Picture Post

Things have been tough...on pretty much every front. At approximately 2:30pm yesterday, I realized I hadn't really laughed all week. That's not normal...or acceptable. So I took a moment to count my blessings from the day...and then God gave me a few moments of laughter. Then later, he gave me an evening with a dear friend...and many more moments of laughter. Real belly laughter, sparked by things such as a Soul Train style walk down the aisle at a wedding, men who look like monkeys (and might throw poo) and "hardcore" fashion.

Yeah, it doesn't really make sense to me either right now...but it sure was funny then. Anyhow, here are a few things that brought a smile to my face and were a balm to my soul yesterday:

Reading this...

Seeing this...

And this...

Getting a very short-fuse package out for delivery on-time...

Answered prayer for favor at work...more about that later.

And finally...watching American Idol with my dear friend Mandy, with whom I share so many belly laughs.

This is our God...

Are you feeling discouraged, doubtful, less-than-hopeful? Do you need encouragement or refreshment or fresh zeal to be about what God has called you to in this season? Then read this post by my friend Andrea:

http://vesselofgold.blogspot.com/2008/05/this-is-our-god.html#links

...Thou has caused me to hope.

Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. (Psalm 119:49)

Whatever your especial need may be, you may readily find some promise in the Bible suited to it. Are you faint and feeble because your way is rough and you are weary? Here is the promise-"He giveth power to the faint." When you read such a promise, take it back to the great Promiser, and ask him to fulfil his own word. Are you seeking after Christ, and thirsting for closer communion with him? This promise shines like a star upon you-"Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." Take that promise to the throne continually; do not plead anything else, but go to God over and over again with this-"Lord, thou hast said it, do as thou hast said." Are you distressed because of sin, and burdened with the heavy load of your iniquities? Listen to these words-"I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions, and will no more remember thy sins." You have no merit of your own to plead why he should pardon you, but plead his written engagements and he will perform them. Are you afraid lest you should not be able to hold on to the end, lest, after having thought yourself a child of God, you should prove a castaway? If that is your state, take this word of grace to the throne and plead it: "The mountains may depart, and the hills may be removed, but the covenant of my love shall not depart from thee." If you have lost the sweet sense of the Saviour's presence, and are seeking him with a sorrowful heart, remember the promises: "Return unto me, and I will return unto you;" "For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee." Banquet your faith upon God's own word, and whatever your fears or wants, repair to the Bank of Faith with your Father's note of hand, saying, "Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope." (Charles Spurgeon)

By Testing You May Discern...

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2)

Have you ever tripped in public? I remember the first time that happened to me. I was in high school. I had my first boyfriend. I was wearing the new pink sweater and cross and chain I got for Christmas, and then I was falling...falling...falling. I'm sure it was a fraction of a second in real time, but in emotional time, that trip and fall was about a month long. It felt like I just kept falling and grasping at something to keep me up, and stumbling and frantically hoping that balance would return to me and all would be well...and that I wouldn't be embarrassed in front of the vultures and hyenas (also known as high school students) that surrounded me.

That interminable fall is kind of what my life has felt like for the past month. It's like everything that can be poked, twisted, messed up, failed, broken, confused, irritated, threatened, tested, shaken and made just plain hard IS. And I just keep falling and grasping and stumbling and frantically hoping that balance and order will return and all will be well again.

In times like this, it is so easy to focus on all the things that are being poked and irritated and tested and hard and pray against those things, but as I read the verses above this morning, I realized that those things are what brings real balance and order. Paul tells us here that it is "by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." It is by having our stuff poked and irritated and tested that we learn to obey, to walk in the will of God, and be set aright.

The very things we think will hurt us are meant to train us to do what is good and acceptable and perfect. Those things are for our building up and protection. The testing, when it is met with discernment by the Spirit and the Word of God, will bring balance and order to any circumstance...no matter how pokey or irritated or shaken it becomes.

Faith

Faith is not in itself a meritorious act; the merit is in the One to Whom it is directed. Faith is a redirecting of our sight, a getting out of the focus of our own vision and getting God into focus. Sin has twisted our vision inward and made it self-regarding. Unbelief has put self where God should be, and is perilously close to the sin of Lucifer who said “I will set my throne above the throne of God.” Faith looks out instead of in, and the whole life falls into line. -- - A.W. Tozer

HT: Of First Importance

Day...um...20-something.

Eating correctly is hard.

Profound, right? And, yes, a bit whiney, but that's another topic for another day.

But really, it is: eating correctly is hard.

Either I'm thinking about my level of hunger in relation to its nearness to the regularly appointed mealtime, or I'm thinking about the potential phanthom hunger that might be a clever disguise for sinful cravings, or I'm trying to determine if what I have available is a wise choice in relation to what I've already eaten today or my propensity for food-induced headaches or my activity level or its caloric content or it's probability to induce future cravings, and, oh yes, whether I actually like the food item or not. Then there's the thinking about grocery
shopping, planning meals in advance to avoid splurge eating on the fly, and constantly evaluating my motives for eating...or repenting for not even bothering to evaluate my motives...or for evaluating said motives, determining that I am likely craving food for sinful reasons and eating it anyway.

Getting a bag of Chee-tos out of the vending machine for breakfast or stopping by one of the 75 Popeye's Fried Chicken places I pass on my way home is SO much easier.

At least in the short term.

And in the long term...well...easy is not even close to a word that would describe that.

Confused.
In Darkness.
Afraid.
Sick.
Disillusioned.
Tired.
Alone.
Sad.
Desperate.
Hard.
Close to Despair.
Remorse.
Angry.
Bad.

Those words come closer.

Sounds about a good as a basket of onion rings or a slab of chocolate cheesecake, don't it? Well it's not...and there's the kicker...the deception of it all.

That's also a topic for another day.

'Nother Quote

Have you been waiting upon God, dear troubled one, during long nights and weary days, and have feared that you were forgotten? Nay, lift up your head, and begin to praise Him even now for the deliverance which is on its way to you. -- Anonymous