Monday, June 28, 2010

NEW FAVORITE SONG

I heard this song a few Sundays ago and I think it is now in the running for my favorite song.....or at least it's running a close second to IN CHRIST ALONE!

Lord...make this the testimony of my life!

(Hope it blesses you as much as it has me. )



You awaken my heart from slumbering
Meet me in mourning, and You speak to my grief
You're the light in my darkness, the delight of my eyes
The hope of the daybreak when the sun's slow to rise
I trust that every moment's in Your hands
You're the God of my days, the King of my nights
Lord of my laughter, sovereign in sorrow
You're the Prince of my praise, the love of my life
You never leave me, You are faithful,
God of my days
You unveil my eyes, help me to see
The arms of my Father encircling me
You're a constant companion, I am never alone
Your love is the banner that's leading me home
I trust that every moment's in Your hands
You're the God of my days, the King of my nights
Lord of my laughter, sovereign in sorrow
You're the Prince of my praise, the love of my life
You never leave me, You are faithful,
God of my days
My eyes are on You,
my hope is in You
My faith is in You
My eyes are on You,
my hope is in You
My faith is in You
God of my days, the King of my nights
Lord of my laughter, sovereign in sorrow
You're the Prince of my praise, the love of my life
You never leave me, You are faithful
God of my days
God of my days
God of my days
---Gateway Worship






Gateway Worship - God Of My Days .mp3
Found at bee mp3 search engine

You can download this for FREE from the Gateway site:

http://beemp3.com/download.php?file=1991301&song=God+Of+My+Days

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

O LOVE THAT WILL NOT LET ME GO

I heard the title of this song several weeks ago and I have not been able to get that line out of my head. It's an old hymn, and one that I was not familiar with. So I finally decided to look it up. It was written by George Matheson in the 1800s. Hope it blesses you as much as it has me.



O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

Monday, June 14, 2010

THROUGH THE EYES OF CREATION

My mother loves daylilies! She has hundreds of them and her yard is ablaze with color right now. I, too, enjoy them and have numerous ones that she has generously shared with me. I never see them that I do not think of her.


One of the things that she loves most about the daylily is that God creates all that beauty for us to enjoy. She often reminds people that God tells us to "consider the lily.... [for] Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like [JUST] one of these" (Matt. 6: 28, 29).




Just look at the detail on the one above. Note the ruffled edges and the shading of pale pink toward the outside edges. Oh, I wish you could see it UP CLOSE! It is SOOO beautiful!!

But....tomorrow, this beautiful bloom will be gone just like the manna God provided in the desert for the Israelites. It is only good for ONE day. He will open up some new ones tomorrow for us to enjoy and they will be stunningly beautiful too.

Reminds me of how God says that His mercies are "new every morning" (Lamentations 3: 22, 23) He provides fresh grace every day. It is also a reminder to us that we are to live moment by moment, leaning on Him. Psalms 68:19 tells us that the Lord "daily loads us with benefits". We do not have to get all we can today because there might be a shortage tomorrow. God is not going to be too busy for us tomorrow. He is not going to forget about us tomorrow. No, just like the new lily that will bloom tomorrow, God will be there once again with new mercies, new grace, new blessings and an outpouring of His precious, redeeming love.

Wow!! Isn't it amazing that one little flower could speak to us of ALL that!? No wonder it is said "

"One is nearer God's heart in a garden, than anywhere else on earth"

---Dorothy Frances Gurney

So if you are feeling distant from God today or if you have trouble really believing that He exists or that He loves you, find yourself a garden and stop and take a walk. Take time to "smell the roses", look closely at God's handiwork. James 4:8 says "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." . "From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is , His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made." (Romans 1: 20)

Yes, you will find evidence of God all around you in a garden. He will speak to you there if you will open your eyes to SEE Him and open your ears to HEAR His still small voice. I will close with the words to one of my favorite old hymns "In the Garden"....

I come to the garden alone

While the dew is still on the roses

And the voice I hear

Falling on my ear

The Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me

And He talks with me

And tells me I am His own.

And the joy we share

As we tarry there

None other has ever known.




Sunday, June 13, 2010

PEACE

Study the pictures below.



Which of the pictures above would you identify with PEACE? Most of us would choose the photo on the left...the calm serenity of the placid lake as opposed to the tumultuous roar and thundering of the waterfall. Right?
Imagine with me, if you will, a robin sitting on her nest on the branch just at the edge of the waterfall, wet with the spray she was so close.
The writer of today's devotion in Streams in the Desert presented just such a picture. He stated that the first picture...the one of the lake...was stagnation, the last was REST. Thought provoking, isn't it?
He went on to say:

"Christ's life outwardly was one of the most troubled lives that ever lived; tempest and tumult, tumult and tempest, the waves breaking over it all the time until the worn body was laid in the grave. But the inner life was a sea of glass. The great calm was always there. At any moment you might have gone to Him and found rest. And even when the human bloodhounds were dogging Him through the streets of Jerusalem, He turned to His disciples and offered them, as a last legacy, "My peace" (John 14: 27).
But here is the best part of this devotion and the part that really struck me most:
Rest is not a hallowed feeling that comes over you in church. It is [are you ready for this?].....IT IS THE REPOSE OF A HEART SET DEEP IN GOD."
Now I don't know about you, but that is the rest or peace I long for. A peace that is more than just the absence of turmoil or conflict, though I LOVE that kind of peace. This rest.....this peace is everlasting, this peace is the calm in the MIDST of the storm...just like the bird near the waterfall. Oh to have peace like that!!

Monday, June 7, 2010

HELD BY HIS HAND

I got up this morning and began looking around. So much to do. It seems I never get caught up.

I love a clean orderly house. I always have. Yet for the life of me I can never seem to MAINTAIN it. I try to be organized and stay on top of things, yet I always seem to fail.

I love a beautiful yard. Having a beautiful yard is a lot of work. I DO work at it, yet mine is never quite what I'd like it to be. I just don't have the knack or the green thumb that others in my family have.

There are other areas, too, that demand my attention, but never seem to get enough of it, so they too are lacking in some way. Projects started but never finished. Things I WANT to do, but never have the time.

I feel like so often that no matter how hard I try, I just never measure up. Whether it is trying to keep house, nurture a garden, lose weight, teaching Bible study, or just being a good daughter, wife, mother, grandmother or friend, I just never seem to be able to do all I'd like to do.

Performance.

My self-worth is based on my performance so much of the time. But God reminds me that His view of me, His love for me, His acceptance of me is NOT based on performance. Praise God!

No, He doesn't base His love and acceptance of me based on what I DO. . Rather He bases it on what HE has already DONE!!!

Aren't you glad!!! I certainly am. For there is no way I'd ever measure up to Him. No one can. But He doesn't expect us to. We are already "accepted in the Beloved" according to Ephesians 1: 6.

In fact, if you get to feeling like I do at times...like you will never measure up...just sit down with Ephesians and just take note of all that you are IN HIM!!

You have been:

"blessed with all spiritual blessings...."

"chosen....before the foundation of the world..to be holy and without blame...."

"adopted....by His good pleasure.. to the praise of the glory of His grace..."

"accepted in the Beloved...."

"[given] redemption through His blood..."

"[given] forgiveness of sins...."

The riches of His grace "have abounded toward you...."

You have obtained an "inheritance In Him....that you should be to the praise of His glory...."

You have been "sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise....the earnest of your inheritance...."

Yes, we are held in His mighty Hand and sealed for all eternity. No man can pluck us out of His hand. And no failure on our part will render that ineffective or inactive. It is all ours based on what He has done through His Son, Jesus Christ.

So although I already know that no matter how hard I try today, everything on my TO DO list will not get done, and I will probably fail to live up to someone's expectations today, in my Father's eyes, I am complete in Him and He loves me still. And that should be enough to make my day!! Hope it makes yours too.

Friday, June 4, 2010

TRUFFLES FROM GOD

My name is Pat. I am a chocoholic.

Yes, I confess I LOVE chocolate...preferably dark chocolate and preferably LOTS of it.

I love Nestle's semi-sweet chocolate morsels straight from the bag...

I love old fashioned chocolate cake. Ruthie House makes the BEST!! My son-in-love and I had a conversation the other day about the things some people eat for breakfast that are NOT breakfast items, such as hot wings, pizza, spaghetti, etc. YUK!! But...I do confess the one non-breakfast thing I CAN eat is chocolate cake...with a tall glass of ice cold milk.

I love strawberries dipped in chocolate....

I love chocolate ice cream, any shape, form or fashion.....

I love decadent chocolate desserts. One of my fondest memories is of one at the Opryland Hotel years ago. It was extremely rich and had a delectable raspberry sauce......yuuuummmmmm.....

I love chocolate covered cherries. I cannot be held totally responsible for this love though, I inherited it from my grandmother. I will say my tastes have changed over the years, however, as now I really prefer the dark chocolate with the clear filling as opposed to the white. I try hard to stay away from them at Christmas, as I can't eat just one.

A few years ago when the Harry and David store was still in the Memphis area, they were giving away chocolate-raspberry truffles. Oh my goodness!!! Even now my mouth waters just thinking of them. They were out of this world, they were SOOOOO good!!!

Isn't it amazing how something so little can be SO good? And how much enjoyment we can get from the little things ?

I bought a book several years ago and I think it was called "TRUFFLES FROM GOD". I loaned it to someone and never got it back, but I loved that book! The writer wrote about numerous "truffles" that God would bestow on her day after day. Little things that you might ordinarily overlook or take for granted, she became very aware were just little blessings from God to brighten her day.

Lately I've found God blessing me with some truffles too, and when He would I would find myself just smiling and saying to Him "Oh God...you are so SWEET to me!" You know how a friend will do something for you....something unexpected, but it just makes your day? And, when a friend does that, more often than not we say "Awww...that was so sweet of you...thank you SO much!" Well, God does that for us all the time, but too often we are too busy or too preoccupied with ourselves to notice.

Just yesterday I met a new friend at Bible study. Alice shared with me that she had just moved here 2 months ago and did not really know anyone. As she was walking her dog the day before, she began to pray, "Lord...I really need a friend. Won't you please send me a friend?" The very next day at her son's baseball practice she met Sandra. Now here is where it gets good! Not only does Sandra have a son in baseball like Alice, Sandra is also her neighbor AND they attend the same church!! So yesterday, they came to Bible study TOGETHER! A testimony to the sweetness of our God, who knows the deepest longings of our heart and delights to provide for His children just like we delight to bless our children.

I had been thinking about this yesterday and this morning I read:

"So I will praise You as long as I live; at Your name I will lift up my hands. You satisfy me as with rich food (TRUFFLES!), my mouth will praise You with joyful lips." Psalm 63: 4,5

I hope today YOU will enjoy some Truffles from God!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

WHAT LIES BENEATH

In our culture, millions of dollars are spent each year on creams and potions to eradicate the appearance of aging. Millions more are spent on plastic surgery to do the same....lifting up what has fallen, tightening what has become loose over the years. Still millions more are spent to hide the grey hairs on our head or to replace the hair that has fallen out.

Yet all these are only the visible aspects, what others can see on the outside. I can't help but wonder what is going on beneath that outer layer. In fact, I know that on any given day we can be in a crowd of people and somewhere in that crowd will be at least one person who is carrying cancer within their body ,probably another will have a heart that is not functioning properly, still others are walking around with clogged arteries. Yet to look at them, they look fine, no clue of what is going on beneath the surface.

Sometimes when I get out of bed in the morning and everything hurts, I wish I could SEE what is going on beneath my skin, why things are not running as smoothly as I'd like, why I'm getting slower and slower.

We know that from the time we are born, our bodies begin to die. We don't generally give that much thought til we get past 50 or 60, then as we begin to feel the effects of aging, we realize the truth of it. No matter how hard we try to avoid it or cover it up, our bodies ARE decaying and wearing out.

Some say we should "grow old gracefully". Others say "you're as young as you feel". I say "BOLOGNA!" to all of that. Growing old is NOT fun and there is nothing graceful about it. But... if there is anything good about growing older it is that it causes you realize how precious each day is. Little things that you overlooked when you were younger suddenly become so special. You take fewer things for granted and hold on to what really matters in life.

And, Heaven becomes sweeter as you realize that there you will have a body that is perfect. Whatever defects or flaws you had on earth will be erased in Heaven. There will be no pain, no disease, no heartache, no sorrow, no disappointment, no loneliness, no anger, no fear. We will dance on streets of gold, sing with the angels and best of all we will sit at our Savior's feet and bask in his love. There will be no more dying and no more aging because we will liver forever and ever and ever!! Hard to imagine, isn't it!!?

So, although I don't want to look my age (or FEEL it) and although I have no idea what truly lies beneath this outer covering, I can rest in the knowledge that in my heart I know that one day I will have a new body and a new home and I will rejoice for all eternity with the One who died to set me free from this body of death. Til then, I will praise Him for I am "fearfully and wonderfully made".