Meditating Is an Imagination Stretcher

I meditated on Psalm 13:5-6 yesterday and I came up with an analogy and great visual of the truth of God’s unfailing love and how we can trust it. We can trust his unfailing love for us like we trust that the sun will shine every day. Though there are times where the storms and clouds cover the sun, it is still there and still shinning down on us. I went on to visualize the second half of the psalm about 'rejoicing in your salvation' I saw myself on the top of a mountain with my arms open wide and raised to the sky, twirling around in the delight of His presence. The third part of this Psalm is about singing to the Lord for he has been good to me. So, here I am on the mountaintop, like Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music and that song comes to my head; the hills are aliiiiiiiiiiive with the sound of muuuuuuuuusic So, I had to put it into my words of praise; I am aliiiiiiiiiiiive with the love of Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesus. My heart will be filled for a thousand years. 
Meditating becomes so much when you let your imagination take over. Give it a try and see what fun things you come up with that really help you sink the verse you are meditating on deep into your heart. 

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 269

With all the courtroom drama, both fictional and non-fictional on television, it is easy to imagine a courtroom scene with God presiding as judge. You are sitting at the defense table and Satan is the prosecutor. Do you choose to defend yourself or do you choose Jesus to be your defense attorney? Jesus doesn’t even have to say a word. His Spirit will be inside of you and will shine light over all the dark places of your soul. With Jesus by your side and the Holy Spirit within, you will be able to approach the bench and God. God will look at you with a smile and say you are forgiven. Now, imagining the other scenario is more disturbing. So you choose to defend yourself, your pride gets in the way and Satan lays out all your sins in full detail out for God to see. Your sins will seal your fate and you will be lead away by the jailer to hell. It really comes down to one choice. Choose to not go it alone or choose to do it all by yourself. I hope you will choose Jesus and let his light cover up your sins so that you can live forever with Him in heaven.

Isaiah 3:13 The Lord takes his place in court; he rises to judge the people.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 261

It is rare to find yourself in total absolute darkness without even a tiny spot of light because of all the electronics in our homes. My daughter had a glow-in-the-dark sleep-over party for her 10^th birthday. We had to prepare the basement for the party. Total darkness took some effort. We had to turn off everything that we could, cover up anything we couldn’t turn off and black out the windows. We had to test the darkness a couple of times before we finally achieved absolute darkness. This kind of darkness truly is blinding. You cannot see anything but blackness and the longer you stay in this the more your fears are triggered to the point you just want to get out of it now. Just as we worked to get absolute darkness in our basement for the party, we have to put the effort into keeping the darkness out of our hearts. Forgiveness for others is one of those potential dark spots that can come into our hearts. Any un-forgiveness within us is like mold, it will only grow and cover more and more of our hearts. We have to clean out our hearts of this darkness so the Holy Spirit can be within us and transform us.

1John 2:11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded him.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 185

They were talking on the radio about the top 10 things women don’t like about their bodies. The #1 was the stomach. I guessed that right! An image of myself when I was a senior in high school came to mind. I had seen a photo this weekend of me trying out for the captain of the drill team. Wow! I was tall and very skinny. I remembered being called a bean pole and I can see why. I think women are plagued by this man-made idea of beauty. But the reality is God doesn’t make mistakes. He loves us just as we are. In the end our body will age and go back to the ground from which it came but our heart, soul and spirit are moving on. This is where your true beauty lies. It is what’s inside us that shines outward. Shine on, shine on.

1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 249

Most of my extended family on my father's side are going on a cruise in 2014 and I am so happy to say we are a part of that. I started looking into the different shore excursions for each place we visit and was just getting so excited about the possibilities. I really want to do a swim with the dolphins kind of thing. There is just something about dolphins that is undeniably appealing. They were created by God to always look like they are smiling. And just like a person smiling at you makes you want to smile back, looking at a dolphin makes me want to smile too. I have often had people ask me if I am okay because of the look on my face. Honestly, I don't know what that look is but I am thinking that without a smile on my face, people automatically assume something is wrong. I guess it's just the way God made me and the people always asking if I am okay are showing me they care which means so much. Usually, there is nothing wrong at all. I am just thinking, contemplating, day dreaming but other times the pain I may be having is showing on my face. I am not sure my smile muscles are up for the challenge of smiling all the time but it is my desire to show my smile for others and for God in my body language, my behaviors, my words. Hopefully I can shine with the love of God and that will make up for the smile that may or may not be missing at the moment. Thank you Lord for dolphins and the smiles they bring to all.

Matthew 5:16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."