Christian living

Pockets of peace

Sometimes you just have to pull over to the side of the road…..find a little out of the way place and hide out for a spell. Especially at this time of year. It gets pretty crazy. The more people around me speed up, the more I want to slow down. I do this every year. I wear myself out. Not with buying, with doing…..

And this year, I haven’t been able to make any plans because I still don’t know if I can take the week of Christmas off. It makes it very difficult, expecially when you have to schedule flights. I don’t do well with last minute. I want to plan, schedule. Finalize.

This has been an up in the air year. Ever feel like your life is in a holding pattern? Like you’re flying around and around, waiting for the control tower to give you clearance to land but they never do?

I surprised myself the other day, when I realized that God is teaching me something through all this. He is helping me get better with this feeling of being out of control.

He has brought little pockets of peace in the chaos, here and there. Times of enjoyment…..laughter….and we thank God for them, every one.

It is really a relief when you finally let go.

You realize that there is peace to be found in that holding pattern above the clouds.

We are all invited

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Micah 5:2

For four hundred years, the voice of God was silent……The Holy Spirit stirred no prophet. No one came forth. Israel waited. They waited for redemption, for hope. Rescue. But they didn’t expect it the way it came, the way He came.

The light of the world

They knew the prophecies concerning the One who would come…..they studied Isaiah, Micah and all the rest even from birth, and yet when He came, exactly as it was prophesied, many missed him.

Jesus, our hope……the hope of the Gentiles and the Jews, the hope of the whole world.

His heart breaks even now, when He remembers how many missed Him then, and how many will continue to miss him now. For He is not willing that any should perish.

The fact that I have not missed Him is proof of His great mercy. I ask myself why? But then I remember that His mercy extents to everyone. He holds this invitation out to the whole world…….still.

This alone is reason enough reason to live thankfulness in my heart every moment. One lifetime does not hold enough time for the amount of gratitude He deserves, so I am glad He has given me all eternity to thank Him….

Along with the angels.

For now, I will continue my list of small miracles in the every day: #754-764

For the joy that still flows as I decorate this year, even through the difficulties and challenges. The Spirit still flows and circumstances can’t stop it…..Halleluiah.

The silly moments of laughter with a best friend who is silly along with me, as we join in spontaneous song driving down the road.

The evening fires, and being to eat outside once again….

The incredible sunrise this morning.

The glided pages of my favorite old Bible, “big red” I call it. I had thought the gold had all worn off the pages, but as the light hit it this morning, it caught the edge of the pages and I discovered it was still there.

Small escapes, little vacations in the midst of chaos that bring back a bit of sanity.

And a big surprise last night. Elaine’s Mom joining me in decorating the Christmas tree, the first normal thing she has done in a very long time, and the first time she has decorated a tree in about 20 years…..

Cloud covered Superstitions……(see photo blog today, here)

Birdsong cutting through the chill of the morning.

Cold weather in Arizona……that makes it feel more like Christmas!

photo credit: google images

Beating back the dark

This morning, I huddled in the crisp, cool darkness of the morning. I spilled out my worries. The same ones He always hears. I drew names out of my heart……

I whispered them and as I prayed I imagined them floating up…..up…..up toward that Throne.

The only One who matters, heard them.

Received them.

Then, after the spilling out of my cares was done. I figured I needed the serious praying posture. The head down and knees bent variety…..and no words except praise for Him who is worthy. Filling the silence I thought of the verses in the Bible that describe Isaiah’s vision:

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
There in the silence, I could almost hear it.
I discovered once again, that the best way to beat back the darkness is with praise.
It’s the one thing I have found that never fails.


Showdown in the Desert

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. Isaiah 9:2

I struggle with this post today. How to get into words what I feel this year? This particular advent? Each year I ask myself the same questions. What did it mean then, and what does it mean today? How can anyone truly understand the wonder of the Living God coming down to earth as a baby? This is why we are celebrating, after all.
Yesterday I saw a sign at a Scottsdale shopping mall describing Santa as “The man of the Season.” Really? I guess for some he is the man of the season, but not for me.
Sometimes…..many times, in our walk of faith we come to a place of decision. That is where I was yesterday. It was difficult to pray. I sat in silence, my heart feeling like a stone. I was struggling. It was a battle I was facing and I had to ask myself a serious question. It was a showdown in the desert. I
Jesus had one too. And He won.
After prayer I came back inside, pacing. Lately I have noticed anger…..resentment bubbling underneath my surface, ready to flare at little meaningless things. I know where it comes from. And I also know that it was a Spiritual battle not a physical one I had to fight.
I know Satan’s tactics. It was between him and me now. I was determined that he would not win. Can I just say to anyone who thinks that Satan isn’t real, that he isn’t absolutely bent on our destruction, just look at our world today. That my friends, is not the work of God.
What He created was and is perfect. Take the human element out of this world and you would be left with the same perfection as in the day of creation. Still and always, good. But thankfully, there is a good human element in play as well. All around us there are those who hold back the tide. And let’s just call it what it is…..evil.
I realized yesterday morning, that if I can’t handle one old, stinky bad tempered woman, yes I did say stinky. We are going on week six of no shower. She gets absolutely hostile and angry when Elaine suggests she take one. So we just keep spraying air freshener and lighting candles throughout the house.
If I can’t handle this situation, then my faith means nothing. I am a fraud as a Christian. I may as not sing one Christmas carol. You see, that was and is the battle. Yours might be different, but we are all in one once we claim the name of Christ. It is not about flesh and blood at all. 
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12 
It is an old battle and nothing new. Yesterday I determined that God and I together would win it. Peace will reign in this home, in my heart. I will lay my struggle down at the feet of Jesus. I will let the Spirit take over instead of trying to fight it on my own.


“Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” Romans 8:12

Once I made up my mind……peace flooded into my heart. That is what advent means to me this year. It means peace, it means victory, it means we may have battles, but Jesus has won the war for us!
I continue my count today with renewed gratitude……..Decorating with joy for the season…….A best friend who understands and shares my burdens in prayer and conversation…..Christmas lights that work…..Snowman doormat….new heater in prayer room…….talks by the firelight……Morning chill……a call from my Aunt last night…..laughter when all else fails……Sleigh with stuffed Christmas babies that always make me smile…..#743-#753

The blessing of fellowship

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:25

Yesterday Elaine and I went to see a dear friend who Pastors a church. He was a friend even before he was a Pastor, but we used to meet at work for prayer and Bible study. It was so good to catch up. By the time we heard all his problems ours felt much smaller.

We sat there for 3 hours…..until he got a call to pick up his daughter at school. The time had flown so fast we scarcely noticed it.

What a blessing it is to have dear friends to fellowship with. Like iron sharpening iron, we are strengthened by each other. He told us of what pain he has suffered over his next to youngest daughter. The one he never expected it from. He also said that lessons he has learned from going through that has helped him deal with issues in the church.

The hardest lessons to learn……Letting go.

He had to learn to let his daughter go, and sometimes to grow a church, you have to let some people go. A very perplexing lesson when you are in a small church and you are trying to grow it.

Sometimes God uses those we love the most to teach us the hard lessons of letting go. Sometimes it makes no sense. Sometimes we feel that the most Godly thing we could do is to grab on tighter. But God’s ways are higher than ours, always.

And it makes sense when you think about it.

He used the One closest to Himself to change the world.

I dreamt of snow flurries…….


I have always said, snow can make a scene of beauty out of a dumping ground. It transforms what it touches, like God’s Grace when it reaches us. In Isaiah, the book I have always thought of as the Christmas book God says: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. – Isaiah 1:18

While I didn’t wake to snow flurries, I did awake to the patter of raindrops……..I sighed and rolled over, “no watering today.” Always a concern in the desert.

As I went out for my morning walk/run the streets were wet with wonderful puddles. Another thing to thank Him for. As I passed by the gate I saw the cars already lined up at 6:30, a stream of cars jostling for position in queue.

I thought of myself, since I will be one of those later on this week.

I thought of the people in those cars…….have they felt the touch of God’s snow white Grace?

As the world is gearing up for the Holidays, I pray that we might slow down instead. Downshift our lives. I pray more than anything for peace during this Thanksgiving, and throughout the Christmas season. That our lives and hearts and souls will be knit together in love.

That we may love each other as One in Him.

I am thankful first of all today for Ann’s calling it to my attention. The counting of the gifts. As I read more from her wonderful book: One Thousand Gifts, and I thought of a few people who I know that would embrace and live the message…..who just may find one tucked under their tree this year.

And I prayed thanks for:

#732-742: The joy of taking pictures……raindrops in the night…..fresh coffee to get me started……fires at night, along with conversation that goes with it…….visits with old friends…….dreams of snow flurries……warm clothes when wind bites…..warm oatmeal cookies……people who believe in me.

photo from google images

Onto the green…..

In everything give thanks……..“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

As I walked outside this morning, I glimpsed one of those magic Arizona sunrises that I knew I had to capture. I got my camera and drove across the street to the golf course, where the golfer’s church, their form of Sunday service I suppose, was just about to commence. The announcer’s voice…..the morning lineup of who would tee off….

I thought, I could just about get used to this kind of service.

I don’t know if God was with them, but He was certainly with me.

Thank you precious Lord, for giving me the eyes to see You.

And this.

Amen

The door of peace

 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27
Every day we have a choice. Which door will I walk through? That of the Spirit or that of the world? In every circumstance a door of choice lays before us. Some people don’t even realize a choice exists, they just react, and react badly. I have realized my own capacity to veer wildly off the path, leave the way of peace in the dust and choose to react the way the world does.
I am amazed and ashamed at my own capability for white hot rage, or resentment that sticks like a burr in my heart. One minute I am praying in the Spirit and in the next instant I am ready to lash out……At what someone does, or says. This is the human condition, and one Jesus knew well. It’s one of the reasons He came. He knew we were hopeless and helpless without Him. Without His Spirit indwelling us, working through us and in us, we don’t have a snowball’s chance. (you know the rest)

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

Friends, this is a battle. And thankfully it is a battle that Christ has already won. I don’t have a chance of winning it on my own. Many times I still try. 

Today, moment by moment, choice by choice I can choose to lay down my weapons and walk peacefully through the door of the Spirit.

Come with me.

Pray for me and I will pray for you, okay? 

A Free Gift

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8,9
News leaves me cold these days. We are, all of us, inundated with information…..most of it useless. How did we get to be a society, a people, so influenced by culture and what it says. I don’t care about any of it so I scan over the headlines as quickly as I can. It makes me weary, nothing changes, only the faces of the latest celebrity of the minute, the hour, the week.  
I skim past them, glancing at headlines, stopping every now and again as I shiver at the violence, destruction, loss that is now part of our normal. At what shouldn’t be, but is.
I stay just long enough to know what is going on in the world. And I am reminded of one thing:
 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:9
But faith is one thing that never gets old. It gets renewed again and again. Increases in power, with constant use. It is stretched but never can be broken beyond repair. It stays gleaming and shiny new as that moment when we first grabbed onto it. Whether it was out of desperation or hope as slim as a spider’s thread……it was real.
The other day in a book I was reading one of the characters said, “I just can’t believe, I don’t have that gift of faith.” That is when I remembered again what a gift it really is. To believe. To have faith in what we can’t see.
It is something we could never do on our own…..for even the act of believing comes from God Himself. Otherwise we could never do it. But He holds it out to us each day. And I believe, I really believe that though He will never force it on us, He holds out hope that we will accept it.
And I don’t believe it is too late until we take that last breath.
Thank you Father for such a wonderful gift. 

Going Deep

Sometimes I wonder why I am content to wade………and I wonder how my life would look if I dared to go deep with God. I have gone deep before so I know how it feels. When things are good and I feel like I have things under control I tend to stay in the shallows. I read my Bible and pray, but just enough……
Then when I get desperate, I submerge myself in Scripture……..Prayer……..Calling out to God…..fasting.….And of course, He is there. He always answers. The truth hits home, for when are we ever not desperate in this life?
When do we not need Him? I wonder how my life would look if I truly lived by the Spirit’s leading. If I listened to that quiet voice when it beckoned more often. 
What is it that prevents me from walking that close, that intimate with my Heavenly Father?
I guess it really comes down to fear of where He might lead, what He might ask….So much so, that I forget all the blessing that He assures me would come with it.

Then I remember that was the first sin of Adam and Eve…….He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid. 
His love for the children of His creation led His steps to the Garden,
To the Cross.
He even went so far as to fill us with His Spirit so that we may never be without Him.

Shouldn’t that be enough to convince me of His love? That where He leads I need never fear?
Yet sometimes I still fear. This life is full of it.
And still His Grace is with me, walking where I walk.
And someday, in that face to face place called Heaven we will walk again without fear in the Garden.
No separation, ever again.
The future is bright my friends.
You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:11