Beyond 31 Days @ write31days.com

November 1, 2014December 28, 2016 / Being Woven / Leave a comment

WOW! What a challenge this 31 days of writing has been. My initial desire was to focus clearly on the Holy Spirit’s teaching as I would prepare to write or make notes about a future post. For the most part, I was able to be still and know that God was in my presence. But, I will admit, that there were posts that seem rather unfocused in the looking back. I think that the initial desire of mine is well and good, but possibly not something I am truly able to do every day for a month because I am not always tuned in and I found that I was needing to “try hard” on a few posts and that is not Holy Spirit led. I think I prefer writing as the Holy Spirit leads me down His path.

But I have learned something about writing for this blog that is invaluable for the purposes for which and Whom I write. If it is to be for the glory of God, then I must be in line with the Spirit of God.

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has prepared for those who love him”—

10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2

May my mind be fixed on You, LORD. May I be clear and know that which You want written down here. May each word be for Your glory, Father God, and Your glory alone. I thank You for giving me Your Holy Spirit to guide my every step. May I be still and know that You are God. In the Name of Your Son, Jesus, I pray. Amen.

To catch up on the previous days of this 31 day challenge, you can find them listed here.

Photo and verse from VersaDay @ https://versaday.com/

31 Days of God-Woven Moments – October 31

October 31, 2014December 28, 2016 / Being Woven / Leave a comment

The law of the Lord is perfect,

reviving the soul;

the testimony of the Lord is sure,

making wise the simple;

the precepts of the Lord are right,

rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the Lord is pure,

enlightening the eyes;

the fear of the Lord is clean,

enduring forever;

the rules of the Lord are true,

and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold,

even much fine gold;

sweeter also than honey

and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, by them is your servant warned;

in keeping them there is great reward. Psalm 19:7-11

Such beautiful words weaving over and under — the Word of the LORD, the Truth that It is, and just what it will do in the heart of the believer. Read these verses slowly, emphasizing all that God points out to us. These words become that perfection that is better than honey that is described near the bottom. Sweet, nutritious, bountiful, a joy to read, a meditation that soaks in deeply.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14

Father, I pray that as we read Your Word, we hear Your Truth with the eyes and ears of our hearts. I pray that It will penetrate deeply to our very soul. I ask for Your peace to rain on us as we read, that we will comprehend the vastness of the Truth, the beauty of Your world, the greatness of Who You are. Your Word teaches and reveals. It speaks to each one of us in various ways, yet You direct our understanding when we allow that. May it be so. Father, thank You for Your Word. May I spend time in It with You more regularly and in a deeper way than I have. I love You, LORD. In the Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

31 Days of God-Woven Moments – October 30

October 30, 2014December 28, 2016 / Being Woven / Leave a comment

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:1-3

In the verses above, “being knit together” means:

συμβιβάζω

symbibazō

to unite together into one whole, compacted together

knit together: in affection

There are other means of “knit together” in the Bible, but for these verses, the meaning is as above. The church at Laodicea needed to bond as one in love to gain the heights that were hoped for this church. As we seek the LORD, we, too, must bond together as the body of Christ to share the love of Christ with the world. They cannot see this love but through the Word of God and through the children of God. We are the image of Christ on this earth and must stand together as one before those watching us. And they are watching us for we are a different, a peculiar people.

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Titus 2:13-14

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10

Oh, that we will seek Christ for He is All we ever need in this world. Christ is the Son of God, the King of kings, the Lord of lords. He hung upon the Cross for each one of us, taking our sins to that Cross, that we would be set free from all that weighs us down. Jesus is our salvation for He rained down God’s saving grace upon us. May He reign in our hearts from now to eternity. Oh, God, I pray this be so in each and every one of Your creations before the end of this world as we know it. May we, as Your people, Your peculiar people, Your special people, stand in and amongst the world around us and be the witness that You have called us to be. May we be united as one knit together for Your purposes in love. May those watching see Christ in each one of us. We will rejoice and sit with Jesus at the throne of grace in Heaven forevermore. I pray in the Saving Name of Jesus. Amen.
beblacksig
To catch up on the previous days of this 31 day challenge, you can find them listed here.

Photo: http://fluffandfuzz.weebly.com/

31 Days of God-Woven Moments – October 29

October 29, 2014December 28, 2016 / Being Woven / Leave a comment

Then Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft. And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan. He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer. Exodus 35:30-35

“Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whom the LORD has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the LORD has commanded.” Exodus 36:1

God has filled these men with His Spirit to do all that God has devised for building the Sanctuary. The inspiration for all that was to be done comes from the Holy Spirit. Bezalel and Oholiab were gifted artisans appointed by God and given the gifts in order to accomplish the many arts that were required for this beautiful place. There were other craftsmen working with these two men, but these two would work alongside of all the others as superintendents or general contractors (as we might call them today) to accomplish this incredibly honorable task of God’s.

God’s gifts bring honor and glory to the Giver of gifts should we, the recipient, use them in the way He intends.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17

God, You know what You want done in Your Kingdom. You know who can and will do what You ask. As You place gifts into each one of us, guide us to that calling that we would do it to Your honor and Your glory. I pray that our ears would be open to hear Your call upon our lives and that we would obey this call. I thank You, Father, for the many ways You use me and pray that I will be open to that which You gift me. In the Powerful Name of Jesus, I lift these requests and praises up. Amen.

To catch up on the previous days of this 31 day challenge, you can find them listed here.

31 Days of God-Woven Moments – October 28

October 28, 2014December 28, 2016 / Being Woven / Leave a comment

Woven love

Woven care

Woven tenderness

Woven by the Hands of God

Father, You are my hands and my feet. I pray that I hear You calling me to touch others for You in whatever way You choose. Weave me into the lives of others. I care and want to care…for Your glory and not my selfish wishes. I pray for all those who care for others in Your Name. Amen.

To catch up on the previous days of this 31 day challenge, you can find them listed here.

31 Days of God-Woven Moments – October 27

October 27, 2014December 28, 2016 / Being Woven / Leave a comment

My husband and I began reading together the latest book by Jan Karon, Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good. On page 79, Father Tim thinks to himself, “…God had woven like a gold thread through every chapter of every book of Holy Writ: Rejoice! Know that I am with you and for you and will never leave you; take courage that I will fight for you and be your shield and buckler and provide for you when you are old; I will supply your every need, I will give you victory over death, I have prepared a place for you in heaven…. Every imaginable love and consolation had been and was currently being delivered to him,….”

All of these incredibly beautiful promises are God-breathed into His Word and breathed over us each day. When woven so compactly as the words are here, I find it difficult to walk a step without knowing that my God is not with me through every tumultuous time, through each fourth hour watch in the night, through the temptations of satan in this world, and through the sweet and calm moments too. Walking on Water Faith, as Catherine Martin has named her most recent Bible study, is the faith I am learning to breathe in and out, deeply into my very being. God breathes Truth-oxygen into me, into this body, into my soul. He weaves me with His Truth, His Love, His life-giving Breath.

Thank You, Father, for loving me so and giving me the breadth and width and depth and height of Your promises. May I breathe them in and live each day under the Shadow of Your Wings where I may sing for joy! You are my God and the One and Only Whose words give me the faith from which I live. I pray in the Holy Name of Christ, Amen.

To catch up on the previous days of this 31 day challenge, you can find them listed here.

31 Days of God-Woven Moments – October 26

October 26, 2014December 28, 2016 / Being Woven / Leave a comment

Indeed, the subtle touches of beauty are what enable most people to survive. Yet beauty is so quietly woven through our ordinary days that we hardly notice it. Everywhere there is tenderness, care and kindness, there is beauty. John O’Donohue

A quiet strand of love is woven through to a hardened heart where a new love begins to grow.

An impulsive act of kindness amazes yet gives light to do the same for others.

Gentleness can open a fearful place in one who knows not the beauty of a peaceful spirit.

A tender touch can calm an agitated soul.

Reflect and weave in the Image of Christ wherever we go and the world begins to see something they do not quite understand yet they want to understand.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

Father God, may we each weave You into the lives of others as we go about our days. Give us just one person to touch today for Your glory, Father. I love You, LORD. Amen.

To catch up on the previous days of this 31 day challenge, you can find them listed here.

31 Days of God-Woven Moments – October 25

October 25, 2014December 28, 2016 / Being Woven / Leave a comment

And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant. And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. 2 Kings 23:3-4

And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah. 2 Kings 23:7

King Josiah took down anything and everything related to idol worship upon making the covenant with the LORD. He desired to walk in the ways of His God which meant a lot of cleaning, both of the people and their ways. One aspect of this problem was that the women spent time weaving for an idol (which brings the topic to weaving).

The houses King Josiah broke down were “not solid houses, but tents, called elsewhere [2 Kings 17:30] Succoth-benoth, “the booths of the young women,” who were devoted to the service of Asherah, for which they made embroidered hangings, and in which they gave themselves to unbridled revelry and lust. Or the hangings might be for Asherah itself, as it is a popular superstition in the East to hang pieces of cloth on trees.” Asherah is…

אֲשֵׁרָה

‘asherah

Ashera(h) = “groves (for idol worship)”
1. a Babylonian (Astarte)-Canaanite goddess (of fortune and happiness), the supposed consort of Baal, her images
  1. the goddess, goddesses
  2. her images
  3. sacred trees or poles set up near an altar

I know that I have been drawn into places that were not of God. I know I have allowed satan to lead me along paths where I knew I should not have been. How easily I was drawn into things that are worldly, calling me into disobedience to God. In reading this (and in other books of the Bible) I take a moment to discern whether I have done this creative hobby in any kind of disobedience to God. I believe not. But I want to discern any wayward ways and then to make sure I am staying firm in my walk with the LORD. Prayer, honor, respect and reverence for the LORD, time with Him, walking in faith are where I find my obedience and love for the LORD.

Father, I pray for the ability to stay on the path that You direct for me. I ask Your forgiveness for those places along my lifelong journey where I have strayed. I know I have when it comes to idol worship when I wandered into uncharted religions that I would call “New Age” today. I did not know then what I know now. I am sorry. I ask to have a tight hold upon me that I would walk close and straight with You. I thank You for Your love and care for me. You loved me first. I am blessed. I pray in the Name of Jesus. Amen.

To catch up on the previous days of this 31 day challenge, you can find them listed here.

31 Days of God-Woven Moments – October 24

October 24, 2014January 7, 2016 / Being Woven / Leave a comment

Upon graduating from college, I could see that I had gone to school and taken all of the courses I HAD to in order to graduate, but had not taken ONE class just for fun! So in the 1970s, I attended an adult education class in weaving. I learned the basics and then kept taking courses, kept experimenting, kept trying to make art out of something which I knew was really just a hobby. But I was enjoying it all so much.

I learned to spin various wools, including sheep, of course, goat, camel, alpaca, llama, cotton, and probably a few others. I learned to use the drop spindle, the Navajo spindle and a spinning wheel. I learned to dye to yarns. I even had a sheep-shearing experience. I wanted to learn the whole process.

I wove on what we call off-loom although the hoop or the frame is the loom, but it was making an individual loom. Later on, I actually made a loom similar to a Navajo loom where I made this first large one (below). It is actually four and a half feet by five and a half feet, all handspun yarns. I made one larger than this and it was a commissioned piece. Cool!

I often do not have a plan when I start. I just go with the flow and have fun!

I made up my own design using a crochet hook and needles for this light colored one with thin yarns.

The colored one is geometric using cotton yarns.

Blues and grays make up this very geometric and symmetrical circle of wool yarns.

A woven wool wheel with a center was not easy, keeping the center wheel in its balanced place, but I did it and have had this one many years.

This one below is woven of handspun wool in the grays and tonal pinks, and store-bought yarns in the black, pink, and purple. It was fun to make geometry take on new avenues as I went.

And these two on this collage are unique. I was daydreaming one day and wanted to try a very thin and strong thread and wrap the warp completely around the frame. I began weaving the design on the front and realized that I could make it three-dimensional by weaving on both the front and back warps. The darker one is of a snowy day in the forest and the lighter is a seascape.

God gave me creativity and this is one avenue that I found for His beauty and fun to flow from me. I have done this since the mid 1970s, although am not doing it now for physical reasons, but still love the art. I appreciate others for the doing.

I have some yarns that one day I may make into a basket. I have done that before as well as quilting, crocheting and knitting. God will keep His creation creating, I am sure.

Father, my Creator, thank You for gifting me with talents that flow and are fun. Thank You for allowing me to create pieces that have been enjoyed by others and even bought by some. Thank You for all of the teachers You have given me along the way. I am so grateful and delighted to have done this. I may not have known to give You the glory then, but I do now. Oh, how I do! In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

To catch up on the previous days of this 31 day challenge, you can find them listed here.

31 Day of God-Woven Moments – October 23

October 23, 2014December 28, 2016 / Being Woven / Leave a comment

“‘Warp and Woof’ is the vertical-horizontal weaving of threads that create fabric. The intersection and unification of everything is the tapestry of life under the Lordship of Jesus. Wholeness begins with Him.” Dr. Mark Eckel

To be unified under Jesus, to find the intersection where Jesus is, brings me to a calm place, a gentle knowing, a sweet moment in time. I feel peaceful knowing that I am His and He is my LORD. The wholeness is knowing that God made me complete from the very start. It is this world, this humanness that rips away the wholeness. But as my LORD, He holds me near and continues to weave my life into that beautiful tapestry that He intended from the start. It is up to me to allow Him to be in control and it is up to me to be obedient. Jesus has never left me. He died for me and wants me for His own. Thank You, LORD.

LORD, I pray for Your hand in mine. I feel Your Presence in my life and know that I must let go of any yarn in order for You to weave my life. I want You to be the Only Weaver of me and to complete me as You intend. I want to hear Your Words, Your guidance. I want to see Your Light and know Your wisdom. I want to be the Linda You desire of me. I give You me. I will try to leave me in Your wonderful hands and try not to take me back. I love You, Jesus. Amen.

To catch up on the previous days of this 31 day challenge, you can find them listed here.

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

συμβιβάζω

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

אֲשֵׁרָה

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: