October 30, 2014 by cindigale

Those Who Wait

In the words of Dr. Eugene May:

I must admit that I don’t like “WAITING.” But, I have learned that good things do come to those who are willing to “WAIT” upon the Lord. The Word says, “Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I WAIT all the day.”

Isaiah said, “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who WAIT on the LORD shall renew their strength.” He was saying to us that the best and the strongest may be overcome but if we are willing to “WAIT” for God to move we will see the victory of God.

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon said, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” This was a difficult lesson for me to learn but I have seen it to be true. When I have “WAITED” patiently for God to move in the situations of life, He has moved.

Child of God, patience is something that doesn’t come instantly. There is only one way for you to gain patience and that is to learn to “WAIT” upon the Lord. He is never too late. He will move in His time and He will bring forth the effect that He desired in your life. Don’t give up! Look up and see the victory of God.

“Rest in the LORD, and WAIT patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way…I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.”

Permission was previously obtained by Eugene May to share his writings on this blog. Thank you, Dr. May!

References:

Psalm 25:4-5 (KJV)

⁴Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.

⁵Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)

³¹But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Ecclesiastes 3 (NIV)

3 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²    a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³    a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴    a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵    a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶    a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷    a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸    a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

Psalm 37 (NIV)

¹Do not fret because of those who are evil
or be envious of those who do wrong;
²for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.

³Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
⁴Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

⁵Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this:
⁶He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.

7 Be still before the Lord

    and wait patiently for him;  
  ….
25 I was young and now I am old,

    yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken

    or their children begging bread.

October 28, 2014 by cindigale

Bounty

Psalm 65

1 Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion; to you our vows will be fulfilled. 2 O you who hear prayer, to you all men will come. 3 When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions. 4 Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple. 5 You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas,

6 who formed the mountains by your power, having armed yourself with strength, 7 who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations. 8 Those living far away fear your wonders; where morning dawns and evening fades you call forth songs of joy. 9 You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly.

The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. 10 You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops.

11 You crown the year with your bounty,

and your carts overflow with abundance.

12 The grasslands of the desert overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. 13 The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.

October 24, 2014 by cindigale

See How They Shine

“Bridge Over Troubled Water”

When you’re weary, feelin’ small
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all
I’m on your side, oh, when times get rough

and friends just can’t be found

Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down

When you’re down and out, when you’re on the street
When evening falls so hard, I will comfort you
I’ll take your part, when darkness comes

and pain is all around

Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down

Sail on silver girl, sail on by
Your time has come to shine, all your dreams are on their way
See how they shine, oh, if you need a friend

I’m sailing right behind

Like a bridge over troubled water, I will ease your mind

Johnny Cash and Fiona Apple, cover of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Paul Simon

Psalm 50:15:

“… call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you … “

October 21, 2014 by cindigale

Crown of Beauty

Isaiah 61:3

The Lord will:

provide for you who grieve—

to bestow on you a crown of beauty

    instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

    instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

    instead of a spirit of despair.

You will be called oaks of righteousness,

    a planting of the Lord

    for the display of his splendor.

October 19, 2014 by cindigale

This Little Light of Mine

***

Reading and singing by Odetta Holmes (1930 – 2008). Odetta was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a civil and human rights activist, often referred to as “The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement”.

Matthew 5:14-16:

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

***

October 15, 2014 by cindigale

Harvest

Tender buds at the break of spring

An equal chance to live

One denied and the other grows

The balance starts to tip

Still believed in nature’s law

Reaping what you sow

Betrayed by theft of summer’s crop

By snakes that did no work

Though my dreams were burned away

Rebuffed by earth’s cruel face

Enduring God will resurrect

Gold purpose in its place

Like fallen leaves on November soil

My soul pressed into cold

Decomposing hopes to have

The least of life I owned

Stalked by winter’s accusing winds

It’s goal to force-feed lies

Clenched my jaw, refused to yield

My right to truth and life

Tender buds at the break of spring

Another chance to live

Hate denied and mercy grows

The balance starts to tip

Love born out of suffering

Fortitude from pain

Intent on reaping righteousness

Each day that remains

Though my dreams were burned away

Rebuffed by earth’s cruel face

Redeeming God did resurrect

Gold purpose in its place

***

October 13, 2014 by cindigale

I’ll See It When I Believe It

We’re used to having the logical, evidence-based mindset, “I’ll believe it when I see it”.

But God’s ways are different than ours. Spend enough time with him, and our thinking changes to:

“I’ll see it when I believe it.”

It has to do with being made in the image of God. He is a creator; we’re meant to be, too. He creates with his words.

Isaiah 55:11 – “… so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

He wants us to do the same — believe, speak accordingly, and thereby create righteousness in our immediate worlds.

“So I can say anything I want, and it will happen?”

No. Probably not. Not anything you want.

Consider Jesus’s explanation in John 5:19 – “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”

Jesus didn’t go it alone. He said and did only what he saw God say and do. He urges us to do the same. But how do we know what God wants, given our finite minds?

Jesus explained God’s remedy for our impossible dilemma in John 14:26 – “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

God has provided his Holy Spirit to come alongside us in our daily lives. He sees what the Father is doing. If we ask, expect and wait for his response, he will show us God’s will for our ever-evolving circumstances. He will coach, guide, teach, warn, comfort, encourage, and help us in the minutest details of our lives. With his aid, we can overcome evil with good. Accept his views and a powerful yet seemingly illogical, creative, faith-based (in place of evidence-based) mindset develops:

“I’ll see it when I believe it.”

John 20:29 – Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Mark 11:23 – “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.

October 9, 2014 by cindigale

A Time for Everything

Ecclesiastes 3 – New International Version (NIV)

A Time for Everything

1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

October 3, 2014 by cindigale

Stay In The Pocket

What do you do with the thoughts or abilities that make you, YOU? I’m speaking of those things that are meant to be expressed— they’re intended for someone to receive them. They are your gifts, yours to give as you determine.

Is there music inside you that others want to hear? Can you produce art that people hope to see, or teach what learners are seeking? Is there love within you that someone longs for? Do you have the words that others need to hear, or the gestures for a life to be encouraged?

Those intangible, unquantifiable gifts within you are powerful. They change lives. Expressed when the time is right, they are the rudder that alters another vessel’s course.

Express them when the time is wrong, and a shipwreck can result.

Maybe that has happened to you, a shipwreck when you expressed a precious pearl of who you are. So back into hiding that gift of yours went, the gift that was meant to be given.

Maybe it was the only thing you could do. After all, it wasn’t something insignificant that you put out there—it was a piece of YOU that was annihilated. You thought it was better to disown it than to recognize its existence. You considered it the cause of your wrecked ship, your deepest wounds. Banished to a tightly-sealed cell deep within, you found a way to function without it. Because you had to. You had to move on. Life was calling.

But … you were wrong about something.

It wasn’t the gift in you that caused the shipwreck, it was the timing of its expression. The conditions weren’t right before. Your gift wasn’t ready. It wasn’t yet strong enough to hold its form. Your gift was wrongly received and undervalued. You were plundered. You were strip-mined.

But know this … your gift wasn’t wrong. Your gift was always very, very right.

You’ll understand that, when the day comes again that your gift is required by someone, needed by someone, drawn out by someone. You’ll know then that your gift is of great value.

Your gift is powerful to the right person. It is the rudder to alter the course of their life.

When you allow your banished gift out of its cell and express it again, this time you’ll stay in the pocket—you’ll determine what you want to do with it, who you want to give it to, and who you need to hide it from. You’ll know who can be trusted, and who cannot.

You’ll take the risk to give again when a rightful recipient treasures and respects it. They will consider the cherished gift yours alone to give, and keep private what is meant to be private.

If you’re harboring a gift that is intended for public receipt, you’ll know when you’re ready to share it. When the time is right, you’ll have the strength, courage, and self-respect to withstand society’s pressures.

When the time is right, supporters will emerge from thin air to uphold your gift and help you stand firm in it.

When the time is right, you will be capable of staying in the pocket — maintaining management of your thoughts, your talents, your abilities, your heart. After all, these are YOUR gifts. You’ll know then that your gifts are of great worth, and always were.

When the time is right, let your gifts be the rudder to beneficially alter someone’s life course.

October 2, 2014 by cindigale

Roots

I don’t know why it is that this post is being viewed frequently in Europe and the Middle East in the past 2 weeks. But because it is, with a nod to those readers, I am reblogging it.

Cindi Gale

I walk almost every day. It’s a habit, a need even, a bi-product of many decades of daily runs. Linear bipedal locomotion is my time for thinking. Deep thinking. For whatever reason, my focus can be so intense that it’s hard to pull out of it. One of my sons long ago took note and conceived a diagnosis for my condition: EAD. Excessive Attention Disorder.

There’s no better place to let my EAD go full-blown than on a track. No distractions. No cars. No routes to be mindful of.

This summer they are bringing the old 1950’s cinder track into the twenty-first century. When it’s done, I won’t be surprised if while I’m in full-blown EAD, the springy all-weather surface converts my walking to running. Wearing running tights instead of jeans did that to me one spring day. Lost in thought, I ran a half mile before I realized I…

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