TUESDAY TUNES: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

https://youtu.be/C0jpHtsSEQo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0jpHtsSEQo  Hillsong Version

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWxb6VvPrkE Michael W. Smith Version

Matthew
6:33 is a Life verse for me:  But seek
first HIS kingdom and HIS righteousness, and all these things will be given to
you as well.

These
words of Jesus are from the Sermon on the Mount.  Leading up to this verse He is talking about
worry.  I’m a worrier.  Maybe that’s why I love this verse so
much.  When I daily seek Him first, He
tells me everything else will fall into place.
So don’t worry.

 

If
I know that to be true, and I trust Him, then why do I have stomach issues,
break out into rashes and get fever blisters all stemming from worry?  It’s that head knowledge-heart knowledge
stuff again.

 

Turn your eyes
upon Jesus

Look full in His
wonderful face

And the things
of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of
His glory and grace

Daily…step
by step…one second at a time…start again…listen…trust…remember…pray…be
still…seek Him first…do it all again…

 

God
speaks to me through the “address” of this verse:

 

When
I get home from work and wonder what’s on tap for my evening and realize it’s 6:33, I think, “God wants me to spend some time with
Him.”  6:33 Seek HIM.

 

When
I’ve made a questionable choice and look at the clock and see that it’s 6:33, I
think, “Was that really the best way to handle that situation.”  6:33 Seek HIM

 

At
random times when I see the cost of something is $6.33 or an address is 633 or
my eye catches 633 in the middle of a set of numbers, I stop and remember His
promise.  6:33 Seek HIM

 

Turn
your eyes upon Jesus, seek His wonderful face, and He will provide.  And what you thought was best for you will
grow strangely dim because, in the light of His glory and grace, His plans are
always better than what our earthly minds could come think of.

Question:  Do you have things like my 633 where God catches your attention?

TUESDAY TUNES: Say the Name

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es7GE6seBFc 


I’m
on a Margaret Becker kick.  She was my
girl back in the late 80’s and 90’s.  Now
I’m listening to her again.  I really
hadn’t noticed until this go ‘round how much she sounds like the Wilson sisters
of Heart; a band I also liked in the 80’s. 
But Heart’s “If Looks Could Kill You’d be Lying on the Floor” is a far
cry from Becker’s “Say the Name.”

“If
Looks Could Kill” would have gotten me through a breakup or hard times back in
1988. But words like, “I was a sucker to
believe in you, a sucker for every line,”
or “Love is on the line, I ain’t about to be kind,” have such a
negative ring to them, don’t ya think?? 
But I remember blaring that album, (you know, vinyl record albums) in my
cute little four-plex on Judge Ely Blvd. in Abilene, TX back in the day.

But
thankfully, I’ve progressed past the negativity!  I can sit back and “Say the name that has heard my cry, has seen my tears and wiped them
dry,”
and find a much more productive healing.  Now, “Just
a whisper is enough to set my soul at ease. 
Just thinking of this name brings my heart to peace.”

 

Several years ago, I was standing a few rows
behind an elderly woman while we were singing Natalie Grant’s song “Your Great
Name.”  She was seated, but when we got
to the words, “The enemy, he has to leave, at the sound of Your Great Name,”
she struggled to a standing position.  That
gesture of respect moved me to tears.  “May I never grow so strong that my heart
cannot be moved. May I never grow so weak that I fear to speak the truth. I
will say this holy Name no matter who agrees. For no other name on earth means
so much to me.”

Philippians 2:9-11

Therefore
God exalted him to the highest place


    and
gave him the name that is above every name,

10 that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow,

    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue
acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

    to the glory of God the Father.

“From now until
the end of time, I’ll Say the Name.”
 

THURSDAY THOUGHTS: Be Still and Know that I am God

Photo by Lois Flores

I
was recently asked if I could “Be Still” for a while and await an answer
regarding a job.  I replied, “Well, I can
tell you it is part of Psalm 46:10 and the entire Psalm starts out with
telling us that God is our refuge and strength. 
But to actually put it in to practice, nope, I can’t do that.”  Fortunately my potential employer chuckled
along with me, also knowing that waiting isn’t easy.

When
you’re single, your income is it.  You’re
not a supplemental income alongside your spouse’s to help with extra
expenses.  You’re not a comparable amount
to be part of the monthly budget.  You
are it!

Sometimes
I find that scary. 

Sometimes
I find it an exciting opportunity to see how God will work things out. 

Be
still…and know that I am God…

Sometimes
I find it frustrating. 

Sometimes
I find it a good way to trust God.

Be still…and
know that I am God…

Sometimes
I want to make a phone call and get things rolling.

Sometimes
I just want to sit at His feet and watch Him work.

Be still…and
know that I am God…

It’s
not just “knowing” that He is God.  I
have to “let” Him be God.  It’s the
difference between reciting Psalm 46 and believing it and trusting Him enough
to live it out. 

I
joke around with friends and say, “This is the year I marry money!”  My Portland to Coast team would like extra
money to buy a van, team T-shirts, a cushy hotel and massage in Seaside after
the race.  But until I find that rich
husband it just isn’t going to happen. 
But in reality, I have found someone…

I
found Him while I was being still enough to know
Him and then let Him be God.