At the risk of sounding redundant...

Happy Thanksgiving!

What a precious holiday to cause us to look back on what God has blessed us with and truly be thankful!  I have so much to be thankful for!  Family, friends, job, food, clothing, home, ect...but the most important, biggest thanks I have is for the blood Christ shed for me!  If I had nothing else to be thankful for...this is all I would need, John 3:16.  My sustenance, my shelter, my friend, my family, my provider, my comfort and help...there is no other thing I need!  I hope you can say the same!

Thanksgiving

We are entering my favorite time of year!  This is the time of year we start thinking about families and gatherings, holidays and feasts, decorating and music (specially written for this season), shopping and giving, scarves and pepermint mochas, and everything in between!  I LOVE the Holiday Season...so don't be surprised if this is not the only "seasonal" edition of SWS you read *wink, wink*  I am always filled to overflowing with joy and song and cheer when Christmas comes around!

I went to the Raleigh Christmas Parade this morning, and who did I see?  Santa himself of course!  Announcing to the world, a few days early, that it's time to start Christmas...Well, Christmas "Santa-style." 

It seems our culture likes to spring it on us earlier and earlier each year...  Decorations up in stores in October...  "Christmas in July" type parties and family photos for the greeting cards...  Even those precious Operation Christmas Child boxes are processed before Thanksgiving...  As I sit here writing, my sweet dog, Bailey, is slumbering away (whimpering, sniffing, and twitching), I imagine she is chasing her Christmas goose (or maybe it's chasing her)!..  There's even a popular holiday song that tells us to keep Christmas in our hearts all year long...  And why not? 

This is the time of year we celebrate the greatest gift ever given...The gift of Jesus Christ!  It overwhelms me every time I think of it...How God the father decided, in His sovereignty and perfect wisdom and grace, to come and dwell among us in human form so that he could, 33 years later, die on a cross and rise again, 3 days later, to SAVE us from our sin!  What a gift!  What a treasure!!  What a reason to celebrate!!!

Thanksgiving is nearly upon us...just three short days of working then on with turkey and football on Thursday, and for many, Black Friday (which now begins at midnight on Thanksgiving)...and for those shopping, this is a day we truly need Christmas in our hearts...remembering that each gift purchased is purchased at a cost...  The cost of our everlasting salvation?  Christ's death.  A gift given, at no cost to us.  Christ does not require an exchange...there's nothing he expects in return...He just asks that we open our hearts to His gift, then waits for us to accept it.  PRAISE GOD!!!  Now that is something to be thankful for! 

*What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving week???

In the Clearness of God's Nearness

I was walking to work the other day in the early morning.  A dense fog was covering the area and it got me thinking...fog is like Satan and the world...surrounding us on all sides, attempting to hide our path. God, then, is the light (of course) filling the space closest to us, making the air clear so that we CAN see; assuring us that we stand on solid ground and all we need to do is put one foot in front of the other and trust Him...He will illuminate our path as we go.  It's such a basic and elementary concept, but I find it's very true.  The foggy areas of my life are often filled with the world's ideas and influences, and ultimately, Satan's desire for me to fail.  It's very easy for me to look past the clearness of God's nearness and focus on this thick dense unknown just beyond where I am.  It's natural to wonder what's beyond the fog...what will come next...what turn will life take...will I see it before I get there so I don't trip and fall...will I be the same...will my friends and family be the same?  The answer is...GOD knows!  We don't need to fret about what might be hidden in the fog, because God will illuminate it when we get there AND he will have equipped us along the way to handle whatever it is.  If we stay in the clearness of God's nearness, and allow God to equip us where we are, then when we get to the middle of that fog, it will no longer be fog...whatever is next will be revealed when we get there.

I don't know about you, but that is SO comforting to me.  God's got me right where he wants me and it doesn't matter what comes next or what just happened, all that matters is what I CAN see...right here, right now.

Birthdays

I am SO enjoying the cool weather, bundling up, scarves, boots, leggings and tights, pumpkin spice, and everything nice.  This (besides beach weather) is my favorite time of year!  Best of all, this time of year houses my birthday!  I'm not sure why it excites me so...I'm not really a "center-of-attention" sort of person, I don't really celebrate "big" or party much at all, I'm not overly excited to get older...whatever the reason, I am ALWAYS excited for my birthday!  I think we all are!  It's the one time of year when you (just you) get to be special in the eyes of everyone!  Even people in restaurants sing to you (if you let them)!  And, so far, I've had just the best celebrations, each one special and unique brightened by the people I shared them with!

It makes me wonder, How did Jesus celebrate His birthday?  He was fully man, and therefore had a day of birth...I have not studied Hebrew culture, so I'm not sure if it was natural for them to celebrate birthdays...I'd like to think it was.  And, even if His earthly parents didn't celebrate the day of birth, I'd like to think that maybe Jesus stole away and took some special time with THE Father on His birthday!  What might that conversation have been like?  {it's funny, I started writing this, and didn't even realize that Jesus' birthday IS celebrated every year as Christmas!}  Maybe there was a feast, or presents...a party, dancing, singing, or candles...  Whatever the celebration was...a celebration it was indeed...and THAT's the best part!

I believe that Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit have a party for EVERY birthday...saved beleiver or not...I like to think that there is music and dancing and feasting and singing filling the heavens for my birthday!  I like to think that God my Heavenly Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit have shared their favorite stories from my life so far and are looking forward to sharing the rest of my life with me as I am looking forward to sharing the rest of eternity with HIM!  Because, the fact is, we belong to Jesus...He delights in us...He celebrates who we are because He died for us and there is nothing that can take us from the palm of his hand!  What a blessing!   What a celebration!  So, as my brithday comes to a close, I will celebrate in worshipful praise the One who made me today and saved my soul one sweet day in August granting me everlasting birthdays!

Worship

When do you worship?  On Sundays?  Whenever you go to church?  When you read the Bible?  When you work?  When you are blessed?  When you meet tragedy?  What does worship mean to you?  Worship is typically defined as reverent love or devotion, respect, admiration, or worthiness...  But what does it mean to you...and more importantly what does it mean to God?  The scriptures call us to worship in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:24).  It is an action we are to DO to and for God.

 

When I think of worship, I most often think music sung to God in or out of church to proclaim our love for Him and what He's done for us.  You might agree...this is a Christian's basic understanding of the act of worship...but I think God asks more than that of us...  If worship is reverent love, devotion, respect, etc. then it should reflect more than just our singing talents, right?  Worship should be in the WAY we sing, the WAY we work, play, eat, live, laugh, and cry.  Again, you probably agree...though I think we all need a reminder of this every now and then...but that last part is what gets me...to worship even when we are brought to tears (whether in joy or sadness)!

 

Get this verse about David's worship after the death of his son:

¹⁹ When David saw that his servants were whispering to each other, he guessed that the baby was dead. So he asked his servants, "Is the baby dead?"  "He is dead," they replied.  ²⁰ Then David got up from the ground. He washed, anointed himself, changed his clothes, went to the LORD's house, and worshiped. Then he went home and requested [something to eat]. So they served him food, and he ate.  ²¹ His servants asked him, "What did you just do? While the baby was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate food."  ²² He answered, "While the baby was alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, 'Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let him live.' ²³ But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I'll go to him, but he will never return to me." (2 Samuel 12:19-23)

Even on one of the most difficult and sad days of David's life, he got up, brushed himself off, WENT to God, and worshiped!  My point is this, if we are to worship in spirit and in truth, then even our pained, anguished cries to God should be worshipful.  What does that look like?  I think the answer to that is in the Psalms...  I stumbled accross these the other day:

"O LORD, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you!" (Psalm 141:1)

 

and

 

"Why, O LORD, do you stand far away?  Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?" (Psalm 10:1)

...There are so many examples of worship hidden away in the plain sight of scripture, all we need to do is open it up!  Even the writing of the Word was worshipful!  Jesus' cry out to God before the Crucifixion was worshipful.  I know it's easy to worship in joy and through blessing...but I think we can experience something SO much greater when we worship through the darknesses of life!

Family

Two weekends ago, and again this weekend, I got to spend some time with my grandparents!  It was so wonderful to see them and catch up!  It reminded me how important and wonderful family can be...and how wonderful God is to have created the family bond and then created the picture perfect relationship for us to follow (God the father, Christ the son, and the Holy Spirit) and describes our roles perfectly in Ephesians 5-6.

I love that I have my family and that they are there for me when I need them!  What's even better, is that when I don't have them, I have God.  And in truth, He is all I need!  The perfect father, the perfect son, the perfect brother, mother, sister, friend, grandparent...  God can be our everything, and longs to be, if we let Him!  When My life runs a mile a minute, I KNOW that I can find rest, comfort, and encouragement in God alone.  (Psalm 62)

What a blessing.  It seems we focus on family so much more during the "Holidays," beginning after Halloween and all the way through the New Year...There are parties and presents and conversation and love, hugs, kisses, hellos, and goodbyes--then the holidays pass and so do many of our longings for "family time"...  In many ways this imitates our "family time" with God...doesn't it?  We get to the "holidays" in life (Sundays, times of joy, times of sorrow, times of need, times of hurt) when we feel we need our God (our family) and we call to him, cry out to him...and many other things.  And He's always there for us!  Then, after he's filled us up, we begin to feel we don't need Him anymore, we can carry on for ourselves for a while, and we leave Him...BUT He never leaves US!!!  We need to give God more than "family time"...God deserves ALL our time, and we need Him to help us through the battle of life on earth.  Remember to keep God with you always, call out to Him every moment of every day!  There is nothing we can do on our own, there is nothing we CAN'T do WITH God at our side!  Praise Him for that!

Romans 12:2

Have you ever wondered (and maybe you have) how the "word" of the "Lord" fits so well into the "world"?  I noticed this the other day...If we combine the "word" and the "Lord" we see "worLd"...Do you see?  This is SUCH a beautiful revelation to me!  The Lord puts himself smack-dab in the middle of the worLd...which is EXACTLY where He wants US to be...and the most beautiful part about it is that He's right there with us!  In the middle.  All the time.

Friends, we don't have to do this world alone, we have the power and might of the Lord of the Universe within us!  So...be in the world not of the world...short and sweet.  Because without the Lord we have no worLd (He created it, you know) and without the Lord we have no influence in the worLd.

AND...The best and surest way for us to stay IN the worLd and not OF the world is to stay not just IN the word but OF the word of the Lord!  I pray this is as impactful on you today as it was on my whole week!  The Lord just blows me away!  I love it!!!