Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Diamonds Devotions-June 29

"The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." 
     --Zephaniah 3:17

     When my heart is restless and my soul is downcast, I often surround myself with the calming strains of a favorite hymn.  Sometimes when I want to express sheer praise, I'll pick up a happy psalm and just put it to any old tune that comes to mind.  I sing to myself.  I sing to God.  But I'm astonished to think what God sings to me.
     God sings!  Do you think He sings all four parts at once?  Maybe His music, so celestial and heavenly, resounds like a great choir.  No doubt He has invented chords and dischords, major and minor keys that our ears have never heard.  And I'm touched that He rejoices over you and me with an actual melody.  What's more, He quiets us with His loving song.

I have often thought of this when a beautiful hymn keeps rolling over and over in my mind.  Always, its tune lifts my spirit and carries me through the day.  No, I'm not playing a broken record in my head; the song, I'm convinced, is God's melody to me direct from His heart.  He is rejoicing over me with singing, hallelujah, and all I need to do is listen and be inspired.

     Put a song in my heart today, Lord, a praise song or a hymn that You wish to sing to me.  May I enjoy Your melody and may I remember throughout the day that it is Your song.  It is Your singing.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Diamonds Devotion-June 28

"The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she cam from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here."
      --Matthew 12:42

     The queen of Sheba had serious questions about God and His ways and His will.  Not content to sit on her questions, she set out on a spiritual quest that took her on a journey more than a thousand miles over land and sea.  It was a lengthy and dangerous trip, especially for a woman.
     But the queen's search was not a mere intellectual exercise.  "When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relation to the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions--she came to Solomon and talked with hima bout all that she had on her mind.  Solomon answered all her questions" (1 Kings 10:1, 3).
   
     If you have serious questions about God, His ways, and His will, don't sit on your curiosity.  Let your thirst for God take you on a  journey of questioning.  It's ok to have doubts and to wrestle with spiritual issues.  And like the queen of Sheba, who left Israel fully satisfied, God delights in giving answers to our hardes questions.
     This African queen paid a high price in time, travel, and trouble.  How many of us are willing to seek after God in this way?

Diamonds in the Dust

I'm going to try posting daily devotions from this book that I found at my parents house a while back. 

The book is entitled Diamonds in the Dust: 366 Sparkling Devotions.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

One of my favorite poems!

4-5 Layer Joy Hotdish

In indestructible Tupperware,
Add 2 pints self,
Fold in one ripe sun, in separate holder
Beat three cups fluffy, white clouds
Spread a red and white checkered cloth
Over lush, green grass
Carefully place 4-5 best friends on top
If desired, sprinkle with laughter now,
Layer with previous mixture
Bake at approximately 75-80 degrees
When done, freeze with a photograph
Place in frame and serve to friends.

Another poem...

Hush

Sheets of paper
whispering secrets
answers to the test
gum smacking, shattering
silent concentration
turning the flush pen
over and over in hand
memorizing each blemish
the hot odor
of freshly copied ink
thoughts of studying
too little, repeating as
a broken record would
Hastily reviewing
homemade flashcards
Dates, facts, figures
Last chance
take it all in

Poetry

Swing

The dusty earth
rising to meet
promptly falling away
A bird without wings
yet flying still
on top of the world
for a fleeting moment
in time

Friday, June 18, 2010

It's been awhile...

Not much going on here right now.  I worked tonight, and right now I should actually be packing for going home tomorrow morning.  Oh well, I don't have a specific time to be home and mom and dad both work until mid afternoon.  I have most of my clothes packed, I just need to pack the small things like my contact stuff and toiletries. 

The Tangen Family Reunion is on Saturday.  It is also partially a replacement for Christmas gathering in the winter-since it gets hard for Grandma and Grandpa to go out much with the snow and ice.  Unfortunately I have to work 9:30-3 on Sunday, so I'll have to leave pretty early that morning, or come home Saturday night.  But I''m done at 3, so that gives me a chance to come home, relax and clean up before church at 6:00.

Then I would like to go see the movie Toy Story 3, it looks cute.

Anyway, that's about it for now.  I think I'll maybe pack a few things then head to bed.