One Sunday I was worshipping in church with a wonderfully diverse Body. All cultures and ethnicities were singing praises to God! What a glorious sight and sound! Rudely, the brash ring of a cell phone caused our worship to come to a curt halt. Everyone stilled and listened as the man answered his phone:
“Hello? Yeah she's here; hold on. It’s for Samantha (*awkward!*)… it’s Heaven calling.” Hardly believing my ears, I took the phone and listened intently to the caller, “Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmmm … okay, okay … bye.”
Hanging up the phone, I gathered my things, turned to the congregation and exclaimed, “I got my commission from Heaven! I’m outta here!” And down the aisle I sailed! Wow, the exuberance that came from my brothers and sisters was amazing! They were so sweet to rejoice that the Lord had called to give me orders for the mission field!
Okay, obviously Heaven didn’t actually call me in real life. Or did Heaven really call me?? The story above is a dream my pastor shared with me about a year ago. The day after he told me, I was shopping in Target when my phone rang. My reception isn’t great there, so I let the call go to voicemail. Checking Caller ID a bit later there was no name, but the phone number was …
777-777-7777
... and that my friends was the day Heaven called.
May 20, 2008
May 19, 2008
Our Song
You know how couples have “Their Song"? Years ago I realized the same worship song continued to come to mind. Often I wasn’t aware I was singing it until almost through the chorus! Then in an Ah-ha moment the light bulb turned on! “Lord, this is ‘Our Song’ isn’t it?” It’s extremely sweet, but kind of an odd selection, seeing as I haven’t heard it sung in church in almost twenty years! It’s classic Old Skool worship from back in the day!
A few years ago I went to our Latino sister church for the first time. Love at first sight! And all to the tune of “Our Song!” While there God asked me to deal with hurt from a broken relationship. As I sat in worship, one of my friends gave me a word of who I am as the bride of Christ and how the eyes of the Lord viewed me. Ahhhh, these words were balm to my wounds. Then, over the microphone: “No more lies Samantha, no more lies.” The pastor/worship leader spoke these words of life which healed even more wounds. As we moved into a time of ministry, worship quieted to just one guitar player. All of a sudden I heard the chords of “Our Song!” At first I thought I was dreaming (or delusional!), but sure enough the chords of “Our Song” were being strummed!
At times it is hard to remember God Almighty is that personal. But He is. He saw me that day, dealing with the toughness of the pain of a broken heart. He spoke words of life to me. He picked up a guitar and sang “Our Song” and reminded me: I Am. Today, I pray you feel quieted with His love …. and may you listen as He rejoices over you with singing (Zeph. 3).
Our Song
For a day in Your presence, is far better to me than gold
Or living my whole life somewhere else
And I would rather be a doorkeeper in Your fold
Than to take my fate upon myself
For You are my sun and my shield
You are my lover from the start
And the highway to Your city runs through my heart
A few years ago I went to our Latino sister church for the first time. Love at first sight! And all to the tune of “Our Song!” While there God asked me to deal with hurt from a broken relationship. As I sat in worship, one of my friends gave me a word of who I am as the bride of Christ and how the eyes of the Lord viewed me. Ahhhh, these words were balm to my wounds. Then, over the microphone: “No more lies Samantha, no more lies.” The pastor/worship leader spoke these words of life which healed even more wounds. As we moved into a time of ministry, worship quieted to just one guitar player. All of a sudden I heard the chords of “Our Song!” At first I thought I was dreaming (or delusional!), but sure enough the chords of “Our Song” were being strummed!
At times it is hard to remember God Almighty is that personal. But He is. He saw me that day, dealing with the toughness of the pain of a broken heart. He spoke words of life to me. He picked up a guitar and sang “Our Song” and reminded me: I Am. Today, I pray you feel quieted with His love …. and may you listen as He rejoices over you with singing (Zeph. 3).
Our Song
For a day in Your presence, is far better to me than gold
Or living my whole life somewhere else
And I would rather be a doorkeeper in Your fold
Than to take my fate upon myself
For You are my sun and my shield
You are my lover from the start
And the highway to Your city runs through my heart
May 13, 2008
To the Skies
My Ebenezer today is white, yellow and green! Over two years ago God laid on my heart a promise. With that promise came His request for me to stand in faith for it’s fulfillment. Spiritually, many things have come against its fruition and “to stand” (Eph. 6:13) has proven difficult at times. Quickly, I found out I couldn’t stand in faith about this promise alone … which is something I tend to like to do. This “standing” has refined many things out of me, least of all not my selfish independence!
God has surrounded me with amazing faith warriors about this, and two friends in particular who carry me, hold my arms up and pray more than I can count! The week before Easter, they spent time after church listening to my weariness and frustration over still standing. Later that day I was spending time on my front porch and the Lord spoke 2 Corinthians 6:1, “We urge you not to receive God's grace in vain.” My independence (i.e. pride) often has me turning my nose up at God’s grace that comes through others in my life. At the exact moment I finished reading that verse, my friends pulled up to my home and stepped out of their car with a beautiful, lush bouquet of flowers!
They simply wanted to re-affirm they had heard my heart and continue “to stand” with me. I cried and cried and realized how thankful I am for the Lord refining independence out of me! Readily I accepted God’s grace through them and the beautiful flowers, and was ever thankful to have them alongside in this walk of faith. Their gift of giving -and- the flowers themselves are stones of remembrance of the Lord’s gentleness and knowledge. I love these ‘stones’ are a part of building up this particular Ebenezer altar to the Most High.
p.s. the flowers lasted two months!! Most don’t make it a full week! What a visual display of the tenacity and perseverance of God’s grace.
Third Day Your Love Oh Lord, www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmnZ1cexTME
Yum!
The Lord led me to a new job in October. Absolutely, it is a divine gift and I love it!! But it was a big leap of faith for me. One reason in particular was a drastic pay cut. However, the Lord has been gracious to remind me that He alone is my daily bread.
God proved this point to me a few months ago. Psalm 145 tells us, “The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.” Based on that, the Lord encouraged me to watch for His hand to open and He promised He would provide one free meal a day for a week. Watch this!
Thursday: A volunteer at work brought in lunch … this rarely, if ever happens!
Friday: My roomies made a delicius dinner and shared with me.
Saturday: I had leftovers from dinner the day before.
Sunday: Surprise! Some amazing friends of mine treated me to lunch!
Monday: Chick-Fil-A on the house! (Literally: my bosses’ husband owns one = free food!)
Tuesday: A friend at work had surgery the week before and people had brought her family meals. They had so much she brought leftovers in to share.
Wednesday: Treat Day! Made from scratch yummy pound-cake (which in our office equals breakfast :))
Thursday: Homemade bbq, slaw, and potato chips for lunch made by my director.
And God extended that week-long promise of provision! My family came in town that weekend and I hadn’t shared any of this with them yet. Friday night, we met up with our cousin and his family at Zapata’s and sure enough … my mom picked up dinner for me. Same thing on Saturday, and my sister bought lunch for me Sunday!!!
Is there any lack of trust for provision (spiritually, physically, etc.) in your life? It can be hard to determine to trust explicitly, however God calls us His “reliable witnesses” (Isaiah 8). He will cause circumstances to work so we trust Him and we can reliably testify to His goodness and faithfulness. Call on the Name of the Lord. He is near.
Take a listen to Shane & Shane's Psalm 145 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI1V2uaBRZA
God proved this point to me a few months ago. Psalm 145 tells us, “The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.” Based on that, the Lord encouraged me to watch for His hand to open and He promised He would provide one free meal a day for a week. Watch this!
Thursday: A volunteer at work brought in lunch … this rarely, if ever happens!
Friday: My roomies made a delicius dinner and shared with me.
Saturday: I had leftovers from dinner the day before.
Sunday: Surprise! Some amazing friends of mine treated me to lunch!
Monday: Chick-Fil-A on the house! (Literally: my bosses’ husband owns one = free food!)
Tuesday: A friend at work had surgery the week before and people had brought her family meals. They had so much she brought leftovers in to share.
Wednesday: Treat Day! Made from scratch yummy pound-cake (which in our office equals breakfast :))
Thursday: Homemade bbq, slaw, and potato chips for lunch made by my director.
And God extended that week-long promise of provision! My family came in town that weekend and I hadn’t shared any of this with them yet. Friday night, we met up with our cousin and his family at Zapata’s and sure enough … my mom picked up dinner for me. Same thing on Saturday, and my sister bought lunch for me Sunday!!!
Is there any lack of trust for provision (spiritually, physically, etc.) in your life? It can be hard to determine to trust explicitly, however God calls us His “reliable witnesses” (Isaiah 8). He will cause circumstances to work so we trust Him and we can reliably testify to His goodness and faithfulness. Call on the Name of the Lord. He is near.
Take a listen to Shane & Shane's Psalm 145 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI1V2uaBRZA
May 8, 2008
Welcome!!
Please read my side-bar if you haven't already....
"Samuel took a stone and set it up...He named it Ebenezer, saying, 'Thus far has the LORD helped us.'" 1 Samuel 7:12-14
An Ebenezer is literally translated as a 'stone of help' or a reminder of God's real, holy presence and Divine aid. These stones represent the Lord's faithful works and mount into our testimonies. My desire for this blog is to set up stones of remembrance of the awesome deeds of the Lord. Please pray about contributing your testimonies! One thing I hope for is many sharing of the sweetness of God and what He has done and is doing in our lives.
Revelations 12 spurs us on with these words, "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony." I'm excited to increase God's scroll of rememberance with our Ebenezers!
Grace,
Samantha
"Samuel took a stone and set it up...He named it Ebenezer, saying, 'Thus far has the LORD helped us.'" 1 Samuel 7:12-14
An Ebenezer is literally translated as a 'stone of help' or a reminder of God's real, holy presence and Divine aid. These stones represent the Lord's faithful works and mount into our testimonies. My desire for this blog is to set up stones of remembrance of the awesome deeds of the Lord. Please pray about contributing your testimonies! One thing I hope for is many sharing of the sweetness of God and what He has done and is doing in our lives.
Revelations 12 spurs us on with these words, "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony." I'm excited to increase God's scroll of rememberance with our Ebenezers!
Grace,
Samantha
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