Heavy Heart

I wrote on Facebook recently the following:

"James MacDonald referenced Tozer's failure to love his wife and children in a video I listened to recently. My curiosity awakened, I researched and found the quote he read:

"When she remarried after his (Tozer's) death, she said, 'I have never been happier in my life...Aiden (Tozer) loved Jesus Christ, but Leonard Odam loves me."

What an incredibly raw, honest statement she made.
The quote continued:

"During the 1930s, Tozer read voraciously, and he also developed a magnificent obsession to be in Christ's presence - just to worship Him and to be with Him. Yet he was a man who was emotionally and spiritually distant from his own wife. By early 1928, the Tozers had a routine. Aiden found his fulfillment in reading, preparing sermons, preaching, and weaving travel into his demanding and exiting schedule, while Ada learned to cope. She dutifully washed, ironed, cooked, and cared for the little ones, and developed the art of shoving her pain deep down inside. Most of the time she pretended there was no hurt, but when it erupted, she usually blamed herself for not being godly enough to conquer her longing for intimacy from an emotionally aloof husband."

I'm letting these statements rest on me today. I understand her more than I would choose.  To marry is to commit to love that one, and only that one, as God loves.... fully, transparently, faithfully. And when that is not done, sorrow descends upon the soul.  It is at that point, trust in God to 'exalt in due time' rises to a fever pitch. A woman's heart, given to a man by God Himself, is entrusted by God to man to solely and wholly love and protect as if God Himself were loving and protecting it.  YES, it is that weighty, not to be carelessly nor selfishly entered into."

Last night, a five minute video by Matt Chandler popped up, and this morning, another five minute video popped up. They are certainly worth SOWING the ten minutes into your life, no matter if you are married or single.... male or female.... take the ten minutes!  Let the Holy Spirit then direct you past those ten minutes on to a road specified for you by Him.  Ten minutes is the beginning point.... or should be!

(Scroll over the links to go to the videos.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW5B0OTrWMU 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejjweiF0gTk

My heart is so burdened for particularly wives in this culture.  Weekly, I hear from them.  Their hearts are suffocating.  They so want to walk a walk worthy of God's pleasure and their husband's, but too often their husbands are walking a checked-out, selfish existence.  To singularly pull a plow intend for two is a feat she was never meant to do! 

I had one husband who commented on my Facebook post, "I love Tozer's stuff, but I never knew this about him. As much as I love the Scriptures and teaching them, it must never take the place of the love that I have for my wife and kids. Thanks for sharing."

I commented back, "There are many things that clamor about in this world, seeking to displace a man's affections for his wife and his children. Some are foolishly declared more noble than others, but all of them are wrong. Personal dedication to God should affirm God's ways, not fly in the face of them. I appreciate your heart towards (your wife)! Love her well, as you have, all the days of your life! In that, you honor her.... you honor God!"

The shocking thing to me is that to do as Christ desires is NOT complex.  In my mind, Christ says it, I do it. Period.  What muddies the water is SELF. There are those who say they want to be obedient; they just don't want it to cost them anything. HOW DARE THEY!  YOU cost Christ EVERYTHING!  Let that sink in and resonate a good LONG while!  When feet become set in self, hearts are broken, families are torn apart, destinies are destroyed.

Indeed.... my heart is heavy.

Careful: Marginalize NOT The Word

Thirty-three years ago this coming Christmas my parents gifted the most cherished tangible Gift ever given to me.

The Gift: A beautiful leather bound adult study Bible.

Little did I know at the time how that Gift would continuously challenge and change my life.

Few days have passed without a dedicated visit with the Gift.

It's beautifully worn now with many markings, bearing the evidence of Its place in my life and in my heart.

(Permit me to follow a particular trail for the sake of the tech-loving-believers out there.  I challenge you to open a Bible... not a Bible app. For you cannot make notes from your studies on an app.  You cannot leave an app to future generations.  You cannot bury your face in an app at a moment of rapturous joy or humble contrition.You cannot place an app upon your head or hug it to your chest as you can an open Bible when the Holy Spirit moves over your time in the Word, and you know afresh the truth that you are washed clean by the blood of the Lamb.  Nothing takes the place of opening a Bible upon one's lap in the early morning hours as He joins you upon Its pages.  Nothing.  So again, I challenge you.... make the investment.... purchase a Bible....open it.... as weird as it perhaps may sound... stick your nose in it.... inhale as you would at the smell of fine cooking.... and then dive into the Meal that It is!)

Since Its bestowment, I have read through It many times.
It is life giving, life sustaining to me.

I think upon Proverbs 3....  "...do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace..." ... Psalm 33...."...For the Word of the Lord is right and true; He is faithful in all He does..."  ... Psalm 119...."...The unfolding of Your Words gives light...."

Many years ago I copied Psalm 119, thus being able to take the passage with me wherever I went....and as such, I began making it a regular practice to read it many, many times since, often times reading it out-loud.... letting the Words fall fresh upon my ears.

YEARS now past, there is no denying the untold treasures The Gift's passages have planted in my being.

It's grievous to me that SO many.....believers and non-believers alike.... in our culture today marginalize The Gift. Countless thousands, who possess the ability to purchase, don't possess The Gift.  They neither see the need  nor do they have a desire. For those that do have The Gift right at their fingertips, again... thousands simply do not take the time to open it and read it regularly... much less study it.

I cannot imagine my life a part from It.  I wholly cannot.

Recently, with GREAT JOY, I bestowed to my three children The Gift, bearing their names upon each cover, just as mine was presented to me all those years ago.  Its sacredness was tangible in the now as it was then.  It is truly and wholly timeless; living, penetrating, transforming to those who heed It.

God says His beloveds' names are recorded in the Book of Life.  With my children having made their own profession of faith in Christ Jesus some time ago, but now having stepped across the threshold into adulthood, I sensed a rather large smile upon Christ's heart at the symbolize of having their names inscribed upon The Gift.  The Gift declares that His mark is upon His beloveds (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).... and I confess I receive a spiritual-hug, if you will, every time I pick up my Gift and see my name upon Him, so to speak.

"My Beloved is mine, and I am His." Song of Solomon 2:!6

I have no doubt that in thirty-three years they will gaze upon their well-worn Gift with a smile, reflecting on just how It challenged and changed them throughout their years.

I can think of no other tangible gift I would rather give them. Its sacredness - beyond comprehension.

I pray, oh how I pray, each of you reading this simple blog post will look upon The Gift in a new light!

Charles Spurgeon wrote, "A Bible that's falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn't."

Children of mine, may your Bibles be found falling apart!

With all my love,
Mom

Autonomy OR Oneness; Pick Your Aim Carefully

Recently, God has been speaking to me a lot about these two words and their active opposition towards one another.

As I have been meditating, I have come to see and understand the stark difference between these two and that our "action-understanding" brings either a root failure OR a root success upon one's life; depending on our daily choices.  I'm not talking small failure or small success... I'm talking paramount.

Like so many "grounds" -- there is no middle ground.

By our actions, we either bow our knee in submission to oneness or we raise ourselves with stiff necks in defense of our autonomy. 

This theme can be applied to our walk with God, our interaction with The Body of Christ, our families, our marriages.  It invades and penetrates EVERY fabric of our being and every fabric intertwined with our being. 

I do believe if we were in a room together we would, as believers, agree that we are "one with Christ".... but do our actions affirm this statement of belief?  Are our values His values?  Are our actions His actions? 

When the rubber meets the road, I believe, in order to truly grow, we have to stop deluding ourselves that our talk is equating to our action.

If married, how is that going?  The Word says you and your spouse are one.  Are you?  Do you steward your body the same way as your spouse?  Do you have separate financial accounts? Do you rise and go to bed together?  Are you like-minded in life goals; making sure those goals are, above all else, Christ-willed?  If not, PRAY, dear ones, for your spouse... and be responsible to make sure your walk's aim is oneness in Christ first and foremost!

Oneness.  It's far more to God than a token of thought.

I know from personal experience just how intense that battle for oneness can be; both personally and maritally speaking. Truth be told, it potentially is a life-long battle with uncertain outcome, depending upon the strength of the self-will. I highlighted this in my last two posts concerning Jacob.  The realization of this should sit on you like the proverbial two-ton brick.  In love, I implore you, let such truth sober you.

Such battles often.... dare I say inclusively always.... include judgment by others.  

One of the largest twists of the Word popular in today's culture is the mantra, "Judge not, lest you be judge." We hear it routinely in our politically correct (TOXIC) climate.

I wrote a lengthy article on www.joyinthemorning.com  under the article's tab called "To Fully and Rightly Function as a Believer." 

If you want to take the time - which I encourage - read it.  It is about halfway down through the articles. Scroll till you find it.  It's worth the hunt, I do believe.

The battle between autonomy and oneness in the believer's life will always include the buffet of God as well as other fellow believers.  Don't run from it.  Don't resist it.  If you want to grow, embrace it.

One morning as I was meditating, the thought hit me, "If we are so touchy about the judgement of others, how ever will we be able to handle the day of account before God Himself?!"  

I'm serious. Let that thought sit on you awhile and soak in beyond the surface.   

The documentation of rightly judging of actions and words by God and others is found throughout the Word.

Understand the action of resisting judgment is an affirmation of your insistent autonomy.  (Re-read that.)

Again, let it soak well below the surface.

Are you squirming?  May I gently suggest that you humbly lay before God and ask Him why this topic is setting you off.

Self-will MUST die if oneness is to be achieved.

If we cannot yet say as Christ said, "I have come NOT to do My will, but to do the will of Him who sent me."....then the battle for oneness is still very much alive.  Acknowledge it, confess it... then take the action steps God shows you today that line up with:

If anyone want to come with Me,

(again, oneness being the theme),

 he must deny himself,

 pick up his cross EVERY DAY,

 and follow Me CONTINUOUSLY.

Luke 9:23 

I'll close this out with two edifying points:

1) Take ten minutes or so and SLOWLY read out-loud Ephesians 5.  Allow the words to fall on you as if it were the first time you were reading the passage.  Engage ALL of your brain cells. In other words, resist reading it as the "familiar passage" it tends to be to the believer.  It is charged with the powerful theme of oneness.

2) I wrote on Facebook this week something I felt the Spirit stir up and speak to me: 

Autonomy and oneness have never and will never coexist.

To have one is to sacrifice the other.

Which one is placed upon the altar and burned up

depends NOT upon the presence of Christ's Lordship,

but upon our obedience to His Lordship.

Are you humbly on your knees, crying out to God to make oneness real in your life?

Or are you on your feet, defiantly stiff-necked in defense of your autonomy?

Pick your aim carefully.

Which will it be?

Autonomy or oneness?   

Please know with all weightiness, your eternal destination hangs in the balance:

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter." Matthew 7:21

That should wake us ALL up!

I know it certainly has me wide awake.

What's God's will for you today?

Take the time.

SEEK it out

before Him

 as if your very life

 depends upon finding it

.... because it does.

♡Godspeed♡

Follow-Up: "But Now I See"

So, how many actually heeded my recommendation to watch the series "How to Renew Your Mind"  by James MacDonald?  If you did, you know just how hard session 10 and 11 hit.

To think, that even with God's persistence all the way to the very end of life, we can still elect to sin, hide the sin, say one thing - do another, harbor the pain from sin and regret.... and die...NEVER grasping God's redemption, liberty, and pleasure.

Jacob, in front of Pharaoh at the end of his days, described his life as too short (ie: full of regret with little time to redeem it) and evil.  Evil.  Not difficult.  Not unfair.  BUT EVIL.  Let that word rest on you for a moment.

He lived his entire life deceiving himself and those around him; lying to those around him - ultimately out of fear and passivity, as James pointed out.

One of the most alarming eye-openers to me was that he had lived in that rut for so long that not even the rape of his daughter was enough to knock him out of his passive avoidance state.  How incredibly sad.... and WRONG... is that?!

I'm fairly confident that we all know a "Jacob".  Someone who claims to know God.... may even talk regularly with God as Jacob did.... but who equally regularly lies, deceives, and cheats just as Jacob did to both themselves and those around them.

This series lead me to listen to James MacDonald's series "But Now I See."   Interestingly enough, in either the first or the second video, he mentions his series "How to Renew Your Mind," questioning which series should have actually come first, but regardless the two most certainly go hand in hand.

If I could, I would make each of you sit and watch BOTH series.  I truly would.  Not because I want you to feel beat up, but because I realize that in order to move forward... to grow... we have to be brave and face the music, as the expression goes.  We, as believers, have got to get better about discerning the difference between condemnation (of the devil) and conviction (of God).  Both "feel" similar -- so we tend to avoid both!  NOT smart!

It is in love I tell you; I don't wish for any of you to remain Jacobs, but if you tend to tell yourself, "That's not me or that's not for me" - I fear you delude yourself, and you run the likelihood of being as Jacob at the end of your life... full of regret and seeing just how evil you made it..... by your choices and your willfulness.  

I have learned so much in these two series, and I have found James MacDonald's forthrightness to be altogether refreshing.  Few pastors these days CALL PEOPLE UP AND OUT of their sin-filled life with the VOICE OF CORRECTION anymore. (I am of the strong opinion that we need a lot of James MacDonalds as pastors!)

In his second video, James quotes a secular psychiatrist from the 70s:
"In all of the laments and reproaches made today, one misses any mention of sin. It was a word once on everyone's mind, but now if ever heard.  Does that mean that no sin is involved in all our troubles? Is no one any longer guilty of anything? Guilty perhaps of a sin that could be repented of...?  Is it only that someone may be stupid or sick or criminal or asleep? Look! Wrong things are being done. We know. But is no one to blame for these things? Is no one answerable for these acts? Is no one responsible? Anxiety and depression and guilt, we all acknowledge. But has no one committed any sins?  Where indeed did sin go? What became of it?"  (Dr. Karl Menninger)

In a day and age, when it is status quo to deflect responsibility onto everything and everyone else and call our behavior anything but sin, here I am petitioning you .... yet again..... take the time to listen to the "But Now I See" series.  There are six videos, and each of them I have found to be wholly sobering.

I take my walk with God very serious, but honestly, my sobriety in Christ has been ratcheted higher through the listening.  I hope you will take the time.  I keep saying this.... and I'll keep saying this.... this life is fleeting.... and we will all stand before God and give an account.  If you make excuses now....if you have become a "pro" at rationalizing, I shutter to think what you'll say in front of God on that day quickly coming. As James says, "It's not a good plan; not a good plan AT ALL!"

Listen, let bravery rise, and take responsibility for where you and your life currently are.

It's the ONLY path that will yield good and get you where you so long to get.....

Godspeed.... truly.

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH0xA06L0-Y&t=17s )

Time of Account; Ready or Not

Good morning....I'm going to dive right in, and for those of you who take heed, I know you'll be both blessed and challenged.

I've been on vacation these past few days, and what I chose to do on my vacation was to make my way through a wonderful teaching series by James MacDonald.  I'll link the video series at the bottom of this post. (For those of you who receive this blog through email, you'll have to go to the actual blog to see the link.  Why it renders blank through email, I do not know.)

The series addresses the core of who we are by zeroing in on our thought life, our thought patterns, why we think the way we think, and how to eradicate debilitating, destructive patterns out of our life.

I found listening to ten hours of sermons delightful.  I know.  I am odd.  But in part, James is easy to listen to, and I like his dry humor ..... even as God excises "stinkin thinkin" out of my own mind.

That is the point of listening, you know.... to EXCISE elements OUT of your life.  It isn't so that reason will give allowance for them to stay a bit longer.

My great-grandfather and my grandfather, who lived beside one another and whose lands bumped up to one another, were farmers....not for profession... but for provision.  As a result, they tended the fields EVERY morning and EVERY evening.  In between, they worked their jobs.

As a result, they always had this tremendous abundance of various foods. (The peaches were always my favorite!)

I recently had a conversation with a dear soul.  During spring, they had planted a few plants, built a fence to keep rabbits and the like away, and left them to grow.  Over the course of the summer, the weeds simply overtook the plants.  When we were talking, they said, "Well, I weeded them about three times, but the weeds...."   Yes, the weeds.

Needless to say, nothing came from those plants.

The elements in our lives are like those plants.  Sporadic weeding is simply not sufficient IF we actually desire fruit.  Be it relationships or elements of personal disciple, to produce fruit DEMANDS DAILY weeding; DAILY DISCIPLINE.

If my grandparents had taken the course of least resistance and taken to the field only sporadically or when they FELT  like it, you and I both know little to nothing would have come out of those fields.

Feelings.  Oh, talk about a cans of worms. If I could count all the conversations with beloved people who are chained to their feelings, I know the number would be profoundly vast.

Educating my children, I taught them two paramount cornerstones-of-the-mind, if you will:

1) LEAD your emotions.... do NOT be lead by them.
2) Learn to say NO to yourself.

Oh that everyone had someone who would drive just these two points home, deep into the mind, soul, and spirit!

I want to encourage you to do two things in the coming days:

1) START and COMPLETE the video series by James MacDonald.  You binge watch Netflix or the like!  So, I KNOW you can take the time to SOW into YOUR life this truly  life-altering series.

2) START really monitoring what you do, when you do, and how you do LIFE.

Take your life OFF auto-pilot.  Begin with small steps.  It might be dedicating structure to when you rise in the morning and when you go to sleep at night.

We, as Christians, just love to talk about the liberty found in God, but too often, I find too many apply that liberty to destructive patterns.  That was never God's intent.  Remember I Corinthians 10:23: "I have the right to do anything, but not everything is beneficial.  I have the right to do anything, but not everything is constructive."  Some of you would do a lot of good by dedicating that verse to memory and meditating on it before rolling out of bed in the morning!

It was interesting listening to the individual who planted the plants in the spring. They began to explain why it had turned out the way it had.  Quietly, I heard the Lord say, "This is what I will hear when My people come before Me at the Time of Account."   There was no condemnation in His tone, but sadness. Indescribable sadness.

I don't want to stand before Him and be so flustered that all I have to offer is excuses and "rational reasons" why I didn't produce well, why I did not steward well.

I know it is hard to rip the blinders off and truly assess one's habits, one's life, one's fruit - if there be any, but hear me, dear ones..... to delay is absolute folly!  For the "Time of Account" is nearing....if not through Jesus' return.... certainly through death!

Time here is brief to say the least!
What are you doing with your time?

This brings me to an amusing true story, but it does drive home the point.

A father had had his fill of his high-school son complaining that he simply didn't have the time needed to do all his school work.  So, the wise father looked at his son and explained, "Son,  everyone has 24 hours in a day.  I work between 7 and 8 of those hours, sleep 8 of those hours, and have 8 hours free.  What I want you do to is think of your school as your work, and record the MINUTES... not the hours... but the minutes you actually work on your school.  Do not record the minutes you pick up your phone to look at whatever or the minutes your mind takes you to a various website to check on some interest. ONLY record the minutes you actually apply to your work."

Again - oh that EVERYONE would have someone give them such wise instruction.

How easy it is to "blow our time" ...and then turn right around and complain we simply don't have enough of time to work our field!

God is a God of order, and what I have found in my nearly 50 years of living is that in following His lead in that line of order brings forth well-springs of provision internally of love, peace, joy, etc.

I don't have to give myself pep-talks of self-worth because I have, with diligence and mindfulness, sown seeds of care and stewardship concerning this life He died to give me.

My ACTIONS, my personal stewardship, DECLARE my gratitude and my understanding concerning what HE had to do on my behalf.  I CANNOT do any less than my best FOR HIM!

Let your life do likewise, dear ones!  No matter your starting point, let there be a starting point!

Learn to say "NO" to yourself; which as we all know, "self" until regenerated (dare I say executed) on down the path of Godliness is carnal and corrupt and leads to death.  Don't go that direction.  I implore you; don't! Choose life.... by your actions; choose life!

Godspeed, dear ones; Godspeed!

******************************

Here is the first video of ten in the series.. Most sincerely, may God have His way with you as you dedicate this time between you and Him......

Let Life "Rest" on You

As I was spending such sweet time with the Lord this morning, I exhaled.... and the Lord set my life down into my lap like a fluffy pillow.  I know that sounds odd, but I know of no other way to describe it.  I sat. Eyes closed. I inhaled. I exhaled. Again, this awareness "rested" on me that life is so sweet... such a tremendous GIFT from above.

Now, before you get so much as a single step down the path to assuming my life is perfect - exactly as I always hoped or imagined - let me stop you.  I won't riddle you with the details of my life, but daily I pick up my cross, carry it, and move forward.  God has my tears in His bottle and recorded in His book (Psm 56:8), but I rejoice because His vows are binding upon Me, He has delivered me, kept my feet from stumbling so that I may walk with Him in the light of the living! (Psm 56:12-13)

Perspective is everything.  Not nine tenths... not ninety percent... but 100%.  Don't believe me?  Look at the disciples who lost not their joy UNTO death... and not a natural death.... but a taking of their life by those that hated and despised them and the message of the Gospel.

Such a thing is NOT possible without God.

I opened the Word in the early hours this morning and immediately my eyes read, "He brought me out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock and gave me a firm place to stand." (Psm 40:2)

Have you ever stood upon a rock at the ocean's edge?  Waves crashing about?  It's a breath taking place to stand.

Or have you ever stood upon a high rock at the dessert's edge?  Miles of land laid out way beneath one's feet?  That too is a breath taking place to stand.

Life is like that with God. If you let Him, He'll shine His omnipotent perspective on your life.  From that moment forward, one's perspective can never return to that of doom or pity.  He is purposed in ALL His ways.... and some how.... completely without explanation....He alone possess the ability to make life, regardless of circumstances, rest upon you like a soft pillow.

I pray you are nurturing your relationship with Him.  Don't undersell Him by insultingly looking at Him as your "get out of misery" card.  Let His glory shine in the midst of your difficulties....let the fruit of the Holy Spirit radiate beyond the boundaries of the difficulties....and let Jesus place you in His footprints, showing you His perspective .... it'll change you......forever.

Tap Into the Holy Spirit... or Flounder

Winding down from a demanding day.
I'm having a cup of tea.
I smile as I read the teatag.

Experience; it's bitter sweet - is it not?  It certainly has the POTENTIAL to grant us power and confidence *** IF *** we determine to GROW with pleasing God as the highest aim in our "life's education".

Grievously, we all observe individuals who truly seem to be self-destructive. They don't learn from their experiences; instead they repeat them over and over and over again.  It's a witness of insanity to those of us who dedicate our lives to learning, growing, and changing.

This morning I read Psalm 4:7-8:

"You have put joy in my heart more than when their wheat and new wine have abound. In peace, I will both lie down and sleep, for You Lord, alone make me dwell in safety and confident trust."

Read that again.  Did you catch the contrast?  The writer ISN'T experiencing circumstantial overflow, YET they recognize that through God they ARE experiencing the internal overflow of joy and peace.

Life is not circumstantially peaceful and overflowing in abundance these days; from North Korea to Las Vegas to Africa to your corner of the world to my corner of the world.  But please get this.... and I mean really get this.... joy and peace are NOT products of external circumstances.  They are PRODUCTS of a life intimately linked to the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5: 22-23; "But the fruit OF THE SPIRIT is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

Today, I had the displeasure of watching a video that was deeply unsettling and set my righteous anger into motion.  The "Christian" speaker was attempting to define what a good woman is. He addressed all things external.  Be THIS wife; don't nag him, support his vision, be peaceful, be silent unless you're cheer-leading for him, be everything sexual that he dreams... and on and on the list went.  I just about imploded.  I told the individual that brought it to my attention, "This will do far more damage to those in relationship than help them."

What makes a good woman is a Godly woman who follows (is surrendered to) God's heart and will; and, as such, my witness is that God often uses her to counter and confront the man's will....(and vise-a-versa), especially that which is rooted in the carnal. God's intent is for a home to be a place of refueling for BOTH spouses as well as the children therein, but His first and foremost motive is that it be a sanctuary of refinement into holiness for every member of the household....and that objective has NO option but to singe and burn up unrighteousness. That's going to bring the concept of iron sharping iron to bear in most households until God's will is all that matters.  Most every one has heard the expression, "God isn't interested in your happiness, but in your holiness."  Hello!

There is an abundance of out-workings (the Fruit of the Spirit) from a Godly life, married or NOT,  but those are birthed INTERNALLY from the Holy Spirit.... products of Him... NOT your circumstances, events, things, or people around you.  If you keep looking to those elements to grant you joy and peace, you'll NEVER find them. Never.

I smile.  My second teatag:

Hello! AGAIN.... that too is NOT possible without the Holy Spirit and His fruit!

Tap WHOLLY into the Holy Spirit....understand, His fruit works from the inside out... NOT from the outside in. If you don't wholly tap into Him, you will forever flounder...doomed to repeat today the self-destructive patterns of yesterday... and on into your tomorrows.....

Stop the insanity! 

Godspeed!

Begin Your October with Him

October is by far my most favorite month.  The fact that it began today...a Sunday...  has been such a rich blessing.

Sunday... a day of rest.... a day of thanksgiving.... a day of meditation....

After a wonderful Sunday service, I went with my youngest son on a sort of scavenger hunt.  After ending it successfully, we ate lunch at Panera Bread...just the two of us.  Precious time together.  We took our time.... I savored a dessert and a cappuccino... and we laughed together.

I love laughter.  I truly do!

We strolled to the car.  I sat for a moment before starting the car.  I took a long exhale.  I'm doing that more and more these days.  I frequently hear the Spirit say, "Exhale, Deborah; just exhale into Me."

We took the long way home with the sunroof open.... there is NOTHING like a cool fall breeze.

Upon arriving home, I threw open the windows in one of our family rooms.  It's my favorite room in our home; built especially by us, with eight BIG windows. I often say I would live in a glass house if I could.

The breeze blew in....

I pulled up the video I have linked below, putting it on repeat mode.... and proceeded to spend my entire afternoon with God.... exhaling into Him .... with extreme gratitude that He holds my being, my heart, my totality with such intimate care.  I am His, and He is mine.

I pray as you begin your October you take the time to meditate on Him... His unsurpassed greatness, His holiness, His intimate care, His mercies, His plan.... exhale into Him.... and let Him settle on you.....

  
Signing off now....dear daughter has a fire in the fire pit started, and she's calling me to join her....

♡eudaimonia♡

Godspeed