“LOVE the dance”

John, the disciple whom Jesus loved!!  I want that byline!  Debbie, the disciple whom Jesus loved!!!  Did you put your name in there?  And now at the end of this journey, do you get how very much you are loved!  Do you see how God was the One that called out to you, and is so faithful He will never stop?  He wants to dance the dance for a lifetime, until He sees you face to face and I suppose even then, we will dance on into heaven and down the streets of gold!  What an exciting dance to look forward to! 

I will take from this study the awesome truth that it is “I” who determines the level of intimacy I will enjoy – God is waiting on me – and it is ALWAYS my turn!! 

I echo with John this side of heaven:

          I want to lean on You Jesus!

          I pledge to be trustworthy of my God-given earthly assignment!

          Though I see You dimly now, I can hardly wait to see You face to face!

          I want to please You by telling others of Your amazing resurrection!

          I love the glimpses, but I have a desire to see what I’ve yet to see! 

We have a hope!!  And that causes me to say, “Hallelujah!”  We think dancing with the Lord is so incredible now (and it is), but just wait til glory – we haven’t experienced anything yet!! 

I know everyone is at a different spot in the book, just like we are all in a different place on our journey!  The quiet time is a process!  But, I hope no matter where you are, that you will be coming on August 6^th to celebrate the hope that we have in Him together.  We’ve done the “on-your-own” part – now it’s time for the “all together” part!  The evening will begin at 6:00 with an author’s reception, with Catherine Martin, in the Lower Campus Chapel at Shadow Mountain Church, 2100 Greenfield Drive, El Cajon, CA  92019, followed by the program at 7:00.  Catherine will have resources there and we will have upcoming studies available in case you are asking ”what’s next?”  I am praying that you can be there.  I have only received 12 regrets, so we are in for a party!  If you know for sure that you will be unable to attend and have not emailed me, it would be most appreciated to know so that we do not count on you in the setting of the tables.  Also, I am still looking for plates of “finger desserts” and “testimonies“ if you are willing.   

Well, I pray you LOVE your dance along your busy way!  How fortunate that God is always there, never tires of waiting upon our schedule, and is always so very glad to see us when we sit at His feet!!  He truly does love us – we too are the disciples whom Jesus loves. 

Loving this dance (and the hope of the next)! 

Debbie Harris

Quiet Time in Summer 09

@ Shadow Mountain

www.shadowmountain.org

www.cathscommunity.com

New - A Woman’s Heart That Dances in 1 Week!

I’m excited to announce that A Woman’s Heart That Dances will officially be released in one week. First copies arriving here at our Quiet Time Ministries Training Center will be shipped immediately after the official release date. Our copies JUST arrived on Friday - woohoo!! I can’t even begin to say how excited I am about this special book. A Woman’s Heart That Dances is every woman’s story of her dance with her Lord. I talk about His overture and how He invites us to lean in to His embrace and dance. Then I talk about our response. And then, the amazing, incredible result when we follow His lead. Oh how lifechanging it is to dance with the Lord. Included in this book is my own personal story of the dance and also character sketches of women in the gospels who knew and loved Jesus. These women’s lives are shared in such a way as to allow you to enter personally into their life experience with Jesus. My prayer for all of us, after reading this book, is to answer the Lord’s invitation, and enter into the dance.

Another special feature of A Woman’s Heart That Dances is the cover of the book. I LOVE the cover of this book. It features the artwork of the one and only Kathleen Rousar, who is an amazing artist. You can see more of her work at www.klrousar.com. She is one of the great artists of our time IMHO. She has a whole series of Ballerina paintings and four are featured in black and white at the beginning of each of the four sections of A Woman’s Heart That Dances. A Woman’s Heart That Dances is one of those books that I am giving away to many women and teenage girls in my life just to encourage them either to begin their dance with the Lord or to embrace Him more and follow His lead in their lives. As Ecclesiastes 3:4 (NCV) says, There is…a time to dance. I believe NOW is that time. So, may we all gain a new encouragement in our relationship with the Lord as we lean in, follow His lead, and dance!

“Develop your dance”

Paul showcased this week how his intimacy with God developed over the years!!  It didn’t happen without intention and it certainly didn’t happen overnight.  Were you surprised to see that Paul lived in obscurity for 3 years — and then another 14 years learning whatever he could from the disciples?  No doubt in that time he became intimately acquainted with the God of the Old Testament, who had sent Jesus the Messiah, in the same life time as Paul, to fulfill some of those Old Testament Scriptures right before his very eyes!  That would be something to witness!  

This week was a great look at Paul’s life and how God used each chapter to mold him into the person He needed him to be for the task He had set out just for him. 

In obscurity – I found myself wanting to be a radical disciple like Paul, consistently living “the Lord Jesus in action!”  I thanked God for the times of obscurity in my life where I was literally “forced” to “be still and know that He is God!”  Many good things came out of that time as God used it to move me along in the plan He had for me!  

In weakness – I loved Paul’s poetic dichotomy “when I am weak, then I am strong”.  I also loved D.L. Moody’s quote, “I think we will be so ashamed of ourselves when we get to heaven, to remember we ever spoke about our sufferings!”  God shows Himself strong in our weaknesses if we allow Him to. 

In ministry – Absolutely loved the “ripple affect” – I want to cause a ripple that goes far beyond my pebble as I love others into the Kingdom! 

In conflict – a love for God and people (the only two reasons I breathe) are what keep me going when it gets tough.  Paul continued to encourage the church even through the tough times – like so much of life, it is a choice! 

In life – Jesus was Paul’s “all!”  “For I am determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified.”  I Cor 2:2 

After watching this progression of development, I hope you set some goals and resolves.  I’ll share mine and hope to hear some of yours!! 

“I resolve to live my life ‘unshaken’ by anyone and anything and allow nothing to move me except Jesus.” 

“I resolve to head straight for the ‘Evergreen Wood’ and I will not detour to the left or to the right for anyone or anything because no one and nothing offers anything even comparable to what is waiting for me straight ahead!” 

“I resolve to lead as an ‘Ambassador to the King’ in a land not my own, because I know to where I am going, and I want to take everyone else along with me; and I know to whom I belong, and I want everyone to know Him too!” 

Hope you are enjoying the journey – the dance!  And I am praying that this chance to be encouraged into a quiet time develops in each of you a love for your Lord and His Word like never before, which will spill into a love for spending quality one-on-one time with Him!  There is nothing quite like it on the planet – and there will be nothing quiet like it someday in heaven!  

Developing for Jesus, 

Debbie Harris

Quiet Time in Summer 09

@ Shadow Mountain

www.shadowmountain,org

www.cathscommunity.com

Week 5 - Reach the Summits

This week’s readings touched me deeply. I spent extra time on Days 20 and 21 pondering what it means to yield to God. I’ve come to points of yielding many times before but I have to admit, it’s been quite awhile since the last time. I really thought about some of the questions posed here such as, ” Are there dreams and desires that you need to give to the Lord now in order to continue on in this great adventure of knowing God?” I thought about my dreams and desires. I wrote several pages of reflection. I didn’t want to answer hastily. I asked myself is there anything holding me back from trusting God completely to handle my life? Do I want to yield myself 100% to him, even if uncontrollable tragedies occur? Which is the better place in which to be to handle tragedy? 1) myself and my own mental faculties alone? What I think? My wisdom? What I think I should do and to whom I should turn for advice? My own limited strength? OR 2) Rely on the great omnipotent God of the universe who has promised never to leave me or forsake me, who has promised to give me wisdom if I ask, who loves me immensely and who has power to help me?

It even seems a silly question to ask? Should I trust me or God? The answer is obvious: GOD!

Then I thought of what surrendering means and it occurred to me that by definition “surrender” can only be 100%. Only surrendering 70% couldn’t really be called surrendering.

After much thought I finally came to the point where I could say, “Yes Lord, whatever happens, I am yours. I yield myself to you. I give up all my desires and dreams. I will sign a blank page representing the rest of my life and allow you to fill it however you please. If I have to do things I don’t want to do, if I have to act in spite of fear, if I have to take your hand by faith and step off into the unknown of unemployment, uncertainty about the future, economic instability, family strife, my own pain or illness, or “the valley of the shadow of death,” Lord, I am yours no matter what.

Week 4 - Read and Study God’s Word

We were given many good Bible study tools this week. One of our members said this week really blessed her.

One of my thoughts was that it would be easy for us to say, “Good, now I know what are some good tools and some time I’ll come back to these pages and choose some of these tools to check out.” It gave me an idea for an object lesson.

Chelsea came up to the front and I said we would make her a world-class fisher-woman. I gave her the tools of the trade: a fishing pole, extra line, bobbers, hooks, a tackle box, a paddle to get out into the lake, and a copy of the Minnesota fishing regulations. With all of these tools Chelsea could become a great fisher-woman. But wait! Chelsea just decided to go back to her seat and put all these great new tools on the floor! She wasn’t going to use them at all!

I hope everyone got the point that it’s not enough to have good tools, or know where to find them. We won’t find the treasures in the word of God if we leave all the Bible study tools on the shelf.

I used Catherine’s devotional method of responding to a Biblical passage this week. I am reading through Jeremiah and I thought it might be hard to find some application there for me. However, using Catherine’s method I have to say I was surprised at what I found. I was reading Jeremiah 14-17 one day and came across Jer. 17:7, 8. I wrote these verses down as my significant observation. Then I looked up some cross references and came to the conclusion that the best place for a tree to grow is by a river. It keeps the tree alive, growing and fruitful. So the best place for a person to dwell is near God, our river of living water. The tree is an object lesson to us that if we want to be healthy, vibrant, nourished and useful we will stay near God and draw our life from him.

The small group I sat with this week discussed the testimony of George Mueller given on page 144. After reading that, I guess none of us can really say we don’t have time to spend with God. None of us are nearly as busy as he was, and quiet time in the word was his top priority. What an eye-opener for us!

“Choice in the dance”

At some point we all learn that life is literally made up of choices.  I hope you gave serious thought to the choices laid out this week, and I not only hope you “dance,” I hope you make the right choices in the dance.

CHAOS OR QUIET?

“Come away. . . to a quiet place.”  He calls to me and I love to come.  I can’t wait to meet with Him every morning in my prayer closet – now I want to schedule an extended time to be with Him because “He has both satisfied me, and made me thirsty for more!” (pg 175)  Are you finding the time to be quiet? 

SCURRY or SIT?

I truly desire Jesus to be my ONE THING (Ps 27:4) and I will forever seek after Him so I that I will “dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold His beauty and to inquire of Him!”  Though my life is full of “scurry”, I am determined to accomplish intimacy with God which will only occur when I sit at His feet like Mary did – “sitting at His feet, listening to every Word!”

RELUCTANT or RADICAL?

Did you relate to Luke 10:40 – has anything or anyone dragged you away this week?  Many things dragged me away this week, especially this week!   And I actually could picture this scripture – nothing like life happening to you to teach you the lessons in the Word!  I desperately want to know Him and I know that occurs by being with Him.  I choose to be radical, not reluctant! 

PRACTICAL or EXTRAVAGANT?

I’m a pretty practical person, so the contrast is clear in my mind!  I will be practical in most all areas, but He is the One who gets my extravagant all!  And that would include my “alabaster box.”  For the God who lavishes His love on me will take lavished love in return anytime I am willing to lavish it!  I loved Spur-geons quote on page 194, “Surely as we meditate on the Lord, our hearts burn within us and we long to love Him more!”  I want to love Him more and extravagantly more!

SIGHT or FAITH?

Each time I read the Word and catch a glimpse of His glory (the “weight” of God), it gives my faith sight.  But to walk by sight without faith is to ask for trouble.  God longs to be gracious to me and wants to have compassion on me, and every time I choose His way and what I cannot see (faith), rather than my way and what I am able to see (sight), He is there to show me who He really is!  Psalm 18 was incredible!  If you missed it, go enjoy it!  His deliverance and lovingkindness are indescribable gifts of our faith! 

I pray this week as you make your choices, that you choose to be “quiet” and “sit”, living “radical” for Jesus with an “extravagant” “faith” that cannot be swayed!   I would love to hear your testimonies!

Intentionally choosing,

Debbie Harris

Quiet Time in Summer 09                                                               

@ Shadow Mountain                                                                    

 

PS  Please look for my second email regarding our evening together on August 6^th to follow shortly.  Be sure to include it on your summer calendar 6:00 p.m.

Week 3 - Taste and See That the Lord is Good

Hello everyone,

As Bible studiers arrived this week they were greeted by a table of chocolate-dipped strawberries and the verse: Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

As we enjoyed our delectable treat I asked everyone to imagine their favorite breakfast; what they would like to wake up to in the morning. We can think of our Quiet Time as this delectable treat. This will help us change our attitude toward a Quiet Time from thinking of it as something we “should” do to something we “get to” do. Yes, it’s a mind game at first, but as we grow in spending time with the Lord and learn to know him better and share our heart with him, this time will actually become as “delicious” to us as physical treats.

We talked about preparing our hearts this week. I enjoyed sitting in on one small group’s discussion and hearing all the comments regarding journaling. One person shared that she often begins writing to the Lord in a complaining tone but usually by the end, she has changed to an attitude of thanksgiving and praise. Interesting how many of the Psalms are this way, too!

Another shared how she has not been much of a journaler in the past but she’s been trying it by responding to a different Bible verse each day which is printed on each page of her journal.

Some said they’re beginning to enjoy this time with the Lord so much that they want to spend more and more with Him and find their time runs out.

Another shared how beginning to spend personal time with God is changing her life! She is hearing God speak to her and she is so thrilled!

All of these comments blessed my heart! Preparing our hearts is truly valuable! It helps us focus on God, lay aside the distractions and really commune with him.

One suggestion I really liked is adding music to one’s Quiet Time. I’ve found playing soft music in the background is soothing and focusing for me. I’ve even set up a keyboard in my office and dug up my songbooks and hymnbook to have ready when I want. Singing to God really connects me with him.

I would love you to leave your comment here sharing what it now means to you to Prepare Your Heart for Quiet Time!

nancy

The Way Of The Lord

I came to my quiet time with the Lord today in anticipation that He was going to speak to my heart. I’ve been thinking through some things that have weighed upon my heart for some time now. The Lord has been faithful over the years to show me in His time what He is teaching me. And today He spoke in some key verses in The Daily Light, a devotional I love to live in day by day. The Daily Light is all scripture, organized according to various themes. As an aside, Lilias Trotter used The Daily Light every day in her quiet time. Amy Carmichael, Gladys Alyward, and Hudson Taylor also meditated daily in The Daily Light. Good company for us! Anyhow, today the scripture focused on the Lord’s presence, His leading, and the ways of the Lord. Lots of good verses from everywhere in the Bible. But Jeremiah 10:23 stood out to me: “I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps” (English Standard Version). I got to thinking about this verse and read it in a couple of other translations. The NLT says it this way: “I know, LORD, that our lives are not our own. We are not able to plan our own course.” The MSG reads this way: “I know, GOD, that mere mortals can’t run their own lives, that men and women don’t have what it takes to take charge of life.” Then, I cross-referenced Jeremiah 10:23 and found Proverbs 20:24, a VERY GOOD verse to remember: “Man’s steps are ordained by the LORD, how then can man understand his way?” (NASB). The NLT, “The LORD directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?” Okay, so now I was GETTING what God was saying to me. He was putting His finger on my struggle. Proverbs 16:9 says, “We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.”

What the Lord brought home in my heart today is that I fall into the habit of trying to understand what He is doing. I found myself looking at things and saying “God must be doing this…God must be doing that…oh, this must be what God is going to do.” Have you ever fallen into that habit? When we do that, we are, in a sense, thinking we can manage or direct our steps, and figure everything out about life. But clearly, from the verses above, the Lord directs our steps and He is the only One who knows the way He is taking us. And what He was saying to me today is that He wants me to stop trying to understand and instead, trust Him. Leave the results to Him. I won’t understand what He is doing most of the time because His ways are higher than my ways (Isaiah 55:9). He says, “…my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine” (Isaiah 55:8 NLT). And of course, I have known these things, but today I KNOW them more. God brought these truths home to my heart in a new and deeper way.

And then, He brought Proverbs 3:5-6 to my mind - I turned to it: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” How good is that! I need to just stop trying to “understand everything along the way” and, instead, TRUST - total reliance under stress and trial. Just trust and leave it all with God. Seek Him and do what He’s called me to do. So, what God is doing is refining my own priorities and affections and building in me a deeper trust in Him. So today, as I launch into the day, my focus is GOD and trusting in Him every step of the way. I may not know what the future holds, but I do, indeed, know WHO holds my future. And He is the One I can trust with my life and the lives of my loved ones. He is ENOUGH for whatever comes my way.
Lord, thank You today for showing me that I don’t need to understand everything along the way and instead, just need to trust You. Help me to fix my eyes on You today, seek Your will in all I do, and trust You to show me what path to take. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“Don’t miss class”

We have passed the halfway mark and still women continue to join in!  I hope you are all finding that you are falling in love with the Lord of the dance as you meet together with Him!   

Did you make it to “class” this week or did you get tied up?  You know He’s always willing to reschedule and re-reschedule until it fits into your schedule because He is always available.  Amazing things are waiting for you in “class!” 

I can give you the highlights of “class” but it’s certainly not the same as going!  Mary showed up for “class” and found the very treasures for her life! 

            the lovingkindness of the Lord is for those who meet Him! 

            the secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him! 

            the shelter of the Lord is for those who abide in Him! 

            the ever-present help of the Lord is for those who need Him! 

            the glory of the Lord is reflected in those who suffer for Him! 

I have it straight from the author’s mouth “you don’t want to miss ‘class’ next week – the women at Bethany!”  These are possibly very familiar stories, but God can do amazing things with them if we will sit at His feet, and look for anything we’ve never seen before.  As we seek Him, He promises to be found! 

Can’t wait for the next “class” tomorrow morning! 

Debbie Harris

Quiet Time in Summer 09                                                               

@ Shadow Mountain                                                                                   

www.shadowmountain.org

PS  It’s never too late to join in.  Also, I was able to order some of the 2^nd printing and have books available in the Women’s Ministries office (call Kelly 440-1802 ext 3525).  Just email me a name and email address to register!  Blessings as you “quiet time!”

 

           

Week Two-Prepare Your Heart

This idea of Preparing Your Heart as you enter Quiet Time was new to me. I never really did this before. I’ve always just opened my Bible and started reading. Sometimes you get bogged down in a part that doesn’t seem to make any sense or doesn’t seem relevant or my mind would just wander away as the mechanical part of my mind simply decodes all the words. Preparing My Heart really adds value to my Quiet Time as it helps me focus on God and changes this activity from simply “going through the motions” of so-called “being a Christian” to really making this time a meeting with God.

There is a song I hear quite frequently on the radio now which constantly reminds me of my goal in incorporating a Quiet Time in my life. The chorus goes as follows:

I don’t wanna go through the motions,
I don’t wanna go one more day,
Without your all-consuming
Passion inside of me.
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking,
“What if I had given everything,
Instead of going through the motions?”

Catherine recommended journaling to us this week. I can see how writing things down will help solidify and clarify my thoughts. I’ll be able to go back over them at a later time to remember what I learned and felt in the past. It’s a place to write Bible verses that are meaningful to me and how God impressed them upon my heart.

I don’t like to slow down in my activities but I know it can only be beneficial. I am not simply a machine going through the motions of life. I need to stop. And consider things. And be able to remember them and return to them later or I will be “like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it - he will be blessed in what he does.” James 1: 23-25

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