God Longs to Re-Connect with You

I miss my family.

Just a small portion of my family in Ohio

 Sixteen years ago, I moved from Ohio to Arizona to be near my daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren, leaving behind many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins that I love dearly.  While I love sharing the lives of the ones I love here, I miss my great big wonderful family in Ohio. They're crazy...in the most fun way you can imagine.  They're loud and loving and loyal. There's always someone ready to share a meal, go shopping, listen to your troubles or get together for a fun evening of playing games or a backyard bbq.  I miss them.

I haven't been able to go home for a visit for 10 years. I long to see the faces I love, to hug them, to catch up with all that's going on in their lives.

Today I found this verse in the book of James 4:5

 "...do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?"

...and I found myself amazed that God longs for time spent with us. He planted his Spirit with is at the point of our salvation so that we would be able to share sweet communion with Him. Through the Spirit, God communicates with us, he comforts us, leads us, reveals more of himself to us, but it's not a one-way street. The Spirit also conveys to God, our great love for him, the Spirit helps us pray when we don't know how to pray. the Spirit communicates the deepest cry of our hearts to the Father.

On those days when we get too busy to spend some Quiet Time with God in prayer and in the Word, God jealously longs to connect with us through the Spirit that he planted in us. Jealousy - now that's a word that I don't readily associate with God, but that's just what the verse says. What would God have to be jealous about, concerning me?  

The verses just before verse 5 tell us that when we get too distracted by the world and all it has to offer - when we get too busy to sit with God - when other things occupy our thoughts and heart, he gets jealous. Jealousy doesn't occur without love. God loves us. He longs to spend time with his children and when that doesn't happen - He misses his family.

When was the last time you sat with God? 
Do you have a regular appointment to meet with Him?  

Remember, God's Spirit dwells in your if you belong to Him and God longs to connect with you through the Spirit.  You are dearly loved, to the point of making God jealous when other things become more important to you than he is.

Spend some time with Him today - reconnect your heart to His. He's longing for you.


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Out of the Rocking Chair and Back in the Game

Ready for my next big adventure with God.
photo by lusi, rgbstock.com

Everybody's dealing with something. Chronic illness or disease, aging body, depleted energy, on-going pain...something. Me? I'm dealing with all of those things, and I've got to admit that 10 years of dealing with this had pretty much put me on the sidelines of life. I found myself spending more and more time in the house. I withdrew from a lot of my activities and had made up my mind to just sort-of coast through the rest of my days, but today I realized that God is not okay with that plan.  He led me directly to this passage of scripture this morning...

"So we do not give up. Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day.  We have small troubles for a while now, but they are helping us gain an eternal glory that is much greater than the troubles.  We set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see. What we see will last only a short time, but what we cannot see will last forever." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

I can't give up!  I woke up this morning and I'm still breathing, so God isn't finished with me yet. There's more to my story, more that He wants me to accomplish here. More people to love. A difference I can make. He wants to do more here, and he wants to do it through me.

Yes, I'm tired, but if I lean on Him, he will give me strength for each day...not just to "make it through," but to face the day with energetic, anticipation of the adventure we're on together.

The enemy just about neutralized me. His plan was to plant me in my rocking chair for the rest of my days, whining about my condition, but I refuse to give in!  Anything I am suffering here on earth will quickly fade away when my days are over. Until then, you'll find me doing everything I can with every moment I have left to be fully engaged in this phase of my journey.

What we see and experience on this side of eternity will last only for a short time, but  what we cannot see from this side (Heaven and the souls that will be there because we allowed God to use us) will last forever. The promise of a joy-filled, pain-free forever far outweighs this temporary suffering.

Prayer:
Father, thank you for this wake-up call. For the reminder that it's not over until it's over and that each day you will refresh me for the next leg of the journey. Thank you for your promise to walk each step of the way with me. Lead on, Lord. I'm ready.
 
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Sweet Jesus Peace

One of the first albums I bought after coming to Christ in 1977 was Lady by Reba Rambo and I wore that cassette tape out! (Dating myself here.)

I recently found the whole album on YouTube and have been playing those songs for days. One, in particular soothes my heart every time I hear it. The title is Sweet Jesus Peace and starts like this...

 

WHAT DO YOU SING WHEN YOUR WORLD’S DRAPED IN SADNESS
AND THERE’S NO MUSIC IN YOUR SONG
HOW DO YOU SMILE WHEN YOUR HEART’S LOST ITS GLADNESS
AND THE SOUND OF LAUGHTER IS ALL GONE

WHEN ALL THOUGHTS INSIDE YOUR MIND
LIKE A CIRCLE KEEP A-SPINNING ROUND
WHEN ALL THE FRIENDS YOU THOUGHT YOU HAD
SUDDENLY THEY’VE LET YOU DOWN

WHERE DO YOU GO

I KNOW A HAVEN INSIDE YOUR MIND
A COOL, RUSHING RIVER
REFRESHING NEW WINE
IT CAN SPLASH THOUGH THE CANYONS
LIKE THE WAVES ON THE SEA

THERE’S NOTHING QUITE LIKE IT
THIS SWEET JESUS PEACE

Haven't we all been there? When life and your thoughts have you in such a whirlwind of turmoil that the harder you fight to break out of the storm, the more you are sucked under.  I've learned the secret to finding peace and it's not in trying to break out of the turmoil, it's going deep. Deep within your own spirit to the place where God dwells. Connecting with the Holy Spirit, who lives inside you. It's whispering His name and listening for his whispered response.  It's feeling that sweet, Jesus peace, flowing in and pushing the turmoil aside.

Have you discovered it?

Here's a link to the song. It's an oldie, but the message is timeless.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFKozmdc0aQ

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Upward Falling

I heard a song this morning (Touch the Sky by Hillsong United) and these words grabbed my attention...

photo courtesy lusi on rgbstock.com

Upward falling
Spirit soaring
I touch the sky when
my knees hit the ground.

This is what prayer does for me.  When I'm bogged down by life, by the evening news of horrendous things mankind is doing to each other. When I hear a friend is hurting or moving away. When the doctor says something I didn't want to hear. When someone I love is heading down a path that can only lead to destruction.

When I feel my spirit tanking, my knees hit the ground and after a while, I'm falling...UPWARD. 

My spirit soars above the quagmire into the realm of faith and the assurance that God is there. God makes a difference. Praying for others changes things. Not instantly, but definitely. I am lifted up, when I am on my knees.

The situation may not have changed, but God has changed something in me so that when I rise, I am no longer bogged down. I am walking on clouds of faith and trust in God, who is good, who is for me and who is with me in all circumstances.


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