joel 2

Joel 2:¹² But there's also this, it's not too late—
God's personal Message!— "Come back to me and really mean it!
Come fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!"

^{13 -14}Change your life, not just your clothes.
Come back to God, your God. And here's why: God is kind and merciful.
He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot, This most patient God, extravagant in love,
always ready to cancel catastrophe. Who knows? Maybe he'll do it now,
maybe he'll turn around and show pity. Maybe, when all's said and done,
there'll be blessings full and robust for your God!"

fresh heart

2 Thes. 2: ^{15 -17}

So, friends, take a firm stand, feet on the ground and head high. Keep a tight grip on what you were taught, whether in personal conversation or by our letter. May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech.

turning your life around

^{Isaiah 58:6 -9}

"This is the kind of fast day I'm after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts. What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage. Then when you pray, God will answer.
You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.'

jobless

Isaiah 19: ^{5 -10}The River Nile will dry up, the riverbed baked dry in the sun. The canals will become stagnant and stink, every stream touching the Nile dry up. River vegetation will rot away
the banks of the Nile-baked clay, The riverbed hard and smooth, river grasses dried up and gone with the wind. Fishermen will complain that the fishing's been ruined. Textile workers will be out of work, all weavers and workers in linen and cotton and wool Dispirited, depressed in their forced idleness— everyone who works for a living, jobless."

wow. very similar to the things of today. with the oil spill leaving many fishermen out of work and saying their fishing has been ruined, the mills closing nearby and people become dispirited and depressed.....

thanking God right now for an open window and opportunity at SCES. i know i can do anything with you that you give me to do.... but help me to do it to the best of who you created me to be

boulder blocking the way

Isaiah 8:11-15

A Boulder Blocking Your Way

^{11 -15}God spoke strongly to me, grabbed me with both hands and warned me not to go along with this people. He said:

"Don't be like this people,
always afraid somebody is plotting against them. Don't fear what they fear.
Don't take on their worries. If you're going to worry,
worry about The Holy. Fear God-of-the-Angel-Armies. The Holy can be either a Hiding Place
or a Boulder blocking your way, The Rock standing in the willful way
of both houses of Israel, A barbed-wire Fence preventing trespass
to the citizens of Jerusalem. Many of them are going to run into that Rock
and get their bones broken, Get tangled up in that barbed wire
and not get free of it."

liar

satan sufficates me with his lies. i can't breathe. i can't pray. he throws himself across my mouth. i gasp. no words come out. the fear is on my face along with his tail. my eyes speak. i drawn in my own salava. he shouts his lies loud above my racing heart. i panic and search the room for help. i want to get out of this entrapment. don't know what to do. my eyes trace the outline of the ceiling. my heart starts to speak, but no words come from my lips. "God. do you see me. " i feel paper thin. 'I have messed up, yet again. Help me get back close to you. Want you whispering in my ear. want your words to be uttered from these lips." the tail of the beast slides down. the grip begins to loosen. oxygen begins to fill my lungs. my heart rate slows. the beast falls off. the room stops spinning. all is calm. all except a still small voice.

movin on in my mind

ever needed a change or were just ready for one..... got your mind already there, your mind has moved in.... your body feels like you are living in more than one reality and you want to just have one... the here and now be done.... like you can see the future and you want to be there. can't focus on God like that. hard to focus on anything with all that expectation.

know many people who cheated on their spouses and i just wonder what made them do it? guess their minds moved on.... forgot what they had, saw greener pastures only to find out that the grass there too was dead.

then there is the couple buying a house. the search is fun. and then they find the one and well, their mind has moved in. she knows just where to put the coffee pot, he knows just where to store his tools. they can't sleep. they put the offer in and get the house. (and they live happily ever after)

Lord, do we ever want to live for you. Do for you. Follow you. Serve you. Be who you called us to be. Lord, help our minds not to move on without you.

I am open to you God.... wherever, whenever, however. Just want to make sure it is God and not me with my mind moving on.

pain

knowing why i am having such pain, should at least ease my mind. i am not persuaded that the dr's diagnosis is all correct though. feel like i am in labor half the time with back pains and front pains. feel miserable.

disgusting to God

what disgusts God? is it the gay dr or the lesbian friend? is it the person who commits murder or the prisoner behind locked doors? is it the neighbor growing pot or the one in the home owners associtation who just won't mow his lawn? it might just be that father that doesn't seek HIM or the pastor's wife that just didn't make time for HIM. i think my list could go on and own. the truth be known they are all the same. each little sin or big sin.... that separates us from God. who am i to judge, who am i to say. what disgusts me might not be what disgusts God. why not?

buried

you don't know how buried you are until you try to dig yourself out..... (quote from tv show Buried Alive) the guy continued by saying I am just taking it one day at a time.

wow. powerful words. he probably has no idea what he has said. we have no idea how buried we are in sin until we try to dig ourselves out. only to find, if we have Jesus' blood covering our hearts and lives that He holds the dirty shovel in HIS hands.... He has dug us out.

King Hezekiah

2 Chronicles 29

King Hezekiah

^{1 -2} Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old and was king in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. In God's opinion he was a good king; he kept to the standards of his ancestor David.

^{3 -9} In the first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah, having first repaired the doors of The Temple of God, threw them open to the public. He assembled the priests and Levites in the court on the east side and said, "Levites, listen! Consecrate yourselves and consecrate The Temple of God—give this much-defiled place a good housecleaning. Our ancestors went wrong and lived badly before God—they discarded him, turned away from this house where we meet with God, and walked off. They boarded up the doors, turned out the lights, and canceled all the acts of worship of the God of Israel in the holy Temple. And because of that, God's anger flared up and he turned those people into a public exhibit of disaster, a moral history lesson—look and read! This is why our ancestors were killed, and this is why our wives and sons and daughters were taken prisoner and made slaves.

^{10 -11} "I have decided to make a covenant with the God of Israel and turn history around so that God will no longer be angry with us. Children, don't drag your feet in this! God has chosen you to take your place before him to serve in conducting and leading worship—this is your life work; make sure you do it and do it well."

In God's opinion, Hezekiah was a good king. In my opinion, God's opinion is the only one that counts. God has an opinion on how I am living my life. Am I serving God with all that I am? Is my heart all in? Does he think that I am a surface server? Am I dragging my feet with God? Am I doing my life work WELL?

mass

2 Chronicles 16:9 "God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him. You were foolish to go for human help when you could have had God's help. Now you're in trouble—one round of war after another. "^{11 -14} A full account of Asa is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa came down with a severe case of foot infection.

He didn't ask God for help, but went instead to the doctors.

Then Asa died; he died in the forty-first year of his reign. They buried him in a mausoleum that he had built for himself in the City of David. They laid him in a crypt full of aromatic oils and spices. Then they had a huge bonfire in his memory.

---

John 12

^{27 -28}"Right now I am storm-tossed. And what am I going to say? 'Father, get me out of this'? No, this is why I came in the first place. I'll say, 'Father, put your glory on display.'"

^{36 -40}Jesus said all this, and then went into hiding. All these God-signs he had given them and they still didn't get it, still wouldn't trust him.

knowing it is there, i turn to you. i cling. not too scared. reassured because of who you are. wanting more than ever for your glory to be on display. show up and show out God. thank you for your quiet whispers. i need them. use the charity of others to bring clarity to my family. we trust in you.

bypass

2 Kings 1

¹After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel.

² One day Ahaziah fell through the balcony railing on the rooftop of his house in Samaria and was injured. He sent messengers off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, "Am I going to recover from this accident?" ^{3 -4} God's angel spoke to Elijah the Tishbite: "Up on your feet! Go out and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria with this word, 'Is it because there's no God in Israel that you're running off to consult Baal-Zebub god of Ekron?' Here's a message from the God you've tried to bypass: 'You're not going to get out of that bed you're in—you're as good as dead already.'" Elijah delivered the message and was gone.

Most of us like short cuts... we can get to our destination quicker and seem to be added time to do other things. Even people of Biblical times sometimes chose the shorter path, the seemingly easy way. They were regular people doing what people today do.... just maybe a different way. Sitting on a balcony railing, Ahaziah fell. And not just a small fall. He was injured. He wanted to know "Am I going to recover from this?" Don't we still do these things. We fall or fell at something and get injured in the process. We want to know...."Hey, will I recover and move on from this?" Ahaziah wanted to bypass God's message for him. Do I want to really hear what God has to say or would I rather bypass His will, His way and run after my own out come?

Simon saw

Luke 33 -34 "They didn't waste a minute. They were up and on their way back to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and their friends gathered together, talking away: "It's really happened! The Master has been raised up—Simon saw him!"

³⁵Then the two went over everything that happened on the road and how they recognized him when he broke the bread.

They said "Simon saw him!" Why didn't they say "We all saw him!"

dan 8 not the one

^{17 -19} "My father David had it in his heart to build a Temple honoring the Name of God, the God of Israel. But God told him 'It was good that you wanted to build a Temple in my honor—most commendable! But you are not the one to do it—your son will build it to honor my Name.'

^{20 -21} "God has done what he said he would do: I have succeeded David my father and ruled over Israel just as God promised; and now I've built a Temple to honor God, the God of Israel, and I've secured a place for the Chest that holds the covenant of God, the covenant that he made with our ancestors when he brought them up from the land of Egypt."

^{22 -25} Before the entire congregation of Israel, Solomon took a position before the Altar, spread his hands out before heaven, and prayed,

O God, God of Israel, there is no God like you in the skies above or on the earth below who unswervingly keeps covenant with his servants and relentlessly loves them as they sincerely live in obedience to your way. You kept your word to David my father, your personal word. You did exactly what you promised—every detail. The proof is before us today!

David, the man after God's own heart, had good intentions. We can even say godly intentions. Yet God did not choose him to build the temple. He wanted to build the temple, but God had someone else in mind. Even the godly aren't always chosen to do certain things for God. We may have good, godly intentions and still not be the one for the job.

out of the way

Luke 5:16 As often as possible Jesus withdrew to out-of-the-way places for prayer.

some days we are the ones in the way. God beacons us to come, to sit with him, but our plans and agenda's push us in another direction. then we wonder, who moved? even good things aren't necessarily godly, even good intentions can move us from the path. yet He beacons with His still small voice "come"..... withdraw to an out to the way place and meet with me. do what I tell you to do regardless of the jeering crowd, regardless of what they say and how they may treat you. "come". I see the end results, I am your guide, I am the way, I see YOUR heart. don't worry about "theirs". pull out into the deep waters. cast your net once again. pray. wait. watch.

hands in your pockets

Thurs. March 25 Having one of those weeks of discouragement. Knowing that 5 kids from our small church would not be participating in our Egg Hunt due to Ball. Had a reminder from God that this was outreach and that I shouldn't so much worry about our own kids if we are to reach "them."

Outreach means taking your hands out of your pocket.

*Update March 27
Today's egg hunt was GREAT! So much better than my mind would comprehend. We had 800 eggs, 56 hot dogs with some left over and 56 people....... and 2/3 of the people were visitors!!!!!! Go God. May I never question you again!

achan and joshua

^{joshua 7:20 -21} Achan answered Joshua, "It's true. I sinned against God, the God of Israel. This is how I did it. In the plunder I spotted a beautiful Shinar robe, two hundred shekels of silver, and a fifty-shekel bar of gold, and I coveted and took them. They are buried in my tent with the silver at the bottom."

He saw, he coveted, he took, he buried.

joshua 9: ¹⁴ The men of Israel looked them over and accepted the evidence. But they didn't ask God about it.

They did not ask God about it.

restraints

Oh, to love God and serve God without restraints! What is holding you back, me back from serving God with all we are, all we have? Money, debt, doubt, fear or what other's expect (all of these and the list goes on and on)????

Easter

Mark 15:^{40 -41}There were women watching from a distance, among them Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and Joses, and Salome. When Jesus was in Galilee, these women followed and served him, and had come up with him to Jerusalem.

^{42 -45}Late in the afternoon, since it was the Day of Preparation (that is, Sabbath eve), Joseph of Arimathea, a highly respected member of the Jewish Council, came. He was one who lived expectantly, on the lookout for the kingdom of God. Working up his courage, he went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. Pilate questioned whether he could be dead that soon and called for the captain to verify that he was really dead. Assured by the captain, he gave Joseph the corpse.

^{46 -47}Having already purchased a linen shroud, Joseph took him down, wrapped him in the shroud, placed him in a tomb that had been cut into the rock, and rolled a large stone across the opening. Mary Magdalene and Mary, mother of Joses, watched the burial.

calluses

Deut. 30: God, your God, will cut away the thick calluses on your heart and your children's hearts, freeing you to love God, your God, with your whole heart and soul and live, really live. God, your God, will put all these curses on your enemies who hated you and were out to get you.

^{8 -9} And you will make a new start, listening obediently to God, keeping all his commandments that I'm commanding you today. God, your God, will outdo himself in making things go well for you: you'll have babies, get calves, grow crops, and enjoy an all-around good life. Yes, God will start enjoying you again, making things go well for you just as he enjoyed doing it for your ancestors.

¹⁰ But only if you listen obediently to God, your God, and keep the commandments and regulations written in this Book of Revelation. Nothing halfhearted here; you must return to God, your God, totally, heart and soul, holding nothing back.

we have a lady in our church that had foot surgery....where the dr. removed some calluses. she is 80 years old and who knows how old the calluses are.... who knows how long she has walked with them. she finally got to the point that they caused her so much pain that she had to "deal" with them the right way and have surgery to remove them. i am sure if she would have gotten them removed months before, years before, the surgery would have been easier to recover from and walking much less painful.

sin is just like that. we do "it" and walk on taking it with us, when all along we need surgery..... the longer we put off the repentance, the easier we think dragging the sin becomes...until one day........ we no longer need a simple procedure...... we now need major surgery. not to repair the heart, but to get a new one.

the curse, the confusion, the contrariness

Deut. 28:20 "God will send The Curse, The Confusion, The Contrariness down on everything you try to do until you've been destroyed and there's nothing left of you—all because of your evil pursuits that led you to abandon me."

Father, I see my sin. I know my mistakes. My past haunts me, my present feels numb, and my future makes me scared. I know You want to use us. I know you want to use Me. I need a clean slate, a new start. I give you my past and I say I am sorry for letting you down, for not following your will and way. I have forgotten what repentance truly is. Show me again. Give me feelings of joy in replace of this numbness. Help me to love when I don't want to love, to be friendly when I just want to not be noticed. Forgive the lack of faith for today and the future. Don't over look it. I need Your help! Father God, I need You to show up and show out in ways that I can't image. I really want to see you working in Me.

heart, eyes, ears

Lord, bless me with an understanding heart, perceptive eyes, and attentive ears.

Deut. 25:3 "If the guilty one deserves punishment, the judge will have him prostrate himself before him and lashed as many times as his crime deserves, but not more than forty. If you hit him more than forty times, you will degrade him to something less than human."

They must have known this by having done this to someone before.

dependable God

Deut. 7:9 "God, your God, is God indeed, a God you can depend upon. He keeps his covenant of loyal love with those who love him and observe his commandments for a thousand generations."

feed

Psalm 37:3 "Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on
His faithfulness." (NKJV)

sleeping old dog

^{Matt 26:39}Going a little ahead, he fell on his face, praying, "My Father, if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do you want?"

^{40 -41}When he came back to his disciples, he found them sound asleep. He said to Peter, "Can't you stick it out with me a single hour? Stay alert; be in prayer so you don't wander into temptation without even knowing you're in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there's another part that's as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire."

⁴²He then left them a second time. Again he prayed, "My Father, if there is no other way than this, drinking this cup to the dregs, I'm ready. Do it your way."

^{43 -44}When he came back, he again found them sound asleep. They simply couldn't keep their eyes open. This time he let them sleep on, and went back a third time to pray, going over the same ground one last time.

^{45 -46}When he came back the next time, he said, "Are you going to sleep on and make a night of it? My time is up, the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the hands of sinners. Get up! Let's get going! My betrayer is here."

With Swords and Clubs

^{47 -49}The words were barely out of his mouth when Judas (the one from the Twelve) showed up, and with him a gang from the high priests and religious leaders brandishing swords and clubs. The betrayer had worked out a sign with them: "The one I kiss, that's the one—seize him." He went straight to Jesus, greeted him, "How are you, Rabbi?" and kissed him.

^{50 -51}Jesus said, "Friend, why this charade?"

Then they came on him—grabbed him and roughed him up. One of those with Jesus pulled his sword and, taking a swing at the Chief Priest's servant, cut off his ear.

---

Elisha burns the plow

Elisha slaughtered his oxen and burned his plow so he would not have an opportunity to return if God did not come through.

The call of Elisha.

Elijah found Elisha by Divine direction, not in the schools of the prophets, but in the field; not reading, or praying, or sacrificing, but ploughing. Idleness is no man's honour, nor is husbandry any man's disgrace. An honest calling in the world, does not put us out of the way of our heavenly calling, any more than it did Elisha. His heart was touched by the Holy Spirit, and he was ready to leave all to attend Elijah. It is in a day of power that Christ's subjects are made willing;

nor would any come to Christ unless they were thus drawn. It was a discouraging time for prophets to set out in. A man that had consulted with flesh and blood, would not be fond of Elijah's mantle; yet Elisha cheerfully leaves all to accompany him. When the Saviour said to one and to another, Follow me, the dearest friends and most profitable occupations were cheerfully left, and the most arduous duties done from love to his name. May we, in like manner, feel the energy of his grace working in

us mightily, and by unreserved submission at once, may we make our calling and election sure.

(Taken from 1 Kings 19 - Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible)

more than enough

Exodus 36

¹ "Bezalel and Oholiab, along with everyone whom God has given the skill and know-how for making everything involved in the worship of the Sanctuary as commanded by God, are to start to work."

^{2 -3} Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab along with all whom God had gifted with the ability to work skillfully with their hands. The men were eager to get started and engage in the work. They took from Moses all the offerings that the Israelites had brought for the work of constructing the Sanctuary. The people kept on bringing in their freewill offerings, morning after morning.

^{4 -5} All the artisans who were at work making everything involved in constructing the Sanctuary came, one after another, to Moses, saying, "The people are bringing more than enough for doing this work that God has commanded us to do!"

^{6 -7} So Moses sent out orders through the camp: "Men! Women! No more offerings for the building of the Sanctuary!"

The people were ordered to stop bringing offerings! There was plenty of material for all the work to be done. Enough and more than enough.

pig pods

i was in the cafeteria today and actually realized what the prodigal son was feeling. he once had it all or had what he desired... threw it all away and now was in need. real need. he lost his wants. he gained real need. i often wondered how he could want what the pigs were eating. how or who in their right minds would long for the pods that belonged to a pig? i felt it a little today. saw all that food being thrown away. those kids had so much... more than they desired, good healthy food and it was being emptied into the can. all i could think was about how good it probably tasted and i just wanted a roll. so God, ya got my attention today. return to the Father's house. He has all you need.

Moses clarity

(Message) Ex. 33:^{12 -13} Moses said to God, "Look, you tell me, 'Lead this people,' but you don't let me know whom you're going to send with me. You tell me, 'I know you well and you are special to me.' If I am so special to you, let me in on your plans. That way, I will continue being special to you. Don't forget, this is your people, your responsibility."

¹⁴ God said, "My presence will go with you. I'll see the journey to the end."

^{15 -16} Moses said, "If your presence doesn't take the lead here, call this trip off right now. How else will it be known that you're with me in this, with me and your people? Are you traveling with us or not? How else will we know that we're special, I and your people, among all other people on this planet Earth?"

heaven or hell

earth is hell compared to heaven
earth is heaven compared to hell

shut ya mouth

Exodus 14:14 "God will fight the battle for you. And you? You keep your mouths shut!"

Wow. What a word for today!

today

the future seems so far away, but i often forget that yesterday is now today. what a privilege to be a vessel in God's hands.

God still speaks

seeking God? perhaps God has spoken but we are not satisfied with HIS answer.

seeking God like crazy

some days seeking God frustrates me. yep, i said it. it frustrates me. wanting so badly to hear his voice say this is the way or this isn't the way..... walk here, wait here, go here. i so badly want to please him that it just makes me sick thinking i might not.... that i might disappoint him once more... go the wrong way or shut the wrong door. God see my heart, hear my prayer, taste my tears, smell my fears, touch my feet and help me to move in the right direction or just stay here.