365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 238

Have you ever wondered about some of the people in the bible who may not even be named but you wonder what happened to them. Paul and Silas in Acts 16 are beaten, flogged and put in chains and thrown in jail. They are praying and singing hymns to God about midnight when an earthquake happens, their chains fall off and the doors open. Now it says that the prisoners had been listening to them. I am betting this praying and singing went on for some time. I can imagine some of the prisoners complaining wanting them to keep quiet and maybe some of them snickering and making wise cracks but as midnight approached they were listening. Had the time and words finally sunk in. Did Paul and Silas just plant seeds of faith? The earthquake and escape are like the water and fertilizer all at once. Did the other prisoners leave, racing to their homes and telling of what they heard and witnessed? Were they forever changed just because they were in that prison with Paul and Silas? We don’t know. There are many things we just don’t know. It would be impossible to write every story of every person who encountered or experience Jesus or the early church. A lot will remain a mystery. Paul and Silas may never have seen these prisoners again until heaven. Maybe the prisoners greeted Paul and Silas when they entered Heaven and shared with them their story that started the night in that prison. Perhaps one day we will have people we have touched, encouraged, loved and cared for and shared with about Jesus that will come to us in Heaven and share their story with their own Seed Sower.

Lord, We don’t know the plans you have for any of us but I do know you love us in ways we cannot ever understand. Lead me to be a Seed Sower of your love and truth. Amen.

Acts 16:25  About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the other prisoners were listening to them.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 334

I have been reading a book called the Dangerous Act of Worship by Mark Labberton for a class at my church. It really makes you think of what worship is, what it looks like and what it should look like. The biggest point so far that I can’t get out of my head is how the author/pastor thinks that most of us are asleep when it comes to God. We are revived and awakened when things get shaken up like when a disaster happens but otherwise we are as a song that I heard puts it “going through the motions”. Life is busy, tough and complicated and we are making “our” worship of God fit into an easy fit thinking if we go to church on Sunday and do our singing, praying and listening than we have done our worship. That is how man has carved it out to be but is that how God would like it to be? I will share more on this topic as I read through this book. I am already pretty sure worship should be an on-going integral part of our lives. What do you think?

Deuteronomy 10:12-22 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?

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 296

We watched the singing competition show called The Voice last evening. This competition starts with the blind auditions. The judges have their backs facing the stage and they hit their buttons to turn around based only on what they are hearing. The final singer of the night was a "gentle giant". He was an 18 year old big black guy who sang incredibly. They often tell the stories of the singers and his really struck a cord with me. He was told by an 8th grade teacher he would be a nobody, nothing and what he really wants from this singing competition is confidence. This kind of thing gets me incensed. My mother always told me if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all. She learned this from God's word. The lips and what comes out of them can be very detremental. Our words have the power for good and the power for bad so it is something we have to take responsiblity for and control. Now this teacher may have been having a very bad day, week, year, who knows but in the end we have to learn that it is not all just about us. What we say can hurt. God calls us to be building each other up, not tearing each other down. I am sure this "gentle giant" will find his confidence and my prayer is he will find forgiveness for this teacher and I pray the teacher will find his or her way to God's word and let the Lord heal his or her heart and guide him or her to using his or her words only for building up.

Ephesian 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 294

Our family was watching the first show of the season for The X Factor. It's a singing competion kind of show like American Idol but with some different twists and formats. On this show the contestants have to try out in front of a stadium full of people and the four judges. One in particular really stood out from the show last evening because of all the emotion she had. Her background story was one of pain. She had been severly bullied during her middle and high school years but she found a way of healing throughy singing. Her voice and stage presence were great but it was the raw emotions that captured us all.  People were in tears and even Simon the judge known to have a heart of stone was moved. This is what is so amazing about these kinds of shows because you see the human heart and we all connect with it. We all live through pain, grief, depression and all those emotions that come up from the not so good things that occur in our lives. Thankfully many are able to find ways to express their emotions outwardly like in singing but what if you can't carry a tune or don't have a dancing bone in your body or can't paint a moving picture, taking an amazing photo or write a story that will help you get out those emotions out in a health way. There is always the way that many of us turn to in our desperate moments. We pray to God for help, or we turn our negative emotions towards Him. He wants you to call out to him in the desperate moments and in the joyful moments, when life is taken a bad turn and when life is being good to you. He is always there waiting for us to talk to him. He is the great counselor for us all, who will listen and will understand, who will give us what we need and will guide us to the healing through His love. It was amazing to watch this bullied girl end up crying with tears of joy. God wants that for all of us.

Psalm 63: 5-7 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 224

My daughter has really gotten into music lately. She will listen and see along to a song of Taylor Swift's all morning long over and over again. It always puts a smile to my mouth to hear her voice singing a song. Her repetition of playing the song and singing it over and over again is a good example of what we should be doing with our Bible. Have you ever listened to a song and finally realized what they were singing about? You have been singing it a certain way for months, maybe even years and a light goes off moment occurs and you hear it for what it really is. It can be like that reading the bible. We can read the same verses over and over again but at some point a light goes of moment may occur giving you a nugget of truth you didn't hear before. Persistence always pays off. Keep at it and God will give you those light goes off moments as you read his word and while your at it sing a song of praise. My sing over and over again song is by Chris Tomlin, The Passion-White Flag. Hearing and seeing it on the blog was a whole new powerful experience. Take a listen and enjoy some of your own worship time with God.  Chris Tomlin-The Passion-White Flag

Psalm 100:2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 149

I am on vacation and I have had time to just breath and pray and let God work in me without all the cares of life and my work weighing me down. I am praising God for these retreats where one can get away from it all and just have fun, love and be with God and each other. God gave us a retreat every week with the Seventh day being our day of rest. Take this day and open your heart to ways you have never done before. Not a journaler, try it! Singing not your thing, turn on the worship music and do it! Not big on being on the phone, call a believer and catch up!Haven't read the bible in who knows how long, open up Psalms and just read one! Take this day of rest and devote it to God.
Psalm 77:12 I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 101

I have to confess I have a hard time with mistakes. When I make them, the world turns up-side-down. I treat each mistake like it's a deep canyon that I have fallen into and I have to try to climb my way out. Thankfully, I have my faith and all the tools that God provides to help me climb my way out. That first tool, is the bible. I found myself deep in the canyon the other night after choosing to react in a disrepectful and not-listening-to you kind of way to my husband. To make a long story short, I let the stress in my life direct my actions. After storming out of the room, I flew down straight to my bible. It was already open to Pslams so through my tears, I read and started to feel myself calming down. Prayer is another tool God give us to help us get out of those canyons but sometimes our minds are not capable of even forming the thoughts directed to the Lord. That's where I found myself the other night, trying to analyze the situation but not getting anywhere and just needing to cry out to God. My bible was opened to Pslams so I just started reading and came to Psalm 121: 1-2 which I know from a Christain song on the radio. That became my prayer, singing it in my head over and over again until I could relax, breathe, listen and finally head back to bed and to sleep. I am thankful to God for three things based on this experience the other night: the tools he gives me to help me, knowing that he loves me no matter what, and a forgiving husband. This, unfortunately has been one of those mistakes I have made over and over again so I am praying for God's help to just love my husband in all ways, respect him no matter what and let my love and respect direct my actions. Are you using the tools God has given us when you make those inevitable mistakes in life?
Psalm 121:1-2 I lift up my eyes to the hills--where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.