Joy

The waiting game….


“In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:2,3 Jesus

To me Heaven will be like one enormous family reunion, the best one we could ever imagine, and it won’t have an end. No endings, no partings, no good-byes.
We won’t have to leave, go back to dismal jobs, go back to the old routines and rhythms of life that we have to fit ourselves back into.

Everyone will be glad to see each other and no one goes home, because we will all already be home!

A giant church supper where everyone is welcome and nobody is a stranger.

All of life is some form of waiting, forward looking.
It is the momentum of life that keeps us going….
Here in Arizona, in the heat of summer, we know about waiting.
We wait for cool breezes, relief from the merciless heat.
The time for open windows and dining al fresco instead of al fry-o!
Or we wait for the weekend,
Retirement,
Vacation,
Kids to move out.
Kids to come back….

It is good though, to pause in the waiting, to savor what is happening right now this very moment. Enjoy the process of waiting because there is beauty in that too!

But someday our wait for everything will be over and we will hear Him say, “Welcome Home……”

Is there a major life event you are waiting for right now? Maybe more than one? What is it that makes the waiting easier?

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” Philippians 3:20-21

Our debt to Christ


Paul was overwhelmed with the sense of his indebtedness to Jesus Christ, and he spent his life to express it. The greatest inspiration in Paul’s life was his view of Jesus Christ as his spiritual creditor. Do I feel that same sense of indebtedness to Christ regarding every unsaved soul? As a saint, my life’s spiritual honor and duty is to fulfill my debt to Christ in relation to these lost souls. Every tiny bit of my life that has value I owe to the redemption of Jesus Christ. Am I doing anything to enable Him to bring His redemption into evident reality in the lives of others? I will only be able to do this as the Spirit of God works into me this sense of indebtedness. Oswald Chambers

It strikes me that one of the best ways we can do this is simply by being a friend. Looking into someone’s eyes instead of through them. Letting people know in small ways that they matter, that they count. We aren’t all called to be preachers or teachers, but we can all evangelize by living our lives with a simple beauty that shines the light of Christ. In doing so we let our immense gratitude for Him spill out into the world to others. Then be prepared when they ask you the reason for this joy and hope within you…..”But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,” 1 Peter 3:15

You never know who is watching. The highest compliment I can ever receive is when someone says, “I know you were a believer,” without me ever saying a word.

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. 1 Thessalonians 4:11,12

Singing to the Lord

It’s good to sing for the Lord, and for anyone else who will listen too! I sang all the way to work today because it was raining. Rain in Arizona is worth singing about! Music was a big part of my childhood. No family gathering was complete without some form of group singing. My Mom always sang in choirs, with bands, wherever she could sing, she sang. So many times growing up I would walk up to the driveway and hear her beautiful voice through the window.

God loves our singing, no matter how it sounds, it is a sound of beauty to Him. I hope I get to sound like Sarah Brightman in heaven. I think when God hears our voice it somehow transforms into an ethereal sound once it breaks the barriers of the celestial wall.

Once I heard the most beautiful sound walking down the street in Carmel, California. Both my friend and I looked at each other and we knew we had to find the source of that beautiful voice. Our steps us up the steps to a large hall, and right up to a closed bathroom door where an opera singer was practicing. We never forgot that sound!

The Psalms tell us over and over to Sing to the Lord! “Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
3 Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.” Psalms 33:2

Even God sings……can you imagine that sound?

“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

Animals sing too…..Once a wolf begins howling, other pack members often show a strong tendency to approach that animal and join in. Lois Crisler has said, “Like a community sing, a howl is a happy occasion. Wolves love to howl. When it is started, they instantly seek contact with one another, troop together, fur to fur. Some wolves will run from any distance, panting and bright-eyed, to join in, uttering, as they near, fervent little wows, jaws wide, hardly able to wait to sing.”littlewows, jaws wide, hardly able to wait to sing.” Lisa Matthews / Wolf Song of Alaska Volunteer

Kids love it when we sing too, even though they look at us like we are crazy!