Finding God's Presence ~ Take My Hand, Precious Lord

by Nan Jones   @NanJonesAuthor

I sat bleary eyed at the computer waiting on the coffee to beep. Another restless night preceded the dawn. My shoulders sagged, allowing a bent elbow and the palm of my hand to hold up my head. Such was life these days.

Facebook called my name, so I aimlessly ventured over. And that's where my kiss from heaven awaited. My editor, Denise Loock, had sent me a video of Tommy Dorsey and the story behind his infamous song, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord." I clicked on the link.

Immediately, my spirit breathed in the strength of the Lord. Tears flowed. Faith arose. I sat mesmerized as the faith of one who has gone on before refreshed my soul.

I can't wait to share it with you. Be sure not to miss the last three minutes.



If you've been in a heavy struggle lately, then I'm guessing you're grabbing the tissues like I did. Did you catch the part where Tommy said after he learned of the death of his wife and child he didn't know what to do or how to do? Been there. Done that. Feelings of confusion roll in like the ebb and flow of a salty tide. Some days I don't know how I'll go forward.

Tommy Dorsey felt the same. He wrote "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" when he was discouraged and his spirit was broken. Tommy wrote it because he knew in Whom he had believed.

I sing it because I know in Whom I have believed.

Won't you join me? 

"For I, the Lord your God, 

will hold your right hand 

saying to you, 'Fear not, I will help you.'" 

~ Isaiah 41:13

*********************************************************
A Tweetable to Encourage Others

How do I take the hand of God? @NanJonesAuthor gives an example. (Click to Tweet)



*********************************************************
If you received Morning Glory via email, please, please visit the Morning Glory page. If you've been struggling lately, overwhelmed by life, I believe this post will help to strengthen you and heal the broken places.

Finding God's Presence ~ Having God All Alone to Myself

by Nan Jones   @NanJonesAuthor

I stared at the laptop and sighed a heavy sigh. Exhaustion filtered through my weary body. Deadlines loomed. A kazillion emails screamed for attention. Dinner needed to be cooked. Laundry folded...

Out of the chaos of my mind came an image of Jesus walking up to the mountaintop to be alone with God.

Lord, really? Please, not now. I have too much to do. I'll never finish everything if I stop to just sit and be quiet.

Nan, you'll never finish everything if you don't stop.

And so I did. I closed the laptop, turned on some praise music and curled up on the couch. It felt good to step out of the whirlwind into the presence of the Lord. I spoke the Name of Jesus. Over and over ... Jesus ... Jesus. His peace descended upon me. Tension released from my shoulders. Myriads of thoughts stopped circling and found resting places.

As I concentrated on the Lord and made my requests known to Him, I realized that the multitude of tasks was no longer monumental. I realized that everyone and everything that needed my attention would still be there - the world wouldn't stop if I rested with the Lord a few moments - and I would resume work and ministry with fresh strength and power. Just like Jesus.

"And when He [Jesus] had sent the multitudes away, 

He went up on the mountain 

by Himself to pray." 

~ Matthew 11:23

Jesus sought communion with His Father right in the middle of a busy day. He and the disciples had just fed five thousand men, women, and children after hours of healing their sick. It's easy to imagine the fatigue. After cleaning up and dismissing the crowd, the next event on the calendar was sailing across the sea into the land of Gennesaret to minister to multitudes of people there.

In the midst of the fatigue and never-ending responsibilities, I believe Jesus heard the voice of God bidding Him to come, so He did.

The Lord Most High draws us to Him. He desires rich relationship with His children. That's why we were created! He desires our company. Our fellowship. Isn't that incredible? How can we be so casual about Almighty God? How can I? It seems that we would run to Him at the very thought of His love. We have the privilege of coming before the Creator of the Universe. That's mind-boggling, and yet we take it for granted and place it in our event planner as something else we have to do.

Andrew Murray said, "Oh, the thought of having God all alone to myself and knowing that God has me all alone to Himself!"

Indeed.

Tweetables to Encourage Others

Where is God when I need Him? @NanJonesAuthor offers a glimpse. (Click to Tweet)

What is a quiet time? @NanJonesAuthor offers insight. (Click to Tweet)



*********************************************************
If you received Morning Glory via email, please visit the Morning Glory  page to worship with Steven Curtis Chapman as he sings, "Be Still and Know."

Where Is God? Sunday Glimpses

by Nan Jones   @NanJonesAuthor

Lord, teach us to rest in You. Teach us to lay aside our busyness, our agendas, our plans and just rest. In. You. You, Lord, are the Creator of the Universe and yet You desire a relationship with us. You are the Mighty God, the King of kings and the Lord of lords and yet You catch and keep our tears in a bottle because they are precious to You. You are faithful and true, merciful and good - the Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace and, even so, You refer to us as the apple of Your eye. That's amazing.

Praise You Lord for Your love and tender mercies toward Your children. I ask that You seal this beautiful Truth within our hearts and awaken our spirits to embrace it fully. Shelter us, Lord. Hide us in the shadow of Your wing until the calamities pass us by. 

I love Your power and the fact that You guard Your child with a fierce love. Wow! Why am I ever afraid Lord? You haven't given us the spirit of fear, but one of love, power, and a sound mind. I know this to be true. And yet, at times, I choose to focus on the object of my fear rather than on the power of my God. Forgive me Lord. Forgive my friends who find themselves doing the same thing. Help us to recognize the voice of the deceiver that leads our thoughts and focus astray so that we walk in fear rather than power, peace, and confidence. I ask that You shore up our determination to keep our minds steadfast in praise to You, full of thanksgiving and trust. You are wonderful, Lord. We love You and we give You praise.

A Tweetable to Encourage Others

Where is God when I'm hurting? @NanJonesAuthor offers a glimpse. (Click to Tweet)

*********************************************************
Please don't carry your burdens alone. I would be honored to pray with you. You may contact me directly at nan@jubilantlight.com

Finding God's Presence ~ Like the Cushion of the Sea

by Nan Jones   @NanJonesAuthor

I read the following passage in the early hours of a troubling morn. The imagery spoke to me so clearly, strengthening me ... giving me understanding. I knew I had to share it with you.

"There is a part of the sea known as 'the cushion of the sea.' It lies beneath the surface that is agitated by storms and churned by the wind. It is so deep that it is a part of the sea that is never stirred. When the ocean floor in these deep places is dredged of the remains of plant or animal life, it reveals evidence of having remained completely undisturbed for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

"The peace of God is an eternal calm like the cushion of the sea. It lies so deeply within the human heart that no external difficulty or disturbance can reach it. And anyone who enters the presence of God becomes a partaker of that undisturbed and undisturbable calm." ~ Arthur Tappan Pierson*

Isn't that powerful?

I'm realizing that not only is the peace of God in me, but the God of peace is with me. His peace is mine. His peace is yours. Not as the world gives, but as our Father in heaven gives. Perfect peace. Complete peace. Freely given is His peace "lying so deeply within the human heart that no external difficulty or disturbance can reach it." And His peace remains for the child of God, a deep cistern of calm in the midst of the fiercest storm.

Jesus said, "I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]" ~ John 16:33, Amplified Bible

The peace of the Lord is within us always because His Spirit dwells within us always. We need only to draw from its well.

 * Streams in the Desert, p. 395



*********************************************************
If you received Morning Glory via email, please visit the Morning Glory  page, especially if you feel the need to enter worship with the Father today. I'm featuring Jason Upton, a remarkable worship leader who will lead you to the throne of grace. His song, "Peace - I Give You Peace" is sure to minister to your weary soul.

Where Is God? Sunday Glimpses

by Nan Jones

Father, Your love still amazes me. The tenderness that bursts from Your consuming fire when Your child is in need is nothing short of miraculous. It's so hard for me to explain - to express my gratitude deeply enough. How is it that the One who hung the stars in place, the One that tells the ocean how far to come, and the One who rides on the wings of the wind - how is it that so great a God draws near and holds me when I'm broken? How can it be Lord? How can there be a love so great? Thank You. I need Your love. Your touch. Your embrace. I need for You to hide me in the shelter of Your wing, close enough for me to hear Your heartbeat. 

Thank You for my brothers and sisters who walk alongside me, who undergird me with their prayers. Many of them are hurting too. Many are overwhelmed by life's hardships. I ask that You show Yourself strong on their behalf. I ask that You open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings on them too great to contain. You are so faithful, Lord. So merciful and kind. I ask that my friends may bask in the Light of Your love that extends through Your faithfulness and mercy. 

You are more than enough, Lord. All that we need is contained in You. How incredible is that! Awaken our hearts to know and understand that when we seek You first - when we seek the Kingdom of God and its righteousness - all things shall be added unto us. There will be no need to worry. Despair will be replaced with peace. Sorrow will be replaced with joy. Bitterness will be replaced with love - deep, all-consuming love. How beautiful is that! Thank You Father for Your promises. Thank You for Your tender care. We love You, Lord, and we give You praise.

Tweetables to Encourage Others

Where is God when I'm overwhelmed? @NanJonesAuthor offers a glimpse. (Click to Tweet)

How can I experience the tenderness of God? @NanJonesAuthor offers a glimpse. (Click to Tweet)

***************************************************
Please don't carry your burdens alone. I would be honored to pray for you. You may contact me directly at nan@jubilantlight.com

Finding God's Presence ~ My Redeemer is Faithful and True

by Nan Jones   @NanJonesAuthor

 

Faithful and true. 
Anchors to steady my life. 
Words to describe my God.

Many of you are struggling, as I am, to walk steadfastly in the things of God  when life, as you know it, has come under horrific attack. Your heart is breaking. Your finances are drying up. The path you're walking is shrouded in misty fog dimming the light that directs your steps.

And yet you know that you know that God has not forsaken you.

When everything around you screams that you are alone in your struggles, His sweet whisper says, "I am with you. Do not be afraid."

Can you trust Him today? Can I? Yes and amen.

I encourage you to think back and remember God's faithfulness in your life - milestones where your life was changed, your circumstances overcome, your heart restored because the Lord did what He said He would do.

"Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments." 
~ Deuteronomy 7:9

Faithful and true. 
Anchors to steady my life. 
Words to describe my God.

********************************************************

Tweetables to Encourage Others

Is the path you're walking shrouded in misty fog? @NanJonesAuthor sheds some light. (Click to Tweet)

His sweet whisper says, "I am with you. Do not be afraid." @NanJonesAuthor leads you to the One who can help. (Click to Tweet)



*********************************************************
If you received Morning Glory via email, please visit the Morning Glory  page. I'm featuring Steven Curtis Chapman singing, "My Redeemer is Faithful and True." I know it will encourage you.

Finding God's Presence ~ The Parable of the Pregnant Sugar Maple

by Nan Jones  @NanJonesAuthor

The sugar maple stood strong in brilliant glory. Colors of crimson, tangerine, and golden amber graced her branches, reflecting the beauty of her Creator against a periwinkle sky. Out of the north, periwinkle turned to slate and crept across the sky until the sugar maple stood in shadows of darkness. Her colors dimmed. Her reflective light extinguished. Howling winds ripped through her branches of glory. Sheets of rain sliced through her delicate leaves like razors, sending them tumbling to autumn's ground.

Strong winds moved the storm away, leaving the sugar maple with branches bare. Naked. Exposed. Colors of crimson, tangerine and golden amber lay at her feet in puddles of heaven's tears. Her beautiful leaves soon dimmed to brown, becoming brittle and torn. They no longer reflected the Creator's glory, but instead crackled beneath strangers' feet.

But even though her brilliant glory had dimmed and her colorful leaves lay dying, her Creator God would use the power of the storm to strengthen and sustain the sugar maple because...

She was pregnant with the purposes of God and spring would come.

     "Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good." ~ Romans 8:26-28, The Message

A blanket of broken, dying leaves covered her roots, cushioning them, warming them against the impending winter. Heaven's tender tears kept them moist. The blanket of brokenness nourished the roots and prepared the maple for spring - for new life, new beginnings and reflective beauty of God's grace and glory once more. 

SELAH 

Tweetables to Encourage Others

THE PARABLE OF THE PREGNANT SUGAR MAPLE. Hmmmm.....@NanJonesAuthor offers food for thought. (Click to Tweet)

How do we know this too shall pass? @NanJonesAuthor has an idea. (Click to Tweet)



*********************************************************
If you received Morning Glory via email, please visit the Morning Glory page. I'm featuring Mandisa singing, "Broken Hallelujah". If you're in a difficult season, I know this song will bless you.

Where Is God? Sunday Glimpses

by Nan Jones   @NanJonesAuthor

Father, Your love means so very much to me. The tenderness of Your touch - the beauty of Your presence - is a gift beyond measure. Thank You. You amaze me. 

I don't think I have ever needed you as much as I do now. I'm standing on Your promises. I'm pressing into Your faithfulness. Even though I don't deserve Your grace, You offer it freely. Abundantly. 

I ask the same for my friends who are struggling not to drown in disappointments and heartbreak. Your grace sustains and strengthens me. Sustain and strengthen them also. Your grace meets my needs and washes over me like a tidal wave of love and acceptance. Wash over my friends also and cause joy to rise up in ripples of laughter as they buoy up to ride the wave of grace.

Help us to know in our knowers that we are worthy of Your great love, Lord. Grant us the wings of eagles to rise above the storm as we learn to wait on You. That's the key, isn't it? Waiting. Resting. Trusting. Being still and knowing that You alone are God. Seal this Truth within our spirits and teach us to cease our striving and wait on You. We love You, Lord. We give You praise, for You alone are worthy of our praise. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

Tweetables to Encourage Others

Where is God when my heart is breaking? @NanJonesAuthor offers a glimpse. (Click to Tweet)

Can grace come in like a tidal wave? @NanJonesAuthor thinks so. (Click to Tweet)

*********************************************************
Would you like for me to pray for you? You may contact me at nan@jubilantlight.com

Finding God's Presence ~ It's All About Perception

by Nan Jones   @NanJonesAuthor

It appeared as a luminescent bowling ball rolling briskly across the night sky. The rapid speed caused me to feel lightheaded from the illusion of motion. My brain tried to understand how the moon could be moving so quickly.

Then I changed my focus.

Clouds illuminated by the moonbeams unfurled themselves across the  heavens painted with charcoal. The movement was in the clouds - layers and layers of clouds as a cold front roared across the mountains. 

I stood mesmerized.

The moon stood still.

Of course, I knew in my knower that the moon wasn't moving, but the perception when I first looked up was that the moon was soaring away from me. The reality was that the storm clouds were approaching speedily and with imminent threat, but the moon remained steadfast. Sure. Constant.

God is like that when our lives are tumbling out of control.

"For He is the living God, and steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall endure to the end. He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth..." ~ Daniel 6:26-27

Regardless of our perception, the Lord is steadfast. He is immovable. Unchangeable. Unstoppable.

He is God alone.


Tweetables to Encourage Others

What happens if we change our focus? @NanJonesAuthor offers a glimpse. (Click to Tweet)

Regardless of our perception, God is steadfast. Immovable. Unchangeable. Unstoppable. (Click to Tweet)



*********************************************************
If you received Morning Glory via email, please visit the Morning Glory  page. I'm featuring Phillips, Craig, and Dean singing, "You Are God Alone." What a tremendous reminder that no matter what comes our way, HE is still God.

Finding God's Presence ~ Droplets of Glistening Grace

by Nan Jones   @NanJonesAuthor

Delicate wings fluttered, lifting the swallowtail from apple to apple dangling like gems upon the tree. The fruit glistened with morning dew, tiny droplets of life-sustaining moisture refreshing the butterfly, offering her strength for the journey.

The Body of Christ is like that.

The fruit of the Holy Spirit glistens with grace and Living Water, dangling like gems in the life of the Believer. In my darkest hours my sisters in Christ have embraced me with the love of the Lord, offering me Living Water to quench my thirst that I might glean strength ... a quick note here, a phone call there - all droplets of glistening grace on the fruit they bear for the Lord. What a precious gift.

"The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance." 
~ 1 Corinthians 12:25-26, The Message 

Day by day, the morning dew glistens on the fruit. The butterfly returns often to quench its thirst. My thirst remains also, but from the glistening fruit of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control that my sisters exude, I will drink deeply and receive strength for this difficult hour.

I can only hope that the fruit born of the Holy Spirit residing in me will glisten like that of my sisters when a weary traveler crosses my path. I want grace that has fallen from the heavens to quench their thirst as I embrace them with His love. 

Selah 

A Tweetable to Encourage Others

What does the Body of Christ look like? @NanJonesAuthor offers a glimpse. (Click to Tweet)



*********************************************************
If you received Morning Glory via email, please visit the Morning Glory  page. I'm featuring an oldie goldie, "How Beautiful" by Twila Paris. This is a great song!

Where Is God? Sunday Glimpses

by Nan Jones   @NanJonesAuthor

Lord, I want to recognize Your Presence in my life always. You are faithful, Lord. You are mighty. You are my God, surrounding me and immersing me in Your glorious Spirit. Thank You for that miracle of love. Thank You Holy Spirit, for dwelling richly within me and thank You El Elyon, the Lord Most High for being my place of refuge. 

I want to abide in Your Presence - to be fully aware that You are with me always. In Your Presence is fullness of joy. In Your Presence is the peace that passes all understanding. In Your Presence is safety from my enemies of doubt and fear...Yes, Lord, in Your Presence. Awaken my heart to grasp the magnitude of that statement. Awaken the hearts of my friends to understand too. You promise that when we seek You with our whole hearts You will be found by us. 

We long for Your Presence Lord. We yearn for the knowledge of Your great love. Encourage these my friends who are weary and heavy-laden. Encourage them with the reality that we can run to You for strength - that You bid us come and rest and drink of Your Spirit. You bid us to come and be still and know that You are God. You are wonderful Lord. We love You so. We lift Your Name on high, for You are the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Be exalted O God!

Tweetables to Encourage Others

WHERE IS GOD? SUNDAY GLIMPSES @NanJonesAuthor reveals a glimpse of Him. (Click to Tweet)

What does being still before God look like? @NanJonesAuthor offers a glimpse. (Click to Tweet)

*********************************************************
Please do not carry your burdens alone. I would be honored to pray with you. You may contact me directly at nan@jubilantlight.com