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Today, I share with you what the Lord spoke to me at a dark and dry time of my life…

“The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly and are filled with sap.” Psalm 104:16 AMP

“During the long winter months, when nature has seemingly lost all its beauty, life still flows deep within its darkest recesses. The trees appear naked and dead without their leaves and blooms. The ground seems hard and bare without the beauty of flowers and grass. But, in reality, life is ever flowing, ever-present.

It flows in the sap that is deep within the trees. It stirs within the seeds of flowers yet to bloom. Both are quietly at work, waiting for their appointed time to be awakened and spring to life.

Sometimes My people also must endure their long winter months of travail when their fruit seems to have withered and their branches seem bare. But deep within their roots, My Spirit moves with eternal life.

All may seem dark, lost, and devoid of life and beauty, but, in such a life lived with Me, My work still goes on.

Sometimes it must be that My precious ones must endure the darkness in order to see the Light. Then when My Light shines on them, they come to life and begin, once again, to blossom and bear fruit.

Our lives are one - yours and Mine. Therefore, all that is of My nature must pass into yours, if so be that your roots have grown deep within My Son. So, take courage.

Allow My Life to flow through you, especially in the darkest of times, and then all will be yours - love, joy, peace, comfort, hope, strength, power, trust, healing, patience, humility, wisdom, and victory. I watch over you to care for and bless you.”

~~Blessings, Lynn~~

“…when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Job 38:7 NKJV

Though most scholars say the “morning stars” in this verse were probably angelic beings, other scriptures tell us that the celestial bodies do indeed declare the glory of God.

How? The stars not only show forth God’s handiwork in the universe, as they shine forth in the darkness, but also “sing praises”! David tells us in Psalms 148:3 (NKJV), “Praise Him, all you stars of light!” The Hebrew word for ‘praise’ here is ‘halal,’ which means to boast, celebrate, glory, and sing (praise).

According to a report by BBC News science correspondent Pallab Ghosh on October 23, 2008, scientists recorded the sound of three stars. (You can read the article here.)

The article reported that the team working on this project found that, for the first time, the sounds enabled them to gather information about the inner working or processes of the stars. Each star has its own individual sound, depending on its “age, size, and chemical composition.” The sound of each star they recorded indicated what is occurring inside the star and that “the entire star is pulsating.”

God spoke and all matter came alive at the sound of His voice, at His Word. All matter contains molecules, and, within those molecules, atoms flow and circulate in resonation.
The dictionary says ‘resonance’ is a resounding, a reinforcing and prolonging of sound by reflection, to pulsate with the same frequency as the source.

Does the fact that the stars pulsate with sound strike you as awesome? It sure does me! The outward sounds, or singing, reveal that they resonate with the same frequency as their Source.

Within that matter is God’s voice imprint, still to this day, resonating in the entire universe, within every molecule, every atom, and every cell of every created thing – plants, animals, planets, sun, moon, stars, mankind, everything. His Word never dies, for the Bible says, “the word of God which lives and abides forever…the word of the Lord remains forever,” (1 Peter 1:23, 25 Received Greek Text) whether that Word is His written Word or His spoken Word. It is still alive.

The living, breathing Word of God is eternal and gives “life and breath and all things to all.” (Acts 17:25 RGT)

Just as the stars, each of us has our own individual sound, depending “age, size, and chemical composition” as the result of what is occurring inside of us, pulsating with the same frequency as our Source.

One day, as I praised the Lord in my prayer time, He whispered to my heart, “This is the way to My heart, to My throne, to My Living Room!” Wow! My praise brings me into the Living space where He abides, where He is seated in the Throne Room. My praise connects me to that alive space of power around Him, the space full of Eternal Life! This is where I resonate with the same frequency as the Creator of the universe.

Has God’s Word been created in your heart? Is there a resonance and reflection of its inner working in your heart? Does your heart sing with praise to its Maker?

Sing any tune, make up any words, but sing to your Beloved. Sing the praises of the One Who deserves them. It will make a difference in your attitude and in your circumstances. You will resonate with the same frequency as your Source.

~~Blessings, Lynn~~

When I first began a monthly column for another site, I wanted the Lord to use each column to speak to the hearts of others, but I had no idea what I was going to write that would be suitable for a first-timer. Puzzlement set in…Oh, Lord, what in the world will I write?

That’s when another one of God’s life lessons hit me, like the V-8 commercial, with a slap in the head!

An off-hand comment, an innocent remark with no ill intentions hidden behind it, was made by someone that referred to me and another person in regard to our writing abilities. The person making the comment believed himself/herself to be more knowledgeable than I am as to the nuts and bolts of grammar and punctuation (which was a distinct possibility), but what he/she said, or actually wrote, made me doubt my ability to write.

How does this relate to you? Well, maybe you’re not a writer but you have another talent, gift, or ministry. What if you know you’re obeying the Father in whatever His calling might be for your life, but you let someone’s comment, whether mean or unintentional, knock your self-confidence out from under you?

Or what if someone’s off-handed remark regarding your weight, your clothes, your hair, your speech, or whatever, causes you to doubt your self-esteem? Do you have a pity party?

I almost did.

The Lord makes me laugh so often…usually at myself. On the day of the comment, one of my devotionals I read in my quiet time was about Joseph. Though not a funny line, I laughed out loud when I read this by an anonymous writer, “Let us remember that if self-pity is allowed to set in, that is the end of us - until it is cast utterly from us.” Don’t you love it when the Lord plants those little tidbits just for your benefit?

The enemy invitor was just about to tempt me into accepting his invitation to a full-blown, two-attendees pity party, with hats, streamers, and balloons, even a big cake, with me as the clown! However, the Holy Spirit acted as a stop-gap. He reined in my emotions and tied them up at the hitching post so I didn’t gallop off in the wrong direction.

As Joseph said to his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done.” (Gen 50:20 NIV) And as Paul said, “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31 NIV)

Though that comment had no evil bent, there are those comments that do. So, when a comment of either unintentional or malicious design is said to or about you, do you accept the enemy’s invitation and attend his pity party, or do you invite the Lord to take over?

Whenever a negative remark comes your way, destroy it before it gets a foothold. Don’t let it cause you to lose your self-esteem or self-confidence. Even if a comment is an innocent one, the enemy will try to use it to bring you down, if you agree with him.

So, how do we stop those remarks from getting under our skin? Remember what Paul wrote to the Corinthians? “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:5 NIV)

Don’t accept any pity party invitations!

~~Blessings, Lynn~~

“Have compassion on me, LORD, for I am weak. Heal me, LORD, for my body is in agony. I am sick at heart. How long, O LORD, until You restore me? Return, O LORD, and rescue me. Save me because of Your unfailing love.” (Ps 6:2-4a NLT)

Have you ever cried out to God like David did? A relentless condition that displays itself spiritually may besiege us and is sometimes healed more quickly than one that is physical in nature. We realize that, in time, God always heals our spirits, if we allow Him.

However, we all wonder why God physically heals some people and not others. This question of life does not automatically receive an adequate answer for God does not always pull back heaven’s curtain to permit us a peek backstage into the scripted plot of His plan of action.

Recently, I read a passage of scripture that had previously escaped my notice and, in a strange way, has helped me in wrestling with this question. Concealed in a story in John 5, it relates the healing of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda.

Arriving for one of the Jewish feasts, Jesus entered Jerusalem, possibly through the Sheep Gate, for it was from here that He strolled to the pool of Bethesda. This is what He saw…

A gathering of people, amassed around the fringe of Bethesda’s pool. The blind stood with the deaf. The withered sat with the weak and feeble. The diseased leaned against the porch pillars. The crippled laid on mats. All anticipated the disturbance of the water, waiting to be the first to jump in and be healed, like a flock of seagulls, hovering over a fishing dock, ready to swoop down for the catch of the day.

Jesus saw only one person. His eyes locked onto a man paralyzed for 38 years and lying on a mat. As He approached the man, He leaned over and asked him, “Would you like to be well?”

The man looked up into the most extraordinary eyes he had ever seen. “Sir,” he said, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water stirs, so someone always jumps in ahead of me.”

With a voice of power that could easily stir the waters on its own, Jesus said, “Stand up! Pick up your mat and start walking!” As the man jumped up, the prickly sensation of healing surged through his limbs.

Nothing is said of any other healings. I wonder why not. Did those there just stare at Jesus in bewilderment? Did they focus only on the water, awaiting their turn? Did they desire not to be healed? Were they afraid?

Maybe God desired no further healings because they would have endangered Jesus’ life even more, for the Jews sought to kill Him for healing just this one man on the Sabbath. What might they have done if He had healed everyone? For whatever reason, it was God’s purpose not to heal any others at that moment.

In my relentless physical condition, I no longer feel adrift on a sea of doubt, wondering why I am not healed. Whether I am or not, I remain part of God’s purpose and praise Him for it. He has whispered to my spirit that He will heal me and I trust Him to keep His promise, as I hold His hand like a child holds its father’s hand in trust to cross a dangerous intersection. I know that healing is still in my future, whether it comes while I am here on earth or in heaven.

Some are not healed for various reasons, and some are not. God knows them all.

~~Blessings, Lynn~~

SFLifeandJustice.org

Slavery. Wasn’t that abolished in the nineteenth century? Nope! The fact is that there are more humans enslaved today than ever before…27 million according to estimated statistics. Actual statistics are obviously difficult to obtain.

Whether for forced labor, servitude, human organs, exploitation for prostitution, which includes children, illegal adoption and marriage, or desperate, impoverished parents selling their children, the shackles have not disappeared.

Modern-day slavery is the second largest criminal industry in the world. It is said that 200,000 children in the U.S. are at high risk for sex trafficking and commercial exploitation every year.

These coerced souls bring their abductors an estimated worldwide income of $42.5 billion annually, which is more money than Google, Nike, and Starbucks combined. There are no lines of demarcation, no borders that contain this black-hearted element of humanity.

There is a movement happening to free these slaves, many of which are children. Sunday, January 11, is National Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery Awareness Day. A new friend I met through Twitter, Diane Scimone, the president of Born to Fly International, asked me to write a post to help bring awareness to this worldwide degradation.

To become more informed, please do a search on the subject or visit these links…

* HumanTrafficking.org

* Break the Chains

* Call+Response
This is the first so-called rockumentary to expose the world’s 27 million most terrifying secrets.

* International Justice Mission

* Polaris Project.org

* Evangelical Covenant Church

Someone’s baby, child, or other loved one has been stolen from his/her safe surroundings and is forced into doing things he/she does not want to do! Something that violates his/her body or conscience. Please give some thought as to what you can do. Please consider adding this to your prayer list. May the Lord bless you!

~~Blessings, Lynn~~

Twitter has taken cyber users by storm. Tweeters (people) use it for numerous reasons. Some use it for making business contacts; others use it for, well, some reasons I’d rather not even think about. But it is great for acquiring all kinds of helpful tidbits on a myriad of topics and for links to interesting sites.

The best reason, and the one for which I use it, is for developing new friendships. I have connected with some awesome and very special people. I praise the Lord for my new Twitter family.

I have connected with one special person, PPureIndulgence, and, in one of her tweets (posts), she posted a link to her blog with the title of her new article…New Year’s Resolution or Solution?

In it, she refers to @CoachBo (on Twitter) who “suggests rather than making New Year’s Resolutions we can choose to create New Year’s Solutions.”

That post made her stop and think. Hers made me stop and think. What is the difference between a resolution and a solution? As she looked up the definitions, so did I.

The dictionaries say that ‘resolution’ is a formal expression of opinion or intention made. It comes from the word ‘resolute,’ which means to be resolved or determined on a course of action, set in purpose or opinion.

‘Solution,’ on the other hand, means the act of solving a problem or question, an answer.

Only a small percentage of New Year’s resolutions see fulfillment. Initially, most of them are launched with great intentions but slowly, or sometimes quickly, run out of steam. Determination slides by the wayside. With little acting upon the problem or circumstance, the intended outcome is not accomplished. This is why I've never really made any New Year's resolutions. I knew I would never keep them.

While solution infers the act of doing something, most people just have the solution compartmentalized in their heads or written down on paper. Wanting to change a situation or something about oneself and coming up with a solution to solve or improve it is still not the answer. Just because I WANT something to change and may be determined for it to be so doesn’t mean it WILL change.

I need more than a resolution, more than a solution. While both executed together are preferable, they must be backed with something more…they need to be backed by actual action. Therefore, the meaning of this scripture takes on a new meaning, “A threefold cord is not quickly broken.” (Eccl. 4:12b NKJV)

I think I’ve come up with my action, which is my theme for this year. I’ve borrowed it from an old hymn…I Surrender All!

Here are some beautiful portions of the song…

* Humbly at His feet I bow, Worldly pleasures all forsaken…

* Make me, Savior, wholly Thine…

* Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power;
Let Thy blessing fall on me.

All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.
I surrender all, I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Saviour, I surrender all.

If I surrender all, then I cannot be a hindrance to the Lord’s plans and purpose for my life. If I do not surrender all, I allow my life to be filled with the same old things, carry-overs from the year now passed.

God said through Isaiah, “Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Is. 43:19 NKJV)

What exactly do I want in the New Year? Or more importantly, what does the Lord want for me? How do I embark on an action if I have my fingers tightly clenched around all the events of the old year? Do I really want a new thing to happen in my life?

If I desire the best for my life, I must, as the saying goes, let go and let God! I must…surrender all!

Do you desire God to do a new thing in your life this year? Are you dragging all the hurts, sins, regrets, failures, disappointments, and unforgiveness of the old year behind you in a little red wagon or perhaps a U-haul?

Let this year be a year of release. Take action! Surrender it all!

~~Blessings, Lynn~~

Have you ever been homeless? In this economy, you might be close to experiencing it. I’ve been close to it…three times.

The dictionaries all give the same description…having no home, lacking permanent residence. However, the condition of being homeless implies different things to different people.

Some see the homeless, who sleep under a viaduct or in a cardboard box as a make-shift shelter, as those who refuse to work, choosing to spend their time in a bottle.

Others sometimes see them as poor or mentally ill people who, sadly enough, are unable to maintain a work life to support himself/herself, much less a family.

With the current upheaval in the financial world, this segment of society will probably be growing by record numbers. Many are being ejected from their homes on a daily basis. Many have had the proverbial rug pulled out from under them, leaving them with no place to turn for shelter but their cars.

Therefore, this concept of the homeless is reforming, and, because of this, the perception of some toward the homeless needs altering as well.

What will your attitude be toward them? One of disdain or contempt (which means to think unworthy of notice or response), or will it be one of favor, love, and respect, thinking you could be one or two steps away from the same thing? Will it be a hand-out or a hand-up? Or no hand at all?

Though we, too, may be affected by this crazy economy, isn’t there something we can do without in order to help someone else? That’s what I’m going to figure out.

My heart has been so touched by a young homeless girl and her mother. I’m a giver at heart, and when I see someone in a desperate situation, my natural reaction is to help. However, my bank account usually disagrees with me! And this saddens me deeply. So I pray. Not that prayer is my last resort, not by a long shot. Prayer is always my first action, but I always desire to do more.

Because of the initial and ongoing efforts of Christian suspense author Brandilyn Collins, the plight of these two has become a mushrooming story of assistance, even making national news.

If you don’t believe Christian fiction can be used for the Lord, then you need to take a look at this. Brandilyn writes, “Liz has been a reader of my suspense novels for four to five years now. She has been struggling financially for some time. Each time a book of mine released, I’d send her a free copy. Liz would always reply with a handwritten, gracious letter. She’s been wonderfully encouraging to me.”

You can catch all the updates on Brandilyn’s blog…Forensics and Faith.

Another key person is Julie Bonn Heath Marketing. You can read her posts here...JBHMarketing

You can also read 16 year old Katy’s posts on her blog, called Destination Anywhere but Here… DestinationAnywhereButHere.

When Brandilyn heard from Liz, she went straight to her resources, the people. She spread the word and many giving people have responded. So far, money has been donated and Katy and Liz have been on two local networks, CNN, and Good Morning America will air an interview with them sometime in the next few days. You can keep up to date on it all on Brandilyn’s blog.

Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. Don’t think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing.” (Phil. 2:3-4 NLT)

Has this been your attitude toward the homeless? If not, do you think it will change if your neighbor becomes homeless, or you do?

So, will you consider the plight of others, how degraded and lost they may feel and try to help rebuild their lives with a donation? Can you give them back their confidence, or encourage them, give them love, hope, and your prayers? Can you replenish another’s life in some way? Whatever you are able to do for another, I know the Lord will bless you.

~~Blessings, Lynn~~