What is Dead That Needs Resurrection in Your Life?

Saw this article yesterday. “Israel’s Blessed Rains Cause Dead Sea to be Surrounded by Miraculous Wildflowers.” BOOM! I had an epiphany! An acronym for BOOM is often “Breaking Out of Old Mindsets”. It can apply to being dead long before we’re actually dead. That “old” mindset is a part of those who give up on life even though there’s life in them that just needs to be rejuvenated. This article reminded me of that.

“Visitors are flocking to Israel’s southern region to see the desert bloom.” Israel’s extraordinary winter rains have not only replenished the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret) but also made the desert bloom. Visitors are flocking to see the budding desert landscape. Ira Kholmyansky noted that for nearly two decades water levels in the Dead Sea, which is the lowest place on earth, was depleted. But, hallelujah! The rains replenished the desert and it is blooming!

I remember my Israel trip back in 2017 and being in that dry desert. This article caused me pause because we have entered into the Lenten season where we journey towards the cruelty, the crucifixion, the cross and the crescendo of our Lord’s resurrection from the dead. I’m keenly aware that death is not death at all for those of us who are in Christ Jesus. So why on earth would we let ourselves die ahead of death?

Our Lord LIVES, and so do we. Everyday can be a new, bright resurrection morning, because of Christ's death, burial and rising to live forevermore. Only God can bring life out of a season of death. God just can't leave death well enough alone, can He?

Perhaps, today, you are alive only because you have a heartbeat, but I’m trying to speak into you today and say: BOOM – Break out of that Mindset! Don’t live in the ashes of defeat, brokenness, depression and anything else that makes you feel life is over. You are still alive. Go ahead and put your hand over your heart. If it's beating, God has a destiny and mission for you to fulfill. You could have been born sometime in history, but you weren't. You're here now, so the resurrection power of Jesus Christ lives big in you. He is the Spring and Summer rain that can replenish you and you can blossom again just like those flowers in the desert. Let Him pour His rain into you today!

"The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you!" Romans 8:11

That's Onomatopoeia: POW, BOOM, BAM

My BFF from Tulsa came to see me on Thursday. We make every moment count when we’re together. We call ourselves “Ethel and Lucy” because we can sure have some hilarious (without even trying) times. We were in that mode at Hobby Lobby and then yesterday, just before she headed on her way to her destination, she thought she’d help me by tossing my newspaper to my porch, but her toss was less than exact. She threw it into a huge plant pot that was filled with water. LOL! Par for our course! But the best part of our friendship that truly makes us besties is our prayer times together. You know your friend is a BFF if they care enough about you to pray with and for you. That’s why we’re BFFs because we know enough about each other that we know the best of us is the Jesus in us…..and that’s what He would do if He had stopped by to see me and when He shows up, BOOM! That’s the word used for an explosion. And I like to think that it’s ZAPPING, SPLATTING, and SMASHING the enemy.

Sheila said, “Donna, I hear onomatopoeia coming from you!” She said that as I was praying I was OOHING and AWING. Onomatopoeia is the sound that a word makes and mimics the sound it describes. So when we say an onomatopoeic word, it sounds like the word we’re referring to. For example: “The CLANGING pots and pots woke the baby.” “The bacon SIZZLED in the pan.” “The race car driver REVVED the engine.” “She POPPED the balloon.” “The enemy CACKLES, GROWLS, and HISSES!” Say those words and you’ll actually hear the sounds of the object it is referring to.

So when Sheila said I was making the sound of OOH, AW and I later thought that I desire that my life be “onomatopoeia” – that my life has sound, expression, so that when others hear “Donna”, they are hearing the sound of joy, excitement, wonder, lightheartedness, life, liberated, cheer.”

I really want that. How about you? Don’t we want to be the most incredible version of ourselves throughout our lives? Don’t we want to have achieved our fullest potential and lived a life of relentless pursuit of God and His character? I know for a fact that I want to live my life in technicolor – not black and white. After all, God could have made all of His creation in black and white, but He said “Nah! I can do better than that!” Don’t you know that sound must have been a part of the creation process? BOOM – the skies were made. POW – the stars and the moon and sun brought light to the skies. KAPOW – trees, and vegetation appeared. SWISH – the waters flowed. CHIRP, BUZZ, MOO, NEIGH – and God created the animals.

I want to live my life with onomatopoeic expressions that say “I’m here, on purpose, to be and do and live and declare God lives in me big time, so this CLANGING and BUZZING and ROARING that comes from me is full of life, full of expression, full of determination to live a reckless abandoned life for God. I want my gravestone to say “SHE LIVED”! I want to leave my mark and my sound here. How about you?