He who forms the mountains...

Hi all...

Glad to be back to the land of the living! Whew! My precious partner is feeling much better and is back at work. I know they were thrilled to see her walk in the door this morning. However, I'm sure her desk is piled high with stuff to do! And me? I've got laundry that seems insurmountable!

Ahhh. This was a good morning to be with the Lord. Now, I must admit that I began studying an entirely different passage. I, of course, got completely caught up in the wording and spent over an hour tearing the language apart. Any of you who know me know that I have that challenge. I get caught up in word meanings over and over. Sometimes I just have to shut the books, turn off the computer and all of my many websites and commentaries, and just let the Lord speak.

This all reminds me of how easy it is to get bogged down in the things of this life and not stop long enough to listen. I emailed a message to friends and prayer partners this morning about my partner's upcoming surgery on Monday with all the particulars. My pastor emailed back with a reminder, "You have what you say." Gee, didn't we discuss how powerful our words can be just the other day? Bingo. Why must I learn the same lessons over and over again? And why do I struggle between what 'reality' would say and what God would say? I guess I'm human after all.

Do you ever do the 'flop your Bible open and see where it lands' devotional? Me, too. Today was a good 'flop.' And it's very, very appropriate to the struggle of retraining our reality mentality.

Amos 4:13 (NIV) says, "He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth the Lord God Almighty (of hosts-NASB) is his name."

Well, I feel chastised. You have what you say. I thought that spoke to our need to verbalize. Okay, yes it does to some extent. But, doesn't it also speak to knowing who GOD is? If I truly understand that the One God, Jehovah, who formed the mountains and fights for my cause, will I not speak it out? The Lord God Amighty (or of Hosts) speaks of an army ready for battle; an army of angels at God's command. This God of Hosts has His armies at the ready, the whole host of heaven ready to take up my cause! Isn't that just mind-boggling? The God of all creation is standing at the ready with His entire army of angels to care for us.

So, I'm learning every day that I do have what I say. Dear God, get me out of myself and into You so that I might truly understand the working of Your Spirit and the vastness of Your army ready to support and fight for me. So, today I will be meditating on that scripture as I pray for my partner's successful surgery and quick recovery. I would cherish your prayers, too. Just remember, it's positive prayer that gets positive results.

God bless you richly this day...