Consolidating Social Media!

Want to continue the "Chasing Wisdom" study with us?   Join us on the FB community- the nicest, sweetest, most encouraging little corner on he internet!!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/chasingwisdom/

Interested in joining in our "Mixed Media Monthly Challenge?
Get your creative mojo on with us!!
Each month we will work together on a monthly challenge.

----->This commitment is for two pages a month.

Seems easy enough, right? What's the catch? I will pick random things each Thursday to teach you how to draw/paint, and they must be incorporated into your monthly spread.
1st Prompt: Random Background
2nd Prompt: Random Noun
3rd Prompt: Random Journaling Prompt
4th Prompt: Random Noun

Random creativity loosed upon your pages, with no planning or forethought. Truly, you will have to create in the moment and let go of all control and planning. Scary for all of us, I know, even me creating it- but....what a sense of freedom from just having FUN!!!

Blow out the cobwebs of control and release a new day of creativity -let's just see what happens!!!
Join us on the Praise Heart page on FB, search under the "Events" tab for each months challenges!
https://www.facebook.com/PraiseHeART/

Screeeeeeeech!!

Brakes. That's what I saw when I percolated on today's Proverb....great big brakes.
Brakes can stop escalating emotions and escalating conversations. Brakes offer me a space to allow the Holy Spirit to show me higher ground.
Lord, help me to get this....You have me, You are my vindicator. With that I will hush while applying my brakes!!

Getting There Slowly

There is an old Greek saying that says, "No righteous man ever grew rich suddenly".
Today I am thinking about the journey and the wonders that accompany us on our walk. To grow "rich" suddenly would be to miss the gifts along the way. What about if I were to reach sudden spiritual "richness"---my crown would be empty, vacant of the experiences and the trials that grew me and matured me. My heart wouldn't house a faith in God, that saw me through the toughest of days, and grew in the wilderness.
I know that I get impatient in the journey, looking for the finish line, or , simply, getting there. Thank you Lord, that you continue to slow me down and draw me closer to you as we walk. Thank you for each pebble I step on and each victory in You!

Walking Slowly With Love

Today's Proverb has me quiet and repentant. I am impatient and I expect everyone around me to be able to read my mind and know where my thoughts are going.

Meanwhile, my mom is getting older. I lost my Dad in 2015.

I find myself getting frustrated with my mom when she forgets some things or doesn't connect the dots as quickly as I need. When she looks at me and says, "Why are you so frustrated with me? You will get old one day.", I can feel my light being snuffed out. I can feel joy dissipate into the ethers as I look at the women who I adore.

Oh Lord, why do I rush through my day without love? What is the sense in it? Why do anything if it is served in impatience and rushing?

The Lord slowed me down when my ankle shattered. I entered into my mother's world of walkers and scooters and handicap parking. I got to experience a little bit of life through her eyes. Wasn't it just yesterday that I proclaimed, "Just because I can walk, doesn't mean I am called to?"

I am a thick soul in constant need of a Savior, as He teaches me day in and day out through these Proverbs. I know this today, I am not released to run, to run over people or over circumstances. I am called to walk slowly and with great intentionality. Thank you Lord for continuing to teach me...and Mom ----> I adore you, I am sorry. <3

Stolen Time

Yesterday I didn't get to my visual for my Proverbs 20:17. Instead, I took my mom out and we enjoyed a house filled with 9,000 Santa's and decorated her apartment for Christmas.
Sometimes life and relationships take us away from our desks and our "to-do" lists. That's ok. The time spent laughing with my Mom was priceless. To deny her the times of my heart would be to steal time for myself- time that I would surely regret later.
So - if you don't get to the picture in your head, or to the journaling you had anticipated, thats ok. Give your loved ones a hug for me and soak in every aspect of their laughter and their smiles. Lavish in the freckles and the sunlight in their hair. Time is short, let our love be generous and reckless!

I CAN Say "NO"!

I had to come back to this scripture a few times today. At first glance, my thoughts went to a place - of..."But we are called to be generous, I don't get it Solomon!"
So often with Scripture the Holy Spirit provides the answers that my heart needed on this day. As a recovering people pleaser, I heard today that I can say NO. As a Christian, I don't have to respond to every hand that is outstretched, unless the Lord calls me to it. I don't have to become a door mat in the name of "love".
The Lord works in mysterious ways, get out of His Will and I can be obstructing something that He is doing in anothers life. Am I offering a blessing, or a band aid? A blessing will point it's way back to Him through which all blessings flow. A band aid fixes a problem for a heartbeat, causing our eyes to fall to our surroundings---rather than trusting on God.

This was a big one today for me. A t first pass the language was uncomfortable and thorny. I didnt like it. I got no "picture" in my head. But, I prayed and I pressed in and I feel like the Lord whispered a precious jewel to me today.
I pray that all of us will quicken our ears and our hearts so that we hear His will above our own.

Honesty In My Dealings

Proverbs 20:14 speaks to me of honest dealings. I love a good bargain, I mean...I . LOVE. A .  GOOD . Bargain!! But, if that bargain comes at the cost of my integrity - in the heat of battle- in the heat of a bargain - am I willing to walk away from dishonesty in order to have this Holy Obedience to the Ordinary? This walk is not an easy one- we are called to minute by minute decisions that bow to righteousness.
May we all slow down today so that we can hear the whisperings of the Spirit as He guides us through this minefield called "life".

Loyalty Is A Booger

Today's Proverb has me pausing and reflecting. "Many say they are loyal friends, BUT, who can find one that is truly reliable?" Proverbs 20:6 (NLT)

Loyalty is a funny thing. According to Webster, faithfulness is wrapped into loyalty. We know that faithfulness is a fruit of the Spirit, so we are to search for it and to try and attain this character of God- that is against our earthly flesh.

Loyalty. Phew. The word for faithful here is 'emuwn", meaning trustworthy. I have had my fair share of folks that I put my trust in and it didn't work out so well.

So, I seek the face of God and I ask what can I learn and what can I do? How can these experiences make me a better person, a more faithful person? For me, I think the answer is to examine the places and spaces that hurt me and vow to not be this way to others....to allow my experiences to shape me for the better reflection of Christ.

Friendships can be tough- loyalty is a booger---Solomon even voices this allusive relationship in his Proverb today. But God offers us His Holy Spirit to be our compass as we navigate through our relationships.

I pray that each day I am a better reflection of Christ than I was yesterday, because I have given over more of my earthly flesh to Him. I pray that I will be deemed a faithful friend and believer when I stand before Him.

Slowing Down To A Saunter

Matthew Henry gives a great commentary on today's Proverb: 

      "Some are very able and fit to give counsel, having an excellent faculty of cleaving a hair, hitting  the joint of a difficulty, and advising pertinently, but they are modest, and reserved, and not communicative; they have a great deal in them, but it is loth to come out. In such a case a man of understanding will draw it out, as wine out of a vessel. We lose the benefit we might have by the conversation of wise men for want of the art of being inquisitive."

Do you know anyone that requires a "slow down of intentionality"? It is so easy to speak over them and to finish their sentences? I have a friend who operates about 12 settings lower than I do. I buzz, she meanders. I hop, she saunters. She taught me to slow down and listen, to wait for the wisdom that drips from her lips. "The art of being inquisitive"---and patient seems to reap many a reward as I saunter alongside her. <3

Engrave Your Words On My Heart!

I think it is interesting to note that the word for "plow" here is: charash, meaning to plow, cut in...ENGRAVE. Couldnt we view this Parable through the lens of our relationship with God?  If we don't take the time to engrave His precepts in our hearts during the "right season" (ie good times) - how will we able to call on Him, trust in Him and have faith when the hard times hit, when the "harvest" might not be what we expected? ?
How do you live out a daily "engraving" of His words on Your heart? 

Peace From Addictions

Today's Proverb is 20:1 "Wine is a mocker and strong drink a brawler, whoever is intoxicated with it is not wise."
I find myself in complete agreement with Solomon that addiction is a monkey on one's back that oppresses and diminishes the purpose of our lives. Today I pray for those that are struggling with addiction, in one form or another, and pray that they would experience the healing touch of Jesus today. I pray that we all find freedom from the things that can hold us and bind us, being released into the peace and clarity of His freedom.

Learning Reverance The Hard Way

Proverbs 19:29 "The irreverent have to learn reverence the hard way; only a slap in the face brings fools to attention." -Msg
Oh that I have an ear inclined to Wisdom and a heart that beats in tune with His! I reap the consequences of what I sow.   I thank God that He sent His Son to pay my price. He came as a baby and the world did not recognize Him, though they waited and watched for Him. Thank you Jesus, that I can come before You with a repentant heart and be washed as white as snow.

I pray that my life is a delight to my Savior, as I walk in the freedom He has given me.

A Change of Plans!

Welcome to a Proverb a day!  At our projected schedule we will complete the book of Proverbs in one year, from our place today; the end of Proverbs 19.
Join us as we examine, explore, visualize and journal our daily conversations with God.   Yesterday's Proverb (19:27) made me think, and stopped me in tracks this morning. When we cease to hear, because we are too busy, or too committed, or too angry, or too distracted, or too, well, - anything...we WILL STRAY for His knowledge. This walk is a moment by moment exercise in bowing our hearts to this Holy Obedience to the ordinary!
Tomorrow I will add another Proverb onto this weeks spread- not sure what the "final" page will look like, but----I do know, that this is a place where I interacted with God. In the Old Testament- a pile of rocks would be laid as a marker to a place where they had an interaction with their intimate GOd. Consider this my pile of stones that says, "Today I got to listen to God as His words and His intentions washed all over me"- and I say THANK YOU FATHER.
Today's Proverb: 19:28 A worthless witness cares nothing for truth—he enjoys his sinning too much...Living Bible
What do you think about when you read this Proverb? I "saw" a woman that plans and schemes and plays with lies as if they were butterflies.
Lord, quicken the truth within me so that I cherish truth and my witness to the world. 

Repurposing An Old Band Book

I found this book in a Goodwill Store, on one of my "junking" trips. I thought I was going to rip it up to use, but rather chose to use the paper as a sketchbook.  The paper accepted the Gelatos beautifully!  What a lovely paper choice for today's Proverb!!
I love the Proverb today - it reminds me that we should never, ever be satisfied with where we are in Christ- but always reaching for MORE of Him, as we abandon more of ourselves.
There is always more to release.
There is always more in the Scriptures, as we study to be find ourselves  approved before God.
There is always a time and a divine appointment for the "fool" to come into Wisdom.  There is always a chance for me to relinquish more of my foolish ways as I search for higher ground.

Thank you Jesus, that we serve a living God that speaks to us through Scripture every single time we choose to interact with it!!

Live Out Loud Today!

 

I want to encourage us all to work towards our dreams, to prepare them and to make them ready...to lay them before the Lord and then to cast those dreams out into the world. What a shame, when we give up on ourselves and give up on the dreams of yesterday. Feed yourself with the nourishment of your dreams and prepare to feed others as you encourage them as you walk out your destiny!
May we all partake in Kingdom dreams and Kingdom living today!!

Belazel- A Creative Retreat

"Belazel"- the artist called by name in Exodus. Today, He is calling out for a creative army to proclaim His name through color. Do you hear the call?
Join me, in the beautiful mountains of NC, this May. We will explore the roadblocks set out to distract and dissuade us from the promises made over us as we work on canvases, in altered books.
We will explore encaustics, acrylics, watercolors and grounds, spackle and embellishments---far too much to mention!
There are 20 spots left! Reserve now!
Early Bird special is over December 26th. Pay in full now and you will have a tote and apron waiting for you when you check in.
Want more details? Email me at
Lalbinus19@gmail.com

Learning To Let Go

I can get busy.  Lawd have mercy, I can get busy in my own head, with my own thoughts and dreams.  I can get so busy, I forget to check in with the Lord and see if I am lining up with His greatest call on mylife.
....and things get harder....
..............and my schedule gets fuller......
................and I get grumpier...............
and the world gets harder.

When I stop, drop and pray and check in with Him- I always find that my priorities are way out of balance and my schedule is filled with my own plans.

Today I pray that I have learned that He is the author and the perfector of my life and He leads me beside STILL WATERS. I pray I will stop and pray before I say, "yes" and before I begin filling in appointments on my calendar again!!! I pray I am tuned into His still, small voice and that I...listen!!

Truer Words Have Never Been Spoken

Lending To The Lord

 

I love the visual here - that we are "lending" to the Lord when we help those in need. "Poor" doesn't only mean those with less provision...it can mean someone that needs an encouraging word, a hand up, a laugh, or a look in the eye that says, "I see you and you matter".

Let's all agree to "Lend" to the Lord today with generous hearts!!

Roads to Life

Proverbs 19:16 Keep the commandments and keep your life;despising them leads to death.
Oh Lord, that we might have a teachable, repenting Spirit today as we walk humbly upon this earth!

Say What???

Drip, Drip, Drip.....

Well, Solomon certainly had enough wives to know which ones "dripped"!! May we all be an encouragement to all that we come in contact with today- offering words of life. May we be problem solvers, rather than critical spirits!!

A Deluge of Dew

A lion's roar can be heard up to 5 miles away.  Imagine the ruckus of the King as He roars out his anger and frustration.  I imagine that every breath is caught and every heartbeat flutters, within hte realm of his Kingdom,  at the sound of that roar. We can paint a picture of God that is all love and grace and mercy - and He is just that.  But the other side of Jesus, of God, is one that can not tolerate sin and unrighteousness.  He is judge and vindicator, He is head of the Angel Armies.  Power and might wrapped up in grace and mercy.
I love the image of His favor here, saturating dew, that nourishes, permeates and soaks.  There is never a "deluge of dew".  You never hear a weather report that speaks of "Dew Alerts", or school closings because there was, simply, too much dew to get going.   But, the dew soaks the earth, and permeates everything that it touches. This permeating love and favor is what is available from our King of Kings- our Jesus.
I pray today that we find a "Deluge of dew" to splash in, as we stretch out our adopted hands to the heavens, and sing praises to His name!

A Manifestation of Glory

Today's Proverb reminds me to slow down...to cease and desist from reacting and to pray.... and ponder.... and respond with grace.  Solomon promises that we manifest glory when we overlook anothers transgressions. To  not enter into the debate or the onslaught.  To not respond to the argumentative spirit that seeks to draw us in, but, rather, to think and ponder and pray these things in our hearts.  Ultimately, to pray for those that attack us and to offer forgiveness and blessing is a manifestation of Christ in our life.
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Exceptional In The Ordinary

 THis morning's devotional summed up our study of the Proverbs, taken from "My Utmost For His Highest":

"But it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours of every day as a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God--but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people- and this is not learned in five minutes"-Oswald Chambers

This is why I study the Proverbs everyday, one verse at a time---to learn a Holy obedience to the ordinary.

Praying For Those With No Voice

A false witness will not go unpunished and a liar will be destroyed. Proverbs 19:9
 
Praying for those today that the world has turned their back on, the women and children in Syria, in Africa, in South America, in our backyards and in our front yards. I remember today, that God bends down to listen, so we must pray as long as we have breath.

Hearing the Hurting

Today's Proverb is 19:6
"Many seek favor from a ruler; everyone is the friend of a person that gives gifts.

The picture above is me trying to find Dinah, an Old Testament young lady that was only mentioned long enough to tell her story of surmised rape. I don't know why my head meanders where it meanders, but somehow I linked these two together.  So many times woman are not heard and money and gifts speak louder than the truth.  Power and prestige are valued more than a hurting young lady.  A little bit of Dinah's story: She struck out into the land of Canaan one day to seek out other young women of the area.  The prince, Shechem, saw her---seized her ---and raped her. You can check out the full story in Genesis 34.
Dinah, after all these years, was a pawn in a power game. Today my prayer would be that we bend a little lower and we listen just a little stronger----to hear the stories of those that are hurting.   I pray that we can validate their pain and sit next to them for a little while , while the world continues to turn.  To be able to say, "I see you, I hear you, and I am so-so sorry."

Get Out Of Jail Free

^19:5 A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who speaks lies will not escape.

I think we can all bear witness to this.  At some point we have all told a lie and felt the shame and guilt as it squished us under its weight.  The lie becomes difficult, a task master, something that has to be protected at all costs.  Exhausting and anxious, our days are filled with “keeping it all together”.   Perhaps this is punishment enough, perhaps this is an eternal non-escape. Forget about getting caught in the lie, carrying the lie is enough of a burden.

Don’t we just do that to ourselves though? We can come before the Lamb, enter into the throne room of grace, and inhabit the destiny of royalty.  But the pulls of our earthly flesh are hard to extinguish and we find ourselves living amongst the consequences of our decisions.  Jesus, with His hands held out offers us a life of abundance. A life filled with fruits of the Spirit.

My prayer for us today is that we would change our glasses and the lens from which we look at life.  I pray that we would see earthly things as a distraction and an entrapment, keeping us form our Kingdom purposes.  I pray that each one of us can rise up to who we were created to be and operate as the highest calling on our life.  We got a “Get Out OF Jail Free” card, through Jesus, and I am cashing mine in today!

Join Our Creative Revolution!

⁴ Wealth makes many friends, But the poor is separated from his friend.

This proverb saddens my heart, because we can be like a raven following after the next shiny object, can’t we? We will peck anothers eyes out if we feel we might get a token or shekel.

So, it got me thinking, what is the hope in today’s message?  I think that we need a Savior. Without a Savior, we are not inclined to generosity and compassion.  We are not inclined to helping the lowly and ask or help ourselves.  Without a Savior, I am selfish and conniving- I know because I remember me before I fell in love with my Jesus.

So, today I want to share Salty Sidewalks with you – a ministry that intentionally spereads the Gospel through the Arts----because the world needs a Savior and its our job to make disciples.

So check out Http://www.saltysidewalks.com or join in the revolution on our facebook page. He needs a creative army to love the world through color, want to join in the fun?