Many or Few Blows?

"Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.  It will be good for the servants whose master find them watching when he comes."  Luke 12:35-36

"You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." Luke 12:40

"That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows.  But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows.  From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." Luke 12:47-48

In my Study Bible it reads:
People who are ready for their Lord's return are:

1. not hypocritical, but sincere
2. not fearful, but ready to witness
3. not worried, but trusting
4. not greedy, but generous
5. not lazy, but diligent

May your life be more like Christ's so that when he comes, you will be ready to greet him joyfully.

I am not ready....I have a lot of changes to make so that I will be better prepared for HIS return!

Twenty Twelve - Anticipating the New Year!

WOW! 2012 is here and all the hoopla regarding the end times has hit even the secular news.  Interesting times we live in but for me right at this moment I want to concentrate on what God wants me to be DOING to promote HIS KINGDOM here on earth.  I also realize that I am nothing without HIM and can do nothing without HIM.  He is the vine and I am but one small branch.  Even so, I don't want to be unproductive but fruitful and it is in that context that I want to start the year out with some alone time with the Lord.

I have been blessed with three days of no one at home but little 'ole me and the Lord.  This may have been the first time since I have been married to my hubby of 28 years that I was alone on New Year's Eve. It was a quiet evening and I truly tried to keep the day covered in prayer and meditation but well...the laundry needed done and the Christmas decorations begged to be taken down and put away.  This Christmas was one of the best as all my children and grandchildren were with us but that also makes for cleaning and that's alright...but it can wait until my alone time with God is over. I just have too push it out of my line of vision and keep my head down with my eyes on God's word.

So Saturday was wonderful and Sunday was filled with God's goodness; a  time of musical worship, a great sermon from my pastor, a wedding feast for 2 friends, and a visit to the funeral home to show respects for the mother of a friend.  Then as I settled down in the evening in my new comfortable chair I asked the Lord to reveal to me what I need to change...about me....about my daily activities....about my ministries.  How can I change for the better to serve Him with my best.  (There's so much to change...where will He start?)

This morning He gave me Hebrews 12:1a-3 ( I like to read it as if it is written to me personally so I will write it as such) "...let me throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let me run with perseverance the race marked out for me. Let me fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my 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.  Consider him who endures such opposition from sinful men, so that I will not grow weary and lose heart."

Today I will meditate on what is hindering me (it could be good things), what sin is entangling me (sin I don't recognize as sin), and what race I am running that is not mine to race (I have a tendency to do that).  That should take me all day!!  But I have all day and I know that if I ask Him He will deliver. As Hebrews 12:10a-11, "..but God disciplines us for our good that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."  I want peace that comes from His righteousness therefore I am ready to take the discipline.  Hebrews 12:12 says, "Therefore strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees."

Well it's time for me to get in my exercise today...my feeble, flabby arms and weak knees need to be strengthened so I can be strong enough to do His biding!  Discipline!  Just not that excited about it though! But praise God that I am able to do so!! I want to be a living interpretation of what I believe!

Women at the Well Spring Conference taught me about praise and worship!

My husband and I took a road trip to the western part of our state where the rolling hills and flowering dogwoods and azaleas were a delicious treat to our eyes. Elizabeth asked me to perform the drama of the Samaritan woman at their first annual Spring Conference and I was delighted to accept the invitation. Even my husband was excited about traveling with me and accompanied me to the event...there were a few other men. Thank you Dale for befriending Ron!!


The pastor started off the event with a brief message (more like a prophetic word for the women attending) and it was followed with 40 minutes of praise and worship. It wasn't a live band but a power point with music and words in place...it showed me that what we truly need to worship are hearts ready and open to worship. I feel I have earned a right to talk about praise and worship since I have been on P&W teams in 3 different churches over the last 18 years. WOW! Eighteen years is a long time. I began under the leadership of a very capable music pastor who played the guitar along with a pianist and three singers for Sunday mornings and a full band on Sunday evenings. The congregation eagerly participated in worship with genuine hearts as did those in the small church where I was the leader of the P&W team. That was a stretch...a big stretch, but the pianist in that small church was a new member just like me and together we came with experience outside of old hymns and along with the new pastor who lead praise and worship in his former church, made up the first team. After a few months we had a drummer, 2 guitarist and a few singers that joined us. We made a joyful noise unto the Lord and the congregation responded to our meager efforts allowing the Holy Spirit to lead them to the altar. Now I am one of many singers on a team and we have a full band of wonderful musicians. Most of our church, I think, would say they enjoy our style of worship and are ushered into the presence of God.

At the Women at the Well event, Elizabeth brought a message that captivated the women the entire forty five minutes! In most churches it is stressed you loose people’s attention after twenty minutes. Not so when the message follows forty five minutes of worshipping the Lord and getting hearts ready to receive from the Holy Spirit. We seem to rush into church, rush into singing 4 songs (no more than 4), rush into the message and then ...do it all over for the second service. The music can be uplifting, the sermon can be convicting and encouraging and we can truly meet the Lord in those short services but I have seen what a difference not only at the WATW Spring Conference but also in others where the time spent before the sermon was praising God for who He is and asking the Holy Spirit to move among us. The difference is at the close of the service when people are flooding the altar for more of HIM...flooding the altar for prayer to be better followers of Jesus....flooding the altar with pure grateful hearts that want only to do the work He has created them to do.

During my Living Interpretation of the Samaritan Woman, the eyes I looked into were so soft and ready to hear about this woman's encounter with Jesus. They felt her pain and her joy. Is that because all of us have sins we do over and over and we know that it is only by the help of the Holy Spirit that we can overcome? It was such a beautiful sight when I opened my eyes after singing "Alabaster Box" to see women praying for each other with tears streaming down their faces yet with a glow about them that only come from the radiance of being in the presence of the Lord. Yes, it was a real blessing to be with this group of believers and one night I don't think I will ever forget!