Last week we explored asking God the question, “Can you hear me now?” when we feel our prayers are bouncing off the ceiling. This week let’s take a look at it from God’s perspective.
Hey! You down there - beating your head against the wall… ”can you hear Me now?”
Sometimes I can picture God with a megaphone trying to get my attention. My life is loud. I’ve got the stuff most people have plus junk that is my own stuff. Junk and stuff they can clutter our lives when there is no outlet. Think Hoarding…insert mental visual here.
Recently I was reading about Devil’s Lake in North Dakota. An Associated Press story reported:
It's been called a slow-growing monster: a huge lake that has steadily expanded over the last 20 years, swallowing up thousands of acres, hundreds of buildings and at least two towns in its rising waters. Devils Lake keeps getting larger because it has no natural river or stream to carry away excess rain and snowmelt. Now it has climbed within 6 feet of overflowing, raising fears that some downstream communities could be washed away if the water level isn't reduced.
Towns, homes, and acres of land have been consumed by this lake. I think about my sanity and my quiet time being consumed by my junk and my stuff. With a life so loud, it can be hard for God’s answers or his directions to get through. Perhaps prompting him to wonder “Can you hear Me now?”.
When my stuff builds up and my junk begins to overtake my life because it has no outlet, the noise level rises and that “still small voice” is reduced to negative decibels.
It seems that my trials come in the wake of such noise. I often wonder if it is a lack of spiritual discipline on my part that allows the negative stuff to assail me because I’ve been wrong. But sometimes I wonder if God just misses me. He knows at the first hint of trouble I come a runnin’ and praying to him, so perhaps these issues are "allowed into my life" because God misses my conversations, my praise, my worship, and simply my NEEDING him. See, he is a jealous God and my junk, stuff and noise, take my time and focus from Him.
"In repentance and rest is your salvation; in quietness and trust is your strength..." Isaiah 30:15
He created us with a desire for Him. We are created in His image. He desires and longs for a relationship with us. When our stuff gets in the way, we are weaker. God himself rested on the seventh day. Give your spirit a rest.
Can you hear Him now?
Point to Ponder: What can you tune down in your life so that you can hear Him now?
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Can you hear me now?
Do you remember the Verizon Commercials where a guy went all over the place to test that his network was working and his message getting through? How often does our prayer life seem that way?
Have you asked this of God? Can you hear me now? How often have we come to the end of ourselves and felt our prayers were bouncing off of the ceiling? One pastor said that God answers all prayers in His time. He said when we get a NO. It is still an answer. So is a NOT YET. But the answer we are looking for is usually a YES!
Talking to someone this morning reminded me of walking in those shoes. Praying fervently and feeling like I wasn’t getting anywhere. Remembering and having those feelings well back up reminded me that GOD did answer… eventually in my situation. But it was after I had come to the end of myself.
How can we have unshakeable faith. I’ve known people who’ve had it. Horatio G. Spafford penned the hymn “It is well with my soul” near the very spot where his four daughters drowned in a shipwreck in 1871.
How does a man have that kind of peace amidst the indescribable pain of losing his family?
Romans 5: 3-4 says, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.”
My journal reads: But God, I want to be a sprinter. I don’t want to be an endurance athlete.
Perhaps when I lose that mind set, my endurance training will be over. Maybe it won’t end, it just won’t seem like training anymore. It will be part of my character like it was Horatio’s. Horatio didn’t ask if God could hear him. He knew God was listening. He was reassuring God when he said, “It is well with my soul”. I pray today for that kind of faith for me and for the person on the other end of my conversation this morning.
Is it well with your soul? Is there a race that you are tired of running? Are you wondering if God is hearing you? Start believing regardless of the outcome, “It is well with my soul” and perhaps your victory will be in a most unexpected place. (Watch for Can You Hear Me Now Part II next week)
Point to Ponder: How would your life be different if you declared victory today?
Have you asked this of God? Can you hear me now? How often have we come to the end of ourselves and felt our prayers were bouncing off of the ceiling? One pastor said that God answers all prayers in His time. He said when we get a NO. It is still an answer. So is a NOT YET. But the answer we are looking for is usually a YES!
Talking to someone this morning reminded me of walking in those shoes. Praying fervently and feeling like I wasn’t getting anywhere. Remembering and having those feelings well back up reminded me that GOD did answer… eventually in my situation. But it was after I had come to the end of myself.
How can we have unshakeable faith. I’ve known people who’ve had it. Horatio G. Spafford penned the hymn “It is well with my soul” near the very spot where his four daughters drowned in a shipwreck in 1871.
“When peace like a river attendeth my way.
When Sorrows like sea-billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say.
It is well, it is well with my soul.”
How does a man have that kind of peace amidst the indescribable pain of losing his family?
Romans 5: 3-4 says, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.”
My journal reads: But God, I want to be a sprinter. I don’t want to be an endurance athlete.
Perhaps when I lose that mind set, my endurance training will be over. Maybe it won’t end, it just won’t seem like training anymore. It will be part of my character like it was Horatio’s. Horatio didn’t ask if God could hear him. He knew God was listening. He was reassuring God when he said, “It is well with my soul”. I pray today for that kind of faith for me and for the person on the other end of my conversation this morning.
Is it well with your soul? Is there a race that you are tired of running? Are you wondering if God is hearing you? Start believing regardless of the outcome, “It is well with my soul” and perhaps your victory will be in a most unexpected place. (Watch for Can You Hear Me Now Part II next week)
Point to Ponder: How would your life be different if you declared victory today?
Monday, September 6, 2010
Image is Everything
Images. For my friend Linda images are everything. She is a professional photographer with Linda Jackman Photography (http://lindajackmanphotography.com/), images are her livelihood. She can tell a story with a photo. She has a gift for not only capturing the right emotion as it happens, but also creating that emotion through visual manipulation. The right light, a filter here or there and a conveniently staged prop and a simple flower can become a gift being given by a petulant child, or an ethereal shot of an infant appears to be a heavenly angel.
Images can evoke emotion. Recently I watched the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and was taken right back to five years ago with a heavy heart watching the devastation of property and people. The other day I was sent a photo that made me laugh hysterically. When I see images of child trafficking or animal cruelty I get angry. Looking at photos of my father can make me wistful and photos of chocolate, well they make me hungry!
While images can provoke us, they can also deceive us. Advertising is full of deceptive images that tell us to drink this, take that so you can look like this. I recently viewed a video that showed how an average gal with ordinary features was transformed into a billboard beauty. Did you ever see the commercial for the square Wendy’s bacon cheeseburger years ago? My son talked about it for days. I saw the disappointment on his face when he unwrapped the burger and uttered the words, “This wasn’t what it looked like on TV”, while it was a good lesson it came at his expense.
One of the coolest verses of the Bible about creation is Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” and then verse 27 “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
Seriously? We are created in God’s Image ponder this a moment. That same GOD that created the heavens and the earth AND created you…actually created you in HIS image – His likeness. Basically – Image is everything.
A pastor once said, “You might be the only Jesus that people see.” We sang a song in church yesterday the chorus went like this:
Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin had left a Crimson Stain
He washed it white as snow
As established above, images are powerful and these words reminded me that if we’ve accepted Christ and believe that he paid it all…our image is white as snow. We can’t live in the past, because God put an end to it when he allowed Jesus to pay our debt.
Point to Ponder: What image do we project and what does our image evoke? Are we the real deal? Or are we morphing what others see on the outside? Are we living in the past or walking in spirit and in truth? What is hindering us from being authentic?
Images can evoke emotion. Recently I watched the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and was taken right back to five years ago with a heavy heart watching the devastation of property and people. The other day I was sent a photo that made me laugh hysterically. When I see images of child trafficking or animal cruelty I get angry. Looking at photos of my father can make me wistful and photos of chocolate, well they make me hungry!
While images can provoke us, they can also deceive us. Advertising is full of deceptive images that tell us to drink this, take that so you can look like this. I recently viewed a video that showed how an average gal with ordinary features was transformed into a billboard beauty. Did you ever see the commercial for the square Wendy’s bacon cheeseburger years ago? My son talked about it for days. I saw the disappointment on his face when he unwrapped the burger and uttered the words, “This wasn’t what it looked like on TV”, while it was a good lesson it came at his expense.
One of the coolest verses of the Bible about creation is Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” and then verse 27 “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
Seriously? We are created in God’s Image ponder this a moment. That same GOD that created the heavens and the earth AND created you…actually created you in HIS image – His likeness. Basically – Image is everything.
A pastor once said, “You might be the only Jesus that people see.” We sang a song in church yesterday the chorus went like this:
Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin had left a Crimson Stain
He washed it white as snow
As established above, images are powerful and these words reminded me that if we’ve accepted Christ and believe that he paid it all…our image is white as snow. We can’t live in the past, because God put an end to it when he allowed Jesus to pay our debt.
Point to Ponder: What image do we project and what does our image evoke? Are we the real deal? Or are we morphing what others see on the outside? Are we living in the past or walking in spirit and in truth? What is hindering us from being authentic?
Monday, August 30, 2010
Oxygen, Hydrogen, Carbon…Priceless!
“Who holds the wind in his fists? Who wraps up the oceans in his cloak? Who created the whole wide world? What is his name – and his son’s name?
Tell me if you know.”
Proverbs 30:4 NLT
Okay so I am pondering this. My daily devotions include reading through the book of Proverbs every month. There are 31 chapters in this book of the Bible, so all I need to know is the date and I am equipped. I have been doing this for several years. Last month I came across this verse as if seeing it for the first time and yes…TODAY is the 30th so… I came across it again. All I can say is WOW.
A Chris Tomlin song talks about “Heavenly storehouses laden with Snow” and then there are all the verses trust me, I have researched, that talk about God’s Creations and how magnificent they are. “He drew the boundary for the sea”, “He calls and the stars appear in order”… Does it get more awesome than that? I mean really! God really has it under control.
The postcards he paints via nature are like love letters to us. It is through nature that we not only see His awesome power but also gentleness and compassion. Showing others how to connect to HIM through creation is what Kissed By the Creator is all about.
How beautiful is the sunset? How glorious is the dew on a budding rose? How intricate is the web of an orb spider or the patterns of the wind on the sand dunes in the desert? With sweeping artistic strokes God has created a masterpiece that we get to live in. Drinking it in can be mesmerizing.
Guess what? The creator of all this beauty, this master of much also created you and me. Yes and not only did he create us, but HE loves us more than any of his other creations. We are the desire of his heart. He views us more special and worthy than anything else he created. So worthy in fact he was willing to die for us. We are his most priceless work of art!
I think of the music I have from musicians I admire, and artists whose work I collect and the books by favorite authors that line my shelves, things I consider treasures and priceless, but would I die for them? Nope. Then I think of God’s priceless treasures. We are HIS collection. We are HIS treasure. The Creator of the Universe and all its splendor and beauty tossed together some hydrogen, carbon, oxygen and a 6 foot strand of DNA and here we are…priceless.
Remember, your maker knows your value, even if others don’t. So today make it a point to respect yourself by making choices that reflect your worth. Don’t permit someone’s view of you to overshadow your importance to God.
Point to Ponder: How can you encourage someone today of their worth or their value?
Monday, August 16, 2010
Writer Possessed or Enthusiastic?
I love Greek food. Hummus, tabouli, stuffed grape leaves, olive oil anything yummo! And I think the language is pretty cool too. I know the alphabet because I had to learn it while pledging in college. Yeah Sigma Delta Phi!
I just came across the definition of ENTHUSIASM according to the Greek…
The word enthusiasm comes from the ancient Greek word eufousiasmz EN +THEOS meaning "inspired by or possessed by God".
The word comes from the ancient Orphic (Orpheus) religious belief system as well as the writings of Plato. The two key meanings in English of the word are:
1. Possession by a god, supernatural inspiration, prophetic or poetic ecstasy; and
2. Rapturous intensity of feeling on behalf of a person, cause, etc: passionate eagerness in any pursuit.
One word that people use to describe me other than loud is “enthusiastic” about whatever I am doing. They usually say it while shaking their heads and rolling their eyes like its negative, now I know better! I tend to have a sort of zest that folks notice. If you are going to do anything, especially mundane and boring tasks, I am all about making them fun.
Recently we sat in traffic. My three kids 16,14 and 9 on a hot black stretch of road called Interstate 80W which we dubbed the “slow road to nowhere” during our recent trip across PA. We sang, we shouted, we waved, we rocked the truck, we did Chinese fire drills - we had a blast! No gloominess, just hilarious! We made a fun memory out of a yucky situation. We relieved stress and arrived home with stories!
When I think of getting “Beside the Sea with Thee” published. I work with enthusiasm. Not only to get it out and on to the next one, but because I enthusiastically want people to experience God through his creation. Sometimes I picture God creating stuff like actually breathing things into existence. He is the author of enthusiasm. He could have stopped at one kind of fish, or one kind of crab…but NO! He created a plethora of species of everything. What was he thinking when he created the penguin? Really can you look at one and not smile? What about that nasty evil looking angler fish..yikes!
When I put words together without praying first, it is all drab and uninspired but after seeking the Creator, it seems I can tackle CREATING with enthusiasm. Now thanks to the Greek dictionary…I know why…EN THEOS…
Now it is your turn! Point to Ponder:
What are you enthusiastic about and why. And how long has it been since you enjoyed it? Why?
I just came across the definition of ENTHUSIASM according to the Greek…
The word enthusiasm comes from the ancient Greek word eufousiasmz EN +THEOS meaning "inspired by or possessed by God".
The word comes from the ancient Orphic (Orpheus) religious belief system as well as the writings of Plato. The two key meanings in English of the word are:
1. Possession by a god, supernatural inspiration, prophetic or poetic ecstasy; and
2. Rapturous intensity of feeling on behalf of a person, cause, etc: passionate eagerness in any pursuit.
One word that people use to describe me other than loud is “enthusiastic” about whatever I am doing. They usually say it while shaking their heads and rolling their eyes like its negative, now I know better! I tend to have a sort of zest that folks notice. If you are going to do anything, especially mundane and boring tasks, I am all about making them fun.
Recently we sat in traffic. My three kids 16,14 and 9 on a hot black stretch of road called Interstate 80W which we dubbed the “slow road to nowhere” during our recent trip across PA. We sang, we shouted, we waved, we rocked the truck, we did Chinese fire drills - we had a blast! No gloominess, just hilarious! We made a fun memory out of a yucky situation. We relieved stress and arrived home with stories!
When I think of getting “Beside the Sea with Thee” published. I work with enthusiasm. Not only to get it out and on to the next one, but because I enthusiastically want people to experience God through his creation. Sometimes I picture God creating stuff like actually breathing things into existence. He is the author of enthusiasm. He could have stopped at one kind of fish, or one kind of crab…but NO! He created a plethora of species of everything. What was he thinking when he created the penguin? Really can you look at one and not smile? What about that nasty evil looking angler fish..yikes!
When I put words together without praying first, it is all drab and uninspired but after seeking the Creator, it seems I can tackle CREATING with enthusiasm. Now thanks to the Greek dictionary…I know why…EN THEOS…
Now it is your turn! Point to Ponder:
What are you enthusiastic about and why. And how long has it been since you enjoyed it? Why?
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Creating something out of Nothing…literally
The week after being tremendously blessed at a Writer’s Conference I am tool-LESS. Is this a word? Nope. It is my reality however. Shortly after being inspired, energized and equipped to pursue my craft and the progress of publishing my book, it happened.
The first “it” was a power surge that fried the surge protector in my office. No Modem, No Router, No Cordless Phone for awhile. I felt adrift. Full of words but no way to share them. But, I did have my cell phone as a link to the outside world. I had it that is until Saturday Morning. The next “it” was when a ride on the Phantom’s Revenge Roller Coaster went horribly wrong according to my cell phone which at some point during the 92 MPH twisty and turny ride was liberated from my pocket. Daughter Hannah made a valiant attempt at retrieval, but alas in the blink of an eye it bounced off the car behind us and fell into that great abyss under the coaster.
So, my contacts, calendar, texts, photos and yes my lifeline remain at Kennywood.
Determined to think positively of being reunited with my phone, I filled out the proper paperwork to have it sent to my house when found. In the meantime, it is quiet. I am undisturbed. No buzzing or ringing.
The lesson? I think I am being forced to spend more time Communicating with my CREATOR than actually Creating. I am not complaining. During this time of cyber solitude and being UNnetworked, I am reading more and searching more. I am enjoying the change. I actually enjoy being unwired and unteathered.
My new office is Panera, where I have been able to enjoy a cup of coffee and a REAL conversation or two with people I bump into daily. Face to Face Chatting has its benefits especially when they are buying .
I am getting out of the house more regularly but am MORE productive house wise when I am there.
This is forcing me to be organized about what is a priority and what is not when I do get my computer time.
So life has seemingly handed me lemons. I choose to make Lemonade from them. The pondering point for the day?
What negative situation have you been in that you turned around to make it a positive experience?
Now it is your turn to write if you have time. I promise I’ll read it. Better yet, meet me at Panera for coffee and oh, bring your wallet!
Blessings,
Connie
The first “it” was a power surge that fried the surge protector in my office. No Modem, No Router, No Cordless Phone for awhile. I felt adrift. Full of words but no way to share them. But, I did have my cell phone as a link to the outside world. I had it that is until Saturday Morning. The next “it” was when a ride on the Phantom’s Revenge Roller Coaster went horribly wrong according to my cell phone which at some point during the 92 MPH twisty and turny ride was liberated from my pocket. Daughter Hannah made a valiant attempt at retrieval, but alas in the blink of an eye it bounced off the car behind us and fell into that great abyss under the coaster.
So, my contacts, calendar, texts, photos and yes my lifeline remain at Kennywood.
Determined to think positively of being reunited with my phone, I filled out the proper paperwork to have it sent to my house when found. In the meantime, it is quiet. I am undisturbed. No buzzing or ringing.
The lesson? I think I am being forced to spend more time Communicating with my CREATOR than actually Creating. I am not complaining. During this time of cyber solitude and being UNnetworked, I am reading more and searching more. I am enjoying the change. I actually enjoy being unwired and unteathered.
My new office is Panera, where I have been able to enjoy a cup of coffee and a REAL conversation or two with people I bump into daily. Face to Face Chatting has its benefits especially when they are buying .
I am getting out of the house more regularly but am MORE productive house wise when I am there.
This is forcing me to be organized about what is a priority and what is not when I do get my computer time.
So life has seemingly handed me lemons. I choose to make Lemonade from them. The pondering point for the day?
What negative situation have you been in that you turned around to make it a positive experience?
Now it is your turn to write if you have time. I promise I’ll read it. Better yet, meet me at Panera for coffee and oh, bring your wallet!
Blessings,
Connie
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Pondering St. Patrick of Ireland and Nature
I’ve been writing and speaking for more than 20 years. I’ve always enjoyed pondering about and crafting a talk. I love weaving imagery into whatever I am trying to communicate to the audience.
Pondering is the bud of my writing. I love to ponder things I see, hear, smell and read. Quotes like “The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn,” by Ralph Waldo Emerson can roll around for days in my mind. Images of nature seem to stick with me.
St. Patrick of Ireland used a shamrock to explain the Trinity. He knew that we could see something and learn something about God by reflection on His creation.
I believe, like St. Patrick, that nature—created by God—reflects His glory.
Through this blog and my book series “Kissed by the Creator” I convey to readers the awesomeness of God through his magnificent creations.
When speaking to people about the sea, heads nod – not to sleep! – they nod in kinship. The sea seems to universally speak to us. In my book, “Beside the Sea with Thee” I take the reader on a vacation for their soul. It is a reflective book that offers hope, encouragement and a respite from the noisy world. (book is in editing currently)
From the book… “
Before you can see it, you can smell it. The aroma of life-giving water combined with the aroma of the gifts of the sea - the shells, fish, plants and creatures that combine to form one of the most fascinating ecosystems on the planet.
With reckless abandon you grab those who love you best and run to the sea as if called by some strange force of nature. You mount the top of the dune or boardwalk and drink it in - the smells, the sight of water that stretches beyond your imagination and you feel the rhythm of the sea. That life-giving sea …
Speaking topics and retreats spawned from the book include: “Buried Treasure”, “Surviving the Sea of ….”, and “Rx 4 H2O”. For more information please contact me, Connie Pilston Shoemaker at kissedbythecreator@gmail.com
I welcome your comments and hope you will participate in the pondering here when you have time or when the spirit moves you to contribute.
Today’s point to ponder, please feel free to comment below.
“What aspect of nature stirs your soul?
Is it a sunrise? A flower? A majestic 10 point buck with symmetrical rack? A hummingbird nest? What causes you to stop in your tracks, breathe deeply and just Know…’this is something special’ ?
Your turn to write!
Pondering is the bud of my writing. I love to ponder things I see, hear, smell and read. Quotes like “The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn,” by Ralph Waldo Emerson can roll around for days in my mind. Images of nature seem to stick with me.
St. Patrick of Ireland used a shamrock to explain the Trinity. He knew that we could see something and learn something about God by reflection on His creation.
I believe, like St. Patrick, that nature—created by God—reflects His glory.
Through this blog and my book series “Kissed by the Creator” I convey to readers the awesomeness of God through his magnificent creations.
When speaking to people about the sea, heads nod – not to sleep! – they nod in kinship. The sea seems to universally speak to us. In my book, “Beside the Sea with Thee” I take the reader on a vacation for their soul. It is a reflective book that offers hope, encouragement and a respite from the noisy world. (book is in editing currently)
From the book… “
Before you can see it, you can smell it. The aroma of life-giving water combined with the aroma of the gifts of the sea - the shells, fish, plants and creatures that combine to form one of the most fascinating ecosystems on the planet.
With reckless abandon you grab those who love you best and run to the sea as if called by some strange force of nature. You mount the top of the dune or boardwalk and drink it in - the smells, the sight of water that stretches beyond your imagination and you feel the rhythm of the sea. That life-giving sea …
Speaking topics and retreats spawned from the book include: “Buried Treasure”, “Surviving the Sea of ….”, and “Rx 4 H2O”. For more information please contact me, Connie Pilston Shoemaker at kissedbythecreator@gmail.com
I welcome your comments and hope you will participate in the pondering here when you have time or when the spirit moves you to contribute.
Today’s point to ponder, please feel free to comment below.
“What aspect of nature stirs your soul?
Is it a sunrise? A flower? A majestic 10 point buck with symmetrical rack? A hummingbird nest? What causes you to stop in your tracks, breathe deeply and just Know…’this is something special’ ?
Your turn to write!
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