Yes, He laughs!

I could have sworn there is a verse in the Bible that says laughter is good for the soul, but I cannot find it. However, I still believe the Lord loves to laugh and make us laugh...or me, anyway. I love a good laugh and I love to make others laugh. I've heard laughing described as 'internal jogging.' haha! I much prefer THAT kind of jogging to 'external jogging!'

Anyway, I have to recount to you a couple of times He made me laugh. About two or three years ago, I had laryngitis. I could only barely whisper. I could NOT talk. Well, our church has classes on Wednesday nights and dinner before in the gym. Well, this particular night, I sat with my friend Laurie and her daughter, Maggie. Another friend, Zee, sat down with us. Now this may be the onlye time I've ever had Wednesday night dinner with these particular friends. Maggie, I learned, after Zee sat down, was going to be singing a song in an upcoming children's musical at church. For whatever reasons, both Laurie and Zee had gotten up and I whispered to Maggie, "What are you singing in the musical?" She said, "I can't hear you." I whispered, "I'm sorry, I have laryngitis." She said to me, "No, that's the name of the song." I cracked up, even though I couldn't make any noise. Now, come on...there are millions of songs in this world, and the night I have laryngitis, this is the name of the song she's going to sing! LOL!!! I think He set me up on that one and had a good laugh Himself!

Then, a few days ago, I got in the car and a song was playing on the radio that I didn't want to listen to. I looked at the radio and it said 94.1, so I changed it to 93.5. Well, the VERY SAME song was playing and even in the same place! I thought, "Now this CAN'T be!" and changed it back to 94.1 to make sure I wasn't living in the Twilight Zone. Upon looking at the radio, I realized the TIME was 9:41...not the station! LOL!!! Again, I think He set me up! I cracked up and I'll bet He did, too!

Does He make you laugh, or do you not take time to notice? Pay a little more attention and let me know the next time He sets you up for a good laugh! Even Sarah said (Gen. 21:6), "God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me."

The Lord our Light

During my quiet time yesterday, a thought came to my mind that hadn't visited there before. I've always loved Ps 104:2, which says, "Covering Yourself with light as with a cloak, Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain." Well, as much as I love that verse, I don't think I'd ever really taken time to behold it for very long. So, yesterday, I thought about Him, covering Himself with light as we would put on a coat. Wow...can you imagine the glory? Another favorite verse of mine is 2nd Peter 1:17, in which Peter refers to Jesus Christ as "the Majestic Glory." Don't these two verses 'hold hands?'

But, then I thought about the account in Acts of Saul's conversion. In Wuest's expanded translation of Acts 22:6, he translates the verse this way: And it came to pass that as I was proceeding on my journey and nearing Damascus, about noon, suddenly out from heaven there flashed around me like lightning a great light, and I fell to the ground and heard a voice...(etc) But what I want to point out from that verse is, what blinded Paul? It was not 'just any old light,' but, I believe, that same light that He covers Himself with as a cloak. I'd never put those verses together before and no wonder Paul was blinded! Yes, the sun alone could have blinded him, but this light was unexpected and knocked him off his horse! Yes, verse 7 says, "and I fell to the ground and heard a voice..." Then in verse 10, Jesus the Nazarene says to Paul, "Get up and go on into Damascus..."

John 1:4 says, "In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men." John 1:5 says, "The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." Paul didn't comprehend it, at first! He certainly did later, but having had THAT experience, he had been blinded that he might be able better to see! spiritually! Then, John 1:7 says, "He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him (John the Baptist). Yes, our Lord said in John 12:46, "I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness." Aren't you glad He has covered Himself with light?

Who's on Your List?

Something I was reading yesterday sparked a question in my mind. So, I'll ask you the question. Who (after Christ Jesus, of course!) are you MOST looking forward to meeting in Heaven? Now, when this question came to my mind, I was thinking of people in the Bible, but for you, it may be your grandmother, or other family member, or, or, or...So I'll narrow it down for you. OTHER than someone you knew here on earth, and not necessarily from the Bible, would you like to meet 2nd, after Jesus Christ?

Tough question! I've always thought I'll love to sit with Paul...and not necessarily talk, but LISTEN! But there are so many others, as well! I've always loved Samuel! And David, of course! The master psalmist! I've logged many hours in his psalms, but then another psalmist I love is Asaph! Now I've read that Asaph, as the designated psalmist of Psalm 74, lived long before this psalm was written, so it could have been written by one of his descendants or to a choir guild that bore his name. But Psalms 50 and 73 through 83 all say they were written by Asaph, so I always like to think of Asaph as one man, the composer of them all. But, we'll find out when we get there!

The above assortment certainly leaves out MANY others I can't wait to visit with. I mean, aren't you looking forward to sitting down to dinner with Ruth? Here she was, a Moabitess, but comes back to Judah with her mother-in-law and ends up in the line of Christ! WOW! AND she was David's great grandmother! Yeah, I'm DEFINITELY looking forward to meeting HER!!!

But then, think of all the saints who are already home with Him who aren't in the Bible, but who God used to greatly impact the Church! George Muller, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the first Christians who crossed the Atlantic to live in America, and on & on. Then there are contemporary saints to look forward to meeting: Charles Stanley, David Jeremiah, Steve Green, Ravi Zacharias, Erwin Lutzer ...please don't tell me you're not looking forward to Heaven! It's gonna be GREAT!!! :)

Longing for Home

Many years ago, for a period of time (can't remember how long), I would ask the Lord to please take me home. Now, life wasn't bad here, but I just longed (and still do) to be in my FINAL home, with Him, free of all the ugliness down here which will prevail until He returns.

A dear friend of many years and with whom I'd been a prayer partner for at least 18 years (neither of us could ever remember when we actually started) invited me to accompany her to Ladies Week at Ravencrest in Estes Park, CO. The topic that year was prayer, which, obviously, was dear to both our hearts. So I joyfully accepted the invitation.

At the beginning of the week, they gave each of us a book with suggested readings for our quiet time each day that we would be there. Well, one morning the suggested reading led me to another verse that He was directing me to read. I really can't remember the suggested verse, but I ended up at Romans 12:1 & 2. Now I've known those verses for most of the past 30 years, but had, for the most part, focused on verse 2..."do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." Well, that particular morning, the Lord got out His laser pointer and directed my attention to the part of verse 1 that says, "present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice." He then proceeded to point out to me that I could not do that if I was not HERE! Hmmm...good point, Lord!

Then He reminded me of John the Baptist, who prepared 30 years for a six-month ministry! He then posed the question to me that, what if the last six months of my life were to be the main reason He put me here? So, by asking Him (repeatedly) to take me home before the time appointed by Him, I would be missing out on that! "Wow..." I thought, as one of the first verses I fell in love with as a believer was Jeremiah 29:11, "'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." Then, He very sternly told me to quit asking! Whoa! That was and still is the firmest reproof He has ever given me! I still long for Heaven, but I have quit asking Him to take me home. :)

My Lord and my God

One verse I've loved for many years is John 20:27. It says, "Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing." But I also love the next verse, which says, "Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" It makes me exclaim the same thing every time I read it or recall it.

It arouses many responses in me. How often do I really stop and acknowledge Him as my Lord and my God? I mean REALLY acknowledge Him as my Lord and my God? And how often do I stop long enough to take note of His tenderness and patience toward me? Thomas had been one of His disciples for THREE YEARS, yet when the other disciples told him they'd seen the Lord, his response was, "Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." We might be quick to say, "Hellooo?" but can we honestly say we would have had a different response? Maybe not...

But let's go back to the passage. Thomas made some very specific requirements that would have to be met before he would believe the others' report. Well, our Lord met Thomas in each demand he made. He didn't have to. He could have just said, "Ok, Thomas, here I am. NOW do you believe?" He could have reproved him for his unbelief. But He didn't. Even though Thomas may have backed off from those demands when he saw Him, He told Thomas to do the very things Thomas had said he needed to do to believe. Our Lord met Thomas 'where he was.'

Then, He goes on to make a promise to us! Verse 29 says, "Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed." WOW! That's for you and me! (as well as those who trod the earth the same time as He did, yet did not get to see Him).

All of this takes me back to the beginning of the book where, in chapter 1, verse 14, John describes Him as 'full of grace and truth.' Oh, isn't He? Even in this one, tiny little episode of what is recorded about Him, in His interaction with (doubting) Thomas, He was full of grace and truth. And He still is...always has been...and always will be. My Lord and my God!

Children & Mirrors

I just found out that ANOTHER friend of mine is pregnant! I've been a believer for a little over 30 years and NEVER in my lifetime have I known so many people having babies all at the same time (like in a span of one year, maybe a year and a half). I find this incredible. The couple I just found out about today did not plan this. They've only been married for not quite six months. And another couple I know didn't plan their current pregnancy, as their third child is less than a year old! I think God is up to something!

Psalm 127:3 & 4 says, "Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth." Well, I'm thinking this is one of the WORST times to be having babies in light of the state of our nation, but obviously, He disagrees! (I didn't tell that to those having the babies). Therefore, I'm thinking He must be planning for all these babies that have been born in the last year and that will be born in the coming year to be like arrows in the hand of a warrior! Him being the warrior, of course!

So, please join me in praying for all these little warriors He's raising up. They may never know the pleasures of life that we have known and may have to pay a higher price to be called by His Name than we have. America is changing rapidly, and not for the better, sadly enough. We are in the phase of reaping what we've sown and it's not pretty.

But I don't want to end this on a glum note. Going back to verse 3, He tells us children are a GIFT of the LORD! HIS personal gift to those who have them! That is precious. So, for all the mothers of those children who are difficult, yes...they are God's GIFT to them! I've heard that the things that cause the most tension between parents and their children are the things the parents see in the child that is most like them. So, it sounds like God uses children like little mirrors that the parent can't easily walk away from! And why wouldn't He, when He tells us in James 1:23 & 24 that if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror, goes away and immediately forgets what kind of person he was? That's a lot harder when you have a child that is a mirror! So, even if you've never had a child, join me in praying for those parents who are having a hard time with their little mirrors! That they'd 'get' what it is He's trying to show them through their child/children...instead of just being angry at them.

Sons in the Bible

I'm sure we all have things we ponder from the Word. I've often wondered why so many of the godly men in the Bible have produced so few godly sons. As you read throught the Bible, most of them spawned offspring that were even downright wicked! This is such a shame! So many of the kings that were good were succeeded by their sons that were noted as 'evil' in the Word. We know that Abraham had Isaac, who was godly, but he also fathered Ishmael! We also know he SHOULD NOT have fathered Ishmael, so that was a big part of the problem! But, I also wonder how much of that may have been true of the others.

Look how many children David fathered. LOTS!!! And many were by concubines. God was exceedingly gracious to David, but His highest and best would have been for David to have had ONE wife and NO concubines, thereby producing far less children...and perhaps he'd have taken more time to instill his love of God in all of them.

Even in the beginning, Adam fathered Abel and Cain...well we know how THAT turned out! Cain slew Abel! This was only the second generation of man. We didn't get off to a very good start, did we?

Then there was Jacob, later renamed Israel by God as a recognition of changed character. He fathered the 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel and out of 12, only one was of outstanding character, with a deep love of God. That's a poor statistic, wouldn't you agree? One out of 12...sigh...

I could go on...there's Aaaron, Moses's brother, Solomon and many more. It might make a good study some time. It makes me pray: Lord, teach our men how to be fathers who will teach their sons to love and obey You that they might become the men you designed them to be.

Continual Surrender...

For at least a year now, I've been praying and others have been praying for me, for a new job...one that will fit me like a glove. Now, I KNOW He can do this, as He's done it for me before. But, it's been over a year now, and nothing has appeared! Hmmm...has He become deaf? What is the problem???

Well, during the sermon yesterday, a thought came to my mind...a 'new saying,' if you will. Here 'tis...how much of our lives do we spend 'waiting on the Lord,' when it's really Him waiting on us? We can think we're being so 'spiritual' and/or patient, 'waiting on the Lord.' But, if we could get an email from Him, how many times would He tell us that HE's waiting on US??? Waiting for us to let go of 'that' particular sin, waiting on us to forgive someone, waiting on us to believe Him, and I'm sure there are countless other things He's waiting on...ad infinitum! I have to wonder how many of us think about THAT! After all, it seems much more 'spiritual' for us to be waiting on Him, right? "Wretched (wo)man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?" (Rom 7:24)

I've often told others that most Christians can quote part of Romans 8:28, but when times become difficult, do we really believe it? Most Christians will 'quote' it as, 'God works all things together for good.' But this omits the beginning and the end of the verse! Here is the WHOLE verse: And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Let's break the verse down. It starts off with 'we KNOW!' Do we? We 'know' the verse, but do we really know the truth of the verse? I'm often much better at believing it for others than for myself! That's unbelief, or at least hypocrisy, if I don't believe it for me as well! Then, after 'the good part' that we all can recite, it says 'to those who love God.' Then, I have to ask myself, does it apply to those who DON'T love God? The verse doesn't say it does. We have to then consider the verses about reaping what you've sown. Now, THAT can be painful! I think many of us are guilty of reciting this verse on behalf of another believer when, in fact, they are reaping what they've sown. Not always, of course, but then we have to be careful of being like Job's friends! aarrgh...

Anyway, I'm not saying He's not waiting on me to let go of certain sin(s), but I also believe He's waiting for a deeper surrender to Him. Am I willing to trust Him for that job that will really fulfill me and allow me to function in the gifts and/or passions He's put within me? Do I trust Him that when He brings it, it will be enough to actually live on? I want to, but am not sure I'm there yet. So, I might be waiting a little longer...while He waits on me...

Watch the path of your feet

I don't read the Proverbs as much as I should, but I was reading Proverb 4 this morning. Verse 26 says, "Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established." It reminded me of an incident from many years ago.

I'd asked a friend what she wanted to do for her birthday. She said she wanted to go for a little hike on Turkey Mountain. That sounded like fun to me, too, so that's what we did. Back in those days, I did a modest amount of hiking and she was one of my hiking buddies. Well, we were walking along, and I told her, "You know, I probably miss a lot of fun things when I'm hiking, because I'm usually looking at the ground (where I would be soon walking) instead of the things more on the horizontal level." Having said that, I'd determined to not spend so much time looking down on this hike. Well, about that time, she made a sound I don't know how to describe other than to replicate it, turned in the opposite direction and took off running! This was not her usual behavior, so I looked ahead, and on the ground, only a few feet ahead of us, were two snakes!!! And they weren't little, either! These guys were probably 2-3 inches in diameter and coral colored with diamond patterns on them! Therefore, I quickly followed her lead! We ran as far as we could until we were both so out of breath we had to stop! Needless to say, we headed for the car! And we never went back to Turkey Mountain, either! No, thank you!

Anyway, you might now be able to understand why this verse reminded me of this incident! So, I had established a good habit, then decided to change my mind. It was bad timing, for sure! But, then, is it ever good timing to deviate from a good habit and 'take a break?' Or give in to doubt that it's really a good habit? How many ways do we do this? How often do we do this? I've had a lot of good habits in my adult life, as a believer, then derailed for one reason or another, never to return. aarrgh...may we continue to set up good habits, then maintain them! These are good paths!

His Joy

I love it when I read the Word and something jumps out at me, like I've never seen it before. (must be why Heb 4:12 says It's 'living and active') I've read Psalm 126 many, many times, but today, I decided to get a little help from my friend, C.H. Spurgeon. (Yes, he's my friend, even though I've never met him in person. I will officially meet him when I shed my earthly body and after I meet the Lord face to face!) (Oh, we have SO MANY exciting things ahead!)

Anyway, Ps 126:3 says, "The Lord has done great things for us; We are glad." Now, I am glad a lot, for which I am thankful. But, it doesn't mean I don't forget to remember all the great things He's done for me from time to time. I love Spurgeon's comment on verse 3: It is a poor modesty which is ashamed to own its joys in the Lord. Call it rather a robbery of God. Ouch! We certainly wouldn't consider not expressing our joy 'robbing God,' would we? It reminds me of Malachi 3:8, in which God says to Israel, "Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, 'How have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings" Ok...God was talking about tithes and offerings, but how many other ways can/do we rob Him? Maybe we should start keeping track, except I suspect it might cause us to hang our heads in shame. He deserves so much more than I/we give Him...

Spurgeon also comments on verse 6: "...for when our own soul is revived the souls of others are blessed by our labours." When our soul is revived, does this not produce joy? And isn't joy infectious? Well, it's also strengthening! Yes! Nehemiah 8:10 says, "Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." WOW! I LOVE that verse! My strength doesn't come from MY joy, but from HIS! Do we often think of Him as being joyful? He is! And He wants us to be strengthened by and in HIS JOY! Isn't that a marvelous thought? How often do we connect joy to strength? I never did until I read that verse. May you experience His joy as your strength!