Write the Vision Down. It Will Happen!

(1) While standing guard on the watchtower, I waited for the LORD's answer, before explaining the reason for my complaint. (2) Then the LORD told me: "I will give you my message in the form of a vision. Write it clearly enough to be read at a glance. (3) At the time I have decided, my words will come true. You can trust what I say about the future. It may take a long time, but keep on waiting-- it will happen!
-- Habakkuk 2:1-3 (CEV)

By Faith! In Faith! (Hebrews 11)
Grateful

Learn to Fly. Release the Reigns.

The words of this Crystal Lewis song titled "Learn to Fly" are pure poetry to the soul.

Sometimes I sit wondering
I wonder what the future brings
I wonder what tomorrow means
I've thoughts of fear, they frighten me
About days ahead that I can't see
I want to know with certainty
So I'm faced with a choice
A fork in the road
I can raise my voice in protest
Or surrender and let go

(Chorus)
And learn to fly
Learn to soar
Above the doubts around my door
Learn to see
Learn to try
Learn to trust
Let go and fly

Life isn't always fair it seems
At times I feel cheated out of my dreams
Where I am isn't where I planned to be
My plans are changed without my consent
To come this way wasn't my intent
The road I face isn't the one I meant to take
So I'm faced with a choice
A fork in the road
I can raise my voice in protest
Or surrender and let go

(Bridge)
I look beyond the boundaries of my expectations
There is so much more to life than what it seems
The past is preparation for the future
I release the reigns I've held and let you lead

Click here: - Crystal Lewis - Learn to Fly

Oh, that I had wings like a dove;
then I would fly away and rest!
-- Psalm 55:6 (NLT)

By Faith! In Faith! (Hebrews 11)
Grateful

Wishes or Hopes?

Lord, empty me of my wishes for the future and fill me with Your hopes. I have come to believe that my human wishes are too often founded on my human fears, while Your holy hopes rest firmly on the foundation of Your holy promises.

By Faith. In Faith. (Hebrews 11)
Grateful

Jeremiah 33:3

This morning I awoke with a Bible reference on my mind as strong as any impression I've ever had. A life-verse for one of my pastoral leadership mentors, Dr. Charles Thompson, God's Wonder-filled words of expectation are recorded in Jeremiah 33:3 (NKJV):

Call to Me, and I will answer you,
and show you great and mighty things,
which you do not know.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Take Time to Remember & To Be Revived

I have learned one thing for sure in my forty-nine years: Unless we take to time to remember where we came from, we won't know where we're going, and we won't know who we are when we get there.

As I remember these words today, I am in a season of soul-sabbatical. Being the son of an Atlantic Coast fisherman, I have purposely planned seasons within my sabbatical season to return to and from my sandy-and-salty roots. Yes, indeed. If you were to take a look at my sabbatical calendar you would notice immediately that the skeleton of my schedule is actually held together by numerous back-and-forth journeys to and from the Atlantic Ocean. I just returned from a three-day season there. The first three days of my sabbatical were spent alongside the East Coast seashore. During this time, I wrote words akin to these in my daily journaling:

I never feel more alive than when I am standing alongside The Graveyard of the Atlantic. It is here that I remember where I came from and seemingly the location from which my Lord has so often sent me back to my present calling having been revived for the future.

I covet your prayers as I have been given this sacred season by my Faithful God and His generous local church -- a time-out-time-frame to be remembering and to be revived. Please pray for me along these three lines:

(1) That I will wholly recover from the past.
(2) That I will wholeheartedly celebrate in the present.
(3) That I will holy envision for the future.

And all In the Name of Jesus, of course.

This passage from Lamentations 3:17-26 (NLT) somehow contains the mystery of what I am trying to communicate when I say: Take time to remember and to be revived:

(17) Peace has been stripped away, and I have forgotten what prosperity is. (18) I cry out, "My splendor is gone! Everything I had hoped for from the LORD is lost!" (19) The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. (20) I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. (21) Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: (22) The unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By His mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. (23) Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each day. (24) I say to myself, "The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in Him!" (25) The LORD is wonderfully good to those who wait for Him and seek him. (26) So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Devotion Dilemma

We have (during these too-busy days that we "live" in) what I call, a devotion dilemma. Yes, sadly, it seems that people these days have little or no time at all for praying. However, if we are to ever learn to pray, it will take time and plenty of it. If we are to ever know God in ever-increasing intimacy it will require seasons of prayer in His presence, not just seconds of prayer as we wrecklessly race into the future. Let us take time immediately for intimacy with Immanuel or time will take us ultimately from His presence for eternity.

Lord, teach us TO pray... -- Luke 11:1 (NIV)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

We Can't Even Imagine

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared for those who love Him."
-- 1 Corinthians 2:9 (NLT)

My Loving Lord, Your Word is my mind's inspiration for the present, flooding my soul with anticipation for the future. Yes, even now, Heaven comes down and glory fills my soul. I can't even begin to imagine Your wonderful works underway for those who love You, so I quite simply but very sincerely give thanks in Your matchless name, my Jesus. Amen.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

I'll Breathe Again

Let us never forget these seven powerful words spoken by our Lord Jesus. Yes, the memory of just seven words frightened The Son of God's accusers soon after He breathed His last breath on the Cross. However, the same seven words (now fulfilled prophecy) serve to chase fear from the lives of those of us who cherish Him:

After three days I will be raised.
-- Matthew 27:62 (The Message)

My three-word paraphrase of those seven powerful words is:
I'll breathe again!

Yes! Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives all fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future.
And life is worth the living just because He lives!
--- Lyrics by Bill & Gloria Gaither

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

My Present And Future Fervent Prayer

I have a present and future fervent prayer. From the depths of my being, I fervently plead: No more missed opportunities, Lord, I pray.

I am leaning on these New Testament words: The earnest prayer of a righteous man has great power and wonderful results. -- James 5:16 (NLT)

I don't want these Old Testament words becoming reality in my lifetime: The harvest is finished; the summer is over, and we are not saved. -- Jeremiah 8:20 (NLT)

God forbid! Yes, I fervently plead and repeat over-and-over: No more missed opportunities, Lord, I pray.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

"Help My Unbelief!"

It was just before midnight. Because of snowy roads, I was driving my 22-year-old son to his night shift at the local radio station in my four-wheel-drive. We had a sacred and soul-searching talk about the Lord as we rode. Just before I dropped him off, and in light of our conversation about faith, my son asked: Dad, why do we tend to struggle trusting God concerning the future when He's always been so faithful in the past?

Mark 9:24 (NKJV) -- Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"

This is my prayer and desire for me and my family, Lord:

For Your present and future favor, we ask!
In Your past and present faithfulness, we bask!

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Our 2010 is Waiting in His Wings

This morning it occurred to me that 2010, yes a new year, is waiting in the wings just before me. I am so glad that my Lord has already been into my future. What comfort and assurance that reality is to my soul. In actuality, our new year is waiting in His wings. Makes my heart sing triumphantly The Hallelujah Chorus!

Let's allow these words of Jesus recorded in Revelation 1:8 to be our strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow: I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end, says the Lord God. I am the One Who is, Who always was, and Who is still to come, the Almighty One. (NLT)

ALL... JOY TO YOUR WORLD!
Grateful

A Blessing of LIGHT for Your Life

From Ephesians 1:18 (NLT), this is my blessing of LIGHT for your life, by day and by night:

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with LIGHT so that you can understand the wonderful future He has promised to those He called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance He has given to his people.

Yes, I pray that the wonder-filled wattage of the One called Wonderful, Jesus, will LIGHT up your life, by day and by night. AMEN.

ALL JOY!
Grateful