Sheltering Tree - Ordinary Days of summer

As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. Proverbs 27:17 NLT

The sharing of the Holy Spirit lays at the root of Christian friendship. Mutuality involving encouragement, good counsel and accountability remain essential components, but a relationship that has Christ as its core becomes a priceless interrelationship. Ecclesiastes 4:12  describes the strength of more than one: A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better than one, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. A common proverbial expression in ancient literature, this "threefold cord" indicates value in companionship and preparedness. Experiencing unity and grace through Christian relationships helps to deepen our understanding of God's love.

Friendship is a sheltering tree. Coleridge

While every relationship differs, certain characteristics define Christian friendship. God must be first. This friendship must share a common love for God which brings spiritual joy, even in times of distress and chaos. Communication involves giving and taking both encouragement and counsel. Within the relationship, security comes from loyalty, from honoring confidences without fear of betrayal. Christian friendship can be an enduring kinship ~ but only if Christ makes three! 

Consider this Yiddish Proverb: There are 3 types of friends; those like food without which you can't live, those like medicine which you need occasionally, and those like illness which you never want. Then ask yourself: What kind of friend am I? ~ dho

Everything You Need - Ordinary Days of Summer

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart . . .

Thou my best thought by day or by night

Waking or sleeping Thy presence my light

Be thou my wisdom and Thou my true word

I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord . . .

Heart of my own heart whatever befall

Still be my vision O Ruler of all

"Be Thou My Vision" is a hymn but has its roots in Ireland. Written in the 8th century as an Irish poem, it was translated in the early 1900's and later put to music. In Hosea, God is reminding Israel who He is:
It is I who answer and look after you.  I am like a luxuriant cypress; from Me comes your fruit.  Hosea 14:8 NASB

God is where we are to look for our best thoughts, our wisdom; His presence is with us.  What comfort to know that whatever happens we can find God's Vision.  Heart of my own heart whatever befall, still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

The Message translates the Hosea verse: Everything you need is to be found in Me.

Our sacrifice of praise ~
My "best thoughts" will reflect God's wisdom if He is the "Lord of my heart". Let God be our Vision in this world of darkness. ~dho

Super-moon Day! - Ordinary Days of Summer

Reading an article this week I encountered a word I had to look up in the dictionary - quotidian! This means “daily, something recurring daily, usual, ordinary, commonplace. Turns out it means “ordinary”! It is pronounced kwoh-tid-eye-uhn. This strange word likely makes more sense in Latin and seems a little too fancy for “ordinary”.

Often we see the simple, ordinary, commonplace as unique and grand and majestic, like the skies at sunrise and sunset, the blooms of a flower, the waterfall deep into the woodlands. Tonight there will be a full moon, a super-moon, the last one of 2022. The low tides will be at their lowest, and the high tides will be at their highest because of the gravitational pull of the moon which will be at its closest point to earth. Tonight, the moon will be its biggest and brightest self. But the moon itself has no light at all, instead all the light of the moon is reflected light from the sun.

We think little about the moon or sun and their interdependence on each other. They are just in the sky above us, recurring daily. The sun is a bright star, more massive and stronger in its gravity than the moon; yet the moon is closer to earth, but is mostly a large mass of rock and dirt. Ordinary but majestic beyond my comprehension. Our Creator placed the sun perfectly, knowing if the sun was even slightly closer, the earth would melt. The infinite possibilities of creation always leave me in awe.

May you have a quotidian day! Hope your day is filled with unexplainable, commonplace moments. Tonight when you look up at the super-moon, it will be beautiful and grand. It will be, however, the same moon that is always in the sky, just rotated perfectly to catch all the sun’s light, just in the perfect orbit to seem bigger than usual. I hope in some moment today, you recognize God, the Creator of all, the Source of all goodness. May God be the light of your life! Shine for Him, especially in the ordinary moments. - dho

Embracing What God Does - Ordinary Days of Summer

. . . by the mercies of God: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Romans 12:1-2 (The Message)

The Scripture above is more familiar in the translations that use phrases like living sacrifices and be transformed by the renewing of your mind, but The Message gives us examples of how we are to be these phrases. Becoming too much like the world is a constant danger for us. The power of the world entertains our imaginations, teases our thoughts, heightens our emotions. Darkness will always lure us down to its level of immaturity. So, how are we to be transformed? We must keep our focus on God, whose compassions... are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:19-23 NIV)

Faithful Father, transform me! Make me more like You; change me from the inside out.
Renew me! Find me where I am; pour out Your mercies everyday.
Teach me! Give me life lessons that grow faith; develop perseverance.
Refine me! Take my joys and my burdens; melt me into Your will.
Create me new everyday with Your unlimited possibilities!
You are Living Hope! Amen. dho

Who Knows - Ordinary Days of Summer

Who else has held the oceans in his hand?
Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers?
Who else knows the weight of the earth
or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale? Isaiah 40:12 NLT

Vacations in the summer often take us to places we do not live, like the beach or the mountains. As we gaze at these majestic creations, they can evoke various emotions. Artists paint versions of these landscapes with man made hues of blues and grays and greens. Photographs never really capture their imposing beauty. Yet, without speaking a word, these magnificent creations challenge us to wonder and to hope, bring us peace and contentment, stir our souls with possibility. Despite our inability to grasp the vastness of these creations, the Creator offers us glimpses of himself, reveals his power and strength. God is never, however, limited by our abilities.

Look up into the heavens.
Who created all the stars?
He brings them out like an army, one after another,
calling each by its name.
Because of his great power and incomparable strength,
not a single one is missing. Isaiah 40:26 NLT

One of my favorite memories is of looking up at the stars, studying the constellations with my daddy. In WWII he was a navigator and bombardier in the Air Force. Radar was not what it is today, and at night the stars provided direction. So he was well-studied in the night sky. On some summer nights we would lay on the hood of the car, leaning back on the windshield with a full sky of stars overhead. He would point out the Big Dipper, the North Star, and more. In the still of the night, I remember lying there in wordless wonder at the countless stars, the immense night sky, the vast unknown of the heavens. Scripture tells us God calls each star by name, even the billions of ones we cannot see.

Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding. Isaiah 40:28 NLT

What comfort to know that the Creator of all is everlasting, never grows weary like we do. In Him, we are renewed and refreshed. Even if a trip to the ocean or the mountains is not part of your summer, you can still look up! Watch the stars (and a few planets) appear, with the stars finally shining in the dark, night sky. The vastness of the heavens only begins to define God’s love for us! - dho 

Extravagant Gifts - Ordinary Days of Summer

Loving God,   

The night sky is filled with luminaries that 

light the darkness. Angels whisper evening 

songs to my weary soul. I do not notice.

As sleep gently calls, I forget that I have 

breathed the morning air, listened to laughter, 

seen the evening sky appear. Another day!  

Something disturbs the rhythm of my sleep, 

summons my soul. In these sleepless moments, 

the Holy Spirit is waiting and listens for my

response. I whisper, Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! 

Holy Father, when I fail to see the beauty of 

Your day, remind me with a glorious sunset 

to take my breath away, a soul-laugh that only 

a listening heart can find, and a night sky 

crowded with stars like diamonds that demand 

a lingering look. 

My heart bursts with unmeasured thankfulness!  

These are Your ordinary gifts! I simply miss them in my

hectic hours, my scheduled chaos, my saturated time.

Give my heart the desire to breathe, to

listen, and to see beauty with extraordinary 

intention. Grant my soul the desire to breathe, 

to listen, and to see Your generous gifts of 

Love, Grace, and Joy! Let me seek Your 

extravagant gifts in every day! 

Let me shout, Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

Refresh my spirit! Refine my faith!  

Restore my love! Renew my strength!  

Rebuild my trust! Reclaim my soul!  

To God be the glory! Amen.  ~dho