Month: April 2014

Posted in Easter, Life Inspiration, salvation

The First Easter Bucket

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John 4:9-14

9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

I know we’re a few days past the Easter holiday, but truthfully, if we celebrate Christ in our lives every day we’re celebrating Easter; and this thought came into my mind and my heart yesterday and I needed to share it, as I’ve not been able to stop thinking about it since that time. The story of the woman at the well paints such a marvelous picture of salvation for the child of God. An interesting note about this story is that it’s the longest recorded conversation that Jesus has with any one person. And it happens to be with someone He, twice over, should not be talking to according to Jewish law. One a Samaritan, and two a woman. And yet, the Lord doesn’t stand on the formality of religion but rather He goes for the relationship. I love that about Jesus!

So here He stands (or sits, because He was weary) talking to this woman who came to the well in the hottest portion of the day, most likely to avoid people judging her, and she meets the only One worthy to judge. There’s probably a thousand points in this story, but today I’ll mention three.

  1. The Holey Bucket

The Samaritan woman came to the well prepared to get her own water and head back to the house before any of those judgmental people of her city came around. She’d had four failed relationships and was working on the fifth. She’d been let down so many times before, she knew better than to rely on anyone else to take care of her, she could take care of herself. Or so it is that I think of her. And independent woman. Her attitude with Jesus seemed to be almost sarcastic when she says “Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with….” In other words, Mister, You came here without a bucket! How do you plan on getting water?

  1. The Holy Bucket

This is what I love about the Lord, and reading His word. In the Bible according to Shari, the one that plays out in my head when I hear or read the Word of God; the one that sometimes adlibs, I hear Jesus saying… Woman, I am the bucket! I have everything you need to sustain life. You can drink of what this world has to offer for the rest of your days but at the end you’ll die of thirst because you can’t live without me.

  1. The unholy Bucket

And then she realizes there’s something different about this man. He knows her, inside and out. He tells her everything that’s been going on in her life, and yet she doesn’t feel condemned. All the sinful, shameful things she’s been doing, she knows He knows. And she also knows that what He speaks is truth. Nothing in the world has ever satisfied her. She tried everything, and every time it fails. She’s tired of coming to that well ashamed, she want to be clean. She’s tired of carrying that unholy bucket around in her life that has her labeled an unfit woman. So she cast care to the wind and says “Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.”

I don’t want to come here again.

Woohoo! And Hallelujah, does that story ever put a shout in my soul! If the woman had a name tag, and she doesn’t, it would likely bear our name. She every one of us who comes to Jesus with our unholy bucket trying to cleanse ourselves, and it never works.

But Jesus isn’t at the well any longer, He is the well. Because of the cross of Calvary we now have that Easter Bucket of endless living water that will allow us to live eternally with our Lord, but for now will allow us to live effectually for our Lord. For now we have purpose.

There is so much in this story I can’t possibly do it justice in a blog, but after she finished her business with the Lord at the well, she went back to the city. This time she wasn’t avoiding people she was looking for people unashamedly to tell them what the Lord had done in her life!

So… have you been to the well? If you not… go quickly! If so… tell somebody!!!

Posted in Life Inspiration, salvation

The Party’s Better than Ever!

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found

It may be my age, but it is more likely it’s my nature that causes me to lie things down and forget where I put them. I’d venture to say that every day I misplace something at some point, and usually it’s because I’m rushing about with too many things on my mind; scattered thoughts which tend to scatter stuff. So I “get” the woman who lost one of the ten pieces of money. She obviously wasn’t rich, else it would not have been such a big deal, but this was a big deal! Because after she found it she called her friends and neighbors over for viddles on the veranda, or perhaps it was just three for tea, it doesn’t go into much detail on the party, only to say that she had company… or comp’ny if you’re from my neck of the woods.

Luke 15:8-10 ~ Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

There’s various stages of emotions when a “lost coin” event occurs in your life.

The first stage is rather apathetic, “Eh, it’ll turn up…”

The second is one of concern… “Wow, I can’t believe I still haven’t found it!”

Thirdly there’s panic… “Oh my goodness, what am I going to do if I don’t find it?”

Lastly there’s great relief and rejoicing when it’s been found, a “Hallelujah!” moment.

The problem with most people is we’re not poor enough to appreciate what we have, so when we lose it we tend to stay in the “Eh” phase quite a while and sometimes never get to the concern or panic stage. And so is the dilemma with salvation. We’re a blessed nation who lives in the “Eh, it’s all good” phase. I have a house, a job, kids, food on the table, and someone to share it all with, I’m good! I’ll find Jesus later. The problem with later is it’s often when you’re in a panic.

For the record, you won’t “find” Jesus, he wasn’t lost. He was merely pushed back into the recesses of your mind, covered over with all the worldly things you thought were important, or so it was in my life. Prior to salvation I would do and buy things thinking that one more thing was going to give me the satisfaction in life, only to discover there was still something missing. I tried to fill my life with people, activities, toys and hobbies; and as each one lost its luster I’d store it away somewhere. And Jesus would be further back in the stack. Until I could barely seem Him back there.

But then one day I discovered He was missing. I went to church and the Pastor mentioned His name. “Jesus.” Woah!, something happened. He moved a little forward. There was a level of concern in heart. And then there was a level of panic… “What am I going to do if I die and I’ve yet to find Him.” And then came the rejoicing! When Jesus found me. It turns out I was the one who was lost… I was the one who had put so much stuff between Him and me, that I’d lost my way.

There was a party going on in my heart! I was happy, I had to tell somebody! And there was a party going on in Heaven too. By the way… I’m still partying! So is Heaven. Won’t you join me?

Posted in Church Unity, Life Inspiration

An f5 Transition

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Nine months ago Victory Baptist Church set on the brink of uncertainly with our Pastor of 21 years leaving and there was a gamut of emotions within me. I feared being leaderless, I had concerns over what a new leader’s ideas might be and what my role would be in the church, I had trepidation for my co-workers in Christ, how would they weather this storm we were about to go through and would the storm be a breeze or would it be an f5 tornado; and who would be left standing when the wind died down? I had faith that I’d be one of them, but also the reality that I’d seen many others in the faith who’d walked away from God in good times, so I knew I wasn’t invincible. Over nine months we’ve gone through the F5 phases of transition: fear, fret, frustration, fatigue and praise God, faith!

So last night as I watched my new Pastor, Steven Carter, announce his resignation to his current church my heart sunk a little for them. Not as much, because their circumstances are far different from ours; he was a co-pastor with his father. Therefore their transition is more the adjustment to the filling of roles that Pastor Steven played and missing his family’s presence in their congregation, which I don’t make light of. Things that are different are not the same… I think someone wrote a book about that once. Oh yeah… my new Pastor’s father! But even though our circumstances are different, there is one thing for certain, the transitions in life are usually only enjoyable at completion. That middle part… it’s rough.

Life transitions… childhood to adult, single to married, full nest to empty next, job to job, location to location… the list is endless. Life is ever changing. And Solomon, the wisest guy of all said it well in Ecclesiastes 7:8 when he said “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”

It’s great when we get to the position in life where everyone’s comfortable in their place and content with that stage of life, but when things are a little shaky and uncertain there’s a humility necessary. You tend to rely on one another more and turn to God more frequently than before. I’m speaking tomorrow at a ladies retreat about how “epic failure equals expert.” So can transition. It’s a learning experience. Now that we’re almost to the other side of this phase in our church we can draw from that for future transitions. This was a first for many of us. I’d had only one Pastor since salvation in 1996, that’s about to change!

I’ve seen others not fare so well in the transition. Their f5 was full of fault finding, falsehoods, forsakenness, foolishness and fussin’. And what it left was devastation. Transition success is relational. It’s not leaving one to never return, it’s about moving down the road to the next phase. The road’s still open (unless you burn the bridge). But it’s good to travel back down the road from whence we came and pull from those experiences, and talk to those people to remind us of the lessons we learned in that phase. That’s why transitioning correctly can make you an expert.

Is Victory Baptist Church an expert? We had less than glowing moments, but they were short lived. And because of that, the ties that bind us are even tighter. We depended on each other, a lot! We talked a lot along transitions road, sometimes healthy conversations, sometimes not. But the point of the matter is as we’re nearing the end of our phase, another church is just beginning theirs. Life…. Forever changing. It’s best to stay in the slow lane when transitioning from place to place, enjoy the view…roll the windows down and get some fresh air… stop and ask directions…. Fill your tank up… keep travelin’…. Enjoy the destination when you arrive. But don’t drive your tent pegs too deep!

Posted in Christmas, Easter, Life Inspiration, salvation

Christmas’ Purpose

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Four o’clock came early this morning but as soon as the alarm went off my first thought was. Good morning Lord, it’s Easter! This is the day you arose and changed the very fabric of our lives. When the veil was torn in the temple there would no longer be a separation between God and man. The privilege once held by the Priest alone, now belonged to the common man… or the common Shari as it is with me.

I woke up as excited as if it were Christmas, which I guess is appropriate being that the reason we have Christmas is Easter. This was Christmas’ purpose.

John 6:40

And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Resurrection Morning! This day is what brings hope to all the bad days. This is the day that overrides every heartache in life. God’s ultimate heartache, the forsaking of His Son now gave way to the restoration of man. God opened His Christmas gift that first Easter morning when He opened up the tomb and walked out.

Just to write those words causes my heart to leap with jubilation!!! How must God have felt that first Easter morning? From the cross He spoke “It is finished.” From the tomb, it’s just beginning!

Merry Christmas Lord… Happy Easter!

If you think I’ve lost my mind you may be right, I hope it’s because I’m getting closer to the mind of Christ. But today I have joy unspeakable for what Christ has done in my life. I hope today that you know that joy; that peace on earth and good will to men that we speak so often of at Christmas time. Because were it not for Easter, there would be no peace.

If you don’t have that joy, there’s an easy remedy. Right now, where you are ask Jesus to be Lord of your life and trust Him from this point forward for everything. Believe that He was born of a virgin, that He walked the earth to experience life as you do except without sin because He is God. Believe that He died on the cross to pay for the sin you experience and to put an end to death and give you an eternal hope. There’s still going to be heartaches down here, but because of that first Easter morning we have hope that every heartache has a reason and will for certain pass.

Make today the day that you give all that heartache to the One who took it upon Himself on the cross of Calvary.

Posted in Easter, Life Inspiration

The Truth About Friday

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good friday

John 18:38-40

Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews? Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.

Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? I stopped when I read those words this morning. What is truth? Truth is what Pilate had standing before him; the only truth I’ve ever known. Even Pilate came to his defense ….I find in him no fault at all…. And yet they continued to insist He be crucified and a robber released. There has to be times in every Christian’s life where you say to yourself, ‘how does this make sense? Could there have been no other way?’ I think of what a great friend Jesus has been to me, how His Spirit has ministered to me in countless ways. He has been my Comforter in the days of sorrow, my Conviction in the days of sin, my Comedic relief when life got too serious, yes, He make me laugh. Again I asked and answered my own question.

The truth about Friday is none of that could have been, had Jesus not fulfilled the plan of God. He went willingly as an innocent lamb to slaughter so that we could have the hope of eternity through His resurrection and experience the Holy Spirit living within us. The truth about Friday is Jesus knew about Sunday. He’d told His disciples about Sunday, but in their fear, sorrow and loss they forgot. I’m not pointing any fingers, sometimes I don’t get it either. Like when I ask “Why?” and then I remember, “Oh yeah, He did that for me.” Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?

The truth about Friday is I wish it did not have to be, but I know in my heart there was no other way for me to have forgiveness, there was no other sacrifice worthy except the Lamb of God that would restore the relationship between God and man. Man messed it up with sin, God had to fix it.

The truth about Friday is, I’m responsible for it (and you); our sin caused that whole chain of events to be deemed necessary by God and yet it is good. It is good for us that Jesus was willing to pay the cost so that we don’t have to. It is good that for us Jesus won victory over the grave so that we don’t have to fear it. It is good that regardless of what life hands us, Jesus’ hands let us know that God is ultimately in control of everything and it is good.

Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

The truth about Friday is it had a purpose… and that purpose was you.

Posted in doodles, Life Inspiration

Doodles and deeds…

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Of late my creativity has had new life breathed in it… partly because of something that has consumed much of my time, the preparation for the Easter Cantata at Victory Baptist Church on the evening of Sunday, April 20. My contribution to the cantata is to paint the thoughts stirred in my soul by the Cantata songs before a live audience. The songs are just a few minutes long so needless to say I can’t complete and entire a painting in that length of time, my alternative is to “finish” each painting in 4-5 minutes…. I know… that’s a lofty goal and one that I always think “what were you thinking!” after I’ve volunteered. So 7 paintings in about 40 minutes, again… WHAT WAS I THINKING!

I’ll tell you what I was thinking… I’m a fool for Christ, and just foolish enough to believe God will allow me to complete each one. So for the past few weeks I’ve been painting the foundation of these seven ideas… Today I’m painting their back drop (branches) which is consuming much more time than I had planned. So for a quick post idea I thought I’d share some of the Facebook doodles I’ve been posting lately… I’ll call them Bloodles. (Half blog… half doodle) Thanks for loving me, please pray for me as I prepare for this awesome weekend ahead… the one that changed the world, including me!!!!

LATE DAY DOODLE 4-16-14: you’ll protect your family from anything harmful, right? Hell’s harmful and forever. Please… Take your children to church.

But Sunday’s coming….

How much more He loves us!

Hope I’ve spread some cheer your way…

One of my Dad’s favorite verses… mine too….

Truth…

Posted in Christian Service, Easter, Life Inspiration

He’s Singin’ Our Song!

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Isaiah 49:1-6
The Servants Song – a Holy Week Message

 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.  And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.  And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

He’s Singin’ our Song!

When Jesus sings you a song, you really should come to the concert! This is the second of four servant songs in the book of Isaiah. You’ll find the others in 42:1–9; 50:4–11; 52:13–53:12). It struck a chord in my heart because it’s sung to me specifically. “Listen, O isles” refers to the Gentiles. That’s us! We were called the isles of the gentiles in Genesis 10:5 ~  By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations. So here in the book of Isaiah we find God singing us a song of redemption because even then He knew that the Jews, His chosen, would reject Him (Then I said, I have laboured in vain,). How heart wrenching a statement if that were the end of the story. But the end of the story didn’t come until Calvary when He became a light to the Gentiles and His servant’s song is continually sung through the Church that we now serve.

He Saved us to Serve

Here we are in the midst of Holy Week, the week that changed the world forever and I see so many unchanged. I’m even guilty myself. We’re called to be the light of Christ for the world but deed there are times that I don’t feel much brighter than a small candle flame in a dark house. I fail God daily and most churches are far from lighting the path to Calvary, but rather they illuminate the rights of Christians, focusing far more on the fact that our sins are covered than on Whose blood it was that covered our sins. We’ve also forgotten that we’re called to serve.

From the womb Jesus knew He was God, and the purpose for which He was being born was to die in our place. And I fully believe that in the recesses of our minds is our own calling from the time we are conceived. Jeremiah 1:5 (one of my favorite verses) says ~ Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

You can choose to ignore Jesus’ song and His reminder that you’re called to serve, or you can experience the greatest opportunity in life which is to light the pathway for souls to Heaven. Have a blessed week!

Posted in Life Inspiration

Our Greatest Ministry

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Psalm 34:8a

 O taste and see that the Lord is good:

There have been some events in my life that even the very thought of them causes me to crinkle my nose, roll my eyes and a get queasy in my gut. Times in my life that were just not stellar moments either because of something I had done, or something done to me. They’d left a bad taste in my mouth, much like the water that caused the children to murmur against Moses in Exodus 15:23-24:

And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.  And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?

The water was not the only thing that was bitter, so were they. Why had God brought them to this place with a promise of prosperity and then sat them before bitter water? That hardly seemed right. He’d called them His chosen, the favored of Heaven, should not they be drinking bottled water from the finest of springs? I just realized that I blogged this passage two days ago, so obviously God has a message in it for us, what is it about that bitter water?

I spent yesterday at a ladies retreat in Lexington, VA in hopes of reviving my soul. I wanted to drink from sweet fountain of Christ and be encouraged, and at days end I was, but throughout the day my heart was broken for the three guest speakers. Each had a brokenness that surpassed anything I could imagine. Yes, I’ve had my days of marah, but they paled in comparison to the loss of a family to sin, the loss of a marriage to abuse, the loss of a child to death. Inside my head I kept hearing myself say “Stop the murmuring Shari, you’re ridiculous, you’ve got nothing compared to them!”

There were several notable quotes throughout the day, I’m sure someday I’ll make them mine and totally take credit for the genius, but I can’t take credit, nor give credit for the one I’m about to write because I didn’t take down who spoke, it was said in passing and it stuck in my mind like gum to the bottom of a summer shoe.

“Our greatest ministry comes out of our greatest hurt.”

Is that deep or what? Not only deep but true. All three of the women from the retreat were not murmuring, but rahter using the bitter waters that they’d had to drink to pour sweetness into the soul of other hurting women. Other women who had stood before the same bitter waters.

I thought about what brought me to this place in my life, where I feel entitled to call myself the Jesus Chick and blog my thoughts thinking them worthy of encouraging people. “Who am I, Lord?” I’ve not got any great tragedy (thank you Jesus), what do I possibly have to give someone? I have a few bad tastes in my mouth, but not real bitterness… But then I hear “you’ve tasted my graciousness.”

1 Peter 2:3-5

If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

I’m not the one found strong enough to face the tragedies  and stand before the bitter waters these women of yesterday faced, although I’m fully aware that day may come, I have no clue what tomorrow holds.  But God clearly said to me, “Everyone’s life has heartache and sorrow… so has yours. But you’ve always chosen to drink the bitter water and call Me gracious for the mercy I’ve shown you.”

This morning I’m so humbled to be a part of that spiritual house in Heaven and the holy priesthood on earth. I hope you understand that regardless of where you are or who you are in life, you are special in the site of God and worthy through His blood that was shed for you.

To “taste” is to experience. Savor the blessings of life and share that goodness with everyone you meet.

“Our greatest ministry comes out of our greatest hurt.”

Posted in Life Inspiration

Getting fit in the faith!

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There are so many times yet today that I feel like a babe in Christ. I’ll read what I suppose to be the simplest of verses and discover how very rich every small word that Christ says is, and how needful it is that I don’t take it for granted. It’s why I don’t miss out on any opportunity to be taught, to have my senses “exercised.” That’s why I’m in Lexington, Virginia with some “Sista Chicks!” We traveled 200 miles and a hundred giggles to get to this place of aerobic worship. (Aerobic exercise increases oxygen, Jesus is the breath of life, therefore it’s aerobic worship!) I want to exercise my faith that it might get stronger, increasing endurance for the journey of life.

Hebrews 5:11-14 ~ Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

I don’t ever want those verses read of me; that I’m a milk baby! But I’ve met my fair share of Christians in my day who are content in infancy. They show up to church on Sunday morning to be bottle fed the gospel having no desire to be fed the meat of the word. The meat of the word of God requires chewing and digestion, it won’t just flow through and make a body feel good. They’ll be some effort necessary to cause the nutrients to travel throughout the body nourishing it and providing strength for labor. It’s what big boys and girls in the gospel eat so that may apply it to their lives and in turn be an example for others to follow.

Milk has (for the most part) one flavor. But meat! What a variety and the same holds true in the gospel. Every time you read and study the word of God it has an entirely different flavor depending upon where you are in life. I can remember as a young convert I read a scripture and my eyes would just glaze over, it would be so far above what I could comprehend at the time, but then a little further down the road I’d read it again and the meaning and depth of God’s word would come to life. I soon learned that as a baby Christian I only needed the milk of the word, just the basics to become grounded in my new found faith. But as I grew in Christ, the Lord had greater expectations for me and from me, and little by little He would reveal a greater meaning in His word until one day I discovered I was no longer being nursed but was now sitting at the big girls table.

Today, I’m settin’ at the big girls table again. I’m going to a banquet to feast on a variety of flavors doled out by women of God who have walked another path than I have but are leading to same main highway. I hope to take what I hear today and apply it to my life and ministry which will strengthen me. I never know when I may have to help carry a heavier load, or perhaps carry someone else’s share of the load. I can’t do that unless I exercise my faith. If you happen to be around Kerr’s Creek Baptist Church in Lexington, VA, come and dine with me! If not, you have a banquet table set before you with the Word of God.

Edify your soul.

Exercise your faith.

Encourage your heart!

Get fit!

Posted in Life Inspiration, Uncategorized

Grab your timbrel and dance!

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So again I’m excited… A new Pastor’s on his way, I’m heading to a ladies retreat in Virginia for the weekend, and Sunday is just around the corner. Woohoo… life is good! This morning I’m away on business so I’m in the lobby of a hotel, thinking about the goodness of the Lord. Grinnin’… probably causing the lady that is setting up breakfast (and not overly happy about it) to wonder why someone would be so joyous at 6:05 in the morning. Perhaps I’ll have the opportunity to explain it to her but for now I’ll revel in the Word of God which has my heart stirred this morning.

I encourage you to read Exodus 15 this morning. What a chapter of victory! Moses is singing a song (and it rhymes, I love that!) Israel is reminiscing about Pharaoh and his band of merry men being swallowed up in the sea and I would suppose that all of us can identify with the feeling of being pursued in such a way that you absolutely thought it was curtains for you this time; only to be snatched from the jaws of death by almighty God! I love that too! Those scriptures of victorious living this morning had me on shouting ground and then I read once verse too far. Actually, I’ll consider it a warning having just come out of a consuming sea kind of time in my life. The warning is this… we’re just a few words from a complaint.

My heart was just about to bust out of my chest when I words of fatality to the song of victory…

Exodus 15

21 And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.

23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.

24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?

I almost laughed. You’re worried about water? God just split the sea, walked you through on dry ground, destroyed your enemy with the same water and you’re worried about what you’ll drink? Oh my goodness… I’m pretty sure these people were Baptist! We’re always looking for the next failure!

So God just brought us through, what now?

I want to remember this scripture when the new Preacher arrives and we’re tempted to complain because something is going according to plan. I want to remember the bitter water and remind myself to add a little sugar and drink it any way.

Well… my days starting early… no time to finish this thought like I’d like too, but just a reminder to you and I both, Grab your timbrel and Dance!!!!