A Morning Meditation?

The morn was dark
With silence deep,
When I awakened from my sleep.

The air was cool,
And soon I heard
The single song of one small bird.

Its praises sang out,
Sweet and clear,
"Awaken friends, the Lord is near!"

Another voice rang out,
Its song was loud and deep,
"Oh for Pete's sake, Charlie!
It's 3'oclock in the morning!
Go back to sleep!"

And so, we all went back to bed,
These little birds' songs in my head.
I had a smile upon my face,
While Jesus whispered in my ear,
"See you later, my dear..."

Is the Answer Blowing in the Wind?

The wind blows.
I feel the movement on my skin.
I feel the tickling of my hair, as it moves
As in a dance with the breeze.
Peace.

The wind blows.
I hear the rustling of the leaves.
I hear a whisper in my soul
Saying, "Come and dance with Me
In gentle ease."
Trust.

The wind blows.
I see its power as it moves the fallen leaves from here to there.
I see them dance and twirl in joy.
They show me life continues,
On and on.
Hope.

Another season starts!

Blessings, Anna Marie

Want a Smile?

Don'cha love to read a rhyme?

It lifts my heart up every time!

It makes me want to laugh and dance, 

Sometimes so hard, I wet my pants!

The giggles start,

The giggles roar, 

And soon I'm rolling on the floor!

I'm feelin' good, 

I'm feeling fine,

Though some may say,

I've lost my mind!

Ahhhhh! That was Goooood!

Dance With Me?

Dance With Me?


Dance in the sunshine,
Dance in the rain.
Dance when you're happy,
Dance in the pain.
Love always fills us,
Love always smiles.
Come with me, friend...let us dance for awhile!

Dance on your troubles,
Dance on your joys.
Dance for your daughters,
Dance for your boys.
Love is the answer,
Love is the key.
Come with me, child...let us dance and be free!

Dance with intention,
Dance on the fly.
Dance when you're laughing,
Dance when you cry.
Love is the journey,
Love always wins.
Come with me, stranger...let us dance and begin!

Blessings, Anna Marie

P.S. Miss watching you dance, Mom! I know you are dancing in Heaven!

Can We Really Love Others As Jesus Loved Us?

Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Kate Su (Steward Obs., U. Arizona), et al.

John 15:12 NKJV
This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Do you ever get stuck on one verse of Scripture? 

I do.  John 15:12 is one of my favorites, and no matter how many times I ponder it, I always get something new. 

Jack and I have a dear friend, Sharon Billins, an awesome woman of God who says, "Behind every verse of Scripture, there is an entire library in Heaven!"  I love that! She is so right.  

Today, as I did a little search, I learned that the words "have loved you" have a rich meaning through the tense of the original language.  In the Greek, the word is agapao. The tense of the verb is the aorist tense. According to Strong's Concordance this is the definition of it:

"The aorist tense is characterized by its emphasis on punctiliar action; that is, the concept of the verb is considered without regard for past, present, or future time. There is no direct or clear English equivalent for this tense, though it is generally rendered as a simple past tense in most translations."  (http://www.studylight.org/desk/interlinear.cgi?ref=42015012)

Jesus was not just the Son of Man, He was the Son of God. He always was, always is and always will be.  His loving us did not stop after His ascension. He is always with us, always loving us.  

So, I asked Him for more thoughts on the ways He loved, loves and continues to love us; and how do we do the same to one another?

Immediately, the passage from Mark 4:11 blared in my head! 

"To you (speaking to His disciples) it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God..." NKJV

As His disciples, we love others when we reveal the mystery of the kingdom of God to them.  How do we do this? 

We have to go deep! We have to stay over our heads in the River of God, receiving fresh revelation from Him every day. And we share the love as we live in Koinonia! That is the Greek word for fellowship, community, communion. It's Family!  God's Word is alive and active, because He is the Word. He is always with us, and is always revealing the mystery to us.  

Let me share an example of what I mean.  

Recently, the Lord gave me a revelation of the kingdom of God, the kingdom that we, as children of God live in, as the endless and ever-ascending spiral of God's glory in the universe!  I shared this with my friend, Terry Deckard.  She got so excited, because instantly she saw the DNA of God! It was her revelation that added depth to my revelation!  We wooped and hollared with joy!  And in that moment, we were loving one another as Jesus loved us! 

This Love cannot end, it cannot die, it cannot be broken.  God's DNA is perfect! And He gave it to us through Jesus! 

So my dear ones, I hope you are feeling loved right now!  

Blessings forever! Anna Marie

PS  And the love continues! I posted this blog piece on Facebook, and another good friend jumped into the Koinonia river!
Brad Witt added, "We are God's children with His DNA... DNA is a molecule that encodes the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms... look at it as Dead Now Alive  :) "

Thanks Brad!! 

 

8 Ways to Stay Alert and On Fire!

Mark 13: 36-37  The Message

"You don't want him showing up unannounced, with you asleep on the job.  I say it to you, and I'm saying it to all: Stay at your post. Keep watch."

The challenge was on. My spiritual director asked our group, "How do you stay awake. and recognize the Spirit breaking into our lives at this time?" 

She had just read the entire chapter of Mark 13, of Jesus' warning of the signs of His return, and things to watch for. I was meditating upon the words and her question. It was a difficult question for me.  I had to examine my heart, and I wasn't sure I was awake! 

When I get stuck on spiritual matters, I look at the issue from a natural perspective.  How do I stay awake in the natural?  Immediately, driving and getting sleepy popped in my head.  What do I do to stay awake?  This got me going, and I was excited to see the revelation the Lord gave me through it.

1. Pull over and switch drivers
2. Stay active
3. Drink coffee
4. Do not overindulge with carbs
5. Stimulate mind
6. Conversation
7. Sing out loud at the top of your voice
8. Get proper rest

Mulling over this list gave me some helpful insights I would like to share.  God speaks to me through dreams and pictures symbolically.  The first thought I had was of the car. Vehicles represent our lives or our ministries. Every thing in my list represents something important to me in staying awake spiritually. So here we go:

1. If I am at the wheel, I am in control.  A sleepy driver can be deadly.  Let Jesus take control. He never will fall asleep at the wheel! 
2. Stay active. For me this is clear, be intentional to do the Father's will. Get up and go! "Go in My name!"  Just studying and thinking about His words can lull you to sleep. Doing His words is thrilling!  Sharing my testimony, and watching someone come to Jesus because of it, gets my motor going! Seeing God heal someone, as I lay hands on them to pray, is indescribably awesome!   
3. Drink coffee. This symbolizes drinking deeply of Living Water, first thing in the morning. Living Water is full of life! It flows from the throne of God and fills us and overflows us as we spend precious time with Him. Jesus spent His first hours of the day with Father God. He was filled, and energized, and given His marching orders for the day. 
4. Carbs represent the pleasant words of God.  They are the encouraging and kind words.  They are delightful, but only feeding on them, can lead to a contentment for the status quo.  We need the difficult sayings, the words that provoke us. Easiness can lead to a "live and let live" attitude.  The Word tells us if we see someone heading down a path that leads to death, and we do not warn them, their blood is on our hands. This is a tough saying. Words like this wake me up from my comfortable slumbers, and challenge me to go.
5. There are many ways to stimulate the mind. There are multiple scientific studies on the human brain.  One of the methods that is used to increase memory and recall is to involve other senses as you think. Smell has a huge impact on our memory. Thinking of this, I am reminded of the scripture that says, "Taste and see that the Lord is good." Psalm 34:8  How do we taste another person?  Kissing comes to mind.  I have never once fallen asleep when kissing my honey!  Intimacy definitely keeps us awake!  See. How do we see?  To see is to perceive with the eyes. Seeing is intentional. Staring into space is not seeing.  Closing our eyelids is not seeing.  When we focus, we can see such detail.  Seeing in the Spirit, can involve all our senses. Some see by what they know, some see by what the hear, some see by what they feel, and on it goes.                                                                                                                                                                                                     Another interesting way to stimulate our minds is to turn all the pictures in our view upside-down. The instant they are upside down, our brains goes into alert mode and we begin to notice small details about them and this carries into our day.  I have found that when I get into the Word and look at familiar passages from a different perspective I get new revelation. I perceive things I never knew before. Spending time with one word in the original language can give enormous revelation. And that is super energizing!           
6. Conversation. We were created to be communicative beings. God said in the beginning, "It is not good for man to be alone."  He is all about relationship. When we converse with others it can be very stimulating.  We receive more revelation together than we do alone. Every time I have shared about the deep things that God has shown me, the people that are listening get their own revelation, and together we go to greater heights. I have never fallen asleep in a conversation where all are actively engaged.  I have fallen asleep when listening to someone dominate the conversation. Because that is not conversation! That is a lecture. 
7. Sing out loud at the top of your voice.  When I am on road trips, especially when I am by myself, I sing along with praise music, with all I've got. I stay so energized! Once I was driving through north Texas singing with all my heart and soul. I was pulled over by a police officer.  He politely said to me, "M'am, do you realize you were speeding?"  I answered, "Well, I was singing!"  He laughed and said, "Well there you go!"  He let me go with a warning, and a smile.  That day I drove 13 hours and never got tired!   When I praise God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, I am empowered!
8. Get proper rest.  There was a reason God made the Sabbath. He made it for us. It was for a refreshing. When we do not rest, and we get behind the wheel of a car, we can become a dangerous weapon. We can cause extreme harm. The same goes for our lives and ministries. Burnout is huge in our society. I am sharing a link at the end of this piece on ten effects of sleep loss. All of them have spiritual implications. Read it and give it some thought.                                                                                                                                There is a time to get alone and just be with God.  A time to stop the car, get out and stretch, lie down in the green grass and watch the birds fly overhead. A time to be silent and still. A time to just have fun.

Since I began to be intentional to stay awake and alert, my walk with God has grown in ways I could never have imagined.  One thing I know, no matter how much you know, how much you learn, how much you get to do with God, There is always more! He is the God who keeps on giving!

Blessings, Anna Marie

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/10-results-sleep-loss