Hope

Psalm 84

1 How lovely is your dwelling place,

   Lord Almighty!

2 My soul yearns, even faints,

   for the courts of the Lord;
   my heart and my flesh cry out
   for the living God.

3 Even the sparrow has found a home,

   and the swallow a nest for herself,
   where she may have her young—
   a place near your altar,
   Lord Almighty, my King and my God.

4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;

   they are ever praising you.

David wants to spend his entire life in the house of the Lord.  He wants to be in that place where the Lord dwells and where the Lord’s presence is real.  He wants to linger...near the Lord.

That ought to be our desire as well.  

We need that same passion to be where the Lord is ... and where He is worshiped!  There ought to be a desire to find that place of closeness and intimacy with the Lord.  We can have that place where we can linger in His presence all the hours of the day and all the days of our lives. Those who want to be near the Lord will find a way.  And, when we make a move toward Him, He will make a move toward us, James 4:8.

David wants to “behold the beauty of the Lord.”  That is, he wants to “seek His face.”  You see, not only is David committed to being where the Lord is; but he is also committed to worshiping the Lord.  That is a worthy goal for life!

This should be the goal of every believer as well.  If we are going to worship the Lord, we are going to have to do it His way.  Jesus told us how to worship in John 4:24.  

When we yield to the Spirit of God and worship God for Who He is  - we will be engaged in the business of loving Him. 

How long has it been since you just loved on the Lord?

David looks beyond his own abilities and sees the limitless provisions of the Lord.   David sees that God is faithful!

Living with our faith give us hope; but  living faithful to the Lord provides a measure of hope that cannot otherwise exist.  As David was we are...

... invited to pray, Jer. 33:3; Matt. 11:28.  We are promised that God will hear and answer our prayers, Isa. 65:24; John 14:13-14; John 16:23-24.  

So... I'm Just sayin'  let us learn to lean on Him!  

- Kelly 

Bumping into Jesus!

Somehow, Somewhere, Sometime and at some place... this woman heard about Jesus. Maybe she had heard how He had healed that leper, (Mark 1:40-42) Maybe she had heard about that crazy dude just across the lake. (Mark 5:1-20)

Really, we have no idea what she had heard but there is little doubt that she had heard about the power of His touch.

Regardless of what she heard about Him, she knew she had to get to Him. She had come to realize that Jesus was her only hope! She believed with all her heart that if she could just get to Him, she would be healed.

She had to be determined, because by the very nature of her disease, it would have taken all the energy she had to drag herself out of her bed and struggle through that crowd to get to Jesus. She was desperate!

Have we reached that place...are we desperate... to just "bump" in to Jesus? There were tons of people touching Him and bumping into Him that day (v. 31,) but her touch was different...

That day many touched Jesus, but only one touched Him with the fingers of faith!

Many touched Jesus...but only one was completely transformed...why? Because she did whatever she had to do to touch Jesus! Will we?

In the crowd of life, the hustle. the hurried, the too busy for this...we have a choice - bump up against Jesus and whisper a quick, "excuse me," - or- run into Jesus and hold onto Him...with the fingers of faith.

... and surely you know by now...

I'm Just Sayin',

-Kelly

P.S. - too those who are receiving Just Sayin' for the first time - welcome, we're glad to have you.

Whispering

Shhhh...can you hear it?  Whispering.  I can't stand whispering, mostly because I can't understand it, people get way to close to my bubble and want to "tell" me something.  They want no one else to hear so they whisper.

Here's a thought is Jesus whispering to you...or does it only sound like a whisper?  You see I wonder if sometimes we don't follow Jesus from such a distance that His voice can barely be heard.

So instead of the bold proclamation to the disciples found in Mark 1:17 "Come..follow me..." we wander around a little because we weren't close enough to hear!

Following closely enough behind Jesus to hear what he is "always" saying is critical to our lives and our faith.

When we don't hear Him clearly...we don't _________________ (fill free to fill in the blank.)

Abraham, listened, Genesis 12: 1-3 ...  He is often called the father of faith.

Moses, listened, Exodus 12:31-42 ... He became a great example to Joshua.

If we make following Jesus our top priority we will always be close enough to hear the whispers.

And yep...I'm just sayin.'

See Ya...

Kelly

Happy New Year...

When Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan into the Promised Land, he directed them to follow the Ark of the Covenant, borne by the priests, because... “You have never passed this way before,"  Joshua 3:4.

As we enter this new year of 2014,  we too, will encounter many new experiences.  For some,  the coming 12 months may be the best we've known.  For others, they could be marked with sorrow and disappointment.  No one knows what lies ahead, simply because “we have not passed this way before”.  That fact can strike fear to our hearts, but need not, if we are trusting the Lord for direction in the following days and months.

In this year seek the face of God, keep an open mind and spirit to what God is calling, asking, us to do ... And do these things by the "renewing of your minds." (Romans 12:2)

Phillipians 4:8 (NLT) says... "And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you."

....and for this new year...let's do this!

And I'm Just Sayin'.

-Kelly