekend was quiet. My husband and I prepared to pack it in for a couple days of March Madness (that's basketball, not a wild time at Shiloh), as we celebrated his birthday. The phone had rung earlier with our son asking if we would be available in the afternoon to Skype. Agreeing upon a time, we waited for the call...instead he and his two children appeared on our patio, having driven all the way from VA Beach. I screamed in total disbelief and was filled with joy at the sight of them.

Immediately, I thought...is that how I will react when I see Jesus? Total jubilation!

And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
John 14:3

The Contentment Copout

March 17-18

When we study God's Word we need to taste it all, not just the parts we like. Walking in the neighborhood with spring bursting forth all around, I reflected on yesterday's entry on contentment. Paul's passage on contentment in Philippians chapter 4 came to mind:

I'm glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess....Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.

Then I asked the Lord to search my heart in regard to contentment.
Interestingly, He took me to areas in which I should never be content.
First, with how deeply I know him...I should always thirst for Him. Psalm 42:2
Secondly, how willing I am to serve Him. John 12:26
If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me. Then you'll be where I am, ready to serve at a moment's notice. The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me.

Right at my feet in the road was a blue spray painted arrow pointing towards a house. I chuckled and wondered if I was to follow that arrow and go knock on that house and simply say, "Jesus loves you."

Contentment cop outs could cause the sloth to say, "I am content with the weeds in my yard, the paint peeling off my house, the extra weight around my belly and wearing dirty clothes everyday." Not caring for what God has given us reflects neither our appreciation for those gifts, nor a heart attitude of working as undo the Lord.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17
Remembering 1 Timothy 6:6, But godliness with contentment is great gain, we can seek His will concerning every aspect of our lives, readying ourselves for His reveal....ask Him to help with the clean up of the areas which don't bring Him glory....

All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits (the thoughts and intents of the heart). Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed. Proverbs 16:2-3

Each day provides the grace for a new way to be content in the process of walking with Jesus.



Contentment

March 16
Traveling the past two weeks, I've driven through the grandeur of neighborhoods such as Nashville's Belle Meade, Atlanta's Buckhead and the Swan House, and then drooled over the lavish yachts and beach homes of West Palm Beach, Florida. The busyness of visiting family was a good distraction to the grief that lingers deep down in my heart.
Meandering back into the country side of Moneta, my husband thought it quite timely that my Bible study for that day was titled: Freedom from Want- The Burden of Discontent

Lucado says: "Discontentment is a kind of prison."

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Psalm 23:1

"We don't "want" for any thing because nothing compares with knowing and loving him-and we trust him to meet our needs."

I thirst for the living God. When can I go meet with him? Psalm 42:2

My girlfriend was the true picture of contentment. Her thoughts were always focused on others, not self. She had no desire for earthly treasures. The cry of her heart was to know Christ more. She is with Him now.

Good Grief


March 15-16
The pace I've been packing the past few weeks slowed for the first time, when I flew above the clouds, a couple days ago. Looking out into the heavens the tears flooded my face as I longed for my friend who has left this earth. (The flight attendants must have thought my husband had just said something extremely hurtful to me the way I sobbed.)
Driving back into the Roanoke Valley, I headed to my friend's home where her mother was dog sitting for a couple days. I knew it was going to be hard to enter that home.

I'd spent a long time in Bible study during the morning and Max Lucado had supplied me with many needed truths.
"God's goal is not to make you happy, his goal is to make you his. His goal is not to get you what you want, it is to get you what you need."
"Worrying over our own troubles, interferes with our ability to help others with theirs."

"Jesus reminds us although we must care for each other's burdens, the only way we can experience true freedom is to let him shoulder the full weight of our problems."

Each day this week 1 Peter 5:7 has popped up in my presence through various ways. Today's translation said: Unload all your worries onto him, since he is looking after you.

We have a God who is so very, very personal. He knows our hearts and he knows our hurts.
He longs to heal us with his love, if we will only come to him.

Tempted by Desire

March 14
No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it. 1 Cor. 10:13

We are to chew on the Word of God, as a cow chews on its cud. The Message puts it this way:
I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you, I attentively watch how you've done it.
I relish everything you've told me of life, I won't forget a word of it. Psalm 119:16

Yesterday, I read a morsel (quote) by Adrian Rogers and I have been chewing it over and over.
"A temptation is an inducement by the devil to satisfy a legitimate desire in an illegitimate way."

He goes on to call the devil a pervert and explains he has "no raw material". All the devil is able to do is take what God has created and pervert it. What we have to do is find a legitimate, Biblically based way to satisfy those desires.

Hillsong has a great song about desiring to serve the Lord.

Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart. Psalm 40:8

Hunger

March 12-13
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Mt.5:6

The cheesecake factory is a favorite restaurant of ours. Fortunately, for our waist lines, there is not one anywhere near home. The servings are enormous and then we have to get the cheesecake, which comes covered in FRESH whipped cream. We do not hunger for anything when we leave there. My husband's saying is "We've been to the A.T.M. (ate too much)".

The Matthew verse above reminds us what we should hunger and thirst for at all times...righteousness. And the only way to get righteousness is to get Jesus.

Max Lucado has a great quote..."Spiritual hunger leads us to hear our hearts rumble with emptiness and realize anew how much we miss Him (the Lord)."

May we take time to sit at the table and be fed, by the one that never leaves us empty.

Spring Cleaning

March 10-11
It's about that time! Daffodils are dancing and the red buds are bursting out color. The tulips and forsythia will not be far behind announcing spring is here, so clean out winter's debris and put away your woolens. A friend was telling me about the cleanse she was doing for her body and how she lost 7 pounds the first week in hopes to shed winter's fluff on her body and get ready to show a little skin in her summer duds.

Tossing and turning one night the Lord's suggestion for me was a spiritual cleansing. You know...Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

I started at the beginning of the alphabet and asked the Lord to begin the search of my heart:

Lord, don't let the sun go down on my anger, if there is any & help me to lay all anxiety down.
If bitterness has crept into my heart vacuum it out quickly for it breeds such destruction.
Am I coveting anything? You are all I should want.
Doubt & deceit keep my faith from blooming, so they can just head out the door today and if my mind is drifting towards drunkenness as a solution to my woes please don't let a drop of alcohol touch my lips.
Envy & evil are not becoming, so please pack them away and replace them with an eagerness for Your Word.
False gods take up so much room....if they are in my home, let's toss them in the trash.
Gossip just plain stinks and brings You no glory and does little to build up the Body.
Hatred hinders happiness and causes hurt to grow and make a mess, so let's trash it.
Idols take up way too much room and insults leave a stain that is difficult to remove.
Jealousy places a film over the window of our heart and hinders us from seeing the best in others, so wipe her away.
If the desire to kill has crept in, be my exterminator and quickly remove the thought.
Lust & Lying are much worse than lint and a little can spread like wildfire...extinguish them!
Manipulation is a nasty master and not a quality to behold.
Negativism goes against Your command to be joyful always, so sweep her right out the door.
Offense ways & orgies must go out the door.
Pride is a giant cobweb which entangles us and comes before a fall.
Quarrels put a stench in the air.
Resentment, like smudges on a window can keep us from seeing the clear picture.
Selfish ambition, self-sufficiency & sexual immorality can certainly clog up what the Lord desires to do with us.
Temptation is a trap set to bring us down...avoid him.
Unforgiveness needs to be flushed away for if we cannot forgive others, we should not expect forgiveness.
Vengance does not belong to us...return it to its rightful owner.
Worry makes us weary, please wash her away.
Xamine our hearts Lord and lead us on Your path to a Zealous life which is pleasing in Your sight.
While the clean out process can be less than enjoyable it brings about brilliant results.

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