Wowza! Our Savior singing in Matthew 26:30 — “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”
It hit me like I’d never seen it before. After sharing the Passover meal — breaking bread, offering the cup, and speaking words of covenant love — Jesus sang a hymn with His disciples:
When I dug deeper, I realized that hymn would have been the Hallel Psalms (115–118) — songs of praise and deliverance. That means, on the very night He was betrayed, He was singing, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
That just rocks my world tonight — to imagine Jesus singing Psalms 115-118 before walking to Gethsemane. I pray you think about Jesus singing the next time you are reading those Psalms. 💜✝️💜
Psalm 115 – He gives glory to the Father.
Psalm 116 – He accepts the cup of suffering.
Psalm 117 – He looks to the nations who will be saved.
Psalm 118 – He declares resurrection victory and cornerstone destiny.
He sang His own prophecy before walking to the cross. Every verse a step toward Calvary — every word an offering of trust. What love the Father has for us to send his only son to die for our sin.
I am really stuck on all kinds of hymns recently. I should not be surprised Father God gave me another “new song” today.
Lecrae was not on my bingo card of new music. I learned who he was maybe two weeks ago because I heard HillSong’s acoustic version of “This is Living” on the radio. Searching for the version I heard, I noticed he was on the 2015 release. I am in a season where I prefer the acoustic version, but I knew his name.
Low and behold, my friend, Lois Tverberg, posted a fun story about meeting Lecrae last night. I learned Lecrae’s latest, “My Story” has a great shout out to her and Marty Solomon, the gentleman in this video with Lecrae. He pronounces her name PERFECTLY in a rap song! 💕
Rather than share Lois’ post, I was nudged to see if there were any videos with Lecrae talking to either Marty or Lois. I found this from six months ago and it blew me away how they discussed deconstruction as a tool for reconstruction. Marty explains CHIASMS used in writing scriptures in a digestible mannner. Exciting stuff, really!
Wherever YOU may be in your own faith journey, there is great wisdom and insight shared in this video. I love, love LOVE Marty’s metaphor about Eastern/Western scripture understanding and piano playing. The chords are crucial, but the melody is necessary, too. May it bless you, should you choose to listen. 💜✝️💜
The video I linked was this one:
Lecrae and Marty Solomon
The whole truth is far bigger than what I posted to the world on Facebook. You see, a little over one week ago, that song came on the radio as I was driving to work. Specifically, Tuesday, September 23 at 9:48 am, according the date and time stamp. I was nudged to wait for the song name and only now hear it was not in the lyrics recorded
First time hearing the song
When I opened the shop, I remember searching for the song and learning Lecrae was on the original release a decade ago. I enjoyed his rapping in that version, but the electrónica dance vibe of the song, as a whole, just isn’t my spiritual jam. The acoustic version which moved me on the way to work is the one I downloaded.
The thing which speaks loudest to me in the above video is my sideways cross. The entire story of how I came to have two very different crosses replays in my heart as I type this from my phone. I was shocked I could even switch out my necklaces without my husband’s help last week.
I must praise Him for His glorious nudges to me. The one last week was intense. So intense, I had to at least attempt to put the “right necklace” on . 💜✝️💜
I had dinner with Joyce that Tuesday evening. We shared wonderful Godversation, as we always do. The following morning, as I was driving to work, I was nudged equally as hard to talk to Jesus. So, I turned my radio off, as one does. My phone was not connected to my car.
There was no music playing, yet “This is Living” is quite loud to my ears today. I say something about hearing an old song “ in my ear” and I can catch something about my spirit being disrupted.
Well, here’s the deal. I hear a lot of music “in my ear” that no one else hears. It’s important to clarify that for me, disrupted spirit isn’t a “bad” thing. When He “disrupts” me, it’s always for my edification. I love, love LOVE all the ways God gives me lessons. I do have a special affinity for how He gives me my spiritual soundtrack.
Ultimately, part of me desperately wants to know every word He had me speak. Good heavens, it’s about seven minutes in total length.
However, I am sharing a shorter clip, as it conveys what I believe He meant for it to convey. Thank you, Jesus, for mysteries which all point back to you.
Once again, I am being drawn deeply into the sacred place He so often meets me. Today has been such a spirit-filled day off from work.
How amazing it was to spend a solid four hours in The Word after my hubby went to open the shop! So many lessons at His Footstool. The day began with nine people God used who were non-believers and navigated wooing, discipleship, Gods Timing and a big lesson about Revelation 6.
For now, I must confess I was not always such a prayer and praise warrior. In fact, He has transformed me to someone who no longer worries about the words He places on my tongue when praying over others. How grateful am I to have this relationship with the great I AM!
Early in my walk with Jesus, I suffered with the notion that I didn’t pray “well enough” to pray out loud over others. In recent years, that stronghold has been defeated, praise God.
So, my prayers are not always neat or polished. They come with groans, cries, and sometimes with streams of tears. Scripture assures us that these tears are not wasted—they are precious to God.
Again, I am reminded of the vision of a shot glass of useless tears and a raging stream of “good tears”.
David knew this well, too. In Psalm 55, he confesses, “I am restless in my complaint, and moan noisily… Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice” (vv. 2, 17 NKJV). His pain was not hidden; he let it pour out in raw prayer. The Lord did not turn away from his brokenness but leaned in close.
Even more tender is the picture in Psalm 56:8 (NKJV):
“You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book?”
What a thought—that God counts our steps when we wander in grief and collects every tear as a treasure. Each one matters to Him.
It simply blows me away to be relegated to awestruck silence.
When we stand in the gap for others—praying for prodigals, interceding for healing, crying out for a nation—the tears often flow freely. Those tears are not a sign of weakness but of deep love and Spirit-led burden. Paul reminds us that “the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26 NKJV). Sometimes our tears are part of that Spirit-filled intercession.
And here’s the promise: tears sown in prayer lead to joy. “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy” (Psalm 126:5 NKJV). God not only gathers our tears but transforms them into a harvest of rejoicing.
So I don’t hold back the tears when praying for others. Heaven is listening. Heaven is collecting. Heaven is preparing joy on the other side. I pray this blesses whoever may read these words. 💜✝️💜
In recent weeks, I have written about Daniel, Cyrus, Esther and more. This morning, my husband flipped my Bible to 2 Chronicles 35 The study notes grabbed my attention. Thank you, Father God.
The Bible is full of moments when God’s voice breaks through in unexpected places—not just through prophets and priests, but through kings, pagans, even enemies. Over and over, He reminds us that His sovereignty is not bound by human categories.
Pharaoh Neco warned Josiah not to meddle, and the chronicler tells us his words were “from the mouth of God” (2 Chronicles 35:20–24). Josiah refused, and it cost him his life. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon received dreams of empires and of his own humbling (Daniel 2; Daniel 4), showing God’s rule over all nations. Abimelech, a Philistine king, was warned in a dream to protect Sarah, convicting Abraham himself (Genesis 20). Balaam, a pagan diviner, opened his mouth to curse but could only bless (Numbers 22–24). Cyrus of Persia was stirred to send Israel home and rebuild the temple (Isaiah 45:1; Ezra 1:1–4), though he never knew Yahweh personally.
God also spoke through Pharaoh’s dreams of famine, leading to Joseph’s rise (Genesis 41). At Christ’s trial, Pilate’s wife was disturbed in a dream about “that righteous man” (Matthew 27:19). Wise men from the East followed a star and bowed before the newborn King (Matthew 2:1–12). Even Haman’s own household in Esther saw the writing on the wall: to oppose God’s people is to fall (Esther 6:13).
These stories differ in time and place, but together they form a striking pattern: God can and will use anyone. Kings and peasants, men and women, believers and unbelievers alike—none are beyond His reach. His purposes move through dreams, warnings, foreign decrees, even reluctant lips.
The question is not whether God can speak through outsiders. The question is: will we have the humility to recognize His voice, no matter the source?
I woke up this morning feeling wooed. That word has been echoing in my heart, and it’s exactly what Job 36:16 says:
The Hebrew word here is סוּת (sut), which means to incite, entice, or draw out. The image is not of God forcing or driving us, but of Him gently, persistently pulling us out of trouble and into freedom. He woos us—away from the jaws of distress and toward a wide-open place of life.
Wooed Through the Fire
This connects deeply with the image of fire, dross, and refining. When silver or gold is heated, the impurities rise and are removed as dross. leaving what is pure. Sometimes all we see is the soot and dross—the blackened remains of what was burned away. But those ashes testify that the Holy Spirit’s refining fire has passed through.
To be wooed is to be invited into that process: God is not scolding or condemning us; He is drawing us, lovingly, into the fire that purifies. What feels like burning is actually refining, preparing us for what remains.
Where Else Does God Woo Us?
This idea of God “wooing” or “drawing out” is found throughout Scripture:
Hosea 2:14 — “Therefore, I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.” (Here the verb is פָּתָה, patah—to entice, allure. Another wooing word.)
Jeremiah 31:3 — “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn (mashak) you with unfailing kindness.”
Psalm 18:19 — “He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.”
Song of Solomon 1:4 — “Draw me after you; let us run.” John 6:44 — “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them…”
Revelation 3:20 — “Behold, I stand at the door and knock…”
Each of these passages echoes the same heartbeat: God draws us, not by compulsion but by love.
Why I Feel Wooed
This morning, I felt overtly wooed. Not the heavy hand of judgment, but the gentle pull of love. He is drawing me out of what confines, away from the soot (sut #ISWYDT) and the dross, and into His spacious place.
The cross sanctifies me, and the Word—“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17)—reminds me that sanctification is both fire and “water-wooing”.
Holy fire removes the dross and Holy Water woos us into His cleansing. The Spirit does both, perfectly.
I want to let myself be drawn into deeper waters with Him. Somewhere in My God Room, I have written it’s always safe to snorkel with Jesus.
I will find that old post another time. I will also share about today’s service, message and more on a separate post. Given the message and how I was nudged singing The Old Rugged Cross, it deserves a separate post.
Oh, sweet Jesus, how I love you. Help me love you better each day. Thank you for reminding me how to find this old post from August 7, 2016. More than nine years ago, you planted this vividly on my heart and entrenched it into the spirit you have given me. I love you.
Meeting Marcus and Brad from Missouri was a blessing. The 120 bucks was a nice sale, yet the Godversation is the treasure. Marcus commented about how pleasant it was to just talk to another human. The topics changed and ultimately, he REALLY appreciated my stating the obvious about why race was a non-important factor in our Godversation.
Simply standing on a simple little truth burst the entire Godversation wide open. Thank you, Father God.
Suddenly, I am mentally and spiritually back in Judges 7 from this morning. I am pondering Gideon and how God moved through him.
Nikita is bringing me my “Welded Heart” today. Lord, may it make my heart dance to your beat and may the words out of my mouth praise and point to you.
Ok. I have returned after receiving this piece and I am struggling for words. Quickly, I see I didn’t finish typing my prayer out. Since everything I ask is always in the powerful name of Jesus, I don’t think it’s a prayer issue.
While I appreciate the craftsmanship and time spent, this is not anything like the welded heart I described to Nikita last month.
I wear a heart necklace and one of two crosses around my neck each day. The vision was a barbed wire looking heart with a cross rising out of it- similar to how I wear my necklaces. Part of the heart would appear extra protected and part would be open.
Tears traversed my face. I couldn’t understand them in the moment. In retrospect, I think I understand the source.
Like everything, He is the source. Duh! She could tell I wasn’t thrilled with her effort, despite my attempt to be gracious in disappointment. She was clear she had zero desire to keep it, as she is not a Christian. She refused to let me pay for it, too.
It makes me sad to hear someone say they literally do not know a single person who would appreciate a cross. She said she does not know any Christians. None. She was painfully clear on the point and it pained me.
I am reminded of all I have experienced with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit since beginning this Daniel study on April 30.
There is a Jesus Calling devotional in our Master Closet and the long form tabletop version of Jesus Calling is in our kitchen.
I failed to read either at home today, as Mark and I were enjoying an in-depth chat about Psalm 143 and blessing our perceived enemies with prayer. I needed to get cleaned up and get to work
Much of what my husband said is in our Smyrna shop devotional Today’s message in One Minute with God 💜✝️💜.
Today, we was like an extra sweet hug from Jesus to read this devotional.
Rather than give life to a negative thought, I praise God for giving me the answer four days ago to stand on His Word this morning. Praise, praise and more praise!
I posted about Judas yesterday. This was a second post on my Facebook page :
I woke to this response and a heavy heart as a result.
It continued with my exact response from four days ago. Reading it now, again, I am convicted He gave me the answer in advance. What else could I have said other than what He clearly gave me?
Nathalie Anne , it’s okay if we disagree as humans. Please understand I am always going to defer to the example of our Savior, Jesus. We are all broken and all need a savior. Jesus was interceding for ALL of humanity on that cross.
Reading your prayer, I had no choice except to speak up for those you seemed to exclude. I didn’t realize just how intentional the exclusion until your response. Jesus is our eternal intercessor according to Romans 8:34 and Hebrews 7:25.
Reading your comment this morning, there isn’t a better, shorter or different response. I have no scales of bad or good people. I am grateful to know The One who owns the scales of justice. He is clear to pray for our enemies, too.
Nathalie, bad fathers are not going to begin their “good arc” without God. So, yes, I will continue to pray for ALL parents to be compelled to know better, do better and be better. I will also pray for all single people the same. I will pray for addicts to meet Jesus and to be delivered from addiction in all its forms. The list is endless and always inclusive.
Praying for all who love Jesus to reveal that love in truth and action. 💜✝️💜
I love you, too.
Thank you, Father God, for the comfort and peace today. Thank you for reminding me of big truths in small ways, too. I love seeking you in everything.
Betrayal comes in many forms . Praise God, I was blessed with a call from Miss Futina this morning. I heard how she was betrayed and my heart was cracked open. Answered prayer, especially before we close this store at the end of October.
Lord, you have all my praise and thanksgiving, please send a few more of my “stranger angels “ back into the store before we close up shop here and return solely to our original store. Hugging them would bless me. In Jesus name, amen.
Driving to work, I heard a song for the first time. I should not be surprised it’s five years old, or from Hill Song . The Lord has been clear with me on NAR and other musical nonsense. When He gives me a song, I am listening intently. This was used beautifully and my husband loved it, too.
Living means different things to different people. I am only living because of my relationship with Jesus. Modeling my life after His makes PERFECT sense to me.
This morning, moved by the Spirit through Futina’s call and “This is Living”, I posted scripture and a sentence on Facebook.
I have been praying for Father God to reveal the next piece of dross which must be removed from me. It seems to be related to Judas, which is both biblical and a necessary reminder.
We all have a little bit of Judas in us, since none of us are perfect.
Where is “my Judas” trait? For that answer, just like every other question under the sun, I go to scripture.
Scripture told us long before Jesus came that the Savior would be betrayed. “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9). Judas sold Him for thirty pieces of silver, just as Zechariah foresaw (Zechariah 11:12–13). The Psalms even prayed, “May another take his office” (Psalm 109:8), fulfilled when Matthias replaced Judas in Acts 1.
But Judas is not just a figure in history—he is a mirror for our hearts. Every time we love money more than Christ, every time we complain about how someone else worships, every time we choose self over surrender, we let a little bit of Judas creep back in. That’s why Proverbs says, “Take away the dross from the silver, and the smith has material for a vessel” (Proverbs 25:4). The Lord, like a refiner’s fire (Malachi 3:2–3), keeps burning away the greed, envy, and pride that would betray Him.
We must face the truth: there is a Judas streak in all of us. But the good news is that God never stops refining. He promises, “I will remove the heart of stone… and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). Daily, He calls us to let Him skim away the dross, until the only thing left is His love shining pure in us.
Let YOUR LIGHT shine, Lord. More Jesus and less Carol is always the best equation. 💜✝️💜
This morning I stepped into Creekmont Baptist Church for the very first time. My former long term hairdresser, Becky, invited us to join them for worship when I got my hair cut on Tuesday. For a few years, I went elsewhere. I see His Hand in that timing, too. We first met before Mark and I were married!
Her husband, Shad, was asked to fill in as pastor a little over a year ago, and now he serves there permanently. We just learned today it was a customer of hers that asked him to step in, temporarily.
Wowza. Five days.
Today has been a day of many fives.
We pulled in the parking lot and we both voiced prayers before going inside. From the moment we walked through the doors, we were greeted by multiple smiling faces. The warmth could be compared to walking into a loving family gathering. The building itself carried a simplicity that reminded me of churches from the 1970s — plain, clean, without distraction — but alive with heart and spirit.
The music was from an electronic piano and carried a sincere vibe of the late 70’s or early 80’s, a style my husband grew up loving. They opened with Everlasting God, and by the closing stanza, liquid was traveling from my eyes, down my cheeks. The words settled into me deeply, “strength will rise as we wait upon The Lord…you do not faint, You won’t grow weary.”
No, sir, you do not grow weary. #ISWYDT
During the offering, the children collected the coins as they played an old tune through the speakers. “I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery. I may never fly o’er the enemy. But, I’m in the Lords Army! Yes, Sir!”
What a joyful moment — innocence and faith braided together. For “YESSIR” to be a lyric was extra special for me.
Godwink moment- Mark thought Holy, Holy, Holy would be the first hymn in the hymnal. It was number 55. He said something about 5 by 5 being “loud and clear”. Yes. To the right was “Love Divine”. The most powerful lessons to be were in Matt 5, Mark 5 and Thess 5.
An older gentleman gave the welcome, opening with 1 Peter 5:7 — “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” His words were clear testimony and biblical truth.
I typically would not be aware during worship, but I saw tears in my husband’s eyes as we sang Amazing Grace. He said it felt like a church from his youth. To me, this was confirmation we were in the right place.
Pastor Shad preached from Matthew 5 while weaving in John 7, Mark 5, 1 Thessalonians 5, and even 2 Thess.
Shad is a gifted teacher. Notably, he began by reading most of Matthew 5. The message itself was rich: he spoke about the Beatitudes as a kind of moral inventory — behavior as it should be for those who belong to Christ. You must live out Matthew 5:1–12 before you can truly be salty and filled with light.
Then he asked: What would you give up for two weeks — salt or light? Most of us would struggle either way. His point was clear: both are essential.
What struck me the deepest was how the Holy Spirit used Shad’s extended reading of Mark 5 to deepen my understanding. We are now home and I am heartbroken how Mark five concludes with Jesus being asked to leave. Treasuring pigs over people, I pray His Children came home. The point is the Holy Spirit used Shad to bring the demon-possessed man into vivid focus for me
I digress. I must document the heart of this first visit for reasons I don’t fully understand.
There was something pure in the feeling of the church today — no flash, no pretense, just warmth, worship, and the Word. It is a place where you sense that light still shines, that salt still preserves, and that children of God are called to live as children of the light.
We will definitely be going back. Today marks the beginning of our Creekmont story.
After the service, we attempted and failed to eat at GG’s and Metro Diner. We quickly succeeded at the new Italian place , Penne Pazze. We shared a pizza, gnocchi and a salad. It is most authentic food we have enjoyed since being in Italy two years ago! I am already looking forward to the leftovers.
No shocker the table number we were guided to for seating. Thank you, Lord! 💜✝️💜
Last night I was compelled to post John 17:17 — “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.”
This morning I opened my Bible and landed on Matthew 18, and immediately my mind went back to my friend Julie’s post and the comment section.
God is weaving things together for me in a new way. The ultimate and absolute Dream Weaver is Father God. I am convinced Gary Wright knows how God directs our dreams based on the stories behind his song.
My Matthew 18 pages are filled with tons of notes and notations. Today, I was nudged to write “Julie Mauck 9/20/25” . I was not nudged to put “Luke 17:2”, likely because there is a printed corresponding scripture beginning Luke 17:1.
Dated notes from October 2017, January and February 2023, May 8, 2024, July 13, 2025 and today. Three key notes struck me hard. The notes about being His Child, honoring is greater than wallowing and “confirmation is Biblical (Matt 18:16) stood out to me.
.
As I sat with it, I realized how John 17 and Matthew 18 fit together. Well, my John 17 pages are all kinds of noted, as well, with a big YADA YADA. Divine Humor, once again! 💜✝️💜
In Matthew 18, Jesus calls us to humility like children and warns us not to cause “little ones” to stumble. Jesus says it would be better to wear a millstone around our necks than to mislead them and the millstone takes me back to Hebrew dreams last winter. He goes on to show that forgiveness must flow endlessly — seventy times seven.
In John 17, Jesus defines eternal life: “that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (v.3). The Hebrew word yada — to know — means deep, intimate relationship, not casual acquaintance. I had even scribbled in my margin a reminder that yada yada (so often a throwaway phrase in our culture) actually calls me back to the seriousness of truly knowing God and His Son.
No big shocker. I just wrote about Daniel 9 and seventies and sevens the other day. Every single detail is intricately woven to another.
Put side by side, the message is clear:
To truly know God and Jesus (John 17) is to live in humility, to guard the vulnerable, and to walk in radical forgiveness (Matthew 18). His prayer for unity in John 17 comes alive only when we practice the hard, daily work of forgiveness in Matthew 18.
And I’m reminded — unity in the Body isn’t a theory; it’s built every time I choose to forgive, every time I guard someone’s faith instead of wounding it, every time I walk humbly like a child
So today, I’m holding these together:
Intimacy with God (John 17)
Protection of the vulnerable (Matthew 18:6)
Unity through forgiveness (Matthew 18:21–35)
That’s the kind of community Jesus prayed for. That’s the kind of life I want to live.
Oh, and I used technology to make Julie and all Biblical Warriors an accurate hoodie. Thank you, Jesus, for all good inspiration ! 😇
My God Room 