Peace and Quiet

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12: 1-2

We started discussing flexibility yesterday, and then today, I discovered that “flexibility” is even a topic under God’s promises.

Life can make us crazy, can’t it? Pulled hither and yon, one direction to another, so fast we lose sight of what’s right, what’s wrong, what’s good, what’s bad.  A dear friend reminded me today what we need to do when life gets like this. We just need to put on the brakes and STOP. Ask God where He’s leading us, which direction He wants us to go.

Sometimes, that direction may be upstream, against what everyone else is telling you to do. Sometimes, it may be in line with everyone else. But we’ll never know until we ask God, will we?

He wants us to be TRANSFORMED. The Message translates our verse above this way:

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life - and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t be so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Romans 12:1-2 

However, as it is written:

“No eye has seen

no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love him”

but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.

1 Corinthians 2: 9-12

I guess I’m still dwelling on preparing/planning/goal setting. This verse jumped out at me for today’s blog post.

How do you make plans? Do you pull out a calendar and fill the dates with “must do” tasks, events, chores? Or put it all into your Blackberry or online calendar?

What do you do about unexpected events? How does the unexpected affect your planning? Do unexpected events change your purpose?

I still have more questions than answers, so we’ll keep exploring. I’d love to hear some of your own insights - please share them with us.

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10

It’s that time of year when we start analyzing the goals we set for last year - did we meet them? - and start setting goals for the upcoming year.

Do you set goals?

I admire people who seem to have a plan for everything. One of my cherished friends goes over goal lists with her husband twice a year to keep their family, personal, and professional goals on track. It’s such an admirable trait - and everyone can see the fruits of their efforts.

Unfortunately, I’m not one of those people who can do that. I find it hard to plan a trip to the grocery store - what if something else comes up that’s more important? I guess I have trouble with the balancing act - I tend to be too flexible, I guess.

Flexible and spontaneous. How do those traits fit with today’s verse - if God prepared good works in advance for us to do, then how can we be sure to do them if we aren’t focused on that? Maybe we can still be flexible and spontaneous - as long as we keep our eyes focused on Him and keep the prayer line open for His guidance in all we do?

I don’t have the answers. Just plenty of questions. But I do know one thing - He’s definitely not finished with me yet.

Are you a goal-setter? Do you make plans? Share some of your tips and strategies with us!

But you, God, shield me on all sides,You ground my feet, you lift my head high,

With all my might I shout up to God,

His answers thunder from the holy mountain.

Psalm 3: 3-4 (The Message)

We traveled this past weekend, returning home in the rain. I asked one of my dear friends and prayer partners to pray for our safety as we traveled.

She e-mailed that she was led to a couple of verses for us -

“He gives His angels watch over you to keep you in all your ways.” and “A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand but it shall not come near you.”

Then, today, in my own Bible study, I was led to Psalm 3. The whole passage spoke to me, comforted me, lifted me. I thought about just sharing a verse or two, but why not the whole thing? I pray it will bless you and comfort you as it did me:

O Lord, how many are my foes!

How many rise up against me!

Many are saying of me,

“God will not deliver him.”

But you are a shield around me, O Lord,

you bestow glory on me me and lift up my head.

To the Lord I cry aloud

and he answers from his holy hill.

I lie down and sleep;

I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.

I will not fear the tens of thousands

drawn up against me on every side.

Arise, O Lord!

Deliver me, O my God!

Strike all my enemies on the jaw;

break the teeth of the wicked.

From the Lord comes deliverance.

May your blessing be on your people.

To God be the glory, great things He has done!

“They said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’”

Acts 16:31

Today, December 2nd, is the anniversary of the death of my precious grandmother Nanny. She passed away many years ago, and yet still lives so much within me, and with our entire family.

Nanny was quite a character. As a child, my goal was to reach her height - of course, I didn’t realize that she was in reality only about 4′9″ tall - in my eyes, she was a giant! (Thankfully, I made it over the 5′ mark, but not by much!)

She could cook some of the best food you ever put in your mouth. She crocheted beautiful afghans and sturdy quilts. She would also give you - or anyone who needed it - the shirt off her own back. She was giving and loving and kind.

She wasn’t always like that. I admit that in my early years, she was a bit harsh and judgmental towards people. But as I got older, I watched her grow and mellow, becoming more like Jesus the closer she got to Heaven.

Nanny taught me many things over the years - the most important being prayer. Nanny taught me to pray about all things, and about everyone. She even taught me how to pray when I didn’t know what to pray. Funny thing - she never sat down and said, “This is how you pray.” Nope, she taught me how to pray by example only.

She prayed for me daily - I knew that without a doubt. After I became a Christian at age 22, she became a regular prayer partner with me - if I had a need, I called or wrote her about it, knowing she would pray. And she did.

The day she died, I knew she was with Jesus, and I couldn’t be sad about that. The hard part was knowing my bestest prayer partner was no longer here with me. I felt the mantle pass.

And I still want to grow up to be at tall as Nanny.

I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.

Psalm 69:30

As I’ve thought about these lists, something else occurs to me that I’d like to share. All of our stuff - our possessions, our money, our food, clothing, shelter, EVERYTHING belongs to God. He is gracious and generous enough to allow us to have anything we do have - and even when it seems like we may lose everything, He can replace it. Just ask Job.

Even though the world - and our own actions - make us THINK that WE have provided for ourselves, that’s FALSE. Only God can provide for us. He may ALLOW us to earn a living, and ALLOW us to use our talents to provide for our families - but He is the giver of all good things. We don’t do it alone.

Three things I’m thankful for:

1) My critters. I have one dog as a pet - a beautiful, spoiled rotten 7-year-old German shepherd mix, that we love like a child. She sleeps with us, watches over us, protects us, and runs from screaming fireworks or shotgun blasts. We also have dozens of other critters - but they’re all part of the nature around us. I have DOZENS of funny-looking squirrels that entertain me on a daily basis right outside my window - until we moved here, I’d never seen multi-colored squirrels like this. (You can see a picture of one on my Web site.) We also have lizards - most of them are skinks, but I think there are others I haven’t yet identified. Birds by the hundreds flock here, too, of all shapes and sizes. The largest are the turkey vultures we spotted up in a dead tree one year. I so wish I’d had my camera! God’s creativity with all the different forms of nature is astounding, and I thank Him for sharing some of it with us.

2) My electronics. I always said I was meant to be born during this day and age - I’m a geek. I love my computer, and have been accused of being addicted. I thank God for the technology that allows me to stay connected with my friends and family at the touch of a button.

3) My home. We have a tiny little cabin, set under a magnificent old oak tree. Our house is only one bedroom, but it’s big enough for us most of the time and it just feels so homey. Despite a heat pump that I bad-mouth almost daily during the winter for blowing cold air when I’m freezing, it still keeps us warm and dry. And the big windows allow me to watch the critters in action. I thank God for my home.

What are you thankful for today?

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.

1 Peter 4: 12-13 (NASB)

Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.

1 Peter 4: 12-13 (The Message) 

 Yes, I’m repeating myself again, but with good reason. I’d like to pose a question to you. When reading your Bible, do you ever just feel like shouting for joy, whooping and hollering praises and Hallelujahs until your voice is gone?

This verse causes that reaction in me. Whooo-wheee! Hallelujah! Glory is just around the corner - that’s enough to shout about, isn’t it?

This verse was again under the Depression category of my list of God’s promises. I’m not purposely focusing on depression, but until I get to the end, if the Lord uses the verses to speak to me, I’m going to share it with you.

The words “as though some strange thing were happening to you” just jumped right off the page at me this morning. Many times over the past several months, I’ve made that very comment - and so have several of my friends and prayer partners. Even our real estate agent made that comment - we’ve had a house on the market for almost 3 years now - with 10 different contracts that have all fallen through. We’ve had one contract on it since June - and it’s still on it. We just cannot get the house closed.

We’ve wondered why, we’ve questioned what we’re doing wrong, we’ve begged and pleaded with God to move mountains to get it closed - and our prayers have not yet been answered. Today, it seems like I got an answer to my question of WHY with this verse - maybe it’s a spiritual refining process!

So, instead of whining and complaining and worrying, I’m just gonna rejoice and shout HALLELUJAH!

Are you going through your own difficult times? Could it be a spiritual refining process for you, too? Would you join me in rejoicing and shouting Hallelujah to our Savior and Lord?

Thank you, Jesus! Amen!

“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

Isaiah 41:10

I continue to look at God’s Promises each week - they are so rich with wisdom and comfort. And again today, I discovered this promise under the Depression category. 

Meditate on this verse today - piece by piece. Think of each section between commas, and then each period.

Do not fear

I am with you

Do not anxiously look about you

I am your God

I will strenghten you

I will help you

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Folks, I don’t know about you, but I WANT God to be my God, I want Him to be with me, I want Him to strengthen me, I want Him to help me, I want Him to uphold me. So I want and need to do the rest of it - I need not fear, and I need not look anxiously about me. Seems simple on paper, doesn’t it? Do we believe His promises, or don’t we?

Lord, give us the strength we need not to fear, not to look anxiously about us. We want you to be our God - our one and only God. We want you to be with us, to strengthen us, to help us, to uphold us. We love you, Lord, and we praise you. Thank you for Who you are. In Jesus’ wonderful name, Amen.

Is anyone crying for help? God is listening, ready to rescue you.

Psalm 34:17 (The Message)

The righteous cry, and the LORD hears and delivers them out of their troubles.

Psalm 34:17 (New American Standard)

Yes, the same verse, with just a slight difference - enough that I wanted to share both of them. One may speak to you more than the other.

This time of year, many of us suffer depression for a whole host of reasons. And with the economy in trouble, and the future more uncertain than ever, I’m sure this year will be a bit more difficult than usual.

As I was scrolling through my list of God’s Promises, the verse above jumped out at me. Yesterday, I spent a couple of hours just crying out to God, and putting words to paper. When I finished, it had a similar cadence, similar feel to it that some of David’s cries have in the Psalms. Instantly upon realizing that, I felt not so alone. Or guilty for whining/complaining/griping/worrying/crying. Do you ever feel that guilt? I can’t seem to get rid of it!

But this list of promises - God has been teaching me to TRUST that His promises are for ME, just like they are for YOU, just like they were for people in the past and will be for people in the future. He doesn’t pick and choose when to keep His promises to whom - He keeps His promises to all of us.

Well, THIS is one of His promises - He hears our cries, and He rescues us from our troubles.

Lord, just give us the faith we need, and the wisdom we need, to believe that promise. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

PS - Our friend Nancy Arant Williams has started her own blog here at Today. Loved and Protected is filled with wisdom, and encouragement, and hope. Stop by and pay her a visit - you’ll be blessed.

I lift you high in praise, my God, O my King! and I’ll bless your name into eternity. I’ll bless you every day, and keep it up from now to eternity.

God is magnificent, he can never be praised enough. There are no boundaries to his greatness.

Generation after generation stands in awe of your work; each one tells stories of your mighty acts.

Your beauty and splendor have everyone talking; I compose songs on your wonders.

Your marvelous doings are headline news; I could write a book full of the details of your greatness.

The fame of your goodness spreads across the country; your righteousness is on everyone’s lips.

God is all mercy and grace - not quick to anger, is rich in love.

God is good to one and all; everything he does is suffused with grace.

Creation and creatures applaud you, God, your holy people bless you.

They talk about the glories of your rule, they exclaim over your splendor.

Letting the whole world know of your power for good, the lavish splendor of your kingdom.

Your kingdom is a kingdom eternal, you never get voted out of office.

God always does what he says, and is gracious in everything he does.

God gives a hand to those down on their luck, gives a fresh start to those ready to quit.

All eyes are on you, expectant; you give them their meals on time.

Generous to a fault, you lavish your favor on all creatures.

Everything God does is right - the trademark on all his works is love.

God’s there, listening for all who pray, for all who pray and mean it.

He does what’s best for those who fear him - hears them call out, and saves them.

God sticks by all who love him, but it’s all over for those who don’t.

My mouth is filled with God’s praise.

Let everything living bless him, bless his holy name from now to eternity.

Psalm 145 (The Message)

We’re studying 1 Samuel in Bible Study, and this week, the lesson pointed to several of David’s Psalms that he wrote as he went through the various trials detailed in Samuel. It’s encouraging to read his praises, tucked in the middle of other poems crying out to God for help.

Very much like our own prayer lives today, isn’t it?

Do you need some encouragement? Pick up the Bible, flip to Psalms, and just start reading. You’ll hear David’s cries, and well as his praises, and it won’t be long before praises are pouring from your lips - and your heart - as well.