"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointedme to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me tobind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedomfor the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaimthe year of the LORD's favorand the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."~fromISAIAH 61 Bible verse for this Blog
APOLOGY to READERS who followed a SEARCH to HERE & didn't find it
On July 18, 2017, I drafted almost 3000 blog posts that I had published since 2008 when I began blogging, rather than edit each one. So if you clicked here from somewhere else and ended up with the post unavailable or error, I am sorry but this is why. It'd be too much work for me to go back and fix them. There's an explanation on7/19/17as I'm still learning.
I was hesitant in my DIRECTION with moving ahead in the
Blue Book
{as I indicatedon my last blog post towards the end of it}
However, we continued with our One Word focus with the 4 word phrase:
SOIL of your SOUL
this metaphor is used to describe the
"spiritual health and potential growth within a person"
SOIL often is used spiritually to represent
the human heart or SOUL, and the human condition
JESUS
gives us an illustration of 4 different types of soils in His
"Parable of The Sower"
in Mark 4
[which we spent 3 days this week reading]
So, this is the week in review ... kinda
... SOILS: the path where birds eat up the seed; rocky ground where there isn't much soil for the seeds to put down roots; thorny patches where the cares of the world choke out the seeds; and the good soil that brings forth a harvest ...
In the Parable of the Sower, the "good soil" signifies a receptive heart,
while the other "SOILS" represent different levels of spiritual readiness.
For most of us, we have understood these different levels and the impact of
external influences: like birds or thorns, rocks & weeds that hinder our growth
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:16-20
And the connection this has with one of my 2025 One Words: ABIDE
"... Like a vine connected to roots, Jesus is our direct connection to God. He clarifies that because He is in the Father, good things will grow as we abide in Him. He explained in John 14:11, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me,” and then in John 15:4, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” "
Nurturing our SOULS and tending to other's SOULS calls for:
Preparation (tilling & fertilizing) with daily practices of
prayer, reflection & seeking guidance
Cultivation (similar to tending to a garden) our spirit needs the
nurturing of positive qualities & developing virtues as we
actively engage in spiritual disciplines & practices
and our
Responsibility to keep tending to the SOIL of our SOULS ensuring
it remains fertile and capable of growth,
mindful of our thoughts & actions,
actively choosing to cultivate positive habits & qualities
{excuse me for being judgmental, but looking at the condition of our nation, our world;
WE have not been tending very well to the garden of many SOULS; in my opinion,
many seeds have fallen in "thorny patches", "rocky paths" and apparently
"the birds" have been gathering much of the good seed & robbing the
SOIL of growing a good harvest, because there is far too much
negativity and cruelty - and I daily see many "weeds"
crowding out life and fruit of the Spirit in our
SOULS}
🙏
Each day of the week
" Father,
Allow the soil of my soul to be a place that is fertile and receptive to all that You desire to plant in my heart. Tend it carefully and nurture all that has sprung up in me that is of You; {and please weed out what should not be there} that I may be a garden of Your delight. Through Jesus. Amen"(JLB)
{my insert between the brackets,
but it's taken care of in this next one}
... "Grow Your good grace in me, O God.Make me receptive to the ways that You water and tend this garden of my heart.Prune me where I need pruning, nurture me where I need nurturing, weed me where I need weeding, and care for me tenderly where I need Your tender care.I love You, O Gardner of my soul.In the tenderness of Jesus.Amen. (JLB) 2014
Weekly Scripture Readings (p.274)
Monday Mark 4:1-20; Tuesday Mark 4:26-29; Wednesday Mark 4:30-32; Thursday Matthew 13:24-30; Friday John 12:20-28; Saturday Isaiah 5:1-7; Sunday 1 Corinthians 3:1-9
My God and Father, Lord of the dance, allow me to see this day and this moment for what it really is—an invitation to dance the dance of life and faith with the One who made me. May I dance this day with joy and passion, knowing that there will never be another one just like it. In the name of Jesus I Pray. Amen.(JLB)
Lord God, draw me out on the dance floor of life this day and fill my ears and heart with the beautiful music of Your great affection. Give me such an awareness of your presence that my feet just can’t be still. Dance with me as I dance with you. Amen. (JLB)
This DANCE is dedicated as
a Tribute to 2 earthly souls & their Happy Anniversary
ANYHOW
💚💚
after, of course, first to
their LORD, and Savior, Jesus Christ
and ours
[I asked earlier in the week, if they had a SONG or DANCE but I was informed that they didn't]
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I only wish that any one of these DANCERS were "yours truly"
"Trust is the foundation of any strong relationship, and in The Dance of Trust, you’ll learn how to strengthen it step by step. This workshop focuses on creating safety, openness, and reliability in your partnership, helping you build a connection rooted in mutual confidence."
"TRUST is a crucial element in DANCE partnerships {skating or any, for it to work} as it enables smooth and connected movement. It's a reciprocal process where the leaders must TRUST their partner to follow and the follower must TRUST the leader's guidance." ...
I hope you can see the same spiritual correlation that I see in the above.
"... Building TRUST in DANCE requires practice, communication and a shared understanding of roles and responsibilities."
I discovered an acronym for the 5 Principles of DANCE
"In essence, TRUST in DANCE creates a framework where physical and emotional boundaries are respected, communication flows freely (both verbally and non-verbally), and dancers feel empowered to explore, create, and perform
with confidence and authenticity."
Whether you agreed with me or you decided to as you read my "proof" that "Yes, TRUST and DANCE" relate, connect and are deeply intertwined and hold spiritual significance as well as lifetime lessons as you work on the process. DANCE became a beautiful & wonderful expression of my love & TRUST in the 90s and though my body has aged, the rest of me still senses much through DANCE and as you can see throughout this blog, a high interest & value to me, even if I can't leap or spin or move quite the same - there is always the aMazing GRACE from God! 💙
Through this week in our focus on "the DANCE", I'm sure we will see through Scripture and Readings that God is very much in tune with the movement & involvement of DANCE and building TRUST. {Perhaps "Stance on Dance" may further your interest or any of the links in this blog post to be convinced the important connection between God, TRUST & DANCE! 😉
October 2012[this one has different Scripture readings thanon some]
{*since this was no longer available, switching to another one}
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Praying this as I listen for all of us!
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One of the Readings for Reflection
"When he awoke, the song was there. Its melody beckoned and begged him to sing it. It hung upon the wind and settled in the meadows where he walked. He knew its lovely words and could have sung it all, but feared to sing a song whose harmony was far too perfect for human ear to understand. And still at midnight it stirred him to awareness, and with its haunting melody it drew him with a curious mystery to stand before an open window. In rhapsody it played among the stars. It rippled through Andromeda and deepened Vega’s hues. It swirled in heavy strains from galaxy to galaxy and gave him back his very fingerprint. “Sing the Song!” the heavens seemed to cry. “We never could have been without the melody that you alone can sing.” (The Singer by Calvin Miller)"
"... Everything in all of creation, O Lord, is a unique song of yours. And when we sing our song—that song that is buried deeply within each of us—we are indeed being who we were made to be. We are in harmony (shalom) with the voice of our Maker. Help us to sing our song (Your song) clearly and fully this day. In the name of Jesus. Amen. (JLBranch)
!
