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A Challenge

If…Then

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happines

I have a question for you today.  What would you say most people spend their days longing for?  Happiness? Where would you find happiness?  In success?  How do you define success?  Would you find contentment in more money, time, or possessions? Is your joy held captive under someone else’s power? In search of unconditional love have you given away the keys to your kingdom?

Like a junkie, in need of a fix, we compromise what we hold dear, we give away the very best parts of us, in search of love, happiness, contentment.  If I just have this person’s love or approval, this possession, this amount in my bank account, you fill in the blank, then I will be happy.  I promise you, if the “this” that you are searching for is found anywhere but at the foot of the cross you will keep searching. Your “if, then” statement will never be complete.  People will let you down, there will always be something newer, shinier, and fancier to lust after, there won’t be enough hours in the day to climb the ladder of corporate prestige.

There is a bible verse that I bet we have all heard Luke 12:34, wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.  I challenge you today to look again at that verse and commit it to heart knowledge instead of just head knowledge.  To do that, answer this question for a quick litmus test.  What is the last thing you are thinking about when you go to bed and the first thing you think of in the morning? That will begin to tell you where your treasure is.  I am not saying that you have to be super spiritual, we all have things on our minds and hearts that weigh heavy on us at times and become overwhelming. God wants to share in all of these things with us.  He wants us to treasure a relationship with Him.  We need to begin to allow God a voice in our day, in our thoughts, in our plans. Begin to take back control of your life from those external circumstances that we have no control over.  Allow Him to open your eyes to true joy, contentment, and love.  I heard a great quote this week from Matt Chandler.  “You will live your life or it will live you.”

So today, I ask you again.  What do you spend your days longing for? What do you treasure?

Encouragement

I wish I may, I wish I might…

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pray impossible
Don’t just pray about what seems logical and possible. Pray hard about the impossible. God will show you that NOTHING, nothing, nothing, nothing is impossible with Him. Ever. Period. End of Story.

You make beautiful things out of the dust. (Gungor, Beautiful Things)

I am fascinated lately by this imagery, Glorious Ruins, life from the ashes, beauty springing forth from destruction.  I guess this is what hope is, if you had to put a label on this picture.  But in my mind, this is bigger than that.  Hope is defined as “a wish to get or do something, or for something to happen or be true, especially something that seems possible or likely.”  What I am talking about is a hope that is bigger than a wish.  A belief in the impossible!   Hope that is only possible through the hand of God, our Father.  Who else can take a story of death and disease and turn it beautiful.  Not me, not without God.  Who else can repair relationships that are damaged beyond our ability to communicate? Only through God.  He is the one who can get to the “heart” of the matter.  We can’t change others, we can’t fix them, our love isn’t enough.  But God’s is.  He is the perfecter of love and He wields the power to change the unchangeable.  Nothing is to big for God!

Sometimes we have to see things torn apart around us, we ourselves have to be torn down,  before we can spring forth, emerging stronger and more beautiful.  God’s hand in this process repairs us, so that even if our situation doesn’t change, we will still shine brilliantly, reflecting His love.  A lighthouse in the middle of the storm, guiding others to Him through that light of love. But being broken hurts, and healing, is a slow and painful process.

“Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them– the LORD, who remains faithful forever” (Psalm 146:5,6).

Where is your hope springing forth from today?  Maybe a better question, the first question, is do you have hope?  Are you listening to a world that tells you to make wishes on stars and put your faith in the things that seem likely? Or in a God who says “Dream the impossible.  I love to answer big prayers in big ways.”  Those big miraculous answers are the answers that  are unmistakably from the hand of God.  In answering our big prayers, in bringing forth life from the ruins, His glory shines brighter.  Today, put your hope in God, not the things of this world.   Allow Him to have control,  not only of your situation, but also your heart, and then have the faith that He will not disappoint you!

Father God, You know my every desire and wish.  You know the secrets of my heart.  You know that sometimes I am afraid to hope for the impossible because of my fear of disappointment or failure.  Please help me to continue to put my hope in you and my fuel my faith in Your miraculous power.  Help me to remember, no matter how big or small Your answer to my prayer, it is exactly right in Your plan for my life. When things seem to be falling apart around me, help me to remember that this hasn’t slipped by without your knowledge.  You are the giver of life, and I will cling to Your promise of restoration and wholeness, even in the midst of the ruins, knowing that if it is Your sovereign plan, goodness and growth will spring forth from it.  I know your Word says you have big plans for me, good plans for me.  That you are able to do immeasurably more than I ask or even imagine.  Please Lord, plant in me the seeds of longing for Your plans.  Help the dreams I dream, be rooted and aligned in Your will, and help me not to sell them short for fear of the impossible.  I pray all of this in your holy, powerful, life-giving name. Amen.

Encouragement

Glorious Ruins

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I am like a little kid waiting on Christmas morning.  The very first, hard-copy proof of my book will be delivered any day now and I am so excited!  I stalk the mailman, waiting and watching to see what they will have for me each day. Seeing this “project” through to completion over a decade has been such a personal journey.  Sharing in such a transparent way has been a very significant step in growing my faith, one which doesn’t come naturally.  (And it continues through the hand of my Lord, as I ramble and rant on my virtual home here.)  This feels very much to me like the ruins coming to life, rising up from the ashes and destruction.  Something beautiful and encouraging coming to life out of disease and death.  The picture painted in Isaiah 61.  “Just as the ashes, symbolic of mourning and loss, are transformed into a crown of beauty. God works our struggles into beautiful stories of good triumphant over evil. When we are shattered, God lovingly restores our lives, putting our brokenness together again.  When the harsh desert sun beats down, we find shelter in God’s protective span.  It is time to turn up the volume on the powerful message of hopeful chaos, beautiful ashes and glorious ruins.  When we ask, “Where are you, God?” we’ll surely see that our loving Father is right here with us as we are revived in a salvation story of redemption and restoration.” (Glorious Ruins Small Group Study excerpt) AMEN!

I want to share with you the passage of scripture that I have hid in many times when life has gotten to be too much.  Use it as the basis to form your own cry to God for redemption and refuge and rescue.  Cease striving and allow the words of Psalm 91 to soothe your weary soul…

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
3 For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
4 He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
7 Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.
8 Just open your eyes,
and see how the wicked are punished.

9 If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
10 no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.
11 For he will order his angels
to protect you wherever you go.
12 They will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
13 You will trample upon lions and cobras;
you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!

14 The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
15 When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
16 I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.”

Encouragement

Still Moments – A masterpiece of a mess

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Don’t let Satan rob you of joy today. Offload whatever you are struggling with today to God, and watch Him work salvation and deliverance in your life. It doesn’t matter what you are faced with or what it has taken for you to get here. God can turn your mess into a masterpiece if you will allow Him to. Cease striving…be still…know God. Psalm 46:10

Encouragement

This thing is from Me.

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I was recently reminded of this letter which I had originally read in David Jeremiah’s book, “A Bend in the Road.” There was a portion of it that spoke to me so deeply and personally that I wanted to share it in its entirety. I hope that as you read it and process it you will begin to grasp and accept that whatever it is you are going through, God has a purpose in it and through it…

My child, I have a message for you today; let me whisper it in your ear, that it may gild with glory any storm clouds which may arise and smooth the rough places upon which you may have to tread. It is short, only five words, but let them sink into your soul and use them as a pillow upon which to rest your weary head.

THIS THING IS FROM ME

Have you ever thought of it, that all that concerns you, concerns me, too? For “anyone who harms you harms my most precious possession.” Zechariah 2:8. “You are very precious in My sight.” Isaiah 43:4. Therefore, it is My special delight to educate you. I would have you learn when temptations assail you, and the “enemy comes in like a flood” that this thing is from Me, that your weakness needs My might, and your safety lies in letting Me fight for you.

Are you in difficult circumstances, surrounded by people who do not understand you, who never consult your taste, who put you in the background? This thing is from Me. I am the God of circumstances. “Thou earnest not to thy place by accident, it is the very place God meant for thee.” Have you not asked to be made humble? See, then, I have placed you in the very school where this lesson is taught; your surroundings and companions are only working out My will.

Are you in money difficulties? Is it hard to make both ends meet? This thing is from Me, for I am your purse-bearer, and would have you draw from, and depend upon Me. My supplies are limitless. Philippians 4:19. 1 would have you prove My promises. Let it not be said of you, “But even after all he did, you refused to trust the Lord, your God.” Deuteronomy 1:32.

Are you passing through a night of sorrow? This thing is from Me. I am the “Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” I have let earthly comforters fail you, that by turning to Me you may obtain everlasting consolation. 11 Thessalonians 2:16-17,

Has some friend disappointed you? Was it one to whom you poured out your heart? This thing is from Me. I have allowed this disappointment to come that you may learn that: The best friend to have is Jesus, He will hear you when you call, He will keep you lest you fall. The best friend to have is Jesus.  I want to be your confidant. Has someone repeated things about you that are untrue? Leave them to Me, and draw closer. unto Me, thy shelter, out of reach of “the strife of tongues.” For “He will make your incense radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shin like the noonday sun.” Psalm 37:6.

Have your plans been all upset? Are you bowed down and weary? This thing is from Me. You made your plans, then came asking Me to bless them, but I would have you let Me plan for you and then I take the responsibility, for “You’re going to wear yourself out – and the people too.  This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself.” Exodus 18:18. You are only an instrument, not an agent.

Have you longed to do some great work for Me, and instead been laid aside on a bed of pain and weakness? This thing is from Me. I could not get your attention in your busy days, and I want to teach you some of My deeper lessons. “They also serve who only stand and wait.”  Some of My greatest workers are those shut out from active service, that they may learn to wield the weapon of all-prayer.

Are you suddenly called upon to occupy a difficult and responsible position? Launch out on Me – I am trusting you with the “possession of difficulties,” and “the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.” Deuteronomy 15;10.

So, please today, hold on! God has a sovereign plan and He loves you!  Nothing takes Him by surprise.  Read When the Last Thing You Need is a Band-Aid Verse or Once Upon A Time for some additional encouragement today!

 

 

A Challenge

Did you have time to pray today?

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20130909-223737.jpgHave you ever tried to pray when you are busy? I don’t mean a little busy, but the busy where you are trying to be in two places at once, bake (not burn) cookies for a school event, and not only manage, but try to actually meet, deadlines for work. On those days I can barely form a coherent thought and my brain is a hurricane of activity. So, prayer? Unfortunately, those days when I could use the peace that prayer provides the most I find it the hardest to grasp.

In the 1960s Charles Hummel wrote about the “Tyranny of the Urgent” and it is a timeless piece.

Don’t let the urgent take place of the important in your life. Oh, the urgent will really fight, claw, and scream for attention. It will plead for our time and even make us think we have done the right thing by calming our nerves. But the tragedy of it all is this: while you and I were putting out the fires of the urgent (an everyday affair), the important thing again was left in a holding pattern. And interestingly, the important thing is neither noisy or demanding. Unlike the urgent, it patiently and quietly waits for us to realize its importance.

The problem is not a lack of time: the problem has to do with priorities. If we have more time, we will simply fill it with more things. (I know this well from experience!)

I have heard the acronym B-U-S-Y, Being Under Satan’s Yoke. The Urgent is Satan’s trick to distract. Satan’s ploy is to get us so caught up with the little – and not so little – details of life that the things that God actually wants you to be busy with are left undone. If we get caught up in the busy, even for a noble cause, and we don’t spend time in prayer we will have no idea if what we are so busy doing lines up with God’s will for our lives. We will simply wind up exhausted, having in our busyness, handed Satan a victory.

I was challenged today to take an inventory of what was usurping my attention, my energy, my time to pray. I would challenge you to do the same.

What, or who, will you fix your eyes on this week?

Father, forgive me for letting my days run my life. I never want to be too busy for You. Especially when I am claiming to do things in your name. Please open my eyes this week Lord to what is important, and to what is simply clammoring for my attention. I want all that I say and do to be pleasing to you. In your holy name, amen.

Encouragement

Once upon a time there was a fair maiden…

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20130906-124505.jpgLet me share with you a love story. A tale where my Savior has poured out His very lifeblood for me in love. I have spent some of my life running from that love.  Other days I have taken it for granted.  More recently, I have been soaking it in, relishing it, and relying on it.
This love story starts out simply enough, I was given the benefit of a strong Christian upbringing, a sturdy foundation upon which to build the days of my life. At that time, it was something I had to do. Church was something I did out of obligation, because Mom and Dad said so.  Those days were spent chasing things I wanted, the things that made me happy. I pushed my own agenda. I made a plan, called it God’s and forged ahead. Then the unthinkable happened, on a beautiful October day, we buried our still-born son. The life I was forging ahead with was decimated. I was in agony and left with unanswerable questions.   I didn’t know what else to do but cling to Jesus. My foundational training had kicked in .  Everyone said I was so strong but that is a lie! I was weak. I was destroyed. But no one saw that, all they saw was God’s love because I was hiding in it, relying on it to get me through. In those dark days, God provided comfort and hope and He healed my heart but not because I was strong. It was because I was weak.  I had gotten a first-hand glimpse of what God’s love can do, how it can change a person.

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to years, and I moved forward.  I was able to move beyond the death of our son, although it was still painful,  and I was slipping back to doing things on my own again. This time I was a little more dependent on God, especially when I needed something, or to say thanks when something good came about.  I really thought I had this all figured out. We were in church (almost) every Sunday, we were raising our children in a home with morals and values. We were trying to put God was at the center of our lives but we didn’t really understand the depth that it requires, what that truly means.  And then, once again, WHAM! Natalie Grant sings a song, “Our Hope Endures,” that says this. “You would think only so much can only go wrong, calamity only strikes once. And you would assume that this one has suffered her share. So life will be kinder from here.” Well you know what they say about assumptions, and God doesn’t promise an easy road. Disease reared its ugly head when I was diagnosed with the rare auto-immune disease, Takayasu’s arteritus. Bathed in silent symptoms and a lack of medical research and answers, this disease continues to affect me on a daily basis to an extent I am not sure I am even aware of. I was gripped tightly in the hand of fear. But through sickness I have been  forced to quit wiggling and squirming and doing things on my own. I have been forced to be still and examine what a true love story with the Lord is supposed to look like.  This is more than surface deep! My independent tendencies have been tempered back and I find myself sharing daily life with Him because I want to. Not because I need something, or want something, but because I love Him and that is what love does. God went from being a figurehead to a friend.  I won’t tell you I don’t still struggle because that would be a lie. But I will tell you that no matter how many times I have turned from God, no matter how many times I have tried to do life on my own and failed, He has always been there waiting for me with forgiveness and unfathomable, unconditional love. Stop for a moment today, and think about your love story. Maybe it’s only just a story right now and you need God to pour His love into it. He will, you know. It doesn’t matter how ugly the beginning is, He loves you just the same. I am here to tell you that some of the ugliest stories can become beautiful when you give God the opportunity to pour His love into them. It is only through the grace and love of God that I write to you today, not bitter and angry about the hand life has dealt, but thankful that through all of it I have been drawn closer to a God who wants nothing more than to be my happily ever after.

Today, if you want to turn your story into a love story ask God for His help. He doesn’t expect perfection, that is why he offers forgiveness. He sent His son to remove the unachievable obstacle of perfection for us. My son died. I know the agony in that. But here is our God, who in sending His Son to our world, sentenced Him to die for people who aren’t perfect. People who are flawed, and broken, and continually turn away from His love. But He did it all the same. I can’t imagine the pain in that, but He did it out of love, love for you and for me.  Is there any greater love?

Father God, thank you for loving me. Thank you for being there with forgiveness when I don’t deserve it. Thank you for having limitless patience for me as I try to figure this life out. And thank you for sending Your Son to die in my place. I am not worthy of that gift but I accept it all the same.  You did it to spend eternity with me, not because of anything I have done, but simply because you love me. Soften my heart to accept that love and recognize, on the days that I try to do this on my own, that I need you. With you there is a promise of happily ever after…Amen

Still Moments

Still Moments

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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. (Philippians 4:6, 7 NLT)

So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. (Matthew 6:34 NLT)

One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. (Luke 18:1 NLT)

Never stop praying. (1 Thessalonians 5:17 NLT)