New Month... the past is finished and gone.
New Opportunity to Turn Over a
~ New Colorful Leaf ~
Yesterday I had all intention of posting
this. It was the first day of October and an opportunity to recommit my
intentions to follow the Lord along the beautiful, idyllic path strewn with
colorful, fall leaves. The meme above came together quickly, and I got it up on
Facebook, hashtagged it (is that a verb yet) in Twitter, and squared it up for
Instagram. It then took a while loading in Blogger, and I walked away from my
desk…only to return this morning, October 2nd with a whole new
appreciation for the verse; “In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct
your paths.” Proverbs 6:3. That is the King James version. In other translations
it reads, “He will make your paths straight.”
God gave me an opportunity to learn a new
lesson or maybe more accurately, relearn the most basic one. The lesson of obedience. He took this verse and gave me the opportunity to be not just a hearer of the Word but a doer. I failed, He picked me up.
Have you ever had that feeling,
when God gives you a check, a warning? Yesterday, God warned me. I got a deep down knowledge that the
atmosphere had shifted, and I should have paid closer attention. I shouldn’t have opened the door with the evil
slayer behind it. When the annual Halloween movie marathon comes on a little
later this month, I will refuse to watch, because all I will want to do is shout
in vain to the sweet, little innocent sister, “RUN! Michael’s coming home get
out of the house, NOW!”
God does that for us, but only when we are inclining our ears
to Him, can we hear His shouts. He knows something wicked this way comes, and He
wants us to hear His warning and obey. He wants to make our paths straight, not
the crooked, crazy, dead-end, double back, dog-leg left paths that this world
would have us careening down too fast banging up against the guard rails or... trying to cross a road in
front of an on-coming car. Yes, I am foreshadowing, and if this were the
Halloween movie the dark, ominous music would start playing in the background.
After taking a hike up a mountain with Cooper
and my sweet cat Zephaniah, Cooper asked if we should cross the road to the
stream on the other side. There was a strong “NO” coming up, but I didn’t
listen. I thought maybe the desire of my
heart to call it a day was self-motivated, I was tired. I did stop and thought just a few minutes, I
do love the stream, maybe we’ll see fish, never mind this strong sense of NO,
be done. “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your
heart.” Psalm 37:4 should have guided my heart. But we crossed the road,
and Zephaniah followed.
Zephaniah is only 6 months old, adorable
and terrified of cars. I was all the way down by the stream looking back,
calling across 100 yards to him as the car approached. He was safe, hunkered down in tall grass, but
close to the road. I could see it happen the way it happens in the horror movies
in slow motion. The sound of it... Thud. Zephyr ran right into the side of the
car heading for safety in the bushes on the other side of the road. He was
tossed up in the air, landed hard on the road and then kept running for the
other side. I took off after him – mad at myself and pleading the blood of
Jesus over him.
I looked him over. He wasn’t bleeding, and while
very scared and limping, he let me hold him. Cooper assured the driver of the
car, who slowed and stopped, that we hadn’t thrown anything at his car. They were nice and apologized for what was clearly not their fault. Even if it had happened differently and appeared that way, this was an attack in the spiritual realm, not a fault of flesh and blood. We prayed. God did not want Zephaniah to suffer.
He didn’t want me to suffer. He tried to warn me, and because I heard Him, and
didn’t obediently follow, I repented. I was truly sorry. I washed in the blood
of Christ. I put my guilt on the cross. bore my sin. I beseeched God for his mercy. Christ carried my sin of not loving Him with my whole heart. My sin of disobedience was atoned for. It was finished and gone. I had been forgiven. I praised God that the chastisement of peace was upon Jesus.
Peace came over me as His Word, “Be still
and know that I am God” came into my heart. I held Zephaniah still. I stilled
my breath as I tried to still his little heart racing
as I held him. I did what I saw my Father do, and breathed life into his limping shoulder. I laid my hands, Christ's hands on him. We called
on Christ for his healing power and applied the dunamis power of Christ within
me to heal. I went into the courts of heaven to get back what the devil had
stolen. I, now innocent in the blood of Christ, stood before the throne and
asked God to restore Zephaniah. We prayed in tongues, the perfect prayer. We
rejoiced and praised Him. Thank you Jesus! Zephaniah took a nap and woke his
normal playful self, leaping around trying to catch a moth hungry for dinner,
healed and made whole. Hallelujah!!
It is hard to find the narrow gate along
the path, and we need to take time to listen. He can literally direct our steps
with His hand upon our hearts. It is why
we protect our hearts for everything flows from that source of love. Just last
Sunday, our pastor preached on what it means to love God with our whole hearts.
He told us, New Testament references to hearts are not the modern-day, romantic, Valentine’s Day, lovey dovey hearts. The heart in the New Testament refers to the seat
of our will, and we have been given free will. We must will our hearts’ to God.
Let our thoughts, our desires be His will, His heart for us. With our hearts rooted and grounded in this love, He can
guard us in Christ Jesus.
I will close with this beautiful prayer
from the Episcopal Liturgy. It is found in the Book of Common Prayer, Rite One
for Holy Eucharist:
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