four minutes with God: Psalm 86:1-12

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

a Quote:
“I can’t tell you how much energy and determination and prayer it takes for me to keep making the deliberate choice to appropriate faith and trust in the power of God . . . How do I do it? I fill my mind with the truth of the identity of God. I keep an awareness of His power flowing through the front burners of my psyche, memorizing relevant Scriptures and consciously “changing the channels” of my brain until I rest in His power. I’ve declared war on my ignorance of God, because the challenges I face today are simply too great for me to remain in ignorance and to trust in my own resources.” (emphasis mine)
The God You’re Looking for
by Bill Hybels

my Prayer:
Lord, thank you for your unconditional love. Thank you for your grace; freely given and undeserved. Thank you for your Holy Spirit’s presence in my life. Thank you for overwhelming blessings. You are perfect and Holy and your plan is so far above what I could possibly imagine. There is none like you.

I want to give to you, financially and of my time and talents, not out of obligation or for what I might receive in return, but as a response to my consuming gratitude. Please allow me to serve you. Please don’t let me miss an opportunity to serve due to my attention to self-focused goals or oblivious adherence to my routine.

the Word:
Hear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me. Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name. For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God. Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.
Psalm 86:1-12 (NIV)

the lyric.
“Into the darkness you shine. Out of the ashes we rise. There’s no One like You. None like You. Our God is greater, our God is stronger. God You are higher than any other. Our God is Healer, awesome in power. My God, My God.”
Our God
by Chris Tomlin

This was dual published on my Pragmatic Communion blog.

crazy woman singing in the van singing WHAT? “Like Incense”

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

Beautiful new praise song this week: Like Incense

“May my prayer like incense rise before You, the lifting of my hands as sacrifice
Oh Lord Jesus turn Your eyes upon me, for I know there is mercy in Your sight

Your statutes are my heritage forever, my heart is set on keeping Your decrees
Please still my anxious urge toward rebellion, let Love keep my will upon its knees”

For more beautiful music, check out Then Sings My Soul Saturday every Saturday hosted by Amy at Signs, Miracles and Wonders.

four minutes with God: Ephesians 3:17-19

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

a Quote:
“One of the most important life-changing prayers we can pray for other people is that they will really know God’s love in a powerful, personal way. Paul did not pray that people would love God; he prayed that people would know and have Revelation of God’s awesome love.”

“When someone tells you about a Biblical principle or spiritual truth, that is a piece of information. But when God helps you understand it, it becomes revelation.”
The Power of Simple Prayer by Joyce Meyer

my Prayer:
Lord, I pray for revelation of the depth of your love today. For myself, for my family, for my friends and for that person I will never meet. Please bless me with a deep understanding of your perfect and limitless love. I don’t ever want to take it for granted, not fully comprehending the depth and breadth of your affection for me. Please help me to remember that every blessing – and every trial – is evidence of the fullness of your love for me.

the Word:
. . . so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:17-19 (NIV)

. . . And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God
Ephesians 3:17-19 (The Message)

the Lyrics
“How deep, how deep is your love? How strong, how strong is your love?” Healing Is In Your Hands by Christy Nockels

This was dual published on my Pragmatic Communion blog.

crazy woman singing in the van singing WHAT? “Glory to God Forever”

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

Loving the new praise song this week: “Glory to God, Glory to God, Glory to God Forever. Take my life and let it be all for you and for your glory. Take my life and let it be yours.”

For more Saturday music, check out Then Sings My Soul Saturday every Saturday hosted by Amy at Signs, Miracles and Wonders.

peel me a grape. again.

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

I posted this as an audio clip and wrote a dedication to FirstHusband on our 20th wedding anniversary, August 11th, but here’s a youtube version.

Peel Me a Grape is one of “our” songs (really, after 20 years, how can we have only ONE song?). The lyrics are so completely opposite of the mini-van driving, pragmatic woman I am and the kind of relationship we have, that they make us laugh. And laughter all wrapped up in sultry? That’s romance for us. We both loved it from the moment we heard it.

Need a few more chuckles today? Check out Friday Funnies hosted by Homesteaders Heart!

If you’ve got time to hang out for a few minutes, check out what else makes me laugh: Pragmatic Compendium’s “laugh!” category.

and

For more Saturday music, check out Then Sings My Soul Saturday every Saturday hosted by Amy at Signs, Miracles and Wonders.

peel me a grape.

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

20 years today. One of the best decisions I ever made!

FirstHusband gave me a cruise for an anniversary present. I gave him this: (the vocals are all me)

Cause anyone who knows me, knows how much I need mink coats, cashmere and bon bons. umm. hmm. I must admit. I do love the line “never outthink me.” And tonight the line “chill me some wine” will work.

We first heard this song 8 years ago in a little piano bar on the Disney Wonder. It stuck with both of us – in a “this is our song” kind of way. But then again, we have framed lyrics by Jimmy Buffett hanging on our bedroom wall:

“It’s those changes in latitudes,
changes in attitudes nothing remains quite the same.
With all of our running and all of our cunning,
If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.”

We are some kind of romantic, huh?

We relied on PinkGirl set up our romantic anniversary dinner in her own special way and then she invited us to the family room for a dance. She played the CD and since the accompaniment sounds exactly like the Diana Krall version, FirstHusband didn’t know it was me till the vocals started. He asked two questions: “Who is this?” immediately followed by “Is this you?”

Happy Anniversary, babe. Today you are FavoriteHusband. Maybe even tomorrow too.

crazy woman singing in the van singing what? “Mighty Fortress”

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

“Songs then, become tiny little devotions that point us to the Lord, remind us of Him and His Word, and maybe shake us a little bit.” from “Lifestories: Finding God’s Voice of Truth Through Everyday Life” by Mark Hall

Recording my version of this song tonight. Asking for prayers that His will be done and that He will use me as a witness for His grace and glory.

For more Saturday music, check out Then Sings My Soul Saturday every Saturday hosted by Amy at Signs, Miracles and Wonders.