GOOD GIFTS

GOOD GIFTS
Have you ever looked forward to giving a loved one a gift? It begins with a thought, and then you go shopping. You may not know what the gift will be but you know it when you spot it. There it is, tucked among all the other items, the perfect gift. You know this person inside and out. There is no doubt in your mind that this is just the gift for them.

You buy it and hurry home with your treasure. You take your time wrapping it, all the while thinking of the one your heart loves, the one the gift is meant for.

You call them up and invite them to meet you. The time arrives, and with gift in hand you head out, your heart filled with anticipation. You arrive at the place you chose to meet. Your eyes scan the room, and then a smile touches your lips as you find them sitting at a corner table, sipping their favorite coffee. You head to the table filled with joy. There is something quite delicious in knowing a secret; of bearing a gift that is about to delight someone near and dear to your heart.

The moment arrives. You can hardly stand it as you take the gift from its hiding place, and set it before them. For a brief moment there is silence as their eyes take in the beautifully wrapped package sitting in front of them. They lift their gaze to yours, question marks in their eyes, but the love dancing in your eyes quickly assures them that the gift is for them.

They reach out and begin to unwrap it. They catch their breath as what was unknown to them becomes known. There is no need to ask if they like it as tears of joy spill down their cheeks and they fly into your waiting embrace. In that moment, your heart rejoices in the giving of a good gift.

Do you know that God rejoices in giving those who love Him good gifts? It’s true! My friend, wipe the Monday morning sleep from your eyes, pour your favorite coffee or tea, and kick off your shoes right there at your desk and nestle into the Lord’s presence. Oh, and don’t forget to have His Book nearby as we will be taking a walk with Him in His Word.

A soft breeze stirred the brush nearby as I took a seat on a large boulder and looked out at the mountains as they stretched high before me. It was a clear January morning, and a wintery crispness was in the air. I had looked forward to this hike in the foothills for days, and now here I was at last.

Life had been so busy and it seemed ages since I had been off on my own. I looked around, not a soul in sight. I was alone. I looked out at the valley below on one side and then over at the towering peaks on the other. It was glorious. There is something about solitude that revives my spirit, and nourishes my soul. I was reminded of Jesus’ invitation to His weary disciples, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest awhile.” (Mark 6:31 NASB)

I opened my backpack and took out my Bible, journal and pen. There in the stillness, my soul made its way down a familiar dusty path, to the well and sat down with Him who is my heart’s longing.

“Hello,” He said.

“Hello,” I replied.

“I see you got My invitation,” He said, peering over my shoulder at the place I was reading in Mark 6:31.

I moved in closer to Him as I whispered, “Thank You for asking me to come away with You.” I breathed deeply as my eyes took in the rugged beauty that surrounded me. “Lord, I’m so glad you chose this place for us to meet in today. This is lovely.” I drew near to Him then, and just as He promised, He drew near to me.

Then He took my heart with Him into His Word and we stopped and lingered awhile. Why don’t you join us?

41 I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul. Jeremiah 32:41 (NIV)

How great is Your goodness, which You have stored up for those who fear You.
(Psalm 31:19 NASB)

I sat quietly thinking about His goodness. “Lord, it says here that you store up Your goodness for those who fear you.” I looked up at the great mountains and then at the sky colored a deep blue and thought about His goodness and wondered what kind of storage unit could possibly contain it. That’s when I heard it.

Clip clop. Clip clip clop. Clop. Clop. Clop.

It sounded as if someone was trekking about the mountainside in high heels. My gaze followed the sound. Then movement caught my eye and I caught my breath. A Big Horn sheep stood on the mountainside. His great horns curled around. He lifted his gaze and looked in my direction, his head raised majestically. Then more movement as a female sheep leapt gracefully over a boulder and headed ever higher. More movement as the mountainside came alive. One, two, three, four, five, six, SEVEN. “Lord,” I cried. “I have lived in the desert 33 years and I have never seen Big Horn sheep in the wild. Thank You! Thank You!”

We sat in companionable silence watching power and grace in motion. My heart turned toward Him who gave all for me, and it occurred to me that He had planned this moment, this gift for me. He knew those things that refreshed me, gave me joy, inspired and refreshed this heart within me – His daughter. He had knit me together after all.

It occurred to me that He had gone through a lot of trouble for me. He sent me the invitation in Mark 6:31. He had arranged the meeting place, here at the feet of His glorious snow-covered mountains, and He had brought a gift, which He tucked into the mountainside for me to unwrap at just the right moment; a gift from His heavenly storehouse. David’s words flooded my thoughts, “How great is Your goodness…” My heart looked up into His eyes and there I saw rejoicing

My sweet friend, He delights in you. Not because of anything you do or strive to be. In fact, in Psalm 46:10 He says, “Cease your striving and know that I am God.” Before you loved Him, He loved you. He thought of you before the foundation of the world. He has issued an invitation for you to get away and spend some time alone with Him (Mark 6:31). Will you accept His invitation? Will you go?

Take some time now to walk with the Lord through His Word.

Psalm 31:19
Jeremiah 32:41
Matthew 7:11
1 Corinthians 2:9
James 1:17

Dear one, what’s going on in your life right now? Even amidst great sorrow, trial or pain, or the regular Monday morning workday, God’s goodness is there (Romans 8:28), and His gifts of tenderness come. Are you watching for them? They may be as simple as a loved one’s embrace; or Big Horn sheep on a mountainside. Whatever, and however the gift comes, you can be sure He chose it. In fact, He has been storing it for just the right moment; it is just right for you, and it is good. As you hold the gift, be still, do you hear it? It is the sound of your heavenly Father rejoicing.

Glory!



An Original Conversations at the Well
© By Diana Morgan February 28, 2011

MY FATHER'S VOICE

MY FATHER’S VOICE

…the Lord called Samuel; and he said, “Here I am.” (1 Samuel 3:4 NASB)

Then the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.” (1Samuel 3:10 NASB)

The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh and there He revealed Himself to Samuel through His Word. (1 Samuel 3:21 NIV)

The day was mild, the February sun warm on my face. A late afternoon breeze rustled the trees, their leaves waving a glad greeting as we walked beneath the stately boughs. Children ran and played, their laughter filling the air as Elizabeth and I walked through the park. We chatted about life and hopes and dreams, as mothers and daughters are known to do, when a scene up ahead caught my attention.

A man stood on the grass as he called several names. “Come,” he called. I followed his gaze; watching to see who belonged to him. The father called the names again. I watched as two boys on bicycles looked his way and then proceeded to ride in the opposite direction as fast as their legs would pedal. A younger boy of about 7 stood on the grass nearby, feeding ducks as his father called his name. “I want to feed the ducks!” he replied without so much as a glance in his father’s direction.

While two sons pedaled away, pretending they hadn’t heard their father’s voice, and another stubbornly continued feeding ducks, a fourth son, the youngest, who appeared to be no more than four years of age, had come and was quietly waiting at his father’s feet.

The father looked down as he softly said the small boy’s name. The boy’s face lit up at the sound of his father’s voice. I watched as the father bent down, speaking quietly, words meant for the one who responded to his call. The little boy leaned in until his forehead rested against his father’s face; all the while the father continued speaking. Then he wrapped the boy in his arms and gently lifted him off the ground and began walking along the edge of the water in deep conversation with his son.

A short while later as Elizabeth and I turned to head home, I spotted the father. He was sitting on a large boulder at the water’s edge, his young son nestled in against him. The father pointed at something out on the water as the little boy listened to his every word. My eyes scanned the area, looking for any sign of the wayward sons, but they were nowhere to be seen; they were too busy; too distracted to come when their father called. And oh what they were missing. The scene captivated me, and I tucked the picture into a corner of my heart to ponder later.

That night something stirred me to wakefulness and I sat up, tilting my head to one side as I listened. I was about to lay back down when I heard it; that still small voice whispering to my heart, “Come,” He said. In that moment the little boy who had responded to his father’s voice came to mind, and I so wanted to be like him. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I left the warmth of my bed, grabbed my Bible and headed off to the Well.

I arrived to find Him whom my soul loves waiting for me. I told Him all about the father who had called his sons. He listened as I spoke of the two who had pretended not to hear their father’s voice and rode away; then there was the third son who had stubbornly stayed where he was feeding ducks. At last my favorite part came and my heart was breathless as I told him about the youngest boy who had stood in quiet expectation at his father’s feet.

His eyes shone with memories of eternity past as He carried my heart to His Word. We stopped in 1 Samuel 3 where He told me about a boy named Samuel. He had called Samuel’s name, and once Samuel knew Who it was that was calling him, he said, “Here I am.” We read on until He stopped me again at verse 21. I read it over and over again.

The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh and there He revealed Himself to Samuel through His Word. (1 Samuel 3:21 NIV)

“Lord,” I whispered. “Yes,” He replied. “Lord, thank you for revealing yourself to me through your Word. Thank you for calling my name. Help me to be like Samuel and be listening for your voice and to have a heart that is quick to say, ‘Here I am.’”

We lingered there for a while as His words of truth wove themselves into the fabric of my heart.
Then, in the stillness, He who loves me called my name. He bent down until I could feel His very breath, and my heart leaned in until it rested in His presence. Joy!

My dear friend, what is your response when the Father calls your name? Do you pretend not to hear and ride off to the next task as fast as your legs will go? Do you say, “Wait, Lord, I’m feeding these ministry ducks and I’ll meet with you as soon as I’m finished.” Or do you have a heart like Samuel’s that is quick to say “Here I am.” Oh the wonder that awaits in the quietness of His presence.

An Original Conversations at the Well
By Diana Morgan
© February 11, 2011

LIFE IS HERE

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
(John 11:25-26 NASB)

I sat quietly at the Well. The darkness before dawn settled around me as I waited for Him whom my soul loves to come with His glory light and chase all the shadows away.

I shivered in winter’s chill and wrapped a soft throw around me, but it did nothing to melt away the circumstances that seemed to have piled up overnight like snowdrifts in a winter storm. It seemed life had come to a halt, as winter has a way of doing. My writing was especially being impacted. I would try to get going, but I couldn’t seem to get any traction, like trying to drive up a snow covered, icy mountain road without snow tires or chains – I was spinning my wheels and getting nowhere in a hurry.

I hoped people wouldn’t notice me in my “nowhere-ness”, but they did. People who cared about me began asking questions. I thought of a friend who had stopped by my office and commented about the lack of writing he had seen from me recently. I made excuses, but inside I cried out, “I’m stuck. I’m in this snowdrift and can’t get myself out.”

I began justifying my inactivity with “when” thoughts. “When the economy improves, then I’ll get moving. When the pain from this tooth infection is resolved then life can resume. When I have more time then I’ll write again.” When… there is no shortage of “when thoughts” in winter-ness of the soul. Life is up ahead somewhere, on the other side of the snowdrifts of circumstances.

It was then that I remembered a phrase from an advertisement for a housing development that I had noticed on a billboard just before Christmas. I remembered it had caught me by surprise and I had written it down in my journal to ponder. I turned to the page in my journal and read the words again.

Your New Life Is Waiting For You Just 15 Miles Ahead

“I am the resurrection and the life.” My heart looked up startled at the sound of His voice as He whom my soul loves drew near. Without even saying good morning, I blurted out, “Lord, I’m stuck!”

“Walk with Me,” He said. I knew He meant a walk together in His Word, and my heart quickened as He led me in all my “stuck-ness” to John 11. I love to read about the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Countless times the Lord and I walked together through this very place in His Word, and I would find myself standing just behind Mary and Martha, breathless as Jesus uttered the command, “Lazarus, come forth!” I waited quietly for the story to unfold before me.

“Lord?” I whispered. “It’s very dark. I can’t see anything.” There were muffled voices as though spoken from behind a barrier. I tried to focus in the darkness, and noticed the slightest hint of light several feet away, but something was blocking it. I squinted in the darkness toward the light. “Lord, it’s as if there’s something blocking that light over there. It’s like there’s a…that is to say, um, Lord, it’s like there’s a big rock in the way.”

The words seemed to hang suspended in the darkness as my thoughts raced. The Lord had shown me the story of Lazarus from many different perspectives. I had sat in the house broken and grieving with Mary. I had run to meet Jesus with all my “if only” thoughts with Martha. I had stood filled with questions in the crowd of onlookers. But never had I seen it from behind the stone of winter – in the darkness of the tomb with Lazarus.

My eyes began to adjust to the darkness, and I took in the walls of stone. I caught my breath as I spotted Lazarus wrapped in burial cloths. I put a hand over my nose as I recalled what Martha had said in response to Jesus’ command to roll away the stone, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench…” His voice interrupted my thoughts as He asked, “When did Lazarus come to life?” I sat very still thinking about the question. I’d always been on the outside watching for Lazarus to come struggling out, wrapped tightly in grave cloths. I had always thought of Lazarus as being alive when he came out of the tomb. “When did life come?” He asked again.

I was not at all sure of where His question was taking me. Suddenly loud scraping sounds filled the air as men pushed the heavy stone away from the opening, and light mixed with dust filled the tomb. Through the dust Jesus’ voice thundered, “Lazarus, come forth.” His words reverberated inside the tomb of stone. Then I saw it, the gentle, but unmistakable rise and fall of Lazarus’ chest beneath the strips of cloth. He was breathing. He was alive! “He came to life when You called His name, and told him to come out,” I whispered.

Everything came to a stop then, as though frozen in that moment. That’s the amazing thing about walking through God’s Word with Jesus; He stops at incredible places. Places just right for heart-to-heart conversations with Him—like now.

“Do you think Lazarus was having ‘when’ thoughts?” I could feel my eyebrows crinkle in the center as I looked at Him with question marks in my eyes. He directed my attention back to Lazarus as He asked, “Do you suppose that Lazarus thought to himself: when I get outside then I’ll start breathing? Did he lay there waiting to be unwrapped before he got moving?” His questions came steadily and I wrestled with the words He spoke.

Then, as though an unseen hand had hit the play button, the scene came to life again. Lazarus sat up and struggled to his feet. He began to move toward the entrance of the tomb. The way was difficult. He could only take tiny steps and moved his body side to side. The scene stopped again. “Tell Me, is he any less alive bound and struggling? Is his life waiting outside in the sun or once the grave cloths are pulled away?” The Lord asked. In response, my puzzled heart looked into the Teacher’s eyes as I said, “Lord, you could have caused the grave cloths to fall away the moment You called Lazarus to come out. He could have walked or even run from the tomb then.”

We sat quietly, and then the One who gave all for me said, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” I sat very still pondering His words from His Word as the scene came to life once more. I watched as Lazarus struggled outside into the sun. He was still struggling when Jesus directed the people to unbind him and let him go. The scene came to a stop as something about it caught my attention. Ever since Jesus had commanded Lazarus to come out, he had been struggling, inching his way in obedience to Jesus’ word to him. Lazarus didn’t say, “Well, Lord, when you unbind me I’ll come out.” No, Lazarus, in obedience, struggled and inched his way out until he finally stood face-to-face with Jesus.

“What a joyful moment that must have been,” I mused. My heart looked into eyes that held memories of eternity past as I said, “Lord, Lazarus was your dear friend.” I felt His hand upon my heart then as He whispered, “You are My friend if you do what I command you.” I recognized His words from John 15:14, and they pierced my heart as I realized I was not doing what He had commanded me to do. I was all wrapped up in life’s circumstances. I was in effect saying, “Lord, I’ll get back to the work you gave me to do when you unbind me and let me go; when you take Your heavenly snowplow and clear out these snowdrifts of circumstances, I’ll write again.”

I suddenly felt very small as I recalled Jesus’ circumstances as He labored, barely able to stand, under the cross. He had struggled on the road, under the weight of the cross, under the weight of my sin. Sometimes He fell, but He struggled to His feet and inched His way, step by labored step, in obedience to the Father, on toward Calvary, where He poured out His life for me. “Oh,” was all I could say there in His Presence.

Then the One who named the stars looked deep inside my heart as He said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” In His glory light the shadows disappeared and I could see what He was revealing to me. My heart looked up as I said, “My life in you is not dependent on circumstances. Help me to keep going even when things get difficult, and I feel stuck. Give me strength to keep pressing on in obedience, inch by inch, step by step, until the day I stand before You face-to-face and the circumstances of this world fall away in Your Presence.”

Back at the Well, we sat in sweet companionship in the quiet mist of dawn, and He shared words with me that He gave another friend of His named Paul to write down. 2 Corinthians 4:17. He personalized them just for me the way only He can, “Diana, do not lose heart, but though your outer person is decaying, your inner person is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for you an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while you look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Then He whispered, “Write.” I opened my laptop, the cursor flashed as though mocking me. I began to feel panicked, but then my heart nestled down at His feet and I worshiped Him. My fingers began tapping the keys, haltingly at first. Then letter by letter I began to write about the Word walk the Lord and I went on together, and those things whispered from His heart to mine. When I’d finished, I placed what I’d written in His hands, you know, the ones with deep dark places in the centers. “Well done,” He said and my heart smiled.

Then He touched the tops of the mountain peaks with soft hues of mauve and pink as the day began to wake up. I headed out the door, strips of circumstances still wrapped about me, but under all those circumstances was LIFE, glorious LIFE.


My dear friend, what circumstances have you “stuck” today? Take them to the Lord. Go with Him on a walk through His Word. He’ll stop you at all the right places, and give you what you need to press on. Sometimes you’ll run and sometimes the way will be hard. The circumstances wrapped around you so tight that you can barely move. He will strengthen you to keep walking in obedience to Him, step by step, until one day you step across heaven’s threshold and stand face-to-face with Jesus. The circumstances of this life will fall away, as Jesus wraps you in His embrace and whispers, “Well done. Oh, well done, my friend.” Joy!

An Original Conversation at the Well
By Diana Morgan
© Copyright February 2, 2011