Memories of This Life Woven Through God's Word

I read Psalm 18 this morning and when I got to verse 29 ,"with my God I can scale a wall." , my reading became a trip down memory lane… taking me back to a moment over a decade ago. Working with a friend, leading her teams through a redesign of their work, we were planning the devotion to start the session and were suddenly trying to find that verse. Today, we have countless and fast resources to do that. In the year 2000, we couldn't find it in the concordance in our portable Bibles. We looked and looked, racked our brains, asked the team… honestly don't remember if we ever found it that day… and yet, every time I read that verse, I think of that moment and my friend.

In Philippians 1:3, Paul shares, "I thank my God every time I remember you." Whenever I read that verse, I am reminded of my faithful friend who led me to Christ.

Sometimes, the words of songs appear in Scripture, and I can hear the music… sometimes, it's a passage that God brought to me in an hour of need or celebration...isn't it cool how God's Word is here, for us, in real time for all time?

Let's reflect this week on those Scriptural threads God has woven through our lives, all the moments and people He's connected us to through His Word… and let's keep weaving!

Psalm 29:4                                                                                                                                                               The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.

Psalm 18:29, Philippians 1:3

Leaning In... To Eternity

Leaning in. All the snowstorms this winter have reminded me of how we bundle up and "lean in" to our walking companions when "the weather outside is frightful"...bolting through the wind and cold to the car or to the fire.

In everyday life, our walking companion is the God of the universe, and we can lean in to all He is at any point along the way.

When the wind is howling doubts my way... When my forward progress is stalled... When I think I'm going it alone...

The arm that comes around my shoulder is big enough to span the expanse of heaven. A friend who loves me more than those howling doubts, is moving me forward in His time, for His purpose, and promises never to leave me, ever.

Wherever we are this week, let's lean in...

Matthew 28:20 (MSG) Jesus, in His own words...

...I'll be with you as you do this, day after day, right up to the end of the age.

Starlight Through Our Storms

This morning, it rained for a few hours and when it was finished, the screen over the pool was holding raindrops. Just minutes later, the sun burst forth and illuminated the bigger drops- suddenly they looked like hundreds of stars! Seeing God when my personal storms are raging can be anywhere from difficult to impossible depending on where I am in life.  As I was  reflecting on those raindrops, they were being reflected onto the calm, blue surface of the pool where they twinkled even brighter.

In the midst of the rain, sunlight transformed those raindrops into bright shining, twinkling stars… a real time and very personal reminder that our very personal God is ever present and will break into our storms in and through the rain.

Sometimes through sunlight, sometimes through starlight, God is here with us…to separate the light from the darkness… our eternal comforter and ever present companion through the storm.

Whatever the storm is today, share it with God and give it to Him.

Ask God to bring His light into the storm.

As the week unfolds, let's walk knowing that the light He sends us will break through our storms, so that we can reflect it to those around us…

" I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."   John 8:12