Only Jesus

By Esther Belin

O how I do enjoy the mountain high

To restfully ponder in God’s good grace,

God’s wondrous covering, sweet by and by,

How the years fold away, a lost embrace.

No turning back to hold regret, or shame

No longer tangled in a spiraled snare

Only peace when my Savior calls my name!

Like fluffy clouds, a brilliant glow, He cares.

I know God’s love, His perfect plan for me

Yet gnawing disdain feeds my unbelief

Covered and protected, where none can see

The growing painful lies, becoming grief.

To whom I run, to whom upon I call

Only Jesus – carries me when I fall.

The Power of Encourgament

By Kim Beach

Who doesn't like a surprise party?

Well, evidently I don't. I've been the recipient of two surprise parties in my lifetime and both times I was so determined to stay home that I almost missed my own celebrations.     

Recently some of my dear girlfriends dressed as Pirates - in honor of my favorite movies -  and threw me a Surprise Birthday / Encouragement Party. There was sushi and pirate booty, pirate punch, cannonball meatballs and even a Pirate Ship chocolate cake! The wackiness was great, the laughter healing and I'm so glad they were able to get me to my own party!

Their gifts to me that evening were simple & yet extravagant.

Their time.

Their attention.

Their love.

Then each person took time to share with me either a scripture or word that God had shown them I needed to hear; they shared what I had meant to them in their lives.

It was awesome and humbling. 

This season of our life has been long and hard and weary. There are days that getting dressed is a major victory. These ladies have stood with me, prayed for me and stood in the gap when I could no longer pray at all.

As they shared words like Determined and Listen and scriptures from Psalm 20, a balm was poured over my soul and freshness awakened within me.

New Strength ~ New Peace ~ New Energy!

Everyone needs Encouragement now and then. It doesn't have to be a Pirate Party - a card to your neighbor, an email to a friend, a text to your spouse - those words mean so much.  

Your words of love and truth can bring life and hope to a hurting heart. 

Who needs to your Words of Encouragement?  

Ask the Lord to show you - in the grocery store, in your workplace, at school,

in your own home - who needs to hear words that

bring life!

When All Is Quiet

By Tiffany Bleger

When all is quiet

Where do you go?

When His voice isn't clear

Where do you run?

Do you charge ahead

Determined in your path?

Do you stand stock still

And wait for the whisper?

Do you turn and run

Back to the familiar?

Do you wander in circles

Moving but going no where?

When all is quiet

Where do you go?

When His voice isn't clear

Where do you run?

Do you lean on your friends 

For an encouraging word?

Maybe listen a little harder

To Sunday's sermon?

Do you beg and plead

And beat your head?

Do you make promises 

You know you won't keep?

When all is quiet

Where do you go?

When His voice isn't clear

Where do you run?

Do you pick up your bible 

And blow off the dust?

Do you listen to music

You think He would love?

Or do you trust and wait

And remember His promises?

Do you know Him well enough

To be still in the quiet?

When all is quiet

Where do you go?

When His voice isn't clear

Where do you run?

Are You Invoiced?

By Tawna Wilkinson

Putt-sing around my house a few months ago, I was wrestling with a dogging question: Should I or should I not help an individual with a genuine need, which in this case happens to be close to me? When I heard: “Bear one another’s burdens…” And…“for each one shall bear his own load.” (Galatians 6.2, 5)
 

A familiar frustration rose in my spirit, for in times past I had grappled, without resolution, with these exact phrases and specific words.

“Lord,” I said. “In one breath You command us to bear another’s burden, and in the next You seem to contradict commanding the exact opposite. I don’t know what to do or how to be.”

“I know,” He replied. “Look into it.”

So I dropped what I was involved with, went to my Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, and looked up the words and phrases I felt Him emphasize.

To my chagrin, in both instances, the definition of bear was exactly what I thought: “to remove, lift, endure, sustain, receive, etc.” However, I was surprised to find where its meaning was derived….from the base of the Greek word basis which means “to walk; a pace (‘base’) i.e. (by implication) the foot.”

Immediately a picture came of two people walking side by side, one was carrying a large burden while the other, walking in pace, was helping alleviate some of its weight, but was not taking the burden from them.

Intrigued, I dove into the definition of load, and was even more startled at its meaning: “an invoice (as part of freight) i.e. (fig.) a task or service.”

“Wow, Lord…an invoice?”

“Yes, an invoice. I assign to each an invoice; a task; a service to join with Me. If I have not invoiced you to walk side by side with another, yet you choose to, you are in fact sabotaging their relational footing with Me. And, by carrying all, or some, of another’s burden I did not invoice harms our walk as well. Be watchful, child. Do not disrupt your, or another’s, relationship with Me by carrying what has not been invoiced you.”

Sweet release washed over me shedding light on my present situation, as well as evaporating that unresolved and dogging question. For I had many times, out of guilt, shame, or condemnation, whether self-inflicted or imposed by others, helped carry, or carried all of another’s burden never invoiced me. And the results were damaging to the cadence of each relationship.

So, when another’s need arises, I am now inclined to stop and ask, “Have you invoiced me to come along side, Holy Spirit? Or is this theirs to join with You, alone?