More Joy

MORE JOY

My latest book is one that encourages finding joy in the ordinary, mundane things of life - and being aware of God's presence all around us.  I've written the book as a 40-day devotional that will help encourage the reader to see things in the world around us from heaven's view.

Here's what Sarah Young wrote on the subject in her book Jesus Calling.  She writes as if Jesus is speaking these words to us:  "I speak to you continually: through sights, sounds, thoughts, impressions, Scripture.  There is no limit to the variety of ways I can communicate with you.  Your part is to be attentive to My messages, in whatever form they come. When you set out to find Me in a day, you discover that the world is vibrantly alive with My Presence."

This is a book I've been working on - a little here, a little there - for about three years.  I chose a picture I'd taken in Zurich, Switzerland for the cover because it's one of those cobblestone roads through an old city that is so intriguing and just seems to draw you into the scene.  Because this book is full of pictures that are part of the story, I've chosen to make it all in color.  I've also included a couple of questions at the end of each day's devotional to help make it more personal.  I hope you are blessed by the messages in the book and that you will feel the joy of God's presence each day of your life.

Here is an excerpt from the book - Day 13, entitled "Beware These Guys:  Prickly People"

“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger”

 Proverbs 15:1

Micah 7:4 describes a people who are prickly and hard to deal with:  "The best of them is like a brier, the most upright worse than a thorn hedge."  For some reason, this verse reminds me of these reptilian Green Iguanas.  While these creatures are fascinating to look at, they are also a bit scary.  In fact, the guide who took us to this Iguana Farm on St. Maarten Island in the Caribbean warned us not to get too close to these green boys.  He threw out some fruit to draw them onto the sidewalk so we could take pictures, but just know -- I'm using a zoom to get these shots.

 Painful Words

Even though people commonly have iguanas for pets, they can never truly be tamed.  They remain a wild animal and can produce a painful, damaging bite with no provocation or warning.  That long tail you see above can also cause damage when it whips around in a stinging slap.  This green lizard is obviously not a warm, cuddly pet -- although it certainly is an exotic one.

Thinking about how volatile and prickly these iguanas can be, reminds me of how some people can also be volatile and prickly.  The scripture in Micah describes such people when it compares them to briers and thorns -- sharp little suckers that can unexpectedly prick your finger, drawing blood and leaving a painful cut.  Thorns are small, but they can do some damage -- sort of like those small, yet very sharp teeth in the mouth of an iguana.

Words from the mouth of a prickly person can do damage as well.  That old saying, "Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you," is so far off the mark, it should be thrown out the window.  Words can hurt -- badly.  In fact, they can sometimes hurt far worse than mere sticks and stones.

Proverbs has numerous verses about hurtful words:

    "...a harsh word stirs up anger" 15:1.

    "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing" 12:18.

    "With his mouth the godless destroys his neighbor..." 11:9.

    "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit" 18:21.

 Fruit of the Spirit

So, how can we as believers make sure we control our prickly side?  I think the more we cultivate the fruit of the Spirit - through the power of the Spirit working in our lives -- the more we can enjoy a sweet spirit and a non-iguana personality.  "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law" Galatians 5:22-23.  Follow the truth in these verses and you will soon be prickle-proof.

I recently read something I think goes well with this subject:  "Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them."

~~Making it Personal:

 -When are you most vulnerable to a harsh word being stirred up in you?

  -What are the fruits of the Spirit you’re most comfortable with?  Which are hardest for you?

Our Beautiful World

OUR BEAUTIFUL WORLD

"Then God saw everything that He had made, and 

indeed it was very good" Genesis 1;31

Sometimes we just need to look upon things of beauty.  There are too many ugly things that go on in our world today and I think it's good to remind ourselves of the beauty that still surrounds us.  I snapped the picture above as we drove along a road in Arizona, that's why it's not clearer or centered better.  It was a gorgeous morning with a long, low white cloud drifting behind the monastery and clinging to the base of the gray mountains in the distance.  I love the haunting quality of the hovering mist.

This sweet little golden finch perched on the trellis of my Mandeville just long enough for me to snap a picture of him last week.  He is so beautiful!  it just makes me smile to look at him (:  I hope it makes you smile too!

I spotted our neighborhood red fox taking a rest break in our back shrub bed one day a couple weeks ago.  He looked so peaceful lying in the sun.  I think he's a pretty little fox and I'm always excited to see him.

I needed a picture of a beautiful flower and I found this one from the Island of Antigua.  Such brilliant colors!!  God certainly knows how to create a thing of beauty!  As the poet John Keats so aptly said, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever."

I think of what Paul said in a letter that he could have written to us:  "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things...and the God of peace will be with you" Philippians 4:8-9.

License Plates

LICENSE PLATES

Last year, I posted a list of interesting license plates and I thought it might be fun to have a second set of unique plate listings.  The picture I use above is a friend's vintage car which he named "Bernice."  Bernice was part of a parade of old cars that drove through various neighborhoods early in the pandemic.  The owners thought a parade of colorful old cars might bring a bit of excitement and good cheer to their neighbors.  They were right!  It was fun!  Neighbors pulled out their lawn chairs and cameras to record the event.  Thanks, guys!

So here are some cool plate names I've seen along the roadway:

TREE911    ILLEGL    BCH ESCP    IWA HWK    BIG SUB       ILND LFE

SENDIT    BOOKWRM    NCHWORM     4EACH1    SQIWRLL    SCOODR

NT RIGHT    IZYAGRL    SEPT OCT    GYMNAST    B3ASTY    TAW HEEL

BULWNKL    BOYTME    1BDWOLF    LAUGHS    PENLTY    TANGO42

CMD CTR    DNLD DSY    ROCKY DG    WNT-2FSH    YZ GUY    SIMBA

BEAR HUG    IB4REAL    WSUP BRO    VRUMVRM    WHOL N 1    K9 WSPR

Here are a few inspirational plates that I especially like:

GOD KNO    JNT-HE1R    ICHOSEN    CHOSEN1    

JSGRACE    DISCIPL    AGOODGD

It might seem silly, but I get a kick out of the clever use of words and parts of words used to make up creative phrases for license plates.  I hope you've gotten a chuckle out of some of these creative plates.  Next time you're sitting in traffic, notice the plates around you and perhaps it will help ease the tension of gridlock, and remember one person's license that reads, "24-7 BLSD."

Beyond the Sunset

BEYOND THE SUNSET

When I was very young, we sang a song called, Beyond the Sunset.  What do you think is beyond the sun you see dipping into the sea in the western sky?  We imagined Heaven being just behind the sun, further up in the sky.  And so, we sang:

                      Beyond the sunset, oh blissful morning
                  When with our savior, heaven is begun
                  Earth's toiling ended, oh glory dawning
                  Beyond the sunset when day is done

Wherever the physical location of Heaven might be, it's that place where God has a wonderful, eternal home set up for His children -- just waiting for the day each of us steps beyond that sunset and into our final destination.

Is Heaven real?  You betcha it's real!  And it's more amazing and fantastic and more than every superlative you can think of!  The enemy has tried to twist people's view of Heaven into something boring where you wear a white robe, sit on a cloud and strum on a harp all day.  Ho-hum...that would indeed be boring.  News Flash --- that picture of Heaven is a lie and not surprising when it comes from the enemy camp where lying is their language.

Heaven is beyond amazing and has so much more to offer than this earth every could.  We will have so much to do up there and so many people to visit that we'll be very glad we have an entire eternity to do it all.  The things we'll be doing will be stuff we enjoy and we're good at -- after all, it will be what we were created to do.  "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him" 1 Corinthians 2:9. 

I've typed below lyrics from a recent song about Heaven by Mercy Me, called Almost Home:

     Well this road will be hard  /  But we win in the end
     Simply because of Jesus in us  /   It's not if but when
     So take joy in the journey   /  Even when it feels long
     Oh find strength in each step  /  Knowing heaven is cheering you on

     We are almost home  /  Brother it won't be long
     Soon all your burdens will be gone
     With all your strength /  Sister run wild, run free
     Hold up your head  /  Keep pressing on
     We are almost home  / Almost home   /  Almost home

     I know that the cross has brought heaven to us
     But make no mistake there's still more to come
     When our flesh and our bone are no longer between
     Where we are right now and where we're meant to be
     When all that's been lost has been made whole again
     When these tears and this pain no longer exist
     No more walking we're running as fast as we can
     Consider this our second wind.       We're almost home.

When I heard this song on K-LOVE radio this afternoon, it was followed by another song about Heaven, but I wasn't able to find the lyrics to the second song.  I'm not sure the name, but it had the words, "In Heaven" in it.  I thought, wow, I keep thinking about the end times and the Rapture, and now all these songs about Heaven -- do I detect a theme?  Certainly, this upside down world we are living in today makes us wonder what's coming next.

Lately, I keep thinking of the verse in Luke where Jesus says, "Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near" 21:28.  Seeing that beautiful sunset God paints across the earthly sky is just a reminder of the even more beautiful world He has prepared for us -- one that is just beyond the sunset -- and, I believe, just around the corner.  We're almost home.

--photo taken in Corolla, NC