Encouragement

They Missed Greatness

“Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but My Words shall not pass away.” Matthew 24:35

When Jesus crested the hill to look down on Jerusalem he wept. He wept because He knew that only a fraction would accept Him as their Messiah. As God in the flesh. They just had a much different idea of what they wanted in a Savior. They wanted a political leader that would bring them out of their allegiance to Rome. They didn’t realize that they were in a much bigger prison than that. It was a prison of their own souls.

At first, they wanted what He could give them. They wanted the miracles, the healings, the multiplied food. They witnessed demons being cast out, even Lazarus being raised from the dead. But when it came right down to it, they were terrified of what He had. The religious leaders knew their power was in jeopardy. It was all good until He claimed to be God, (miracles notwithstanding.) Then out came the stones.

I was listening to a family member talking and I was thinking about how many are still missing him because they think they have everything they need in this life without Him. Everything and everyone are nothing but a passing blip in their radar screen unless they have something greater than what they have already. Jesus says this about the Church in Laodicea:

For you say, “I’m rich; I’ve become wealthy and need nothing,” and you don’t realize that you are pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”

The person I was listening to was passing through, touching down in our lives for a brief moment so they could go to the next stop, this home and that home, meeting someone else at the cabin by the lake, having come from their own place in the mountains and them going home again and ahead to planning the next venture. How many are living their lives just the same way, missing the Greatness because He just doesn’t have what they want. They already have plenty thank you very much.

And Jesus looks down at this world and weeps for a different reason. Those of us who have His glory, His riches, His blessings are not stopping those we encounter each and every day. Not stopping them just to ask a simple question, “Do you love Jesus?” This is what my friend has been asking people ever since she got out of a stint in the ICU. She wasn’t sure she would make it out alive and God has touched her in a very real way. And her fresh faith has deeply touched me.

So, do you? Love Jesus? Those of us who have tasted the riches of His blessings through His Holy Spirit who dwells with us know what we have. My fire has been kindled and each day I fan it with prayer and opening His word which is everything we will ever need in this life. I don’t have much, I don’t have a beach house, a cruise lined up, an itinerary at all, except I know where I am headed when this life is over, and that is all I need and more. If you are a fellow believer, everyone you meet is in the presence of Greatness whether they know it or not. Let us let our light of Love shine bright so they can see what they might be missing.

Love Jesus, friends. He is all you will ever need. If you need to be introduced, leave me a comment on this blog or email. Blessings

Lheyd59@msn.com

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Be Grateful

In Prayer this morning I was reminded again that I have a heritage in the church that I am so grateful for. As far as I look back, I have memories of being with God’s people. Were they perfect? Not by a long shot, but in those hallowed whispered halls of quiet, I learned of God. I heard the stories of David, Samuel, Noah, so much so that they were not strangers to me. WOW, I grew up and realized that not everyone has that. I am SO grateful for every church that I attended, no matter the denomination, folks. Denominations, I believe, only seek to divide us, but we can glean what we can from them anyway if we are open to what God would teach us.

I was thinking what a wonderful thing that heritage is to pass on to the next generation. It only takes one generation to forget God entirely. I guess my point is, be grateful that you have any memories of church, however restrictive you think it was, you heard the Word spoke, and that will never move through your soul without lodging itself somewhere. That somewhere will come out when you least expect it in the words of an old hymn you thought you forgot about. Thank God that someone took you there. Maybe it was VBS where all you remember is gluing colored macaroni together to make a picture of Jesus. Thank God for it.

I remember, oh how I remember now, and I didn’t think much of it then. The rustling of choir robes right before the first note. The procession of the Cross and the Acolytes down the aisle in my short stint in the Episcopal church. Christmas programs and the brown paper sack filled with treats, and nervously trying to remember my verse when my turn came. The night my mom didn’t give in when I wanted to wear my ratty jeans to church. The large line waiting to see the very charismatic Pastor John at my aunts church. My Baptism and the way the white robe billowed around me, and proclaiming my faith at 13 barely knowing what that entailed. God chased me my whole life and now at (almost 66) I have entered an even deeper knowing of Him because a year or so ago, I realized that playing around with the world was not what I should do.

I am SO thankful today. God has been made real to me so many times in my life. Two very pronounced ways, once when I was healed of Anorexia, and once on a quiet foggy morning in an empty house near Christmas where I had an encounter with the Holy Spirit that I don’t talk about much and I will never forget. And now He has drawn near to me again, fulfilling His promise in James that says:

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded. James 4:8

And think about this, His Holy Spirit takes up residence inside us when we invite Him in. No matter how we have strayed or lost time, God is faithful. He won’t remind you of it, He will only welcome you back with open arms and redeem the years. That’s the kind of God we serve. I am so grateful for those Pastors and Teachers who speak the Word faithfully. Getting involved again with a Bible Study has been the best decision I have made. Listen to those wonderful sources that have the Living Water flowing through their veins. If you want to know what is going on in Israel today give these wonderful folks a listen here, and if you want sound Biblical teaching from a wonderful friend of mine go here

That is my offering today, folks. Have a blessed and peaceful weekend and remember, God is making all things new as we speak…..Where there is breath, there is hope.

This Good Day

What a gift to throw open the windows to the blessed coolness of a new day. We get to be here. I get to savor the first cup of brew as I fill the hummingbird feeders (one buzzed my head) What a blessing. What a tremendous gift. Each day we have reminders of just how precarious our position is. Recently, we were having lunch with a friend who had several text messages waiting as she touched back down in California from Spain. Message after message, “Call me,” they all said. It sounded urgent and it was.  

He said he was dying. He had been tired and his wife convinced him to go to the Doctor. Turns out he had esophageal cancer and stomach cancer and didn’t know it. Three weeks prior he had been hiking in the Sierras. Hospice was called and he died a few days later. 

I get to be here. This morning every breath feels like a benediction, a prayer of thanks, because it is. The Bible says that life is but a vapor……it certainly feels more like this now that I’m facing 67. I like how the King James Version puts it:  

Whereas Ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” James 4:14 

It is a privilege to be here with my feet up in this comfortable chair, turning the pages of a book that I am finding I don’t care for but keep reading anyway. It is marvelous to feel good and hear the cats racing and thumping around the house. At 2 years old they are still playing, breaking things and causing all kinds of mischief around the house. They chew everything and are more like having little house goats. 

I am feeding our old neighbor cat and 4 new chickens. They aren’t laying yet but starting to look like real chickens. They squawked greetings as they waited for their mealworm snack. Nearby, two geese parents watched me as their fuzzy little ones poked at the grass for bugs. 

I think of the song by Fernando Ortega, “This Good Day” 

“You’re the one who goes before me, in my heart I know that this good day, it is a gift from You. The world is turning in its place because you made it to, I lift my voice to sing a song of praise, on this good day…..” 

Yes, it certainly is and He certainly is……

The Other Side of Easter

The other side of Easter

The Celebration is over, the fanfare, the buildup, the special music, the joy of sharing the Resurrection with other believers. Now what? Seems to be back to business as usual. Back to work, back to school. Even Peter went back to fishing. 

Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing. John 21:3

Everything had changed for those first century believers. And yet they didn’t seem to know it yet. It’s much the same for us at times. We know the reality of the resurrection, we live it out each day, but there is work, kids, dishes, life. 

I always liked the story of the two believers on the road to Emmaus. When the stranger approached they couldn’t believe he didn’t know the events of Jerusalem. It would be much like living in America the day after 9/11 and not knowing what just happened. 

Afterward, at the table when Jesus broke the bread, their eyes (and hearts) were opened and Jesus disappeared from their sight. “They asked each other, “Were our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” 

Maybe, just maybe they knew but were afraid to hope. Like them, maybe hope seems too good to be true in your circumstances right now. But when everything is darkest around us, it’s easier to see the Light as well. We just have to know and believe He’s there. Believe me, I have faced death down and found comfort in the midst of it. Impossible peace is what He’s best at.

Remember friends, even as the celebrations die down, each day they start anew, for each day is our own Resurrection Day with a capital R. All of life has changed for the better forever. Illness, heartaches, grief and all our uncertainties about the future can’t change that, Praise God, the empty tomb means the Comforter has come for us just as He said.  Everything else is but a shadow that can’t touch us.

Hope is found even in the midst of the cemetery I went to yesterday, new life through the most boring mundane job in the world. (I’ve been there too) With the Holy Spirit the flame of Hope is kindled anew, in the center of right where we are, right now. 

1 Corinthians 15:57: “ But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Law (that leads to the cross)

“Oh, that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear me and keep my commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever!” Deuteronomy 5:29

This is God’s lament because even as Moses came down from the mountain with the first draft of those tablets that God fingerprinted Himself, He knew it wasn’t to be. He knew it wasn’t remotely possible. It’s human nature after all. You are cruising along in life; all is well until someone (or God) tells you something is forbidden. Even if you hadn’t thought about that “something” whatever it is, now it has your focus.

We’ve been studying Exodus in our Bible Study and as always, I am stunned and amazed at what I have culled from pages I thought I knew well. I have found that I have taken the Ten Commandments for granted. The questions are soul piercing at times. Here’s one:

How different would the world be if we followed these statutes?

The world would be instantly transformed. There would not be much news to report. If any.

As I was meditating on the Word this morning, I thought of the phrase, “All is right with the world.” Is that even remotely possible looking at the world today? It’s a fictional phrase I’ve read in many books, and maybe it used to be much easier to believe that somewhere in the world at least, the statement could be true.

We know that it isn’t. Even as we click off the news we go about the business of living and do what we can to make things right in our own world. We take comfort in the smallest of moments. We string those moments all together; we gather them close like skeins of the softest yarn, and we hold them close to our face to feel that softness before stuffing them all back in the basket.

Today I was feeling kind of distant from God. I’ve actually had a string of those days. Being a believer for so long, I have better learned to weather those days. I know He loves me, I know He’s promised to never leave, and I rest on those promises daily. I also know another thing about our Heavenly Father. He knows how to give good gifts. He specializes in unexpected moments of reassurance to surprise us. (Don’t kid yourself, these little gifts come from Him, they are not accidents)

Today I started a book. I have started and stopped so many lately. They were all MEH. This one was promising and delivered the comfort I my soul was craving. Two English girls go looking for God and a missing woman in their neighborhood FULLSTOP. Complete with assorted characters in said neighborhood. Another FULLSTOP. At last reader Mecca. GIFT.

My joy increased as I played Pandora Praise to run and get a Dutch Bros for my Bestie, (sticker day, y’know) I prayed for the people I saw pushing their carts full of stuff, I prayed for the animal shelter workers who never get a break. I prayed for the Dutch Bros peeps. And then I heard Lauren Daigle sing about “Not Enough” and even though I feel the same most of the time, I know that Jesus plus nothing makes me more than enough. ANOTHER GIFT.

I wish we could post those 10 Commandments everywhere, because I know if people followed even half of them, it would be a much better world. I also know (and this is the most important part) that without Jesus, we couldn’t even hope to follow even one of them. God held up the Law as a mirror into our impossibly corrupt hearts and Jesus stepped into our place and fulfilled every last one. BIGGEST GIFT.

Read your Bible. Let it speak to your weary heart and soul. This world tries its best to beat us down, but don’t let it. Look for the GIFTS big and small.

Be a bringer of light

Then God said, “Let there be light, and there was light……” in the muck and mire of this world’s mess the way we know it today, there is still and always light. This morning, I was surprised by the crescent moon peeking through the window where I usually see Venus. (She hadn’t come up yet).

I thought, how could someone not believe? How could they just take for granted the moon still hanging there after all these years? Sitting there on this spinning planet, that’s what I thought. And of this verse….

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–His eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20

Everything was perfect. Everything according to God and creation itself, was good, beyond good. In fact, even in our skewed version, dulled and marred by the effects of sin’s corrosion, it is still blindingly beautiful at times. Can you even imagine how it was in the beginning? We are squinting through a keyhole, closing one eye to get a better view. The Bible puts it like this:

“Now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (by God) my paraphrase in parenthesis.

I always look for hearts in creation. Do you see it? God’s love spills over into all creation, us being His very own crown jewel. His love beats throughout all things. It’s so easy, looking around at the chaos we’ve created down here to forget who is truly in control. But we can be assured, God remains on the throne.

Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
    Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
    and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
    and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He brings princes to naught
    and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24 No sooner are they planted,
    no sooner are they sown,
    no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
    and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. Isaiah 40: 21-24

If you haven’t yet sensed it, we are in a Spiritual battle that has raged since sin entered the world. And if you don’t believe in the concept of sin, there is not much I can say. The battle is heating up, but we don’t have to fear. We know the outcome and God is in the business of restoring our crumbling creation, and our crumbling souls too if we let Him.

Israel is being persecuted all over the world, such as we never thought we’d see again after World War II. We are seeing history repeating itself, and God is watching. He is waiting for the right time, and prayerfully, we are waiting with Him. The Prophecies have all been fulfilled. All except one. The time is short, as Billy Graham used to say in every sermon:

“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2


I leave you with hope and the future as it will be someday, from the book of Isaiah…….God is, and always will be in the business of loving, and restoration:

Isaiah 2: 1-4: The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Now it will come about that in the last days, the Mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains and will be raised above the hills: and all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, “Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob; that He may teach us concerning His ways, and that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the nations and will render decisions for many peoples; and they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and NEVER again will they learn war.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds mighty good to me about now.

I got nothing


There are those days when I want so badly to write but nothing comes. Today was one. I started a whole blog post but felt as if I were digging into a place I didn’t want to have to dig out of. Mentally. It’s a beautiful Indian summer day. Can we still use that term? I used my fluffy blanket last night which makes me happy going to bed. Even if I have to throw them off during the night in a fit of clammy huffiness. Then I awoke with a feeling of the ground shifting (not an earthquake). It’s not quite fear, just uneasiness. I fished my phone out from under my pillow, pulled up You Tube, and found an Abide called, “Peaceful Night with God (Stories for Sleep) within about 15 minutes I was fast asleep. They don’t work for everyone, my friend tried it and she kept waiting for a story with a beginning, middle and end. They don’t do that, rather they meander around like some Jazz tunes do.

Anyway, I have felt uneasy the last few days, and I remember this morning that the second was the day my mom went to Heaven. The second was Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar; the Day of Atonement. Tradition holds that one’s fate for the coming year is sealed on Yom Kippur, which determines if their name is written in the Book of Life. That’s the really big most important book. This is how you can know you are there: https://bibletruths.org/is-your-name-written-in-the-lambs-book-of-life/

Yom Kippur commemorates the day when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the 10 Commandments which God Himself wrote on with a finger of lightning. Of course, after praying and fasting, he came down and found that Israel had fashioned their own god (small g). They had got tired of waiting. Don’t be too judgmental, I can remember many times in my life when I got tired of waiting for answered prayer and I’m sure you can too. All I have to do is try to put my phone away for two hours and I realized just how close I come to worshiping something man-made.

Anyway, it’s a beautiful day. I’m going over to feed my aunt’s neighbors’ cats, then go to church and after that attend our local Fall Festival downtown. I asked God this morning in prayer if He would shift the insides to sunny instead of cloudy gloom and it seems like He’s done it. (Thank you God) The best thing we can do on any given day is to be thankful. Being thankful is the best way to Worship God. And don’t forget to thank God for your washer and dryer. Having to go to a Laundromat for 8 years is extremely humbling. Just now, a train blew through, and I thank God for that. I always pray that the conductor won’t have to worry about someone passed out on the tracks. (It’s happened many times) I remember how I missed trains in Arizona.

Well, so long for now. And have a blessed day.

Whom Shall I Send?


Until today I hadn’t been able to turn the calendar off of the 10th. It has felt wrong. I listened to a powerful sermon (click the link) on my walk the other day and it echoed what I was feeling. Our culture has reached a point of no return, and I wonder how we can come back from this. There was a visible line stepped over when a large part of our culture celebrated the death of a good man. It was stepped over when a man was brutally murdered in front of thousands for simply trying to bring our youth together despite their differences. We saw pure evil, pure hatred unmasked before our eyes, and we can no longer afford to look away. As a Church, what are we going to do? Can we remain silent? Complacent as we have been for so long?

Charlie Kirk’s life purpose and message were simple. To put God first in everything we do and follow the path layed out for us in Scripture. He put himself out there, as Jesus commanded us all to do in the Great Commission. And evil doesn’t like the truth, it never has. All the enemy knows how to deal with the truth is to silence it however it can.

Or twist it. As Satan did in the Garden long ago.

The evil we saw on full display cannot be contained in that one shooter. He was just carrying out Satan’s bidding, though he may not even have known it. And God’s mercy could still reach him; I pray it does. Eternity is long. And I know Charlie would have been thrilled for him to find Jesus.

Charlie wanted more than anything for young conservatives to have a voice, but he also encouraged those who disagreed most vehemently to come to the front of the line. Charlie had a passion for reaching our youth, many of whom are floundering, with no moral compass. He believed open dialogue was a key factor in bringing people, all people together. This is what he said so often:

"When people stop talking, that's when you get violence. That's when civil war happens."

Dr. Martin Luther King and Charlie Kirk had one thing in common. One wanted the laws of our land to reflect equality for all the races in keeping with our own constitution. Another wanted kids of all opinions to have an equal voice on college campuses and in life. Also, in keeping with our constitution.

Even so, I believe this horrible event has sparked a revival in our country. Just today, I heard a mom say that she is attending church for the first time. She said her kids have been asking, and today she made the choice to go, even though she was unsure what to expect. Just today I heard another one. And yesterday, at the memorial 60,000 heard the Gospel, I’m sure many of them for the first time. One after another, our government leaders got up and delivered messages that sounded more like sermons that speeches.

Our country began to lose its way when we began to believe that our rights came from the Government instead of God. When a country loses its moral compass, it begins to die from the inside out. But the way back to life can start from the inside of all of us individually through the Holy Spirit and the Church once again taking a stand on moral issues.

Charlie’s message on a college campus wouldn’t even have made a stir in the 1960s, I would even go so far as to say the 1970s. It simply wouldn’t have been controversial. The values most of us grew up with then were still intact by and large. I have said this before, when I was in High School (in California no less) in the 70’s, we sang hymns in school. Nobody thought a thing about it. We loved our Rock and Roll, Frampton, Boston and Fleetwood Mac, but we also knew there was respect for faith and room for freedom of expression.

In our postmodern world, what once was taken for granted as a way of life by most people, is now considered radical by many, especially by our youth.

So where do we go from here? We each pick up our crosses. We pray. We dig deep into the word which is our Spiritual life blood. We keep going. Most importantly we don’t back down from speaking the truth, and more importantly living it. Charlie listened to God’s call and obeyed. I don’t know about you, but not many of us would put up a table in a hostile environment and invite dialogue if we knew we would face certain harassment, death threats, and finally death itself. But each of us can walk the walk Jesus has prepared for us with His help.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8

Be Still and Know

This morning, I awoke kind of unsettled. I wandered around in the dim early morning light and gave the cats a snack. Then I poured coffee and settled in my chair with shades drawn. It wasn’t time for light. Yet. I felt “Meh” and I didn’t feel like praying. I just sat. Sometimes just the act of being still is exactly what God wants us to do in that moment. So, I just sat. Just so happened that my dial landed on Ecclesiastes today for my reading plan. Perfect. God has a sense of humor, I knew that but sometimes you need to be reminded.

“Cease striving…….”

And don’t we continue to strive even when we are sitting still? Our minds are almost never inactive. As I settled into the quiet, (in my funk) I sensed the presence of the Holy Spirit, and I remembered another morning. He reminded me of when I was so irritated at the traffic noise, and He prompted me to transform my irritation into an offering of prayer. And so, I did. I prayed for every car I heard and the person behind the wheel. I started to feel a love for all those people hurrying wherever they were going, and all the problems and heartaches (and joys) behind each life. Then I heard the train come through and I prayed for everyone on it. I was transformed.

Even now, when I hear the traffic, I hear something different because when you allow God to work, He can change our normal everyday irritations into something much different. And I could ache like I do, for the pines or the ocean and go to go that quiet place, even my closet, and find that I have come out refreshed as if I had just spent time watching the waves crash upon the shore or hearing the wind making the pines sigh.

God uses what we have. And sometimes what we have is not much, but God is God so He can make our nothing into something if we invite Him with only a whisper of a prayer or an almost thought we don’t even remember thinking.

Then, one more thing happened as I sat down to write this blog. I heard David Nevue play “The Lion and the Lamb” and that song always wiggles me because it takes me back to when blogging was new and we were all like neighbors visiting at the back fence or on the porch conversing over a steaming mug of coffee. Those times were so sweet that it almost hurts to remember. But not in a bad way.

Friends, I hope you can glimpse a bit of eternity today. Pause and remember how it must have been when it was all so new. And how it can be right now as you invite God into your everyday normal and precious life.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:2