LIFE WITHOUT BORDERS

"In the rush and noise of life, as you have intervals, step home within yourselves and be still. Wait upon God, and feel His good presence; this will carry you evenly through your day's business."

- William Penn

 We all live in the land of ordinary.  Our days begin the same.  Our sun arises, and we awake.  Our morning routine begins.  Our thoughts churn with the needs waiting for our hands, feet, and lips of clay.

The needs around us, waiting for the imprint of our lives, press us to our own need, often sending us to our knees, bringing us to the reality of our human hearts and will.  We know we are flesh.  Imperfect.  Flawed.  Limited.  Sometimes broken.  

And in brokenness and limitation, we turn to the cross, and lift our minds to its reality:  grace, redemption, peace, restoration, healing, joy, life, possibility.  For all humanity, the cross works with its power.  For us, the truth of that power invades our mortal souls and kills excuse to cling to our limited flesh.

Our flesh can be His glory.  Our weakness can be His strength.  Our strongholds can be His deliverance.

Our unknowing can know God's omniscience.  Our pride can know Christ's humility.  Our need can know His grace.

Our limited can be God's unlimited! 

Christ never lived in the ordinary.  Yes, He was a man as well as the Son of God.  Yes, he walked, talked, breathed, lived, suffered, and died as a human being.  But, Jesus never viewed His life as ordinary. 

He could not.  He would not.  For His life was not His own.  It belonged to His Father, and Jesus only lived to please Him.

What He did, everything Christ did, He did not do for Himself.  Jesus magnifed God the Father in all.

And, His desire for us is the same.  If "anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward" (Matthew 10:42, NIV).  Even a drink of water is not mundane to Jesus.  He looks at our hearts while we do the great and small. 

My friend Sonja, from http://www.bitsandpieces-sonja.blogspot.com/, sent me a beautiful biography about her father, Armin Gesswein, who was a mighty prayer warrior and man of God.  In that book, Everything by Prayer, the author, Fred Hartley, speaks of the way we often disconnect the mundane of our lives from the spiritual.  He tells that everything we do is spiritual when we are living as a servant.  Even cleaning up your child's vomit is serving God when you love Him with your whole heart.

Be encouraged.  In the great and small of your life, God is beside you.  With you.  In you.

Look for God's limitless in your ordinary.  Expect His power in your walk with Him.  Search for His hand in all you do.  Listen for Jesus, even when you are changing a diaper, digging up weeds, wiping a dish, or waiting for one so dear. 

Live your life without borders.  Live your life with His heart.  Live your life in God's unlimited!

Thank you for you patience in my limited posting!  I am diligently working on a slight change of scenery on my blog, per direction of the Holy Spirit.  Change begets change, and the life of the fire we had back in November has begun death of the ordinary in my heart.  With all things new, I so want to be a channel God can use.  Thanks again, and much love to all.  

DREAM DELIVERER

How did I ever pass college statistics?  Its intricate details of mathematical equations amazed and perplexed me.  Its formulas and problems seemed so infinite, so mysterious, so distanced.   

I am not a math person, and with much intimidation, I took the class twelve years ago, only to satisfy degree requirements.  Today, I am still in awe of its challenges and gladly admit that only by God's grace did I overcome them and pass the course.

Only by His grace did I deal with the samplings, variables, and probabilities.  God is good and merciful!

I respect disciplines that deal with numbers.  I understand them little, but appreciate those who do and use their knowledge to help others.

I have very limited knowledge of algebraic equations, statistical probabilites, etc.  But one thing I truly comprehend:  Such equations and probabilites, their designs, and their designers do not compare to the wisdom, depth, ways, and mystery of God.  He designed our world and its capabilites to yield to mathematical equations.  God's ways pass all human understanding.  His thoughts, His creation, transcend, perplex, and overwhelm the greatest statisticians.

God is infinite.  God is the Master Designer of all good things.  God is wisdom.  God is holy.  God is truth.  And, God is personal.

Our Father God, with His personal application, has His Own way of showing us His ways.  He has given us His holy word and the Holy Spirit to teach us and lead us in every area of our lives. I often remind myself of the Psalmist's revelation that even our steps are planned by our heavenly Father.  So, why should we ever glance from the Lord's especial prepared path or question His limitless, interpersonal wisdom?  In our humanness, we all seem to have a weakness for stumbling through life's fog and wanting to find our own way. 

"If I can just make this change in my life, things will be easier."  "If I can somehow make this idea work, my relationships will be smoother."  If I could just have God's blessings in this area of my life, I know I would be happy."

If. . . .If I had a hundred dollars for every time I tried on my own to improve my life and find a better way to do things, I would be a very rich woman by now; i.e., my own pride and ignorance have escorted me into the valley of pain many times, the sum of which has equaled a very accurate dose of humility and an unpleasant adjustment of my attitude.

God is so faithful!  If you are a regular reader of my posts, you know I marvel at His faithfulness, and I hope not to sound like a broken record, but the patience and longsuffering of God simply amazes me, and I have a hard time withholding praise for the personal meaning of that truth!

God is faitfhul. He is the One Who speaks in your life, even when you have made that wrong turn, even when your wrong turn has sent you in circles or routed you into a ditch.

God is faithful.  Through His loving Spirit, He speaks very intimately to us when we carelessly find ourselves on a dead end drive.  He is the One Who interrupts our own well-meant, but delirious plans. 

God is faithful.  He is the fire sent from heaven that suddenly licks its flame into your dearest dreams and destroys the "I" in them all.  He is the still, small voice that wrecks your direction and changes your life.  He is the Author of your faith, Who at will turns your pages to write His own lines, so your story will end the way He wrote it ages ago.

Yes, precious one, God is faithful.

Were it not for the patience and longsuffering of God I would be in the middle of the Mojave by now without water, food, or shelter.

He knows my frame. My heavenly Father knows my good intentions, though very unworthy, have always been pursued with a dusty, fragile, imperfect fleshly temple that reasoned and dreamed its way into a dizzy drama.

As a young wife and mother of twenty-four years old, I reasoned my way into nursing school.  "We need financial stability."  "The ministry is so hard."  "A nursing career will bring peace to our home."  "I can help others and help my family at the same time."

I mused myself into a mess.  I talked myself into near tragedy.  I ignored the precious, still small voice that told me something was wrong with the whole idea and to let it go. 

I enrolled in school.  Little I did prospered.  God refused to bless my plan.  My little ones suffered.  My husband suffered.  I suffered.  Yet, I persevered, being the stubborn girl I can be. 

Finally, I awoke one morning violently ill.  I vomited almost incessantly and was rushed to the hospital, where I was diagnosed with severe dehydration and dangerously low blood pressure. 

It took one month of recovery, which required my withdrawal from school.  I knew the Lord had had His way, and though repentent, I had a small fragment of hope of returning to my dream.  The fleshly, selfish nature of Andrea still did not want to let go. 

One afternoon, I sat on my sofa, questioning if I should go back.  I started planning to call the school and reenter.  My fleshly reasoning was hemming me back into the corner of disobedience.

Suddenly, in the midst of my daydreams, I heard my little sons crying out from our hallway.  I ran as quickly as I could to find they had found my blood pressure cuff, and in playing with it, had it wrapped around Chris's arm.  It was cutting off his circulation and was so tightly fixed and tangled I couldn't get it off.  I cried out to the Lord for help, and with God's intervention, His wisdom, I was able to free Chris from the product of my own rebellious nature.

I held and clung to my children and thanked God for His deliverance.  Later, I called the school.  I spoke with the secretary in the nursing department and told her I had some books and equipment I wanted to sell.  And I never once looked back.

Friends, we do not understand the reason behind God's voice.  But we really do not need to understand.  We only need obedience and trust in His will.  His will is always His best.

Not His better.  His best.  What a perfect "selah moment!"  Stop, and calmly think about it. Rest in that truth.  Absorb the reality of your possibilities with God's best.

Your Designer, your Architect, your Provider holds your best in His hands.

Dear, precious one, if you are struggling today with your own dreams, if you know in your heart you are hearing God's voice, as the Apostle Paul did, when the Lord asked Paul why he insisted on going against the grain (Acts 26:14, The Message), then take a few quiet moments to drink in the Lord's unconditional love for you and contemplate how through that divine love He gives you all good things. 

If through struggle and conflict you are weary from keeping a genuine divine dream alive, take heart of that same love, knowing the One who birthed in you His desire will most surely bring it to fulfillment.  You have had realization in your spirit.  And, God, Who planted the vision, will pour the oil and wine in His season.

Perhaps you have broken dreams.  You heard God's voice in the past.  His vision for your life has now become a road invisible, filled with fog.  The enemy somehow foiled the Lord's plans for you through sin or discourgement or other devices.  Satan uses those broken dreams to bring you to further discouragement and make you feel like a failure, but I assure you, dear friend, that the Lord is your healer and restorer.  Jehovah, the sovereign Lord, can "put breath into you and make you live again!" (Ezekiel 37:5, NLT).  Call His name!  Forget your past!  Forgive yourself!  Have new hope!   

Receive God's best for you today.  He loves you so. 

DUST DIVINE

"All who call on God in true faith, earnestly from the heart, will certainly be heard, and will receive what they have asked and desired." 

 Martin Luther

It was up to my knees!  My four year old feet, donned in little girl boots, struggled to keep up with my dad as we made our way to the basement of our Atlanta, Georgia, home, looking for a shovel.  The grounds of our little Cape-Cod cottage on a hill were covered in snow, and with each step, I felt a candylike crunch beneath my feet.  I had to pull my petite self along through the frozen slush.  It must have been one of those Southern snows that is first a lovely, fluffy white but then becomes a nightmarish, slilppery, four-inch-thick cake, iced with sheer ice.

The cold and the wet white did not delight me then.  I had not yet learned the blessing it could be.  I wanted to be in the warmth of my cozy, lavender bedroom, surrounded by my dolls and tea sets and other toys.  Why in the world I was helping Daddy look for a shovel I do not know.  All I know is that tiny snippet of shovel-searching is my first snow memory. 

Many snow memories have followed, and all of them have been joyful events, including the newest one, which occured today here in northern Alabama.  If I gazed out the window once today, I did so about thirty times, and by now, I know my friends who live in a proverbial blanket of white each winter must be laughing or shaking their heads in disbelief.

But a snow day in the Deep South is a gift of true luxury.  Children, of all ages, pray for it and wait for it each winter with great expectations, and when the sparkling specks of white begin to drift from the heavens and cling to the earth, we are overcome with joy and thankfulness for a few days of snowbound life if we're twice blessed.

You see, the rarity of our white blessing does not justify the purchase by our cities and counties for enough  trucks and plows and whatever it takes to clear the roads and keep them safe.  Henceforth, when snow accumulates, roads, schools, and most businesses close, and you hope you have been to the grocery store, for, short of an emergency, you may be homebound until temperatures climb above freezing.  A day that begins in normality suddenly turns into a new beginning of a blissful mini-vacation, as you are tucked within your home, nestled wtih family, food, and fun.

And, if you happen to have an empty nest, you have a lot of time of think.  Today was opportunity.

I am a constant analyser and assessor of self.  I observe my own motives.  Listen to my own voice.  Search my own soul.  Hear my own heart.

It is not easy.  It hurts.  It is exhausting.  It is costly.

For part of my morning devotional today, the Lord led me to Psalm 51.  It is David's offering of repentance after his sin of adultry with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah.

What impresses me most with the Psalm, are David's brokenness and honesty.  His words are woven with grief and watered with remorse.  His desire for God's grace and mercy rings with desperate appeal.  "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow" (7, NKJV).

I imagine David's painful prayer.  I see him walk and raise his voice to heaven.  I see him lie in dust and declare his demise.  I see him, in despair, rue the day of his birth.  I see him sink in sorrow, his face drowned by hot tears.   

I hear David cry and beg for God's mercy, and I hear the King weep and wail for his sin. 

David's guilt and pain gripped his life and tortured his soul.   

Through his own guilt, through the painful suffering of personal remorse, David discovers the true values of God.  As the psalmist experiences the reality of his own sin, as David faces his own failure and looks at that sin and failure through the eyes of His Redeemer, David has an incredible moment of truth.  "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart - these, O God, You will not despise" (17, NKJV).     

What an awesome moment of revelation!  What an awesome moment of relief!  God does not desire burnt offering for the sake of the offering.  God desires brokenness.  Humility.  Our own realization of our own spiritual helplessness.  God desires remorse.  Real repentence.  Deep sorrow that makes you want to change your life and never be the same again.

David found that humility and repentance for his crisis of sin.  We can find it, too, for any and every moment in our lives, even though what troubles us may seem so small.

How can we find brokenness, humility?  How can we experience great depth of sorrow for our sins, faults,  failures, and needs?  How can we grow into the reality of our weaknesses?  How can we have Holy Spirit transformation in our lives?  How can we change?

As David did - only through God's creation.  What emotion the psalmist must have felt as he wrote, "Create in me a clean (pure, holy, free from corruption) heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me" (10, NKJV). 

Listen, friends!  The Hebrew word David uses for create is the same one used in Genesis 1:1!  The psalmist confessed his inability!  The psalmist proclaimed God's ability!

David's answer, our answer, is the creative voice of God spoken into our lives.  The same voice that said, "Let there be light" (Genesis 1:3), is more than able to speak His power into our lives and give us whatever we need, including a new heart.   

A new heart!  It's what I'm seeking this year.  I want a heart like Jesus' heart.  Honestly, it intimidates me to pray for it.  I know it will not come cheaply.  In fact, I am very sure it has great cost.  I hope I am ready to pay the price for a new heart!  To sacrifice for God's miraculous moving with power! 

Will you please join me in this journey?  If not, will you please pray for me?  Ask the Lord to give me the tenacity and faith to allow Him to speak His creative word and do His creative work, so I will be a vessel that pleases God. 

The Lord is so good!  He has prepared our steps!  Each part of our day was planned and written in His book before our very conception (Psalm 139:16). 

Today was the day that snow would have new symbolism for me.  When I awoke this morning, I had no idea God would bring such a prolific metaphor into my life!  The clean, white dust from heaven tells of a merciful God who purifies and renews and speaks creative miracles into my life and your life.  Falling snow is new hope.  New hope is new creation.  New creation is new life.  New life means a new heart.  Praise His name, Elohim, the God Who creates! 

NEW YEAR, NEW HOPE, NEW HEART

NEW!!!  Fresh!  Different from the former or old!  Not previously experienced or encountered is our 2010!  It is novel!  It is now!  It is tomorrow and its 364 days!  And it is opportunity for new discoveries in our life with Christ! 

The Greek word for new is Kainos, which means unprecedented, uncommon, and novel.  Kainos is used forty-four times in the New Testament, and the Word of God speaks, boldly proclaims, "if anyone is in Christ, he is a NEW creation; the old has gone, the NEW has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV). 

Our new has come!  And you, dear friend, today, in this fresh beginning, in this new year, are novel.  No one else is like you.  You are God's choice servant, and you are a new creation in Christ Jesus, an unprecedented work of His grace! 

And, what God has for you is kainos!  His new! God is always at work in your life.  He is a 24/7 God!  And His handiwork in your life in 2010 will be a new thing not even considered by you before God brings it to pass in your life.  Yes, that is your 2010!  That is your new year!  A gift of the unworn, unused, unprecedented, uncommon!  Behold, it is here, and what God opens, no person has power to close.  Praise His name! 

Rejoice!  Be glad!  Proclaim God as your God of your new year!

Expect!  Receive, day by day, God's kainos for you! 

Name!  Pray the word of God into those areas of your life that need His new!

Exalt!  Lift up Jesus, bring Him glory, in everything you say and do in 2010!

Wait!  Be still and know that He is God this very moment and in every moment of your new year!

Escape!  Avoid any snare the enemy has for you by finding safety in your Strong Tower and His truth!

Determine!  Trust in the arms of your Shepherd, Who loves you and guides your steps!  He cannot fail you!

Blessings to all of you!  Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!  I admit I was not very sad to say, "Goodbye" to 2009!  I am  looking forward to God's moving and His giving of His best for 2010!

Dear Father God, how great your are!  You are the One, the only, true God, and I praise you for our Rock, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, and His name that is above every other name!  Oh, Lord, help us all to seek Your glory for this new year!  When we get ahead of You, please bring us back to your side with your Shepherd's staff and rod.  And, dear Father, help us to trust Your work in our lives and to believe and see Your glory.  We give you and will give you praise and honor forever!  Amen!

I love you all, dearest friends!!!

CHRISTMAS BEAUTY

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

"I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."

Charles Dickens

She came toward me bearing the beauty.  It was an amaryllis in full bloom that looked like a bowl of peppermint lolipops, with its tall stalks and bright red and white flowers.  "I just didn't know what to buy you," she said.  "I sure hope you and your husband enjoy it.  I thought it was so pretty."  

That precious one's joy in giving melted my heart.  Christmas gifts always dig deep into my soul's soil, for during the holidays, everyone has so many other people to think about and so much to do.  Boxes of candy, gift cards, loaves of banana bread, homemade cookies, ties for my husband, necklaces for me, tins of popcorn, flowers, candles, cash, and anything and everything are received into our lives with a lot of loving thoughts.  To us, each remembrance is a sweet sacrifice of self and finance.

We received the gift of the aforementioned Christmas amaryllis several years ago, and it remains very special to me, not only because of the lady whose grace and love gave the gift, but also, for its symbolism and its continual living message. 

This very day, this very moment as I write, the pretty peppermint-like flower lives and speaks because of its symbolic nature.  What was once a present of gratitude and fondness now means more to me than it ever has.  The tall, pristine winter flower symbolizes pride and beauty, just as a rose symbolizes love.  That message of the amaryllis is personal and moves my spirit.  My own amaryllis became a symbol of my personal testimony of  the spiritual conflict of true beauty and pride. 

When I first learned about the amaryllis and discovered that it represents pride and beauty, the two ideas sounded worldly and humanistic, like a theme from a short story whose heroic, self-sufficient character teaches the value of human strength.  But God refreshed my thoughts and gave me a personal message of Christ's strength and His hope for my own need.

Pure loveliness is Christ Himself.  Jesus is beauty incarnate, and His beauty reaches far beyond our frail, worldly concept of outward appearance.  Christ, in complete humility and sacrifice, divested himself of the glory of heaven, became a baby, grew up in a small, common village, and as a man and the Son of God, gave his life for our salvation by dying shamefully on a cross, then rose again for our justification, and now lives, sitting at the right hand of God, our Father, praying for us, always interceding on our behalves.

Jesus is true beauty.  He is pure.  He is noble.  He is real.  He is incomparable.

Pride is the opposite of true beautfy.  It is anything raised above the knowledge of Jesus; i.e., whatever longs to function and/or achieve on its own.  Pride is not pretty.  It grieves the heart of God and makes me amazingly unattractive to Him.  In heaven, Christ intercedes for me.  And I know He prays that I will lose my miserable pride and gain His glorious beauty.

In constant awareness of my own need and humanity, I search continually in my heart for the loss of pride and the real image of Christmas, the King's beauty.  Jesus, King of kings and Lord of lords, was born into this world, as a baby in a self-imposed state of utter humility, just for my need, my deliverance, and my redemption.

My search for inner beauty often leaves me disappointed.  Oh, yes, Jesus lives in my heart.  He is my life.  My All in all.  But my imperfect state of being yearns for the selfless love and giving up of self that comes with a deeper walk and a greater faith.

On my own I am hopelessly selfish.  But, with His love, God has enlightened my thoughts and has given me a new gift of the hope of a holy life in which God will be pleased:  the letting go of my own self and the reaching forward to Christmas beauty. 

Christmas day, not only will I share joy and blessing and comfort with my family, but also, I will share with the Lord an awareness of Himself and His glory in light of Who He is alone and in light of who I am compared to Him and His almighty power and endless love.

And in God's endless love, together, we can all wholly rejoice.  We can celebrate Christmas, the birthday of the one and only Savior of the world and of ourselves, despite whatever weakness or problem or burden we have.  Yes, we rejoice because of Who Jesus is and His great love for us!  May we all be overwhelmed by that amazing love and enjoy God's gift of life.  Praise Him!  Edify Him!  Exalt His name!  He is worthy of it, and He intends Christmas beauty and joy for you. 

Regardless of pain, regardless of imperfection, regardless of situation, Christ is who He says He is.  He is our Christmas beauty for all days and all times.  And His love is always present with us.  Soak in His comfort and peace.  Breath in His love for you.  Whisper His name with a grateful heart.  And study His beauty, His loveliness, that was first revealed to us in the form of a tiny baby that was humbly born in an animals' stall. 

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" (ICorinthians 2:9, NIV).

Christmas hath a darkness;

Brighter than the blazing noon;

Christmas hath a chillness

Warmer than the heat of June,

Christmas hath a beauty

Lovelier than the world can show:

For Christmas bringeth Jesus,

Brought for us so low. 

 

Christina Rosetti    

OF STARLIGHT

I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all. And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Not when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the world seemingly most indifferent. For this is still the time God chooses.

Taylor Caldwell

When I was growing up, our family had a red tree topper.  It was a tall spire with an open globe stuffed with angel hair.  Each year we would find it packed away in our little attic.  We always took it from hibernation, and put it in its proper place atop our prickly tree.  Finding the red swirly object was not my favorite part of tree-trimming.  I was never too happy with the spire.  Not that it wasn't pretty; it was truly quite elegant, but it just never said "Christmas" to me.  I wanted a star.  In my childlike faith, a star said "Jesus."

One Christmas season, my parents noticed the red spire's beauty waning.  Its angel hair had thinned, its plastic had begun to crack, and its paint was chipping.  A new topper for our tree was added to our shopping list, and it was decided that we would buy a star.  So, we went star-shopping and brought home a lovely five-point symbol made of gold tinsel and colored lights. 

I could not wait to see it crown our little artificial Scotch Pine tree.  At last, when I did see the gllittery star settle on the tip-top branch, I was elated to see it glow brightly with joy of Christ's birth.    

Several weeks ago, when we had the fire incident, we lost our Christmas decorations.  I have thankfully been able to salvage the sentimental items.  I do not know if they can be cleaned and used again, but they will be kept!  I could never let go of paper snowmen made in a kindergarten class, a little handprint engraved with "Steven," a clothespin angel with "Chris" written on its back, and homemade felt frames and clear, acryllic-shaped trees sprinkled with glittery images of my sons within.  No Way!!!  Though they are sooty and smoky, they will at least be stored with our most precious family belongings. 

Included in our sooty collection of Christmases past is a tree topper.  It is not a star.  It is a lighted angel dressed in ivory tafetta with beautiful white wings edged with gold glitter.  As a family, we always enjoyed the angel atop the tree.  It reminded us of the proclaming of Christ's birth to the shepherds and the rejoicing of the heavenly beings as they recited, "Glory to God in the highest."

With the loss of our angel topper and other Christmas ornaments, my husband and I decided that a shopping trip was in order.  We knew our temporary apartment home would never feel like Christmas without a tree and trimmings, so Jeff  and I ventured to Walmart Thursday night and bought an inexpensive pre-lit tree, gold and red glass balls, sparkling snowflakes, and twinkling crosses, and tiny little angels.

And, yes, we bought a star to place atop our new tree.  It seems made of iron and is covered in gold with clear lights embedded within.  It will glow with joy, just as the tree topper did in my childhood Christmases.  

After buying our new Christmas decor, we meandered around our city.  I noticed no stars visible in the heavens.  It was quite overcast here in northern Alabama, and fog had settled into the Tennessee Valley.  Surveying the starless sky led my thoughts to the star, the shining heavenly ornament that graced the heavens and announced the birth of our Savior over 2000 years ago. 

The real star of Bethlehem was an amazing sight!  It brought awe and "exceeding great joy" (Matthew 2:10) to the wise men and other seekers when they beheld its glory in the heavens over Judea.  That stunning celestial body proclaimed the path to a king, the King of all kings, Jesus, the Messiah.  Though much speculation is made about its cosmic components, the nitty gritty of its make-up matters little.  What really matters is the spiritual significance of the star.  It is beautifully powerful.  Its prophetic praises move my soul.

For those in ancient Judea, its shining was a testimony of the One, real Light Who had come into a dark, depraved world.  Our Savior, the Son of God, the sinless One, came to sinful earth to suffer, to be our Redeemer, and to rescue us from evil and death.   

Our personal, kinsman Redeemer, Jesus, the Holy and Anointed One, the Son of the living God was then proclaimed, is now proclaimed, and will forever be proclaimed Savior of the world. 

The Greek word for Savior is Soter, and the Greek word for save is sozo, which means to protect, heal, preserve, to make whole.

Christ came to save you, and He came to do even so much more.  Being saved is only the beginning, and the depth of the Greek word sozo reveals God's dynamic plan for your abundant life.

We are saved by grace through faith.  We are saved, delivered from our sin and brought to the kingdom of God's light.  We no longer have to fear dying and going to hell.  We are no longer slaves to sin.  We no longer have to settle for isolation, intimidation, and incompletion.  God, in His sovereignty, is in control of our lives. 

He gives us great promise for our earthly journey.  He gives us a pathway to an abundant life of healing.  Jesus delivers from turmoil and leads us to peace and wholeness. 

"To make whole" is not only to be delivered from sin, but also it is to be brought to completeness.  Jesus came to this world not just to purchase our souls, but to heal our lives, to mend our broken hearts, to give us a sound mind, to give us abundant living:  Love.  Joy.  Peace.  Patience.  Kindness.  Goodness.  Faithfulness.  Gentleness.  Self-control. *

The star, the heavenly symbol placed in the heavens to give divine proclamation of the birth of the King, also glowed with the greatness of God, illuminating lives in ancient Judea, and it remains today in our hearts, leading us to the truth and riches of God's kingdom. 

Yes, today, the star of Bethlehem shines.  The star is still ours to behold.  It remains visible in our souls.  It glows unhidden, uncloaked by our Creator.  Shining forth, giving light, and telling truth to all who will look upon Him.  Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, the Light of the World, our Savior, is present with us to bless, to heal, to deliver, to make whole. 

Yet not everyone looks upon the Star.  Many refuse to see Him at all.  And not everyone who does look upon Him believes.  Not everyone who sees Jesus sees a Savior.  Some see Him as an interuption in their busy holiday plans.  Some see Him as a controversial icon.  Some see Him as a wise teacher worthy of quoting.  Some see Hin as a simple carpenter wtih great ambition.  Some see Him as a madman.  Some see Him only as a man who somehow made history.

How do you see Him today?  When you see a Star adorn a tree, when you look into the heavens, when you hear "Jesus" spoken, when you read His words, when you hear, "Merry CHRISTmas," What do you really hear?  Whom do you really see?  Do you see Him for the King He is?  Or do you see Him in obscurity, unsure of His power, beauty, and grace?

As a Christian what does your soul bear?  What do you want from Jesus?  What thoughts make your heart burn with burden?  What is lodged in your spirit like a seed in your tooth?  What mountain holds you back from shining as God's child? 

Does peace seem impossible?  Does exceeding joy seem elusive?  Does holy vision seem blurred?  Does something feel broken?  Do you need, dear friend, "to be whole"? 

Jesus is the Star who eternally shines with healing power!  And, . . . healing love! 

Reach out to Him and grasp the love He has for you this season in your life.  Christ's love will make a miracle out of the mountain that stands in your way.  You can remember this Christmas as the time your life changed forever.

How?  By five simple steps:  1) look up to Him as the shining Savior; 2) humble yourself before Him, proclaiming Christ as Lord over all your life; 3) pour out your heart to Him, telling the Lord your deepest thoughts, fears, and needs; 4) praise God for His great love for you and personal intervention in your life; and 5) stand in faith, waiting patiently for His work, coninuing in an attitude of praise.    

As Christians, we feel the conflict of perfection and carnality.  In our hearts, we long to please God; yet, being human, living in a fleshly temple, we make mistakes.  We mess up.  We sin.  We go through depression.  We get discouraged.  We deal with imperfect thoughts.  We feel alone.

But, we are not alone because we all go through these struggles.     

Yet, we do not give up!!!  We turn to Jesus!

Look on Jesus today!  See His Star that proclaims truth to all nations and to all people and to you!  By believing Him, through trust in His name, by following the path that proclaims Him Lord of All, you, too, will be like those of ancient Judea and everyone who calls on His name.  As you receive His abundant life and allow His authority to rule your heart, you, dear friend, you will rejoice with hope and "exceeding great joy"!

*The fruits of the Holy Spirit, Galatians 5:22
Research is from e-sword. 

BOUNTIFUL

Thou hast given so much to me,

Give one thing more, - a grateful heart;

Not thankful when it pleaseth me,

As if Thy blessings had spare days,

But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise.

 George Herbert

1593 - 1633

Bountiful. . . giving freely and generously; liberal; marked by abundance; plentiful; lavish; princely; munificent. The nature of the one who gives bountifully is loving, caring, giving, kind, sincere, and selfless. That description defies the root of human nature. But not God's. Our God is bountiful.

He pours into our lives and world liberal abundance.  He spiritually gives us everything we need to surge with growth in Jesus Christ.  And truly, God gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, God's most bountiful gift, freely to us.

So who can give legitimate argument to the goodness of God?  Who is so blind that God's handiwork is invisible or vague?  Who can stand against God's testimonies?  Who can deny His holiness?  Who is like our bountiful God?

No one can compare to Him!  He created the world and all life, and set eternity in order.  He framed creation with His lovingkindness, and He daily reveals His presence.  With each sunrise, God's voice announces His mercy.  With each sunset, our heavenly Father lovingly kisses the night with promise of tomorrow. 

Nature is a testimony of our Creator's sovereignty.  The beauty of the earth, the majesty of the heavens, the nobility of the eagle, the graceful stance of the deer, the sustenance of the seed, the yielding of bread from wheat and rye, the opening of the dogwood bloom in the spring, the closing of the evening primrose in the day, the fabric of DNA that gives form and distinction to our mortal bodies, and all other existence tell of God's glory!

Consider the breath of God.  His own breath is our channel of life.  The Hebrews referred to it as nâphach, meaning to inflate, blow hard, scatter, kindle.  God's breath makes us living souls, weak humans who must have the life of God within to kindle them and make them spiritually alive.  The "LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being" (Genesis 2:7).  God's own breath began human life.  Not just once in the beginning of creation, but later, too, with a new existence.

Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, breathed on his disciples so they would receive the Holy Spirit, our Comforter, our Compass, our Counselor.  Jesus "breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit'" (John 20:22).  In his commentary notes, Matthew Henry states that during creation, Almighty God gave life to man, which began the old world.  And that when our Savior breathed on his disciples, He signified new life for a new world.

God created breath as a channel for life, both physically and spiritually.

God created living mortal beings of flesh and blood and weakness to demonstrate His Almighty glory!

God created the splendor of the seas, the majesty of mountains, the terror of tides, and the complex abilities of human beings combined with the possibilities of His earth's sources to point to God's greatness and goodness.

The intricate complexities of life and every living thing and the order of the universe speaks.  Whispers.  Proclaims.  Declares.  SHOUTS the truth of His name. 

He is El Shaddai, The All-Powerful God.  He is Elohim, The Creator, our Master Designer.  He is The Everlasting God, El Olam, our Eternal God.  He is the only God!  He is the only One, true God!

And our loving Creator of our world and our lives is not a clockmaker, who designed, created, and wound just to watch His creation work.  NO!!!  Our God is the Ancient of Days, active in past, present, and future, and He is Yahweh Rohi, The LORD is my Shepherd, who gives daily bread, holy compassion, and loving leadership, and divine provision to those Whom He loves, His own.

Praise Him!  Remember His Name!  Call on Him!  Believe in His Word!  Don't be fearful of speaking His truth and proclaiming Him as God! 

Declare Thanksgiving, 2009 your time to give your God glory and praise and honor.  Friends, He is our Source of all things!  All thanks we have to give, whether for family, friends, finances, church, country, health, home, and so many other blessings, are from our heavenly Father, Who delights in pouring good into our lives!

As you prepare your Thanksgiving meal, as you gaze upon your family and friends, as you go to your place at the table, remember your Lord of mercy.  Keep His goodness before you, and let an attitude of praise reign in your heart.  In doing so, your Thanksgiving holiday will be mightily blessed and remain as a testimony in your life each day.  Letting praise reign is a seed of a mighty tree that will, if watered and fed, grow and show abundant fruit. 

One small seed of determined worship is a beginning.  One small seed of praise can be the beginning of a great harvest.  Praise is the planting of bounty.  Let the seed of thanksgiving rule your heart and mind.  May this thankful time be the start of a new season of worship in you!  Your life will be spiritually bountiful, abundant, plentiful, for the only, true bountiful One will live and reign in you as true thanksgiving for Him lives in your heart and flows from your lips.

Scripture is from the NIV Bible.

Definition from thefreedictionary.com.
All research is from e-sword resources.

A FEARFUL SOUND!

"So surely as the stars are fashioned by His hands, and their orbits fixed by Him, so surely are our trials allotted to us: He has ordained their season and their place, their intensity and the effect they shall have upon us."

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

"'That fearful sound of "fire" and "fire,"/Let no man know is my Desire.'" Her richly spoken words are numbing reality.   How well I remember first hearing those poetic phrases penned by Anne Bradstreet, initially learning  them in a college classroom.  I sat amazed as a non-traditional student who was in ignorance at the depth, honesty, intensity, and persuasion of a Puritan poet, whose out of abundance language brought life to page and truth to the journey of Christian living.

America's first woman poet poured many lyrical prayers and meditations of surrender and sacrifice.  In 1666, she lost all her material possessions to a devastating fire.  In 2000, one year after graduating from college, I had the privilege of reading and teaching her poetic verses of those losses to tenth graders.  I felt passionate about Anne's experience.  I wanted my students to share my passion and relate to her pain, to travel three centuries back with me to Anne's new world and connect with the soul-searching saga of one woman and her God.  To hear this woman's heartbeat and understand her godly affection and her influence in 17th century Amercia and our 21st century American life. 

In hearing her voice and heart, Anne Bradstreet became my heroine because of her faith in God and scriptural priorities.  Anne's courageous conclusion of "Upon the Burning of Our House" leaves me speechless each time I read it.  Breathless praise stills my soul when I walk with her on her voyage of private pain and sentiment to her letting-go of futility and grasping of holy, raw truth. Anne's godly take on life and loss bears hard in my soul, and it witnesses the fact of God's grace.  It is a grace for all us; yes, sweet friends, it is just as real now, in 2009, as it was in 1666. 

God is immutable.  He doesn't change.  His promises, his passions, his pleas for us are the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Thus, Anne's words remain.  Their urgency and appeal still move us.  They are timeless.  They speak truth.  They know love.  They give hope. 

"The world no longer let me Love, My hope and Treasure lyes Above." 

I have read those last lines so many times, yet I never imagined they would have their own particular part in my life.   

Last Sunday afternoon, November 8, I kept Olivia and Ella, two of my grandchildren. Both my son, Steven, and his wife had to work, and I savored the opportunity to have a little grandma time with the two little sweethearts, whom we call Baby Doll and Ella-Bella. Their mom arrived about 5:00 pm to take them home. Raychelle, my daughter-in-law, and I and the babies were in my den. Mommy and I were getting babies ready to go when suddenly we heard a terribly loud sound, like a gun or explosion.

We immediately and quickly moved toward the back door, opened it, and inhaled a noxious fume that had already saturated our screened porch and carport, where Raychelle had parked her car. Her engine had exploded, and flames were already licking their way toward our roof. We dared not approach our porch, which was engulfed with dense smoke. Rather, we grabbed the babies and the phone and quickly ran toward the opposite end of the house and out our front door.

Countless calls, copious words of comfort, two crying babies, and five fire trucks later, the drama ended. And its ending began a new adventure of awestruck, broken gratefulness to God for sparing the lives of Raychelle, Olivia, and Ella. The imaginations and discussions with family and friends have centered around God's mercy and grace. Two minutes later, Raychelle, Olivia, and Ella would have been in the car on their way home. My spirit is shaken with thoughts of those possibilities, but my spirit soars with gratitude for God's lovingkindness that spared our grief, and please believe me, words are really, really inadequate, but their inadequacy has not stopped my effortless giving of thanks.

Just as the explosive BOOM travelled beyond our home to surrounding neighbors, bringing sudden jolt and concern to all of us, I have been symbolically exploded from normal, day-to-day living into a sudden, compulsory journey of soul-moving praise and soul-searching surrender!

We have had some losses. I count them now as nothing.  They are replacable. Just things made out of elements of this unholy earth that God will one day fold like a garment.

What is a carport, a porch, stuff in an attic, insulation, smoke-damaged sofas and chairs and curtains and linens, and water-damaged wood? What are sooty-smelling clothes, quilts, books, lampshades, and carpet? Really, what are they?

What is it to be a little discomforted and inconvenienced?  What is to stand with your family and feel the shock of now and the wonder of tomorrow?  What is it to seek temporary stay?  What is a real home?

And what does it mean to be real and give everything we own to Jesus?  To put into perspective worldy elements that are at one momen material gifts from God and the next moment worthless gifts to Him?  What is annoying about picking up a lace garment so delicately formed, and tediously woven, one of many that was freshly laundered with particular care, but now reeks with toxic fumes and an oily pine scent meant to mask nasty smoke?  

By God's grace alone, his unmerited favor, his worthy, divine intervention for our unworthy, weak, fleshy abilities, everything, all of it, means rejoicing for what is new.  The passing, departing, of one frame of reference to a new point of vision.  A welcomed opportunity for a more certain path of this Christian life that can be obscurely bright - i.e., dim of understanding, yet oh so light with promise.  A possibility of looking behind at less and looking forward to grasp more.  A newer appreciation of God's mercy and grace, which I must have in volumes every moment of every day of my pilgrim life. 

From the perspective of limited loss (things could be much, much, worse), it feels pretty good to be inadequate, and though I'm living in the neighborhood of faith versus reason, my spirit is striving to soar with the uncomplicated truth that not understanding my entire life is absolutely OK.  What freedom there is in that one Biblical truth!

Do I need prayer?  Sure, I do.  Always!  But, please rejoice with me, too, for out of darkness comes light!    What Satan means for our discouragement and demise, God means for our good in Christ.  Hallelujah!  Friends, that is shouting ground! 

Sunday night after Steven, Raychelle, and babies were safe at home and Jeff and I were safe in a hotel, I went to the bathroom to get ready for bed.  For a few moments, the significance of everything rushed in like a flood.  The tears flowed as I thought of God's salvation and our unworthiness of his gift.  To be honest, my immediate reaction to the trauma had been quiet. I was speechless and just did not want to talk.  But the awareness of God's hand could not quench my praise and the knowledge of our near true losses were overwhelming to realize.

Thank God for his deliverance and salvation!  Thank God for his divine intervention!  Thank God for his provision and power!  And thank God for you, and I pray that as you ponder these words, he will move in and through your life with his mighty anointing and the reality of his love and lordship!  So many of you have been through and are going through hardships.  As I write, I am moved by your courage and victory as you face illness, family difficulites, lost loved ones, financial discouragements, depression, fear, death, and on and on. 

Please hear my heart.  God loves you.  And, he is at work to prove what is good and holy and acceptable in your relationship with him.  Jesus reigns!!!  Not just in heaven.  No, Christ reigns in your heart and life!  Within you is his kingdom!

And he hears your heart today.  He Who formed your heart knows the depths of it.  He Who formed your life knows the purpose of it.  The Lord, our omniscient Creator, knows your way.  And if that way is too narrow, or steep, or rocky, or unstable, or dark, or whatever, our God will deliver you and set your free! Beloved, may God bless you and reveal to you now and forever his everlasting love for you.   

"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22-23, NIV).

Below are images of God's divine intervention from last Sunday.

THE LONG, SOUGHT-AFTER

"Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul."

Henry Ward Beecher

"Tha-nk yooou." Southern charm slipped through her lips like sweet tea through a sieve. The beautiful inflections in her little lady's voice were rich with heritage. I listened closely, as her dear, expressive style traveled two doors down the hospital hallway to my room, where I was waiting for outpatient surgery. Time seems suspended when expecting that trip down hospital corridors into the bright, cold, sterile operating room. The pause not only seems slow, but is slow, and the need for diversion moves one to find it wherever it's available.

An early spring day, five years ago, my husband and I found diversion in the elegance of an elderly Southern lady and her gentleman husband, who kept passing by our door, making trip after trip to please his little wife, who was also awaiting a medical procedure, with phone calls to family and questions for the nurses.

Though I could not see her, the precious belle made me smile and occupied my interest, and such occupation was much more enlivening than lying in an antiseptic environment, surveying ceiling tiles and equipment that I did not know about and did not want to know about.

What amused me most was not her accent, though. It was a very deep Southern drawl, which is not nearly as common in the modern South as it once was in past generations. And being born and raised in Georgia, it wasn't the first time I had heard long, drawn-out vowels, and, moreover I have been known to draw-out a vowel or two or three myself.

What impressed me was her perfected Southern charm and her insistence on showing tremendous appreciation for all things, whether simple or slightly stunning. She had me convinced that we were in the best hospital in the world with the best nurses and doctors to be found anywhere on earth right there in our very presence. And her silky, smooth, complementary nature was only surpassed by her courage and calm.

Two hours of listening and absorbing her heart and demeanor left me inspired. I hoped for such charm and genteelness. She was a for real steel magnolia! I didn't want to waste an opportunity to learn from a genuine Melanie Wilkes.

Now reflection has its true place in our lives. And with eventual hindsight, I had to get real! I was inspired by my memories of her spirit and poise, and though I would never forget her amazing likeness to gentle southern belles from old classic movies, I realized my thoughts had to run deeper than the grasping of a demeanor or the outward beauty of kindness or gracious, grateful living.

As a child of God, my grasping must reach toward a higher goal. A life of sincere thankfulness and merciful expression to God and others must be my deliberate hope and intentional prayer. The necessity of a pure, total, thorough, vocal, surrendered life of sincere gratitude for God, i.e. a heart of worship, must be my focused goal in life, for, as Jesus said, those who worship in spirit and truth are "the kind of worshipers the Father seeks" (John 4:23).

Let that truth sink in! God seeks worshipers! He is seeking worshipers who are for real. He wants our praise to be forthright, honest, sincere, and faithful. His Spirit seeks out those who honor Him and aren't ashamed to show it. Such was the case one day as Jesus walked the sandy soil toward Jerusalem, determined to pass through Samaria and Galilee.

The omniscient Christ knew He had an appointment in a tiny Samaritan village along the way. He knew ten needs awaited Him there. He had beheld their poverty. He had heard their calls. He was drawn to them by holy compassion.

But the dusty road seemed surely hopeless to the ten, whose weak bodies and inferiorities brought them daily wander, agony, and shame. Roaming around for relief and pity only brought the men taunting, humiliation, pain, and fatigue. The disease was dreadful. The separation from society unbearable. The strain of their voices reasonable, as the ten tired from crying, "Unclean, . . . unclean, . . . unclean." The lepers were cast-offs, rejects, failures. They stood as symbols of sin and not real men.

Nearing the village, Jesus saw their needy, snowy forms. And, . . . the ten saw Him. They knew His name. They knew of His power. They had heard of His miracles. He had healed the lame. Delivered from demons. Restored souls. Spoke divine authority. Raised the dead. Created new wine.

Now was their day. Now was their hour. Now was their moment of hope.

As Jesus drew nearer, the ten kept far away. They dared not approach. Yet, belief stayed in their spirits, surged through their souls, and finally, faith gave way to uplifted voices. They could hold their cries no longer. "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"

Christ looked at them. Spoke to them. Brought divine authority to them. Christ voiced the lepers' deliverance. "Go, show yourselves to the priests."

Then, . . . hope became visible. For as the men made their way to the priests, all were cleansed. Healed, by the Word and by their faith.

Ten faces fixed like granite toward their ordered destination, focused on their flawless forms.

Suddenly, one stopped in his way. He turned. The lone healed man perceived his wholeness. Eyed his transformation. He felt the freedom from pain past. He knew faith made new life. Knew "unclean" was no longer his name.

With loud praise, with voice of triumph, with legs of strength, with flawless, pure skin, the Samaritan ran to Jesus. And falling, casting himself at Christ's feet, that one raised his voice in glorious adoration, and thanked Jesus, Whose mercy gave him new complexion, Whose spoken words released an outcast from bondage, abandon, and torment.

Looking at the grateful man, Jesus simply replied, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any* found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?. . . Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well."

I do not know what happened to this grateful man, whose thanksgiving even now compels 21st century hearts to praise. Surely he showed himself to the priests. Then, perhaps, with a soul overwhelmed by God's glory, with new life, he forever testified of the Lord's mercy and the healing power of Jesus Christ. For, the grateful, healed man had a heart of worship, and his heart of worship led him to a personal encounter with the Lord. The one who stayed to give glory to God received a closer look at the Anointed One. His heart of worship and compulsion to praise brought him face to face with Jesus. How could he ever be the same again, when forever he remembered Jesus' piercing eyes of love and the Lord's personal notice of his heart of worship?

God loves a thankful heart! When you have a heart of thankfulness, God moves in your life and changes who you are. Why? Because a thankful heart moves the hand of God. Your honest praise reaches His heart. And your focus on His glory and adoration of Who He is, overcomes the fleshly focus of self and the world.

And as your thanksgiving increases, as your heart of worship grows, perspective of God and life deepens. What is truly important comes to light. You soon see that those little things you thought you needed really aren't so great after all. You soon know the truth of God's Own priorities for your life! And with His priorities in place, everything is new. His peace that passes human understanding becomes reality in you. Through your sincere praise, God escorts you to a walk of perfect peace.

Think for a moment about worshiping in spirit and truth (John 4:24). How can defeat overcome a heart of worship? It is impossible because a heart of worship, real worship, heartfelt thanksgiving, is a state of faith. Glorifying God with you words and with your life allows Him to reign within you. His ruling presence becomes your life's reality! And defeat and despair are incapable of standing in Christ's ruling presence!

"I love you, Lord. I praise you, Jesus, for Who you are and for how you are moving in my life. You are the only, one, true God! And, I thank you for being the great I Am and moving with power in my life."

Jesus sought the lepers to give them mercy and to show us His desire that we glorify Him, at all times, in all things. Dear friend, in every moment of your life "give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (I Thessalonians 5:18). God hungers to hear your praise!

Will you be that one who stops in the way, wonders at God's work, turns, falls at His feet, and gives glory and honor to Jesus? Will you be that one who takes the extra effort to find intimacy with Him is so worth the trip? Will you be that one to place worshiping God and having a grateful spirit above getting on with your life? Will you be that one who loves Him first and clings to Him most? Will you be that one to whom Jesus says, "Arise"?

*emphasis mine

The cleansing of the ten lepers is found in Luke 17:11-19.

All scripture is from NKJV and NIV.

HEAVENLY DELIGHT

"A house needs a grandma in it."

Louisa May Alcott

A southern summer's day was a sweet dream when I was ten years old and in my favorite place. My grandma was blessed to live in an antique-filled Victorian home in a quaint old town, just a short hour's drive from Atlanta, where I lived. What a perfect place her home seemed! An oval beveled glass door led from an old-fashioned, roomy front porch to a living room filled with a glorious staircase, an old coal fireplace with a mahogany mantle, and stained-glass windows that reached so high, almost, it seemed to the soaring ceiling.

I wanted to call it mine, but was so happy to be there in brief. Just blessed to be with my Grandma and spend days with her. Those humid days passed so quickly, yet while there I clung to Grandma like honey on a buttermilk biscuit.

I was her shadow. And she never seemed to mind. She seemed happy to have a frolicking granddaughter beside her night and day for a "spell."

She taught me much. Quality and quantity. Partly because I fiercely questioned her about anything and everything that visited my ten year old brain. But mostly, Grandma taught me because of love. Her love was unique. It went beyond instruction and gravitated to discipleship.

I specifically remember one quiet day when, as customary, I followed her from room to room. She told me she had some "sprayin'" to do and she had to be alone. Most naturally, I assumed inquisition.

"What's sprayin', Grandma?" My ten year old mind just couldn't wrap around the idea of spraying being so important. And what in the world was she talking about anyway?

I watched the back of my little gray-haired Mom's Mom walk away from me, but she quickly turned, and with her eyes, cauterized a hole through my skinny, dangly figure, adding distress to my confusion. "Andrea, don't you know what sprayin' is?"

"No, mam." I started to feel defensive. I didn't understand the big deal. But I knew my simple curiosity had led me to trouble. I sort of felt I had come in from a sandbox and needed a bath.

Grandma turned again and walked. I followed. We stopped in her makeshift closet, which was really a large hallway in the back of her aged home. Surrounded by clothes and shoes and scarfs and coats and whatever else fancied her, we stood and stared at each other, and though she was under five feet tall, her presence seemed as mighty as a red oak.

"Grandma, what's sprayin?" My stubborn curiosity was not deterred, for I knew my grandmother's strong heart of discipline could be melted by her compelling, loving leadership. As expected, my young ignorance was too much for her to resist.

"Andrea, do you mean to tell me you don't know what sprayin' is?"

"Nooooo," I slowly answered with hope of subduing dissatisfaction.

"You've never heard of it? Don't your mama spray?"

Interest was now eating me alive. I thought I had stumbled onto a family secret. Or maybe spraying was something grown women had to do to stay clean.

"Andrea I can't believe you don't know about prayin'!"

"I thought you said sprayin', Grandma!" I was at once relieved and disappointed. Happy to be out of the woods. Sad that I was now devoid of a divulged secret.

"I know what prayin' means. And my mama does pray."

How my sweet grandma and I ever had such a misunderstanding I do not know! It looks like one of us would have sooner known the difference between a p and an s. Nonetheless, she was satisfied and relieved, and refocused, my gray-haired companion told me it was her time for prayer. Grandma remained in her closet, while I made my way into her nearby bedroom, and lingered there to listen to a melodious voice speak to God for each and every one of her children and grandchildren. It was like hearing an angel. So sincere, so pure, so heavenly, so selfless, so vibrant and alive, so true, and so unforgettable. It was spoken words showing unseen power.

As Grandma lifted her voice to the Lord, I would occasionally sneak a peek from around the bedroom corner. And with increased courage, I finally made my way into her closet to stand behind her and watch. Grandma's back was toward me, and she was on her knees, weeping, crying out, lost in a heavenly world of praising and asking and receiving. Her head even swayed in rhythm with her resounding words.

Etched in memory as a faithful portrait, those sterling moments on a sultry, summer Georgia day changed my life. If ever I had doubted what prayer was, the mystery was solved. Surely, Grandma had taught me to pray.

She had given me a foundation, a beginning point from which God could build prayer truths later in my life. And today, many years later, I am still learning truths, still searching for a deeper well, still grasping for greater power in prayer.

In our omnipotent God can I only find power in prayer. God is infinite. Limitless. And I am human and fully aware of my many limitations. And yet, those limitations should not bring me a dab of discouragement. FOR, Christ has given a promise! "[W]hatever you ask the Father in my name He will give you. Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full" (John 16:23-24).

ASK! GIVE! RECEIVE! Action verbs! And some of Jesus' final words to His disciples before His passion began. And the message in that scripture from John is greater still, as it reveals His and the Father's heart. THEY WANT US TO PRAY! THEY WANT OUR JOY TO BE FULL!!! Christ has shown us the key to prayer and joy! It begins with a gift of contract left to us from God the Father and God the Son. We can use the name of Jesus to implore our Father to respond to our needs!

And our needs, all of them, God knows all about and fully understands. "For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him" (Matthew 6:8).

Before. Not just when. Before. God knows. He Sees.

El Roi is one of my favorite names of God. Its Hebrew meaning is The-God-Who-Sees and is described in The Woman's Study Bible as The Responder to needs!

Hallelujah! Oh, how the Lord loves us!!! He looks! He sees! He knows! That prayer truth fills my soul with unspeakable, bubbling joy!

God is so amazing! He loves us so! He longs for us to pray!

He watches us! Examines our needs with His divine eyes. Looks for us to look to Him! Wants to share life with us! All of life! To have communion with us!

And God wants us all to recognize our need for Him! To see our needs in light of Who He is! God wants to fill a void in us that cannot be filled any other way but by prayer. God wants us to see Him as our Father. And from our parental relationship with Him, God wants to meet our needs, to answer our prayers. And our answers will come as you and I see God as El Roi, as our very own Father in heaven, Who loves and cares for us, Who sees, and Who wants us to connect with Him through the name of His only Son, Jesus Christ.

Let's take a quick but closer look at John 16:24. Notice again the reason for answered prayer is "that your joy may be full." The Greek word John used for joy is chara, which means calm delight, the cause or occasion for joy, or exceeding gladness. It emphasizes the abiding permanence of joy.

Pleroo, the Greek word for full, means to fill to the full; to make complete in every way; to bring to realization; to cause God's will and promises to receive fulfillment. Pleroo is also found in John 15:11 and I John 1:4.

Consider also that the Greek word for ask implies a continuous state of asking! And remember that Jesus, in John 15, had just revealed our necessary state of abiding in Him, a living, constant, unbroken relationship where we remain fixed in Christ. Through union with Him, we take our needs to God, those needs that our Father already sees and understands, and we ask for divine intervention in the name of Jesus.

And the God Who sees us and the God Who hears us is the God Who answers us. He answers that we remain in a constant condition of calm contentment. He answers that in the middle of a mess, in the context of need, we can have delight, contentment, peace, joy. Our imperfect, fleshly life can have perfected joy through the Holy Spirit.

Joy is ours to realize. It is ours to ask. Christ is ours for abiding. Yes, simply asking, just pouring out our hearts to our Savior, to our God, will bring us joy complete. For our asking is our faith in action when Jesus is our vine and we one with Him.

As I close this post, I am asking myself, "Andrea, why in this world would you ever doubt The-God-Who-Sees? Why should you ever use God as a spare tire(please see quote at post's end)? Why do you sometimes delay asking when God desires you have delight?"

My friend, God longs for the melodious sound of your voice. Yes, your cry to Him is like my grandma's were to me. Sweet harmony. Yours is the voice of His beloved. And your rejoicing is the overflowing completeness of His kingdom revealed in you. Right now, God's hands are extended to you. In them he holds your joy.

JUST FOR US TO PONDER. . .

All of us have a measure of faith given to us by God. How much faith does it take to receive not only salvation, but the fulfillment of joy?

How do you, in your walk with God, reach a level of prayer that leads to completion of joy?

What specific times in your life do you remember abiding joy?

Hagar said that the Lord was to her ""the God Who sees me" (Genesis 16:13). Have you ever experienced such helplessness as Hagar did and in your despair, been blessed by the presence and intervention of El Roi?

"Is God your steering wheel or your spare tire?"

Corrie Ten Boom

Research is from e-sword.