Lost

Usually by this time of the year I have the outline of what area the Lord wants to work on in me during the new year.  That is not so this year.  It's leaving me feeling a little adrift.  I imagine all the changes in our lives these past few months is a factor.  Newly retired status, new state, new church, new house.  In New York  I had a set life.  I had a set ministry.  I knew what I was supposed to be doing with my time outside of work and chores. This year I'm, not so much floundering...it doesn't feel like that, it's more like I'm waiting for orders.  Like I'm in a holding pattern and awaiting landing instructions. 

I don't think this is a bad place to be.  After so many years of being a "human doing" I needed some rest.  A rest from an over-scheduled, completely committed life.  And I believe that is part of this season for me.  But I also know that the Lord is preparing a place for me to work.  I'm not sure what or where that is.  Will I go back to working with animals?  My heart is always with that.  And I believe that God put that in me for His service.  But is there more?  What if I get it wrong?  What if I fail?  What if I let people down?  

One phrase that sticks in my mind is "Be intentional."  Whether it's in overcoming sin, adding good habits, or seeking ministry, God wants me to be intentional.  I intentionally seek Him and seek to know His heart and will.  For me, this will include prayer and fasting.  I want to know where to go next.  I want to be a blessing and be on fire for the Lord.  I want to bring glory to God and be fruitful in the kingdom.  

The verses the Lord gave me on my birthday apply here.  Matthew 7:7-11 7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.  9 “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.  Being serious about Kingdom work is not giving up.  

My Father has a plan.  My job is to keep seeking to know that plan, actively through pray and fasting and looking at the opportunities that are around me.  (This may involve some research, it may involve asking questions, talking to my Pastor.....).  Ultimately is keeping a soft, listening heart, trusting and knowing the Lord will make clear my steps, even if it's only one step at a time.  

Lord, You have a plan for each of us.  You have a place for each of us.  Sometimes we can't see the way to go, but we trust You to show us and lead us.  Give us listening and willing hearts.  Let Your church be about Your business this coming new year.  Convict our hearts, turn them fully to You and let our lives reflect Christ to those around us.  The times are growing darker and no matter what our specific ministry is, pointing people to You is our first responsibility and Your command to us.  Lead us in the way to go.  Thank You that You desire to use us, to work through us.  Lord, let our lives be fruitful this year.  Let us see growth in the kingdom, let Your church return to holiness.  Lord, help us to shake off the ties of the world, to unentangle ourselves from anything the dilutes Your love, holiness, and light  shining in our lives.  We are the salt of the earth.  Help us to flavor the world around us with the Gospel.  Set my heart on fire, set all our hearts of fire.  We need to not hang onto our comfort, but instead pick up our crosses and follow You...not looking back.  Help us to shake off complacency and lukewarm-edness.  Your church has spent entirely too much time making friends with the world instead of making disciples as You command.  Lord, let this be the year of repentance for us and a renewal of commitment to You.  Show us Father.  We commit ourselves to You.  Be glorified.  We are Your children.  In Jesus' most holy and loving and powerful Name.  Amen.

Repent, renew, listen, and go forward!  

For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.  God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but the save the world through Him.  John 3:16-17

Luke 2:1-20  2 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.  6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.  8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”  13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,    and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”  15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”  16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

Four hundred years of silence.  The Jewish nation had lost it's deep relationship with God.  They no longer were a nation under their Creator, but were under worldly rulers who had no regard for their traditions or the Lord of the Universe.  Their relationship with God became influenced by the everyday life around them.  Persecution came under tyrants.  The darkness of the world had clouded this once thriving nation.  And then suddenly!

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them.   Once again there was hope in Israel.  

But not just for Israel.  For all peoples, everywhere, in every time.  Matthew 4:15-16 15 “In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali, beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River, in Galilee where so many Gentiles live, 16 the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light.  And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined.”

We live under the shadow of a pandemic.  The world seems more and more determined to push God out of existence (at least in their hearts and minds).  Violence and hatred appear to be on the rise, darkness envelopes the hearts of so many on this planet...and yet there is hope, there is light.  Like the star leading the wise men to worship a young child destined to become King of kings, God's love still shines in the hearts of His children.  We are now to become that light that leads to Him.  We have the promise of Heaven.  We have the promise of eternal joy.  Our job is to share that with the world.  To be light in the darkness.  As the world grows colder and darker, may the warmth of God's love and the light of Jesus Christ shine through us more and more.  

Lord, thank You for the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ.  On that long ago Christmas night as a baby laid in a manager, the Cross loomed.  But in the Cross lay the path to the salvation of the world...the redemption of all who would come to accept Your gift.  When I think of Christmas day, I remember the gift of Jesus, and that gift comes to fullness on Easter morn.  Nothing is ever separate for You.  You are the great I AM.  Let our hearts rejoice this Christmas, even though we may have sadness in this world.  Our joy is in You.  Our peace is in Your.  Your promises are "yea and amen."   Lord, help us to be light.  Give us boldness.  Forgive us for timidity in sharing the Gospel.  Let us give Your gift to others.  Strip away the things that keep us from being on fire for You.  Turn Your church away from the things of the world that capture and blind.  Let us not be afraid of the uncomfortable.  Now more than ever, this world needs Your salvation.  Lord, let us light the way.  Lord help us.  Thank You.  In Jesus redeeming Name, amen.  

Celebrate!  Shine!  

M E R R Y

C H R I S T M A S

Changing Persective

Lamentations 3.  Part of this chapter came up in the Joyce Meyer teaching I was listening to on my run yesterday.  While I have read this passage before, I can't say I've been in the book of Lamentations regularly.  Joyce had focused in on verses 19-24, but the whole chapter is worth the good look.  

Lamentations 3:19-24  Remember [O Lord] my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and the gall (bitterness).  20 My soul continually remembers them and is bowed down within me.  21 But this I call to mind, therefore I have hope.  22 It is because of the Lord’s lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions never fail.  23 They are new every morning; great and beyond measure is Your faithfulness.  24 “The Lord is my portion and my inheritance,” says my soul; “therefore I have hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.”  The Amplified Bible.

I love when someone shows me a passage in a new way.  Joyce pointed out that when we look at our circumstances, when we look how bad things are, we become discouraged and miserable.  Our soul bows down within us.  We become weighed down and depressed.  We become hopeless and our hearts feel desolate.  

But when we look around at our circumstances, and instead turn our focus on Jesus, we are comforted and encouraged.  We remember that He is ours and we are His and He will work ALL things our for our good, even the troubles and trials we go through.  Look at all that is ours: His lovingkindness, His compassion, His faithfulness.  He, Himself is our portion and our inheritance.  We have hope!

I guess what struck me most about this passage was that when we focus on all that is wrong, it causes us to sink lower and lower, bowing under the pressures and problems of this life.  Changing our perspective and seeing with eyes of faith may not change our circumstances, at least not right away, but it will lift our hearts and put us in alignment with Jesus.  Jesus told us in Matthew 11:28-30 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”  

We find rest, hope and help when we "do life with Jesus."  When our focus is not on the problems but on the problem solver.  His comfort and strength will carry us through even the darkest times (and if you read the whole chapter 3 of Lamentations you'll see the Jeremiah was in a very dark time indeed).  

We will always have difficulties while we live on this earth.  But we get to choose how we go through them.  And if they are always going to be with us, wouldn't it be easier and better to keep an attitude of trust and faith rather than worry and woe?  Would not the burdens be easier to bear if we stayed focused on God rather than counting our troubles?  We can walk with our soul bowed down or with our heart lifted up.  2 Corinthians 5:7 7 For we live by believing and not by seeing.

I know this is hard to do.  I struggle with it myself on a daily basis.  But that doesn't mean we give up.  And the more we practice, the better we get!  

Today I pray Lord, that You will send Your Holy Spirit to help us to walk by faith and not by sight.  Help us to remember that when we are weak You are strong.  Help us to remember that everything in this life is temporary, only You are eternal and You will never leave us nor forsake us.  It's hard for us to focus on the eternal when life is often so filled with troubles.  And we know You could take them all away...but when that is not in Your plan, help us to trust.  Remind us often to look up and not around.  We need not bow down to our difficulties, no matter how great.  Lord, I know I cannot do this on my own, I cannot keep faith front and center when problems, big or small, visit and stay.  But I know that You can help me and all of us to grow in this area.  And Lord, please help those who have suffered so much loss in the wake of these devastating tornados a few days ago.  Please supply their needs, comfort their hearts, give our leaders wisdom to get the necessities in place for living and rebuilding.  Please comfort and strengthen those who have lost loved ones.  Lord, our hearts breaks with them.  And yet we know You are there.  Let Your Presence be felt and seen.  In Your mighty Name.  Amen.  

Practice makes perfect.  Practice remembering all you have in the Lord, even when the world around you is dark.  

Persistence

A few days ago was my birthday.  And as always, God has a verse or passage for me to keep in my heart throughout the year.  I love this little thing that He does each year because I know that it is His present to me.  His gift always makes me smile and fills my heart with joy.  

So this years verses are about persistence.  Persistence in and of itself has been a gift, a trait, that the Lord blessed me with as part of my personality.  So the Father's reminder of this inner trait that I have was such an encouragement because it reminds me to keep the faith, keep going forward and keep believing I will see His work in me and my life come to full fruition.  What a beautiful Lord we have.  

So on Sunday our Pastor made mention of these verses in his sermon.  I then read them as part of my reading yesterday.  That's one and two.  The third reinforcement to God's idea for my yearly focus came in the form of a rock.  LOL  Yup, a rock.  As I go out for some exercise around my neighborhood, there is one house that has all these colorful painted rocks in front of their property.  They have different uplifting words painted on them and they always make me smile.  But today those rocks were pointed directly at my heart, specifically one rock that had the word "SEEK" on it.   The third confirmation was in place for God's gift.  

Many of us pray and pray and pray for a specific request.  Whether it's for a loved one, ourselves...we pray for months, years and still don't see an answer or solution.  I feel that way when it comes to God changing me.  I pray and pray and pray and still struggle with some of the same issues.  I've seen progress in some areas, but certain personality traits, certain sinful attitudes seem to have a stranglehold.  I struggle with motives, "Lord, maybe You're not changing me because I want it for the wrong reasons."   And then there's the condemnation.  "Lord, I guess I'm not obedient enough."  (Probably true to some degree.)  And then there's the unbelief.  "Lord, I guess You just don't want to change me.  You don't care."   Yup.  I go through all the cycles until we cycle around again to faith and persistence.  And we pray some more.  We submit some more.  We trust some more.  (Definitely progress!😊)

So this passage from the sermon on the mount was a special encouragement to me this new year of my life.  I really needed to hear it and be reminded that when I seek God's will, seek His grace and mercy, seek His ways and seek His glory I will be answered, and I will see God's work and word done in my life.  I will remember and rely on His truth.  Philippians 1:6  And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

Now the verses to bury as seed in my heart during this 59th year of my life.  Matthew 7:7-11  Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for.  Keep on seeking, and you will find.  Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives.  Everyone who seeks, finds.  And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.  You parents--if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead?  Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake?  Of course not!  So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him.  

Don't give up.  Nowhere in this passage is a "maybe" or a "might."   The word repeated over and over is "WILL."  This is a definite.  Don't lose heart.  Keep praying, keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking on the doors of heaven.  God is listening and God has the perfect plan (we have to let Him decide what is good) and perfect time for your answer.  The first day we pray the wheels start turning when we seek God's plan.  Daniel 10:12   Then he said, "Don't be afraid, Daniel."  Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven.  I have come in answer to your prayer."  When we humble ourselves before God and seek His will first...our answers are already in the making.  The timing is best left to God.  He is never in a hurry nor is He ever late.  

I know You have my prayer in Your heart.  I know You are working Your will in me in Your timing.  Lord, keep us all persistent.  Help us not to give up and walk away.  Teach us to keep seeking Your face.  I know You never get tired of hearing from us.  I am so blessed by Your gift this year Lord. I find it such an encouragement that my prayers are not in vain.  Thank You over and over and over.  Lord, please use these Words of Yours and the words that I have put down here to bring encouragement to someone else who needs to hear them.  I know how hard it is to not see the results and answers we want when we want them.  Keep us faithful, because You are faithful.  In Jesus strong and mighty Name.  Amen.

Be persistent.  

 

 

Getting Personal

We all have the areas in our life that are frustrating, enduring....seemingly beyond our abilities to overcome.  I have them.  Repentance or turning from them, well....I am deeply sorry for the persistent sin,, bat attitudes and the not so nice way I react sometimes, but the turning away part seem beyond my reach.  Emotions overtake, excuses come, forgetfulness plagues....all of the above and then some.  So impossible!!  I take solace in the fact that even the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 7:14-25:  14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.  18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.  21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.  Oh, how I can relate to this.  How I can mirror Paul's words in my own life and heart.  Save me from myself Lord!!

So as I cried out once again in sadness and frustration to my Savior for saving, He flooded me with verses to claim as my own.  To personalize and internalize and carry with me as I go through my journey each day.  It is so important to be in the Word, studying...even memorizing.  I am a firm believer that you don't have to have it memorized perfectly either.  Getting the gist and most of the words right so that it makes sense for you and serves as a reminder is enough to bring God's Word into your heart when it's needed most.  I don't always have things memorized perfectly, and a lot of time I can't remember exactly the "address" where the verse comes from...but I can know and remember enough to get the Father's concept into my heart and into the situation and into the moment that I am struggling.  He sees our hearts and He sees our desire to be renewed according to His desire, His Word and His Spirit that He will use even our most feeble efforts at remembering be fruitful.  And my efforts at memorizing are quite feeble!  LOL

So I want to share with you the verses He gave me.  I have them personalized so you can easily read them for yourself, in the first person.  To me that makes it more my own and therefore better able to become real in my life.  

1 John 4:4  But  I belong to God (I am His dear child).  I have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in me is greater than the spirit that lives in the world. 

Ephesians 6:17  I put on salvation as my helmet and take up the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.  

Revelation 12:11  I have defeated him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by my testimony.

Isaiah 49:23b  I trust the Lord and will never be put to shame.

Isaiah 49:25  But the Lord says the captives (that's me) will be released and the plunder of tyrants will be retrieved.  For the Lord (who's my loving Father) will fight those who fight me and He will save my children.

Psalm 108:13  With God's help I will do mighty things for He will trample down my foes. 

Psalm 108:1  My heart is confident in You, O God; no wonder I can sing Your praises.  

Ephesians 2:6  For He raised me from the dead along with Christ and seated me with Him in the heavenly realms because I am in Christ Jesus. 

There are so many verses to encourage us to victory.   These are just a few, just the ones the Lord gave me to work with when I was feeling so low a few days back.  He's so tender and caring with us, never leaving us in our mess, but willingly, lovingly, continually working with us and making us into the beautiful believer we are meant to be.  

Take these verse and read them everyday until they become so familiar, until they become "habit."  Get with the Lord and see if He has some other Scripture that is personal to you...He knows exactly what will touch your heart, what is needed to "fix" you.  Print out verses, and carry them with you to meditate on frequently throughout the day, especially if you are like me and have trouble remember.  Or take breaks during the day to reread the ones God puts on your heart.  He is so good.  And as always I am in awe of His unbelievable and inexhaustible care.  

Thank You again Lord, a million times, thank You again.  Your patience and tenderhearted love is so amazing and blows my heart away.  I am beyond words to describe how blessed and in awe I am.  Lord, let us make Your Word our own, bring it to our minds moment by moment, renew us and change us and make us into Your reflection so that we may be a blessing and a glory to You.  I love You Lord.  

Make God's Word personal every day.  

Thanksgiving

This is my first thanksgiving, my first major holiday away from my family.  I love our new home and our new state.  I am so grateful for all God has done and given us.  Even when things look different, I know they are touched by him and are part of His plan and blessing.  

Last year we all coped with COVID.  That was a different type of year, a different type of holiday celebrations.  Some people had to face the loss of family and friends, loneliness and sorrow. Again though, God's hand was upon us, and all our difficulties and differences were part of His plan.  

What will next year be?  I don't know.  I only know the one who holds the future in His hands.  And it will all be a part of the Lord's plans and will be blessed in ways we are yet to see.  

Past, present, future....our God is here.  He is the great I AM.  The faithful One, the all powerful, all knowing, loving Father who works all things together for our good.  And I am thankful that He is who He is and I am a child of the Most High King.  I am saved by His grace and adopted into His family.  

Lord, thank you for all You've done, all You do and all that You will do.  You are faithful.  You are our Savior, You are our Father and King and Redeemer and Lord.  I bow before You in awe and worship.  Let Your love lift each heart reading this today, bless our families, near and far...draw our unsaved loved ones to Yourself.  Jesus, You are the way, the only way, the truth, the only truth, and the life, the one true God.  In Your we live and move and have our being.  Multiply the gratitude in our hearts every day until we overflow and spill joy to all around us.  Let them see You in us.  I am so beyond grateful, beyond words, beyond expression, to be Your child.  There is no greater gift.  Lord, remind me, all of us....when we start looking at the troubles and inconveniences of this world, start to become unsettled, and start to whimper and complain, to be grateful, remind us how blessed we truly, eternally are.  Change our hearts to ones of thankfulness each and every moment.  Fill our hearts with praise and worship and thanksgiving.  You are our King.  It is in our Saviors loving, giving Name we pray.  

Start a thankfulness tradition.  Every day.  

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Psalm 100:4  Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name.

Cathedral

My husband and I went on a hike yesterday through one of the nearby parks in middle Tennessee.  I looked at the towering trees spanning every direction around me, heard only the quiet rush of a stream nearby and smelled the scented air of Autumn and thought to myself, "this is God's cathedral."  I wish I could adequately describe this moment in my heart when all felt as worship.  This place was a testimony to the Lord, that moment in time a hymn.  I think I could have fallen on my knees and stayed there in glorious worship forever.  

Psalm 19 1-6 The heavens declare the glory of God;  and the firmament shows His handiwork.  2 Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.  3 There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard.  4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,  And their words to the end of the world.  In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun, 5 Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.  6 Its rising is from one end of heaven, and its circuit to the other end; and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

David's words came alive in my heart in the middle of this forest and even now when I think of it I get butterflies in my stomach and a thrill in my heart.  Our God is an awesome God!  

The next two days there will be a show in the heavens.  Tonight and into the morning we have the Leonid meteor showers and tomorrow there will be a lunar eclipse.  God's wonder on display for us to see!  He's amazing.  And deserving of all our praise.  

Psalm 8  O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!  2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger.  3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, 4 What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?  5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor.  6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, 7 all sheep and oxen—Even the beasts of the field, 8 The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas. 9 O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!

He is so worthy.  I want to capture these small moments in my heart and hold onto them.  Lord, truly You are wonderful in this place.  

Take time to praise and worship, every day. 

Lord I just worship You.  You are amazing.  Help us to look up, look around, and look at Your awesomeness, the wonder of You.  No matter where we are, You are there, You are with us.  You are our God and our Savior.  

Worship our God!  

Oh Those Questions!

Question time again.  I am reading and working through the book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan.  Great book by the way.  And some questions arose in my mind as I was reading.  Really tough, soul-searching, squirmy feeling causing, not sure I like my answers, questions. 

Francis Chan was talking about how our lives often are forgetful of God, filled with selfish living.  And we know that it is very easy to live that way.  I think I spend a good portion of my day, while maybe not intentionally, living for myself.  I mean there is housework to do, meals to make, errands to run...all this has to be done.  No doubt.  So how do I live for God while still doing "regular life?" 

We pretty much all can agree that there is none like the Lord.  Psalm 71:19 Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You?  Psalm 89:8 O Lord God of hosts, Who is mighty like You, O Lord? Your faithfulness also surrounds You.  You can go through the Bible and find passage after passage that tells of God's unique greatness and awe. A.W. Tozer called Him "the most winsome of all beings."  Truly who can compare to God.  So here's the questions that came to me.  "Does my life reflect the pursuit of this being?  Does my life reflect that He is the most desirable thing I can pursue?  Would I give up my comfort, my couch, my books, my cats, my house, my desires for Him and His purpose?  Would I give up what I think my life and surroundings should look like?  I'd love to say a resounding "YES!"  But when I dig a little deeper into my heart, the yes seems to get a little smaller, a little quieter.  I find that my "YES!" in theory is true, but I wonder what would happen if He really asked.  Paul told us in Philippians 3:8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.  

Maybe the answers are in the questions that filled my mind, maybe it's putting God at the center of every moment that makes "regular life" a pursuit of Him.  How can I bring the Lord into my day, how I can I make it all about Him.  How can I pursue Him moment by moment, even in the small parts.  How can I ready myself to let go and be ready for anything He asks?  Pursuit.  He has to be my greatest pursuit every day.  Nothing can come above or before Him.  And if I am pursing Him, seeking to fellowship with and know the Lord all day long, even while I take care of life, my heart will be more and more bent towards obedience and He will begin to overshadow anything this life has to offer.  There really is no greater person to know, no greater relationship to have, nothing and no one can compare to Almighty God.  Nothing could be more amazing and fulfilling and awesome than Him. 

Lord, lead me in this pursuit of You.  There truly is none like You and knowing You is the greatest blessing and gift I can have.  Give us hearts to love You, our Lord,  with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our strength, and with all our minds.  We can do nothing in or of ourselves.  To You be the glory.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

Start the day with Jesus...and take Him with you!  

Home Improvement

We just moved into a new home.  We are now about the business of making it our own.  New colors, new furniture, new fixtures....As nicely as the former owners decorated, we want to change it, make it reflect us.  Think about this for a moment.  When we come to Jesus, isn't this exactly what He does with us?  He transforms us, making us His own, changing us to reflect Him.  

But oh the process!  Things get ripped out, cut apart, discarded.  But unlike bad plumbing or an ugly paint color, we like our "bad" stuff.  We are comfortable with it.  And getting rid of it hurts!  It's hard!  LOL

2 Corinthians 5:17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!  We are becoming a new person.  And that process doesn't happen overnight....my house renovations don't happen overnight either, they are slow and sometimes painstaking.   Trades people don't call when I'd like them too.  Supplies are not available.  Too many trips to the store.  There's prep work, drying time, touch ups, clean ups.  And so it is with our own growth.  The Bible doesn't tell us we will be changed overnight (not until Jesus returns anyway).   

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.   A process, one step at a time.   

God has a plan for us.  Romans 8:29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  We are to become like His Son, Jesus Christ.  It's a process we need to be patient with.  I know for myself, I want to see all the changes right now!  I don't want to have wrong thoughts, wrong desires.  I don't want to sin or fail, usually in the same areas over and over again.  I want all my defects and sinfulness gone!!  Do you think if that happened we may start getting prideful or maybe forget our need for God?  

Paul said it best in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 7 even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.   8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.  Paul learned to rely on God, and let God's glory shine through him, even through his weaknesses.  And we can do that too. 

As each room in my home transforms, I am reminded that each area in my heart is being transformed as well.  God is at work, slowly, methodically, earnestly, consistently.  Nothing is left to chance, nothing escapes His loving, wise touch.  Every day a life lesson, every day pointing to my Savior.  

We are not on our own  We have the Bible and the Presence of the Lord with us.  2 Timothy 3:16-17  16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.  John 14:25-26  25 “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

Be patient with yourself.  Let God's timing and wisdom reign.  He is changing each or us into the image of His Son...we will shine for Him.  What an amazing, perfect God we serve. 

Thank You Lord!  For Your message today, for Your work in our lives and for Your Presence always.  In Jesus powerful Name.  Amen.

God isn't finished with you yet!  

Working on It

Hi.   Long time no write!  I am sorry to have been gone for these last few weeks.  It's been crazy.  We had to finish packing up, leave our lifelong home of New York, drive 14 hours to our new area of Tennessee, stay in a hotel for four days and then finally get into our new place.  The busy has been crazy and we are still working on it. 

God has been faithful throughout it all.  Not everything has gone smoothly, but it has worked out.  The trip down, which I was dreading because I was traveling with five cats, went quite well.   No traffic and the cats weathered the ride like troopers.  And they did great in the hotel too.  

Our new area is wonderful.  The neighbors are so nice.  God really blessed us here.  So far everyone that has come to do some work for us has been good too.  There is still a lot more to go. 

I am amazed at how God has been with me these last few weeks.  My time with Him has been limited, but that doesn't mean He wasn't with me.  And that's how He works.  He knows the seasons we are in...and still He stays...He communicates, His Presence is with us.  I always wonder at those people that say, "Oh I spend all this time with the Lord a day and pray for such and such hours....Hey, if you can do that it's great ( I kind of wonder what their day to day lives look like?).  But what about the busy single parent, the working families, those with loved ones in need of special care, or someone moving and setting up a new home?  Yes, we are always to put God first, but that looks different to each person. 

For me these past weeks, it's been a little time in the morning and then talking to the Lord throughout the day.  Letting His love in and praising Him....not always mind you...sometimes when things didn't work out just as I wanted I tended to get a little grumpy!  But we were together in a different way and I am so grateful He never left my side. 

Lord, thank You for the way You work with us, stay with, understand us and love us.  As always....You are amazing.  Please keep each of us in Your care today.  Help us to prioritize You but not feel guilty if that doesn't look like someone else's "God time."  In the Name of our precious Savior Jesus, amen.

What is your season?  Work with God to make it fruitful wherever you are in life.  

I Know It Hurts

Suffering.  One of the saddest words spoken by mankind.  Trials, difficulties, hardship, pain...we all go through it.  Some seem to have more than their fair share, if there is such a thing.  I guess my biggest gripe with it all is when it seems pointless.  I understand, (although that doesn't make it any easier to experience) suffering for the Gospel.  Like Paul, like Peter, like John and Jesus Himself.  Like those in countries where persecution for being a Christian is an everyday experience....You can see the reason behind it.  But where we suffer with no definition, where we suffer and it seems endless and random...I struggle with that.  For myself, but especially when I see those I love endlessly embattled and battered....it breaks my heart and I question God.  I question His purpose and His reasoning and sometimes even His love.  

I have a friend who seems to have never ending trials.  Trials in every area of their life.  My heart breaks for them.  I've prayed for years, I've cried out to the Lord and yet the hits just keep coming.  I know God often uses difficulties to drive us to Him, to correct and discipline us.  And when we don't respond He may even turn up the heat, but I also know that as humans we don't appreciate this, and sometimes it even has the opposite affect.  And we lose faith and hope.  When does it end?   I was praying about this as I was driving today.  I still don't have the answer.  Not sure I ever will.  But as usual God had a song to lighten my heart and remind me of who He is.  

I don't know God's plans,  I don't understand His ways.  Isaiah 55:8-9 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.  “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.  9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.  But the God who reminds of His infinite sovereignty and superiority also tells us in Jeremiah 29:11 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.  And in Romans 8:28  And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.  And we are given a glimpse into His purpose in Romans 8:29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  

He allows things in our lives so that we learn to shed the worldliness and selfishness that comes from being a human being born under this world's system and influence and instead become polished to reflect Jesus to a lost and dying world.  Discipline is also purpose.  Hebrews 12:5-13  5 And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children?   He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you.  6 For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”  7 As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? 8 If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. 9 Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever?  10 For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. 11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.  12 So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. 13 Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.

But in all of this, whether suffering comes from polishing, discipline, living in a horrible fallen world, from other people's sin, from our own sin, from demonic attack....whatever is behind it one thing is always true:  God's love never fails.  Romans 8:38-39  And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Suffering and pain are so very, very hard.  Especially when it seems to dog our every step every day.  My heart hurts so much for those who live with this.  

Lord, You know our days, our struggles, our heartbreaks, our loss, our pain.  My heart comes to You heave and broken for those who suffer so much.  I plead for Your help and Your deliverance.  But I know You sometimes want us to go through the fire, go through the high waters....Lord, help each of us to hang on to even the smallest bit of faith.  Lord, give my friend and anyone else in the dark place the ability to not give up.  You are sovereign and Your are so much bigger, wiser and everything else more than us.  Lord, we don't understand.  We hurt so much.  Father help.  Just help.  In Jesus' saving Name  Amen.  

Pray.  Stay in the Word.  

Spiritual Intimacy, from Mom

Okay, so here is the post that was interrupted a couple of weeks ago.  Let's see if the timing for it is now...according to the Lord.  LOL

Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the Lord with all your heart,  And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

WAYS:  suggests specific opportunities a person my encounter on a recurring basis.  The most common opportunity we experience regularly is a new day.  It is suggested in the passage that in all our days we should acknowledge God.  

ACKNOWLEDGE:  Highest level of acknowledgement is in "direct intimate contact" with God in prayer.

Intimacy with God through prayer.  Focus on finding "intimacy" with God.  Devote oneself to know Jesus.  Pray to become all consumed in the pursuit--focus and desire it.  Become challenged to seek after God's own heart.  

Philippians 3:7-11  7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Be willing to lose everything to know Christ.  Make "knowing Christ" our main goal.  Know that there will be sacrifice and unselfish living.  

Philippians 3:12-14  12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Aim to achieve the goal God has set before you.  Spare no cost to do this.  Especially "self."  Dwell on others.  Spare no effort to know Christ.  Pray for determination and follow through.  Do not give up.  

From me.

This whole passage puts me in mind of the pearl of great price.  Matthew 13:45-46 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.  That is the way we are to seek God.  Sacrificially.  Jeremiah 29:13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.  Whole heartedly.  Isaiah 55:6 Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.  Urgently. 

Seek purposefully.  Seek consistently.  Seek in faith.  Seek faithfully.  Seek determinedly.  Seek patiently.  Seek steadfastly.  Seek continually.  

Knowing the Lord, takes work, determination and time.  Maybe you have to get up earlier or spend lunchtime with Him instead of with others at work.  Maybe some leisure time needs to be sacrificed.  At first these things may seem hard.  At first seeking may feel dry and your understanding unclear and darkened.  But follow through is the key.  Not giving up is a necessity.  And I can tell you from experience it is so worth it.  And it is a never ending experience.  The road to knowing the Lord may come with stops and starts but it is by far the best and most wonderful path to walk.  And the more you grow the more your desire to spend time and effort grows.  Some days it truly is a sacrifice....maybe you're tired, swamped, feeling down, and the last thing you want to do is open your Bible and spend time in prayer, but I've found that a lot of those times are the times I needed to be "seeking" the most.  And we need to do our own seeking.  We can't rely on other's study.  We have to spend the time ourselves, in study, in prayer, in communion with the Lord.  

New to this?  Start small.  It's fine.  Just start.  In the beginning, when I started seeking the Lord, I found that reading books by trusted Christian writers was the best way for me to start learning (I love Joyce Meyer's stuff).  If they came with a work book even better!  I could pray about what I was reading, talk to God about it, think about the questions that were asked and jot down notes in a journal.  Another good way I found early on was doing word studies.  I had a problem with bitterness....so I looked up all the verses on bitterness and resentment and poured over the ones that spoke to me, jotting down my thoughts and prayers, along with crying out to the Lord.  I learned to see His heart on these things.  And in that way got to know Him more.  And lastly one of my study tools draw closer to the Lord is just being in the Bible.  Sometimes this is intimidating to new believers or new studiers.  I know it was to me.   Now I am comfortable taking apart a book of the Bible (although  I wouldn't try Revelation or Ezekiel myself LOL).  I can look up words that speak to me or that confuse me from a passage in a concordance and see what the Greek or Hebrew mean.  I can get lost in this now!  

All of this, coupled with lots of prayer draws us closer to the Lord, brings us into an intimate relationship with Him that lasts beyond the study time. Nothing happens overnight.  My own journey has taken many, many years and I still have quite a ways to go.  And sometimes I get lazy!  But I encourage you to dig in.  Isaiah 50:7  “For the Lord God will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set My face like a flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed.  Be determined!  And remember, once you really decide to do this, you will face opposition.  Satan will set up road blocks, spiritual, physical, using other people, our own emotions.  Be prepared to fight through them.  There is nothing greater than knowing our Lord and Savior.  

Thank You Lord that You, the God of the universe, the ending, the eternal, the holy, the awesome, the terrible, the righteous, all knowing, all powerful, omnipresent, the everything, desire to know us and for us to know You.  You desire us to call You Father, and be in intimate fellowship with You.  This truly is unfathomable to me.  We are so small, such tiny specks in the scheme of everything, and yet You don't see us as insignificant.  That we have this honor and privilege amazes me.  I have no words to adequately describe how this feels.  Lord, give us hearts to seek You.  Help us to understand and grow to know You more and more.  We need You.  We love You.  Sometimes we get lazy, distracted and rushed...forgive us and turn us once again to You.  It is in our beautiful Saviors Name I pray.  Amen.

Start today.  

New Song Alert!

This song has been on the radio and on my heart for the past few weeks.  I thought I'd share it with you because it's such a great song to get stuck in one's head.  It reminds us of who our Savior is and what He has done for us.  And I know I need that all the time!  

And then this song came up right after I listened to that one, and since it's a favorite I thought I'd share it as well.  A musical morning here in Copiague.  LOL  

I feel the Lord saying someone needs to hear these today.  Life is beating them up and He wants them to know He has not forgotten nor forsaken them.  He loves them with an everlasting love and His plans are good.  The dark does not extinguish the light, your darkness does not overwhelm Him.  Rest in His Presence and His love.  

Lord, thank You.  You are the God who sees us.  Thank You for the beautiful music You give us to lift our hearts and sooth our spirits.  You are an amazing, creative God who flows power and blessing  through those who open their hearts to You.  Lead each or us to the area where You desire us to be a blessing, be it music, writing, serving, comforting.....whatever Your purpose for us, help us walk in it.  Thank Your for giving us these musicians and songwriters who bring Your heart to us.  Lord comfort whoever reads this entry with Your love, mercy and compassion.  I praise You this morning...You are worthy!  In Jesus' saving Name.  Amen.  

Listen, rest, receive.  

 

Spiritual Intimacy, from Mom...um, Nope, God Has Another Plan

Proverbs 3:5-6   Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.

6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

I'm going to change entries here.  This was the verse that starts out Mom's journal entry on spiritual intimacy.  But it was my  God visit for the morning, and for all the crazy going on in my life right now.  

I need to give some additional information to our Human Resources department at the USPS on my pending retirement.  Getting through to this department is notoriously difficult and time consuming.  Add onto that the fact that prompt system they use for navigating the system is not only annoying and long, it doesn't always work right.  UGH!!  I've been disconnected, hung up on and told the wait was more than two hours multiple times.  This morning was no exception.  After waiting an hour for a call back from the HR people, I get the call and the system will not allow me to answer the question of who I am.  I was then told time was up, "Goodbye."  Talk about wanting to scream!

So, I'm sitting here at my computer ready to type this entry up when Proverbs 3:5-6 pops off the page of my Mom's journal.  Talk about God's timing.  It is exactly what I need to remember right now.  

When we started this moving process, things did not exactly go smoothly.  But each and every thing worked out better when it didn't happen as I thought it should than if it had gone along with my plan.  God was in control.  We once again are facing a situation where my plan is falling by the wayside.  We were originally looking to rent a house for next year in our new location so we could explore our new state before committing to buying a house and setting down roots.  Well, all those doors for rentals are literally closed to us because of the number of animals we have (5 cats).  It looks like God has a different plan in mind once again.  And you know, I'm okay with it.  What started out as frustration has transformed into faith.  God has carried us through this far, and He will continue to do so. 

So once again this morning I find myself stymied by the un-cooperation of this world and once again God shows Himself faithful.  And gives me His Word to hang onto.  What a beautiful Father we have!

Is there something not working right now?  Not going according to your plan and design?  Be open to something different.  Be open to God's plan.  It is always better than ours.  Even when it's harder or painful or frustrating.  The end is always perfect for us.  Isaiah 55:8-9 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.  For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

Psalm 145:17  The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness.

Proverbs 8:32  And so, my children, listen to me, for all who follow my ways are joyful.

Lord, help us to trust in You with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding.  Let us acknowledge You in all our ways, following Your leading and guidance into a joyful, perfect outcome of Your choosing.  You tell us that You have plans for our good, not for harm.  Help us to rest in that when things seem to be going against us at every turn.  Your plans are far above us and our thinking.  Keep us in peace when we are surrounded by chaos and let us rest in You during the storms.  With Your leading we can walk through the deep waters and the flames and come out in a beautiful place.  Lord, this is so hard to do sometimes, keeping faith and not railing about the problems and unfairness and pain.  Life hurts.  But thank You that You already know all this and will stay by our side, surely, and perfectly working all things out for our good.  Make us like Jesus, trusting and submitted to Your plans and ways.  It's in His precious Name that I pray, amen.  

God's got this.  Let Him.  

Putting Into Practice

I woke this morning tired.  Physically, mentally, emotionally bone weary tired.  Okay, what gives?  I slept all night. Not a lot of tossing and turning.  So why did I feel this way?  And how the heck am I supposed to get through the day?  A day with a to do list longer then the hours in it, a busy night at work looming...GOD HELP!!!

I'm sure most people have been there a time or two (or three or four.....).  We all have those days.  And sometimes we just really need to rest.  Our body is telling us that it's time to slow down and settle down for a bit.  Of course we argue back with it.  Who has time?!?  How will I get things done?!?  I'm feeling that now.  

And then in the back of my mind comes the thoughts and lessons born out of this blog.  Speak peace to your circumstances.  Do what you can and let God do the rest.  These are not problems but opportunities to see God's faithfulness.  You are not a human doing but a human being.  Rest in the Lord. Seek first the kingdom.....on and on the thoughts come.  A culmination of the Lord's teaching over the years.  And my mind settles.  He's got this!  He's got me!

I'm so grateful for the Lord's school of life that I've been in over the years.  When we keep at it, keep trying (even through many failures and much forgetfulness), eventually things start sticking.  Even with everything I have to do to prepare for retirement and moving out of state, even living with everything about this process up in the air and nothing nailed down, I am at peace (most of the time lol).  God's got this.

My encouragement to you is not to give up.  Keep putting into practice the things the Lord shows you.  I know we definitely don't get that perfect all the time, but keep doing it.  You will see the fruit.  Hebrews 12:11   No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.  Don't stop praying, don't stop listening, don't stop studying, don't give up on God or yourself.  

Lord thank You for the years of patient teaching and leading You provide.  Thank You for never leaving nor forsaking Your difficult children.  I'm one of them!  I take forever to learn things, fail more often than succeed, but thank You for never condemning me..,.but loving me through it all.  Unconditionally and with keeping score.  It's not over, I know.  But I'm so glad to see fruit.  Lord encourage everyone reading this to keep going forward with You.  To trust Your process and Your timing.  Your heart is always kind, always good, always loving....even when we hurt.  Increase our faith.  Lord, You know the circumstances in each of our lives, please continue working all things for good, all things for Your glory.  Shine through each of us.  And help us to get through our days in Your grace, abiding and resting in You.  I'm in awe of Your care.  In Jesus' sweet Name.  Amen.  

Perfect Love

Love is patient and kind.  Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and keeps no record of being wronged.   It does not rejoice about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endured through every circumstance.  1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Go slowly over that passage.  Read it aloud.  Now stop and think.  That is how our Father loves us.  

Specifically, love keeps no records of being wronged.   Think about that.  Those of us who live in guilt, who wallow in the pit of never good enough and never get it right.   I’ve lived there.  I still visit those prisons way to often.  I’ve been to the place of feeling like a failure and disappointment in my Father’s eyes.  Everyday I feel that way at some point.  I mean, how could He possible love someone like me?   

But that’s the point  He does.  He loves perfectly.  Completely.  Eternally.  I've come across a new study by Ted Dekker, called "The Forgotten Way."  It's theme is to teach us to remember who God is and who we are in Him....in Him completely.  And how we can love as He loves.  In this book/study we learn that He is a Father who keeps no records of wrongs.  He doesn't stack up our sins and wait to punish us, but loves us unconditionally.  Jesus Himself paid the price for our sins, so why would He then hold them against us?  God Himself has said , "He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west."  Psalm 103:12    Ephesians 1:4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

We are in Christ and seen as righteous.  And God does not accredit our sin to us any longer.  We do not bear the guilt, we do not look ugly in His eyes.  We are beautiful and precious to Him.

Accepting God's love is a struggle for me.  I know my own heart and thoughts too well.  But to really believe this, really accept this perfect love, will free us to be the people that God calls us to be.  We can't love others until we fully experience His love of us, til we believe it for ourselves.  I'm learning this, after all these years as a Christian, really learning it for the first time.  God's love keeps no record of my wrongs.  

As an aside, this does not mean we can live a willy nilly, undisciplined, sinful life style....Oh no!  Just the opposite.  Because why would I want to live anyway other than to please the One who loves me limitlessly!  

Look closely at those verses at the start.  Speak them to yourself everyday, knowing that is the way God loves you.  Pray the Lord will help you believe and grow in this knowledge.  

Thank You Lord, for the love You have for me and for all of us.  I'm learning.  Let this be an experience for all of us, everyday.  Let it go beyond head knowledge to a deep living truth in our hearts and lives.  In Jesus' precious Name.  Amen. 

Ephesians 3:15-19 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.[a] 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

The Struggle Is Real!

I have to admit, I've struggled lately.  We are living in a holding pattern with the house contract.  And at the same time overwhelmed with all the details of retirement, selling the house, what to pack, what not to pack, when to have a yard sale, moving out of state, when do we get a place to rent.....Add all this to an already busy life....crazy at work, crazy at my volunteer "job," and part of me feels as if I am drowning.  As I lay in bed this morning, I thought to myself (actually I think I told it to one of my cats lol), "if I don't get out of bed, the day doesn't have to begin."   I just wanted a few more minutes before jumping into the fray of life.  

But the more the chaos swirls around the more I realize that God is on my side.  I've seen Him work out detail after detail after detail.  He's given me energy and stamina (even if it's only to put one foot in front of the other at times).  Things aren't lining up as fast as I would like, but I am learning to trust His timing.  I just heard one of the deejays on the radio station I listen to talk about how we only learn the stuff we need to do life in the hard times.  It's going through the storms that teach us to rely on God, to stay close to Him and follow in His footsteps.  I have to say this is becoming more and more real to me as we take this bumpy journey to the next state of our life.  

Are there struggles in your life right now?  (Dumb question, right?)  Drawer closer to our Savior.  Can't see His hand?  Trust anyway.  Choose to believe because He has promised to never leave nor forsake us.  Sometimes our "God visits" are the Lord sticking with us and getting us through each moment of the crazy, confusing, exhausting days we face.  Sometimes it's just laying our head down at night, knowing He never left our side and we were carried through the day step by step.  

We went to see Esther at Sight and Sound Theater in Pennsylvania last week.  Do you know that Esther is the only book of the Bible that doesn't specifically mention God?  But throughout the book and throughout the play His hand is so clear, His care front and center of every detail.  And so it is with us.  We may not know what's happening, God may seem like He isn't there, but He is.  Working out the details and the broad picture.  The one line that kept being repeated through the play was "Be still and know."  And that is our instruction too.  I know it was God's instruction to me in this season of  my life.  

I'm so grateful for this time in my life, hard as it is.  I have learned more about trusting God then I've learned in a long time.  What a wonderful Father we have!  

Lord, as always, thank You is not enough.  I am so glad You are with me, so glad I can rely on You.  I know, "You've got this."  I pray for each one reading this Lord, that they will know You are with them, working all things our for their good.  Increase our faith.  Help us to overcome doubt and fear with trust and belief.  You are good and You do only good.  All things serve You.  What a mighty God we serve!  Amen!!

Be still and know that I am God.  I will be honored by ever nation.  I will be honored throughout the world.  Psalm 46:10

Spiritual Growth, Part 2, from Mom

 Ask for wisdom--as we need guidance, direction and knowing how to apply God's way and will.  

2 Peter 3:18  Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  All glory to Him, both now and forever!  Amen.  

Ephesians 4:14-15  Then we will no longer be immature like children.  We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of the new teaching.  We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.  Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ , who is the head of His body, the church.

"I should no longer act like a child, but to grow up in all things into Him who is the Head--Christ."

Like all aspects of life from birth to death, it's a learning process and a practicing process.  

Unsettled or Complaining Spirit

Ask God to give you His viewpoint of your situation, don't let it take control.  His perfect peace washes away the restless ache as you trust Him to guide you.  

From me.

Spiritual growth takes time.  It takes submitting to God's will.  It takes prayer and practice and trust.  It can be hard and come with tears....but in the end the place we land is beautiful.   Right now I am in a place of deep learning with God.  My emotions may not always line up with my faith, but I am learning to go beyond the feelings to what I know, what I've seen of God.  This is growth.  We all grow at different paces and in different ways....our starting points are not the same.  Let's prayer for one another and continue to go forward with the Holy Spirit as our teacher, guide and strength.  

Lord, we all want to grow in You and for Your glory.  Sometimes the process is long and hard and painful.  Sometimes we have the 'ah ha!" moments...all of it comes from You and in our cooperation with You.  Give us hearts to continually desire more of You.  This past Sunday my Pastor continued his teaching on the Sermon on the Mount.  Your words Jesus, "Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for.  Keep on seeking, and you will find.  Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you." reminds us to keep looking for this growth...actively, persistently and by seeking You Lord.  This is a prayer You will answer to the fullest.  Keep our hearts set on growing and moving closer to, and going deeper with You.  Let us reflect Your glory more and more as we walk this path with You Lord.  Thank You for this lesson on spiritual growth.  Remind us to examine ourselves from time to time to take our "growth temperature."  And let us not become discouraged at the pace of our progress as long as we keep walking forward, even after set backs.  It's Your way, Your timing.  Thank You.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen. 

Part of my prayer life has become praying the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12)  and Galatians 5:22-23.  What Scriptures can you regularly incorporate into your prayer life that ask God to help you grow.

The Beatitudes

3 “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, 

for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

4 God blesses those who mourn,

    for they will be comforted.

5 God blesses those who are humble,

    for they will inherit the whole earth.

6 God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,

    for they will be satisfied.

7 God blesses those who are merciful,

    for they will be shown mercy.

8 God blesses those whose hearts are pure,

    for they will see God.

9 God blesses those who work for peace,

    for they will be called the children of God.

10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,

    for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

11 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. 12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.

Galatians 5:22-23  But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  There is no law against these things!.  

Spiritual Growth, From Mom

How do I know when and if I am growing spiritually?  Compare:  our wrong desires versus the fruit of the Spirit.

WRONG DESIRES (from Satan):  Evil, destruction, easy to ignite, difficult to stifle, self-centered, oppressive and possessive, sinful, deadly.

SPIRITUAL DESIRES (from God):  Good, productive, difficult to ignite, easy to stifle, self-giving, liberating and nurturing, holy, abundant life.  (Mom took this from the Life Application Study Bible)

Lord, mu prayer is to be in Your will, and to complete Your plan for me on this earth.  

Review these questions often:

Do I spend time reading God's Word?

Do I spend time talking with God each day?

Do I look forward to fellowshipping with God?

What "fruit of the Spirit" is apparent in my life?

Do I talk about Jesus with people who do not know Him?

How am I using my spiritual gift or gifts?

Do I have a generous and giving spirit?

How much better do I know God today than I did a year ago?

Luke 2:52  Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.

Pray and seek continually to be growing in wisdom.  Ask for wisdom, as we need guidance and direction and to know how to apply God's way and will.  

From me.  

As we seek God, following the Scriptures our soul, our lives will be changed and display His likeness.  But it takes work,  it takes dying to self and selfishness on a daily basis.  But God promises that we can do all things through Christ who is our strength.  

Lord, let us examine ourselves...lead us into growth, let our lives reflect Your love and Your glory.  We struggle to lay down our own ways, our own desires, our emotions lead us astray, the world entices us.  Help us to be renewed each day by spending time with You and growing more and more as we do.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

Write down these question and go through them every so often....check where you're at on the growth chart.  And remember...it's progress not perfection.  

Soul, from Mom

I wanted to go back to Mom's journal today.  She made an entry on the soul.  I once heard it explained that we, like God are triune.  God is Father, Son and Spirit.  We are spirit, body, soul.  Our soul is the place of our emotions and thoughts.  This is the place the Lord works on us to reflect His character and love.  

Mom started with Proverbs 10:3  The Lord will not allow the righteous soul to famish.  

Soul: A life, a living being, souls, self, person, mind, personality, inner desires.  

Luke 21:19  By your patience possess you soul.

It is the seat of the affections, will, desire, emotions,  mind, reason, understanding.  

From me.

Knowing these definitions and descriptions of the soul will lead us to her next entry, which is "Spiritual Growth."    I will start with the first three Scripture references she leads off with and then make this a two (or maybe three)  part series.  Spiritual growth is a big topic!  Here are those references.  

Galatians 6:6-10  Those who are taught the Word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.  Don't be misled--you cannot mock the justice of God.  You will always harvest what you plant.  Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature.  But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.  So let's not get tired of doing what is good.  At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessings if we don't give up.  Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone--especially to those in the family of faith.  

James 1:2-12  2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.  5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.  9 Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. 10 And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. 11 The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements.  12 God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8  For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.  A time to be born and a time to die.  A time to plant and a time to harvest.  A time to kill and a time to heal.  A time to tear down and a time to build up.  A time to cry and a time to laugh.  A time to grieve and a time to dance.  A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.  A time to embrace and a time to turn away.  A time to search and a time to quit searching.  A time to keep and a time to throw away.  A time to tear and a time to mend.  A time to be quiet and a time to speak.  A time to love and a time to hate.  A time for war and a time for peace.  

Lord, You've created us to be multi faceted beings.  You've created us to reflect Your image, Your holiness, Your love.  You have given us new birth, our spirits are reborn from above through our acceptance of the beautiful gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.  We are made new!  But our souls, the parts that make us us, shaped by living, shaped by experiences....we look to You to redeem and renew that as well.  We ask You to help us grow, help us cooperate with You will and Your plan so that every part of us will be a reflection of You.  Lord, as we go through the next entry on spiritual growth, open our hearts and give us the desire to learn from You and change anything that You deem not fitting for Your children.  Let us live fully the lives You designed for us.  We submit to You.  In Jesus' precious Name.  Amen.

Think about these Scriptures and ask God toe reveal any areas that need fixing.  What season is it for you?  

 

Stress!  Normal everyday stress can get us down.  Add in something like selling a house and trying to keep it sparkling and uncluttered everyday and wow, stress takes on a whole new meaning.  LOL  

So I ordered a "Pod" to pack away some things and decluttter the house.  Pods are those large boxes one can have delivered to their property to store things.  Well I had a delivery set up for a certain day.  Truck came, my little storage helper sitting on top of the flatbed all ready to be dropped in my driveway and boom...complication.   Because my tenant's car was there and he was not home with his keys, the delivery person couldn't place the container in the driveway.  Ugh!  Now what do I do.  I couldn't reschedule this service for another three weeks and my open house was in three days!  

Ok, breathe I tell myself (after a slight mini meltdown).   I call another company.  Wow they can delivery one the next day.  Yaay.  And they have a smaller one, which is cheaper, which is all I really need anyway....see God's working this out.  Go God!!!  

The next day rolls around, and hour after hour passes with no phone call from the company as to when this container will be delivered.  I went to work with still no box in my driveway.  My husband comes to work that night and said it was never delivered.  Geez!!  I get on the phone the next day and was told there had been a problem with them getting a delivery of containers and they were supposed to call to let customers know.  Ha!  But they can reschedule it.  Okaaay....for Saturday!  No!  That will not work at all!  Saturday is my open house.  UGH!!!  

Ok.  Once again, breathe...this time no mini melt down.  I think I'm finally getting this "Gods got this" thing.  LOL  So I scramble in the garage...clearing space, putting things in there, putting things on top of things and on top of cabinets, and on and on and on until I had enough floor space to set up crates for my cats who needed to be kept safe from all the door opening and closing of the open house.  The house got decluttered, the cats had a safe place to stay while all the chaos was going on for those few hours and I was able to see God's hand once again.  He really did have this all under control...as He has had every step of the way.   

Friday afternoon's drive to work brought me such a beautiful God visit.   I started the drive by thanking God for all He was doing to make this time in our lives work out.  I was so happy to be able to be grateful even though things, as they usually do, did not run smoothly or according to "Madeline's plan."  Then "Fires" by Jordan St. Cry came on the radio and I knew God was once again using music to touch my heart, bringing comfort and peace.  I then proceeded to pass by a local church which had a sign out front, "...I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself."   Jeremiah 31:3   Our Lord is so incredibly tenderhearted and kind.  

Our God is so sweet, so amazing, so loving.  I was in awe and just couldn't help but worship and praise  Him.  Nothing was working out according to my plan...but everything was under His control and it was beautiful.  

Lord, it takes us so long to get to the place of trust...and so often we leave the safety of that place and return to the chaos of "our own way."   We forget how wise and loving You really are.  But You do have us in the palms of Your hand.  You do take care of us in the perfect way.  I've seen this so clearly during this hectic, crazy, chaotic time in my life.  And I am so grateful.  I share this in the hope of helping others to breathe, to trust, to rest in You Father.  Open our eyes to Your work...and even if we can't see help us to remain at peace, knowing "Gods got this."   In Jesus', (our wonderful Prince of Peace) Name I pray.  Amen.  

Stop leaving the place of faith.  

Be Big

My Pastor had a most timely sermon on Sunday.  We are still studying Jesus' sermon on the mount.  Oh  my goodness, this is a great in depth study to take on.  So many spiritually nutritious goodies in there!  

We focused on Matthew 6:30  And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?  Little faith.  How many of us walk around with "little faith?"  My Pastor explained it this way, little faith is the faith we use to get saved.  It's the faith that makes us say, "Yes, I am a sinner in need of a Savior and Jesus is the Savior I need.  I trust Him to get me into heaven."  Big faith is the faith that gets us through life.  That carries us when the going gets tough, and boy does it get tough sometimes down here on earth.  Big faith is what keeps us believing God when everything around us is crashing down in a big chaotic heap.  Big faith knows God is good and only has good plans for us when we feel buffeted from every direction.  It brings us through the storms because we know the One who is in the boat with us.

Mark 4:35-40  35 As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” 36 So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). 37 But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.  38 Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”  39 When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

All night before listening to this sermon, I tossed and turned, worrying over all the details of getting my house ready for sale.  The tenants apartment is an especially difficult area and I fretted most of the night about it.  So when I heard this sermon Sunday morning I knew God was bringing correction...why was I worrying.  He has this all worked out....before I even came into being!  Is my Father not the one who said, "For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."  Jeremiah 29:11

Big faith seeks after God not after worldly concerns.  Look in Matthew 6:31-33 31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.  Big faith focuses on God and His Kingdom and lets God take care of the rest.  We do our part in a godly way, shining His light as we go and leave the "working out" part to Him.  Pray, believe, give thanks, obey, and rest in His care.  The little faith we had when we were saved needs to be exercised to grow and become big faith.  Use it or lose it!  

And the second part of this God visit was yesterday's devotional verse Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” 

Jesus told us in John 14:27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.  We have peace when we have faith. 

Thank You Lord, for another timely and much needed lesson.  I confess my faith is often tiny, often lacking.  Please forgive me.  I know You are growing me in this area, and it's been a long road to get here.  I thank You for progress, I thank You for the care You give to my life.  I will trust Your way of working out my days and situations.  You never do anything unkind or unwise.  Lord help us all grow some big faith in our hearts!  In Jesus' Name.  Amen. 

Start working on Your faith.  Take God's promises that speak to your situations (look them up!) and write them down, memorizing and believing them.