Getting in Harmony

How easy it is to get out of tune with God when we neglect to create time for connection and fellowship with him, asking him to conduct the notes that make up the “music” of our day.

I often catch myself jumping so quickly into the immediate demands of the day that I realize halfway through I’ve neglected to attune my heart, mind, and soul to Him. It’s like an off-key song that starts on the wrong note.

When I was young, my aunt told me “people make time for what they love” and I’ve never forgot it. For me, morning prayer and meditation in the word is a love-filled discipline that may only take a moment but has benefits which are immeasurable. Each individual has to find out for themselves what it is that re-tunes their heart and invites God to create a new song for their day. What works for me, may be completely different for you. 

It's okay to start small because God takes even our quietest, shortest little notes of desired fellowship with Him and weaves every one of them into a closer harmony with his purpose for us and fine-tunes us to His plan. And the benefits of those little notes grow and lengthen, becoming a melody to our day, creating a love within us that yearns to sing in His key. 

“Ask God to help you tune your life every day to His Word, so you can bring harmony and joy to those around you.” ~Billy Graham

“He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.” ~Psalm 40:3

Guard Your Words

"I said, 'I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue."

~Psalm 39:1

It's so easy to get ourselves in trouble with our tongues...our texts...our FB posts...our tweets...so many opportunities for error and no one is immune no matter how old you are. We can all benefit from daily prayer asking that we choose words that help and heal instead of hurt and cause misunderstandings. 

The original translation of Psalm 39:1 is David telling the Lord he will "bridle" his tongue, but the meaning is actually more of a "muzzle." His first response was that he was better off just not saying anything, but in the face of evil, he knew that was even worse. So he prayed.

How much better off would our world be if we daily committed to God through prayer: "Use my words for Your purpose." I imagine we wouldn't get to say the things that first come to mind, the vitriolic words that make us feel like we've scored emotional victories and have put people in their places.     

The world needs good words, God-given words, and more of them...but those un-guarded ones? We really can do without them and they come at such a high price.

"Unguarded ways are generally unholy ones."

~Charles Spurgeon

You Should Be Standing on the Rock, not Trying to Carry It - Psalm 19

If you've ever felt weighed down by the word of God, chances are you trying to carry a burden you need to put down. Psalm 19 breathes relief into any misconception of how God's Law affects us for it states:

The Law of the Lord = perfect & "soul-reviving"

Decrees of the Lord = sure & wise

Instructions from the Lord = right & "heart-rejoicing"

Commandment (Code of Law) of the Lord = clear & "eye-opening"

Fear of the Lord = pure & enduring

Ordinances of the Lord (Judgment) = true & right

There should be a spirit of lightness that accosts your senses and guides your steps, not a weight of impossibility that stops you in your tracks. In fact, Psalm 19:10 says these are, "More to be desired than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb." What an encouragement for us that we aren't called to be mere "obeyers" but to dearly desire God's word and law as something that will give us a sweetness and fineness that enhances our life.

Psalm 19:12 reads, "Clear me from my hidden faults" ...a valuable prayer asking God to set us back to rights in those times when we are unaware of how we are getting in our own way. When you are tempted to pick up that heavy rock, try standing on it instead.

"God doesn't

want something from us,

He simply wants us."

~CS Lewis

Be a Light Bearer - Turn Darkness into Light!

Our future may seem uncertain, but God is faithful.

"By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going."

~Hebrews 11:8

"Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the one who is leading."

~Oswald Chambers

"You, Lord, are my lamp;

the Lord turns my darkness into light."

~Samuel 22:29

"Trust perfected is prayer perfected."

~EM Bounds

"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand - shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven."

~Matthew 5:14-16 (Message)

Psalm 10:1

"Why, O Lord, do you stand far off?
    Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?"

~Psalm 10:1

No matter how secure a person is in their relationship with God,

these feelings of abandonment easily crowd our minds

when circumstances overwhelm and darken our thoughts.

We hear it said, "You are the one who has moved, not God,"

and it is the act of continuing to focus on feelings

instead of trusting in him that moves us farther away.

When dark clouds block our vision of him,

trust moves us back into our Father's arms.

Really. It is.

This LIttle Light of Mine...

Life's demands can really start to make you feel like your light (read: talents, energy, inspiration, motivation) is lacking. Thank you, Lord, for Psalm 18, which reminds us that we have at our disposal a never-ending source of help!

"Help, O Lord" - the Angel's Sword

"Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if 

nothing had yet been done."


~C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer

Love Messages

"There is much in the scenery of a nocturnal sky, 

to lift the soul to contemplation."

~Thomas Chalmers

It's easy to feel small under the majesty of a starry sky:

"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established, what are human beings that you are mindful for them,mortals that you care for them?" (Psalm 8:3-5)

And yet, love us He does.

Little Boats, Big Storms

"Sometimes, the little bird's heart

finds itself

bombarded by the storm.

It seems to believe that nothing

exists but the clouds surrounding it."

~St. Therese

Share HIS Good

We have an unspoken rule in our family that dramatic sunsets and sunrises are meant to be shared. The "spotter" must come into the house with all urgency and bring every near person out to witness the glory. No one gets left behind. 

I'm thankful for the people in my life who call attention to God's good when I'm too distracted to notice on my own. 

No doubt about it! God is good—
    good to good people, good to the good-hearted.
But I nearly missed it,
    missed seeing his goodness.
I was looking the other way,
    looking up to the people
At the top,
    envying the wicked who have it made,
Who have nothing to worry about,
    not a care in the whole wide world.

~Psalm 73:1-5 (MSG)

“When we submit our lives to what we read in scripture, we find that we are not being led to see God in our stories but our stories in God's. God is the larger context and plot in which our stories find themselves. ” 

― Eugene H. Peterson

Christ Fills the Gap

"There is salvation in no one else,

for there is no other name under heaven given

among mortals by which

we must be saved.”

~Acts 4:12

Sighs Are Heard on High Too

What a gift of grace it is to know that when words aren't forthcoming we needn't feel inadequate. God understands and interprets our sighing prayers as tenderly as our words. 

I thought about giving a modern spin to Spurgeon's words above, written in the late 1800's, but they seemed to me too lovely to change. 

Give ear to my words, O Lord;
    give heed to my sighing.

~Psalm 5:1 (NRSV)

Once upon a time, my first thought in the morning...straight out of bed...was what cereal I was going to have that day. Nowadays, I try to pray before I get out of bed and then make a scramble for coffee and my favorite morning spot so I can read my Bible and morning devotions. I emphasize "try" because it is a daily discipline and many times I fail.

But when I do follow my morning joy, starting off with prayer, time spent reading the Bible, and asking God to keep me on his path, truly, there's no better feeling.