Pathway To Peace...Day Fifteen....Blossom

Day Fifteen         Blossom

Sometimes I have no clue what I need to read when I sit down at night to read my bible before bed, so I use the ‘turn to any page method’ to randomly pick what to read in my bible. This evening I had told myself I would stop to read the first scripture that was attached to a devotional. I opened my bible to Isaiah 35, and read these empowering words of restoration.

Isaiah 35

   ¹The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

   ²It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.

   ³Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

   ⁴Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

   ⁵Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

   ⁶Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

   ⁷And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

   ⁸And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

   ⁹No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:

   ¹⁰And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

A particular phrase I saw on book marks and motivational posters came to my mind after I read these verses, “Bloom where you are planted.”  Oh how I want to be built up strong in the Lord’s power. I need him to take my weak hands and knees and renew their strength. I want to be protected from Satan as I begin to grow. I want to obtain the joy and gladness he speaks of so all my sorrow will flee away. To blossom means to flower, to grow and develop, to thrive. We were created to be ‘fruit bearing’ people, from the very beginning, in the garden, God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful.

Genesis 1
 ²⁷So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
   ²⁸And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
  The great prophet Ezekiel spoke of this kind of growth, and Matthew, Luke, and John recorded the words of Jesus telling the religious leaders the importance of bearing fruit to further the kingdom of God.

Ezekiel 17

   ¹And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

   ²Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;

   ³And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:

   ⁴He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.

   ⁵He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.

   ⁶And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.

   ⁷There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.

   ⁸It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.

Matthew 13:23:

   ²³But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Luke 13:18-19
¹⁸Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it?
   ¹⁹It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.

John 15:1-11

   ¹I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

   ²Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

   ³Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

   ⁴Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

   ⁵I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

   ⁶If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

   ⁷If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

   ⁸Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

   ⁹As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

   ¹⁰If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

   ¹¹These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

My prayer this morning is to embrace this concept of blossoming where God has placed me. I want to be a spring crocus, that waits patiently for its signal from God in the dirt during the cold harsh winter, laden with so much snow. Lying just beneath the surface of the earth, it feels the first rays of warmth from God’s love and it bursts forth with beautiful blossoms. The crocus blooms so early, it has no fear of the days ahead. It pokes its head out of the protective ground into a still cold world from the winter snow and storms. So bold this flower, so unafraid of what its short life will entail. It has no fear of the world; it just blooms where it is planted. It abides in the soil it was planted, grows strong roots that feed it during the harsh, cold winter, and then waits for its signal to bloom.

Pathway To Peace...Day Fourteen....Empty

Day Fourteen             Empty

I was praying about my next word and found some old notes in my bible. They were from a sermon I listened to in the last year. They read, “to  prepare this ground, God must dig up all the wonderful growth that was already here – that way it can’t do what comes naturally and harm the seed God plants.”  How awesome to think that God gave me this word even before he charged me to write this page.
My life, a full 53 years of experiences, includes many lessons that have shaped me into who I am today. God blessed me with natural talents that have been developed over time to do his work here on Earth. These skills are so well developed that I can sing on command, teach a lesson on context clues with no notice, and sew on a button in less than 30 seconds. But God has many new talents and skills to teach me….many of these things I would never imagine that I could do.
I am learning to stop and pray, to read the bible, and inquire of God what to do next with my life, but I must be careful that I do not make the decisions for my future based solely on what I know I am capable of. I need to make these decisions based on what God can do with who he has made me into.  I think of the marvelous song, “I am not Who I Was,” by Jason Gray.   I am being remade, I am new. How true these words ring in my heart. I am not defined by the mistakes I have made, the successes I have reveled in, or the character he has built into my personality to date. I am capable of so much more. My Godliness is defined by the power I allow myself to embrace through his spirit.
Paul wrote a wonderful letter to his friend and fellow Christian Timothy to help him understand this concept. He wanted his friend to ready himself for the days ahead. They would be days that would test his faith, much like the pain of your loss has been testing yours.

2 Timothy 3

   ¹This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

   ²For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

   ³Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

   ⁴Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

   ⁵Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

   ⁶For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,

   ⁷Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

   ⁸Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

   ⁹But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as their's also was.

   ¹⁰But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,

   ¹¹Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.

   ¹²Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

   ¹³But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

   ¹⁴But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;

   ¹⁵And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

   ¹⁶All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

   ¹⁷That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

I am always capable of more when I allow God to clear out my imperfect character and plant in its place the perfect will of his father. I will always have some form of godliness, but unless I embrace the power the spirit can give me, it just lies dormant, unused, or operates at half power.  Emptiness is not a bad thing…it is a cleared field for god to plant whatever he wants to accomplish in our lives.

Pathway To Peace...Day Thirteen...Weeds

 Day Thirteen   Weeds

As you begin to study the scripture, as God begins to speak to you through his word, you will see the weeds that have sprouted up in your midst. The weeds of sin that have gone unattended are choking out the new growth God is trying to accomplish in your life. Jesus taught this lesson to his disciples and the many people who followed him as he taught.  Jesus drew large crowds of people to his talks. I can just see him, casually sitting on the beach, probably praying to his father and listening for God to tell him what to say to the disciples next. His quiet time interrupted once again by a huge crowd that had assembled close by. He could see the huge crowd as he walked closer to them, and he climbed into a ship to have a better podium to speak from. He chose to teach them in simple stories that would relate to their simple lives. He carefully chose words that would have meaning to the disciples, but hide the complete mysteries of the kingdom from ears that had not been given wisdom yet.

Matthew 13

   ¹The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

   ²And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

   ³And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

   ⁴And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

   ⁵Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

   ⁶And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

   ⁷And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

   ⁸But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

   ⁹Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

   ¹⁰And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

   ¹¹He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

   ¹²For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

   ¹³Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

   ¹⁴And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

   ¹⁵For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

   ¹⁶But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

   ¹⁷For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

   ¹⁸Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

   ¹⁹When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

   ²⁰But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

   ²¹Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

   ²²He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

   ²³But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

   ²⁴Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

   ²⁵But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

   ²⁶But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

   ²⁷So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

   ²⁸He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

   ²⁹But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

   ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

We are tightly closed seeds in God’s hands, our seed coats closed tight against the pain we just suffered. As long as we stay tightly closed, we do not feel the warmth of his love, the quenching waters of his cleansing blood, or begin to take in the bright rays of hope that radiate from his glory. Our lives, like the seeds in the story, become scorched, as they fall upon rocks and dry up in its heat, get choked out of growth as the sins in our lives compete with God’s will. If we wait too long we will be devoured by Satan.

Your seed has the potential to become a tall, strong plant. But God must remove all the chaf, thorns, and weeds from around this seed before he can help you grow. These sins will restrict you from feeling his healing power. They will keep your seed coat so tightly closed around your seed you can never feel God at work in your life,

As God began to identify the weeds in my own life that restricted my growth, I began to understand how to ask his forgiveness for my mistakes. It is such a wonderful feeling, to receive mercy from the father. His love rushes into your soul and begins to replace the misery and darkness, with his warmth, light and the peace of his cool streams of mercy. Satan has to flee from such radiance, he cannot stand it, and as Satan flees God takes the empty spaces where your sins had lived…and he plants new seeds of hope.

This confession of sins to God is so powerful, it empowers you to change things in your life that you thought you had no control over. There was a time in the Israelites lives when they had been confronted with a terrible sin, one that had drawn in women from other cultures, one that had gone on for a long time. Their sin was holding them back from winning a great battle, so they stopped to pray and fast and inquire of God. His message was clear, they must change.  They must follow the commandment to marry within their own culture and begin the process of purifying the blood lines once again. There would be many casualties, broken hearted men and women who I am sure loved each other very much. Children who would miss a loving father, and most likely face starvation as they were sent away. So cruel it seems, but such is the nature of sin in our lives, and our God is a jealous God, allowing nothing to get in the way of our total dependence on him. When we keep the sins sealed tightly inside that seed we run the risk of depending on the comfort of our earthly desires instead of relying on God.

Ezra 10

   ¹Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore.

   ²And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.

   ³Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.

   ⁴Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it.

   ⁵Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they sware.

   ⁶Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.

Just as the Israelites confessed their sins and made the first steps toward repentance,  God calls each of us to do the same. As I confess and ask forgiveness for the many sins I have kept locked away in my seed, the Holy Spirit washes over me and renews my strength. What an amazing God to allow me this new chance to work for him. To be empowered by his spirit to grow anew from his mercy. 

Pathway To Peace..Day Twelve...Laughter

Day Twelve  Laughter

Laughter, the healing power of a smile, will empower you to quickly charge through the steps of grief that leave dark clouds of sadness hanging over you. You must find a way to lighten your heaviness, and allow the therapeutic sound of laughing to continue the healing process. It will not come naturally, for you are mourning the loss of someone you love. It is easier to stay in the sadness than take steps out of the comfort of your pain.

I am so blessed to have some awesome friends who took these steps with me. They convinced this 53 year woman to take a blessed ski/tubing adventure just at the right time. A girl trip they said, it would do me good to get away, to have some fun. Oh how right they were! We laughed in the car on the way, we laughed as we strapped on skis for the first time in many years, we laughed as we watched each other make very ungraceful movements down the hill, we laughed as the ski instructors and lift operators assisted us back up from our falls, and we laughed at the shear pleasure of the wind in our face as we rode inner tubes down very steep slopes. How amazing is my God to allow me to feel such joy in the midst of my deepest sorrow.

David spoke of this kind of laughter in Psalms. Much like the pain we feel in our loss, he must have remembered the pain from a recent battle, one that looked hopeless to all involved. A battle that seemed to have no hope, where many lives may have been lost during the war. Just when they thought they might lose, the great powerful God turned the tide, and their mouths were filled with laughter, they sang out in joyous tunes, and rejoiced as the victory was handed to them.

Psalm 126

   ¹When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.

   ²Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.

   ³The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.

   ⁴Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south.

   ⁵They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

   ⁶He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

A word of caution here…my spirits were not permanently lifted. Just after this trip I went into a few days of inner reflection, and at one point after returning, a particularly heavy cloud settled over me. Satan tried to chase away the new confidence my laughter had built. He will battle you with all he has got. Satan will try to convince you to hide in your pain again. But I woke one morning soon after with the most joyous attitude. My God is so much stronger than Satan, and he wants me to grow and learn from my pain.

David must have battled the same way. Many of his Psalms begin with desperate cries of help. They describe a man who is under a dark cloud of oppression, struggling to see past the darkness of the cave he hides in. Then he remembers a time when God was with him, and the cloud is overtaken by pure mirth. His tears once again turn to joy, and he ends his song in rejoicing. For he remembers the great things his Lord hath done for him, and his confidence returns.

As I revise this page for publishing on my blog…almost two years from the date I lost my sweet Mitchell…I am still battling to laugh more than I cry. I am learning to limit my exposure to great novelists like Nicholas Sparks…and busy myself with more things that will create the positive laughter that helps me heal. The bible tells me in Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 that there is a time for everything…

1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. 9 What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time; also he has put eternity into man's mind, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; 13 also that it is God's gift to man that every one should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil. 

… God gave us a gift of happiness that we should savor and strengthen to help us live through the seasons of pain and sorrow. Laughter helps us practice this gift!

Pathway To Peace...Day Eleven...Strength

Day Eleven           Strength

I am amazed more and more each day just how much strength I gain as I depend on God for my needs. His strength is beginning to build me into a new person, a person who depends more and more on his word in my daily search for new purpose.  I am reminded of Joseph, who as a young man suffered terribly at the hands of his own family. Joseph must have searched for the strength of God many times during his ordeal, and knew exactly what his father meant as he spoke these prophetic words before his death.
Genesis 49:22-26
²²Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
   ²³The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
   ²⁴But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
   ²⁵Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
   ²⁶The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
It is important to remind ourselves each day that we do not bear this season of pain alone. God will walk before us, we need only to step inside his footprints and walk where he leads. Those first steps are scary to say the least, they require total faith that God has our best interests in mind, and to trust him fully.  He will require you to step out of the comfort of the safe zone you built around you as a protection from the pain you feel.
Moses is one great example of just how much power we can gain when we rely on God’s strength fully. Here was a man, a murderer, who ran and hid from his sin to a remote place.  He completely changed his life, and built a reputation of trust and love with his new father-in-law.  He built for himself a world where the memories of his sin….his pain….were so distant that they seemed erased. How so like God to require him to go back to the place of his sin to do the work God called him to do.  Moses argued and pleaded and gave many excuses in front of that burning bush before he finally gave in and began to walk in the footsteps of God. He took up a symbol of courage, a simple staff, and began an amazing journey that freed many people from bondage. His words to those people as they left Egypt were powerful words, spoken from a heart who had healed his own pain by relying on the strength of God to take every step. What mighty power God was able to weld through that simple staff  Moses held, parting the seas to conquer foes, calling water out of a barren land, and climbing mountains to receive the very first words of our bible.

Exodus 13

   ¹And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

   ²Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.

   ³And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten.

Exodus 15

   ¹Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

   ²The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.

   ³The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.

   ⁴Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.

We must remember that God is in total control. And we must remember that to walk in his footprints is a daily choice. Just as he is able to build strength in us, he will allow that strength to be removed if we do not choose to use it. He will allow us to be humbled if we start walking outside his footprints again. My daily walk is so like those Israelites, who took two steps forward with Moses’ leadership, then fell fifty miles backward when they went their own way.

Judges 3:12:

   ¹²And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.

Satan is also poised and ready to take your newfound strength away.  Guard your new possession with all your might. Satan knows your every weakness, and will use this knowledge to stop you from using the power you gain from God’s strength. Sampson, a mighty warrior for God fell so hard as he succumbed to the weakness Satan provided in the form of a beautiful woman.

Judges 16:19:

   ¹⁹And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

I remember the night I first returned to church after Mitchell had passed, and I was speaking with my pastor about how things were going. I had been studying the bible before his death, and knew I needed to return to the word for comfort, guidance and direction, so I asked him what chapter might help me the most. With quickness he recommended the Psalms. As I began to read this book that night, a mighty picture of strength emerged  in a man hiding from his enemies. Oh how David knew well the strength of God. Many of his Psalms speak of the  power God gave him to endure the long nights of hiding from King Saul. Over and over he cries out to God in thanks for the great strength he provided. What a wonderful book of encouragement these scriptures give us.

Psalm 18

   ¹I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.

Psalm 18:2:

   ²The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

 Psalm 19:14:

   ¹⁴Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Psalm 27:1

   ¹The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 27:14

   ¹⁴Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Psalm 28:8:

   ⁸The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.

Psalm 31:24:

   ²⁴Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

Psalm 46

   ¹God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Psalm 73:26:

   ²⁶My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

Psalm 81

   ¹Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.

Psalm 105:4:

   ⁴Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.

Even the great prophet Isaiah spoke of the mighty strength of God. He foretold how the strength of his God would someday be manifested to Earth and provide a permanent way for each of us to receive the power his strength can provide. Christ’s death on the cross allows us to ‘behold our salvation’ and not fear our new life without the loved one we miss so much. If we trust God, he will allow us to step in his footsteps everywhere he asks us to go, just like that Dad who carried you on top of his feet, as he walked across the room.

Isaiah 12:2:

   ²Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

Pathway To Peace....Day Ten...Praise

Day  Ten                    Praise

Praise is so easily given to our wonderful creator when times are good, but so very difficult when we find ourselves in the midst of a storm. One reason for this human weakness is our inability to see the growth that will result from our hardship, but the real reason we don’t learn to praise is we might never have allowed ourself to learn how.


I have such vivid, loving  memories of the formal routine in the worship service where I was raised. Several hymns were sung, prayers were offered, an offering plate was passed, some gifted singer or the choir shared a heartfelt song of praise, the preacher shared the word of God, an altar call was given, then in fellowship we talked and mingled with each other as we made our way out of the church. I watched and learned to revere God, and his word from those early lessons. He even gifted me with a meager voice, so I learned to praise my God in song as a part of many choirs as I grew.


I still praise God with my voice most. The music somehow overtakes my soul and fills my spirit with joy. As I sing to the Lord, it releases a part of me and allows the spirit to come reside in its place. True praise will do just that, as you praise God, he fills you with awe for who he is and what he can do with your weakness. Moses, Ezra, David, Peter, and John all experienced this awe of God when they praised him:

Exodus 15:11:

   ¹¹Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

1 Chronicles 16:25:

   ²⁵For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods.

Psalm 43:4:

   ⁴Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.

1 Peter 1:7:

   ⁷That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Revelation 19:5:

   ⁵And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.

Be careful when you praise correctly, for your heart is wide open to God’s glory. And as you rest in this wonderful peace and soak in its goodness you will begin to expand your understanding of worship. You will begin to let go of yourself, and express your joy in more than just song.

You will stand- stand in reverence, stand in awe, stand in fear of someone so holy. You will cry. Cry out in revelation, cry out in new insights, cry out in the mere mention of his holy name. You will pray. Pray for understanding, pray in humility, pray for guidance. You will be filled-filled with his goodness, filled with his peace, filled with his wisdom, filled with his spirit. You will know that the Lord God is God. He will inhabit you and give you peace, strength, and power as you have never known before. You will make a joyful noise to the Lord, and serve him with gladness.

Psalm 100

   ¹Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

   ²Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

   ³Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

   ⁴Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

   ⁵For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Exodus 15:2:

   ²The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.

I can’t get enough of this praise. I anxiously wait for Thursday night, when I worship and praise God at our Celebrate Recovery meeting, then I awake Sunday, excited to attend our early service at my church. I attend Sunday School, then worship again with our choir at the 11 o’clock service. Sunday night brings another great time of praise, that holds me till Wednesday night prayer meeting. And sometimes I even visit the Celebrate Recovery programs at sister churches on Friday and Tuesday.


I hope I someday learn to praise him without the building. To praise him in my quiet time is so different from the praise I feel at church. I want to someday feel his presence as I pray in my home just like I do at my church….or in a group of ladies lifting up requests of healing or deliverance at CR. God is there waiting…waiting for you to praise him…wherever you are…whatever you are doing. That praise….it has lifted me out of my depression…it has pushed me forward…out of my pain…and began a search for what he wants me to do with the lesson he is trying to teach me from it!

Pathway To Peace...Day Nine....Listen

Day  Nine            Listen



In this, one of the hardest seasons of your life you will need to learn how to completely empty yourself of the world around you. All the pain, questions, paperwork, family, friends and other ‘stuff’ that pulls you into a whirlwind of craziness; when you are ready; when God begins to nudge you gently; it must be stopped for a moment, just like a giant ferris wheel loading its next riders, so you can learn how to listen. He will gently begin to speak to you to be quiet, and in the quiet,  he will not only comfort you, but he will begin to reveal a pathway out of your loneliness. David spoke of this in the Psalms.

Psalm 23:2:

   ²He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters

Psalm 46:10:

   ¹⁰Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

David, how he must have wondered when his own craziness would end. He prayed over and over to his God to free him, to come and rescue him, to preserve him, to love him. Night and day he called out to his God to reveal the way back to sanity. His prayers of confusion, pain, grief, and total isolation span over 100 chapters of the bible. And the amazing thing, the thing that caught my attention the most, were the moments of revelation intertwined with his prayers of searching.

Psalm 18

   ¹I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.

   ²The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Psalm 107:29:

   ²⁹He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

In the midst of his pain, he stopped for short periods to tell God he loved him and spoke the very words he did not have the strength to do on his own. He knew he needed to listen, but in his grief he just could not control his desire to call out, to ask why, to scream out to God to fix the mess he found himself in. It was his constant groans that kept him from hearing the answer he held inside himself all along. He had to stop the giant ferris wheel of madness, to let God get on and talk with him for a while.

How patient is our God to let us rant and rave, and carry on with our craziness. Like the child in a checkout lane, we pitch our tantrums, to the one parent who just smiles and walks two feet ahead. That perfect parent that just watches with a huge smile, while we cry ourselves out of tears. Then the silence comes. We look up and see him there, he has been waiting for us to realize his presence. And in this silence he begins to speak.

First, a firm hand takes us and helps us up. No words are shared, they are not needed. We see his love mirrored back to us in his eyes. Then he walks us by a still stream of water to calm us. The quiet is peaceful. We feel a surge of peace begin to envelope us. The anger, fear and doubt we felt moments ago melt into a vision of the new starting place he has led us to. And as we listen, he gently anoints us with the purpose of tomorrow. As he hands us a package with more than we will need for the trip, we are overcome by joy. Finally, the revelation of our new pathway, the new work he has trained us for becomes clear. David must have taken such a walk with our Lord, and at the end was handed a pen and paper to record these simple steps for those of us that followed him. He wrote:

Psalm 23

   ¹The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

   ²He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

   ³He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

   ⁴Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

   ⁵Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

   ⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Listening is also spoken of by many of the New Testament scholars as well. I am reminded mostly of the disciples as they went across the waters on a terribly stormy night. Fear gripped them too, and caused them to call out in desperation to a sleeping Jesus.  Jesus simply rose from his pillows, rebuked the wind and told the sea to be still. How hurt and frustrated he must have been when he spoke his next words. Where is your faith?

Mark 4:39:

   ³⁹And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

I have found my faith growing stronger since I have been listening. It is very hard, for I, like David want to talk to God, to say,” but what about this idea I had…or I thought you wanted me to do this?”  It is the quiet moments, when I am truly listening for his still quiet voice, that I listen as Job did, and hear:

Job 4:15-17

   ¹⁵Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:

   ¹⁶It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,

   ¹⁷Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?

I tell my voice to be quiet, and I try to empty out the thoughts that race through my mind. I think I have achieved silence for a moment, but I find myself going over the grocery list within seconds. I finally hear him in the moments like today, when I was just driving down the road, taking in the beauty of his creation in the spring. The voice was just there, it passed within my ears without my asking, and I heard it so clear. So difficult we make it when we cling to our human nature, when we try to force God to come to us on our time table. So simple it is when he knows we are ready. In a quiet moment, he speaks beautiful words that touch our soul. Beautiful words that heal. Beautiful words that tell us what to do next. Words that humble us to our knees and set our feet to the work he wants us to do.