Tag: desert springs

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DAVID’S SONGS; THROUGH A GRANDMOTHER’S EYES  

PSALM 1:1-6

“Blessed is the person who does not follow the advice of wicked people,

Take the path of sinners, or join the company of mockers.

Rather, he delights in the teachings of the Lord

And reflects on His teaching day and night.

He is like a tree planted beside streams…

A tree that produces fruit in season

And whose leaves do not wither.

He succeeds in everything he does.”

“Wicked people are not like that.

Instead, they are like husks that the wind blows away.

That is why wicked people will not be able to stand in the judgement 

 and sinners will not be able to stand where righteous people gather.”

Think back to some of your years of life experiences. . . David was doing that as he wrote this Psalm.  He had certainly been given advice by people who were far away from God.  They may have seemed to be successful, experienced people in his life at the time.  As is true for us as well, there are always people in our lives who have lots of “advice” to give you.  And due to the endless communications we encounter through media, written words,  radio, and people in our lives, the amount of “advice” we are given each day, it almost becomes numbing. . . overwhelming . . . bringing us to a point of longing for simple “quiet.”

David was no stranger to outside influencers in his life.  He lists people giving him “advice.”  But he has seen through the facade they have built for themselves, and  David flatly identifies them as “wicked.”  They were in his life, nonetheless.  Then he identifies a group of people who were just “flat-out living in sin.”  They were not in his category of “wicked.”  They were “sinners.”  Common, everyday “sinners.” Not outstanding sinners. . . just the “normal sinners.”

Like us.   Then David points out “the company of mockers.”  Mockers need a crowd.  It’s not much fun to “mock” somebody all by yourself.  You need an audience who will react to your mocking.  It’s the fuel for “mocking” to take place.  Imagine standing alone in a room and verbally mocking someone or something.  That is no fun.  You need some feedback of agreement to fuel your mocking.  “Mockers” always need the “group”to fuel the mocking.  Otherwise, there’s no energy to it.

David’s background of being a shepherd-boy provided his experience of what it means to be alone with God.  It was a solid foundation for him and the future that God had planned for Him.  He had no idea that  his future would include amazing successes, gut-wrenching failures, impossible challenges, and many heartbreaking experiences.

I wonder what the impact would be if we simply turned off the electronics and just sat in the quiet . . . even just a few minutes each day.    

When the “crowd” has gone . . . when “what was” is no more,  when loved ones are gone, strength has waned, and the “quiet” is the familiar reality, can your heart still be drawn to Him?  Can the “quiet” be the nesting place to hear His Whispers of Love . . . Awareness of His Presence . . . Reassurance of His Love. . . and the Starting Point of another 

Day to walk with Him.  His Work is never finished in our hearts, minds and souls.  It may not always be an “adventure.”  But it can always be tender and sweet.

Order Janet’s book Not Forgotten on Amazon

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Drudgery

"And beside this...add..."
2 Peter 1:5
  • Make the bed, . . . start the coffee . . . make breakfast . . . pack lunches. . .
  • remind George to change his shirt from yesterday. . . remind George to change his socks,
  • Find his backpack.   Check if he has a clean pair of pants.   Find his socks.  Where’s his 
  • homework?   And that’s just the normal list for George . . . There are three other “bodies” to 
  • check on before they’re out the door.
  • How are you doing with the everyday task list you have to shoulder in your life?  

Peter gave us a great list to help us do a self-check of our own lives in the context of our relationship with Jesus.  We can “do the right things” in our daily routines, ,  . . . good things. .

But God always puts a higher Value on what is going on in our hearts than what we are “doing.”

We can have the neatest lawn on the block . . . the most beautiful flowers bordering the picket fence  . . . the best wax job on the car . . . the whitest sheets on the clothes line (do people still use clotheslines?)

Peter’s list is not about things we DO.  The list is about what comes out in the way we live and the way we treat people throughout our daily lives.

Read through the list Peter gives us about what should come out of our lives as followers of Jesus.  The list may have familiar words, but does your life reflect those words in practical ways?  That piece is directly tied to our relationship with Jesus.  He lived out those qualities perfectly during His time on earth.  We can look to His examples as He interacted with people, and with His Father. 

Doing all the right things can be done by anyone with that determination.  But God always seems to prioritize what comes out of our lives and hearts . . . attitudes:   loving interactions . . .forgiveness… kindness … patience….long-suffering….etc.  And in the midst of our day-to-day, 

those attitudes and actions show up in the unguarded moments of life.  It’s a daily piece of our human nature.  

Peter surely struggled with his own human nature. . . just as we do.  And he gives us a little check-list for our Journey through that Battle. . . our human nature vs. God’s Nature,  which He works within us as we learn to follow  Him each day.  

2 Peter 1:5 – 10  is his checklist.  Why not use his checklist!  I’m sure he wouldn’t mind!

Check out Janet’s book Not Forgotten on Amazon

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While The Light is Still On, Love Warmly

"While you have light, 
Believe in the Light."
John 12:36

The Clock of Heaven was ticking.  Jesus was fully aware of that Fact, as well as the experiences that were to come  in the next few days. . . Experiences that were spoken of by ancient Prophets of His Father.  It’s extremely   poignant that Jesus spoke these Words to His closest friends at this Moment. Although his friends would not have known what was about to shatter their world in the coming hours, Jesus knew.  His Light was about to be extinguished.  He knew the “how”, the timing, the circumstances, the individuals that would be involved, and the horrific blow that would be dealt to this circle of friends with whom He had lived His Life for the past 3 years.  He knew exactly what He would experience in the coming hours.  He knew what His close friends would go through.  And He knew of the blow it would be to them and to the Faith they now carried in their minds and hearts..  Their knowledge of Him and shared experience was about to be challenged beyond anything they could imagine.  But He knew.  

Jesus continues to be Present in our daily lives.  He knows what lies ahead.  He has given Himself to each of us who have trusted Him with our lives.  And His Promises will remain true for us as we walk through each day.  He showed us with His own human life

as the  Picture of the “how,” “when” and the “what” comes into our lives.  He continues to give us His Light… each day, whether we are aware of that or not.  


We have His Light in us, if we have invited Him in.  That is His Promise.  And NOW . . . while we have it, is the time to believe in His Light.  Don’t let that Light be switched off by sin’s choices. . . Don’t step out of that Light, whether in hiding or shame,

or choices to invite darkness into our minds, hearts, homes, relationships.  Tend to that Light. Don’t cover it.  Don’t “unplug” it from its source.  Keep your eyes focused on that Light.  Let its rays guide you each day.  Tend to the Oil of His Spirit in you.  Don’t let it deplete through neglect.  Keep returning to its Source everyday, allowing it to be re-filled in your soul.  Watch for any dimness beginning to come on a whisper to your heart.

Eyes open, ears attuned, heart uncluttered. . . 

Live saturated with His Light.

Read Janet’s book Not Forgotten, Available on Amazon

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Seeing the Family Resemblance

“Dear Friends,
We are God’s children NOW,
And it has not yet been made clear 
what we will become.
We DO KNOW 
That when He appears, 
We will be like Him;
Because we will see Him as He really is.”
1 John 3:2

It seems to be a universal part of human nature to look at children and notice a resemblance to their parents.  People will make comments about a child’s facial features, unique little gestures, hair and eye color, a sense of humor, as well as propensities to behaviors that have been seen in action by the child’s parent or relative.  

Families will recognize behaviors, or likenesses, vocal similarities, eye color, little gestures, speech, and temperaments that they observe, both good and bad.  Similar talents that emerge in a child often resemble those of a parent.

When we consider God as our Father, and note His Presence in our lives, how He Speaks  . . . how He Blesses . . . how He Guides . . . how He Comforts . . . how He Corrects . . . how He Loves . . . we have the opportunity to mimic Him, just as a child mimics a parent.  Intentional or often without realizing it, a child will display an expression, a gesture, an attitude, a way of pronouncing a word, and lots of ordinary life actions that  people  in our familiar circle recognize as a resemblance to a parent or grandparent.  

It’s “natural” to reflect our parents or other significant people in our lives.  It’s not usually something that is a result of a conscious effort.  

John is giving a “tall order” for us to become “like Him…Jesus.”   The Bible speaks of reflecting Him in our lives. . . through changing us.  But it’s starting from the very deepest part of our being. 

I remember in my late high school years, the “Jesus Revolution” began in California.  “Jesus People”  were in the news.  Then some young men from Texas came to the Fox Valley. . . wearing bluejeans and sandals.  Strumming guitars, singing simple songs about Jesus.  They were visibly changing on the outside.  Long hair, beards, sandals, calling each other “brother” and “sister,” and playing guitars and singing in a circle gently rocking as they sang simple songs of Jesus.  As a generational Christian with a heritage of strong Bible-believing, hymn-singing, piano and organ playing, and sitting on the front pew every Sunday, Mom at the organ and Dad in the pulpit, this unexpected scene change was fascinating and delightful to me.  The new Believers did not look like hymn-singing, suit-and-tie Scripture-memorizing “church people.”   

But the Light in their eyes and Peace in their hearts, and the smiles on their faces told the Story of a New Life that was now inside of them.  They even began referring to one another as “brother” and “sister.”  

They were taking on a “Family Resemblance” . . . from the inside.  

The Apostle John had physically followed Jesus.  He had experienced the miracles, the crowds coming to see and hear Jesus teach, heal, and Love.  He had seen Jesus.  He had walked with, talked with, eaten with,  shared so much with Him.  Yet, John was looking forward to a Future Time to come, when there would be nothing in the way of seeing Jesus, face to Face, as He REALLY IS. . . not limited to a human form and  its earthly realities, but WHO HE IS.  

May our hearts grow to long . . . with joy and hope and expectation  . . . LOVE, longing to SEE Him as He really is,  and as a result, be changed in every speck of our Being . . . 

To Be like Him . . . in every way!

Read Janet’s new book – Not Forgotten. Now available on Amazon.

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He ComesOut of Nowhere

“Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
You are by no means least among the
leaders of Judah.
A leader will come from you.
He will shepherd My people Israel.”
Matthew 2:4-6

In a far-away place, the present day Iran, God was making a celestial Announcement to a
People who had no knowledge of the God of Israel. But there were a few men there who had been focusing their energies in watching the stars of the heavens. . . charting their courses, . . . noting the Supernatural Order of the galaxies and planets that filled the night skies. Their faith was not the Faith of God’s People, Israel. But in the darkness of night, God was present, and in a world that had little to no exposure to the God Who created the heavens and earth, He orchestrated a Celestial Announcement to a handful of men who were paying attention to the heavens. Their lack of exposure to God’s Word did not limit God’s abililty to draw these wise men to His existence and His Plans regarding the human life that He had put on the Earth.

God has His own unique Ways of reaching out to humanity . . . with or without our participation in His Plans. His Spirit knows no boundaries. His Heart has no limitations of “who” He will draw to Himself. In that long-ago Moment in His-story, God chose to communicate and tug on the hearts of men who did not know Him, but were paying attention. Despite the foreign land from which they came, the language barriers, the cultural differences, and the spiritual differences between the nation of Israel and the part of the world of these foreign “Wise Men,” God chose to reveal Himself to them. Unannounced, and in a way that they could understand, their hearts were motivated to search for the Source of what was pulling at their minds, spirits, and hearts. God orchestrated a new Thread into the Story He was unfolding for humanity that would carry
through centuries . . . until His Story would fill the earth.

He chose to use mortals . . . us . . . in His Story. . . to carry the Light of His Love and Presence
into our world. Whether a young teenage girl . . .astrologers . . . a carpenter . . . fishermen . . .
lame people, . . . blind people. . . hopelessly messed up people . . . even “dead” people, He
draws into His Story of Love. You have a Story, you are a Story, and in His Hands, He will use
it… YOU… for His Purposes in our world.

Read Janet’s book, Not Forgotten. Now available on Amazon


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Reaching the Limit

“And when I saw Him,
I fell at His feet
as dead.

Then He laid His right Hand on me
And said ‘Don’t be afraid.

I Am…’”
Revelation1:17

When was the last time that you felt you had “reached your limit” with the realities of
your life? A “personal crisis” has shaken your world . . . you had not expected “it” . . .
you were not prepared . . . But, ready or not, something has disrupted your life in a way
that has left you grappling with a sense of loss, confusion, pain, hurt . . . anger.

The Bible is filled with stories of people who experienced all of the realities that have
touched our own lives and families, leaving us with the emotional, mental, and
relational struggles that are common to our world.

One of Jesus’ closest friends, John, had followed, lived, and walked with Jesus for the
past few years. He had seen Jesus crucified. Dead. In a tomb. But John had also
seen the tomb empty, and Jesus alive.

How do we humanly process those times in our lives when nothing makes sense. . . we
are rocked . . . stunned . . . devastated . . . and the flood of emotions tied to life’s crisis
shakes us to our core. Despite knowing Truth, we are shaken. Doubt comes. Pain fills
our hearts. The future seems impossible to imagine. Life comes down to . . . “Breathe.”

John gives us a glimpse of his Moment, face to Face, with the One Who had changed
his life and eternal destiny. John’s hopelessness dissolved. Death became Life. . . the
impossible was no more. Jesus was alive. He laid His right hand on John, and spoke
Words of compassion and a Reality that continues to echo into our own hearts today, no
matter what we are facing in life…

“I Am.”

Find Janet’s book on Amazon!

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Trusting God with Your Child’s Future Mate

“God will send His angel ahead of you,
And you will get my son a wife from there.”
Genesis 24:7

It’s scary when our kids reach an age of hormones and butterflies.  We are brought back to our own youthful season of awakening desires and the “yuckiness” of their previous aversion to the opposite sex becomes a thing of the past.  

Abraham knew that his son was reaching that point, and that they were in a land inhabited by people who had no consciousness of the True Creator-God that Abraham’s family worshiped.  Where was he going to ever find a young lady “good enough” for his precious son Isaac!

Abraham went to God with his quandary.  And God was faithful, as always.

Although Abraham’s family was in a “world” that did not have the Truth or connection with the God of Abraham,  Creator God was looking at the heart of a young woman to bring into their little family.  Abraham could have taken things into his own hands, but his Journey with God was proving again and again that God Knows . . . He is Able . . . His Ways are best.  Finding a young woman of virtue and character in that world was highly unlikely.  But “unlikely” is when God does some of His finest work.

It would require that Abraham be “hands-off” in finding his son a wife in their very un-Godly environment.  But unlike us, God sees the heart, knows the story, sees the future, and knows the Path that will lead to fulfilling His Purposes in this world.  

Even when it seems highly unlikely that He can really do that.

Abraham chose to put his trust in his servant.  As he had instructed, Abraham’s servant went to the land of his master’s birth, and the God of Abraham guided him to the woman who God had chosen for the beloved son.  

Sometimes God chooses to use people in our children’s lives to bring about His Purposes for them.  Trusting The Father of All Fathers is always best.

Check out Janet’s book: Not Forgotten on Amazon

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A Lesson from a Grape

“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. 
No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. 
Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
John 15:4

Today I have been contemplating grapes.   There is a cluster of them on my kitchen counter.

But they don’t look like they did a week ago.  They still look like grapes, but not quite as plump as they looked the day I put them on my counter.   They are still attached to their vine.  I pulled one off and popped it in my mouth.  It still tasted good, but it wasn’t nearly as juicy and yummy as the cluster of grapes tasted fresh from the market last week.  

It got me thinking…

The cluster of grapes were still on the branch, but the fruit  was no longer attached to the vine upon which it had grown.  It had been separated from the vine when it had been ripe enough to be sent to the market.  Now, on my counter, the small cluster of grapes, though still attached to their original little branch,  were losing their plumpness.  The little segment of vine had become brittle as its fruit had used up all that the little vine branch had provided for the grapes.   Though separated from the vine, their little, dried up branch to which the grapes still clung had used up all the “life”  it had stored up while attached to  the vine.  

Jesus is the Vine to whom we, His followers, are attached.  We are the “Fruit”  . . . the result of having begun our lives from the Vine.  Remaining firmly attached to our Vine, we grow, ripen, and become a source of delight to our world.  We provide nourishment, drink of refreshment, a pop of flavor, and, even when we reach the stage of “drying up” . . . becoming a sweet little raisin treat that young and old alike can enjoy . . .  even if a little “shriveled.”

Unlike the natural vines in our world, our Vine will never shrivel.  Never Die.  Whatever “branch” to which we were originally attached, our Tree of Life has provided the on-going nourishment to sustain our lives and grow . . . and produce the Fruit of our Tree from which we grew.   The Fruit of our lives is intended for the nourishment, enjoyment, pop of flavor, and a sweet refreshment  for our world.  Enjoy being a grape!

Check out Janet’s book: Not Forgotten on Amazon

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God is at Work – Whether We See It or Not

“The Official said to Him, 
‘Sir, come with me before my little boy dies.’
Jesus told him,
‘Go home.
Your son will live.’
The man believed what Jesus told him 
and left.”
John 4:49-54

Jesus was in Cana (region of Galilee).  It was a frequent stopping point for Jesus as He

traveled through the Land of the people of Israel, whom God had assigned to carry out His Purposes in His world.   Jesus had just been in Samaria, doing His “cross-cultural” Work among the Samaritan people of  “Arab” descent.  But Galilee / Cana was “home.”  

This Roman official, posted there to oversee Rome’s control in that region, would have been well aware of Jesus’ movements in this man’s assigned official oversight.  He carried the authority of the Empire that now controlled the Land of Israel . . . God’s Land.

But the Official was a daddy.  He had a son . . . the son who would carry out his family name and follow in his father’s footsteps some day.   His son, who enjoyed the privilege of his father’s status and the benefits of being a Roman citizen, was dying.  All of the power, strength, and standing this daddy carried could not save his precious boy.  His ‘gods’ were not doing anything to help him.  They were proving to have no power to help this father who was in official service to the mighty Roman Empire. In his deepest personal crisis, his ‘gods’ were proving themselves as powerless.

In his desperation, he could have used his power and authority to order Jesus to do his bidding. . . go to his dying son.  But, despite this official’s position and status, Jesus’ Words moved him to obey this One that he had been watching from a distance as a part of his job.  His heart and soul longed for a Power that Rome could not provide. . . his gods could not accomplish. . . his position could not make a reality. 

He had seen enough of this One to feel compelled to ask for His Help.  He was not a Follower . . . yet.  But in his Moment, his desperate heart was known to God, and Jesus brought Truth to this hurting father’s heart, as well as Life to his precious son.

Check out Janet’s book: Not Forgotten on Amazon

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Wine or Whine?

“Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress.”      
Numbers 18:27

I have seen a few different varieties of wine-presses.  None of them were appealing to me to imagine being a grape and going through the process of becoming wine.  One method I witnessed involved women holding onto suspended ropes from overhead while their bare feet stomped on juicy grapes piled in a long stone trough surface with carved-out little spouts that deposited the flowing juice into a stone trough.   The other process was a heavy wooden block of wood that was slowly lowered onto a pile of grapes and slowly squished down, the juices running into the little “ditches” and flowing into large pots at the end.  Both processes made me glad that I was not a grape.

God’s “picture” language gives us a glimpse of our human life.  “Grain offerings” and “Drink offerings” were visual examples of what God sees as “offerings . . . gifts” to Him.  They were not things that could be bought on a shelf in a market.  They required a process of selection, giving, and removing from the ‘source’ of life from which they had grown.  The culmination of the offering’s destiny was for consumption of people. . . for nourishment and health.

We go through experiences  . . . seasons of life where we feel like we’ve been “stomped on” …walked on . . . used. . . Jesus knew that feeling.  He spoke of being “poured out like wine”. . . kneaded and put through the fire, like bread.  But He always kept before Him the ultimate result.

It was all for us and for our good . . . life-sustaining essentials not only for our own personal world, but for those others in our world as well.

Imagine the grain opting to stay in the field to avoid the threshing floor.  They’d likely become birdseed.  Or the grapes clinging to the vine . . . they’d end up raisins. Or bird food.  Both alternatives end up as _________ on the ground.  (you can fill in the blank)

When we are being “squeezed” by life and circumstances, it’s time to trust our Vine-dresser. . . our Seed-Sower.  He sees the end result of His careful Work in our lives.   It’s not to be put on a shelf or in a sack or left on the ground.  His Purposes are for the good of the people in our world.  It’s the Purpose that we, who have been in His Field . . . and in His Hands . . .are His. 

Be available for Him to use to bring Life . . . Nourishment . . . Strength . . . Healing. . .  to your neighbor . . . your family . . . your world.

Check out Janet’s book: Not Forgotten on Amazon