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Take A Minute…

IMG_4517By Judy Villanueva

Psalm 18

“In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.” (verse 6)

He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. (verses 16-17) 

He brought me out into a spacious place;  he rescued me because he delighted in me.” (verse 19)

…you stoop down to make me great.  You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn. (verses 35-36)

When I look out the big picture window in our home my eyes are immediately drawn to the peak that seems to stand watch over us. It’s irresistible!  I can’t help but look at it every day, several times a day because its face changes with the light and I don’t want to miss even one of its beautiful declarations!

“Look!” it beckons, morning, noon and night always inviting awe into the narrowed places of my heart and mind —the places that get small when I neglect to look at God.

Today, for the first time, I noticed a ridge I’d never seen before, a sheer rock wall that stands over a hundred feet high supporting an entire family of aspen trees.  The light, the time of year, and a moment that had my full attention gave way to an experience of God setting me in a spacious place where I could see more of His majesty!

Reading Psalm 18 today felt like standing before a spectacular mountain peak.  My inclination was to ascend up and over the 50 verses lickety-split but, I’ve learned that to hear God speak I must stand unhurried before His Word and listen as I read.  So, I took a deep breath and told myself to wake up and pay attention!

Pointing our attention at God, reading with patient expectation and noticing where we are drawn invites us to see things in Scripture we’ve never seen before.

Reading in this way becomes an experience of God speaking into our lives and, in that spacious place, we are known and loved and taught.

God hears my voice and my cries are before Him!  That my words are in God’s ears astounds me and offers me the great consolation that I am known.  He takes hold of me and draws me out of deep waters.  He sets me in a spacious place and delights in me.  The relief and gratitude that God rescues me is overwhelming but the notion that He delights in me practically knocks me out unconscious!  It’s news that is too good to be true and while I can’t quite touch it, it touches me deeply!

Most shocking is coming upon the words, “God stoops down to make me great”.

I’m not sure I can even put words to what exactly this speaks into my narrowed places but it undoes me!  It broadens the path beneath my feet, puts me in the arms of God and loves me to the core.

“Thank you, Father, for who you are always and for helping me see you a little better today. I see your great kindness in these verses and I am so grateful. There is none like you!  Amen.”

What about you?

How do you pause and point at God?  What helps you tune in to His voice?

Are you aware of the narrowed places of your soul?  Where you lack faith or a big enough vision of God?

How does it make you feel that God hears your voice?  That He delights in you?

I hope you’ll take time to pause and point your mind and heart at Psalm 18.  I pray you’ll see things about God that you’ve never seen before.

Worship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfvvEKMPGhA

Watching Over You

fullsizeoutput_23d8By  Judy Villanueva

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber;  indeed, he who watches over Israel
 will neither slumber nor sleep. 

The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.  

Knee to knee, we sat on the couch sipping tea and savoring the gift of an unhurried afternoon.  My young friend shared with me the new developments in her life, and specifically a recent diagnosis that threatened to derail her hopes and dreams for the future.  It was devastating news.  What would this mean for her future?  What could she expect?  Fear had encircled, shouting despair over her life and mocking the God she loved so dearly.  “You see?  You can’t count on God.  Where is He when you really need Him?”  The only thing we knew to do next was to scooch  in close, bow our heads, and reach out for God’s comfort in prayer.

In his fictional book, The Screwtape Letters, C.S Lewis pulls back the cosmic curtain  and allows the reader to overhear conversations between a senior and junior demon.  Screwtape, the experienced demon, instructs Wormwood in the art of temptation!  One of most eye-opening strategies proposed was to keep the human focused forward or backward, but under no circumstances, should he be allowed to dwell in the present.  He instructs that the past is frozen and the future filled with unrealities—both prime opportunities to chain the soul to regret or fear.   But, of the present moment he cautions

“The Present is the point at which time touches eternity…the Present is all lit up with eternal rays.”

In other words, it is in this present moment that we find God!  He is literally with us at every point in time!  When focusing on what is behind or ahead at a future yet unborn, we step away from the present, holy momentthe one filled with the power and presence of the Almighty.

What does it mean that God watches over us?  Or, that He will not allow our feet to slip?  I believe that it goes far beyond divine spectating!

The fervor of God’s love compels Him to draw near, so near, that He suffers with us as He lovingly holds us in ALL of our moments.

He is not a far-away God, but rather,  a Father, attentive and present now and now and now!

Before my friend married the man of her dreams or held a cherished baby in her arms, she would endure a long and arduous period of suffering, one with lots of unknowns and no guarantees.  She may not have always felt the reality of God near but, all the while He watched over her coming and going.  He was the shade at her right hand, and never, not once, did He sleep or slumber.  He held her as she cried and waited and struggled to trust Him.   In spite of what we do or do not understand about our lives and even in the midst of circumstances that shout “Where is your God?” — HE IS, He is GOOD and  He is watching over our lives with love,  now and forever!

“Father, draw me into your company and the present moment that is all lit up with eternal rays!  Thank You for watching over me and, especially, for holding me in all my moments, both in joy and sorrow.  Amen.”

What about you?

Do you need reminding today that God is always watching over your life?

Do you find yourself dwelling on the uncertainty of the future or, regret over the past?

Can you bring your questions, fears and hopes to God?

God is with you now.  He never sleeps nor slumbers.  He watches over you now and forevermore.  Reach for Him.  Talk with Him.

Worship:

Held

IMG_4539By Judy Villanueva

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.  You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar.  You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways.  Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all.  You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. (Psalm 139:1-5)

One of my earliest memories is of being rocked in my father’s arms and soothed by a tune that he used to hum over us kids.  His deep voice made it a rumbly lullaby that I could both feel as well as hear, and it wasn’t long before the humming gave way to sweet dreams.  I remember the feeling of being held and calmed by his voice and, to this day, this little tune quiets me.  It is a melody that I’ve since heard myself hum to calm my children and grandchildren. Being held and “hummed to” created safety all around and inside of me.  “Dad is here.  It’s all going to be ok.  I can rest.”

Is there a more beautiful reality than that our lives are held by God…always?

Our sitting down and rising up, our every thought and word, coming and going, working or lying down, He knows!  He is intimately acquainted with everything about us.  We are seen, known and loved by the God who made us…at all times, in all places, no matter how we feel about it.  How DO you feel about it?  It is an easy idea to cuddle up with when all is well with our world but it can be a most prickly truth to believe in the dark of night.  How, when we are frightened by the night, can we rest in His arms and let the sound of His voice bring us peace?

The fact that we are finite creatures means that we can only  see “in part” and are not able to grasp the entirety of why things happen as they do. There are times when we will not understand our lives…when we simply do not and can not have the same perspective as the God who always sees everything all time, now and forever!

The nature of being held means that it’s not up to us to know everything.

Believe or not, that is good news! What IS up to us is to trust the One who sees and knows what we cannot, and let HIm hold and deliver us into the plans He has for us. Can we lean back into the divine arms that cradle our lives with love, compassion, goodness and purpose? He holds all things together with perfection… even when we cannot perceive it.

“Thank you, Father, for holding my life…always.  To know that you do, consoles me.  To consider that you know me through and through helps me to exhale.  You are here.  It’s all going be ok.  I can rest.  Amen.”

What about you?

Is your heart troubled?  What brings you comfort?

Where/with whom do you experience being known?

Do you need to know today that you are seen, known and loved by the God who made you?

He loves you and is intimately acquainted with all your ways.

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Worship

Letting Go: A Prayer of Relinquishment

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By Judy Villanueva

One of the hardest things I’ve ever done was raise a child.  The next  hardest was letting each one go as they grew up and left the nest.  It’s hard to let go… This is the prayer I prayed over my firstborn as she left for college.

Dear Jesus,

I’d like to bring my child to you.

I see me and my daughter walking … no actually I see me struggling to carry her on my back.  She keeps slipping because I’m not strong enough to carry her, but I keep trying.

My back hurts.

I see you there by the river’s edge…so peaceful.  You can see me…us, too.  You have a warm smile on your face and you perceive the difficulty I am having bringing my daughter to you.

Finally, you say to me, “Put her down.”

I want to but I’m not sure…I have been carrying her for so long…she needs me…she’s wounded…I want to help…what will happen if I let go?

Knowing my thoughts you say,  “I am here.  She is mine.  I can heal her wounds.  It’s time for you to let go.  Judy, she needs ME.  Now trust Me…release your daughter.”

I pause and stare at you.  I want to believe You.  I know what You are saying is true and it gives me hope, but I’m afraid.

I let my grown daughter down and I look at her…words cannot convey the mix of emotion.  I love her. I have failed her.  I’m so tired.

“I would like to trust you Lord and I need your forgiveness for where I have failed…been selfish, immature, impatient and ignorant.”

I give my girl a big hug.  I look at her face and tell her to go… “Go to Jesus!”  She smiles at me and turns…she looks back and says, “It’s ok mom…I’ll be ok…I love you.”  Then, she turns and runs to You and Your arms are open wide and she lets You hug her.  You are whispering in her ear and I can see the comfort and relief on her face.

She is safe.

I see her begin to dance by the river and sing from her heart.  She is free in your presence, accepted and loved.

You walk over to me before I go…You hold me and say, “I know, Judy…it’s ok…you are forgiven…I am here…you can trust Me.  I love you.  You can leave her here.  I’ll never leave her.  Thank you for loving her all these years…but remember, she is mine…and you were not meant to carry her forever.  I am faithful, compassionate, kind and powerful beyond your imagination.  I love your daughter…My daughter…with all My heart.  She needs to learn to walk with Me now.  You need to let go and trust Me.”