Need Wisdom?

Unplug!

When I saw the above Anne Lamott quote on a fellow writer's blog, I decided I'd share it with my readers. So, I typed them on a photo I'd taken recently while I was "unplugging" for a few days on the Georgia coast. As I reflected on the truth Anne's words contained, I remembered a similar, but far greater, truth I found many years ago in Isaiah 30:15:

In repentance and rest you shall be saved,

In quietness and trust is your strength.

~~The Lord GOD 

Although I've posted this Bible verse before, I need to be reminded of its truth again, since I am prone to rush, rush, rush (as, perhaps, you do) and forget to take time to unplug from time to time--if not for days, at least for a few minutes here and there. 

Yes!

As I write these words, today is my birthday. The schedule is full, so I set the alarm last night so that I’d be sure to have plenty of time to pray, to read God’s Word, to write, to sing praises to Him, etc.

Why are those activities so important to me?

I realize that, apart from Him, I’d have no life, no blessings, no abilities, no opportunities, no resources for study, and no time to sit at His feet and learn about Him so that I can love Him more and serve Him better.

My daily Bible reading brought me to Psalm 108. As I read those ancient words, written by King David, my whole being said, “Yes!” and “Amen!” to the glorious truths found in those 13 verses.

• My heart is steadfast, O God, because day by day You’re teaching me to love You and trust You.

• I will sing (and I do!) and make melody with all my being.

• I will give thanks (and I do!) to You, O LORD, among all the people (in casual conversations and in my writings, which are on my blog and in a local magazine).

• I am beginning to understand more and more that Your steadfast love and faithfulness extend higher than the heavens, far beyond where the human eye can see.

• I want You to be exalted above the heavens.

• I want Your glory to be spread over all the earth.

• I know that You alone give victory in all of life’s battles; thus I can courageously face whatever You allow to come my way.

Will I have a happy birthday—no matter what happens or doesn’t happen? Yes!

Sunrise at Crescent Beach, Florida

Full of Life

Shortly before my sixty-something birthday, I came across an article about a 101-year-old woman who celebrated that birthday by repelling down a 328-foot tower, despite the wind and the rain, breaking her own record as the world’s oldest abseil-er. She’s looking forward to a similar celebration next year.

Her story reminded me of a friend of mine who celebrated her 88^th birthday by taking a motorcycle ride, courtesy of a friend who drove her around town. For her 89^th birthday, she took a hot air balloon ride.

I’m not planning to do anything quite as daring as they did, but I’m glad I had an opportunity to take an untethered hot air balloon ride several years ago. I never dreamed I’d get to do it—or that I’d have the courage to do it. But I did! 

I'm the one waving!

What I do hope to do on my birthday (and in all the days ahead) is to experience the reality of the promise found in Psalm 92:14-15, NASB:

[The righteous] will still yield fruit in old age;

They shall be full of sap and very green,

To declare that the LORD is upright.

Sweet!

How sweet to my taste are Thy words, O God.

May I return to them again and again 

so they can nourish my soul

and strengthen me for service to You. 

(A prayer based on Psalm 119:103)

Wise Words As Welcome As Water!

Let my teaching fall on you like rain;
let my speech settle like dew.
Let my words fall like rain on tender grass,
like gentle showers on young plants.
I will proclaim the name of the LORD;
how glorious is our God!
He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect.
Everything he does is just and fair.
He is a faithful God who does no wrong;
how just and upright he is.
--Moses, in Deuteronomy 32:2-4, New Living Translation

Feed His Sheep

While visiting a friend, I was privileged to hold
a three-week-old lamb.
What a special experience!

While reading some writings of Charles H. Spurgeon, I came across this sentence: "May our Lord Jesus accept my service for His sheep and lambs."

The moment I read it, I realized that Spurgeon's prayer was also that of my heart! 

Whether my service is writing, lending a helping hand, sharing a word of Scripture at an opportune time, forgiving someone, praying for others, cooking, cleaning, keeping the laundry done, etc., I do pray that the Lord will accept my service (every act of kindness) done to and/or for His sheep and lambs--and, ultimately, unto Him.

*****

Know that the LORD Himself is God; 

It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; 

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Psalm 100:3, NASB

*****

Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love Me?"

Peter answered, "Lord, You know all things; 

You know that I love You."

Jesus replied, "Feed [Tend, Care for] My sheep."

John 21:17

Where's God?

Remember the "Where's Waldo?" books and images that were published in the late 1980s and became hugely popular. (Think multi-million.) The creator of the series would insert a small image of Waldo in the busy scene on each page. The viewer's job was to look and look and look in order to answer the question, "Where's Waldo?"

I thought of the "finding Waldo" challenge when I looked at the photo below and realized how hard it is to spot certain pieces of glass, say red ones, amid the myriad of other pieces of broken glass worn smooth by the years and years of relentless surging and swirling of the Pacific Ocean.

I thought of Waldo and the photo below when I read this sentence: You'll always find God in His Word. Actually, that's the BEST place to look. If you read the Bible carefully, you'll find info about Him on nearly every page. After all, the entire Bible is His Story! Look for Him. Learn about Him. Learn from Him. Learn to trust Him. That's far more exciting and life-changing than finding Waldo!!!!

Glass Beach (in Fort Bragg, California) was a city dump for over 20 years, but now is the repository of countless tiny pebbles of colored, polished glass that has been worn by time, water, and weather.

You will seek Me and find Me 

when you search for Me 

with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13, New American Standard Bible

Steadfast

Steadfast. Now, there’s a word you rarely hear these days. However, we do use words with a similar meaning: committed, constant, dependable, faithful, loyal, reliable, staunch, steady, true, etc.

Since steadfast is used infrequently these days, I noticed it appears quite often, usually as an adjective describing the word love, in the English Standard Version of the Bible, which I am reading through this year.

For example, in Psalm 36, the writer (David) uses steadfast three times. At the beginning of that chapter, he’s thinking about the wicked. But rather than keep thinking about them, David shifts his focus to the Lord.

“Your steadfast love, O LORD, 

extends to the heavens, 

your faithfulness to the clouds…

How precious is your steadfast love, O God! 

The children of mankind 

take refuge in the shadow of your wings. 

They feast on the abundance of your house, 

and you give them drink 

from the river of your delights…

Oh, continue your steadfast love 

to those who know you 

and your righteous to the upright of heart!” 

(Psalm 36:5-10, emphasis added).

Steadfast. How precious is that word in these days when everything seems to be changing, crumbling, shifting… 

 Sidney Lanier Bridge in Brunswick, Georgia