I'm a believer in Jesus. Because of this, I am married to a wonderful husband and the mom of a large family. For those who have battled cancer, or any other tragedy or disease, you might understand, I had a choice to get better or bitter. I chose to give thanks to Jesus for my every breath.
For that reason alone, wanting to proclaim His goodness, do I write - Toni
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth— for your love is more delightful than wine Song of Songs which is Solomon’s 1:2.
Will I allow the Creator of all that I am, come near me?
Even so personal, and intimate as a kiss.
And not on the cheek.
“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth,” sings the Song of Songs.
Is this the Song above all others?
The greatest song our hearts can sing?
The ultimate song of surrender?
Can I believe that the Creator God of all the Universe and all that’s in it, desires time with me?
Only me?
Intimate and concerned with . . . me?
Perhaps doing hard things in life are more than huge tasks and difficult adventures.
Doing hard things might be . . . simply letting God love us.
You.
Me.
Being still to receive.
Will I?
Allow, authorize, commission, license, accede to, agree to, consent to . . .
God and His precious love for me?
Will I concede, grant, endure, and tolerate . . .
the kisses of His mouth, to my lips?
Will I?
It’s natural for my hurting heart to turn from, or hinder, impede, obstruct, censure, deny, disallow, disapprove, refuse, reject, revoke, suppress, and withhold.
Hurts permeate our souls. We’re broken.
Weak, with no energy to fight, God’s love endures. He patiently breaks through.
He suffers long through ages of time and rejection.
God’s love rises above envy and pride. He’s never provoked or rude as we so often are.
How can He bear all things?
How does He believe the best in each one He sees?
How can He hope all things for me? He remains steadfast. He never gives up on anyone. (1)
There is none like God. (2)
“I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters” Song of Solomon 2: 1,2.
He gave His precious life, a red rose of Sharon, a tender lily among thorns of the cross.
Before I knew the beauty of the Lord, His love surrounded me.
“Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair, thou hast doves eyes” Song of Solomon 1:15.
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” Jeremiah 1:5.
He knows me. The good, the bad, the ugly.
He knows you too. Yet, He reaches out His arms to us.
“His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me” Song of Solomon 2:6.
In His arms of love, there is no other place of peace.
“The voice of my beloved, behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills” Song of Solomon 2:8.
Mountains of trouble and strife are everywhere, but he comes leaping on them, skipping up the hills. Yes, He’s lover of my soul, and you?
“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth— For your love is better than wine”
“Your name is ointment poured forth; . . . Draw me away!” Song of Solomon 1:2,3,4.
Can we hear Him call?
“Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come” Song of Solomon 2:10,11.
Dead phones need a charger. Weary souls need a re-charger too. Paul Gerhardt knew about the need to be encouraged, so in 1656, he penned these words:
“Give to the winds Thy fears; Hope and be undismayed;
God hears Thy sighs and counts Thy tears,
God shall lift up Thy head.” Hymn by Paul Gerhardt, translated by John Wesley, 1656.
Some old hymns need to find their way back in today’s busy minds.
A 1656 hymn speaks volumes, plain and clear for today, “hope and be undismayed.”
John Wesley is a familiar name. He’s the brother of Charles Wesley, one of the 19 children born of Samuel and Susanne Wesley. John was four years older than Charles, and they both were used mightily by God.
But John Wesley had sighs and fears. All of human race has sighs, tears, and fears.
However, God lifts up our head. When we believe, our heads rise.
“Through waves and clouds and storms, He gently clears Thy way; Wait Thou His time; So shall this night soon end in joyous day.”
Faith helps us wait for His time. Ecclesiastes 3:17 reminds us:
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
This night will soon be over into a joyous day.
“Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD” Ps. 27:14.
God is God, we’re not. He is a Sovereign God, He knows the beginning from the end. But waiting on the LORD is hard. Our hearts become weak and weary.
We struggle to trust Him. How we need to know Him and His love deeper and wider.
He knows everything about us, yet He loves us with tender-mercies.
There is no one like God. But do we know Him?
When we spend time with Him. He will strengthen our heart.
Faith is believing God. Wanting to know His Word, His Ways, His wisdom.
“Leave to God’s sov’reign sway To choose and to command; So shall thou, wond’ring, own that way, How wise, how strong His hand!”
He desires my best, not my own wandering ways.
When I don’t fully understand, do I believe still?
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ Romans 10:17.
Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind Job 12: 9-10.
“How can tragic loss, disease, and strife bombard our lives as it does?”
We ask, we wonder, we doubt God’s love,
Yet His Hand remains to hold ours as we walk among thorns in this broken sin-cursed world.
There’s always hope, as long as there’s God.
“Let us in life, in death, Thy steadfast truth declare, And publish with our latest breath Thy love and guardian care.
God’s Word, a voice of love and care and steadfast truth:
Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing Isaiah 40:21-26.
“Far, far above thy thought, His counsel shall appear, When fully He the work hath wrought, that caused thy needless fear.”
He supernaturally lifts us to carry on . . .
Until that day,
He calls us home.
“Give to the winds thy fears. Hope and be undismayed.
Birth brings high notes. Sickness and sorrow bring in the low tones, but the heart has rest near the tones of middle C.
Every human being will go through highs, light and joyful. And the lows come requiring more breath through the heaviness.
Refreshment comes when the notes lighten up near the middle C.
When Christ is our center, we have rest and peace. We have a lift from the oppressive lows. Provided for us, a life near to God, is calm refuge the high notes can’t bring.
Christ the center is music of solid ground, stable sound, no sharps, no flats.
Constant.
No matter what.
We’ve all missed God’s perfection. No one is righteous, not one . . . Romans 3 gives a full account of this minor melody. But faith in Christ Jesus frees us from death’s blow, and we are free and forgiven:
(This) righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith Romans 3:22-25.
When we choose to believe and put Christ as our center, He restores a new song of praise and thankfulness.
Just as the flow of a melodious song, Jesus abides in our hearts filled with praise.
Through trial and strife, though no-one might understand, Jesus stands, constant, compassionate, caring, and as middle C, true:
Do we leave the lows, and come down from the highs, and move to the center and open our ears about God’s gift in Christ:
The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God Romans 6:10.
Middle C.
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus Romans 6:11.
Not condemnation, only conviction to change and hope:
For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace Romans 6:14.
Who needs a new tune? A new story, a new song?
Call on Christ to be the center. He can change anyone’s tune. Romans 6:17-23, The Message:
But thank God you’ve started listening to a new master,
one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom!
I’m using this freedom language because it’s easy to picture. You can readily recall, can’t you, how at one time the more you did just what you felt like doing – not caring about others, not caring about God – the worse your life became and the less freedom you had? And how much different is it now as you live in God’s freedom, your lives healed and expansive in holiness?
As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn’t have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter.
But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you’re proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.
But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way!
Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master, Romans 6:17-23.
There’s nothing like a new song of salvation, thankfulness, and freedom.
If the Lord is tugging at your heart to receive His Son, Jesus. Pray and call on His glorious name today.
A local church, Lexington Baptist Church hosted a LexKids Creative Arts & Sports Camp for four days for the community.
More than a hundred children registered for two tracks with choices of: Karate, Dance, Sports (football, basket ball, etc.), Art, Cake Decorating, Jewelry Making, Inventions, Tumbling, or Vocal Track.
The children that sign up for Vocal Track, with all those wonderful choices, love to sing!
The world goes about it’s day and busy way, and I was invited to lead a small number of children in this vocal track. We learned about breathing, warm-up exercises, and we learned a new song.
Pure and simple, on day two the children were given solo parts. I had Garage Band set and the Yeti mike on, and there was a take or two, but the voices . . .
beyond precious.
Yes, I believe there is someone today, that feels weak, weary, and heavy burdened.
Music therapy in a raw, rough, but profoundly amazing way.
Let the sound of little children come, and let their pure voices bring refreshment.
Let me know if God ordained some new strength in you.
The Lord is good and gracious. He is gentle. God is full of compassion. The people of God seek to be like Him, though we fail often, children seem to be our best examples. Children are a pure witness of Jesus’ love.
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” Matthew 19:14.
LBC LexKids Creative Arts & Sports Camp 2019
I pray that someone is touched by the Lord today through the dear, precious sound of these children who truly love to sing, and I believe they will sing of His love forever!
“I hear the Savior say,
Thy strength indeed is small,
child of weakness
Watch and Pray-
find in Me – thine all in all.” “I hear the Savior say,…”
My prayer to God is “Change me, Lord. My countenance is hard and pained.
Help me remember the foundations:
“I will never leave you or forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5.
“I am the Lord… (You are ) precious in my sight… and I have loved you.” Is. 43:3,4.
Help me remember the exhortations:
“Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Ephesians 5:14.
I must turn around and pray.
“May my hard countenance be changed. Christ shine on me. In Jesus’ name.”
Child of weakness, watch and pray.
Find in Me,
thine all in all.
Battles rage inside my mind, and voices speak: “You don’t have what it takes.”
“Give up now. Things will never change.”
But like a dream flowing in circles, the Holy Spirit shows me the way, again, and again:
” . . . Thy strength indeed is small, child of weakness watch and pray. Find in Me, thine all in all.
“Hear Me, listen, receive My Spirit. Be filled, and be changed.”
I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.
I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel.
Again you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful . . . Come, let us go up to Zion to the LORD our God.” Jeremiah 31:3,4.
“Jesus paid it all!
All to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain – He washed it white as snow!”
A song of peace, rest, and truth from the Lord brings to remembrance God’s true Word:
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.
The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep John 10:11-13.
“You Lord, chose to be true to us, Your children. You didn’t run away. You committed to each of us, You faced the cross and taught us love.
Help us speak the hymns aloud and find a countenance that’s light:
“Lord, now indeed I find, Thy power and Thine alone, can change a lepers heart and melt a heart of stone.” “Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain
He Washed it White as Snow!”
Your sacrifice and offering are the vision and focus we need, to bring us joy.
Yes, we choose to abide and dwell in praise and thankfulness. Our countenance is changed to shine Your gentleness.
You remind us, we’re simply passing through. We will look up and sing, and have a washed heart and joy:
“And now before the Throne, I stand in Him completeJesus died my soul to save, my lips shall still repeat,
“Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain
He Washed it White as Snow.“
Praise will change my countenance moment by moment, today!
Multiple choice questions are easiest, unless the questions are regarding deep matters of the heart.
Character tests are hard. Especially questions like, “Is my conduct worthy of Christ?”
To put that simply, do my actions add up to God’s standards? Of course not!
We all need the Lord. Romans 3:23 reminds us this, “. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
God is gentle. But, if I’m his witness, am I gentle?
Am I a peace-maker?
Do I desire to obey God’s way?
Do I give everyone what they deserve, or do I exercise mercy?
Do I have self-control and make the choice to be kind?
Do I have patience and endurance? Do I make other’s lives better?
We all need the Lord. We all fall short.
But the Pizza Note of goodness for us all is, Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We can’t only view the goodness, we’ve got to make the choice to receive Him in our lives.
Perhaps, this is the primary test.
Today is the best day to receive Jesus in our life. He can make us new. And He promises to never leave us. Hebrews 13:5.
Oh, that I had wings like a dove! For then I would fly away and be at rest. Indeed I would wander far off Psalm 55:6.
Ever feel the need to breakout, but there are many urgent and needful occupations taking all our time? Psalm 55:6 speaks our heart.
“As for me, I will call upon God, And the LORD will save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice.” Psalm 55: 16, 17.
We fight for solutions.
Jesus hears. The Bible promises this. And Jesus prays for those who put their trust in Him.
I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world; but for those You have given Me, for they belong to You John 17:9.
All Mine are Yours, and all that are Yours belong to Me; and I am glorified in (through) them…And [now] I am no more in the world, but these are in the world and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep in Your name [in the knowledge of Yourself] them whom You have given Me, that they may be one, as We [are one] (John 17:10,11, Amplified).
Moments of discouragement come when tired and overwhelmed, and our thoughts tempt us to give up. We say things like,
“The prison bars will never open, I can’t be free.” And that is true if it has to do with me, but God . . .
For with God nothing will be impossible Luke 1:37.
With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26.
God is faithful to direct our steps, to give us grace through our work.
The question is, Do I want to be free in my heart? Am I willing to let go, “like a bird from prison bars have flown?”
God wants me to trust Him. To live by faith today and fly.
Jesus’s love never fails—He came through, He’s got the key to the prison.
His word speaks. Are we listening?
“I appeal to you . . . I beg of you in view of all My mercies,
decide today.
Present all you are . . . as a living sacrifice.
Be devoted.
Be set apart.
Be well pleasing to Me.
Don’t worry about fitting into this world.
Be changed.
Be set free from the bondage that this world puts you in.
Change your mind.
Get new ideas.
Put on a new attitude.
Your life will prove what is good and acceptable and perfect in the will of God.
(Paraphrased Roman 12:1,2).
Response?
“I will hear. I will receive. I will yield to Jesus with a thankful heart.”
He will be faithful to help each of us be set free in heart, to sing again.
Some bright morning when this life is over, I’ll fly away To a land on God’s celestial shore, I’ll fly away
When the shadows of this life have gone, I’ll fly away Like a bird from these prison walls I’ll fly, I’ll fly away I’ll fly away, oh glory, I’ll fly away When I die, hallelujah by and by, I’ll fly away
Just a few more weary days and then, I’ll fly away To a land where joy will never end, I’ll fly away
I’ll fly away, oh glory, I’ll fly away When I die, hallellujah by and by, I’ll fly away.
“Tune up my heart strings, Lord.” She prays, as her heart beats in a flat, minor chord.
“All things are possible with You by my side,” she believes.
“Help my unbelief,” she asks ready to defeat the perfectionist, the giant enemy of thought.
“Change me. C-H-A-N-G-E me!” She pleads with the One who is able.
In stillness, a gentle voice reminds:
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord you God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9.
Faith has new breath, and a word of direction: “Sing a new song. Praise God as the victory is won. Sing praise!”
A hymn comes to mind.
The hymn tunes the heart’s theme for hope.
With a prayer for mercy and power of God.
Read aloud. Yes, sing aloud:
Come thou fount of every blessing Tune my heart to sing thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet Sung by flaming tongues above
I’ll praise the mount I’m fixed upon it Mount of thy redeeming love”
Change happens in a moments time. God’s Word comes to mind:
“I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber;”Psalm 121,
Lifted. Transformed, through the speaking of a psalm.
What comes next? Her heart needs to know, she reads aloud:
The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
This is how the hymn is sung. By the help of the Living Word giving persevering strength to the weary saint.
Here I raise my Ebenezer Hither by thy help I come
And I hope by thy good pleasure Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger Wondering from the fold of God
He, to rescue me from danger Interposed His precious blood
She receives the Spirit’s Comfort and Hope and thankfulness pours forth:
O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be! Let thy goodness like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee
Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.
Victory is won in her heart this moment. A new song is sung. Prayers have been answered and change for good themes continues on . . .
Will we choose to read aloud and sing? “Yes, because ‘new’ is a glorious thing.”
“There will be a cost for this service,” notifies a computerized voice.
“Who can I call to help me clean the messy house . . . of my heart? Who will listen to me?”
Pizza Note #5, reminds us, “Don’t Panic!”
Jesus knows the condition of the house of our heart. Psalm 139 helps us understand that.
God is full aware of the tangles in our minds. He’s the de-tangler.
He understands the losses of our soul. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up our wounds Psalm 147:3.
God doesn’t want us to run away in shame and regret, but instead, He desires we turn, be still, and call on Him.
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble Psalm 46:1.
Pick up the phone of prayer and call Jesus. His number is Jeremiah 33:3, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”
“This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it—the Lord is his name Jeremiah 33:2.
There was a man with leprosy who called on Jesus, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
He knew the Lord was able to make him clean, but was He willing?
Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him Luke 5:12,13.
Jesus is able, and He’s willing to clean our mess as well.
We must accept our need for a Savior,
believe on Him,
and call Him to help us in time of need.
No more excuses.
Do we want a heart-house where Christ is center?
Call Jesus. He answers. He transforms us by renewing our minds through the power of His Spirit to those who believe.
The best part about calling Jesus is, He cleans our mess and forgets, forever!
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, Romans 8:1.
God gave the greatest gift to the entire world. We hear hymns of, Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let earth receive her King. And we respond, as we choose gifts for those we love.
And we remember Easter. God’s greatest provision for us by sending His precious Lamb to earth, to die on the cross that He might pay our debt of sin, the debt we could never be free of on our own.
But we forget, He’s coming back again. And it is very soon.
We know how to clean up house for guests, but our we ready for the return and second coming of the King of Kings?
Jesus is coming soon.
We must let this awesome and fearful news wake us up and make preparations in our heart, mind, and spirit. Do we know Jesus? He came not to condemn the world, as John 3:17 reminds us, but Jesus came “in order that the world might be saved through Him.”
Don’t forget: Jesus loves you. He’s on your side. Don’t be tempted to turn your back to Him. He will never do that to you.
And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here Romans 13:11,12.
If your heart is touched by the soon arrival of the King of Kings, and you’re house is out of order, or you aren’t sure your door has been opened to Him, simply talk to Him, and pray a prayer from your heart, (along these lines, or perhaps not,) telling Jesus,
“I’m sorry for my sins. Forgive me of all of them.
Change me Lord.
Help me let go of my past hurts and losses, each and every one of them.
Help me believe You Jesus and know You more. Make me a new creation. Fill me with Your Spirit that I might have Your peace, hope, and resurrection power working in me to love in a true and real way.
Pizza notes are nuggets of truth from God’s Word to help nourish the young, old, and older soul with a energizing hope and everlasting good news.
#1) Pizza Note of Encouragement for Today:
Let’s get healthy in our thinking. We know that bad eating habits will ruin health and vitality of young and old alike, but bad thinking habits do the same.
When tempted to dwell on bad reports, hurts of others, etc.,
let’s focus on good things. God asks us to do this in Philippians 4:8,
if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
God wants the best for us. If we have trouble thinking of a good theme, He urges us to taste and see that the Lord is good. (Psalm 34:8-10).
Cast all your cares on Him, 1 Peter 5:7. He’s God, we’re not. Then, look up.
God sets His glory in the heavens and we witness it with sunrise and glorious sunset: In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course Psalm 19:4,5.
The heavens speak.
The oceans roar.
The mountains boldly stand.
The Bible tells us, as well, that through the praises of children, He establishes strength: From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies to silence the foe and the avenger Psalm 8:2.
We need to not only believe in the Lord, we were created to worship Him.
Praises to God from the lips of children and infants will silence the enemies of God.
Praises to God, from all the ages in between, . . . changes things, most of all, our outlook, countenance, and hope.
The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple Psalm 19:7
The decrees of the Lord . . . are more precious than gold, than much pure gold Psalm 19:9,10.
Taste and see, God cares for each of us. What’s our response?
I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds Psalm 9:1.
Pizza Note #2 When loss leaves a child without appetite, there is a song, a lullaby, that stirs waters inside: “Jesus loves me this I know . . . “
God loves. He’s a giver. But we live in a broken world.
The enemy of God wants me to think that God only takes away. But that’s not true.
The Bible reminds us that God gave to me, (and every human being on this earth), His only Son, Jesus. He took my burden of sin, (and the sins of the entire world), upon Himself, and nailed them to the cross.
I believe, that “whosoever believes in Him” never dies.
Let’s believe God greater today, even in heartache, and sing a beloved song: Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life John 3:16.
God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him John 3:17.
#2) Pizza Note of good news: God’s eye is on you, and me, and everyone.
We can’t see Him, but He sees us. He’s spirit. God doesn’t have a body. He’s everywhere, all at the same time. The Bible tells us so. In Psalm 139, the Bible reminds us that He knows when we sit down, stand, sleep, and He hears our thoughts and our words before we speak them. God sees and God knows . . . everything. He’s Omniscient.
I hope this Pizza Note makes us hungry to read Psalm 139. Take a few minutes to read aloud and let God’s Word speak.
I didn’t know God when I was young, but I believed in Him because of the natural beauty around me. But I wanted to know Him more. As time went on, I realized I could know Him by reading His Word. The Bible tells us that His eyes watch us grow before we’re born. He knows everything about us. God is love. His thoughts towards us are precious. God can have a one-on-one with me and you, and anyone who seeks Him in spirit and truth Psalm 139.
God isn’t who we make Him to be, He is Who He is.
He’s Holy. He’s righteous in all His ways. We aren’t. God knows we need help, (He sees and hears everything!) He sent His Son Jesus because He knows we need forgiveness and healing. Perhaps the prayer at the end will become our morning and evening portion:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting” Psalm 139:22-24.
The complete Psalm 139:
O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shallfall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.
Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God! Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men. For they speak against You wickedly; Your enemies take Your name in vain. Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
“Have I not commanded you be strong and courageous, do not be terrified, do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” God spoke to Joshua in His Word, and He speaks to me as well.
How about you?
I seek to look away from the distractions of this world and look to the One Who loves me, and you, (and every single human being on this planet, for that matter), with a perfect love, our Jesus, there is no fail.
Because God’s love never fails.
Join me?
Let’s join the choir to sing joyful songs of thanksgiving to our King. It’s time for a wedding song: Psalm 45:1,
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies . . .” A wedding song. My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.
There is a time for everything. Today, I will, you will, we will persevere and overcome as we humble ourselves and adore our King and give Him the glory due His name.
“Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with lapis lazuli (Isaiah 54:11).
God will rebuild us. We can trust Him. He is faithful and true. The good theme is His Word:
I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones (Isaiah 54:12).
Will we hear the Word of the Lord? Will we let His Word encourage and heal?
All your children will be taught by the Lord, and great will be their peace (Isaiah 54:13).
I will . . .
believe God.
In righteousness you will be established: Tyranny will be far from you; you will have nothing to fear.
Terror will be far removed; it will not come near you.
If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing; whoever attacks you will surrender to youIsaiah 54: 11-15.
We can count on Him. Only God can make all things good for those who love him: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose Romans 8:28.
Today, I will point to Jesus. He’s all I need.
Jesus is the name above every name. The name we can count on. He keeps all His promises.
Let’s spend time each day knowing full well each and every promise He has given to us.
God placed on my heart to write that I might remember good themes while facing the battle before me.
Cancer changes you. For me, it was for good.
I had many cancers of thought and attitude as well, growing in my heart after “life happens,” in other words, great affliction and testing.
Through a flood of trial, thought patterns of fear, anger, and uncertainty came over me through the course of a day and the battle felt too great to overcome, yes, even in the Lord.
Yes, “My flesh and my heart,” did fail, but “God was the strength of my heart and my portion forever” Psalm 73:26.
The physical battle of cancer kicked me into a renewed faith to live, abide, and trust in God, moment by moment.
Has your life been rudely interrrupted by something tramatic and painful?
God did not “cause” this cancer, but He is in control and He most certainly “allowed” this trial in my life.
It’s as if I ws “blind” to many wonderful things about God, and He allowed me to “SEE HIM” in my agony like never before.
So much so, I became what some might say, a “Jesus Freak,” so to speak!
How will we know God is All-sufficient until we’re allowed to be in a place where we have no sufficiency in ourselves.
After the cancer diagnosis, I grew strong through the Word of God by day, but, I admit, at night, fear would come rushing in to envelope me.
I recited aloud scriptures I had memorized. They permeated deep inside me, increasing my faith in a God I couldn’t see, but I believed was drawing near to me, personally, individually, intimately.
I prayed the name of Jesus, over and again. Victory of anxious thoughts was won moment by moment.
Weeks before the cancer diagnosis, I was feeling pains in my pelvic bone and excessive fatigue. After the diagnosis, before the scans, I feared the cancer had spread to my bones. Would I have a fourth stage diagnosis?
One particular night I felt compelled to get out of bed, to literally fall prostrate before the Lord.
I prayed,
“Lord God, I’m afraid this cancer has metastasized to my bones. Please heal me. Heal my bones.”
I went back to bed. The verse in 2 Kings came to mind, “Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.” I felt the crazy desire to pray in this manner, seven times.
So, I prayed on my face that night seven times.
I prayed in Jesus’ name for mercy and healing of my body.
Weeks later, my bone scan results were clear. However, a large cancer tumor, remained in my breast. What to do?
My father, Dr. Ernst E. Born, M.D. had passed away some years before. He was an oncologist/surgeon in Arizona.
As I grew up, Poloroid pictures of tumors, surgically removed that day lay on our kitchen counter. This was a great encouragement for me to take vitamins and strive to be healthy.
I was a natural and alternative medicine person through and through.
After the tests and the diagnosis, my schedule was filled quickly with surgeon and oncology visits.
The woman behind the surgeon’s office counter was from church. A Christian song played from the speaker in the room as I waited.
I heard a voice, not audibly, but impressed upon me, from behind saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” as I walked in to meet the oncologist.
“This is the way, walk in it,” chemo, surgery, traditional medicine, but I had a peace that passed all my understanding. God was with me.
Part of the chemo I had to endure was nicknamed by my oncology nurse, The Red Devil, because it was red and it kills cancer. (Adriamycin was used decades before by my dad to fight cancer. He would’ve been happy.)
Chemo has it’s good, I suppose, and it’s bad, and ugly.Chemo was the hardest thing I had ever been through in my life, and I birthed eleven children, completely natural.
After my third treatment, my dear friend drove me home after I was loaded up with the prescribed chemo for that day. Within an hour I was sick. My body wasn’t used to such invasion.
I laid down after my friend Andrea had prayed for me. She reluctantly left me to have some rest while my sweet neighbor Estelle had the kids for a bit. With my eyes closed, I felt I could feel death in my bones.
Anyway, I started talking to God with fear, “Lord, I think they misjudged the amount of chemo.”
I thought I was dying. I was looking for lights or brightness. I saw none.
Anyway, I saw darkness. But suddenly there was a door.
It was open. There was light shining out of the door. Then I saw His hands, palms side up. Scarred, but healed.
“Not all know Me as their King,” (words from Glen Keane’s children’s book, Adam Raccoon and the Mighty Giant, I read thousands of times), were the thoughts that I heard clearly in my heart.
I knew right then, I was going to live. God gave me marching orders for my future.
The hands that were stretched out in the vision had the scars from the nails.
Jesus knows all about scars . . . because He laid down His life for each one of us. Especially me. Especially you. Everyone.
And, as best I can, being in this fleshy human body, with many weaknesses and temptations, I would like to lay down my life for Him.
One day at a time. Moment by moment.
God allows us trial. He has us enter battles of emotion, physical weakness, spiritual fatigue. But God,. . .
He faithfully brings us through. He brought me through. I was carried by the prayers of the saints, through His Word, and , one more point to my story,
He brought me to the hymns. I’m a guitarist. I came to know the Lord in a contemporary church. But He allowed trial. And, for someone who doesn’t sit well, He allowed great stillness.
That same afternoon, after the third chemo treatment, after the vision, I opened a hymnal on the shelf to Be Still My Soul:
Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Its as if I never knew this truth, and it was for me, right then: The Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to your God to order and provide; In every change, He faithful will remain. Be still, my soul: your best, your heavenly Friend Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
The Spirit of the living God fell afresh on me and ministered a breath of restoration and hope in me.
I could go out in peace and the courage of God.
He loved me through my times of doubt and fear, and He loves us still through our struggles. He meets us there when we seek Him.
God encouraged me, “Draw near to Me, and I’ll draw near to you.”
I learned Be Still My Soul on the guitar and sang it to myself often. It’s recorded with parts of Psalm 18, to be music therapy for me, and hopefully someone else going through trial.
Be still, my soul: your God will undertake To guide the future, as He has the past. Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake; All now mysterious shall be bright at last. Be still, my soul: the waves and winds shall know His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.
I just weeded my garden last week? What’s up with the weeds?
Weeds in the garden are a visual of the battle of mind and heart attitudes within each of us on every given day.
We often work on cleaning things up, and before we know it,
we’re attacked with this, overwhelmed with that, misunderstood, sick in our stomachs, worn out, and . . .
weeds take over. Our heart’s garden reminds us of a nursery rhyme with Mary, Mary quite contrary. If we stay like this, our garden won’t grow.
So, we call out to God.
. . . you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: “Here am I” Isaiah 58:9.“
The Bible shines a light on everything and gives me hope and empowers me to believe:
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardenerJohn 15:1.
God’s the gardener. I can look to Him for my help. Jesus will guide me, the Holy Spirit will remind me, and I can grow, moving forward.
He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitfulJohn 15:2.
“Cut it out!” Whatever and whenever God convicts, we must cut out the excuses for the thoughts and behavior.
Fear. Pull it out. And add the water of faith, hope, and love for the Lord.
Remember the hurts? Pull them out. The disappointments? Let them go. The frustrations aren’t worth an inch of our soil.
. . . Break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers his righteousness on youHosea 10:12.
God is worth hearing. God tells us that Jesus is the VineJohn 15:5.
Our gardens are cleaned up as we spend time in God’s Word because we are changed by the spade of His Word: You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you John 15:3.
But what has He said?
Let’s be anxious to know these things, before we check out any other news. Then, God promises that our gardens will be full of His amazing fruit of patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control.
Isn’t this how God loves us?
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love John 15:9.
I am loved by God the Father, the Creator of everything. He l o v e s me. He l o v e s you.
You and I need to stay in this position.
If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete John 15:10,11.
Fruitful flower gardens? Yes, or no? We each have a choice.
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I commandJohn 15:12-14.
Am I a friend of God?
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you John 15:15.
Let’s choose to know Him more. To be washed in salvation through belief in Jesus, and be cleansed daily by reading and obeying the things God shows us in His Word.
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give youJohn 15:16.
“We ask that You help us rip out the weeds of the past and that You water us overflowing with Your Spirit, in Jesus’ Name.”
This is my command: Love each other.
Let’s see every flower garden as an exhortation to this command: Love each other.
Sow with a view to righteousness [that righteousness, like seed, may germinate]; Reap in accordance with mercy and lovingkindness. Break up your uncultivated ground, For it is time to seek and search diligently for the Lord [and to long for His blessing] Until He comes to rain righteousness and His gift of salvation on youHosea 10:12, AMP.
To God be the glory, great things He forever does!
“I would like to say that now that we have our degree, we will not run into problems that we can’t handle.
Truthfully, no matter the type of degree, the number of years of experience, no matter the location, support groups, family, or friendships,
there will always come a time when we just don’t know the answer. It’s inevitable.
So, I want to encourage you with a little anatomy lesson:
Did you know that there are 47 different structures that make up the human eye that all have a unique function?
Did you know that there are 6 extra-ocular muscles, 4 cranial nerves, and 1.2 million nerve fibers in each optic nerve?
Did you know that when light waves touch my eye, without even thinking about it, I blink.
I blink to protect my eyes from too much exposure.
And when the amount of light changes, my pupillary-light response reacts without a thought, that only the right amount of light is allowed into my eye.
Did you know there are four of twelve cranial nerves that work specifically for the eye? They allow me to focus on an object, read it, and also move in different directions.
There are 9 different structures that all play a specific role in receiving light messages before they even get to the brain!
And not until those messages get to the occipital lobe of the brain that I’m able to interpret what I’m actually seeing.
The eyes receive millions of light waves and messages everyday, but my brain has a specific area that let’s only the important and significant messages through so that the brain doesn’t get over-stimulated.
Did you know that the God who told me to cast all my cares upon Him,
and told me He will never leave me nor forsake me,
and that I should be anxious for nothing,
was the very One who designed this whole system and hundreds like it so that we can live and move and breathe every second.
Did you know that He didn’t have to lift a finger and didn’t sweat a drop to think of it?
He just breathed on one man,
and He said that He knit us together and formed us in our mother’s womb before you were even a thought in her mind.
So, what are you worried about?
What will you be worried about when you come up to those hurdles that are bound to cross you path?
Think of your eye and tell me, that your situation, your problem, your worry is too bigfor GOD who created you and the world you live in.”
This Best Graduation Speech was presented by Carolyn Rypkema at the Lamplighting Ceremony at PBAU, May 3, 2012.
I’m the proud mama, and not only that, May 3rd, the day of the greatest speech ever, was my birthday.
My dear Carolyn, the oldest daughter of our large family, I love you more than you will ever know. I am more proud of you than you can conceive in your very smart mind. I am so thankful of the unifying spirit within you, the encouraging spirit, the brave and courageous spirit that you possess. You are an amazing person.
I have failed as a mom so many times, but I have succeeded in one point, pointing you, and each my kids to the One Who Loves perfectly, the One Who knows everything, and the One Who never leaves us or forsakes us.
Isn’t God amazing? Thank you Carolyn for reminding me through your wonderful graduation speech that God’s watching and keeping us under His careful and perfect eye.
He will continually guide each of us continually with His eye!
“Tune up my heart strings, Lord.” She prays, as her heart beats in a flat, minor chord.
