PRESENCE - PRESENTS
"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and 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."~from ISAIAH 61 Bible verse for this Blog
Pages
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 on 7/19/17 as I'm still learning.
Sunday, December 24, 2017
ADVENT ~ Week 4
Saturday, December 16, 2017
ADVENT ~ Week 3
PRESENCE - PRESENTS
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (ESV) |
If you've been following along with me since Advent began 3 weeks ago, you'll realize that I am not doing them in the traditional order of Hope, Peace, Joy, Love (or whatever order you are familiar with as tradition), but I am doing these to coincide with the above verse in Isaiah 9:6, so this week I am presenting:
LOVE
with
EVERLASTING FATHER
{the preposition in between those two words could be many different ones} such as:
Love of the Everlasting Father
Love from the Everlasting Father
Love to the Everlasting Father
or just
LOVE (and no word) Everlasting Father
because
He defines LOVE
HE IS LOVE
God, our everlasting Father
is
LOVE
and
LOVE
is our
... for some of us, this is contrary, or a conflict with our earthly father, who may not have represented our Everlasting Father, at all as love or loving or even fatherly and perhaps not even there, so we have no earthly comparison ... and/or he fails in comparison; then there are some of us, who have been blessed by loving, earthly fathers and it helps to understand better the love of our Everlasting Father. Truthfully, there is no reason to compare but not having that love might impair or (a)skew our perspective of Father ... and Love.
When I look at the words in Isaiah, of our Father ... I focus mostly on the 'Ever' and the 'lasting' part as the best compound adjective to precede our Heavenly Father, who loves us all beyond inexplicable measures. 'Ever' means "at any time, at all times, always, increasingly and constantly" - now that most definitely describes our Heavenly Father, who is available to us ALWAYS ... and 'lasting' (without even looking this one up) means forever ... enduring or able to endure over a long period of time - that's our God! We put those two words together and see a Father that lasts forever, which is eternity ... HE is eternal!
So we can look forward to an eternity with an enduring love and a Father that is able to love forever. Now, this is our God! and the most beautiful part of this Christmas season from this Child born to us ... Immanuel, God with us ... truly aMazing! Isn't this why this following song, we can sing and sing over and over, or it comes to us, right when we need Him or this reminder the most?
... Good Shepherd (John 10:11) ... Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14) ... Son of Man (Mark 10:45); Son of God (Matthew 2:15); Son of David (Matthew 1:1); Son of the Highest (Luke 1:32) ... Man of Sorrows (Isaiah 53:3) ... Lamb of God (John 1:29) Lamb (Revelation 13:8) |
Sunday, December 10, 2017
ADVENT ~ Week 2
PRESENCE - PRESENTS
"For a child has been born—for us! the gift of a son—for us! He’ll take over the running of the world. His names will be: Amazing Counselor, Strong God, Eternal Father, Prince of Wholeness. His ruling authority will grow, and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness He brings."... (MSG) |
JOY
{not the traditional 2nd week but I have changed the order to somewhat correspond with the Names and Attributes of Jesus as found in Isaiah 9:6}
- "He is Able to do what He promise(d)"(s)
- "He is Able to help where we need it"
..."The promises of Jesus are wonderful and they provide us hope. But those promises often seem distant. They seem sometimes unrelated to what we are going through in the present. The fact that Jesus is the Mighty God also means that He is able to help us where we need that help right now. If you don’t know where to turn . . . turn to Him. He can . . . and He will, help."... ©December 9, 2001 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche (and other parts in quotes) |
Sunday, December 3, 2017
ADVENT ~ UNWRAPPING JESUS' ...
PRESENCE - PRESENTS
the true
GIFT
is
Isaiah 9:6The Voice (VOICE)
Hope of all hopes, dream of our dreams, a child is born, sweet-breathed; a son is given to us: a living gift. And even now, with tiny features and dewy hair, He is great. The power of leadership, and the weight of authority, will rest on His shoulders. His name? His name
we’ll know in many ways—
He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Dear Father everlasting,ever-present never-failing, Master of Wholeness,Prince of Peace. |
JESUS
"Ponder on how you might need to see Jesus
revealed as
Wonderful Counselor? "
|
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
"IN THE MIDDLE of the MESS ...
is not just Sheila Walsh's story
but it's ours!
Sheila concludes her book
with this truth:
"No matter your circumstances ... You have a story, and that story has its own peculiar mess. You can confess that story to Christ and let go. You can let Him start a work of healing, even now, right in the middle of your mess. ... Together, we find strength for this beautiful, broken life." ... "I believe one of the greatest miracles of all is ..." Sheila Walsh, "In the Middle..." {you'll have to read her book to find out} |
... however, Sheila weaves her story unwaveringly once again (for some of us who are familiar with Sheila, or to capsulize it for those new to her life story) with complete vulnerability throughout each of the 12 chapters with added recent updates in her life as well, that has brought her through a deep journey of (with) 'brokenness' that we can relate to in our own lives and 'messes'. Sheila has a personal style of writing and speaking that gently and compassionately touches our soul with hers while teaching us spiritual (biblical) ways that we too can apply and use to equip ourselves to connect with God and overcome our own struggles in life better through confession, community to share with closely, Scripture meditation (contemplation) and daily connection with Jesus in honest prayer (communication with Our Father).
Midway through her book "In the Middle of the Mess", I discovered her first session of the DVDs that accompany her Study guide and this book, so I just had to order the Study Guide also. Although each chapter in the book ends with "Reflection", the Study Guide does so much more, breaking down the 12 chapters into 6 sessions of Brokenness (that was most helpful to me and well worth getting, but this is not a review of the Study Guide). Yet for me, it's a total package! The videos are so well done!
I couldn't agree more with so many points that Sheila brings forth, chapter after chapter becoming my new favorite, until I was stopped dead-on with the following truth I read right before the middle of this book ... and then every line kept pouring into my own brokenness with more and more freeing, healing truth and deliverance.
"So many coping mechanisms, avoidance techniques, and lies. They kept me blind to where Christ was in the middle of my mess ... But this is the beauty:sometimes even when we try to avoid the truth, God uses the smallest hands to invite us into the safety of deliverance." |
There were moments of tears and moments of sheer delight as I continued reading through Sheila's words, Sheila's story and saw mine (though we hardly share the same past or story), each of us have gone through struggles that help us get the point being made, in such a relatable way. This is Sheila's gift to us. This is her lifeline to us (as Ann Voskamp wrote)! And it may be ours to someone else.
This book is meant for everyone, not just those who have struggled with depression or deep hurts and messy lives ... it's meant for the weak and the strong to come alongside another human being waiting in the shadows, feeling isolated and alone, in need of a listening ear, a helping hand, an understanding, brave heart, willing to meet one another "in the middle" and find strength to overcome and go forward, changing lives for the better. Highly recommended read, church study, and for personal individual growth. I have much more to say but you'd be better off just getting a copy for yourself. Reading this book has given me a new found strength with God to deal with my brokenness and spiritual practices to put into use in my messes, and I know I will be rereading and turning back to this as a study again.
This book is meant for everyone, not just those who have struggled with depression or deep hurts and messy lives ... it's meant for the weak and the strong to come alongside another human being waiting in the shadows, feeling isolated and alone, in need of a listening ear, a helping hand, an understanding, brave heart, willing to meet one another "in the middle" and find strength to overcome and go forward, changing lives for the better. Highly recommended read, church study, and for personal individual growth. I have much more to say but you'd be better off just getting a copy for yourself. Reading this book has given me a new found strength with God to deal with my brokenness and spiritual practices to put into use in my messes, and I know I will be rereading and turning back to this as a study again.
[After viewing Session One at Faith Gateway of the Study Guide for this book, I had to take a longer pause and view all 6 sessions available at Study Gateway because I couldn't wait. The DVDs that accompany this book and study are exceptional and so beautifully done! Sheila Walsh adds such compassion and understanding to her beautiful vulnerability of her own story used as a lifeline to help others facing overwhelming struggles with a new hope in allowing God into our dark places and hurts honestly.]
Book Description
"How do you turn your struggles into strengths? Beloved Bible teacher Sheila Walsh teaches readers how the daily spiritual practices of confession, meditation on God’s Word, and prayer result in fresh freedom in Christ. In her long-awaited new book, Sheila Walsh equips women with a practical method for connecting with God’s strength in the midst of struggle. From daily frustrations that can feel like overwhelming obstacles to hard challenges that turn into rock-bottom crises, women will find the means to equip themselves for standing strong with God. Using the spiritual applications of confession, prayer, and meditation on Scripture to form a daily connection to Jesus, women will learn how to experience new joy as a child of God who is fully known, fully loved, and fully accepted. In the Middle of the Mess, Walsh reveals the hardened defenses that kept her from allowing God into her deepest hurts and shares how entering into a safe place with God and practicing this daily connection with Him have saved her from the devil’s prowling attacks. Though we will never be completely “fixed” on earth, we are continually held by Jesus, whatever our circumstances." Thomas Nelson |
Disclosure: I received this book free from Handlebar in return for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTCommission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 |
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