Interruptions

It is early morning and all is quiet as I sit down
to flesh out a new blog. Then, I hear chatter.
It gets closer and suddenly around the corner
comes a two year old. Nothing sleepy about Noah!
He comes over and climbs into my lap, and sits a
minute before jumping down to explore the day.

I wrote this several days ago, but, because we
are not able to access the internet easily, we
are now at McDonalds. The said two year old
is quiet. He is eating ice cream!

Lots of interruptions over the past few days.
Interruptions of the finest kind. Keep them
coming, Lord!

Brokenhearted

"The Lord is near the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit. 
(Psalm 34:18)

David had to flee the palace because King Saul
was determined to kill him. Jonathan, the son of
Saul, and David's best friend, broke the news to
to him and then sent him away. David's heart was
ripped apart. The pain of losing Jonathan crushed
him. It felt like his life was over. Did it take days
or only hours for David to come into the presence
of the Lord and discover that God is near to the
brokenhearted; that He does rescue those who
are crushed in spirit.

I don't know about you, dear reader, but I have
gone through that valley of crushing grief. The
words of David in this verse has touched me
deeply and has helped me to come to a better
place; to find balance, even peace. God is indeed
near to the brokenhearted. 

Help!

David sits and ponders the terrible events of the past
week--then he takes up his harp and continues to sing:

"I sought the Lord and He answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are radiant...

             (David pauses)

THIS POOR MAN CRIED, and the Lord heard 
him and saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the Lord encamps 
around those who fear him, and delivers them."
(Psalm 34:4-7)

What encouragement for those who are engulfed in
fear because of troubles. The Lord hears the one
who whispers, "help."

I recently listened to an uplifting piece on You Tube.
Let the song roll over you...
Worship.

Allelujah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p-28XyP18w&feature=youtu.be

At All Times

After David escapes from King Aschish, he finds safety in
the caves of Adullam. (Adullam means "refuge.") I can
see David sitting on a rock at the mouth of the cave, harp
in hand as he begins to write down his heart to God:

"I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
Let the humble hear and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt his name together."
Ps 34:1-3

For the past week I have been singing the first verse
throughout the day and sometimes during the night.
It is a catchy tune, remembered from many years ago.
It was a young man named David who put the words
of this psalm to music. The music causes the words to
bounce and ministers to my soul.

Stories: http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

Psalm 34

Psalm 34 is a psalm with a beat. It is called an
acrostic poem because each verse begins with a
successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Was
David brilliant or what?

Some background as to how David came to
write the psalm is helpful. King Saul determined
that David had to die so David fled to King Ashish
in Gath. When the king learned that this man had
killed "tens of thousands" of Philistines, not to
mention Goliath, David's life was again put in jeopardy.
David's emotions dropped to the level of pure terror and
he feigned mental illness. The king drove him out.
(I Samuel 21:10-15)

What a close call! David was called by God to
become the king, but the journey was not one
that David had envisioned. Most of his psalms
come out of real life stories which is one reason
we love them so much!

The Psalms

The Psalms are God's gift to His kids! The verses
written by David, are a window into the soul of a
man who suffered "the loss of all things," for a season.
He was "a man after God's own heart." His words are
rich with emotion; colorful, fragrant flowers of  grief,
confusion, anger, joy, repentance, sorrow, delight...
Summertime is a good season for gathering nectar from
such a garden.

Last Week

This time last week the words were just flowing out
of my fingers and onto the keyboard. But this week,
blogland has come up empty. However, an idea about
the size of a man's fist is forming on the horizon.
Seriously, writing is not for the faint at heart!

A Big Sigh of Relief

I just got word that a dear friend of mine who has
a house in Black Forest in Colorado Springs, did
not lose her home. They were one of the first who had
to evacuate. I remember visiting Ellen, a friend back in
the 80's who then lived in the Black Forest development.
We sat in the hot tub in her back yard and watched the
stars come out through the branches of the trees. It was so
beautiful! That house is gone.

Sandi shared with me how difficult the past few days
have been but how she was able to walk in the peace
of God through the prayers of friends. Knowing that
her house might be gone gave her the opportunity to
think about the hope she had in her Savior, and that
she has a home in His Kingdom. Life is uncertain but
God is our refuge, a place of rest and a sigh of relief!

The Birth of Laughter

"The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the
Lord did to Sarah as He had promised. Sarah 
conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age...
Abraham called the name of his son, Isaac..."
And Sarah said, 'God has made laughter for me;
and everyone who hears will laugh over me. Who 
would have said to Abraham that Sarah would
nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his
old age.'"

I cannot stop smiling as I read these verses. This barren
woman became pregnant at a very old age and she is
nursing him! Not in her wildest imagination...

We see this from a birds eye view but Sarah lived her
life one sorrowful day at a time. Long ago she had buried
hope. At age 99 all the promises God had given were
set in motion.

Papa, You are faithful. You are truly an awesome God!

Sarah Laughs

One hot day when Abraham was sitting in the
doorway of his tent, three men approached. They
are strangers but something looks familiar for
Abraham jumps up, runs to them and then bows
down. Sarah makes the bread for the meal
Abraham serves to them and then she sits down
just behind the tent flap.

"Where is Sarah your wife?"
"She is in the tent."
"I will surely return to you about this time next
year, and Sarah shall have a son."

Sarah laughs; incredulous, unbelieving laughter.
How could she not laugh? "I am worn out, and
my Lord is old, shall I have pleasure?"

God to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh?"
Sarah to God, "'I did not laugh," for she was afraid.'"
God to Sarah, "No, but you did laugh."

This is one of my favorite dialogues in scripture. Up
until this visit, God had only spoken to Abraham.
Sarah felt invisible as she listened to the conversation
outside of the tent. Suddenly she was not invisible, not
even her silent unbelieving laughter went unnoticed.
Sarah denies it, speaking directly to God,
and he calls her on it--directly.

Dear reader, are there not times when you REALLY
want a word from God, but maybe not, a personal
encounter?

Abraham Laughs

God has not had a conversation with Abraham since
Ishmael's birth thirteen years ago. Abraham has been
making plans and getting along pretty well without God.
Then, God speaks to Abraham in Genesis 17:15 and says:

"...I will bless her (Sarah), and moreover, I will give 
you a son by her, and she shall become nations; 
kings of people shall come from her."

"Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed...
Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old bear a child?
Oh, that Ishmael might live before you!"

"And God said,  
'No, but Sarah your wife shall bear
you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac'"


Sarah will have a son? My barren Sarah at the age of 90
is going to give birth?  Abraham is in shock. He is incredulous,
He has collapsed laughing. He cannot stop laughing.
God just smiles and calls the coming child, laughter!

The Road to Laughter

In chapter 12 of Genesis, God calls Abraham out
and tells him to leave his father's house and go to
a land that God will show him. God promises to make
Abraham a great nation. Abraham is 75 years old
when he packs up and leaves. His wife is no spring
chicken either! They are childless. The couple have
many adventures over the next 25 years, not the
least of which is the birth of a son to Abraham, and
Sarah's Egyptian maid, Hagar. This took some
manipulation on Sarah's part to make this happen.
No one is laughing; not Hagar, not Abraham, and
certainly not Sarah! By now Abraham is 86. God is
silent. How can this possibly be the road to laughter?

Dear reader, do you have promises tied into unanswered
prayers? Answers that will fill you with unrestrained
laughter? Well, this tale is not finished yet, and either
is yours.

PS Don't try to work things out yourself!

The Laughing, Leaping, Leper!

The Scene unfolds:

The leper kneels before Jesus and asks to be healed.
Jesus kneels down and speaks as He unwraps his face
and neck while looking into his eyes. The leper looks
at his hands, at Jesus, and back to his hands. He shouts.
He leeps up laughing and dancing for joy. I can see  him
looking back at the still kneeling Jesus. He tackles Him
and both laugh while rolling in the dust. The crowd laughs.
Heaven bends down to listen. What a celebration!

The compassionate heart of Jesus flows out to the man
through touch, but in keeping with the law, Jesus sends
the cleansed, healed man to the priest so that the man can
re-enter the community as a whole person.

What a Savior!

You will find the story in Matthew 8:1-4. It will not look
like the story above, but I know that people did not just
stand around.

Jesus Style Law

Matthew 8 opens with Jesus walking down from the
mountain where he had just told the crowd how to be
a good Jew. Pretty daunting. Up walks a Leper. He
has broken the law in order to find Jesus. He is unclean.
He is untouchable. He kneels before Jesus and says,
"Lord, if you will, you can make me clean."

Jesus reaches out and touches him and says, "I will;
be clean."

Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said
to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go,
show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses
commanded, for proof to them."

So what is happening? Where is the action? Check out
tomorrow's blog and see!

Creation Waits

The Hummingbird I so enjoyed is gone; the ducks have
vanished and the lake is now empty of life on the surface.
Even the petunia's I planted last week look sick. Did I water
them enough or too much; is it a pest of some sort? Even
more difficult is the suffering experienced by those who
live in the mid-west, who have gone through days of
strong storms which have resulted in loss of life and property.

I went into Romans eight beginning with the 18th verse
and found great comfort today:

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time not
worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to
us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the
revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected
to futility...,in hope that the creation itself will be set free
from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the 
glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole
creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth."

I see two things here: When man sinned the creation began
to suffer bondage and decay. When the sons of God are revealed,
the creation will be set free. Both creation and the children of
God will be set free at the same time. Glory! I can hardly wait!!!

If I had the choice of only one chapter in the Bible, I would
choose Romans 8. Maybe I will tackle it one of these days....

The Hummingbird

Each spring I fill the Hummingbird feeder and wait
in eager expectation for some activity. Last year only
one female came to sip. This year on the very first
day a gorgeous male showed up and came hourly
to get his fill of the nectar supplied. When I took it
down for cleaning, he was all over the empty space.
I could hear him say, "Where did it go? Who took it?"
Well, on Saturday I heard a gentle tap on the glass
door at the back of the house. I looked around to
see the reason and noticed a colorful leaf lying on
our deck. It was not a leaf but my beautiful
Hummingbird lying there still and helpless. I felt
helpless. I prayed that God would touch the little guy
who had become such a great delight to me. A feather
moved, yes, and then another slight movement. He
looked around and finally sat upright. I could study
the brilliant red feathered throat  I cheered him on.
He sat there for some time looking around and as a
black bird flew over, my Hummer suddenly took off.
He has not returned. My guess is that his beak was
damaged, or maybe the brain he needs to find food
was not working. You will find a picture of him on
Face Book.

It is not just that a very special bird has perished
because he saw a reflection of the garden in the glass
of our door, but a few days ago I saw duck feet flapping
above the water. No sound was made. The Mallard
slowly disappeared under the water pulled down by
one of our Snapping Turtles. All of our ducks have
been taken out this spring, including the ducklings.
You will have to forgive me for feeling a little sad
today. It was a hard week.