“They celebrate Your abundant goodness

and joyfully sing of your righteousness.” Psalm 145:7

            The end of a school year for a teacher is beyond consuming at times. Required to attend the school’s graduating ceremony, one often has to choose between the different family members celebrating not just the same week, but more often, the same evening.

            While I looked forward to and enjoyed all the fun surrounding my grandson’s 8^th grade graduation, I missed my late cousin’s grandson’s high school celebration. I also overlooked the date my niece graduated from the University of San Diego. A late note would have to do.

            Sometimes it seems the new generation isn’t privy to cards—sending them or even acknowledging when one has been received. Still, words of encourage, words of recognition, words of connection are often the thing that opens a door to opportunity yet to come. When I finally found time to mail cards acknowledging the special achievements, I thought of I Corinthians 10:31. “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

            I’ve yet to be disappointed in receiving a card from someone, and my hope is that regardless of my busyness, I’ll always look for the opportunity to invest in someone else through words of encouragement. There are many ways to celebrate others. The ending verse, Galatians 6:19, reminds me: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” With schools letting out for the summer throughout the month of June, seek an opportunity to celebrate someone else. 

“Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.” (Jeremiah 15:16)

            When was the last time you sat and literally ate something that made you joyful and delighted your spirit? What about God’s Word? While we may not “eat” it, devouring it through meditation can bring a deep delight that no circumstance can destroy.

            Jeremiah is an example of such, and has been one of my favorite Biblical heroes. Not so much because he was considered a “happy” person. Actually, he was a serious prophet so overwhelmed by the Spirit, he earned the name “He who weeps.” Yet, he had joy.

            It was chapter 31:13 that I leaned on early in my Christian walk when things became turbulent. “Then young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.”

            I’ve been accused of not having enough joy by adults, but my nine-year-old students often tell me how fun I am. (I look for ways to bring delight) I relate to Jeremiah’s seriousness. He heard from God and took the message God wanted him to deliver to heart. Thus, the weeping. I begun my weeping for others at a young age.  And when I discovered the power of God’s word, I wept onto its pages. But weeping doesn’t always mean grief; tears also come through joy.

            Let Jesus Overwhelm You today as you spend quiet time “eating at His table.”

You’re stuck. The walls of safety caved in. Your spouse has cancer; your teenage is cutting; your boss just laid you off. Your mind tells you to get out of bed; your heart can’t beat just yet. Friends say, “Remember, there’s always hope.” Really? Why can’t I feel it? You ask aimlessly.

This week the gals at dailyfastfuel will reflect on what life in Christ has taught us about Hope. Why do we need it? How have we seen it work in our lives? Where does it come from?

It’s not a feeling (happiness); it’s not a given (forced); but it is a Person, “For You are my Hope, O Lord God . . . By You I have been upheld from my birth.” (Psalm 72: 5&6)

“He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Rom 4:25)

            Two birthdays.

            Some of us want to forget the original one as we get older. Not me. The more birthdays I celebrate, the closer I get to going home to heaven in order to reap the true celebration of my second birthday: eternity.

            Jesus provided the second one for us—not when He died on the cross, but when He rose from the grave. But death had to come first. While we are born into this life, death immediately begins. It’s in dying that eternal life exist.

            I love that it was green palm leaves laid down for the arrival of the king. Palm trees are one of those plants that stay green year round. Like a snake that sheds it’s skin in order to grow, we shed the “old man” (sin nature) in order to grow in Christ. The challenge is to stay “green” all year round. I believe we can cultivate our green-growth through the daily digesting of God’s word.

            “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Rom. 6:4)

“At this also my heart trembles, and leaps from its place.” Job 37:1

            Both exited and discouraged, I slipped away from the meeting. It seemed the person I asked to back me up ended up receiving all the kudos. (Even if rightfully so.)

            I had arrived excited about being able to share my new venture with prospective clients. Being a beginner, I asked a fellow colleague to help explain the area of investing we were both involved in. Having years of experience, he answered questions with ease.

            Not that he meant to take "center stage." He’d earned it, and I invited him. So when I started to complain to God once I was back in my car, I hear and felt God’s heartbeat.

            “He may have been about the “earthly” business, but you ended up discussing heavenly precepts.”

            You see, I met a young couple and shared my love for where I work as a teacher (outside of my new venture.) They shared their mutual love for Jesus and started asking about my students. Next thing I know, a non-believer is listening in as I shared the prophetic picture a ten-year-old gave me just last week.

             “Ms. Winberry, I see a huge tree shading a small house. A builder is trying to make the house bigger but can’t by himself. I feel the Lord wants you to know that He will help build your new business.” And as God helps me, I go about doing what is natural. Just like my colleague shared intelligently about the ins and outs of private lending, I shared an aspect of God’s kingdom —with both the saved and unsaved tuned in to God’s heartbeat.  

“Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you . . .” (Genesis 9:14)

            All she could see was the strike of lightning. All she could hear was the roar of thunder.  Then came the taunt: “Run, run, run! Who’s going to save you now?” The words continued to echo throughout her mind. “Where is your help? You said it would get better. HA! Come to me, my child. Come and put an end to it forever.”

            She hovered below the bathroom window as rain beat against the pane. Storms always brought back the memory of that horror—the night the invader came and stole the lives of her parents.

            “Where are you, God?” The twenty-year-old heard her voice scream. “You said you’d never leave me nor forsake me.” Boom! Another roll of the violent weather struck the earth. The girl scrambled into the bathtub like a rabbit to its hole.

            “He doesn’t care. You can’t hide. Come to me,” the haunting memory teased.

            “No!” Joyce covered her ears.

            “Jesus loves me, this I know!” The only song she remembered as a child attending Sunday school sprung up from the recesses of her mind. “The Bible tells me so.”

            Minutes later—all, (she stopped singing to listen) all was quiet. She pulled herself up and stepped over to the window. Looking for the rainbow that follows a storm, she glanced to the east. Her eyes drew toward what looked like the sun bursting through cloud mass. But, she reminded herself, the sun sets in the west!

            “No longer will they call you Deserted . . . for the Lord will take delight in you.” (Isaiah 62:4)

           

“Gather the People together and I will give them water."

            “Spring up O well, within my soul. Spring up O well, and make me whole.” This much beloved song was inspired by the verse found in Numbers 21:16. God sprung up fresh, living water for His people as they journeyed throughout the wilderness.

            Everyone has a season of wandering. We often feel lost, or like we keep going in circles, wondering when we’ll make it to the finish line. Weariness depletes the adventurous hope that used to spring us into action.

            It’d been a downward decline after my mom had her first and only major surgery since giving birth to eight children over 50 years ago. She always loved getting out. But by the time she turned 80, she didn’t spring back so easily after being in the hospital for over a week. She eventually stopped attending family dinners; wasn’t interested in being out in public.

            So when I asked if she wanted me to bring her something special for her 85^th birthday, her response surprised me. “No, I want to go out to eat.”

            “You do?” I asked wanting to make sure I’d heard her correctly. “Have they fitted your dentures yet?”

            “No, but I’ve learned how to eat without teeth.”

            “Okay. Where do you want to go?”

            “The place on the river.”

            Okay then, I thought. We’re going early enough. Not too many people out for dinner at a fancy restaurant at five in the afternoon. “Lord, let our time be memorable,” I prayed as the day approached.

            Not only did it not rain as originally forecasted, the wind settled down, the temperate rose to a pleasant 75, and we chatted as mother-and-daughter like we used to do in days past. My 85-year-old mother sprung into the carefree, life-loving person she’s been known to be. Her eyes sparkled as a son, then a granddaughter, and finally a grandson called to wish her a happy birthday while she sat on the deck of a fine-dining place overlooking the famous California Sacramento River.

            If only for the evening, the Lord put the “spring” of the joy of living waters back into the drying bones of one of His faithful saints. I can’t wait to see where we spend her next birthday!

 “ ‘And when he finds it (her,) he joyfully puts (her) on his shoulders and goes home.’ ” (Luke15:5)

“Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! His truth is marching on.” I’ve loved the tune of this battle hymn since I was a young girl in grade school. Every year now, I get to revisit it as a 4^th grade teacher. I pass out the not-so-familiar-song, attempt to carry a tune long enough for them to catch on, sing through it once or twice with them, then off we go. We march to the beat of the rhythm all around our school grounds in worshipful prayer. This year we waved flags and ended in the hallways where the 5^th graders (some of my former 4^th) came out and joined in.

            Then, last week, our principal arranged to have the entire school—kindergarten through 8^th grade—surround the inside walls of the sanctuary. There was a conference going on, and we were to march around one time, stop and pray through the walls. We were to be quiet, as if it were a fire drill. Well, my beautiful songbirds couldn’t hold it in. They began to sing—not the battle hymn, but "Holy Spirit, You are Welcome Here." It was as if God had given them their own “heartbeat.” They sang and marched on quietly in one accord, led by the Spirit beating within their individual hearts.

            As I finish this up, I reflect back on the above verse from Luke and the story of the lost sheep. You may have noticed Wednesday’s post missing. Yet, we “marched on.” Our sister-writer will be back. For now, we are surrounding her with prayer in order for the unison of God’s heartbeat to bring complete peace and healing. Jesus is holding her up on His shoulders and marching on.

I’ve got one pinned to my bathroom mirror; another in a side pocket of my purse; several in the fold of my Bible. “Love you, Mom; You’re the best teacher; So glad we’re friends; Sisters forever.” A variety of notes from my sons, family, friends, and students filled with encouraging expressions of love.  As meaningful as they are—keepsakes revisited in time of need—it wasn’t until I discovered the faithful, everlasting, unconditional love book that I convinced.

            I remember when my youngest was almost five. He found my high school year-book picture and brought it to me. “Who is this lady?” He asked.
           “Why, that’s me when I was much, much younger,” I said.

How often do we question God’s love for us? When doubt strikes through sin, disease, drifting, or faltering faith, it’s natural to wonder, “Do You still love me?”

           Thankfully, God is love; “His love endures forever.” Psalm 106:1c.

“How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” Eph. 3:18b

“I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Jer. 31:3

“God so loved the world He gave . . .” John 3:16

“So great is His unfailing love” Lam 3:32

“He will quiet you His love” Zep. 3:17

When you find yourself in need of more than what others are even capable of giving, turn to the number one, true and perfect love note: God’s word.

         “I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from?

My help comes form the LORD . . . The Lord watches over you . . . The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Amen and Amen! (Psalm 121)

 “My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.” Psalm 119: 28

            It’s not a matter of if we deal with depression. We all will and do at some point in our lives. I remember the “Ok, I get it” moment God spoke to me. It was a couple months after my daughter passed away. I finally got up the nerve to enter her room, then to actually sit in the rocking chair—our rocking chair—that encapsulated our short “mother/ daughter” time together. It didn’t take long for the D word to begin to pull me down. Tears soaked my blouse; groans bellowed up from beyond the pit of my stomach. The “why, Lord, just tell me why” began, again. That’s when the loving wisdom of my Father freed me.

            “Lezlie, depression is no more than an emotion, and I created all emotions. It’s not about feeling depressed. It’s about what you are going to DO when you get depressed. You have two choices here. Continue to wallow and sink deeper into the abyss of self-pity, or GET UP and say good-bye.”

            That tough love lesson rang true once again June 2013. Death didn’t knock, no, that sting was gone. This time it was drugs, but not for the first time. Drugs had already stolen years from one of my sons (but only for a decade!) Now drugs came again, no, not just again, but back. Back to haunt yet another of my sons—for the second time in his life.

            “That’s it God, I already did this, I can’t do it again.”

            “I know you can’t. Let me.”(And when my son cried out, God answered him, again!)

            My depression lasted longer this time, but it didn’t defeat me. God’s word is living, true, and freeing. It is “new every morning.” It is the detonator needed to bust through, apart, and thoroughly destroy anything that tries to rob us from the joy of the knowledge of eternity.
           “In my anguish I cried to the LORD and he answered by setting me free.” (Psalm 118:5)
            Do you want freedom from depression? Open the pages of the one book that has lasted the longest throughout history. Allow His words to detonate the lies of the destroyer as He restores your soul with truth.

The “Day After” can be a let down in many ways. It doesn’t just pertain to the Christmas season. It’s like that climb to the top of a mountain: lots of preparation, excitement, and muscle ache along the way. Once on top, the celebration climaxes. But it’s quickly dampened by the glance down toward the dreary return. I remember my hardest such look back.

            It was December 21^st, 1989, early morn. Grinch easily could have stolen Christmas, if I’d let him. My almost two-year-old daughter slipped into a peaceful comma and passed into the arms of her heavenly Father, four days before Christmas. Determined not to let her death interfere with the acknowledgment of the Savior’s birth, we held her memorial the day after Christmas. Because of her long struggle with a rare cancerous disease, her memorial celebrated her home-going. But reality hit thereafter.

            I pushed through my first two years of intense grief, and then God gifted me. He touched me with uncontrollable laughter during a weekly prayer meeting I attended. No one knew what to do; it was so uncharacteristic of me, the serious-quiet weeper—to burst out in such laughter. But God knew. You see, I’d been trying to fill my empty arms with a new baby to no avail.Yet, two months later, I was pregnant. And instead of being born on his due date, January 14^th, Michael Cole entered the world four minutes after midnight, New Year’s Day, 1992. While my daughter died four days before Christmas, my youngest son, two years later, ushered in the newness of the “days after.”

            I have a lot to be thankful for. The Grinch of the holidays holds nothing to the Gifter of Christmas! Psalm 30:5b puts into perspective the day after for me: “Weeping may tarry for the night, but (a shout of) joy comes with the morning.”

The topic of which building in the US is the largest, or has the highest tower, consumed the news during mid-November. It brought my thoughts to Genesis 11:4, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven.” God was not happy with His people, for their intention was to boast of their great work or magnify themselves. Psalms 69:30 tells us we are to “magnify God with thanksgiving.”

            I looked up the word magnify and behold, besides meaning: boast, increase, lift up and promote, it also means tower. Our creator should be the one receiving “the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name,” (Heb.13:15) not the works of our own hands.

            I propose we practice building a tower of thanksgiving this holiday season. Not just today, Thanksgiving day, but every day—every time we start to feel discouraged, frightened, left-out, or threatened in some way. Giving thanks is more than an attitude; it’s obedience, a reflection of the heart. There is much to give thanks for, even when things are hard—even when a grandbaby is sick, a spouse has cancer, a teenager an addiction. We “give thanks to the Lord for He is good,” (Ps. 107:1) and it’s His worthiness that gets us through.

This week most of our children will hear something about the first Pilgrims who ventured across the Atlantic in order to practice religious freedom. Some will read the story, watch it via media, or even re-in-act parts of it. While they scratch the surface of the religious convictions that prompted our founding—families to sacrifice so much for what may appear to have resulted in so little for them, each of us will serve up our own reflections on the gain the Thanksgiving pilgrimage brought. We will offer a “plate full” of our own experience with portions of the following: what we have learned from our own journeys; how our faith has been strengthened or tested, Biblical adventures, and the meaning of a pilgrimage.

       Jesus stated in His prayer to the Father, referring to believers: “They are not of the world,” (but, as pilgrims,) “I have sent them into the world.” (John 17:16 & 18.)

“How long have you gals been celebrating each others?” The guest asked.

      “It’s been over a decade,” we chimed in around the table. “As single women,” I clarified, “six of us began getting together for Christmas, then for birthdays. If someone moved away, another came along to compliment and increase our six-pack.”

      I traditionally hosted the fall birthdays of our group during November, America’s month of Thanksgiving celebration. I had asked God how I could initiate an attitude of thanks around the table. After printing off verses with words pertaining to thanks, and reflecting on each verse, I wrote a word of encouragement on the back. I folded, mixed the verses up, then placed them by each woman’s plate—not knowing who would receive which one.

      When we began sharing how the verse and what was written on the back, spoke to us personally, the chatter quieted. My verse had to do with thanking God for His good deeds and sharing them with others; another spoke of thanking God for His people; another on how generosity brings forth thanksgiving to God. But the hardest verse for many, landed in the hands of the woman who had a difficult time getting to our get-together. Arthritic pain plagued her body.

      “I don’t know if I can get through this,” she said wiping at her eyes as she read: “Thank God in everything no matter what the circumstances may be; be thankful and give thanks, for this is the will of God for you. (I Thess. 5:18)” Tears rushed forth. “I’m afraid to read what’s on the back,” she paused to grab a napkin. “Okay, here goes,” she said between sobs. Turning her verse over, she read her message from God.

      “I see every tear that drops. I know your struggles and hardships. I’m here holding you up every step of the way.” Now her tears splashed onto her plate.       

“As hard as the pain is,” she continued, “I’m thankful God is there for me.” After a brief pause, she looked at all of us. “I’m also thankful for each one of you—your prayers, love, and friendship throughout the years.” By the end of the evening, we had our Christmas gathering scheduled and planned. :)

      God has given our group more than a six-pack of faithful friends over the decade. He’s given us a family: a safe place to share our hearts, both from pain and in joy.

      I love this month of celebrating thanks—for family, friends, and for you, my readers. Thus, I leave you all with Paul’s famous greeting: “We always thank God for all of you,” 1Thess 1:2; and Philippians 1:3, “I thank my God every time I remember you.”

“Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 is a verse I’ve fallen back on countless times that carries a battle theme. We’ve all faced or been through something: death, divorce, disease, drugs, depression, or devastation of sorts. Some of us more than others; but, it’s the command that precedes this verse that I struggle with the most, “Be strong and of good courage.” No matter how many times I’ve been knocked down, dunked under, or “held captive,” my rebound doesn’t happen naturally.

            I wish I could be more like Jonathan was in 1Samuel 14:8 when he faced the Philistines. He told his armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows (let’s bust fear in the face!—my interpretation.) . . . Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.” Jonathan knew who had his back—both physically and spiritual.

            Being the “concrete, black & white” thinker that I am, trusting hasn’t come easily. Regardless of how many people have told me, “You’re such a strong person” after recuperating from each of the first three “Ds” mentioned above, it doesn’t get easier for me. I still grow anxious; I forget to pray first; I doubt; I let my emotions get the best of me. So, how do I get up, get through, and go on?

            “’Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’says the LORD Almighty.” (Zachariah 4:7) Emerging myself in God’s word on a regular basis helps me to soak up what I need in times of trouble. By rehearsing then releasing what I know to be true, God's Spirit within me becomes my “Fear” buster.