Be Still and Know...

"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted (honored-NLT) by every nation.

I will be exalted throughout the world." Psalm 46:10

Sometimes I have a hard time sitting still, let alone being still… and yet, when we are still before God, He meets us in the quiet. Learning more about this discipline of silence began with expressions of gratitude. I found the big "love you, God" ones easier that the "thank you God, for these adversities" ones. However, over time, as I prayed through them, they shifted my view of our Sovereign, on the throne every day God, to a new place.

The next step was the silence part. It was no surprise that quieting the mind and really "listening" for God was a little more challenging. So it started with honesty, "God I'm listening and going to focus on hearing only You in these next few minutes…" and in that time, God showed up and overwhelmed me with the sense of how much He loves me. Who among us doesn't need more of that?

Richard Foster, in "Celebration of Discipline", says "God always meets us where we are and slowly moves us into deeper things". Wherever we are this week as we walk out our journeys, let's be still with our God and let Him move us slowly into deeper things...

… if our God is for us, who can ever be against us? Romans 8:31

Keeping Our Eyes On Jesus

Earlier this week, I was looking out over a small lake. On the other side of the lake, a pair of street lights were illuminating a walking path. They were not very tall, and yet, they cast some big reflections across the water. As I took in those reflections, the light seemed to dance a little and one of the lights formed the shape of a cross. When I shifted my gaze to the other light, it looked like a tornado of swirling lights. I sat there for a while and watched the lights. From time to time, the cross shaped one appeared less defined and more like Jesus walking on the water… the other one remained a tornado of swirling lights.

At several points, the tornado light went out leaving only the one looking like Jesus visible. It was amazing how much brighter the "Jesus" light looked when it was the only one on the water and how much easier it was to focus on it without the competing light.  What if we could keep that singular focus amid the swirling tornados of day to day life… a focus that allows us to gracefully run this marathon of life.

"…and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…" Hebrews 12:1-3 

Personal Messages From God

Somewhere along the way, someone introduced me to the practice of personalizing Scripture.    Wish I could tell you who that was… I cannot. What I can tell you is, grab a pen or pencil and hang on... When God puts a verse in front of me that speaks into my daily life, I write it out as it appears in our Bible. Then, I re-write it as if it were a message from God to me, personally. Sometimes it's easy, putting "me" in for "you", as in Ephesians 1:4 where personalized, it reminds me:  "For He chose me, in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight."

Sometimes, it's adding in my name, as in Philippians 4:6, where it coaches me:  "Do not be anxious about anything, Mary Ann, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, Mary Ann, present your requests to God."

A few days ago, I was out walking and worked through the Lord's Prayer, found in Matthew 6:9-15,  "My Father, who art in heaven…" could I encourage you to do that right now and throughout this week…and hang on!

                                         " 'So you will be my people, and I will be your God.' "  Jeremiah 30:22