as surely as

For as [surely as] the earth 

brings forth its shoots, 

and as a garden causes what is sown in it 

to spring forth, 

so [surely] the Lord God 

will cause rightness and justice and praise 

to spring forth before all the nations 

[through the self-fulfilling power of His word].

Isaiah 61:11 Amplified

rejoicing with the Sunday singers at Deidra's

 

What He sees

Remember "your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col 3:3) 

When he looks at you, he sees Jesus first. 

In the Chinese language 

the word for righteousness 

is a combination of two characters, 

the figure of a lamb and a person. 

The lamb is on top, covering the person. 

Whenever God looks down at you, 

this is what he sees; 

the perfect Lamb of God covering you.

from Grace - More Than We Deserve Greater Than We Imagine by Max Lucado

seeking that still place with Sandy

 

Weapons at hand

I was created to reside in heavenly places
yet dwell here for now
footfalls on this earth

I must remember
it is dangerous, almost impossible
to walk unprotected

We are warned to wear protective armor:

Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Ephesians 6:13 The Message

truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace
faith, salvation and His Word

the tools of war
yet I am so often weak

I strengthen myself with praise
as David did
and reach for my secret weapon
my private arsenal
opening the pages of journals
to feast on words He has spoken directly to me

this, then, is how I fight
eyes fixed on Him
this, then, is how I stand.

Therefore put on God’s complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place]. Ephesians 6:13 Amplified

Joining Peter and the rest where we're talking about arsenal

 

Green Sunday

Those who trust in their riches will fall,

but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.
Proverbs 11:28 NIV

Singing with Deidra and the chorus of praise

  

New life

For as the soil makes the sprout come up

and a garden causes seeds to grow,

so the Sovereign LORD

will make righteousness and praise

spring up before all nations.

Isaiah 61:11 NIV

 

Taking time, with Sandy, to simply be

 

Throwing stones - a guest post

Time and again I have seen God's hand orchestrating online connections that not only nourish and encourage me, but that best serve His purposes.  I believe my "not-quite-by-chance" online meeting of Nikole Hahn is one such example of His work.

Nikole Hahn is a writer, book reviewer, and coffee addict. She blogs and lives 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 at http://www.thehahnhuntinglodge.com/

Today I'm excited to share her words with you in the guest post below:

Throwing Stones of Self-Righteousness

My perspective on Day 8, To Live is Christ: Day by Day by Beth Moore



Photo by Gail McNeeley (http://elmbeetlehill.blogspot.com/)

"One for Him; one against Him. One covered in blood; the other covered by prayer shawls. One who could not save himself from men; the other who could not save himself from sin. One dead in body but alive in Spirit. One loved by God; and the other loved by God." - Beth Moore, Day 8

This struck me.

I read it before service.

"One covered in blood; the other covered by prayer shawls," wrote Beth Moore on this day. The first being Stephen; the second, Saul.

How awful that someone representing God chose to participate in the stoning of Stephen. It reminds me of the lack of grace I exhibit at times. Here I am wearing my proverbial prayer shawl and throwing stones at people that haven't lived up to my expectations.

God is grace among other things. Most of the time, I give grace, but not always; no, I, too, struggle with unforgiveness. I can recount everyone's flaws and the hurts that I have been dealt, but I am an unwilling recipient of this accounting. I don't want to remember. Unresolved anger is a terrible burden to carry; a thorn in my side.

Unresolved anger means problems that have never found closure, because one party either doesn't know or is unrepentant. I have difficulty accepting what I can't change. Grace in those instances is not always an easy option.

There are days that I find living this Christian life quite challenging. People, not God, make it difficult. But then that is the old nature--expecting perfection like an atheist in someone who wears the Christian label. We're forgiven, not immune to sin. I am not immune to sin.

Forgive me when I wear my proverbial prayer shawl and throw stones of self-righteousness at you. I don't mean it. I, like you, am learning what it means to live as Christ, day by day, filling my mind with His truth and growing in faith.

When have you worn that proverbial prayer shawl and sent those stones of self-righteousness at others?


Make sure you stop by Nikole's blog to read more of her work.  I promise you will be encouraged.

Still birds

Yesterday was indeed a day of rest as we were not only snowed in our yard, but the road report showed all of our highways officially closed untill late afternoon.


Sparrow

The intense downfall of snow not only confused people, but birds as well.

Flicker

The sun is shining bright today, the temperatures rising quickly.  It should not take long for things to melt.

Today we are off to town, to shop and to vote.  Please keep Canada in your prayers as we trust God for righteousness to rule and reign in our nation.

Stop by L.L. Barkat's Seedlings in Stone for more views around Monday

No more excuses

Jason and Sarah have again chosen the task of leading us through weekly discussions.  This time they have chosen the classic Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis.  Always charmed, enlightened and often pierced by Lewis's words I've decided to join in.

This week in Chapter One - The Law of Human Nature Lewis' writes:

I hope you will not misunderstand what I am going to say. I am not preaching, and Heaven knows I do not pretend to be better than anyone else. I am only trying to call attention to a fact; the fact that this year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day, we have failed to practice ourselves the kind of behavior we expect from other people.

He then goes on to talk about how we make excuses, for indeed we do know the difference between right and wrong, and long to think of ourselves as right. If we can blame someone else or something else for our “wrongness” then we can continue to believe the illusion of our “rightness”.

An illusion it is indeed, for not a single one of us is "right" as Paul teaches in his letter to the Romans:

There's nobody living right, not even one, nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God. They've all taken the wrong turn; they've all wandered down blind alleys. No one's living right; I can't find a single one.  Romans 3:10-12 The Message

Shades of gray

Can we really be surprised
at those things surrounding us
that cause our jaws to drop
the harshness of the actions of man
when shades of gray
have blurred the lines
and black and white disappear?

I am tired of excuses
yours, thiers
mostly sick in my depths
of those I utter with my own lips.

I have His Word
I contain His Spirit
I can not say I do not know.

I can strip off the covering of
my own sinful nature
and choose
yes, I choose
to wrap myself in the clothing
of His righteousness.

He chose the cross
to offer me this very choice.
Can I continue to deny that sacrifice?

Join in the discussion at Sarah's Living Between the Lines

Sheep or Goat?

Cover via Amazon

This week Sarah, Jason and more of us are reading Chapter 4 of The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns.

Stearns discusses one of my favourite and also most sobering scenes of Jesus:

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Matthew 25:31-46 NIV

My prayer has always been that I would draw close enough to my Lord to feel the beating of His heart and in so doing, my heart would be moved and broken by anything that stirs Him. I have wondered what would the least of these look like? Would I walk right past a hungry Jesus because I did not recognize Him?

Born, raised and still living in North America, I know that even those of us in the worst situations are rich beyond measure compared to third world nations, yet we still have those who are the least of these. Help us Lord to seek what You would have us do.

Then Richard Stearns proceeds to paint a picture of one of his own encounters with the least of these, young men that had been kidnapped and turned into rebel soldiers by the LRA in Northern Uganda. I could hardly read through my tears, for my heart had been likewise torn when I was right there in Gulu in 2007, visiting a similar rehabilitation centre.

Here are words I journaled while in Uganda:

The other evening the shapes in the clouds looked to be God’s hands reaching down from the heavens, and surely God’s hand IS on this nation. There is a stirring, a shaking, a hope in the midst of desolation. When God is all there is then God is enough. If anything else is placed above Him, then nothing is enough. He is, as He says in His Word, a jealous God, and He will have no other gods before Him. I believe and I will declare that His favour will rest upon this place.

The heart of Uganda appears in the faces of the children; smiles in the midst of deprivation, laughter rising up from a belly never filled with food enough. Tears of need and tears of sorrow, but joy returning upon the simplest act of kindness.Can we learn to need so little? Our hope could be their hope – to find our strength and joy in Him alone. It is as if they already do so, even those that cannot tell you why.

Oh Uganda, release yourself into His hands. “Pearl of Africa” is what a local billboard called you. Shine with the luster of a pearl polished by the Master’s hand. Shine as a witness to the darkness. Shine in the light of His love that more would be drawn to the light. Blossom and prosper as a sign even to the “first world” nations – “Look what our God can do”

Here I find a stillness. Here I find a peace. Here perhaps I will find a pathway that leads me to the heart of God.

I pray that the scent, sound and sights of Uganda do not leave me until I return again to do whatever God calls me to.

Stop by Sarah's Living Between the Lines to read the thoughts other people share about Chapter 4.

Word Filled Wednesday - Joy

When the righteous see God in action they'll laugh, they'll sing, they'll laugh and sing for joy. Psalm 68:3 The Message

Join us at Internet Cafe Devotions for more of His Word today!

Tuesdays Unwrapped - Hummingbirds

I cherish the ways that the Lord chooses to speak.  As I picked up my journal this morning I noticed the activity of the hummingbirds at the feeder we have hung outside the livingroom window.  Here's the journaling session that followed:

Another morning, another day, another chance to choose whether I will stumble about blindly in the dark or seek Your wisdom and revelation.

Yes, little one, I do allow you freedom in your choices.  My wish is to Be your desire - that you come to Me without force.  I will not manipulate, even when I can see you wasting time, energy and emotion following your own ways. 

I watch and I wait.  Sometimes I chuckle and shake My head - in the same fashion as you do when you watch the hummingbirds that come to drink the nectar you provide for them.  You laugh to see them using great quantities of energy, wings in constant motion, hovering, that they might drink.  And you know there is a perch that they might rest upon where they could stop their flapping and drink with ease.  But you can't tell them or show them, they must find it on their own. 

So too is it with the resting place I have for you in Me.  I cannot take you there, you must find it for yourself.  Yes, others may speak of it, teach of it, pray that the way is made clear, but each one must find it on their own, in their own time and manner.

You sing songs about preparing a resting place for Me - but never forget that that I Am the resting place for My people.

Pray, little one, for I have chosen you.  Pray that more will choose the way to My heart.  Yes, speak of Me.  Yes, teach of Me.  But pray, for I have made you righteous in My sight, and your fervant prayer accomplishes much more than you know.

The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with James 5:16b The Message

Do not forget the tenderness you feel for these tiny birds - such is My heart for you.  I provide you nourishment, shelter, rest and peace.  I Am the God of plenty, the God of more than enough.  But just like the birds, you so often fly off when others are near, letting your peace scatter.

Be still - be still and know.

Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth!  Psalm 46:10 Amplified

There are great joys to be found in every moment.  Come share at Emily's Chatting at the Sky the gift you've unwrapped today.

Creativity Boot Camp - Heavy Metal

The word prompt Heavy Metal led me to ponder the full armor of God. Click on picture to enlarge.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:14-17

Word Filled Wednesday - Justice flows

But let justice run down like waters and righteousness as a mighty and ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:24 Amplified

Lori is hosting us today at All You Have To Give