Friday again

Why couldn't anyone on the ark play cards?
Because Noah was standing on the deck.

And the photo's from Cute Overload. If you aren't visiting C.O. daily, you're missing out on some serious joy!

The joy of the Lord is our strength

Since we've been working on this study of joy, this Chris Tomlin song keeps running through my head. It's called "Holy is the Lord God Almighty" but the part that keeps playing for me is "the joy of the Lord is our strength."

A Living Hope

This is one of my favorite passages and it came up in the first lesson in our study of joy. I've read this twice at funerals. That doesn't seem very joyous, right? But there is definitely joy in the idea that these trials lead to lasting reward. And that at both of those funerals, I knew that someone I loved had already had that "new birth into a living hope" and now their trials were over. Time for the inheritance! Where does joy come from? A new birth into a living hope.

1 Peter (New International Version)
Praise to God for a Living Hope
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

It is Well with my Soul

This song and the story behind it was part of my Bible study lesson. It's one of my favorite hymns (mainly because it was easy to sing for my short stint in choir, good for altos). Still, it's also applicable to the study of true joy.

It Is Well with My Soul
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Is Koi a Scrabble word?

You know how you feel when you're with people that you just feel comfortable with? Like you're OK no matter what form of dorky you are today? I have a few friends like that. Maybe that's just me. For some reason, even with people who I'm firmly convinced usually like me, I'm waiting for them to not like me, to think I'm just too...whatever it is that day...to hang with. And when I have to walk into a "party" with new people, I spend most of the day leading up to it in a pep talk..."You're good enough, You're smart enough, and, dog gone it, people like you." And then I usually do my best not to attract notice.

So, I'm trying a new church because I want to get involved with a group of people who believe what I believe and have similar lives...single Christians seem a good place to start. Cut to game night...me, driving over...I'll just see who's there and if I don't like it, I don't have to stay. Right, God? God says sure, while rolling his eyes probably. And as I'm parking, the girls in my Bible study drive up. No escape. And they don't allow me to hang back. And it was fine. It was good. So, I think none of us are cool...the heated Scrabble conversation over the word "koi" was my first clue. But they fit and I fit. And they already know about my weird New Year's resolution and my odd Pride and Prejudice obsession. How much worse could it get? Pretending to be cool takes too much out of me. I think I'll let that go. Maybe I'll just try to be real.

TGIF...for reals

In the men's room at work, the Boss had placed a sign directly above the sink. It had a single word on it -- "Think!" The next day, when he went to the men's room, he looked at the sign, and right below, immediately above the soap dispenser, someone had carefully lettered another sign which read -- "Thoap!"

Ouachita

A few more OBU posts. The first is the boys' dorm I stayed in (with a bunch of other girls) as a Senior. Boys are weird. My room showed the remnants of the words "Big Al" on the wall.
The bridge shows the way to the boys dorms from the main campus...across the ravine. I was trying to understand what makes this such a special place to me on the way home Saturday. And much of it depends on growing up there, really becoming who I am. Away from my parents and family, on my own, alone, meeting and making friends, learning what I like and deciding who I'm going to be. It wasn't always easy or fun, but I wouldn't have wanted to do that anywhere else. The thing about OBU is that you can't help but feel closer to God. God is there in that place and in those people. Obviously, not all those people, but enough to make it so easy to feel his presence. Daily. That's hard out here in the real world. I think Peru is so special to me for the same reason. I was close to God there. There really was no other option. He was already in that place. It's tempting to want to remain in those places, close to God, surrounded by others who can lift you closer to him. But God doesn't want us to stay there, safe and secure from all alarms. Here is where he wants me to be, here where I can share the little God I have with others. Is it possible to feel the same connection here that I do in places like OBU or Peru? I'm not sure. It's a question of focus, right? How well can I focus? That's me. God's the same here as he is there. I'm the one who's different. Focus.

A lesson in...Joy?

Romans 15:13 (New Living Translation)
13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Last night, instead of doing any of the millions of things that I'd do on a normal Tuesday night (OK, really I almost always just stick with watching television), I went to a new Bible study with the ladies of the Sunday School I'm going to right now. That just sounds so exciting, right? And maybe it wasn't "make a movie out of my life" exciting but it was fun. And I'm going to learn about Joy. Anybody remember my New Year's resolution? I vaguely do...finding more joy was there. And shoes. I took care of that one quick, though.

For Good?

This is from the Purpose Driven Life daily devotional. I've always held onto the promise that God's going to take everything that happens to me and work it for good. I never applied that to the consequences of my bad decisions. What a promise. I don't have to hold on to my mistakes. I start where I am today with God. And I can do that every day. Yesterday might have been a failure but today is all brand new possibility. Thank God.

God Meant It For Good
by Jon Walker

“You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result.” (Genesis 50:20 NIV)
Joseph’s life was anything but peaceful. It was complicated by youthful folly, broken dreams, and the mean-spirited actions of others. Sold into slavery by jealous brothers. Thrown into prison on false charges. Yet he remained a man remarkable for his lack of bitterness or regret, always seeing God as the “Great Engineer” behind even the worst of circumstances.

In a final confrontation with his brothers, he graciously noted, “You meant it for bad; God meant it for good.”
The theology packed in that statement is astounding. “God meant it for good” means:

You can accept the past – No sin, no action, no choice on your part is too big for God to handle – or too big to be worked for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28) Just ask Joseph! Better yet, ask his fearful and famished brothers, who were forced to rely on him for survival.

You can embrace the present – There’s no need to play the “what if” game. The past is gone, and no energy you expend will ever change it. The future is in God's omnipotent hands, so you’re free to focus on the present. Your job is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, trusting him to forgive the past and transform the future. Martyred missionary Jim Eliot once wrote, “Wherever you are, be all there” – not living in the past and not fantasizing about the future. God wants you in the present because that’s where his grace will flow.

You can look expectantly toward the future – Even if you make mistakes today, God still controls your future. Walking in the Spirit, you can live life to the fullest, unafraid of making mistakes and unconcerned that you may stumble into some terrible circumstance that takes you out of God's control. Even when things appear to be terrible, you can trust that God is working out some divine plan through you.

What does this mean?
· No matter how bad things get – God is still able to bring good out of it. Today, thank God that nothing – no disaster, no delay – is bigger that his ability to turn it into something good and godly.
· Thank God and let go – Thank God that he is sovereign over your past, your present, and your future.
· Give God the circumstances, disasters, hindrances, hurts, and sins from your past.
· Give God your current situation, your disasters, hindrances, hurts, and sins of today.
· Praise God that he can work anything in your future for godly good, that you can walk in confidence that there is nothing anyone can do to you, or anything you can do that will be beyond the reach of God’s grace and redemption.
· Look for God’s hand – Walking by faith means you see God’s hand even in the most difficult of circumstances. You trust his ability and his willingness to transform the bad into godly good. God is not limited by people’s motives. In other words, it doesn’t matter why someone hurt you, God still can transform a deliberate, mean-spirited situation into something for his good.
· What will you allow God to change? – There it is: some situation, or event, or person in your life that, as far as you can tell, was “meant for bad.” How do you think God meant it for good? Ask God what he wants you to do with this situation (event or person). When he answers, do it.

Where does my help come from?

Thank you, YouTube. Here's another Casting Crowns song, "I Will Praise You in the Storm". It was part of the church service on Sunday. I should really come with a Kleenex attachment. I never know, especially in church, when it's going to hit me but I hate sniffling through the prayer.

Psalm 121
A song of ascents.

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;

4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;

8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

U-turns

Wisdom via church sign? You know what I'm talking about. Every church puts up words of wisdom like "You think it's hot here?" I've seen that on 2 different churches that I pass in my daily drive lately. The one I pass every day coming home (because one side says one thing while the other says something else, right?) says "Headed the wrong direction? God allows u-turns" And I need to make a u-turn. Have you ever felt that way? It's frustrating when you wake up and realize what you're doing is taking you farther away from where you're going. I'm there this week. With me, it's a case of 2 steps forward, 3 steps back (or worse). I had that realization about midnight last night. I've done some stupid things. Colossally stupid. So...what to do? Ask for forgiveness, put myself on the list of 4 that I have been praying for (although perhaps I should ask them to pray for me), and do my best to turn it around. Deal with the consequences of sin and learn a lesson. Thank God that I'm not the only one that does dumb things. Luckily, God forgives and forgets. Me, not so much. Forgiving myself and forgetting, that's going to take a while.

I love this song by Casting Crowns. In fact, I love every song by Casting Crowns. Each and every one is a worship experience and speaks directly to me. And I hope to you. This is "East to West" and I picked up the video from YouTube. You can find the best stuff there! And some dancing cats...

Not good enough?

There is not a hint of one person who was afraid to draw near
him [Jesus]. There were those who mocked him. There were those
who were envious of him. There were those who misunderstood him.
There were those who revered him. But there was not one person
who considered him too holy, too divine, or too celestial to
touch. There was not one person who was reluctant to approach
him for fear of being rejected.

-- Max Lucado

God is not disillusioned with us. He never had any illusions to
begin with.

-- Luis Palau

Psalm 139
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

No worries

Remember: we can approach the future with confidence because we
know the end from the beginning -- the mustard seed wins the
day.

-- Tom Sine

Back to Acts

Acts 1:8
8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

In Sunday School this weekend, I realized I just needed to get this blog going again. We've started a study based on Acts, the book where the church is built and begins to spread. The church I'm attending is growing quickly but much of the time it's because of members of some other central AR church. We're not really growing the one church, just trading members. Acts is where the missionary, evangelical purpose of the church is outlined. This study began with each person making a list of 4 people that God has set up for influence. To me that's not a "Do you know you're going to heaven when you die?" at the gas station conversation. That's a friendship, a discussion, an example, a life...that's the kind of testimony I can give. So I made my list. I'm praying for those 4, and I work with 3 of them. That means I need to keep my head on straight at work. That could be a challenge.

Note to Self:
2 Timothy 1:7-10

7For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
8So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.