my wings are made of faith

Wasting Precioius Time

I wasted a lot of years letting past relationships play into how I dealt with things in present relationships. Who knew that a bad relationship with a parent could bring bad patterns into every relationship you develop in your adult life, for instance? A relationship with anyone from a teacher, spouse, pastor, employer, and child can suffer  from the way you learned to react to issues with parents, for example.  It is for this reason, that we can take a good long look at the issues that come up in our relationships over and over, and identify when we have the same old reactions each time things begin to fall apart. Then we can search scripture to see the way God would have us deal with those repetitive issues. 

I don't know that everyone feels at some point like they are in a revolving door, stuck with the same old things going wrong each time they attempt to have a close friend, intimacy with a loved one, or a conversation with a child.  Does every job end up with an employer who takes advantage of you.  Maybe you have had more than one job where other employees succeeded in putting a large share of the work load off on you.  Whatever it is that seems to happen again and again, may require a "Heavenly Father" intervention.  And it starts with praying for the other person. It ends with finding the image of God that best describes how we should choose to develop our relationship, not what our heart says. 

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Luke 11:13.

When I look back and think about how I fell into letting old feelings of abuse, cause me to mistrust people, or react to someone as if they were my father when he was mean, when actually the situations might not have merited the same fear or mistrust....I just wonder how feelings had so much power over me. I have said before that the Lord spoke to me when I was driving down the road feeling sorry for myself, and saying,  "God how could you...." To which God replied to my heart, "I AM NOT YOUR (earthly) FATHER." It came from out of nowhere, because I hadn't thought of my father recently, at the time.  I had expectations that it was  God taking things back from me, when my car broke down, or I lost a job. Where did that sense of having things taken away come from?  My  Father of course. God wanted me to know that he isn't like that. It was a wake up call to know God didn't want me to build my vision of a loving father on anyone but him. That day turned my relationship building completely around.  I realized for the first time, that God is the only one upon which I can honestly build any concept of relationships.

When I have counseled through the years, I have discovered others who never stopped to see that repeated failures can come out of  false concepts.  If you journal, a great journaling project is to alot several pages to listing the charcter of God, as Heavenly Father.  A good place to start is with the statements of Jesus concerning his Father.  And secondly, when scriptures speak of God wooing the nation of Israel. Changing my expectations of relationships, definitely changed my relationship disapointments.

And not the God that "religion" often teaches - the condemning, out to get you, God. Rather, the one who is actually in the scriptures.  The one who gives unconditional love. If I can reject the feelings, and choose to pray that God will help me be more like him, I can expect that some unique things may happen that heals the breaks in my relationships.

Dear Father, mold me ever more in your image, that I might always bring healing to the relationships in my life. Help me give more grace to all who are around me. May your gift of the Holy Spirit open my eyes to the way you desire me to act, rather than react out of feelings, and misconceptions. AMEN

Trusting God 14 Different Ways

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding

Prov 3:5 KNJV

It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man

Psalm 118:8 KNJV

Blessed is the man who trust in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord

Jer 17:7 NKJV

He will not be afraid of evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord

Psm 112:7 NKJV

The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe

Prv 29:25 NKJV

Vindicate me O Lord, For I have walked in my integrity. I have also trusted in the Lord; I shall not slip

Psam 26:1 NKJV

He has put a new song in my mouth--Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord

Psam 40:3 NKJV

He who heeds the word wisely will find good  and whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he

Prov 16:20 NKJV

But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that i many declare all Your works Psm 73:28 NKJV

But I am trusting you O Lord, saying "You are my God"

Psalm 31:14 NLT

For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land

Psalm 37:9 NLT

Those who trust in the Lord are as secure as Mount Zion; they will not be defeated but will endure forever

Psm 125:1 NLT

So do not throw away this confient trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it bring you!

Heb 10:35

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint

Isaiah 40:31 NLT

Here are (14) fourteen scripture on trusting the Lord. 

For three years, God has been dealing with me about trusting Him. It is so easy to read the words of the scripture about trust. But the real power of the livng Word comes when we apply it to our lives.

It seemed like Lori lived Psalm 112:7 NKV and kept her peace. It seemed Christy lived Prv 29:25 and was kept safe. on a boat. Cynthia shared you and I can live Isaiah 40:31 and be refreshed.

Extending trust is a learned behavior...even to the one person in the entire universe who is the most trust worthy. I don't like that God would put so many scriptures in the Bible about trusting Him if He expected us to get it the first time. If you are struggling, take courage, look at how far you have come and praise God for your growth. Then commit to keep at it. 

Fourteen verses on trust. One a day for two weeks. Which one speaks to you? And why?

Father help us see where we can trust you more. Give us the courage to start extending you the trust you deserve. Give us the peace that trusting you brings. Amen

Learning from our mistakes, or Actively turning to the Spirit of God

We all have to learn from our mistakes. It is a part of growing up. As much as it makes my heart cringe to think of what the consequences could have been, I realized that falling down the stairs was something my grandchild had to do in order to understand why we continuously told him to be careful.  When he rushed for the stairs following anyone who happened to go down them, we jumped, over and over fearing his fall - until the day he actually fell, when no one could possibly get to him. He was so intent on going downstairs, that he would never patiently wait for someone to help him down. But then it happened. His shoe caught in the carpet,. Even though he had been holding the rail, he tumbled, head over feet. His mother scrambled to him screaming from the top, as I ran in terror attempting to catch him before he hit concrete on the bottom.  Both of us calling upon God to help. And there it was. By God's grace he landed on the bottom step in a horribly contorted position, eyes wide open in fear, and looking as though every bone was broken...but he was safe. All I could say was, "Well at least maybe we won't have to constantly tell him to be careful on the stairs. That should have scared him enough to know what can happen."

Yesterday, Ryder headed for the stairs on the deck, 13 in all, when I had my hands very tied up with a large tray of things I was taking back into the kitchen after our dinner. His older brother had already gone down and was watering my plants. When Mr. Independent headed to the top of the steps, he wasn't thinking of his fall.  But the moment I reminded him: "Ryder, stop, you might fall," he stopped.  And he backed up.  I called for Dakota to drop the hose and come help him come down, and Ryder, against his ususal character accepted his brother's help.  In fact, he wouldn't proceed until he had a firm grip on the rail, and his brother's hand. So different than before his fall.

We continue like this into adulthood, doing what we see other's do, going where others are going, being influenced to move out of impatience and desire, driven by a desire to be independent and accomplished - without even realizing that the path the world is on is totally originated and kept by the devil himself.  He loves to see us trip over our own attempts to gain, and grow, to go falling into failure.  If we don't learn from our mistakes he will continue to take us to the same path over and over, telling us to just try harder, that we will finally prevail, if we work at it. Now, there is a great deal of good to be gained by being practiced in doing something which God backs us in...but we tend to do the thing God is steering us away from, over and over, with the anticipation of change for good.

This week we are dealing with how to overcome the past. How to break free of its hold on you emotionally, physically, and of course spiritually. It occurs when you realize and redirect your attentions to the one who is in control of your paths. The choice is yours entirely. I cannot emphasize enough that not making the choice means Satan is making your choices for you. He won't reveal that he is, but scripture says he is.

2.Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience: 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 6 … hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.  Ephesians 2 excerpts.

(please note that the author is talking to Christians who are only acting like "children of disobedience" and directs them to see themselves as sitting in heavenly places.)

This very familiar chapter is usually one we look to for understanding on salvation. But if you look carefully, it explains without a doubt that in Jesus we have power to go from constantly having the Spirit calling us back from tragedy and remorse, to living with a listening ear toward the Spirit's direction.  The exact opposite of being towed along mindlessly by Satan and the ways of the world.

On Tuesday, Julia explained how Abraham and Sarah lived out their faith, well aware of everything that seemed to be against them, but wholly on a path to recieve the promises of God.But not without failure earlier in life.

  Noah built an Ark, in spite of the things people said over the great number of years it took for him to build it. Even Jesus died on a cross declaring the injury would bring blessing to all of us, and his disciples had great difficulty knowing how this could possibly be true.  Faith is a separation from everyone, everything, every plan, every belief that has us going back to Satan's paths.  I don't mean going back to sin acts,  necessarily. We can be doing every good work that we can possibly imagine, and still be on Satan's path.  Unknowingly, unwittingly, failing and falling and always rushing headfirst into life that confuses and weakens our faith in God.

Christy is so right! Sometimes it takes severing ties with people to break the power of Satan over our daily walk.  Whatever it takes, BREAK HIS POWER.  Wake up and don't go tumbling down the stairs of life again.  Make an active decision to not go plowing into life without care for the conseqences, like a baby learning why to be afraid. You know why to be afraid.  Why are you more afraid of the consequences of doing what Christ calls you to, by faith, than afraid of what Satan leads you to again and again, which keeps hurting you? Why?

Listening for The Spirit Is Knowing Where We Won't Find Him

 

One of my favorite concepts in scripture is about the Voice of the Holy Spirit .  The clearest comment about what we would hear is found in the story of Elijah who heard God speaking to him following 3 distinct traumatic events.

 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:

And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? I Kings 19:11-13

When we desire to hear the guidance of the Father, the voice of his Spirit indwelling us is still, and small. One of the ways we can know that what we are being told from a million directions to do or not do, will generally be loud and in the midst of chaos.  Two things we can know from Elijah's example: It's hard to hear the voice of God in the middle of the chaos. And two, since God isn't found in the midst of all the chaos, he wants us to distance ourselves from it, and find a quiet place to hear  him. 

Envy: You're outta here!

 

In February I posted for the first time about my struggle with envy. It was a painful embarrassing open admission of a life long internal struggle. The curse of an internal struggle is that to the outside eye it is invisible, which lulls the owner of said struggle into thinking it doesn't exist or that it isn't serious. Don't believe that. Internal struggles will ALWAYS show up extermally some how.

Among the many things I love about God is that when He is correcting you, purging you, or pruning you; there is always grace available get you through the process without guilt and condemnation!

Recently, I shared the following to my facebook friends on my deliverance from envy. I literally wept as I wrote it because unlike my post on envy--a post that admitted my issue, talked abour my frustration with it, and served to rally others to fight the faith to resist its temptation--this writing was spoken by a woman who has laid hold of the victory and won't look back.

"....Envy has been so much a part of my life that my body has a physical reaction to it. It is like my body is on auto pilot. The temptation to be envious comes and my heart sinks, my countenance falls, my eyebrows furrow. It has been so second nature that even when my spirit resists it, my body still reactions.

I have to retrain my body against these actions. 

Understand something, this is break through for me! I was previously oblivious to the hold envy had on me until I started resisting it. It is like detoxing. You no longer have the stimulus but you still have the craving and when it isn't filled, there is a physical manifestation.

In this, I realize I am truly free. I can handle the detox process. Detox means I am getting rid of the junk. My spirit is telling my physical man it can't have it and my body will have to line up.

I don't need envy. Envy is for someone who doesn't think God loves them. Or doesn't know that God has a unique calling for them. I don't have to want what others have. I just need to know that God has good things in store for me when it is my time. I don't have to wonder if the time is now. I don't need to know that anymore. I don't need an itinerary from God telling me what is next on the list.

Why? Because I have God. Having HIM is better than having his itinerary don't you think? Having HIM is better than having his explanation. Having HIM is better than having his reasons for letting storms come in my life. 

I am truly overwhelmed right now at the deliverance! I am so grateful. So yes, God bless people around me with the stuff I want. Give it them in your infinite wisdom. That doesn't change a thing for me. I won't be bitter. I won't hate. I won't backbite. I won't wallow in self pity. I won't ask what about me. 

I won't because I don't need to feed that anymore. I have GOD--the giver of every good and perfect gift. He and He ALONE is better than anything I can ask, think, or imagine.

So yes, I sense I change in my spirit. I sense my freedom! Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty! Liberty, freedom, and security." 

 

Does this mean I will never be tempted with this again? Of course not! This does means I am free to enjoy my life, my family, friends, and associates without struggle!

Which is why is vital at this point that I fill the space that envy used to occupy with the godly fruit of thanksgiving and praise. So when it returns, not ir, to gain re-entry, there will be a big NO VACANCY sign over the door post of my heart.

I am so unbelieveably grateful for the journey it took to get to this point. Thank you long suffering father for your power. Help me remember the freedom I have in you. I am completely full in you! Amen

 

God Makes Himself Known Through His Gifts

When I received the gift of salvation it was by faith. But in the years since, God has made himself known over and over again. And the most precious of his proofs come through his gifts.

I would never be surprised if God answered an outright prayer in a positive way. For instance, his call to go into the world and seek souls lays heavy on my heart sometimes. Knowing that Christ provides the increase, if we plant the seeds in the hearts of seeking individuals, makes me aware of two things:

1. God bids us to plant the seeds by putting his Word out there.  It is up to the Spirit to produce the harvest. But if I pray, "Lord, help me keep your commandment to go into the world," and someone comes knocking on my door, asking questions about getting to know God, to me, that is proof that he heard and answered my prayer.

2. If in due time, someone I am praying for confesses that they have accepted Christ, that is proof to me that the Holy Spirit is doing his job.

No one need know but myself and God that I have prayed or planted the seed, but if they do, it is a witness to God when there are results, so God sometimes wants people to know you are working according to his calling on your life - as a witness of His power on your life. 

But, if there are things about which I do not pray, which remain the desires of my heart...and God provides those things - that is truly proof to me not only of God's existance, but his indwelling presence, and love.

Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:3-5.

Lately, I was missing my teenage grandson.  He spent a lot of time in our home in his early years, but as with all teen boys, he is busy becoming a man.  So lately it had remained a desire of my heart to see him a more often.

He needs money to go to his prom, and getting a part time job has not worked out, so my husband ,who knows nothing of my heartfelt longing, offered to pay him for work we desparately needed help getting done. And so, I have been able to see him several days and spend quality time with him as we enjoyed some hard work together. And cook a meal and sit down to eat a time or two as well. God made a way to meet the desire of my heart.

I can't begin to tell you how often lately, God has done something that was just to give me pleasure. A gift, that met some hidden desire. Never spoken, just kept inside me. A gift from the Spirit who often proves he knows the depths of my heart.

Guest Post: With God, all things are possible.

Image by A Place To Dwell.

Those words —and that truth — are on repeat in my heart today.

And, as I sit here, all cozied up, writing this guest post and reflecting, I’m realizing just how much I need to cling to them, believe in them, speak them, and pray them.

I knew those words before this morning, of course, but He must have known just how much I needed a reminder — because on my way to church, He placed them on my heart. 

And then, amazingly, the same truth was repeated during our Palm Sunday message, as we talked about fixing our eyes on what is unseen, rather than what is seen. We talked about how hard it is to dwell in that unseen place, how it’s easier to put our belief and trust in those things we can see and know and feel and touch.

But this is what I’m learning (and what I was reminded of this morning): when we intentionally focus our hearts and minds on what is unseen, on the invisible spaces in our lives that He is filling up and working in, we experience so much more of His goodness and His faithfulness. 

Because we can trust that He is at work in our lives, even when we cannot see it.

I couldn’t believe the timing of His message this morning. My heart drank in every word, desperate for the reassurance that He is working, and I am not forgotten. 

I’m in a season where it’s often a battle to trust in His unseen work, a season where I often feel caught between waiting for His voice and the weight of the hopes on my heart. 

But then He blesses me with a truth like He did this morning, and I remember who my God is and that truly all things are possible for those who believe.

As we look ahead to Easter and think about the huge significance of the cross and the resurrection and the beautiful redemption we find in Jesus, I’m reminded that this redemption isn’t a one-time thing — it’s something we find over and over again, each and every day, as we continue to put our hope and our trust in Him. 

His mercies are new every morning. 

And when I remember this, and I fix my eyes on Him and on the unseen, I am inspired to keep trusting, keep hoping, and keep believing that with Him as the author of my story, all things are beautifully, wonderfully, incredibly possible.

Katie is a writer, creator, and polka-dot wearer. She believes in living an inspired life of possibility, and she loves to encourage others to do the same through her blog A Place to Dwell. 

Photo By LuSarah SEAS Photography 

You can also find Katie here:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aplacetodwell

Twitter: twitter.com/letterbirdart

 

Taking Control of Fear

For much of my life, my brain automatically goes to the risks and fears of any given opportunity when it is presented to me.  While I think that wisdom is necessary and prudent, one of the realizations I have had over the past ten years is that I can allow fear to rule my decisions if I am not operating in the fullness and freedom of the Holy Spirit.  

Last year for example, I was offered the opportunity to go back to a village in Peru where we sponsor a child (whom I love, by the way!)  My first thought was, "Oh no, what if..." and you name it, I concocted every reason why I couldn't go.  In the end and after many hours of prayer, I hopped on that plane and had a blast visiting the village, our sponsored child (plus added another child!) and worked for Jesus.  When I came back home, I was so excited that God had given me the courage and strength to overcome my fears and serve Him.

Scripture clearly teaches that fear is not from God in I Timothy:

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

In other words, when we are fearful, we are not full of God's power, love, and sound mind.  Ouch!  

While you may be like me and have a natural default setting that triggers the fear button in your spirit, we can overcome this!  His answer is Jesus.

John 16:33 says,

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world!"

One of the ways I deal with fear based thoughts is to write down the thing I'm scared of and just hash it out on paper.  I ask God to show me the truth about it.  I pray for the Holy Spirit to change my heart.  I often find that within a few days, I feel less anxious.  By staring fear in the eye and combating it with truth, we can overcome it.  We are not victims and are not bound by the chains of fear.  It's when we tackle this issue head on, that we can be assured we are Wholly Healthy.

My Prayer:  God, thank you for reminding me again that I am not a victim of fear, but an over comer.  I pray for careful filtering of my thoughts by the Holy Spirit.  God, show me when I am operating in fear and not faith.  Jesus, thank you that even on the cross, you remained fearless.  We choose to rebuke the spirit of fear and send it to the foot of the cross, in Jesus name!

 

God's Pleasure ~ A Sacrifice of Communication

In the early years of our marriage, communication was our biggest deterrant to happiness.  I thought we totally understood one another while we dated for 2 years, but as soon as my husband returned from Vietnam, it was like we were strangers.  He seemed to take everything I said and make it something other than what I was saying. And I obviously could not pick up on the subtleties of what he wanted me to take from things he said.  For some reason, we had difficulty discussing anything concerning finances, household order, and timing for getting things done. We fought over absolutley everything for 20 years.  I was discouraged and exasperated to the point of believing we just needed to divorce. I could not bear another year of arguing, because I was lost, to the point that I dispaired of life.  I was even confused why God had not offered us some kind of help.  I changed, and changed and changed myself, trying to yeild to what I thought my husband wanted me to be - so much, that I lost who I was.  I buried myself in trying to be this person he seemed to think I was. I felt like he didn't love the person I really was, to the point that I hated myself. The more I prayed that God would make me the person I needed to be, the more silent God was, and I could not understand.

After a lot of reading, and learning that God was not pleased with my becoming someone other than the person he created me to be, I felt I was to a point of hopelessness.  The only thing I understood, which wise people were telling me, was - to draw a line with my husband, and say: "I am not going to try to change into this imaginary person that you think  I am supposed to be anymore. I am going to go back to being "me." I miss "me." I liked the me that God made.That "me" used to be happy. She was extremely happy when she met you, and she is extremely unhappy now that she has lost herself.  If I am not who you thought you married, I am sorry.  I am asking you to give me time to find myself and be that person again, while being the judge of who that person is, myself. YOU do not get to say who I am. Only God and I do. Then after a while, if you don't like that person, we will part. I thought that was the me you fell in love with. I don't know what happened.But I can't be the imaginary person anymore. I don't even know who she is, and I don't think you really love her either."

A huge burden was lifted for me, and I  began to say, "No." more often. I learned I was being co-dependant to his anger addiction, and I wanted to break the cycle. Was I being disrespectful suddenly, and refusing to submit to my husband?  No, I was asking for mutual respect, and beginning to communicate in a way that was edifying. A counselor who was helping me learn how to communicate properly, told me to always speak with a little voice in the back of my head saying, " Your husband is not a mind reader.  Tell him your wants and needs."  I entered this new kind of communication with trepidation, almost sure that it would fail like everything else I had tried, but oddly, I made great strides in communicating things that I couldn't get my husband to hear for 20 years. I made myself not respond, whine, speak in anger, or give in.  And the marriage that I thought was surely lost -- my husband was suddenly making extremely real efforts to restore. The walls I had put up for protection, I mentally took down, with a strong warning that they would go back up again if I felt that we were moving backwards instead of forward.  And I put time limits, verbal ones, for certain things to happen or change.  I asked for straight forward answers to questions like: "how can I know you are genuinely going to help me make our lives together work?"  I bared my soul and made certain he knew that I had become afraid of him and who he wanted me to be.  I was afraid how far this tight grip on my life could go. I drew a line and made it clear that I would never cross back over that line again. I would say what I meant only once, and I would live by what I said, no wishy washy giving in, especially if he threw his weight around, or made threats.  And if I didn't see results almost immediately, I was gone. He had power over me, only to do what it took to have me stay.

At first he didn't understand, but as I began to not let him draw me into arguements, or trying to defend myself, somthing happened. I began to have an inner strength. The Holy Spirit was responding too. Some things puzzled me, because they were what I always beleived but I was living what I believed in a new way, one which included communicating a strong intention to live by what I believed.  My husband had been taught somewhere that female submission was something that was akin to what we see in other nations where women walk behind their men. His was a world where he could do anything he pleased, but I could not.  I was to see myself as lower than him, and if I didn't, he would give me plenty of reasons to. I knew this was not the way Jesus expected me to live, and I was totally taken by surprise to see this archaic behavoir from someone whom I thought believed as I did that submission in marriage was mutual.  The day I found out for sure how he thought was the day I said: "I thought you were my best friend. What happened to that?" To which he answered: " I was never your best friend. I asked you to be my lover, and I married you to cook and clean and be there when I need you. I don't want to hear your problems and feel your whiney feelings. If you want a friend, go find you a girl."
It was for that reason, that the very first thing I felt needed communicating was that I had thought I married my best friend and that I could tell him anything. That my misconception of our marriage was that he really didn't want me telling him my stuff.  I felt as if my best friend had died somewhere back there and I was just now finding out.  After some lengthy discussions where I made certain things that I no longer would consider acceptable in our marriage, very clear...I just prayed and stood my ground, and tried to remember who I was.

One day when I was very depressed, I had sat in the car after taking the kids to school, with no energy to even enter the house, and the sun glinted on the dew in the grass where dandelions bloomed. I felt like I was a dandelion, unloved, and was feeling sorry for myself, when the yellow in the yard began to move. I looked harder and realized that among the dandelions in the grass were dozens of goldfinch feeding on the seeds that fell from the fuzzy stage of the blooms. For an instant, I wasn't depressed, discouraged, sad, unhappy, or tired. I was exhilarated and sat there for a very long time hoping they would not leave so I could feel well for a little while longer. My counselor had recommended that I make myself vulnerable, and if and when I got my husband's attention, tell him things that were intimate to me, share my feelings completely. Knowing how he said I needed to find a girlfriend, I was scared to try, but I found an opportunity, and I told him how for just a little while I felt whole, and believed it was a gift from God, and a sign that he was pleased with what I was doing.  He didn't say much, except that he just didn't understand why I was so unhappy, but he was glad I had enjoyed the birds.

When Valentine's day rolled around, I wasn't sure I wanted to play like a Valentine.  But my husband insisted. I collect tins. Not many, only special ones.  So my gift was a tin, a pink and white striped one, my favorite pattern. On the very center of the lid were goldfinch, and a sentiment: "To my Best Friend." Inside my favorite chocolates, and various other mementos that said: "I am listening, and I am trying", including a small love note that was more like I remembered when we were dating.   Needless to say, it was the beginning of the new phase in our marriage.  I will forever be thankful for a Bible concept that puts communication above submission. That says the best sacrifice is to frame how you speak to the people you love.  And that it does not mean to politely, lovingly keep your mouth shut.  It means to speak, saying: "This is what I believe, this is how I feel, this is how I plan to respond, this is what I need, this is what I want, this is the time frame I expect to work toward, and this is who I am, in Jesus name."

But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Hebrews 13:16.

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Ephesians 4:29

My precious Lord, I have difficulty sharing the way you gave me courage to speak firmly and quietly, without being defensive, the things that needed to be said to save our marriage.  Now 20 years later, I sometimes have to remind myself how communication edifies my marriage, rather than bringing division.  But let me, find better ways every day to minister grace to the hearers.  Strong in what I believe, to the point of being able to speak with definitive words who I intend to be, how I intend to behave, what I will accept from another person, and why I will stop anyone who will cross the boundaries I have set.  Please share this concept with a soul who finds themself lost to who they thought they were.  Help them find the inner strength to do your will, and be the person you made them to be. In Jesus Name I pray, AMEN

 

What Pain, Suffering, & Hardship Cannot Do

My precious neice texted me last week to know the specifics about the kinds of cancer certain members of our family had dealt with.  Some had conquered it, and some had succombed, but she felt like the best way to deal with her feelings and possibly share her love for their fight,was to do something that would help her look to a brighter side. As you can see, a lot of people close to her have battled some kind of cancer, but she found a way to show her love, and remind herself that Cancer is not in control.  She made this fun colorful shirt, from a cherished  quote, which reads:

What Cancer Cannot Do:

It cannot cripple love.

It cannot shatter hope.

It cannot corrode faith.

It cannot destroy peace.

It cannot kill friendship.

It cannot suppress memories.

It cannot silence courage.

It cannot invade the soul.

It cannot steal eternal life.

It cannot conquer the Spirit.

Annonymous

I have found that a lot, of what scripture teaches us, is about finding a way to turn our focus away from the evil in life, and to focus on how that evil is not in control of our life.  I have a box of notecards that has notes of encouragement on the cards.  Every now and then, I pull them out and just  slowly read through them. They help me debunk the lies I tend to let my feelings tell me. Wearing her shirt will help my neice and those who are near her, concentrate on what cancer is powerless to do. Perhaps there is something in the life of one of our readers, which seems to have power, and is dictating the direction in which your life is going. Make a list,  and say what your heart is feeling. Tell that something exactly where its power does not lie. Shrink that monster down to size! LOL

Activity, like a project, is better sometimes than just reading an encouraging message.  It is because you pause to consider at a slower pace the gravity of what you are telling yourself.  But it is also taking an action to believe what you are telling yourself.  It is like Jesus asking us to be baptized when we accept him as savoir.  It is what James means when he said faith without works is dead. Acting upon what you believe empowers you by exercising all your senses to be aware of the new truth you are encountering as you begin to believe it. 

Often our ability to see the whole reality is being starved out by the thing that is taking precedence in our time, consuming our hours and energy .  Sometimes it is about us being deceived.  Circumstance, and our feelings often lie to us over and over. We should pause that loop, and stop its replay, long enough to interject some truth, to find REALITY once more.   Our darkest hours cannot steal our promises, our presence with God, our relationship, our peace. We may think it can steal our Peace, but the peace of God is a constant. What other things are a constant according to God's word, that often are overshadowed by the intensity of life's horrors?  It is not that they are gone, but rather that we fail to be able to see them.  Choose an activity, and a message that will help you revisit the truths of God, and maybe boldly, like my neice carry them with you, until life us unable to fool you anymore. Embrace the opposite of "what seems to be", if you have God's promise that "what seems to be" is false.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Phillipians 4:7-9.

 Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart...Proverbs 3:3 

Father, in Jesus name, open my eyes to the things that are anchors, which never change, and never leave so I might be able to use them to put on the brakes when life is rushing out of control, and I am believing the lies, the heartache, the pain, the suffering, as if they were in control. Free me from the loops of running the same old tune, that have me returning again and again to live out of the lies. Help me do something with my anchor truths that keep them before me lest I stumble.  Help me share them that they may give hope or healing to someone else along the way. AMEN

One Heart, One message - One Spirit

Before I get started, I wanted to share great website, and especially their freebies page - chock full or fun ideas.

FREEBIES  From the Women of Proverbs 31 Ministries.

Its a wonderful place with more devotions, and great help for your day.  Options for super reading, books, training classes for writing and more.  These women are just like us, allowing themselves to show their vulnerabilities and how God helps them day by day.  Great Inspiration. They bless me, and make me want to meet them.

I love feeling like I am one of something, a kindred spirit with people who think like I do.  But what really excites me, is when I think how wonderful that the Holy Spirit shares with all of us the  same message.  There are times that I will go to 3 or so of my favorite devotional pages, or watch Dr. Charles Stanley, or Mr. Prince and all of them are speaking on the same message.  I know they didn't plan it, often from different "religious" ties, and having various audiences, but all are speaking on the same subject...and sometimes it was the same one the Spirit shared with me before I heard any of them.  Same thing happens sometimes when sharing with friends.  What the Lord has shared with them, and gave them on an inspiring card, or facebook Pic, or whatever...is the same thing the Lord gave to me.  It  encuorages me to find those persons, read what they are writing, become one in prayer with them and know that the same Spirit in me is the one in them.  We don't just serve the same God, we are one with the same God and he in us.  Its a connection that will stand the test of eternal time.

I am truly thankful on this day before Thanksgiving that Jesus called us to be one people, and gave us one name. We are one family, with one heart, and one savoir. 

And they shall be my people and I will be their God: And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me fore ever; for the good of them, and their children after them. Jeremiah 32: 38,39.

 Wishing all of our friends a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and the best upcoming Christmas season, in spite of everything the world around us says is about to befall us.  Let us remind one another, that we all have the same wonderful God still in control!

Thank you amazing Father for Sharing with us your Spirit.  The thing that binds our spiritual family, is not a prayer, or good will, or service, or many of the things that other "religions" claim brings peace or wholeness. It is you, the one true God making us one with him and with each other, of one mind and one heart.  Help us Lord to stand through the tough times with one heart. Uniting around the message of the Spirit that leads us to meet each day with only the toils of that day.  One message, one savoir, one blessed path. In Jesus Name AMEN

 

 

My Your Own Business

Sounds, so harsh, doesn't it, lol! i was reading my November 15 My Utmost For His Highest (by Oswald Chambers) devotional last week and it was all about minding your own business. 

One of our severist lessons comes from the stubborn refusal to see that we must not interfere with other people's lives. It takes a long time to realize the danger of being an amateur providence, that is, interfering with God's order for others. You see a certain person suffering , and you say—He shall not suffer, and I will see that he does not. You put your hand straight in front of God's permissive will to prevent it, and God says,—"What is that to thee?"

... proposing things you had no right to advise. When you do have to give advice to another, God will advise you through with the direct understanding of His Spirit; your part is to be so rightly related to God that His discernment comes through you all the time for the blessing of another soul. —Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest

Hmmm. It's so easy to give advice instantly without praying about it, isn't it? Or maybe our own opinion is so strong that we think we know what God would want so we don't even consider thinking before speaking. Or, maybe we should just be praying for that person to make the right decision instead of offering any advice at all, because our first concern should be whether or not we'd be getting in the way of God's will. 

We can have the purest intentions of wanting to help a friend or a family member, but because we cannot possibly know God's will, our best bet is to be deeply in prayer before giving advice and "so rightly related to God" so that God can use us according to His plan. This way, we know for sure that we aren't aiding the enemy in his plan to throw off God's will. 

Oh, Lord, it is so hard to keep quiet sometimes! If we're honest, we're probably a lot better at talking and giving advice than listening, praying, and waiting for you to answer. Most of the time, we have really good intentions, Lord. We hate to see those we love suffer and want to badly to ease what they are going through. But, we also do not want to get in Your way, Lord, because YOU know what's best. Help me to mind my own business, and know when You have appointmented me to share advice. In Jesus name!

Obedience Always Brings Blessing

What does it mean to be obedient? This story, of Abraham taking his only son, Isaac, to sacrifice him, is a perfect example ...

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” 

Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about ....

“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the skyand as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” —Genesis 22:1-3, 12-18 

i can't even begin to tell you how many times i've questioned, over-thought, pretended i didn't hear, dragged my feet on ... what God has asked me to do. i've been disobedient many, many times and i think it's mostly been out of fear. i didn't trust that God's plan was safe, good, or would bring blessing because a lot of the things He asks of me are not easy. i can come up with a million and one reasons as to why i shouldn't be obedient immediately. 

But, oh how i want to be blessed like Abraham was for being obedient. Abraham didn't wait to do what God told him to do. He went the next morning and did just as the Lord said. Abraham didn't understand God's plan, but he also didn't question it or hesitate. He trusted God completely. 

This story reminds us that obedience always brings blessing. If only we had the courage, faith, and trust to push aside our fears and do what the Lord asks of us as soon as He asks. 

Lord, i ask your forgiveness for not being obedient when you have asked things of me. i'm sorry i let my insecurities and fears stand in the way of Your will. Sometimes the things you ask of me are so big, that i am overwhelmed and some so small that i dismiss them because i don't think i can make a difference. i really want to reap the blessings of being obedient, Lord. Please help me to find the quiet time i need to clearly hear from you so that i know Your will ... i truly want Your will, not mine. Thank you for your patience with me as i continue to navigate through this journey of faith and i come to trust you more and more every day. In Jesus name!

What i don't like about "religion"

Several weeks ago, my pastor said something about religion (in a sermon) that really stuck with me. He talked about the church getting questioned about what denomination they are and i loved his response. In a nutshell, he said that the church's religion (denomination) is the Bible. It's Jesus Christ. He spoke about how specific religions imply, by their rules, that they have figured God out. Each religion has their own set of laws and rituals that cause divisions in the body of Christ.

i love that my church doesn't claim to have it all figured out. We read, study, and meditate on God's Word, letting Him and the Holy Spirit put truth, wisdom, and guidance on all of our hearts. Following Christ, and the holy Word is the only way to truly get to know God. Strict laws and rituals are impersonal and a setup for failure of faith, especially when we serve a loving, personal God. 

I want you to show love,
    not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me
    more than I want burnt offerings. —Hosea 6:6

God doesn't want the rules/laws/rituals of religion! Jesus came to put all those things aside because His love and sacrafice set us free from all that religious stuff. If you want to really know God, understand what His Word means, you need to dig in to the Word, not just trust religious figures and rigid laws. 

Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.—Colossians 2:8

Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.—Colossians 3:11

They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!— 2 Timothy 3:5

But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. — 1 Colossians 2: 10-12

Dear Lord, thank you for setting me free from the laws/rituals/judgements that man has created. i know that the only way to get to know you perosnally is by spending time with You and in Your holy Word. Guide me and never let me fall prey to any religion that claims to have you all figured out. i desire You. Just You. All of You. In Jesus mighty name!

 

The Seven Spirits of God

Have you run across the reference to the 7 Spirits of God lately?  I hadn't in a while, but when I saw it with references and notes written all around it, I realized I must have once known a little about it.  The Bible itself, mentions this several times directly. Revelation 3:1, 4:5 and 5:6. All add dimension to this concept, or rather person of the trinity.  But the verse that actually tells us what are the seven spirits of God is in Isaiah. I love this verse!

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom, and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. Isaiah 11:2

Doesn't that describe all the things the Holy Spirit is for us? Now if you counted, you might have left one out, just like I did the first time. The one that is all important is the spirit of God himself.  This is a unique spirit which isn't a description of how he engages with us, but who he is, when he engages with us - the essence of God with us, and endwelling us. One is the number which represents the "one true God" in scripture numerics.  It is as I said, the one who represents the part of God, which is large enough to be present in all of the earth at once, and small enough to indwell the essence of who we are. He is the anchor, of relationship development between God and man.

 But the number of spirits left are 6 and that is the number of man.  In some references, the number 6 carries negative representations of man, and involve judgement, or a warning to not follow the direction of man while ignoring the plans of God .  But in this case, it simply describes the number of ways God is able to reach you.  He deals with your mind, heart and spirit. Both physically and spiritually.  We sometimes have a bit of difficulty helping people understand a triune God, much less a 7 fold spirit, unless we don't over complicate it.  It just means that the God who indwells us is able to become one with us and deal with our needs on every level. He is multi-faceted. Like a six sided nut on a screw.  He fits  in such a way as to become one with us, and surrounds us completely, with his six sides. He has the ability to pair himself to our very deepest needs.  On every level, he is involved in knowing and helping us completely.

 By the way, the number 7 is the number of completeness - being finished, whole, total and all of the synonyms that would mean "complete". He makes us complete. I love that the Word uses numbers sometimes. One, it gets my attention, and two, it speaks to my analytical self.  Somehow God knew that I would need a Spirit who could quench my thirst - for numbers being a building block, to understand so many things. . He is so good.

I will let you find the other references from Revelation.  What special nook in your being does the Spirit of God fill?

Thank you so much God for being everything I need, even the quirky things about me.  You loved me before you knew me. And you knew my needs before you fashioned me.  Praises to the Father, the Son, and the Seven Spirits of God. In Jesus Name on whom you dwelt, AMEN

Lord, give me a clue...

In the story of Abraham sending for a wife to marry his son Issac, a significant thing happened which gives us one example of how to pray when we truly desire to know the Lord's will. I personally don't think this kind of prayer is meant for everyday stuff.  I think it is significant to making special decisions in life. The life altering ones.  As in this case, when Abraham's servant was afraid to fail on his mission, and desired God to give him help and assurance that he was doing the right thing.

In Genesis 24, Abraham sent his most reveared servant on a trip to chose a bride for his son Isaac. Abraham had no qualms whatsoever in doing this, and I thought that was interesting.  It indicates 2 things for certain. One, Abraham already knew God's will about where he should live, what family his wife's son should come from, and where his son should live. These were things that he had established from God at some previous time. But, secondly, it indicates that Abraham had enough faith in God that he wasn't afraid to send a servant to bring back this very important person. He believed God's hand was already involved and working things out. In fact, he said so. In his instructions to the servant, he gave strict directions according to what he knew God had already told him. And he said:

"...he (God) shall send his angel before you..." Genesis 24:7b

It seems in the story that this servant was just learning about Abraham's God.  I thought that was interesting, too, especially that Abraham placed his faith in this servant, knowing this man was still learning to trust God. Verse 12 of this passage says soooo much in so few words.

And he (the servant) said, O Lord God, of my master Abraham, I pray thee send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham. Genesis 24:12

A couple of other translations that I checked, used success instead of the words good speed.  That he was praying for success is an absolute and makes the verse very pertinent to our lives, for a number of reasons. But I do like the term "good speed" because later in the story, it becomes very important to the servant to return to Abraham with Isaac's wife with "good speed." So they ask Rebekah whether she will stay 10 days at home to say her goodbyes, or will she go immediately to marry Isaac. Rebekah chooses to go immediately, once again affirming to the servant that she was the correct choice.

So in the servant's prayer he had several things in mind that he was asking of God.

1. In a way, he was asking God to prove he was God.  He said - "Lord God of my master Abraham."  He was placing faith in Abraham's God, but he was sort of relying on Abraham's say so that this God had already put things in place. Sounds like a prayer of someone who had not previously placed faith in God when he prayed, expecting an answer from someone he could not see.  Although, tentative, that is powerful faith. It is the kind that Jesus would have recognized.  The servant was acting on Abraham's testimony, and deciding to believe for himself. But he was putting this God to the test.

2. Here's another scenario. Maybe this servant had prayed before, and knew God well, but he didn't feel worthy to claim God as his own God.  Abraham was a man of importance, and God did things for him. Was there a bit of reluctance to believe that God would do something for a mere servant? He did however, pray and with faith. And he lived up to Abraham's expectaitons of him.  Perhaps Abraham knew this dear servant needed assurance that God was willing to be involved even in the life of a common man. Abraham knew that if God was in control, and this man was willing to trust that God was leading Abraham, then the servant would see for himself exactly how God could reveal himself to absolutely anyone who would trust him. The servant was asking God to send angels ahead of him, just as Abraham had said God would.

3. This servant was choosing to agree with Abraham in his prayer for a proper wife for his son. This is an early mention of the principle of when two agree in prayer, there is a power unleashed upon the circumstances.  If I have faith to ask God for his guidance and intervention all day, and no one else knows, there is no signigicant blessing to the testimony of a living God except to me. My faith doesn't yeild growth in helping someone else's faith unless I involve them. Then not only I see God working, but someone else sees God working, and thier faith is increased as well. This also speaks to the principle of not forsaking assembling yourselved together.  Coming together to share what God is doing in our lives, changes lives. I have personally seen the benefits of this kind of witness to both new Christians, but also to some who were seeking to know if God was real. He is a God who will prove himself.

4. He was asking for success. Are we sometimes too timid to ask for success. I watch the postings on facebook and notice that lots of times, people tend to choose the sentimental sayings that encourage you when you are going through tough times, and they stop there. I have always wondered why so many Christians stop there. Including myself. We are OK with God just giving only enough help to sooth our emotions and help us tough it through.  How much more optomistic is the outlook, that we pray instead that God's kindness would include our success. I believe this is another thing that the servant learned from Abraham. Abraham was extremely successful. He was wealthy. He was accepted in a foreign land. He was owner of many servants. He was like an owner of a successful business. His products had done quite well. And he was not afraid to give God credit.  Someone who served Abraham closely saw him ask God for success.

5. This servant wanted to please his "employer".  We are told in the story that even though he laid out a scenario before God, and said, "if you will make things happen like this, then I will know what choice to make." He asked God to show kindness to his master.  This principle is part of the "Give and it shall be given to you principle." Asking the blessings for his master and not himself was a giving thing. He did ask for success for his mission. But he also saw the value in realizing he was not there for his own benefit, but for his employer's benefit. I am using the word employer to make a point, because we don't know the payment status of this servant. We are given no indication that this servant would benefit in any way from doing this thing right. Yet we have a story that has made this man a hero for several thousand years.  He understood that his job was about doing what his employer needed done.  No qualms about it.   

6. This servant prayed that God would allow a certain set of circumstances to occur. By this he would have a clue to God's leading. Some people in Jesus's day were depending on signs to know he was the Messiah. He offered up signs and miracles by virtue of just being God's messenger. God's desire is to demonstrate his power in our lives all the time. Yet we are timid to ask for evidence that he is there. However, this story makes it entirely clear that God not only wants us to know he is involved, but that he has sent angels ahead of us to prepare the way. I would say that is very involved. So all this servant was doing, was not asking for a sign, but for a clue, so that he could see the evidence of the angels at work, and know how to do the Lord's will. He asked for significant and appropriate guidance.  He was saying, God, if this happens, then I will know what to do next.  When we are faced with the unknown, we may have assurance that the angels aren't unaware of where the Lord is leading us, so asking for a clue for God's direction to go in the way that is already prepared, is not an unreasonable prayer.

I want to close by giving a single example of how this worked in my life in a time when I knew the Lord was leading me to make a significant change in direction in my job.  I had some trepidation about choosing a new job, so I asked the Lord to let me know it was the right job by allowing the correct interviewer to mention my high school in some way.  I knew most potential employers didn't make note of where you went to high school, but they sometimes asked about your education.  I had several reasons for wanting them to bring it up, but I also wanted to allow God to use this key to give me a direct clue. Curiously, the manager was the person my interview was set up with, from the start. No pre-interviews...straight to the manager. Then to my amazement, after a bit of small talk, he asked me point blank about my high school, by name. I am not sure he knew that he was acting by God's lead, or that angels had prepared my way, but I knew two things. One, he was my new employer, even long before he actually hired me. And two, he was willing to let God lead him too. For you see, he had to be willing to do what he was being led to do to even meet my expectations from God. I knew, immediately, he was a Christian.  As it turned out, he was from my home town, and new exactly where my high school was.  I didn't need a sign, I needed a clue. An indication that I was on God's track.  It's OK to ask for clues along the way.

My last comment would be that Rebekah, whom I have focused on the most when I previously studied this story, was also prepared to make a life altering change, so much so that she was willing to leave immediately when she heard how God was involved.  How exciting to have been in anticipation of God's movement upon her life so much that she followed without hesitation.  The key to the servant knowing she was the right person is the word "kindness." The servant asked that God would show kindness to his master Abraham.  Who better to fulfil that request than one who could show so much kindness. Isn't it interesting that God placed this word into the servant's heart, knowing the character of sweet Rebekah.  Isn't God Good?

Lord, I don't always ask for clues along the way, but thank you, that when I need them, you are willing to give them.  You desire so much that I know that anyone in any station can ask for you to be involved in our success.  You don't choose one person over another to bless. But help someone to know that you are not only involved but you are not waiting on us to pray in desparation to act in our lives. Instead, you send angels ahead of us to prepare our way, and if you do that, you want us to know what it is.  Let us get a handle on this truth and use it.  Let me be in tune with you that I might know the clues. Or know how to ask for them.  Make this a genuine element of my faith. AMEN

 

 

 

 

A Place Where the Wind and Waves Obey

I want to be as direct as I possibly can with my post today. 

If you have duress, contorversy, family animosity, critical friends making judgement, or an otherwise dividing spirit invading the peace in your life, ask yourself:

"What is all this doing to aid the devil in directing my attentions from the greater thing that God wants to do in my life?"

You can rest assured - the more afraid Satan is that your eyes will be opened, and you will turn from the thing drawing your attention away from what God wants to do in your life, the harder that Satan assaults you. Satan will  lose his power in your world, if you look away from his chaos. He won't be happy with that.   

If Satan can keep you occupied with something that keeps you upset, then it is unlikely that you will be effectivelly winning souls, or encouraging saints.  You will miss the person closest who has fallen victim to depression for instance, and you never noticed. Or you will not be the one your child turns to when they are ready to say, "I have been thinking about being baptised, 'cause I ask Jesus to forgive my sins every night." Your neighbor will hear it instead. (recent true stories) We are on earth to serve God, not legalisms.  I am not good at interacting with people sometimes.  But I can look around me and see the pain people are inflicting on one another.  And for what?

And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. Luke 8:24

Recently a bad wind storm, with extreme winds came through my neighborhood.  Afraid I would be hurt by limbs coming down from my trees, I ran outside to an area where there were no trees. I found my neighbors there, doing the same thing. We kept watch in every direction,  hoping to save one another from falling trees.  We wisely found safety supporting one another. Once the storm had past we dealt with the results of the storm. We weren't injured or in pain, or dead. There had been no lightning, or heavy rain, or anything otherwise related to storms...just wind.  That wind had driven us together, away from danger.  I can't help but think of how Jesus related the Spirit to *wind. In the time of a storm where wind was present, we rushed to support one another.  If this is not what is happening in the storms in your life, you can mark it for certain - Satan is involved and is blinding you from a greater truth in some way. This answers the sometimes confusing question, "Is it Satan, or is it God?"  Distracting you is a tacticle battle plan that Satan relies heavily upon.  BEWARE.  REFOCUS. Allow God to open the eyes of your heart.  Don't be blind-sided. Seek the place where Jesus brings calm.

Isn't Satan called a theif?  What to theives often do? They get someone else to create a diversion, and they steal what you have taken your eyes off of.  (Bad English) What ever is precious to you, if you allow Satan to concentrate your attention on some battle in your life, he will steal the precious thing.  Which would you rather take care of? The vague and escalating battle, or what is precious to you.

Give the battle, the danger, the chaos, the heartache to God. How? By walking away from it yourself.  I am oversimplifying it, I know.  Yet sometimes it is exactly that simple. Ask God, "What am I missing?"

*The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. John 3:8

Dear Jesus, help us not be distracted by the power plays of Satan.  Teach us like a good police officer would teach a safety class, how to recognize the diliberate distractions that take our eyes off of what's important.  Turn us about, and draw us to you, and help us support one another in times of attack. In Jesus name,  AMEN

 

The Lord is Near

As Christians, we should never feel alone because our God is always near us.  This week I was struggling with some personal issues which were causing me to become anxious and worried.  When I began to pray I said, “Lord, where are you while I’m going through all of this?”  While I waited for Him to speak to my heart I heard, “I will never leave you.  My banner over you is love.”

Our relationship with God is not a genie in a bottle kind of thing.  We can’t say, “God, magically fix this problem or correct this mistake.”  A relationship with our Heavenly Father involves time listening and studying His Holy Word and His Character.  Our challenge is to continually seek His face for advice, encouragement, and direction.  He loves us even more than our earthly parents and wants the very best for us, His precious children (Jeremiah 29:11).

The challenge we face is to dedicate ourselves to hearing His Heart.  When God spoke to me this week, He gave me two distinct verses.  

Songs of Solomon 2:4 says,

“He has taken me to the banquet hall, and his banner over me is love.”

Deuteronomy 31:6 says,

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

You see, I didn’t know exactly where those verses were in the Bible at the time of my prayer, but I’ve studied the Bible long enough to know that the message was absolute Truth.  God’s character will never be in contrary to the Bible.  His message to me was exactly what my heart needed to settle down.

So what can I do while I wait on my personal cloudiness to clear and the sunshine to return?  I camp out on that message: write it on notecards and put it next to my bed, carry it with me to the grocery- whatever it takes to focus on the promises from My Heavenly Father.

My Prayer:  Thank you, Father, for your peace and your clear guidance.  I stand on Your Truth, My Solid Rock and Redeemer.  Your children praise you for being our Refuge.  I pray that you would continue to speak clearly to me and those who, like me, need some encouragement.  You are faithful and your Love endures forever!  Holy Spirit, remind us to stand in Truth.  Jesus, thank you for demonstrating unwavering faith.  In Jesus name, your children cry out- Amen.

"Don't tell God how big the mountain is- tell the mountain how big your God is."

 

Wholly Surrendered

i was having a conversation with a friend, who's going through a difficult time, a few days ago. She mentioned that she felt God was giving her more than she could handle, that the burden she was carrying was much too heavy. i gently reminded her of something that took me a very long time to learn—the burden is not ours to carry and being wholly surrendered to God means we don't have to carry the weight of troubled times. She said she had surrendered it all, but i knew she hadn't because her heart was so heavy an joy seemed like lightyears away.

So how do you know if you've truly given the battle to the Lord? James 1:2-4 says:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

You know you have fully surrendered your circumstances to God when you can look past them and find joy. Not joy because of your circumstances, but joy because you know Who is in control—the Lord your God! i don't know many people who can find joy when times are tough, but i do know people who can find joy in the Lord during those tough times.

Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength—Nehemiah 8:10

Fully surrendering to the Lord won't make your troubles disappear, but i've found that it sure speeds things up. You see, when we try to keep control—believing our way is best— we don't need a Savior and we believe that we can do things on our own. But, when we surrender, we are recognizing that we need to have more faith ... that we need to trust God ... that we need to loosen our grip on control so that God's perfect will can be brought to life. God knows how things will play out, He sees the whole picture .... we cannot see into the future and we will never be able to see the whole picture. This surrendering stuff is a life lesson in learning to trust God. 

Father God, i'll just be honest, i really don't like giving up control. It makes me feel like i've lost the battle, like i am giving up. But that is a lie from the enemy! Surrendering all my circumstances to you reveals my faith in you to come to my rescue. You have never failed me, Lord, and i know that there is no problem you can't fix. Help me to not be afraid when i take a back seat to a circumstance that has spiraled out of control — i want You to drive and to steer my life in the direction that will bring you glory and that will result in blessings on my life. In Jesus mighty name!

 

Think Twice!

My grandson who is just under 2 years old, takes no thought to whether choosing silence hurts someone's feelings, leaves us hanging as if liars, or any number of other polite reasons for responses.  He simply makes a choice and stays silent if he wants to. Let me explain.

Yesterday, when he came to visit, he discovered a couple of activities that Jimmy and I had bought for him. $1 items that were teaching tools.  Also, his Mom had spent a gift card that was given to him, and so he had a plethera of new things to do.  He made short work of shooting the disk from the squeezy thing. He threw the puzzle all over the place. And he pointed at the pictures in the color book and mimiced every word I said. His favorite was "Bapple." Thereafter, when we opened the book he pointed at the pictures and repeated what he had learned. "Bapple, Tuck, Herse, bown, urnge, and wibbet."  What? you don't talk baby? Then we set up his new soft baseball on our makeshift ball tee, which was strategically placed at a perfect height for him to swing and hit it. He put the bat on his shoulder, then brought it down level with the ball and whap! The ball went sailing.  He delightfully hit it over and over.

Later that day when his Dad came by, we wanted to show him all the things Ryder had been doing.  He was OK with shooting the disk at his Dad's face and laughing about it.  He did point at a few words in the book and say them, but was done with that in just a jiffy. So we pulled out the bat and ball, and implored him to hit the ball and show Daddy how good he could hit it.  Not once did he put the same effort in that he had while playing earlier.  Then when we tried to get him to say some of his new words that he had been rolling off earlier --silence. He was done with all this performing for his Dad! NO amount of encouragement had him playing with the confidence he had earlier.  His Dad was disappointed.

I was however, suddenly convicted in my heart of how wrong I was badgering the baby to perform for his Dad.  The Lord reminded me of an occasion when I had learned that it is sometimes best to just remain silent when pursuasive persons try to manipulate you.

Here's the story: Once a preacher called every person to come to the altar to confess their sins. By ritual of having been manipulated to obey from this preacher on previous occasions, some of the congregation went obediently to the altar and were immediately on their knees.  Somewhat new to this church, I thought, Oh my, that's a lot of people who suddenly knew of unconfessed sin."  Not satisfied, the preacher continued to convince the remainder of the congreation that they were guilty of something, and they needed to be in the altar. As he called off one sin after another he said something like - I know some of you need to repent of "whatever" sin.  A long time passed as he continued to badger the concregation to come to the front. It was evident after a while he would not be content until every single person was in the altar. He hammered at them and one by one the congregation approached the altar and kneeled. There began to arise a crying which elevated to a wailing and I tried to consider that perhaps this pastor knew there was a genuine need, but I didn't understand why they remained in the altar, Why were the people not getting up and going back to their seats? It was as if these people had never found forgiveness for sins before, and didn't know how to attain peace.  It was awkward. 

The result was that bit by bit, the preacher coaxed every single person to the altar but my husband and me. The praying and crying and condemnation continued for at least 15 minutes more. Ane we remained silently standing in the pews. I could not help but look at my husband and say, "Don't any of these people take care of this at home? Do you feel a need to go down there?" He made a funny remark of some kind, which indicated, no, he was all 'fessed up. We honestly felt we were up on our repentance issues and didn't need to perform for this preacher. Not being led by God, we merely stayed in our place in silence. Needless to say we didn't please the preacher.

No amount of persuasion had been able to convince the baby to perform his newly learned skills for his Dad.  In fact the more we cajoled, the more he turned his back on us in silence. This is inborn in all babies.  I have never seen a single one who, when you wanted them to show what they had learned for the day, would not refuse to do the skill until they decided that is was of social benefit to them.  The fact, that all babies do this, assures me that it is a God–given gift.  It is a gift of discernment which is given for a reason, but one that manipulative persons will try to drill out of your child’s defense systems for the rest of their lives. 

Seeing Ryder resist reminds me that no Christian should “act out” their Christianity as a performance to please anyone else. The sweet learning experiences should be shared, and often may be learned in the presense of loving partners on the journey. Joining Christian friends in prayer is a Holy thing.  But so many elements of our Christian walk are between just us and God.  One on One. Being “prayed up” as some say, is a confidence that we may have which frees us to hear God’s instructions.  Being convinced that you are in God’s will need never be a decision someone else makes for you.

When Ryder playfully returned to his new word/picture/color correlations, by himself, it was a re-inforcement for a new skill.  He was joyful, and willing to participate.  But when the action of pointing to the words, or using the bat to hit his new ball, in order to perform for his dad became something I was coaxing him to do he resisted and rightfully so. I later became convicted of how wrong I was.  Because we were pressing him to, his confidence in the act was in not a joyful experience any more. I wanted his Dad to see him, but I should have just let him play, and allow him to choose when and how he showed his Dad.  I am not sure he remembered everything from the day before. All our pressure could have damaged his confidence, which came merely from the joy of learning, while playing.  But when the actions became a performance to a command, it served no purpose, except to please us and yield to our manipulation.  That’s a bad thing to teach kids.  It sets them up for abuse. As sad as we were that he was unwilling to show his dad, it was best to not make him feel bad for it.  But when his Mom came in, it became a game again. She joined in and encouraged him, brought the fun back to it. She actually stood over him and helped him swing his bat, encouraged him and applauded him…he was back to his childlike joy of learning. His acts became natural. In no way coerced. (Please recognize this situation as different than teaching obedience.)

If, you find yourself being a performing Christian, (confined to performing Christian acts according to someone else’s version of Godliness,) then, find the Holy Spirit courage to search your heart, and know your standing with God. Then, don’t follow the lead of that person.  If your Christian leadership does not encourage you to a point of joy, and peace of mind, and a love of the Christian life…something is wrong! If they don’t applaud your personal interaction with the Spirit, and rejoice in your growth, at whatever level, something is wrong.

Badgering people misrepresents God.  It wrongfully teaches children that it is what God will also expect of them. Sadly, they will give up the joy of learning at the Spirit’s knee, and will await the badgering minister to drag them along.  Unholy. In every way. Properly sharing your Christian experience is healthy, but is free from the ties of manipulation.

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:16 

  Lord Grant me the wisdom to know how my actions will affect those around me.  Help me to be gently pursuasive when it will encourage Godliness, but keep me from unholy manipulation.  Thank you for the gift to know when to stand silently firm. AMEN

P.S. This is a healing moment for me. I hope someone else will escape the bonds of memories when God releases you from the power of someone's maniputlation. May God grant it for anyone who is struggling with it.

 

Have a little fun and try to translate what the baby said.   LOL

Take Courage!

From time to time in our lives, we all face fear.  Fear of the future. Fear of the past.  Fear of the unknown.  Fear is real and can suck the life out of us but, as Christians, we must realize that fear is the opposite of faith and must be dealt with swiftly and severely with God’s Word.

In John 16:33, Jesus says,

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage ; I have overcome the world.”

The words, “take courage” really prick my heart because there are times that I give in to thinking about my fears.  Jesus uses the words, “take courage” as a command to act boldly and confidently.

Bruce Lee said, “Courage is not the absence of fear but the ability to act in the presence of fear.”

Jesus knows we have fears, but He expects us to trust in Him and His plan in spite of our fears.  This simple act of surrender at the foot of the cross begins to shape our heart into that of a faith filled one instead of a heart ruled by fear and anxiety.

As Christians, we should surround ourselves with other people who are encouragers (people who speak life and love into our lives).  Then it is crucial to create an arsenal of truth- Bible verses, note cards, wise statements about our situations so that when we become more emotional than rational, we have something tangible to refer to.  Those truths can bring us back to our rational minds when we are overwhelmed by fear.

Dear friends, I do not stand before you saying that I have overcome my fears, but as a fellow sojourner, I understand how you feel.  When you have lived a life where fear is your first response, it takes a lot of retraining to turn that default around, but with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26)

My Prayer:  God, thank you for reminding us to take courage!  We choose to walk in obedience to Your Word.  Holy Spirit, bathe our hearts in truth and faith today.  Spirit of fear, we command you to go to the foot of the cross.  Lord, send comfort and peace in abundant blessings today to those who pray this prayer.  Fill every empty space with your presence.  Your children choose to walk in truth and light courageously and boldy.  We nail our fears to the cross and will focus on truth,  In Jesus name!

 

Questioning God?

If you never ask God” why?”, you will live in ignorance and spiritual poverty. Ask why God says what He says in Scripture and let him tell you.

 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? Mark 2:9

Joseph Prince was teaching this morning, and he said, when he was studying, he asked God, “Why didn’t you just say ‘rise up and walk instead of take up your bed and walk.’ ” You know the story.   I remembered that it once occurred to me to think, “Why did Jesus tell the lame man, like a little child, to pick up his bed?” But I didn’t pursue the question. So I missed the greater meaning and the blessing.  It seemed petty at the time.  But not one word that Jesus spoke was superfluous.  Mr. Prince went on to explain that the man had been lying on that bed for most of his lifetime. He had been in a position of rest the whole time, but was miserable.  What he needed was rest from his impairment and his circumstances. Jesus was challenging us to question God’s meaning on the word Rest.  At Jesus’s feet was the place where this man expected to find it.  His prayer was not just to walk, but to be able to get up on his own, and to be free from the bed. So Jesus was not just freeing the man from his illness, but also from his position on the ground, and the reality of living in his bed. Oddly, to be free from his bed, he had to be able to take control of his bed from his new position of being able to stand and walk.  That is a much grander picture of being made well than one of just getting up to walk. I believe it meant that the man was suddenly able to adjust to the abrupt change in his life as well. Was it a greater thing that he could miraculously walk, or be able to adjust to having to do things for himself after 38 years of being waited on?

My intent here however, is to get you to ask questions about God’s words on a regular basis. Ask, when you study, “God why did you say it that way?” Some of the symbolism in Jesus’s teachings was understood immediately by his Jewish peers.  Just as we recognize that there is a culture of music that would use the word “sick” in modern language to mean that something is “really good in an unexpected way,” Jesus’ peers understood the idioms of their language.  For us, it is sometimes foreign.  But more often than not, Jesus had a greater underlying meaning, the result of which was - he could teach and expect the Religionists to be confused, but the seekers would hear and understand. The *Spirit of God opened the meaning to their hearts.  He often instructed his listeners that only the children of God could understand.

I have heard an occasional preacher say to never question God. Or to lash out at God, or pray in anger, or ask God, “why?”  Jesus did not teach any of these things. The friends of Job did. But not Jesus. God expects us to be persons with emotions, and seekers of truth, not zombies or slaves to what we have been taught. In this way, the scriptures always remain fresh.  And we don't become the puppets of modern day Pharisees. I suggest even to children to question anything someone teaches you, until you can find reason to believe it for yourself.  I deliberately would say something false to my children, or to my Sunday School Class to challenge them to rebuke me. And of course when they said, “That isn’t true,” I would complement them on thinking for themselves and standing up for the truth. 

This kind of learning is a blessing from God.  It is intended to allow us to give the Spirit an opportunity to  commune with our hearts. *The greatest example of this was when Jesus would question his disciples – who do people say that I am …., who do you think I am? He often sent them back to the scriptures of old for their proof.  That is exactly what we should do to understand God’s intents.  Some, who go back, will only see a small part of the Old Testament and it will always revolve around the 10 commandments.  Like the Pharisees, law is the only thing some will see. But a seeker who opens his or her heart to the answer from God, will begin to see patterns throughout the scriptures that reveal themes of God’s truths. Solid principles on which to build life. They will verify one another.  If the truth is found throughout the Word, it isn’t a freak revelation. We take a lot of truths for granted in the information era, but so much of what is still there is a hidden jewel, waiting to be revealed by the Spirit. Jesus challenged us to find them.  He even used the example of the “Pearl of Great Price,” to indicate the value of being willing to dispose of everything you think you already know to possess the precious - what God wants you to know. Don’t miss God’s blessing by taking the Word on someone else’s declaration.  I challenge you to not believe me and go see for yourself! LOL

*However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. John 16:13

*Then they understood that He did not tell them
to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and
Sadducees. When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His
disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said,
“Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the
prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”  Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:12 - 15

Lord, keep my curiosity keen especially when I am reading your Word.  Make the Bible come alive with new meaning, and precious truths.  Keep me looking for the jewels inside. And thank you for hiding them there. in Jesus' name, AMEN

Clear Guidance

I have only once been in a fog so thick I couldn't see where I was going and was terrified to move forward.  Knowing fogs, you go through them fully expecting to pass through them to a place where the view is clearer. But on this night, it was an unwise decision to drive into it.  My children were young, and there was an important event at their school.  We lived a distance from the school, in the country, where even at about 55 miles an hour, it took 20 minutes to get there.  In that distance, I was just sure we would break through the fog and find clear or at least cloudy skies. So we got into the car and off we went.  However, I couldn't see the side of the road looking straight down from my seat in the car.  We felt our way down the back road on which we lived, and I began to pray.  Lord, keep us safe. Please, keep us safe.

When, after going about three miles out the the main highway, the fog was no less dense, I truly considered going back home. But in my mind it had to be safer a mile or two down the highway than trying to creep back to the house through that soup.  So I rolled down the windows and listened for cars approaching on the highway, and cautiouslly entered the road and increased my speed to about 45 mph.  Surely no one could come up on us and overtake us at that speed.  My fog lights and the fact that a few cars had punched a hole through the fog earlier, made it a little easier to see the road sides and I progressed along. Anxious, never the less, and growing more so, as the fog simply was not getting any better as we traveled toward town, I grew concerned that I had made a mistake to not have gone home.  Once we arrived at the school, now about 15 minutes late, I was surprised to find NO ONE ELSE WAS THERE!

I didn't want to believe I was the only one who had supposed that the fog would not be covering "the whole world." This was obviously a cancelation of the event, and if anyone else had come anyway, they had left by now.  I felt alone and foolish. And now I faced driving that nightmare back all those miles in the dark, because the winter night had fallen early.  Oh how I wished there was somewhere else to go besides back to where I started. So many miles of fear, and facing all those miles of risking my children's lives was not my idea of being a good parent at this point.

How, with 3 children, and so many neighbors with children in this same school, did I miss out on the cancelation message? Well, it was a time when there were no computers or cell phones. In fact it may have been a time when we didn't even have a phone. I am not sure. What's more I was not big on watching TV news or listening to local radio. It was also a place where we didn't live close to one another. I am sure families all called one another, but my only close family wasn't home.  So we just missed recieving the word. What's more, I totally missed the report that we were going to be hit by a dense slow moving snow storm, arriving about dark. 

As we returned home, creeping along, often unable to see the edge of the pavement, and nothing of the houses and businesses to give me an indication of how far we had traveled, I watched carefully for intersections.  I finally was able to read a road sign which allowed me to know we had traveled about half the way. My fog lights made something about the fog to glisten with tiny sparkles.  It was so pretty, I had to concentrate on driving. The hour long trip had made me a little weary of straining into nothingness looking for indications of where I was on the road. But then, there was a little openess in the fog, and it was merely very low clouds. What a relief, I thought until my lights came glaring back at me to blind me from reflecting off this huge white wall.  My first thought was that I had left the road and was headed straight into a white concrete block wall. I had only seconds to recover from the adrenaline rush and blink twice to refocus on what I was driving right into.  "What is that?" I startled the kids. I heard gasps and echos of my question from the back seat as my children became excited, and I slowed the car to a near crawl. Then out of the fog emerged a pure white wall of the biggest densest snowflakes I ever saw.

Know when you look out over a landscape in summer and see the wall of rain falling from the front of a stormcloud, and you are glad it is out there, not where you are driving?  That is what this was - a wall of snow announcing the storm behind it. Just as dense rain would hamper your driving, dense snow is totally a wipeout.  Imagine going from believing you were colliding with a block wall just seconds before, to colliding with a wall of snow instead. Even now it gives me a surreal feeling. That feeling of having left reality and being in a dream - where things are never what they seem and change as quickly as thought. We immediately changed everything about our environment. Although driving in the snow was challenging, possibly as dangerous as being in the fog, I suddenly could look out past the edges of the road to the houses and see porchlights.  I believed we could make it home alive. It felt like something from a movie, where the characters jump through the mirror or black hole into the unknown, only we were living it.

The thing that I learned from that night, was that God is always with us, even when we make some really big errors in judgement and move forward without his guidance. When we are facing decisions in life that are important destinations but we are moving through as if in a fog - without clear guidance, sometimes, it is better to move forward slowly until God gives us a clear word of instruction. Often, it is far better to go nowhere until God clears the fog.  I hope it is obvious I mean this metaphorically in reference to understanding his perfect will.  If however, we have already moved forward, then realize God has closed the doors, sending us back to start again,  we may face some pretty scarey situations. We may kick ourselves for not "going home" when we first understood how foggy our path really was.Sometimes we get mad at God. It is imperative to not make the destination of so great importance that we deny our circumstances and move forward, unless God tells us to. In other words, sometimes God tells us to enter the storm. If so, we can count on Him to be present every step of the way.  But sometimes, he says to go another day; wait upon him to clear the fog. 

I truly love morning fogs that lift off rivers and lakes. It evokes a calmness that driving in a night fog did not. Because I have assurance that as the sun warms the air, the fog dissipates. But until it does, it is a magic world, especially  behind the lense of a camera. It is an everchanging world that moves forward at a rapid speed. Each moment may feel like, "I wish I could capture and hang on to this image forever." Every moment is new but fleeting. When life is moving like that, it really helps to remember that the Son of God is burning away the fog. If we are unclear on where life is going, and we remain calm in the peace of knowing who is in control,  we can actually enjoy the foggy times in life.  It is often said that what we don't know is what scares us most. It becomes an act of will to acknowlege that life is going to have some fog. It is therefore wise to turn on the "God radio" often enough to hear the weather forecasts on life frequently, and then let God tell us when it's safe or imperative to move forward. Waiting on the Lord to burn away the fog, can be a beautiful experience if we stop to watch the magic. I believe God enjoys painting the picture of our future stroke by stroke.  We should enjoy watching him do it!

Now the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But all we, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord ...But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord: and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of knowlege of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the powe rmay be of God and not of us. II Corinthians 3:17, 18 & 4:3-7.

Lord I need to see your plan before I enter the fog, but if you take me into the fog and the storm and darkness, I am so thankful that you are there.  If I stumble there unexpectedly, harness my fear and turn the fog into beautiful snow every time! I praise your name for the times you have sent angels to direct me through the fog.  And for every time you allowed me to go to a place where I cannot clearly see with my thinking eyes, but that you gave me new understanding in that unsure place, I stand amazed that you cared for me.  Do as much for my family and friends, bless them with your leadership each and every day.  In Jesus Name, AMEN

After the storm

Last Thursday, Lori wrote a blog post titled Driving Into The Storm and it really meant a lot to me. If you haven't had a chance to read it, you'll probably want to read it before reading this post so that it makes sense.

i started this blog almost 4 years ago and f you've been following it (at least for awhile) you know that i drove right into a storm 3.5 years ago. i didn't know the amounts of downpours i'd experience, and i can't even begin to count the many days and nights that i felt left out in the cold, lonely rain. The track of my storm never shifted and there were so many times where i hung on with little strength. But, i can tell you that i always felt God's presence through the entire storm. He knew my heart better than anyone and He held it so gently in His hands.

Lori wrote:
Many times in our lives, we take the easy, sunny road in our lives.  Paths we know will take us to happy places.  But then there are other times when we are uncertain about our travels: times when the clouds look dark and scary. Situations when we have to hunker down and pray about what to do next.  Circumstances when we wonder if life is going to dump a foot of rain on us.  These are the critical times when we need to trust Jesus's heart when we can't see His hand.  We have to rely on God's Holy Word and Jesus's promise that He has overcome any tribulation we will face in this world.  Jesus told us these things so that we may experience His peace no matter how big the storm.

i never felt i took the easy road - the path i took allowed me to travel many dark, unknown places, but i was never afraid of the next step because i whole-heartedly believed that God was before me, in me, and behind me. i couldn't see where the hand of God was taking me, but i trusted Him to lead me safely through the storm. It was through the storm that i truly found out that God is the great I AM (as Cynthia mentions in this post about all the things God is)—i don't think i ever would have fully understood how great His love is without the storm. Even though the storm brought much damage and heartache to my life, the joy from the peace of God made it more than bearable.

My life today is living proof of how God can take someone through a storm with only minor bruises — He is truly a shelter in the storm. Under His wings i found refuge. He has restored my soul ... not even the toughest trials took me down. He has given me the kind of faith that can move mountains ... the kind of faith that can only come from weathering the storm. 

In a storm? See one approaching in the distance? Do not retreat or try to move around it! Take the hand of God with a heart full of courage and trust and move forward believing in the joy, peace, love, and hope that God has waiting for you after the storm. There is purpose in what He's allowowing/allowed you to go through. It's not easy. In fact, it hurts ... this i know. But God will give you everything you need to get through the valley - this i promise you.

Father God, thank you for the strength, shelter, grace, and deep, uncondtional love that you provide during the stormy times in our life. 

Chasing the Kingdom

In January, I was asked the question, “What would you do this year if you knew you couldn’t fail?”  As I began really praying about my answer, I knew clearly that I would go back to Lima, Peru where I have been once before to do mission work.  

Since January, the Lord has confirmed my dream many times over.  We have even had the pleasure of hosting in our home the Pastor and his dear family from Lima.  Long story short: my son and I are leaving on Friday to go back to Lima.  We are thrilled to see the child that we sponsor whom I met on the first trip.  We ask for your prayers from this Friday, May 25th to next Thursday, May 31.  

As I have sought the Lord over the details of this trip, I recognize that I have lived Matthew 6:33-34 which says,

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

In closing, I challenge you to examine the question, “What would you do, dear friend, if you knew you couldn’t fail?” God opens huge doors when we seek His kingdom first. 

My Prayer:  God, thank you for the opportunity to go back to Lima.  I praise you for preparing my heart over the past few months.  We rejoice that we will see our friends and fellow Kingdom workers again.  Holy Spirit, I boldly ask you to show others how to impact the world with just a dream or vision without the possibility of failing.  In Jesus Name!

Thy Face

When you said, seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. Psalm 27:8

When my children were little, scarcely a day went by that I didn’t say a dozen times: “Look at me.”  It was difficult to get them to focus on what I was saying to them, unless I could get them to look at me.  Every mother must go through a period of seeing their child discover how to ignore Mom’s instruction, and act as if they don’t hear her reprimands and direction.  When this happens, Mom’s go through a period of repeating themselves, over and over, unless they get smart and outwit the child.  With 3 toddlers, I finally learned that it was important to get them to at least look at me. In order to not just be talking to the air, I learned very quickly that I had to get down face to face with them, and insist they look at me. 

Well they resisted, and when they resented my forcing them to look at me, I learned that there must be some distance between us, but they needed a reason to look my way.  Without that reason,  they simply found lots of reasons to ignore me until I was frustrated with them.  I really can’t remember how I came upon the solution, but it was the best answer to my exasperation, and I really don’t know why it works.  I decided that I would not give my children unlimited opportunities to listen and respond to my voice.  They didn’t realize that their lives might depend on it one day, especially if I already had two of the three of them by the hand.  Since I didn’t have 3 hands, my voice would simply have to be the thing that held them back from harm, or sent them in a direction that was functional to us all.

So, I began to make them look at me, but I instructed them to look first at my face to see what I was saying, and then at my hands to see how long they had to get busy doing what they were told.  It was a hand signal of “one, two, three.”  Initially, my instructions were that they look at me, and if they didn’t obey quickly, I would say, “one.”  If they didn’t respond, I would say, “two.”  If I got to “three,” they knew they were going to be punished, or disciplined in some way.  I made sure there was enough time between the numbers to give them response time.  Just like stopping your car, it takes a bit to make the decision to just move your body.   But, eventually, I could tell by the attitude of their bodies, if they heard me or not, and if they intended to obey right away.  I could see them quicken their movements to complete what they were doing, and they would look at my hands to see if I had said one or two, to know how much of a hurry they needed to be in.  The time came that I almost never got to “three.”  In fact, the time came that I could have my back to them, and have my hands behind my back, using only my fingers to designate the numbers.  I held up one finger, then two, and usually by three, they were either standing by my side, or had quieted themselves and were busy doing what I had asked them to do. This was especially good when I was talking to someone, but needed them to be quieter, or get ready to leave.

Eventually, my children would look at me often just to see if I was simply waiting on them to look my way so I could quietly instruct them to do something.  Or to see if they missed something and I was already holding up fingers to count down their time.  By this time, the decision was now theirs. I believe this worked because they needed the limits on the time it took them to look at me and obey.   When I was able, I also sometimes used the "Come to me," instruction to give them a reward for paying attention and looking at me.  If I had to go back, I would have spanked them far less, and would have given far more rewards for having them respond appropriately. 

The “Look At Me” Principle is very Biblical.  Learning to practice it as mindful children, looking to a loving heavenly Father, helps us focus and obey the voice of God as much as it helped my children. He too, needs not to have to repeat over and over his will for us, nor should we tarry 'til he gets to "3."

Let us decide today to look to the face of our heavenly father, several times during the day.  May we not miss his guidance and give him opportunity to need to place discipline in our path to redirect us toward looking to his face and listening for his voice.

Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord: for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.  Psalm 25:15

Lord, I desire to be like David and be an obedient Child, focusing often on you, to know your will and recognize your voice.  If there is a frustrated mother or teacher, needing a way to have their children listen, help them apply the principle, and find the joy getting their children to choose to respond will bring. Bless their efforts and ours as we look to thee. Amen.

CALLED, CHOSEN, FAITHFUL

My son posted last night in hours of insomnia that he was mulling over the “thus far” of his life, and wondering if he had wasted his life, and was speculating how to make a mark in life and be able to die in due time, believing he had done what the Lord would have him do.  I can say I have been there, have you?  One of my neighbor’s grandchildren expressed to me this morning the issues of her making decisions that would affect her life’s future.  She is only about to be nine. She is mulling over her salvation and that she would like to be baptized. I never brought the subject up, nor even hinted at it.  She is hearing the Holy Spirit. Each and every time we face this point in life, our emotions may vary, from the extreme of silently invigorating to the other extreme of powerfully debilitating, or anywhere in between. Some will know exactly to what God is calling them, and others will struggle with how to know why the Spirit stirs their soul.  Regardless of the circumstances, I am certain of one thing.  God doesn’t call us all to be missionaries, in the “go to the ends of the world” sense.  Instead, if we are called to serve him, but not chosen to be preacher, teacher or missionary…we still have a place in his great plan if we come with the right attitude.

There are 6 verses that come up in a Bible Gateway search when you type in “called, chosen” in the King James version. I was searching only one particular verse, but was impacted by the six verses that came up. All six speak of exactly this situation in life.  I want to share what I saw in each one:

1.When Samuel was seeking the new King, he followed the command of the Spirit to go to Jesse to select this king from among Jesse’s sons. Jesse brought the sons whom he felt would make the best king. However, after going through Jesse’s sons, Jesse’s chosen were not God’s chosen. David, his youngest, was.  Seven (the number of completion) of Jesse’s sons were called to pass before Samuel, but only one, the eighth, (number of new beginning) was chosen. And he was the least expected to be God’s chosen. What’s more, David was in the fields keeping sheep one minute and was the King of Israel the same day. God’s call can be a sudden and unexpected new beginning.

Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. I Samuel 16:8.

2.Isaiah relates the story of God’s conversation with Jacob, whose name he changed to Israel, and whom he chose in spite of his past and in spite of his fear. It was his servant’s attitude that determined that choice.

But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.  Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Isaiah 41:8- 10.

3. Matthew retells a story that Jesus told about a man who needed laborers. He hired men in the morning who agreed to work for a penny. Later as he saw they needed help, to get done for the day, he hired more men whom he also paid a penny. He paid the men, the last first. When he got to the first men, they expected to receive greater pay. They, just as we might, believed that if they worked longer, they should receive more pay. The late day workers were actually a gift to the tired men, but they never saw this. The last were chosen exactly the same as the first and agreed to exactly the same pay. Jesus is saying to us, that no matter the time of life we are called to the labor, we are equal to any who serve him for a lifetime. God does not look on the length of service, just that we be willing.

 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. Matthew 20:16.

My First Motorcycle Ride (and what it taught me about faith)

All this beautiful weather we've been having has had people out and about doing lots of spring-like activities including gardening, spring cleaning, and getting out the motorcycle for warm-riding days. 

I had my first motorcycle ride about a month ago. Excited AND nervous, i got a few lessons before riding:

1. Do not get on the bike until driver confirms they are ready.

2. Wear a helmet. Anticipating an accident isn't necessary, but being prepared for one is good.

3. Don't mess with the driver while operating the bike. Doing so can distract the driver.

4. Relax and move with the bike during turns. Being too tense is not good for the rider or the driver.

5. TRUST the driver. You can't really see what's in front of you while sitting on the back of a bike, so holding on and trusting that you're in good hands is important for enjoying the ride.

Following ALL of these tips lead to the best and most enjoyable ride. When i thought about this a little more, i realized that my faith and my ride through life is much like my motorcycle ride.

A Call To Action

Exodus 12 tells us the specifics of the Passover.  The name of this Jewish celebration came from the fact that God promised that when he saw the blood, he would not allow the destroyer to come into their homes and take the lives of the firstborn, as occurred in the houses where the blood was not applied.

...When I see the blood, I will pass over you. Exodus 12:12

The text says in the last verse that all of the Israelites did as they were instructed. It indicates that, not a single home in Egypt was unaffected, indicating that none of them were covered by the blood. Even to those held captive in the Egyptian dungeons.  To me the miracle of that night was not that the firstborn of the Israelite families escaped if God saw the blood, but that the Israelites came together as a nation of people to all do the same thing.  They were instructed to participate in a specific action, and they apparently did. They all believed.  They all placed the blood on their doors. (verse 50.)

I don’t think they were concerned about this being a picture of the Savoir of future generations dying on a cross. They were concerned that God would kill their firstborn.  Now it is sometimes forgotten that this would not only mean the children, but many of the adults were also the first born in their families.  My husband and I are both firstborn children, so I often think what an impact it would have on some families to lose not just one child, but possibly parents, and grandparents. 

The Egyptians were given 10 incentives to allow the people of Israel to go.  God is willing to give a number of opportunities for people to act on his direction. But there does come a time when there are no more opportunities.

The one thing the Lord wants me to share from these verses, today, is that there is a call to action in order to receive the blessings of the Lord.  It was possible to believe that the God of Israel was the one true God, and not place the blood on the door as specified, and reap the great losses of that decision to ignore the call to action.  There is also a time for action.  These things are true of God’s call to Salvation as well.

The blood applied leads to open doors.

Pure Joy

About five and a  half months ago, i wrote a post titled A Quest to Find Myself Again. That trip to away from home for awhile was a brand new start for me. It gave me a chance to breathe deeply - to breathe in a new life and breathe out all the things that were sucking the life out of me. Since that day, so much has changed in my life for the good. i've had a lot of time to spend with friends, family, and most importantly myself - all the ones i've unintentionally neglected in the past few years. A lot of things inside of me were lifeless, but God healed those things and He made me whole again.  

And, if you noticed, i'm still here, in Cincinnati ... in that post, i swore i wasn't meant to be here. i was wrong. i refused to hear God say that i was meant to stay because i wanted to run from everything here that was burdening my heart and run back to what i knew. But not too long after that trip, God showed me exactly why i was meant to stay (stay tuned for that post!).

Lately, i've been trying to put into words the immense joy that my heart feels, but i can't. It's the kind of joy that only a heart can fully know. And, if you know me personally, you've been able to see it - it's like a bright light that can't be hidden. The source of that light is my one true God. The One who held my hand through the 3-year valley, sometimes carrying me, and the One whose timing is perfect. Holding on to Hope (in Him) is the one thing that got me through every day to where i am now - a place where i can just be fully me again. i've so learned that all great changes are preceded by chaos. And even though i dislike chaos, it's made me a more compassionate, giving, faith-filled, appreciative and stronger woman. 

i started this blog in early October 2008, just 6 months before my life turned upside down and some of you have stuck with me the entire journey of pain, heartache, joys, and unknowns. But the greatest testimony i can give to show how amazing God is, is that i'm here and i survived the wicked storm. i walked by faith and God brought me through. This journey confirmed what i believed all along - He will never leave me nor forsake me just like He said in His Word (Hebrews 13:5). My prayers, my faith, and my love for the Lord carried me through. 

Oh, and it was because of YOU, too. Thank you for standing by me, encouraging me, and holding my hand. i really look forward to this new chapter of life that i get to share with you as we continue to encourage one another in God's love and grace. 

Love to you,
Christy