A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY – Avoiding the Plateau

God has new levels of depth prepared for us ALL….but the question is will we seek it out? It is so easy to plateau in our Christian life and get comfortable and just accept the “same old same old” and miss the next steps in our journey.

Philippians 3:13-14

“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I PRESS TOWARD THE MARK for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

God encourages us all to reach outside the box for our own lives. Do something more. Open a whole new area of Bible study in our private time. But most of all, to ask God to show you where He wants you to grow! Pinpoint an area He wants you to work on. God Himself will rejoice at this request from you! He has things in mind for you that only He knows.

Isaiah 64:8 “But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.”

Lord, help us to open up to the new areas of growth that you have for us as your children. Break us out of our “plateau” and help us to see the next step You have for us as a person, and as a Christian. In Jesus name, Amen.

Growing In Trust Pt. 2

SELAH – (To Pause and Calmly Think About That) – Poetry

Do we take the time to just “Selah”
To rest in the moment
To ponder the sky

To treasure the moment
The richness therein
We could just sit for hours
Much better than zen

To sit and to think
Meditate where we are
The blessings in life
What has brought us this far

Or do we allow
Our thoughts to be sold
Down the river of doubt
Where darkness takes hold

Do we surround ourselves
With radical noise
Music, T.V.
Or technologies toys

We are being so robbed
We do it ourselves
Let society dominate
It comes in so stealth

The heart of Creator
Cries out loud
All the beauty He’s made
Treasures to be found

Ignored and bypassed
For something much less
The splendor of creation
Under the rug it gets swept

Don’t let technology
Become your God
Forgetting who made you
Forgetting His love

Stop and “Selah”
You can choose to awake
Don’t be swept down the river
Of His Wonders partake

copyright Jean Chamblee 2010

Question: “What does selah mean in the Bible?”

Answer: The word selah is found in two books of the Bible, but is most prevalent in the Psalms, where it appears 71 times. It also appears three times in the third chapter of the minor prophet Habakkuk.

There is a great deal of uncertainty about the meaning of selah. Most versions of the Bible do not attempt to translate selah but simply transliterate the word straight from the Hebrew. The Septuagint translated the word as “daplasma” (“a division”). Well-meaning Bible scholars disagree on the definition of selah and on its root word, but since God has ordained that it be included in His Word, we should make an effort to find out, as best we can, the meaning.

One possible Hebrew word related to selah is calah, which means “to hang” or “to measure or weigh in the balances.” Referring to wisdom, Job says, “The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold” (Job 28:19). The word translated “valued” in this verse is the Hebrew calah. Here Job is saying that wisdom is beyond comparing against even jewels, and when weighed in the balance against wisdom, the finest jewels cannot equal its value.

Selah is also thought to be rendered from two Hebrew words: s_lah, “to praise”; and s_lal, “to lift up.” Another commentator believes it comes from salah, “to pause.” From salah comes the belief that selah is a musical notation signifying a rest to the singers and/or instrumentalists who performed the psalms. If this is true, then each time selah appears in a psalm, the musicians paused, perhaps to take a breath or to sing a cappella or let the instruments play alone. Perhaps they were pausing to praise the One about whom the song was speaking, perhaps even lifting their hands in worship. This theory would encompass all these meanings—“praise,” “lift up,” and “pause.” When we consider the three verses in Habakkuk, we also see how selah could mean “to pause and praise.” Habakkuk’s prayer in chapter 3 inspires the reader to pause and praise God for His mercy, power, sustaining grace, and sufficiency.

Perhaps the best way to think of selah is a combination of all these meanings. The Amplified Bible adds “pause and calmly think about that” to each verse where selah appears. When we see the word selah in a psalm or in Habakkuk 3, we should pause to carefully weigh the meaning of what we have just read or heard, lifting up our hearts in praise to God for His great truths. “All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing the praises of your name. Selah!” (Psalm 66:4).

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Sometimes those who have suffered the most, have the most to give.

2 Corinthians 1:3-5 “ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.

DEEP WATERS

Don’t be afraid of deep waters, my love
This journey’s been sent from heaven above
It is at Gethsemane you are purified
In ways you can’t see, so don’t try to hide

Lay it all bare, at the foot of the cross
Let His word cleanse you as you follow it’s path
Clinging to truth, let all else pass away
Let it burn up, it’s not meant to stay

Deep into the waters you go
Let Him enter in to the depths of your soul
Stirring up places where pain still remains
Let Him expose them and pour healing rain

copyright 2017 Jean Chamblee

Bit And Bridle -Poetry

BIT AND BRIDLE

Hear I am a stubborn one

I don’t understand the Holy One

Resisting is not what I should be doing

He cares enough to show how I should be going

Bit and Bridle He must put on me

Until I can trust Him and it’s safe to be free

My loving Father is looking out for me

I know we will laugh at all my silly misdeeds

I hope to outgrow this uncomfortable need

With instincts so good that I don’t need a lead

Following His voice and knowing it’s so

I can trust Him completely and His way I will go.

copyright  2017  Jean Chamblee

Ha ha….I love this scripture.  I’ve spent my time with a bit and bridle!  Hopefully no more!  But I love the “visual” of this Psalm

Psalm 32:8-9       “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye.
Do not be like the horse or like the mule,
Which have no understanding,
Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,
Else they will not come near you.

 

 

What Is Missing When Vacation Brings No Rest?

 

It is not in me. (Job 28: 14)

I remember saying one summer, “What I really need is a trip to the ocean.” So I went to the beach, but the ocean seemed to say, “It is not in me!” The ocean did not do for me what I thought it would. Then I said, “Perhaps the mountains will provide the rest I need.” I went to the mountains, and when I awoke the first morning, I gazed at the magnificent mountain I had so longed to see. But the sight did not satisfy, and the mountain said, “It is not in me!”

What I really needed was the deep ocean of God’s love, and the high mountains of His truth within me. His wisdom had depths and heights that neither the ocean nor the mountains could contain and that could not be compared with jewels, gold, or precious stones. Christ is wisdom and He is our deepest need. Our inner restlessness can only be pacified by the revelation of His eternal friendship and love for us.

~ Margaret Bottome  “Streams In The Desert”  Aug. 26

Matthew 11:28
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

 

REFRSHING RAIN

God, He loves you so very much

He wants you to come to Him

So He can fill your cup

The cup of your soul cannot be satisfied

Only in the spirit where His love for you abides

No longer chase the earthly things

For what cannot be attained

Only In our Father can come refreshing rain.

by Jean Chamblee   2017

God’s Thoughts On Prayer

Prayer

Matthew 6:5-14 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
“This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.