Mercy Falling

"The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him,
In those who hope in His mercy" Psalm 147:11


It is a glorious thought to rest upon;that the Lord takes pleasure in me when I hope in His mercy. I take a palpable comfort in knowing that He encourages me to seek Him; and that that seeking will be rewarded with a visible answer or the comfort of knowing that He is still with me. A shawl of gentle breezes rests on my shoulders as the sweet fragrance of His presence comes to my aid. In the face of adversity, that knowing is a discernable sign of mercy falling.

He is the tower that I run to when I feel suddenly adrift. I figure if He made my mind and knows how the lump works, I can rest assured that He can fix or ameliorate the quirks in the works. He has His reasons for it all, and I can rest assured that He is in control. I think the process of seeking Him gives him a legal invitation to enter those places in me that have resisted the force of light.

His company resolves the gray mist of the shadows in the human soul and breaks the chains of loneliness each soul must deal with. I pray that mercy falls in your life today as you seek His presence. He is indeed a strong tower that the human spirit can run to and find safety.

Human language is inadequate in expressing the experience of the spirit, but I pray I have conveyed a small part of the point I have been trying to make. That point? Mercy is a glorious expression of the Father's love towards us. Telling the story of His love and sacrifice has the power to transform lives and draw us to Him. There is no better way to spend our days here on earth than to follow and serve Him.

Have a cup o'joy,
...and a fresh taste of the bread of heaven...

Lynne

Musings on 2 Corinthians 12:9

"And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me". NKJV

This verse has to be one of the most quoted verses in all of scripture. It appears to my eyes that most of us walking around in our earthsuits have to continually refer to verses like these to make it from point a to point b. In human terms, weakness is not the desired state of being. Who do you know that wakes up in the morning and says to themselves, "I want to be weak today"? It isn't my first thought of the day, and I venture to guess that it isn't yours, either.

God is past amazing to the finite human mind. We don't see a fraction of what He sees(I am thinking that is a good thing), and our limited vision tends to lead us to focus on the mountain instead of the travel guide. Yet our God tells us that His grace is sufficient. He goes on to say that His strength is made perfect in that weakness that we often fail to appreciate. Those moments are brief when I enjoy being weak; so much so that I hardly recognize those moments when they come...

Having the power of Christ resting on me is worth wading through all of the perceived junk I have to wade through in order to get to the relief zone. He is so faithful to get us from point a to point b...and beyond. I am thankful today that He is willing to put up with us long enough to accomplish these ends. Yes, I am glad that He is the one with the supply of patience.

Have a cup o'joy,
Lynne

Lynne, Interrupted....

Land sakes alive, folks...that last one was a short post, wasn't it? In all honesty, I had begun something last night and just wasn't able to get around to finishing it. I must have pressed a button somewhere, and I posted a verse of scripture with nothing else written underneath it. I was interrupted by a fussy child that wanted mamma right there and then. Just to be sure that her crawling on me and squeezing my neck were signs that she wanted to cuddle, I asked her if she wanted mamma...My daughter said in a sweet squeak,"Yes."

My momma heart just melted and the computer was put on the back burner with the heat on low. My child needed me and was letting me know in not so subtle terms that she needed me. A mother's love for a child is mysterious, and at times; overwhelming in its' intensity. I forgot the computer was there for a while, and all I could see was her drooping lower lip and her tears. My lip was drooping, too; and my heart was softened to the consistency of a tub of margarine on top of a hot car.(That was graphic, but you get the point...)

I like to think of the Father's heart being like that melting margarine. John 3:16's
declaration,"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life" lets the cat out of the bag in terms of His heart towards us. Thank God that He does love us like that.

I also like to think that He does not mind us interrupting His schedule of planetary maintenance for our earthly emergencies. We can crawl to the feet of Jesus whenever we have need of our Father's love and attention. His love is that intense, mysterious;drawing us out of ourselves to yearn for His presence. He IS love, and that love makes all the difference.

Bread Ties and Chewing Gum

This is a bizarre title for a post. I have to agree with you there. However, I think I will be able to make a coherent point by the end of the piece. Hang in there with me and send up a prayer(no specific reason, but hanging in there and praying never hurt anyone that I have ever heard of...). Bread ties and chewing gum are whimsical household items that I am going to use to make an observation about life. You're still with me? God is merciful...

Bread ties and chewing gum remind me of those little habits I have picked up along the way to distract myself from dealing with reality. My favorites include staring at the bulleting board at the back of the church sanctuary building, fixating on a light fixture, studying my shoes, and scanning the crowd to see who didn't make it on any given Sunday...I have also slipped into the habit of mentally writing letters and traveling with more stuff than it would take to spend a week on vacation...baggage comes in more than one form...

Chewing gum makes me think of the efforts that I use to keep my outward facade from degenerating into honesty. The gum has this nasty little habit of sticking so well sometimes that it hurts to pull it off. It also comes loose when I am sweating and squirming to arrange my bread ties at the same time I am propping the gum under my facade. If you can mentally imagine these things, it may seem ridiculous, but hold on;I am making my way slowly to the point of my post today.

These devices do not work to keep all of my pieces together. I have been using the same m.o. for years, and it is insane. They don't work, and what is worse they can further isolate me from other believers. That isolation works a subtle and yet obvious concoction of an intense nature. Juggling bread ties and chewing gum keeps my eyes on me and off of Jesus. That is where I need to be focusing my gaze. My navel
has long since lost it's appeal. I refuse to paint it or put a piercing there. I would not bring attention to my neurotic thought processes if it were not for the fact that others have them, too. It is also true that holding on to my bread ties and chewing gum in secret turns toxic. I cannot live and stay in hiding. I don't think anyone juggles that skillfully without paying a high price.

In closing my post today, I pray that the Lord reaches in to where you live and shows you if you have any bread ties and wads of chewing gum that need to be heaved. Pitch them and don't look back longingly at where they land. You do not need them. You need a hug.

Thanks for bearing with me while I made every effort at making a coherent point. I appreciate your patience and pray that you are blessed by what the Lord has put on my heart today.


Have a cup o'joy...
Lynne

Good Morning, everyone!

It am writing you as the day is still fairly new. I have read and responded to an email or two, and have had the usual detours of chasing my two-year old off of the countertops. Both of my children are still waking up and have not slipped into full-throttle speed as of yet. Life is beautiful.

The coffee is good, and the sun is shining outside. I watch the cars drive past one of my kitchen windows on their way to work, shopping, the beach...and know that my day will soon include the same thing. I had the day off yesterday, so I suppose it wont be so bad to go back to work today. I may even enjoy chatting with some of my co-workers.

I am reminded of that verse in scripture that talks about God's mercies being new every morning. What an amazing thought. That is an immense amount of mercy being poured out on our behalf. I am right there under the spigot; soaking up the grace that I need so dearly. I pray that you get under the cleansing flood today and receive that grace that He is offering.

I have to go now. The rest of my day is calling me away from the computer. I still have to get the kids dressed and fed. I have to get myself dressed and enough caffeine pumped into my system to coherently make change at the register. I will be writing in my mind as I work and just pray that I can walk and chew gum at the same time...I have to keep my mind occupied or else it just wanders off...

I really have to go now. Thanks for visiting The Land of Lynne today.

Be blessed,
...and have a cup o'joy...

Lynne

Musings on Jeremiah 29: 11-14






"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29: 11-14 NKJV


These are familiar words to many people. They are a balm for the soul when we are blinded by our emotions. They are a gently prodding invitation to seek God when the thought of having a future and a hope seems like a mixed blessing. I am convinced that this passage was crafted with those times in mind.

I think that we just have to take it on faith sometimes when we pray that He is listening. This may sound brash as well as apostate; yet there are those times in life that seem to block up the ears of heaven. Our limited understanding of all that God sees seems to pull us back from reaching the ears of heaven. Emotions cloud our judgement and present images before our minds that seem to block out the light of heaven.

Joy floods the human soul when the full strength of these verses latch on to those images and illuminate our thinking. He is there for us in so many ways. His presence in our circumstances is always amazing to me. Those unspoken needs that arise are often met with answers that come at such an opportune time. The cries of our hearts are heard and He answers with a word or an image that is as a cool drink on a hot day. I have listened to the messages on Sunday mornings so many times and had the words speak to my heart in just the way I needed to help me put one foot in front of the other. How glorious is a word in due season. So many times the seasons come and the word that we seek from God seems overdue.

I have learned that the best thing to do in these times is to just hang on and keep refocusing our energies on Jesus. Replace the images that distress by placing yourself in a scene from the scriptures. Write the Lord a letter in your heart. Sing a familiar chorus and pray that the Spirit would flood your soul and fill in the cracks of your heart's dry soil. Tears are a release, but sometimes they aren't available. His words are the software that will bring you to a place of refreshment.

I write this to myself as well as to anyone who cares to read it. The Lord has done some great things in my life. I don't pretend to fully understand what hits me half the time. The other half only wants to deal with what it absolutely has to and no more. I have the shut-off valve painted in neon green in my mind. I use it freely and probably abuse its' use if truth be told.

In closing, I have to say that there is so much more to say. Words would be inadequate to explain what is in my heart. A computer screen has its' limitations in terms of human communication. I shall just have to entrust the Lord with the job of blessing my words so that they will reach where they need to reach. The unction to write what the Lord has put on my heart has been obeyed as much as is humanly possible for the moment. The Holy Spirit will take over and accomplish what the Lord intends for what I have written.

I pray that you would know the riches of His grace today.


Have a cup o'joy,


Lynne

Looking at the Moon

Gazing at that haunting orb,
the landscape seems transformed...
nothing is the same as it was in a way,
yet there is a constant variable that remains...

I think I pushed past the blot that I thought was an exclamation mark;
and see a fresh vision of who You would have me be...
Lord...I am still me. I am truly depressed for a moment as I think on it.

...the hairs that threaten to break my back still
tickle and prick my flesh with their usual prods.
but I no longer see the blockade in front of heaven's gate...

Your rod and Your staff prop me up agains the walls
....that used to move as if motivated by spite.
The outline is still there in form, but fresh wind blows in
...and moves me towards new pastures.

The magnet is weaker...
...and that pull towards the shadows has strengthened my resolve
to not be pulled in towards the bottom of the abyss...

Is it acceptance? Grace asks the question of whether the
fishing pole still has its' hooks sharp enough to go foraging in the
sea of forgetfulness.

Faith says that grace is sufficient for me in ready response...

Hope blows a cool wind on my flushed countenance in an
expectant hum.

...Love embraces them all and carries me back to the foot of the cross...

I fall once again to my knees under the weight of guilt for what I did not knowingly cause...

My weeping summons the touch of the savior; and softens the ground of my soul to respond to His voice in sweet anticipation of fellowship.