God Sees Me

You are the God who sees me. Genesis 16:13

Radiant Life

If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant.

Luke 11:36

Firm Footing

May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.

Psalm 143:10

GOD'S WHISTLE

When I was a little girl, my Dad's whistle calling me home for dinner, or for any other reason, was a welcome sound. As I played outside during winter, spring, autumn or summer, my ears were always listening for that beloved sound. I knew when I heard it, I was to yell, "Coming!" and then I was to go directly home.

How about you? Are your ears listening for God's call to you to enter His Presence? When He calls to you, do you immediately call out, "I'm coming!"? Do you then do what you said you'd do, dropping everything to enter His Presence - no matter what He wants?

Let's practice listening for Him and His call - whether He actually whistles for you, calls your name or if He speaks to you in a still small voice within your heart.

When I whistle to them, they will come running, for I have redeemed them.
Zechariah 10:8

Heavenly Father, please help me attune my ears and heart to You. Please help me run with willing feet into Your Presence to discover what it is You have for me to be or do. In Jesus' name. Amen.

PLEASE NOTE: TODAY BEGINS YEAR FOUR OF REFLECTIONS. DURING THE PAST THREE YEARS, OVER 400 WEEKLY REFLECTIONS HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE BLOG AND SENT TO YOUR INBOX WEEKLY.

NOW BEGINS A DIFFERENT PACE - ON THE FIRST MONDAY OF EACH MONTH, A REFLECTION WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY SENT TO YOUR INBOX, AS USUAL ON THE THREE REMAINING MONDAYS, A SCRIPTURE AND IMAGE WILL BE SENT. THAT WILL BE THE NEW PATTERN EACH MONTH.

I KNOW THE POWER THAT GOD'S WORD HAS IN OUR LIVES. PLEASE THINK ABOUT THE SCRIPTURE PRESENTED THROUGHOUT THE WEEK. LET'S ASK GOD TO CHANGE US THROUGH HIS WORD. I ALSO HOPE YOU ENJOY THE IMAGES FROM MY CAMERA. I KNOW THAT I THOROUGHLY HAVE ENJOYED WRITING REFLECTIONS....AND THE PRESENTATION OF SCRIPTURE WITH AN IMAGE HAS BEEN A DREAM OF MINE FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS.

MAY THE LORD BLESS YOU AND CONTINUE TO GUIDE YOU!

Dawn Ulmer deu49097@yahoo.com

THE BURNING BUSH

On the way to work, I noticed an unusual tree - or so I thought. Some of the autumn leaves were an orange-red while other branches held deep red-burgundy leaves. It was stunningly beautiful. (Please see the attached image).

I decided to go explore the next free day I had but before the colors were gone. Were the different leaves all growing on the same tree or were there two different trees growing entwined, intermingling with each other to create a very interesting effect?

I thought of Moses long ago:

Now Moses was keeping the flock...and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and Moses looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, "I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt." When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush.
Exodus 3:1-4

How do you handle the burning bushes in your life - you know the places where God wants you to stop and listen to Him?

Do you stop a minute, quickly listen and then scurry along your busy way, never consciously realizing that it was GOD speaking? Or do you not stop at all but keep on your way - never seeing, never hearing, never heeding - GOD!

May we see, stop and listen. Then may we obey what we have heard.

Heavenly Father, please make your Presence known to me. Open my eyes daily to see - YOU and my ears to hear - YOU. Please soften my heart so I turn aside to - YOU.
In Jesus' name. Amen.

A NEW ENDING

Have you ever heard this quote:

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” - Author unknown.

Sometimes in life, don’t you just wish you could start over? Maybe in a relationship or in a circumstance?

We know we can’t really start over but we can, in a sense, wipe the slate clean with, “I’m sorry, please forgive me.”

Those are big words to say - almost the biggest in the whole world.

Only when forgiveness is sought and given can one truly ‘start over’ - but it is possible!

Try it - see if you can say those big words to someone who needs to hear them from you. See what happens - just maybe there will be a new ending to a story that seemed to never change. Go for it!

So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23

Heavenly Father - if there is someone with whom I need to make peace before I come to You, please give me the courage to make things right - even if that means saying, “I’m sorry.” In Jesus’ name. Amen.

ON THE TRAIN

Recently frustration and anger seemed overwhelming. I struggled with my emotions, trying to make sense of them, trying to get them under control.

The harder I fought to control them, the more those feelings ran rampant, defeating any good thought I’d try to use to control them.

At the height my turbulent feelings, I had agreed to go out to get a bite to eat with a friend. I asked her what she did when such strong emotions threatened.

She smiled and said, “Put them on the train, honey.”

Well, of course!

She went on to explain that one night, while trying to sleep, she was so anxious that sleep would not come. In the distance, she could hear a train coming. Since nothing else had worked to alleviate those anxious thoughts, she decided to put them on the train which would carry those thoughts off into the dark night, never to return.

Scripture tells us to do something similar:

Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you. Psalm 55:22

The next time…let’s put those anxieties on the train which, I am thinking, goes right to the throne of God. He will give peace.

Heavenly Father, when emotions want to roll over me and I feel that I am drowning in them, please take each situation which is causing the problem and show me clearly what do to about each - even if means seeming to do nothing except to rest it in Your hands. In Jesus’ name. Amen.