Hope

From The Heart of Abba Today

Beloved,
Hope is knowing something is true,
Even when all evidence is contrary.

Hope is clinging to My Word,
When life seems to contradict it.

Hope is based on faith and trust.
Trust is built over time,
One choice at a time.

When you feel hopeless,
Simply come to Me in Prayer.

When you pray, I hear.
When I hear, I respond.

Hope, even unfelt hope,
Causes you to recognize My Hand at work.

And that recognition,
Leads to Hope renewed and restored.

Do YOU Want an Ideal Week?

Of course we all long for an ideal week. A week we can look back on and realized we used each moment to the fullest. We used each moment to bless rather than curse ourselves or others. An ideal week for me is a week filled with ideal moments.

We can only live ONE moment at a time, within one DAY at a time. All we really have is this moment.

And we get to CHOOSE in each and every moment which thoughts we will entertain. A quote says, as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. I find that interesting. We are invited to choose what sort of things to spend our time thinking about. Each and every moment of each and every day, we can choose which thoughts we “run with” and which we counter with Truth and reality.

Today, as those random thoughts pop into our heads may we CHOOSE wisely which ones we ponder and which ones we “capture”.

If you are a Christian you will recognize Biblical wisdom here based on proverbs 23:7, 2 Cor. 10:5 and Phil 4:8.

Relax?!?

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“It Is Finished”

“It is finished”

Jesus was in his final moments.

He took care of his mother and then knowing his task on the cross was complete he said, “It is finished,” and died.

And it WAS FINISHED and yet at the same time IT WAS NOT.

These trees look very dead. The entire tone is dark and dreary and pretty much devoid of life.

But we KNOW come Spring these trees will be full of life and leaves. Birds will perch there, we will enjoy their shadows and shade.

Jesus is NOT DEAD, he is alive. And we can be “alive” in and because he did die on that cross.

But he AROSE and IS ALIVE.

Because of that we have HOPE as the Anchor for our souls.

Verse: John 19:25-30

* 25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

It Is Finished

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

and

Hebrews 6:19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,

Saturday Leads to Sunday

Holy Saturday…

It seemed like… from the time between  the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus… God was silent. 

It was as if the prayers and hopes of many had fallen on deaf ears. 

No doubt people believed God had failed them, all was lost and their “hope” had been in vain.

The world WAS silent in a way, (or maybe not so silent),   and waiting… but no one knew what they were waiting for. 

Or even that they actually WERE waiting.

Looking back we do. The Resurrection. They were waiting for a miracle, for new birth, for love reincarnate. 

Palm Sunday the week before was a huge celebration…but then….The cross. Many had turned on the King they had welcomed just days before.

It probably seemed all was lost and like they had misunderstood God. 

In fact they had in some ways.

But God was STILL “God,” alive and well. 

      Often in our own lives it seems we have prayed and prayed and God is silent. 

But as surely as Sunday followed Friday, God is at work and his heart hears. 

We might feel like “they” sort of must have, alone lost, forsaken, or disillusioned.

Before that  glorious Sunday morning it seemed as if all was lost,  all was silent,  God was silent.  The world was waiting. 

In a similar way, at times,  in our lives with illness, unsaved family members, with  all sorts of things, it seems God is not listening.

Our prayers may seem to have fallen on deaf ears. 

It may feel like God is not hearing. 

But just as surely as Resurrection Sunday followed Saturday,  after a  pause, God is hearing and He is answering.

So today (as we end Friday of Holy Week and go through Saturday),  we  especially lift up all our unmet needs. 

Prayers we may have prayed for many years, as well as more recent prayers. 

Lord  help us remember that as surely as Resurrection Sunday followed  Friday,  you are hearing us, you are at work and you are going to touch, heal, and restore us. As well as those we love. 

Father  the world is waiting for it knows not what,  but you do know. 

During this time of  waiting may the Name of  Jesus  be lifted up in every life, especially for the lives of those we love. 

In  your name we pray.  Amen

But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.” Habakkuk 2:20

Zechariah 2:13

“Be silent before the LORD, all people, for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.”

The Sticky Trap

There is a sort of varmit/mouse/rat trap called a sticky trap. When the critter walks on it it gets stuck. Tight. Trapped. It can squeal and toss and turn all it wants but that only results in more of it being stuck on/in the stickness.

When we are not living in the Light, when we are participating in deeds of darkness or maybe even giving tacit  assent to those things by our silence, we are just like the little mouse or the big rat, we are going to get stuck in the mire and muck of “sticky trap”.

The good news is God reaches down and frees us.

All it takes is for our cries/squeals of anger, fear and frustration to change to cries even wails to the Living Lord. We do that by repentance. And then, He comes. He always comes. Then He lifts us out of the sticky trap and sets us on a, not a,  the Rock. 

Verses to Ponder:

Psalm 40:2

He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.

Romans 10:13

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Fly Paper of Life

I love to kill flies but until Frances ( a hurricane that skirted us one year) I did not remember that.

As a child, we spent most of the month of July at the Isle of Palms. Our grandfather, Pops and Bomma (our grandmother) and Auntie were there. Also our Aunt Annette and our mother along with the four and later five cousins. It was a place of safety and refuge. Emma and sometimes Annie Mae, my grandmother’s maids took care of all of us. And Jesus was there always because he resided so strongly in Auntie.

But also there were flies. The house had a big old screen porch that wrapped around the front and part of the sides of the house. There were two hammocks on the porch, one at each end and dozens (it seemed) of rocking chairs. Also a glider. The porch over looked the dunes and the ocean.

This was way before air conditioning, so the whole house opened to this porch and also the ocean breeze or at low tide, the absence of the breeze. When it was very still, when the air was very still, the mosquitoes would arrive. If you were not very careful they would get inside the house. But no matter how careful we were, flies were inevitable. They were always there on the porch, landing on the screens. And so we would go on fly hunts. Armed with rolled newspapers or old magazines even an occasional fly swatter, we would attack the flies. Annette particularly hated the little bugs. It was like a game to see who could kill the most. Sometimes they were quite adept at escaping.

After Frances, there were flies in my house. Where did they come from? I have no idea but “search and destroy” I did. Last night I was gleefully killing them. My husband who has no history said, “What is wrong with you? You are scaring me.” But in actual fact I was having a ball smashing the little critters with a rolled up magazine. I got every one of them too. Flies appear to be much less agile, Or could it be I am much more experienced now?

In case you begin to feel sorry for the flies, remember they come from and make maggots. Maggots are good because they are like little garbage disposals, even though most people feel disgust when we look at them. Maggots are nasty looking. Flies are interesting, they have these little hairs on their legs. Hairs you can’t even see without magnification but hairs that carry germs and bacteria everywhere they touch. And flies especially like to land on fresh food. And stick their little germy legs on there. And leave the germs and bacteria so the unwary can become ill.

I began to think. Little demons or old thought patterns that plague us are much like flies. There is a song that goes “shoo fly, don’t bother me.” Once a person I loved said when you discern the attack of the enemy of our soul, just say “Shoo, shoo”. That may work very well for her but often in my life, at least at this juncture of my life, it takes more than “shoo, shoo” to get rid of the little demon’s attacks. But when an attack appears, with Jesus as my guide, I can go on a search and destroy mission. Sometimes alone and sometimes with help. Sometimes with just “shoo, shoo” but sometimes with a rolled up newspaper (i.e. the word/power of God) But even though they may not know it, even though at the moment I may forget it, their days are numbered and in fact for those of us who believe, they are dead before they even start. So are the “germs” they try to spread. And even in a way like maggots, they can be used for good for they point us to the Creator and Healer of our souls and help us expose to the light that which is hidden.

Thanks be to the Power of the Word of Life in our lives. And for the gift he gives each of us in the Body of Christ.

Oasis

Oasis
Beloved I am refuge,
But I am also oasis.

When you go into your chamber or house,
And close the door,
I am Oasis and I provide a time of oasis.

An oasis is a place of refreshing in the desert.
Often there are life giving springs,
As well as trees for shade.

Your hearts may be dry,
Your heart and mind may be weary.
Life is not as it was.

I am with you.
I am indeed your oasis.

Come to me for times of refreshing,
For hope to be renewed,
For a time, which is made up of many moments,
Of rest and respite.

Allow My love, My presence
To fill every dry or weary or fearful place.

Psalm 107:35

Morning Mercies

Lamentations 3:22-23

22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

Dodi Note: Isn’t it GOOD and comforting to remember this? God’s mercy and his compassion are NEW every morning. Every single day we awake, we awaken with the Lord. When we slept, the Lord indeed did sustain us as it says he does in Psalm 3:5 I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.

No matter what, Paul reminds us in Romans 14:8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.

And the last statement is something to remember and remind ourselves often. “Great is Your faithfulness.” 

God is faithful. God sustains us. God is always with us. Yesterday, today, tomorrow and all the moments of this difficult and uncertain season.

County Dock

 

County Dock is BEAUTIFUL.
I have been twice since it reopened and every time there are people out enjoying the lovliness of it.

The dock is made out of individual boards.
Each board is unique in grain and pattern. Due to our individual differences we might think the pattern on one board is better than another.
All based on individual perception and preference.

But together the boards comprise this BEAUTIFUL dock, which everyone loves.

Are we like that?
Each of us different.
We all have different gifts and talents. We all look different.
And yet, when we join our hearts together….just imagine what we can do to make life better for one person at a time.

Somehow the dock reminded me of 1 Cor. 12. Especially verse 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
I wonder what the world would be like if instead of bickering we simply got along with one another?