2020

Photo by Rahul on Pexels.com

The Lord himself goes before you

and will be with you;

he will never leave you

nor forsake you.

Do not be afraid;

do not be discouraged.”

~Deuteronomy 31:8

Hello.

It is January 1, 2020.

Who knew we’d make it this far?

Who knew our heart

would still be beating this long?

God. 

God did.

And for that reason we rest.

And for that reason we trust. 

And for that reason we unclench our fists

and let go of control.

(What are we trying to control anyway…?)

During the past 365 days of 2019

How Many Times

did we get our own heart to beat?

Zero.

We did absolutely nothing to cause it to beat…

Yet here we are.

Here we are.

God has already gone before us

into 2020

and prepared our days.

He has prepared our moments

He has prepared our lives.

He took care of us yesterday

He will take care of us today

He will take care of us tomorrow.

So do not fear.

One of His Names is Jehovah El Roi,

The God Who Sees Me…..

even me.

He is that Big. 

He is that Good. 

Hello New Year. 

Hello 2020.

I need not fear.

God Himself has gone before me. 

Sigh…..

(Thank You Precious LORD)

The Christmas Story…

Photo by Alvin Decena on Pexels.com

“Let the stable still astonish;

Straw, dirt floor, dull eye;

Dusty flanks of donkeys, oxen;

Crumbling, crooked walls;

No bed to carry that pain;

And then, the child;

Rag-wrapped, laid to cry;

In a trough,

Who would have chosen this?

Who would have said:

“Yes,

Let the God of all the Heavens and Earth

Be born here in this place?”

Who but the same God

Who stands in the darker, fouler rooms

of our hearts

and says,

‘Yes.’

Let the God of Heaven and Earth be

Born Here…”

~Jan Karon

The Christmas story makes no sense to human beings.

Here is not just

A god,

but THE GOD

Who Created The Universe,

Choosing to be born in a barn.

Yet the filthy,

foul smelling,

contaminated room

He chose to be birthed in

Compares not

To the depraved,

nefarious rooms

In our hearts

That He wishes to occupy.

He wishes to dwell in our hearts,

So that we may also

Experience a birth as well.

A New birth of our heart.

Who IS this GOD who does this?

Who IS this God that chooses us?

He is TOO GREAT to comprehend,

work out,

grasp,

fathom…

Who is THIS GOD

And What is His Name?

Wonderful.

Counselor.

Ever-Lasting God.

Prince of Peace.

I AM.

Jesus.

His Name is Jesus…

 

Hope

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Hurry, hurry, step right up
See the sideshow in town for only fifty cents

Step right up, hurry, hurry before the show begins, my friends

Stand in line, get your tickets, I hope you will attend
It’ll only cost you fifty cents to see
What life has done to those like you and me

See the man with the broken heart, you’ll see that he is sad,
He hurts so bad (so bad, so bad)

See the girl who has lost the only love she ever had
There’s got to be no sadder show to see
No doubt about it, satisfaction’s guaranteed

So let the sideshow begin
Hurry, hurry, step right on in
Can’t afford to pass it by
Guaranteed to make you cry

Let the sideshow begin (hurry, hurry)
Hurry, hurry, step right on in
Can’t afford to pass it by
Guaranteed to make you cry

See the man who’s been cryin’ for a million years,
So many tears (so many tears)

See the girl who’s collected broken hearts for souvenirs

It’s more exciting than a one man band
The saddest little show in all the land

So let the sideshow begin
Hurry, hurry, step right on in
Can’t afford to pass it by
Guaranteed to make you cry…

~Sideshow

by Blue Magic

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,”  ~Jesus

~Luke 4:18

The most rejected man on earth was Jesus..

The most mocked and laughed at person

That ever existed,

Was Jesus.

He came to earth knowing

What He was in for…

Knowing precisely

What He would go thru…

And He did it.

He Joyfully did it.

He went thru the rejection

For you.

He went thru the rejection

For me.

And He did it

HAPPILY!

“…He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross

Because of the joy he knew would be his afterwards;

And now he sits in the place of honor by the throne of God.”

~Hebrews 12:2

“Greater love has no man

Than He lay down his life for his friends.”

~John 15:13 

He knew before the beginning of time

That we would need

A Saviour.

A Rescuer.

A Redeemer

From all of our

Mistakes,

Hurts,

And Wounds

That were inflicted on us

From ourselves,

And from others…

So He slipped out of Heaven

Where there was No Pain,

And entered a world

Where pain surrounded Him

And engulfed Him.

He GLADLY exchanged His Paradise

And grasped the demented world

So that if we would so choose,

We could have a Home with Him

In Heaven.

In Paradise.

So let the sideshow begin,

Hurry hurry,

Step right on in….

(God Loves You)

God’s Calling…

Photo by Malcolm Garret on Pexels.com

Are you tired?

Worn out?

Burned out on religion?

Come to me.

Get away with me

And you’ll recover your life.

I’ll show you how to take a real rest.

Walk with me,

And work with me,

Watch how I do it.

~Matthew 11 The Message Bible

So let God work His will in you.

Yell a loud No to the devil

And watch him scamper.

Say a quiet Yes to God

And He’ll be there in no time.

Quit dabbling in sin.

Purify your inner life.

Quit playing the field.

Hit bottom

And cry your eyes out.

The fun and games are over.

Get serious,

Really serious.

Get down on your knees before the Master,

It’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.

~James 4 The Message Bible

Casting all your cares,

All your anxieties,

All your worries,

And all your concerns,

All on Him.

For He cares about you

With deepest affection.

And watches over you very carefully.

~1 Peter 5 The Message Bible

Trust God from the bottom of your heart,

Don’t try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God’s voice in everything you do,

Everywhere you go.

He’s the One who will keep you on track.

Don’t assume that you know it all.

~Proverbs 3 Amplified Bible

 God told them,

“I’ve never quit loving you

And never will.

Expect love,

Love,

And more love!

And so now,

I’ll start over with you,

And build you up again…

 You’ll resume your singing,

Grabbing tambourines

And joining the dance.

~Jeremiah 31:3 The Message Bible

The Piano Man…

Photo by Juan Pablo Arenas on Pexels.com

It’s nine o’clock on a Saturday
The regular crowd shuffles in
There’s an old man sitting next to me
Making love to his tonic and gin

He says, “Son can you play me a memory
I’m not really sure how it goes
But it’s sad and it’s sweet
And I knew it complete
When I wore a younger man’s clothes.”

Sing us a song you’re the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we’re all in the mood for a melody
And you’ve got us feeling alright

Now John at the bar is a friend of mine
He gets me my drinks for free
And he’s quick with a joke or to light up your smoke
But there’s someplace that he’d rather be

He says, “Bill, I believe this is killing me.”
As a smile ran away from his face
“Well, I’m sure that I could be a movie star
If I could get out of this place.”

Now Paul is a real estate novelist
Who never had time for a wife
And he’s talking with Davy, who’s still in the Navy
And probably will be for life

And the waitress is practicing politics
As the businessmen slowly get stoned
Yes they’re sharing a drink they call “Loneliness”
But it’s better than drinking alone

Sing us a song you’re the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we’re all in the mood for a melody
And you’ve got us feeling alright

It’s a pretty good crowd for a Saturday
And the manager gives me a smile
‘Cause he knows that it’s me they’ve been coming to see
To forget about life for a while

And the piano it sounds like a carnival
And the microphone smells like a beer
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
And say, “Man, what are you doing here?”

Sing us a song you’re the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we’re all in the mood for a melody
And you’ve got us feeling alright

~Piano Man by Billy Joel 

I love the honesty in the lyrics of Piano Man by Billy Joel.

As the Piano Man plays his songs

the average Joe opens up and starts sharing.

The stories are full of regret,

heartbreak

and loneliness.

The average Joe is you,

The average Joe is me,

The average Joe is my next door neighbor.

The grocery store is full of average Joes

and so is the cemetary.

The Piano Man is also an average Joe,

and he can relate to the stories

and life experiences

that are quietly told.

As the regular crowd shuffles in,

they give the Piano Man

a nod and a smile,

for they know him

and feel safe telling him their story.

I want to be a Piano Man to my neighbors,

and to anyone I run across.

But I can only be a Piano Man

if I am at first a friend.

So I pray and ask God to send me

the lonely,

the broken-hearted,

the ones that simply  need

a listening ear

and the touch of God

upon their hearts…

“Sing us a song you’re the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we’re all in the mood for a melody (Touch of God)
And you’ve got us feeling alright…”

“Here am I God, send me”

~Isaiah 6:8

Grace Alone…

“Not everyone who calls out to me,

‘Lord! Lord!’

will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Only those who actually do the will

 of my Father in heaven

will enter.

 On judgment day

many will say to me,

‘Lord! Lord!

We prophesied

in your name

and cast out demons

in your name

and performed many miracles

in your name.’

 But I will reply,

‘I never knew you.

Get away from me,

you who break God’s laws.’

~Matthew 7: 21-23

These religious people repeated to God

what they did.

They thought themselves

so important

and their works

so important

that they had to tell God Almighty

exactly their worth

based on their works. 

They didn’t know Grace. 

They didn’t acknowledge

the precious work

of Jesus 

on the cross,

but instead spoke of

 their own work

to Him. 

As if His work

wasn’t quite enough. 

God’s answer to them?

~Get away from me

you pharisees,

you who break

my law of Grace. 

I never knew you.

Bottom line. 

It’s Grace and Grace Alone.

Ordinary

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I am ordinary.

I am not old, I am not young.

  I am neither tall nor short.

I am sitting here inside my average house.

It is neither a mansion nor a shack.

I am sipping an ordinary cup of coffee,

it is neither a Starbucks nor a Folgers.

My furniture is nice furniture,

yet it came from a thrift store.

I am thrilled to enjoy the ordinary.

If my house was raided and everything gone,

I would say,

“Eh, it was all used anyway, I can easily replace it..”

  Absolutely no material thing on the face of this earth has a hold on me.

But absolutely Every material thing on the face of this earth that I own

brings me peace and makes me smile.

I get giddy when I go to garage sales and get a deal.

I take great delight in searching for bargains

for pennies on the dollar.

Like Proverbs 30:8 says;

“.. give me neither poverty nor riches;

feed me with the food that is needful for me,”

And my Dear Heavenly Father has done just that.

I don’t need the newest car

and I honestly don’t want one.

At this average time in my life

I am satisfied.

And what an Amazing Gift from God that is.

God-Of-Angel-Armies

Photo by Philippe Donn on Pexels.com

God has many names.

Many  names.

He is Jehovah Nissi,

My Victory.

Jehovah Rapha,

My Healer.

Jehovah Shalom,

My Peace.

Jesus called Him Father.

But lately,

We have needed

The God-of-Angel-Armies.

So that is the Name I cry out to.

We’ve needed a

Warrior God,

A Rush-To-Our-Defense-God,

 An I-Will-FIGHT-For-You-God.

And that is the name I call upon.

Whenever I cry out,

‘Oh God-Of-Angel-Armies come to our rescue!’

He Does.

I INSTANTLY feel His Presence.

Instantly.

We’ve felt such a need for a Redeemer,

For an All-Conquering,

All-Powerful,

Fearsome Warrior,

So I cry out and He is near…

I feel Him by my side…

Yes, the Holy Spirit dwells within me

and comforts me,

But He is also the one that quickens me

with the Name of God that we need for the moment.

And recently He has told me

God-Of-Angel-Armies…

Think of that name.

Lord-of-Hosts,

God-Of-Angel-Armies….

Angel ARMIES…

Mighty to Save…

All-Powerful!

CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH!!!

Who is like Him?

NO ONE!!! 

Not one single person or thing.

He is Great,

And Greatly To Be Praised.

That is the God I’ve been talking with lately.

That is the God I’ve been walking with lately.

That is the God Who has been showing me

situations, people and things around me

to pray about and to pray for.

He is the same God my mother used to pray to

and her mother used to pray to

and her mother’s mother,

and on and on.

With that legacy behind me

how can I not call out to

The Name Above All Names,

Who comes to our rescue?

God-Of-Angel Armies

is right by my side.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Beautifully Crushed…

I have a choice.

Because I have a voice I have a choice.

I can choose the easy way with little to no pain

and more comfort,

or I can choose a harder way which produces more pain,

but Character Growth.

~If I had the opportunity to choose what kind of life

I would be given before I was born,

I would’ve chosen a life

where the road was smooth.

Where the path was easy…

I would never have chosen heartache and grief.

No,

I would have planned my life

very carefully and purposefully

with little to no suffering involved…

~Good thing I wasn’t in charge...

The heartache I encountered

actually made my heart softer...

The suffering I shivered thru

gave me empathy…

The abandonment I experienced

made me look towards the lonely…

If you think about it,

the sweetest part of a peach

is actually the part that is bruised.

The bruise produced the sugar…

The crushing of the olive

produces the oil,

and the oil heals…

The oil heals.

How would I know what True Love feels like

without knowing rejection?

How would I know what Peace feels like

if I had never touched war?

I am Grateful for my scars.

I am Grateful for the times

my heart quivered inside me from doubt.

How would I know the Deliverer

if I’d never needed delivering?

  ~Am I through being crushed?

I hope not. 

I pray not.

Is it fun?

Absolutely not. 

But the fragrance that comes from a rose

when it’s petals are smashed

is Beautiful.

And one day,

when I am old and gray,

I want to be the most fragrant crushed flower

that produces healing…

Freedom

Photo by Julian Jagtenberg on Pexels.com

“Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.”

~John 8:36~ 

 Only a tiny sliver of the population truly understand freedom.

We are created as triune beings; spirit, soul and body.

Freedom begins in the spirit followed by the soul and body.

If your spirit and your soul are free then your body will follow suit.

But hardly anyone understands the concept of freedom,

People as a whole are suckers for subjugation.

We are suckers for religion and rules.

We have a hard time believing that we can actually live free.

I was speaking to a young man a while back who was visiting from Germany.

He talked about the beauty of ‘free’ university and ‘equal’ housing and how no one person was better than the next person.

  I asked him exactly ‘Who was it that divvied out the money and

How much money did they give themselves?’ 

He paused and responded;

‘That it was ‘Someone at the top, and he supposed those people

had a lot-more-money than the rest of the people and

it probably wasn’t fair…’ 

It was at that point he saw a

Very. Big. Divide.

A Very. Big. Unjustness.

To his beloved way of thinking…..

I told this young man “I simply enjoyed freedom too much to want another human being telling me how much i could earn and what to do with my life.

  If I wanted to invent a gizmo and keep the profits from my gizmo without having the ‘powers-that-be’ tell me how much they were going to ‘allow me to keep.'”

  I also told this young man that I was free inside as well.

I explained that I had liberty inside my spirit and soul that allowed me to live free.

I told him that we all were created with a free will and that with my free will I had chosen Jesus as my Liberator.

Whether people know it or not, every human being that walks this earth needs a Liberator.

I shared with him that we are all born into bondage in life,

And deserved the wages of sin, which is death.

Jesus came into this world to take our punishment and set us free.

God sent His Son, Jesus to take our punishment, be tortured and to die for us.

Jesus willingly took what we deserved…

(Only True Love would die for another person…)

However, in all fairness to this young man

He absolutely could not help how he was thinking.

He belonged to a church that told him he had to ‘earn-his-way to Heaven’.

His religion was not based on Freedom but on works.

As his spirit was led, the rest of his life followed along.

  It was completely logical for him to be told what to do.

  It was completely logical for him to think freedom was only for

A few at the top of his politics and 

A few at the top of his religion… 

He was a slave to his politics,

And a slave to his religion.

He, along with most people, became a sucker for religion.

One day, when he grasps the reality of the Freedom of Jesus,

He will desire true freedom in every area of his life as well.

Because, ‘Whom Jesus sets free is

Really, Truly Free…’