Worship

Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3




Praise and Worship

From the moment I start my car, praise music flows. Recently, I’ve noticed that as the familiar words surround my hearing, my thoughts wander off to affairs of the day or plans for the night. Wait...Praise of the Most High God is flowing, where is my worship?

Praise is the thread throughout the day, but has it become so familiar that I lose sight of the One I praise? While the holy, powerful, glorious Name of God reaches my hearing, my mouth is preoccupied with the absolute trivial and fleeting selfishness of my day. Stupid stuff while splendor sounds. No wonder the rest of my day is caught up in selfishness; I am given moments of worship and I waste the moments on me.

He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: " 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’ Mark 7:6

It’s not a matter of legalistically worshiping God at every turn. It’s a matter of being aware of God, all around, and responding to Him in love and worship. Creation shouts of His glory! Do I see, do I join, do I worship with?

From Levite to Love

When the Jews reached the temple gates, after ascending 14 steps on the southern end of the temple walls, they had only one, single, solitary thing on their minds: worship. These days when our church worship service begins, I find that I often have many things on my mind. The familiar songs begin and my mind goes into auto-pilot instead of being caught up in the awesome, beautiful, powerful Presence of the Most High God! One who loves and listens, delights and devotes, creates and cares.

Praise begins with prayer and prayer begins with praise. Constantly as breathing..only by His Spirit.

My heart determines my worship. Taking captive every thought, to worship, brings down every stronghold. Trusting in Him, keeps my mind steadfast on Him, in worship of Him. Here is His peace, His power and His Presence. When I come, loving Him. “To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." Mark 12:33

John 10:10 notes that the enemy seeks to steal, kill and destroy my worship of the Most High God. Jesus restores my abundant life in pure worship of Him! Praise Him with my words, my thoughts, my rest in Him.

Enjoy Him, Michelle mlpack1@yahoo.com

Desire

All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you. Psalm 38:9

"What do you want me to do for you?" Luke 18:41a

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

“Nothing dictates our lives like our desires.” – Beth Moore

“Beneath the desires of my heart is the heart of my desire.” – Beth Moore

In the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, Captain Jack Sparrow carries a compass. Unlike any other, this compass doesn’t lead to destination, it leads to satisfaction. Captain Jack explains, “It points to the thing you want the most.”

What do you really want? Your heart laid in your hand, what would your compass reveal as the desire of your heart?

Like the chest that contained the captain’s heart (Pirates 2), we bury our hearts, our desires, our hopes, our passions in the details of our days. We long for a passionate love relationship with God and with others, but slowly the sands of life bury us deeper and deeper from true life.

“How do I dig out my heart?” John Eldredge notes, “’How’ is God’s department; ‘what’ is His question for me.” He continues, “The way towards true life is not abandoning my desire, but entering more deeply into the heart’s longings.”

There will be stormy seas and shipwrecked relationships. There will be false maps and betraying voices. There is much examination and discernment as to the heart of God and the deceptive desires. The truest treasure is found in the love relationship with my Captain, and He charts my way from the helm of my heart.

Where does the compass lead? What do I really want?

Bonus: Desire by John Eldredge. If you dare venture...make this your next read.

Enjoy Him, Michelle mlpack1@yahoo.com

Manna

Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. Hebrews 9:3,4

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10


Hidden within the Mercy Seat of Love were three items. 1. The timeless Law spoken yesterday. 2. The provision of life today. 3. The way of leadership into tomorrow. Just as the veil to the Holy of holies was torn by the Lamb’s Blood, so is the veil of my life torn apart by His Love. The more His Presence fills the Seat of my heart, the more I reveal His Word, His Work and His Way in and through my life.

For me, the most personal of these is the gold jar of manna. Like many, I relate the story of the Israelites gathering manna in the morning to gathering the greatest provision of all, God’s Word, for my day. Whenever needed, I can reach into my jar of clay and receive His Breath and Bread.

Recently, though, manna has come to me as moments…dozens and dozens of miraculous moments that display God’s constant provision in the details of my days. The more I hold onto these moments, the faster they dissolve into ruin. The more I celebrate God's moments of provision, the more I enjoy the miracles of His Presence. Again and again.

They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. –Lamentations 3:23

A Scripture on a Facebook post. An encouraging email. A text. A phone call. A song. A smile. A touch. A glance. A child’s laughter. A friend’s time. I love you. How are you? I’m praying for you. I cherish you. Little moments, huge moments all mix into the drudgery of laundry and dishes and deadlines and, and, and…

Some days are silent. Those moments are when He personally provides His Presence. His Word. His song. His touch. His glance. I love you. I cherish you. I am praying for you. All moments beyond my sight, but more intimate in my heart.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7

I may feel like my little jar is running on empty, but the truth is, abundant life is mine every moment of the day. The more I cherish in His moments around me, the more "manna moments" I can give to others.

Listening to Him in study of His Word. Loving Him in the moments of life. Leading others to the Promised Land of His abundant life. Law – study. Live – piety. Lead – action. Seek Him. See Him. Show Him. All wrapped in His never ending Mercy and Grace.

Enjoy Him, Michelle mlpack1@yahoo.com

Lost and Found

When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. Luke 15:17-20

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love. Robert Robinson, 1758

GILL: Besides, you got your dad out there looking for you. Bet he's on his way right now.
NEMO: Not my dad…
BRUCE, the Shark: Now there's a father looking for his little boy.

I tend to wander off. My grandmother loves to tell of when I was in grade school and she lost me in Woolworth’s. Apparently, I had determined that we were finished and I was waiting for her outside the store! As a teen I would walk along the beach for miles, not thinking twice that anyone would wonder where I was. I was wrong. My parents did wonder and worry until I returned. My reputation precedes me. Last month at Disney, my sister told my niece “not to be like Aunt Chelle and wander off.” So, Madison and I both were watched very carefully in crowds.

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." - A.W. Tozer

I generally don’t live moment by moment, in view of my amazing, passionate Father always running to me. Always desiring to hold me and kiss me. Wow. I know this as a fact, but don’t live this as belief. When I decide to wander off, I am not thinking of Him at all. How much more would my wandering lessen if my sights were set on the unseen, until my heart felt the unfathomable?

When I do come to my senses, (again and again) is my drive to come to Him for my relief or for our relationship? Seeing Him for all that He is changes me in all that I am.

Had the prodigal son had any thought that his father desired him to come home as his son, not his servant, it may have quickened his steps to reunite with him. He only thought of his sins, never of his sonship. Once Nemo realized that his father really was searching for him, it completely changed his drive to reunite with him. Again, he only thought of his father’s disappointment over him; not realizing his father’s desire for him.

But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" Genesis 3:9 From the very beginning, He is a Father searching for wanders. That is His nature of love. Even in this moment…for me.

Should I wander, He is always near. But to see Him as He is; holds and keeps me being here.

Click Here for You Invite Me In


Enjoy Him, Michelle mlpack1@yahoo.com

Battle Lies

"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:5-8

"God does not condemn me, Satan does. God convicts me so I can see my error, surrender to Him, pucker up and kiss it good-bye!"- Beth Moore, Measureless Love

Wounds Wept
Sacrifice is a glorious moment of God's victory, and an announcement of my vulnerability. This Sabbath, I brought my sacrifice, gave it one final kiss goodbye…and the enemy was watching. No sooner had I left the temple doors did his attacks begin. As a friend once said, "The enemy meets us at the gates." Does he ever. He likes to wield his favorite weapon: ½ truth of what I see turned to a lie that I feel.

“Whatever is denied cannot be healed.” –Brennan Manning
“A wound that goes unacknowledged and unwept is a wound that cannot heal.” – John Eldredge

I saw and wept over the wound, as I gave it into the Wounded One's healing hands. God, in His mercy, showed me the process and promise: An intended lie became a battle line. Eden had come to the cross for truth and victory.

Tables Turned
As with Isaiah, I came to the face of Holiness..no one else, just Him…and cried of my shame. As He answered with a burning coal from sin’s sacrifice, He brought truth both of His love and my life.

The voice said, “Some days you will disappoint. Some days you will hurt. Some days you will walk alone. Try as you may, you can never totally keep that from happening; it’s just how life rolls.” That may sound harsh, but to me, it was a relief to face the truth that imperfection is inevitable, so I can rest in His love. Simple and profound. Speaking my language.

Then the weight shifted. From weight of me to weight of glory: “But I am your constant. I am here to take every moment that bears down on you, so that we, just you and Me, can walk through. For real.” There is so much more. But, for a moment, desire enveloped disappointment as a tangible reality.

Disappointment to Divine Appointment
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

A few moments after holding my own tears, I held the tears of another who cried in joy over found freedom! I shared words that came straight from God – of His Sovereignty, of His Hope, and of His Love. He took me, literally, from my pit to His pulpit. From feeling alone to feeling atoned. From crying in shame to crying His Name. From wanting to run away to declaring His Grace.

I fall face down in worship, thanksgiving, and praise to the One who rescued me! His voice of Truth spoke freedom in me to speak freedom through me. Constantly.

Click here for "Everything Falls" by Fee

Enjoy Him, Michelle mlpack1@yahoo.com

Spirit Fall

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." Matthew 11:28-30 MSG

And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. Revelation 14:2

"The hosts of heaven are sure to hear a thunderous rumble as boulders (of pride) roll off our road to freedom." – Beth Moore

“As I was praying for you, God gave me a dream about you” began my friend Alyssa (Alyssa and I haven’t seen each other since college…yet, this night, God literally connected us in a dream). She continued:

“There was a beautiful waterfall in Boulder, Colorado. I have no idea why in Boulder, but it was very clearly, Boulder, Colorado. You were at the base of the waterfall, waiting. Then I saw the hands of God cup your face. The look of contentment and adoration on your face was amazing!”

That was it. That was the dream. But, that was enough for me. Sitting as His feet. Gazing into His face. How I pray for those "Mary Moments." I know that He is my contentment, my adoration, and my song. But to be there, oh wow. Lord, oh how?

This past weekend I realized why it was the town of Boulder. God had some “boulders” to remove…really remove…before I could join Him at His Spirit fall. Boulders of approval. Boulders of fear. Boulders of unbelief. Boulder of insecurity. Boulders I have tried to move myself. I've tried for myself, not for Him. Once HE moved them: glory to God in the Highest. His Presence is my dream come true.

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. - Zephaniah 3:17 Drenched in His delight, and He in mine.  Silenced in His love, singing in His eyes. Words cannot begin to describe. Seek Him; He finds. Oh, He finds.

Enjoy Him, Michelle mlpack1@yahoo.com

God’s Positioning Spirit

There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. Proverbs 4:12

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.   John 10:27

To say that I am directionally challenged in a huge understatement. In most cases, I make sure to get very specific directions to get from Point A to Point B. Yet, when I come to fork in the road (or an approaching exit), I didn’t get directions, and I have about ½ a second to decide my destiny – I tend to go with logic.

Such was the case driving to West Palm Beach from Orlando, Florida. I-4 East or I-4 West? Well, I’m heading toward the Atlantic Ocean, so east it is. I soon realized by my surroundings that I was going to wrong way. I then pulled off of I-4 to look at a map (finally) and ask for directions. Finally I was heading the right direction towards home. The money and miles were a waste, but the lesson was learned.

Life is a constant journey and logic can be very dangerous as a direction; especially at the moment of decision. “This road seems to be going right where I want to go: security, love, acceptance, relationship and fun.” I had been with the Guide for years, but His Map stayed folded up on a box. Pride took me down a path that, years later, ended at an exit ramp and a crash landing. Totaled my heart. Took years of repair.

At the end of the road was the Map and the Guide. The years were a waste, but the lesson was learned. I may speed and swerve. I may crash into consequences. I may get distracted and miss my desires. But with every mile, I know that logic lies and the Lord loves. He is my only hope for Home.

Enjoy Him, Michelle
mlpack1@yahoo.com

My Two Dads

"I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty    2 Corinthians 6:18

One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. Psalm 27:4

“Whenever you are ready, your Father's house is waiting." Rev. K.K. Devaraj, Mumbai, India to orphaned children, drug addicts, and prostitutes.


Earthly Papa

My dad divorced my mother when I was five. Though I come from a divorced family, I never thought that my father abandoned me. I simply thought that a normal life consisted of not living in the same house as my father. Not having constant conversations with my father. Not revealing my heart to my father. I would only visit him on weekends, with a little more time and attention on Christmas Day. Blessings were bountiful when we were together and life carried on as usual when we were apart. Sound familiar?

When we hear the name “Father,” we often tend to view Elohim Abba the way we view our earthly papas. This is not conscious. This is not consistent. But it is natural. Whether our earthly fathers were abusive or adoring, the truth is that our papas are parables and our Father as incomparable. As He is, not as I imagine He should be. I have a choice in laying down all of my life before my Eternal Father. Either my experiences can determine my view of Abba, or my Abba can direct me through my experiences.

If your faith is in experiences, anything that happens is likely to upset that faith; but nothing can ever upset God or the almighty Reality of Redemption; base your faith on that, and you are as eternally secure as God… Faith based on experience is not faith; faith based on God’s revealed truth is the only faith there is. – Oswald Chambers

Elohim Abba

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. I John 4:16

"The Christian confidence that you and I can approach God as Father is the unique and pressing gift of the Son" - Jill Carattini God is Holy. God is Perfection. God is Love. He is Everything; with or without a relationship with me. Then there’s a gift received. A shift in me. Immediately. The Father of the Son becomes my Father. Love beyond knowledge, beyond comprehension, beyond measure. He resides above all as infinite and He resides in me...most intimate. His greatest delight and desire is to hold me. Wow.

Now, with all of this truth of Who My Father is...how do I relate to Him as Dad? My friend Beverly reminds me, “Just keep trusting Him with everything, crawl into His lap and let Him brush your hair with His strong fingers, feeling His grip holding you close to His heart, and His heartbeat becomes yours.”

Click: Francis Chan (from Crazy Love) talks more on Abba's lap

Enjoy Him, Michelle mlpack1@yahoo.com

Abba

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship (adoption), and by him we cry, "Abba, Father!” Romans 8:15



“I love when she calls me Daddy. Melts my heart every time.” – David Mitchell, Father to two year old Belle who is battling cancer.


Abba, I belong to You. – Brennan Manning

Dastan was caught stealing. He was terrified. He tried to run, of course. But a criminal’s consequences will always find him out. This day, however, he was under the gaze of the king. Just as the sword raised to smite him, the king’s right hand raised to save him. The king’s left hand raised to receive him. In an instant, Dastan was offered redemption and adoption. The famished had a feast. The beggar had an inheritance. The king became his father; the orphan became his prince. Dastan deserved death; the king gave him destiny. Raised in royalty. Lavished in love. Hardships of humanity will never steal his identity. Saved. Chosen. Redeemed. Loved. Son. Heir. Prince. Forever.

Dastan’s story is my story. Each of us begins in the market. Orphaned from day one by our separation from God. We are condemned by a law that we cannot keep. We try to run away and hide, but we will never our run our consequences. We are brought before a merciful king. His right hand, scarred with salvation, is lifted to save us from death. With His left hand, the King extends to us the option of adoption. Either we deny the king our sonship (and ourselves His Home), or we accept His amazing grace to call Him Abba Father forever. To accept His offer, we admit to our crimes, look Him in the eyes, and sign in Jesus’ blood. Then we are lifted on His white horse and taken to our inheritance. Dastan’s story is fable; our story is forever.

This is only the beginning, but it must begin to be. He created me to love Him, but I choose my destiny. Taking His hand, my journey begins. Love takes me in. (Click here for Abba's adoption song): When Love Takes You In by SCC

Enjoy Him, Michelle mlpack1@yahoo.com

Deathly Swallows

And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:9

“Maybe the truth of the Adam and Eve story, maybe the greatest power of the story, is not so much that it happened, but that it happens.” Rob Bell

Pelicans are especially vulnerable to oil. Not only could they eat tainted fish and feed it to their young, but they could die of hypothermia or drowning if they're soaked in oil. - AP

Along with having oil-slicked feathers, the pelicans gather food in their normal feeding grounds and feed it to their babies. They don’t get CNN, NPR or the Gulf Times. They are completely unaware that death lurks inside the fish that they are feeding to their young. Can you imagine the outrage of finding out that you routinely bought oil-stuffed fish at the market, fed it unknowingly to your child and your toddler died as a result? You had no idea, but it never changed the results: death.

Yet, everyday we swim in death. We eat death. Then we feed it to our family, our friends, our co-workers, our children. We are deceived that our portion is pure. But really, it's filled with death. The first feeding started with the First Family:

Deception: "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." – Genesis 3:4-5

Delivery: When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. – Genesis 3:6

Death: Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned; -Romans 5:12

Today’s Catch:

We are, in fact, born with “oil on our feathers and toxins in our mouths.” How then shall we live? We are not hopeless to die because into death we are born.

Unlike pelicans, we can choose to come clean and eat clean.

“…every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! – Hebrews 9:13-14

Unlike pelicans, we can choose feeding grounds of death or life.

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. – Proverbs 18:21

Do not eat the food of a stingy man, do not crave his delicacies; for he is the kind of man who is always thinking about the cost. "Eat and drink," he says to you, but his heart is not with you. Proverbs 23:6-7

From these verses comes the phrase: “a man thinks in his heart, so is he” and I might add, “so he calls to his friends to eat and drink from the tainted well of his heart.”

Unlike pelicans, we can choose to feed truth or toxins to the world around us.

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 6:5-7

I will sing of the LORD's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. Psalm 89:1

From my mouth to the multitudes, I choose pure.

Enjoy Him, Michelle mlpack1@yahoo.com

Spill Solution

Everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean, but it shall be purified with water for impurity. But whatever cannot stand the fire you shall pass through the water. – Numbers 31:23

At least 6 million gallons of crude have spewed into the Gulf, though some scientists have said they believe the spill already surpasses the 11 million-gallon 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska as the worst in U.S. history. -Bluestein and Brown, AP


Problem.
Purity cannot abide with contamination. For example, obviously oil and water don’t mix. Even one drop causes the pure to become impure – affecting the water and every living thing around it. How much more damaging is gallons of gushing oil pouring into pure waters; constant contamination? We see this first hand in oil spills on the open seas, but how much more impurity contaminates our souls...every moment of the day. Disasters of environment are mere reflections of disasters of the soul…and they are everywhere.

We were born with BCUs (Broken Contamination Units). Like oil in water, sin is not under our control. Even a drop of disobedience results in death. No exceptions. Man tries in vain, but he is not able to contain the flow. Eventually, it will kill him and damage everything around him.

Purity.

There is only one way to contain the sin from spilling out. Jesus' Blood is the only tried, tested and proven purifying solution. This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. – 1 John 5:6,7

In the beginning, God sanctioned water as the cleansing agent. The water itself was only a tool; man's obedience to immerse in the water was the door to purification. At the moment of the Saviour’s death, water and blood mixed to provide the ultimate door to purity. Just by asking for the solution, we are given the purity from contamination and the seal of salvation. His Word keeps the purity in place; our prayer keeps the purity in practice.

So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word. - Ephesians 5:26

Proof.
Once purity is within, it flows without. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." – John 7:38 Everywhere, everyday. Just as constant as the river that flows before the throne of God. May we be one, just as the Father and Son are One. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb – Revelation 22:1

Enjoy Him, Michelle
mlpack1@yahoo.com

Sight and Sound

I will cry to you when my heart is overwhelmed. Psalm 61:2

Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me. I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm. But I call to God, and the LORD saves me. Psalm 55:5, 8, 16

“The witch is mean and I don’t like her.” - Madison

When my three year old niece Madison encounters anything scary, like a Disney villain, she instinctively keeps her eyes fixed on the fear, but places her hands over her ears. She silently soaks in every moment, until the scariness passes. We only have two hands to block out one sense, which do you choose?

What about when the horror is every moment of our lives? For example, disease, death or divorce? I think we respond like Madison. We sit in the dark. We stare at the terror. We scream at the situation. We cry fear instead of faith. We focus on the moment instead of His face. We watch fear like a hawk; we miss watching our Father like a child. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

Not only do we continue to focus on our fear, but we also choose to cover our ears to God’s calming and comforting peace. When we refuse to listen to Truth, the nightmare grows darker and darker with lies.

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33 Real life nightmares will come to be our reality. Yet, Jesus tells us to take "heart" that He has overcome each one. We must hear Him to believe Him; never more urgently than in the middle of the storm.

My choice is always from my heart: stare fear in the face with faith, speak praise over pain, and listen to truth over terror. I will cover myself in garments of righteousness, lifting trembling hands before His throne of Sovereignty and Peace. This is my only hope in my present trouble. It may not take away the terror, but it will shelter me in the storm.

Enjoy Him, Michelle
mlpack1@yahoo.com