Where Is God? Sunday Glimpses

by Nan Jones

Father God, Open my eyes to see You in my midst. Let me feel the embrace of Your love, the touch of Your grace. You are for me, so who can be against me? Fatigue? Sickness? Anxiety or desperation? No, Lord! Even those things cannot be against me for You are my God and I am Your child. Nothing can ever separate me from You and Your love. I need Your strength. Mine is depleted. I need Your peace. Mine is wavering like the shadows on an afternoon walk - in and out, in and out. But You, Lord are my Prince of Peace. You are the Mighty God, the lover of my soul. Your peace is not contingent on how I feel. Thank You for Your Presence. I will declare Your glory to the people! Thank You for Your ministering angels that surround me and protect me from harm. I pray for my friends who are battling their own demons. You promise to fight the battle for us. We need only surrender it to You and watch You work. Strengthen them, Lord. Awaken their hearts to recognize Your Presence with them and Your unwavering love for Your children. Thank You for Your faithfulness. Help us to rest in each moment of each day knowing that You are with us working everything together for our good. Thank You, Lord. You are an awesome God. We love You.

*********************************************************
Tweetables to Encourage Others

Are you searching for a way to share your heart with God? WHERE IS GOD? SUNDAY GLIMPSES @NanJonesAuthor (Click to Tweet)

I need Your strength. Mine is depleted. I need Your peace. Mine is wavering like the evening shadows. (Click to Tweet)

*********************************************************
I would cherish your prayers. My husband had emergency surgery a couple of days ago. He is recovering, but has a ways to go before he is healthy again. My fibromyalgia is going bananas! With fibro, emotional pain has a physical response. My body has taken a hard hit causing me to get behind in my work. Please pray for me and my honey. Thank you.

*********************************************************
As always, if you would like for me to pray for you, you may contact me directly at nan@jubilantlight.com

Scriptures of Encouragement ~ Burden-Bearer

by Nan Jones

Hot sand swirled about his face stinging like a thousand tiny needles. The journey had been long and arduous. Miles of desert beige rolled in the distance, dune after dune rippled like tiny waves in the blistering wind.

The camel with its slow, steady gait followed his trusted master leading him across the barren land. On his back, atop blue and burgundy striped blankets, parcels were strapped securely between the undulating humps. Piled on high, the bundles weighed the burden-bearer down.

But on he trod, following in the footsteps of his Master.

As the nodding sun set the sky ablaze and cool of night crept in, the Master and his faithful companion reached their destination. The Master turned and stroked the camel. He gave the command and the burden-bearer knelt on knees calloused by faithful service. The camel then tilted to the left and rolled the bundles of burden onto the desert sand.

There is a fascinating Hebrew word for this: galal (gah-lahl), which means to roll, roll away or remove. Galal is also the Hebrew word for commit.

"Commit your way to the Lord, 
trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." ~ Psalm 37:5

Isn't that a beautiful image? Commit - roll over or remove - the burdens we carry for our futures and place them into the capable hands of our Father. 

How did the camel get into position to remove his burdens? Yes! He knelt. He lowered himself into a position of submission and humility before his Master.

Sweet friend, are you worried about tomorrow? I encourage you to kneel and roll your burden over to the Lord. Imagine its weight leaving your shoulders.

Are you worried about your child? Kneel and roll the burden over.

Is your loved one sick? Bills piling up? Kneel before the Lord. Commit - roll over the burden - fully trusting Him to hear your cry and respond.

As the camel knelt in response to His master's command, their eyes met. A knowing exchanged between them. When the camel tilted to the side, the Master was there ready to take the bundles of burden one by one.

Commit your way to the Lord and know that He will remove the burdens and bring your hopes and dreams to pass.

**************************************************** 
Tweetables to Encourage Others

But on he trod, following in the footsteps of his Master. (Click to Tweet)

Are you worried? Sick? Bills piling up? @NanJonesAuthor will help you lay that burden down. (Click to Tweet)



*********************************************************
If you received Morning Glory via email, please visit the Morning Glory  page. I'm featuring Hillsong singing, "With All I Am". If you are burdened and heavy-laden today, I know in my knower that this video will lift you up into the Presence of the Lord and help you lay those burdens down. Bless you my sweet friend.

Scriptures of Encouragement ~ Feathers Like Burnished Wood

by Nan Jones

I first noticed him perched in the top of a locust tree near our home. The tree, with its still sleeping branches, arched and strained against the hefty winds coming across the mountain ridge. The forest's feathered guest sat stoically as the branch swayed to the rhythm of the wind.

Photo Credit: thesccbirdnerd.blogspot.com

With one graceful swoop, he lifted himself high into the blustery sky. My eyes followed the hawk, his feathers like burnished wood in the sunlight. He pumped his wings with force. With grace. With beauty. Each stroke of power lifting him higher and higher until he crested the force of the wind and could soar.

What transported him upward? His wings? His focus towards the heavens? I don't know.

I wondered.

His flight seemed effortless. A natural response to a blustery day.

Like each beat of the burnished wing taking him higher and higher, I thought about each song of praise, each uttered prayer, each recognition of the One who loves us that takes us higher and higher above the fray.

"He gives power to the weak, 

and to those who have no might 

He increases strength. 

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, 

and the young men shall utterly fall, 

but those who wait on the Lord 

shall renew their strength; 

They shall mount up with wings like eagles, 

they shall run and not be weary, 

they shall walk and not faint." 

~ Isaiah 40:29-31

Wait. Qavah (kah-vah). Expresses the idea of waiting hopefully - expectantly.

How do we wait hopefully? How do we mount up with wings as eagles and soar above the fray?

By seeking the Lord, sitting - lingering - at His feet.
By offering a sacrifice of praise while tears escape our uplifted eyes.
By reminding ourselves who we are and who HE is.

I watched as the feathers like burnished wood circled and then drifted peacefully towards the horizon.

Wait for Jesus. He's the sun in your horizon. Wait hopefully for Him and soar. 

******************************************************
Tweetables to Encourage Others

How do we wait hopefully - expectantly? @NanJonesAuthor offers some insight. (Click to Tweet)

What transported him upward? His wings? His focus towards the heavens? (Click to Tweet)

Each song of praise, each uttered prayer, each recognition of the One who loves us takes us higher above the fray. (Click to Tweet)



*********************************************************
If you received Morning Glory via email, please visit the Morning Glory  page for a very special treat! I'm featuring the TRM Sacred Dance Team performing/worshiping to Jason Upton's "I Will Wait". You are going to love this!

Where Is God? Sunday Glimpses

by Nan Jones

Father God, You are God alone - the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. You are mighty, merciful, faithful, and good. Yes, Lord, You are oh so good! Thank You for Your love. Thank You for revealing Yourself to Your children. It's hard to grasp the fact that we can know You intimately, that we can walk hand-in-hand with You, the Creator of the Universe. Awaken our hearts to understand this phenomenal Truth, Lord. Awaken our hearts to love You, to seek after You and Your Truth. When we find You, we find the answer to our petitions - we find peace, we find courage, we find joy, and provision. Stir within us a hunger for Your Word, for it contains the Truth. Your Word reveals who You are. Cause us to thirst after You and Your righteousness, for only You can satisfy the longing in our hearts. Hold my friends close today. Open their ears to hear Your sweet whispers of love and reassurance. Shelter them in Your Presence. Hide them beneath the shadow of Your wing until the calamities pass them by and they are once again safe and sound. Thank You, Lord. We bless You! We praise You, for You alone are worthy of our praise!

*************************************************************
Tweetables to Encourage Others

Lord, You are mighty, merciful, faithful, and good. Yes Lord, You are oh so good! (Click to Tweet )

Are you searching for God in your pain? Perhaps @NanJonesAuthor can help. WHERE IS GOD? SUNDAY GLIMPSES (Click to Tweet)

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

Scriptures of Encouragement ~ Refiner's Fire

by Nan Jones

Photographer unknown

I can't seem to get away from these thoughts, these ponderings of the Refiner's fire. For two days, lessons I've learned in the fire have drifted in and out of my mind. The Lord reminded me of a previous post that dealt with this topic. I believe in my heart of hearts that this message is for someone in particular, probably someone I don't even know. But God knows. He is El Roi, the God Who Sees and knows all about it. Sweet friend, He sees your struggles and He knows your heart. May the words of my heart give you strength for the journey...


The silversmith wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his calloused hand. The flames leaped in the bowels of the furnace, licking the air for oxygen, preparing to devour anything not pure enough to withstand its sweltering fury.

Carefully, the old gentleman filled his stone "smithing" bowl with slivers and filings of discarded silver—throw-aways deliberately chosen for the vessel he would craft. He placed them "just so" into the bowl and then eased it into the center of the flames where the heat was greatest. This was necessary to burn away anything impure. Only the finest silver would do for the vessel the Master silversmith would shape after the refining fire.

The old man reached for his chair. His fingers, black with soot, grasped the chair's carved back and pulled it closer to the furnace. He sat down, never taking his eyes off the silver that was now beginning to melt and swirl in the inferno. The silversmith knew the exact moment to remove the silver—a second too long and it would be destroyed.

He kept a careful eye—watching, waiting—looking for that moment when the impurities were gone.

At last, the dross pulled away from the silver. The silversmith eased the stone bowl out of the flames. He peered into the liquid luster. Reflected back to him, as in a mirror, was his own image. The old gentleman knew the refining fire had completed its work. The silver was pure. It shone with the brightness of the morning star. It reflected its Master's image. Now the vessel for which it was intended could be shaped and molded by the Master's hand.


I am learning that all things have eternal purposes for the one who loves the Lord. His desire is that we be rich in fellowship with Him for all of eternity. In the fire He reveals Himself to us. In the fire He cleanses us and sets us apart to do His will.

"In this you greatly rejoice, 

though now for a little while, if need be, 

you have been grieved by various trials,

 that the genuineness of your faith 

being much more precious than gold that perishes, 

though it is tested by fire, 

may be found to praise, honor, and glory 

at the revelation of Jesus Christ. "

 ~ 1 Peter 1:6-8

Sweet friend, think on these things: The Master never takes His eyes off of His child going through a trial. He knows the exact moment to deliver us from the flames that burn the impurities away. When the dross has pulled away, the Master looks upon His child and, as in a mirror, sees His reflection there - the apple of His eye. It's at that moment that the Lord shapes and molds us into the vessel He needs for us to be - the vessel that will fulfill His purposes on this earth. 

Selah

********************************************************
Tweetables to Encourage Others

Are you in a fiery trial? Ready to give up? Please don't, God is with you. @NanJonesAuthor will help you find Him. (Click to Tweet)

In the refiner's fire the Master never takes His eyes off His child. (Click to Tweet)



*********************************************************
Do you feel as though you are in the refiner's fire? Do you feel like you want to give us? I would be honored to pray with you. You may contact me at nan@jubilantlight.com
*********************************************************
If you received Morning Glory via email, please visit the Morning Glory  page to enter into worship with Christy Nockels singing, "Refiner's Fire" at Passion 2013. It will lift you above your difficulties. Promise.

Scriptures of Encouragement ~ Barren Places

by Nan Jones

 After all these years, how did this story pass me by without grabbing my attention? It's the story of the proclamation of Samson's birth. It's a story that offers great insight into the awesome God we love and serve.

Manoah and his wife were barren. The Angel of the Lord appeared to her and told her that she would conceive a child who was to be set apart for the service of the Lord - he would  be a Nazirite who would deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.The woman did not understand that this Man of God was actually the Lord Himself.

Manoah believed his wife, but he asked the Lord if He would send the Man of God again to teach them what they should do for the child who would be born. The Lord heard the cry of Manoah's heart and came again. He met Manoah and his wife at their point of need.

After the visitation, Manoah wanted to honor the Man of God by preparing a goat for Him. The Angel said He could not eat the meal, but that Manoah should offer it as a burnt offering to the Lord.

Not understanding who the Man of God was, "Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, 'What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor you?' And the the Angel of the Lord said to him, 'Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?'"

I love that! "Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?"

It is wonderful is a Hebrew expression meaning 'beyond understanding'. The Name of the Lord is beyond understanding! It is the Name above all names. His Name is a strong tower where we can run and be saved from our enemies. The Name of the Lord embodies the very essence of His power and glory.

"So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to the Lord. And He [the Lord] did a wonderous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on - it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar - the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground. When the Angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the Lord." ~ Judges 13: 17-21)

The Lord revealed Himself to Manoah and his wife because they believed. He revealed Himself in their offering of gratitude.

Oh yes, sweet friend...His Name is wonderful.

Are there barren places in your life? Brokenness? Fear? Lost hope and dreams? Call on the Name of the Lord. His name is Peace. His name is Redeemer. Healer. Friend.

His name is Jesus.



Father, I pray for my precious friends today. Many are hurting, are frightened or alone. But You Lord, are wonderful. Your love is beyond understanding. I ask that You hold my friend close. Hide them beneath the shadow of Your wing until the calamity passes them by. There is no sweeter place than the shadow of Your Presence. Draw them to You Lord. Call out their name and woo them by the power of Your Holy Spirit. I ask that You would make a way where there seems to be no way. I ask that the Light of Your Presence would dispel all darkness, in Jesus' Name. Fill up the  barren places with life - abundant life that only You can give. Thank You, Lord. You are Wonderful, Counselor, Almighty God, and the Prince of Peace. Rain down Your peace on my friend today, In Jesus' Name I pray, amen.

*********************************************************
Tweetables to Encourage Others

Are there barren places in your life? @NanJonesAuthor offers hope. (Click to Tweet)

Oh yes, sweet friend...His Name is wonderful. (Click to Tweet)

*********************************************************
If you received Morning Glory via email, please visit the Morning Glory  page. I'm featuring Janet Paschal singing, "You're Still Lord". You may remember Janet from the Gaither Homecoming shows. She is a cancer survivor and sings this song as a testament to the fact that, regardless of what comes our way, Jesus is still Lord. It's powerful.

Where Is God? Sunday Glimpses

Lord, You've reminded me of the cross all day. Forgive me for taking it for granted. Forgive me for not remembering the great sacrifice You made for me - the great outpouring of Your love. You are wonderful, Lord. Because of You I have hope. Because of You I have peace. Because of You I will never walk alone or be in need...all because of the cross. Your love for us is beyond comprehension. Open the eyes of our hearts to know and understand how much You love Your children. Lord, so many feel alone and afraid today. They feel unworthy of Your love. I ask that You open their ears to hear Your sweet whispers of love. Make them aware of the tug You've placed upon their heartstrings, drawing them to You. Let them know Your unconditional love. Heal their broken places. Wipe their tears of affliction, their tears of overwhelming sorrow and replace them with the peace that passes all understanding. Thank You Lord. Thank You for showing Yourself strong on their behalf today. You are an awesome God. We love You.
*********************************************************
Tweetables to Encourage Others

WHERE IS GOD? SUNDAY GLIMPSES Are you struggling to find God in your circumstances? (Click to Tweet)

Lord, because of You I have hope, I have peace. Because of You I will never walk alone. (Click to Tweet)

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