WorshipFULLWednesday...How Can It Be

“For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed. He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing. ... You must fear the Lord your God and worship him and cling to him. Your oaths must be in his name alone.  He alone is your God, the only one who is worthy of your praise, the one who has done these mighty miracles that you have seen with your own eyes." ~Deuteronomy 10:18. 20-21

How can it be?  Because God is almighty and merciful. He is compassionate and gracious.  He is slow to anger and abundant in love.  Our God is the God of gods and Lord of lords.  He has done mighty miracles--the mightiest one being the salvation of our souls through the death and resurrection of His one and only beloved Son.  Cling to Him today!  Cling to His grace and His beauty.  Worship Him with all your heart and soul.  Happy Wednesday!  It's going to be a glorious day!

THaNksGiviNG Thursday...Intentional Thanksgivings

Before a new curriculum was implemented, I had the pleasure of teaching the old testament to my seventh graders for eleven years.  We would spend a good portion of the year with Moses and the Israelites.  After some time reading about the adventures of the Israelites in the wilderness, my students would begin to pick up on the pattern of behavior of the people.  My students would exclaim (sometimes sarcastically) things like "Oh, no!" and "They're grumbling again?!"  I would always smile and ask them, "Sound like anybody you know?"  

It doesn't take much to cause us to complain. Slow traffic, stormy weather, delayed flight, burnt toast, long line at Starbucks are all minor nuisances that can cause us to swiftly and easily grumble to the point our whole day seems to be ruined.  Grumbling breeds negativity.

I'm Grumbler #1.  I've become more of one recently because things haven't been going my way and I think I'm entitled to gripe.  Unfortunate key phrases there are "MY way" and "entitled."  No wonder I've been grumbling.  

One way I've tried to help my students to keep from grumbling is by using two different colored beans and a couple of jars.  I've labeled one (smaller) jar "Grumbling" and the other (larger) jar "Thanksgiving."  The black beans represent every time someone grumbled.  The white bean represent every time someone gave thanks.  

I would encourage my students to feel free to put a white bean in for each thing they were genuinely thankful for.  There was no limit of how many beans they put in.  Likewise, they were told to put in a black bean every time they heard a complaint or they themselves complained.  The purpose was to make them more aware of when they grumbled, to be more intentional on giving thanks, and to be more motivated to give more thanks.  Interestingly, one hundred percent of the time, the class as a whole would want the thanksgiving jar to be full.  I even had to go out and buy more beans one year because of all the thanksgivings!

Every year I put out these jars, it is amazing to experience how quickly the atmosphere changes and how quickly students become aware of what is coming out of their mouths.  Likewise, how quickly things would change for me if I gave more thanks.  God's way, not "my way," graciously gives me a reason to always be thankful.  May we all intentionally praise God and give thanks so that He doesn't have cause to say, "Oh, no! They're grumbling again!"

"Praise the Lord!  

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!

His faithful love endures forever."

~Psalm 106:1

WorshipFULLWednesday...Great Is Our God by Young Oceans

Hallelujah!
It's a good thing to sing praise to our God;
praise is beautiful, praise is fitting.
God's the one who rebuilds Jerusalem,
who regathers Israel's scattered exiles.
He heals the heartbroken
and bandages their wounds.
He counts the stars
and assigns each a name.
Our Lord is great, with limitless strength;
we'll never comprehend what he knows and does.
God puts the fallen on their feet again 
and pushes the wicked into the ditch.
~Psalm 147:1-6 MSG

Great is our God and most worthy of praise.  Worship Him with a thankful heart today.  Thank Him for the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful.  His love is abundant and His mercy is endless.  Great is our God.

Weekend Projects...Clearance to Priceless

"The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The Lord is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made."
~Psalm 145:8-9

I am a sucker for clearance racks/shelves.  I'm drawn to them like a cat to a can of tuna.  I don't just love a good deal.  I love finding something that looks a little ugly, a little banged-up, a little like a misfit and re-purposing it into something else...hopefully, better than before it was ever on clearance.

I recently visited a Marshall's Homegoods store and found this canvas art on clearance.  As much as I like owls, I wouldn't have ever EVER purchased this piece, but for $3.50, I snatched up this full-of-potential canvas art before it flew off the shelf into someone else's hands.  After a couple of hours of creating with some acrylic paint, mod podge and Bible pages, vintage lace, fabric flowers, and costume jewelry earrings, I had a new piece of art that I would definitely hang on my wall.  Goodbye owl; hello tree.

I think God sees us in the same way as I saw this owl--full of potential and better than the current condition of sitting on a clearance shelf.  He sees us as something He would want to hang on His walls.  He sees us a work of art needing the vision and touch of the Master Artist.  Ephesians 2:10 says we are His masterpiece--His workmanship--created to do good works.

Are you still sitting on a shelf not seeing your worth?  I know I have been.  Thank God for His Spirit of Truth!  We are more than this!  We are valuable, priceless masterpieces who Jesus died for in order to show us how worthy we are to Him!

Let's get off the shelves and into our Father's hands.  Let's allow our Heavenly Creator, design us with His love so that we look more like who He sees us to be. Then, let's hang proudly in His gallery, be displayed in His splendor, and know we were bought with a price (1Cor. 7:23)--one that keeps us in the gallery and never to be sold no matter who comes along to bid.  You are a work of art.  You are treasured.  You are valued.  You are more than what you may see now.  You are loved.  You are adored.  You are God's masterpiece.

SaturdayMorningMeDiTaTioNs...Be Still

Prayer Box

"Be still and know that I am God!"

~Psalm 46:10a

Today...Saturday.  The day between the crucifixion and the resurrection.  The day often forgotten because of the Friday and the Sunday surrounding it. The day to contemplate the yesterday and to wait expectantly for the tomorrow.  The day to be still and know that the great I AM has done a great feat.

Take time today to be still.  Take time today to pray.  Take time on this Saturday between Good Friday and Easter to know God, for this is the day Jesus endured death and waited for the victory of His resurrection.  This is the day His love deepened for you and me.  May you feel the very depth of His heart today...and always.