A hollow reed...God's instrument

PONDERS AND WONDERS: It has been such a long time since I took time to sit and capture all that God is up to in my life. This Sabbath Day....a good day to return to the keyboard :) This past year I have been focused on Sabbath Rest...not just taking it easy on Sunday....however entering the state of being where all things are viewed and experienced through His rest....a long year of practice and exercise, I have made progress with more to come.
However today, I want to talk abour the past couple of weeks. Recently a friend sent me this wonderful devotional....here is the snippet that has been my focus to ponder:

"This is one of our fears of quiet; if we stop and listen, we will hear this emptiness. . .But this emptiness has nothing at all to do with our value or our worth. All life has emptiness at its core; it is the quiet hollow reed through which the wind of God blows and makes the music that is our life. Without that emptiness, we are clogged and unable to give birth to music, love, and kindness." Wayne Muller

A hollow reed...as I have devoted my self to this meditation God has given me so many opportunities to witness the serious effect of clogging...I have a friend who had to have Heart ByPass this week....when the surgeon came out, he was so excited to explain that the right side of the heart had been depleted for quite a while from blood supply. He did not know if they could even find a place to bypass the clog..but they did and he said it was remarkable "As soon as the heart began to beat with the new open vessel the depleted area of the heart began to come back to life and fill out"
Funny how the key to fullness is emptiness. The more I forgive, the more forgiveness that can flow to me and from me, the more I praise the more praise that can fill and flow.....a new life of fluidity....FILL and FLOW until EMPTY....WOW what a wonderful journey....thank you Jesus for the wonderful place of hearing your wind blow.
love ya Jesus.

The Beginning

PONDERS AND WONDERS: Today I traveled home from Birmingham to the Bay....it was a long and reflective journey both physically and in my being. Just 10 days ago I made the same journey, same road, same trees, same car, same whining dog (hahahaha), and yet today it seems like a lifetime has passed. I am different!
I witnessed God this week capture people with His incredible love. Fresh awareness that He is the only true source of Love. My miserable sad sorry selfish self is incapable of setting me aside to love another....HOWEVER with the incredible indwelling of the Holy Spirit, I find myself overcome by HIMSELF! I am humbled and overcome by the magnitude of His love, the effect of His love on others and the ever deepening desire to dive deeper still!
Today was a beginning of a new chapter....a chapter of deeper love, deeper abandonment to the will of God, a deeper level of recognition of how deep and wide is the love of God....I pray for a new beginning for all those involved, the participants, the supporters, the onlookers...all the starfish that were touched by the hand of a loving God.....ooooooo my Lord, you are SO incredible, ALPHA and OMEGA....there are no words to describe your majesty only the beating of my heart and the taking in of breath...for which you are totally responsible.....such LOVE,

Harmony

PONDERS AND WONDERS: Today I had the incredible opportunity to see a glimpse of scripture fullfilled. How good it is when brothers dwell together in unity, or in another translation Harmony. SO looking at the work harmony, it means when people all sing a note...VERTICAL...that together it sounds like one note in differnt tones....cool isnt that what unity and harmony really means.
That not matter the race, gender, generation or denomination we can compliment another, dwell together and vertically seek the Lord....I saw that today as the Stirring of the soils took place in Birmingham.
People brought their dirt....stirred it together as a symbol....from different states, cultures, races, and generations....how wonderful it will be when we every tribe and tounge bow in worship...unitl then today was a sweet opportunity to experience Heaven on Earth...
thank you JESUS....it was so cool...love you

It's a miracle Christ in Me

PONDERS AND WONDERS: The WOW of GOD is again upon me. I always pray that I will NEVER lose the AWE and WONDER of who He is and how He dwells within me. So a couple of weeks ago, I was suppose to go and get my Right Eye zapped ( haha enhanced after my lasix surgery 18 months ago) LONG story short....the Dr. told me the LEFT eye needed done, when he described what needed done, I really felt like God was saying NO. Ok so even though all the evidence said YES, the Dr. said no problem...God had a different word and it seemed to be NO....OK so fast forward...
Today when I went to the Dr. for a rechedk...my eyes were blurry....he checked the Left eye, that he put a contact in since I refused the surgery.....well...the vision in the eye was perfect...YEP PERFECT....OK...so he said "the Good Lord sure protected you"...."I am so thankful I did not touch that eye" Then he stopped, looked me in the eye and said "Did God tell you that the other day?" I replied yes, he went out and told the nurse mark my chart no contact left eye...and told her the Lord had done it...
So here I sit, wondering and pondering how many times has the Lord given me the UGH in my gut, that I have ignored, how many times have i faced things unnecessarily because my ears and heart were not tuned to His still small voice. WOW and the miracle of CHRIST IN ME....He indwells me....protects me and makes HIMSELF known through the everyday miracle of events like today.
Here I am again, with eyes full of wonder, pondering in my heart...BE IT UNTO ME AS YOU HAVE SAID....love ya Lord

Burnt Popcorn

PONDERS AND WONDERS: I got up this AM, the sun is shining, sweet sea breeze, humidity is less than 70%, and the aroma of burnt popcorn greeted me! I sure did not expect that, last evening I over popped a mini bag, threw the popcorn down the disposal, threw away the bag and started over. NO problem. Until this AM.
I am acutely aware of the aroma this AM, and the scripture from 2 Corinthians 2 :15-17 came barreling into my mind and heart. "For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance of life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not peddlers of God's word like so many; but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in His presence." I can chew on this word for a LONG time and it will always have flavor!
First I am the aroma of Christ to God among......so I am thinking today, am I the lasting fragrance...as I smell the burnt popcorn, I think about what do people smell when I am gone from them. Even though I would prefer NOT to smell like burnt popcorn, I would sure like to have the staying smell power!! I would love to leave a refreshing sweet breeze of love, mercy and compassion, so that when people get up in the AM, they will remember with fondness that Christ was among them.
Of course to do that, means that I need to be STANDING IN HIS PRESENCE. That is the difference between being the long smell of burnt popcorn, or the sweet smell of Him. The longer I am in His presence, the longer He and His aroma rubs off on me, then I carry it out. Sounds so simple, however in the busy of life I am challenged to stay and stand long enough to be saturated with His aroma. Sure I run in get a little "Febreeze", run out, but that has no LINGERING effect.....to be totally SOAKED in HIS presence, so that my entire being gives off the sweet aroma of God!
WOW, I am going to go and SOAK for awhile.....love you Lord, di