Submitting

This word comes up again and again.  It's become a theme running through my mind lately.  Every time something doesn't go my way or pan out as I desire, I feel compelled to "submit" it to the Lord.   I literally have to say either out loud or in my head, "I submit this to You Lord."   Maybe it's a way letting go of the things that bring me stress and negative reactions.  And maybe it's a way of letting more peace into my heart.  On both accounts, it is a "practice."  I have to practice submitting because I am not good at it.  LOL  I want my own way.  I know best of course!  LOL  

So Sunday the first song we sing for worship is Lauren Daigle's "Trust in You."  Wow.  I sit now and see how the Lord put this all together this week.  He has knit together weeks of "submit" with a worship song, with moments sitting before a computer typing His message to others, so that we all will know the peace that comes from letting go of "our way" and coming under His loving hand.  I love how our Father works.  

Whatever it is, whatever hurts, frustrates, worries us....we bring it to Jesus.  He told us in Matthew 11:28-29   “...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 us, submission means resting in the Lord.  It's where we find peace and joy and sustenance.  

Lord, give us hearts to submit to You.  We are stubborn creatures who, like toddlers, want our own way, in our own time.  Our desire for ease and self determination leave out Your wisdom and Your love.  Your ways are always higher than our ways.  Help us to remember and claim that in the largest of problems we face or the smallest of details of our day .  Each moment, each minute, each day, each thought, each word, each action....Lord we submit to You.  Each desire, each dream, each plan....You Lord, You.  Remind us.  Lead us.  And increase our faith.  In Jesus trustworthy Name.  Amen. 

Submit. 

Rise Up

There's been a song on my heart since Sunday and I want to share it with you.  It's a song called "Rise Up" by the group CAIN.   It's a song of celebration and hope.  Enjoy!  

Isn't that an amazing song.  So in thinking about this song I was led to ask some questions of myself, which I will pose to you as well.

What if every morning we remembered we were brand new creations?   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!

What if when we woke up we remembered we were redeemed from death to life?   Ephesians 2:1-2, 4-5   2 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world....4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)

What if when we opened our eyes in the morning we remembered we were taken from darkness to light

John 8:12  Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

1 Thessalonians 5:5 For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night.

How would thinking about this transformation, our redemption and salvation set the tone for our day?  Would it not remind us who we are, leading us to stand a little taller, a little surer?  We it not fill us with gratitude to recall the price paid for us?  

Lord I love the way You send Your visits to my day.  In song, in questions, in sermons, nature, circumstance.  It's amazing the ways You communicate with Your children. Lord, let us today remember we are new creations in Jesus, let that thought guide our actions and words, framing our lives with Your salvation and love.  Thank You for redeeming us.  We are forever grateful.  Bring these thoughts to mind every morning....reminding us who we are in You and the dreadful price You paid to get us to that place.  Thank You.  In Jesus' saving Name.  Amen. 

Jot down these thoughts, to look at when you awaken.  Let remembering your redemption and who it makes you shape your day.  Use these Scriptures to strengthen you walk!  

Not My Timing

I sat praying through a devotional I was reading a couple of days ago, I felt the Lord impress upon my spirit the need to wait for His timing in changing me.  The devotional from "Jesus Always" opens up with "You are fully known.  I know absolutely everything about you, and I love you with a perfect unfailing love."  I sat in gratitude at that thought, knowing I had so many, many flaws and failures.  Scripture after Scripture started flowing into my mind, and I know the Lord was at work to focus my thoughts away from the usual condemnation that would fill my mind after reading something like this and toward that fact that I was loved just as I am.  

Think about this.  If the Lord is omnipotent, then we know He can do anything in anyway at any time He wants.  Correct?  Then if He wanted You stripped of certain habits or faults instantly, He would certainly be able to accomplish that.  But that's not the way it works.  Our cooperation has something to do with it for sure, but He could even override that if He wanted.  We are told in Philippians 2:12 Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.  We are to be working on breaking bad habits and putting off the old man who is addicted to sin, putting on the new man who craves Christlike-ness.  But we are not to come under condemnation if we are truly trying our best. 

The first Scripture that came to mind was Revelation 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last— salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth— the one who accuses them before our God day and night.  Who among us hasn't heard condemnation after condemnation after condemnation in our heads.  Satan's fiery arrows.  "You do such and such wrong, you don't do this or that right....Look at you!  You're no Christian."   Ugh!!  He stands by to accuse us day and night!  

And the Scriptures flowed.  The Lord reminded me of Psalm 139:14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!  Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.  We are beautifully made by our Creator!  We are more than just our flaws and failings.  And He is working on us, changing us to be like Himself.  2 Corinthians 3:18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.  It's our Father's choices, our Father's timing, what to work on when.  And finally, the Lord assured me with Romans 8:1  So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.  And just now He brought up 1 John 1:9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.  

Yes, the Lord knows we sin.  Yes He sees our struggle with it, our failures to resist our flesh.  But He also sees our desire to live for Him.  A couple of weeks ago I talked about submitting my hair to the Lord, and now I see there is something else He wants me to submit....my timing.  He wants me to submit to His timing in removing my character flaws.  And He doesn't wait until I'm perfect to love me perfectly.  

We are not to live willy-nilly sin filled lives....but neither are we  to live under the dark cloud of condemnation.  We keep walking, listening, and submitting to the leading of the Holy Spirit, doing our best to follow Him, knowing that He is working in us to create the image of Jesus in our lives on His schedule.  

Lord, thank You for Your perfect love.  Thank You for not waiting until I'm perfect to love me.  Thank You for not giving up on any of us.  And thank You for the work that You continue to do every day.  We want to be like Jesus, displaying the fruits of the Spirit, living out the love You gave us.  Lord, give us the patience to wait on Your timing, and the fortitude to never give up.  In Jesus perfect Name, amen.  

Let go of condemnation and your own ideas of timing.  

Tell Them

I heard a great story on the radio yesterday.  This woman told of how she works at the drive through of her local fast food restaurant.  With each customer that comes through she quotes the price of the food after they order and finishes up with an "I love you."  Sounds crazy, right?  Yet think about it.  It's not so crazy when you hold this practice up to Scripture.  

John 3:16  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Romans 8:5  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

John 13:34-35  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Matthew 5:43-45  43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

I could go on and on with this list of Scriptures.  But the gist of it is, God loved us, we are to love others.  And what does the world need more than anything right now?  God's love shown through His people.  A genuine, deep caring about other human beings that shows the light of Jesus and reaches across divides and touches hearts.  

The lady who works at the fast food restaurant put it perfectly when she said, "If people can hate for no reason, why can't I love for no reason."  

Lord, let us be vessels of Your love.  I think of those planters that hold strawberries, they have holes all over the sides where the plants pop out....Let us be like that, vessels with holes in the sides for Your love to flow out of.  The world is filled with anger and hate...and it's so easy to get caught up in the rhetoric.  It's so easy to get into the "We're right, you're wrong" mindset, feeling holier than though about our position....but Jesus didn't show us that way.  Lord help us to follow Your example of loving all You came in contact with.  Let us stand up for the Gospel in a way that loves and opens doors to reach the world that You desperately love...It's Your will Lord that "none should perish."   Lord, fill us with Your love, fill us each day to overflowing.  Help us be creative in the ways we show that love.  Help us to make our corner of the world a better place, where You shine.  Forgive us any hatred in our own hearts.  Forgive us our own sins, we are not perfect....Your children seek You Lord, Your ways, Your face....bring healing to this world Lord.  Let us be Your hands and feet to work out that healing and walk the Gospel among the nations.  It's in Jesus' powerful Name I pray.  Amen.

How can you open doors for God's love to flow through you to the people you meet today?  Let's get creative!  Tell someone, or many someones you love them!  

2 Chronicles 7:14  if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Submission vs Rebellion

We all have that one (or maybe more) things we don't like about the way we look.  We try to 
"fix" it.  Make up, clothes, new styles, "miracle" products...hide what we don't like.  Every time we look at that one area of our body we get frustrated or mad.  For me it's my hair.  My hair drives me crazy.  It's baby fine, has an annoying cowlick and just doesn't cooperate with anything I try to do to it to make it look what I deem presentable.  LOL  

The thing is, I have argued with God about this for years.  I've begged, pleaded, cajoled, complained, and threatened....just been obnoxious about what He's given me.  I've lived in envy of those (which is just about anyone else) who have thick luxurious hair.  Those people who can wake up in the morning and walk out the door with great looking hair, no fuss, no muss.  AAAHHH!  Why not me, I've cried our hundreds of times over my life.  

Well, I'm 58 now and still the Lord has not gifted me with thick hair.  I do like the color, but I just want another helping!  The Lord has not seen fit to put more hair follicles on my head.  And no matter how many times I ask, His answer remains the same.  

The other morning brought more of the same.  Shower, check.  Teeth brushing, check.  Make up, check.  Hair.....AAAHHHH  Another round of arguing with the Lord.  Another round of foot stomping.  Another round of complaints.  And then I "heard" my Father, loud and clear...."Submit."  Really?  I don't think I like where this is going.   I was being asked to submit my desires, my wants, my way to the Lord.  God wanted surrender and I was in disobedience.  That is not something I wanted to hear.  I was exalting my wants and desires above His will for my life.  All.  These.  Years.  

1 Samuel 15:23    For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”  That sounds pretty harsh, right.  But when you get right down to the nitty gritty any kind of disobedience is rebellion to God.  And I've been rebelling for years.  I've been stubborn and stiff-necked.  (I'm sure there are other areas where this is true as well, but thankfully the Lord doesn't overwhelm us with our faulty areas all at one time.)  

So, my job now is to submit my hair to the Lord.  Every day, every time I fix it, look in the mirror....no more complaints, pleadings or foot stomping.  Just submission.  I know this is a small area of life, something that really is born or pride...but it's a catalyst and training for all areas of my life.  If the hairs of my head are numbered, they are numbered by my Father who made me just the way He desired and my job is to submit to and celebrate His ways.  Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:

Thank You Lord for teaching me something in the smallest areas of life.  Forgive me for my pride and my rebellion.  I submit my hair to You and desire to submit all things in my life to You...help me to continue to learn this each day.  Give me a heart to bend my knee to Your ways....knowing that You will always do what's right.  Your heart is always kind, always for me.  Your wisdom knows no bounds.  I let all of this go when I refuse to allow You to be God, when I refuse to submit and be grateful.  Thank You that You always forgive, always teach, always love.  Change my heart.  In Jesus' mighty name.  Amen. 

What's your area?  Where does our Father want you to let Him be God?