Z is for Zeal

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 This is my last post in the A to Z challenge for 2014.  It feels good to have reached this point and I must admit I am finishing with more fatigue than zeal, but I am glad to be able to complete the challenge and I believe it is still April somewhere.  Thanks again to Arlee Bird for starting this challenge ball rolling.        (Photo Source)

Zeal for my God

         by Maria Dunn

The Lord our God, the Lord is One. 

It is He Who deserves our zeal.
The Lord is worthy of my passion.
With ardor I will seek Him,
Fueled by appreciation for the Father's love for me.
The Holy Spirit sets spiritual fervor afire.
Avid devotion belongs to the Lord.
Enthusiastically will I testify of His love.
With keen appetite I am hungry for His Presence.

Eager am I to know Him more. 

I relish the Word.
May gusto and vigor be in my pursuit
Of wisdom and knowledge of my God.
With energy I will pursue godliness.
The intensity of my love for my King, my God,
Will deepen and grow nurtured by His Spirit.
How wonderful, how beautiful is my Lord Jesus,
To Whom I raise my hands in zealous praise. 

                                                                                  

A to Z Challenge

P is for Purpose

We all have purpose.  Tied to my purpose are p words :  passion, prayer, peace, praise, and being the person God created me to be.  

This is Good Friday, the day we Christians mark the death of Jesus Christ.    On Easter Sunday, we Christians celebrate His resurrection from the dead.  My ultimate purpose is to point to Him, our Lord and Savior.  

A to Z Challenge

 

Imagining the Abundant Joy of Eternity

Five Minute Friday:  Imagine

1.  Write for 5 minutes flat - no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

2.  Link back to Five Minute Friday

3.  Visit the person who linked up before you and encourage them with your comments.  The one unbreakable rule.

I haven’t written a Five Minute Friday for awhile.  I haven’t blogged for a few weeks either, come to think of it.  I’ve barely gotten online to leave a comment here or there, but at least I have done that over the last few weeks a time or two.  It has been nagging at me to sit down and write something more than a journal entry, a homeschool test, or something work related.  

"Ah, it’s Friday, I’ll check in and at least write for 5 minutes,"  I think.  So I checked in to find the word “Imagine” was the prompt for the day.  Then I was immediately summoned to perform mom driving duties.  The word "Imagine" hummed in my head as I drove.

Upon return:  Five minutes begin.  

GO!

I couldn’t help but immediately think of one of my favorite songs, “I Can Only Imagine.”  

Image source

Every time I hear it, my heart turns to praise.  I can’t help but meditate on the concept of being in the eternal presence of God.  The sense of abundance, not of lots of stuff as in the physical, but of abundant filling of the Spirit, with a satiation that leads to sense of satisfaction and sanctification that is palpable.  I can breathe it, feel it, bask in it:  the abundance of joy that overwhelms me as I imagine.  The song often moves me to tears of joy, and I love to just sing along, and then think about it when it is done.

I drove along and thought about the song.  I thought about the words and the concept on my way back after dropping the kids.  Then I turned the radio on.  I confess I usually listen to talk radio in the afternoon.  There was a commercial on; so I switched the channel to the Christian radio station.  Just as I turned it on, “I Can Only Imagine” began to play.  I couldn’t help but well up with tears of joy at the realization that my God was speaking directly to me.  

Five minutes up:  Stop.

______________

I also can’t help but think about Team Hoyt every time I hear the song since when I first heard it, it was in conjunction with a music video about this amazing father and son duo.  Their story is quite incredible.  Son, Rick Hoyt was born with cerebral palsy which left him paralyzed with minimal mobility.  Medical personnel held out little hope, but the Hoyts, Dick and Judy, would not give up on their son.  As he grew, they grew too ministering to him as loving parents might.  Along the way, they discovered that young Rick Hoyt got a tremendous sense of freedom from being out with his dad in racing events, Father Hoyt pushing his son in some kind of chair or bike, or carrying him along in some way.

After the initial 5 mile benefit run in 1977, the Hoyts went on to participate in more and more races including marathons and triathlons.  In 1989 the Hoyt Foundation was started to raise awareness of the challenges of people with disabilities as it, “aspires to build the individual character, self-confidence, and self-esteem of America’s disabled young people through inclusion in all facets of daily life...”   One of the ironic and quite poignant vignettes of their larger story came when Dick Hoyt had a heart attack after years of racing with his son.  The doctor’s told him he wouldn’t have survived had he not been in such tremendous physical condition.  Here the Dad had been thinking he was helping his son all these years, and it turns out the son saved his dad’s life.

There is lots more of the inspiring story, and the music video is worth watching again and again.  I hope you’ll take the time to visit Team Hoyt.

I Will Praise Him in This Storm

I will praise Him in this storm, for He is my refuge and my strength, a very present help in trouble.  God is sovereign.  Whom shall I fear?  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge.  To whom else shall I turn?  There is great joy and comfort in the Lord.  In Him alone will I seek my treasure.  He is my Rock and my salvation.  In the midst of any storm, I am safe in the cleft of the Rock.

A Storm over Liberty

And what does the Lord require of me?

“He has told you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justice, to love kindness,

And to walk humbly with your God?”

Micah 6:8

We can rejoice in the God of our salvation and know that whatever He determines, He does to fulfill kingdom purposes.  If we align ourselves with His kingdom purposes, then whatever happens, we can look to Him for the answers and for the questions.  Lord, what do you want me to learn in this storm?  Lord, where do you want me, us to go from here?  What’s next Lord? 

As we seek Him, His wisdom, His knowledge, we can then get excited about the answers and direction He provides.  No matter what is happening in the world around us or in our own little microcosm of that world, He is with us.  He is leading.  He is in control.  Yes, we can praise Him in this storm as we walk humbly with our God and greet Him with gratitude.

Part of my devotional this morning was Isaiah 12:

Isaiah 12

  

Thanksgiving Expressed 

Then you will say on that day,
“I will give thanks to You, O Lord;
For although You were angry with me,
Your anger is turned away,
And You comfort me.

“Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
For the Lord God is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.”

Therefore you will joyously draw water
From the springs of salvation.

And in that day you will say,
“Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name.
Make known His deeds among the peoples;
Make them remember that His name is exalted.”

Praise the Lord in song, for He has done excellent things;
Let this be known throughout the earth.

Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

The Lord knew I would read this today. The Lord knew I would need this today.  The Lord knows His plans, and they are far above mine.  I will praise Him in this storm.

"

Focused Beyond What's Here

Five Minute Friday 

Beyond

We had the joy of attending a Bible study this week on 1Peter1.  In this chapter, Peter is encouraging Christians who are suffering to keep their focus on the big picture beyond what they are going through.  This can be a difficult task when one is in the midst of troubled circumstances that seem to be pressing in.  As a Christian though, keeping our eyes fixed upon our hope and our God can get us through the most trying of events.  

I have to remind myself that my response to trials is part of my mission as I am called to die to self and live to Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit in me.  When I am struggling, I yearn for the peace of God, so I spend more time with Him, and His Spirit stirs me to keep my focus beyond my present condition.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow, who is our hope and our provision, within and beyond, omni-present.

He is my delight!