A Bird's Desire…

Birds find nooks and crannies in your house, sparrows and swallows make nests there. They lay their eggs and raise their young, singing their songs in the place where we worship. God of the Angel Armies! King! God! How blessed they are to live and sing there! (Psalm 84:3, 4 MSG)

This verse amazes me... To read in this Psalm that even a bird looks for the smallest crevice, a nook, any small secluded place in the house of the Lord to make a home for her dear eggs. No life has been given yet but this small, feathered creature knows that not just any place will do for her unborn treasures. It needs to be a place of safety, a secure nest, a peaceful place where her young will be brought to life and nurtured in a loving way.
In the last couple of days my 6yr old son had been "complaining" of being at church too much these past few days, as we've had a few church events on a daily basis. As I read Psalm 84:10 to him, these two verses also caught my attention... Isn't it lovely to know that there is no better place than to be in the House of the Lord? Sometimes we tend to apologize to our children because we've spent "too much" time there involved in different activities.  Or simply just once a week service yet we apologize them and promise to take them somewhere of their liking. We tend to go to church for a limited time only because our busy agenda restricts us from being there any longer than we should. Sometimes a worship gathering is not over and our minds are wandering and engaged in other activities outside of the worship walls. Our hearts and mind have been consumed by the "To Do" list that our time in a worship setting has been tainted. It's been robbed of the blessing that it is to be in the house of the Lord. And we take our young whom we are responsible for as a parent and are instructing them in this manner as well.
May our hearts be stirred and shaken to embrace the beauty of our time in the house of the Lord! To instruct our young that the house of the Lord is a refuge, a haven where there is all that we need to build a strong, healthy life.
May we be as a bird, who longs for their young to be in a worship setting and learn to sing his praises!

Show me Your Ways

Since a few months back this has been MY VERSE and daily!! It's amazing the things that God reveals to us when our heart is desperate for answers! 
As a PK(preachers kid), I have always been close to the church, known of the mighty things God can do, I've had a relationship with Christ, and have never questioned my faith.  But a few months ago as I found myself in a place I had never been before, my knees began to tremble.  You know, the place of the unknown, isolated, at a road block and having NO IDEA where to go from here.  Have you been there before?  So next I went to the Word, the living Word of God where surely I could find "something" to help me.  As I read from book to book in the Bible this verse suddenly "jumped out" at me.... Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:4-5(NIV)  Huh? I know this verse.  I memorized it when I was young.... But oh, how it spoke to me this one morning when I was completely lost!  All I could see in highlighted yellow color(and no, it's not highlighted in my bible) was this scripture that was my hearts cry!!  Needless to say, my heart was poured out to my God at that very moment and His love surrounded me like never before.  I got up from that place and knew exactly what had to be done!  I'd never done it before and I'd never made such phone calls but all I had to do was take action and God began to open the doors in a place I had never been before. 
You see, He is your Guide.  He is your Teacher.  He is your Father.  He knows what door to open next.  He's not a lottery ticket... He is YOUR TICKET!! All you have to do is ask, open your heart and mind, and go, with Him in hand.