Nature Walks...Communing with God.

I had lunch with a number of ladies a few weeks ago. It was nice to see faces that I wouldn't normally see during the week and it was a time to just share and encourage one another. Some laughed who needed to laugh, some just needed reminder that they are loved and cared for. It was good (incidentally we have made it a Wed. tradition). I opted to walk the 3 miles home after lunch which I was entirely unprepared for. It was HOT out and I didn't have my sneakers on...I had on very flat leather sandals. Despite the not so great planning on my part...it seemed like a really intentional way to commune with God in prayer, in scripture and in taking in his scenic creation along the way. It was a connective, refreshing time indeed. God met me in multiple ways as we walked together and I was comforted deeply. I read from 1 Peter Chapter one as I started my trek home. I paused, meditated, asked the Spirit to speak it into me and unearth anything that needed his light shined upon. It was good. It was necessary and because it was was just that...any sacrifice forsaking comfort was my pleasure, my joy! As I was walking along, I stopped providentially in front of an open field. It was covered in wild flowers and tall grass encroaching onto the sidewalk as if to notify the tamed and subdued of it's feral presence. How befitting was it to come upon this field and arrive to verses 23-24? "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." We're on this earth but a brief time yet the imprint that we leave behind has Kingdom effects that we must give account for one day.

Isn't it baffling to think that we are the very conduits, the very vessels for God's sovereign plan? "Why choose me Lord?" I so often ask. Yet we are set on a course that God has predetermined. He knows our deepest desires, our needs. He knows what will sustain us and what is good for us. "In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His Glory" (Ephesians 1:11-12). As I continued on my quest home I was desperate for a little reprieve from the sun so I found some welcome shade underneath a tree. As I opened my supplemental reading I came across one of God's Promises to me in Psalm 84:11 "For the LORD GOD is a sun and shield; the LORD will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly." It was sweet to the very core of me. Our God is never far...he is close to my heart, he resides in my spirit and it is well in my soul. May your time with the Lord be rich and abundant! May you always break through the doldrums of a routine that is even tempted to be void of communing with our Lord!

10 Good Reasons to Read God's Word...

I am reading a book by Stormie Omartian called, "The Power of a Praying Woman." If you haven't read her stuff...please do. Her approach to writing is simplistic, but the content of her exhortations and her testimony are drenched with gravy goodness that is God's Word. I found this list to be incredibly practical.


TEN GOOD REASONS to READ GOD'S WORD
If you have trouble being in God's Word every day, here are just a few of the many reasons to read the Bible that should inspire you:
1. To know where you are going. You can't forsee the future or exactly where you are heading, but God's Word will guide you. "Direct my steps by Your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me" (Psalm 119:133).

2. To have wisdom. Knowledge of God's Word is where wisdom begins to grow in you. "The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure making wise the simple" (Psalm 19:7).

3. To find success. When you live according to the teachings of the Bible, life works. "This Book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success" (Joshua 1:8).

4. To live in purity. You must live a life of holiness and purity in order to enjoy more of the Lord's presence, but you can't be made pure without being cleansed through God's Word. "How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word" (Psalm 119:9).

5. To obey God. If you don't understand what God's laws are, how can you obey them? "Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep your Law; indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it" (Psalm 119:33-35).

6. To have joy. You cannot be free of anxiety and unrest without the Word of God in your heart. "The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the hearts; The commandments of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes" (Psalm 19:8).

7. To grow in faith. You can't grow in faith without reading and hearing the Word of God. "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17).

8. To find deliverance. You won't know what you need to be free of unless you study God's Word to find out. "If you abide in My Word, you are My Disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32).

9. To have peace. God will give you a peace that the world cannot give, but you must find it first in His Word. "Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble" (Psalm 119:165).

10. To distinguish good from evil. Everything has become so relative today, how can you know for sure what is right and wrong without God's Word? "Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You!" (Psalm 119:11).

The Worship Service (TGIF)

May you encounter Jesus even in the small and quiet moments of your walk!

~~~~~~~
The Worship Service
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman
08-08-2008

"This is why I weep and my eyes overflow with tears. No one is near to comfort me, no one to restore my spirit. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed" (Lam 1:16).

Angie and I walked into the worship service. I pushed my Mom's wheelchair into the room among many, many others. This was no ordinary worship service. This wasn't our first time. The organizer recognized us and asked if we would assist in handing out the songbooks.

About only 20% of the participants could actually use them. For most of them it sat on their laps. "Why does life have to be reduced to this?" I questioned and prayed silently to the Lord. "If Jesus walked through this room, how many would He restore?" I continued to ponder. You see, Angie and I were in a dementia and Alzheimer's elderly care nursing home unit where my mom resided. A few chairs over sat the father of my older sisters' longtime best friend. Next to him was my brother-in-law's grandmother.

They were all once successful people - doctors, lawyers, business leaders, and stay-at home moms. They had, at one time, lived in fine southern homes. But they now lived in one-half of a single room. Some patients could recognize their loved ones, others could not.

The service began with singing. Only a few voices could be heard among the patients. A simple message followed. Then, something remarkable happened. The speaker said they would now close with a well-known song. It began this way; "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." Suddenly, the voices in the room got louder. Patients that were not singing before were now singing. I looked over at my mom. She was whistling the tune. I looked over at Angie; tears were streaming down her face.

Yes, the presence of Jesus was walking through the room. But it wasn't in the way I thought He'd come. Sometimes the presence of God can show up in the smallest and simplest acts.