‘speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,’ (Ephesians 5:19 NIV)

Our lives are a song. Each a unique melody. The notes contain our mood, emotions, thoughts … the harmony reflecting the way our beliefs and convictions make sense out of chaos. We do not play lightly.
Those who refuse The Holy One fix their focus on the lush beauty of the surface, and they keep tripping on the mysteriously buried roots. The line between the life and death of our lifesong is thinner than the sharpest razor edge Dearheart. It takes practice and skill and time with your Creator to learn to wield it properly. The Holy Spirit becomes a melody mysteriously strumming through our veins – His presence in His child is a shadow cast on every thought.
We spin a web of music in our days Beloved, often catching hearts as deep as our own along the way.
Play on.

‘The Message is as true among you today as when you first heard it. It doesn’t diminish or weaken over time. It’s the same all over the world. The Message bears fruit and gets larger and stronger, just as it has in you. From the very first day you heard and recognized the truth of what God is doing, you’ve been hungry for more.’ (Colossians 1:6 MSG)

We are like a crazy little calf in a squeeze shoot, until it settles down it cannot be worked – so it can’t be protected.
You and I have got to meditate IN the word until our minds starts relaxing. Without relaxing, the mind is fighting against God and cannot receive peace or answers.
Problems do not come from God DearOne. They are the work of the Devil. God always makes a way of escape. You must act. And, the place to start is cracking open and settling down in His Word.

Mother always told me “go to bed-things are always better in the morning”. She’s so right.
Maybe that is why mornings are on my short-list of all-time favorite things.
Every morn, the world is reborn … all anew. Half a world away, baboons in jungles watch the same sunrise and rejoice in the miracle to their bird-friend’s song.
Welcoming the light, just down the hill, pond waters lap softly through the cattails to the shore.
And, God’s child, knowing the Creator of life, Creator of the Universe, naturally feels honored at receiving His attention with the gift of the morning’s sun.
Setting the world aside, this I know … It’s all about You, Jesus. Face lifted to the sky, arms raised open, high … breathing air from the Almighty … hungry heart stands empty, prepared, ready to be Spirit-filled through this gift of day.
‘For the soul of every living thing is in the hand of God, and the breath of all mankind.’ Job 12:10 TLB

‘Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:31, 32 NLT)

The answers to my questions are simple if I allow them to be simple. Emotion that comes from honesty, respect that comes from challenge, and the form of love that exists between people whose minds have touched, whose hearts have touched, whose souls have touched. Think of those with whom you can say:
Our minds touched.
Our hearts touched.
Our souls touched.
Love makes me shudder, shakes me. Inside and out – it destroys me and fuels me.
You, DearOne, are a vessel of beauty. Of life. Of love…though most of us don’t know it. Seems like all the forces of evil are dead set against us most of the time. Love, for yourself and for others can be the hardest battle – it isn’t going to fall in your lap. You’ve got to trust Father God and rely on His help while you fight for it.
There is a decision to make. It is a simple choice. Choose to be bitter or choose to love.
(sounds a bit like rambling today – but you get the drift) 🙂

‘Stephen was a man filled with God’s favor and power. He did amazing things and performed miracles.
One day some men from the cities of Cyrene and Alexandria and the provinces of Cilicia and Asia started an argument with Stephen. They belonged to a synagogue called Freedmen’s Synagogue.
They couldn’t argue with Stephen because he spoke with the wisdom that the Spirit had given him.’ (Acts 6:8-10 GWT)

He spoke with the wisdom that the Spirit had given him…
Here, DearOne, is what we learn from Stephen: if the Holy Spirit leads, “Stephen, go this way, go that way, do this, do that, stop right here, go forward…” he must correct his plan as needed.
Sweetheart, we are not to consult the Spirit once then decide if we will take his advice. We are to stay in constant contact.
Whether our work is with a demon on the inside, or completing a task in the outside world, whether personal or global … Before and during … every action begins with strengthening the Spirit. Ask His way. Go.

‘God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24 TNIV)

Beloved, what is your game-plan for worship today? Are you going to church because it is the “right thing to do”, to be with friends, or are you going to worship because you want to give every part of your life the gift of expanding in our Most High God?
When I was little I had a hippity-hop (big rubber ball with a handle that you bounce on). I loved that thing. It made me bounce higher than I ever could on my own.
My man, Dale pushes me through fears and wimpiness (that I would rather wallow in) to places I would never get to on my own.
To get to a place of true worship Dearheart, you must challenge your heart to expand to a place greater than it will on its own.
Put your heart out there even when that is not your nature. Give it a chance to whirl and twirl like a crazy chicken every once in a while. Encourage your temple to open up – to come to life – to dance with joyous enthusiasm in your Creator!!!
(oh gee! I just told a bunch of baptist youth to dance! Tee, hee, hee!)

Wrote this morn, then Dale and I started talking and I didn’t get it sent out. I know you’ve been on the edge of your seats waiting!! 🙂

‘So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead.’ (1 John 3:13, 14 NLT)
Think about right where you are, or will be later. Think about the people you’ll be near. Will the choice of your words and actions promote hurt or healing? Will your heart choose to grow from their presence, or turn bitter? Choices.
Sometimes, being the child Father God created you to be causes you to be exiled, alienated, and shut off from others. And, there are times that to go along with the “in crowd” makes you an alien to your true self.
Dearheart, the power to make strong choices is threaded into you through the Holy Spirit. And, your Father God is keen to notice when you take the hard road because it is the right road. He does not take you or your choices lightly. Bold love yields bold results.

‘I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him.’ (1 Samuel 1:27 NIV)

Today, my firstborn turns Twenty-two years old. Here is the deal: His birthday is my birthday too. His birth made him a living, breathing earthling; my birth was into Motherhood, Dale’s into Fatherhood. Everything he did as a “first” was also a first for Dale and me – many firsts with his brothers too. We have made a lot of first mistakes together. We have made a lot of first do-overs together. We have many first celebrations, and first disasters, first breaking of wooden spoons on his backside, first washing his mouth out with soap, first little league victories, first National Championship … so much more.
And, the life lessons that he has received from his Father God have given depth to his soul; likewise, each has expanded our insight and our growth as parents and as a family.
My prayer for him on this honored day is that he looks back to see his Spirit stands stronger against the winds of life today. As each year marker falls, he takes a breath to find his faith has found reason to deepen due to listening to the Voice that is greater than his own; and he is compelled to seek it’s Source all the more.
What about you Sweetsoul? Can your growth with Christ in the past year be measured? What can you do today to stir yourself to fall so passionately in love with your Savior that His work in your life blows your socks off? Beloved, He wants to – simply ask.

‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding’ (Proverbs 3:5 HCSB)

Think back to three years ago. Would you have dreamed that you would be where you are today?Look at all Father God has brought you through. Would you have even believed it if someone would have told you that August 23, 2012 you would be here?
Beloved, He is the God of your future as well as your forgiven past. Can you release your fears, your worries, your anxious thoughts to Him for the hours of this day, knowing from history of walking with Him, “OK Father, if you brought me through that, you will walk me through the hours of this day”. It takes an active decision to release your worries to Him. And, Dearheart, that is active faith!
He is already in the places you will go today. He is waiting on you with arms. wide. open. Embrace the whole experience of being embraced. Trust Him.

Good morning Sweetness! Let’s dive right in this morn, shall we?
‘When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.’ (Galatians 5:19-21 NLT)

Attitude is a choice. Anger is a choice… have you ever dealt with someone and had the thought, ‘that is one angry little man’? Because we run into those types in daily living, don’t we?
Recognize the work of the enemy when faced with hostile, negative attitudes-recognize that sometimes it is important to be kind, but Beloved, there are times when our being sweet only makes the enemy smile in victory. You were not given the Spirit to be run over.
When the soulful life is being threatened, it is not only acceptable to draw the line and mean it, it is required! Grasp deeply and recover what you know to be true. You and I must remember that when threatened by forces of evil, we have an opposing Force who has a long, brutal history with the enemy. That Force is alive and active and stands ready for your call, diving over whatever walls, fences, buildings, barriers the enemy tries to build. And, the Force of Father God through you will push the enemy right back where he belongs.
Sometimes, we are called to cut ties with those the enemy uses to get to us. In cold blood, walk away. Listen to the Holy Spirit. He will call you to the right thing to do.