In Praise to His Goodness

 For all that you have done

 For every battle won,

 I thank You, Lord, I praise You, Lord.

 For all that You’ve defeated,

 For every work completed,

 I thank You Lord, I praise You, Lord. 

For the Spirit who hovers,

 And the blood that covers,

 I thank You, Lord, I praise You, Lord.

 For the things you’ve delivered,

 For bondages You’ve severed, 

I thank You, Lord, I praise You, Lord. 

 For strength and endurance

 For salvation’s sweet assurance,

 I thank You, Lord, I praise You, Lord

. For life not lived by chance,

 For purpose in every circumstance,

 I thank You, Lord, I praise You, Lord.

 For strength to endure,

 For faith that’s secure,

 I thank You, Lord, I praise You, Lord.

 For peace in the storm,

And life far above the norm,

 I thank You, Lord, I praise You, Lord.

 Amen

A Soul Set On Freedom

A Soul Set On Freedom

By: Sharon L. Patterson

Anguished, abandoned, alone;

Blamed, burned-out, burdened;

Distressed, disturbed, depressed;

Entangled, estranged, embittered;

Tense, tarnished, tormented;

                 Unheard, unwanted, unloved;

Weighed down, worried, wounded-

UNTIL…He came to free me!

NOW…I am a soul set on freedom:

Astonished, amazed, afire;

Blessed, bold, beaming;

Delighted, daring, dancing;

Enlivened, embellished, eternal;

Trusting, tender, tenacious;

Understanding, unabashed, unafraid;

Wise, worthy, worshipping.

New songs, profound joy in the land of unknown

New Songs, Profound Joy in the Land of Unknown

How amazed I continue to be as I travel to the Land of Unknown once more

Having absolutely no idea of what God has in store;

But knowing I can trust this new adventure will certainly

Find new songs and profound joy rising inside of me.

That has always been the way

My Savior fills me when I pray

Laying down my fears for what I dred

Understanding I am not being led

This way for nothing less than my good

And the precious substance that gives glory where it should-

To the source of new songs

To the deep well of profound joy belongs

All my praise

All of my days.

In the Land of Unknown

 

Giving Voice to the Right Words

Due to the fact that my upcoming surgery will deal with an area close to my voice box, I have been conscious of the things I give voice to.  It is just crazy what comes out of my mouth at times.  The Lord must shake his head as he questions, "Why on earth did she say that?"  I am sure the angels assigned to guard me must also query some of my comments.

I have such a tendency to speak before I think...a bad habit I have had since childhood.  It is my prayer, however, that "the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart may be acceptable to you, O God" and also, that my "yes" would be "yes" and my "no" would be "no".  Proverbs tells me that even a fool, when quiet, may be considered wise. 

What I give voice to matters...right words matter.  I want my words to encourage, to line up with God's Word, to be like "apples of gold in pitchers of silver."  I want them to come from faith and not doubt, spirit and not flesh, peace that passes understanding not contention and confusion that lead to every kind of trouble.

Well, I think less is more today and so I will let my prayer be to surrender to the one who lives within me that I will give voice to the right words this day.

Fullness of Joy

Fullness of Joy

One thing He promised that I would find

Has proved greater than most things that come to mind

Although it is not easy to possess

And comes at points of hardest access-

Still, there is fullness of joy.

I have found it at the oddest of times

When life's poems have lost their rhymes,

When reason has left the stage

And sorrow has spilled onto every page

Of daily existence-still there is fullness of joy.

Because He is the very source

Proven in time through every course

My tears may flow

My mind may not know

How it can be- still there is fullness of joy...

For He is my fullness of Joy!

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March Winds

March Winds

By: Sharon L. Patterson

It is March but this month’s preview blew across my area less than a week ago announcing impending unknowns with a bluster I have yet experienced in my sixty plus years in Texas.  The wind blew-HARD and it blew all night and all day with the same velocity.  It affected changes throughout the city and in my own back yard.  A garden angel lost her wing; an umbrella was lifted out of the patio table and blown across the yard; the gate to our fence was ripped open and the remains of what was once a lock lay scattered.  Not bad considering stories of greater damage I heard others had sustained. 

There has been a lot of blustering of news concerning changes that begin today, March 1, 2013.  The forecast concerning winds of change reaches much farther than my corner of the world.  Sequestration is now more than a forecast.  It is part of our not yet fully known reality. Everywhere we turn, no matter the mode of communication, March winds are blowing. 

 It reminds me of a mighty storm that came up on the Sea of Galilee mentioned in the gospel of Luke, chapter 8, verses 22-25. Jesus asked a very significant question that resonates as much to us modern day disciples as it did to the original twelve:

     “One day, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the

lake. So they got into a boat and set out.  As they sailed, He fell asleep. 

  A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and

                      they were in great danger.  The disciples went and woke him, saying,

                      “Master, Master, we are going to drown!” He got up and rebuked

                       the wind and the raging waters:  the storm subsided, and all was calm.

“WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?” He asked his disciples.”

Great question!  May our answer focus our faith on the Storm Calmer, not on the storm, nor on the March winds of 2013. May we, like those first disciples respond “in fear and amazement…,”Who is this?  He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him.”

New Places To Walk With Faith

by: Sharon L. Patterson

I made the appointment as directed;

Since the doctor confirmed what I detected-

An unwelcomed bump

That had grown to a lump

On my thyroid gland.

"Surgery will  have to be part of the plan,"

Said my ENT specialist yesterday.

"Okay,"

My reply

With an anxious sigh.

Inside I thought, "Now I am in need

 Of what I have often sown as seed

In the lives of friends and family:

"Oh Lord, it is me,

Who has new places to walk

Leaning on the faith of which I talk."

I am not shy to share

this new care.

With those I trust

Who understand prayer is a must

To keep the faith flame,

In Jesus Name,

Burning strong

All day long.

I know I'll be fine

As friends' faith locks with mine

And we look 

to the book

That grounds it all 

And call

On our God who is the beginning

And sustainer of all healing.

Real Life and Real Faith??

Real Life and Real Faith??

By: Sharon L. Patterson

Isn’t life something?  Here we are on a real life Monday morning.  We are about as diverse a group of women as can be gathering together, doing real life at a place known for real faith.  Our backgrounds differ, our gifts are varied; our personal histories packed with multifaceted stories. We have collided, haven’t we?  We are young and we are in our mid years, we are a bit past that and then there’s a real life old lady whose name I won’t mention but she resembles me!

We are here having just dealt with dirty diapers or delivering whining children with leftover breakfast still in the corners of their mouths and most certainly, sticky on their hands to school.  Some of us have come from deciding what to do about the latest bad attitude spillover bursting somewhat disrespectfully from our teenage daughter’s mouth. Okay, she made us cry…again.  We have arrived here by the seat of our workout pants with a mug of lukewarm coffee still unfinished sitting in that beverage thingy created by car manufacturers.

I want to visit with you about our collision between real life and real faith.  This road on which we have met is like the moving walkways at the airport.  We can walk or we can stand still but the walkway will continue moving and collisions will inevitably happen.  Although we are different, we share the same human attributes.  We can love and we can hate; we have sorrow and we have joy.  We are both givers and takers; selfish and selfless. We have more in common than human attributes; we have aspirations, hopes and dreams.  We have unanswered questions, and we have problems. 

I don’t know about you, but on this moving walkway of real life, I find that I need real faith.  That is where I find peace for unanswered questions, solutions for problems, and true substance to pursue my dreams.  My hope is built on the groundwork of faith.  But it is what I put my faith in that matters.

The world offers an appetizer tray of things for you to put your faith in as you live real life: ambition to be all you can be and always be one up on all the other women ; better  things; better body; better man.  They offer you assorted results depending on what recipe you try. And the enemy of our soul stands ready to make us dissatisfied with the results.

  How about these world recipes?

1.       Do Your Best:  well that one works until someone does better than you.

2.        Get Better Things or More Things- Funny they are just like lesser things…they wear out and get old and grow more expensive and still need dusting.

3.        Get a better body:  Work out, diet, eat supplements-those recipes work until your second pregnancy and after fifty, gravity gets the rest.

4.        Finally, Get a Better Man-oh my goodness, the recipes are endless for that one and it is exhausting especially recognizing that they are often looking for a better woman. 

Now, let’s talk about real faith offers just a moment.  The world and the devil have another appetizer tray of offerings for this, too:

1.       Politically correct beliefs-Any other kind can only come from bigoted antiquated, unlearned minds.

2.       Compromising beliefs-Faith, like everything else is evolving.  We must change our faith relative to the times in which we live.

3.       Ecumenical beliefs-All faiths lead to God

4.       Agnostic or Atheist beliefs-God is too big to define or does not exist at all-Man makes his own world.

Now, let’s talk about the real life faith Jesus has to give and what it offers.  In John 10:10 Jesus tells us about what the enemy’s recipe for real life is:  “The thief comes only to steal; and kill and destroy…he goes on to say, “I have come that they might have life and have it to the full.”

So, what about peace for my unanswered questions, solutions for problems and true substance to pursue our dreams?  John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”  Also in Hebrew 11: 1-3:  “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  This is what the ancients were commended for.  By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command; so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. “

 By the way, when you are in your own study time read that great chapter and discover the kind of believers described.  You will find not what the world would label gorgeous, particularly gifted, certainly not Oscar winning performers-but the ordinary just daring to do what Jesus asks for real life-“say “yes with a foot”…a “yes” that continues to actively move in the direction of pursuing the way, the truth and the life while stuck in the midst of dirty diapers, disappointments, broken washers, aging parents, economic meltdown, job loss, etc.

 Believing what Jesus says as the Word of God who came in flesh as pronounced in God’s Word. John 14:6:  He is the Way (when you can’t see one); He is the Truth that is constant (when the world’s continues to wobble about) and He is the Life that gives do-overs, filled with forgiveness and begin agains.

God’s offering to us is not only for this life but that to come.  I encourage you to try His Real Life through Real faith.  At sixty-five, I have seen the world offering for life come and go, Jesus remains the constant life giver.  I encourage you and I bless you to keep moving on with your “yes” Nikes, stilettos, or bare feet set ready to run, walk, maybe occasionally if you stumble, get back up on The Way with His Truth, and live this real life of faith that you may have real life.