Daily devotional thought/s song/s & idea/s

[DMW]

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooFs7Cn-oWw&playnext=1&list=PLB9FDB36D6DBF0968&feature=res ults_video"]Tracy Chapman & Natalie Merchant - Where the soul never dies - YouTube[/nomedia]

Geezle that took a long time....no wonder it is a new page. Dang

[yotlyolqualli]

Hello and thank you to all of you who sent positive thoughts and prayers this way in the recent loss of my sister. It's taken me a while to come to grips with it, and it still haunts me... but it is what it is and she is where God is, and so I can't, no matter how much it hurts, wish her back here on this plane.

Todays thought, for me, falls under the scripture that states that there is a time for everything and every purpose under Heaven. The dichotomoy of those things, struck me, and especially strikes me this morning. Some people believe that you should always be happy. Some believe that as Christians God should always make things easy and light and special and all those warm fuzzy feelings that so many people crave... only to find out that when they get them... they aren't quite as satisfying as we thought they would be.

For me... I think... that if one wants to know and fully experience pleasure, one must also experience pain. If one wants to know and fully experience rest, one must first work tirelessly and hard. If one wants to know fulfillment, one must know what it feels like to be empty. If one wants to know happiness, one must also experience sadness. If one wants to fully appreciate health, one must know sickness. If one wants to know, fully know, what they want, they must first learn what it is they DON'T want.

The only thing that that does not cover, is love. Love stands alone in so much that when one loves or is loved, they can appreciate it, without knowing it's opposite... hate. However, in order to love someone, and accept love in return, one must first learn to love him or herself.

I'd rather have pain, than be numb. Rather know hurt after hurt, than to wall myself in to keep hurt out, but in doing so, also keep all the good out. I'd rather know loss, than to not know what I am losing or what I have lost. IE my sister died. Id rather relive that nightmare over and over... rather than to not have known my sister at all.

Life brings many blessings, but it also brings about hard times. Without those hard times, however, we'd not appreciate the blessings as fully and as richly as they can and should be appreciated.

Anyway.... those are my thougts for today. Take care and God bless!

Lissa

[Luv]

[Luv]

[yotlyolqualli]

There's a song that we sang a quite often in church, when I was a child. The first phrase was, "I owe the Lord a morning song"


I used to think that that song was to only be sung in the mornings... lol. Now, I know different.. and while that song is often on my heart when I wake up, I've come to realize that every moment of every day, spiritually, is morning. Each breath we take, a renewal... each prayer we pray, a new beginning... each thought, each action, each emotion... a new and dawning experience.

I want to strive, in my life, to offer a song of gratitude and praise for God's kind mercies... not only for allowing me to "wake up" but for provding each breath, for being my mainstay... for being my shelter and for being my God, Father, Brother and Friend. Nothing that has been set before us, before me, is above or below God's control. He waits.... He waits for us to give Him the reins... to say... "Jesus take the wheel" so that He can show us the miracles He has for us... the desires He has for us... to prosper us, to comfort us, to heal and protect us and to simply be our friend. Our force. Our Protector and our Guide.

Prayer is powerful and God is waiting for us, to unleash His power through prayer. God does not, will not and does not want to, force His will on us... that is why He waits for us to make that first move. That first offering of praise.. "you do it Father, because I can't". Scripture tells us that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. It's only when we are at our lowest, that we truly let go and let God... and when we do, oh the awesome miracles God can and will wrought!

I hope to never, ever forget that... I am nothing, I can do nothing without God. I struggle with that concept sometimes but it's only when I truly humble myself in that way, that God can really move in my life... and through my life.

Prayer is powerful. Belief is powerful. God is all powerful and it's only through Him that the power of belief and prayer can be fulfilled.

"I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart. I will enter His courts with praise. I will say this is the day that the Lord hath made, I will rejoice for He hath made me glad!"

BTW... that praise of thanksgiving is in ALL things... Pray without ceasing and in EVERYTHING give thanks, for this is the will of God, in Christ Jesus concerning you.

My thoughts are jumbled, but there they are. (My) Life is empty without God, without faith... without belief.

My prayer for today is that God will always put a song of thanksgiving in my heart... a morning song... of gratitude and praise.

[yotlyolqualli]

I posted this on the "what brought you joy, today" thread, but decided it belonged here too.

"Many things bring me smiles, and today was/is no exception. The smile from a friend or TT, a TT kiss or hug, a glorious thought, a wonderful dream, a pleasurable fantasy... all can put a smile on my face.

But for me, joy, pure joy, comes from God. I was reading today, from the book of Psalms... "Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth" It goes on to ask the question, basically and loosely translated, "who am I?"

This brought two songs to mind. One is one of my favorite hymns, and the verse in it I love the most is...

"My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole! Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more, praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, oh my soul!"

True joy.

The other song...

"When I think of how He came so far from glory. Came and dwelt among the lowly, such as I. To suffer shame and such disgrace, on Mt. Calvary take my place, then I ask myself this question, who am I?

When I'm reminded of His words, "I'll leave thee, never. Just be true, I'll give to you, life forerver." I wonder what I could have done, to deserve God's only Son; who'll fight my battles until they're won, for who am I?

Who am I that a King should bleed and die for? Who am I that He would pray, "not My will; Thine, Lord." The answer I may never know, why He ever loved me so, that to an old rugged cross He'd go, for who am I?"

Pure joy.

That Creator God, who set the glory above the Heavens, who spoke the entire universe into being, who made, with His hands, mankind, in His own image... loves and cares for me... small, insignificant (in comparison to the world around me) me.

"Who am I?" I am His daughter, and that brings me deep and abiding joy."



The scripture I read this morning was Psalm, chapter 8. David's heart was so like mine. Wanting to be righteous, failing miserably, but still holding tightly to the determination, faith and the belief that righteousness was/is not above him/me, and that with God's help and mercy, he/I could/can and did/will obtain it. David's heart belonged to God, and I strive daily to allow mine to belong to God as well.

[yotlyolqualli]

I don't often read the Bible, not because I don't think it's important, but because I get lazy, lol. However, as a child and even well into my adult years, I memorized whole passages of scripture. Enough scripture, so that when something hurts me, or tests me, I can fall back onto those memorized passages, or God will bring one or many to mind and I can take comfort and strength in them.

However, there are times when I feel completely and emotionally and spiritually empty. Times when I thirst for the refreshment of God's Word. Times when nothing but time spent in the Word, will ease or comfort.

Yesterday was one of those days. Last night, I read from the book of Psalms, from chapter 1-50. Three verses really jumped out at me and this morning, they are really speaking to my heart, and so I thought I would share them here.

Psalms 27:14
Wait on the Lord; be of good courage and He shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord.

This is especially important to me this morning. I've been going through some emotional things and I keep impatiently wanting things to be easier NOW, to be finished, NOW, to start, NOW. This verse reminds me... to wait and to not fear, God is in control and He has plans to lift me up, to prosper me, to comfort me and to strengthen me. That brings me to the next verse, and when I read it, I had to re-read it over and over. It raised goose bumps on my skin.

Psalms 3:3
But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory and the lifter of mine head.

"The lifter of mine head". For so long I have walked in shame and in self condemnation. Fear of being... alone, yet fearful of not being alone. It seems the shame has been there since I came out, and was only magnified and emphasized by the women I allowed myself to become involved with. I am slowly stepping out of that shame, slowly learning to let go and let God... slowly learning to believe and accept that "there is no condemnation for those who love the Lord." God can, has and will continue to be "the lifter of mine head". That brings me to the last verse.

Psalms 4:4
Stand in awe, and sin not; commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

This verse spoke to me, specifically concerning my "fear" of being alone, or my want for something to be NOW. For me, it ties directly into the first verse, that admonishes (me) us to "wait on the Lord". Sometimes I don't want to wait, I want things to happen now, I want things I think God has in store for me, to happen now, not tomorrow, not next week, not next month or next year, but NOW. But here, God has admonished me through His poet David, to wait. To learn to love and be in love with myself and just wait. Waiting is hard, but the "lesson" I've garnered from the past while, is to wait.

And now... I wait.

"They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength, they shall mount up on wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint; teach me Lord, teach me Lord, to wait." (From Isaiah)

[yotlyolqualli]

II Corinthians 12:9
And he said; My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.


Luke 18:14
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalteth himself shall be abased: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up, higher and higher and he will lift you up. (a song that the above verse reminds me of)



Luke 18:27
And he said, "The things that are impossible with men, are possible with God."

[Martina]

“Forget safety.
Live where you fear to live.
Destroy your reputation.
Be notorious.”

-- Rumi

[yotlyolqualli]

The joy of the Lord is my strength.

Even when everything and everyone around me tries to tear me down... when I feel so low I can barely lift my head up... when I am feeling as if nothing can ever lift me up, or make me strong.. it is then that I know and realize and grab hold of... this truth.

The joy of the Lord is my strength!

No matter where I am, who I am with, what I do, what I can't do... He is there... before me, behind me, beside me, above and below me. I am cradled in His hand and no one, no entity, no "principality nor power nor things present not things to come.. nor height, not depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, my Lord."

Amen

[Martina]

Only Breath

Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu
Buddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion

or cultural system. I am not from the East
or the West, not out of the ocean or up

from the ground, not natural or ethereal, not
composed of elements at all. I do not exist,

am not an entity in this world or in the next,
did not descend from Adam and Eve or any

origin story. My place is placeless, a trace
of the traceless. Neither body or soul.

I belong to the beloved, have seen the two
worlds as one and that one call to and know,

first, last, outer, inner, only that
breath breathing human being.

From Essential Rumi

[Bèsame*]

[Bèsame*]

[Bèsame*]