Progression of Praise

"If you do not know my pain you will never understand my praise." These words were written by Juanita Bynum, but they could have been penned by King David as well. Psalm 3 is known to have been written when he fled his son Absalom's pursuit of him. "But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill. Selah." (v.3) Praise in the midst of pain. Praise that follows pain. Praise that proceeds pain. PRAISE.

Nuff said.

Red Letter Day (He is risen indeed)

It is an amazing time in the Word to scan quickly and read ONLY the words in red, Jesus' words. To me the words that stand out with flashing blinking lights (ok, so they really don't, but they COULD!) Jn. 19:30 "It is finished" As Jesus willingly dies on the cross and gives up His Spirit to His Father ~ He now the bridge of relationship back to the Father for ALL mankind. WOW. As we would say in this generation, "It's a done deal."

Easter. Jesus lives - dies - resurrects! What a redletter day! May we too experience Jesus' words PERSONALLY. It is finished!

In Him, DeDe

Get'r done!

Yep ... Get'r done!

Dancing yet again!

Spontaneous B.S.

That's right .... spontaneous B.S. Facebook of all places! You gasp? Yes, it's true, a couple of days ago a dear friend asked me a question regarding Ruth of the Old Testament and before she or myself knew it we were in a dynamic - deep spontaneous bible study.

Barbie Hey DeDe!!! I have been thinking, and wondering... thought you might be able to help me with this one...... "Why did Ruth so passionately desire to follow Naomi?"

DeDe Hi Barbie ~ Hm... let me ponder - research and I will get back to you.

Barbie Thanks!!!

DeDe workin on this - amazing study so far... thinkin ... pondering.... (thin bible pages turning)

DeDe Passion is an amazing thing... for some of us the passion to do - go - be - is placed there by God. HE places the desire - sometimes that desire is refused - Like Naomi tried to discourage Ruth. Once Ruth took on Naomi's people, her destiny was being fulfilled - she became the great/grand mother to King David. We NEVER know 'where' our passion will take us.

Barbie I agree!!! That's good stuff... My biggest question is: Why did she insist on following Naomi, were they very close, with a mother/daughter relationship, or did Ruth have a personal relationship developed with God that created in her the desire to stay close to Naomi so she could continue growing in God..... I just wonder what inspired her... what was her motivation... what were her main inspiration/passion?

DeDe more to come...

DeDe Barbie ~ One thing I have noticed... Naomi followed in devotion (husband and God) she too was 'followed' in devotion by Ruth. Relationship is a HUGE thing. I am fully persuaded that there was a special relationship of heart and spirit between the two. Naomi lived the example of power & presence... how attractive - inspiring - motivating, no wonder Ruth insisted on going with her. Culture/custom said turn, go home. Heart & spirit said keep going. We have much to learn from Ruth about love & devotion... it may cost us something/everything... take us to other places... serve different people... find our destiny. Enjoying the study ... still more to come.

Barbie Wow!!! Amazing!!! Loving this!!!

You never know what you might find on Facebook... even spontaneous B.S.

(P.S. the study went towards personal testimony and honest sharing, it left the 'wall' and went to 'private message')

~ DeDe

Let it be said of me ...

I sing this chorus in the car ... in the shower ... as I walk into work ... when I lay my head down on my pillow ... when I cry myself to sleep. "Let it be said of me, my source of strength, is Christ alone ..."