Friday, September 06, 2024

Lead Me To The Rock (Psalm 61)

 

Hear my cry, O God,

 listen to my prayer;

from the end of the earth I call to you

when my heart is faint.

Lead me to the rock

that is higher than I,

for you have been my refuge,

a strong tower against the enemy.

Let me dwell in your tent forever!

Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah

For you, O God, have heard my vows;

you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

(Palm 61:1-5)

Friday, August 30, 2024

Divorce

During the months leading up to my divorce, I questioned everything about myself, so whenever friends or family questioned the reasons for our divorce, I was sometimes at a loss to explain. Yes, I was the one who started the divorce proceedings, after years of my spouse hinting, and then proclaiming that it was her desire to see us divorced. (Not that she was alone in this desire, but even this revelation is difficult to place on the timeline of our relationship) To make matters even more complicated, I was working on staff at a church. The prospective loss of my job and worse, my church fellowship was heavy on my heart when I started these proceedings.  NOTE: I'm writing this within days of my divorce becoming official. So even though this finality of court proceedings is a recent event at the time of this writing, I have mourned the loss of my marriage many years ago. 

The article below has been a great help in my search for healing . . . 

"I wasn’t blameless in my marriage. Far from it. I often acted self-righteously, believing I was never wrong. I said unkind things with a condescending tone. I lost my temper more times than I care to recall. There were moments when I struggled to remember joy and peace was a distant memory that seemed to belong to someone else's life. And that’s just for starters.

Friday, August 23, 2024

One Word To Describe Jesus (by Bill Gaultiere)

Have you ever experienced seasons of pain, trials, and troubles that seemed to have no end? My family have been on the receiving end of seasons stacked up seasons without reprieve. A continual stream of stress, anxiety, anger, hopelessness, depression, fear, and so many other emotions, all running on high-alert, formed from multiple challenges that seemed when combined, seem insurmountable. Yet, God was with us, He took care of us, and He sustained us. During this season, this was one of many articles that God led me to read during that time. - keyboard60 (December 2025)

"One day in the fall of 2007 when I was meeting with Dallas Willard at his USC office he asked me, “If you had one word to describe Jesus what would it be?”

How would you answer that question? If you could only use one word to describe Jesus what would it be? You might pause to consider that now…

As I sat with Dallas words for Jesus were running through my mind and out my mouth: Jesus is… Love… Compassion… Holy… Lord… Teacher… Risen… Healer…  (These are all good words to describe Jesus.)

As he so often did in my conversations with him, Dallas waited in quiet for me to think. He was unhurried. I was drawn into his silent prayer. Finally, I asked him what his one word for Jesus was.

What one word would Dallas Willard use to describe Jesus? 

“Relaxed.”

Hero | Lyrics by David Crosby

It was one of those great stories

That you can't put down at night

The hero knew what he had to do

And he wasn't afraid to fight


The villain goes to jail

While the hero goes free

I wish it were that simple for me

And the reason that she loved him

Was the reason I loved him too

And he never wondered

What was right or wrong

He just knew, he just knew