Rejoicing in the God of All Comfort...

"It is not because things are good that we are to thank the Lord, but because He is good."-Hannah Whitall Smith from The God of All Comfort.


This throws the gauntlet down to my flesh when life's mountains seem insurmountable. The passages that deal with praise in the Bible are numerous, and yet can seem hollow when we are blinded by our emotional states. Human weakness and the limits of our understanding can chain us to the dark side of the moon. Praise breaks us out of those chains and propels us towards the joy of the Lord; which is our strength.

I admit to being an emotional creature with marked intensities and a streak of the melancholy firmly rooted within the constraints of my personality. The Lord has His reasons for creating each of us with our temperaments, and we often fail to thank God for His wisdom in giving us what we have in that department. The grass is always greener; careening our gaze towards comparison with others and thinking that their temperament gives them an edge over us.

In light of today being the day that the Lord has made, I am going to try to rejoice in the God of all comfort. Lifting up that sacrifice of praise will raise my dry bones out of the grave into the awareness of His presence.

Have a cup o'joy,
Lynne

Mouse Bites

The mouse
in the crevice
saw that sweet morsel...
abandoned by human resign...
...the smell,
the aroma
rose to his nostrils...
enticing his taste buds
to propel his feet towards action.
("Seize the day" he'd often heard
in unprotected pantries).
Launching from his haunches,
the mouse
tasted the thrill
of capturing joy...
for human loss had provided his dinner...
to satisfy hunger;
raising his hopes of
finding more...

Thursday Night

Clutter of bills...
mountains of laundry
building
the
giant
felt from within...
cluttered perception
jaundiced by worry...
approaching the spirit that
cowered within...then shouts of
Organize!
Organize!
taunted the pale one...
...besieged,
...tormented...
...nettled...
...distraut...
and wondering how the divide would be crossed...
...Peace, Be still
uttered the Savior;
extending His hand
to the creature in awe...
for awaiting the child's
response to His leading;
His gratified pale one accepted
His grace...

The Open Door

The door opened,
and then it shut...the slam of the door
against the casing was reverberating through my marrow...

I looked around and saw another door;
and then another...

so many choices?
How could I choose?

That still, small voice came with the next breeze;
and whispered His guidance to calm and to soothe...
for the words in my spirit were bathed in beauty
and blessed simplicity; echoes of verses I thought I'd forgotten...

My eyes were averted from the door set before me,
and persuaded in faith to look past to the next;
for peace preceded the touch of my hand to the knob
as I opened the door to find my Lord waiting there.

Beyond

Looking beyond the present haze,
the promise awaits to bestow fresh vision;
invigorating weakened faith
grown lax from contentment with lesser morsels...

Beyond the present,
Beyond the veil,
Beyond the pressing concerns...
...Jesus awaits our voice in His ear;
as His outstretched hands ready us
for the journey ahead.

Hope renewed refreshes the spirit,
the life of love growing up out of mire.
Faith coming up from the struggle with shadows;
rearming the sword with a galvanized zeal.

Beyond this day lies the promise awaiting;
that fresh wind of life from the Father of Lights...

Eyes on the Prize

Philippians 3:14
"I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

I'll keep my eyes on the prize,
knowing that blesssed fellowship will bolster my strength and renew my spirit...
knowing also that the finish line has the best fringe benefits of any job...
knowing that with the Lord we are never alone; contrary to how our emotions lie...

I'll keep my eyes on the prize,
keeping the song of salvation in my heart as the Spirit leads me on...
singing that song as a celebration,
a sword,
and a victory cry to shout to the world of the power of God
...to change our hearts,
...and sometimes our circumstances for our good and His glory...

I'll keep my eyes on the prize,
knowing that the joy of the Lord is my strength,
knowing that weeping may endure for a night...and that joy comes in the morning.
knowing past reason that the word of the Lord is true, and that His love endures forever...

I'll keep my eyes on the prize,
because I believe that what lies ahead is more precious than gold...
...and that nothing in our earthly realm has the ability to compare with
the treasures of knowing the Lord...

I'll keep my eyes on the prize,
celebrating the work of His hands as my feet of clay seek to follow the path that
He would have me wallk in...looking for the good way so that I may walk in it...
celebrating the fellowship of believers because I know I cannot run the race alone...
celebrating the promise of heaven as a fragrant balm covering the divots of my soul...

I'll keep my eyes on the prize,
for I know that He lives and awaits my drawing near to Him in expectancy and faith...

I'll keep my eyes on the prize,
rejoicing in turbulent weather because He gives me that song of joy in the night seasons...

I'll keep my eyes on the prize,
because the prize is worth any travail I shall ever experience while living in my earthsuit...

Early Morning Stillness...

It is early morning as I write this, and my house is quiet. Everyone else is sleeping still, and allowing me to sit at the computer and write. This is a sip of joy to be sure, and my cup is full.

These mornings draw me towards reading, writing, praying, meditating, and taking inventory of my inner world. The quiet tends to pull the inward outward and tends to draw out the themes of my mental notebook. My prayer today is that the notebook contents are put in a form that is edifying to the Lord; placed squarely on the altar of sacrifice for His name's sake...

The song in my heart is forming for the day's activities. The Lord is gracious to give me a song in the night seasons as well as my waking hours. Praise poured out of a thankful soul invites the sweetness of His presence and performs soul surgery on those parts that need attention from the Great Physician. He shows me my need and holds my hand as He leads me beside the still waters. Oh, the beauty of morning in the divine plan! I know I am not alone in my observation; and know that people before me and after me will experience the same patch of life.

My prayer for you today is that you find that place that invites the Lord to visit you. Have a conversation with your maker and rediscover the joys of fellowship with Him. Nothing on earth compares with it, and nothing on earth can replace it. I shall leave you with this verse:
"With one sacrifice he made perfect forever those who are being made holy"
...Hebrews 10:14