Do you remember singing the old hymn?

Do you remember singing the old hymn ‘Revive Us Again’? Memories of standing beside my mother when I was barely tall enough to help hold the green Broadman Hymnal and belting out ‘Hallelujah, Thine the glory, revive us again’ sooths my soul.  Remembering great moments shared with loved ones gone to glory resonates joyous healing.  Mother embarrassed me many times as we stood in worship and sang hymns. Her beautiful voice and southern twang rang in my ears, with me wishing she would sing a little softer.  I’ve typed and deleted the next sentence at least twenty times; wishing mother back here to stand beside in church and hear her sing would be wrong. Besides, she wouldn’t want to come back anyway.  My mind can see her standing on the streets of gold with Mrs. Norma Howard and Faye Williams singing for Paul, Timothy, James, King David and loving every eternal moment of it! I believe we will sing together one day in Heaven and that thought keeps me singing as I go.

 Do you wonder about your loved ones in heaven also?  We can be thankful for God’s promise to prepare a place with eternal peace and joy beyond understanding for them there while keeping us alive and well to finish our race here! Knowing they are safe in the arms of Jesus gives comfort.  Knowing we are right with God and ready to meet Jesus at any moment gives peace.  Are you ready right now to go to heaven?   Kenny Chesney sings about wanting to go to heaven but not today. So,  we may not actually be ready to go now but if now was your time or mine…are we ready if Jesus called us in the twinkling of an eye like He did the 27 year old middle school teacher in his classroom a few weeks ago?  Are we really ready or do we need to repent and be revived? Waiting to get ready and make things right with the Lord, loved ones, and those we have might have ought against makes for dangerous living!

Sharing the words to ‘Revive Us Again’ sparks precious memories of yesterday, thankful yet troubling thoughts for today, and earnest, hopeful prayers for tomorrow. Let your heart sing the lyrics wherever you are reading this. Feel the power of words that ring truth ‘for such a time as this’ when Revelation plays out before our eyes and being ready for heaven at any given moment is wise!

“We praise Thee, O God for the Son of Thy love, For Jesus who died, and is now gone above. Hallelujah Thine the glory, Hallelujah amen, Hallelujah Thine the glory, revive us again.

All glory and praise to the Lamb that was slain. Who has borne all our sins and hath cleansed every stain. Hallelujah thine the glory, Hallelujah amen, Hallelujah Thine the glory, revive us again.

Revive us again, fill each heart with Thy love. May each soul be rekindled with fire from above. Hallelujah thine the glory, Hallelujah amen, Hallelujah thine the glory, REVIVE US AGAIN!”

In Zephaniah 3:17 God’s Word tells how He rejoices over His children!  “He will rejoice over you with singing.”   Clearly, God loves to hear singing and praising in HIs courts and in our hearts.  When we feel down and out, we only need to hum or sing a favorite hymn to be revived.  Praising the Lord with joyful singing is pleasing to Him and heart mending medicine for His children.  Why not sing a little song or whistle while you work today?  Singing in our hearts and minds is music to His ears only.  Singing out loud, even when we might embarrass those standing beside us, shares the joy, joy, joy deep down in our hearts. When you enter your home tonight, purposefully be singing a little love song and see how your family reacts.  I grew up to mother singing Amazing Grace, Love Lifted Me, and Revive Us Again. Daddy, on the other hand, sang little rhymes that brought laughter and a sweet spirit in our home when one or the other of us needed an attitude adjustment. I can see his humble smile widen as he sang with conviction…”I was going ‘round the curve making ninety miles an hour when the chain on my bicycle broke, or “did you ever see mama make water, she could pee for a mile and a quarter”!  Wishing I could remember all his little tunes, I cherish most the humble, loving, happy spirit in which he sang his songs! 

God sees our hearts as we sing. He watches as we rush through days and nights with little time left for Him…or them (family) when we allow ourselves to become overextended!

Rising Up early to spend time with Him before the world wakes up wonderful.  This morning, I read while listening to Reflections on Daystar.  Tranquility filled my heart as peaceful pictures from God’s creation faded in and out on my television screen.  The following verse from Psalm 119:14 popped up beside a scene of poppies in a field with sunshine glistening through gentle raindrops on the green pasture.  Hopefully, these words will resonate in your soul and become part of your daily routine.  Whether we take time for ‘God and us” early in the morning or late at night is not the critical thing in our relationship with Christ, what matters is we ‘Just do it”!  For me, putting Him first in my mornings makes for a day that’s great-t-t-t!  Being closely connected to Christ keeps us singing when the world is whining and wondering why we are happy!  Being Revived brings us closer to Christ with peaceful hearts ready to meet Him whenever He calls.

“I RISE before dawn and cry for help.  I put my trust in You”!

Now is the time to Rise Up and be Revived…put our trust in God, be ready to meet Jesus, and enjoy the rest of our journeys while writing our stories out loud in LOVE!

How do you spend your time?

How do you spend your time?  Many people annually rank time management as top New Year Resolutions.  Spending time well is wise and works when one learns to prune and prioritize.  What would Jesus do became a popular catchphrase with bracelets and badges worn to show support for Jesus’ wise decision making and encouragement for His sheep to do the same.

How would Jesus spend His time?  While here on earth, Jesus was under the same time constraints as the rest of mankind.  He had twenty-four hour days throughout HIs life that was bordered by life and death - just like we do.  How amazing to think of Jesus living among HIs family, followers, and friends, who probably took HIs presence and (present) for granted…just as we do today.

Do you have a balanced life? Jesus did!  Though we don’t have a replay of his daily schedule, Luke sheds light on our how our Savior spent His time. 

Luke 2:52 says, “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”

This verse helps us understand decisions Jesus made around the time HIs parents found Him in the temple, not a place your typical twelve year old would spend time teaching elders about God’s Word and ways.  Jesus spent time caring for HIs mind and body during the years that followed HIs temple experience until the time His public ministry began around the age of thirty.

Growing up and gaining favor with God and men was important for Jesus, as it is for you and me.  Jesus chose to spend time nurturing relationships with His Father in heaven and with people here on earth.  Lessons on time management He taught many years ago are spot on today. Spending time with the Lord and loved ones is a wise and wonderful way to live and stay closely connected.  

If Jesus was growing ‘in favor with God,’ then God approved of how Jesus was spending the time He’d been given.  Does God approve of the way you and I spend our time?  What takes top priority when planning how we will spend our time?    We should think on these things that make life lovely and spend time with our heavenly Father first. Then, a few of our favorite time takers should be caring for our mind, body, and relationships. 

Surely you are thinking of all the other needs that must be accomplished in a day: meals to be made, laundry to be washed, house to be cleaned, church and community activities, jobs with work that can overwhelm, and tons of tasks of making a living and caring for a family that take up a large portion of our time each day.  Many reading this story are carving time from other things you need to be doing. Making a living and trying to do things that fill our agendas can consume time and cripple relationships.

Luke 2:52 reminds us that it takes more than ‘making a living’ to make a life.   In other words, we make choices of how we spend our time that makes a difference in our happiness for life on earth and for eternity!

While reading this story, what thoughts have tendered your heart?  Have you been convicted of how you spend your time?  I have!  Can’t you just see Mary and Martha preparing that meal Jesus and close family and friends would share in their home?  Mary chose to take time from their busy schedule to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to His stories.  Martha’s frustration kept her from enjoying precious time that could never be recalled. Housecleaning and cooking is essential when company is coming; yet,  being consumed and going overboard with things can cause us to miss spending time with our Lord and loved ones.  A simple meal and fairly clean home with sweet fellowship and time for nurturing relationships is better than a feast and fabulous house where frustration reigns over faith.

 How we spend our time will determine how we spend our lives.  We must learn to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ when scheduling our days.  Taking time to nurture our hearts (relationships with others), our souls (relationships with God), our minds (both wisdom and knowledge), and our strength (our physical bodies), every day will help us lead a more balanced life - a life that will keep growing stronger in favor with God and others.

Do you believe Godly dreams bless more than the dreamer?

Do you believe Godly dreams bless more than the dreamer?  I do!  When our dreams come true, they bring joy, increase faith, give hope and supernatural inspiration to everyone they touch.  Martin Luther King’s dream of equality for all God’s children continues to touch lives today. Alexander Graham Bell’s dream led to the phones we rely on every day. Noah’s dream to build a boat - before rain - saved a remnant of God’s creation to carry on after the flood.  Have you witnessed the joy of a dream come true?

The Bible speaks of fulfilled dreams in Proverbs 13:12. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.”

 I believe God wants our dreams to come true!  Prayer and perseverance settle in for seasons while waiting faithfully for fulfilled dreams. Getting stuck in winter can keep dreams dormant, but pressing forth to springtime shows signs that our dreams did not die. Rising up with hopeful, believing hearts and determined, working hands can help dreams come true in God’s perfect timing.   My dream of finishing this story before bedtime was almost lost when the low battery signaled my power source was at two percent and my work was not saved.  Plugging in the power cord rescued my writing. God rescues His perishing children when we reconnect to Him and pursue the dreams within our hearts…and those we never imagined being privy to in this lifetime.

In 2008, I stood in a packed coliseum in Charlotte with my sister and niece, Katy.  We traveled to the Revival with hope for Katy’s dreams to have more mobility, play sports, and enjoy life outside hospitals to begin and healing to happen. We stood in line for hours, watched as people were turned away to an overflow building; the dream of getting inside looked bleak. Then, an usher walked past us and stopped beside Katy’s wheelchair. Seeing our dismay, the Good Samaritan led us to a side door, explained he felt led to help us, wheeled Katy inside, and ushered us to ground floor four rows from the stage.  I believe God sent that man.  It was no mistake we were at that revival, even though it took effort and determination to get there. We almost missed the blessing God had for us by staying home.  With tremendous traffic jams and tons of people everywhere we turned, the sweet spirit we embraced could have turned sour with one little word of negativity from either of us. I sensed my sister’s apprehension, not wanting Katy to feel uncomfortable; I prayed fervently for God to work it out. And He did!

 For hours, we worshipped and waited as people were helped. Our prayers were not answered that night for Katy, but our hope was not deferred and a dream was planted in my heart for revival to overflow in our local Expo Center where people would Rise Up to praise and worship God and enjoy a time of fellowship and food in one accord.

The dream inside my heart stirred but I resisted. The nudge to Rise UP grew; finally, my dream became reality in 2012. People gathered at the Expo Center for Rise Up - Recount Love, and God was glorified.  This year’s Christian celebration’s theme is Rise Up - Revive! We, at Tim’s Gift, are planning and believing people will come to the February 18th event with hope for healing, renewing relationships with the Lord and loved ones, and dreams to be planted inside hearts.

This story stirred to help people in hard places with little hope for fulfilled dreams by sharing Katy’sjourney to dreams coming true.  Nine years after sharing the revival experience in Charlotte, Katy has been through more than most people will experience in a lifetime. Yet, she has held to hope and faith, with the help of her family’s loving support, through seasons that threatened to keep her captive to pain pills, surgeries, (she has undergone 28 in her 23 years), and limited opportunities for big dreams to be fulfilled.

Sharing the details of Katy’s love story would captivate your heart. There were desperate times when the enemy tried to keep Katy in a painful, pitiful pit where her dreams would die, but God had other plans and was working all things out for good according to His purpose for her life.

Katy had to RISE UP from a powerful pit of desperation and she did!  With God’s help and encouragement from loved ones, Katy rose up fearlessly and faced each day with hope.  Through tears, trials, and her brother (who is working on his doctorate at the University of Illinois) suggesting she visit him and check out the handicapped dorm and opportunities there - when it seemed she hit dead end,  God wasworking things outfor a young Christian woman with courage and determination to make her dreams come true. 

Wishing I had time and space to write about the amazing details of her journey, I share only how theweaving of God’s handiwork through years of hoping, heartaches, and hallelujahs  has given Katy purpose and passionto RISE UP, dream, and do things that could only happen with HIM at the helm.  Katy is a Junior at The University of Illinois, a member of the UI Handicapped Basketball Team, (she travels with her team on special buses to seven universities across America playing the sport she dreamed of as a little girl ), an honor student, a chosen student from a group study to try out a product they created for people in wheelchairs - a specialfitbit with rolls instead of steps being recorded, a strong spirited, happy,  healthy (works out two hours daily with her teammates), young woman whose hope and joy for living life out loud in love have been REVIVED!  Katy chose to Rise Up and reach for her dreams. Many people give up hope and stay put in places where dreams remain dormant.  God can work miracles, guide our steps to His plans, and help make our dreams come true when we keep our eyes on Him and never give up hope!

Katy’s dreams are coming true per God’s plans.  Things do not always work out in our lives as we plan, but God’s ways are higher and His plans are put in place perfectly for every child He created.  It is our choice to listen to His still, small voice and follow the path laid out for us in every season of our lives.  When we keep God first in all things, believe in HIs Son,  listen to the Holy Spirit living inside our hearts ( the Helper God sent when Jesus ascended to Heaven),  and RISE UP with faith and hope in our hearts…life will be delicious and dreams can come true. 

When we live by Jesus’ example, sharing love with honesty and humbleness on our journeys, then our love stories will be classics with fulfilled dreams blessing more than the dreamer!