THE TOUCH OF THE MASTER'S HAND

'Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But held it up with a smile.
"What am I bidden, good folks," he cried,
"Who'll start the bidding for me?"
"A dollar, a dollar;" then, "Two, only two?
Two dollars and who'll make it three?
Three dollars, once; three dollars twice;
Going for three.." but no,
From the room, far back, a grey-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow;
Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening the loose strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet
As a caroling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said, "What am I bid for the old violin?"
And he held it up with the bow.
"A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two?
Two thousand and who'll make it three?
Three thousand once, three thousand twice,
And going, and gone," said he.
The people cheered, but some of them cried,
"We do not quite understand,
What changed it's worth." Swift came the reply;
"The touch of the master's hand."

And many a man with life out of tune,
And battered and scarred with sin,
Are auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd,
Much like the old violin.
A hot needed meal, a glass of wine;
An event--and he travels on.
He is "going once, and going twice,"
He's "going and almost gone."
But the master comes, and the foolish crowd
Never quite understand
The worth of a soul and change that's wrought
By the touch of the Master's hand.

This is me. This was my life. Covered in the dust of sin, out of tune with the Father, His sweet melody long ago squelched and hindered from flowing from me. But, then He found me where I was, tucked in the case of life, never to be heard again from the place of melody's song. He wiped off the sin, tuned the strings of my heart and drew His love across my strings. The sound was sweet and pure and true and real and it touched those around me. All it took was His touch, the touch of the Master's hand.

GOD'S WORD IS TRUTH

I'm seeing on the news that Moammar Gadhafi has been dethroned. I'm not a person that watches the world news nor do I follow such things. I'm a "follower" of only One. Jesus Christ. But, I have seen and chose to watch the footage of his last moments on this earth. Horrible. Just terrifying to imagine. I don't feel a bit of compassion, sympathy, or any like emotion for a man that I'm understanding to be a tyrant and a dictator over his people. I don't believe that God sees their actions as righteous, necessarily, because they took his life with their hands. God would have seen to their earnest prayers had they asked Him to deal with it. But, all of that aside, I see the stories of his life, his past, his choices, his actions, his delusions of grandeur. I saw how he adorned himself as if he was a great and mighty king of some sort. I can only think of one thing in this regard and that's the Truth of God's Holy Word (yes I capitalized all of that) which says, "...for every one that exalts himself shall be abased;..." St. Luke 18:14. Why in this world do people think of themselves so highly? How can we? Look at us. Full of sin, mischief, misdeeds, evil thoughts, evil intentions of the heart, fornications, addictions, self-serving actions, apathy. The list is so extensive. I hope Momar is an example to the world of how God's Word comes to pass. If He says it shall be...then believe that it shall be. You just never know when, but it's coming. He keeps His word even if it breaks His heart to do so because, He's not like us. He is perfect and Holy and cannot lie. I imagine Him hanging His head in grief as He performs His Word as sworn and promised. Other times, He's elated to do so in certain regards, but we know that blessings can't govern our lives. It was Job who said, "...shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" Job 2:10. How true my brother! It is Kelline that says, "behind every blessing I seem to experience a curse." Life of Kelline 0:0. But, that's o.k. I'm on my way out of here. I have no regrets, all of my sins have been confessed (daily with each new 1,2,3...). I'm right with Him by the power of His Spirit. As it says, "...Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." Zechariah 4:6. What that verse means is...you can't work your way into righteousness. As it's written, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags..." Isaiah 64:6. So, I wait for Him with whom I have to do. Glory be to the One True Living God!!!

SCORE ANOTHER ONE FOR GOD

I gotta give God praise for getting me through this week!! Wow! Without going into boring details, I didn't know how to start. But I know with Whom I was able to finish. Why do I ever doubt Him? He has never once let me down. He's never once said, "No daughter." He's only ever said, "Let me show you a better way than the one that you think is the best." I swear I can't think of one prayer that had a "No" answer attached to it. I might be one of a few people that doesn't ask for riches, fame, wild beauty, etc. I'm more interested in those things of the Spirit where it counts. The depths of my soul are where the need is. And that's where He works the best. I've never said, "God, make me rich," but I'm sure that if I had, His answer would be something like, "Let me show you how much better simplicity is." I've experienced a lot of life's lessons in that regard. It wasn't me teaching me the values that count. So, what used to be a desire for the natural, became a hunger for the spiritual, and He answered that prayer right away. It's amazing how quick we can get what we want when it's His will. When we ask for the things that aren't in His will, we can be waiting a long time and in the end, we'll just end up with a lesson on why the thing we asked for wasn't good for us after all. Why bother taking a route that will lead you the long way around to the wrong destination?

AND HE SHALL BE CALLED...

Advocate~Shiloh~The Resurrection and the Life~Shepherd and Bishop of Souls~Judge~Master~Lord of Lords~Rock~Man of Sorrows~Savior~Head of the Church~Faithful and True Witness~Servant~High Priest~Living Water~Bread of Life~Rose of Sharon~Messiah~Alpha & Omega~True Vine~Teacher~Holy One~I AM~Mediator~The Beloved~Son of God~Good Shepherd~Branch~Light of the World~The Almighty~Carpenter~Image of the Invisible God~The Door~The Word~Bridegroom~Chief Cornerstone~Redeemer~Author and Finisher of our Faith~Everlasting Father~Lamb of God~King of Kings~Lion of the Tribe of Judah~Anchor~Prophet~Only Begotten Son~Wonderful Counselor~Immanuel~Son of Man~Dayspring~The Amen~King of the Jews~Bright and Morning Star~Prince of Peace~The Way~The Truth~The Life~Holy One~Deliverer~Potentate~Prince of Life~The Just One~JESUS CHRIST of Nazareth

IT'S A MATTER OF CHOICE

As I was surfing other blogs recently, I began to notice just how many people mention God. There's a world of us. The truth is, "Believers" (as we like to be known), are quite plentiful. Most people believe in God but don't want to admit it. Jesus said, "If you deny me before men, then I will deny you to my Father." So, how many are out there with a heart full of God and mouth full of the world? We can't bless God with the tongue and at the same time speak like the world. "Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?" James 3:11. Fear is what drives people to deny God. Fear of retribution. Fear of not "fitting in." Fitting in to what? What does this world have that's so important that we must fit into it? Nothing. It offers temporary pleasures peppered with misery, in abundance. So therefore, "...come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." II Corinthians 6:17. Praise God! So simple. It's the simple choice to be unto yourself and separated unto God. It's the desire for a deeper meaning to your life. It's a longing for the Truth. It's the "why" finally reaching to the "because." It's choosing the other in place of yourself. It's knowing that you've left a "love print" on another's heart. It's laying down at night and truly resting. It's when you CAN sleep because your mind actually shuts off. Why doesn't our minds shut off when we lay down at night? Because of all the nonsense that we bog ourselves down with. "Did I make the car payment?" "What time did I make my hair appointment for and will it overlap with my nail appointment?" "Did I call my editor?" "I need to get in touch with that lawyer." It goes on and on for some of us. For others, like myself, I know with Whom I have to do. So I keep it simple, read scripture so I can know Who it is that I serve, pray for others as the Spirit gives me utterance, forgive others their trespasses as God forgives mine, and at night, I lay down knowing that I'm right with my God. I know when I'm wrong as well, and that can be changed with a simple choice.

KNOW HIM!!

I decided that in order for me to serve God with all my heart, then I need to know who He is. The only way to know who He is, is to read His word, His love letter to me. Then, I needed to seek out every word that described Him. Verbs (action words-things He does). This is what I found in just the first 3 books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus. God: appoints, avenges,affects, answers, appears, accepts, adds unto us, abides, annoints, abhors, assays, accurses, advances, blesses, breathes, brings, builds, becomes my salvation, blows, bares, breaks, be, bestows, blots, begets, bears, begins, chases, claves, commands, clothes, curses, chooses, causes, covenants, comes down, confounds, corrects, communes, closes, charges, comes (in a dream), calls, casts, cuts off, consumes, covers, clears, consecrates, chastises, concieves, carries, chastens, cares for, decides, delivers, divides, does, deals with, is, drives out, destroys, does, dashes, descends, dwells, draws out, departs, disinherits, delights, defies, dries up (the waters), discomfits, establishes, entreats, endues, executes, enlarges, expels, exalts, feeds, finds, falls upon us, fights, fulfills, fills, forgives, forbids, forsakes, fetches, fathers, forms, flies, gives, grieves, goes, guides, gets, gathers, hears, heals, hearkens, has, hardens, honors, helps, holds, hallows, humbles, hates, hides, heaps, is, instructs, judges, justifies, knows, keeps, kills, kindles, looses, looks upon, leads, lays, looks through, looks unto, lives, loves, lifts up, marks, multiplies, makes, magnifies, meets, moves, nourishes, names, opens, overthrows, promises, plagues, possesses, provides, prospers, performs, puts, passes by/through/over, purchases, plants, proves, prepares, pardons, proclaims, presents, punishes, provokes, parts, preserves, plucks, questions, requires, rises, rewards, receives, requites, replaces, recompenses, regrets, rents, rebuilds, rides, restrains, rejects, reminds, removes, remembers, renames, repeats, reassures, rains, rebukes, redeems, rids, raises us up, reigns, records, repents, reforms, refuses, repays, rejoices, returns, renders, sanctifies, sees, separates, speaks, searches, shuts, spends, starts, shines, stops, subdues, smells, scatters, shows, shields, sets, spares, smites, sends, saves, slays, suffers, swears, stretches (forth His hand), seeks, severs, shows, strengthens, stands, takes, tempts, tells, takes, teaches, turns, troubles, triumphs, talks with, thinks, thrusts out, testifies, thunders, visits, vexes, waters, withholds, watches, witnesses, wills, wroughts, writes, works, walks, withstands, wounds, whets (a sword). HOW'S THAT FOR MIGHTY GOD!!!??? Those are just the verbs. That list doesn't include what He IS. I've got that list nearly completed as well. In Him is all human nature. All that we are can be found in Him. Obviously He wants us to know Him for who He IS. Churches tend to say only 2 things about Him...He loves and He forgives! How about the rest of who He is? He's all things to all people! I love you Father!!!!

WE ARE BECAUSE HE IS

I have so much to be grateful for. I have so little on this earth and so much in my soul! Even if I had so much on this earth, it could never compare to what's in my soul. I've been baptized in the Holy Spirit and am saturated in the Word of God. As I reflect back on the life I used to live, I see the lack of meaning in it. The shopping, the hair, the make-up, the jewelry. It all meant nothing. Every bit of it could've come to a screeching halt at anytime. It didn't. I ended it. I chose a meaningful path. I chose a path that would lead me somewhere. I chose depth. The surface is seen. What's left after you've seen it? Another surface? And then? But inside, there's no beginning and no end. There's no color and yet all colors. There's facets, stairways, doors, openings to other openings. Just when I begin to think I get it, there's more to learn. Once, I picked up a bass guitar, I learned it. I can play. But I got so bored so fast. I knew it wasn't depth. It's interesting, it's something to make your own. It's a way to create. But, it's all been done. Every sound has been repeated. Every note has been played. Music is an intricate part of life, needful, spiritual. But it's been done. I haven't. Me. Nobody has lived me. Nobody has repeated me. There's something different through every door. He has made a universe of just me, here, where I am. It's not that I love me, it's that I love how He loves me and wants me to know how much. He has shown me that He spent so much time just creating me. He didn't just zap me down here onto the planet. He gave me depth, wisdom, love, desire, boldness, shyness, curiosity, knowledge, ability, ambition, need, experience, purpose, meaning, hunger, etc. And then there's the facets of each of those. Then there's the purpose in each of those. Then there's the individuality of each of those in me. The unique creation that is me. The layers upon layers. The inside of the inside. The heart of my heart and the soul of my soul. Where I am but only because He is, first.

THE LOVE IN CREATION

So, I get up this morning and go out to feed my friend his breakfast and I notice that the sky is extremely blue and smooth and perfect and without blemish or cloud. I stared for a long time trying to find just a speck of something up there. Nothing. Where did the stars go? How is it that they're there but not seen? Does the sun shine on them and their surrounding space so brightly that it all blends? How can they just not be seen at all but be there? They're still right where they were in the night. Different stars of course, since the planet is turning. But, there nonetheless. Why is the sky blue? What makes it blue? I didn't choose that color. So, who did? And why blue? So, blue is the color of the sky. That's the color God chose for us to see as the color that designates the sky. Not yellow along with the sun. Blue. Not green to blend with the treetops, blue. How did He separate the colors? How does He stop the sun from being yellow outward instead of just in itself? It's like the ocean, how does it know to stop at the shore? How come it rains on the ocean in places adding many many feet per day of water, but it never goes past it's shoreline? (unless a cataclysmic event on the ocean floor pushes it).When I look outside, I see EVERYTHING praising God. I see that every green thing reaches up. Science will say it's reaching for the sun, I get that. The sun is needful, indeed, but why does it stay that way? When I get up in the morning, I lift my face to the light, but at night I lay down and curl into a ball. Why do plants stay reaching? Why don't they lay down and curl into a ball at night? Even a whale, will breach UP out of the water. It doesn't breach down. The Bible says that Jesus is the light of the world. Have you ever seen what lives in the deepest depths of the oceans? Have you noticed how evil and horrifying those creatures of the dark are? Compare them to the things that grow in the sun! Beautiful, bright, vibrant colors with fragrances that attract beautiful hummingbirds and honey-making bees. A tiny flying creature that makes food for humans. And it doesn't even mean to. It's all God's handiwork. I imagine God walking amongst us in the cool of the day just as He did in the Garden of Eden. He did such a beautiful job when He created this planet. He used love. I can see it. Love is what it takes to make things grow and thrive. Love is beauty. It's all here!!