It Never Fails to Cheer Me

 "I would rather walk with God in the dark than go alone in the light."

Mary Gardiner Brainard (c. 1860)

 

 

Please indulge me. I want to write about my Melody of Hymns again. They have gotten me through many years with a broken heart. They've been an encouragement, comforter and refresher. 

 

I believe God planted the idea in my mind to help me get through my broken heart. I wrote down the first verse of 30 hymns and began singing them in the same order every day. After three months they were memorized.

 

 

It's been almost 40 years and I still know them by heart. Oh, I miss words sometimes and scramble them occasionally, but their order is still cemented in my mind and I still sing them today.

I was not good at memorizing Scripture and this was the link to keep be grounded in God's Word and heart. Hymns do that, you know. They are based in Scripture and tell God's story. 

I strongly suggest doing this for an immediate encouragement and refresher in your heart. All it takes is 30 index cards, or just a pieces of paper, writing the first verse of favorite hymns and singing them in order every day.

 

I'm in my 70s now and started this in my 30s. I have not found anything else that helps me cope with a broken heart more than my Melody of Hymns. Certainly reading my Bible each morning and studying His Word is a must. And as you know from my posts, devotion books provide me with many thoughts to help me along. My Melody of Hymns are with me when I'm not sitting down to read and I can sing them anywhere, out loud or to myself.

 

Do you see the fawn in the grass on the right side?
 

I sing them in the car. I sing them at home. I sing them on my early morning drives. Whenever I need a boost to help me overcome difficult thoughts I sing my songs. 

"God comes in where my helplessness begins."

Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)

Have you tried it?  I hope you will. When I see Jesus, aside from thanking Him for His gift of salvation I will be thanking Him for my Melody of Hymns. And I know one day, in His perfect timing, my broken heart will be gone.

Our family out back eating grass.

Does God Sing?

"It takes all time and eternity to know God." 

Oswald Chambers, 1874-1917

Graphic from A Potpourri Of Likes Facebook page

 

I recently saw this blog post from 2010 and decided to run it again, with a few additions. Enjoy.

If someone asked me, “Does God Sing?” I would tell them He sings when the wind blows through the trees and when the birds wake up in the morning and chirp. I don’t remember hearing about God singing.

Then I heard Kim Hopper sing, “When God Sings” on her CD “I Just Wanted You to Know.” Following is one of the verses: “The rustling of the wings of the angels, The hush of the saints bowing down, Losing themselves in sweet submission, There’s nothing on this earth like the sound . . when God sings.”

The song is written by John Colgin and Christy Sunderland. The last two lines of the chorus say, “When God sings . . . every note and every measure, Dances with His delight . . .in me . . . when God sings.”

Someone found a spot to be protected, nice and cozy!

I love listening to her sing this song. It wasn’t until this week that I found out there is a scripture verse that declares that, yes, God does indeed sing! I was in Joni Eareckson Tada’s devotion book, “Diamonds in the Dust.”

The scripture verse is found in Zephaniah 3:17. It reads, “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.” Joni says: “When my heart is restless and my soul is downcast, I often surround myself with the calming strains of a favorite hymn. Sometimes when I want to express sheer praise, I’ll pick a happy psalm and just put it to any old tune that comes to mind. I sing to myself. I sing to God. But I’m astonished to think that God sings to me.”

 Playing around.

The Hebrew word for “singing” actually means “a ringing cry” with a sense of joy. What a great verse! God sings. Since He is perfect in every way, I will look forward to hearing the beauty of His voice. The Bible tells us that He gave all of His creatures the ability to sing. Job says the angels, who are also called “stars” in Job, can sing.

We also find God singing in Revelation 1:15: "Not only does God sing, but you are the object of His song, simply because you are His redeemed child. His love for you causes Him to sing, not because of what you have done, but because of what Jesus did, that has brought us together into a mutual relationship of love. Imagine the river of God’s love, compassion, mercy and grace that streams toward you expressed through His singing voice."  

I've always loved this snap of Dove and baby that my sister-in-law, Bobbie took.

 

Charles Surgeon said "How encouraging for believers to know that God rejoices in His saints! . . . How strongly God expresses His delight in His people! Who could have even conceived of the eternal One bursting forth into song! . . . In light of this, we should declare our grateful response to the Lord's miraculous declaration of His love for us and sing to Him: 'I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.'"

 

Have you heard God sing? Ask Him to open your ears to His music. It is everywhere!

Graphic unknown source

 

Weary in Thinking

"To think is an effort; to think rightly is a great effort, and to think as a Christian ought to think is the greatest effort of a human soul."

Oswald Chambers 1874-1917

 

I love this snap! It just makes me smile. I passed this lightpost every day on the way to work. On this beautiful morning it was in full bloom with the light on. One of those perfect snaps! 

 

Thinking. It's so easy to turn my thoughts to negative things. Sad things. Wrong things. So I enjoyed reading these words from Sarah Young in her devotion book Jesus Calling:

 

 “Trust Me in all your thoughts. I know that some thoughts are unconscious or semiconscious, and I do not hold you responsible for those. But you can direct conscious thoughts much more than you may realize. Practice thinking in certain ways—trusting Me, thanking Me—and those thoughts become more natural. Reject negative or sinful thoughts as soon as you become aware of them. Don’t try to hide them from Me; confess them and leave them with Me. Go on your way lightheartedly. This method of controlling your thoughts will keep your mind on My Presence and your feet on the path of Peace.  

 

A lone flower refreshes itself next to the river at my cousin's home.

 

Yes, I will have to practice keeping positive thoughts in my head. Controlling my thoughts. I have so much to gain by doing this. It has the ability to change my entire outlook during a day. 

 

As this Scripture shows, Jesus knows:  "Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, 'Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?'" Luke 5:22

I love watching deer slowly walk away. There's just something so soothing about it.

In my prayers each morning I make this request to God: "Lord, I pray for stability in my emotions and thinking as I go through this day." I want to have positive thoughts and positive reactions. He has answered. My thoughts and emotions are more stable and able to accept day-to-day happenings.

 

And we're all familiar with Paul's in Philippians 4:8:  "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

 

"Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking." 2 Peter 3:1

 

Lots of bad and ugly things are all around us, but we don't have to succumb to them. If our faith is in Christ we have the assurance that He is in control and will see us through.

 

A garden I enjoyed walking through at my friend, Diana's home.
 

The psalmist wrote: "How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart." Psalm 13:2  We can direct our thoughts. We need to make it a priority to be in control of our thoughts each day so we can end our day knowing because of Christ our thoughts are about good things. When you realize you're thinking wrong thoughts, stop and correct them.

Young also said: "Ask My Spirit to quiet your mind so that you can think My thoughts. This ability is an awesome benefit of being My child, patterned after My own image. Do not be deafened by the noise of the world or that of your own thinking. Instead, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Sit quietly in My Presence, letting My thoughts reprogram your thinking." Romans 12:2 

My friend, Kathy, created a lovely garden that I enjoyed.
 

 Don't be weary in thinking. Let's take control and be positive in our thoughts. I know I will be glad I did!

"The universe is one of God's thoughts." 

Johann Friedrich von Schiller 1759-1805

 

My Little Acre

 "God does not so much need people to do extraordinary things as He needs people who do ordinary things extraordinarily well."

William Barclay (1907-1978)

  Bright and lovely Dahlias to make a refreshing bouquet.

My little acre of land, my little acre of influence, how well do I know thee? George MacDonald puts it this way:

"Few are needed, to do the out-of-the-way tasks which startle the world, and one may be most useful just doing commonplace duties, and leaving the issue with God. And when it is all over, and our feet will run no more, and our hands are helpless, and we have scarcely strength to murmur a last prayer, then we shall see that, instead of needing a larger field, we have left untilled many corners of our single acre, and that none of it is fit for our Master's eyes, were it not for the softening shadow of the cross."

 Blue Bachelor Buttons!

This quote has always moved me as I've read it over the years. It certainly reminds me that I have much to do in my own little sphere of note. 

Three big bucks that came to our backyard morning and evening from July to October.

 

In Look Unto Me: The Devotions of Charles Spurgeon, the September 10 devotion opened with Mark 3:13: "Jesus went up on a mountain side and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him."

"This is an example of God's sovereignty," Spurgeon wrote. "Impatient souls may fret and fume because they are not called to the highest places of ministry, but dear reader, let your heart rejoice that Jesus calls whom He wills. If He asks you to be only ' . . . a doorkeeper in His house,' Psalm 84:10, cheerfully bless Him for His grace in allowing you to do anything in His service."

 The love of a mom!

Yes, my little acre is quite enough to fill my time in living for Jesus. I just need to be faithful. Whatever God has given you to do in your little acre, do it faithfully . . . "then we shall see that, instead of needing a larger field, we have left untilled many corners of our single acre, and that none of it is fit for our Master's eyes, were it not for the softening shadow of the cross."

All service ranks the same with God."

Robert Browning (1812-1889)

Always a joy to watch twin fawn!