You need only to be still...

"The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still..."
~ Exodus 14:14

One of my "go to" worship songs speaks of "Being Still"...

and what does one do, when standing in the stillness? 

 You praise Him, you remind yourself of His wonderful deeds and power. You declare along with the young men of Israel who were slaves in a foreign land: 

"...If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, 
the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, 
and he will deliver us from Your Majesty's hand. 
But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, 
that we will not serve your gods 
or worship the image of gold you have set up." 

{Daniel 3:17-18}

Answer these questions as a prayer or praise:

What has He done for me in the past?

What has He done for others that can fuel hope and confidence in myself? 

What promises has He given in His word? {Both to me specifically and to His people as a whole.}

What can I be thankful for right now?

What is my favorite characteristic of Him?

 How can I make these things (in this list I am making) a declaration of my faith in Him?

 

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A little quiet time reflection and thoughts I wanted to share with you.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; 

give thanks to Him and praise His name. 

Psalm 100:4 

How beautiful to go to the temple of the Lord, and minister to Him.  To see the visible place of His dwelling surely caused the praise and thanksgiving to rise up spontaneously in each worshipper. In Old Testament times, the priests even lived in the temple, the closest place to Him on earth. What joy to be counted among those who were set apart for this service! And we have this kind of access to Him 24/7 because His temple is our heart, He live in us!  In considering how this verse applies to our present reality, I was brought to this thought: to "enter His gates" today means to pause, consider, and acknowledge that

 1) He is in His temple 

 2) we are that place and

 3) "entering in" means to be present to this truth and 

act in awareness of His constant presence with us! 

During this season, I am praying to be daily more aware of this incredible truth that the Living God, the Creator of the Universe has made His home in my heart...and the implications of this. 

My word for the year - "Finish"

Hearing my word for 2014 really happened during the regular time frame...during the month of January...it is just now that I seem to have time to write about it...

Picture source

The word whispered around the back portions of my mind - I wasn't sure if it was just my need to accomplish cleaning off my desk in my office/art studio, or gaining some sort of organization after 6 months of seeming chaotic life...(my desk is still piled, but project after project is moving off...FINISHED!)

"FINISH"!

It is a triumphant call - He calls me to "finish" because He declared "It is finished"...Everything is settled...

He will perfect that which concerns me -

He has given us everything I need for life and Godliness -

His gift and calling is irrevocable -

I looked at places where the word shows up in Scripture, and found three that leaped out to me:

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  James 1:4 NIV

Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.  2 Corinthians 8:11 NIV

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace.   Acts 20:24 NIV

Picture source

 The very day I decided that the word dancing around my mind had the emphasis of the Spirit with it, this article was delivered to my inbox:

There is an "It is Finished" sound in the kingdom. Are we releasing it? 

This excerpt captures the tone of what I was hearing:  

The governmental power of 'NOW Sound" is that we know He is King, it is finished, and Father is governing through the release of the sound of His sons and we are releasing what He is revealing, right here, right NOW! 

When I read about worship, I automatically include the act of creating any art, honoring Him by releasing the creativity He has placed within us, in the context of worship...


He is saying:

Finish the race I have set before you...
I have released you into the fullness of your passions and calling!

Finish the creative explosions released within you...
Release the creativity I have placed within you to the sphere of your influence!

Finish through perseverance...
Maturity and completeness come only through the daily practice of reaching towards Me, seeking to reflect Me to the world...in all you do, keep going, experimenting, exploring, wondering, making, moving, ministering, revealing...

I hear Him cheering me on...
What will He accomplish in this coming year?  I cannot wait as I consider all the ideas, half formed, some almost complete...finished!

Worship for hard times...

A good song as some go through hard times right now...

I can hear the Spirit singing it back into my heart as promises, too...

if viewing in a reader, consider clicking over to the blog to listen...

Cycles of Worship - Part 2 + Sneak Peek Friday

Heads bowed with the weight of ripe glory, the field watched and waited,

knowing the harvest was soon...

The rains had come, warmth and light had performed their duty, 

and the growth to maturity had been slow yet sure...

Sure as the seasons, marked by moon, stars and sun...

Sure as the rotation and orbit of the earth...

Sure as the Creator who had set all in place

And whose presence was felt in the field every moment...

Growth was always up and out -

Up - branch arms and heads reaching and stretching always towards heaven, towards Him...
Out - spreading and growing and becoming fruitful and multiplying, not only reaching up, but reaching out - enlarging the harvest...

and the field knew what it was to be spent for the harvest...

  The maturing crops wondered if the crown of creation noticed...

Did they notice how each blossom, each color, the bees visiting and pollinating, each shape, each spine or leaf or stem spoke?

Did they notice how every detail pointed to some aspect of their Creator, declared how the the Lover of their souls cared for them, revealed the depth of love He feels for them?

 Did they know that He created beauty just so they could delight in it?

And so they could remember their true purpose when the deceiver sought to blind them to it?
Because the beauty they encountered in the world was designed to remind them that they, too,
were beautiful?

And did they know that every time the wind blew, causing the harvest to gently wave, it was to remind them that the Lord of the Harvest was moving in each of them, and through each of them, and would be a catalyst to help them move together in the beauty of harmony?

The appointed days arrived, the people came to gather in the message

- and even harvested, the fields continue to speak out:

there is a harvest, 

it is growing, 

multiplying...

when the people gather the harvest, they see spiritual reality
before their eyes...

and each generation is able to experience the unseen truths as well...

when they watch the fields ripen, 

they understand the principles of growth,

that there are seasons to life...

And that counting the time, measuring the passing of days, 

it wasn't to remember their need for salvation, 

(tho' that also was woven in after the fall), 

but that the days, and seasons, and years, and signs...

were all to be crescendoing love gifts...

that the Creation would understand cycles of life and growing and maturing...

all eternal realities...

 

...and that He is counting the days till we are all gathered together...

in one incredible colorful and unique and diverse harvest.

And the joy of repeating the counting is poured out - 

over and over and over again...

generation after generation...

till the harvest is complete...

And the fields, gathered now to grace the harvest celebrations,

continued to bow their worship to their Maker.

Joyfully joining with Jennifer and other creatives at Studio JRU

Cycles of Worship - Part 1

The summer grasses waved their glory every day I passed; glowing golden in the late summer dusk...

Reminding that the later harvest was almost here.

I wondered how so many days had crept by, the desire for Lent to linger - pulsing and burning the path of life and liturgy and contemplation - dying down {yet not out}, counting by adding stalks of wheat in a vase...

four days:



             thirty days:

counting to Pentecost (fifty days and fifty stalks of wheat)   

                                               

and the idea occurred to me to continue on past Pentecost:  

Here is what 100 days (after Resurrection/First Fruits) looks like:

                                                     

The counting seemed natural, like how we count the days to Christmas and thus we know how to plan our budgets and time and ways to show love, just as the Jewish people knew because they were to count the days from one Feast to the next...

Somehow, when I had allowed the habit of the daily count to slip away, my attendance to the details of each day also slipped - of course the laundry was done and meals prepared and worship was given and scripture studied; joy and sadness and firmness and, yes, contentment was still woven through the life liturgy I live - and the conviction of purpose and meaning, that my existence was important also slipped.  My ministry to my family seemed small and inconsequential, as if it didn't matter in the larger picture of life...

and yet the golden heads waving desperately declaring that counting helps keep one: 

present:

looking forward to what is yet to come,

 aware of the day that today is  - 

focused:  

to make the most of today while

making the most of each day to come,

full of anticipation... 

grounded in purpose...

living in celebration of life... 

When God created "lights in the dome of the sky to divide the day from the night," he said, "Let them be for signs, seasons, days and years".  Later, these mo'adim became known as mo'adey Adonai (the appointed times of the Lord)— the yearly cycle of festivals ordained for Israel. Before Israel or even mankind had been created,God anticipated Israel's life of worship and made detailed provision for it.

And while the appointed times are to help turn our eyes and hearts to the Lord and to reveal Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He is showing me even greater depths of His love towards us...

What can you count?  1000 gifts with Ann Voskamp?
                                       Days of the Jewish Festivals and between?
                                       Days of the Liturgical Church Year?
                                       or make your own calendar of days?

Sharing with the community "Walk with Him Wednesdays" at A Holy Experience

Words weaving in and out in my mind...

Wounds to Worship
Healing worship
Worship brings healing
Bring your wounds to Him in worship, and let worship heal your wounds...

In the Place of Presents + Lego Nativity - enjoying HIM this Christmas

A couple of treats to help you and your family enjoy and reflect on the meaning of Christmas...

A worship song "In the Place of Presents", written and performed by our former music/worship pastor...as he pursues God's full purpose for his life!


And who knew Legos could be so meaningful!

My Response to Him - The Beauty of Holiness 1

Fitful sleep,
Coughing,
Fever,
I want to write "part 2" of "The Beauty of Holiness" series, but my mind is easily distracted, well because the family needs me, too...

Coughing wakes me up again...I check my emails while I sip some water
I received an email from Voice of the Lord talking about the word "worship" and that it means to kiss towards...I've learned that before; noted it in my Bible at Psalm 2:12...

back to bed with the thoughts of worship being beautiful and the description of Jesus from Psalm 45 being so beautiful and kisses given and received - what we call worship - and the intimacy of that meandering around in my brain...

I lay down murmuring to Him that I want to write what He wants to say...and there are words in my mind...I try to catch them...

Write...response...to Me...share...your response...

And I am asleep...coughing wakes me in an hour, but there is a worship song already playing within me...the Holy Spirit is so faithful to be the vehicle of spirit communication...and I know this song is really my response to Him, to the Beauty of Holiness part 1...someone else wrote the words, but it is my song too, and I share it with you...

Lyrics to "You are so good to me" by Third Day
You are so good to me
You heal my broken heart
You are my Father in heaven [2x]
You ride upon the clouds
You lead me to the truth
You are the Spirit inside me [2x]
You poured out all your blood
You died upon the cross
You are my Jesus who loves me [2x]
[Chorus:]
You are beautiful my sweet, sweet, song [3x]
I will sing again

[Bridge:]
You are my strong melody
You are my dancing rhythm
You are my perfect rhyme
And I want to sing forever

Linking up with Tiffani at the House of Belonging and snuggling with a throw on the couch...

The Fast - Week 3

I am hungry:

To see the sacred in the common

To perceive the holy in the ordinary

To find His Presence filling my everyday…

Awesome Worship!

We really had awesome church this morning....and I do like Jesus Culture...we sang this one today as a congregation, but Kim Walker can really send it soaring!! I love how simple the group is - letting the power be from who He is....