Praise the Lord!

Starting Tuesday I will be blogging poetry, thoughts or Scripture everyday. My schedule will take on it's fall routine so I will have time to do this. But for today, I will leave you with one of my favorite Psalms, Psalm 150.

Let Everything Praise the Lord

150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens!
² Praise him for his mighty deeds;
    praise him according to his excellent greatness!

³ Praise him with trumpet sound;
    praise him with lute and harp!
⁴ Praise him with tambourine and dance;
    praise him with strings and pipe!
⁵ Praise him with sounding cymbals;
    praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!

The Example of our Savior...

Sorry I have not blogged in so long. The last week and a half have been very busy and full. Yet, today I find I have time to sit down and write about some things that I have been meditating on. In my devotions I have been reading through the Gospel of Matthew. As I read this I have been struck by two amazing things about Christ. Firstly is just how patient, humble, gracious and kind He was to His disciples, the weak, the sick and the sinners. To see how gracious He is with sinners has been such an encouragement, since I am a sinner, yet by His grace He has saved me. Secondly it struck me how bold, righteous and straightforward He was with the Pharisees and hypocrites. He had no shame in proclaiming the truth to them, and He had no problem enduring their persecution. It's easy for us to think that this is just what He needed to do. Yet remember, He is God, and He was being mocked and being made fun of by the very people He had spoken into being. Can you imagine? In my depravity, had I His power, I probably would have given them some horrible disease or something. Yet He did not. He continued to warn them of the judgement that would come if they continued on this path of self righteousness and he continued to preach to them. Even on the Cross, He asked the Father to forgive them. That brings tears to my eyes when I think of it. He is Love incarnate, He is Mercy and Grace. I am daily overwhelmed by this. Man chose to try to be God rather then to trust God, for this we deserve eternal damnation. God is just and right to punish us for our sin. Yet, because He loves His people, He paid the price for us and saved us from sin and ourselves. We must daily preach the Gospel to ourselves and daily drink in His Word. It is too easy for us in our depravity to forget, feel as if we must work for our salvation, or be sucked in by worldly thinking.  The Bible tells us that we are to follow Christ's example. So this means in light of just these two reflections  from Matthew, that we follow His example of patience, humility, graciousness and kindness to one another, the world, the weak and the sinner. Yet, we also must not be ashamed to speak the truth boldly. We have been given the truth, we should not hide it. We cannot be afraid to preach the Bible, stand up against self righteousness and evil; and we must also be willing to endure persecution and forgive those who persecute us. Our story ends in victory! Death has no hold over us and we have nothing to fear because of Christ. Live each day for His glory, give thanks for His good gifts and live boldly and humbly for Him.

Singing Out Loud...

I love singing. I am not especially good at it, but I love it nonetheless. I find myself singing many different kinds of songs. I was raised in a home by a father who loves 80's rock. I know a lot about this genre, and I love it almost as much as he does. My mother grew up in Virginia so naturally she loves country, so do I. I also enjoy some of the contemporary music of my generation. However, I was also raised in a home saturated in Psalms, hymns and Spiritual Songs. I often find myself singing Psalm 98 which is in four parts, and attempting to sing all four at once. Not a very good idea, but it's fun to try. I was struck some weeks ago by how easy it is for me to break out in Van Halen, Shania Twain, Taylor Swift, Matt Nathanson or Shinedown, but is it that easy for me to break out in Psalms? Do I have those words and those songs ready on my lips to praise my Savior? I hope so, but I know I don't as much as I should. He deserves all the praise I can offer. I should not be ashamed to hum those tunes or sing them out loud. If I am ashamed of Him, what does that say of my view of Him? He is my Creator, Savior, Father, Brother, Friend. He is my God and when I refuse to sing to Him I know my heart is in the wrong place. Now singing the above list is certainly not a sin, but it should not be my primary song. My song should be one of praise to my Savior. So in church, at work, home, school, in the car or in your room, do not be afraid to sing out loud. For He was and is not ashamed of you. Sing out loud to Him everyday. He deserves your praise and song. Be like David who was not ashamed to dance and sing before God and all the people of Israel.

Psalm 1

I will be blogging some thoughts on Psalm 1 in the coming week. So for now here is Psalm 1 for you to meditate on.

The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked

1 Blessed is the man
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
² but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.

³ He is like a tree
    planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
⁴ The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
⁶ for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

Creation and its singing...

I think it is easy for us to be so caught up in the busyness of our lives, that when we leave our homes we see nothing but the task ahead. Rarely when a bird flies across the skies, or when the wind blows through the trees, do we stop and listen to the creation sing. God made this world, He crafted it with His Word and he made us in His image. Everything in creation tells us something about our God. When I look at the sea, I am reminded of His vast power, and majestic glory. When I look at the clouds or a sunset, I see the artistry of my God. Yet, most of the time I don't stop and listen to the creation sing. It sings around us all day long, beckoning us to remember our Creator. The ground was cursed because of Adam's sin, and thorns arose because of Adam's sin. I have often heard my Dad say that the creation mediates the curse to us, it stands on God's side against us. That's why viruses attack us, bugs bite us and lions eat us. That is also why Jesus took a crown of thorns upon His head to the cross beginning the reversal of all this. One day, bugs won't bite us and I will finally get to hug a lion and not lose my arm. The creation however, is also a gift. The beauty of the oceans, the majesty of the Sequoia trees, the breathtaking pounding of waterfalls, the peacefulness of a slight breeze and the singing of birds, should remind us daily that Christ has conquered. We believe that creation is singing the glory of God, and history is moving forward to a day when everything shall be at peace. So you may not be able to hug a lion when it's awake yet, but you can listen to the birds, pet mana rays at Seaworld and be baffled by the tides in the ocean as you swim in it's vastness. So give thanks for creation, an amazing gift from God. Be grateful that God is rolling back the curse, so that one day we and the creation will be at peace. And while your at it, go listen to Creation Sings by Keith and Kristen Getty. It will encourage your soul today. Blessings in Christ and on your day

Encouraging....

Psalm 100:

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
²      Serve the Lord with gladness!
     Come into his presence with singing!

³ Know that the Lord, he is God!
    It is he who made us, and we are his;^[a]
    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
    and his courts with praise!
    Give thanks to him; bless his name!

⁵ For the Lord is good;
    his steadfast love endures forever,
    and his faithfulness to all generations.

Plot Twists...

Sunset on Vacation in Louisiana

Most days I wake up with sunlight shining through my white curtains, grab a cup of coffee and sit in the living room and type my blog post. Then I put on my paint stained work clothes and Mom and I start working on Wounded Wood Creations. We make beautiful reclaimed wood signs, chalkboards and caddies. Then in the afternoons I work on my children's fiction book about a boy named Jack. Jack gets sent to England for the summer to stay with his great Auntie Eloise. And that's all you get. Maybe someday I'll put up some snippets. Anyhow, this is not what I imagined my life would be like when I was younger. From the ages of eight to fourteen I spent three hours a day training on the ice rink. The yells of my coaches ringing out, "Faster," "higher!" I was determined to become a professional ice skater. One day however that changed. I was in practice for my first competition. I was skating through my routine, my music blasting through the loud speakers of the rink, everyone watching, coaches standing by. I landed my first jump and headed towards the other end of the rink and went into a spiral. Now a spiral is where one leg goes up behind you really high, arms out and you glide on one leg. I had executed them a thousand times. But today a chunk of ice was there and it made contact with my toe pick. When I slammed into the ice, I knew that I was done. I never regained my confidence after that fall, and when the competitions began to press my Sabbath day convictions I knew it was time to go. My head coach died not long after I quit, and that sealed it for me. For years I had no idea what I wanted to do. It wasn't until my senior year in high school that God showed me. I wanted to teach, and through crazy providence, I was able too. For two years I taught at a small private school and I was sure that that was what I was supposed to do. Then again God made it clear that was not His plan for me. Once again  had no idea what I was going to do. Then God showed me writing and Wounded Wood Creations. It's amazing how God writes our stories. I have spent many nights worried about my future, when all along God had a beautiful plan for my life. I know that Wounded Wood Creations and writing won't always be what He has for me. Yet, today it is and I am grateful for it. I encourage all of you to trust in His story writing and to enjoy where He has you today. Glorify him in whatever you are doing. If you don't know what you are doing pray that He will show you. Each day He gives you an opportunity to live on His stage and in His story. So live in it, and dance in the grace of His providence and trust that he loves you and your part is the perfect part He has written for you.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says,

 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

² a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
³ a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
⁴ a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
⁵ a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
⁷ a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
⁸ a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

New Business!

Mom and I have started a new business! Check out our current inventory!
http://woundedwoodcreations.blogspot.com/

Psalm 23...

Today I will not blog about one of my poems. Instead I will share with you a poem by the Great Poet. Yesterday we sang a version of Psalm 23 in church entitled: The King of Love my Shepherd Is. The first verse sings this, "the King of love my Shepherd is, whose goodness faileth never. I nothing lack if I am His and He is mine forever." Now the text in Scripture says, "The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want." We memorize and even sing these words often without really taking the time to ponder what they mean. "I nothing lack." or "I shall not want." We spend our lives complaining about what we lack or what we want. We often sit in church on Sunday and half listen to the preacher, maybe even thinking about what our church lacks that we want it to have. We go to work and complain about our hours, or our pay. We complain about our cars, our clothes, our homes and the list goes on. We are a discontent people. Yet the psalmist says, "I shall not want." We have been given a place in the Eternal Kingdom of God. We have been given the right, through the blood of the Son of God to be called His children. We have inherited the world through Christ and we complain about our homes or how hard our lives are. Now we do have trials and hardships. They are difficult and they are trying, yet this psalm also tells us, "He restores my soul." We do not need to complain, we have been given a Savior who hears our needs and takes care of us. He lived through and endured more trials than we ever will, and he never complained. This was very convicting to me yesterday and I thought I would share this with you all. Give thanks everyday and live in the light of "The King of love my Shepherd is." Read the whole Psalm and be comforted. Notice how the psalm ends. "and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
³     He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his name's sake.

⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
     forever.