Philippians 3:13-14 (NLT)–No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.

It’s Wednesday!  This week we are in Part 3 of the Psalms, which covers Psalms 73-89.  I’m starting to reach that point where I wish we were doing one Psalm a week, because so much speaks to me in this mid-portion of the book.  I love that God gave us David’s words, so full of ups and downs, triumphs and failures, sins and redemptions…  One man’s life as a reflection of us all at one point or another.  Awesome.

Psalm 86:13 (NAS)–For Your lovingkindness toward me is great, and You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

This really ought to be my life verse.  Have you ever stopped to think that God doesn’t give you what you deserve?  If he did, well, you wouldn’t be here.  None of us would be here.  What we deserve is so far past our worst nightmares that it is unthinkable.  But what God gives us instead…  In a lot of ways, it’s so far past our wildest imaginings that it’s also unthinkable, but in a whole different way.  His lovingkindness toward us surpasses great.  It is knock-your-hair-right-off-your-head amazing.

I know I’ve said it recently–and I can’t remember if it was here or somewhere else–but I identify with God more as Deliverer than as Savior.  Oh, don’t get me wrong.  I can look at my life and look at His law and see where I would be dead and gone without hope by now were it not for the incredible sacrifice of my Jesus.  Thing is, He has always been such a part of my life that I don’t have that dramatic conversion story.  What I do have is the awesome moment in which He delivered me from a lifetime of anxious fears, from the weight of sins that threatened to suffocate me, from a future that still makes me cringe when I imagine what I would have been had He not stepped in.  Oh yes, His lovingkindness toward me is great.  Believe me, not only has He delivered me from the depths of literal hell, He has delievered me from the earthly version of the grave as well. So when I read this verse, boy, do I feel it somewhere deep in the core of me.  I am here because of His lovingkindness.

Okay, folks.  Hop down to those comments and bring on your favorite verses from this section of the Psalms.  Next week we look at part 4, which covers 90-106.  I look forward to hearing from everyone!

-JB

This is a repost from two years ago.  I thought it appropriate today because, uhm…. Well, it seems I’m still going through the same thing in some ways.  Isn’t that the definition of insanity?!?

What’s got me thinking today is something that’s had me thinking for several days now. I’m trying to sit still and just listen to God more, instead of doing all of the talking to Him. Sometimes I can manage to sit still and just BE with Him, and other times I wind up getting fidgety and missing anything He’s trying to tell me. Well, on Saturday, I managed to get still. And what He said really got me.

In college, I did something that I consider to be the top Very Bad Thing I’ve ever done. I’ve said before that it took me a lot of years to come around to forgiving myself for it, and that the realization that I actually had to forgive myself was the basis of my book, Going in Circles. Let’s add to that the fact that what I used to write was way way way less than God-honoring. It was selfish and just plain ol’ wrong.

I said that to say this: On Saturday, God let me know that even when I was doing the Very Bad Thing and even when I was writing all of the not-so-God-honoring stuff, He was looking at me and seeing the ultimate outcome. He was looking at me, mired in that sin and mired in that writing and He was seeing the good that would come out of it, was seeing the way that He would one day use it for His glory in my life. Not that the sin wasn’t sin. Not that He discounted it or approved of it. But in His infinite Godness and grace and glory He saw the big picture. Not only that, but He loves me so much that He let a sinner like me actually do a work for His glory. That not only blows my mind, it’s like a full-force category 5 hurricane in my brain. Wow. He lets me work for Him, when I’m 100% unworthy. Unreal.

So when I say that God rocks my world, I’m not being figurative. That’s a totally literal statement. He has continually rocked the foundations of everything I thought I knew in the world and settled them back down on Him, the foundation that can’t be shaken.

That reminds me of a song. (Ha, ha… what doesn’t, right?) And it’s not a song you’d expect. It’s a very silly B-side Weird Al Yankovic song (Weird Al and God… interesting combination…) called “Everything You Know Is Wrong.” And in it, he says, “Everything you know is wrong, black is white, up is down, and short is long. And everything you thought was so important doesn’t matter.” Every time I hear that song–which isn’t often, actually–I get to thinking about God and how He did that to my life. He shook me all up and showed me that, yep, everything that I thought I knew before Him? All wrong.

Ain’t it cool?

–JB

Merry Christmas, everyone!  Thank you for your comments–on and offline–and for the wonderful friendships you’ve all given me this year.  I thought today it would be fun to share some of my favorite Christmas songs, and I’d sure love it if you’d share yours too.  In case you’re wondering, I believe that (other than my hymn selection), my choice of favorite songs reveals that if you cut me, I’d bleed cheese…

This song is proof I am my father’s daughter, and it remains my all time favorite secular Christmas song (and someone out there is going to make fun of me for it, but I don’t care):

I dare you not to keep singing this one when it’s over:

And a sampling from my very favorite Christmas album (which my husband hates, by the way):

And last of all, my very favorite Christmas song, as performed by my very favorite band (the song starts at about :35 if you want to skip ahead):

As my daughter likes to say, “Happy Birthday, Jesus!”

-JB

And P.S., because every good Southern girl loves this song:

Welcome to a wonderful Christmas week!  I forget what week of the Challenge it is, but we are in the second part of our Psalms run.  This week, we look at Psalms 41-72.  Be ready for next week, when we look at Psalms 73-89.

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

I do love this verse, even thought it presents a huge challenge for me.  Those first two words, “Be still.”  YIKES!  How many of us struggle with that one on a day to day basis?  It’s so easy to dash in, read our Scripture for the day, throw our praises and requests and confessions his way, then dash out again.   Sometimes I sort of picture God stuttering in an effort to get a word in edgewise, then staring at us with His mouth hanging open in disbelief as we dash away.  I know that is simplistic and untrue, but if you stop to think about it, He wouldn’t be wrong to do that.  To be perfectly honest, I believe it makes him sad.  He wants a relationship from us, not a drive-through order.

And folks, I speak without any judgment here, because I am the worst for gunning the engine and squealing tires as I race off.  I really dislike myself for doing that.

We miss something huge when we fail to be still.  Look at the rest of that sentence.  “Be still, and know that I am God.“  The only way to know God is to be still.  The only way to really get in tune with his awesomeness is to be still.  We miss out on more than we can ever dream or imagine when we fill the air with noise and run away with our hair on fire.

I don’t want to miss out on the awesomeness of my God, who allows us to come and be still any time, any place, anywhere.  Right now would be an awesome time to start, wouldn’t it?  Shouldn’t we give God the “gift” of our silence?  Especially considering the gift He gave us?

So, folks, what touches you out of Psalms 41-72?  Please share in the comments below.  Or blog it and leave us a link.  I’m looking forward to hearing from you.  Be ready for Psalms Part 3 next week!

-JB

When I was a kid, we had the most amazing Christmas traditions. They were comforting and wonderful and solid and they just made Christmas into Christmas.  As a kid, I loved Christmas.

But it seems for the past few years I have struggled to feel that same wonder.  Oh, I still love Christmas.  I love spending time with my husband.  I love having a daughter to share the real Christmas story with and to spoil with Santa.  I love the songs and the decorations and the Jesus time.  But I haven’t been able to feel that extra bit of heart-pumping excitement that I used to feel.

The first time I heard this song, I sort of wanted to pump my fist in the air and say, “YES!  This is how I feel!”

There’s not too much to say once you listen to that song.  I think it’s the longing of every adult heart at Christmas.  And it’s a reminder that the real key to Christmas wonder isn’t in traditions or trees or that giggly little feeling in our giddy little hearts.

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling:
How could it be so?
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages boxes, or bags!
And he puzzled and puzzled, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.
Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more.”

-JB

In case you’re wondering how my main character has been treating me for the past couple of days…

Welcome back to the Word Wednesday Challenge.  This week, we take a look at Book 1 of Psalms, which encompasses chapters 1-41.  (Next week, we’ll look at chapters 42-72, so get ready!)  This week was easy for me, because there is one verse from Psalms that is written right across my heart:

Psalm 34:7 (NIV)–The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.

One of the few times I ever heard God give me a verse by address, it was this one.  Shortly before my husband deployed to Iraq in 2006, I was praying to find a verse.  He wanted one to wear on his dogtags while he was gone, but I couldn’t think of one.  And then, one day when I was praying about it, “Psalm 34:7″ popped into my head.  When I looked it up, this is what I found.  To this day, it is close to my heart.  It’s not just a verse for my husband to wear close to his heart, but a reminder that God had already delivered me, and a promise that He would provide protection.  And He did.  We were safely reunited a year later.

No, I don’t have a greater universal meaning for y’all this week, but God is so amazing to me because He is so incredibly vast and so intensely personal.  Hard to grasp sometimes, but I’m so glad He is.

Care to share what speaks to you in the first 41 chapters of Psalms?  Can’t wait to hear it!  Share it below or blog it yourself and leave a link here.  Have a wonderful week!   And don’t forget to check out chapters 42-72.

-JB

I think I’ll keep my mouth shut and let Christina Rosetti’s words speak for themselves.  As we draw close to celebrating his time on earth, keep in mind what he gave up to come here for us.  Not just the suffering Jesus did on the cross, but the life he lived here compared to the one he gave up in heaven…

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, Whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, Whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

-JB

DELIA LATHAM is a Christian wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend. While she considers each of these roles important ones, she treasures most of all her role as a child of the King and an heir to the throne.

A former newspaper staff writer, Delia promised herself a novel for years, while raising her four children, working at various jobs and writing the occasional article, poem, or song. She fulfilled that promise when Vintage Romance Publishing released Goldeneyes in 2008. A Christian historical romance with a touch of the divine, Goldeneyes is set in the farm country of the author’s childhood, and therefore close to her heart. In 2010, White Rose Publishing released Yesterday’s Promise in electronic format, and Destiny’s Dream in print and e-format. A children’s book will be available early in 2011.

Delia grew up in Weedpatch, a tiny agricultural community near Bakersfield, in California’s San Joaquin Valley. She and her husband Johnny recently transplanted from that area to Okmulgee County, Oklahoma.  You can visit her at website.  And while you’re there, check out the contest to celebrate the release of Destiny’s Dream.

Is a little respect too much to ask at a parent’s funeral?

Trouble is, spending time in her company weakens his defenses, and Destiny may be the one thing Clay can’t escape…if he even wants to.