Soul Breathing…

     Rush, hurry, flurry – fast paced activity is all the world seems to know anymore. We’ve rushed through another year and now stretches before us an unwritten 361 days.

Where, when – is there room for our soul to breathe? The pace of life isn’t going to slow for us, but will we slow enough to know true life? “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1John 5:11-12 NIV)

When I was about eight we had a neighbor who had a special needs daughter. She spoke truth more clearly than any of the rest of us. One day our mothers were trying to get us out the door and to wherever it was we were going. I can still hear little Ellen saying ‘Hurry, hurry – we must hurry, we always have to hurry.’ That is how it seems, on to the next thing and the next…

So, we will have to be purposeful to find at least 361 times where we just slow down for a moment and take in Life, the Son of God, our very life. God knows all about our hurry, all about how brief our lives here are: “Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow.” (Psalm 144:4 NIV) But he also tells us “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.” (Psalm 150:6 NIV)

The next 361 days will likely hold many challenges, many fearful times, many hard times – it will also likely hold times of smiling, times of growing, and times to be thankful for. It will be in the moments where we allow our soul to breathe that we will find our life. Our year may be marked by loss or plenty, but our soul will be marked with His peace. Days ahead may be marked with dread or anticipation, but our soul will be marked with His joy.

Praying together “May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14 NIV) we will Live Braver through our days…

If you stopped by because you read my devotion today over at Encouragement Cafe, WELCOME!   So glad you are here!​​

 

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Open Here…

     We mark time with years and moments. Someday time will no longer be relevant, but here and now it’s how we make new beginnings – a New Year…

I’m not much of a goal setter and I’m pretty certain if I was I would disappoint myself regularly. But I do have aspirations, do desire to see change and growth, to feel the difference that purpose makes.

God had a purpose for putting His Word in writing – that we may have all we need for life and godliness. He had a purpose in sending His Son to die for us, that we can be cleansed from all unrighteousness and have eternal life. And He has a purpose for each and every one of our lives “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me” (Psalm 138:8 NIV)

Our part is to be prepared so we are useful for Him to fulfill His purpose through us. That’s where His Word comes in, as He speaks to our heart ‘Open here’. Randomly opening our Bible and reading where our finger lands is not what God has in mind. Do we pick up books, reports, spread sheets, whatever it is we regularly read and just let our finger tell us where to start? What if we approached reading the very Word of God with the same purpose we do in reading instructions, emails from our boss, or a novel?

Open here: where a devotional directs us, where a Bible study leads us, where we hear at a sermon on a Sunday. Open here: to a passage we feel drawn to asking His Holy Spirit to teach us. Open here: breathing it in like a fresh bag of coffee, lingering over it like a decadent dessert.

“All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you.” (Psalm 38: 9 NIV) Every sigh is heard, every longing known by our Maker. Nothing is hidden nor does He hide His purposes. He longs for us to daily live on purpose so we can know His heart.

A beautiful song – Come to Me – by Bethel Music is a sweet reminder to take with us as we venture brave into the New Year:

I am the Lord your God,
I go before you now.
I stand beside you
I’m all around you
And though you feel I’m far away
I’m closer than your breath
I am with you
More than you know

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8GOII4PrrA (Come To Me YouTube Link)

 

Brave New Year…

     How to live courage for 2015? How to fear…less for a whole year?

Funny, just when we think everything is coming together – we cause it to all fall apart, and we wonder… why?

With God’s help we will spend a year together searching out His promises, His grace, His truth, His courage for our fear. It is true we cannot live brave without Him to guide the way…

“For this God is our God for ever and ever, He will be our guide even to the end.” (Psalm 48:14 NIV italics mine)

Somehow, for me, maybe you too, it is courage to let Someone else lead, guide. Then when change comes along as it always does, when things aren’t done the way they always have been, when today doesn’t look like we planned, we can just……follow…

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus.” (Romans 15:5 NIV italics mine)

In two short days it will be a New Year, will we live brave because He guides and we follow? When we take the lead asking Him to follow and to be near, what are we really saying? ‘I’ve got this, let You know if I need help…’  Think it’s time to say instead ‘I can’t, You can. Light the way, guide me, with faltering footsteps at times, I will follow.’

A Brave New Year doesn’t look like ‘goals’ or ‘prosperity’ or ‘health’ or whatever the world says. It looks like a ‘person’ – the lover of your soul, Jesus your source of all courage… Happy Brave New Year!