December 2 Christmas Theme Song

O Come O Come Emmanuel
Christmas Hymn and Carol

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times did'st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

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December 1 Christmas Theme Song

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
Christmas Hymn and Carol

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold:
"Peace on the earth, goodwill to men
From heavens all gracious King!"
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled;
And still their heavenly music floats
O'er all the weary world:
Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o'er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.

O ye beneath life's crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow;
Look now, for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing;
Oh rest beside the weary road
And hear the angels sing.

For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophets seen of old,
When with the ever-circling years
Shall come the time foretold,
When the new heaven and earth shall own
The Prince of Peace, their King,
And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing.

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Theme Song Thursday - Final 2015

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Merry Christmas Eve Theme Song Thursday

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Theme Song Thursday -- The Sovereign LORD Reigns!

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The Super Lord Reigns

Isa. 50:4-5a

"The Sovereign LORD has given me His words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning He wakens me and opens my understanding to His will. The Sovereign LORD has spoken to me, and I have listened."

Grabbed by these verses today, I began to imagine and to ponder. . .then did some hurried research about the word "Sovereign," after noticing the word "reign" inside the larger word.  Have I seen that before?  I do not remember, but it captivated me.

Theme Song Thursday

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Bread for Today

In the natural, I made a loaf of THM Sprouted Wheat Bread, something I have not taken the time to do for months.  The process was simple, yet fulfilling; the resulting loaf was delicious and nourishing -- truly a BLISS, which I need to pursue more regularly.

Supernatural bread for today started as a musing about how to love the broken in our world.  Jesus' wise instruction to love others as I love myself reminded me that self love is the beginning of pouring the Father's heart upon others. Every one of us is broken and traumatized to some degree and in need of a Physician.  Tenaciously pursuing wholeness and healing for myself truly must be a priority; our family's beloved first pediatrician continually exhorted me to take care of me/Mom, so that I could take care of our kiddos.  The flight attendants remind us to put our own oxygen mask on before we try to help someone else. Yes, current culture understands this concept.

Why is it so difficult for Christ followers?  One reason, I believe, is the stigma, the SHAME, that religious culture affixes to people "who don't have it altogether."  The enemy loves this lie and works with religious culture to perpetrate it far and wide.  The TRUTH is that we all are in need of the Physician -- that's why He came to save the WORLD.  Shine the light on SHAME, dare greatly and run after personal wholeness and healing.  You will be amazed at the good that will result.

When I mentioned "religious culture," I was not meaning the church, the Body of Christ.  Nope.  I was speaking of a mindset that is empowered supernaturally.  At itmes this culture/mindset does show up in our local churches, though. Sadly church people will sometimes treat other church people worse than a stray dog, despite the model we see in how Jesus loved His disciples and those who followed Him. (You might want to read up on how He dealt with the religious culture of His day chronicled in the stories of most of His interactions with the Scribes and Pharisees, too.) Christ also said to love each other as He loved us.  Unfortunately, the church is known as being the only army that shoots its own wounded.  This should not be!  Come alongside those in the Body of Christ who are pursuing wholeness and healing.  They are part of the group of people that you and I are meant to love as we love ourselves.

The other part of that group are those who are not part of His Body.  Guess what?  The same instructions apply in regard to them.  Love them as you love yourself.  Because it's the kindness of God that leads people to Him, we are to be the conduits of His Kindness.  Be famous for love, as Sherri Silk says.  See people the way He sees them -- created in His image and likeness.  Honor, respect and love everyone around you, brokenness and all.


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Theme Song Thursday

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Theme Song Thursday

Had a lovely coffee date with a dear friend yesterday, and we spoke of running like this.  This is a re-posted song, but still a great favorite and timely.


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Revive

June and July have been fabulously full of fun, learning opportunities.

After our adventure with Revive Northwest Indiana, my intention was to summarize that "summer school course."

You regular readers know that I have not chronicled our time in Lake County.  As I dreaded might happen, the passing time since then has gathered many of my memories and stolen them away.

I absolutely LOVED going out into the community to pray with people.  I absolutely LOVED listening to Holy Spirit's leading as to where to go and who to talk with.  I absolutely LOVED being part of a team of people whom I had never met before and who, by the end of our morning or afternoon outing were like family to me.  I absolutely LOVED the worship, the fellowship over meals, the prayer, the testimonies and the genuineness of Time to Revive's team.

So what lasting impact did it make upon me?  I feel like I am much more bold to talk to people than ever before.  I love the fact that I can now easily present the Gospel to someone using the tools (wristband and Bible), if that's where the person is on their journey to God. I was blessed and encouraged to see and to hear Holy Spirit respected, consulted, listened to and taught upon. Practicing hearing God's voice and then walking in faith according to what was heard is always a bonus as well.  

Love. Listen. Discern. Respond.  Four great steps for all of our interpersonal relationships!


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Theme Song Thursday

While I have posted this one before, at least once, I need to marinate in this still:

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Driving a Stake in the Ground

Edited 06.27.15

I am saddened, but not surprised at the Supreme Court's ruling in favor of same sex "marriage."

Rudderless, the majority justices continue to sail the USA toward rocky shores.

Perhaps I am painting a target on myself, but I feel compelled to post a statement of my faith and beliefs here today.

I do not hate anyone.  Because I follow Jesus Christ, because He loves and forgives me, and because His love compels me, I love everyone, though I do so imperfectly as an imperfect human being.

"Love your neighbor.  Do good to those who do evil against you.  Overcome evil with good."

Those some are my foundational motivations and guiding commands.

Below is a more formal belief statement, the wording of which I borrowed and tweaked from an Alliance Defense Fund pdf.

"I believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female, evidenced biologically at birth. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. (Gen 1:26-27.)  ‘Being man’ or ‘being woman’ is a reality which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity, which comes to them immediately from God their Creator. Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity ‘in the image of God.’

"I believe that the term 'marriage' has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. (Gen 2:18-25.) I believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. (1 Cor 6:18; 7:2-5; Heb 13:4.) I believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman.

"I believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God. (Matt 15:18-20; 1 Cor 6:9-10.)

"I believe that God freely offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. (Acts 3:19-21; Rom 10:9-10; 1 Cor 6:9-11.)

"I believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31.) Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture or with how Jesus treated people while He walked the earth."

I understand that our government has approved and legalized relationships and actions that are in opposition to my beliefs.

I do not believe that those who have made these decisions hate me.

I am not your judge.  (Matt. 7:1, John 5: 26-27, John 12: 47-48.)

These beliefs guide my relationship with God and with man.  A desire of my heart is to grow in loving relationship with God and with all of humanity every day.

If you disagree with my beliefs, I respect you and love you anyway.  I think all of you are amazing creations of Father God who carry unique and needed gifts into our world.

Can we focus on the things we agree upon and work together to build a promising and bountiful future for us and for the generations to come?

Have mercy on us, oh God!

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Theme Song Thursday

This is my prayer this week!



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Theme Song Thursday

Your Love is better than life!!!


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Fingerprints and the Next Dot

 How my heart celebrates recognizing Papa's fingerprints in my life!  Sometimes when Papa shows up, His Presence impacts my body and my soul, generally feeling weighty and BIG. Other times He impacts my mind more subtly, like a fingerprint left behind.

 Currently one of His fingerprints is "mustard seed."  While pondering through Matthew, the passage in Chapter 13 captured my focus -- it leapt off the page and led me on a thoughtful journey with Holy Spirit.  Though this passage compares the Kingdom to a mustard seed, what I remembered was my male friends at my childhood church receiving a mustard seed tie tack as a gift from our Reverend. He was a master storyteller and retold the parable (Matthew 17) about having a mustard seed of faith and being able to move mountains as part of his presentation of the gift.  This truth captivated me, and of course, made me wish I could be given a mustard seed tie tack, too. To this day, I am incredibly encouraged by that parable.  That same mustard seed of faith that propelled me to say "yes" to Jesus, can move mountains.  He has already given me everything I need for life and Godliness.

 Kris Vallotton taught the same basic message recently along with the exhortation and encouragement to believe you are who God says you are.  Because I am also intentionally reminding myself of who God says I am, these two messages, fingerprints, are alive to me like never before.  Doug Addison keeps prophesying that breakthrough is imminent.  I want to position myself for breakthrough by wielding my mustard seed of faith and beliving that I am who God says I am!

 God's fingerprints also call to mind those beloved dot-to-dot pictures.  Doug Addison says that finding personal purpose and destiny are like a dot-to-dot picture.  My job is to find the next dot; I cannot hurry to the end to see the final picture.  Each one of His fingerprints is a next dot for me.  Learning to recognize them, to fully see and learn from them, and to keep looking for the next dot, all at the very same time, is a challenge for me.  Yet, nothing is impossible with God.

 What fingerprints are you seeing in your life?  What's the most recent dot?  What are you doing to join God in those places?


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Theme Song Thursday

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Theme Song Thursday

When all else around me seems to be coming apart. . .

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Theme Song Thursday

 This is only a snippet, but soooooo good. . .

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Father's Fingerprint

 I am a disappointment to myself often.  Today we had agreed to specific plans for taxiing our young people places, and then is started to snow and to collect on the roads. . .When is it wisdom and when is it wimping out?