"The Lord will guide you ALWAYS" - Isaiah 58:11

I just finished "The Interrupted Life: Lessons from Jonah" by Priscilla Shirer.  She details the Biblical story of Jonah and how he initially ran away when God gave him instructions to "Go to Ninevah and preach..." (1:2).  Instead, he jumped on a ship "to flee from the Lord" (1:3) and ran straight into a giant storm (1:6)!  Then he was tossed overboard (1:15) and landed in the belly of a giant fish  (1:17) and had some rather smelly days with time to think about his life.  Suffice it to say he realized he had made a terrible mistake and yielded to the Lord.  In 3:1, God again gives him instructions and an indication that He would go with him and give him words to speak.

Shirer says:

You've been given the opportunity to write a

story beyond your expectations, and He doesn't

expect you to go it alone.  He partners with you.  He's

gone before you and prepared the pathway for

optimum results, and He'll guide you each step of the way.

One of the sweetest songs I've heard is "Blessings" by Laura Story.  Read about her testimony; it's a sweet story.  She sings:

"What if your blessings come through raindrops

What if your healing comes through tears.

What if a thousand sleepless nights are

what it takes to know You're near.

What if trials of this life are Your

mercies in disguise."

Jonah had to face some trials before he could be finished with his fears.  He finally trusted God enough to know that He would ALWAYS guide him.  Oswald Chambers says "Faith is unutterable trust in God, trust which never dreams He will not stand by us."

Is there something you're running from today?  Trust His word:  "The Lord will guide you ALWAYS."

For further study: Genesis 39:2, Joshua 1:9, Judges 6:16, Proverbs 3:5-6, John 16:13, Romans 5:3-5, Ephesians 3:20, Philippians 2:13, James 1:2-8, 1 Peter 2:23.

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,

Holly

"Sing to the Lord..." - Psalm 30:4

Singing is an important form of communication.  Think about the places you sing:  worship, birthdays, sporting events, weddings, funerals.  When you sincerely sing, you are communicating certain truths.  I sing in church (songs of worship).  I sing in my car (songs of praise, Neil Diamond, "Mama Mia"...).  I sing because I love to sing...I don't think I ever realized what a spirt-lifter music in general is.  I find I don't sing when I'm sad, although that's probably exactly when I should!

The Hebrew word in this verse is zamar, to make music, to praise in song.  This is what I think happens when we sing to the Lord:

-- The Lord is pleased when we worship Him with our voice
-- Our hearts are humbled and grateful for who he is
-- We are hopeful when love and joy well up within
---His Spirit strengthens us and sets us back on the right path
-- The cares of the world are diminished
-- Satan flees

In my daily quiet time, I begin my time with the Lord by singing in my head.  I find it helps me to disengage the world and engage with Him.  In Deuteronomy 31:19-22, God told Moses to write down a song and teach it to the people to remind them about Him.  We see in Zephaniah 3:17 that God himself  "rejoices...in singing".  Doesn't it make sense that we, who are being transformed into His likeness (2 Cor. 3:18), would worship and honor Him by singing to Him?  Maybe the real question isn't "are you singing?", but "do you have a song to sing?".

For further study: 2 Chronicles 20:20-21, Psalm 63:5, Psalm 68:4, Psalm 96:1-3, Psalm 100:1-2, Acts 16:22-30, Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 5:19-20, Hebrews 13:15.

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,
Holly

"Be at rest...for the Lord has been good to you." - Psalm 116:7

Rest...not a very easy thing to do these days.  The dictionary definition of rest is "refreshing ease or inactivity, calm, tranquility, freedom from worry".  When was the last time you experienced something like that?  I especially like Psalm 116:7 because it relates rest to gratitude.  Ellen Vaughn in CHOOSING GRATITUDE by Nancy Leigh DeMoss (I know...I use it a lot!) says:

"Gratitude unleashes the freedom

to live content in the moment, rather

than being anxious about the future or

regretting the past."

I think one of the reasons we don't allow ourselves to rest is that we are not "content in the moment".  We, in fact, are discontent!  Things like social networking (and I'm guilty) have caused us to be distracted and anxious about our own lives.  We've become "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" (2 Tim 3:2-4).  Oswald Chambers calls rest "oneness with God".  That means we become so into Him that we remove all other elements of our lives and circumstances.  We let go of those things that cause us anxiety and turmoil and we trust Him completely.  Can you see the need for rest?  Tim Kimmel says "rest is a choice".

One of my very favorite Christian songs is "Word of God Speak" by Mercy Me:

 Word of God speak

Would you pour down like rain;

Washing my eyes to see your majesty.

To be still and know that you're in this place

Please let me stay and rest in your holiness

Word of God speak.

The world will tell you "stay busy all the time" - the Word of God tells you "be at rest...".

For further study:  Genesis 2:2-3, Exodus 33:14, Psalm 91:1, Jeremiah 6:16, Matthew 11:28, Mark 6:31, John 14:27, Romans 1:21, Colossians 3:15, Philippians 4:6-7, 2 Thessalonians 3:16, 2 Timothy 3:2-4.

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,

Holly

"He will rejoice over you with singing" - Zephaniah 3:17

"The Lord your God is with you,

he is mighty to save.  He will take

great delight in you, he will quiet

you with his love, he will rejoice over

you with singing."

The prophet Zephaniah spoke for God with this call to rejoice over what the Lord had done in casting down Jerusalem's enemies...a victory hymn of sorts.  Earlier in the book he had to warn the people of the upcoming devastation coming to Judah.  However, a remnant ("those who trust in the name of the Lord") would be protected (3:12) and those are the ones He will rejoice over.

Does God sing?  We know joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) and comes from Him, but have you ever thought about the Lord singing?  The Hebrew word for singing, rinnah, speaks of joyful shouting.  It may refer to a shout of delight or happy laughter.  My Quest Bible commentary says "it may be a way of describing God's feelings in terms we understand".

Our family was watching some home videos the other day and how fun it was to see the happy laughter and joyful shouting when our boys were young ones.  Oh how we delighted in what they did!  Isn't that the picture we have in this verse of God taking delight in us...those who trust in His name?  Our covenant-keeping God delights in us, quiets us and rejoices over us.  Are we gratefully responding to Him in the way He would desire?  He gives us such simple responsibilities (privileges?):  trust in Him, call out to Him, obey Him, serve and glorify Him.  What hope we have!!

For further study: 1 Samuel 15:22, Psalm 20:7, Psalm 32:10, Isaiah 25:9, Isaiah 42:1, Jeremiah 9:23-24, Matthew 12:18, John 14:1, Romans 9:33, 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,

Holly

Love One Another - 1 John 4:7

The apostle John, in writing this letter, describes how God loves and encourages us to follow that example.  How does God love?  The word in this verse is agape - a benevolent, unselfish love.  Oswald Chambers says "if human love does not carry a man beyond himself, it is not love...the springs of love are in God, not in us."  Love is about giving, not about getting.  God doesn't love like the world loves (1John 2:13-15) with cravings and lusts.  That isn't love.  Those are self-serving desires.  My goodness, His love is "lavished upon us" (1 John 3:1) - not a stingy, measured kind of affection.  He doesn't love to control;  He loves because that's His nature.

When our boys were little - and sometimes now - we would say "I love you 60 million" (which we learned from Don's mother), but that doesn't even begin to describe the kind of love our Father has for us.  He evidenced that love in sacrificing His Son that we might have abundant life.  Vines says "love can be known only from the actions it prompts".  What kinds of actions are we showing with our love?

Here are some suggestions from The Message in 1 Corinthians 13:

"Love never gives up

Love cares more for others than for self.

                                                  Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.

Love doesn't strut,

Doesn't have a swelled head,

Doesn't force itself on others,

Isn't always "me first",

Doesn't fly off the handle,

Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,

Doesn't revel when others grovel

Takes pleasure in the flowering of the truth,

Puts up with anything,

Trusts God always,

Always looks for the best,

Never looks back

but keeps going to the end."

I want others (especially my family) to know that I'm His by the love I offer.  How about you?

For further study:  Exodus 34:6-7, Lev. 19:18, Psalm 32:10, Jer. 31:3, Matt. 5:44, Luke 7:47, John 13:35, Romans 5:8, Romans 12:9-13, Ephesians 4:2, Col. 3:14, 1 John 4:7-21.

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,

Holly