Thursday, January 22, 2015

What If . . . ?

 

What if it is already done?

What if you really just love me?

What if I don’t need to flounder and question my path or journey?

What if I knew you were, all along, leading me by the hand out of my Egypt?

What if I knew that You don’t see me the way that I do?

What if I knew that you are merciful to my unrighteousness and that those sins I see and struggle with, well, what if I knew You don’t remember them?what if

What if I knew that your love was already written into my mind and heart?

That I don’t need to wrestle and try so hard to know it, but that it is already there.

What if I knew when discouragement and confusion sweeps over me that it’s not You and that I’m not doing anything wrong, it’s just a scheme of the enemy?

What if I knew I don’t actually need to listen to it, be affected by it or panic. And wonder what I need to change. What if I just rested under the shadow of your wings? Safe and secure.

What if I knew it was lie and not some default in me? That I am Chosen, Hand -Picked by You. That I am Holy, and Blameless before you. And that above all I am Dearly Loved.

What if I knew I could just step out from under his lies and not be swallowed up by them?

What if I just go about my day and not have to try so hard to do better, but know right here, right now, I am loved and safe and all is well. I can smile. I can just breathe. And be okay.

Friday, January 16, 2015

You Are Chosen

In the last post, Jesus Knew, Do You, we talked about how Jesus knew who He was and how He was able to face what was before Him because of it.

Therefore, as those who have been chosen by God, holy and dearly loved . . . Colossians 3:12

Knowing who we are how very loved we are is what enables us to live in freedom from the lies of the enemy. It heals us from the dreaded syndrome I call, the ‘Do More, Be Better, Try Harder Syndrome’.

The above text says that we are Chosen, Holy an Dearly Loved.

Let’s delve into, “chosen” today. Do you really comprehend what that means? That means God picked you. He didn’t get stuck with you, He picked you.

I picture myself at the roller rink on Friday night. The dreaded ‘boys choice’ skate was called. I couldn’t get to the bathroom fast enough and found myself standing against the wall with all the other girls. The trauma of watching the boys skate by, passing me. Around again. Maybe picking the girl next to me, but passing me by. Over and over again, I was not picked. Rejection stings, doesn’t it? Maybe you have been passed over or ‘not picked’ in your lifetime and you can still feel the pain. Doesn’t being ‘not picked’ make you feel unworthy? Unlovable, in some way? Like there is something wrong with you?

Guess what. God’s word assures us that He picked us! We are chosen by Him. Does it matter if the pimple-faced geeky boy on skates picked me when the God of the universe, the lover and creator of all things beautiful picked me??? No, not when you really let that truth go deep. I’d be rejected a thousand times to be picked by Him just once!

I used what seems like a trite example of ‘not being picked’, but you know as well as I do that rejection and circumstances that would cause one to feel unworthy and unloved comes in many sizes and colors. They can be seemingly silly things to deep, traumatic and abusive situations. We often put on our ‘brave’ face and say, well, that wasn’t ‘that’ big of a deal, or stuff it down. But in reality, the wound is still there and the enemy of our souls only makes it go deeper, until we are so trained to think we are unworthy, unlovable, awkward, definitely one to be ‘not picked’ because we ‘know’, really know, deep down just how awful we are.

Do you recognize the lies? Pause for a moment and see if the Holy Spirit would bring to your mind some of the lies you have believed that keep you bound and wounded.  Anything, whatsoever, that comes to your mind that does not line up with scripture is a lie!  Take those thoughts out for a moment and examine them. Do they fit with the following? I have placed my own emphasis on these verses, can’t help myself. Winking smile I encourage you to meditate on these. Turn them into your own words, what I like to call ‘My Beliefs’

“just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will” Ephesians 1:4-5

"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day John 6:44

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Ephesian 2:10

But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 1 Peter 2:9

"You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. John 15:16

"All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. John 6:37

"For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth Deuteronomy 7:6

"For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. Deuteronomy 14:2

But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth – 2 Thessalonians 2:13

An example of ‘My Beliefs’ might be,

Thank You, Father, that from the very beginning YOU have chosen me for salvation. You love me and chose me. Picked me. I am ‘pickable’

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If you have any hope of being free from the lies and really living in the freedom Christ paid for, you are going to need to put some effort in it. Meditate on the truth. Take the lies captive.  It’s worth it, I promise!

Next time, Holy.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Jesus Knew, Do You?

I was struck by a phrase in the Gospel of John, chapter 13:3.

Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God’.

Jesus knowing. It popped off the page to me. Jesus knew who He was, what His purpose was, how much He was loved by the Father and He could face, even the unthinkable, because He knew this.

In my own walk and my experience in ministering to women, I think the foundational ‘flaw’, if you will, that we all have is a lack of knowing who we truly are. Without this foundation we are prone to the many lies of the enemy as to our value and purpose. Self-hatred, self-doubt, fear, doubts, unbelief, anxiety, self-rejection, so much of this stems from feelings of unworthiness.

We all know, ‘Jesus loves me, this I know’. But stop for a second, do you really know? I mean, know to your very core? One of my favorite scriptures that God has used to bring such healing to me in this area is, Colossians 3:12.

Therefore, as those who have been chosen by God, holy and dearly loved . . .

Stop right there! Three little words ministered to my heart for the better part of a year and still do whenever I see them.

Chosen, Holy, Loved.

Ask my children, they will tell you these three words will go with me until the day I die.

I am going to delve into each word, Chosen, Holy, Loved, in subsequent posts. I don’t want to rush through them. For today, meditate on this scripture.

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I pray, Father, that You would give us a revelation of how loved we are and that healing, wholeness and restoration was paid for by the blood of Your Son. Free us to walk in this healing in a greater way, day by day. I pray, also, that we would be able to recognize the lies we have believed about who we are and that our Father would give us a beautiful, full picture of who we are and how incredibly valuable and loved we are.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

He Weeps With Us

When it is hard to believe ‘this will not end in death’ . . . He is there with you, and He will be glorified.
 
 

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Has the Enemy Come Knocking Yet?

If you are going to make it to the end of this year with your dreams, goals and hopes still intact, you may just have to fight for your sanity along the way.

Usually, when you are a willing participant, there’s not much you can do to thwart God’s plan for you. Obviously, lack of obedience, fear, and things like that can get in the way or delay things a bit, but that is beyond the scope of this post.

I’m talking about when you are already a bit shaky in your dream or new goals. I mean, you know it’s from God, but you also know YOU. You’ve been here before, you have a history for messing things up, or so you think. So you’re shaky. You’re doing your best to get grounded and rooted in these new ‘digs’.

Be on the lookout for fear and doubt, ugly little demons that they are. It doesn’t take much. Oftentimes they come riding on the back of comparison. You know, you see someone else whose ‘dream’ (life) seems so much nobler than yours. Or perhaps, man, they sure are living their dream. It seems so effortless for them. I mean, you can barely stand up and they are running with theirs.

I don’t know about you, but oftentimes for me, it can take little more than a NANA-second, for me to be heaped in a pile under loads of fear and doubt. Seconds, and it is an all-out ‘crumble, tumble and tremble.

I’m giving you this warning so you know it is coming, or, maybe it already has. I know it has for me. Only took nine days. Nine days into the new year! But here is what is super cool. I recognized it immediately. God, in His great mercy, gave me quick discernment.

You know how sometimes, if the back door gets left open just a teensy tiny crack, somehow the cat’s radar goes off and she just quietly pushes through the door? Often times you may have to chase her around the house, under the table and behind the couch and by the time you get her you are all tuckered out? Is this just me? Not this time. I saw her immediately and caught her before she made it past the back hallway.

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I suppose the best case scenario would be for the door to never get left open. But, if it does, best to be ready with a plan and act immediately.

I began to see those thoughts come in.  I saw them for what they were, lies. I took them captive, after telling Brian, of course. Who proceeded to say, ‘woman, why are you even talking that trash, just stop and get them out of here and speak the truth.’ Such a practical guy. Isn’t it just like a woman to need to ‘talk about it’?

It all seemed so surreal and I felt like God was training me. I sensed in my spirit I was somehow getting a ‘do-over’, a chance to start from the beginning and get strong. Kind of like working out. You start with the basics and progress as you grow in strength. You see, God size dreams don’t come without a fight. Our enemy will fight tooth and nail to keep us from God’s best for us, and try to stop us from reaching others with His love!!

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Be ready!!

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Has the enemy come in and tried to rob you of your hope for this season of your life? Pick yourself up, cry out for discernment and kick the devil to the curb! Maybe you are ‘holding your own’ (or, being held). Well, praise God for is mercy and keeping power! I’d love to hear what you might be going through and lift you in prayer. Some of you have done so privately and that is so fine. Either here in the comments, or always feel free to message me. Go forth in the strength of the Lord this week!

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Rise Up and Walk

Let me start off by asking, am I the only one who wrestles with God? Questions, sometimes to ad nauseam, what He might be saying to me? I really wonder if He occasionally does a 'face palm' when I go on and on trying to understand, rather than just trusting.

I am so enjoying reading through the Gospel of John. Today I was stuck in chapter five. The man healed at the pool Bethesda. The story is familiar, but today, I felt it was speaking right to my heart.

Jesus shows up and asks the man, ‘Wilt thou be made whole?’  I immediately sat upright when I read that. Wilt thou be made whole? Do you really want to be made whole? Do you really want to be free from these struggles? Of course the man wanted to be made whole, right? I mean, he had an infirmity for a very long time, thirty-eight years!  I want to be whole too, right? Do I? Do you? If I am going to be made whole, I am going to have to choose it, let go of what I am holding on to, believe Him.

The man answered that he had no one to put him in the pool. I argue, but I don’t understand. Perhaps if I look here or there. Try this or that, then, maybe, I will be made whole, free from this struggle.

Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.

Pretty straightforward, don’t you think? Simply rise up and walk!

Um, but . . . the questions begin to rattle around. But again, I hear,  ‘Rise up and walk!’ 

A few verses down, after the man was questioned by the authority, Jesus finds him again. I LOVE this!! Is that not a picture of a merciful God? He came back to him, He could have slipped away, but He came back to tell the man, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

Thou art made whole. Say it with me. I am made whole. The peace washed over me this morning. I have wrestled and fought. I have gripped it so tightly that I could barely open my hands, for they had been clenched closed for so long.

The scriptures say immediately he was made whole, took up his mat and walked. I wonder, though, did he wobble a bit as he walked. Probably not, Jesus had healed him. But honestly, I am feeling a bit wobbly, shaky in the knees with this new found freedom and wholeness.  I’ll keep this scripture close, to remind me, because I am sure that enemy, you know the one who roams around like a lion, the one seeking to devour, will come prowling. Old lies will need to be replaced with the truth. I am made whole. I will Rise up and WALK

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Will you? What are you holding on to? What are you wrestling with God over? Do you want to be made whole? Do you want to be free from the battle?  Come on, let’s do this together. I promise, my faith is shaky-wobbly faith, but it is faith. We can do this!

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Are You Planning to Fail?

 

If I hope to even come close to my goals for this year, I need to do my part. I trust God will bring about the impossible, but I must make choices daily that reflect my goals, dreams and visions for my year, and my life, really. I am keenly aware that my times are not in my own hands and that it is the Lord that directs my steps. I know “If the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that.” (James 4:15)

Yet I also know I must do my part; I must follow where He leads. I must “Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure”. (Prov. 4:26)

It will mean choosing wisdom or the flesh, choosing to move when I want to sit, choosing to turn off the computer when escaping draws me away, choosing to study and work when I’d rather fritter my time away, to serve when I’d rather hide. One can dream and plan, but one must also ‘put feet’ to those dreams.

Have you ‘put feet’ to you goals? It is easy to say I will read my Bible more or exercise this year, but without a plan the dust accumulates on your Bible and your bum gets softer!

Are you willing to share how you have ‘put feet’ to your goals?

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Prov. 29:18)

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin

Reading Through John (Ch. 1-3)

I am participating in a wonderful online bible study over at She Reads Truth. I plan to share just a few snippets from each chapter here, every few days.

In reading an overview of the gospel of John and in chapter 6:66, “many disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him” Jesus asked His disciples if they would turn away too. I LOVED Peter’s response, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.’

My heart skips a beat as I remember a few extremely difficult times in the past when I wanted to run, I couldn’t take it anymore, it seemed. This road was so hard and so long. I remember coming to the exact conclusion that Peter did. Where else would I go? Jesus is the Living Word! He is the Christ, the living God! What other journey would I tread? With whom else would I go?

Just recently, the ‘journey’ in a particular area has seemed so very long and hard, the one He has chosen. Again, faced with the question, what are my options? My own way or His glorious plan. I choose HIM! His way! Mine is foolish and simple and self-focused.

John 1

v. 8. He was not the Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light!

v. 14 Jesus, full of grace and truth . . .

v.50 . . . thou shalt see greater things than these.

Father, as I look over the past year, I am I awe of what You have done and it is with great hope and expectancy that I look towards the new year! I say, Yes! Yes, Lord to all You have in store for me. Let me bear witness of Your Light to all I come in contact with. Here at home, in the hearts of my husband and children and in every single person I come across. Open my yes to see past the exterior into the deep of their heart that needs the Light of Jesus!

I come with open arms and hands, I say, YES, Lord, YES! I am Yours. A living epistle!

Freedom from all that holds me bound? Yes, Lord!

To loving the unlovely? Yes, Lord!

Speaking grace and truth? Yes, Lord!

All that You have, Lord, Yes!

John 2

What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. John 2:11

How gracious are you, Father, to understand we are but dust, and oftentimes it isn't until we see Your glory that we"believe" on You. We believe, help our unbelief. Give us eyes to see your manifest glory everywhere! And give us grace to believe in You, whether we see or not!

John 3

v. 29 . . . rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice.

Oh, Lord, how greatly it rejoices my heart to hear your voice!

He’s Waiting For You

How You are always here, no matter how far I wander and no matter how long. You are always here. Rich in mercy, great in love.

Guilt would try to drown me, for my failures and weaknesses. The constant ‘distraction’ of life I succumb too. The blatant choice I make of this world over Your word, of busyness of life over sitting with You. What do I get when I come to my senses? Love and mercy. They wash over me, no matter how undeserving I feel. You are here. Emmanuel, ‘God with us.’ (Matthew 1:23)

I sense in my spirit, acceptance and peace. No condemnation, no chastising, only love. The truth that I am chosen, holy and dearly loved echoes through my heart. (Col. 3:12) I’ll never do it ‘good enough’, ever, but his doesn’t change Your love for me.

You never, EVER, turn away from me. Ever! It is I who am prone to wander. You are steadfast. You are faithful and true to Your word an character. I find rest and peace in You. I breath in, I breath out. There is no place safer, more beautiful, more peaceful, more complete, than under the shadow of Your wings. With each breathe, life fills me. Joy and peace flow through my whole being. You are all I need. Once again, the Prince of Peace reigns in my heart.

I’m not sure where you are today. In that place of basking in His glory or hiding in shame. If it is the latter, come out into the light! He is here, waiting for you with nothing but love and acceptance! You are His child, He longs to be with you. He loves you with an everlasting love. (Jer. 31:3)

Thursday, January 1, 2015

My “Word” For 2015

My word for the New Year has been rattling around in my heart for almost two weeks now. It thrilled me, but felt so ‘unspiritual’. I know, silly. I kept asking God confirm it and kept suggesting more spiritual words, all to no avail. Nothing fit right. So here goes my heart this day.

Those dreams you have? You know, those ones tucked away in the back? Yeah, those. You have been afraid to dream. Life has been hard and you have been hurt. You have seen your dreams shattered in a million pieces. Years and years of hoping you’d see them come true. Your heart has become hard—you are so afraid to dream. You didn’t even realize it until now, but you don’t dream anymore. I’m not saying you don’t have a beautiful life and feel very blessed. I am talking about beyond all that, way in the corner of your heart. There are dreams and hopes you have that have long since been pushed back. These dreams? They seem impossible to achieve. Like they will never happen. You have tried to make them happen. You have prayed for God to bring them about. Years of clenched fists, tears streaming down your face that is turned towards heaven. I know. I really know.

Here is what I want you to know. He knows your dreams. He loves you in the craziest most amazing way! Maybe your dream needs refining. Maybe you aren’t ready for it. But I want to encourage you and challenge you to dare to dream! Dare to trust His love and goodness again. Let this be the year you reach way back in your heart, blow the dust off those dreams, and dream again.

I can’t promise you that they will all come true this coming year, but I can assure you that you will come alive in new ways if you just dare to dream. Would you like to join me this year? Dare to step out and trust Him with your dreams? You see, with men, this dream is impossible, but with God, ALL things are possible!

Take His hand, trust Him again. Let’s do this together, let’s chase our dreams this year!

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