12 Practicing His Presence

This morning I got up with every intention of putting my special time with the Father first.

Ya got it, that didn't happen....in fact when I was ready to read with Cliff in our special time in The Word... he left the room, I read....he took a shower......I read.......When he was getting dressed....I read.....I walked in and said, "I thought we were going to read.....he said, 'well you looked busy', and I said...he said...I said...he said...

I figured out right away....(well, not RIGHT away, smile ) but sometime in there, that the enemy of our soul comes to 'steal, kill, and destroy.' He was trying to steal our time, together, and he was laughing, with glee....he almost did it. Clever, he is!! But my favorite thing to say to him is,

'you snake in the grass, I heard the rattle of your tail, and I know you were DESTROYED at the Cross!!!!!!!'

However the point I am trying to make is, The Father wants time with us....always.....but it is no big deal if we do it in the morning, or the afternoon, or whenever....just do it!

Actually if you are even vaguely aware of Him, it becomes easier and easier to Practice His Presence.

I know for sure, that as you become more aware of Him, you act differently, think differently....maybe even walk a little different. Why do you think that is? I think that as we spend time in the throne room, we begin to think like who we are.....A CHILD OF THE KING!!!!

Just simply....I read in Micah 6 this a.m. where it (the Word) tells us:

'to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly.'

If we never look any farther, these three things will lead us onward...and upward.

We'll see you here, there, or in the air....HANG ON!!

Nanny..........(Cray? in the Morning!! Won't that be a delight? Seeing Jesus, face to face....let alone Andy, and all the rest?)

11 PERFECT vs PITIFUL

Father, I am just sitting here at your feet, trying not to think about me, mine, ours...

Just soaking in Your peace, comfort, strength, joy....Straight from the Father to me.

 

I must say it is a lot easier to try and see God's perspective...on...everything...from ' Up Here.'

I may start to speak...He sez, 'Just a minute My Child',  and He looks around and sees the universe...galaxies...stars...

sun...moon...all right on schedule, just as He planned, then He turns to me and asks, 'What is it My Child?'

(He being awesome, large, complicated)  Me?  'I've got a bad thing going on  in my neck.'  (me being small, simple, pitiful)

Does He care for such a small thing?  (to me it is not such a small thing, it hurts  like the dickens....I may not get to go to California next week for my Sister's birthday party.)  Seriously!!! ???  (to Him, He created me...with His breath...He spoke and it happened!!) Does it matter to Him?

I'd say a definite yes!!  However am I sitting here soaking Him in, so I can introduce my neighbors, friends, family, to Jesus, if they do not already know Him? (even with a very sore neck?)

Not so much, my neck hurts and it is very cold outside.  smile

"What on earth am I doing for Heaven's sake?"

If I saw you walking headlong over a cliff---would I run to save you?  (even with a sore neck...)  YES!

Father, today help me to put all things in the right place,  do all things with the right attitude...

May all who come behind me, find me faithful.   Even more importantly...I long for your words,"Well done, my good and faithful servant."

We are  pilgrims and strangers here, walking thru this short life, (with hurting necks, hearts, bodies) with our eyes looking straight ahead....to our  'own homeland...heaven...Home'.

"Thru it all, thru it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus I've learned to trust in God.

Thru it all, thru it all, I've learned to depend upon His Word."

P.S. Lord, I think I am beginning to get this, neck aches and all....it's not about me (pitiful)

But about You! (perfect)  Help me , today to use your strength etc... wisely.   Listen up , Margaret!!

Keep hanging on, tightly, and we will see you, here, there, or in the air!

Cray...You know, the "key word is secret."....In the Morning, see ya!

10 This is THE day...

I am reminded this a.m. of a quote from Ben Kinchlow, while he was with the 700 Club.

 

He wrote a book called,"God said it, I believe it, That settles it."

 

God  reminded him, that this was incorrect......Ben asked, 'what part?'

 

God said, 

"I said it.....(doesn't matter if you believe it or not.).....that settles it."

 

God is pretty funny at times, huh?  He made us , didn't He?   smile

Well that pretty much puts us in our place....eh?  I think this probably hits some of us right between the eyes.

We know it, we've read it, we say we understand...but do we?   When He said, 'this is the day the Lord hath made,'

Do we look out and say, ugh more snow, is this really God's handiwork, for us?

Isa 32:17 sez: "The work of righteousness will be peace....the effect will be calmness and assurance, forever."

 

His work, brings righteousness...to us...so the peace is ours, if we give our frustrations, hurts, anger...etc...to Him.

Why?  Because HE SAID SO!!  It is His gift to us, reach out and take the calmness and assurance, but we have an action word here...take it.

Guess what?  I am really trying to do this!!!!!  I can't do it!!!  Remember the song, 'it isn't in trying, but in trusting?'

I am glad God can see past, my unfaithfulness, unjustness, unworthiness....and sees my hearts cry, 

The only light at the end of the tunnel, is....The Light, who is Christ Jesus, paid for my unfaithfulness, unjustness, unworthiness....AND HE MADE ME WORTHY...so I can stand before the Almighty God, and He doesn't see all these things, He sees Jesus all wrapped around me, in me, over me...can you imagine that, how I look to God The Father?

He sees me sinless without fault, because I belong to Jesus and He belongs to me!!

Can I believe Him? Absolutely....even when I can't understand? Absolutely!!!  I love it that Apostle Paul said:  'What I want to do, I don't do.......'  This gives me great comfort, because we all have our challenges, and moments, BUT God sees us in all our humanness, and thank God He knows us, He made us!!

Hang on tight..He is coming...so I'll see you here, there or in the air.

(Yeah Cray, you got  it...see you in the morning.)

9 EMOTIONALLY CHALLENGED?!?

I am just so full of emotion this a.m. and I want to try and put it on my blog.

 

I am trying to sit at His feet each a.m. and just soak in His presence. (It is getting easier to 'sit still' and not go chasing rabbits, mentally....smile)

The part that is so amazing, is, that, as I have mentioned before He chose me....me!!..from the beginning.  

 

O.K. I have established that.

 

Again, a song, 'He knew me...yet He loved me.....'..incomprehensible but true.  If we could just see ourselves thru Gods' eyes, and realize He

made us for one thing....to have a relationship with Him.

Another song, 'Oh the wonder of sunset at evening, and the wonder of sunrise I see.....but the wonder of wonders that thrill my soul, is the wonder that God loves me!'

..

Hey Greg, let that soak in....and in.....and in....don't wait until you are at the end of life to know this, and walk this, and be this.....He NEVER leaves us nor forsakes us............We are going thru the fire, but He said we wouldn't be burned, we are going thru the waters and we wouldn't be drowned....

because He is with us.

I love Isa 49:16 that sez:  

 

'See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my

hands: your walls are continually before Me'.  

 

In one translation

 (sez my friend Marian) it is translated :

 

'your walls, are desperate situations!'

 

So thank God, He is near, and our names are  printed on His palms by nail prints, so does He know what we are going thru?  

 

Of course!  

 

Is He close enough to carry us at these times?  

 

Yes!  

 

Remember the story of the footprints in the sand? 

Only one set of prints?  And we assumed we were walking alone....

  Yep, that is when He is carrying us!!!

 

Doesn't  that make you emotional?  If not, I am going to have to repeat it again

and again, until you  ALL get it!   smile

Hang on, tight, and we'll see you here, there or in the air

8 Mercy Ship of Grace

Everyone wants to go to Hawaii....so he (with a little  "h")

 challenges us to swim.  (Whenever I speak of the devil, I

never give his name a capital 'd', he isn't worth it.)

 

So we work and we train....and we all jump in, and we swim like mad....

 

 

Some get farther than others.....

 

We look back and say, "I'm doing better than they are....

Look how close to the shore they are!!!'

 

We don't realize that the enemy doesn't want us to get there,

he wants us to drown...he came to 'kill, steal, and destroy'

that is his main mission in life...to keep us from the Father.

What we do not realize is:

No one is going to make it!  We are ALL going down, sooner or later.

Do we need more strength training?  More swimming lessons?

Get more sleep, eat better?

 

NO.....What we need is a boat.

 

No one comes to the Father....Except through Jesus and Jesus alone.

 

He is the boat.....

 

Nothing we do gives us the edge.....

 

We are all going down.....Unless we get in the boat....

 

That in a nut-shell is GRACE.

 

We all need Great Grace as the Bible mentions.....and then?

Yep, we need to give Great Grace, to the others, whether it is

family, friends, neighbors, homeless....people we know or not!

Whomever God puts in our paths......we cannot pull our skirts around us

And pick and choose.............everyone needs Grace....who better knows this than me?

 

What if we had to be so good, so thin, so tall, so lovely?????  Dear gussie,

 I'd never make it!  But we don't...He takes us just as we are, and where we are, how cool is that?

Don't TRY to be like Jesus.......that'll never work.....Just invite Him in, and as He dwells within our hearts, He will do the changing....that is, if we let Him.

Hang in there...hang on tight to His Hand...and...

we'll see you here, there, or in the air.

(Cray...in the  morning!)

7 Trust...Yes, Always!

The internet is amazing!  Even for a Dummy like me.  I have been looking for a song for a long time....I found it today on 
YouTube....here 'tis:

Sometimes life seems like words and music, that can't quite become a song.

So we cry and sigh, and try again, and wonder what could be wrong.

But when we turn to the Lord at the end of ourselves,  like we've done a time or two before,

We find this truth, it's the same as it's always been, we never will need more!

(chorus:)

It's not in trying, but in trusting.  It's not in running, but in resting.

It's not in wondering, but in praying, that we find the Strength of the Lord.

He's all we need, for our every need, we never need be alone,

Still He'll let us go, if we choose to, to live life on our own.

And the only good that can ever be said, of the plans we'll find ourselves in,

'They are places to...gain the wisdom to say' . "I'll never leave Him again."

That sez it all for me this week!  Greg called me early Tuesday a.m. that he had somehow hit his 'bad' eye and torn the cornea with his nail.  He spent the week (mostly) in the hospital...and now keeping himself from an infection, and praying the cornea will attach to the eye ball, again.  If not he will need another cornea transplant.

I was (supernaturally) able to leave all this at the feet of Jesus.....let Him take care of it, what could I do anyhow?????

Trust?  The One who chose us from before the beginning of the world?  Revelation says He wrote  our names in the Lambs' book of life, then, before the world was made.  I can't figure that one out, but God is not a God who can lie, He Is Truth.  So I am concentrating on trusting the one who is TOTALLY trustworthy.

Keep praying for a kidney for Greg, and healing for his eye.

  

My Precious Valentine presented me with a dozen red roses, and a card that has been used since 1997.

He isn't cheap, that card sez just what he wanted to say...(as did the one I got him in 1997) so each year, we get the two cards out, say something meaningful for that year, and date them, again...I think it's kinda cute!!! And so is he!! 

Well, Keep hanging in there, and we'll see you soon, here there, or in the air!   (Cray: in the morning.)

6 No Sunday Blog

Just thinking this a.m. about not blogging on Sunday....smile  

Some years ago I decided I would pay attention (and the Lord was pleased that I was finally trying to pay attention) and really relax on Sunday, and do no housework, no mail, no laundry....those were all easy!  But we have always fixed a big dinner for Sunday...so no more of that, we chose to go out to lunch.  That was easy too.   However, what about those you are making work by fixing ...your lunch etc....well now that is another matter...smile again!

Now I am doing a blog today, and my Producer, has a different take on what is the Sabbath.......so who am I hurting or helping here?   We are not going to get into a big theological question here, because I am not good at that....but I do think our Heavenly Father has a plan and lots of logic for everything He does, and askes us to do.  But we aren't going there either...........By the way, my Producer is my Precious Niece.   Allison is my producer, mentor helper, advisor, and a host of other things....(now I have many Precious Nieces, Kids, Grand Kids, Great Grands......and they KNOW I DO need their help big time.)

God has a good sense of humor...ever notice?   He made us didn't He?.......So it is o.k. to have fun and enjoy the life He has given you.  No one has more fun than I do.   Well maybe, but I love living and life itself .   

Smile and the world smiles with you...cry...and you get a red nose!  (in case you wondered...that isn't a scripture)     The joy of the Lord is my strength!   He said He would give us joy unspeakable and full of glory.   Now I know that  joy and humor are two different things, but they both come form God.

Thinking about God and what He has given us, I am reminded just about every time I read the Scriptures, it mentions His breath.   

He breathed out when He SPOKE the world into existence....that is totally amazing.  

He speaks to our hearts with a still small voice.............

then I read where  His voice roared............and I definitely do NOT want  be on the receiving end of His roar!  

He is gentle, He is awesome, He is THE GREAT I AM!!  Why don't we trust Him with our very lives? (We know soooooooooooo much and think we can do it all better???)

Greg, do you know how much fun I am having??  If it wasn't for God, we would not have made it thru this past year!

I am trusting His still  small voice (which is past finding out) that Mr. McGreggor  'will make it!'   God whispered that to me one of my very low days last year ..............and I am believing it!  (well, He didn't call you Mr. Mcgreggor, but He knows your name!)   

Isa. 43 sez, I have redeemed you, I have called you by YOUR name, Greg Toft, and when you pass thru the waters they shall not overflow you, and when you walk thru the fire, you will not be burned.   

Those are His words, they are His breath flowing out to you.............and  everyone!!!  What an amazing God we serve.   So get back to your office and  show the world what God has placed in your heart.............the dreams He wired you with....smile.....go create  something that will turn heads and hearts toward Jesus.

See you here, there, or in the air.  Hang on!   

(For Cray-- "See you in the morning!")

Nanny here.....

 

5 Garden Project (Eve's Choice)

My quiet time, plus our Wed eve. study of 'Spirit Controlled Temperaments,' gave me a lot to think about.

I have done the study but have never gone far enough to see where it really went.

We talked about how we are wired, formed in our Mother's womb, temperaments and all, and we go through our lives saying things like: 

I was born that way...

or 

that's just who I am....

or 

I can't help it,  it is just my nature.....

or 

my Dad was an alcoholic...

or 

I am a product of my environment... 

etc...

You know what?  That is not just an excuse....It is the truth....Why?  Because of Eve's choice in the beginning, in the Garden...The Bible sez we are born with a sinful nature, and we are in this mess because of  choices of other people.

Well that does not seem fair, and it isn't,...... BUT GOD.....had a plan from the beginning!  We know what that plan was--that His only Son, would come to earth, live, die, and be raised from the dead, a sinless One, who became sin for us, and He paid the awful price, so we do not have to.  

The song, 'He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt  I could not pay...'

says it all.

Now as we grow into maturity, raised by Parents with good values (or not), and then we are given a free choice as to how we live and what we do, now we see  our responsibility for our own eternal destiny.   

Sure, my Dad was an alcoholic, but must I choose to be one?...   

Yes, my Mother was an angry person, and the propensity is there for me to live an angry life, but must I choose to be angry?  

It's not our fault?  But Christ died for us, and He is our example,   He is the  'Fruit of the Spirit', so He can change our lives, our choices so that we can be Holy like the Father is Holy.  He builds on our strengths and deminishes our weaknesses.  So we are without excuse...the  Truth (Jesus) will not only set us free, but will make the corrections in our lives if we let Him.  From then on we are a work in progress.

So as I have heard: 

Give me a break, God is not finished with me yet.

 That lets us off the hook, so to speak, but it puts us on the chopping block, with the Great Gardener with the pruning shears.

 

We'll see  you here, there or in the air...hang on!!

4 What Does Your Bible Look Like?

I love 'one-liners' as you know......a plaque above our phone sez:

A Bible that's falling apart, often belongs to someone who isn't.

Years....very very many years ago, I was in the Carter home, and

there was a stand with a Bible on it.   It was literally falling apart.

 (the Bible of course...).  So I asked Jody to tell me about it, feeling

 it was something very significant...and it was!

She replied, "Oh, that's just one of Dad's bibles"...  

"Wow," I said, "how old is it?"

"Oh, this is one we got him for his birthday last year."

I literally cried....because I had received mine several years before,

 and it wasn't worn, hardly at all.

Which makes me come to the place where I was challenged to read

thru the Bible.  

If you have never read it (the Bible) then how can the

Holy Spirit bring it to your remembrance?

We'll see you here, there or in the air. Hang on!