worthy

2 Thessalonians 1:11 ...our God will make you worthy of the life to which He has called you.

faithful

1 Thessalonians 5:24 God, who calls you, is faithful...

even if we're not

it's interesting what God's saying to me these days...

"don't cling to your life"

"don't worry about your life"

"no matter what happens"

"wait"

"I'm preparing the way, & mopping up behind you"

"trust Me"

"I got your back"

and like a GPS will say to you: "continue moving in the direction you a going"

waiting

Psalm 27:14 Waits patiently for the Lord. Be brave & courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.

Here's what my Life Application Bible says...

King David (the guy who wrote this psalm) knew from experience what it meant to wait on the Lord.

He had been anointed king at 16 but didn't become king until he was 30.

During the interim, he was chased through the wilderness by jealous King Saul.

David had to wait on God for the fulfillment of His promise to reign. Later, after becoming king, he was chased by his rebellious son, Absalom.

Waiting for God is not easy. Often it seems that He isn't answering our prayers or doesn't understand the urgency of our situation. That kind of thing implies that God is not in control or is not fair.

But God is worth waiting for. Lamentations 3:24-26 calls us to hope in & wait for the Lord because often God uses times of waiting to refresh, renew & teach us.

Make good use of your waiting times by discovering what God may be trying to teach you in them.

Even though Lynn & I have bought a house, started moving in (even though we're back in Macon for her to teach on Mondays & Wednesdays), and started to get to know people up here, we're still not completely sure what He has in store for us.

Yes, we've ask the Lord that is starting a Sunday Morning Gathering satellite service (like downtown) & starting a House of Grace aren't His perfect will, then don't let either of them happen - & we're slowly walking toward that.

But nothing's a sure thing yet. I continue to get the feeling that God is gonna be really creative with our season here - we just need to throw away all preconceived ideas & just wait for further instructions as needed.

So, we wait. For some reason, the waiting seems a little easier - could that mean I'm growing up a little in the Lord?!!!

(nay!)

constantly

Psalm 26:3a For I am constantly aware of Your unfailing love

guidance

(I don't know how people get along without reading the Bible every day? Of course, the real question is how did I get along all those decades without reading the Bible every day - until 2003 when I started read everyday? Look at my life - not well.)

It's a really stressful time right now.
Lynn is still teaching part time at Macon State on Mondays & Wednesdays.
We've just bought a house in Blairsville & we're moving a little bit along & along.
We're not really at home up there yet because we're not up there yet.
Folks in Macon have disconnected & moved on with their lives.

It's just a funny place to be right now - not here, not there.

(We did open a checking account in a bank up there yesterday. The people at the bank were SO nice & welcoming. They were so nice, I applied for a job as a teller there! It gave us an infinitesimal feeling of belonging.)

And, I suppose it goes without saying that the devil has been kicking my butt for the last week or so.

The latest is that this whole Blairsville this is just something I've deluded myself into believing.

That doesn't sound like much to worry about, but try turning your life upside down, prepare to leave everything you've known for 30 years (that's how long we've been in middle GA), & go somewhere where virtually no one knows you & start all over again - at 60!

To calm my fears & in trying to shut the devil up, I've held on to the short sentence from Jesus in Matthew 6 right before all that stuff about lilies of the field & birds of the air...

"don't worry about your life."

Before Aaron Barth gave that to me in January, 2008, I was a world class worrier. Now, not so much.

So I hold on to that.

I've been holding on to the 4 scripture sections. The Lord reminds me the short section of Proverbs 3:5 in the Message says, "don't try to figure everything out on your own."

Yeah, I'm trying to not figure it all out.

Anyway, I said all that to say this...

When I got up this morning, I just kinda sorta told the Lord I needed to hear from Him this morning because I'm just really weak right now.

In the sequential reading that I do through parts of the Bible, I was supposed to read Hosea 10 (depressing - all about the terrible stuff that's supposed to happen to Israel), Psalm 25, & 1 Thessalonians 2

After reading Hosea, I wishing I was done with him! ;-)

Then I read Psalm 25...

Here's the verses that came up off the page... (you might say this is a coincidence - sorry, this has happened to me way too many times for it to be purely coincidental!)

Psalm 25:3a No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced,

4 Show me the right path, O LORD;
point out the road for me to follow.
5 Lead me by your truth and teach me,
for you are the God who saves me.
All day long I put my hope in you.

8 The LORD is good and does what is right;
he shows the proper path to those who go astray.
9 He leads the humble in doing right,
teaching them his way.
10 The LORD leads with unfailing love and faithfulness
all who keep his covenant and obey his decrees.

So, there you have it. He's propped me up, again, with His word, reminded me Who's in charge, & just kinda said like a GPS will sometimes, "continue moving in the direction you are going."

I still don't REALLY know what's ahead. I may not ever know what all our season in Blairsville is all about. Ripple effects sometimes don't show up for years. I'm just heading into it.

Now let's be realistic about this for a minute...

Let's just talk about the elephant in the room - what if this is just a figment of my imagination & too much pepperoni one night?

Well, I'd rather be wrong actively trying to following God's leading than hold back until it's a sure thing.

What if I'd held back with moving from music to HOG in 2003? Look at all the fantastic, crazy, wonderful people I would have missed.

I know I used this youtube a few days ago. It's still true today. Take a listen. It's the resolve I continue to walk in faith in right now...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TPBrwbRSxc

chosen

1 Thessalonians 1:4 We know that God love you, dear brothers & sisters, and that He chose you to be His people

moving forward

Psalm 23:3 He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
bringing honor to his name.
4b I will not be afraid,
for You are close beside me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TPBrwbRSxc