That Simple

📖 Rejoice always,  pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)

📖 Be joyful always,  pray at all times,  be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus. (GNT)

Is it that simple?!

 ☺️ Be joyful always,  

 No matter what we are going through God's joy can be in us.

📖 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:11

🙏🏼pray at all times,

 our actions, conversations and thoughts can be a continuous conversation with God

📖 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Luke 11:9-10

😇 be thankful in all circumstances.

Good, bad and ugly, we can find God in it and be thankful for His presence.  

📖.  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.  John 14:18-20 (NKJV)

This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus.

If we are Child of God we can do this

📖  "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 

 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:1,5

It is that simple. 

🙏🏼 Lord, this week and into the season of Christmas, help us to see past all the busy hustle and bustle. Help us to keep it simple; to find the Joy, to remain IN You, and to be Thankful. ❤️

Every Prayer Begins

 Have you heard the jewelery store chain jingle...

🎶"Every kiss begins with Kay"🎶

For some reason this was converted in my head on Sunday to...

 🎶"every prayer begins with PRAY🎶 Why??? I do not know. But here we go!

P penitent...humble 

Every prayer should begin with hearts that are humble, remorseful, saddened by the state sin has put us in. 

📖 because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place, and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have rent your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, says the Lord. 2 Kings 22:19 (RSV)

R reverence ...awe

As we pray we fall to our knees in humility but also in reverence for our great God and Savior. 

📖Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe; Hebrews 12:28

A adoration

As we pray we should let our love for God lead the way. 

📖Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Psalm.95:6-7

Y yes...here I am Lord!

In our humility, reverence, and love for our Lord, we should be eager to hear His direction and anxious to go!

📖Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8

🙏🏼Lord, as we come to You in prayer, may our hearts be humbled, recognizing who You are, loving You with our whole being and positioned to hear Your voice and respond.♥️  

The Other Side Of the Boat

 How many times do we work and work and come up feeling empty....when blessings in abundance were just on the other side of the boat?

Jesus had died on the cross, the disciples had found the empty tomb, Jesus had appeared to them in the upper room and there again when Thomas said he wouldn't believe unless he saw with his own eyes. 

Now the disciples are fishing at night. 

📖 “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”

“No,” they answered. He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.”  So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.  Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.  Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.  This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. John 21:3-14

I wish I could draw the imagery I see in my head. I found one that was close. We are seeing the boat from under the water. Where the side in which they are casting their nets is just water, empty of any fish. But just across the bottom of the boat on the other side is....swarming with fish...with sustenance,  with blessing. 

Then they get a word from the Lord and obey and...BOOM...fish!

When I read that scripture that is the image that immediately came to mind. And then the thought "how often do I do that?"

Work at something specific or in general and seem to get no where, and seem to come up empty. Because we are doing it on our own.

We need to seek His wisdom and direction.  The disciples didn't even look...He was there waiting. They just had to respond. 

"Have you caught any fish?" 

They responded honestly, "No." 

He told them what to do, they did it. They didn't say  "We know what we are doing," or "what does this guy know" and in their obedience immediately saw the blessing.

Now here is another little thing that struck me...it was such a HUGE blessing they couldn't lift it into the boat, they had to drag it through the water.

We all want blessings, but sometimes blessings can be work, actually, many times.

Also, Jesus didn't leave it at that, when they arrived on shore there was a fire and fish cooking and bread to eat and Jesus said..."come and have breakfast" Come and sit with Me, eat with Me

The Blessing...to me...is more about the Man and not the fish. Yes. their fishing trip became successful due to their obedience.  But this Man they had followed and loved had died. But now they were getting more time with Him. Time in His presence. 

What any of us wouldn't give for that time with someone....to sit around a fire at the beach in the early morning hours. Just to be in their presence again. 

They knew who He was, there wasn't any doubting this time. 

If we seem to be "working" and getting no where, maybe it is time to look up....and listen..there might be another direction given. 

Read the Word and pray.

🙏🏼Lord, please give us the eyes to see You, the ears to hear, the wisdom to obey and the humility to see the blessings. ♥️

PROLAIM His Death

 Communion was this past Sunday. The scripture selection is usually the same.

📖  23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, [d]“Take, eat; this is My body which is [e]broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”  26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

One verse in particular stood out to me this time.

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. 

We mourn death, we talk about it. Even when we know a person has gone on to be with Jesus, we may celebrate, but we are sad at our loss. It helps to talk about them and what they meant to us. 

But do we do that about Christ's death?

The word PROCLAIM:

• To declare officially: To make a formal announcement.
  • Example: The president will proclaim a national day of mourning.
• To declare publicly: To make something known in a clear, forceful, or public way.
  • Example: He proclaimed his love for her in a poem.
• To praise: To publicly praise or extol something.
• Example: Let them proclaim the Lord
• In proclaiming Christ's death we officially state that we believe He died for our sins, but we also believe He rose again, and walked among us (more on that next week!)
• 📖 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Mark 8:38
We are are also declaring publicly that He died and rose again for each individual so that those who accept Jesus death on the cross, burial and resurrection will have eternal life with Him.
📖 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance; that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas,and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
And of course in all that we are praising Him for what He has done for every person. 
📖 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Romans 5:8-11
🙏🏼Lord, I pray that we are not ashamed and are living our lives in a way that PROCLAIMS Your death AND resurrection until we see You again.  That the legacy we leave continues to proclaim until You come again!♥️

Please Be Seated

 Something I heard a while back....as one of the Fire Chaplains at our conference began to pray.

"Dear Lord,, .....please be seated....." 

he was beginning to pray but remembered he hadn't told us to sit. But the statement...as a complete sentence struck me.   

'Dear Lord, please be seated. ...

at my table."

"Next to me."

"In my most comfortable chair."

"Dear Lord, please be seated" says You are welcome here. Make Yourself at home. Make Yourself comfortable here.

How often do our words or actions say the opposite. We don't offer a seat because we don't want Him to stay long... we have things to do...no time to sit and visit. We have things we are doing that we would rather He not be present for...it would just make things awkward. 

We aren't willing to give up our comfortable spot for Him. 

He is there, wanting to come in and be a part of your life, your home.

📖 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20

We have to let Him in...He won't barge in or push His way in unwelcomed.

📖 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.  Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” Matthew 12:43-45

We want our spaces filled with Him, not with what would take His place. But it has to be filed with One or the other.

He wants to be welcome and be in your life, a part of everything. 

And not grudgingly,  but with joy and gladness.

🙏🏼"Dear Lord....Please be seated..in a place of prominence in my heart, in my life, in my home. Amen♥️

Seeking What Is Lost

 Please forgive the repost. I pray it touches hearts.

Do you feel we spend much of our time looking for lost items? Car keys, which I dont seem to misplace. But the "other" sock, the "other" earing, a shirt I haven't seen since last fall. You can add your own.  It frustrates me when I am SURE it was right here...or there!

Jesus told a parable about time spent looking for something lost. 

📖 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”  Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?  And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. Luke 15:1-7

Jesus was speaking to EVERYONE. Sinners and tax collectors (lumped together of course), but the Pharisees and other important men were present as well.

📖 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation hast come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:9-10

Jesus came to seek and to save.

📖 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. Ezekiel 34:11

We are far more precious to God than any material thing we could be searching for.

He came searching for sinners.

📖  Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 1 Timothy 1:15

Not to condemn but to save

📖  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. John 3:16-18

And though He seeks us out....we MUST turn to Him...not try and hide like Adam and Eve.

📖  Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:8-9

( Side note: even as they hid God was calling for them. )

Or keep our stiff backs turned to Him.

📖 those who turn back from following the Lord and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of him.”  Zephaniah 1:6

📖 My people are determined to turn from me.

    Even though they call me God Most High,

    I will by no means exalt them. Hosea 11:7

We need to seek Him, cry out to Him, He is there. He has already sought you out.

📖   if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.  2 Chronicles 7:14

Just ask....

📖 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8

🙏🏼 Lord, I pray we all turn our faces toward You, we run to Your open arms! Because, there we will find all we need. 

Jesus does not consider it a waste of time to seek each of us....I pray we take the time to seek Him. ❤️

Beauty In the Dying...Reminder

  I played "Better Than A Hallelujah" at church this past Sunday. I always think of the song in the fall...because of the first time I was inspired to write this blog in October 2019. Then I reposted three years later, inspired by my Aunt Linda's final months. It seems "funny" to me that I am inspired to repost again...and it is three years again! We lost Aunt Linda three years ago this past Monday.  I have been thinking a lot about Leah as well, she was much like Aunt Linda in her vibrant colors and personality. I have been missing my sister as I know Mom and her siblings are missing each of theirs that have passed (Linda, Sue and Marge). So I am reposting the blog from October 23, 2022 in it's  entirety.  I hope you don't mind. ♥️🍁

Where to start...even though this is a repeat of a blog I wrote back on October 23, 2019 (funny, exactly 3 years ago). Since then, when I am surrounded by all the gorgeous autumn color, I always think about that "beauty in the dying" concept....but especially this fall, this year....my colorful, bright, beautiful Aunt Linda's life was coming to an end. 

How perfectly appropriate she die in October when the foliage all around was so absolutely stunning and filled with the vibrant orange she loved so much!

Though she knew her time here was quickly fading, she lived, loved and laughed to the fullest. 

She made sure each one around her felt loved, just as she had always done. She proclaimed her assurance in her God and her faith....Beauty in the dying as she was living....a Hallelujah!

The following is the 2019 blog, unedited, just as I posted it:

Working on last week's blog...getting the song Better Than A Hallelujah video correct...I wondered if the pictures were the right ones for the song?...appropriate to convey what I was feeling when I listened?

And then it struck me....the absolutely gorgeous fall colors that we have been experiencing, the beautiful scenery....is actually the result of the foliage on the trees dying!  And then I thought ...those pictures are perfect for that song!
"Beautiful the mess were are..."
Because in our brokenness and mess...God can be and is glorified!
We are all dying....we were not meant to live on this earth forever.
📖  As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; Romans 3:10
📖 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

He brings life even in the dying....because the life He brings isn't a life lived in our earthly bodies forever, it is an eternal life for our souls in His presence.
So no matter what physical age we are or what circumstances we find ourselves ...we are all dying....but in that...shouldn't we live it out beautifully!?

📖But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.  So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.  It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself.  All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.  2 Corinthians 4:7-15

"Even in our misery....God just hears a melody"

📖 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Shouldn't our lives be a "hallelujah" to our Creator?!
📖 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1

We need to let "the honest cries of our broken hearts" become Hallelujahs in our Lord's ears....and let our limitless and boundless God give us joy in our limitations!
God gave us today!  For His purpose!  I pray you find that purpose today!  Even if it is just to lift a thank you; for the scenery around you, for the day before you, for the people around you, for the breath you are taking....
come on!  You have MORE Hallelujahs, I am sure of it!

Better Than a Hallelujah Amy Grant

 If the above video doesn't play try the link below. 

Better Than A Hallelujah (video by Tracey)