21st Century Psalms – Face to Face

Surrounded by Your glory
What will my heart feel
Will I dance for You Jesus
Or in awe of You be still
Will I stand in Your presence
Or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing Hallelujah
Will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine

                  - I Can Only Imagine by Mercy Me – 2002 “Almost There”

As children our minds were filled with imaginary friends, games and situations.  I absolutely recall imagining hitting the home run with bases loaded to win the World Series for my team.  I recall imagining being the hero on the white horse saving the damsel in distress from the evil madman.  But now, many years later, when I close my eyes the problems of the day materialize in my mind.  Worry about the bills, the project that’s late at work, the kid’s schoolwork, my health and the other 10 million things going on at any given moment.  It seems impossible today to relax and calm myself enough to actually allow my mind to get beyond the stress of living.  Are you in this same boat?

God doesn’t want us worrying about these things though.  He asks us to trust Him and to cast our worries upon Him.  As we carry these burdens in our daily lives we become unproductive and unable to serve Him with everything we have.  I’ve found that it helps to imagine myself sitting in the grass next to God Almighty when I am completely stressed.  Filling my heart and mind with His glory and His presence, and recognizing that everything I have and everything I am is His.  I can do nothing without Him.  The sooner I am able to come to this realization the sooner I am able to breathe in His beauty, peace and love.

Let the imagination of your childhood fill your mind and heart once again.  There will come a day when you will be standing before the Lord, in all of His glory, majesty and wonder.  Until that day comes though, you can imagine yourself face to face with Your Savior and relinquish your worries and cares upon His shoulders. 

Prayer:
Loving Father,
I humble myself before You with awestruck wonder.  I lift my hands and praise Your name, and give You all glory.  Renew my spirit Lord, fill me once again with the fire and love that consumes.  Help me to release my burdens and trust in You.  In Your name we pray – Amen
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©Sondove Enterprises, 2011

I Can Do It By Myself

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” – John 15:5

Whether it is asking for directions or asking for help to meet this month’s overwhelming bills, the human spirit by nature is a prideful one.  I’ve always struggled with this problem and I’m sure many of you do as well.  Why is it that we are willing to bend over backwards and help those around us, but most times unwilling to accept help when we are in need?  Pride, embarrassment and arrogance continue to drive a wedge between receiving God’s ultimate love and salvation and continuing to struggle in life’s daily challenges.

An hour into a 3 hour hike up the side of a 200 foot rocky cliff, my 3 year old would not give up.  It seemed as though every step she took on the worn path over the smooth stones her foot would slip and she would slide back.  Multiple times Lisa (my wife) offered to carry Emma, but consistently the answer was the same, “I can do it myself”.  Her little fingers would grip the stone crevice and her little feet search for something to stand on, as the rest of us easily maneuvered over the rocky terrain.  Eventually, Emma and Lisa made it to the top where the rest of us had been resting and taking in the view from the highest point along the river’s edge.  They were able to get a sip of water and take a quick look over the edge before we had to begin the trek back down again.

Very much like Emma, at age 3, we all have so much confidence in our own ability and are unwilling to truly allow ourselves to rely on another, namely God, to see us through.  In doing so, we miss the wonderful views He has prepared for us.  Oh sure, we may get to the same destination that God had planned for us, but along the way we will experience struggles, cuts, scrapes and many episodes of back-sliding.  God is not going to force Himself upon you though.  What you can do, is simply ask Him to help you, and then trust that He will.  Giving it to God and accepting the help that He is trying to give us makes the journey so much more worthwhile and spectacular.  There is no promise that it will be easy, because there are moments of strengthening and growth that come from living a life for the Lord, but it will be more fruitful in His kingdom when you are done.

We are 5 weeks before Easter.  Now is a great time to focus on where God is leading you.  Search your heart, break down the walls that you have built to keep God out and allow Him into those dark corners.  Then let His presence and wisdom flow through you to help you with life’s daily problems.  Remain confident and strong knowing that through God all things are possible and yet nothing of God is possible without His presence.

Prayer:,
Heavenly Father,
You are an awesome God and we lift our hands to celebrate Your love for us.  Through Your grace and mercy You have provided a path of salvation for each of us.  You have given us Your Holy Spirit to walk with us in every decision we make throughout the day if we would only ask for His help.  Help us to bury our selfish pride and arrogance and be willing to reach out to You for help in our life.  In Your name we pray – Amen
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©Sondove Enterprises, 2011

Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise.  Give thanks to him and praise his name.”  – Psalms 100:4

When you’ve had a terrible day it is so hard to lift up thanksgiving.  One of those Sunday when you’re running late, the dog runs out the door and down the street in the rain.  Upon catching him, his muddy paws end up leaving prints on your freshly white pressed shirt.  After getting a new shirt and pants, you finally make it to church, only to spill your coffee as you are getting out of the car, and left the umbrella by the door as you walked out of the house.  Determined you put it behind you, walk towards the church and as your foot hits the first step, something clicks and a peace comes over you.  Sure, your shirt is wet with a large brown stain, your hair is dripping and clinging to your head, but as you ascend those few steps, it all seems to vanish.  Bill greets you with a smile and a warm handshake, “I am so glad you decided to brave the weather and come out this morning.  They’re just finishing the second song, go on in and join them.”

Opening the door to the sanctuary the words ring out, “…and I know there’ll be days when this life brings me pain, but if that’s what it takes to praise you, Jesus bring the rain.”  Mercy Me, Bring the Rain, 2006 (listen here)  Closing my eyes I left the music envelope me for just a moment before moving to find a seat.  God was speaking right into my heart.  There is no way around the message from Him that morning.  He deserves our thanksgiving in everything.  We are so caught up in feeling sorry for ourselves and our circumstances we often look right past the blessings that surround us every day of our life.  Face it, we focus on the negative as a society and have difficulty bringing the positive to the forefront and into the limelight.

Every night at dinner we have a tradition at our home.  Perhaps you can find value in it in your home as well.  As the food is being passed around and the eating begins we go around the table answering 2 questions.  ”What was your high for the day?”  followed up with “What was your low?”  The rules are simple you must have at least one high, and you cannot have more lows than highs.  Finally, they must be something that happened that day, not something that will happen or something that happened in the past.  The highs are lifted up as praises and the person is honored and celebrated for the moment.  The lows become actionable prayers for that night’s bedside. 

God is good always.  His love never changes for you, even when it’s raining and the dog has run away.  If you find nothing else to be thankful for and to lift up in worship and praise today, be thankful for that.  You don’t deserve His love.  Your sinful life is filthy in His eyes, but by the grace of His Son dying on that cross and being resurrected from the grave your sins are wiped clean and God sees you as the perfect image of His Son.  There is nothing we can do to deserve His love, He freely gave it for our redemption.  This is worthy of thanksgiving every day, every hour, every minute.

Prayer:,
Heavenly Father,
You have provided grace for us, though we are unworthy and will always be You have provided a way for us to enter into Your presence because of grace.  We lift up our hands to You today and praise Your holy name before all creation.  You deserve so much more than I am capable of giving, so I give all that I have. In Your name we pray – Amen

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©Sondove Enterprises, 2011