Sustaining Moments, from Mom

 I'm digging back into Mom's journal today.  I can't believe she's been gone for 9 years.  I'm so glad she left these pages of her thoughts.  It's like I can hear her voice and see her heart on these pages.  It's her legacy, her faith and her character all on display for those who are still here on earth.  

Joshua 1:6-8 Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them.  Be strong and very courageous.  Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you.  Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left.  Then you will be successful in everything you do.  Study this Book of Instruction continually.  Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it.  Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. 

Philippians 4:6-8 Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done..  Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.  And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing.  Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.  Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  

Focus on God's will.  Meditate, focus our mind and spirit on God.  Daily spend time with God.  

How?  

1.  Read: the Word of God.  Look for God.  Intentionally, concentrating on the Scriptures.

2.  Pray: over the Scriptures, a verse, passage or chapter.  Let the Holy Spirit put His thoughts into your mind, lead you where you should go.  "Lord, I delight in Your Word."  

3.  Apply the Word: question, study, pray, "Lord how do I walk this out."

4.  Submission:  surrender, obey, sacrifice.

Remember, faith flourishes in the garden of gratitude. 

From me.

Psalm 119:92 If your instructions hadn’t sustained me with joy, I would have died in my misery.

Psalm 119:1116-117 Lord, sustain me as You promised, that I may live!  Do not let my hope be crushed.  Sustain me, and I will be rescued; then I will meditate continually on your decrees.  

God is our sustainer.  But if we don't follow the steps in my Mom's entry, we will not connect to that sustaining power.  How would we know the promises our Father gives if we didn't read and study His Word?  How would we walk it out if we didn't have communion with the Holy Spirit?  How would we be upheld by His arms if we didn't walk in obedience to His will?   Life gets hard, it gets messy.  We need the strength that Jesus gives if we are to successfully navigate the turbulent waters of living in a fallen world.  When we follow the steps of reading, praying, applying and submitting to the Word of God, the Lord rewards us with His Presence and His power to walk through this life with strength,  and the ability to shine for Him.  When we stay in gratitude, even and especially in the hard stuff we stay in peace.   God gave Joshua a monumental task.  But He also gave Him the key to accomplishing that task.  Be in Scripture, and carry it in his heart and mind.  

Lord, I don't know about anyone else, but I cannot do this day on my own.  I know I need You. I know I want You.  Give us each those little moments that can carry us over the waves, whether ripples or tsunamis, of life.  Let each moment in You Presence be what holds us as we walk the path of life,  Keep us, sustain us and keep us focusing on You each day.  Help us to submit to and follow You.  In Jesus' Name I pray.  Amen. 

Make time with God a priority.  

Time

Time.  It's such a precious commodity.  I've come to have a stranglehold on mine.  I spent so much time while working being overcommitted that now that we are retired I am stingy about sharing my time or using it for anything that isn't in my plan.  And now that we have the new house pretty well set up (there's always something else to do though, isn't there!?!), I have more hours in my day for enjoyment, hobby pursuits, rest and relaxation....sort of.  LOL.   I cherish this time.  I like the extra time I get to spend with the Lord, I like that I can get exercise in (will-power!).  I like that I can watch tv and try to learn how to paint.  I like that we have time to relax and volunteering doesn't seem like such a struggle now.  But I still don't want to let go of my hold on my time.  I'm still terrified over being over committed and headed toward burn out again.  

God has allowed me these past 6 plus months of "self" time.  He's allowed me to set my schedule, fill my hours with my plans and kind of just take a break from a set schedule.  And it's been wonderful.  But He's not going to allow my selfish hold on my time to go on much longer.  How do I know that?  Because I'm starting to get some messages that's it His time and He has plans for me.  

A couple of weeks ago, I got a last minute call from the Pastor at our church.  He called to ask me to come sit with a young woman and her kids while she helped out at our church for a few hours.  This woman was down on her luck, struggling to support her kids and needed a helping hand.  She was looking to make some extra money and he told her she could do a few chores at the church and the church would pay her.  Since we didn't know her, our Pastor felt it prudent to have someone hang out at the church with her and he called to see if I was available.  

Well I didn't really have anything on deck for that day, so it was pretty easy to say yes.  I guess God was starting me off with an easy task.  LOL  But I'm sure that will change.  Message number one.  

Message number two came yesterday while I was out doing my exercise run, and as usual I was listening to Joyce Meyer.  Joyce was telling about how she was at a point in her life where she was tired of being overcommitted, over busy and worn out.  She felt it was time to focus her life to her "core commitment" and trim a lot of the other stuff off.  Well, she told a story about how she had planned a shopping day for herself, she was looking forward to enjoying some coffee and relaxation.  I love those days myself.   But as she was just getting into her day, she got a phone call....uh oh!  We all know what that means.  The "me day" is about to get changed to an "others day."  

Now, here's the thing.  She could have begged off, told the person that needed help she wasn't available.  And she could have walked away from the need and pursued her much needed, much deserved rest day.  She could have refused to change her plans.  I know I would have been tempted to.  But what would that have accomplished?  I'm pretty sure if she had done that she would have been feeling it the whole day....a little guilt, a little uncomfortable.  You know the feeling....when God asks you to do something, and you put it off or pretend it wasn't His will or His divine appointment for you.  The enjoyment of that day would have been gone and she would have missed God's  opportunity for service.  

So what did Joyce do?  She gave up her time.  She helped her friend.  She obeyed God's call.  And I firmly believe this story she told was an illustration to me that God will be looking to start filling my time (as if it's really mine anyway) with His plans.  I know this is going to hurt a little!  But I also know that it will bring the fruit of peace and joy that never comes from self-fulfillment.  I was and am so grateful for this message yesterday.  

So, I open my hands a little...letting that time go, giving it over to the Lord, it belongs to Him anyway.  My life belongs to Him.  We are told in 1 Corinthians 6:20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.  My time, my being, my hands, my feet, all of me belongs to God so I must be His to do with what He will.  

Lord, I belong to You.  Help me to lose any selfishness I have with my time and activities.  I know You will give me the rest I need, when I need it as I serve You and follow Your plans, Your "to do" list for my day.  I am willing.  I am open.  I am Yours.  And I am scared!  This feels like a big jump.  But I trust You.  In Jesus' most precious Name. Amen.  

Be open to God's schedule changes.  

He Holds Our Hand

I've been reading Corrie ten Boom lately.  I guess her most famous writing is "The Hiding Place."  Her and her family hid Jews in their Holland home during Hitler's reign of terror during World War II.  They paid dearly for this ministry, being subject to the horrors of his concentration camps.  Her father and sister never came out of the camps.  

But the faith Corrie shows is amazing and encouraging.  Reading biographies and writings of these saints of old is a great way to strengthen and build up our own faith.  After reading this I feel the stirrings to go further and deeper with the Lord.  Boldness rises up in my heart.  I highly recommend reading hers and others believers stories.

Through all the horror this mighty woman of God went through she prayed for the Lord to use her in it, to fulfill His purpose in her life and her suffering.  One prayer that struck me in "A Prisoner and Yet" was written when she was in the infamous Ravensbruck concentration camp.  Torture, torment, starvation, abuse, and death were daily parts of life for these prisoners.  And yet in this darkness, Corrie served her Lord.   After her sister Betsie succumbed in the camps, Corrie's own grief from the loss battled with her joy over her sister being home with the Lord.  

She prayed:  "Teach me, Lord to bear the burden, in this dark and weary day.  Let me not complain to others of a hard and lonely way.  Every storm to Thee is subject, storms of earth, or mind and heart.  Only to Thy will submitting, can to me Thy peace impart.  So to suffer, so keep silence, so be yielded to Thy will.  So in weakness learn Thy power--teach me, Father teach me still."  

What a powerful submitting to the Lord.  What an example for us.  Oh, the things I complain about and think of as difficulties!  I am convicted!  Lord, teach me to submit...to not see my small inconveniences as something to consume or derail me.  But let me see them as opportunities for Your service and Your glory!  Let me see them as framed pictures of Your strength and purpose and love to show and share with those around me!  

And then there is the true hardship, the things that turn our worlds upside down and throw us into the tempest.  In her other book "In My Father's House," she quoted her father as saying, "When Jesus takes your hand, He keeps you tight!  When Jesus keeps you tight, He leads you through life.  When Jesus leads you through life, He brings you safely home."   Powerful words to remember when life's problems and sadness seek to swallow us whole.  John 10:27-30  My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.  No on can snatch them away from Me, for my Father has given them to Me, and He is more powerful than anyone else.  No one can snatch them from the Father's hand.  The Father and I are one.  Jesus's hand will never let go of us.  If you belong to Jesus you can remain in peace even through the tears of life.  You are safe in His hands.  

There are some things that seem to rip your very heart and soul apart.  I've felt that deep darkness of grief's abyss where is feels like pain screams and you fall endlessly into it.  But I also know that the Lord has brought me to the other side of that blackness.  It's been a long process.  And the abyss is still with me because even though the Lord has given me healing and peace, it is part of who I am.  I can still touch it and open it...but the Lord now uses it for His purpose.  It doesn't consume me with its despair but instead it brings compassion for others who suffer.  The Lord uses it to be a blessing.  How amazing and wonderful is He!

I know things can be extremely hard and horribly painful.  But that doesn't mean that God has let go.  If we let Him, He will bring beauty from ashes, use all things in our lives for His good purpose and our blessing, and He will defeat every scheme of the enemy.   It's our job to continue clinging to His promises.  Let us remember:  Romans 8:18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.  

Lord, thank You for those who have gone before us and those around us now that show us how to triumph through tragedy and suffering.  Tomorrow is Good Friday and that is the ultimate example of victory over unimaginable suffering and seeming defeat.  Help us to cling to that hope, the hope that "Sunday is coming."  If You defeated sin and death, surely You will take us to victory and lead us safely home through life's wearying ways.  Help us to submit to You all things, but especially our hearts.  Remind us that You never leave us, that You suffer with us and that You will bring good from all that touches our lives as we believe and trust in You.  Lord, forgive my complaining.  Forgive my getting my eyes of You and my faithlessness.  Thank You for the Resurrection.  It is our hope and our promise.  In our Savior's Name.  Amen. 

Start reading  (or watching movies) about those who have gone before us in the Lord. Let them encourage your faith.  

Have a blessed and happy Resurrection Day!   

And to those who have stumbled upon this page and don't know our Savior Jesus Christ, I share the Gospel with you.  

Romans 3:23  For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard.  

Yes, we are all sinners, messed up, prideful, selfish, etc....being a "good person" is not enough.  God's Word tells us in Romans 3:10 As the Scriptures say, "No one is righteous--not even one."

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Heaven is real.  Hell is real.  Being outside of God's family when you die will be eternal Hell, despair, desperation, pain, suffering reign there.  Being adopted as His child will bring eternal peace, joy, fulfillment in Heaven.  

Romans 5:8  But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were sinners.  

Not all roads lead to God.  There is only one, Jesus, the way the truth and the life.  But doesn't that make it easier?  There is no question as to the way to Heaven.  There is only the one narrow path.  We can be sure of our salvation when we put our faith in Jesus Christ.  There's no weighing of scales, "Did I do enough good to outweigh my bad?" 

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 

We don't have to make up our own way, we don't earn this gift of salvation...God took care of the how! 

Romans 10:9-10 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.   God provides the way, we don't get to make it up for ourselves.  

Romans 8:1  So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.  It is finished!  When you accept Him as your Savior, you have passed from death to life.  (spiritually speaking). Now it time to start your journey with Him through getting into a good Bible teaching, believing church  where you can learn and grow and have fellowship with other believers who can help and encourage you.  And get a good Bible that you can understand easily.  There are programs on line like Bible Gateway if you can't get a physical copy.  

Lord, open hearts to Your salvation and Your love.  You created us to fellowship with You, to belong to You, to be loved and cherished by You.  You are a safe Father, a good King, and desire only good for us.  

John 3:16-17  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 to save the world through Him.