Good morning, God!
I love the beautiful new day you've created for me. I love how warm it is, how the sun is teasing the plants in my garden and they are reaching as high as they can and growing all sorts of lovely things to eat.
Thank you for my sweet husband who is sensitive and caring - and let me sleep in, then wakes me with a delicious latte!
Help me to remain thankful and grateful all day.
Help me to learn that "in everything, give thanks".
You are my delight, my source of joy and you fill my life with all good things.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Random thoughts about grass and vanity....
I can't believe how the time passes so quickly. If I blink, I will miss something huge, something important. Am I cherishing every moment?
Life is like laundry... you can never catch up, there is always another load to wash; there is always that basket of socks that need to be matched, and you just have to keep going.
Isaiah 40:
3 A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. 5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." 6 A voice says, "Cry out." And I said, "What shall I cry?" "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. 7 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."
All I can do and become is nothing compared to the glory of the Lord. Some days I feel a lot more grassy than others... like all that I've done in functioning day after day, is just grass that will fade and get cut with the lawnmower, bagged and taken to the dump. Only those things that I do for the Lord, of eternal value, are the things that will remain, my treasure to be stored up in heaven.
Ecclesiastes 2:
11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.
All this can seem a little bit depressing. But I press toward the prize, the high calling... How does it go?
Philippians 3:
8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.
I feel my spirit uplifted in this. Yep. That's what it is all about. I become more like Christ, I become hidden in Him. I lose myself in the pursuit of God and my life become far more meaningful, completely complete.
For now I'll let my toes be ticked in the cool, green grass. And I'll look up to the Son, the One whom I long to be closer to. My source, my inspiration, my joy. Mow on, heavenly lawnmower... prune me, take away the chaff, the vanity and empty parts of my life that lack meaning.
I'm so grateful that He loves me. I'm so glad that He thinks I'm worth it. I sure hope to make Him proud.
Life is like laundry... you can never catch up, there is always another load to wash; there is always that basket of socks that need to be matched, and you just have to keep going.
Isaiah 40:
3 A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. 5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." 6 A voice says, "Cry out." And I said, "What shall I cry?" "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. 7 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."
All I can do and become is nothing compared to the glory of the Lord. Some days I feel a lot more grassy than others... like all that I've done in functioning day after day, is just grass that will fade and get cut with the lawnmower, bagged and taken to the dump. Only those things that I do for the Lord, of eternal value, are the things that will remain, my treasure to be stored up in heaven.
Ecclesiastes 2:
11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.
All this can seem a little bit depressing. But I press toward the prize, the high calling... How does it go?
Philippians 3:
8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.
I feel my spirit uplifted in this. Yep. That's what it is all about. I become more like Christ, I become hidden in Him. I lose myself in the pursuit of God and my life become far more meaningful, completely complete.
For now I'll let my toes be ticked in the cool, green grass. And I'll look up to the Son, the One whom I long to be closer to. My source, my inspiration, my joy. Mow on, heavenly lawnmower... prune me, take away the chaff, the vanity and empty parts of my life that lack meaning.
I'm so grateful that He loves me. I'm so glad that He thinks I'm worth it. I sure hope to make Him proud.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
A life of Holiness
"without holiness, no one will see the Lord"
"be holy for I am holy"
"blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God"
On Sunday morning, our pastor spoke a provoking message about holiness. How can we say that we are truly following God, if our lives are not bearing the fruit they should be? Does my life look like that of a true believer?
The word "disciple" means "disciplined one" - it's not just some catch phrase that says you go to church or believe in Jesus. It means so much more.
This message about holiness struck a chord in me. I was not condemned, rather I was truly convicted in my heart with desire to pursue a greater level of relationship with my holy Father. It is remarkable He hasn't blasted this world to smithereens considering how "un-holy" people are these days. And I KNOW the heart of God must be seriously grieved with the state of the church. We "play" church. We've made it such a game and don't even realize it. Church going is just a lifestyle choice, like eating organically, or being a musician or a fitness guru. But a relationship with God should pierce the very inside of our being, causing a reaction of awe and fear and desire to please Him more than anything!
I'm finding myself wanting to be holy in a practical way. This doesn't mean I'm some monk or nun, secluding myself from others and meditating on scripture day and night - sure that could be good... but... my life has to touch reality. I'm a mother, a wife, a friend, a co-worker. So I'm looking at how to be more holy in this. How can I live a life pleasing to God in these areas of my life? It may mean spending some time reading to my children, or blessing them by making cookies. I know it means that I should live a modest life, being an example to my daughters in purity and word and deed. I need to give myself unselfishly to my husband, pouring my life out for him - I know this is pleasing to the Lord as well.
I will keep pondering this for a while. I know I want so much more of God in my life. I know I want to change. I want to become far more disciplined. I want my life to count, but more so, I want my life to be a pleasing offering to God.
"be holy for I am holy"
"blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God"
On Sunday morning, our pastor spoke a provoking message about holiness. How can we say that we are truly following God, if our lives are not bearing the fruit they should be? Does my life look like that of a true believer?
The word "disciple" means "disciplined one" - it's not just some catch phrase that says you go to church or believe in Jesus. It means so much more.
This message about holiness struck a chord in me. I was not condemned, rather I was truly convicted in my heart with desire to pursue a greater level of relationship with my holy Father. It is remarkable He hasn't blasted this world to smithereens considering how "un-holy" people are these days. And I KNOW the heart of God must be seriously grieved with the state of the church. We "play" church. We've made it such a game and don't even realize it. Church going is just a lifestyle choice, like eating organically, or being a musician or a fitness guru. But a relationship with God should pierce the very inside of our being, causing a reaction of awe and fear and desire to please Him more than anything!
I'm finding myself wanting to be holy in a practical way. This doesn't mean I'm some monk or nun, secluding myself from others and meditating on scripture day and night - sure that could be good... but... my life has to touch reality. I'm a mother, a wife, a friend, a co-worker. So I'm looking at how to be more holy in this. How can I live a life pleasing to God in these areas of my life? It may mean spending some time reading to my children, or blessing them by making cookies. I know it means that I should live a modest life, being an example to my daughters in purity and word and deed. I need to give myself unselfishly to my husband, pouring my life out for him - I know this is pleasing to the Lord as well.
I will keep pondering this for a while. I know I want so much more of God in my life. I know I want to change. I want to become far more disciplined. I want my life to count, but more so, I want my life to be a pleasing offering to God.
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