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I asked my husband what kind of question about God peeks his interest. His answer was that his favorite topic is the changed heart of someone who has encountered God. Mine too.

We call out to God and he hears us. We then press through the veil of our carnality to hear him. Imagine that Adam and Eve walked with God, being in his presence without having to press through carnality to share their hearts with Him. They fully encountered God, living our desire, fully realized.

Unity with God is the highest wisdom, according to the Rabbi. Nothing resonates like telling our story of how our heart was changed by an encounter with God, the antidote to our circumstances. It’s the path to wisdom.

Yesterday someone posted a tweet sharing comments about why God chose the Jews for his favor. I tweeted that perhaps God didn’t choose Abraham but that Abraham chose God, according to what I’ve heard taught in Jewish tradition. The choosing of Abraham was God’s response to Abraham’s faithful heart and desire to know him. God saw in Abraham someone that would be faithful to Him and affect redemption’s story.

God responded to a man with a righteous heart. Abraham’s heart chased after the great Jehovah God. Abraham, in the midst of horrendous idolatry, unthinkable atrocities, was a thoughtful and observant man full of questions. He had to have been grieved at the depravity he witnessed and at the same time, amazingly, he was able to recognize goodness.

I have this picture in my mind of Abraham looking out at dawn and seeing the sun rise every day. I can see him raising his eyes upward toward the moon and stars at night. Abraham observed the changing seasons and the rhythms of life. He was a man who considered his world and realized that someone good had created a phenomenal setting for man to live his life in. Abraham recognized the beauty in the order of things. I can see Abraham calling out one evening asking, “Who are you”? You are a great and mighty God to be able to set all this in order! I want to know you!” And God responded! Abraham encountered God and everything changed for him because this was a living God, the creator of life!

So….yes the Jews are considered as God’s chosen people. Chosen to serve and love God and to be a reminder to the earth of what has been, what is and what will be.

So, why does it matter whether God chose Abraham or Abraham chose God? I don’t know for sure if it does matter in the grand scheme but what I do know is that I’ve cried out and he answered me. I’ve cried out as far back as I can remember, as a child, as a young adult, as an older adult…….and HE ANSWERS MY CRY and IT CHANGES EVERYTHING. IT CHANGES ME.

**Notice to West End Community Group from Cross Point Church Nashville.
Meeting is on for Tuesday, 6/11/13, at 6:30

First let me remind the West End Group from Cross Point Church Nashville, that we are not meeting tonight as Jan is vacationing with family but we will be back together next week!

I am about 6 days late posting this. I won’t bore you with the details but work and antibiotics played a part in me not typesetting the words here.

Last Tuesday we discussed the 2nd beatitude, “Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted”. We discussed ways in which Jesus comforts us and the different ways in which we mourn. A heavy heart needs comfort and mourning has various expressions. Death tends to be the first relative thought that comes to mind with mourning but there are so many more. Divorce and loss of friendship are right up there. Our restoration can begin in the midst of our mourning. Do you believe that?

When we look inside, to our hearts, there is One who resides there. When we are in the midst of heartache, it is difficult to reach out….for anyone. But He is there, dwelling in our very being. If he isn’t there, ask Him to come. Surrender your heart and be comforted and be blessed for the opportunity to not walk this journey alone.

Feeling alone carries with it a sense of mourning. Tuesday night we shared the challenge of arriving to church on Sunday alone. For some, walking in the building alone heightens our sensitivities. We can become more aware of our emotions and vulnerabilities. It’s true. I’ve experienced it as well as multitudes of others, so actually we are not alone in our “aloneness”.

With that thought in mind, here is something to consider. It was to start this past Sunday but I was not feeling well Sunday so I was not at church and watched the 1st in the series of “Cover to Cover” online. If you missed it, go watch it. You will be glad you did. But in an effort to help each other, I have extended an invitation for “us”, meaning anyone that reads this, to come to the 12:00 service at Cross Point Church Nashville and we can sit together in the back balcony right hand section facing the stage. BTW, there isn’t a bad seat in the house. I will wear something with red in it each week (no,not a hat) and I will put on a name tag, Libby. Is that lame? OK, so I will risk being lame. Navigating a church of thousands has its challenges but thousands coming together to learn about God is great.

This past Sunday I was also mourning a friendship loss and I cried out and He came to me. By Sunday night, I had been comforted, in my heart. I am blessed and grateful. Once again I am reminded of how he loves me. Listen to the David Crowder band and remember.

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit for Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven

Last night in our ladies’ small group @ West End, we began our walk into the Sermon on the Mount using our Bible and Emmett Fox’s book with the same title, Sermon on the Mount, pages 1-17, focusing on the first beatitude.

Summary Notes: 5/21/13

6:30 – 7:00 We spent time for personal introductions with a new member and each other. With God being the focus of our gathering, we continue to discover that we aren’t strangers but co-heirs in the kingdom.

7:00 – 8:00 Jan, our host, read pages 14 -15 to set the framework. We discussed and contemplated what “poor in spirit” means and that Jesus was vying for a kingdom of heaven, not of this world.

Our spirit, our self-will, manifested through our emotions and actions needs to lessen, become poor.   Galatians 5 tells us to inherit the kingdom without being in bondage to the law…. by following God’s Spirit, not our earthly spirit of the flesh.

Becoming poor in (our) spirit happens when attitudes of this nature occur:

Laying down our self-will in deference to God’s will

Removing whatever keeps us distant from Him.

Emptying of ourselves to make room for Him

Change occurs with His help.

We discussed Sunday’s message how prayer is an invitation to join in with God and  our experiences with God will change us. The decision is ours and the strength we need will come from our connection to God. (Luke 24:49 )

Last night we each shared something personal we are hoping to gain spiritually over the next few weeks, by faith in Him to be with us and help us.  By speaking this to each other, it helps us find clarity to what we are really seeking  and brings grace filled accountability into it . AND we are encouraged by each other.

Looking forward to next week!

^{2 Cor 3:18 NIV} And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

…― A.W. Tozer,  Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard (Christ) to which each one must individually bow. …― A.W. Tozer,