Building Tabernacles

As some of you already know, I am quite fond of pink trees. It has become quite a tradition for me to announce the sighting of my first one to anyone who will listen. Of course, whomever is with me at that moment, if it happens while they are driving (sorry Honey) would think we were about to hit something with the car. I literally scream, "LOOK! THERE IT IS! THE FIRST ONE!" Well, it happened. I spotted my first one. I proceeded to call and make my proud proclaimation to my daughter who in turn announced that she had spotted one three hours earlier. I determined it mattered not which one of us made our discovery before the other. What mattered was, that they really existed and that meant only one thing. Spring has Sprung! I don't care what the calendar says, to me they are a sign of Spring to arrive once more. You might be wondering what Building Tabernacles has to do with Spring. Let me explain what I have been thinking. The pink tree in itself points to the real target, that of the wonderful, warm, colorful, newness of life brought on by the Season of Spring! Spring means the beginning of spending time outside, children laughing, lawnmowers running, birds singing, picnics, fishing, boating, etc., etc. It is the SEASON I am looking for. Then I began to think of the time Jesus took Peter, James and John up on the mountain. He was transfigured before their eyes and Moses and Elijah showed up as well. They witnessed His glory and two men who according to their standards, were no longer among the living. Wow! Talk about an exclamation, "LOOK!" And then came the idea, "Let's build three tabernacles. One for you, Jesus and one for Moses and one for Elijah." "This is great!" ( A bit of a paraphrase here.) Then came the cloud that enveloped them and God spoke, "This is my Beloved Son. Hear Him!" As there are so many amazing things that the Season of Spring encompasses, it is really Spring that we focus on. Everything else is a result of it. We may try to capture all the activities, aromas and sounds but they are only passing. The wonderful thing we can count on in this world is that Spring itself will return. Sometimes we can "build tabernacles" when it comes to our walk with the Lord. He does something incredible in our midst, like the transfiguration and we want to stay right there. I believe it is our human nature. He thrills us and we enjoy it so much that we fix our eyes on the amazing situation. We want to soak it up and keep it close to us and in our hearts and never lose it. We become comfortable with it and it may even become an object of worship without our even realizing. God is saying, "This is my Beloved Son. Hear Him!" We can't hang on to the results of Spring. The flowers fade, the leaves eventually die and all turns gray and we focus on those things and lose the life that is in the other seasons because we want it to be like Spring all the time. We can't build a tabernacle to the great things we see God doing or we will never move on to the next step of what he wants to do. "Present interpretation and fresh revelation are always needed for life with a living God." (a quote from a book I once read) The pillar moved; the cloud moved. Let us always be ready to move. A tabernacle sounds permanent. Again, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus..." and move on to the next "season" he has for us. Let us exclaim loudly, "LOOK! There HE is!" And, as we are so doing, let's enjoy this earthly Season of Spring to the fullest!

Stand in Awe

I love to memorize Scripture. I began doing it as a new Christian. We used to have Scripture quoting "contests" during Sunday morning services. It was a wonderful way to get the Word in our hearts and lift our Faith level. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God", Romans 10:17. Recently I memorized Hebrews 12:28 and 29, "Therefore, since we are receiving a Kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and AWE, for our God is a comsuming fire." Everything around us can be shaken, life can be turned upside down literaly as we know, but the Kingdom we belong to which is not of this world, can never be. It is solid and unmoveable because the King is solid and unmoveable. "He is the same yesterday, today and forever" Hebrews 13:8. I woke up singing, "I stand, I stand in awe of you. I stand I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you." Let us fix our eyes on Jesus today and not on our circumstances and let him AWE us as we watch what he does in our lives and in behalf of those we love. What a wonderful, AWESOME God we serve!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Thanks to my beautiful Daughter Kim, "The Ungourmet" who is also having a Bloggy Birthday, I began blogging a year ago this month. I don't blog as often as a lot of my Bloggy Friends. However, I love having the opportunity to share the things that inspire. My plan this year is to post more often to hopefully encourge and "spur" others on in their relationship with the Lord and those whose lives they touch from day to day. Life puts us all in the same Bloggy Boat so to speak and as the saying goes on a little greeting card I have, "Life is just so Daily" so I believe we need to encourage one another daily as we wait for the return of our wonderful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. My passion remains the same as it reads in "about me".

Blessings to all my Friends who have left comments over the past year. You have certainly blessed me. I love visiting each of your blogs and learning from each of you.

Love, joy and peace be yours this day!