Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

The last concrete "to do" I received from the Lord was about two years ago.  "Write a blog." That's all He needed to say - I was on it! But there are times and seasons for everything.  And lately, what once came so easily for me - only because God was in it to enable and empower me - is starting to become stale to me. Every day, as I sat down to write these blog entries, I never knew what I was going to write about.  I simply started typing and the words came to me.  This is how I know it was a God thing. I don't even consider myself a "real" writer.  It is simply something I enjoy doing.  There are those who are far better at it than I. My training was in music.  All my life, practicing the piano, or later in life writing songs, or singing, or what have you.  But God moves in us and changes our desires for His purposes, His seasons for us.  We need to be willing to listen, trust, and obey Him. And I was willing to go on forever writing this blog f

About 10 years ago, I was in line at Ralphs in L.A. waiting to checkout my groceries.  Since it's been a while, the details are fuzzy.  But I remember feeling compelled to talk about the Lord with the fellow waiting in line behind me.  Let's just say it didn't end well! Everything in his words and actions were actually proving the Bible!  When I told him so, he cried out loud,"She's preaching to me!" as if I'd committeed a felony.  No one came to his rescue.   Are we coming to a place in history when sharing the gospel with someone will be outlawed?  This is nothing new in communist countries. But what about on our own soil?  I believe those days are right around the bend. So I say preach while we are able!  As the Spirit leads, of course. Throughout the ages, men have vehemently opposed the gospel and did not want to hear it.  Why?  Because it convicted them of their sin and they wanted to continue in their sin and not repent.  Some things never change. J

  Like any other behavioral pattern we establish, I believe that forgiveness can become a habit for us, too. Instead of our knee-jerk reaction being anger when someone harms us, we can go straight away to forgiving them. How is this possible?  Practice.  Like any other habit, we need to practice it until it becomes second nature - or better yet, first nature! Think back on how many millions of times Jesus has forgiven you your sins.  Do I exagerrate when I say millions?  Maybe.  Maybe not! And when we come to Jesus asking His forgiveness, has He ever once denied us His grace?  This is miraculous, if you ask me!  Does He "hold it over our heads" for a few days until He decides to pardon us?  Thankfully, never!  Can you even imagine?!  It would be torment to our souls if Jesus did not at once forgive and restore us!  And of all people, Jesus has the "right" and power to withhold forgiveness and instead "make us pay."  But He does not. What a Savior!  What a

Designing a life.  Building a better life.  In the New Year, we are always trying to reinvent ourselves, or so we are told we should. So I recently picked up a book called,  Design Your Life  (affiliate).  I'm a few chapters in and keep saying to myself, I could have written this!  This is so much like my story!  It is not so much about "forging a path" as it is about waiting on God, listeneing to and obeying God, and letting Him lead the way. People hate change.  People like change. People avoid change.  There are varied responses regarding how we view change in our lives.  Some welcome it, others not so much.  Some changes are beyond our control - i.e. a pandemic. Yet all of these New Year's resolutions we're encouraged to make - each one is about change!  As if the lives we are already living are somehow not enough. Now there is always room for improvement, right? But the pressure of needing to change every New Year is a bit much.  Hence, I no longer make New Y

So I was talking with another Christian one day about the importance of hearing from God.  He was taught that he could not hear directly from God, that the only way we "hear" Him is through His Word. Yes.  Reading, knowing, and studying His Word is vital.   But why, then, did Jesus Himself tell us that His sheep know His voice ? People, including some Christians, get nervous when we say that we can hear from God.  It sounds a bit cray cray. I'm not talking about "voices" in your head, or your imagination. I am referring to the still, small voice which is not audible in the way that we hear people talking, but it is like a knowing .  It comes from His Spirit who lives inside of us.  It's not even like a whisper.  It's really hard to describe it unless you've experienced it. It's just there.  Like words in the background but very distinct and clear. God's voice is calming.  It is usually few words, not many.  And it is always filled with love,

What if Noah had gone around asking everyone he knew, "God told me to build an ark. What do you think I should do?" It sounds crazy when we put it that way, yet that is exactly what we usually do when the Lord tells us to do something. We know that 100% of the poeple would have advised Noah against building the ark. Why? Well, first of all, it had never rained on the earth yet, so they didn’t even know what rain was (including Noah). Second of all, it sounded just plain nuts! How do I know that 100% would have been against Noah building the ark?  No one got on board. What do we do when we know God is telling us to do something? Do we doubt that we heard from Him?  Do we doubt ourselves - our ability to carry out His orders?  Do we run to everyone we know for their "input?" Don't!   God knows exactly what He is doing.  We don't.  Remember, He sees the beginning from the end, so He knows what is about to take place up ahead.  We don't.   So when He tells

If you wait until you feel like obeying God, you never will. The feelings follow the obedience. This modus operandi works when we obey the Lord about anything. Feelings have little to do with obeying Jesus.  The majority of God's people gave in to their "feelings" of fear and dread at the end of wandering in the desert for 40 years.  Finally they could see the end of their long journey!  All they had to do was cross over into the Promised Land and they would receive all that God had promised them. What held them back?  Fear.   There are giants in the land! They chose to focus on what could go wrong, what may or may not happen if they entered in - those giants were huge!  What if they killed us?  What if they enslaved us?  They must have painted all the worst-case scenarios and they let those "what ifs" keep them from moving forward into the land of plenty - the land flowing with milk and honey.  Joshua and Caleb saw things differently.  They knew that God was w

The Lord has been telling me for a while now to practice my songs.  And as much as I am in the habit of obeying the Lord no matter what - here comes my confession - I have not done as He said. Why? I figure, why bother?  Who's going to hear them anyway?  I feel like Demi Lovato from her song "Anyone." "I feel stupid when I sing Nobody's listening to me Nobody's listening" But I know that God is listening.  Is that enough for me?  Do I need an audience?  Can't I just sing for the joy of singing?  Especially songs that came from my heart, soul, and spirit? I've been through so much in the past - many negative experiences that have left their mark on me.  That is not an excuse.  Just how it is.  I really have to muster up the energy to sit down at the keyboard and sing any more.   As a child, I would sit at the piano for hours and just sing and play.  What fun I had!   Of course, that was eons ago, and in between then and now, well, life happened. I