Sunday, May 26, 2013

God Delights in You - Zephaniah 3:17 & Clue #2 (Answer to Week 1)

 
 
 
 
Your God is present among you,
    a strong Warrior there to save you.
Happy to have you back, he’ll calm you with his love
    and delight you with his songs.
Zephaniah 3:17
 (The Message)
 
 
Do you ever wonder what God does all day?
I imagine - in my own finite mind - that God has the daily turning of the Earth, keeping the planets and galaxies in orbit, and the whole us breathing in a pretty good rhythm.
 
Sometimes I think that He delegates some of the projects ...and assigns a new master painter to paint the night sky each evening - or maybe when we get to heaven we get to try something totally new - and chefs are now painters and accountants are now farmers and celebrities are now librarians (this could go on for awhile - so I digress). 
 
God manages all of the seen and unseen and still has time for you and to me.
He has time to walk with us; talk with us; laugh with us and cry with us.
He shares our concerns, our fears, our failures and our triumphs.
Even though He knows all things - what has been, what is and what will be - He still celebrates when we win and weeps when we fail.
 
I love this passage from Zephaniah - "He'll calm you with his love....delight you with his songs". Isn't that exactly how it feels to have God working in our lives - a sense of calm delight - in the good or the bad.
 
God - The Master of All Things - chooses to spend His time focused on loving you.
You who worries and frets over whether you will pass a test, go to college, get a new job or fall in love.
You who laughs too loud, yells too quickly, or cries to easily.
You who is filled with countless frailties and failings.
God chooses to spend His time - His precious life giving time - focused on you.
 
Why?
 
He takes great delight in YOU.
Imagine that?
God delights in you!
He is filled with joy at being with you - at having you in His presence.
He longs to spend more and more time with you.
He wants to rejoice over you.
 
God wants to serenade you.
How crazy is that?!!?!
God wants to sing songs to you.
You are so precious to the Mighty, Wonderful, Savior God that He wants to spend His time celebrating you.
 
You must be pretty special....
So the next time you worry, fret, yell or cry - remember that God loves you.
Just knowing that - in your heart and in your mind  - will make you unstoppable.
 
Scripture
 
 
Quote
Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.
- Helen Keller
 
CLUE #2
Okay....all of You Amazing GUMY's....
Check out this song from favorite - TOBY MAC....
The answer to next Sunday's clue is...
 
What are we? Answer that question and you will be next week's winner. 1st GUMY to find me w/ the correct answer will win.
 
Answer to Clue #1:
You are alone are my heart's desire and I long to worship thee.
Remember - keep all of the clues for the summer to get a chance to win the prize!
 
Week #1 Winner: Elise Pickett -$5 Tim Horton's Gift Card.
Who will be next week's winner?!?!?!?
 

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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Are you putting God in a corner? (Clue #1 - GUMY Summer Challenge)


"Nobody puts Baby in a corner."
Patrick Swayze, Dirty Dancing, 1987
 
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God? 
Psalm 42:2

Okay, so I admit it is a little odd to start a devotion with a quote from a 1987 coming of age movie, but the movie isn't the point - it is the quote. "Nobody puts Baby in a corner." In case you haven't seen the movie, the character of Baby is pretty one dimensional fitting into the prefabricated position her family deems appropriate - until she meets dance instructor Johnny. He helps her to see that she is more than just one thing - that she is multi-faceted and beautiful. By spending time together, he teaches her that she is special and unique. She cannot be put into a corner, because she is not simply a box filling a square hole. She is a blooming flower - changing by the minute.
 
NOBODY PUTS BABY IN A CORNER.
 
Most of us have a predetermined vision of God.
Kind benefactor. Just Lord. Loving Father. Judge. Creator....But whatever vision we have is limited.
We choose to allow God to reside in this place we have decided He should live and that is where we go to meet Him. We put God in a corner.
 
We set certain times aside for God - Sunday worship, Sunday School, youth, morning devotions, evening prayer - times we think are holy moments. We anticipate God being there for each of those moments -- and He always shows up - - and then when those moments conclude, we walk back into our lives and leave God in the corner to wait for our return.
 
This is not what God intended our relationships with Him to embody. He wants to be in all of the moments - not just the holy moments. He wants to transform the ordinary, daily things of our lives into holy moments because He is in them. He wants to be in the details of our lives - in the mundane, the magical and the miraculous.
 
God is jealous of our time - and He doesn't want a single second to go by in which He is not fully knitted. He doesn't want to be left behind. He wants to be at the center.
 
But - the choice is yours. You can experience as much or as little of God as you choose.
 
By choosing to invite God into your daily life you will have the opportunity to gain greater and greater glimpses of what the future in heaven holds - an eternity in God's presences.
 
However, if you choose to leave God in the corners of your life you will miss out on how He is working for your good in the kaleidoscope of your days.
Because, whether you choose to invite Him in or not - God is working. And if you listen, He will tell you how to go.
 
God is more than anything you can ever imagine and the more you choose to get to know Him - the more your heart will long to be with Him - to worship Him.
The choice is yours...
Will you put God in a corner - or will you let Him take the lead in the dance of your life?
 
Scripture
 
Quote

“Live by what you believe so fully that your life blossoms, or else purge the fear-and-guilt producing beliefs from your life. When people believe one thing and do something else, they are inviting misery. If you give yourself the name, play the game.”
Unknown
 
GUMY SUMMER ONLINE SCAVENGER HUNT CHALLENGE
 

 Okay GUMY's, here is the first clue for the GUMY challenge. Just a few helpful hints as you collect clues along the way:
 #1 - Keep track of the clue # - this will be important for the final challenge.
#2 - The weekly clue will have something to do with the scripture - and - the overall challenge.
#3 - The 1st GUMY to find me on Sunday morning - the week after the weekly Sunday challenge is posted with the answer to the week's challenge will win a weekly prize. So this week's answer should be told to me next Sunday - May 26th.
#4 - A new clue will be posted with the blog each Sunday at 5PM.
#5 - Don't forget to keep each of the clues for the whole Summer....the prize the 1st week of GUMY will be worth it! (PROMISE!!!)
Now....let the games begin.... 
 
Clue #1 comes from this YouTube clip....it is also a paraphrase of today's scripture lesson (right at the beginning) and is what we feel if we are not putting God in a corner....Best Wishes....XOXO Courtney
 

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