It is officially SUMMER, and I have chosen to be LAZY.

The proof of that is I posted my blog on Wednesday instead of Tuesday! Never fear, I still have a ‘Truth Bomb,’ but it will be a ‘Wednesday Truth Bomb’ this week!

The key to my “laziness“, is that I have chosen it! It is not random or due to some “funk“ that I am in, quite the contrary! It is coming from a place of decision and conviction.

At the beginning of June I committed to read through the book of Psalms through the summer! I had shared previously that it is a book that I am so familiar with, yet I never want to take for granted. There is so much rich Truth and vulnerability in it!

I believe, at least at this point in my spiritual journey, that I have come to love David most of all for his vulnerability! He sins and he confesses it. He has a bad day and he moans and groans about it. He has a victory and he celebrates it like no one ever has! And he sees God in and out and through all of his life circumstances and continuously gives him all the glory!

As I was reading through Psalm 73, the very last verse jumped out at me and spoke volumes of truth into my soul.

“But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.”

Psalm 73:28

My summer, mapped out on a calendar, appears to be anything but LAZY!

I am working, serving, tutoring, making trips back and forth here and there etc., etc., etc.! 

You may look at my summer calendar and think I am crazy to say that I am intentionally taking anything in a lazy manner. But I am!

The definition of Lazy that I am anchoring my Lazy Days of Summer on is…

“Slow moving or sluggish,” as in a slow moving or ‘Lazy Stream’.

The stream has not stopped moving nor has it gotten off of its path, it has simply SLOWED DOWN!

In order for me to be affective, productive, and stay sane throughout my busy summer season, I must embrace and plan for “Lazy Slow Downs!” I am not stopping, I am choosing to be lazy and slow down.

Yesterday I was with my grandkids! I chose to be “lazy“ and slow down and spend the day with them and write my Blog today. It proved wonderful in calming my anxiety of trying to squeeze everything into one day! Instead, I slow down, enjoyed the opportunity in front of me, and moved at a slower pace and wrote my Blog today.

In getting back to the Truth I have Psalm 73 I felt God speaking into my soul; is the rock solid fact that never changes whether I am going full speed ahead or choosing to be “lazy“ and slow down…

“But as for me…”

This first phrase is a self resolve! David chooses to resolve himself to the fact that follows…

“…it is good to be near God!“

TRUTH BOMB

STAY NEAR TO GOD AND HE STAYS NEAR TO YOU WEATHER YOU ARE MOVING FULL STEAM AHEAD OR SLOWING DOWN!

God is not concerned with our “busy schedules!“ He does not love us because of all we do and accomplish. God is with us in the busy and the doing but He is also right there with us and near to us as we slow down and enjoy the best of life‘s moments!

I am going to continue to purposefully enjoy the LAZY DAYS OF SUMMER!

It will not be easy for this purpose driven, high energy child of God. But I hope you will join me through these next couple of months of summer and share in my discipline!

I love you all!

Happy Summer Everyone!

Speak Truth Love

Where I am from in southern California, “JUNE GLOOM,” is a common and well understood phrase. Just as you get used to it being summer and expect those warm sunny days, “JUNE GLOOM,” sets in! Instead of waking up to sunshine streaming through your windows in the morning, there is nothing but a thick, gray haze. The cloud cover has rolled in over the ocean and fills the sky with a gray haze that covers everything. It typically lasts until about 10am in the morning, but there are times it can last throughout the entire day. 

Have you ever felt that gloom in your soul? Oh you know, that feeling that you just wake up with and it seems to cover all of the regular sunshine from streaming in. It feels gray and blue and creates a fog like feeling in your heart and head. You got out of bed expecting a day filled with sunshine but instead it feels more like drizzle…not a downpour, just gloom.

The words to define gloom are:

Dim, Dark, Somber and Partial.

I love that one definition, ‘partial.’

It implies that it is not full, it is not complete, it has not yet taken over.

Therein lies our hope my friend!

None of us choose to wake up gloomy, it just seems to happen as unexpectedly as “June Gloom” on a warm June day. 

However, it doesn’t half to stop us. It doesn’t have to paralyze us and consume us! It does not have to turn from partial darkness to complete darkness. Not when we have the LIGHT!

JESUS IS THE LIGHT!

“JESUS SAID TO THE POPLE, ‘I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. IF YOU FOLLOW ME YOU WON’T BE STUMBLING THROUGH THE DARKNESS, BECAUSE YOU WILL HAVE THE LIGHT THAT LEADS TO LIFE.’”

John 8:12

Our hope is the Truth of what Jesus himself spoke. When we have Jesus in us who is the light of the world, then we do not have to stumble through the darkness and gloom that comes. The gloom may come, but it will always be partial and can be overcome with the Light of Jesus Christ in us!

I was reminded of this truth recently as I woke up on a gloomy Southern California “June Gloom” day! I had made plans with my grandkids to go to the beach. Do you think we woke up on that gloomy day and let the gloom consume us? Of course not! We packed our beach bags, put on our bathing suits and grabbed our sunblock!

That’s right, you read it correctly… 

We grabbed our sunblock! Why would we slather ourselves in sunblock when there was not one ray of sun peeking through? Because even though the gloom had set in temporarily and partially, the sun was still there! We even had a few patches of red that were missed with the sunblock, to prove that the rays of the sun still come through the gloom!

In the same way, when the Son of God is in us, His Light shines through any amount of Gloom that comes into our lives!

TRUTH BOMB

WHEN THE GREY DIMNESS OF GLOOM CREEPS IN, TURN ON THE LIGHT OF JESUS INSIDE YOU!

Jesus is truly The Light of the world! 

When you follow Him, you will not stumble through the dark. He will shine through any gloom in your life!

Speak Truth Love

Does it matter that people know your name? Does it matter that they pronounce your name correctly? Does it matter that they spell your name accurately? It absolutely does! 

Names matter! Don’t believe me, just ask a couple awaiting the birth of their child. It does not matter if it is their first, second or sixth child, the name is important!  

It is talked about, discussed repetitively, deliberated on for days or months even and after all that, the way it is spelled is still up for debate!

So what’s in a name anyway?

It is personal, it holds our identity within its letters. You may have been in a class or a group with more than one person that has the same name as you, yet still your name was yours and yours alone! It may have had a number after it, one, two or three…Or it may have had your last name initial after it, but there was no confusing it, your name is your name alone!

One of an infants’ first milestones is recognizing their own name when it is spoken. Their head will turn and they will look in the direction of their spoken name. From that point on it has become their identity, it is who they are. 

God knows how important our name is to us. That is why He knows our name. One of the most popular stories in the Bible is about Moses. Most people when they hear the name Moses, they immediately picture the Red Sea being parted. I mean, after all, it is a miracle and deserves full recognition! But I believe it is no small thing that God speaks to Moses and calls him by name.

“God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”  

Exodus 3:4

God spoke Moses’ name so that there was absolutely no confusion about who God was talking to. Moses knew his name and knew that God knew his name!

God called Moses by name and Moses knew it was God. God was calling Moses to trust Him and be willing to be used by Him! Moses was fearful like we often are. However, because of the intimate, personal relationship that God and Moses had, Moses knew he could trust in his God!

God knows your name too. He will never mispronounce your name or misspell your name! He will never confuse your name with someone else who has your name! 

God loves you, knows you and He knows your name! 

TRUTH BOMB

YOU ARE SPECIAL TO GOD, HE KNOWS YOUR NAME!

Speak Truth Love

Do you remember when you were in grade school and you used to make pinky promises? You know those ones where you locked pinkies with one hand and prayed the other person didn’t have their fingers crossed behind their back with the other one?

Then you promise to be their best friend forever! How long did that last? Probably not even through the end of the school year.

Truth is, no matter how hard we try, no matter how sincere our intention is, and no matter how much we love the other person and intend to do right by them, we are human and we just fail.

It’s part of our fallen human nature.

Praise God we have a God who never breaks his promises!

God not only speaks His promises He gives us a permanent reminder that He keeps His promises!

“I have sat my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the promise between me and the earth.“ Genesis 9:13

God created the rainbow with all of its brilliant colors and placed it in the sky to remind us that He keeps his promises!

“Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my promise between me and you and all living creatures of every kind!”  Genesis 9:14-15

Our God makes a promise and never crosses His fingers behind His back!

“Whenever The rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my promise to you!” Genesis 9:16

TRUTH BOMB

A RAINBOW IS A SIGN TO ALL THAT GOD WILL KEEP HIS PROMISES!

So every time you look up into the sky and see the rainbow God placed there we are reminded of His promises!

Actually, no matter where we see a rainbow, in the sky, on a shirt, on a flag, or anywhere else, we are reminded that God created the rainbow in brilliant color, to remind us that HE ALONE IS GOD AND HE KEEPS HIS PROMISES!

Speak Truth Love