God Moments

Fire in the Desert

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. Matthew 4:1”

The desert is merciless. The sun cracks the dirt into hard baked clay, and in the winter when the sun goes down, the temperature drops alarmingly fast. Only the strongest survive. But the devil didn’t count on the Holy Spirit being there with Jesus for those forty days. He couldn’t lose! God’s fire was with Him.

“For the first 30 years of His life, Jesus led a good “Christian” life, he went to church and made furniture, then the Holy Spirit came.” Pastor Gary Kinnaman, speaking at City of Grace church this past weekend. Yes, then the Holy Spirit came and all hell broke loose. Satan was ticked! “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through the whole countryside.” Luke 4:14 The first time He got up to preach in His hometown, he made the crowd furious and they tried to throw Him off a cliff. Luke 4:28-29

No doubt about it, the Holy Spirit may get you in trouble. Look what happened to the disciples after the day of Pentecost! They went from hiding out behind locked doors to preaching on the street corners, facing off demons, and healing the sick!

Has the Holy Spirit ever led you to do something you never thought you could do? Even something that seemed to make no sense at the time? Called you out of your safe place? He will do that. Sometimes I would like God to be very predictable and manageable. I would like Him to just let me be comfortable. I love safety and comfort. But I need to remember those times when I did let go and say, “Yes, I will do that.” And I do remember, He never left my side.

Lord, help me to be open to what you might ask me to do. Give me the strength to say yes and not cave in to fear. For I know You will never leave me……Has the Holy Spirit led you into the desert? If so and you need prayer, please leave a comment and I will be happy to pray for you.

The Red Swing


My Mom does not believe in hiding in the backyard. She does not like closed, shrouded windows and shades drawn tight. She once visited me in New Mexico and she almost ran down the street chasing strangers she was so desperate for someone to talk to. It was a “nice” neighborhood but nobody ever went out in the front except for the little girl who brought her guinea pigs out. It really was almost comical, now that I look back on it. It could have been set to music…..everyone came home, garage-doors came up, swallowing entombed drivers and sucking them into the abyss, never to be seen again. “How does anyone expect to get to know each other when they’re all hiding in their backyards?” She has a point.

Back home, life is lived out in the front. There is a picnic table between their house and the neighbors, and it is used by about four families nearby. Mom’s new neighbor sometimes brings homemade scones out in the morning to share. Bible studies have been held on it; and lots of playdough has been pounded into it with little fists, it is also a jumping launch for the kids.

Mom decided she wanted a deck out in front, plunked right on the lawn so she could sit out there. She has a hard time sitting on the uneven ground due to humongous tree roots. So it was built. Then she saw it……The Red Swing. She has been painting everything red for the past few years or so. Her latest acquisition before the swing was the Red Sink which she is very proud of.

My Mom mentioned it to Yvonne, her grocery checker. Now her friend. One day my Mom started talking to her at the store and a spark was ignited, something shared. Something that drew them close as only the Holy Spirit can. She told Yvonne about her new deck and the swing she wanted. Well, it was close to Mother’s Day, and Dad was doomed from the start. Yvonne came by after work with a bouquet of red flowers and made him promise to get her that red swing.

Now everyone uses it. The other night my Mom was getting ready for bed and she heard the neighbor girl singing softly….out in the swing. Another night, some other neighbors were walking, whispering, with another child. Pretty soon, they were quietly swinging as well.

It is a real neighborhood, not without its squabbles, disagreements or differences. But something profound takes place there called life. Community. Shared dreams, heartaches and hopes. When I recently went back, we had a party for my brother’s Birthday. Invitations were sent word of mouth, the best kind. People came bringing food, wine and smiles.

Mom made sure she had her tunes, Big Band blasting forth from the top of the clothesdryer. The firepit was lit….hands were held in a circle of prayer. Grace was there in that gathering of neighbors, and a feeling that we were not just neighbors and friends, but family.

With a red swing out front……

Unexpected Grace


Every now and then we hear of an individual who has the opportunity to display a wonderful moment of grace to another individual. It happened on Wednesday night when first base umpire Jim Joyce made an incorrect call that would have meant a “perfect game” for pitcher Armando Galarraga. I had to write about this because in the sea of “graceless” moments we see in our world today via the media, TV and movies, we need to reward those in the limelight who respond with grace.

After the bad call was made, Galarraga looked stunned and the crowd went silent. He quietly went back to work as the crowd started to boo. He later says this about the incident. “I say many times: Nobody’s perfect, everybody makes a mistake. I’m sure he didn’t want to make that call…..he feels really bad. The other umpires shower, eat, He was sitting in the seat and saying, ‘I’m so sorry.'”

Veteran Umpire Jim Joyce said of the hostile crowd, “I don’t blame them a bit or anything that was said,” Joyce said, “I would’ve said it myself if I had been Galaragga…..and he never said a word to me.”

The following day before the game, Galaragga and Joyce met at the pitcher’s mound. Joyce was visibly emotional and couldn’t hold back tears as he greeted Galaragga. It’s too bad the crowd didn’t display the same amount of grace as Galaragga did, for when they announced Jim Joyce’s name some boos were heard.

How many opportunities are there in life for us to be people of grace. How rare it is to find someone who reacts this way, so rare that we sit up and take notice!

Jesus is the ultimate Grace-giver. So many times people were surprised, bowled over by His grace. They expected judgement and harshness, as they got from the other religious leaders of the day. But Jesus gave love and grace instead. He still dealt with the sin, but always he accepted and loved the person.

Lord, help me be more of a grace-giver, an open door lit from within by Your grace. In Your Precious Name, Amen.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–” Ephesians 2:8

Also, we remember Phoenix radio personality Bill Austin today who passed away on June 2nd of cancer. He made us laugh every morning on 99.9 KEZ radio. He is already greatly missed.

Open to wonder….


“We get so preoccupied with ourselves, the words we speak, the plans and projects we conceive that we become immune to the glory of creation. We barely notice the cloud passing over the moon or the dewdrops clinging to the rose leaves. The ice on the pond comes and goes. the wild blackberries ripen and wither. The blackbird nests outside our bedroom window. We don’t see her. We avoid the cold and the heat. We refrigerate ourselves in the summer and entomb ourselves in plastic in winter. We rake up ever leaf as fast as it falls. We are so accustomed to buying prepackaged meats and fish that we never think and blink about the bounty of God’s creation. We grow complacent and lead practical lives. We miss the experience of awe, reverence, and wonder.” Brennan Manning, Ragamuffin Gospel

Lord, may I never lose my sense of wonder in the midst of this fast-paced world of endless information, knowledge gathering, and few real answers. All the answers mean nothing unless they point the way to You. The answer to the question is always, You.

“….always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.” 2 Timothy 3:7

In the stillness…


As I was swinging in the twilight, the patio lights flicked on. My folks have always had lights around the back deck, sometimes they change, but always they are there. Dad turned them on for me because he knew I was sitting out in the swing to reflect, to end the day…..Something tells me like the breath in the trees that this moment will not come again. The particular wind in the trees, snatch of neighbor girls singsong voices, in them I hear my own voice mingled in from years ago. The gentle clink of windchimes, the single bullfrog, only will happen just this way, tonight. Circumstances may be similar, but my feelings, thoughts, sentiments, frame of mind, just this way, just tonight.

The stillness envelopes me as I remember things of long ago. I see the spot in the yard where the clothesline stood. I see the sheet drapped over it and I see us fishing for prizes at my birthday party once. My brother and his friend Doug attaching prizes behind the sheet…..I feel the sadness that comes when past and present collide, and a bit of joy too. This is life, and the breath of God flows through every moment we exist.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.” Ecclesiastes 3:10-15

He sees you…..


Don’t think I don’t see you,
I feel your pain rolling out of bed in the morning.
I am as close as your breath
“You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.” Psalm 139:3
I see you making your way into the kitchen blindly for that
first cup….
I see you getting ready for work, presenting your best self.
Crisp, clean, ready as you’ll ever be
to face the day….exuding outward confidence,
but I know you are quaking inside.
“O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.” Psalm 139:1
Don’t think I don’t know.
I am nearer than your next prayer
I know about that speech, that presentation, that project
that irate caller, I know what you face.
I know you feel unprepared, but remember:
There is nothing that comes up today that I am unprepared for,
that you and I can’t handle together.
So today, when you feel My Presence, know this…..
I am with you, in fact I have already been there!
“You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.” Psalm 139:5
I see your courage, I see your dedication.
It hasn’t gone unnoticed.
I am with you my child, in every moment of the day.
I love you….

I felt led today to focus on workers outside the home today, (I know there are many working just as hard inside the home.) Since I have been off work, I have had a new appreciation for those who get up and fight the daily commute, since right now I don’t have to. The days are flying by and soon I will be joining them again….

God’s Adventure Club


“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,” he used to say. “You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to. J.R.R. Tolkien

The magic of a new day, a trail untried, the magical bend in the curve, the mystery of not knowing where it goes, the hope of new adventure, the challenge of not letting go of the great mystery that is life. Sometimes it is not easy to remember that we are all a part of God’s grand scheme of things.
Greer, Arizona

I pray that we can see a glimmer of eternity in the little everyday moments today, capture them and hold them close for we have no certainty that they will come again. These times are dear, every last one, for each of them takes us nearer and nearer to our future forever home.

“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14

The joy of creating


“Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”

Sometimes all we need to do to find peace is to go back to that one activity we have loved to do from an early age. You know what it is…..the one that makes you smile without even realizing it, the one that makes you forget everything else, the one where you find yourself whistling or humming along with it.

It could be re-painting a fence, digging in the garden, puttering in the shop, baking cookies….But this simple thing, when lifted up to God can become an act of worship, consecrated, blessed. Then when we do it for someone else He smiles because He knows we have found the secret.

It is healing, it is cleansing, it is good for the soul. It is the joy of simple work.

When we create, God joins in. He can’t help it, it is part of His character and ours and it is how the whole world started! My act of worship today will be chocolate chip cookies…..I will send them with a prayer and a smile, knowing a bit of God’s love goes along with them.

What act of creation brings you joy today?

Water and the Word…..

I continue counting blessings today…..
“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth, and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater…… #282

so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. #283

You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. #284


Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.” Isaiah 55:10-13 #285

Not too long ago I read a commentary over at Musings of a Minister about these passages that really deepened the meaning of this Scripture for me, so thank you Cliff! Hop over here to read it! So many times reading this passage I thought of it only in terms of God’s word going out and producing fruit, but the deeper meaning is that God is comparing the word to water that permeates the ground that nourishes all of creation. It is in all and through all. So that everything we see is part of that Living Word “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” John 1:1 #286

So today, I lift my gratitude to God for His Word, the more I read it the more it comes alive to me. Behind every desert bloom, and every sunrise it speaks for those who have ears to hear and eyes to see. Thank you Lord, for without You I never would have seen it!

#287 Cool mornings, #288 quail’s plaintive cry through open windows, #289 the bloom of new life in the desert, #290 taking God along on my morning walk!

Keeping the gratitude alive, along with Ann and many others….
holy experience

All photos provided by Google….

The King of Peace

Grounds of Mount Angel Abbey, St. Benedict, Oregon

Good Morning, Lord! I thank You for Your Presence, Your sweet peace that rushes in when I truly open my heart, confess my fears. Your Spirit takes my sins and holds them up to the light, exposing them for what they are and yet You still love me! It humbles me more than I can say Lord, so I let my tears speak instead. Forgive me Lord, for the fear that have I have allowed to rule in my heart. Fears that have been magnified in my mind by the enemy, forgive me for giving him that control. I release them back to You, Lord once again. You have taken my fears and turned them once again to peace. Help me to not take them back……In the name of Jesus I pray all these things, Amen.

“We must carefully examine ourselves to see which virtues we are in most need of, and which we find the hardest to acquire. We should also take note of the sins that we most frequently fall into and what occasions often contribute to that fall. It is in our times of struggle with these areas that we can go before God with entire confidence and remain firm in the presence of His divine Majesty. In humble adoration, we must confess to Him our sins and weaknesses, lovingly asking for the help of His grace in our time of need. In this way, we will find that we will partake of all the virtues found in Him, even though we do not possess one of our own.” Brother Lawrence

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Colossions 3:15