Death of a Gift

It just so happens this 'even't fell in the perfect season for this share.  I recently bought my son this super cool toy. It wasn’t that expensive but none too cheap either. The price didn’t even really matter of course though because he is my son and I love him with all my heart and soul.  I loved getting him this gift, putting it together (which took this mama almost an hour mind you) and then enjoying it with him.

He would take my hand and want me to play with him in this new toy.  I myself got so much joy out of it- my heart just swelled at seeing him so happy! I felt so warm and fuzzy on the inside, to be able to bless my child with this gift as I know it brought him happiness. It gave him joy.  And the way his eyes lit up! You parents know what I’m talking about. Him including me was more than I could have asked for! I was thankful to be able to be a part of this with and for him. I loved hearing him say “come on mom!”  And his little hand would come grab mind and we would engage in playing together.  Even when I wasn’t in the room I could hear him play and talk to himself with it. I had “permagrin” :0)

So we had to leave for a couple of hours and then back home we came. Again, while in the other room I heard him play but then I heard other sounds. I came out of the room only to find him kicking this toy and ripping it apart. He was still smiling and didn’t seem upset at all.  I told him to stop because it’s his new toy and he will want to play with it later. He kept jumping on it and I’m seeing this new gift I got him start to crumble and become flat. (It would have taken a lot of patience and tape to fix it at this point but it was still salvageable).  As I continued to try and stop him from destroying this new gift I, his mother got him because I love him so very much; I heard the soft voice of the Father say to me “stay quiet. Let him.” And so I did-- with sadness starting to seep in. I felt so ‘let down’ and like it was a waste. It wasn’t appreciated.  I was so upset and even hurt a little. Still am even as I share this..

Not long after the death of this new gift as it were, in my saddened state of heart, ever so quietly I sensed the Father saying to me “I too feel this same sadness with the daily gifts I give to My children.” I quietly sighed... What do I say to that??…..What do any of us say to that???

Lesson learned and received?? Though we know He already does…Lord forgive us.

18 Inches Away

I once heard that salvation from Christ Jesus is only 18 inches away (or there about) from head to heart. We hear about Salvation and we receive it in our minds but sometimes, for some of us, it can take a while to find a home in our heart.  That makes me think of God’s truth as a whole.  It’s “a process” that is continuing as we walk with the Lord. And our faith builds little by little as we live out His word in our daily lives.

Lately I know I’ve shared about a lot of trials that many I know are going through. My heart breaks for each and every friend. Sometimes there are ‘highs’ and sometimes ‘low’s’ in these trials. Sometimes these trials come to an end sooner that we thought and others there seems to be no end in sight. We can get so tired and weary. We get so burdened down that our spirit and heart tires and feels burnt out or we just have nothing left to give.

As I was lying in bed with my son last night I was thinking about these trials my friends are going through and how it affecting them and me. I recently shared on how we need to be careful in HOW it affects us as in losing hope etc. (Proverbs 13:12).  We do need to be very careful but this time the Lord showed me something different.

Colossians 3:3 “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” How many times we’ve read this verse. Underlined it. Circled it. Claimed it. Prayed it. Everything it. Yet this time the Lord showed me that when it says “your life is hidden with Christ in God” the word ‘in’ caught my attention.  Because our lives are now “hidden with Christ IN God”, that means He is on the “outside” of us and we are on the “inside” on Him.

To put it another way- when our life is hidden in God that includes our hearts and our thoughts as well. We are encouraged in many scriptures what our thoughts are to focus on and to protect our hearts. And it’s not all of these burdens, cares and heavy hearted situations and circumstances that we are to think on. Though they seem to bear down on us at times, to where we are almost suffocating and gasping for just a gulp of air it seems, but really, they are on God…first.

 This is where preparing our hearts comes into play and again that happens by getting to know Who He is, what His word says and our identity IN Him.  Jesus says to cast our burdens on Him as His burden is light (Matt 11:30). When casting our cares on Him and taking His light burden, we should not feel so weighed down as it were.  That’s  not to say we do not pray, intercede or feel heavy from time to time, but we do not take on ourselves what the Lord has told us to give Him. I’m not trying to take away anyone’s hurts or pain but we need to trust Him and continue pressing into Him with faith. For others and for ourselves.  

No matter what ever may come into our hearts, be it emotional, spiritual, mental, Jesus always gets the brunt of it first. Because we are hidden inside of Him. That is why He is our shield and our buckler (Psalm 91:4). A shield takes the blows for the one BEHIND the shield (that's us). 
 It’s never truly about others or even us – but Christ Jesus.

Tough Love

Loving others through anger is undoubtedly one of the hardest things to do. Be it a spouse or a mate, a close family member, a best friend, a not so best friend, a pastor, a co-worker or even an authority figure in our life, as followers of Christ, we are called to love at ALL times. We know what that kind of ‘love’ is. It’s the love of Christ Jesus.  Agape love.  The unconditional, all giving, no questions asked kind of love.  C.S. Lewis described agape love as “a selfless love, a love that was passionately committed to the well-being of the others.”

“Passionately committed to the well-being of others.” In the midst of red-hot anger that is a big pill to swallow!  It’s the last thing we think about to be sure.

The other night at two different times I received a call from different friends who shared some things that truly got my blood boiling.  Lately I’ve been receiving from the Lord about “not following your emotions but let your emotions follow God” (Ps?)- that I had to take a step back from my anger of hearing these bad things, count to 10 and calm down before I said anything I shouldn’t have or did anything that would make the situation worse for my friends.

So this morning I was up early seeking God on these situations and as simply profound as it always seems to be, “Jesus is the way” kept being whispered in my thoughts over and over. Zechariah 8:17 was the first word of the morning God lead me to:

 “Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor;
   And do not love a false oath.
   For all these are things that I hate,’
   Says the LORD.”

Along with:

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. ’This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31

We know exactly what these verses are telling us however to actually ‘do’ them, at least the second one is a lot harder than we realize when our inner mercury level is about to pop.  In Ephesians and Psalms it says to ‘be angry but do not sin.” And we know that to not sin, we need to prepare our hearts. In preparing our hearts to not sin in the anger that is trying to consume us, we need to know who Jesus is but also to have faith in who He is. He is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).

 John 10 talks about Jesus being the True Shepherd. Jesus tells us that He is “the door of the sheep.”  We are His sheep and it’s THROUGH Him (the door) that we are able to love others in the thick of our anger. We cannot do it in our strength. That was the truth that I needed to remind me how to love others though my anger.  In turn I was able to forgive in my heart and then take the action that was needed which is to pray and trust the Lord in it. Our hearts can be prepared for this kind of situations that will always come up in our lives, derives from Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you- But to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?”  

Walk humbly with God, do justly, love mercy and do what is required….love. Even when it’s tough.

Hope does Call

Interestingly enough my blog is called “Hope Calls” yet I can’t remember if I’ve even blogged about ‘hope’.  And what is hope exactly? “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”(Heb 11:1). Hope is having faith and faith is having hope. As faith is not a feeling- neither is hope. It is a choice. It is believing in the promises of Christ Jesus.

The past few days my heart has been very heavy hearted for many people. I have been praying consistently for them. And it’s one of those things that you seem to be pressing in yet only hearing more negative things and hurts that just seem to flow faster than a raging river. It can be almost suffocating in the heart sometimes. Sharing a little with a friend, it made me realize that it was affecting my own hope let alone those who are hurting so deeply and their hopes.

There are many scriptures on hope in the bible. The psalms are filled with cries, prayers and songs for God’s hope. Really, both the Old and New Testament are filled with hope.  But for a moment, I want to touch on “hurting hopes”. Several people that I know are going through some pretty tough trials and sometimes those trials are filled with so much hurt that no matter which way you turn there doesn’t seem to be any hope. None.  And we all need hope. If just a crumb.

A verse that is highlighted, circled and marked in my bibe is “Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.” (Ps 16:9). I’ve always read this verse as “my flesh (my heart) rests in hope. That always brought me some comfort. It’s our hearts that keeps us going both in the flesh and in the spirit. Our hearts are home for many things. Be it words, memories, actions etc. Our hearts are the well spring of life (Prov 4).  I view our hearts as the home of our emotions and our emotions need something to hang on to and that something- is hope. But even in that our hope needs an identity. The Apostle Paul opened a letter to Timothy writing that “our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, (is) our hope.” (1Tim1:1).  Selah.

Christ Jesus is our hope. And hope does not let us down. Romans 5:5 says “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” If we are told that hope does not disappoint and we know Who our hope is, then we need not get so burdened down that we leave the presence of the Lords peace. Another Selah moment.

We’re commanded to carry each other burdens “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal 6:2), but I don’t believe we are to carry them to where we are starting to “get down” ourselves and loose our own hope. Especially in Him. We need to be very careful and we need to make absolutely sure we are leaning on the Lord even more so in these times.

We pray and hope in the Lord for those we are lifting up as well as ourselves and we do it continually. “But I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more.”(Ps 71:14)

 Jesus is our hope. And Jesus is calling us.

Pruned Hearts

Sometimes it takes me a while to process things.  Our Monday night bible study was one of those nights where the Lord showed up in the quietest of ways. With that being said, I continued processing what was shared into the next day asking Him to show me more and the Lord being who He is…showed that which you just never see coming. Ouch.

Deuteronomy 28 talks to us about blessings and cursings based on obedience and disobedience to the Lord for our lives. It tells us how God gives us the pros and cons as it were, of both. Obedience obviously reaps good things and disobedience not so good things. You get the point.

         That led me to a verse one of the girls shared in John 15:4 “Abide (live) in Me and I in you.” In this particular verse I thought of the blessing and cursing.  And about obeying Christ Jesus and the fruit which grows or doesn’t grow in those choices that we make.  In fact it led me to read John 15:2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit”.  The Lord (what I like to call) is “holy highlighting” this verse for me but also a particular word in this verse. Prunes.

Pruning is getting rid of that which is bad so good can grow. In this though, the Lord was telling me that He is pruning my, our, hearts. We have ‘bad’ in our hearts i.e. thoughts, attitudes, even the words we speak begin in our hearts (Luke 6:45). God wants to ‘cut’ that away so good can grow. Yet only good can grow because we abide IN Christ. Because we obey Him. And the good is the blessing part of this. Pruning starts and finishes with obedience.

Many times we have prayed from Psalm 19:4 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O’ Lord, my strength and my Redeemer” but sometimes we are not fully aware or we just easily forget of how closely our heart is looked at by God. It’s the heart he judges of us. It always starts and finishes in our hearts as far as the Lord is concerned and Jesus truly is our perfect example.  So it makes sense that it’s our hearts He is pruning.

I read this statement from my friend Julia and it struck me at again how important the direction we have our hearts go in to be pruned which ultimately leads to a blessing or not.  “Living life with a negative attitude takes away from the things you should appreciate and are blessed with....you lose time that could be directed on the blessings in front of you.”

King Jesus, with a dose of humility and a big pinch of obedience, Your pruning is welcome and our hearts receive the greatest blessing of all...to know You more.

Things That Go Crash In the Night

So it's coming up on year since I've blogged last.  Just recently a couple of peeps have asked me if I'm going to start blogging again? I guess I'm not real sure why I even stopped but if this what the Lord wants, then I'm on board.

 Well allot has happened in the past year. On January 2nd of this year my 2yr old son and I were in a car accident. Everyone is fine praise God! A high school kid ran a stop-sign and hit my side of the car- we spun and landed on the guide wire on a dark county road on the way home from church that Sunday night. Needless to say I do believe that it WAS Divine and it set allot in motion for many things that have come on my plate this year.  I won't go into all of it but to touch on the main reality of .... we ALL need Christ Jesus.

After the accident and my son and I were in my friends car watching my car be towed away (it was totaled) and my hero of a husband was taking care in talking to the police etc, I asked my friend Gloria who was with me to go and get the young man so I could talk to him. (Bless his heart he was so very apologetic from the moment he hit me). I remember asking him if he was okay and his friends. all fine he said. I remember asking him if he knew Jesus Christ. He said yes, he does. He also shared with me that just seconds before he rolled through the stop-sign and as his friends were talking--he was thinking to himeself that he needs to "get his act together." His life is going no where right now and that he needs to get right with God.  I told him I agree with him and this was God's mercy on his life to get his attention. I remember seeing the 'lost' look in his eyes that night.

I've thought of this boy several times this year and wondered how he is doing. I've thought of contacting him to see what's going on but God told me not to. I sit back now and think of him, of the accident, of those who came and helped. And then I think of Jesus and how He knew we needed help. We all have that 'lost' look in our eyes. He knew that we need Him. He wants us 'right' with the Father- so He did what He had to do to get our attention. (to me that is a forever 'selah' moment).

The Lord gave me a verse as I share this story this morning:
"But as it is written: “ Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”" 1 Co 2:9

as the Lord did what He had to do for this young man back in January- Christ did what He had to do for His lost creation. And it's up to us to respond to Him (just like the boy) and know that He HAS a plan for our lives that "no eye has seen or ear heard for those that love Him".

Humility is Key

With my friend Amanda's permission, I am posting what was shared at church last night that God gave her. It brought conversation for many of us that really didn't seem to have an end in itself. There is much to share on this, but for now I will let these notes speak for itself as you read it with the Holy Spirit's leading. 

To Be Spiritually Teachable

*References in NKJV

 unless otherwise noted*

PRAISE GOD!
Psalm 71:8 Let my mouth be filled with Your praise and with Your glory all the
day.

The purpose of any of this: RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER.First & foremost be
humble in spirit; Christ-like. Hunger & thirst & be filled!

Matt. 11:29-30 “Take My yolk upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and
lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and
My burden is light.”

John 13:5 After that (Passover feast & before Judas betrayed him) He poured
water into a basin & began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with
the towel with which He was girded.

Phil. 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became
obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

1 Peter 5:6-7 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He
may exalt you in due time, casting all your cares upon Him for He cares for you.

Proverbs 15:33 The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, and before
honor is humility.

A humble heart yields:
-rest for our souls
-an easy burden
-obedience
-uplift
-exaltation
-honor

The Lord rewards us at every turn when we seek Him earnestly.
We are better prepared to respond lovingly to any trial, test or hardship (LIFE)
when we are first humbled in the presence of the Lord. (Matt. 5:6)

Choose to Bless

I’ve been really challenged this week.  Found out that someone shared some information with another about something they didn’t know, and in turn, it caused hurt in them as well as anger in me.  It made my blood just boil! I was SO mad at the hurt is caused my friend who heard this and at the miss-information it was told in.  I remember my hands were shaking and I had to count to 30 and calm down I was so angry.  Also, it caused all these thoughts about this person who did this, that I know were not of God to form in my head which was making its way to my heart - I wanted those thoughts to stop before they were to make a home in my heart.

I was able to share this with a trusted friend who helped calm me and encouraged me to seek Jesus as I knew I was supposed to.  The Lord led me to Matt 5:43-45 ““You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 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, 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.” 

Pretty heavy scripture - but a command none the less. The Spirit was really tugging at my heart in regards to blessing this person who (whether they know or not) hurt other’s in what they said when they shouldn’t have. The Spirit was reminding ME of how many times I have prayed to love, forgive and bless others yet, in the thick of the emotion, I cursed and didn’t bless. Ouch!! Think about it, how many times when in the thick of a quarrel, whether it be with your mate, a sibling, friend, co-worker did we choose to bless right away or… run with our emotions and feed our anger?? Let’s be honest about it.

I found myself on my knee’s asking for forgiveness of the hardness that was trying to take root in my heart and asking for a new heart for this person. I was then able to bless them out loud with my mouth and it’s finding a home in my heart.  I’m challenging myself to cultivate that kind of a more immediate response to bless instead of curse at the height of the moment, in the thick of the emotion, so that Christ will shine first. It won’t happen overnight obviously but with Gods grace and with much practice, practice and more practice. 

 All things are possible through Christ Jesus (Mk 10:27)....right?!

Teacher Grace

Remembering from the last blog I wrote that this was going to be a two part share, I wanted to go back and recap a little. I had written how “the big toe helps us to keep our balance, so we don’t fall flat on our face”.  Let’s focus on that word “help” for now.  In thinking on the word help I was led to Titus 2:11-13 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,”.

In this passage the word grace caught my eye and also the word teaching.  It states that the grace of God teaches us. It also tells us that His grace teaches us how we should live and that it IS attainable because of His grace.  That was pretty profound for me when I saw it that way. I don’t know about you but the thought came to me, that in our times of help, be it one of those life things that come out of know where or a sin of some kind or anything that you might think of, when we are in need of help that is when grace (help) comes in.  Because grace (help) gives us what we don’t deserve sometimes.  Also, if we let it, it’s teaching us the lessons in how to live before God and with God.  He truly is our only audience. Grace (help) is giving us another chance by means of teaching us a lesson, if we are teachable.

Grace was given to us through Jesus “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” John 1:17.  Jesus is not only our grace giver but many things in-fact.  One thing He is that we know well, is our Teacher.  The gift of grace He gives us should teach us that when we are in need of help, it’s His grace that will pull us through and hopefully, lesson learned.

The Big Toe

This is going to be kind of  2 part blog so it’s not too long.  I will do the other part in a couple of days.  Okay, though it is only Tuesday there are some things that were talked and shared on church on Sunday that has stuck w me as well as others from what I am hearing.  We were talking about relationships in the body of Christ.  We talked about when someone in the body is hurting or going through a trial or has even fallen into sin affects all of us.  One person put it this way – and I’m paraphrasing here “when you are going through something that is hard, it hurts me.  A part of the body is hurt and it affects ALL of us. It’s like my big toe is hurting”.   

It was funny mind you and got chuckles of course but I thought of that often since Sunday and something that I realized later, when they used the big toe as the analogy I thought, it’s the big toe that helps us to step forward as we walk physically.  The big toe applies pressure to make that step forward and helps to balance us out so we don’t tumble forward and fall flat on our face.  Not to say that when our brother or sister in the LORD who is “down” stops us from going forward,  but sometimes it can hinder us in a way that going forward can be a bit more difficult or frustrating because our hearts our grieved. We are told in God’s Word to help others who are down but at the same time to make sure it does not cause us to fall (Gal 6:1-3).

 Ecclesiastes 4:10 gives us truth that “If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up.”  We need each other to help each other out! There are no bones about it. We don’t have to go at this alone.  As we need Christ Jesus, we also need each other.  We need our big toes (each other)  to help us  go forward.

In Remembrance

With Jehovah this am and reading some things, I came across the Lords Supper.  In praying for what He wanted me to see in it- here is what was given to me.  I've never thought of it this way before.

1 CO 11:23-26

23"For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; ²⁴ and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁵ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes"

Breaking it down:

V23- Interestingly enough, Jesus broke bread for the first time w them the SAME night He was going to be betrayed. 

V24- He then first gave thanks to God before anything else (I can learn from that!).  He then broke it and said to eat it & that it is His body that was broken for us.

   *Jesus "broke" the undefiled intimacy He had w the Father for us.  He had to leave the Father to come here. He was separated from God. Sometimes we can consider something "broken" as "separated" like a marriage can be. Marriage (which God created) is the ultimate example of what God wants our relationship to be like w Him.

V25- After supper (the bread/brokenness from God) Jesus took the cup and said it's the New Covenant IN His blood and we are to drink it.

Drink also means to "take in" or "to receive".  We are to take in & receive what He gave us. Salvation with Him.

   *God desires a blood sacrifice for atonement of sins (Leviticus 17:11).  Christ IS the new covenant.

V26- we are to do it often and not forget. Waiting for His return.

    *John 14:3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

We "brake" the bread first because He had to leave the Father first-----then we "drink" (receive) the cup of His blood after because it is His blood that made the new covenant.

As I was writing this all down in my journal and the heavy-ness (with gratitude) of it was in my heart, a Third Day song popped into my head...

"You left your Throne in the sky - just to live inside my heart."

May Communion never be a "traditional ritual" in our walk w Yeshua.

Persist In Faith

To be totally open and honest today, I had a pretty heavy heartfelt crying/talking session with our Heavenly Father.  It was about numerous things for numerous people, including myself.  I haven’t done that in quite a while.  It was a “Hannah moment” you could say.  Aren’t those just the best sometimes?!

What brought that on is I have been feeling very burdened. So, in knowing I am not suppose to carry these burdens alone I sought God and He led me to the book of Hebrews.  Knowing that the book of Hebrews is a lot about faith, God had me in chapter 11 which is also known as “The Hall of Faith”.   Without listing the entire chapter which I could do, I highly encourage you to read it on your own.  But for today I’m focusing on verse 6 and it reads: “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.”

In the midst of my seeking, crying and vulnerability to God, He revealed some things to me in my walk with Him that is lies from our enemy that I have been believing.  I consider that was a reward indeed from Him to show me this. Because in place of those lies now are His truth. This in turn, will feed my faith. Now that backfired on the devil didn’t it!

It’s amazing that the God we worship tells us that without faith it is impossible to please Him. Because in 1 Timothy we are told to “contend for the faith” meaning to fight. We have to fight for our faith because we know that makes God happy.  Well Satan knows it too!  The enemy does everything in his power for us to let go of our faith, throw in the towel and give up. Satan doesn’t want God happy. Satan wants to hurt God- and us (John 10:10).

Chapter 11:1 states “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  It’s hard for us sometimes to live out our faith in our everyday lives, but God tells us He rewards His children who diligently seek Him. We are to walk by faith and not by sight. God is serious about this.  He didn't leave us stranded by any means.

We are to persist [to go on resolutely or stubbornly in spite of opposition or importunity] in our God given faith (Ro 12:3).  Don’t give up!

Allegiance via Hardships

In praying about what God wanted to share today one thing kept coming over and over.  I stand back and take a look at what is going on around me in the people’s lives that are dear to me. I even take a look at those lives that are far from me whom I don’t know that well and what I’m seeing everywhere is the hardships everyone seems to be going through in one form or another. 

2 Corinthians 6 talks about Paul’s hardships yet he stays faithful to the ministry God has called him to.  The New Living translation says this “We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense.  We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.”

I listed the entire passage because as I read it, it made me think on my own hardships and am I living in such a way as these passages state? I had to read it again. and again and then view my walk w Christ.  We know what we are called to do and how to live in front of the world once we choose to follow Christ.  That goes for the same when we are in our own personal hardships if not even more so.

A quote that was said at the women’s conference that I had written down says “am I living for my allegiance?”  Meaning, in my darkest hours and I feel the world is closing in on me, am I being faithful to God? Am I being faithful to what I stand for?  That is a deep question we must ask ourselves.

Hardships in our lives are a true test of our faith to the world. It is also an opening for witnessing and sharing our testimony to those who are going through their own hardships.  That is so often an open door from God.  The world is watching us to see if we are remaining faithful to “what we preach”, no matter what season WE are in.  We’re told we will have hardships in this world (Jn 16) – but as the Amplified version says
“For I (Jesus) have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]  Selah.

In The Thick

So I went to my first Christian conference this weekend.  It was all women w many speakers. Both female and male speakers. There were over 6000 women in all.  Many different nationalities.  400 of the women were teenage girls.  I loved that! We also had a 150 or so from the Dominican Republic and we were told a women flew in from Dubai! We had some come down from Canada and then others from all over the United States. I think that is so awesome!  

There was a handful of men who at the beginning we were introduced to as a whole that ended up in another part of the building, so they couldn’t see or hear what was going on to be praying for us.  There was a prayer room open 24 hours a day for the women.  I was also surprised but delighted to see all of the moms who brought their babies -so many beautiful babies.  They had a nursing room set up for them just outside the doors so they didn’t have to go too far.  There was another room to do some “shopping” as in books and other literature and booths to check out.

There were so many women that they turned several of the men’s restrooms into ladies restrooms for us. Thank You men for that!! Ha!  We had a little café we could purchase from and some vending machines as well.  The conference lasted 2 days.

It’s really a lot of information to soak in, in such a short amount of time. As time goes on and it starts to settle into my thoughts and spirit I will be sharing w you. I didn’t know what to expect really for my first conference and I have to say I am tired yet encouraged. But what I want to share today though is something that I didn’t “hear” at the conference but a small yet profound revelation (as my friend called it) that was brought to light. In my heart.

Going w some friends and also meeting some new friends there and just looking around at all the women, and then coming home and sharing w church Sunday night who are also family, it popped into my head that when we (the body) are with each other, we are IN the thick of Christ’s love. To go along w that the Good Lord gave me the verse in Matt 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”  And then another verse in 1 John 4:8”God is love”. 

So, if He IS love and if He IS w us when 2 or more are together, hanging out, we are in His love!  I sit back and think now, that when I’m with you, and we are just hanging out or at church or in a bible study or even just watching a flick together, WE are IN the THICK of Christ’s love. 

There is truly NO other better place to be - is there. . .

Fighting for the Broken

We know that we are told in the bible we will have trials, tribulations and hard times (James 1). We moan when we even hear those words but we know that will never be avoided.  Sometimes though, life can seem so much to bear.  Things can be going along pretty well in our own lives, yet in the lives of those around us there are hardships and brokenness at every angle.  I'm seeing in much lately.  Whether it’s family, friends, family of friends or friends of friends – you get the point. There is much brokenness around us. Our hearts break when we hear what they are going through. 

It’s so easy to get angry and the injustice of life sometimes and we want to lash out at someone or something. We forget we have an enemy that hates us and our lives.  We don’t understand life sometimes and the wrenches that are thrown into our lives and we see so much brokenness around us.  We want to “fix” what is going on in their lives and help them. I know that I do.  I know sometimes I feel so helpless when confronted w those I care for who are “walking in the valley of death.” which can mean different things for different people.

Yet, Jesus came to set the captives free. To bind the broken hearted. Thats is the old and new testament. What He did for us all is something that will never really be understood.  We are to accept as a gift for that is exactly what it is.  We were broken and He died for us.   He fought for us and now I want, am, fighting for others w His name and power.

How do we fight? Where do we get the power, the tools, strength?  From God. From being in His Word and spending time with Him. By letting Him fight for us, we in turn extend that to others.  He will show us how.  We already have His armor (Eph 6).  The Lord provides everything we need to intercede on behalf of those who are broken and hurting. 

Take time to read some of the things He did and some of the things He said.  They will light a fire in us to fight for the broken.  We have the almighty God living inside of us!(1John 4:4)  Remember what He did for us at times of brokenness in our lives.(Ps 77:11)  We are called to come along side those who are going through these trials and encourage, uplift and pray for them.  We are to give comfort as we are comforted (2Co 1:4).  We are to fight for each other. 

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.(John 15:13)  When we are fighting for the broken we are laying down our lives as a solider lays down his life for his comrade.  

The LORD told us He would be with us until the end (Matt 28:20) – may we try to be there for each other.  Victory is here!

We Already Have It

On hearing a word earlier this week from God I’m excited to share this. I have been thinking about this and asking God for His direction in the way He wanted it to go. The title of this share is what came to me and it’s based on Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”. I had recently heard about us truly “having all we need and we have all the power of Christ” once we accept Him as our Savior.


In this passage of Eph it states just that. God blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Meaning, we don’t have to pray and ask for these. He already gave them to us. We need to find them and draw them out and live them. Whether it’s needing to forgive someone, healing for something or even needing direction in a situation. We have these inside of us w the power of Christ Jesus. The verse says “has” blessed us meaning past tense. We already have them. Are we really grasping that? It reminds me that not long ago I had been praying for something and God blessed me with it (though I didn’t realize at the time). I then asked for someone else to pray about it for me, for God to bless it. They told me that no they weren’t going to pray that because God already blessed it. Why would I pray for what I already have? That made me stop and think about it. How often do we that?

I was then lead to Ephesians chapter 3 verse 20-21 “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen”. Again this passage is telling us that the Father who can do anything according to the power that works IN us. We truly don’t realize the power from God we have INSIDE of us. This might sound silly but I heard someone say once that the reason we bow our heads to our chest when we pray is because when we are saved, Christ comes to live inside of us, so we are bowing our heads because we are looking at Him. It’s kind of goofy but true in a funny way.

We know the verse “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” from 1John 4. So if He is greater and living in us – we have everything we need and we have His blessings already!

Grace through Frustration

I had a couple of things I wanted to share about on certain subjects, yet that is not Gods plan today. It’s out of frustration and grace that I’m writing. The past 5 days give or take a few things have caused great frustration in my thoughts and heart. Some of it because of friends & family some of it just from daily life. Don’t get me wrong, everything will turn out for good as Romans 8:28 says, yet it’s the “getting to that good” is the frustrating and hard part – but refining indeed.


When these situations arise that cause frustration in me I think of who is involved and who it affects. I see hurt and disappointment. I myself am hurt and disappointed. Some in them and also in me. That causes even more frustration! Then I find myself after being wound up about it, I will sit and think on it all, but this time I seek God on it. It takes me a while to do that sometimes – why is that?

I wonder if Jesus got frustrated? In reading the bible and the stories in the gospels I don’t really denote any frustration coming from Him but I’m guessing He had some on the inside - maybe.

Jesus was human as well as divine. One of the many reasons I thank Him for coming as a human in flesh & blood (Matt 1) is that it makes it easier for me personally to believe He can relate with us. That is crucial for me. Jesus was tempted with all things as we are yet He didn’t fall into that sin (1 John 2:16). That is what I’m thinking on today as I’m trying to sort through these frustrations.
For myself, that is when Gods grace comes in. Jehovah gives us His grace at the right time for the right thing, in the right amount (2Co 12:9). When we receive that grace from Him, His peace comes with it (John 14:27). Now that is an extra bonus indeed! Mind you I still have these frustrations and questions but now with His grace coating them and me, I’m able to let them go and pray. Even to stretch my hand and or ear out to those who are going through the hard time without judging or condemning.

God reminds me in His word that we all fall short of the glory of Him (Romans 3:23).  That sure keeps one humble.  Yet His glory will be revealed in us (Is 40:5). His glory is revealed in these frustrations of life because His grace shines through. There are many by-products of His grace but that is another share in itself.

I’m humbled and encouraged by God and thankful that He truly does understand. Truly! We serve such a personal God. The LORD knows we get frustrated and angry. He knows we get tired and weary with life sometimes, but His peace that truly surpasses understanding & guards our hearts through Christ Jesus (Phil 4:7) is part of His grace that has no end.

In praying for a verse from the LORD this is what He gave:

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.” 1Co 1:25

Don't Limit God

Sometimes during the day as I’m busy around the house I will listen to a conference via internet. I was inspired to share this one with some of my own thoughts by a guy named Andrew Wommack. He talked about how we CAN limit God and our lives are not all predestined. He gave a verse in Psalm 78:41 that reads “Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel.” This verse caused me to take a moment and really grasp it that yes, we can limit our Creator based on what we’re doing and the choices we make in our life that He didn’t want for us. God gave each person free will. In Deuteronomy 30:19 God is telling the Israelites to “choose life”. He gives us the free will to make that choice. He even explained about the blessing and the cursing depending on what is chosen.


We can limit God by a number of things. A big one is fear. God desires faith from us and not to fear. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that “without faith it is impossible to please God”. Fear will limit God and what He wants to do in and through us. We forget that we have don’t have a spirit of fear but of a sound mind (2Tim 1:7). Whether it’s fear of people, confrontation, relationships or getting out of our safe zone etc fear limits God. There is nothing to fear.

Busyness is another that popped into my head. I was reminded of the story of Martha & Mary (Luke 10). We know that Martha was busy cooking and cleaning while Mary was at the feet of Jesus. Martha was upset that Mary was not helping her out yet Jesus told Martha to not worry about it and that Mary had ‘chosen’ what is good. Mary did not limit God where as Martha was w her busyness.

And last but not least is pride. A proverb that instantly came to mind was chapter in 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Pride can come in different forms and can be very subtle. We know and are confident that God works all things for good that those who love Him right? (Romans 8). So if we choose to let our pride come in the way of something that God has planned for us, then we are limiting God and His great plan for our life won’t happen until that pride is removed. A pride issue I remember in my life at one time is when I was choosing to ignore a prompting of the Holy Spirit’s leading to talk to a friend to rectify a situation. I didn’t swallow my pride and let God do His work and it took an extra long time for our friendship to be restored. I was limiting God because of my pride and that cost me much.

To wind this one down today I leave just one question for all of us and one that I’m trying to implement into my daily walk with Christ. What are we limiting God on in our lives???

The Face of God

A verse was shared at church that has been rolling over in my mind like laundry does in the dryer. I have not been able to get it out of my head. It’s in Psalm 27:8 it reads: “When You said “Seek My Face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.” Many questions and thoughts came up regarding this verse but the one that has stuck with me is this “when we are seeking God’s face, what are we looking for?” “what do we see?”


I got to thinking of what is my own answer to that question. No one has ever really seen God’s face yet we do see His face in many forms at many times. But are we aware of His face when we see it? Do we acknowledge it? I have a girlfriend that told me that when her daughter was born, she saw the face of God. God captured her heart through the birth of her daughter. I’m amazed by that.

It makes sense if we are not seeking the LORD then no, we won’t see His face. I’m reminded of the verse in Jeremiah 29:13 where God says “you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart”. It’s interesting that in the verse in PS 27 it’s the 'heart' that will seek God’s face. Again there is the word heart. God is plainly telling us that we have to seek Him with our heart to find Him.

In the book of Proverbs it says “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life”. When I read that while thinking about seeking the LORD’s face, it occurred to me that not only is our heart the wellspring of our life, but in essence, when we are to seek God with our heart, we are really to seek Him with our life.

God desires for us to seek Him. He places things in our paths to stir our desire and hunger for Him so that He can show Himself to us more and more. Let’s pray and ask God to help us see His face when He reveals it to us as we seek him – with our heart.

Relationships

Recently my husband was away for work for quite a while. In that time I hunkered down and asked God what He wanted me to hear Him on while my hunny was away. God didn’t delay. He brought several things to my mind that all had one important aspect. Relationships. Mine with Him and mine with others. I thought of struggles with family & friends and even Jesus’ relationship with the Father.


I thought of Jesus and how he loved the un-loveable. I thought of the stories in the gospel how He spent time w His followers and w the Father. I thought how to keep peace in my relationships? (At least at my end).

For me, it starts through being humble as well as knowing who we are in Christ and having our relationship w Him as the example. That's a pretty big example.  It’s really like the “golden rule” do good to others etc. but w Christ we have to accept those who don’t do us good (Matt 5:43-48). Do I really pray for those who hurt me? Do I really love and forgive those who are angry at me and ignore me? Do I really let it go and choose peace and love instead of the attitude of “I’m right” or talk & think negatively about them while letting strife and bitterness take root? We are to put on the same attitude of Christ Jesus (Phil 2:5).  That's a pretty tall order but doable!

If I want my end of the relationship to stay in peace then I have to choose to do as Christ did. It may sound hard and my human feelings go against everything in me but He didn’t leave us hanging. We are told in the bible that walking in the flesh reaps things of the flesh but walking in the spirit reaps of the spirit (Gal 6:7). I’m learning to choose the Spirit.   Jesus left us a helper, His Holy Spirit. He even said it’s better for US if He goes so the Spirit can come (John 16:7). How awesome is that!

We need to learn who the Holy Spirit is and have a relationship with Him to help us through the times of loving, forgiving and accepting those in our lives who we have relationships with. Mind you it's not easy but with Christ all things are possible (Matt 19:26).  Also, God gives us grace (2 CO 12:9) and He knows it’s a process for us and all He asks for is one day at a time (Matt 6:34). It’s not rocket science and it CAN be done. Through the grace God gives us, we need to extend that grace to other’s as well as ourselves. And remember, “I can do ALL (forgiving, loving, accepting) things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13).