Monday Magnificat has moved! & The Middle Man

The Middle Man

About a year ago, I casually, yet excitedly, blurted out to my family, "Let's change our lives!" My suggestion was met with various responses. Guitar Girl was the most vocal, "Mom, that is so like you! Here we are driving along in silence and you come out with that!"

Well...we have had some changes. Not what I had in mind and none that I would have asked for but God has certainly been in the midst of those changes.

Jesus said of Himself, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last” Revelation 22:13. And I have found Him to be right in the middle, too! He sees the end from the beginning but He doesn't leave us alone to work out the process of getting from beginning to end. He is in our midst ~ our middle.


The three Hebrew boys found Him to be a middle man, too! When King Nebuchadnezzer had those faithful men bound and thrown into the fiery furnace, 3 went in but a 4th showed up!

The king was astonished and said, "Look! I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God” Daniel 3:25. (The fourth man - a preincarnate appearance of the Messiah)

In the midst of our process I am changing. I have posted in the past about some new ministry projects that I have been working on. But so much was put on hold with my husband's accident on 1/1/09.

However even in my middle, God is speaking and I am listening.

A change on my blog is my Monday Magnificat has been moved here. It is my 2nd blog that has been up for awhile, more as a placeholder than anything else. But things are changing...

Are you in the midst of change?

Monday Magnificat ~ Calling Forth the Gift

Several years ago, I found myself in an unfamiliar place. I had received a Gift from God and had happily used the gift for many years. From girlhood to young adulthood, I was happy and fulfilled to use the Gift. Then one day the Gift was no longer appreciated. There was no opportunity to offer the Gift. I was confused. I was sad. Some noticed and questioned, “Where is the Gift?” I had no explanation. I didn’t know why the Gift was relegated to a distant corner. I grieved as though there were a death. Crying out to the Gift Giver, I asked for answers. There was silence. I wondered who I was without the Gift.
In the silence, I read about a man whose sickness led to death. His family was distraught. The Gift of his life supported and sustained his unmarried sisters. They were confused. They were sad. To the Gift Giver, they said, “If You had been here, our Gift would not have died.” The response? “I am the resurrection and the life.”

And the response of the two whose Gift lay behind a cold, hard stone? One made a confession of Christ. Confessed her belief in His magnitude and mission. The other fell at His feet and, though weeping, worshipped nevertheless.

My tears dried. My heart hoped! I retrieved the Gift from the corner, and lovingly wiped away the dust. “Dear Giver,” I prayed. “You gave the Gift. Now I give it back. Do with it what You will. I offer it as a sacrifice to You who first placed it in my hands. I believe in Your greatness and in Your plan for the Gift. Though once I wept, now I worship!”

As I worshipped the Giver, I noticed another Gift in my hands. “What is this?” I wondered. It seemed smaller, though just as beautiful as the other one. Trusting the Giver with the Gift I gave back, I began to use the smaller Gift. And as I used it more and more, it grew. He showed me how to use it to glorify Him. I was happy. I was fulfilled.

And then one day, a resurrection took place. The Giver who had lovingly held my Gift placed it back in my hands. There was a message attached. It read, “You trusted Me to hold Your Gift, not knowing if I would return it. Now I call it forth! You worshipped Me without it. Now return to worshipping Me with it.”


Do you have a Gift but feel that it has been relegated to a dusty corner? Sometimes we lay our Gift aside. Sometimes we have no opportunity to use our Gift and it lies dormant as though sealed behind a heavy stone. Offer it to God as a sacrifice of worship. Trust Him to call it forth in His time. Worship Him with it or without it. Remember you are not your gift! You are a worshipper.

My Monday Magnificat? I glorify God with the gifts but I worship the Giver! For this I utter my praise.

Magnificat ~ an utterance of praise from the Latin magnifcare ~ to magnify. (photography by Linda Charlene)

Monday Magnificat - A New Day ~ A New Door

Do you sense a new day dawning? Do you wonder what lies on the other side of the door you have yet to open? I don’t know what opportunities may be on the other side for you. I don't know what your potential or your passion is. I don’t know what God has been speaking to your heart lately.
But I do know that God has a plan for each of us and that He formed us each for a purpose. Your purpose is what you were born to accomplish. God places within our hearts His desires. He may put several things in your mind or heart that He wants you to do, each one for a different season of your life.

Do you have an interest or a vision? A "vision" without passion is just an interest.

• Interests come and go.

When my daughter was little I had an interest in making hair bows and trimming out her socks to match! Yes...I have pictures. No...I'm not posting those! That interest lasted long enough to make and trim 5 sets.

I also had an interest in stenciling walls. That interest lasted until the pain in my neck and shoulders became unbearable as did my resemblance to Quasimoto.
The stenciled wall project? Never finished. And no pictures. Thank goodness!
I was interested in those things and many others for a short while. Somehow my interest waned or haulted completely.

Vision is long-term.

• Vision stays with you.

The vision of my heart was present when I was a young child. Looking back I can remember snapshots in time in which I play-acted my vision. Since that time I have had pictures in my mind's eye in which I play out my vision or destiny. Sure, I have had some opportunities that have trained me and helped develop gifts. I'm thankful for those. But there is more. I know it. I can feel it. I can see it.

I hope you are aware of the purpose for which God created you. I hope you have clear vision. Perhaps your season in life has changed and your spiritual eyes have caught a glimpse of a new day, a new door. Do you see the Lord beckoning you to enter through another door? If He is calling you, you must rise up and go toward that calling. One thing is for sure, stepping through that new door requires faith and action on your part. It may, at first, be uncomfortable and perhaps disconcerting.

But realize that as you step through the door, there is One who walks with you. And your obedience to go through the door opens wide the door of faith for others to stream through to a relationship with Him. That's the way vision works. On arrival, they got the church together and reported on their trip, telling in detail how God had used them to throw the door of faith wide open so people of all nations could come streaming in" Acts 14:27, MSG.

God designs you with a purpose and places a vision in your heart to live out that purpose. It is a blessing to you but it is not just for you!

Stepping through the doors God opens for you opens doors for many more!
Is there a new door in your future? I'd love to hear about it. Do Tell!

My Monday Magnificat? Jesus opens the door. He walks me through the door. He IS the door. For this, I utter my praise!

Magnificat - an utterance of praise from the Latin magnificare - to magnify (photo by Linda Charlene)

Monday Magnificant - The AH in SistAH.

Sistah Ruth and Melahnie aka Bellah~MellahThis is Ruth. Notice the family resemblance? She's my sistah. Not my sister. My sistah. We are not related in the ordinary sense of the word. So we are not sisters. But we are related in the spiritual sense. Thus we are sistahs. Ah...now you get it. We are family not by flesh but by spirit.


When God changed Abram's name to Abraham and Sarai's name to Sarah He gave them each a part of His own name, the ah in Yahweh. God changed their names as one of the signs of His covenant with them.



Very simply put, God's covenant was one of blessing on the lives of Abraham and Sarah and their descendants. And we, their spiritual descendants, are recipients of that same blessing. "Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all..." (Romans 4:16).

Isn't she beautiful?

My sistah Ruth is such a treasure to me. As a Bible teacher herself, she is a gracious supporter of my teaching and speaking. A couple of weeks ago, I concluded a teaching series that I wrote, entitled Spirit~Filled & Spirit~Led. My Sistah Ruth was there every week right up front nodding, taking notes and encouraging me. This month she is leading a Bible study through the book of Romans. And I am there. Taking notes. Nodding. Listening. Loving the Word she brings. What a wonderful example she is to me! My covenant sistah Ruth.

How about you? Do you have covenant sistahs who support and encourage you? Are you a covenant sistah to someone? I'd love to hear about it. Do Tell!

My Monday Magnificat? I praise God for sistahs in the faith! For this I utter my praise.

Magnificat - an utterance of praise ~ from the Latin magnificare to magnify

Monday Magnificat - A Change of Seasons

"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose..."
Have you ever sensed that your season is about to change?


I believe that when you are just at the point of rounding the corner that leads to a new path, there are signs that indicate a change in your season is imminent.

One of the signs is a holy tug to spend time alone with God. Not necessarily for the purposes of your talking but for listening to that still, small voice of the Spirit. "As the deer pants for the water brook, so pants my soul for you, O God...Deep calls unto deep at the noise of your waterfalls..." (Psalm 42:1,7).

Another sign is that the same message comes to you in various forms illuminating God's plan for you. You get confirmation of God's rhema Word to you in His Word, in a song, in a conversation with a friend, in an inspiring message, in a Dove chocolate wrapper...it's happened to me! "The entrance of Your words gives light..." (Psalm 119:130).

You may also have unexplained moments of anticipation and excitement even though there is not yet tangible proof of your new season. Sometimes in anticipation of what I believe in my heart God is going to do, I can't help but clap my hands! "Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph! For the Lord Most High is awesome..." (Psalm 47:1 -2)

I believe that when you are led by the Spirit in your Christian walk, God takes you through different seasons of service or ministry. But you have the choice to stay in your present, perhaps comfortable, season or you can step out in faith, take hold of courage and walk confidently into the new season God is ushering in.

My Monday Magnificat? - In each new Season of my life, He alone is the power enabling me to walk no-SOAR!-in confidence and courage.

Magnificat - an utterance of praise from the Latin magnificare - to magnify (photography by Linda Charlene)

Addendum: The word rhema refers to a specific scripture or word from God (always in alignment with scripture), that the Holy Spirit brings to the believer as encouragement, direction, comfort or confirmation. In contrast, logos refers to the Scripture as a whole. John 1:1 tells us that Jesus is the living logos. "And the Word (logos) became flesh and dwelt among us..." (John 1:14). While rhema is referenced in Ephesians 6:17 as that portion of scripture which the believer wields as a sword in the time of need. "And take...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word (rhema) of God..."

Further, logos is the message; rhema is the communication of the message.

Monday Magnificat ~ The Living Water Waits

Once Jesus was on His way to Galilee. But, the Scripture says, He needed to go through Samaria. This need was not a geographical consideration - not a shortcut. The ONE who was sent of God, who spoke the words of God and had the Spirit without limit was divinely led to Samaria.

Why? For an encounter with a Samaritan...a Samaritan woman...a woman with a past... spilling into her present.

He sat by the well. Waiting. She came seeking water.

He asked for a drink and she argued with him over whether He should even be speaking to her. A Samaritan. A woman. With a past. With a present.

He offered her a chance for a drink of His water. Living Water.

The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband and come here." The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband', for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly."

The Living Water and the Water Seeker wade deeper in discussion.


Then the Water Seeker with the past spilling into the present left her waterpot and went into the city, and said to the men, "Come see a man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"


But the Living Water did not tell the Water Seeker everything she ever did. Yet what He did tell her revealed the source of brokenness in her life. Her past and present relationships colored everything so that there was nothing to her any longer but the brokenness of past spilling into present. To the Water Seeker - that was her all.


The Living Water chose to reveal what He came to heal. He needed to go through Samaria to keep a divine appointment. And so He went. And so He sat. By the well. Waiting for the Water Seeker.
(John 4:1-42)
* Excerpt from a Bible study I wrote entitled Spirit-Filled ~ Spirit-Led

My Monday Magnificat? He fills the seeker! For this, I utter my praise.

Magnificat - an utterance of praise from the Latin magnificare - to magnify

Monday Magnificat - More ME in HIM

A white-tailed deer drinks from the creek; I want to drink God, deep draughts of God. I'm thirsty for God-alive.
I wonder, "Will I make it ~ arrive and drink in God's presence?" (Psalm 42:1-2, MSG)


Lately I have been asking God for a lot of input in my endeavors. I know...that sounds like the normal way to live a Christian life. But what I mean is this: I crave God. I thirst for Him. I hunger for more Him and what I have discovered is the way to have more Him in me is to offer more me to Him. I want more than a drink...I want to wade in deep. Deep in God.


To God I want...To be more available. To be more attentive. To be more intentional.


To others I want...To be more approachable. To be more vulnerable. To be more Me in God.


You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat. (Matthew 5:6, MSG)

My Monday Magnificat? He is both the bread of life and the living water. For this I utter my praise.

Magnificat - an utterance of praise from the Latin magnificare - to magnify

Monday Magnificat-PLAN B

Do you ever wonder why sometimes your Plan A doesn't work out like you'd thought it would? I can look back to specific times in my life when I truly believed in my heart that I was doing the right thing in following my Plan A only to soon realize that I needed to adjust and move on to Plan B. So why not Plan B from the beginning?! Then that could have been Plan A!

Maybe it's because I would never have willingly gone down the path of Plan B. Sometimes Plan A is all about getting to Plan B...yeah, let that one sink in a moment. It seems to me that the A in Plan A could often stand for Adapt. Plan Adapt. And Plan B? Well, that's just got to be Plan Better! Oh, but not as in you should have planned better. Rather, as in it's a better plan.

'Works for me!

My Monday Magnificat? *Even though I plan my way, the Lord directs my steps! For this I utter my praise.

*See Proverbs 16:9.

Magnificat - an utterance of praise from the Latin magnificare - to magnify

Monday Magnificat - La Paloma (the dove)

"When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'" (Matthew 3:16,17).

God the Father sent Jesus and introduced Him into the world - "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son..." And Jesus always points us to the Father. Once one of the disciples asked, "Lord, show us the Father" and Jesus replied, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father..." He went on to say, "The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works."

Before the ascension of Jesus, He introduced the Holy Spirit. He spoke to His disciples concerning the role of the Holy Spirit, "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me."

The Trinity works together to redeem fallen man. God wooed His people in the Old Testament. That was a period of time when God spoke directly to men, or through angels bearing messages and through the mouths of prophets. This was the administration of law and sacrifice-the Old Covenant.

Then in the fullness of time, the Word-Jesus-was made flesh and dwelled among [them]. His birth initiated the dispensation of the Son-the New Covenant of grace.

Now, because Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, the Promise of the Father, we are living in the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is bringing into experience that which Jesus made possible.

My Monday Magnificat? I thank God for the Holy Spirit who is a comforter, teacher, revealer, intercessor, and the One who indwells the believer to produce fruit in her life. He is all that and much more. I am also thankful for my church who makes room for the presence and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. For all of this I utter my praise.

MAGNIFICAT - an utterance of praise from the Latin magnificare - to magnify

MONDAY MAGNIFICAT - Shake it Off

Ever have to tell yourself to "shake it off"? When you feel you've fallen short, disappointed, or not given your best, it is tempting to dwell on your shortcomings--especially when you know you could have done better. I used to be my own worst critic when I found myself coming up short. But through prayer, insight and learning to be my own best friend rather than my own worst enemy, I can now "gimme a break" and, to use another cliche, "shake it off."

So rather than getting bogged down and distracted from the next opportunity to get it right, I say with Paul, "Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward--to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back" (Philippians 3:12-14 The Message).

My Monday Magnificat? I praise God that I can shake it off, keep on running and not turn back!

MAGNIFICAT - an utterance of praise from the Latin magnificare - to magnify