Come, Thou Fount

This is, hands down, one of my favorite hymns.  It speaks to my heart and my soul.

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Words: Robert Robinson (1735-1790), alt.

Come, thou fount of every blessing,

tune my heart to sing thy grace!

Streams of mercy never ceasing,

call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach me some melodious sonnet,

sung by flaming tongues above.

Praise the mount! Oh, fix me on it,

mount of God’s unchanging love.

Here I find my greatest treasure;

hither, by thy help, I’ve come;

and I hope, by thy good pleasure,

safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger

wandering from the fold of God;

he, to rescue me from danger,

interposed his precious blood.

Oh, to grace how great a debtor

daily I’m constrained to be!

Let thy goodness, like a fetter,

bind my wandering heart to thee:

prone to wander, Lord I feel it,

prone to leave the God I love;

here’s my heart, oh, take and seal it

seal it for thy courts above.

The Beatitudes: Message Style

Matthew 5:1-12 (MSG)


You're Blessed


1-2   When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:
3   "You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
4   "You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
5   "You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.
6   "You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.
7   "You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.
8   "You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
9   "You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.
10   "You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.
11-12   "Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

God Woot: Patience, Not Worry!

So, I wrote this morning's entry, Somewhere Between Planting and Harvest, last night.  This morning, I open up Joyce Meyer's New Day New You to read the title of today's devotion: "Producing Patience, Character, and Hope."

Could God be telling me to be patient?  Naaahhhh....  

...Yeeeaaaahhh.

Reinforcing my sentiments of how it is hard not to worry in this newness of totally trusting God, Joyce writes, "It is easy to say, "Don't worry."  But to actually do that requires experience with God.  I don't think there is any way a person can fully overcome the habit of worry, anxiety, and fear and develop the habit of peace, rest, and hope without years of experience."

A good amen wouldn't hurt anything right about now!  :)

Get Together

The Youngbloods – Get Together

Love is but the song we sing,
And fear's the way we die
You can make the mountains ring
Or make the angels cry
Know the dove is on the wing
And you need not know why
C'mon people now,
Smile on your brother
Ev'rybody get together
Try and love one another right now
Some will come and some will go
We shall surely pass
When the one that left us here
Returns for us at last
We are but a moments sunlight
Fading in the grass
C'mon people now,
Smile on your brother
Ev'rybody get together
Try and love one another right now
If you hear the song I sing,
You must understand
You hold the key to love and fear
All in your trembling hand
Just one key unlocks them both
It's there at your command
C'mon people now,
Smile on your brother
Ev'rybody get together
Try and love one another right now
Right now
Right now!

Words of Wisdom

"This is the first teaching of the knights: You will erase everything you had written in the book of your life up until now: restlessness, uncertainty, lies.  And in the place of all of this you will write the word courage.  By beginning the journey with that word and continuing with faith in God, you will arrive wherever you need to arrive."

From Warrior of the Light by Paulo Coelho, author of The Alchemist. 

God Woot: Quick Response

1 Kings 19:11-12, John 14:6

I referred to the “still, small voice of God” in a couple of previous posts, I Need to Unplug, and Whispering Shepherd.  This morning, after praying and telling God that I believe he can make me be what I need to be to do what he wants me to do and asking that he show me the way, he gave me two verses that laid it out plainly for me.

First, we have the still, small voice:

“A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.” 1 Kings 19:11b-12 (MSG)

There is a lot to be said for remaining calm in the face of a catastrophe.  If I am focused on the hurricane, the earthquake or the fire, I am going to miss God.  In the post, I Need to Unplug, I wrote, “If I don't take at least a few moments each day to slow down, to be still, to interrupt the clutter of all the things I am thinking and doing, I can't very well expect to hear God's whisper.”

Following that verse, God took me over to John:

“I am the way and the truth and the life.” John 14:6 (NIV)

I asked God to show me the way.  His immediate response, by way of my morning devotionals was, “Be quiet and listen to Jesus.  Follow him and you’ll be on the right path.”  Darn if those ain’t some words to live by!

:D

God Woot: Whispering Shepherd

I wrote this morning's meditation about how God whispers to us, "The still, small voice of God."  (I Need to Unplug)  The way I typically roll on these things is that I write them at any point throughout the day and schedule them to post early the following morning.  That way, they're sure to come through each morning without delay - just in case I get distracted and don't get the meditation written before late at night.  ;)

Anyway, I read at least two devotionals each morning.  Currently they are Joyce Meyer's New Day, New You, and Letting God - Christian Meditations for Recovery, by Episcopal Priest A. Philip Parham.  This morning I wrote my meditation before reading Letting God.  Then I got what I call a big smile from God.

The last few days of Letting God have focused on Psalm 23 verse by verse.  Today it was verse 23:3a, "...he restores my soul."  Parham must have had a vision back in 1987 about my morning reflection today:

"If we watch the sheep in a pasture, we will see them do an interesting thing.  Sometime during the day, each sheep, entirely on its own, leaves the flock and trots over to the shepherd, one at a time.  The shepherd tenderly caresses the nose and ears, rubs the neck and head, and whispers in its ear.  Calmed, encouraged and reassured, the sheep goes back to graze with the rest."
(Parham, Letting God, August 24, italics mine)

WOW.  :D   

There is no such thing as coincidence.  God wanted to make a point to me today.  I'm not taking enough time away from my daily distractions to be with him.

While in treatment, I lived without my cell phone, and without any internet outside of gmail, for 30 days.  While I spent most of my day in different groups and meetings, I made use of the hours outside of that to be in community with the women around me and to spend quiet time with just me and God.  I did a lot of praying, had many spiritual conversations, constantly stuck my nose in the Good Book, and I learned how to be still.  And God comforted me.

In the real world, I have the distractions of cell phone and internet readily at my fingertips.  I can honestly say that I didn't follow through on my plan to return to them with moderation.  I make excuses to myself, "But it's good, I'm writing daily meditations."  "But it's good, I'm job searching."  "But I need to send these emails."  Okay, that's all fine and good, but what about checking in on twitter and facebook throughout the day to see if anyone has commented or if anyone new is following me on twitter?  Good grief!  I'm losing sight of the reasons I started all of this.  It's not about me.  It doesn't matter if anyone follows, comments or even reads what I put out there.  If God wants to use me to reach someone, awesome, but I don't need to be looking for who that someone is.

So I'm making a schedule and setting some rules for myself.  I will learn moderation regardless of how long it takes.  Each day is a new day, and today I will make a change.  Even if it's a small one.

And I'll trot over to my shepherd, and he will comfort me.

 :D

Making Right Choices

I never heard of Joyce Meyer before a friend gave me one of her devotionals when I went into treatment.  Now I am learning more about the message she shares and I. Love. Joyce. Meyer.  She's awesome.  And what I'm hearing so far is right in line with where I am right now and the messages God has been sending.  Obviously, I suppose, since God speaks in many ways and therefore could very well be speaking to me through Joyce Meyer.  There's no such thing as coincidence.  :)

Right now she's in the middle of "Joyce's Boot Camp: Get Your Faith in Shape," a series of videos and articles about, well, getting your faith in shape.  I discovered it after I started following her on Twitter.  I've watched "Making Right Choices" parts 1 & 2 so far.  Fantastic.  I plan on finishing that chunk of the boot camp, then going back and watching it from the first video.

And as encouragement for the way I'm currently trying to address my issues and change my life, Joyce said, "As you feed yourself with the Word of God, that spiritual part of you will get stronger than the fleshly part of you.  And God will give you VICTORY."

"And a good amen wouldn't hurt anything right about now."  --Joyce Meyer

Amen!  :D

Actually, They're Right

I've often seen those bumper stickers that say, "God is my co-pilot," or "Jesus is my co-pilot."  In my head, I've hmmphed to myself and thought, "We-ell!  God is more than my co-pilot, he's my pilot."

Thing is, calling him my pilot implies that I can stretch out in the back while he does the driving.  Remembering the Divine Human Cooperative, God will only do what I cannot do.  I can drive my car.  God will not take the wheel  to steer the car or put his foot on the pedal to determine my speed.  But I don't have the map or the directions to get me where I'm going.  God does.  So God navigates me through my life, telling me when and where to turn, if I just need to keep going in the same direction, or if I need to make a legal u-turn when possible.  He also will try to point out that I'm approaching a red light or stop sign if I get distracted.

So I need to listen for God's directions, because he is my co-pilot and he knows how to get me where he wants me to go.

A Brief Explanation

I'm recently unemployed, therefore I have time on my hands.  The challenge will be to see whether or not I keep up with all this blogging and social media stuff when I am again earning a paycheck.  I definitely want to keep up with Little Meditations because it is beneficial to me to reflect on at least one verse or lesson that I have read that day.  It reinforces what I get out of reading the Good Book.  The rest, well...  is the rest.

Since I have other thoughts that may not always be based on scripture and sometimes my thoughts on certain scripture might turn into something more like a written sermon than a daily meditation (I have a specific one in mind.  I'm looking forward to it - it's a good one), I decided to create an additional blog as a sidekick to Little Meditations.  This one may be updated less or it may be updated more.  It is a sidekick, after all.  Sometimes the sidekick gets left out and sometimes it has to do more work.

That, and I've succombed to Twitter.  Surprisingly, it wasn't as painful as giving in to getting a smartphone (but ONLY because it ended up being cheaper than my regular phone plan).  Follow me if you dare: @LKBisms 

In closing, here are my blessed children, two completely perfect gifts from God.

They are masters at the art of relaxation.  I could take a lesson from them.