A Servant's Praises

Song of inspiration

"Pour my Love on You"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5fJgKyeS1c

Over this 4 years, I have learned a lot about God's will for me and His will for His people.

Faith is a spiritual muscle that only grows stronger with the weight being added. When circumstances in our lives change, we can decide to grow closer to Christ or turn away. If we turn away, our faith weakens. If we turn to Him, thanking Him and praising Him through the storm, the act of believing in what we cannot see grows stronger. Our grip on His hand gets tighter. Our dependence on Him gets deeper. Our eyes of faith, the ability to see the unseen, grows stronger. Our spiritual senses get sharper.

As Christ takes us along our adventure of faith, we grow more mature in Him. As we grow stronger, we can handle more weight and responsibility in the Kingdom. Our vision grows grander, beyond ourselves and into a bigger family of faith. We are pushed to take our personal relationship and testimony and share it to grow the Kingdom, the Church, the Bride of Christ.

I am finding out in my journey, that God WILL give us more that we can handle. Look at the assignment he gave to Moses! And Jonah! Neither of these men felt capable to do the will God had set before them. But it's through our weakness He shows His strength. It's through our lack of knowledge He shows His infinite wisdoms. It is a false promise (not in the Bible) that "God will never give you more than you can handle." In fact, I believe that is the whole point of Christ's existence is for Him to carry our burdens to the cross so that we don't carry them
To the grave.  When we carry more weight than we can handle, we realize  how weak we are beneath it. We realize our need for something stronger than ourselves! That is FAITH!

THE REAL PROMISE IS...

He gives Rest for the Weary

Matthew 11:28-30

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” He wants you to come to Him, surrender control of what's weighing you down and to give you peace in exchange.

After the death of my best friend and husband, Shannon Seaton, over three years ago, I have realized the truth of what is around us. There is more around than what we "see" with our eyes. We believers here on earth are being cheered on in this race of life by the witnesses in the Heavens. I believe they look at us and are entertained by our praise and worship in the midst of our struggles to finish. I believe they want us to be aware of their joy when we grow the Father's Kingdom here on Earth. They applaud souls coming to Christ.

" Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

Hebrews 12

Whatever it is that we are doing to grow the Kingdom (teaching, preaching, serving, creating), keep doing it! Do not grow weary or weak. Keep running the race towards the finish line, the cross. Don't let your circumstances or disappointments slow you down or weaken your faith. It is the greatest sacrifice to Praise God when it's hard to see His hand. Push through.

Isaiah 40:30-31

³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

Image Created by Tabitha Morgan for a friend of faith growing the Kingdom

(inspired by http://elementaryartfun.blogspot.com/2016/11/feather-wings-mural.html)

There have been times where I felt like I was living my life doing the best I could to do what I thought God's will was for my life. I pray before my every step in life for fear of falling. I need Him to show me the way. I'm lost without His light on my path. So, why does the path we run sometime lead to unfairness? I struggled with this. I know God is on my side... (Romans 8:31), so why was I feeling so let down? Where did I go wrong?

I came to God in my quiet time with this question...

He gave me a vision of the cross. His Son Jesus followed Him without fail. He always gave up His desires for those of His Father's... but it lead him where? The cross. Is that fair? No.

Peter and John, faithful disciples that followed Christ landed in prison for healing in HIs name...

is that fair? No.

Job lost almost everything he had been blessed with after being obedient to God... not fair.

But God showed me His plan... That the path does not end where the earthly eye can see. The plan is to strengthen & perfect the runner along the way... to make me and the faithful ones as much like Christ as possible. That means following Him to places that lead to unfair circumstances. These are our crosses to bear.

"And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple."

Luke 14:27

Jesus told us, "In the world you will have trouble..But take heart! I have overcome the world"

John 16:33

He told us to expect unfairness.

(Matthew 5:11-12, 44; 10:23, 13:21; Mark 10:30; John 15:20).

He told us that the world would hate us (John 15:18-19).

            

 After God shared this knowledge with me, I had to let it soak into my soul. IN time he showed me this verse to help it make sense...

(His emphasis to me was on verse 13)

Ephesians 4:11-16

 ^"So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

¹⁴ Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶ From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. "

God was telling me that in order to move forward in my walk of faith, I must grow up. He has grown my for a greater purpose, to lead others to the Grand Finish. It's not all about me and my life walk being fair! It's about my life walk reflecting His. It's about my life walk being used to lead others to

The Cross. To show them the place where they can lay it all down at His feet.  I either had to grow stronger for the walk or go Another path. God has a way of putting us in our place of humbleness with His loving words of truth.

Satan has a way of leading us to a life of pride with pretty lies too...

Here is where I had a flashback of my infant faith...

Flashback of my life in 2008

This wasn't the first time God had brought the subject of "infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind" to me. I had heard it years before when doubting the faith I was raised. I was just about to attend a conference with my Christian friend Micah. It was an event that would totally alter my future faith...See here if interested in reading my non-current testimony in the autobiographical comic, SuperTab

http://thelostsocklife.blogspot.com/2013/03/supertab-autobiographical-comic-of-my.html

(above, Page of Adult doubt from SuperTab...)

After letting all of this soak into my spirit... I came out with the first drawing you see above.

It is of the church at Jesus's feet. The notes of praise, worship and thanksgiving are opening the Heavens for God to take pleasure in the aroma of sweet sacrifice. 

What I have learned is that Worship is an act of humbling ourselves before Christ and submitting to His will. The true place of humility is as a servant at their Master's feet. Jesus showed us this at the Last Supper.

He said, “Do you understand what I have done for you?” He asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord.’ You are right. That is what I am. I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet. So you also should wash one another’s feet. I have given you an example. You should do as I have done for you. John 13

Also, when the sinful woman came to see Jesus, she went to his feet sacrificing tears of shame, her finest perfume and wiped his feet with her hair. Luke 7:36-50

Mary, the sister of Martha was also found listening intently at the feet of Jesus. Jesus told Martha in her business and worry, that Mary was at the better place. Luke 10:38-42

This is the place to let go of what we think we deserve and give the Savior what he deserves. Once we let go of ourselves, our flesh, we find our Spirit... this is where we can find Him in true worship

John 4:24. "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."

The church should be at His feet in true worship. From the church should come Praises and Thanksgiving. These are like sweet fragrances of sacrifice to the Lord. The Heaven's open up pleased by the sounds of the Church praising the King. Heaven and Earth are joined in one accord as Christ had taught. "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven!" Let the Heavens and all the angels, the witnesses in the clouds (Hebrew 12:1), open up when we Praise the King on earth as it is done in Heaven.

Psalms 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful to him, and bless his name.

Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

I hope these images, words and scriptures have blessed you in your present faith. May God bless you for reading the truth. May you hear the Heaven's singing "Christ" this Christmas beyond all the noise of this world drowning it out.

Tabitha Morgan

Seeing Beauty in the Broken

The past three weekends have been an amazing but exhausting race. I've been traveling back and forth to my home town to see my family, new love, & looking for answers to where life is taking me... It's all so fast and I'm getting slightly dizzy. So... God lovingly weaved a weekend of peace and tranquility for me that was much needed!

Today was such a blessing! I was spoiled this Saturday morning by waking up late (never happends) in a home all alone. My 2 girls were staying at their Graham's the night. So, I was psyched to have some time alone. I was desperately seeking to spend time fully focused on hearing Gods voice... After my coffee, shower, and another cup of coffee I headed out to just be free...

As always, when I have free time, my initial plan is to meet God at the Nature Preserve... But on my way there, 

I decided to stop by the Kindness Cottage, one of our local thrift shops. Pulling out of my garage, I took the long way to the shop so I could see one of my favorite houses in town. This is a house that a year ago, my late husband and I were somewhat dreaming of buying and restoring. We live in a beautiful new home that we fashioned to look old... but always talked about how much we long for a real old home. This old home had been previously owned by some drug addicts that had greatly neglected it. That fact & the sad estate of it all scared us too bad to further consider the possibility. But is was a very special house because of it's unique architectural features; rounded doorways and windows, inlet brickwork, intricate windows, and more. Every roll past this house tugged at my heart in hope for more, knowing it was not fulfilling it's purpose. It was destined for greater life. It was undeniably unique, but never the less... Broken. 

As I drove by the house while listening to my Jesus Jams, singing loud and smiling with my windows down & head in the clouds. I was expecting to see the usual overgrown weeds, empty flower beds and brokenness...

But as I looked up from steering, I was shocked! It was an unexpected scene that appeared before my eyes. The broken house was now beautiful! What was brown before was now green, what was tilted was now straight, what was dirty was now clean, what was hidden was now exposed, what was broken was now mended, and what was dead was now alive with love! 

My eyes welled up with tears... I was not only sweetly surprised by the restored beauty but even more surprised by dramatic yet sincere reaction. Why was I crying? Then I noticed the owner looking out the window of the rounded door and I felt like an emotionally unstable psycho stalker lady. So I Snapped a photo and drove off...

Why was I crying?... No!! I'm not PMSing, not menapausal, not pregnant... It was the Spirit touching me. He was revealing Himself to me. 

 That house was a dream we were  scared to live. The risk was too great & task too big! We saw the beauty but were not strong enough for the job. In our reality... It wasn't worth it.  But somebody else took it on! What dreams do I have that I am letting slip by out of fear? God saw me 6 years ago, when I was broken... All my intricately unique qualities that I had covered with selfish sin. I let things slip, neglected my own keep up, and felt worthless and broken.  He saw all my vain wasted talent, knowing I could be doing more. He was just waiting for my surrender.... When I opened my door to Him, He cleaned me up with love so that others could see my real beauty and my true purpose in life could begin. 

God created us in His image, as creative restorers designed to see beauty in brokenness. He hides beauty so we can uncover, discover, and restore it to it's original design... It's intended purposeful beauty. We are designed to search for the best in things, to peel back old layers in excitement & hope for the new. We long to find treasure, to discover a unique design. We appreciate differences in structures & finding beauty in the broken. Just as our heart longs for these things... This is Our Father's heart too! His greatest desire is To see us surrender, open up our doors, so that He can come in to restore His design to its original purpose that got lost in the brokenness. 

God's will is the Garden of Eden, Heaven on Earth, a place of perfect peace where His creation can walk hand in hand with Him in daily communion...

 But just like that house, our sinfully dirty addictions messed the perfect design & plan all up! We seem hopeless to worldly spectators with little faith. But He knows the blueprint of our lives & this world... His greatest desire is now to restore His will here. He wants to bring earth & all His creation back to it's original design!!! 

Strangely, This transformed house and my shopping plans began to connect... The thrill I get from thrift shopping was a way for me to connect to my Creator's Heart. I feel such deep fulfillment in seeing worth in broken or unwanted things that are surrendered to second hands. They are entrusted to my hands to make them new again. It's my purpose to mend the holes, rid the stains, or embellish the imperfections. Through eyes of hope, I see them as new again. 

Driving away from this house towards the thrift shop, I felt The Lord so close. I felt like He was laying out special spots along my day's path like rose petals leading to treasure. 

(Above: Treasure at Kindness Cottage that inspired me)

So, I made it to my Heaven on Earth... The Mineola Nature Preserve.

I plopped myself on a picnic blanket, ate my Sonic kids meal, listened to my Jesus Jams some more, and pulled out my art kit. What should I draw Lord? What are you telling me today?

Sitting here connecting, praising & creating is when I feel my absolute closest to God... My true worship and expression of love. Out in vast space of Nature all around me, alone with no distraction. Every sense is revealing His presence ; sounds of praise filling my ears (from my playlist & nature), smell of grass, sights of never ending country, and the feel of the wArm sun and cool breeze combined. The beauty of it all is the very One that Created this is calling me, a broken sinner, to create for Him!!! My every intricate detail of how He created me to live is being fulfilled here... I am living the Legacy He planned for me... Here is where He fills me up to overflowing! Here is my Heaven on Earth, my Garden of Eden.

Now this filling can't be contained! That's the whole point.... It is designed to spill out for others to see His love through my work. It is the most satisfying feeling I will ever have. 

God is trying to tell me... Tell Everybody, to slow down. Live in the moment, the here and now. Smell the flowers, feel the sun, raise your antennas to Him and listen for His voice. What is He showing you NOW? Shhhhhhhh..... Listen close. Be still. Escape the noise and run to His sanctuary. There you will find Heavenly peace that surpasses Earthly understanding.

It's time to leave my Secret Place and go pick up my bundles of Blessings from their Graham's house. She sits with her girls on her front porch. She tells us that the porch is her "Heaven on Earth". This is where she sits to devote her moments to Him, where she feels Him close. We all have our own idea of Heaven...

Heaven to me is feeling free, fearless, careless, safe, secure, worshipful and joyfulness.
Our only purpose there will be to Praise and Worship the Father in whatever way that is to us.
That may be creating art, rocking on the porch, or making mud pies.
The Bible says we are to be like a child to enter the Kingdom.
There will be no parental responsibilities for us to bear, no worry of their safety.
We are all His children and He is our Great Father!
So, when we enter Heaven we become in care of the Greatest Father ever. We will be safe and secure, no tear will appear, no darkness, no time, no hurry, no fear of death, no negative words, just pure worship and freedom to be adventurous in the never ending openness of the Heaven Realms. There will be new discovery around EVERY corner. We can swim the depths of the ocean and not be afraid. We can climb the tallest tree and never fall. We can run across the fields and not get thorns in our feet. 
We are free to play because our Father is watching us and He is everywhere!

It is Gods' will for Heaven to enter earth.
"Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our Daily Bread..."
Let Heaven come to us as we do your will here, and let us not worry about the morrow, but trust in today's blessings.
Don't hurry, don't worry, don't forget to smell the flowers...

Ended the beautiful blessed day with dirt and water....

Which when you add them together... They make mud pies... Something dirty to others, but beautiful in my eyes. 

Maybe in Heaven, Mud Pies will taste delicious. I am sure they will. 

May you be blessed by reading this. I pray that each person find beauty in the broken, treasure in trash, & hope and purpose in something as simple as a "lost sock". Amen.