“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish.  And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”  Esther 4:14 NASB

“For such a time as this” … Do we really ever know what is just around the corner?  Can we see ahead to really know what tomorrow will bring or what needs to be done?  That 20/20 vision, that hindsight, that seems to see yesterdays does not see the tomorrows.  Living in the very present moment and being attentive to the LORD keeps our vision on Him.  He directs us and attends to the very needs of today.  Provision, guidance, love, assurance, protection, shelter … all of this and so much more, He takes care of and He cares for us … TODAY!

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  We are in the exact spot we are to be in for this moment, whether it is of our own choosing or even if it is not. God gave us free will and He knows our choices.  He also knows us.  He has a plan and it is perfect.  The final outcome is being orchestrated by God.  We may take an around-about route to get where He wants us to arrive, but it will be perfect.  So for such a time as this, we are where we need to be and God will use us and the moment.  We are to be tuned into His purposes, His ways, His hand upon us and He can use us for such a time as this.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek Me and find {Me} when you search for Me with all your heart.”  Jeremiah 29:11-13

For such a time as this, we can stand tall and know that no matter what the economy looks like, no matter what condition the world is in, no matter what our health status is, or where our family is headed, no matter what the situation is, He knows; He holds us in His powerful hands.

Spending time in the Word, in prayer, in quiet contemplation and meditation, brings us in alignment with the One Who saved us from our sins.  He is near and wants us to stay close, with our eyes upon Him, for such a time as this.  We can be the light He has called us to be in this dark world.  We must be out from under the bushel basket and stand atop the hill as a beacon where our candle can and will shine brightly when we fix our eyes upon Him.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Hebrew 12:1-2

Revised/Reposted 11-04-2012 (c) l gill/http://beingwovenzephaniah.wordpress.com; originally posted 2009 L. Gill/BeingWoven.blogspot.com

Set Apart

פָּלָה

palah

to be distinct, marked out, be separated, be distinguished, to be wonderful, to make separate, to set apart

Although it is March, I have reasons for this late start on choosing a word to walk into and by for this year.  But those reasons are not important because with God, there is no time that matters when it comes to following Him as long as I am doing just that.  So here I am, LORD.  Please, take me as I am and lead me along the path of Your will for my life.  Amen.

My word(s) for pondering, for desiring to live by in 2013, and for always, are “set apart”.  God sets us apart when we come to know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, set apart  from the world to live and to love as He lived and loved.   “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”  John 17:25-26  Jesus prayed this for me.

I am not to conform to the worldly standards set before me in my daily life.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.  Romans 12:2

WOW!  This is not easy to even realize, let alone live every day, every moment.  And I must know that I won’t.  I will fail, but I want to do my best to live the life to which I have been called as a Christ follower.

I have been sanctified, set apart, raised with Christ in His Resurrection as a new woman, and am to always look upward, fix my eyes on Jesus.  Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Colossians 3:1

There is much to ponder here, much to live.  I am to pick up my cross daily if I am to remain “set apart” for God.  ’Tis a HUGE assignment, but I want to be set apart for the One True God. And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”  Luke 9:23

LORD, I need You to guide me, direct my paths every moment of every day.  I desire to be obedient to You and only You.  Be my Light, Lord.  Be my Light.  Amen. 

graphic: John 17:17 – www.heartlight.org

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  John 3:16

My Reflection on John 3:16 ~

To my God Who loved His world and me too.  Yes, I am a part of Your world.  I feel so very blessed and grateful.  You gave us Your very best, Father, Your most precious Son.  And for what?  For me, for all.  You wanted me to have everlasting life with You.  With You!  I have no reason to fear death for I will walk across the threshold of heaven into Your arms.  And I praise You, O God, that I was willing (eventually) to walk across the earthly threshold when I said, “Yes” to Your Son, “Yes” to You.  Praise You, my Abba Father, for this huge and incredible gift.  In Your Son’s Holy Name, Amen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have made a commitment to myself, to God, and to the community over at Do Not Depart to spend time this summer memorizing Scripture that “Do Not Depart” is calling “Classics”.  I struggle so to hold Scripture near and in my heart and soul.  But that is not how I want it to be.  So I decided to join in and learn (or relearn) ones I might already know from years gone by… the same ones over and over again, or on ones that are so powerful to me that I must plant them in me.  I want them planted in me.  So I ask the Holy Spirit to teach me God’s Word, planting and hiding these verses into my heart.  It  can only be for good no matter how many I actually recall by the end of the summer.   On the “Do Not Depart” website, they say, “There is no ‘behind’.  Go at your own pace.”  Thank you, Do Not Depart, for reminding me of the gift that God has given us in His Word and how important it is to hide His Word in us.  I need that encouragement, this community, and the accountability.  So, here we go… first week.

Cockles and Mussels  (or Molly Malone)

In Dublin’s Fair City
Where the girls are so pretty
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone
As she wheel’d her wheel barrow
Through streets broad and narrow
Crying cockles and mussels alive, alive o!

Chorus
Alive, alive o!, alive, alive o!
Crying cockles and mussels alive, alive o!

I cannot recall when I first heard this song nor where, but I was a child.   This is usually thought to be an Irish ballad published in the late 1800s, but probably written well before that.  In looking the song words up on the internet, I found various authors, dates, and stories behind this story.  But that really doesn’t matter a whole lot, because this sad ballad was etched upon my mind many a year ago.  Molly dies young from some kind of a fever so the story embedded in me a sad tale.  No one should die, let alone die young, or so I thought as a young girl.  But Molly did.  It is the “Cockles and Mussels, alive, alive o!” that hums in my head.  She was a “fishmonger”…selling the shells with the small amount of meat like clams or oysters.

I don’t know if one of my parents hummed this tune as my Dad was from a Scottish family, Mom had an Irish Mom.  Or it could have been a song sung on some folk music radio station.  I really don’t know, but I do know that it was etched in my memory.

Songs affect us as babies. We hear Mama singing a lullaby to us and don’t understand the words, but we know the voice and feel the heart that calms us to sleep.  We hear a silly song that makes us, as a three year old, laugh and tumble with joy.  We hear a swooning love song and wish that just one boy in the freshman class of high school would look our way.  We dance to the beat of some song that means so much to us because we heard it at some special moment in our lives.  Music carries meaning for us… many reasons, many ways.  I think rhythm and words bring alignment with something inside of us.  We may never know just what or why, but it just does.

My mind may hear and learn words, but my heart absorbs words and often feels them clear to my heart, deep into my soul.  BUT… the LORD calls me to Him by His Word, by His words… that I would know His love for me through joy, through trials, through sorrow, through pain.  He never leaves me nor fails me.   Psalm 116 says just that:

 I love the LORD, because He hears My voice [and] my supplications.

Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I shall call [upon Him] as long as I live.

The cords of death encompassed me And the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow.

Then I called upon the name of the LORD: “O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!”

Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate.

The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me.

Return to your rest, O my soul, For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.

For You have rescued my soul from death, My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling.

I shall walk before the LORD In the land of the living.

Psalm 116:1-9

And sweet are the words from my LORD as He sings over me:

The Lord your God is in your midst,

a mighty One Who will save;

He will rejoice over you with gladness;

He will quiet you by His love;

He will rejoice over you with loud singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

As I listen to music, LORD, hold my heart close to You that I will hear You above all else and know that any sorrow, any pain, any trouble, will be caressed by You as we walk through each together.  You are my Refuge and my Strength.  I am forever grateful.  I love You dearly, my sweet, melodious LORD.  Amen.

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just,

whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious,

if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians 4:8 ESV

Last week, I wrote about “FOCUS”…being focused.  God has given us this incredible Scripture to focus our minds, hearts, and souls upon in hopes that we will grow more and more spiritually sound, become more like Christ with each day.  In that prior post, I wrote on the Holy One of God, of Israel, on the importance of focusing on Him because He is pure and holy.  When I read this Scripture, I have usually thought of it as things on which to fix my mind, but today, I see deeper:  God is all of this.  He is true.  He is noble.  He is right.  He is pure.  He is lovely.  He is admirable.  He is excellent.  He is praiseworthy.  No matter what Bible version you are reading from, God is ALL of these things that we are to think upon, to focus upon!  So by thinking upon these things, I am actually focusing on my God.  I am fixing my eyes upon Jesus for He is all.

LORD, may my gaze be centered upon You.  Hold me near to You that I would see clearly the beauty of You, Your Holiness.  Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. (Psalm 29:2 KJV)  May I know in my heart these truths that I would remain fixed on the One Who calls me by my name, Who loves me for me for I am created by You.  LORD, You are my All.  I am humbled by these Truths which are You.  Oh, how I love You, my precious LORD.  Amen.  

Graphic:  http://www.heartlight.org

Let your gentle [spirit] be known to all men. The Lord is near.  Philippians 4:5 NASB

LORD, as I fix my eyes upon You, the Holy One of Israel, the One Who is noble, true, praiseworthy, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent, may I see You, really see You.  May the truth of You envelop me, caress me, and teach me to let the candle in me shine forth to this world around me.  May Your peace enfold me, LORD, that I would be the gentle and quiet spirit You have called me to be.  “…but [let it be] the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.”  1 Peter 3:4   May my very being be continuously filling with the evident truth that I am coming to know You in Your holiness and Your beauty.  Through this Truth, may I continue to grow to be the person You desire me to be from the inside-out.  I pray this be so, in Your Holy Name, Amen.  

Linking up with:

Graphic:  Heartlight.org - http://www.heartlight.org/gallery/1688.html

Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.  Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”  Luke 24:44-47 NASB

Jesus speaks of the Psalms that contain words of Him, words that were written down hundreds of years prior, telling of prophecies that would, in fact, be His very life’s story.  Christ died with Psalm 22:1 on his lips: “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?”  

David, God’s man after His own heart, God’s anointed, God’s earthly king, His “sweet psalmist” speaks in verse 2 of 2 Samuel 23 of the psalms he wrote, that the words he wrote were directed by the Holy Spirit, and were the Word of God…for me, they ARE the very Word of God.

Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse declares, The man who was raised on high declares, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel, ”The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.”  2 Samuel 23:1-2

The Psalms, the Psalter, is a collection of divinely inspired prayers, praises, poems, originally sung to a harp or lyre or lute.  The word “psalms” in the Greek denotes “plucking or twanging of strings”, associating them with singing.  The Book of Psalms have several names from the Hebrew, the Greek, the various translations: Praises, The Book of Praises, Psalms, The Book of Psalms, a hymn book, the Israelites God-breathed hymn book.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther, Matthew Henry, and others, saw the Psalms as so much more than we can see with just the eye.  It takes the heart and soul to look deeply into these beautiful words. Mr. Bonhoeffer, in his book, “Psalms,The Prayer Book of the Bible,” says, “The richness of the Word of God ought to determine our prayer, not the poverty of our heart.  Thus if the Bible also contains a prayer book, we learn from this that not only that Word which He has to say to us belongs to the Word of God, but also that Word which He wants to hear from us, because it is the Word of his beloved Son.  This is pure grace, that God tells us how we can speak with Him and have fellowship with Him.  We can do it by praying in the name of Jesus Christ.  The Psalms are given to us to this end, that we may learn to pray them in the name of Jesus Christ.”

Matthew Henry wrote about the Psalms:  ”The Hebrew calls it Tehillim, which properly signifies Psalms of praise, because many of them are such; but Psalms is a more general word, meaning all metrical compositions fitted to be sung, which may as well be historical, doctrinal, or supplicatory, as laudatory. Though singing be properly the voice of joy, yet the intention of songs is of a much greater latitude, to assist the memory, and both to express and to excite all the other affections as well as this of joy. The priests had a mournful muse as well as joyful ones; and the divine institution of singing psalms is thus largely intended; for we are directed not only to praise God, but to teach and admonish ourselves and one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs….  It is called the Book of Psalms.”

LORD, as I ponder Your prayer book, please teach me Your ways for this life I live on this earthly plane.  I want to sing with joy or with lamentation… singing to You the ways that You desire for me.  I thank You for giving us this book of prayers.  I want to be guided to Your ear that You will hear me praying Your will and Your will alone.  I don’t want my will to be the center of my prayer life.  Open my mind to understand the Scriptures.  Teach me, Abba Father.  Teach me, I pray, in the power of Your Son’s Name.  Amen.

linking up with:

and hiding God’s Word in my heart with Do Not Depart

This week, I am completing Psalm 23, verses 4-6.  I have decided to memorize this Psalm in the King James version of the Bible as that is how I learned it many years ago and want to put it back in me that same way.

Photo of Bible on leg:  http://renew-cc.org/

Graphic of Colossians 3:16:  http://www.heartlight.org

Clap your hands, all peoples!

Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
(Psalm 47:1 ESV)

Shout for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done it!

Shout joyfully, you lower parts of the earth;

Break forth into a shout of joy, you mountains,

O forest, and every tree in it;

For the LORD has redeemed Jacob

And in Israel He shows forth His glory.  

Isaiah 44:23

Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones; 

Praise is becoming to the upright.

Psalm 33:1

Indeed, the LORD will comfort Zion; 
He will comfort all her waste places. 
And her wilderness He will make like Eden, 
And her desert like the garden of the LORD; 
Joy and gladness will be found in her, 
Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.  Isaiah 51:3

God  is Joy!

And I am His !

The LORD your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”  Zephaniah 3:17

“Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,” declares the LORD.  Zechariah 2:10

For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?  1 Thessalonians 2:19 NKJV

Please join me @

Graphics: all from DryIcons @ http://dryicons.com/

Photo by ~ linda @ Being Woven

LORD, as Your Word says in Ecclesiastes 3:1, To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:…  Every purpose, Father, is in Your hands.  As my life is being reshaped by Your hands, the hands of my Potter, I am Your clay to be molded into that which You have called me, have made me.  I am Yours.  Joyously, I am Yours.  

I was thinking about Hannah today when you gifted her a child.  She had vowed to give her son to You, LORD, for all the days of his life if You would only give her a son.  You heard and answered her prayer; Samuel was born.  Hannah kept her promise, giving her precious child back to You.  Hannah and Elkanah dedicated Samuel to You and then she prayed words that truly were of her heart.  I lift my heart to You, Abba Father; Your Word – 1 Samuel 2 and Ecclesiastes 3 – from my heart to Yours …   

There is no one holy like You, LORD, indeed, there is no one besides You, nor is there any rock like You, my God. 

The bows of the mighty are shattered, But the feeble gird on strength.  

A time to break down, and a time to build up;

You, LORD, kill and make alive; You bring down to Sheol and raise up. 

A time to be born, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted; A time to kill, And a time to heal;

You make poor and rich; You bring low, and You also exalt. You raise the poor from the dust, lift the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with nobles, and inherit a seat of honor; 

A time to gain, and a time to lose; A time to keep, and a time to throw away;

For the pillars of the earth are Yours, LORD, and You set the world on them.  

You keep the feet of Your godly ones, but the wicked ones are silenced in darkness; For not by might shall a man prevail. 

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:…

LORD, as Hannah began her prayer, I respond in her beautiful way… 

My heart exults in You, my LORD;  … Because I rejoice in Your salvation.  

For You bless me and adorn me in Your Presence, in Your Love, in Your very Name.  You have made everything beautiful in its time.  Also You have put eternity in my heart, except that no one can find out the work that You do from beginning to end.  

I know that whatever You do, It shall be forever.
Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it.
You do it, that men should fear before You.

Abba, set me on Your potter’s wheel.  Mold me and make me into Your daughter of obedience, into Your child of lovingkindness, into a life filled with hope and a future.  I know I have the Living Waters and the Bread of Life in me for I have asked for forgiveness and know that Your Son was resurrected from the dead.  You gave Your Son for me and I am ever so grateful.  Oh, Father, I love You so.  The words, “I don’t want to disappoint You” are on the tip of my tongue.  I also know that I must constantly seek Your face and be on my face before You.  I am teachable yet.  Hopefully for always.  As Hannah gave Samuel to You for all of his life, I give me for the rest of my life.  Thank You for loving me, LORD.  I pray in Your Son’s Holy Name.  Amen.

Photo:  Jay Raney

Scripture:  Ecclesiastes 3:1, 1 Samuel 2:2, 4,  Ecclesiates 3:3b, 1 Samuel 2:6, Ecclesiastes 3:2-3a, 1 Samuel 2:7-8a, Ecclesiastes 3:6, 1 Samuel 2:8b-9, Ecclesiastes 3:1, 1 Samuel 2:1, Ecclesiates 3:11, 14

Praise the LORD, all nations!
Extol him, all peoples!

For great is His steadfast love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
Praise the LORD!

Psalm 117

For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, 

and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written, 
“THEREFORE I WILL GIVE PRAISE TO YOU AMONG THE GENTILES, 
AND I WILL SING TO YOUR NAME.”

Romans 15:8-9

And again, 

“PRAISE THE LORD ALL YOU GENTILES, 
AND LET ALL THE PEOPLES PRAISE HIM.”  

Romans 15:11

Matthew Henry said, “God’s mercy is the fountain of all our comforts and his truth the foundation of all our hopes, and therefore for both we must praise the Lord.”

Father God, I thank You for all You are.  Your lovingkindness, Your mercy, Your love, Your Truth are worthy of my praise.  I want to glorify You as best that I am able in the privacy of my home, in the front seat of my car, to all those around me to hear of Your Holy Name, to know of Your greatness, and to feel Your Presence around me.  You have saved me and brought me into Your arms through the sacrifice of Your Son.  I do praise You for opening this door for one such as me.  I thank You, Father, for loving me.  Praying in the glorious Name of Jesus, Amen. 

linking up with:

These three girls are so mesmerized in this book of fairy tales that it looks like nothing could drag them away.  We had this painting/print on our living room wall for the years I was growing up as we were a family of three girls, no boys.  We read a lot in my house too.  I imagine my mother saw this print or painting back in the 50s and just had to have it for her living room.

Have you found yourself so enthralled with a book, an artist, a National Park, some ‘thing’ right around you?  So taken that you can barely be led away?  So into that book that you stay up well into the night reading?  Sitting on a park bench with beauty all around you that makes you forget to eat lunch?  Oh, I certainly have been mesmerized by many things.  My mind wraps around and won’t let go of a place like Yosemite National Park with gushing waterfalls in the springtime, with snow atop El Capitan or Tuolumne Meadows covered with untouched snow in the winter, or with leaves colored aglow each fall.  I have fallen into books and can’t seem to climb out because I want to stay there in the delight of the story.  I have sat in the National Art Gallery pondering a painter’s incredibly detailed paintings.  Yes, I become mesmerized.  

Do I have that same incredible draw into God’s Word?  To be with God in prayer?  To sit listening for God?  Oh, I do sometimes.  I am willing.  I have the desire.  I really want to, but … do I?  Not enough … for I do not give God the time He wants from me each and every day.  And that’s what it takes.  Daily time.  Committed time.  Desired time.  Not a time set because it is ‘have to time.’  Not a time made because I ‘feel guilty’ for NOT meeting Him regularly.  Not time spent with an attitude that says to God that I would rather be elsewhere.  God wants me to be with Him because I want to be with Him 100%.  Because I love Him.  Because I want to be obedient to Him, to honor Him.  I want to be mesmerized by the words that He has placed in His Word for me to read so that I will get to know Him, the God Whom I serve.  He wants me to be so captivated with His Son so that I can grow to be more Christlike.  He wants me near because I want to be near to Him.

So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.  Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit.  All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.  We also pray that you will be strengthened with all His glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need.  May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father.  He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to His people, who live in the light.  Colossians 1:9-12  

Abba Father, I pray that the words I have just written above are truly from my heart and that I will be delightfully drawn nearer to You each and every day, to listen for You, to read Your Word, to study that which Your Holy Spirit is teaching me, to pray to You while standing before You on Holy Ground.  I want this for myself as well as to please You for You are my Father and I want to be obedient with love in my heart for You, the One Who loved me first, Who created me, and Who holds me close.  Guide me, Father, in all I do, say, believe, and hold dearly.  May I learn to honor You in all ways.  In the Holy Name of Jesus, I pray.  Amen.

For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.  Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.  Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.  2 Timothy 1:12-14

Painting at top:  “The Fairy Tale” by Sir Walter Firle, 1859-1929, Germany

One Word.

2014

Honor:

כָּבוֹד

kabowd   (pronounced kä·vōde’)

highly esteem

obedient duty

inner respect

reverence

glory

dignity

of reputation

Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme,or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.  For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.  Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.  Honor everyone.  Love the brotherhood.  Fear God.  Honor the emperor.  1 Peter 2:13-17

With Your counsel You will guide me, 
And afterward receive me with honor.  Psalm 73:24

The LORD’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.  

Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor. 

The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace.  

Proverbs 3:33-35

LORD, no matter what trials I must endure this year, no matter where I am, nothing matters because I have You.  I hold this word, honor, in my hands and know that it is all about You, Father.  Not me.  I am the one to honor You in all I say…in all I do…in all I am.  From the moment I awaken until that time when sleep overtakes me each night, I so desire to honor You in ways that please You.  I hold obedience and respect and reverence high in my mind for they are words that pronounce honor to me in order that I can honor You.  I pray for diligence on my part to follow Your will for my life, for my walk.  I pray for wisdom that I would be the woman You have created, thereby actually inheriting honor for myself as You say in Proverbs 3.  Oh, Father God, You have given me so very much and have loved me from the very first.  I want to and will honor You as best as this human can.  By Your Holy Spirit, I will be able to be guided in the paths of righteousness, to seek Your will, to serve You as I am, to honor You because You are my Father, because I love You so.  In the Name of Jesus, I lift my prayer to You, LORD.  Amen.

To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.  1 Timothy 1:17

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Filed under: #Tell His Story, God's Storytellers, honor, Internet Cafe, living intentionally, One Word, OneWord365, pondering, Simply Beth, spiritual practice, Thought Provoking Thursday, Three Word Wednesday, Wednesday in the Word, Winsome Wednesdays, Woman to Woman Word-Filled Wednesday, Word-Filled Wednesday See and Pray

As this winter, 2014, moves on and on and on, so many have persevered, struggled, suffered, and are yet in the midst of storm upon storm.  My prayers are with you each and all.

Thinking about “joy” tonight made me look to this winter and I am looking for God in the midst of it all which led me to Job 37.  I will share parts of that chapter as Elihu is proclaiming God’s Majesty to Job.

1 “At this also my heart trembles

and leaps out of its place.

2 Keep listening to the thunder of His voice

and the rumbling that comes from His mouth.

3 Under the whole heaven He lets it go,

and His lightning to the corners of the earth.

4 After it His voice roars;

He thunders with His majestic voice,

and He does not restrain the lightnings when His voice is heard.

5 God thunders wondrously with His voice;

He does great things that we cannot comprehend.

6 For to the snow He says, ‘Fall on the earth,’

likewise to the downpour, His mighty downpour.

~~

9 From its chamber comes the whirlwind,

and cold from the scattering winds.

10 By the breath of God ice is given,

and the broad waters are frozen fast.

11 He loads the thick cloud with moisture;

the clouds scatter His lightning.

12 They turn around and around by His guidance,

to accomplish all that He commands them

on the face of the habitable world.

13 Whether for correction or for His land

or for love, He causes it to happen.

14 “Hear this, O Job;

stop and consider the wondrous works of God.

~~

Father God, I thank You for Your Word and the insight as I see through this winter’s misery and struggles.  You show me more of Your creation.  You love us and want Your best for each of Your children.  I thank You and am humbled by Your Almighty majesty and power.  I feel like a cloud that You have called into being and filled up with moisture, then let me soak up Your wisdom.  You then allow me to rain some of what I learn upon those I touch in a day.  

Thank You for blessing me with these three children to whom I tutor helping them to gain in their first grade studies and in their confidence.  More than anything, LORD, I want them to know You through me, to know Your love.  Their confidence is rising already and I know that is from You.  Praising You, God, for You know just what each one needs in their young lives.  I pray that they will truly know You as they grow.  I lift them up as well as all those who are in the middle of this harsh but beautiful winter.  I pray in the Strong Name of Jesus.  Amen.

graphics:  http://dryicons.com/free-graphics/preview/winter-background/

                   http://dryicons.com/free-graphics/preview/winter-sky/

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I am grateful for the love I know in my home and in my heart.  I thank God for the ability to teach children to read.  Thank You for loving me so that I can love these children.  I find joy in the small steps each of the three children You have given me to tutor take whenever we meet.  I am thankful for the Yellow-Rumped Warblers spread out all over the backyard the other day, for the Golden-Fronted Woodpeckers, and for the live cam of the baby Albatross in its nest just down the street from my sister in Kauai.  May I continue to seek Your beauty and find it in all circumstances.  In ALL circumstances.

The heart of man plans his way,
but the Lord establishes his steps.  Proverbs 16:9

The heart of man plans, devises/deviseth, makes…  חָשַׁב  chashab

We think, plan, devise, invent, consider/are mindful of that which we want to do, want to be, think we need, think our next step ought to be.  

BUT… our Gracious God establishes, directs/directeth, determines… כּוּן   kuwn

He knows His plans for us and establishes our steps.  God is firm, stable, firmly establishes, sets up, fixes, securely determines, endures, directs aright, fixes aright, is steadfast, directs toward (moral sense), prepares, makes firm, provides all that we need or want when His will is ours.

Matthew Henry wrote these words on Proverbs 16:9:

“Man is here represented to us, 1. As a reasonable creature, that has the faculty of contriving for himself: His heart devises his way, designs an end, and projects ways and means leading to that end, which the inferior creatures, who are governed by sense and natural instinct, cannot do. The more shame for him if he does not devise the way how to please God and provide for his everlasting state. 2. But as a depending creature, that is subject to the direction and dominion of his Maker: If men devise their way, so as to make God’s glory their end and His will their rule, they may expect that He will direct their steps by His Spirit and grace, so that they shall not miss their way nor come short of their end. But let men devise their worldly affairs ever so politely, and with ever so great a probability of success, yet God has the ordering of the event, and sometimes directs their steps to that which they least intended. The design of this is to teach us to say, If the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that (James 4:14-15), and to have our eye to God, not only in the great turns of our lives, but in every step we take. Lord, direct my way, (1 Thessalonians 3:11).”

Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.  Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”  James 4:14-15

Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you;….  1 Thessalonians 3:11

Father, I know I try to plan my ways in so many things in my life.  I want to walk in Your will, LORD.  I want You to establish my steps, the way in which I should go, for I want to walk closer and closer to You.  The only way that can really happen is for me to loosen the reins, allowing You to control my steps, all of my steps.  I pray I will be mindful of that and of You.  I humbly pray this in Your Son’s Name.  Amen.  

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graphic:  http://www.heartlight.org/gallery/1648.html

I am studying God’s Word with “Good Morning Girls” for the next 4 weeks, this being Week 1.  This first week is entitled Why the Last Supper Matters.  Spending time in God’s Word, reflecting upon a particular passage, observing what God is pointing out to me through it, applying it’s truth to my life, and then spending time in prayer is what I am doing by being a part of this community study over at Good Morning Girls.  Concentrating upon this period of Jesus’ life as He approaches the Cross makes Easter relevant and serious and fills me with truth of His walk.  I am desiring to walk with Him and this particular timeframe is always difficult as it leads to His death.  BUT…it also leads to His resurrection and eternal life.  Hallelujah!  

The five Scriptures for the week gave me insight into all that Jesus did for me.  He gave His all to save me from myself.

• God separated His children from death and plagues by blood from an unblemished lamb over the doors.  It was a sign.  Jesus’ blood, the unblemished Lamb’s blood, is my sign today that God is caring and watching over me.  It is a sign to me that I receive salvation from One and Only One…the unblemished Lamb, Jesus the Christ.  Exodus 12:1-14
• Service to others should be my priority.  With Christ as my example, He shows me how to serve and to humble myself before others.  I am never to feel superior to anyone nor to any task that He calls me to do for it is His voice that asks of me to serve others.  John 13:3-5, 14-15
• Jesus is heading towards His death in this passage, but He calls on me to never betray Him.  He wants my faithfulness and my trust in Him, in all ways.  Matthew 26:21-25
• Jesus gave His all for me.  Should I give Him any less?  The Last Supper tells me so clearly that His Body and His Blood were given for me.  What I also saw in this reading is that Jesus began with a prayer of thanksgiving upon taking up the bread.  Praising my LORD.  Luke 22:17-20
• I must hold true to Jesus for I cannot drink from His cup or eat of His bread if I am living in idolatry, living with the devil.  1 Corinthians 10:14, 21-22  

Trusting in Christ alone is what I am called to do.  I am not to rely on myself or my own resources.  I am not to depend on anything the world offers.  I am not to depend upon anyone but Jesus for He can handle anything I must bear and can hold me up through the storms.  I want to trust in Him, and Him alone.  I pray for this, Father.

If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.  John 13:14-15 ESV  Week’s Memory Verse

Father God, thank You for this week of study.  As I walk with Jesus at this time in His life here on earth, I want to know Him so that I may serve this lost world in ways that You desire of me.  Guide me in the way that I should go.  Humble me so that I may wash my sisters’ and brothers’ feet, thinking nothing about myself.  I have much to learn, but am willing, LORD.  I am grateful for this time with You and these other women.  I pray in the Name of Christ Jesus.  Amen.

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פָּלָה

palah

The Hebrew word, palah, means to be distinct or marked out, to be made separate or set apart, to be distinguished.

A few other verses that use palah with one of the above words:

But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;
the LORD hears when I call to him.  Psalm 4:3

“For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”  Exodus 33:16

‘But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’  Exodus 11:7

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Palah is worded: to show wondrously, to show wonder, show wonders, to show marvelously, to show…in wonderful ways:

“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you.  And my people shall never again be put to shame.”  Joel 2:26

God thunders wondrously with his voice;
he does great things that we cannot comprehend.  Job 37:5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God’s love is like no other love.  It is distinct, unique, a wondrous love which only God can give.  It is full and rich and complete in itself.  He loves because that is Who He is.  He loves those who trust in Him and seek refuge in Him.

Matthew Henry comments about this word, palah, in his Commentary on Psalm 17:  “It is the character of God’s people that they trust in him; he is pleased to make them confidants, for his secret is with the righteous; and they make him their trust, for to him they commit themselves. Those that trust in God have many enemies, many that rise up against them and seek their ruin; but they have one friend that is able to deal with them all, and, if he be for them, no matter who is against them.”

I have One friend in Whom I can trust.   I also know that He can handle all that confounds or confronts me.   God hears and is near.  His wondrous love is great and all I need.  He is Love.

May we hum one or both of these hymns for the rest of this day! ~

Amazing Love by Chris Tomlin

I’m forgiven because You were forsaken,
I’m accepted, You were condemned.
I am alive and well, Your spirit is within me,
Because You died and rose again.
(Repeat x2)

(Chorus)
Amazing love,
How can it be
That You, my King, should die for me?
Amazing love,
I know it’s true.
It’s my joy to honor You,
In all I do, I honor You.

I’m forgiven because You were forsaken,
I’m accepted, You were condemned.
I am alive and well, Your spirit is within me,
Because You died and rose again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Wondrous Love Is This

(a Christian Folk Hymn from 1811)

1.
What wondrous love is this,
O my soul! O my soul!
What wondrous love is this!
O my soul!
What wondrous love is this!
That caused the Lord of bliss!
To send this precious peace,
To my soul, to my soul!
To send this precious peace
To my soul!
(5 more verses-see reference below)

Father, I may not always do right by You, yet my heart desires to see Your wondrous ways in all areas of my earthly life.  Open my spiritual eyes and ears that I may see and hear You and know Your marvelous love that is meant for me and know Your ways that I would walk in Your way for me.  You have loved me since before I was born of my mother.  You  wove me in her womb.  You brought me forth to the special people I have called my parents.  Thank You for them each and both.  I loved them while they lived on this earth and still do as they sit with You in Heaven.  Hold me near for tomorrow would have been Mama’s 100th birthday.  She almost made it there, but You had a more wondrous life for her with You.  How glad I am to know she is there.  She loved me and still loves me for You gave her love from which to love others.   I love You, dear Father.  I pray in the Name of Your Son.  Amen.  

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photo/graphic:  http://www.growbarefoot.com

Words to Amazing Love by Chris Tomlin: http://www.songlyrics.com/chris-tomlin/amazing-love-lyrics/

Words to “What Wondrous Love Is This”:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Wondrous_Love_Is_This

ἐνδύω

endyō

to sink into (clothing), put on, clothe one’s self

ἀπεκδύομαι

apekdyomai

wholly put off from one’s self

denoting separation from what is put off

wholly to strip off for one’s self (for one’s own advantage)

despoil, disarm

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.  They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.  They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.  But that is not the way you learned Christ!—assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.  Ephesians 4:17-24 ESV

God’s Word teaches me that in my accepting Jesus as my LORD and Savior, I have been born anew.  In that rebirth, I have come from the cocoon, once a caterpillar, but now a butterfly, a completely different creature.  I have new clothes.  I have a new way to be in this world.  I no longer crawl upon the ground but must dry my new wings in the warmth of God’s sunlight, spread those beautiful new wings and take flight.  I am here for a short while, but I am to spread the beauty of the LORD wherever I am., wherever I go.  God feeds me the nectar of His flowers…to be nourished and refreshed.  He has produced new life in me, being the image of Christ as I grow in Him.  I am brand new.  I am to completely put off the old Linda who is no more, and put on the Linda that God has made anew through Christ Jesus.  Oh, Hallelujah!

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.  Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.  And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.  And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  Colossians 3:9-17

O, LORD, look at all that I can put on and all that can come off.  The character I am to live is wholly in You, my LORD.  There is nothing I can do or be apart from You, precious LORD.  Mold me and make me fresh and new, filled with the kindness, meekness, patience, and compassion that is You.  Fill me with love and peace that reflects You to this world.  I pray that I can wear the new clothes which I have been given with confidence that I am a becoming creature for You and for You alone. The world will know You by me if I live by Your will and Your way.  I pray this be so.  Amen.  

first photo/Scripture:  http://www.heartlight.org/gallery/383.html

second photo: (c) Linda Gill @ http://beingwoven.org

The LORD sustains all who fall
And raises up all who are bowed down.  Psalm 145:14

The LORD helps the fallen
and lifts those bent beneath their loads.  NLT

The LORD upholds all who fall,
And raises up all who are bowed down.  NKJV

סָמַךְ

camak

to sustain, refresh, revive

זָקַףi

zaqaph

to raise up, to comfort the afflicted

God takes care of His own.

He upholds all that fall…we may fall, but we are not cast down, made downhearted, demoralized.  Illness, distress, falling into sin, into despair, can take us down, but God sustains us, keeps us near to His bosom.  His grace covers us, holds us up, may prevent the fall, recovers the fall quickly.  It is by His love that we are held and He holds our spirits up as well.

When affliction and oppression burden us, taking us down, God raises us, comforts us, brings us back into His arms.

Praise Him.  He is the Mighty One Who saves.

יָשַׁע

yasha`

to deliver, to save, be saved, to be liberated, be victorious, to save from moral troubles

The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness;
He will quiet you by His love;
He will exult over you with loud singing.   Zephaniah3:16

Thank You, Father, for always being right here, for being ready to pick me up and hold me near.  Thank You for loving me unconditionally just as I am.  I am always mindful, LORD, that You have reached out to this child, caring about me, for me.  You rejoice over me with Your love…rejoice.over.me!  You.  The Father of all.  The Creator.  The Mighty One.  Oh, I am humbled because You love me.  You even sing over me.   I am just amazed, Father.  So amazed.  I just am as I smile widely.  In the beautiful Name of Jesus.  Amen.

Unforced Rhythms

Photo/graphic:  http://hearjesuschrist.blogspot.com/2012/01/bible-verse-wallpaper-psalm-14514.html

I am participating in a Bible study of Isaiah 54 written and facilitated by Dawn Boyer from Journeys in Grace.  Dawn brings it to Soli Deo Sisterhood  where I like to spend some of my blogging time.  We are in week four.  There are three sections to the study.  Each one will conclude with a woman who epitomizes the verses we are studying.  Hannah is the woman who brings to life these first verses.

Isaiah 54:1-4 ESV

“Sing, O barren one, who did not bear;

break forth into singing and cry aloud,

you who have not been in labor!

For the children of the desolate one will be more

than the children of her who is married,” says the Lord.

“Enlarge the place of your tent,

and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;

do not hold back; lengthen your cords

and strengthen your stakes.

For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left,

and your offspring will possess the nations

and will people the desolate cities.

“Fear not, for you will not be ashamed;

be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;

for you will forget the shame of your youth,

and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

God commands me to sing, to enlarge the place of my tent, to spread out, and not to fear.  He calls for trusting Him in areas where I have insecurities, where I am full of fear, where I feel guilt, where I am self-conscious or selfish, where I am weak, where relationships have walls or hardening of the heart strings, where He calls me and I think I know better.

Dawn writes in Week One: “The reality is that we all have places where we are broken, barren, and full of fear.  Isaiah 54 is a song that was written for those moments in our lives when we need to be rescued, redeemed and restored.”

I am barren as far as having children.  I struggle with that at times, especially around Mother’s Day.  I actually do not go to church any more on Mother’s Day because the churches I have attended over the years hand out flowers to mothers, celebrating motherhood.  Church does not take into account those of us who are barren or who have lost a child in a miscarriage, having no other children.  I no longer go.

But my barrenness goes beyond childlessness as Dawn points out.  She has us look further into ourselves for areas where we feel barren, as of land which is too poor to produce much or any vegetation, a tree or plant unable to produce fruit or seed, places in one’s life that show no results, achievements, empty of meaning or value, or of a place or building that is bleak and lifeless (definition from dictionary).  When barrenness dwells in one, the fruit of the soul is nil, nada.  The life I live needs the refreshment from God’s Word, from drinking the Living Water of Jesus to grow and show the beautiful God-filled fruit.

Hannah was barren, childless.  She prayed through her struggles, her pain, her feelings of not good enough in the eyes of others.  She prayed silently and she prayed aloud.  God heard her words and answered.  God hears all my words too, even the ones that are filled with frustration or fear or other emotions.  But it is through my prayers that God takes the barren areas and blesses me.  I have faith that God hears me, just as Hannah did.  Trust and obedience take me to Jesus.  I must hear God and believe.  Trust is faith and faith is believing what I cannot see.  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.  2 Corinthians 4:18  Reading His Word, spending time with my Creator, praying with the heart knowledge that He hears, listens, and answers.  God says in verse four that by being obedient to His commands, I will not be ashamed nor confounded not disgraced, and I will no longer remember any shame from my youth or reproach of widowhood.  Hallelujah!

As Hannah, I have to come before God fully trusting and obediently willing to His very call upon my life.  “Full faith in barren situations yields faith-filled abundant harvest.” (Dawn Boyer)

Father God, I come to you humbly in prayer.  I feel Your hand upon me.  In my love for You, the God Who hears me, I place my life in Your hands and trust You for the fruit of my life.  Teach me Your ways.  Guide me to dig up those places of barrenness and to not be afraid of them.  Bring an Aaron and a Hur alongside of me to hold my arms up when I grow weary, helping me enlarge the place of my tent, to stretch out my habitation, and not hold back.  May I lengthen my cords and strengthen my stakes, that my place be strong and wide and willing and open and trusting in You, my God and my Redeemer.  In the Strong Name of Jesus, I pray.  Amen.

Unforced Rhythms @ Chronicles of Grace

Barren Woman by Adam Gatsi | Opal  @ http://ecentries.blogspot.com/2011/05/sing-barren-woman.html

Sing O’ barren one by Elizabeth Beasley copyright 2011 @ http://beingwovenzephaniah317.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/481ed-6a0120a5485ffa970b0147e1fe789c970b-pi.jpg