Joy

Do it Again!

Barbara Kain Parker Inspirational , , , , , , , , , , ,

IMG_1241“Again! Again!” my small granddaughters squeal with delight as we play “upside down girl,” with me lifting them up by their ankles as I used to do with their brother. I tire of the game much faster than they do, for with every visit they’re a little bigger and a little heavier, so before too long our game will end. But I wonder if my joy in their exuberant fun is anything like what God feels when I plead for more from Him.

These are my thoughts as I ponder the past week of “games” the Lord has provided for me. You see, He has created me to love puzzles and my idea of fun is unraveling His mysteries.

It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out. Proverbs 25:2

One way we “play” is that He gives me dreams to interpret in order to understand what He is doing; sometimes they’re mine and sometimes they come from friends, which is fun because I then have the privilege of helping them figure out what the Lord is saying. In the past 7 days, I’ve had personal dreams that led to unexpected deliverance that I didn’t even know I needed, insight into His plans/purposes/protection, instructions that I knew I’d received in my spirit even though the memories faded quickly when I awake, and times of knowing I’d been co-operating with Him to accomplish unknown tasks in the heavenly realms while asleep. I’ve also been honored to help several friends understand the encouragement and guidance of their own dreams. With each instance, my heart cries out for more. Do it again, Lord! Do it again!

He will fly away like a dream and not be found;
he will be chased away like a vision of the night. Job 20:8

For God speaks in one way,
and in two, though man does not perceive it.
In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls on men,
while they slumber on their beds. Job 33:14-15

It’s also been a week in which we’ve had a lot of “scavenger hunts” for nuggets of His truth; for His puzzle pieces that form a greater understanding of Him even before those nuggets were known by me to be necessary. Time after time, He has taken me to specific scriptures that were relevant for something that would occur later in the day or week; for conversations or events that He knew were coming even I was still clueless. In awe over His foresight each time I cry, “Again!”

Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is ever with me.
How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way. Psalm 119:97-98, 103-104

This was a week in which I attended several “parties,” otherwise known as gatherings of believers. Each instance was delightful, either because of the fellowship or because of the wondrous new insights I gained into what God is doing throughout both the earthly and heavenly places. Current events as reported by any news media pales in comparison to current events as revealed through communion with God and His people. More, Lord, more; please do it again!

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Hebrews 10:24-25

Fortunately, unlike me with my grandchildren, God never tires of my pleas of, “Again! Again!” I’ll never become too big or too mature for Him to call a halt to our games, and I know that He delights in my joy in Him.

For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation. Psalm 149:4

Running in Circles

Barbara Kain Parker Devotional, Inspirational, Parables, Pug Parables, Pugs , , , , , , , , ,

Kev Sheba CouchFind rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.  Psalm 62:5-6

One of Sheba’s favorite pastimes when she was younger was to run around in circles and entice people to chase her; and there was no way to catch her either, unless you managed to get tricky and trap her.  Such fun! But it was a temporary pleasure.  She would eventually get tired and have to rest (and so would we!)—and then go back and do it again…and again…and again… Always pleasurable, but always tiring, and needing to be repeated in order to experience the joy.  Never really getting anywhere either; just going around in circles.

Do we ever do that?  Run around in circles, spinning our wheels, to achieve the satisfaction of being the best, with nobody able to keep up with us because we’re so fast, or talented, or efficient?  If we do, we eventually fall into a trap—it may be that  someone else outperforms us, or it may be that we simply get tired or old and can no longer manage the pace.

Now that Sheba’s an old lady there are very few circles anymore; just a deep contentment that comes as she rests at my feet.

Perhaps we also need to learn that there is a level of peace that cannot be achieved by our hectic lifestyle, a quiet contentment that comes from learning to rest at the feet of our master.  We no longer have to work so hard to feel good; all we need to do is follow Him around, do what he says, and we will be rewarded with constant peace and joy, not just a temporary “fix.”

Ready to Get Wet

Barbara Kain Parker Devotional, Inspirational, Parables, Pug Parables, Pugs , , , , , ,

page33bIn this you greatly rejoice though now for a little while you may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise and honor when Jesus is revealed.  Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.  1 Peter 1:6-9

Sheba is afraid of the water.  Not long after she joined our family, we were at the beach.  We wanted to play with her in the waves, but she would have none of it!  We would walk into the shallow, receding tide, and she would pull away as far as she could—up to about thirty feet if we allowed her to pull the retractable leash all of the way out.  A few days later, walking alongside a lake she did the same thing.  We’ve also noticed that just walking around our neighborhood she strenuously avoids sprinklers or puddles of water.  And if you want to make her keep her distance in the yard, just pick up the hose—it doesn’t even have to be on!

But Sheba has come to love her baths because she knows that bath time means some serious pleasure in terms of rubbing and cuddling.  After all, how can you not rock and cuddle a cute, towel-wrapped bundle of pug with those huge brown eyes staring up at you with absolute love?.  Her inborn fear of the water is overcome by faith that she’s going to experience incredible joy.

Faith in my master’s love also gets me through frightening situations.  It replaces my fear with joy beyond measure, and I can agree with Paul, “that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

On Alert

Barbara Kain Parker Devotional, Inspirational, Parables, Pug Parables , , , , ,

coverpagecolorTherefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come…So you must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Matthew 24:42,44

When Sheba is left at home alone, I arrive back to find her doing one of two things. She’ll either be curled up on a pillow somewhere in the house, sound asleep; or she’ll be sitting by the door watching for my return, and as soon as she sees me she goes absolutely wild with joy.  When she’s sleeping she doesn’t even know I’m passing through, and she misses out on the happy reunion—the fun, the treats, the love.

I also have two options as I wait upon the Lord.  I can turn my back and essentially shut my eyes to God’s mercy and his desire to spend time with me; or I can remain on alert, expectantly waiting and watching for the next encounter with Him.  If I’m sleeping I’ll never even know what I missed—I will have sacrificed all that was planned for me just so I could remain in my own comfort spot.

Honoring My Mom on Her First Mother’s Day in Heaven

Barbara Kain Parker Biblical Insights, Devotional, Personal Testimony , , , , , , ,

Mom's Final Slide

My mother went home to Heaven on August 18, 2014.  In her honor, as we approach Mother’s Day 2015, I’d like to share one of the last things she experienced while still here with us.

About a week before Mom died she saw a party going on.  It was a heavenly celebration, and she described everyone there as being very excited and happy. As we questioned her about the details, she described decorations—like banners or balloons—and recognized faces of loved ones who had gone before.  I asked what the party was for, thinking she would say it was a welcome-home celebration for her, but her answer was quite a surprise!

“It’s a big party for all of the people who were saved today, and I’m going!”

Well, she didn’t get to go for about another week, but her vision of the spiritual reality confirmed the scriptural truth that:photo 4.10.53 PM

…there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.  Luke 15:7

Stormy Seasons

Barbara Kain Parker Devotional, Inspirational , , , , , , , ,

IMG_0105_2

It has been a dark and stormy season in my life, yet each time I feel like I just can’t go any farther, the light of my LORD shines through to illuminate my path.

Several months ago, after an unwelcome emergency hospital stay, I was advised to have a major surgical procedure.  Needless to say this was not a concept that I embraced with joy; but finally a wise and compassionate doctor said to me, “Barbara, you’re a walking time bomb—you really don’t have a choice.”  So I reluctantly agreed and scheduled a date for surgery, but once the decision was made I fumed and complained to God almost nonstop.  Then I began to wonder how Jesus could have handled the knowledge of what lay ahead for Him at the cross, even as He ministered to others without complaint.  How did He keep from getting so depressed about His future that He couldn’t function or, at the very least, go around with a grumpy why-me attitude?  Yes, I knew He spent many hours alone in prayer, as evidenced repeatedly in scripture, but there seemed to be something I was missing because no matter how much I prayed I didn’t seem to be finding a lot of comfort.

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.  Mark 1:35

And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.  Mark 6:46

Finally one day I “happened” across Hebrews 12:1-2, a scripture I’ve studied more times than I can count:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

But now the phrase, “Jesus…for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,” jumped out at me as never before.  Jesus was focused on the joy that was ahead, not the agony.  So I determined that if Jesus is really my example and if my life is really about being conformed to His image, then I’d better just get over it and start focusing on:

Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.  Philippians 4:8

Amazingly I immediately lost the sense of dread and, while I still didn’t like the idea of surgery, I was able to look beyond it.

So now I’m finally about two weeks post-op, yet all around it seems dark and stormy again.  My recovery continues to be difficult and I’m certainly not where I’d hoped to be by now, so here I am “preaching to the choir;” reminding myself once again that I can still trust God, and I’m pressing into Him to try and figure out what it is I’m supposed to be learning now.  But my experience is nothing new.  Over and over the psalmists cried out in their distress to God, and over and over they proclaimed His faithfulness in every situation.  And so once again I too stand in faith on the Word of God.

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.  He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.  Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.  Psalm 37:5-7a

Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.  Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.  Psalm 112:3-5

God’s Preserves

Barbara Kain Parker Devotional, Inspirational , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

An abundance of blackberry vines grew wild and, as Mom was fixing dinner, we’d often run outside and pick enough so she could put together a quick cobbler for dessert.  And my Dad—oh, he was the king of the blackberry pickers.  Give him some buckets and some loaded vines and he’d fill them up in nothing flat while we “helped,” eating as many as we were picking.  Then the kitchen would smell delicious for days as my mother canned enough blackberry preserves to last until the following year.

One day as I was reading my Bible, a verse popped out as never before, Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints!  For the LORD preserves the faithful, and fully repays the proud person (Psalm 31:23).  Before I’d always visualized the Lord throwing out a life preserver to save me, but now I realized that He was turning me into fruit-of-the-Spirit preserves; and I prayed that my life would become as flavorful as those wonderful blackberries of years ago.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  Against such there is no law.  Galatians 5:22-23

He shall abide before God forever.  Oh, prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him! Psalm 61:7)