The LORD Is In This Place!

Genesis 28:16
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it."

Are you aware of HIS Presence throughout your day?
Do you KNOW HE IS IN that place whereever you are?
Or are you like Jacob - and you awaken ... whether from sleep or from the daily grind - and suddenly become aware that HE is here?

I am currently reading the book "One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to LIVE FULLY Right Where You Are"  by Ann Voskamp. I highly recommend this book - she also has a blog which you will find at www.aholyexperience.com

It is due to her inspiration that I began to faithfully attempt to Live Life Fully! Right Now! On my 60th birthday - almost 3 years ago now - a friend gave me a beautiful journal that I began to journal my thanks in. Over the years I had done this as part of my daily journaling ... but never numerically and never a journal specifically just for thanks! What an experience this has been! Some of these I have recorded on this blog as part of "One Thousand Gifts".

This whole experience has enabled me to say - with Jacob - "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it."

Just today ... within the hour ...
# 637. RAIN - coming straight down from heaven - like a thick curtain.
# 638. the SOUND of rain - as it hits the road outside my window.

And as I read Ann's book these words of hers jump off the page and touch my heart ...
"The weight of God's glory, not illusory or ephemeral, but daily and everywhere, punctures earth's lid and heaven falls through the holes."

Oh dear ones - may heaven fall thru the holes for you today! May you see and experience HIS glory all around you!
Blessings sweet ones!
Ruthie

Psalm 42

PSALM 42:1-11

As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.

I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?

Day and night I have only tears for food,

while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, "Where is this God of yours?"

My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be:

I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the house of God,

singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sounds of a great celebration!

Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God!

I will praise him again - my Savior and my God!

Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you -

even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan, from the land of Mount Mizar.

I hear the tumult of the raging seas as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.

But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life.

"O God, my rock", I cry, "Why have you forgotten me?

Why must I wander around in grief, oppressed by my enemies?"

Their taunts break my bones. They scoff, "Where is this God of yours?"

Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?

I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again -

My Savior and my God!

Discouragement and despair come to us all - at various times - for various reasons!

BUT - HE is our Hope! He is our Rock!

If you are in a place of discouragement or depression today I pray that you will remember - as David did - that GOD IS ALL YOU NEED! Each and every day He pours HIS Love on you!

May this Scripture bring you some relief - some encouragement - some hope!

BLESSINGS!

Ruthie

"I am with you, says the Lord."

I wonder what the words of the title mean to you.
And, I wonder - do you KNOW that HE is with you!

I just had an email from a friend who stated "I can report that God was definitely with us" - as they dealt with a difficult situation...

Is He there in your difficulties?
In the dark times of your life?
What about the bright and sunny times?
In the blessings?

His WORD tells us the truth - and the truth is - HE IS WITH US!
In all HIS power, and glory, and strength, and protection, and peace, and provision, and comfort, and confidence, and safety, and authority, and compassion, and ...

Dear Ones,
I pray that you KNOW that HE IS WITH YOU!
Blessings on you!

Resting in HIM -
Ruthie

for I KNOW whom I have believed, and am persuaded that HE is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
2 Timothy 1:12

Readings: Haggai chapters 1 and 2; Matthew 28:18-20; Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5

Meditation

Oh Oh ... some might say! What is she going to talk about? Meditation? That hokey-pokey stuff?
No! Not that hokey-pokey stuff!

Joshua's instructions to the Israelites ...
Joshua 1:8 (NIV)
Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

David's words to God in Psalm 119...
Psalm 119: 97
Oh, how I love your law!
I meditate on it all day long.

Meditation is the spiritual discipline of focusing the mind on God's Word; pondering it, memorizing it, turning it over in our hearts, letting the words sink deep into the heart and soul of us; thus quickening us with Life! The goal of Christian Meditation is to fill the mind with Scripture - as we do this we become less and He becomes more! Our thoughts become His thoughts; our values, His values.

Again David said
Pslam 119:15-16
I meditate on your precepts, and consider your ways.
I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.

I'm sure you have marinated a steak to prepare it for grilling. The meat sits in the marinade and soaks up the herbs and fluid; and becomes soft and tender. So it is when we marinate our minds with the Word of God!
His Word softens and tenderizes even the hardest of hearts!

Dear Ones
I pray you are spending time Marinating in His Word; Meditating on His Truths; Listening for His Voice.
Blessings on you, this day, the one He has made!

Resting in HIM,
Ruthie

You've Got Mail!!!!!

It's everywhere.... and I've bought into it! Have you?
E-mail; FaceBook; Texting; Twittering (I don't do this one); Blackberry; iPhone...
And on and on it goes!

Since getting my BlackBerry I have become aware of every time I get an email or a post on FB...
Along with all the "external" messages we get there is that INTERNAL stuff! The messages we tell ourselves - in our minds - daily.

Lately I've been thinking about all this in relation to the mail - the letters - HIS Written Word .... to me - to us! I don't get an electronic "ping" everytime HE sends me a note... IT IS ALWAYS THERE - for me to go to. What a BLESSING that is to me! Just KNOWING that - BUT - How much more of a BLESSING it is everytime I STOP, READ, MEDITATE, LISTEN to HIS mail! His Word!

He not only speaks thru HIS Word; He speaks thru HIS People; HE speaks HIMSELF! Into our hearts and our spirits!
Psalm 27: 8 ... My heart has heard you say, "Come and talk with me." And my heart responds, "Lord, I am coming."

Dear Ones,
Set the FB, BB, iPhone, Laptop, and all that stuff - set it aside for a while today. Listen for HIS voice, HIS whisper into your heart. Contemplate HIS goodness and Who He Is! Allow HIS Word to penetrate your spirit; to bring you Life!

This is my prayer for myself and for each of you as I REST in HIS Awesomeness and Peace!
Blessings,
Ruthie

Pouring out my HEART today ...

I will TRUST in the Lord when all else seems to be falling apart.
I will SEEK HIS face even though I may be seeking thru a cloud of dismay.
I will DELIGHT in HIS Word and HIS Ways!

I will CHOOSE to believe that He is Good; He is Faithful; He is Merciful; and He is Just!
I will KNOW that He is all I need!

I will PRAY as He has asked me to - told me to!
I will PRAISE and give Him glory!

I WILL - COUNT IT ALL JOY!

Father God,

I don't understand - I don't know why things happen as they do... why people get sick and die;
why there are accidents that take our loved ones away from us; why people lie and cheat and steal... My heart is heavy with the cares of this world -

BUT - I will CHOOSE to sing - along with David:

"YOU are my portion, O Lord. Open my eyes that I might see YOUR wonder. YOU are my refuge and my shield - my HOPE is in YOU. The wicked have set a snare for me and my loved one, but we will not stray from YOUR precepts... YOU are GOOD, and what YOU do is GOOD.
Uphold us , Lord...
Deliver us....
Trouble and distress have come upon us, but YOUR commands are our delight!"

And I pray we can say with authenticity - "It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn YOUR decrees."

Lord, You are the Master of ALL! I give YOU my PRAISE today! Teach me, Lord, Teach us! I am YOUR Servant, O God!
In the powerful Name of Jesus,
AMEN

LABARUM - revisited

As always, when Christmas time is in the air - I hear people discussing "keeping Christ in Christmas" and that it is "awful" to use XMAS - because that takes HIM out. SO NOT TRUE, dear ones!

On November 7, 2008 I posted a writing about the LABARUM .... a Greek symbol used to represent Christ for many, many years. If you go to the left of this page, find CHRISTMAS, click on it ... you will be taken to all the "Christmas writings" I have posted on this blog; then find November 7, 2008 to read the history of the labarum and what it means for us today!

I so want the world to keep Christ in Christmas. It is up to us - HIS followers - to make sure that happens by not getting caught up in the commercialism and materialism that the world sees as the reason for this holiday time! I LOVE this time of year! I LOVE to give gifts! I LOVE the Music and the Message! Let's focus on family and friends this year! Let's KEEP CHRIST as the "reason for the season" - as the saying goes!

Blessings on you, dear friends and loved ones!
Ruthie