Tag: writing

A New Day to Trust and Obey, Again

The past is the seasoned instruction manual.

Today is here. We often start well, and then, well . . . the night often takes away our song.

But the Word is good news to the weary soul. God’s love is higher than man’s. His love is steadfast with mercies that never end: 

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness”Lamentations 3:22,23.

When our desire is to believe God greater, and know Him with more depth of understanding, seek Him with thirst and hunger, and experience His blessing,

are we surprised when we find ourselves, “poor in spirit,” or in a place of mourning? What did Jesus tell the multitudes on the hill that day? What is Jesus telling me, this day . . . Matthew 5, in a New Living Translation: 

“One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around him, and he began to teach them.”
 
(This day, I join an ancient crowd that gathered. Today, I ask God to help me hear what the Spirit says to me. Join me?)
 
“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
 
God blesses those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
 
God blesses those who are humble,
for they will inherit the whole earth.
 
God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,
for they will be satisfied.
 
God blesses those who are merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
 
God blesses those whose hearts are pure,
for they will see God.
 
God blesses those who work for peace,
for they will be called the children of God.
 
God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs”  Matthew 5: 1-10.

 

We pray for His kingdom to come. We ask for mercy, comfort, vision.

But what of our hearts? The old hymn reminds us to sing:

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

But it’s not all sunshine and roses. The thorns line the stem of the flower’s glorious face. Jeremiah was a prophet of God. He did the good will of God and . . . wrote of his experience:

I am the man who has seen affliction
    by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.
He has driven me away and made me walk
    in darkness rather than light;
 indeed, he has turned his hand against me
    again and again, all day long.

 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old
    and has broken my bones.
 He has besieged me and surrounded me
    with bitterness and hardship.
 He has made me dwell in darkness
    like those long dead Jeremiah 3:1-6.

The desperate story continues, but something happens in the reading. All of a sudden, I can see more than Jeremiah and my own loss and toils, I see Jesus. Yes, He is the One I see . . .

 

He drew his bow
    and made me the target for his arrows.

 He pierced my heart
    with arrows from his quiver.

 I became the laughingstock of all my people;
    they mock me in song all day long.


 He has filled me with bitter herbs
    and given me gall to drink. Jeremiah 3:12-15.

If Jeremiah can remember the faithfulness of God through the hardship, and I see Jesus through the Word, how He suffered for me, and died for my shame, yet rose that I might have victory,

then the song, Trust and Obey now makes full sense. Yes, I can sing of His steadfast love because Jesus satisfied all that’s required of me.

“It is finished,” He said. I believe this today. Today, I’m complete, and my heart sings with greater understanding: 

But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.

Today, I lay it all on the altar. And ask that He give me grace to trust and obey. And let us grow in our faith, as we sing along the way: 

Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.

He is our hope, today, yesterday, forever.

In Jesus, we can be made new, even right now: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 1 Corinthians 5:17.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

 

 

Why Write?

I felt as if God woke me up and put on my heart, “Get up and write.” Not only last night, but after the cancer diagnosis.

“You’ve got cancer,” were the words from the Doctor eight years ago.

As many of you know, these words change your lives forever.

The urgency to write came. And, yes, even if the words were written primarily for me. God wanted me to write.

I didn’t know then that I would see eight years out, as I am today. During treatments, everything’s a blur.

I wrote to keep my vision as clear as possible of the Lord.

And, many of you know, I didn’t always have clear vision. Often, my view became distorted, warped, foggy. I needed help staying on course.

I’ll never forget a phone call with my sister Susie after a handful of treatments. I was more than under the weather. I felt thrown under the bus. (I will be blunt and honest,

I’m a believer in Jesus. He has washed my horrible sins away. He gave me His Holy Spirit to convict, convince, and reveal Christ . . .

I was hurting and completely without strength. I wanted to go home!  To heaven, home. Yes, exclamation point).

My sister Susie said the best words I needed to hear that day. They don’t seem like much, but they were the perfect reminder I needed to hear:

“Toni, people that keep faith do better in their battle.”

That was it. I had to keep faith.

Immediately, I had the will to live return. God does the changes in our heart that we can’t do ourselves.

That’s why I write. To remind myself Christ is the Rock. Cancer is not a podium to stand on, no, Jesus must be lifted up because He’s the giver of life after death. Jesus is the hope of heaven.

Jesus is our everything. We don’t realize it until someone gives you a death sentence.

The one truth in life, that is often pushed out of sight out of mind, is the fact that 100% of us will die. At some time or another, each of us will face death.

But I write because I don’t have to face death. This is the glory of it all. Our resurrected Lord, will resurrect us to be with Him in paradise. We only graduate to our home.

But we need each other. To spur us on for love and good works. My sister spurred me on to the best work I could ever do in my whole life: Keep believing God. Always.

When we don’t have strength to hold on, He’s got a hold on us.

Don’t condemn yourself for becoming weary and faithless. He is faithful. And, while it is today,

I will write, to the glory of God, I will.

“Where, O death, is your victory?

    Where, O death, is your sting?”[i]

 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” 1 Corinthians 15:55-58.

God is good. All the time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Word Weavers International. A Wonderful World of Word Wrestling to Bring God’s Way and Glory Back into Light

Has God put on your heart to write? And specifically, to the glory of God?  If the answer is yes, check to see if there is a local Word Weavers chapter in your area.

There is in mine.
I love the name, “Word Weavers.” However, for me, (and perhaps you), preparing for the casual meetings to gather with local writers with a piece of no more than 1500 words, “Word Wrestler” is a more appropriate name.

Word Weavers will inspire, instruct, and encourage. No one goes home crying. However, you might feel the need to go home and wrestle.

After our time together with “cold-sandwich” critique, (meaning, after your piece is read), words are spoken of what’s “sweet,” then they get to the “meat” and a bit of “let us” too, with some wrapping up without leaving you pickled.

Word Weavers is community. It provides homework, produces commitment, and offers a calendar of opportunity.
Check out to see if there’s a local Word Weavers in your area. What was the purpose for my little “commercial?”

Well, if it be true that we are created in the image of God, and it’s apparent that something’s terribly wrong. And blaming God or others doesn’t bring constructive change.

Then those who treasure the Word breathed by Him, must take courage and declare God’s glory with their pen-or their keys, or etc. (You know what I mean.)

What if it’s true that we’re in the “last days?” And the warnings of God were never read because of man’s rage?
Let’s do it. Let’s write. God Himself has stirred us up.
If there be but one Door. (1) (Which often angers men and brings out their worst.) Let’s proclaim what’s written, and give God back His voice. Then those who take a minute to read, . . .
might find themselves transformed by a “renewing” of the mind.(2)
“His will be done, not yours, not mine.
Do you have a story that brings glory to God? A novel. Fiction, non-fiction, devotions. Poetry, Children’s stories and picture books too. Word Weavers will welcome you in a world of “weaving” and “wrestling” for some.
Join us.
Let’s write.
And enjoy a “cold-sandwich” or two.
In obedience and courage, we will proclaim light.
God gives us choice. (A great love-gift from Him.)
But, it’s time to persuade man to turn back to God, because “as in the days of Noah,” the door was closed tight.
I’ll end my rough poetry with Matthew 24. And I hope I’ve encouraged you to enter a Word Weaver’s door:
 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,but only the Father.
 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;  and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.
That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.
 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? . . .“(3)
Faithful and wise?
Food for thought, for you and me, always.
I hope to see you at the next local Word Weaver’s meeting.
 (1) John 10
(2) Romans 12:2
(3) Matthew 24: 36-46

Planted by Streams of Water – a forward by Jared Rypkema

It was August 23, 2012, almost 4 years ago. I was a daughter. I was a sister. I was a wife. I was a mom. But one day, (before I became a wife and a mom), my view of the world was washed away before my very eyes, and all that was left, was the sky and the Son. It was that very day, that my life really had begun. I didn’t know who I was anymore, but one thing was sure – I was a child of God. So long story short, many, many, years later after being educated in the school of life, I asked my son to help me get started. He set me up with this wordpress blog and he kicked it all off with this love-felt letter: