The Best

"The desires of good people lead straight to the best" Proverbs 11:23a (MSG)

I have this verse posted on a closet door. 

Desires: distinctly good sense

Good: righteous man 

Best: good = benefit 

"Trust the Lord, and do good things. Live in the land, and practice being faithful. Be happy with the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Entrust your ways to the Lord. Trust him, and he will act on your behalf." Psalm 37:3-5 (GW)

Trust the LORD: my trust is not in RHONDA.. but my trust, reliance is to be in God!

Do: accomplish

Good: rich, valuable in estimation

Happy (delight): take exquisite delight; to be soft or pliable

Desires: request, petition

Entrust: roll, roll away, remove

Ways: course of life, or action, undertakings

Trust: be bold confident, secure, sure, put confidence, make to hope

Act: absolute act, act with effect 

As I read these verses this morning, God reminded me that He wants what is BEST for me.... in order that I accomplish HIS will. It's not about "me", rather it's about me surrendering to God and allowing Him to work so that He receives glory and honor. 

As I prepare to move and make plans to move, I need to step back and remove "Rhonda" from the forefront. I'm to put my reliance in God so that He can accomplish good! 

I've always found the meaning of the word, "delight" interesting. To be soft and pliable. Reminds me of when I played with Play Dough. When the dough is kept in the tightly sealed jars, it was fun to take it out and play with it... it was soft and pliable and didn't take much work to form it into shapes. 

Yet, when I left the lid off, the dough became hard. It took a lot of effort to mold it, and often I'd just give up and throw it away. 

"Rhonda" means strong and powerful. Too often, I leave the "lid off" of my heart thinking I know best and can figure all the details of life out on my own. Yet, I soon realize, that being tough and hard, only makes it more difficult for God to work with me to create His masterpiece. 

If I'm soft and pliable, and I have the good sense to fully trust God, He will accomplish His will and purpose. He will lead me straight to the BEST!

Shattered or Gently Molded

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 29. Here is what I learned.

The Eternal’s voice shatters the cedars; His power splinters the great cedars of Lebanon. Psalm 29:5 (VOICE)

The voice of the Lord splits the mighty cedars; the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon. Psalm 29:5 (NLT)

Facts about the Cedars of Lebanon: “Cedrus libani” is an evergreen coniferous tree growing up to 130 ft tall, with a trunk up to 8 ft 2 in in diameter. The Cedar of Lebanon was important to various ancient civilizations. The trees were used by the Phoenicians for building commercial and military ships, as well as houses, palaces, and temples. The Hebrew prophet Isaiah used the Lebanon Cedar as a metaphor for the pride of the world (Isaiah 2:13). Foreign rulers from both near and far would order the wood for religious and civil constructs, the most famous of which are King Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem and David's and Solomon's Palaces. Because of its significance the word Cedar is mentioned 75 times (Cedar 51 times, Cedars 24 times) in the Bible.  

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon_Cedar)

"The Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon." - What a shame is it then that our hard hearts break not, yield not, though thunder-struck with the dreadful menaces of God's mouth! John Trapp

"The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars." "Black from the stroke above, the smouldering pine Stands a sad shatter'd trunk."

Noble trees fall prostrate beneath the mysterious bolt, or stand in desolation as momentoes of its power. Lebanon itself is not secure, high as it stands, and ancient as are its venerable woods: "Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon." The greatest and most venerable of trees or men, may not reckon upon immunity when the Lord is abroad in his wrath. The gospel of Jesus has a like dominion over the most inaccessible of mortals; and when the Lord sends the word, it breaks hearts far stouter than the cedars. The Treasury of David

My name “Rhonda” means “strong and powerful”. Often I think I’m the strongest and most powerful being.. I’m super-woman! However, I have to say that I’m thankful that God is stronger and more powerful than I am. He only needs to speak and He can shatter the mighty cedars. 

When necessary, I’m thankful that God can break through my stubbornness and get my attention. But it’s much more pleasant a learning experience when I’m soft and pliable in His hands. 

To create a positive day, I can be shattered by God or I can choose to listen to Him and be molded into His image gently.

Max's Ordeal

Every month or so, I have to trim Max's toenails. He HATES it. It doesn't hurt him, he just doesn't like being held and having his nails cut. When it's time to trim Max's nails, the hardest part for me is catching Max. No matter how I try to disguise what I'm going to do, Max knows something is up. He'll fly from his cage to his sofa and back all just above my reach. I've learned to chase him for a few times, and then "give up". Then Max will fly to me or a perch nearby, thinking he's won the battle... that's when I catch him. 

Anyone hearing his squawks, as I trim his nails, would think he's being tortured—of course, Max thinks he is. It only takes about 2 minutes to cut his toenails...and would take less if Max would stay still. Once I'm done trimming, Max hops up on my shoulder and yells at me for a few seconds....until he realizes he's fine. Then he promptly gives me a few kisses followed by some "pretty bird" and "happy" rants.

I often wonder if I act like Max when God is working in my life. When I sense God's about to do something, do I run and try to remain out of His reach?  (Of course that's impossible.) And When God begins the "trimming" to make me more in His image, do I yell and scream all the while kicking and straining as He works? Just as with Max, I'm sure if I'd allow God to work, and be "soft and pliable" in His hands, the "trimming" wouldn't take as long and would be very painless.
Max trusts me and is evident in how he reacts around me. He'll sleep on me, sit on me and fly to any room I'm in, so that he can be with me. He's sitting on my shoulder as I type this. You'd think because of the trust he has in me, he'd let me trim his nails without a fight.

The same is true with my relationship with God. I trust God. He knows what I need more than I do! And He has shown over and over that He does care for me and He loves me with an unconditional love.

So, when God wants to do some trimming in my life, what is my reaction? I wish I could say that I remain soft and pliable and let God work. However, I know that there are times, I kick and scream wondering why God would choose to work on me at this time or in this way. I'm so very thankful that God continues working in my life. The only way for me to grow in Him is to let God trim, whenever He wants.... as much as He wants...and by any means He deems best.

Each day, I must remain soft and pliable in God's hands. That includes remaining positive. God says very clearly in Philippians 4:8-9, "Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies." (The Message) If my mind and heart are focused on the positive things of God, I'll be much more pliable as He works in my life.