Heard Recently...

I realized here lately that I could watch Hota and Kathie Lee while I work out, or I could find something a little more substantial that might actually encourage my walk with God. :) So I've started listening to some sermons on-line from Josh Patrick at the 4th Avenue Church of Christ in Franklin. This is where several of us went for 'Stream Franklin' back in January. They are going thru something of a 'revival' there in the church, and it's been interesting to hear what they are talking about.

Anyways, in this one sermon, he was going thru several atributes of God, and this caught my attention:

“God is peaceful… Wayne Grudham defines God’s peace this way, “God’s peace means that in God’s being and in His actions He is separate from all confusion and disorder, yet He is continually active in innumerable, well-ordered, fully controlled, simultaneous actions.” I Cor 14 says, “for God is not a God of disorder, but of peace.”

“Those who follow hard after God can expect a transcendent peace to come upon them. It is a peace that is not determined by circumstances. It is not dependant upon other people. It comes from within. It is an other-worldly, supernatural peace that you can’t get in a bottle, or a drink, in a person, in a possession or in a paycheck. It comes from God. Galatians 5 says that when we run hard after God, then the fruit or by-product or the evidence of the Holy Spirit in us is peace.

So what? What’s the big deal? As a dear friend once told me… ‘If you find yourself in a panic, you can be assured that God didn’t lead you there.’ That pretty much says it all.

If you want to listen to more of this sermon, or some of their other ones, you can follow this link:

http://fourthavenuechurch.org/flash/audio_player.php?f=/sermons/01 This Is The Gospel_ _From Him, Th.mp3&t=This Is The Gospel: From Him, Through Him, To Him&s=Josh Patrick&d=February 21, 2010

There's a lot of confusion and disorder in the world today. Sometimes that causes a certain amount of panic in me... but honestly, I'm more apt to find myself in a panic over the confusion and disorder that comes from within me, more than what comes from without. That's just the way I tend to work. But it was good to be reminded that God is not at all put off by confusion and disorder. He can rise above all of that and see exactly what is important and what needs to be done. And if I'm in a panic, it's really only because I've stopped trusting that. Hmmm... Trust and Peace... yeah -- that pretty much says it all...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

An old and famous Irish Blessing that I like:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

And then an Irish morning prayer that I came across that I haven't heard before:

Christ be with me,
be after me,
be before me,
and be at my right and left hand.
May everything I do be for Christ.

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

May the Luck O'the Irish be yours. ;-)

Bragging on My Sister :)

My sister has run a small business for a while now called "Simply Organized." She goes into someone's home and helps them sort out and organize just about anything from kitchens, to closets, to home offices, etc. Thankfully, she is willing to share her talents with me when she's in town since it's very clear that she inherited ALL of the "organizing genes" in our family! She can look at an attic full of junk and get energized by it -- I just slam the door shut and hope it will magically all go away. ;-)

So apparently, the local FOX News network in Columbia, SC, where she lives, decided to do a story on getting organized and she and her business are being featured in 4 short news segments over the next few weeks. Here is a link to the first one.

http://www.midlandsconnect.com/goodday/

Just look thru the stories and find "Spring Cleaning: Clearing the Kitchen" And that's my sister, Lisa! :) She told me in her email not to be too hard on her because she's not an actress - haha. But I think she did great! :)

Daily Bible Reading

I've really been enjoying reading through this One Year Chronological bible. And I'm excited to be in the middle of March and find that I'm still on track with my reading! You know, for a time this was a discipline that I was trying to develop - now I just look forward to it every day. :)

So March 16th finds me in Deuteronomy and I loved this passage that I read today and just thought I'd share this from my journal this morning:

And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?
To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the LORD set his affection on your forefathers and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today. Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt. Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. Your forefathers who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

-Deuteronomy 10:12-22

In Deut. 9 and 10, Moses is reminding the Israelites of how God rescued them time and again and has brought them now to the promised land. He makes sure that they know that it isn't because of their righteousness, because they are a 'stiff-necked' people and "have been rebellious against the Lord ever since Moses has known them." (9:24) What stood out to me today is how Moses talked about interceding for them so many times, "reminding" the Lord of His promise to them and asking Him to spare them one more time... it reminded me of the Holy Spirit and how He does that for me today. Over and over again, despite my rebellious and stiff-necked ways, the Holy Spirit pleads to God as my advocate, counselor, and comforter. Praise God that we always have one who intercedes for us on our behalf!

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

-Romans 8:26-28

My Silly Dog

Last Monday when we had that wonderfully beautiful day, I took Mandy up to Green Mountain for a walk. On our way home, I had the windows rolled down, enjoying the breeze. Apparently, Mandy was really enjoying it, too. I love the ears. :)

Blueberry Bread

I just had to put this recipe on here. I don't bake a whole lot, but after being at my mother-in-law's house the last two weekends, I got the chance to have this wonderful blueberry bread that she made. So she gave me the recipe last weekend and I took a shot at it -- and it's SO easy! And SOOOO good! :) Even my children, who usually don't do "fruity" breads, keep telling me how much they like this. Of course, today, Mackenzie said, "Yeah, it's like eating pound cake with blueberries in it." Hmmmmm.... yep, with 2 1/2 sticks of butter in it, it's pretty much like that -- but we'll keep calling it blueberry bread so that I can feel OK about having it for breakfast. ;-) Anyways, just thought I'd share the recipe for anyone else who wants to give it a try.

3 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
(or substitute all the above ingredients with 3 C self-rising flour)
1 tsp cinnamon
2 C sugar
3 eggs
1 1/4 C butter or margarine, melted
2 C blueberries
1 1/4 C pecans, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add eggs and butter. Stir together just until moistened. Gently fold in blueberries and pecans. Spoon batter into two 4 x 8 inch loaf pans coated with nonstick spray. Bake 1 hour or until done. (I baked this for exactly 1 hour and it was just the right amount of time for my oven.) Let stand to cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

This morning I was driving home from this weekly bible study that I've been doing, and strange as it seems, since I just left a room full of wonderful Christian women, was feeling rather alone. Not sure why that feeling just sort-of washed over me the way that it did -- but it was there in a very strong way. But then God, being ever-present in so many ways, got my attention as this song came on the radio. This is what I heard:

To the one whose dreams are falling apart
And all you're left with is a tired and broken heart
I can tell by your eyes you think your on your own
but you're not alone...

At this point, I just sort-of stopped and smiled to myself and thought, "OK God, I'm listening... what is it that you want me to hear?" And the song went on...

Have you heard of the One who can calm the raging seas
Give sight to the blind, pull the lame up to their feet
With a love so strong He'll never let you go
oh you're not alone

You will be safe in His arms
You will be safe in His arms
'Cause the hands that hold the world are holding your heart
This is the promise He made
He will be with You always
When everything is falling apart
You will be safe in His arms

Did you know that the voice that brings the dead to life
Is the very same voice that calls you to rise
So hear Him now He's calling you home
You will never be alone

These are the hands that built the mountains
the hands that calm the seas
These are the arms that hold the heavens
they are holding you and me

These are hands that healed the leper
Pulled the lame up to their feet
These are the arms that were nailed to a cross
to break our chains and set us free

This is such a beautiful song and it's a great reminder that God is always with us and is strong enough, capable enough, and so willing to hold us safe in His loving arms. I think that's what I needed to hear this morning. I'm thankful for all of the creative ways God works to speak to me and get through to me when I really need Him most.

SAFE - by Phil Wickham