High Heeled Beauty

"We do not merely want to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words—to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it." C.S. Lewis

John reminded me of a scripture last evening where the Bible says "He has set eternity in our hearts." We long for something on a heart level that is not of this world.

God has set a compass inside Creation. The Canadian geese fly into Alaska in the spring and back out in the fall. Salmon leave and return to the stream where they were born. I find myself star gazing and rejoicing over Hubble pictures of exploding gases in nebula nurseries aware that I am really looking for the face of the Creator. I am like Moses, "God, can I see you?"

But something more than sight is my goal. I remember the feeling I had walking down the aisle in my white gown and veil. John was waiting at the altar with his face drawing me to him. When I walked back I would be changed forever and I knew it. Taking those slow, dignified steps was almost painful. I wanted to pull away from my Dad's arm and rush forward as fast as my high-heeled feet would allow. John and I had a destiny. We were coming home to one another.

As the year ends I feel I am taking another walk. A walk shared by another bride. Our future is there smiling, drawing, beaming a great reassuring smile. Christ. Home is calling and He is a stunner. (His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns..Revelation 19) Powerful beauty for real and forever. Beauty through and through. My soul's satisfaction. I can "...hear his heart beat for a thousand miles."

I cannot say how long this aisle is. How much time we or the world have but beauty and home are at the end of it. Whatever we pass along the journey, the destination is the same. Don't remove your heels. Keep your white dress on. The invitations said formal. If the world asks where you bought the dress do not hesitate to tell them.

May 2011 be for us all a year of beautification. Like Esther of old we have a date with the King. I bless you to be ready and radiant.

Happy are they whom you choose and draw to your courts to dwell there!... they will be satisfied by the beauty of your house, by the holiness of your temple.
Psalm 65

Let them praise the Name of the LORD... for His Name only is exalted, His splendor is over Earth and Heaven.
Psalm 148

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Dedicated to John as his birthday on 1/2/2011 approaches. I will love you forever and a mile beyond. kl

The Burning Ones

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures...Day and night they never stop saying: Holy, holy, holy is the LORD God Almighty...(Revelations 4)

Meet the Seraphim. The ones who burn and kindle praise fire.

In Isaiah 6 they cry out: Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty, the whole earth is full of His Glory. Isaiah observed that at the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

The response to their utterance is high-praise. Personal thrones are abandoned and hard won crowns are cast at His feet. Everything is surrendered to Christ the All Deserving One. This praise is so powerful it vibrates what is foundational.

Looking forward to a new year in 2011 I have focused in on this. I want a praise that abandons all my personal agendas. A worship that throws it all at the feet of Jesus the Worthy One. A call to Glory that shakes my foundations and vibrates throughout the next year. A "Holy, holy, holy," that informs all my waking moments, all my decisions, all my finances, all my plans and personal relationships. I want to be a "Burning One."

Surrender is a powerful incendiary.

"All to Jesus I surrender,
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power,
Let Thy blessing fall on me.

All to Jesus I surrender,
Now I feel the sacred flame.
Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory to His name!"

Let us completely and unconditionally surrender the year ahead to Christ. Let that altar fire burn in our hearts and upon our lips. Let us have a Holy, Holy, Holy 2011. May we be consumed as never before. May we each become one of His "Burning Ones" losing ourselves in His Glory.

May the Bride said "Yes!"

Manger-Heart

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:6

I know that this prophecy has been fulfilled. If I did not know it for any other reason, I know its the truth because I myself have called Him "Wonderful." I've called Him that more than once and He has demonstrated His "Wonderfulness" as my friend Kim calls it, every day.

God is wonderful and faithful and not so fussy as some of us. Good thing too. He called a manger full of straw home. How is that even possible? Does the President stay at the Motel 6? When did you last hear of the Pope sleeping in a barn?

Straw is sharp and dry and brittle. Certainly not welcoming. How clean might it have been? Not clean enough for my friend Pris. Not even clean enough for me and my friends will tell you I am not Martha Stewart. Do you suppose the animals drooled in it? I bet they did.

Our hearts are sometimes like that manger. Rough, sharp, dry and brittle and maybe a little untidy. Isn't it amazing that Jesus still wants to make His bed there? He doesn't care if He has to muck out the stall, He wants us to make room for Him. He will do the rest. His is a cleansing love.

Come, Lord Jesus. Turn aside here. Make your bed in my manger-heart.

"Be near me, Lord Jesus,
I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever
And love me I pray"

He is truly Wonderful.

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Our friend Jane says Merry really should be translated "Mighty"...so John and I wish all of you a Mighty Christmas! Many Blessings. How He loves us.

Jubilate

Psalm 100 (Message)
A Thanksgiving Psalm
1-2 On your feet now—applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter,
sing yourselves into his presence.

3 Know this: God is God, and God, God.
He made us; we didn't make him.
We're his people, his well-tended sheep.

4 Enter with the password: "Thank you!"
Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
Thank him. Worship him.

5 For God is sheer beauty,
all-generous in love,
loyal always and ever.

What an opening line! Look what the psalmist encourages us to do! He is lighting the fuse on a stick of dynamite and rolling it down the aisle. The command comes to stand to our feet and start clapping, to make God an offering of holy laughter while singing His praises.

I used to play a game with the kids at church where they shouted out a scripture while clapping and they hopped on one foot while spinning in a circle all at the same time. We always ended up in a dizzy pile of laughter.

John, a friend and myself were so blessed with a special time in God yesterday. A word came up I had to look up to see if it was even a real word. That word was jubilate.

I discovered as a verb it means to raise a shout of joy or triumph. As a noun it is a song of joy most specifically the 100th Psalm which was set to music. When the Holy Spirit gave each of us a personal revelation of that word it was spinning time! Some of us spun words, some spun songs and John spun the saxophone. The fire hydrant was full open and the entire block was underwater! We were "jubilating" and heaven was pouring it down.

There is a wonderful piece of music called the Jubilate Deo, so John informed me. (pronounced ju-bi-la-tay or u-bi-la-tay) It is high art but it comes down to the same thing as the children's dizzy pile and that is: Applaud God! Applaud God with laughter. Applaud God with singing. Applaud God with thanksgiving. Now do them all at the same time.

The 89th Psalm talks about the blessing given to people who "know the passwords of praise." Psalm 100 reveals one of those passwords, "Thank you." At this season that seems a most appropriate one. Each one of us has something to thank God for. I could not list it all here such is my debt. If I may connect the two psalms it would seem that thankfulness and its manifest expression is the way to a genuine soul drenching time of joy and fellowship in His Presence. A way to jubilate the very ground upon which we stand.

We are told God is beautiful, loving, generous and loyal. That is OUR God. The Almighty God who loves us. Who loves our ground, favors it, tends it and causes a harvest there. I want that ground to jubilate and return to Him the love He has lavished upon it.

Blessed are the people who know the passwords of praise, who shout on parade in the bright presence of God. Delighted, they dance all day long; they know who you are, what you do—they can't keep it quiet! Your vibrant beauty has gotten inside us— you've been so good to us! We're walking on air! All we are and have we owe to God...Psalm 89

Thank you, Lord! Show your people the jubilation dance that we may dance it all day long in your presence. Teach us your holy laughter and we will fill Heaven with your praise. All we are we owe to you.

We applaud you, God.

May all our lattes be Jubi-lattes!
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To Kim and John with thanksgiving for a wonderful time in God last evening.

To all our family and friends Happy Thanksgiving with love. John & Kathy

His Name Is As Perfume Poured Out

Songs 4:12-14 The Message:
You are a secret garden, a private and pure fountain.
Body and soul, you are paradise, a whole orchard of succulent fruits—
Ripe apricots and peaches, oranges and pears; Nut trees and cinnamon,
and all scented woods; Mint and lavender, and all herbs aromatic; A garden fountain,
sparkling and splashing, fed by spring waters from the Lebanon mountains.

That's me alright! Especially after a long day at the office. Sometimes there is not much sparkling or splashing about me. I do not have small children to care for these days. God's daughters who do probably feel like anything but succulent fruit. (Although they may have applesauce stains on a pant leg left over from a two year old wiping his mouth about knee level.)

Our lives are not always mint and lavender for sure and maybe I should stay away from addressing that, "Body and soul you are Paradise," observation. There are days I dress in the dark and hope my socks match, sprint between obligations and eat cereal for supper standing up in the kitchen. Once upon a time I had a little person I put to bed a hundred times a night. Now I fall asleep in the chair waiting for the dryer to finish. When do we get to be Songs Chapter 4? How do we find our way to that secret garden? Hmmm...The same way the water finds its way down the mountain I think. A force of nature draws it.

Another passage in Songs (1:3) describes the name of the Lord as fragrant ointment. "Thy name is as perfume poured out." Sometimes in the middle of a crazy day a hint of His scent catches my attention. I can pause even if I only have a moment to savor it. My soul is drawn to it as the water falls over the rocks. His lovely smell is calling me.

Christ's names are as perfume poured out upon me. When I can control little else about my situation I can agree to this. To be beautified in a moment because He has made time in His day for me. I can also call Him to me just by saying His name. You may still find me standing up to grab lunch but you might also notice the delicious fragrance of rain falling in the scented woods.

 His name is as perfume poured out upon us. It is His pleasure and it is a lot more attractive than matching socks. The high notes and the low notes. The fruity notes and the floral touches. The spicy and the woodsy hints. I want it all. Mixed just for me by the Master Perfumer. When I let Him anoint me you will know it without my telling you. Body and soul I will smell like Paradise.

Lilly of the Valley
Bright and Morning Star
Lamb of God
Your Name is perfume poured out.

Bread of Life
Word of the Father
Fairest of ten-thousand
Your Name is perfume poured out.

Savior
Healer
Deliverer
Immanuel
Your Name is perfume poured out.

Lion of Judah
Prince of Peace
True Vine 
Your Name is perfume poured out.

Mighty God
Lover of My Soul
Jesus Messiah
Your Name is costly perfume poured out.

King of Kings
Well Beloved
My Own
Jesus, your Name is perfume poured out upon my life.

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Dedicated to all the busy women who are loved and perfumed by Christ.

A Scroll of Remembrance

Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name. Malachi 3:16 (New International Version)

I have several friends who have been giving those angel scribes writer's cramp for years. My emails from these special souls should be bound as a devotional. How insightful, heartfelt and hope inspiring are their thoughts. When I read them I am reminded of this scripture from Malachi. God is listening. They bless and thrill me and I am not their subject, how much more so must they touch (and entertain) God who is.

When we "who fear the Lord" share with one another what the Lord is doing in our lives, what excites us about Him, Heaven is typing an email of its own. We will see those words again. I cannot help but believe that God treasures our musings, declarations and excited utterances about His character. Maybe He rereads those scrolls like I reread old love letters.

Like the angel scribes, I have saved the best offerings and revisit them from time to time when I need a lift. There are emails that speak life to dead dreams, make children off bounds to bad stuff, put fresh lipstick on my soul, share the wealth, make me laugh, make me want to write or draw and remind me it is all about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. I have received Reply to All emails that are chain letters on steroids.

Heaven listens as we breathe upon each others lives, rain upon one anothers fields and smell the fruit even when it is just the promise of fruit. All the while as those angel fingers are flying a fragrant wind has begun to blow.

I encourage you to let your heart speak of Him today. Send a note, write an email, buy a card, make a call. Celebrate Christ. Draw a word picture about our wonderful Savior and go tell someone...then listen for the sound of a pen on paper other than your own...the sound of a scroll opening...His heart opening.

See how long things that need resuscitating stay dead in that atmosphere. Buy a bigger cup because it will runneth over. Mine certainly does. It is a first rate blessing to have friends who are addicted to pouring! Pour forth! (Angels, take this down.)

To my darling, golden friends I say thank you for loving me so well in Jesus name. Thank you for sharing your magical heart thoughts with me. How often they literally are a "song in the night" for me. Thank you for painting Christ in colors that stir my soul to love Him more, serve Him more, want Him more.

From an old email comes this prayer I wrote. I have placed it in my Bible where I remember to read it on behalf of all who are so special to me. I pray it over you again now. I pray it on behalf of anyone who is reading this offering.

I breathe upon you the Spirit of wisdom that opens every door.

I breathe upon you the Spirit of freedom that liberates every prisoner.

I breathe upon you the Spirit of abundance that opens the storehouse.

I breathe upon you the Spirit of remembrance that counts every generous word and deed.

I breathe upon you the Spirit of tender ministry that pours oil upon all wounds. (Including the self inflicted ones.)

I breathe upon you the Spirit of protection that stiffens your shields.

I breathe upon you the Spirit of vengeance upon the Wicked One.

I breathe upon you the Spirit of composure and unity and peace and safety.

I breathe upon you the Spirit of life that awakens sleeping dreams and shattered hopes.

I breathe upon you the Spirit of creation that you may make His way beautiful as He inspires you.

I embrace you in the Spirit of friendship which is yours as long as Eternity is in our hearts.

What do you have need of?

What is Christ capable of?

Tell someone.

Angels are listening.


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And the Lord saw and heard and kept a record and set deliverance in motion by a strong wind from the south. A fruitful wind. A beautiful, fragrant wind. And God breathed upon them and life returned.

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Love and gratitude to those who know who they are.

Breathe

He desired to eat a last meal with His friends before He "suffered." If any of us knew what Christ knew about what was to come in a few hours-I'm betting we could not have gagged down even one bite. I had to have a biopsy once and couldn't sleep or eat the entire day and night before the procedure such was my dread of the discomfort.

In such a moment magnified to the power of Eternity, Christ was thinking about those dear to Him and considering their needs. In the horror that was to come, when they would be scattered by fear, He was giving them a standing stone of remembrance. A mental anchor, a place where they could connect to Him. He was establishing a new covenant throughout the generations.

So He put a towel around His waist, He who had held the universe in His hands, and He took their feet into those same hands and washed them. This really is a different kind of god. The world knew of nothing quite like Him. Isaiah 53 says, "...we did not esteem him." Power with gentleness. Righteousness with relationship. An un-scary God.

He brought the calm before the storm. Maybe as much for Himself as for them. He surrounded Himself with their comfort and familiarity, their humor, their smells. It would come down to the Garden and the will of the Father in a few hours but for the moment it was about the branches. It was all about beloved friends.

He is still that calm place for us. Still the God who washes, who feeds, who pours, who relates.

Take some time today and become still in God's presence. Slow your breathing through the following exercise:

Inhale: Breathe in the peace of Christ
Exhale: Breathe out the anxiety of the day.

Inhale: Breathe in the gentleness of Christ.
Exhale: Breathe out mental clutter and distraction.

Inhale: Breathe in freedom in Christ.
Exhale: Breathe out that which binds you.

Inhale: Breathe in the joy of Christ.
Exhale: Breathe out discouragement.

Inhale: Breathe in the love of Christ.
Exhale: Breathe out selfishness and personal agendas.*

Continue doing this until you feel ready to meet God today on His terms. Until you esteem Him for who He really is to you. Until you "remember" and recognize that the Vine holds tightly to its branches. He will not give you up. He is the God who suffered for a connectedness to you. You mean everything to Him. Everything.

As the meal is eaten one lays his head on Christ's shoulder.

Is it you?

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*(Breathing Exercise from Contemplating the Cross by Tricia Rhodes)