Busy season? It’s hard to stay focused when your to-do list expands like the horizon. Where do you start?

I’m busy getting a devotional book ready to publish and I’ve found comfort in Paul’s words in 2 Timothy.

“But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles might hear it.” 2 Timothy 4:17

In the sentences just previous to this, Paul complains about his friends deserting him, the lack of warm clothing and writing paper, and being injured. Yet in the midst of these things Paul stresses God’s faithfulness. Paul’s purpose and focus was clear, that the gospel would be preached no matter what situation he faced, even while being confined to a jail cell. So who did Paul’s words reach? His guards, visitors, other prisoners, and he even encouraged the growing churches through his writings.

Paul gives us the secret to his staying positive in such dire circumstances. In verses two through five, he speaks of patiently teaching, keeping a right focus on the gospel and on his relationship with God. Stressing that we all need to work at what God has called us to do.

Am I ready in this season? Paul says that with the right focus, there’s no excuse, even in locked away seasons. Will I accept the challenge? Although I’ve been in my writing seat working on my new book, there are other areas of life I must not neglect.

Balancing earthly work while keeping eyes on our Kingdom assignment, is Paul’s encouragement that still reaches through time and encourages people today, much like it encouraged me.  

His words remind us that words matter and they last a long time! Let’s encourage one another to be as faithful to God as God as was in leaving Paul’s words for us.

Food for thought.

Blessings,

Debbie G

#wordsmatter #ScriptureReflection #writingspace

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. ³ For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. But as for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 2 Timothy 4:2-5

We are commanded to SING- not about the world or our problems, but about His holiness, His majesty and power. When we consider how great, how grand, how worthy He is, it puts us in a right mindset of God’s position. It knocks off the barnacles. Heavy burdens slip away as we focus on Him. It’s as if the glory rays of heaven open wider and focus directly on us. They heat up our cooling embers. And give a spurt of lighter fluid to our flame. We burn brighter as the impurities in our lives burn off.

When I give God more of my attention there’s less of me in the way. I then can get a proper sense of where I’m at.  As His light shines on the path ahead, I’m clearer on the direction that He’s bringing me. Many times, it’s out of the storm’s path and out of harm’s way, but don’t be surprised if sometimes it’s not out of the storm but into a storm that we must go. 

Why? Storms quickly remove all unanchored things. And honestly if we have things hanging onto us that are not anchored in Christ, we really don’t need them. They’ll pull us under if we’re knocked into the coming deluge.

Storms always affects what in its path. Things get wet. Get blown away. Damaged. 

Singing to the Lord about the wonders of His power and the perfection of His plan reminds us that this world is temporary. He is all knowing and we are so limited. Reminding ourselves of these truths can bring us into a proper relationship with God. More of Him and less of me is always a better equation.

So let’s join the praise team and sing!

Blessings,

Debbie G

#singpraise #praiseteam #WritingInspiration

Sing to the Lord a new song. Psalm 149:1

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16

After Christmas thoughts…

We buy gifts and then wrap them in specialty paper with ribbon and bows. They are given in anticipation of the joy we hope to see in the receiver’s eyes. And in a flurry of excitement the wrappings are tossed aside, and the item is evaluated in mere seconds- and either effervescently accepted and loved or it is gingerly set aside with a slight smile and a hint of gratitude. We hope our guess is correct, that we’ve found a good gift to give, but often we miss the mark. If the receiver is a good actor, we may never know. And at the end of the day all we have left is a room full of expensive wrappings and an empty box.

Good intentions and a beautiful presentation may be enough to catch the receiver’s attention, but contrast that to what God does. He comes to the outcast, the maimed, lowest caste, dirty, rank, drug addicted, ornery, foul-mouthed person and unlike the world he ignores the wrapping. He’s most interested in what is inside no matter how damaged. He eagerly takes the willing heart and slowly transforms it from the inside out so that the gift is always lovingly received, unique and beautiful. And although our exterior wrappings may not change much in other people’s eyes, inside us is the perfect gift, one fit for a King.

What more could a King ask for than to be seen as He truly is. He’s the perfect gift giver… we can be too. I’m thinking about what I will give to my King. What will you?

Thanks for pondering. Blessings, my friend.

Debbie G

Prayer: Lord, so many times I think that You look on my workings and see my shortfalls. I know that I don’t stay connected with You as I should. No matter how I wrap myself, I am an offering without substance unless I have You within me. I pray You would accept me as Your child as I accept You as my Leader and Father. Help me to walk in the pathway You designed for me, and may You be glorified in it. I thank You that Jesus is the perfect gift. Amen.

 But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us Romans 5:8

The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.  Psalm 14:2

But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17

#emptybox #mattersoftheheart #whatwillyouchoose

I was wondering how many times I’ve overheard positive words spoken over children. I realized that I don’t recall many of the words spoken over my life, however I do know how certain people made me feel. As a mother and grandmother, I’ve spoken a ton of affirming words over my brood. “You are strong, compassionate, able, and smart.” The building up of little hearts and souls comes without any guarantee that they’ll receive our words, but we plant them anyway.

And oh, how many times the words come with an expectation. Parents expect a child will be good, fair, loving and kind. A teacher expects a child to and be scholarly and will apply themselves to learning. An employer expects a dedicated and honest worker. And the government expects us all to be law-abiding, tax-paying citizens. These are not bad things to aspire to be. But it’s a fact that there is a myriad of expectations placed on us as we mature.

All of these qualities are gained by having experienced a character-building situation. Ever see two kids with one toy? They each must choose between being selfish or sharing.  Wisdom is gained by success and failure. And each kid will see the outcome differently. I’m so glad mistakes do not define us. We all learn as we grow.

In a spiritual way we almost see an opposite expectation in the Garden of Eden. God came and walked with His people in the cool of the day. It wasn’t to evaluate their work; it was about relationship and connection. And even later when Moses was given the laws, the fourth requirement for God’s people was that they take a Sabbath rest. To cease striving, to stop working, to let go of fulfilling one’s weekly obligations and to simply spend time with the Creator God.

Sometimes I can get lost in my eagerness to be a good mother or a supportive friend and I overcommit myself. And when my schedule is too packed, I have very little time for relationship or even reflection on relationship. It is in these moments that I hear a negative voice in my head telling me I’m not… (fill in the blank).  Not enough, not good enough, not smart enough… basically that I’m falling short of an expectation. So the questions that follows are: ‘Whose expectation am I striving to meet?’ And ‘Why do I feel so stressed over it?’

Perhaps this is the time to start speaking encouragement over ourselves. We can remember that we are made in God’s image. He will never leave or abandon us. He holds our hand in our times of trial. He is compassionate and loving toward us and nothing can separate us from His love. He sent Jesus to reconcile us to Himself. These truths ring true through every generation, even now.

And if I forget and I continue to strive and not remember who I am in Him. I can always go back to the book of Genesis and reread chapters 1-2 and see that everything God made was good. It was disobedience that led to pain and hardship in the world today.  God created a perfect paradise, and He has already opened the door for access again for all who will believe. As a father is with his child, we too can bring Him delight just with our very presence.

Oh Lord, help me to remember to sometimes just ‘sit and be’ with You. Not do, not go, but just be. And may that bring You pleasure. Amen.

Blessings all,

~Debbie G

– So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 (created in His image)

-And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day… Genesis 3:8 (togetherness)

-Keep my Sabbaths holy that they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. Ezekiel 20:20 (to rest in Him)

– Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. Revelation 3:20 (relationship)

#drawingcloser #letitbeginwithme #writerthoughts

My granddaughter was not quite two years old and easily reached for my hand as we crossed the parking lot. She quietly sang a song as she skipped along. I looked around to make sure the pathway was clear and seeing an approaching car I squeezed her hand firmly and we stopped for a moment. She danced at my side full of joy as the car passed by.

Oh, the innocence of childhood. Can you imagine yourself busily dancing to a song in your head today, oblivious to the world around you? Probably not. The world around us is busy and can be a dark and sometimes a dangerous place. Headlines assail us with the worst ails of society. Sickness, famine, storms, diseases, attacks… the list is longer than our attention span. We read a tidbit and can get lost in the details. And then there’s always a similar story waiting to be read right behind that one.

I think it was easier to dream of a safe world when our news arrived via newspaper and only once a day. And so much easier if we didn’t read the paper. Sometimes a neighbor would mention an important event before you caught the headline of the 5 o’clock evening news program on television.

So, how can we get back to a carefree mindset? Unfortunately, I think with age comes some wisdom. We are wise enough to know that just because we don’t read it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.

Perhaps the refresher we need is the reminder that nothing ever has been totally under our control, not completely and not ever. We may decide to go shopping and accomplish that. It’s always good when the expected happens. But often we get side-tracked or something stops us before we even leave the house. Our decision to go makes us think we’re in control, yet so many elements can affect our day.

We have no direct control over our neighbors, our community, our state, our nation, our world or our universe. We may sway people’s opinions by our research or our vote for representation; we may complain or protest when wrongs are committed. But the ultimate outcome is beyond us. Possibly causing us distress, anxiety, frustration, even hatred and hopefully not retaliation. This is not the innocent world we wish we lived in. So, the question is: is there an answer?

If you’re like me, you pray for a better world. You look for ways to bless others in their neediness and pain. But the best reminder for me I found in the book of Psalms. It reminds me that I may stumble, yet I won’t remain down. I, like my granddaughter, can walk unafraid. Even allowing today’s news to go unattended. (It usually waits for me anyway.)  I may not see the challenges ahead, but my heavenly Father does. When I focus on Him, He directs my steps, and I can trust that my hand is safely tucked into His.

We aren’t promised a safe world, but his word testifies to His faithfulness to every generation. I find peace in knowing that I may be blindsided by an oncoming hardship, but He never is. He is strong and He holds my hand. Like my little granddaughter I simply must learn to pause when He bids me to do so. I may not like it, but if I keep my eyes on Him, you may even find me dancing as the danger passes by. Eyes up, my friends, we serve a great big God.

Be blessed. And be a blessing,

~~ Debbie G

The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
 Though they stumble, they will never fall,
for the Lord holds them by the hand. Psalm 37:23-24

#peaceinthepause #parkinglotdance #Heholdsmyhand