Selah

(photo from beachhealthretreat.com)

There’s always so much more going on than just your thoughts. Your body is busy at being alive; your blood is always coursing through your veins, your nerves are continuously sending signals to your brain and a countless array of processes we don’t even have to contemplate to keep in motion. I’m quite certain I have no idea what my body is accomplishing at any given moment, merely to keep me functioning. And I’m just as certain that it would take few book volumes to describe the miraculous workings of the human body, so I won’t attempt to list them here in a short blog post.

In addition to everything that’s going on inside your body, the overwhelming activity that’s going on outside your body, even on a quiet sunny day while relaxing in the grass, is more than impressive. Every living thing around us is growing, and dying. Vibrations that cause sound and light waves are being generated, with or without our help. Whether we’re awake or sleeping, in a euphoric state or catatonic, happy as a lark or in the pits of despair – life goes on around us.

So, how is it we let ourselves get so wrapped up in our thoughts?

Yes, our thoughts can become words and our words have power, creative power.

We generally give our thoughts and our words the authority to run or to ruin our lives.

But, if we allow ourselves to stop our racing thoughts from becoming an avalanche, cascading down around us, and take a moment to simply marvel and wonder at everything else there is besides those thoughts – ahhh, what an incredible feeling. It’s a rush! Honestly, for me, it’s even more invigorating that thinking! And if you think I talk a lot (which I do), you should see the whirlwind of thoughts going on in this brain at any given moment.

There’s a word in the Bible that can mean to pause and consider; the Hebrew word for Selah. Hebrew words always mean more than our watered-down English versions, and are associated with pictures.

In the preceding paragraphs I’ve described my word-picture for Selah; that open-hearted moment when you simply stop what you’re doing, stop what you’re thinking and just “be”, experiencing what’s going on within you, as well as what’s going on around you. I encourage you to try it, today; right now, if you’ll allow yourself the time.

You’ll rest.

You’re marvel.

You’ll grow.

Your light will glow more brightly.

Your world will become endless.

“Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.” ~ Psalm 4:4 (KJV)

Marvelous Light

The stained glass windows were beautiful. The statues held me spellbound, wondering if they could really see me whisper with my sister in the choir loft. I sang loudly because I could. The man regally dressed in robes down front seldom smiled. He looked to languish through his routine, from memory. I’ll bet he could do it in his sleep.

And Jesus, the ultimate martyr, though I knew He’d risen from the dead, perpetually hung on the cross, agonizing over every little thing I did wrong.

The scene vividly comes to life in my memories as though I was fidgeting there now. As far as memory serves, this is where it all began. Though I know now that God was loving me, wooing me and calling me since before I was born, my mind doesn’t take me that far back.

I’m no longer surrounded by the colors that fall from the brilliant, stained glass windows that filled the room with a demand for respect of the authority represented therein. I miss the reverence; the aura of holiness. But today my understanding of the power of God lifts me up higher than where I sat in that choir loft. My childlike innocence faded away with my youth and I’ve learned many lies over the decades. But with Jesus renewing my life and as I renew my mind through His Word, innocence is not a thing of the past, but a new thing every morning, should I choose to embrace it.

Some mornings we wake up with a cloud over our heads. Who brought the cloud of discouragement? Who brought the empty, weary thoughts of meaninglessness? Does it matter? Sometimes they’re just there.

In the tabernacle of my mind, where God reveals Himself to me in new facets all the time, there are stained glass windows; there is an air of holiness; there is excitement and reverence and power and joy waiting for me. I miss out on all of that when I relinquish my right to go there. This is my place. This is my piece of heaven on earth.

The same foe that brings sorrows and emptiness brandishes his lies to keep me from fellowship with the God of the universe.

All I need to do is push past him. His authority is only that which I give him. Sometimes I give him a lot as I sulk.

With me, push past the gray into brilliance; push past the darkness to into God’s glorious, marvelous Light.

“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;” 1 Peter 2:9 (KJV)

Image courtesy of stocksphotosforfree.com

The Key to the Kingdom Part 5

That night the door to the kingdom opened for me. Oddly, I didn’t just run right in.

But I got a glimpse of God’s kingdom, simply by peeking through the door. A hunger and a thirst began to stir within me in the following days, weeks and months. But don’t think that the enemy just rolled his eyes and gave up. He wasn’t going to let me go without a fight. But the battle wasn’t mine to fight alone. Jesus fought for me and with me. For God’s sake, He’d died for me, He wasn’t going to just let go of me now!

Life didn’t become perfect overnight. I was at a crossroad. What we see when we look at an iceberg is merely the tip of it, have you ever seen a photograph of the HUGE part that’s still under the water? What I experienced that night was just a tiny peek at God. It was all I could handle at the moment. I had no idea what else God had in store for me.

When you’re wandering around in the dark, you can hurt yourself a lot, bumping into all sorts of things you don’t know are there, and missing all the good things you can’t see. Though I had no clue, my look into ‘the Book’ was me allowing God to turn the light on for me so I could see. I tiptoed eagerly into the unknown.

But as if I hadn’t been feeling alone enough, behind the closed curtains of our home, trapped there with three very small children, miles from any other family; my military husband got four year orders to another country. Within months, we were in England, not able to afford a trip home to visit the whole time we were there....

More to come......

The Key to the Kingdom Part 1

The Key to the Kingdom

Imagine the look on Cinderella’s face as she entered into the palace that very first time. Greater still, imagine the excitement in her heart as she married the prince and became part of the kingdom! Okay, so maybe her eyes weren’t exactly on the kingdom at that time, they were totally centered on her prince, her bridegroom.

When I first opened my heart to Jesus, I became a part of His kingdom. But my eyes were totally on Him. I keep my eyes on Him, now, but I realize in part, the tremendous impact of being His bride. I’ve not only entered this phenomenal kingdom, I am part of it!

As a child, I was surrounded with the cloak of religion. The churches I attended were beautiful, the atmosphere was reverent. The rules were many, and the spirit was binding. I learned many ‘facts’ -some even proved to be true. For example, Jesus was born to a virgin and laid in a manger. Jesus was crucified, taking the sin of the world upon Himself. While He walked on earth, He had disciples, He performed miracles, He taught the people who would hear Him. I learned about God’s unsurpassable power. He created the universe, our world and all that it contains. He is to be loved and feared, because He is in control.

As a young adult, I discovered the bottom line of truth. God loves me! That is the golden key to the kingdom. That key was within my grasp all along, but it was hidden from me. God didn’t hide it. God’s enemy hid it. But God did everything in His unsurpassable power to show me where it was. He surrounded me with His beauty. He provided divine appointments long the way. He gave me written instructions! He called me to Himself. What gigantic weapon did the enemy hold over me to keep me from seeing God’s purposes and intents and from embracing God’s love?

To be continued…..