Home » 2015 (Page 3)
Yearly Archives: 2015
Deep Thought Thursday: The Definition of Awesome
“He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds. He counts the stars and assigns each a name. Our Lord is great, with limitless strength; we’ll never comprehend what He knows and does.” Psalm 147:3-5 MSG
Yahweh is gentle, and yet the epitome of strength.
He is fully occupied, and yet so faithful that He never misses a single appointed time.
Yahweh is so deep and complex, yet simple enough to be described as simply as good.
There’s so much about Him we won’t fully understand on this side of eternity, and yet He invites us into a relationship with Him so He may reveal His secrets and mysteries to us.
Something to ponder while you wander…I use awesome and fully awesome all the time, but in truth the only one worthy to be called fully awesome is Yahweh. He is the true definition of awesome!
Vintage Beauty
I was waiting in line the other day, when I noticed the woman being waited on was vintage. Late 1920’s or early 1930’s vintage. After she finished, she gathered her things, and moved to the table directly across from me to reorganize her bag.
When I saw her face I though, “Wow, I bet she was stunning when she was young.”
And I heard the Lord say, “Look again.”
So I did.
I saw that while she was thin, she wasn’t frail. I saw her face, wrinkled and crinkled with smile and laugh lines. I saw her well-loved tan sweater over a lovely, feminine button up shirt. I started to see she was one who lived her life intentionally, she wasn’t just floating through.
I was admiring her wide-brimmed straw gardening hat when she looked up.
I saw light and wisdom radiating from her eyes. I instantly wanted to have tea with her, and listen to her story.
I smiled at her. She smiled back.
I realized in that moment she wasn’t only a beauty then, she IS a stunning beauty now.
This got me thinking….Outside of the true narcissistic few, most of us dismiss our own beauty. We see our flaws, and areas of our body we want to shrink, grow, or change. But we don’t see our own beauty.
I know I don’t. I see the beauty in sunsets and nature but not in myself.
Truth is not all of us will be super models or grace the covers of magazines, but all of us are beautiful. That’s how God made us and how Jesus sees us.
This is from Song of Songs chapter 1 in the Passion Translation:
The Shulamite Woman: “In this twilight darkness, I know I am so unworthy–so in need.”
The Shepherd King: “Yet you are so lovely.”
The Shulamite Woman: “I feel as dark and dry as the desert tents of the wandering nomads.”
The Shepherd King: “Yet you are so lovely–like the fine linen tapestry hanging in the Holy Place.”
Jesus is our Shepherd King and He calls us lovely.
In Genesis 16 Hagar was a runaway maid, pregnant by her boss’s husband. She was in the desert, alone. Desperate.
“She answered God by name, praying to the God who spoke to her, You’re the God who sees me! Yes! He saw me and I saw Him!” Genesis 16:13 MSG
The one who spoke to her was no mere angel, it was Jesus, Himself. And He saw her.
Something to ponder while you wander…Just like He told me to look again at the vintage beauty, take another look at yourself. See you how Jesus sees you. Because Jesus sees you clearly, and He calls you lovely.
PS Give a fellow human a genuine compliment today. They need to be reminded of their beauty too. ❤
Monday Motivation: You are Lovely
A Monday reminder of how Jesus sees you:
“Oh my beloved, you are striking–lovely even in weakness. When I see your beauty, I see a radiant city, where we will dwell as one. More pleasing than any pleasure, more delightful than any delight, you have ravished my heart. Even hosts of angels stand in awe of you.” Song of Songs 6:4 TPT
Point to ponder while you wander…Jesus sees your beauty and calls you lovely even in your weakness.
Wonderful Wednesday: Real Relationship
“I admit I once lived by rumors of You; now I have it all firsthand–from my own eyes and ears.” Job 42:5 MSG
If you focus only on the stuff Job lost & gained, you’ve missed the best part! Job exited the worst 9 months of His life with a real relationship with Abba Father. The stuff was just an added bonus.
Brings to mind Mathew 6:33’s seek first and the rest shall be added doesn’t it?
Something to ponder while you wander…”When you call on Me, when you come and pray to Me, I’ll listen. When you come looking for Me, you’ll find Me. Yes, when you get serious about finding Me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” Jeremiah 29:12-14 MSG
Musical Monday-Greatness
Do you want to be great? Guess what? God wants you to be great too! But He wants to partner in your greatness like he did with King David. David understood that his greatness and position came directly from God, and He gave Him the Glory for it.
“You empower me for victory with Your wrap-around presence. Your power within makes me strong to subdue, and by stooping down in gentleness You strengthened me, and made me great!” Psalm 18:35 TPT
God made David great, and David turned around and recognized God’s greatness. He magnified Him. That’s what happens when we worship, God is magnified. God doesn’t change because of our worship, but our perspective of Him does. Worship reminds us that God is good, that He is for us, that Nothing is impossible for God.
This is for everyday, not just on Sunday mornings. It could be as simple as a “Thank you, Father.” or “I love you, Father.” in the middle of our hectic day. Or taking time in the morning to sit in His presence or dance with Him. You could even paint, shout, write, sing, or however you feel He should be honored that day.
“But let all who passionately seek you erupt with excitement and joy over what you’ve done! Let all your lovers rejoice continually in the Savior, saying, ‘How great and glorious is our God!” Psalm 40:16 TPT
I think Psalm 40:16, captures all this post is trying to say. That’s why today’s song is Great Are You Lord by All Sons and Daughters.
He gives life. He is love. He is the light in the darkness. Things to remember when you are facing death, feeling unloved, or anytime really.
Further reading: Psalm 48, Psalm 70:19, Psalm 76 and Psalm 104
Something to ponder while you wander: The Hebrew word translated great and glorious in Psalm 40:16 is gadal (H1431), can also be translated to make great or to magnify.
PS: Here’s A Bethel Worship Set starting with Great Are You LORD. The initial song is about 5 minutes or so, but the worship set is over an hour. The whole thing is about the greatness and awesomeness of our Papa God and His love, so I hope you’ll make the time to worship with the whole video.
Summertime Rainy Days
6 reasons why I am thankful for rainy days in the summertime.
1. My polka-dot rain boots.
2. My inner 7 year old gets to gleefully splash in the puddles.
3. I get to dance in the rain. For maximum enjoyment, I highly recommend looking up and feeling the rain on your face while you twirl.
4. My grass turns bright summer green and my flowers get watered.
5. The possibility of a rainbow. Who doesn’t love a rainbow?
6. Blue-skied, sunshine-filled days always pressure me to go and DO something. Rainy days let me BE. If I want to read all day in an over-stuffed chair. Rainy days will not judge me.
Something to ponder from under your umbrella…”Those who believe only the sunshine can bring happiness have never danced in the rain.” – Unknown
Colorful & Fruity Gratitude
Having one of those nights where my brain just will not shut off, so I got out of bed and turned some worship music on & started making the fruit salad I need to make for a family event today.
As I was making my favorite kind of salad, I was thanking God for all the brightly colored, interesting textured, flavorful fruit. What a blessing it is to have access to so many kinds of fruit!
Nothing More Powerful
Nothing is more powerful than the Love of God! Nothing!
“There is no power above or beneath us–no power that could ever be found in the universe that can distance us from God’s passionate love, which is lavished upon us through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One!” Romans 8:39 TPT
-His love reveals itself in patient endurance, waiting for us to come to Him. “So the Lord must wait for you to come to Him so He can show His love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for His help.” Isaiah 30:18 NLT
-His love reveals itself in choosing to send Jesus to us while we were far from him. “For God has proved His love by giving us His greatest treasure, the gift of His Son. And God freely offered Him up as the sacrifice for us all, He certainly won’t withhold from us anything else He has to give.” Romans 8:32 TPT
-His love reveals itself in believing in us, and speaking His truth over us. We say “I know I am so unworthy–so in need.” He says, “Yet you are so lovely.” Song of Songs 2:5 TPT
-His love reveals itself by never leaving us nor forsaking us. He’s as close as the air we breathe, every single day. He doesn’t walk away or tell us “You made your bed now lie in it. “…you always have God’s presence. For hasn’t He promised you, ‘I will never leave you alone, never!” Hebrews 13:5 TPT
Something to ponder while you wander…His love is unfailing so even your mistakes, bad choices, failures & indecision can’t stop God from loving you. “I have loved you, My people, with an everlasting love, with unfailing love I’ve drawn you to Myself.” -Jeremiah 31:3 NLT
John 3:20 Fear, Shame and Control
“So the wicked hate the Light and try to hide from it, for their lives are fully exposed in the light.” John 3:20 TPT
In my experience the most horrible humans I’ve encountered are filled to the brim with shame and fear. Fear, not hate, is the true opposite of love. (I John 4) Just because someone isn’t shaking with nervousness, wringing their hands, or anxiously pacing doesn’t mean they’re not afraid.
The violent ones, the cruel ones, the bitter ones, and even the selfish ones are all so full of fear that they do everything in their power to control and dominate. They fear the light of exposure of their shame and their broken places. They fear being hurt. They fear being found inadequate or are terrified of failure. The selfish ones often fear lack and poverty.
Many people think by controlling everything and everyone they are safe. But really they’re just spreading fear.
Trusting God and receiving His love is the only true way to conquer fear. And depending upon the amount of fear the process may be longer than you want it to be. It was for me!
And the first step in that process is allowing the Light to expose what’s really going on inside your hear and mind.
Something to ponder while you wander…Shame and fear bring out the absolute worst in people. Hurting people hurt people. So being a light will sometimes draw wrath from people, love them anyway. That’s what Jesus did.
PS Loving people doesn’t not mean that you need to endure abuse. No one has the right to verbally, physically, or emotionally beat you up! NO ONE! If a “friend,” boss, spouse, parent, sibling, child or anyone else is harming you please seek help immediately. No matter what you’ve said or done, no one deserves abuse! NO ONE!
Musical Monday Good Good Father
Today’s Musical Monday is Good Good Father by Housefires. This has been one of my go to songs for quite a while now.
It’s a great song about identity and how we see ourselves and Papa God. He’s a Good Good Father it’s who He is. And we are loved by Him, that’s who we are!
If you prefer seeing the lyrics, here’s Bethel’s version with the lyrics.
Something to ponder (and declare outloud) while you wander…The Great I AM is Love and I am His beloved.
jillbeingstill 