Ponder and Praise

As we ponder and praise His Word and His Ways in our hearts, we are being fermented inside. He waits patiently, with great excitement and anticipation, as our vintage is prepared for His table. On our final day, at the end of our final hour He will pop the cork from our bottle of champagne and savor the great LOVE we have for Him as He raises His glass.

It always has, does, and will come down to LOVE. When we truly love Him, we naturally love each other. My sweet Jesus, help me to love You more… I want to love You with every thought, word, action and breath of my body.

Psalm 1
Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
but
whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and
who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.
Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff
    that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Our Brother’s Keepers

On our final day, the day that we meet our Maker and Judge, we will each mourn.

Some will mourn and be filled with fear and sorrow when they hear the words, “I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”
– Matthew 7:23

The rest will mourn and be filled with shame and sorrow when they realize how many opportunities they missed to help guide and bring others home with them.

So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the troops; for the troops heard that day, “The king is grieving for his son.”  The troops stole into the city that day as soldiers steal in who are ashamed when they flee in battle.
– Samuel 19:2-3

Our sweet Lord wants EVERYONE to come home, all of His sons and daughters, all of our brothers and sisters, let us not forget that we are our brother’s keepers!

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
– Matthew 22:36-40

A worshipful life!

Why do we try to eat healthy and feed our families good food?  Why do we workout and encourage our families to exercise?

For a long time I was trying to eat well and workout to stay strong, to stay healthy, to avoid heartburn, to live longer and most of all because that it is what people do when they grow up, they begin taking responsibility for their health, it is one of our rules.  Right?

About a year ago things started to change.  I didn’t realize it at first, but my workout was becoming a time of worship and prayer.  It was slowly becoming a time for me to empty my head of myself and think of Him, talk to Him, read about Him and sometimes just be silent and listen for Him.  I was becoming addicted to it not for the endorphins the workout provided, but to the time it gave me with Him.

Without realizing it I brought it into my yoga class.  I started imagining our sweet Love helping me breathe and ease into each position.  I imagined Him gently massaging the areas of tension in my legs and my back and then gently helping me ease out of each move.  I imagined Him sitting with me and holding my hand throughout the meditation at the end.  I have fallen in love with yoga and the precious moments it has given me with Him.

I am not sure why He has given me this Grace, but He has changed the intentions of my workout and my health and I have started calling it my worshipful workout.  He has removed my longing for the goals of this world and He has shown me that even through my workout He can and should be my focus and my end goal.

I am longing to change the intentions of every moment of my life as I care for and love my wonderful husband and my sweet girls.  I want every action to be done with Him in mind, for Him and with the intention of glorifying Him, pleasing Him and bringing a smile to His beautiful face.  I want not just a worshipful workout, but a worshipful life!

I want it this way so that someday when I breathe my last breath, He will be my final thought.