Sunday, May 4, 2008

His Day

I hopped onto the rail of my deck, someplace I've never "sat". I look down onto my two ornamental ponds. The most gorgeous creeping phlox in colors of pink, purple, and white. I look at all the other greenery popping up: the hostas that I know by end of summer will be gigantous and full of buds, the hot pink flowers that will adorn the greenery sprouting up, the rose bush that will have gorgeous hot pink flowers soon. I listen to the beautiful sound of the water falls from the top pond and watch the water flow down to the larger pond. I look at each detail of this gorgeous treasure of Heaven and then allow my eyes to focus on the scenery as a whole. The warm 70 degree sun with the ever cool and gentle breeze blows my hair. The birds are chirping the most beautiful sounds in my ears. How I treasure their songs to the Lord.

I have bore a lot of sweat and money into the spring maintenance of these ponds. I sit and take it all in as I ponder on what I knew I would be writing today. I rejoice in the Lord because of the most beautiful view I examined today. I wondered how much longer I would have this view. It will be a bitter sweet departure but I too will rejoice in whatever God's plan for me and this place are.

Today is His day, Sabbath day, but every day we have is a day He gives us. We should rejoice over every breath and every moment. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24. God wants us to rejoice in today as it may be the only day we have. Something about the human nature can make us live as though we are invinsible and those things only happen to others. I won't get cancer. I won't be in a fatal car accident. I won't fall from the roof. I won't have a heart attack.

Life is precious and we should honor God by rejoicing over each day He gives us. When we rejoice today we are saying thank you to the Lord. Though this world may weigh us down, we shall not fret because Christ has overcome the world. "But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33b. God tells us also that "everyone born of God overcomes the world." 1 John 5:4.

God finds pleasure in us when we rejoice in all His blessings. Today is one of them. I won't begin to name all the blessings in my life and guess the ones in yours. Let us pause on this Lord's day and thank Him for this day and the abundance of His blessings with which He alone has graced us. Salvation being the greatest of all. Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! Revelation 19:7a.

He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through waters on foot - come, let us rejoice in Him! Psalm 66:6. What is your sea that God has turned into dry land? What waters have you passed on foot because of God's grace? Small or large, we all have seas that He parts for us each day. He makes a way where there seems to be no way. Rejoice in Him and what He has done, is doing, and will do in your beautiful life.

I leave you with one of my favorite verses. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4. Quite frankly I memorized this to heart because it is attached to the famous and precious verses of 5-7.

May you feel His love and presence with you this day, regardless of what your circumstances bring or what life entails for you. God loves you! So do I. YOU are one of the reasons for this blog!!!

Be Blessed In Him,

11 comments:

Amy said...

He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through waters on foot - come, let us rejoice in Him! Psalm 66:6

I love this verse, and I never thought about it as applied to the areas of my life....I love how you pointed that out......I am constantly amazed at God's Word....Every time you read it, there is something new to discover.

Lovely post,
Amy:)

Kim@Seasons of My Heart said...

Wow...what a great post. God's word is so good....and powerful...helping me daily follow my master footsteps.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog.....I TOO love Hillsong...although, I do not have any of their CD's, rather my kid's purchase songs for me on line....for my ipod.

Have a blessed week.
Kim~

Anonymous said...

Paula, That was awesome. I got chills reading it. I am so proud of you my baby girl. I know God is proud of you also
love mom

Sheryl said...

Paula,

I saw a comment you made on Ang Baylis' blog and came over to see you. From your comment there I am assuming you've been through a divorce but praying for restoration? Maybe I'm wrong.

Anyway, I know God led me here. Read through your posts and I know I'll be back.

Trusting God,
Sheryl

elaine @ peace for the journey said...

Today I am thankful for my Father who walks alongside and comforts me in my sorrows. And while I may question my journey, I refuse to question Him this day. He's teaching me the patience of unanswered prayer, and I am so grateful for a heart that yields to the teaching (I've not always been able to say that!).

May God be praised, no matter the circumstance.

peace~elaine

Anonymous said...

SweetPea, in response to the question you asked me on Sheryl's blog - YES, we reconciled. After 18 months of counseling...we learned alot! There was no infidility...the issues at hand were things that had nothing to do with each other or our marriage - I guess you could say that we both had unresolved issues from our years before our marriage - that needede to be dealt with. These issues were affecting our marriage - we did not even work on marriage until the last few weeks of counseling. I am feeling a little nudge from God (and my blog readers) to begin sharing more about our walk through this season in our marriage....so, stay tuned.

I want to encourage you - that while I agree that divorce is not in God's original plan - I do know that there are instances where I believe God releases us from relationships that are abusive (especially when there are children involved). Case in point, I have a friend who had a husband that physically and verbally abusive to her - in front of her daughters. It was ugly - and life threatening. We firmly believe God released her from this marriage - I just cannot see where God would be glorified in a relationship where your children see you beaten down (both physically and emotionally) day after day.

I am also 100% convinced that we serve a God of 2nd chances - both in reconiliation and remarriage. I have seen God bring about some amazing ministries through friends who have remarried and gone on to serve God together - most often as blended families.

I pray that God draws you near to him - hearing the deepest desires of your heart.

Glad to have a new bloggin' buddy! Thank you for visiting my blog!

Kristen said...

This is the day that the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

connie said...

Thank you for coming over to my blog, yes I know where you live I live in the South west part of Louisville, and I work at Lifeway, so if you ever over the bridge come visit... I have only lived here for just under 2 years and our house up for sell, so we will be moving back to Utah once it does... We are from Utah, and tha is where my three oldest kids are and my 3 grandkids, I miss them like crazy...
Hope to hear from you again, and maybe see you at Lifeway...
Connie
GBU

Lynn - JnL4God said...

Hi my Friend,
Hope all is well with you. I'll try to catch up with you on Thursday. I have the funeral tomorrow and then my other Bible study. Anyway I'm thinking about and Praying for you I just haven't had time to write.
Be Blessed,
Lynn

Yolanda said...

A reason to rejoice!

Psalm 32:1 Message "Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be— you get a fresh start, your slate's wiped clean."


Lovingly,
Yolanda

Tracy said...

Wow...loved this post! Lots to ponder and reflect on. God is so good to us. Thank you for sharing.
Blessings,
Tracy
P.S. Thank you for your kind comments and sharing the scripture surrounding my post verse...those words ministered to me afresh today. = )