A Pause of Praise

A beating heart

The breath of life

Rhythms both in one accord

The flow pumps strong and the breath goes in and out

but in between is

the pause of life...

Love for her child surpasses all her dreams. When she thinks she 

couldn't possibly feel more than at this exact moment, she 

catches a glimpse of His deep unmeasured love and experiences

a pause of wonder...

  

Despair comes knocking.

Hope flees.

Faith falters.

But a

pause of grace

brings joy buried deep to the surface

and trust grabs hold of hope and doesn't let go.

A nationwide observance of thanks

no respecter of persons

for the grateful and the ones blessing blind

a pause of reflection

for the bounty of God’s goodness

Miracles of the heart instead of material wealth of the eye...

Moments of pause

Chances to remember

Countless reasons to give thanks

---

“Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.”

Guillaume Apollinaire

---

Pause Reflect Praise

a

Pause of Praise

In the midst of worry...

As anger raises its fist to bruise...

As grief lays residence in a heart...

a

Pause of Praise

In times of joy and laughter...

When wonder and awe alight eyes and spirits...

During the flurry of turkeys and cranberries...

Between the roar of the game and the smell of tailgating...

Pause

Reflect

Praise

Let’s share

a

Pause of Praise

Selah

In God we have made our boast all the day long, and we will give thanks to Your name forever. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! Psalm 44:8 AMP

Linked with:

Reflections of His Grace - 30 Days of Thanksgiving

Knee Deep in Thanks

They are perfect baby bouncers -

 

Yet can be the undoing of the nervous or bashful.

Here in the south we even measure by them...

“Why I remember when you were just knee high to a grasshopper!”

As we age, our knees may become noisy melodious when bent...

---

But perhaps their greatest purpose is in warfare...

Satan trembles when he sees

the weakest saint 

upon his knees.  

~ William Cowper

Whether kneeling physically, or within one’s heart,

this posture of surrender and adoration

proclaims the awesomeness of our Maker,

and the unworthiness of ourselves...

When we sink to our knees at the cross,

He raises us up to see His face...

Please join me by being

knee deep in thanks

as we acknowledge where

ALL our help comes from...

Come, let us bow down in worship.

Let us get

down on our knees

before the Lord Who made us.

Psalm 95:6 NLV

Linked with:

Reflections of His Grace - 30 Days of Thanksgiving

Falling Fire

The challenge is set

Contenders:

450 pretenders and 1 authentic

Venue:

Mt Carmel

Provisions:

Two bulls, two altars

The objective:

An answer by fire

The many pray and shout, dance and scream...all day...for nothing...no response...not a sound

no fire...

The one rebuilds the altar with 12 stones...douses the lot with 12 jugs of water until it overflows

He prays...

and the troublemaker

believes strong on the God of

Abraham, Isaac, and Israel... 

And fire falls on wet and

consumes everything

Thank you, Lord, for your falling fire

We offer ourselves as sacrifices to You

saturated with the Living Water

Standing on the Rock that doesn't fail

Our eyes look up in adoration

Our hands raise up in honor

Our voices lift up in praise

Let Your fire fall

Consume us!

At the time of the evening offering, the prophet Elijah drew near and prayed: “LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. I have done all these things at your instructions. Answer me, LORD! Answer me so that this people will know that you, LORD, are the real God and that you can change their hearts.” Then the LORD’s fire fell; it consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up the water in the trench!

All the people saw this and fell on their faces. “The LORD is the real God! The LORD is the real God!” they exclaimed.

1 Kings 18:36-39 CEB

Linked with:

Reflections of His Grace - 30 Days of Thanksgiving

Crimson Pearls

She gently fingers the tulle veil

Soft, silky...snowy white

Her gown...painstakingly chosen

Her jewelry...treasured and purchased at a great price

The bride reaches out while her heart beats faster

Crimson Pearls

from her Bridegroom

Crimson pearls of redemption 

That spilled down a rugged cross

Crimson pearls of pure love

love everlasting

Pure love

Ransomed red

I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Isaiah 61:10 NIV

Jerusalem rejoices because of what the Lord has done.
   She is like a bride dressed for her wedding.
   God has clothed her with salvation and victory.

Isaiah 61:10 GNT

I am thankful for the crimson pearls

from my Saviour...

they cost Him everything

and are priceless to me...

Linked with:

Reflections of His Grace - 30 Days of Thanksgiving

Homesick

She carried the letters close to her heart...always

Years ago, some of the letters had nearly slipped away, so now they were kept safe and guarded.

As she walked down the path chosen for her, she reread each letter...embracing oft read portions like old friends...and searching for any previously missed morsels of truth.

She lovingly fingered the map that was included with the letters...for when she had wandered and gotten lost, her Father had included directions to get home...

There was beauty along the path home...and she tried to take careful notice and cherish the wonders...she had even seen waters parted and storms stilled, but these things only made the longing stronger...

Her Father wrote about the glory and splendor of that home...and of family waiting there

He included stories of times past...and gave notice of things to come...so she would be ready...and have hope

She cried when she read the parts about the sacrifice He made...just so she could come home...and how much He loved her

But mostly

Her Father wrote of that love...

how wide, how deep, and how great His love was for her...

and promised that nothing could separate her from that love

Her treasured letters...

His letters...

Letters from home

Have you checked your mailbox lately?

The Holy Scriptures are our letters from home.
-- St. Augustine of Hippo

I am thankful for God’s Word

Linking with:

Reflections of His Grace - 30 Days of Thanksgiving

Old Mother Hubbard

A bare shelf...hunger waiting to be fed...

Many today can sympathize with Mother Hubbard

Countless ones are the dog in the nursery rhyme...

The thing is

Whether your cupboard is one of knotty pine

or

one of flesh that bleeds red...

Emptiness hurts

A very wise and loving person shared a song with me recently 

called “The Cupboard’s Full”...

"And our plates are full, we are filled for today,

Open doors, swing the gates, the table’s set to give away...

Sing for joy, to the Lord,

Taste and see

He is good"

Are your shelves empty?

Is your soul starving?

Jehovah Jireh

will provide...

Daily bread

Manna from our Maker

Everything we need

I am thankful one can always be full 

with the

blessings of the Lord!

Linking with

Reflections of His Grace - 30 Days of Thanksgiving

Let’s ALL Go...

It made me glad to hear them say,

   "Let's go to the house of the LORD!"

Psalm 122:1 CEV

Today I am grateful

for the freedom and privilege

to worship in the church of my choice.

I am also so thankful that

all of my family call Graceland home.

It has not always been this way,

so it is a true blessing to experience it now.

If you are one of the many

who sit alone on a church pew...

Never give up

Never stop praying

Linking with

Reflections of His Grace - 30 Days of Thanksgiving

Amazing Grace - Soaking on Son Day

Soothing the Savage Beast

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent. ~Victor Hugo

“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music” ~Aldous Huxley

You know the ones...

Your ear hears the first few bars and either your toe starts tapping...or your lips starts humming...

Low spirits rise higher

Troubled ones are calmed

A precious memory from days gone by scrolls by

or perhaps it seems as if your soul immediately enters into the presence of the Lord

Praise rises as the melody courses through your veins

Words burst forth to bring glory and honor to the Lamb of God

Does anyone not love music?

Different styles...contrasting rhythms...all types of lyrics...

Another wonderful gift from our Creator

Thank you, Lord!

For the Lord your God is living among you.
      He is a mighty savior.
   He will take delight in you with gladness.
      With his love, he will calm all your fears.
      He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.

Zephaniah 3:17 NLT

This song has been playing on my heartstrings all week, so maybe it is meant to bless someone besides me this weekend...

Linked with:

30 Days of Thanksgiving at Reflections of Grace


and Then Sings My Soul Saturday

Undecided

There it was in black and white -

Right after 1 smoked turkey panini, 1 chip, and 1 soft drink,

At the cost of $0.99...

The item listed was UNDECIDED...

Say what?

In all my years of bookkeeping, I have never seen an item listed on a receipt as UNDECIDED...

After asking the guys what UNDECIDED might have been, (the receipt was from July)...we all had a good laugh about it since no one had any idea what it was...

Laughter is good, but it is not a laughing matter if one is UNDECIDED about a relationship with Christ...

One day I will stand before God

Unworthy, imperfect, guilty

His Son will step down from His throne

with a receipt marked PAID IN FULL

Jesus will say, Father...

this daughter DECIDED to accept the gift of salvation

She has been washed in the blood of My sacrifice

and wears a gown of grace...

She is one of Ours

I am thankful for the One who bore the cost of my sin

All because of LOVE

And gave everyone

no reason

to remain

UNDECIDED

I'm linking up with Joan at Reflections of His Grace 

for 30 days of Thanksgiving.  

You can check out the specifics here.