Your Mercies Are New Every Morning...a poem

Your mercies are new every morning,

you renew your love for me while I'm there.

When I share, I share of your goodness,
my life shows others I care.

If I boast of anything else in this world,
then it's not Your love that they see.

It's my flesh; a life of works...
it's all about me.

But, if I spend time with you every day,
Your presence is fresh as the dew on the ground.

And in the words that I speak to others,
Only my life in you will be found.

Sammie Jean

Your mercies are new every morning

Jesus, You Are The Bread of Life

One day I was out in the yard watering my flowers and Holy Spirit just dropped into my Spirit only this one line of the Lord's prayer; "give us this day our daily bread." Yes, I know Lord, you are my provision. The more I pondered, I felt that there was more.

 I thought about the story of the Israelite's when Moses led them out of bondage. God told them that He would provide for them.  He said that each morning He would visit them and give them manna (bread) to eat.  He told them to only take enough for that day, He would  provide. He was teaching them to rely on him daily for their physical needs.

 I thought about the place where Jesus was born, Bethlehem, means "house of bread." That's pretty awesome! 

His word never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but for some reason, He wants me to rely on Him everyday. I can't rely on yesterdays relationship or revelation alone.   He wants me to come to Him daily to get my "daily bread." He wants daily communication.  I need Him If I haven't spent time with Him daily, in close communion. If He hasn't revealed himself to me through His spoken and written word, then I am relying on "old manna or bread." I'm pretty sure He knows me and my flesh and He knows that it wouldn't take long for me to think I could do pretty good on my own. After all, I do know a lot about Him. I don't think that is what He desires from me...

He desires for me to know Him face to face...

My spiritual hunger should be so much greater than my physical hunger for Him. What if I learned to live beyond provision and into His presence?  What an awesome life that would be. Yes, He provides, but there is and never will be anything else like "His presence."

sammie jean

Only He Who Sees

Love this poem...

Father God, I want to see you "smack dab" in the middle of my life; down every path, and round every corner, (even in the smallest, mundane things of life) and enjoying every minute of it!

I really do...

Sammie Jean

Who in the World is perfect? not me for sure

 Perfection. Grab a cup of hot coffee and let's talk. I don't know about you but it has been a hard road to get to this place for me. I never thought that I was a perfectionist. From all outward appearances, it sure didn't look like it. I always took great joy in saying, "It doesn't bother me." Now that I'm trying to be honest with myself. That's just not the truth! I plan things in my mind and when they don't go like planned, it is hard to live with me. That's perfectionism! And it's baloney! You can never enjoy God's fullness if you never think you or anybody else can measure up.

Perfectionism...Type A personality...Obsessive-Compulsive...whatever name you put on it, is all about control. We try to look and act like we have everything under complete control. We do too... "total controlled chaos."  Life is always going to have it's ups and downs and what's the joy of having everything go as planned anyway? it's a lot more exciting if it doesn't...

Father God, help me today and tomorrow live in the moment that you give me, enjoying it fully. I don't have to be in control. Help me to love myself, my husband, my family, friends and strangers that I come in contact with. Help me to laugh at myself often and stop taking myself so "dog-gone" serious.

               Help me remember that I don't have to work so hard (mentally                or physically) because...

When you do it, It is good!  You said so and I believe you!

Sammie Jean

Brave Little Wildflower

Like the wildflower... I want to be unafraid, unashamed, and uninhibited by others around me

As I turned the corner this morning, to start my walk, there it was. Our first little brave wildflower. It was a very unexpected surprise for many reasons, but a pleasant one nevertheless. It made me smile.

It was my husbands idea to plant wildflowers in our little precisely, manicured flower bed. I told him I had never heard of doing that and to be honest, I didn't really think they would grow there. Wildflowers are called "wild" for a reason. They are meant to grow free in a place where they have plenty of room to spread out and express themselves, "kinda like us kids of the late sixties," not in a restrained flower bed.  But, we decided to go ahead anyway. We planted them away from the porch because we knew they would grow tall and we also planted them on the back row for the same reason. We planted them alongside the other flowers and watered them everyday since the first of March. While all the other flowers had already bloomed, there was no sign of life from the wildflower seeds. Apparently, they grow very, very slow. It seemed to take forever before we saw the first tiny sign of green, pop up. But, we finally did. Here it is the last of April, And this morning...a  beautiful, pink and yellow wildflower boldly showed its face...it decided to just bloom anyway.

I was thinking this morning on my walk about how in our country so many of us grow up in the church. We grow up learning how to act in church, what to say in church, and just how to be "churchy." Many of us don't even really remember when we got saved because we have always been in church. You can almost understand how the Sadducees and Pharisees became who they were. They were always those good little church goers, knowing a lot of scripture and quick to judge others that didn't interpret it like they did.

 I remember the point in my life saying, "Lord, there is just something not right about this church thing." I  mean... go to church on Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday and some time in between, but I just don't see your fruit in my life...joy, peace, love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

I definitely want to be more than just a church attender...

Lord Jesus, I don't want to just go to church. I don't want to just talk the talk. I want to passionately pursue you, being your hands and feet in this world.  I don't want only head knowledge. I want to speak and act with a heart following Holy Spirits lead.

Like the wildflower...I want to be unafraid, unashamed, and uninhibited to "stand out" differently than those around me, if I need to be and no matter where I'm planted...I want to "bloom" for you.

I give you my whole heart...

Sammie Jean

WHAT WEIGHS US DOWN?

 We were born to fly...

Pour little fellow.  Felt so sorry for him this morning when I went out to wash a load of clothes. He was stuck in the trash can. Beautiful, perfectly formed moth, yet unable to fly. I started to investigate. Taking pictures all along the way because I figured when I started messing with him he would fly off...but he didn't. So I dumped him out of the garbage can to get a closer look. He fluttered a little but didn't fly off. As I looked closer he still had part of his cocoon attached to his underside. He was unable to fly because he still had too much holding him down.

Holy Spirit had already brought to my mind this morning the scripture about storing treasures in heaven rather than on earth. I continued to ponder on this all morning while I was walking. Just coming off a fabulous trip I thought about how this might coincide.  How can we enjoy this life and not get entangled or weighed down by it?

This is not our home. It never was and never will be. This is the training ground for eternity. We were born to fly. Of course I don't mean literally, I mean we were never suppose to be weighted down with the heaviness of the things of this life. So, if I am not free I have to consider, "What is weighing me down?" I think it is usually my own doing...sometimes maybe not. I know so often I take on weight that I was never meant to carry. One of the biggest things I have trouble with is my expectations for myself and those that I love. Many times they are just not real they are a facade. I can't control anybody or anything...just myself. And why would I want to anyway? I'm learning that losing all that extra baggage has enabled me to invest in what really matters. My relationships. My relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the people He has placed in my life. These treasures will last forever. Peace, joy, love (all the precious fruits of the Spirit) that He gives me, enables me to soar to heights I never could otherwise. Things will never do that for me...they will only weigh me down.

I kept encouraging my morning furry friend to fly but it took some time. He fluttered and fluttered around and around and then finally, he flew off. It was a beautiful sight.

Matthew 6:19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth...vs 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven...vs 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Grace....costly, yet freely given

GRACE

the very sound,
  so sweet,
 melodiously,
undeniable

So open,
and honest,
 flawlessly,
unpretentious

didn't earn it,
unexpected, 
   lavishly,
unexplainable

deserving not,
but it happened,
overwhelmingly,
unworthy

life-giving,
changing me,
   costly,
yet freely given

Sammie Jean Owens