For the Word of God is Alive and Active

Dear Lord; Happy Wednesday Father!

First off Father, I want to thank You once again for Your “nudge” yesterday to put aside my earthly worries, and simply rest in Your Presence fed by a good dose of Your Word.  I’ve dubbed that time my “Stillness Sabbatical”, and I informed my staff today that it would be something I’ll be doing much more often in the future.

Today Lord, You got my attention very early this morning when while doing some research you placed this passage in my path:

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” – Hebrews 4:12-13 (NIV)

These words didn’t speak to me Father… They yelled!  What powerful Truths this contains!

I’ve spent much of my day with these verses running through my head…

For the word of God is alive and active…

Your Word is a vibrant, living force, not simply words on a page.  It reaches out and transforms those who open their hearts to Your Voice, and feeds our thirsty Spirits.

Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Although we may try to hide things from others, Your Word separates truth and falsehood in a way nothing else can.  It uplifts that which is righteous, and convicts those pieces of ourselves that are found lacking.

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

You know us better than we know ourselves Father.  Our thoughts, our desires, our intentions and our sins are all open to Your Gaze.  You know us from within.

On the heels of yesterday’s message Father, this passage really reached out and grabbed me.  Thank You so much for bringing these words into my heart today, and for continuing to guide me faithfully along the Journey You’ve laid out.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Go Rest in the Word

Dear Lord; Happy Tuesday Father!

It’s funny Father, but I never thought of Your Word as blood pressure medication before today.

Following a significant power outage/surge event in Dover late yesterday afternoon, we were greeted at the office this morning by a flurry of “help me” calls from a number of our local customers.  Now, in and of itself, it wasn’t an overwhelming volume of crises but I noticed as the morning wore on that I was becoming increasingly irritable and was feeling my heart pounding in my chest… not a good sign.  I tried some slow breathing exercises, and to focus on one task at a time but couldn’t seem to calm down and get a grip on the day.  As my chest tightened further and my head began to throb, You placed a distinct and firm command on my heart:

Go rest in the Word.

I’ll be honest Lord, my first thought was not immediate obedience.  After all, it was the middle of a workday and I had things that I needed to get accomplished.  Sensing Your insistence however, I told my admin that I’d be “off the grid” for a while, closed the door to my office and fired up YouVersion on my Nook Color…

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” – Psalm 46:10 (NIV)

In that stillness, in Your Presence, I found my calm Father.  The pounding in my head abated, my chest relaxed and I felt Your Peace come to me.

Contemplating the events of the morning, I realized that this very much falls into line with the message about “Spiritual Decompression” You gave me last week.  Finding refuge and inspiration in Scripture is one way I can become closer to You, and in doing so gain the balance that my spirit needs to navigate the Journey You’ve laid out for me.

I see the path Lord, and I thank You for being so faithful in guiding me along it’s twists and turns.

Amen.

~Phather Phil

Spiritual Decompression

Dear Lord; Happy Wednesday Father!

Today Father, I hit the wall.

Not literally mind you, but from a mental, emotional and to some extent, spiritual sense I hit a point today where the events of the past couple weeks all seemed to pile on top of one another, and I allowed that self-imposed load to overwhelm me to the point of exhaustion.  I spent my afternoon trying desperately to focus and get a handle on the deluge of tasks strewn about me, but to no avail.

My mind had left the building.

After everyone else had left the office this evening (rather promptly in fact, as today was a payday), I was beginning to get things together to head out myself when all of a sudden I was stopped dead in my tracks by Your Voice in my head…

“Spiritual Decompression” I heard You say.

Huh?  Ok… I hadn’t heard that one before.

Driving home, I had some “quiet time” to contemplate Your somewhat unusual directive.  At first, it seemed like maybe I’d misunderstood, but as I meditated more on the phrase Your point came through loud and clear and I realized why I was in the throes of such inner turmoil.  Over the last week or so with all of the hectic goings-on preparing for the party, having to deal with a series of business nightmares, coping with an onslaught of worrisome news regarding friends’ health along with the day-to-day duties required to keep family life moving along, our time together had been broken up and limited.  Yes, we’d certainly talked but it was always “in-between” rushing to deal with the earthly duties around me.

You were reminding me that I needed to rest in You… To reconnect, and decompress.

Message received, and understood.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

Thank You for the reminder Father.  🙂

Amen.

~Phather Phil

Divine Background Music

Dear Lord; Happy Sunday Father!

Last week Lord, the boys and I were sitting down together watching an old episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Riker and a couple other crewmembers had beamed over to a derelict ship and were exploring, when I looked over and noticed that Aidan was covering his eyes.  When I asked him why, he told me “There’s a scary part coming… The music changed.”.  Sure enough, the background music had changed to an ominous tone, and seconds later the first alien body was found.  That got me to thinking…

What if we had our own “background music” in our lives…

Wow… Wouldn’t that be cool!  We could tell when we were headed for dangerous or scary situations, or good news was coming.  We’d have warnings of upsetting events, or that what we were doing was destined for a joyous outcome.  Through that musical guidance our lives could be focused and directed so we knew what we should do with a better sense of clarity…

And then I realized Father, that we already have that… We have Your Voice.

The “music” of Your Spirit is always there with us; It soothes us, warns us of self-destructive behaviors, comforts us and leads us where our true path lies.

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”” – Isaiah 30:21 (NIV)

Such wonderful melodic guidance it is Father, we just need to learn to listen for it in our daily lives.

Thank You so much for being such a Wondrous Conductor, guiding us from one scene to the next in perfect harmony with Your Purpose.  I pray that we may all hear Your lyrical prompting each day, and that our Divine Background Music leads us straight to Your Feet.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Thankful Thursday: More Multitudes

Dear Lord; Happy Thankful Thursday Father!

Following last week’s example Lord, I’m going to add to the list of Your Gifts that I’ve been especially grateful for this past week.  It’s funny, but since last week’s posting I’ve been finding myself making mental notes as I go through the day; “Wow… This needs to make the list this week!”.  I love having the mindset of “filing” all those wonderful Blessings You bestow on me so I can write them down later on.  🙂

Anyways Father, here’s my list this week:

16. Children who remember to say grace at dinnertime… Even when I forget.

17. A caring, God-loving veterinarian who understands what our “furry family members” mean to us.

18. Hunny responding well to the medication after only two days.

19. Good friends who go out of their way to help our family.

20. Live worship messages streaming from Crosspoint.tv on Sunday nights.

21. A staff who “rolls with the punches” in uncertain times.

22. Finding a Bluetooth headset for my phone that fits comfortably and works properly, (finally!)

23. Spring rainstorms that lull me to sleep at night.

24. A wife who likes mowing the lawn.

25. The smell of warm cinnamon bread baking in the oven.

26. Exploring the beauty and wonders of nature with the boys.

27. My hacked Nook Color Android Tablet.

28. Breakfast for Dinner.

29. The online Bible at YouVersion.com which I can access from my PC, my phone and my Android tablet.

30. Chunks of fresh strawberries in my fruit slushie.

Heavenly Father, as always this list could go on, and on, and on… Your Blessings surround us all each day, and I just love connecting with You further by putting them in writing.

Amen.

~Phather Phil