tiny dancer

Known. Completely, utterly, joyously, known.
One little dancer in His hand and He knows me.
The great Composer finds the perfect venue and I dance.
I will trust Him to use my little dance in His great composition.

My heart cries out with joy as I dance in the living God.

In this ballet, where each smile, word, slip, each step can be used by Him;
My soul sings for joy to the living God.

I went to sleep and woke up with that 'tiny dancer' song in my head. I'm so glad I'm a girl.
I feel so completely adored and loved and cherished by God and I think maybe it's easier for girls to feel that because we don't mind being vulnerable and dependant and carried.

You know, I was told again that my posts don't really make sense and that I should explain more. But the One who adores me put this quote in my path without me even looking for it.

It has been ambitious and plucky of me to attempt to describe what is indescribable, and I have failed, as I knew I would. But I have discharged my duty to my society; and besides, a writer, like an acrobat, must occasionally try a stunt that is too much for him. At any rate, it is worth reporting that long before the circus comes to town, its most notable performances have already been given. Under the bright lights of the finished show, a performer need only reflect the electric candle power that is directed upon him; but in the dark and dirty old training rings and in the makeshift cages, whatever light is generated, whatever excitement, whatever beauty, must come from original sources—from internal fires of professional hunger and delight, from the exuberance and gravity of youth. It is the difference between planetary light and the combustion of stars. From The Ring of Time by E. B. White

I dance a star dance.

a conversation between brothers

Here comes George MacDonald's birthday. Sometimes I read his words and I just wonder at how someone so far removed from me, so different than me, can feel just the way I do. I wonder that he can explain to me what I know deep down in my heart.
George MacDonald died the same year that my grandfather was born 1905. I like that. It's like a little connection between us.
Here's an excerpt from 'What's Mine's Mine,' a wonderful romance novel by my favorite author.







"But I want to know what you mean by her having her revenge on you?"said Alister.
"Whether I loved her then or not, and I believe I did, beyond a doubt I love her now. It needed only to be out of sight of her, and see other women beside the memory of her, to know that I loved her.--Alister, I LOVE HER!" repeated Ian with a strange exaltation.
"Oh, Ian!" groaned Alister; "how terrible for you!"
"Alister, you dear fellow!" returned Ian, "can you understand no better than that? Do you not see I am happy now? My trouble was that I did not love her--not that she loved me, but that I did not love her! Now we shall love each other for ever!"
"How do you know that, Ian?"
"By knowing that I love her. If I had not come to know that, I could not have said to myself I would love her for ever."
"But you can't marry her, Ian! The Lord said there would be no marrying there!"
"Did he say there would be no loving there, Alister? Most people seem to fancy he did, for how else could they forget the dead as they do, and look so little for their resurrection? Few can be said really to believe in any hereafter worth believing in. How many go against the liking of the dead the moment they are gone-behave as if they were nowhere, and could never call them to account! Their plans do not recognize their existence; the life beyond is no factor in their life here. If God has given me a hope altogether beyond anything I could have generated for myself, beyond all the likelihoods and fulfilments around me, what can I do but give him room to verify it--what but look onward! Some people's bodies get so tired that they long for the rest of the grave; it is my soul that gets tired, and I know the grave can give that no rest; I look for the rest of more life, more strength, more love. But God is not shut up in heaven, neither is there one law of life there and another here; I desire more life here, and shall have it, for what is needful for this world is to be had in this world. In proportion as I become one with God, I shall have it. This world never did seem my home; I have never felt quite comfortable in it; I have yet to find, and shall find the perfect home I have not felt this world, even my mother's bosom to be. Nature herself is not lovely enough to satisfy me. Nor can it be that I am beside myself, seeing I care only for the will of God, not for my own. For what is madness but two or more wills in one body? Does not the 'Bible itself tell us that we are pilgrims and strangers in the world, that here we have no abiding city? It is but a place to which we come to be made ready for another. Yet I am sure those who regard it as their home, are not half so well pleased with it as I. They are always grumbling at it.
'What wretched weather!' they say. 'What a cursed misfortune!'they cry. 'What abominable luck!' they protest. Health is the first thing, they say, and cannot find it. They complain that their plans are thwarted, and when they succeed, that they do not yield the satisfaction they expected. Yet they mock at him who says he seeks a better country!--But I am keeping you awake, Alister! I will talk no more. You must go to sleep!"

"It is better than any sleep to hear you talk, Ian," returned Alister. "What a way you are ahead of me! I do love this world! When I come to die, it will tear my heart to think that this cave which you and I have dug out together, must pass into other hands! I love every foot of the earth that remains to us--every foot that has been taken from us. When I stand on the top of this rock, and breathe the air of this mountain, I bless God we have still a spot to call our own. It is quite a different thing from the love of mere land; I could not feel the same toward any, however beautiful, that I had but bought. This, our own old land, I feel as if I loved in something the same way as I love my mother. Often in the hot summer-days, lying on my face in the grass, I have kissed the earth as if it were a live creature that could return my caresses! The long grass is a passion to me, and next to the grass I love the heather, not the growing corn. I am a fair farmer, I think, but I would rather see the land grow what it pleased, than pass into the hands of another. Place is to me sacred almost as body. There is at least something akin between the love we bear to the bodies of our friends, and that we bear to the place in which we were born and brought up."
"That is all very true, Alister. I understand your feeling perfectly; I have it myself. But we must be weaned, I say only weaned, from that kind of thing; we must not love the outside as if it were the inside! Everything comes that' we may know the sender-of whom it is a symbol, that is, a far-off likeness of something in him; and to him it must lead us-the self-existent, true, original love, the making love. But I have felt all you say. I used to lie in bed and imagine the earth alive and carrying me on her back, till I fell asleep longing to see the face of my nurse. Once, the fancy turned into a dream. I will try to recall a sonnet I made the same night, before the dream came: it will help you to understand it. I was then about nineteen, I believe. I did not care for it enough to repeat it to you, and I fear we shall find it very bad."
Stopping often to recall and rearrange words and lines, Ian completed at last the following sonnet:--
"She set me on my feet with steady hand,
Among the crowding marvels on her face,
Bidding me rise, and run a strong man's race;
Swathed mo in circumstance's swaddling band;
Fed me with her own self; then bade me stand
Myself entire,--while she was but a place
Hewn for my dwelling from the midst of space,
A something better than HER sea or land.
Nay, Earth! thou bearest me upon thy back,
Like a rough nurse,and I can almost feel
A touch of kindness in thy bands of steel,
Although I cannot see thy face, and track
An onward purpose shining through its black,
Instinct with prophecy of future weal.

"There! It is not much, is it?"
"It is beautiful!" protested Alister.
"It is worth nothing," said Ian, "except between you and me-and that it will make you understand my dream. That I shall never forget. When a dream does us good we don't forget it.
"I thought I was home on the back of something great and strong-I could not tell what; it might be an elephant or a great eagle or a lion. It went sweeping swiftly along, the wind of its flight roaring past me in a tempest. I began to grow frightened. Where could this creature of such awful speed be carrying me? I prayed to God to take care of me. The head of the creature turned to me, and I saw the face of a woman, grand and beautiful. Never with my open eyes have I seen such a face! And I knew it was the face of this earth, and that I had never seen it before because she carries us upon her back. When I woke, I knew that all the strangest things in life and history must one day come together in a beautiful face of loving purpose, one of the faces of the living God. The very mother of the Lord did not for a long time understand him, and only through sorrow came to see true glory. Alister, if we were right with God, we could see the earth vanish and never heave a sigh; God, of whom it was but a shimmering revelation, would still be ours!"
In the morning they fell asleep, and it was daylight, late in the winter, when Alister rose. He roused the fire, asleep all through the night, and prepared their breakfast of porridge and butter, tea, oat-cake, and mutton-ham. When it was nearly ready, he woke Ian,and when they had eaten, they read together a portion of the Bible,that they might not forget, and start the life of the day without trust in the life-causing God.
"All that is not rooted in him," Ian would say, "all hope or joy that does not turn its face upward, is an idolatry. Our prayers must rise that our thoughts may follow them."
The portion they read contained the saying of the Lord that we must forsake all and follow him if we would be his disciples.
"I am sometimes almost terrified," said Ian, "at the scope of the demands made upon me, at the perfection of the self-abandonment required of me; yet outside of such absoluteness can be no salvation. In God we live every commonplace as well as most exalted moment of our being. To trust in him when no need is pressing, when things seem going right of themselves, may be harder than when things seem going wrong. At no time is there any danger except in ourselves, and the only danger is of trusting in something else than the living God, and so getting, as it were, outside of God. Oh Alister, take care you do not love the land more than the will of God! Take care you do not love even your people more than the will of God."

Star Trek, Star Bucks, and Love

"Peldor joi!" That's the traditional greeting for one of the few holidays repeatedly celebrated on 'Star Trek.' Troubles and problems are written on 'renewal scrolls,' burned and the Gratitude festival begins.

I love Star Bucks holiday cups. I'm sort of amazed that mid-summer, I've never been asked why there's a red Star Buck's cup perched next to the egg timer on the top of my stove. I've replaced it with this year's cup but it's about to be replaced again. If you go in ask for one of the 'short' cups. They are way cooler than the 'grandes' or the 'ventis' this year! I'm so thankful I decided to get a cute, little cup this year. The elks have this neat, sort of cloud above their heads. If you get one tell me what you think! Eric said something about CO2 but then it wouldn't be coming from their heads.

'Why are you going to Vegas?' Eric and I compared notes on the way there and it's funny how many people asked us that. But one friend didn't. She asked, "Are you going to see, 'Love'?" I thought, "You betcha! Love with my husband of 24 years, 10 months!"
But this Beatlephile, housebound friend of mine meant an amazing show about her favorite band. Next thing I know she's gotten me a couple of $100 tickets to this healing, uplifting, 'my-flying-blogs' echoing experience. I was like, "Yes, I feel that" Or "why am I crying? " Then realizing the song had to do with a guitar weeping. Never heard that song before, it was beautiful. The best was seeing the octopus' garden in the Stars. I was with squid floating in the stars.

Lord, we are so grateful for difficult things, for little things, and for unexpected gifts all coming down from You, Father of Lights.

Best Star Trek Peldor episode, 'Fascination.'
Best Star Bucks cup, 'Short' with Deer clouds.
Best Show in Vegas, 'Love' with big, white ropes tied to their ankles.
Don't forget to try the sweet potatoes!

waning moon

She may be waning but that's alright.
Her face is always in the sun's light.
He never leaves even if she looks slight.
She walks by faith and not by sight.

Holy experiment

If you will give God your right to yourself,
He will make a holy experiment out of you.
God's experiments always succeed.
The one mark of a saint is the moral originality
which springs from abandonment to Jesus Christ.

In the life of a saint there is this amazing wellspring of original life all the time;
the Spirit of God is a well of water springing up, perennially fresh.
The saint realizes that it is God Who engineers circumstances,
consequently there is no whine, but a reckless abandon to Jesus.
Never make a principle out of your experience;
let God be as original with other people as He is with you.
Oswald Chambers

Test tube time, my head's hitting against the cork, my eyes are
constantly moist, my heart is locked in reckless abandon to the hope
that His experiments are always original and always succeed.
Okay, no whines, but a couple of sighs.
I wonder what He's making.

Waxing Moon

Did you know that the moon is really always full?
The moon is constantly looking at the sun and is fully illuminated.
Is that cool! We just can't see it.
I saw a little sliver of the silver beauty this morning
at sunrise but if I were standing on the sun,
swimming through waves of burning light,
I could her see her whole face. Well, I'd need super special eyes,
but if I'm wading in solar flares chances are I'd have peepers to match my amazing frame.





What's cool too is that no matter where we are on the Earth,
we see the same phases of the moon.
All of us are going through the waxing and waning together.





Make me like the waxing moon,
Oh I want to grow in You.
My whole body full of light,
illuminated by your Love so bright.

The moon always beholds your face,
Even when my eyes don't see trace.
Oh my desire is to behold thy Son,
when I awake and we're all One.








Luke 11:36 "If therefore your whole body is full of light,
with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined,
as when the lamp illumines you with its rays."

Mat.18:10
Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you,
That in heaven their angels do always behold
the face of my Father which is in heaven.

Ps. 17:15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness:
I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

known

washing down on my head
constant river of love
Presence
sand in my shoes
waves in my ears
where are you?
I search for you.
'and there was no longer any sea.'
dolphin back, black against grey water
nothing will be hidden


'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men'
'Behold,.. all things new'
'of him, and through him, and to him, are all things'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNAwNhlcYN4

simple and clean

star dust, Adama & Ruach HaKodesh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xELEOs-_cY

Okay I still have my head in the clouds... Everything just comes together in this beautiful symphony all around me. Did you know that star dust smells like fire dust? I found that out last year in the cool way, the 'connectedness' way.
I kept smelling smoke, and there just wasn't any.
I even started talking about it to my friends...who pretty much thought I was nuts.
I'd ask, "Does my hair smell like smoke?"..."Do you smell that?"
"No, Cindy, it's your imagination," was always the answer.

But I 'happened' upon a story about star dust... astronauts say it smells like smoke!
Yes! Star dust!

The Space station astronauts woke up this morning to these beautifully connected musicians
and a fire alarm.
"I checked everything, no smoke," said the flight engineer, Yuri.
Oh Yuri, it's star dust listen to the music and enjoy the 'dust in the wind,'
the "Adama in the Ruach."*
Everything is 'dust in the wind' which for me means a beautiful symphony connected
and orchestrated together by the Composer of Love.

* Adama and Ruach covered in earlier posts :) 'Dirty Bunny' and 'Orion and Ruach HaKodesh'

Flying

Can you feel it? Oh I can. I think that's what got me a little confused at about 3:30 this morning.
I love going on the roof to watch for the morning rain of meteors and talk to my Creator but I felt I would need to bring a big, white rope if I went up this morning. One of those ropes that the people use in the circus to hang and circle and fly with one foot held by this big, soft, white, rope. If I'd of had one that I could put on my ankle and secure the other end to my white, rattan, lounge chair, I'd have gone up.
I even asked Danny at breakfast, "Have you ever seen me flying?" I should have asked Gabriel instead. He'd have understood. I was just sure that I'd spent a lot of time flying in the house but I'm just not sure about flying out in the open air yet. Yes, Gabriel is my dreamer, one of my muses, he'd have understood. Danny didn't.
But I was going to tell you what I think I it is...this wonderful feeling.
Did you know that the Universe is accelerating? We are moving faster and faster everyday. That's why the Dark Matter and Dark Energy theories are necessary...something to explain it, to make sense of the unexplainable.
It's like sitting in a roller coaster on it's way down, with the wind whipping in my hair. Only our coaster(the Indiana Jones one that's like being on a puffy balloon cloud) isn't heading down, it's heading forward, outward, everywhere! and when I can feel it, my reality gets a little blurred.

Future and present and past meld together and I feel what I will feel, I fly when I haven't yet actually flown, I remember what hasn't yet happened. I was there this morning, lying in bed, looking up at my stars from the window over my bed board. I stayed where I was, had to keep my knuckles from getting skinned on the rot iron curly circles of my bed board. But I wanted to go and fly.
Maybe someone will bring me a big, white, soft, beautiful, linen rope.

1 Thes. 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

flying music

http://www.myspace.com/urbanrescue

listen to their song...'reflection'

or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWbQ5pTPuKg

Okay,,,,I'll fly around the room....

Do you see it? My heart is flying around the room.

My heart is fixed, My heart is fixed on making music to You, Oh Lord.

Awake, oh my soul. Awake oh, sky-colored harp and fly with me.

Open the window of our souls, Lord.

We will awaken the dawn.

waving

to the birds....

ps 57:7-8,

Selfless/ /everyOne Full

I want that Light that makes all the 'dark black clouds hide'.
'Dedicating your life to fully knowing the Oneness of God
in order to be so selfless that Everything
you do is aimed at ending the suffering of all beings everywhere'
...giving over control to such an embrace
to be so consumed with Love that all else fades...
That's what I want, God and I guess that's just saying
I want You

Our Gentle King

I getta teach again:) tomorrow,,,here's my rough draft...any suggestions ?:) Yeah, yeah, I love this ...

Since Homecoming was yesterday, I decided to wear my tiara! Yup, believe it or not I was a Homecoming Princess years ago. Since I was a band geek and a cheerleader, I was an easy pick, friends with everybody, I even did a quick change from my cheerleading skirt to my Shako hat for the half time show at football games:)
and you know I'm not the only Princess here! We're all princes and princesses if our Father is the King. Jamie suggested we do a series on the Kingship of Jesus...
so I thought we'd start with the question ...
Is Jesus King?

Let's pray... Lord, You say we can be your children, we can be the children of the King. Help us to hear Your voice and listen with our hearts to what You want to say to each of us, individually.
We love you, Jesus. Amen

Last week we were talking about us being works of art and God using suffering and especially the great Suffering Artist to shape us and make us.
How can a King be gentle and humble and suffer like Jesus did?
Can He really be the King?
Here's one example that shows Jesus as Messiah King...
2Sam 7:16 -
Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.'"
God told David that his kingdom would last forever that it would never end. Well, around 70 AD when the temple was destroyed, so were the records in the temple and so was the recording of the line of David. How could there always be a Son of David on the throne, a king forever if no one even knows for sure who is a Son of David?
1Ch 28:20 -
David also said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.

Here's a little hint in answering that question given by David to his son, Solomon. He promises that God will not fail until all of the temple service is done. Since 70 AD there hasn't been any service done in the temple. All the sacrifices and offering have ceased.

Jesus prophesied that the service of the temple would come to an end and He said from the cross, "It is finished." The final sacrifice, the atonement for all time had been made, Jesus gave Himself as the offering for us all.
Jesus was from the line of David on both His mother's and step-father's side...(see Matthew.) There's really no longer an option if the verses about David having a son on the throne forever are to be fulfilled it's Yeshua, Jesus or nobody.

But He suffered, and died and doesn't seem to be bringing in a beautiful Messianic Age???
What a about a conquering King coming in power and great glory?


I've shown you before how these verses in Daniel predict just when the Anointed One or the reigning King, in Hebrew; the Messiah will come.
Dan 9:25 -
"Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
Dan 9:26 -After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed

Daniel points out the Anointed One will suffer, be cut off, and will have nothing. Doesn't that sound ALOT like someone we know?
Doesn't sound to me like the Messiah will provide immediate external peace. Nope He came to bring a Kingdom of the heart and internal kingdom that never, ever ends no matter what is going on around us.
But remember the history and math we looked at, that Daniel provided and how it was so accurate that the three wisemen, the kings from the east knew when to come looking for the birth of Messiah .
Is. 9:6 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. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

In fact, Daniel had it down to the exact day that Jesus entered Jerusalem as predicted in Zech....


Mat 21:5 & Zech 9:9
"Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Last week we were talking about how Mary expressed her love for Jesus through a gift and physically...anybody remember how she did that??? (anointed Jesus with perfume and wiped His feet with her hair)
Well that was the night before Jesus' donkey ride and have you ever put on some really good perfume and then not washed your hair for a couple of days. What happens?
Yeah you can still smell that perfume. It just surrounds you. Well here's this scene...
we've got this country bumpkin kind of guy ('can anything good come from Nazareth', they were kind of the hicks of the nation of Israel) his 12 followers who had sort of stole a donkey...
and He smells like the richest perfume, no way had Jesus taken a shower from the night before...
Why did Jesus say she put that perfume on Him???('anointed for burial!' talk about Emo!)

You could also see that He was anointed as the King.

Luke 19:30 "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it.'" 32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" 34 They replied, "The Lord needs it."

Now just like Mary doing something beyond what she thought; this donkey and it's owners were doing something probably beyond what they thought. They were fulfilling prophecy!
Zech 9:9 !


Luke 19:35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. 37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38 "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"

Can't you just see it these people start singing a Hillel Psalm to Jesus, Yeshua proclaiming Him Messiah and King.... the Pharisees knew it! They tell Jesus to shut them up.
I love Jesus' response...
Luke 19:40 "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."(like in Joshua and Hab.)
He says just you try it! If they were quiet, the stones would shout because this was predicted in the prophets and it will happen!
Sometimes I just watch big stones (like the one by the Hotel Del down on the walk to the water) just waiting for them to start singing,,, I wrote a song about that too. It's called 'I Wanna Hear Rock Music!"

Once I saw a guy staring at that rock on the beach too and I thought ...yeah! someone else waiting for that stone to sing! But it turned out he was just watching for his wife.
Anyways...That's a future prophecy and today we're looking at the ones already fulfilled by Jesus our King!
I can't hit all the prophecies King Jesus fulfilled. Remember the example I gave you once..
in order for Him to fulfill them all the prophecies He fulfilled by chance it would be like filling Texas with silver dollars up to your chaps and marking one with a red lamb and dropping it somewhere in Texas then wading in and picking out one coin and it be the red lambie!
This Suffering Artist, and King is our Messiah. If you let Him be the king of your life then this amazing tapestry that He is creating will include the threads of your life hemmed in with others and just so intricately woven into His Masterpiece.
Romans 11:33-36
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34 "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" 35 "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Oh the depths and beyond searching out are these amazing things of our king.

Sometimes the back of a tapestry looks like a confusing mess. But it isn't.

Everything, every little stitch, is significant and if we could flip the tapestry over and see the whole, we would know what an amazing work He is accomplishing. That's what prophecy shows us. A glimpse of the other side of the tapestry... that everything is happening for a reason even a donkey ride is predicted and written and happens right on schedule to show us this peaceful King, God has provided for us.

So yes, Jesus is the Anointed One the King and He longs to use you his child, as another thread in the wonder of this work of art we call Life.

Lord, Messiah, King remake our hearts in Your likeness, we want to be Yours, your princes and princesses, children of the King.! Amen

Dirty Bunny

Bunny has learned a new trick. She loves to dig. She's not trying escape or find food. She's just gettin' in that dirt and digging.

Bunny kind of inspired me today to do a bit of digging in the dirt too. I just reached in with my little hand, to discover what could possibly be making the strange noise that I've heard for months in the depths of my.....garbage disposal!!! Yucky, yucky gunk.

I have no idea what the grayish lumps of crud were but I cleaned 'em out!

I really shouldn't compare the dirt that bunny digs in with the filth of my garbage disposal, which by the way is also used by the 5 guys I live with:)

On the kibbutz years ago, my kibbutznik boss lectured me for calling the earth we were digging in 'dirt.'

"This is not 'dirt.' Yael said. "This is soil, 'Adama' what Adam was made of and we cherish it because of the crops we can grow in it."

Yael is right 'adama', or soil is not the same as dirt or crud!

God sees the difference too.

Ps. 103:13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; 14 for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.

We're this wonderful soil just waiting to grow His seeds of compassion.

Of course, that doesn't mean that there's not some yucky dirt in our lives that needs to be cleaned out.

Ps. 51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

His great compassion washing, cleansing that we could grow His seeds of Love. Let's spend some time with this Loving Father today and let Him work in us.

Ps 150:5... Praise him with the harp and lyre, 4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,
Praise him with the strings and flute....

I was reading about Jesus today and just imagining Him at all these weddings he must have gone to through His 33 years. Can you imagine all the dancing He must have done? Then that one amazing day when He turned the water into wine at the wedding feast. What a party that must have been! So much fun that they ran out of wine, and the Author of Love blessing the celebration with the very best wine ever served!
And think of it, He used these giant clay jars used for ceremoniously cleaning, in other words for keeping the law, that harsh, burden of Law.
Here's what Jesus said when some people got down on Him for not washing according to the Law.

Luke 11:46 Jesus replied, "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.

Jesus took these implements of the Law and turned them into new wine, beautiful wonderful new wine.
Oh and there were 6 of them..Ha! To me 6 is the symbol of 'not 7'! Get it 7 is perfect, 7 is our Lord, 7 is amazing and 6 well it's just 'not 7.' Heck, I think that's the whole point of the scary 666 number. It's this three 6's. Trying to be three, a trinity of sevens but just not! We need the Everlasting One, the beautiful menorah of the seven spirits of God. The Law just couldn't save us. We need this amazing wine, a free gift from our Messiah.

An alien on Star Trek once called us, humans, 'containers of mostly water.' Those clay jars are a lovely picture of us, I think we are about 95% water. Jesus takes that water and turns into wine.
Then the dancing can go on! Dancing at this amazing wedding feast.

Guess what happened when the prodigal returned to his Father? Uh, that would be dancing!
What's gonna happen at the end of this age? That would be the wedding feast of the Lamb, the Anointed One, the Messiah; where wine will be served and I'm just sure the dancing is never gonna stop!

Crazy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lQ9e7eYFTA

Ever thought, "If today was my last here, in this world...what would I do?"
It's funny how fast an idea shot into this little red head.
"I'd dance. I'd dance everywhere, right down Orange Ave."

I love to dance praises to God, oh I hope you'd join me :)!

2 Samuel 6:14 And David danced before the LORD with all his might!

Bunny, chicken, and love languages

Get to teach the youth again tonight, so let's see if I can write what I just got up on my roof.

Who can speak 'Bunny?' I'm sure a bunch of you can speak, 'dog' but I bet most of you can't speak 'Rabbit' language. It's a very subtle language (good SAT word) that is pretty tough to even notice. She doesn't wag her tail like a dog, she chews. When she's most happy and content and loving she sort of grines her teeth a little...everybody say your content in bunny...

When she angry, she'll stamp her foot. I almost feel like she's cursing at me, my little daughter saying, "Forget you, Mom!"

Well all of us have this sort of language that we speak that might be really different than someone else's language and I'm not just talking about Spanish or French I'm talking about out Love Language.
The amazing thing is that God speaks all of our Love Languages and He's just waiting for us to hear it.
How can we hear God's love for us and tell Him, we love him back?
Let's pray... God we want to hear and understand and live in Your Love. Help us God. Help us to experience your Love and help us to, in our own unique way to give that Love back to You.
We love you, Jesus. Amen

You guys probably all know how much I enjoy blogging and I've found that I really super love getting positive comments on my blog. It's like my brain just explodes with delight.
Ever felt that feeling?
Now the weird thing is that when someone gives me a present, I'm pleased but it just doesn't even compare with the love I feel when someone give me words of affirmation, that is; says nice things about me to me. Crazy huh?

This guy named Gary Chapman wrote this book called the 5 Love languages and there's a little test where you can find out what your love language is! I'll give the web address later if you want..you could have your mom take it and know just how to make her happy which could be useful as well as bless her :)

For example Danny... I made him take it and I found out that one of his most important Love languages is 'Acts of Service'... that's why it's so important to him that someone pack his lunch for him for college or carry his folded laundry to his room. It'll just sit in our garage for days...he'll even walk down in his boxes to get clothes. He wants me to say, "I love you, Danny by taking that clean laundry to his room." Kind of cool huh?

Now I found an example of this in the Bible, we were talking about hurting broken hearts. Jesus wept with Mary and Martha because of the death of their brother, Lazarus. Anyone know what happens next in the story?
Yup! Lazarus is raised to life again when Jesus prayed. Later we see a feast given for Jesus. The three siblings want to express their love for this healer of broken hearts

John12:2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

and here at this party for Jesus, we see Martha and Mary and Lazarus opening up their hearts to love and thank Jesus. It's so cool to see these once broken hearts restored and loving each in their own way!

Gary Chapman's Five Love Languages... This book talks about the 5 different ways people hear and say "I Love You!"
Quality Time(Lazarus, is chillin with Jesus, reclining, [that's kind of like laying around on a couch] at the table with Him. He's sharing a meal and enjoying his company)...God gives us this kind of love by the presence of His Spirit. He's always just waiting to chill with you. and He'd love to be loved by you by chillin with Him.
John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. (Green Pastures)

Words of Affirmation(Lazarus probably is telling everyone at the party all that Jesus has done for him. Thanking Him and praising Him) ...We can give God this kind of love through songs of praise, poetry, prayer. He gives it back through the Love Letter of Love Letters, the Bible, the Word. He also speaks to our hearts through His Spirit.
Jer. 31:3
The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness

Gifts (Mary comes in with a very expensive bottle of perfume. It may have been her most precious possession and she gives it to Jesus.)...
We can give this love back to God by tithes, offerings, and gifts of charity..cookies.
He gives it to us through the free-gift of salvation and through all the blessings surrounding us. Just everything is a gift from Him! Each cell, each feather, each lovely sunset is a gift from Him.
Ro 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Physical touch (Mary then anoints Jesus with the perfume and physically wipes His feet with her hair..I bet that feels good.) ...We can hug God by raising our hands in worship, dancing, and just like all the rest of these by doing these things to others. God gives me hugs often when I need them, sometimes I can almost feel these wings of Love around me like a cocoon of angel feathers. But a hug from a friend is like a touch from heaven too.
Isa 40:11 -
He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
Lu 13:34 -
........ how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! (I talked a lot here about Jesus knowing 'chicken language!')

Acts of Service (Martha, Martha loves to serve! She made this wonderful meal, serves it, and probably will clean up afterwards, I'm thankful for Marthas.)
How can we serve God? Seems pretty much that involves serving people in our lives. Jesus said if you give a cup of water to someone it's like giving it to Him. Oh the constant acts of service, God is doing for us! My heart is beating, my spirit is soaring with the little humming birds out of my window...constant!

John 14:23 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25 "All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.


Oh I love the paradox here! If you love God, you will obey Him and keep His commandments. What's His number Uno and important command? To love God with all your heart and others as yourself.

What I want you to do is remember that God made each of us so unique and precious. Remember that He longs to Love us and to receive love from us.
Don't forget Him today accept His Love and give it to others in the unique way He made you!

Lord, thanks for making us so amazingly unique and for loving each of us in our own unique way. Please help us to love others with Your love flowing through us.

Spinning

Okay, that was fun! Jamie's baby made his appearance this week so I got to teach!
Thanks, Max..I already love you:)

Since Jamie had asked everyone to do a work of art that displayed an attribute of God and I kind of knew no one would do it except Bubbah...I was ready.

I had the verses flash up behind me on the big screen. Each time I said a "key word"(like CSLewis) James, the tech guy would switch the verse...I didn't even mention the verses, just let the teens read 'em. (Thanks so much James!)

Eph 2:10
For we are God's workmanship

I had Bubbah come up with his artwork displaying the Glory of God.
It was really neat. Then I had Bert come up and stand on the other side of me...


Bubbah designed this art. He took thought and care and made it.
Now here we see Bert. Like Bubbah's art, he is awesome.
Unlike Bubbah's art, this amazing work of art called 'Bert'..(pose Bert!)...

can see and feel and jump and even reproduce.

One thing we know for sure when we see Bubbah's art is that there was an artist.

I think when we look at Bert, who is also an amazing work of art, that he definitely
was designed and created by an amazing Artist!


Then I had the guys sit down.
Luke12:6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.

Now Bubbah would you mind if I borrow your art? As some of you know a few of us are taking salsa dancing classes together and I'd like to have Taylor(he's about 6' 8"!) come up here and dance on Bubbah's art....You don't mind, do you, Bubbah?
Of course, his face dropped and I explained that Bubbah really cares about his art.

and God really cares about us, His art. He created trees and birds and all of everything we see but most of nature is a completed work on display for us to see. Their purpose is to glorify God.
Rom1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
C.S. Lewis realized that there must be a God oneday while he was staring at a tree.
(Here I directed everyone's attention out the window to a big Canary Island palm tree and right on cue it did some sort of waving palm branch dance that made all the kids gasp. It was great!)

Then I talked a bit about bunny and how she can do tricks but she's a finished work of art, beautiful and sweet.
Isa 64:8 Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.


We are different. We are still on the table turny thingy spinning like a clay pot.
(Here a bunch of ceramic kids corrected me, "It's called a 'wheel.'")

How can I be God's work of Art? How can I let Him shape me?
We all know the usual ones....Praying, studying Bible, Fellowshiping, and serving are all ways...
But I what to talk about another way God shapes us..
Hard stuff and bad stuff..difficult stuff in our lives.
Pot on wheel... molded, dripped on, pressed and pushed... and spinning! (Here I spinned around a bit, glad I have a wireless mike :)

Then I headed into 4 examples:

Me and Eric have been married for almost 25 years and we decided to write down our '8 greats,' Eight experiences in our marriage that were super awesome and not including child birth or wedding day. When we compared our notes, guess what? it was really surprising how many of them were really tough, hard times! Then I told them the story of a snow storm, a traffic jam, a mountain road on a precipice and too much coffee. As I'm describing the road; bright, white not a tree or bush anywhere, one girl yelled "and you had to pee!"
Then I said, "and thankfully Eric had eaten a whole can of Pringles!"
Taylor started yelling, "Enough said!"
Then I told the story of another traffic jam, me- huge and pregnant and wanting out of that car so we drove up the back side of a mountain on a dirt road and discover that there was an eclipse of the moon and a comet that night!
Hard difficult situations that we remember as some of our 8 greats, wow!

My next example was Paul and how he talked about a 'thorn' that was given to him.
2 Cor 12:7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
We never find out exactly what this was but he prayed to have it gone.
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
But in the end, he realizes that God's grace is sufficient.
9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Paul trusted the hard and bad stuff is making him into God's poem, a beautiful pot.

Then there's the rich young ruler.
Luke 16:13"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
He thought he had no hard or bad stuff, he thought he was perfect! Done! But Jesus showed him $ was above God in his life. He walked away sad and that's what he really needed. Jesus could see his pride and self-sufficiency and gave him some words that gave him some hard stuff and let him see the bad stuff in his heart.

Jesus had super 'hard stuff' but no 'bad stuff'...
Mat.26:39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
26:42 He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."
He was sinless and had never missed the mark. But the cup He drank for you and me was the only way to bring us into the eternal light of life.
He is the perfect Artist, willing to suffer for us.
Heb. 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God

Our Suffering Artist giving everything for us, His poem, His vase, His work of art.
Set your goal, your heart, your life, in the hands of this amazing Artist.
Let's be willing to suffer...so that He can mold us.
1 peter 5:10
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast
You know how artists put their art on display for all to see?
He wants to make you that kind of sculpture,
showing others what the Artist has done.
Sometimes that might mean hard stuff in our lives or getting rid of bad stuff in our lives.
I'm asking you to be willing to be shaped by Him.

Oh Jesus, thank you so much for suffering for us. For giving Your life and drinking that cup to free us from the bad stuff inside us. Lord, we want to be your poems, your works of art, shaped by You. Help us to look at the hard things that happen to us as Your hand molding us. God please use us in other people's lives to show them You, the Great Artist who suffered for them.
We love you, Jesus. Amen

rich young man

If I asked you, "What must I do to be saved?" or "How can I be saved?"

What would you who are Christians say?

"I imagine most of you who are Believers in Jesus would say, "Believe in Jesus to save you from your sins"...or something like that.

Well, I'd say you were right sometimes but sometimes you might be wrong.The reason I say that is because that's not what Jesus answered when someone asked him that.

Jesus can see right into our hearts so He knows the perfect thing to say to each of us.

One day, a young man, a rich young ruler, came asking Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal Life?"

Now first of all I want to tell you, that you are a rich young ruler! I know this because you live here in the United States and I'm pretty sure that all of you know where your next meals are coming from and you have no worries about food. You all have more than one pair of shoes and I'm ready to bet that you all own underwear, probably a whole bunch of underwear.

Those things are not true of most of the world. I know, it's incredible to think of, but you, my friend are a rich, young ruler.

Now Jesus didn't break into the 'sinner's prayer' with the guy or tell him how to be 'born again.' Nope. Jesus could see into his heart and He saw what the man needed.

He needed the Law.

He needed to understand that he had broken the law.

Mat. 19:16 Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" 17 "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."

Yup..if you've obeyed all the Law you have no need of a Savior. So the young man asks Jesus..

Mat. 19:18 "Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, "'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Jesus plays along with him and lists some laws and the young dude says, "Oh yeah, I'm cool!"



20 "All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?" 21 Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

But there in that deep corner of this guy's heart, we can see the pride and the trust in his wealth that make something other than God, the ruler of this young ruler's life. And it works. He suddenly sees himself for who he is ' a self-anointed ruler' of his own life. God is not his god.

He is.

and you know what, we are all in danger of being in that same place everyday, especially because we are rich. We feel we have this control over our lives and destinies outside of God.

22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?" 26 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."



So you and me baby, the most difficult, ornry creatures on the planet.

But with God all things are possible!

If you are convinced of your sin....

Which by the way the young ruler finally was. That's why he went away sad. He really had alot that he cherished above God in his life. He needed to repent or decide to turn away from that.

....so if you like him can see the need of God in your life, if you can see that you have as Danny likes to put it, 'missed the mark' and fallen short, then you turn to Jesus to cleanse and keep you it's the natural reaction.

Once we see our depravity and the hopeless state our sins have left us in,

our heart's desire is to turn to the Savior-Messiah.

Now there was and is only way for God to return us to Himself.
Mt 26:39 - Going a little farther, He fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
Mt 26:42 - He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."

Our Messiah had to give Himself as an atonement for us. I hope the rich, young ruler saw His need of a Savior, Yeshua and return to Jesus with His whole heart. I hope we will too, everyday.

Orion and the Ruach HaKodesh

Oh, I love having teens in my life. I love their passion and energy and zest for life. I love the way they would immediately ask me, "What's 'zest'?" and then say, "Good SAT word!" I am so blessed.

Last night, my young friend made an emphatic (another good SAT word) statement in small group.

"Of course, the Bible is wrong about dinosaurs and the age of Earth and evolution!" he insisted.

I asked him, "How do you know that?" and he answered, "Well, the age of the Earth, dinosaurs and evolution have been proven, they are facts."

I said, " Well, I think they are theories and I have different beliefs about those things than you."

I didn't want to get into a debate with him, I just wanted him to understand that I had a different view.

He couldn't handle it. He could not deal with the idea of me being so ignorant , I'm glad he cares so much and I'm glad it matters so much to him what I believe but I did not enjoy being told that "It's like you are in the medieval church!"

These questions of cosmology are not decided, in fact science is continuously finding out new things that throw out old ideas. I gave him a few examples last night but I want to give you a brand new one I read about this summer.

It's about my favorite constellation Orion. If you don't know this lovely vision in the sky, you should. It has three stars lined in a belt then four stars that make a sort of rectangular ark around the three in Orion's belt. There's also a nebula in the ark, fuzzy and bright.

Orion's nebula has greatly surprised scientists recently by showing itself to be so extremely hot that only winds from the hottest stars could have produced such high temperatures. But stars that hot are supposed to be very short-lived. I can look up every morning this winter and see this beautiful mystery. Where do these amazing high-speed winds come from that heat up the heart of my favorite constellation beyond what science thought was possible?

Theories are just that, theories and I wish my friend could see that and remain open enough to let me have a different opinion than his.

Thankfully, teens love talking about this stuff and he can't wait to try and convince me again. Maybe I'll show him the Orion nebula and the Ruach HaKodesh* will work in his heart.

Orion always makes me think of this scene:

Rev.4:2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it...Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. 6 Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. ...8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."

'Ruach HaKodesh' is the Holy Spirit or literally the Holy Breath or Wind... maybe the wind is coming

from the wings of the cherubim overshadowing the ark or the four living creatures surrounding the throne.

offered cup

I like to ride my bike here and look out at the blue upon blue. Sometimes my favorite bird is waiting for me, a king-fisher. In Israel, the kingfishers are blue, a beautiful turquoise blue.

There's always a cup being offered to me, a cup overflowing with love and comfort. All I have to do is stop, breathe a moment and take it in. Then I offer the love in my heart, overflowing with praise, cupped in my hands like two turquoise wings.