Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining

photograph by Sallee Bonham

Random God thoughts appear in my mind when I am driving. I don't know why. It just happens. I want to share a random God thought that occurred to me this week as I drove home from work. 

 I saw a beautiful cloud framed against the deep blue sky. The cloud edges shone  brilliantly white in the afternoon sunlight. The folk saying, "Every cloud has a silver lining." drifted through my mind. Then, my God thought moment occurred," Every child of God has a silver lining too. We are lined by the Holy Spirit that was given to us by God, after Jesus died on the cross."

I picture the Holy Spirit as a silvery white, shining light; similar to the brilliant white of the cloud edges that I saw as I drove home. On the outside, we are a physical human being, but we contain an inner spiritual lining that is the Holy Spirit. This "holy lining" claims us as God's. How cool is that? Every Christian is lined, or given, the Holy Spirit because we belong to the Lord.

The Bible tells us we were given the Holy Spirit by God. The bold type in the scriptures is my emphasis. 

Acts 15:8 NIV
God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us.

1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

John 14:17 NIV

the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 

2 Timothy 1:14 NIV

Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you--guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

Psalm of the Week - Psalm 28:7 - March 16, 2015

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Psalm 28:7 NIV


I love this verse because it states exactly how I feel about my relationship with Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit. 

John Gill, an English Baptist minister, wrote the following excerpt:

"The Lord is my strength...That is, the author both of natural and spiritual strength; ...and my shield; as were the love, power, and faithfulness of God, and the Lord Jesus Christ...since his heart trusted in the Lord; and which shows that his trust was a hearty one, his faith was a faith unfeigned, he believed with the heart unto righteousness; and I am helped: this was the fruit of his trust, even a gracious experience of divine assistance: saints are helpless in themselves...God is the only helper of them; he helps them out of all their troubles; in whatever he calls them to, and to what they want; and the help he affords is sometimes quick, and always seasonable...and this joy was very great, a joy unspeakable, and full of glory; it was not carnal, but spiritual, a heart joy, joy in the Holy Ghost (Spirit);...praise is due to God, what glorifies him, and is acceptable to him; it becomes the saints, is comely(proper) for them, and it is pleasant work to them, when grace is in exercise..."

Heart joy. This is how I feel about the Lord. Joy that starts as a small bubble inside me. A joy bubble that expands until I want to shout at the top of my voice. An amazing, overwhelming joy that Jesus Christ loves ME! 

Waiting On a "Just for Me" Memory Verse

Two days ago, 

I realized that March 15th was nearly here. Lately, my morning quiet time has given way to recorded food programs and a computer game. However, I knew this had to change if I wanted to hear the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit give me my next Siesta Scripture Memory Team 2015 memory verse. 

And I heard.......silence

I opened my Bible, read in the New Testament, and heard..........silence. I praised the Lord in prayer, thanked Him for my blessings, and asked for my next memory verse. Listening quietly I heard...........silence. 

As I studied the 5th/6th Grade bible lesson, I read the lesson's weekly memory verse, John 5:36. 

“I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me.

This morning, I assigned the memory verse to my class. Additionally, I told the students they would get to ask me to recite the memory verse next Sunday. 

Two Memory Verses

In fact, I was planning on memorizing two scriptures. I expected to be given a separate, just for me, scripture for Siesta Scripture Memory Team by the Lord. However, Jesus had a different idea. 

More silence

It is late afternoon as I type this post. About an hour ago, I again turned to the Lord for my memory verse. Thinking I might have missed an internal prompting during church service, I reread the sermon scriptures from church service. I listened quietly and heard............silence.

Q and A

"Father, what do you want me to memorize this week?", I finally asked. Imagine my surprise when the quiet voice I had been listening for said,

"John 5:36." 

Jesus does not expect me to learn two memory verses in one week. I put that task on myself. Honestly, I am relieved to be memorizing one scripture that is part of my task, teaching the 5th/6th grade Sunday School class. 

Psalm of the Week - Psalm 27:13-14 - March 9, 2015

Picture from:
www.heartlight.org gallery

13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

I love these two verses of Psalm 27. As I read, I can feel confidence, optimism, and patience rise within me. SalleeB

Psalm of the Week - Psalm 67 - Week of February 23, 2015

Psalm 67:1 NIV

1   May God be gracious to us and bless us

and make his face shine on us

2   so that your ways may be known on earth,

your salvation among all nations.

3   May the peoples praise you, God;

may all the peoples praise you.

4   May the nations be glad and sing for joy,

for you rule the peoples with equity

and guide the nations of the earth.

5   May the peoples praise you, God;

may all the peoples praise you.

6   The land yields its harvest;

God, our God, blesses us.

7   May God bless us still,

so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.

                                                                      Psalm 67 NIV

Personal Prayer Application

May God be gracious to me and bless me and make his face shine on me that my ways may be known on earth, my salvation will be seen among all people. 
May I praise you, God; may all of the people praise you. 
May the nations be glad and sing for you that you rule all people equally and guide the nations of the earth. 
May I praise you , God; may all of the people praise you. 
The land yields its harvest; I have enough to eat. 
God, my God, blesses me. 
May God bless me and his people still, so that all the ends of the earth will stand in reverential awe of him.
Amen