Character of Gold

This past week has been a challenge for me.
I couldn't put my finger on what made it so, yet it was.
Even the smallest thing seemed monumental to me.

Things or should I say I am settled down quite a bit now and with the settling comes some perspective.
Occasionally or not so occasionally I allow too much to pile up on my plate.
That comes from not checking with Papa over each detail.
It doesn't take long for things to begin to unravel.
It doesn't take long at all....

My Scripture reading today was in Genesis Forty-One.
It got me to thinking about character, which actually relates to my tumultuous week.

Joseph was languishing in prison after being falsely accused and condemned.

No matter where Joseph found himself, he brought blessing.
Even in prison.

God had also gifted him with the ability to interpret dreams, which he did for the king's cup bearer and baker.
His interpretation was found to be true and when the cup bearer was released, as per the dream, he promised to remember Joseph.
He promptly.. forgot him.

Until the king, Pharaoh had two disturbing dreams.
This brings us to my reading this morning.

Pharaoh could find no one to explain his dream and that is when the cup bearer remembered Joseph.

Out of the prison Joseph comes, cleaned up and presentable and into the presence of the king.
When Pharaoh states that he has heard of Joseph's ability to interpret dreams, Joseph corrects him.

"It is not me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer."

He could have taken credit in hopes of becoming indispensable to the king, but he didn't.

After he explained the dream, which was the prediction of a coming famine, he also informed Pharaoh of what he should do to avoid its impact and the need for someone to head up the program.

At this point Pharaoh confers with his advisers and concludes that Joseph is the man for the job.  With that he takes his signet ring off and gives it to Joseph making him number two after himself in the kingdom.

This really hit me.
Sure Joseph's interpretation was impressive and his words rang true for Pharaoh, but was that all that it took for the king to virtually turn his kingdom over to this man?
This man who had come directly form prison?

Pharaoh could not have been that easily swayed, not and have such a vast kingdom that had been running well.  The king had to be a man who recognized character when he saw it.
And Joseph certainly was a man of character!

He did not succumb to temptation nor fear.
He was a man of faith.

Joseph trusted his God.
He knew The LORD was faithful to His Word and faithful to His people.
Joseph trusted that God had a plan for his life and that His will would be done.

At no point do we find Joseph rattled.
At no point does he take things into his own hands

Joseph's father and grandfather had been schemers and manipulators.
Not Joseph.
The sins of his fathers had not been carried on to him.
Why not?

The Twentieth chapter of Exodus, verse Five tells us that He

"visits the sins of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate me."

Note who those generations are..
Those who hate Him.

But it doesn't end there...
the following verse says,

"but showing loving kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep my commandments."

Joseph loved his God and kept His commandments.

Jesus instructed that we cannot love anyone above our love for Him.  That includes ourselves.

To love Him first and best means we trust Him and obey Him.

So moving from the story of Joseph to the story of Deborah I find a glaring difference.
I allowed the details (some of which were insurance related, yet again!) to rattle me.
Instead of remembering Who my God is and His faithfulness I tried to work it all out on my own.
Very frustrating to say the least.

I love something Job said found in the Twenty-Third chapter,

"But He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold."

The character He desires to develop in His children is such that will be pure gold.
How I want to shine like that for Him!

There is a simple slogan,

"Let go and let God."

It works every time.

Roll that Drum!

Once more we have reached the Twelfth Day.
Suitable the day is a celebratory one.
A drum roll is in keeping with the entrance of an important person and our God is very important!

Can you imagine our True Love not stepping into the scenes after all the gifts have arrived?
There is a day coming when He will appear and how I look forward to it!

Isaiah Thirty-Five draws a beautiful picture with broad strokes of color and life bursting on the scene,

"The wilderness and the desert will be glad, and the Arabah (desert) will rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it will blossom profusely and rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy, the glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.  They will see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God.  Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble.  Say to those with anxious heart, 'Take courage, fear not, behold, your God will come with vengeance; the recompense of God will come, but He will save you.' 

Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and ears of the deaf will be unstopped.  Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy.  For waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the Arabah.  And the scorched land will become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, its resting place, grass becomes reeds and rushes.  And a highway will be there, a roadway, and it will be called the Highway of Holiness.  The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for him who walks that way, and fools will not wander on it.  No lion will be there, nor will any vicious beast go up on it; those will not be found there.  But the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the LORD will return, and come with joyful shouting to Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads.  They will find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away."

The world, as it is, has its fill of those who are physically, emotionally and spiritually wounded.
The earth itself has its struggles.
Picture the desert, dry and barren with tumble weeds  rolling across its surface.  With the wind comes the dust in ones eyes, nose and mouth.  A place of lifelessness where jackals feel at home.
Here and there a few tufts of grass trying to offer nourishment to the creatures that try to survive there.


The world, as it is, has its fill of those who are physically, emotionally and spiritually wounded.
Just as the earth itself has its struggles, so do its inhabitants.


However, the day will come when life will break out in the desert to such an extend that the desert itself will rejoice!  flowers will burst forth with a shout of joy!  And life giving water will gush out of formerly dry places!

The handicapped will rise up with vitality and joy.  There will be quite a bit of leaping and shouting going on too!
All who are redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb will find themselves walking safely on that Highway of Holiness never to encounter anything but that which is life-giving from then on!

Why?
Because the Glory of the LORD and His majesty have been revealed!

Can I hear a drum roll please?!

Much to Rejoice Over!

Yesterday got away from me and so I apologize to anyone who visited this site looking for comments regarding Day Eleven.  I knew there was something else I meant to do!  Though I don't know when I would have gotten to it!

Well, on Day Eleven the pipers joined the crowd and caused us to look at the act of rejoicing, especially that we are free from judgment!
Our meditation was on a few verses in the Second chapter of Philippians,

"Rejoice in the LORD always; again I will say, rejoice!  Let your fore bearing spirit be known to all men.  The LORD is near.  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.  The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you."

As I thought about what these verse had to say to me I found more reason to rejoice.

Our God is near.
He is not afar off, but so very close; sticking closer than a brother!

We have the privilege of prayer and those prayers are directed to the King of Kings and LORD of Lords!!
Thus we can rest that He is able and willing to tend to our concerns.

His peace, which is beyond description or understanding is ours and is our protection!

The more that we take time to focus on things that fit the description found in verse eight of being true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent and praise worthy, the more we will find to rejoice over!!

As we walk this walk will find that we are not alone.  Jesus, our Savior is with us, guiding and protecting.

What glorious truth!  What a joy!
Join me in rejoicing before Him!

Leaping for Joy

Ever get so excited that you feel like leaping for joy?
It should be a common occurrence for those of us who are in a relationship with the Living God.
Honestly.
However, it takes more than claiming Him as Savior.

Oh, certainly in the beginning of our walk with Him it is pretty easy to rejoice over Him and what He has done for us.
Yet, in time we get comfortable with this treasure and life settles down to a steady pace.
Many times it takes the trials of life to wake us up to our need to continue to pursue our Savior.
It comes with being human, I think.

Apart from the challenges of life there is another way to keep and increase that joy fresh.
Seek Him!
That means we are spending time in His Word relying upon His Spirit to speak to our hearts.
Then the truth that is revealed needs to be applied to our lives.
None of this is news to those of us who are called by His Name.
Still we need to be reminded.
I know I do and I also need to be reminded of His desire to make us a reflection of His Glory.

The process takes time and commitment.
Our LORD is committed, but are we?

If we take the time to truly meditate on His Word and what it reveals about Him we will find our hearts stirred to greater commitment!

King David made it a habit of doing just that, as we see over and over in the Psalms that he penned.  
All prayers to his God.

We meditated on some of his words on Day Ten, which are found in Psalm Eighteen.

"As for God, His way is blameless; the Word of the LORD is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him, For who is God, but the LORD?  And who is a rock, except our God, the God who girds me with strength, and makes my way blameless?  He makes my feet like hinds' feet, and sets me upon my high places.  He trains my hands for battle, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.  You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand upholds me; and Your gentleness makes me great.  You do enlarge my steps under me, and my feet have not slipped."

These words proclaim our God as One whose way is blameless.
No fault will ever be found in the path He calls us to join Him on.

They also speak of His Word being tried.  That is a picture of gold being tested to be pure.
His Word is pure gold!

We find refuge and protection in Him.  No other is a rock in comparison to Him.
This Rock makes strength available to us, as well as confidence in walking the path He sets us on!

He is always calling us up higher and actually loves to set us there!

The battles are sure to come, but He equips us.  You see we are on the winning side!

David also reminds us that our God is tender in His love.  As He protects, He is shaping us into all He intends us to be!  And in Him we have sure footing!
In this world, no matter what comes, we can walk in joyful victory with Him!

Such Good News makes me want to leap!
How about you?

Shall We Dance?

The Word of God is such a blessing to my heart and I hope that you can say the same.
As the Spirit breathes into the words on the printed page they come to life!
Then we find refreshment as it draws us ever nearer to Our True Love.

When we take the time to truly reflect on what we are reading, our soul cannot help but be stirred by it.

Sometimes I am stirred to be still, as I am reminded of Who it is that has to do with me!
This reminds me of the Forty-Sixth chapter of the Psalms where it tells us in its Tenth verse,

"Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."

At other times I  have such a sweet sense of peace and joy that causes me to savor His Presence knowing that He is with me at all moments.  Hebrews reminds us of that,

"For He Himself said, "I will never desert you nor will I forsake you."

Then there are the moments when I want to shout for all to hear!
And at such times, I want to join the Nine Dancing Ladies because you just need to express your joy!

Psalm One Hundred has that effect.

"Shout to the LORD, all the earth.  Serve the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing.  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.  Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His Name.  For the LORD is good; His loving kindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness to all generations."

This chapter reminds us of Who He is and  how He cares for us.

We are His and just as a shepherd takes great care of his sheep, so does our Great Shepherd!
That care and love is for eternity!

Now don't you just want to join me and dance??!!

True Satisfaction!

Okay let's see if I can get it right this time!
Yesterday's comments were for day seven, which I am sure my readers figured out.
So today I will focus on Day Eight, which is the eight maids not swans!

Today I feel a great urgency to proclaim the passage from Isaiah Fifty-Five, which we had reflected on that eighth day.

"Ho!  Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat.  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.  Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?  Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance.  Incline your ear and come to Me.  Listen, that you may live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, according to the faithful mercies shown to David."

So many need to hear the Good News that they can come empty handed to our True Love!

This morning our youngest, Tim found a friend dead from a drug overdose.
That precious soul needed to discover the offer, but struggled with the many lies that the enemy of his soul kept throwing at him and never could grasp that the offer was for him.
He didn't understand that he could find real satisfaction in the Living God.

I meet many like him as I volunteer at a local rehab.
Though I cannot proclaim the love of our dear Papa directly, I have found that unconditional love does the trick!  What could be more direct than love?!

His love is drawing a number of them to ask questions and seek Him for themselves.
What a joy to watch this happening!

One guy, who has been in and out of programs told me with shining eyes that he has realized that God is who has been missing from all his attempts at recovery.
He has admitted his thirst and come to the Living Water and has tasted and seen that the LORD is good!
He is finding Him very satisfying!

How grateful I am that Jesus drew me to Himself and now gives me the privilege of sharing Him with others!
That is true satisfaction!

I am also grateful that this mother's heart can rest in the fact that our son has drunk deeply of the Living Water and that God will use this very difficult experience for good in his life.
Many will learn of the One who satisfies our every longing!

Praise His Glorious Name!

Being Loved into His Image

This morning I was listening to a message given by Francis Frangipane, who I could listen to for the rest of my days.  Not only is his voice very soothing to my ear, but his words refresh my soul.
Papa had a particular message for me.

I have not felt like myself as of late; unmotivated and very tired.
It has left me feeling a bit disconnected from my LORD and wondering if I would ever get my energy back, both physically and spiritually.

Francis was addressing the LORD's purpose behind allowing trials and temptations into our lives.
He had us read Romans, Chapter Eight, verses Twenty-eight and Twenty-nine.

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed tot he image of His Son, that He might be the first=born among many brethren."

He then made the application: The purpose of the trials and temptations is to conform us to His image.
He is about shaping us into His image!
At this point Papa seemed to whisper to my heart that this is what is going on with me, so I can rest in this confidence!
It gives me an entirely different attitude!
I do not have to fight it or question myself, but simply look to Him and res tin Him.
Such a gracious, loving God!

This makes me think of Day Seven's gifts of seven swans a-swimming and how they reflect His faithful, gracious love!

When I read our mediation from First John my heart rejoiced, as it does once again!

"See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are.  For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.  Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be.  We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.  And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure."

His love is the motivating factor in making us His children, His beloved children.
One day we will find out all that means, but we do know that we will be just like Him.

If we truly believe this and keep this truth before us, then we will seek to become more and more like Him now.
That means that we will trust Him and rest in Him even when we do not understand what and why right now.

We have a True Love who has loved us before we even took a breathe.
And that love is shaping us into His very image!

Utterly Faithful!

Remember what the six geese represented?
Yes, faithfulness.

How Faithful is our True Love?
So faithful that the Psalmist in the One Hundred Twenty-First chapter could declare that he was confident that his help would come from the LORD.

"I will life up my eyes to the mountains; from whence shall my help come?  My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.  He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber.  Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.  The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand.  The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.  The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul.  The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever.""

Our God did not create all that exists and then withdraw to watch at a distance.
No!  He is so attentive that He doesn't miss one slip of a foot.

Papa is ever watchful.
He doesn't even take a brief nap!
Day and night He is watching over us.

Our keeper.
I looked up the word keeper in the concordance.
Here is what it says:
To keep, watch, persevere, attend; being careful, a bodyguard, diligently keep.
There was more, but you get the idea!

Nothing distracts our God!

Then I checked out the word shade,
A shadow, protection; shelter.

Adds a little more to fill out the picture?
He is so close that He provides protective shelter- He is our shelter.

What does He faithfully protect us from?
All evil!

He keeps our soul safe and guards us at all times for all time!
Now that is what I call faithful!

May I respond in kind to Him.

Pure Gold!

Time to share the riches that were revealed to me as I meditated upon the passage in the First chapter of Ephesians on Day Five!

"For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the LORD Jesus which exists among you, and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our LORD Jesus Christ, the father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.  I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.  These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come."

There is so much!!

The fact that anyone prays for me is one of the priceless gifts!
We are part of the body on purpose.  We need one another; we need one another's prayer support.
I know that all that continues to unfold in my life and ministry is a result of many faithful ones' prayers.

Paul's prayer asked for the supreme treasure: basically to grow to know Him more deeply, which requires wisdom and revelation that comes from the Father through His Spirit.
To know Him is pure gold; no impurities there!

Then to realize all He is calling us to and all that He has in store for us...

A calling, imagine that!  Our God calls us to join Him in working in this world!

And He has a priceless inheritance waiting for us.
To me that inheritance is the joy of being in His Presence and seeing Him face-to-face!

If all of that isn't enough we have the treasure of His Power available in and through us right now!!
That Power is what was exercised to raise Jesus Christ from the dead!

All of these riches are because of and through the One Who is seated with His Father to rule and reign for all eternity!

Our life is Jesus, the One Whom we are hidden in.
Hidden, yet what is seen shines brighter and brighter!
All pure Gold!!

This brings to mind one of my favorite verses, Proverbs 4:18

"The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day."

Praise our Holy LORD!!

Answering Songs of Love

Reading through the post that addressed Day four and the fact that our True Love expresses His love in song I came to the question I posed,

"What song are we singing to our True Love?

It is my desire for my life to be a sweet sound in my Savior's ears, but I do not always achieve that goal.
Today my song probably sounded like an orchestrate trying to tune their instruments; sometimes hitting a few lovely sounding notes, but often hitting many off key!

Some days I cannot get passed the fact that my husband is no longer the man he was and it can cause me to be just a little bit cranky...

Until Papa gets my attention and helps me to reflect on Him and all that comes with being able to call Him my Savior.

The passage we meditated on for Day four, which is found in Psalm 59 says it well,

"But as for me, I shall sing of Your loving kindness in the morning, for You have been my stronghold, and a refuge in the day of my distress.  O my strength, I will sing praises to You; for God is my stronghold, the God who shows me loving kindness."

When I remember His great love for me, in the morning or as today in the mid-afternoon (!), it does stir a song in my heart.
My God's love surrounds me and offers me strength and a place of refuge in the midst of my distress.

I had written someone earlier today that Ray's and my life is different, but our God has not changed.
Isn't interesting that we can say that and truly believe it, but then plummet into a pit of despair?
Ah, the human condition!

What is of great comfort is the fact that because my God truly does not change, He reaches into that pit and lifts me out time and again!

He is my strength and I do sing His praises!

Each time He, the lifter of my head, draws me back, song pours forth from my heart in answer to His song of love!

All the Way to the Cross

This is day two of my birthday celebration.
Why confine the party to only one day??
At least that seemed to be the plan as far as a few friends were concerned!
Today I arrived at the rehab where my friends surprised me with a cake, cards and flowers.  Two of the guys even had a few words to say!
I don't think it was their intention to make me cry, but they did!
All tears of joy.  What a privilege to spend time with these dear ones!

You know what is behind my visits to them and also what brings about such scenes?
The tender love of our precious Savior.

It is that love that we explored as we looked at some of the gifts that He offers us.
On day three of that study we found ourselves in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah.
Though I only quoted three verses, which are below, there is so much more to learn from the whole chapter!

"Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.  But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering...As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities." 

Let me share what I found, first, in those three verses.   A picture is drawn of  our Suffering Savior, who took on Himself all our griefs and sorrows and if that wasn't enough bore our sins.  He not only bore them, but was crushed and chastened for them.
Such tender love.
The perfect One submitting Himself to set us free!
If that isn't tender love, I do not know what is!

As we read the opening verses of the chapter, the picture is drawn of One who was willing to come with His beauty concealed; willing to be despised and forsaken for us.
Yes, for us!!
Hallelujah!!

Later in the chapter we are reminded that He did not try to defend Himself, but chose humility.
The Almighty God was willing to humble Himself before His creatures for their (our) sake!
As the Second chapter of Philippians tells us,

"And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

All through the chapter we read over and over of His suffering, but we also read that it was the goal of  

"justifying the many."

This Beloved is how far our True Love's love took Him!
All the way to the Cross.

Oneness

Today was such a lovely day.  Papa blessed my birthday from beginning to end.  He is so gracious!
I think I will close the day by sharing my thoughts regarding The Second Day's gifts.

Many have a tendency to view Ephesians 5:25-32 as a lifeless passage that draws a picture impossible to copy, not unlike many other passages; something totally unrealistic.
Not true.
At least, not true if we are sticking close to the One who sets the example!

Having said that I want to turn to what really stood out for me.
What caused my heart to leap with joy?
As much as the thought of my husband loving me as God's Word describes certainly is very attractive, but there is something that much more arresting for me-Christ's love, which is the basis of the verses.

"Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her; that He might sanctify her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.  So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body.  For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wire; and the two shall become one flesh.  This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church."

How does He love me (us)?
With tenderness.

As I read that He sanctifies us by the washing of water, I saw His hands holding His beloved tenderly and lovingly.  Similar to how tenderly a parent holds a small baby, as they bathe it.
No roughness there.

To present us without spot or wrinkle entails much gentleness and care; mishandling would cause bruising!

When the goal is for one to be holy and blameless it is imperative that they be surrounded with all that is pure and clean.
To nourish and cherish is to be very careful in what is fed or given for holiness is not just skin deep!

What a lovely way to approach marriage!  And how amazing that the Living God would desire such a connection with each one of us!

The result is a oneness that goes beyond the bond of a husband and wife.

"That they may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You did send Me."

Life!

Here I sit before my trusty laptop poised to keep my promise to share what Papa has spoken to my heart through the Twelve Days of Christmas adventure.
It is my hope that He spoke to you too!  If you haven't gone past skimming the surface and have simply read without meditating, it isn't too late!  You see, He is poised to reveal so much more for each of us!
We can never plumb the depths of our God!

On that first day our gracious God gave us 2 Peter 1:2-4 for our meditation.

"Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our LORD; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.  For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust."  2 Peter 1:2-4 

 Here is what was revealed to me:


He offers us a life that is teaming with life!
One filled with grace and peace and Him!

He wants us to enjoy that grace, which is God's unmerited favor, which He has blessed us with, as well as that peace, which passes all understanding.   And He desires for us to enjoy it in fuller measure!
And how do we do that?
We do that by growing in our knowledge of our God and Savior!
But it doesn't stop there!
No, we need both knowledge and experience.  In other words we need to live what we learn; and the living part means we are becoming more like the One whom we are learning about and from!

That is where verse three comes in.

Through His power He makes available to us all we need for real life, the abundant life!
And a godly life at that!
Again we are reminded that the way to experience this power is through a true knowledge of Him.

His gift to us is brimming with His magnificent promises; all ours to claim!
The result of such promises is to become more like our Savior, Jesus Christ and less like the world until all that is seen in us is Him and we slip out of the grasp of the world and its enticements for good!

My eye dropped down to verses 5-7 that follow and I am reminded of a lesson God gave me for our sons many years ago.

"Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge; and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness; and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love."

This passage describes what our response needs to be to such a generous God.
How can we not respond in faith to all we receive from Him?
And each character quality that follows flows from that faith until they are all put together to produce one who reflects their Savior.

We used Lego pieces to represent each quality and all that each one represents until we had built an entire person.  That leads to verse eight.

"For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our LORD Jesus Christ."

To be useful and fruitful sounds like a full life to me!

Abundance of Blessings!

It is time to tie up all the gifts into one big package.

The repetition of  each previous days’ gifts is not simply to serve as a reminder of what our True Love has given, but they are a fresh supply on each subsequent day.

"The LORD's loving kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness."                   Lamentations 3:22-23

Each day is richer than the day before.  

His resources are unlimited!

"When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit.  Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him.  Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.  Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God."  Ephesians 3: 14-19 (NLT)

Remember what all of these translate into!

12 Partridges in 12 pear trees!

22 Turtle Doves!

30 French hens!

36 Calling Birds!

40 Golden rings!

42 Geese a laying!

42 Swans a swimming!

40 Maids a milking!

36 Ladies Dancing!

30 Lords a leaping!

22 Pipers piping!

12 Drummers drumming!

Our True Love is extravagant in His Love for us!

So much was wrapped up in that small infant just waiting for us to look beyond what we first see in that scene. 
He calls us to look into eternity and discover all He, our True Love purchased for us.

It began by setting aside the glories of heaven and stepping into our world.

Such love!

"Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.  Glory to Him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen."  Ephesians 3:20-21  (NLT)

I will begin to post what Papa spoke to my heart through this adventure on Wednesday, January 9th.

Join the Procession!

How quickly we find ourselves at day twelve!
Be sure to check in tomorrow as Papa has a conclusion to all of these gifts we have been gathering!

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Twelve drummers drumming,

Here comes the grand finale!  Bring in the drums!

Drums draw attention.

In Scripture I would have to say instead of drums we find horns.  Trumpets!

                ‘With trumpets and the sound of the horn, shout joyfully before the King, the LORD.”

There is also the Ram’s horn which is known as the Shofar.  It is used chiefly to communicate signals in battle and to announce certain celebrations.

“Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with sound of the horn, with trumpets, with loud-sounding cymbals, with harps and lyres.”  1 Chronicles 15:28

Meditate on Isaiah 35!

"The wilderness and the desert will be glad, and the Arabah (desert) will rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it will blossom profusely and rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy, the glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.  They will see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God.  Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble.  Say to those with anxious heart, 'Take courage, fear not, behold, your God will come with vengeance; the recompense of God will come, but He will save you.' 

Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and ears of the deaf will be unstopped.  Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy.  For waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the Arabah.  And the scorched land will become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, its resting place, grass becomes reeds and rushes.  And a highway will be there, a roadway, and it will be called the Highway of Holiness.  The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for him who walks that way, and fools will not wander on it.  No lion will be there, nor will any vicious beast go up on it; those will not be found there.  But the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the LORD will return, and come with joyful shouting to Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads.  They will find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away."

“For the LORD Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the LORD in the air, and thus we shall always be with the LORD.”  1 Thessalonians 4:16

Oh, Glory!! 

Bring on the Pipes!

About now the stage of our lives is overflowing with blessings.  Shall we see what else is awaiting us?

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Eleven pipers piping,

Enter the pipes. 
Of course we need more music with all that is happening on the stage of our life!

“Praise Him with castanets and dance, praise Him with banjo and flute.  Psalm 150:4 

That was from the Amplified Bible.

Now we will uncover the meaning of there being eleven pipers!

This number stands for judgment. 
So why would anyone be blowing into their pipe for this? 

To celebrate the fact that,

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  Romans 8:1

Our True Love paid the price and we need not fear judgment!

Yes, no condemnation!  So leap with joy!  Celebrate!!

 “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”  Luke 10:20

Meditate on this wonderful passage: Philippians 4:4-9

"Rejoice in the LORD always; again I will say, rejoice!  Let your fore bearing spirit be known to all men.  The LORD is near.  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.  The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you."

                               

"How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!  O LORD, they walk in the light of Your countenance.    In Your Name they rejoice all the day, and by Your righteousness they are exalted."  Psalm 89:15-16

Hilariously in Love

Just arrived in West Virginia and want to post this before the rest of the family arrives!
So let's take a look at that tenth day together...

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Ten lords a-leaping,

Lords a leaping?  Can leaping be Scriptural?  Oh yes!

In Psalm 18 King David wrote,

            “By my God I can leap over a wall.”

Then we have the lame man who is healed in the 3^rd chapter of Acts,

“And with a leap, he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.”

What a scene!  
It is one that our True Love would love to see written into the story of our life.  
Certainly He has brought blessing to us that merits a few leaps!

Leaping is a sign of joy and even hilarity.

What could the significance of ten lords be?  
I wonder if our True Love uses the number ten to signify completeness.  
His Law was a set of Ten Commandments and they were all the rules needed to live right.  
So in this case could it be that the leaping is due to how completely He has met us and our needs?  
Works for me!

Time to read and meditate on Psalm 18:30-36!  A number of years ago I memorized this Psalm.  I found it exhilarating!  Try it!

"As for God, His way is blameless; the Word of the LORD is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him, For who is God, but the LORD?  And who is a rock, except our God, the God who girds me with strength, and makes my way blameless?  He makes my feet like hinds' feet, and sets me upon my high places.  He trains my hands for battle, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.  You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand upholds me; and Your gentleness makes me great.  You do enlarge my steps under me, and my feet have not slipped."

“Listen! My beloved!  Behold he is coming, climbing on the mountains, leaping on the hills!”  Song of Solomon 2:8

Let's Dance!

We have reached the final third of this adventure.  There are but four days left in the thoughts that Papa and I prepared to share with you on this subject.
I do intend to extend it another twelve days or so, plus I am now on an adventure through the Psalms that I would like to include you in.  So I hope you are settled in for a while!

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Nine ladies dancing,

Oh, how I love this picture!   I love to dance before and with my True Love.
Doesn’t everyone love to dance?  Many of us just don’t want anyone watching!

Imagine dancing for Jesus?  You don’t have to be shy, know that He is not going to judge your moves.  He sees your heart!

“Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.”  Psalm 150:4

Dance is a sign of freedom and rejoicing; freedom to worship.

“And David was dancing before the LORD with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephod.”  2 Samuel 6:14

See dancing isn’t just for the ladies!

The number nine is the symbol for the Fruit of the Spirit, so the freedom is found in being Spirit-filled and empowered. 

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”  Galatians 5:22

That fruit loves to pour out in the form of worship.  You might just find yourself in your True Love’s arms!

Let’s take time to reflect on the message found in Psalm 100.

"Shout to the LORD, all the earth.  Serve the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing.  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.  Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His Name.  For the LORD is good; His loving kindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness to all generations."

Have you noticed that our True Love's gifts tend to cause us to stir joyful praise in us

“Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to His Name; worship the LORD in holy array.”

Take Nourishment!

Ready for more blessings?  Oh yes, our True Love has much more for us!

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Eight maids a-milking, 

Milk is a source of nourishment, as we know. 
This milk comes from tender, kind hands. 
You see maids are young women, which means that their hands have not had time to become rough.

“Like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the LORD.”

Yes, He is tender toward us and kind in His intentions!

 “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”  Ephesians 1:5

We are at the eighth day.  Aren't the blessings that our True Love has been bestowing on us simply amazing?! He offers so much that He intends to fill our lives!

 This day is no different.  What a joy to discover that the number eight signifies new beginnings and new birth!

“Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”  2 Corinthians 5:17

This particular number also refers to Resurrection Sunday, which makes sense, as Jesus’ resurrection from the dead confirmed that the One who loves us is able to make and keep His Word to us. 

“For as many as may be the promises of God, in Him they are yes; wherefore also by Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.”       

Meditate on Isaiah 55:1-3 and drink deeply!

"Ho!  Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat.  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.  Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?  Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance.  Incline your ear and come to Me.  Listen, that you may live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, according to the faithful mercies shown to David."

                                “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved.), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly place, in Christ Jesus.”  Ephesians 2:4-6

A New Year's Gift!

Here is the gift with which our True Love wants us to begin our new year.
Truly makes for a Happy New Year!

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Seven swans a-swimming,

There is no more graceful bird than a swan.

Elegant is a word that comes to mind.  

They are symbols of beauty and if that weren't enough they are known for their committed relationships.  They too mate for life.  

Above all else they represent love and fidelity.

It is just like our True Love, who wants to make sure that we understand what He is telling us.  

He loves to underscore His message to us, as He does not want us to miss one bit of it!  

It is not unusual for Him to send us the message in a variety of ways.

This One wants us to know in the deepest reaches of our heart that He intends to be our constant companion, eternally!

“..for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.”  Hebrews 13:5

I was awoken with a thought the other morning…

The swans are swimming!  That means water is part of the gift and you know what that brings to mind?  

Living water!

            “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.’”  John 7:38

Of course, there would be seven swans, as the number stands for completion.  His love is full and complete.  There is the subtle reference to a covenant that cannot be broken.

            “And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them.  And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever.”  Ezekiel 37:26

Ah, such a message of love is being spelled out for us.

Please meditate on 1 John 3:1-3 and settle into that infinite love!

"See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are.  For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.  Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be.  We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.  And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure."

“The LORD appeared to me from afar, saying, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.’” Jeremiah 31:3