"And when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done is secret, will reward you……"Matthew 6:6
I don’t remember when I wrote the above lines in my journal, but it is just as true today as when I wrote it. On any given day we are deluged with a cavalcade of words. It can be staggering. Too many. Our attention spans have shrunk. Our phones have taught us to measure information in snippets precisely because it’s a kind of survival. We can only handle or absorb so much. Should I add to the torrential flow? That’s what we deal with as writers. Can I add anything of value that hasn’t already been said?
I sense a whisper from the Holy Spirit saying, “How much is too much when you consider all that God has lavished on you?” Exactly. There are never too many words to describe how wonderful, how amazing is His love for us. It’s the balm that heals the soul when everything you see and hear in the world gets to be too much. If “the labor and heavy laden” describes you, He’s got you covered.
“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
He meets us where we are. In the days where nothing seems to come together. Or when you feel like there is a mushroom cloud of dread over your head and you have no idea why. Or when you suddenly want a glass of wine because that was your cure for many years, even though you already fought that battle and have won the victory in Jesus.
It was an off day yesterday, but today the tea is comforting, I found a book I wanted at the library, and my sense of well-being is intact again. Also, the first of the winter birds were back at the feeder this morning. The gray tide of unrest has receded until next time. Living this side of Heaven, we can rest assured there will be a next time (but that’s okay) I will be ready. I have my Spiritual armor handy. This can be found in the book of Ephesians (6:14-17)
I have found a steady and true Joy ever since I have found that plumbing the depths of Scripture is not merely a discipline, but survival and a way of life. I heartily recommend a strong Bible study with someone who you know to have experience and gifted by the Holy Spirit to teach. This has been life changing, truly.
The weather is changing and it looks like we will be getting an actual Fall soon. The leaves are hinting about coming down, some are anxious to get it over with and are losing their grip already. Soon, they will be raining down and filling the streets, “Dirty nasty trees” Elaine calls them. She really liked how clean and orderly the desert was. I have to admit; it was clean looking. Cactus just pretty much stay cactus after all. Even those brilliant blooms make no mess in their wake. As I have found, every place has a distinct beauty all its own. I have to admit I do sometimes miss Arizona, the crisp brightness of it all, and those magnificent violent storms with their breathtaking skies. Here is one of those:
And to end today’s post, a restful bench I found on a road trip to Globe, Arizona. Until next time, may God fill you with His grace and peace……
All these years, words tapped into the air, into the silence. Now they call it the “cloud” I’ve had words disappear into the “cloud” before, never to be seen again. Maybe it’s time to free them into sound, into actual telling, speaking. A living breathing testimony is the most powerful thing we have. (It’s also the thing that is very hard to argue against.) And arguing is what goes on so much of the time now on social media. Just stop. Go outside instead, take a walk, pray, listen to some great songs people have written about God and all the ways to Praise Him. Yes, Him. He is not a woman, despite what a couple women have said, (despite not being able to tell me how they came to that conclusion.)
“I need an extension cord.” Five little words to usher in my favorite time of the year. DECORATING TIME. It’s fall, Ya’ll. I’m not Texican but I can speak it. Elaine has enough history and family there that I have picked it up automatically over the years. Yes, I am excited. I strung my garlands on the porch and put the fake pumpkins on the table. I wondered how long Scout would let them stay there and it was about 2 hours before he picked it up by the stem and batted it to the floor. I found it this morning in the kitchen. This is what I will do, each day until Christmas, pick them up and put them back. These cats are chewers; they always have been. Dog toys are what we buy them. The answer to the question “Will they chew this?” is always yes.
Yesterday at Costco I saw a tree with no greenery, just sticks and lights. I thought maybe that would work for Christmas with ornaments, and then I realized how ridiculous the thought was. Of course they would chew it. They are two now and haven’t given any indication of slowing down. Anything hanging down is fair game. The one on the bookshelf is sketchy. He has been looking up at it, knowing it is something new. The lights will put a spotlight on the temptation and against my better judgement, I will light it up today.
Despite my sore shoulder (Therapy scheduled in October) I got everything that will be out, out. Christmas is another story, to my mind far in the future but closer than we all think.
In book news, if you want a laugh out loud book, check out “Country People” by Daniel Mason. It is a real kick. I have recommended it to several people. I had to cast my net out beyond our local library and sent for it via the link system. If you buy books, you can check it out on Amazon here. Thrift books is also a great place for cheaper books if they’ve been out awhile. I am probably one of the few people who haven’t yet read Calamity Club because I’m too tight to buy it and my library doesn’t have it. I’m currently number 8 on the waiting list.
Our Bible study on the book of John has started and the groups are set, and so we are off and running. That is very exciting. I can’t recommend a verse-by-verse expository study enough. It is where you really get to know God as a person and how He has called us back to Himself all throughout history.
For now, I have to go and find an extension cord. Happy, blessed day to those still reading, may God bless you abundantly.
It’s been a year since Charlie Kirk was gunned down mercilessly. I remember so clearly that day. I remember I didn’t move my calendar off of September 10 for a long time. I didn’t just want to skip over it, business as usual. For it wasn’t and it still isn’t. What was his crime? Encouraging an open forum for any and all opinions, tossing shirts, giving away hats. Telling people who disagreed with him to “come to the front of the line.” He dared to stand up for Jesus, no matter your opinion of his politics. It seems it’s open season to kill those you disagree with.
I remember also the story of the preacher on the street corner, also shot in cold blood in Peoria, Arizona. You can read about it here. I think of the heroes of the Bible we have been studying all year. Truth has in fact been leading to a death sentence for a very long time, since just about all of the Old Testament Prophets, as well as Jesus early Apostles died martyrs’ deaths as well.
It seems to me the world has gone even more off the rails. We’ve lost our collective minds. Now a woman has murdered her three children and it’s called into question whether she should be held accountable. It really doesn’t matter what we think. It always matters what God thinks. His Word is pretty clear on the matter.
Just last night I was reading again how John the Baptist was thrown in prison (and ultimately killed) for telling Herod that he was sinning with his brother’s wife. So, not a new thing. Now, people don’t even want to be told the truth from the pulpit. Historically, that was the one place we could always hear the truth. But this should really be no surprise. The flip side of this is that when evil is exposed, righteousness shines all the brighter. And we are called to be salt and light in a dull and increasingly dark world.
Now more than ever, we need to share Jesus to a world that needs Him more than ever. As Billy Graham used to say, “Now is the accepted time…” There are no guarantees that we will get another day, or another minute. And if I could only tell you one thing, I would tell you from my own life that whatever you lose or give up in this life, Jesus will fill up that empty space in ways you could never imagine.
Not long ago, the Bible once again came alive to me as it once did when I first became saved. A dear friend (click link to hear lectures) and Bible teacher flipped the switch via the Holy Spirit, during a Bible study on Corinthians and I began to really think about how I was living my life. After that, I said goodbye to a friend I thought I would have forever. This friend accompanied me for every celebration, holiday, evening, weekend, dinner out for years. That friend had a hold on me. I truly thought if I gave up that “friend” I would always feel a loss that couldn’t be replaced. The friend was alcohol, and I did love it. Absolutely. I was captured by the image of the writer with his glass of whiskey, clacking words to life on an old Smith Corona in a corner cafe. The whole fellowship of the thing that was drinking.
Now, I no longer have it in the house. I am just about living a life of sobriety though I do have a glass of wine from time to time with dinner out. I was never an alcoholic, but I can honestly say, it had a hold on my life like a millstone. I was at the very real place in my faith where I didn’t want anything to have a hold on me but Jesus.
All this to say that Jesus has replaced that old habit with his “Living Water” and I have never been more at peace or more joyful. And friends, whatever you are holding onto in this life (other than God) let it go. He will replace it with something so good, in fact He will replace it with Himself. It’s my new story and I will keep telling it as long as anyone will listen. God is SO good. Just give Him your one and precious life and see what He can do.
“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
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…..”
Dawn is making her appearance, as light colors the sky and all around this town people are waking up. The freeway has roared to life, taking people to jobs, jostling briefcases, coffee, lukewarm handheld makeshift breakfasts.
I am blessed to say my Good mornings to You Father, what a privilege. How many will say it? How many know it? How many even entertain the thought? The motion light flashes, AM dog walkers. I think about my own motion light. In Him we live and move and have our being……In Him was the light of men but how many recognized His coming?
A small band of followers that changed the world, and continues to change it through His Holy Spirit on the earth….How long Oh Lord? As we see chaos, wars spilling into every area of the world. Corruption as we’ve never seen before streaming out from our phones, laptops, living rooms.
Are you still here? As the piano softly plays a hymn I remember from childhood, memories come softly as a summer night at Sunday service. I didn’t know then that those times would become something precious I would sit and think about fondly as a distant dream.
Revelation is opened, and we ask the question again and again. Who is able to open the scroll? Who is worthy? No one on this earth for sure, but for the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world we would all be condemned.
Thank you, Lord, again and again. It’s become my prayer of late. Three simple words that mean everything.
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Isaiah 9:2
Many writers and bloggers choose a word for the New Year. I remember last year I was entertaining this idea and before I could even ask God what word He would whisper to my spirit from His, the word came:
GLOOM
This can’t be right, I thought. Most people get hope filled inspirational words others could latch onto happily like HOPE, JOY, PERSEVERENCE, FAITH, LOVE. But I get Gloom, and it was persistent. Recent circumstances have brought forth the meaning in someone I care about deeply. Something that was supposed to be a relatively low risk surgical procedure has turned into a nasty infection and she is fighting it with everything she has. It’s been almost two months now. We are fighting it together with the Lord and all His angels we can muster. We’ve both had our turn at caretaking both sets of parents, and now it’s her turn to be taken care of. And that’s tough for someone with a caretaking spirit. And we ask why. My best friend is a person who rises each day and sincerely wants to leave someone or something in her world better.
Life can turn on a dime. We all know this. What started out as a procedure that is done each and every day, (with minimal risk, we were told) something both our brothers had done, and my mom had done twice. How could this seemingly innocuous procedure leave someone young(ish) and active, first in the ER, then in ICU? This is my person, my sister in Christ, my best friend of almost 40 years, someone who fixes everything broken. How could this happen?
Three surgeries in 3 weeks, and the days stretched on. An agonizing night in the hospital praying and holding her hand when she awoke battling fear and great pain. You quickly get used to a different life. It’s very hard to watch someone you love suffer, and harder still for them, cast suddenly into a world of IVs, endless rounds of pain meds, not to mention the horrendous pain itself. If all went well, she was supposed to be home 2 weeks ago, doing therapy and walking around.
I re-learned that a whole host of people have been cast unwillingly into this alternative universe. I learned the agony of waiting in the waiting room for any news at all. Of course, I knew that others had this life and I was empathetic, but I wasn’t part of it. Until you are the one standing at the elevator in exhaustion, forgetting what button to push, it is just a sad nod at someone else’s life.
We have now moved from the hospital life to a convalescent life. An alternative universe of still another set of challenges. The first room she shared an adjoining bathroom with a man who wasn’t all there, both physically and mentally. She awoke to him walking through the room stark naked and he then proceeded peeing all over the bathroom floor. (And she fighting a major infection) Then there was the one who yelled for help all night across the hall. It was starting to feel like “One Flew Over the Cuckcoo’s Nest.” We enlisted the help of a wonderful PT who came to the rescue and got her moved to the next wing. (Thanks be to God). It has been better over there. Thankfully, the staff for the most part is good and geared toward getting people out of there if they possibly can.
Thanksgiving came and went in the hospital, and Christmas will come and go in Rehab. Our Holidays have been spent clinging to the Rock (Psalm 18:2) and calling on the name of Jehovah Rapha, our healer. I drove through some of the roughest streets in Stockton at night during Thanksgiving. An adorable porch display on Acacia Street with lights and inflatable turkeys made me cry for some reason but I was grateful for it. Something about the hope in that silly little display touched my heart. In my other life, I would never have driven any of those streets at night, (there was a gang shooting that took place close by that same week), But God delivered me from all fear and brought me safely home each time.
And Satan, ever vigilant to swoop on those who belong to the Lord, one morning got the best of me. My thoughts were blackest of black and his voice taunted me. “Does the Lord always heal?” He then set about reminding me of all those who I had prayed for in the past who had left this earth for eternity anyway.
It’s easy to have faith when you think you know the outcome, but how about when the path ahead is obscured? That takes real faith. It’s the “Help my unbelief” kind of faith.
When my mind was grasping for sanity, there in the dark I cried to the Lord as the Psalmist did:
In my trouble I cried to the Lord, and He answered me. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue. Psalm 120:1,2
In this case the lying lips were straight from hell, and I don’t belong there. I told him that too. I claimed the blood of Jesus over all of it. And then like a crack of warm oil flowing into my heart God reminded me of how I had been healed so many years ago. “Remember that day, Lori?” Oh yes, Lord I do. Please forgive me for listening to that voice even for a minute. Then I got up and prayed face down upon the chair and felt all the darkness dissipate. The cats were worried.
And the day got better. On the way to the Rehab a rainbow revealed itself as God’s eternal promise. This after weeks of no sun in sight. And later, in the Doctors office, Elaine got both drain tubes taken out. (We prayed for at least one). Later I stopped by the library having dumped the 3 books I couldn’t seem to focus on, there on the new shelf was the new one by Jan Karon. Another God sign, (I’ll take it).
In light of all these things, we hold out Hope because we know the One who can vanquish the darkness of this world.She has been asking everyone in the hospital if they know Jesus. When you have been through the valley of shadows struggling for breath, you realize again what’s truly important.
In the meantime, while we are here in the “Waiting Room” of this world before eternity, here is my Christmas list for those grasping for the Light in a world that has gone very dark.
No more waiting rooms, no more waiting for test results, no more shattered hearts. No more grief that sucks the life out of you. I look for the time of turning swords into plow shears, and hearts softening and turning to Jesus who holds the keys of death and hades, but also holds out the perfect gift which is himself, so we never have to worry about the latter.
You’ve got this because He’s got you. We know firsthand the flipside of Gloom and His name is Jesus.
Earth, strike up your music, birds that sing and bells that ring; Heaven hath answering music for all Angels soon to sing: Earth, put on your whitest Bridal robe of spotless snow: For Christmas bringeth Jesus, brought for us so low. Christina Rossetti
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 Spiritand 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
Of course we are thinking about 9/11 2001 today. We are also grieving about the senseless act of evil yesterday. The murder of a beloved conservative leader. How do we go about continuing on with life when something like this happens? I remember well, the numb shock of 9/11 so many years ago. I feel much the same today, though circumstances were much different. Disbelief and awe, grief and sadness. How to keep going in the wake of tragedy?
Charlie Kirk was a man who stood unashamedly and boldly for Christ, and Christian values. When he was only 18 he saw a need to create a forum where kids could get together and have free discussion without fear. He founded the organization Turning Point USA. He encouraged open and honest debate on both sides. He worked tirelessly up until the time he was gunned down in cold blood yesterday.
How are we to go on as a nation when people have to fear retribution or death for disclosing their views in a public forum? We have to go on living, but not as if nothing has happened. We go on living but not unchanged. We go on living because that’s what Americans do, but in this time in history we need to stand up and not stand down. For too long we have allowed ourselves to be bullied into submission by a culture that wants us to feel guilty for loving our country or daring to believe what the Bible says.
Never in a million years did I ever think I would see such hatefulness from fellow citizens in my own country. Never did I think I would see two assassination attempts on a current sitting President. I hid my Trump sticker after he won the Presidency, and I would never dare to wear a MAGA hat in public for fear of being shouted down or even shot. Believe me, I’ve seen it. This needs to stop.
For a long time, our American culture has been slowly growing a cancer, and now it has fully metastasized. The question is how did we get here? Somehow, we have become a society that applauds the murder of someone whose views we disagree with. A prominent newscaster yesterday, after Charlie Kirk was mercilessly killed at a public event in view of thousands of people had the audacity and bad taste to say that his words probably caused his murder. I quote: “hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.” Please tell me what those hateful words were, because I never heard any.
This is a symptom of a deep soul sickness that desperately needs a cure. I have heard distressing things all over the internet today, of all days, that people were celebrating Charlie Kirk’s death. Last night two little children wondered why their Daddy didn’t come home.
So how do we respond today? We need to pause. We need to silence the voices all around us. Give this the memorial space it deserves, like we’ve been doing for years with 9/11. And those of us who believe know that this is a Spiritual battle that will ultimately be won. So today, we need to pray, and after we’ve collected ourselves, press on. For the good of our country and our world.
There is only one Cure and hope for the nation and the world in which we live. That Cure is Jesus. His redemption plan is the remedy for the sickness of sin and death. He stands ready to deliver us. I need him, Charlie is with Him today, and I pray the shooter finds Him before it’s not too late.
