Food for the Soul

Salutations to Our Lord, God and Father

2011-09-09T09:57:00.000-05:00

How do you pray? I guess the question I am really asking is....

To whom do you pray?

I don't mean 'what god do you pray to', but how do you address our God?

I have many salutations I use when opening up my time of fellowship with God.

Father God
Lord
Lord God
Heavenly Father
God
God of all
My Lord and Savior
Father

Why do I ask?

I'm glad you asked! *grin*

Does the salutation you choose increase your sense of intimacy with God or is it just a jumping off point in to a time of prayer?

I have to say that for me it has been a jumping off point for the most part. I really didn't give it much consideration. Well, I suppose I gave it a little thought since I change it up (as noted in my list above). But really it was never a place where I paused and reflected, and definitely not a part of my prayer that increased my awareness of just how intimate that time with Him is.

Until today.

I'm walking through some painful experiences in my personal life right now and many days all I can do is fall to my knees, cry and ask God to please help me. This week in particular there was a day when I came to Him and all I could say was 'God, I'm tired and scared. Help me. Just help me. I don't know what else to say'. And then I just sat there and let Him catch my tears.

In the 24 hours following that prayer, God brought 2 people into my life to comfort me. They can't fix what is breaking my heart nor can they give me the answers I need to understand the 'why' and 'how long will this go on', but they were just the comfort I needed to feel less scared and less weary.

God. Is. Good.

So today, as a situation arose that I knew the enemy wanted to use as arrows to pierce my heart and cause me to lose sight of God's promises, I stopped and prayed. Because...HE. ANSWERS. PRAYERS!

And my salutation was this...

"Father, as your child I ask You to please help me......"

The rest of the prayer is not as important as what happened as those words came from my heart and out of my mouth. I was lifted up with a new sense of intimacy that I had not felt before.

This wasn't God Almighty to whom I was bowing before as an unworthy servant...seeking mercy or blessing from my King and Lord.

I was a child, coming to my Father, with tears brimming, a heart hurting and just wanting to be held and comforted. I was immediately consumed with the kind of comfort I remember feeling as a young girl that came from my earthly father when he would give me a hug and tell me it would be o.k.

It will be o.k.

As a child, we often would hear those words from a parent or care taker and while we didn't know how it would be ok, just knowing they said it would calmed us and comforted us. 'If they said so, it must be cause they love me and take care of me'.

He loves me and takes care of me. He is my Father.

He is an Almighty God, Lord and King and all those titles that represent His Holiness, for sure. But He is also my Father, from whom just need to hear sometimes... 'it will be ok.'

So how do you address our Creator, Lord, Savior, God Almighty, Everlasting Father... when you come to him in prayer? I know I will continue to 'mix it up', as I find my salutations of choice are usually driven by what is sending me to my knees. I tend to use an exalting title when I come primarily to recognize Him for who He is and praise Him with a sacrifice of prayer; or a title that describes His attributes of grace and mercy when I am on my knees for forgiveness and repentance. But going forward, I know many of my prayers will simply begin...

"Father"

I'd love to hear your thoughts on prayerful salutations, or your experiences of new found intimacy in your prayer life. It would bless all who come to join us today to hear a word from others for further edification of the body. I'd also love to be inspired by the different ways you all begin your prayers. So please take a sec, click the comment link below and just leave a word or to for us all to enjoy and connect with.

God Bless and Keep You,
Tami

The Perfect Meal

2011-08-25T09:46:00.002-05:00

1 Peter 2: 2-3 ~Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (niv)

It all starts with good eating habits. Everyday God is sitting at the table, a table He has set just for you. He is in His chair and your chair is pulled out, just waiting for you to come sit down. The table is set with a meal created with you in mind. He knows the events of the day you are about to journey into. He knows exactly what kind of soul nourishing meal you need to face that day and He has prepared JUST FOR YOU.

The Word is opened and on the table, He is sitting there to guide you through it and fill your soul with the ‘food of the Spirit’ you need to be fruitful that day. What fears are you going to need power to overcome today? What distractions are you going to need to be blinded from today? What surprises are coming your way that have the potential to rock your world if you are not prepared? Think of the many days you have set out for the day thinking you knew what to expect and found it was a completely different day altogether. Were you prepared? Did you respond to those days in the flesh or in the spirit? Do you know what this day holds? We cannot know. We may think we know, but we don’t.

But He knows.

And so He sits and waits. A reservation for 2 that never expires.
But the meal cannot be served until the entire party is seated.

How long will I keep my Father waiting?

When I am tempted to skip a meal with God, this visualization helps me readjust my priorities. The thought of God sitting there at a table for 2, all alone breaks my heart. And then I remember that His heart aches for me even more. The thought of not partaking in the meal that was prepared just for me reminds me of what I will be missing. And then I remember that He prepared that meal for me because He loves me so much.
1 Peter 2:2-3 tells us that we should crave His word so that we may ‘grow up’ in our salvation. I can’t help but think of parents here. Our parents begin feeding us from day one with the sole purpose of helping us grow up big and strong. Each meal is prepared with nutrition in mind.

• “Drink your milk so you will grow big and strong”

• “Eat your broccoli, it’s good for you!”

• “Eat the rest of that orange, it will help you fight that cold that’s going around”

The meals that God prepares for us at His table each day are planned according to our nutritional needs. Whether it’s an ‘orange’ to fight off something that is going around, a ‘glass of milk’ to make us stronger for what is coming our way or some ‘broccoli’ just because it is good for us, God knows exactly what meal to plan for us and He delivers it through the reading of His word.
No one can force you to take that first bite. God calls you to the table, God puts the spiritual milk in front of you, but you have to sit down and partake.

I recall a day recently when I kept putting that table time off. I had no intention of skipping the meal, but I kept pushing back the reservation to tend to tasks that morning. Of course, morning became noon, but I still had intentions of sitting down. God called to me many times during that morning and each time my heart responded with ‘just a sec…I need to do this one thing first and then I’ll be able to sit down without distractions’.

And then the phone rang.

It started out innocent enough. A harmless conversation with someone who had good intentions and wanted to give me some advice. At some point though, the advice turned into accusations that wounded me deeply. Accusations based on false information. My hungry soul was weak and under nourished, but my flesh was ready for the fight. You know the rest of the story. My flesh took over and that conversation ended with angry words. Now let me share with you the devotional that was sitting on ‘the table’ waiting for me to consume.

‘…I am with you to deliver you’, says the Lord

(Jeremiah 1:8)
The devotional written for this particular verse went on to talk about how we are to depend on God for our deliverance in situations and avoid the temptation to ‘defend ourselves’ in the flesh. It drew on lessons from the Sermon on the Mount to emphasize this point, showing how Jesus said for us to not seek personal justice because it leads to personal self pity or self righteous thoughts (“how dare you say that to me”).
As soon as that phone call was over, I ran to His table, weeping and wounded. And then I read those words. I was deeply convicted by the truth of those words in 2 ways.

1. Yes, Lord, I need to let go of my need to be right or defend myself from these false accusations.

2. Most importantly though…Yes Lord. I realize You had been calling me to Your table all day because You knew this call was coming and You wanted to prepare me in advance.

Oh Lord, how differently that conversation could have played out if I had responded to Your calling instead of putting You off.

What meal has God prepared for us today? Let’s go to the table daily to find out, for we know it is good!

Our recipe today is Growing up in Our Salvation.

The ingredients are from 1 Peter 2:2-3.

The directions are to pull up a chair and spend time with Him. Let Him feed you and know that the Lord is good!

PRAYER:

Father, make this word fresh in my heart today. Give me a craving for Your word, Your will and Your presence. Forgive me Lord, for the times you have prepared a meal for me and I never showed up to share it with You. Thank you God that my reservation for 2 never expires and the meal is always fresh and prepared just for me. Thank you Lord for first loving me so much so that You desire to prepare a soul satisfying meal just for me. I am amazed and humbled at the thought of this. As I take this time with you today, let me fall deeper in love with You, increasing my craving for Your word , Your will and Your presence. Lord, give me eyes to see the things that keep me from coming to your table daily so that I may confess, repent and be healed of it. Use this scripture, Father, to remind me daily that You desire me to grow strong in my salvation, so that I may walk in Your will, to Your glory.

I come to you in the name of my precious Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Can you recall a time when you realized the time spent with God prepared you for things you had no idea were coming? Or maybe you can recall a time when you faced an issue of the day with an under nourished soul? It would be a blessing to hear from you, even if it's just to say 'hello' or 'amen'! And it's easy ~ click the comment link below and leave us a short word! You can even do it anonymously *grin*.

God Bless and Keep You,

CLICK HERE to find a printable, Food for the Soul recipe card with today's verse as the ingredients and directions for daily application. Use the back of the card to write personal words of application. Ask God to show you what He is feeding you today with His word and write those directions to remind you how God is wanting to work in your life today.

Memory Verse 2 ~ Delight of the Lord

2011-02-01T11:29:00.002-06:00

please: give pleasure to or be pleasing to.
a feeling of extreme pleasure or satisfaction.
joy: something or someone that provides a source of happiness;

As a servant of God, my heart longs to know that I bring delight and all that it implies above to my Master.

This verse tells me that it is not by the things I do for Him in my own strength, but in my complete submission to Him that He is delighted.

When I come to Him weary from striving and seek His strength, He is delighted.
When I let go of my own dreams and plans and seek His will, He is delighted.
When I surrender control over my life and my circumstances and submit it all to Him, He is delighted.

When I stop seeking hope for my future in the things of this world (prestige, money, wealth, possessions, property, popularity, etc...) and find my hope only in the fact that His love did not fail me even to the cross...

I delight Him.

When I bow down in worship, fearing a life without Him....

I delight Him.

Prayer:
Lord God, to You I bow my knee. To You I surrender. You are my strength. Without you I am powerless. I may be able to acheive some symblance of greatness in the eyes of the world, but if I do not delight You, I have failed. Forgive me Lord for the times that I have performed for You, asking You to be delighted in the things I have done for You, even though I did not seek to know Your will first. I kneel before You Lord; worshipping You with awe and wonder. Oh Lord, if Your love is so great that it would go to the cross for me, how could I ever question that Your love would ever fail me. It is for this reason that all of my hope is in You and You alone. I do not put my hope in the things of this world, but in Your unfailing love. I trust You Lord. I know Your love for me is the only future I need. It is in the name of Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice proved Your unfailing love, that I pray. Amen.

Next memory verse: Psalm 143:8 NIV
Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way that I should go, for to You I lift up my soul.

I'd love to hear from you, so don't be shy. Leave a thought or a word in the comments below!

Oh God of Second Chances, Here I Come Again

2011-01-27T09:00:00.002-06:00

The story of Samson and Delilah is a familiar one. Samson rules with the power of God, but is tricked by Delilah to tell the source of his strength so that his enemies can capture him.

However, one really can't say Delilah tricked him, but instead we should say that Samson acted the fool. The first time Delilah pried information out of Samson and handed him over to the Philistines, one could say she tricked him. But the 2nd, 3rd and 4th time she repeated the same deceiptful ploy one can only look at Samson and consider him to be foolish. Sure, he was wise enough to not tell her the truth the first 3 times, but even that proves his foolishness for not sending her away after first seeing her deceptive ways.

It seemed Samson was blind to his foolishness. Blinded by fleshly desires and blinded by personal pride.

His foolishness ultimately led to his humiliation and loss of his God given abilities.

Stripped of his God given gifts, he was left with only that which he could do on his own. In this state, Samson was fully aware of who he was without God.

What lengths will God go to show us who He is in us and who we are without Him?

But the story does not end there. In fact, inspite of all of this, Samson is listed as one of the faithful in Hebrews 11:32, along with great men of faith like Moses and Abraham. Why?

Our answer is in Judges 16:28
28 And Samson cried out to God:
Master, God!
Oh, please, look on me again,
Oh, please, give strength yet once more.
God!
With one avenging blow let me be avenged
On the Philistines for my two eyes!

Samson had faith that God would prevail. Through his humbling, Samson's faith grew. Instead of blaming God or holding a personal pity party for what had happened to him, Samson turned to God. We are not told how Samson spent his time in captivity, but his actions in this verse gives us a clue that he spent it in self reflection and repentance.

And so in this moment his faith in God resulted in the victory over the Philistines.

It's never to late to turn to God!

When we stumble in our walk, the enemy wants us to give up. But God wants us to return to Him. It's never too late for us to use the gifts He has given to us for His glory.

Prayer:

Father God, I am nothing without You. All that I am able to do to serve You is done with the skills and abilities given to me by You. Every gift, every ability was given with the sole purpose of glorifying You. Forgive me Lord for the many times I have sought after personal glory using Your gifts. Seek my heart and know that I desire to serve You and only You with the gifts You have given. Thank You Lord, for your grace and patience. Too many times I stumble and lose sight of the wisdom You provide; acting the fool instead. And each time I come with a repentant heart You lift me up and strengthen me once more. Thank You Father. I kneel at Your throne and praise Your name. I am here because of the blood of the lamb. It is in the name of that lamb, Jesus Christ, that I pray. Amen.

Holy, Holy, Holy ~ Lord God Almighty

2011-01-26T09:00:00.002-06:00

Reading through Leviticus, there is a lot of detail about sacrifices, rituals, priests, etc., and I will confess that I was inclinded to skip over a lot of it. But I reminded myself that the goal for reading the Bible in 90 days is to actually READ each chapter and book so that God can reveal more of himself to me.

And so I asked God to show me why I needed to know all of this detail that had nothing to do with my walk with Him today. We don't do those rituals or practice sacrifices anymore.

Soon I began to see how all of this detail emphasized the Holiness of God and the reverence He deserves.

And I began to ask myself, do I truly appreciate the Holiness of God. Do I understand the reverence He truly deserves.

Because salvation eliminates the need for the formalities of the Old Testament, is there a tendency to loose sight of the majesty and glory of God?

Today I challenge you to stop for a moment and consider who God is. And to take some time today to show him ~
Awe
Reverance
Respect
Gratitude

Prayer:
Lord God, I confess that I am prone to get comfortable in my walk with You and see You as an old friend when You are more than words can describe; more than my mind can fathom. By a word You create all that lives and breathes. You are perfection. You are so holy that You cannot even look upon sin. But because of the covering of Christ, I am able to come into Your presence. I confess that I minimize the magnitude of my sin. I fall prostrate to the ground, unworthy of being in Your presence, and humbled that You would provide a way for me to kneel before You. There are not enough words to praise You; not enough hours in a day to sing Your praises. I stand in awe and wonder. I lift my hands to praise You. Hallelujah and Amen.

God Plans for Everything

2011-01-25T09:00:00.006-06:00

Ex 23:29-30 (MSG)

29 I won't get rid of them all at once lest the land grow up in weeds and the wild animals take over. 30 Little by little I'll get them out of there while you have a chance to get your crops going and make the land your own.

What a wonderful example of God knowing what is best. I can only imagine how the Israelites would be inclined to ask God to deliver all of the promised land unto them right away. I'm reminded of the times I have come to the Lord and prayed for things that I felt should happen sooner or faster than they were.

"Hurry Lord, please don't make me wait."

And then when my plea for immediate results are not answered, I come back and cry out to Him, "why is it taking so long Lord. Don't You hear me?!"
This verse reminds me when I am inclined to be impatient that God knows where and how we need to be strengthened and prepared or equipped before He delivers all that He promises me.

Prayer:
Lord God, forgive me when I am impatient and desire immediate satisfaction. I am so thankful that You plan for my sanctification as much as You plan for the victory. I kneel before You today and trust You completely. Give me eyes to see You working in the little things along the way so I can grow stronger in You. In the name of my savior, Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

God Provides Relief when We are Weary

2011-01-24T09:00:00.002-06:00

Exodus 17:11-13 (MSG)
11 It turned out that whenever Moses raised his hands, Israel was winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, Amalek was winning. 12 But Moses' hands got tired. So they got a stone and set it under him. He sat on it and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on each side. So his hands remained steady until the sun went down. 13 Joshua defeated Amalek and its army in battle.

Whenever I grow weary of a task I know God has called me to, I am reminded of this story in scripture.

God provided Moses with the support he needed to fulfill his calling. Moses was called to keep his hands raised, but Aaron and Hur were called to support him. The battle would not have been won without all of them doing their part.

Moses couldn't do it alone.

God calls us to do all kinds of things here on earth, but He never calls us to be the 'heros'. We are a body of believers created to work together.

Are you feeling weary in your God given ministry?

Look around and see if there are people God has called to come along side you to help you 'hold up your hands'. Are there people God has provided to take on some of the work load?
Look around to see if there is a stone God has provided for you to sit and rest on. Maybe God has provided someone to step in and take the lead for a while so you can rest and be refreshed.

Prayer:
Father God, You provide for all things, even the support I need when I am weary. In fact, You plan for that support before I even know I need it. Forgive me Father when I take on the 'hero' attitude and forget to look around for those you have sent to work with me to accomplish Your will for Your glory. Lord, You are my place of rest and my source of refreshing. Thank You. I come to You by the blood of my savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

We Need to Keep in Touch

2011-01-23T22:08:00.001-06:00

As I read the story of Moses going up the mountain for 40 days and returning to see the Israelites worship idols and false gods, I always have the same question; how could they fall away from so quickly?

This time, as I read it again, I saw something new that struck a familiar chord. The Israelites went through Moses to talk to God. They did not have the Holy Spirit or scripture as we do today. It occurred to me that over the course of 40 days, they began to fear Moses was gone and sought things of the world to fill the void. They went back to the ways that were familiar from their time in Egypt.

This brought my thoughts to times when I neglect to spend time at the table reading God's word, praying and seeking to His face. The longer I neglect that time with God, the more I am inclined to default to 'old ways' of the world.

What a wonderful reminder of why it is so important to stay close to God, seeking Him daily so that we are not inclined to default to things that do not honor Him. What a gift we have been given in the Bible and in the Holy Spirit. May we never take it for granted.

Prayer:
Lord, how can I ever thank You for the gift of the cross and all that came with it. The blood of Christ gives me direct access to You so that I can seek Your will and Your way through prayer. Your scripture tells me who You are, who You have been and who You always will be. Forgive me Lord for the times I have taken all of this for granted and neglected to take the time to seek You through Your word and through prayer. Give me a longing to spend time at Your table daily that I cannot deny. In the name of Your Son I come to You in prayer. Amen.

Did You See That? Ya...God Did That!

2011-01-21T09:00:00.007-06:00

I'm struck by a series of chapters in Exodus today, so I'm not posting an actual verse but do take a moment to open your Bible to Exodus and read chapters 15-17.

The Israelites kept finding themselves in need of water and food. Their repeated response was to complain to Moses and compare current circumstances to what they left behind. They would forget the bad part of Egypt and remember only how their physical needs were provided for.

Now God could have provided food and water in abundance for the Israelites as they made their long journey to the promised land, never allowing them to experience thirst or hunger. But He didn't.

And if there is one thing we know ~ God does all things for a reason!

So I pondered this and considered the reasons God would make the Israelites have to seek Him instead of providing for every need in abundance.

1. Because they had to ask for what they needed, they could see it was God that provided it. If it was jus there without asking, it would be taken for granted and God would not be glorified.

I'm reminded that I too am told to seek and ask so that God can provide. Not because God doesn't know what I need, but because God wants me to see Him in all areas of my life.

2. God's way provided for a testimonty (Deuteronomy 5:35). This story of Moses is still told today. It is a testimony of who God is and how He works. These stories are foundational in our christian education.

I am reminded that God has long term vision and we can't get caught up in short term satisfaction! God's way may seem like the hard way at the moment, but it is His testimony that our life will tell in the long run. A testimony that influence the lives of generations to come.

3. God used this time to test and humble the Israelites (Deuteronomy 8:2) If the Israelites were not tested, they would grow proud and lose sight of their need to seek God for all things.

I am reminded that God desires my submission to His will. When I am being tested, it is to keep me humble and always mindful of His authority over me. A prideful heart does not see a need for God. A humble heart gives all glory and Honor to God.

Prayer:

Lord God, I lift my hands and testify that You are the author of my life. You are my healer and my provider. I kneel before You Lord and submit my will to You, seeking only to obey so that You will receive the glory. There is nothing I need that You do not provide. I praise You Lord for all that You have done. I praise You Lord for all that You will do. I praise You Lord for a sacrifice that brought me to full fellowship with You. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

A Pillar of Protection and Light

2011-01-20T09:00:00.004-06:00

Exodus 14: 19-22
Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

Picture it. The Israelites can see the Egyptian army approaching from a distance. They turn to see that they are blocked by the Red Sea with no way to escape the impending battle.

One can only imagine the fear that would consume the Israelites as they realized their vulnerable position.

And then...

Yes, then the angel of the Lord comes between the Egyptians and the Israelites.

I wonder if the Israelites felt immediate peace and comfort of safety? Maybe, maybe not, but this is not the end of our story.

As the Egyptians are put into darkness, blinded to the working of God on the other side of the pillar of smoke, the Israelites are given light to see the working of God as He parts the waters of the Red Sea.

And this went on 'all night long' (vs20 and verse 21 also says "and all that night the Lord drove the sea back..."). God could have parted those waters with just a word if He wanted to, but instead He took this time to accomplish His plan all while providing protection for His people.

I'm reminded how much time God has spent working in my life and how during some of the rebellious times and even the times before I came to know Him, He provided me protection from harm. He stood between me and the enemy while He gave me the time needed to be enlightened and see the clear path He has put before me.

The Israelites had the fire from the pillar to shed light in the darkness of night so they could see God work.
They saw the that God was providing a way out, and rested in the hope of God.

The Egyptians were blinded to the working of God because the pillar was smoke on their side.
They were clueless to what God was doing and this led them to charge right into danger and their ultimate demise.

What a great visual of how, as believers, we must remember that the light of God will lead us in ways the world will not understand. We are to rest in the hope of His unfailing love and not be distracted by the ways of the world. When God says 'do this' but the world says 'that doesn't make sense...you should do this instead', we must remember that

the world cannot see the things of God

and we have been given the light of Christ

so that we can know the truth.

Prayer:
Father God, I am reminded today of how You have protected me from my enemies. Thank You for the times You have come between me and the enemy to give me time to find my way. Forgive me for the times I have been distracted by the ways of the world, seeking advice or guidance from those who walk in darkness. Thank You Lord for the sacrifice of Your son so that I may walk in His light. Lord, I am mindful of those around me that still walk in darkness and lift them up to You this day. Oh Lord, draw them near to You so that they may see Your light and draw near to You. Lord, You provide for me a clear path and show it to me through the light of Your word. Make my heart ready to follow. It's in the name of Christ that I pray. Amen.

Stand Firm and Be Still

2011-01-19T09:00:00.002-06:00

Exodus 14: 13-14
"Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."

This is not the first time I have reflected on how sometimes the right response is to just be still. One of my favorite verses is Psalm 46:10 where God tell us to cease striving or be still and just know that He is God!

Being still could be seen as a passive response to a situation. I'm reminded of my teenage boys who have been known on occassion to sit quietly in a room, ignoring the fact that there was work to be done around them. That kind of 'being still' is just laziness and not what God is telling His people in this verse. This is not God telling His people to twiddle their thumbs while He does all the work.

This is emphasized by the first part of the scripture where it says "stand firm".

"Stand firm and you will see!"

When I paused on this verse I was struck by the image of one that stands firm in the word of God, not moving from the convictions of his faith.

I am reminded to be grounded in my faith. To know what God's word says and to stand firm in that word.

I must come to His table daily and be fed with scripture so that I can stand firm in my beliefs. Otherwise I will be blown here and there by people's opinions or conflicting information thrust upon me by others.

Stand firm. Be still.

Not a passive act at all, but a strong act of faith and trust in God.

Prayer:
Lord, You are my firm foundation. In You I can stand firm. Away from you I falter. In You I can be still. Away from You I am constantly moving and seeking that which I can only find in You. Forgive me Lord for the times I have wondered from what I know to be true. Thank You Lord, for never changing so that I can stand firm in You. Even to the cross You remained steady and true to Your word. You fought for me even to the cross. I stand firm in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

That Generations Will Know HE is LORD

2011-01-18T09:00:00.003-06:00

Exodus 10:1-2
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly wiht the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord."

Short and sweet today ~ It's not all about the here and now. It's not all about me / us.

God had a reason for hardening Pharaoh's heart:

Prove to all who He is
Establish His authority for future generations

When my present circumstances are not what I'd like them to be, what do my children see?

A whiner and complainer OR a prayerful seeker of Christ?

When my circumstances are improved, what do my children see?

A blind eye to the working of God OR a grateful heart praising God?

What story is God working out in our lives today so that our children and grandchildren will know that He is Lord?

Today's verse is a great reminder for us to respond in all circumstances with a heart that honors God so that generations to come will be drawn to Him by what they saw in us.

Prayer:
Lord God, I confess that I have failed You at times with a 'what's in it for me' response. Forgive me for focusing only on the here and now and give me eyes to see that what may be hard now is for Your glory later. I want to honor You Lord with my responses and my actions. I do not want to be a stumbling block for my children and my children's children. When others saw an innocent man on the cross, You saw eternity with me. Oh that I would have the heart of Christ, willing to endure now for the blessing of Your kingdom throughout eternity. I come to You Lord, in the name of Christ. Amen.

For or Against?

2011-01-17T09:00:00.004-06:00

While I'm up to date with the reading plan, I'm a little behind (ok...a LOT) behind with blogging what I've read, but instead of jumping up to where I am in the Bible, I'm going to post from some past notes.
Genesis 42:36 (the very last sentence as spoken by Jacob) ~ "Everything is against me!"

Sound familiar? Or am I the only one that has echoed these words of Jacob over the course of a lifetime?

I'll confess it...I too have lamented over hard times thinking 'everything was against me'!

But the thing I have learned as I have grown up in my salvation is that God is never against me and even circumstances that seem 'unfair' or hopeless are actually for my own good.

Let's consider Jacob's situation. First a little background:

He believes his favorite son, Joseph was eaten by wild animals (actually...he was sold into slavery by his brothers out of jealousy)
They are experiencing a severe famine, so he sent all of his sons (except his youngest, Benjamin) to Egypt to get food. He held Benjamin back because he could not bear to lose the only full brother of Joseph.
They come back to tell him that the 'lord of the land' has taken one of the brothers (Simeon) hostage until they all return with the youngest brother.
Upon seeing the silver they had given the 'lord of the land' in payment for the food they had brought back still in their pouches, he now fears that it will be seen as theft and Simeon will be killed.
Now they want to take Benjamin back to Egypt, but this is too much for Jacob and he refuses.

Jacob laments that everything is against him. The brothers are lamenting that this is all happening because of the sin they committed against Joseph. None of them realize that the 'lord of the land' is Joseph.

Jump ahead to Genesis 45: 4-8 where Joseph has revealed his true identity to his family. In verses 7-8 he says:
But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on eatrh and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God...

God had a plan.

God always has a plan.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have 20/20 hindsight vision so we could see now what our challenges and circumstances are 'good' for in the future?

I propose that it is even MORE WONDERFUL to have 20/20 vision into the heart of God and trust that every moment of our lives is in His hands and He has a plan that we can trust for the future.

Jacob and his family would have perished in the famine if the full story of Joseph had not played out. I wonder if Jacob later exclaimed 'nothing is against me because God is always for me!' when he saw the full story revealed?

I long to have this 20/20 vision each time I am tempted to cry out 'everything is against me'.

In fact, in Genesis 43 we see that initially Jacob would not let the brothers take Benjamin to Egypt out of fear of what might happen to him. The scripture tells us that they could have come and gone twice before Jacob was finally forced by the circumstances of the famine to give in and send Benjamin.

Because he was 'afraid', he missed out on being reunited with Joseph that much sooner. And his son Simeon was held captive that much longer, suffering the consequences of his father's fearful response.

How often do we hold back from God's will and leading because of fear? How many days, months or years do we miss what God has planned for us when we hold back in fear?

How many times do we have to look back and see what God has done before we learn to trust God in the moment more than we fear the future?

Prayer:
Father God, thank You for the testimony of Your word that reminds us how much You are with us even when circumstances seem to say otherwise. Forgive me for the times I have lost sight of this and lamented that 'everything was against me'. Keep me mindful that YOU are my everything. I find great comfort in knowing that even when I don't understand the challenges I go through or the circumstances I face, I know You are working out a plan for a greater good than what I can see for today. Thank You Lord, for planning a future for me that includes intimate fellowship with You. Each experience draws me closer. And I am here today, at Your feet, because of the One You sent to shed His blood for my sins. It is in His name I pray. Amen.

Memory Verse 1 ~ Listen and Respond

2011-01-16T18:03:00.002-06:00

I have committed to memorizing 2 verses a month, so twice a month I'll share the verse I just memorized, how it spoke to me and the the verse I am memorizing next. I'd love for you to join me, memorizing whatever verses God lays on your heart. Share your verses in the comments section and we can inspire each other with God's words!

1 Samuel 3:9 ~ And if He calls say, "Speak, Lord, Your servant is listening"

I love that I can type that verse without stopping to look up the scripture reference! *grin*

Today I have committed to memorizing the second verse for this year, but wanted to share how God has used this first verse in my thoughts as I rehearsed it day after day for the last 2 weeks.

Listen.

Actively listen to be exact.

I am such a driven personality type that I can easily get ahead of myself at times. When I get excited about something, it's not ready, set, go...but GO!

As I wrote this verse in my journal day after day, it soon became like a song in my head that I couldn't get rid of. But unlike an annoying song you can't stop singing, this verse calmed me and gave me focus.

Your servant is listening.

How can I obey if I am not listening?

I was reminded of how I trained my children to come to me when they were toddlers. If I called their name and they did not come immediately, we would 'practice' listening and coming for the next 5 minutes. Practice meant I would put them in the place they were playing when they failed to come the first time I called them and then I would go to different rooms in the home and call them with the expectation that they would come when they heard me call their name.

I only had to 'practice' with each child at that age a few times before they understood what it meant to hear momma's voice and what it meant to respond to momma's voice. They were not punished for not hearing me the first time, but were trained to do better the next time.

So as this memory verse repeated in my head over the last 2 weeks, I was reminded of the times I did not respond to God calling me and that He never stops calling. I've just been learning how to recognize His voice better and better all these years.

I was reminded again of my toddlers in training and how usually the reason they did not come the first time I called them was because they chose to ignore me and continue doing what was right in front of them because it was 'more fun'.

Do I really need to say more about that! Oh...how many times did God call me to 'come' and I chose to ignore Him because I was having fun right where I was or thought another plan looked more exciting.

I firmly believe that God puts lessons, people and verses in front of us for a purpose. That when we come to His table daily to feed on His word , He is feeding us what we will need to be prepared for what is coming. Prepared to recognize His hand, His leading and respond to His calling.

So speak Lord, Your servant is listening. I will hear when You call my name and I will respond.

The verse I am committing to memory for the next 2 weeks is:
Psalm 147: 10-11
His pleasure is not in the stregth of horses, nor His delight in the legs of a man; the Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.

Are you commiting His word to memory this week? I'd love to know what word God has laid on your heart and would love to pray for you as you commit it to memory ~ just leave a note in the comments section!

A Long Term Birthright is More Valuable than Short Term Satisfaction

2011-01-12T09:00:00.002-06:00

Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright. ~ Genesis 25:34

I can't help but wonder if Esau really grasped what he was giving up at this point in his life.

As one who is born again by the blood of Christ, what is your birthright? Do you know what it is? Do you value it?

Maybe a better question is "do you value your birthright as a Christian more than you value worldly goods?"

I read this once in a devotional by Os Hillman:

"Why would Esau take his birthright so lightly? Because he did not understand its value. Every day countless men and women exchange their birthrights for worldly goods, because they see what the world has to offer as more valuable than what God might offer."

This comment reminds me of another favorite verse of warning:

2 Corinthians 11:3 ~ I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
Have you ever wondered to yourself…how could Eve have been so foolish? Maybe your mind has even dared to wander to that day in the garden and thought 'how could Eve have been so easily deceived? I mean, she was there, walking and talking with the Lord every single day.'

Paul is warning us in Corinthians to consider that if Eve could be deceived by the cunning of the enemy, so too could we. And just as Esau's decision to satisfy a temporary hunger over a long term birthright, when we choose instant satisfaction over obedience to God's will, we are letting ourselves be deceived by the cunning of the enemy.

Eve had a perfect relationship with God. They walked and talked together in the garden. I am sure she treasured the time with Him. And yet, she could be deceived. Paul is warning us that no matter how devoted we are, no matter how strong we feel we are in our faith, no matter how pure our intentions are to walk with the Lord daily, we can be deceived. The enemy is cunning.

Esau let his desire for instant gratification of the flesh take over good judgement in his life. He did not value his birthright and fell prey to deception. He was driven by short term satisfaction over long term blessings.

Sounds like Esau would have fit right into our fast food mentality today!

Paul warns us to not let our desire for instant gratification of the flesh take over our good judgment.

We must value the birthright we are given.

Because we are born again in the newness of Christ we are given:

access to the throne of God where we can pray and seek all we need.
wisdom and understanding of His word as written in scripture
freedom from guilt of sin
a purpose in life
a home in heaven for all of eternity

And so Esau has reminded me today that I need to value and treasure this birthright I have been given. What do you treasure most about the birthright you have been given?

Prayer:
Lord God, I confess that there are times I take for granted the birthright I have been given as a child of Yours. Forgive me for the times when I fail to recognize the full value of all that a life in You offers. I come to You now, humbly bowing before You with a heart of praise and gratitude, acknowledging You as my Father and giver of life. Thank You God for giving me access to Your thrown through the blood of Your Son. Thank You Lord for giving me access to your wisdom and guidance through Your Holy Word. Thank You Lord for the redemption given to me at a great cost on the cross. Thank You God for a life that has purpose and meaning when lived according to Your will. And thank You Lord for the hope and assurance of an eternity to be spent with You in heaven. Keep my ever mindful of all that my birthright offers and protect me from being deceived by worldly desires or short term satisfaction. It's in the name of Jesus Christ that I pray. Amen.

Bizarre Obedience Is Blessed

2011-01-11T09:00:00.003-06:00

Gen 22:1-18 (MSG)

1 After all this, God tested Abraham. God said, "Abraham!"

"Yes?" answered Abraham. "I'm listening."

2 He said, "Take your dear son Isaac whom you love and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I'll point out to you."

3 Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants and his son Isaac. He had split wood for the burnt offering. He set out for the place God had directed him. 4 On the third day he looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 Abraham told his two young servants, "Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I are going over there to worship; then we'll come back to you."

6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and gave it to Isaac his son to carry. He carried the flint and the knife. The two of them went off together.

7 Isaac said to Abraham his father, "Father?"

"Yes, my son."

"We have flint and wood, but where's the sheep for the burnt offering?"

8 Abraham said, "Son, God will see to it that there's a sheep for the burnt offering." And they kept on walking together.

9 They arrived at the place to which God had directed him. Abraham built an altar. He laid out the wood. Then he tied up Isaac and laid him on the wood. 10 Abraham reached out and took the knife to kill his son.

11 Just then an angel of God called to him out of Heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"

"Yes, I'm listening."

12 "Don't lay a hand on that boy! Don't touch him! Now I know how fearlessly you fear God; you didn't hesitate to place your son, your dear son, on the altar for me."

13 Abraham looked up. He saw a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. Abraham took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

14 Abraham named that place God-Yireh (God-Sees-to-It). That's where we get the saying, "On the mountain of God, he sees to it."

15 The angel of God spoke from Heaven a second time to Abraham: 16 "I swear—God's sure word!—because you have gone through with this, and have not refused to give me your son, your dear, dear son, 17 I'll bless you—oh, how I'll bless you! And I'll make sure that your children flourish—like stars in the sky! like sand on the beaches! And your descendants will defeat their enemies. 18 All nations on Earth will find themselves blessed through your descendants because you obeyed me."

God proclaimed His pleasure in these words... "BECAUSE YOU OBEYED ME!"

What a test God sent both Abraham and Isaac through! Each time I read this part of history I am struck not just by Abraham's obedience, but Isaac's as well. A young man that appeared to not put up a fight when his father began to bind him up for the sacrificial offering. Complete obedience.

Both had to be so close to God that they would not question this bizarre expectation but just trust God's plans beyond any human thought or concern they could have had.

Abraham told his servants as he prepared to take Isaac to worship "WE'LL come back to you."

Abraham trusted the promises of God so completely that he never doubted God had a plan beyond what he could see or understand.

We know Abraham didn't always have such blind trust. I'm reminded of the times he lied about Sarah being his wife to protect himself in dangerous situations. But it was God's ultimate provisions and protection in those situations that taught Abraham to trust God completely, even when it did not make sense. And let's not forget the amazing circumstances around Isaac's birth.

And Isaac was raised with these stories and learned from his father how God is to be completely trusted in all things. He was taught by example that submission to God's will is what is expected.

So as he submitted to his father, Abraham, was it the words "Son, God will see to it that there's a sheep for the burnt offering." his father had spoken earlier that gave him the complete trust that God had a plan beyond what his immediate circumstances indicated?

As I read this part of history, I am reminded to consider and reflect on all that God has done in my life to show me how I can trust Him in even the most bizarre circumstances. And I am reminded that as I read through His word in the next 3 months, the intimacy of our relationship will increase daily. Intimacy that will strengthen my ability to respond to Him with complete obedience, even when it doesn't make sense.

Food for our soul. His word is the food that strengthens us to do 'the bizarre' when 'the normal' is what the world tells us to do.

If we pull back and do the safe thing (the norman thing the world would expect), we miss out on the last part of our featured scripture:
All nations on Earth will find themselves blessed through your descendants because you obeyed Me."

God proclaimed His pleasure with Abraham's obedience. Oh...to hear such a proclamation from God on my life!

Prayer:
Father God, what a joy it is to know You are pleased when we obey You. Thank You Lord for Your eternal patience and mercy as I learn to obey You more instinctively day by day. Thank You for the life lessons that teach me how to obey You completely. Seek my heart and know that I desire to honor You with the obedience of Abraham; to not question Your will but to trust Your plan. I long to hear You say "because you obeyed Me...". I seek Your will and Your way at Your feet. A place I am blessed to kneel because of a sacrifice made on my behalf at the cross. It is in the name of that sacrificial lamb, Jesus Christ, that I pray. Amen.

Lift Up Your Eyes

2011-01-10T16:20:00.003-06:00

Genesis 13:14 ~ The Lord said “Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north, south, east and west. All that you see I will give to you and your offspring.”

Lift up your eyes from where you are!

When life is not perfect, how often do we get tunnel vision and only see what is right before us?

• We see only the challenges of the moment.

• We see only our difficult situation.

• We see only a hum drum life with no future.

• We see only our personal failures.

When we don’t take this word God gave to Abram and apply it to our lives what do we miss?

• We see only the challenges of the moment, NOT the refining work God is doing in us for future victories.

• We see only our difficult situation NOT those around us that need more than we need and miss the opportunity to fill that need.

• We see only a hum drum life with no future, NOT the gifts of the moment that God is gracing us with so that we can use them to His glory and be given others in the future.

• We see only our personal failures, NOT God showing us a better way to victory.

God’s word to Abram here reminded me that I need to always be looking up. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to trust in the Lord in all our ways and acknowledge Him.

I’ve shared in the past that the word acknowledge means we must always be seeking His face, acknowledging His presence in our lives.

I love how God’s word here reminds me once again to look up and see what God wants me to see and to see His promises for a future.

Prayer
Father God, You see me. You know my name. Help me to see You in everything I do, in every situation I am in, in every challenge and in every victory. I want to see You. I want to know You. Thank You for the gift of Your word that gives me insight to who You are and all that it means to me and my life. Thank You for the gift of the cross so that I can have intimate fellowship with You! I’m looking up Lord. Keep my eyes on You. It is in the name of the one that went to the cross that I pray; Your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Looking Out for #1

2011-01-05T20:39:00.002-06:00

Genesis 13:8-11 Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have fighting between us, between your shepherds and my shepherds. After all, we're family. 9 Look around. Isn't there plenty of land out there? Let's separate. If you go left, I'll go right; if you go right, I'll go left." 10 Lot looked. He saw the whole plain of the Jordan spread out, well watered (this was before GOD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah), like GOD's garden, like Egypt, and stretching all the way to Zoar. 11 Lot took the whole plain of the Jordan. Lot set out to the east. (MSG)

I was struck by this verse with Abram’s faith and trust that God will take care of him. He is the elder here, and yet he tells Lot to take first pick of the land and he will take what is left.

Of course, Lot looks around and takes the land that looks the greenest and most fertile. The takes the best and leaves what’s left for Abram. Lot’s natural response to such a choice is to look out for himself first.
And yet, scripture tells us that God is our provider.

We know these this, but do we live this? How often is our first response in life the same as Lot’s. Society encourages it with a ‘look out for #1’ culture. But a Christian world view is all about looking after others.

When my children were young, one of the things I would tell them over and over (whenever selfish tendencies would rear its ugly head!) is that God designed families to look out for each other, putting others first for a reason. Then I'd do the ‘math’ with them.

You can look out for yourself and only yourself and you’ll have 1 (ONE) person looking out for your best interest. OR…

You can look out for your brothers and sister, putting them first above yourself and you will have 3 (THREE) people looking out for your best interest.

It’s simple math…three is always better than one!

The fact that I had to repeat that little math lesson over and over tells you that sin nature to 'look out for number 1' was a recurring battle…as it is with all of us.

As we grow closer and closer to God, learning to lean on Him in all things, it gets easier to put others first. It becomes our new natural response.

Abram’s response reminded me of that today. No need to fight to get the best for ourselves. God is our provider. He always gives what is best for us.

In the end, Lot’s ‘me, myself and I’ response to pick the best for himself backfired as he chose the land that was filled with sin and was ultimately destroyed and he ended up living out the rest of his life in a cave! I’m thinking that wouldn’t have been his first choice if He could have seen into the future!

And I’ll close with that. How often do we make choices without seeking God first. The scripture doesn’t indicate that Lot sought God for his first choice. When we leave God out of our decisions, we often choose what ‘looks good’ TO us but ultimately is not good FOR us. God knows the plans He has for us (Jeremiah 29:11), so I’m reminded here to not leave God out of choosing what’s best for my life steps.

Prayer:

Lord God, my creator and provider. Thank You for the words in scripture You wrote so that I can know the way to go. Thank You for being the same today, yesterday and tomorrow so that what was written from the beginning is applicable to us today. You don’t change who You are to fit the changing world or to adjust to changing world views. You are constant. In You I can trust to always hold true. In You I can find the right way. Forgive me for the times I have struck out on my own, making decisions without consulting You. Thank You for always being there when I finally realize I need to come back to Jesus and try again…the right way. Your Word is the light to my path. And it is because of the blood of Jesus Christ I am able to find wisdom in Your words. It is in His name I pray. Amen.

Shut in and Sealed

2011-01-04T09:00:00.001-06:00

I was reading my first section for Reading the Bible in 90 Days and came to this:

Genesis 7:16 "....and then the Lord shut him in."

I was led to pause after those words and the following was impressed on my thoughts.

These are the closing words following the story of Noah building the ark, filling it with all of the creatures of the earth, food for those creatures, food for him and for his family that were also loaded onto the ark. "And then the Lord shut him in."

Up to this point God had told Noah exactly how to build the ark, but Noah had to obey and do the work. When the danger he had been warned about came upon him, Noah had his place of refuge. (Psalm 31:1-2)

When Noah needed to find security and safety in that place of refuge though, all he had to do was follow the path God laid before him, into the ark and the 'THE LORD SHUT HIM IN'. He sealed Noah in and provided complete protection.

I was struck at how this mirrors our walk with Christ. God tells us how to receive salvation, how to come into fellowship with Him and find refuge, but we must obey and do the 'work' required. Not 'works' to earn our salvation but 'the work' of obedience. 'The work' of coming to Him with a repentant heart and submitting our life to His will. We must obey and then we are sealed with the blood of Christ.

Just as God was very specific in His instruction for Noah in building the ark that would provide him a place of refuge, God is very specific in His instruction for us to find redemption and refuge in fellowship with Him. I'm so glad He made it so clear that all I had to do was obey.

Prayer:

Father God, You are my rock, my refuge, my shelter in the storm. You give me peace when peace cannot be found. You opened the door, I entered and you shut me in. Though storms may come and flood waters may rise around me, I am shut in by Your redeeming love. I am safe. I live. Thank You Lord for Your perfect plan of redemption. Thank You Lord for shutting me in. I am safe in the arms of the one that went to the cross for me. And it is in His name I pray. Amen.

Mary's Song / My Prayer

2011-01-03T09:00:00.001-06:00

[This is the eighth and final devotional thought in a series devotionals exploring and learning from Mary's walk with God as written in the book of Luke. First post is found HERE.Second post is found HERE Third post is found HERE. Fourth post is found HERE. Fifth post is found HERE. Sixth post if found HERE. Seventh post is found HERE. The entire series can be found HERE ]

This final devotional thought is not over a specific verse, but a concluding thought on how Mary's walk with God truly reflects the walk we are called to as well.

I have a heart for music and I love to sing to and for God. So it is no surprise that there is a song that I love to sing that conveys all that this series means. It's a song you only hear sung in December, but one that I sing to myself throughout the year.

The verses and chorus are a prayer Mary might have sung on her walk with God as she carried His Son, but they speak to me as well. As a christian who has accepted Christ and carries His name where ever I go, the words of this song reflect a prayer I might lift up on any given day.

Today, I offer you the words of this song to consider for yourself as a personal prayer all year long. I've written the lyrics in plain type and my personalized prayer version in italics. I urge you to fill in the italicized words with a personalized version between you and God today as well.
Mary's Song (Breath of Heaven) / My Prayer
[songwriting credits: Chris Eaton and Amy Grant]

I have traveled, many moonless nights.
Cold and weary, with a babe inside.
And I wonder, what I've done.
Holy Father, You have come
And chosen me now,
To carry Your son.

Lord, I traveled in the dark for so long. When I was cold and weary, I fell to my knees and You picked me up. I realize how my sins were an abomination to You and I can't help but wonder what I ever did to deserve Your grace and mercy. I know that I could do nothing, but by simply choosing to submit to You, You chose me to carry Your name into the world.

I am waiting, in a silent prayer.
I am frightened, by the load I bear.
In a world as cold as stone.
Must I walk this path alone.
Be with me now.
Be with me now.

Lord, I come to You daily, constantly, in silent prayer, seeking Your guidance, help, support, comfort, healing; the list is long. I confess that there are times I am fearful, even though Your word tells me that You do not bring me a spirit of fear but of sound mind. I desire to walk the path You set before me and to uphold Your word in my life, but this world is often cold towards Your ways and I can feel so alone. Thank You that I am reminded in Your Word and in prayer that I am never alone. You are always with me. I walk in Your strength.

Do You wonder, as You watch my face
If a wiser one, should have had my place
But I offer all I am
For the mercy of Your plan
Help me be strong
Help me be
Help me

Lord, as You watch me day by day, I know You see when I stumble. The enemy wants to take those moments and give me reason to question whether I can even be used by You. Forgive me Lord when I doubt. I submit my all to You, recognizing that it is not my strength, talents or wisdom that fufill Your plans for Your kingdom, but in my weakness, You are strong. When I let go of me, a can be all You created me to be. When I can't...YOU CAN.

CHORUS:
Breath of Heaven
Hold me together
Be forever near me
Breath of Heaven

Breath of Heaven
Lighten my darkness
Pour over me Your holiness
Breath of Heaven

Lord, pour out your Spirit over me. When I am falling apart, hold me together. Thank You Lord for the gift of the Holy Spirit to be near me here on earth. When I am lost, You lighten my way. When I feel surrounded by darkness, You are my light. I cannot be perfect or holy in myself, but pour out Your Spirit on me and I walk in Your holiness. Because of Your sacrificial act on the cross, Your holiness is poured over me and I can come before You in prayer. I can seek You and build a deeper relationship with You. I come to You in the name of the one who went to the cross, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Two Things...and an Invitation to Join Me!

2011-01-01T11:34:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd share 2 things I decided to do new in 2011.

1. I've committed to a year of memorizing 2 scriptures a month with Beth Moore over at her blog:
The LPM Blog. I don't think it is too late to join in...so hop over real quick and join in the excitement.

If you make the same decision, I'd love to know so we can share verses together on this blog too! Just leave a comment with your verse.

My verse for the first 2 week period was selected because of a strong calling of change I know God is stirring up in my life right now. So I'm memorizing 1 Samuel 3:9 "...and if He calls you, say "Speak, Lord, Your servant is listening"

2. I signed up for an online version of reading the Bible in 90 Days! Yep. My friend Cindy may be falling out of her chair if she is reading this. She has been leading these classes for years and has encouraged me to do one forever. So now I am. I like this online version because we all know I am a recluse at heart *grin* and the accountability they have built in via their blog, assigned mentors and twitter sounds like my cup of tea.

If you'd like to join, there is a button on the right side of my blog (scroll down and you'll find it eventually), or just CLICK HERE to find the link.

It all starts on January 3rd...and I don't think it is too late to sign up. AGAIN...if you decide to join in, let me know so we can encourage one another!

So those are my 2 things for today. HAPPY NEW YEAR! May your year be filled with opportunities to give you best for HIS GLORY!

Ponder and Treasure Who He Is

2010-12-31T09:00:00.022-06:00

[This is the seventh in a series devotionals of exploring and learning from Mary's walk with God as written in the book of Luke. First post is found HERE. Second post is found HERE Third post is found HERE. Fourth post is found HERE. Fifth post is found HERE. Sixth is found HERE.]

Luke 2:19 (MSG)

19 Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself.

The NIV version says '...Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.'

The word used for 'kept or treasured up' in this verse is

syntereo. It means to treasure up / preserve in memory.

There isn't a single mother that can't relate to that word! Today Mary would have started a photo album. You know the kind. Not just an album filled with pictures, but lovingly designed with borders, stamps, stickers, journaled thoughts and memories, etc.!

Can you imagine what that memory album would have looked like. Not only was she preserving in memory the birth of her first born (don't you know they always get the best one!), but she was preserving the memory of the birth of our Savior, the Son of God. Are there enough stickers, stamps and decorative paper to properly commemorate this memory?

I wonder what thoughts Mary had that blessed night?

Hope... this is the Son of God. The promised One that will fulfill prophesy and is our hope for the future.
Wonder... how can this little child with 10 tiny finger and 10 tiny toes be Emmanuel ~ God with us? Such an ordinary infant in my arms that brings extraordinary things.
Amazement... angels have provided my child's birth announcement. Strangers are coming to adore Him. I'm a simple servant, holding and comforting this King of Kings.

Take a moment and pause over this simple verse today. What can we learn from Mary's response to having just given birth to the Christ child?

If you have submitted your heart and soul to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords
~ you have much to ponder.

If you have come to the realization that as a sinner you fall short of being able to come before the throne of God, but by believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus your sins are wash clean and you are welcomed before His throne
~ you have much to ponder.

We capture moments in our lives all the time. We treasure them in albums of all kinds; births, graduations, weddings, anniversaries, milestones, etc. How much more so should we treasure the moments in our lives that represent the working of God.

So take that moment to ponder today's verse from this perspective. What are the God moments in my life? Not just the 'big' things that cause you to say 'that was a God thing', but all things. What has God refined in you over the last year, 2 years, 10 years, etc. Sometimes those things take time and if we don't stop to ponder them and treasure the memory of them we miss the joy of seeing His work.

What were you doing this time last year or any other year in the past? Were you seeking help for something? Were you being tossed in a storm? Were you battling a stronghold in your life?

Ponder those memories and see how God has refined you through those circumstances and situations. Treasure those memories today.

How about today? As we recognize God's refining work in our past, we can look at our circumstances and situations with a brand new perspective. If we can't see how He has worked in the past, we can't see how He is going to work in the present / future.

So take a moment today and ponder today.

What would your memory album be filled with?

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, what a loving Father You are. As I ponder all that You have done in me and for me since I came to know You, my heart swells with joy. If I were to create a memory album of all I treasure in my heart, it would show the good times as well as the hard times. And on each page I would journal the words 'thank You'. Thank You for first loving me before I even knew how to love You. Thank You for the days, months, years and seasons when You took me on a journey that brought pain, heartbreak, angst and frustration, so I could learn to love You more and more. Thank You for all of the victories at the end of a refining battle. Thank You for never giving up on me. Most of all, thank You for the cross and the resurrection of Your Son. In His name I am given access to You today. Amen.

Just Do the Next Thing ~ God Has a Plan

2010-12-30T12:29:00.000-06:00

[This is the sixth in a series devotionals of exploring and learning from Mary's walk with God as written in the book of Luke. First post is found HERE.Second post is found HERE Third post is found HERE. Fourth post is found HERE. Fifth post is found HERE.]

Luke 2:1-7 (MSG)

1 About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. 2 This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. 4 So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David's town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. 5 He went with Mary, his fianc-e, who was pregnant.

6 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.

God's plan isn't always going to look like a well thought out, perfectly orchestrated journey. At least not from our point of view as we begin taking the steps as He directs them. Looking back, we can see how it WAS perfectly orchestrated and very well thought out, but we never go into with 20/20 hindsight vision. The key is to not question His plan and just do it! Even when it doesn't make sense.

That, and do it with the right attitude. God asks us to obey from the inside out. Obedience with a grumbling heart is not pure, submitted obedience.

Mary's lesson today is just this ~ just do the next thing and do it without complaining. As far as we can tell from scripture, Mary never complained or grumbled when she was faced with the following conditions of her journey:

travel to Bethlehem in her final month of pregancy.
no hotel reservation held for her
not only did she give birth in a stable, she slept and recovered in a stable after the labor (this means a bed of hay)
no family around. no mid-wife. just her and Joseph.

I think back to the times I have been expecting and how I worked so hard to make it a perfect time so that we could enjoy the event and celebrate the joyous occassion with family and friends. Oh the plans to make things just right. This is what we do for the birth of our own children. Think of the plans made to bring a person of royalty into this world.

Here is my imagined 'earthly' response one might have if they were called to bring the King of Kings into the world under the conditions described in Luke:

travel to Bethlehem in her final month of pregancy.

Really Lord? Do you know how exhausting this is going to be carrying all of this weight around? I'm working really hard for You here Lord...how about a little help here, like a caravan that will allow me to travel in a little luxury?

no hotel reservation held for her

Lord, you knew I was going to deliver during this time. Surely you could have held a room for us. Plus we have all of these people coming to see You. A suite would have been really nice.

not only did she give birth in a stable, she slept and recovered in a stable after the labor (this means a bed of hay)

Lord, I'm not one to complain, but as You know, giving birth is painful. This would have been so much easier on me if you could have provided a room with a bed. A bath tub would have been nice too. Again, not complaining Lord, but don't you think the Son of God deserves better accomodations too?

no family around. no mid-wife. just her and Joseph.

If we could have done this at home, I had such great plans for the arrival of Your Son. The layette was ready, a shower was planned and I had lined up the perfect mid-wife to make sure it all went well.

Of course, this is a 21st century version of a worldly 'imagined' response to the conditions of Christ's birth, but it makes me mindful of how I might be tempted to respond to what God calls me to do today, in the 21st century, with our presumed expectations of grandeur and notoriety when doing great work.

Despite the dreadful conditions of Christ's birth, God's will was carried out perfectly and God was perfectly glorified. Not as we would have planned it but as He had planned it. PERFECTLY.

So what about God's plan for us today? Are we looking for perfectly laid out plans that make sense to us and have obvious 'God glorifying' results? Or are we simply submitting, doing the next obvious thing, without questioning the 'plan'?

Mary was told to travel to Bethlehem in her late pregancy condition.
She just did it.
Mary was told she would have to stay in a barn.
She just did it.
Mary had only a manger to lay her child, the Son of God, into.
She just did it.

Just do it.
Whatever God is calling you to, just do it.

Serving God may mean:

serving in less than desirable conditions
a longer trip than planned
hard work
humbling circumstances

But we can be assured that no matter the conditions or circumstances our calling comes in or from, when we 'just do it' God will be glorified.

No grumbling. Just do the next thing and see God's plan for you bring Him more glory than you could ever imagine.

Prayer:
Lord God, as I consider how Your will was played out in the birth of Christ, I am humbled. How many times Lord, have I formulated great plans to bring You glory by doing this or that for You? How many times have I miss stepped because I questioned the reasonability of the obvious next step and adjusted it to something that made much more sense in my mind? Forgive me Lord for the times I have brought my worldly expectations to Your Godly plan. Thank You Lord for never shutting the door and always giving me another opportunity to walk the path that brings me straight to You. Forgive me Lord when I have grumbled and complained along the way. Thank You Lord, for those hard walks down Your path that have drawn me closer and closer to You. Lord, show me the next thing. Give me eyes to see the next step. Give me a heart that responds with obedience. Lord, I want to just do the next thing for You and watch the Glory of Your will play out in my life. I do not ask for 20/20 hindsight vision Lord. There is more joy and peace in trusting you blindly than in seeing the beginning from the end. Thank You Lord for the sacrifice of Your Son that allows me to walk in that peace and joy with You. Amen.

A Heart Made Ready for His Will and His Glory

2010-12-17T09:00:00.002-06:00

[This is the fifth in a series devotionals of exploring and learning from Mary's walk with God as written in the book of Luke. First post is found HERE.Second post is found HERE Third post is found HERE. Fourth post is found HERE]

Luke 1:;46-55

Mary’s Hymn of Praise

And Mary said, “My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has begun to rejoice in God my Savior, because he has looked upon the humble state of his servant. For from now on all generations will call me blessed, because he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name; from generation to generation he is merciful to those who fear him.

He has demonstrated power with his arm; he has scattered those whose pride wells up from the sheer arrogance of their hearts.

He has brought down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up those of lowly position; he has filled the hungry with good things, and has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel, remembering his mercy, as he promised to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

Before moving on through Luke, there is another lesson I have gleened from Mary's Hymn of Praise. It's really a reinforcement of a lesson learned in by watching how she first responded to the word she received of her calling, as we explored in our earlier sessions. Why Mary?

In verse 48 we see God sought a humble heart:
"because he has looked upon the humble state of his servant. For from now on all generations will call me blessed,"

In verse 49 we see God sought a heart that recognizes the perfect work He has done:
"because he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name;"

And in verses 50-55 we see God sought a heart that held tight to His word and knowledge of His word is a priority:
"from generation to generation he is merciful to those who fear him.

He has demonstrated power with his arm; he has scattered those whose pride wells up from the sheer arrogance of their hearts.
He has brought down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up those of lowly position; he has filled the hungry with good things, and has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, remembering his mercy, as he promised to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

Mary was ready to respond to God's call on her life because of these things. They did not happen over night. Her upbringing, life experiences and dedication to seeking God's word all the years leading up to this day made her ready for this very moment in her life.

Is my heart ready? Am I taking the steps today that will make my heart ready for the right response to His calling in my life? Do I seek to do mighty things for God before my heart is ready to do them with a humble heart that only has desires for His glory and can see truth as presented by His Word?

Once again, this Hymn of Praise reminds us that we must have the blinders on first, so that we can be ready to respond with a right heart.

Prayer:
Almighty God I kneel at your thrown with a humble heart. A heart that recognizes how far I fall from deserving fellowship with You without the redeeming blood of Christ that was shed for me. I praise You Lord for the gift of Your Word, without which I could never have the knowledge of Your perfect plan of salvation. I desire to draw closer to You daily and recognize that this is done by spending time daily in Your Word and developing an attitude of prayer throughout every moment of every day. Let me not take a step without seeking Your face first Lord. Protect me from the deceptions of the enemy for I know that You have given me a sound mind. One day at a time Lord. I desire to become all You created me to be, and recognize that I must demonstrate this by submitting and drawing closer to You one day at a time. Your will and Your way Lord. To Your glory. In the name of Christ who went to the cross for me I pray. Amen.

Praise Him with Blinders On

2010-12-16T10:44:00.001-06:00

[This is the fourth in a series devotionals of exploring and learning from Mary's walk with God as written in the book of Luke. First post is found HERE.Second post is found HERE Third post is found HERE]

Luke 1:;46-55

Mary’s Hymn of Praise

And Mary said, “My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has begun to rejoice in God my Savior,

because he has looked upon the humble state of his servant.

For from now on all generations will call me blessed, because he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name; from generation to generation he is merciful to those who fear him.

He has demonstrated power with his arm; he has scattered those whose pride wells up from the sheer arrogance of their hearts.

He has brought down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up those of lowly position; he has filled the hungry with good things, and has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel, remembering his mercy, as he promised to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

This was Mary's response once the shock had subsided and she had bonded with her aunt ('sister in Christ'). She begins first and foremost with praise and glory for God. As I meditated on this word, I once again tried putting myself in Mary's position, imagining the fear of the unknown, acknowledging the ridicule society would throw her way with gossiping rumors of their perception of what 'really' is happening here. I consider how God calls each of us to do things for His glory that may bring with it controversy, discomfort or questions from those my flesh seeks approval from here on earth. Godly choices that may not be popular choices. Godly submission that may conflict with the wordly perspective of 'self promotion'.

And then I consider how I respond to such callings in my life. Mary's hymn of praise reminds me that the response God desires is pure praise. Humble, soul submitting praise. Blinders on, eyes focused only on Him and the purpose of His plan for His kingdom.

Mary is excited to be serving God, even in a precarious position that could harm her 'reputation' in the world. It could bring hardship in her future and she is definitely not being 'paid' to do this.

How is God asking you to serve Him? Do you have your blinders on to see only that which is His calling? Are you focused on seeing the purpose of your life for the plan of His kingdom? Things we must be aware of that may distract us from having such focused vision include concern about possible ridicule from the world's perspective, fear of how you will live or concern for income over trust in His provisions.

We must focus instead on a response of YES with great excitement. True JOY comes when our motivation is to glorify God even at the cost of our own popularity, wealth or fame.

There is more to gleen from Mary's hymn of praise, which we will explore tomorrow. Today, lets spend a moment in prayer giving God the praise for what He has done in our lives and seek to embrace that which He desires we focus on for our future.

Prayer:
Lord God, creator of all, Master of all plans, lover of my soul. I rejoice in the salvation provided by the sacrifice of your Son. I rejoice in the mercy you showed to us all at the cross. I rejoice in the grace You pour out on each of us. Without your perfect plan of salvation, I would fall short and never have the joy of sitting at Your feet for comfort, guidance, wisdom and protection. I would not know the joy of such intimate fellowship with You. Give me eyes today that are focused on Your will, Your plan and Your desires. Give me a heart that desires nothing more than to submit for the glory of Your plan. Protect my heart from fears, doubt and concerns of what the world may think. I submit my all to You Lord. For Your glory. In the precious name of Your Son I humbly pray. Amen.

Who Is Your Elizabeth and Vice Versa

2010-12-15T15:27:00.003-06:00

[This is the third in a series devotionals of exploring and learning from Mary's walk with God as written in the book of Luke. First post is found HERE.Second post is found HERE]

Luke 1: 39-44

In those days Mary got up and went hurriedly into the hill country, to a town of Judah, and entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth.When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She exclaimed with a loud voice, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child in your womb! And who am I that the mother of my Lord should come and visit me? For the instant the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that what was spoken to her by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

How perfect are God's plans. This passage reminds me how intricately detailed God's plans for us are and how His plans for us are also His plans for His kingdom.

Oh how I can get so absorbed by what I need God to do in my life and lose sight of the fact that I am called to seek God's will for my life as it was designed to fulfill His plans for me in His kingdom.

Here we see Mary and Elizabeth meeting for the first time since both learning of their pregnancies. Both are carrying children with a calling on their lives that will impact the world. But I am also mindful that each of these women were created for with a calling for God's plan too. Neither knew before hand of this calling, but it was God's plan all the same. God did not ramdomly select 2 women at the moment he decided it was time to bring Christ to the world. God knew the moment of the day that this would occur and He planned the timing and lineage of Mary and Elizabeth for this very purpose.

I have to personally pause here and just take in all that this means to me. Every single person is created in exactly the same way. We are each planned for, created in our mother's wombs at a specific time and place, with a specific lineage and a specific order of birth. Our gifts, our experiences (good and bad), our circle of friends...all of these and more are not done by chance but by plan for God's calling to be played out in our lives.

In today's scripture, I am struck by how all of this is demonstrated in the following way.

God needed John the Baptist to proclaim the coming of the Messiah. He also knew that Mary needed a companion for support on this journey He had called her into. In His great wisdom and perfect planning, He provided for Mary what she would need by fulfilling His plan for John through Mary's Aunt.

God could have accomplished His need for John in any woman He chose. It didn't have to be Elizabeth, but He knew it needed to be Elizabeth. And not just because she was Mary's aunt with whom she was close, but also because of Elizabeth's age. It was because of her age that Elizabeth could relate to the amazing circumstances of Mary's calling too. And vice versa. Mary had a companion she knew could relate to her miraculous calling in a way no other could.

Mary has surrendered her life to a calling in which she will face issues like fear, ridicule, questioning from others and even internally as she faces each new day of not just the birth but as the mother of this Child of God. God has made accomodations for this in advance, as part of His perfect plan. Elizabeth is more than a person of comfort; her home is a place of refuge and protection for Mary.

As you surrender your life to the calling of Christ do you have fears? Are the choices you know you need to make to give complete surrender of your decisions and actions over to the glory of God put you in a position for ridicule by those around you? Do you have questions?

Who is your Elizabeth? Don't you know that God has given each of us an Elizabeth in our lives that we can go to for comfort, compassion, wisdom and intercessory prayer because they have experienced things in their lives that give them the ability to relate to what you are going through and provide these things you need?

I confess that for too many years I let personal wounds and walls I had built for personal protection keep me from seeing and reaching out to the Elizabeths God was providing for me. Maybe today's scripture is a good reminder for each of us to spend some time at the table with God and ask Him to show us who He has provided for us in our journey, just as He did for Mary and Elizabeth.

And don't forget to ask the question in reverse. Who's Elizabeth are you? What experiences have you been through or are going through right now that give you insight that could provide wisdom, comfort or compassion to a person God has placed in your life? Ask Him to reveal that person to you and be open to His response. Sometimes it's not the person you are closest to, but one that is removed from you or a recent introduction. Sometimes it requires us to step out of a comfort zone of a certain social circle.

When we seek the answer to who our Elizabeth is and vice versa, we are blessed beyond measure.

What a great lesson we can learn from Mary today!

Humble Submission

2010-12-08T14:12:00.001-06:00

[This is the second in a series devotionals of exploring and learning from Mary's walk with God as written in the book of Luke. First post is found HERE]

Luke 1: 34-38~

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. [NIV]

Here Mary has been told of God's plan and as any of us might do she questions the viability of the plan.

~How can this be...it doesn't make sense~

Such a familiar question, isn't it. It is for me. How many times have I been in the midst of making decisions that would please God but they just don't make sense to my worldly mind.

The answer given to Mary's question is, 'nothing is impossible with God'.

I wonder if Mary was familiar with this Proverb...

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your path. ~Proverbs 3:5-6

Mary's response to the answer she was given tells me she was not only acquainted with it, but had spent her life learning to live what it says.

Instead of continuing with more questions, doubting the practicality of this plan, she says:

“I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.”
How many times does God present what appears to be an impossible solution to a problem in our lives, or reveal a life path that just doesn't line up with common sense plans we have made for ourselves?

As you think about that, also try to remember how often your immediate response (key word...immediate!) was "OK. I'm your servant. Your' the Master. I'm doin' it Your way even though I don't understand it."?

Mary teaches us so much in this simple response to this impossible plan. It really boils down to her submissive acknowledgement that she is God's servant.

In her time, Mary would be very familiar with the term 'servant'. It was part of that culture to have servants in homes. She knew the word servant meant:

One who respects all of the wishes of her master
Does the work requested of the master without question.
Works in all things to please the master, not herself.

Our society rebels against all that the word 'servant' stands for. Because pride is such a strong part of our culture our response to the points above often look like this:

One who respects all of the wishes of her master

we are often more concerned about getting respect than giving it

Does the work requested of the master without question.

"no one tells me what to do with my life" / or we feel compelled to tell them how we think it can be done better.

Works in all things to please the master, not herself.

we are often driven to do what will make me liked by others, so if we are told to do something that might threaten our 'popularity' we are inclined to do what pleases our personal need

I realize that we are not all as extreme in the pridefule examples above, but if we pause for a moment and honestly examine our past 'servant like' responses, we will probably find more resistance than submission. And remember, Mary only asked one clarifying question and then immediately submitted her life, will and body to the plan of God.

Mary's response is a perfect example of a servant recognizing her true Master.

The world tells us to stand up and make a name for ourselves; take control of our life plans and do what it takes to make them happen.

Mary's had plans marriage and normal family life. She let go of those plans to be replaced with God's plan.

The world's measuring stick for success is fortune and notoriety.

Mary submitted to a plan that brought her shame as friends and family began to gossip about the circumstances of her pregnancy.

Mary submitted to a plan that put her in a 'barn' giving birth in pauper like conditions.

No fortune. No notoriety.

But her godly submission (not just doing what God says but doing it with the right attitude) resulted in a world changing event.

Maybe God is not calling us to do something that will change the world, but it might be a plan that could change our life if we will just have the heart response of a servant to his master.

And who are we to say if God's plan for us will have world changing results or not.

God Bless and Keep You,

Highly Favored

2010-12-05T20:35:00.002-06:00

[This is the first in a series devotionals of exploring and learning from Mary's walk with God as written in the book of Luke. To see the entire series, click HERE ]

Luke 1:28 ~ The angel went to her (Mary) and said

"Greetings to you who are highly favored. The Lord is with you."

Have you ever wondered why God chose Mary to carry His son?

Was she walking in her faith perfectly, without any sin? Was that it?
~No, scripture tells us 'for all have sinned and fall short'.

So did she pray more; do more 'good' things?
Why is it God favored Mary and how can we also be favored?

If we look a little deeper at the Greek word used here for 'favor' we discover it is the work 'charitoo' and means "filled with grace". Further study reveals that this word is used only once more in the New Testament-
Ephesians 6:1 To the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. This tells us that believers in Christ are 'filled with grace'. Not because we do good things, pray enough or walk a perfect walk. We are 'filled with grace' by the blood of Christ. God chose to favor us with the ultimate gift of life.

So just like Mary, we (Christians) are highly favored.

And just like Mary, not only are we highly favored, the Lord is with us.

Matthew 1:23 ~ The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means 'God with us')

Mary was chosen to physically carry the son of God
to be born into the world

so we could have a way to salvation
and be highly favored / filled with grace.

~ ~ ~

We are chosen to carry the name of God
into the world

so others can hear the way to salvation
and be highly favored / filled with grace.

Mary did what God called her to do. The question we have to ask ourselves is are we doing what we have been called to do? I love remembering the birth of Christ every December, but I love to remember the result of that birth more. This is a wonderful time to reflect on how that result is being carried out in our lives.

Prayer:
Thank you Lord that I am highly favored as a child of God. I come before You during this season when thoughts are turned towards the birth of Your Son and ask that You make me mindful of more than the event, but of the result of that event. Because You chose to send Your Son to earth in the form of a baby, I am able to live a life freed from sin. I have done nothing to deserve this favor; I have not acted perfectly, prayed perfectly or even done good deeds to earn this favor. I am filled with Your grace and You are with me because a child, Your only son, was born to live a life that would take Him to a cross where He would be the only perfect sacrifice that could bring me into fellowship with You. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Praise to God the Father. I rejoice in the name of Jesus Christ, Emmanuel ~ God with us! Amen and Amen!

[NEXT: Luke 1:34-38 ~ A Servant's Response: I Don't Understand How This Can Be, But May It Be As You Have Said]

God Bless and Keep You,

Giving Up Custody to God

2010-10-28T11:11:00.001-05:00

I surrender. I’m not giving up…but I surrender.

There is an old hymn that says

“I surrender all.

I surrender all.

All to Thee, my blessed Savior.

I surrender all.”

It was over 30 years ago that I made the decision to surrender my life to Christ, but it wasn’t until this last weekend that I truly understood what it means to wave the white flag and surrender to the authority of Christ.

Webster has several definitions of surrender:
1. resignation: acceptance of despair

2. giving up: a verbal act of admitting defeat

3. give up or agree to forgo to the power or possession of another

4. relinquish possession or control over

5. the delivery of a principal into lawful custody

1 and 2 are definitions of defeat. ‘I Give UP!’

I can point to times in my life when my definition of surrendering to Christ was to give up and quit trying. Definitely not the Christ like image of surrender, but more of a pity party where I got tired of trying so hard with nothing working out that I just said ‘fine…I give up’.

But that’s not right. I know that surrendering to Christ

is an act of victory, not defeat.

3 and 4 are definitions of submitting to the authority of a stronger power. ‘I Give UP and agree that God is my source of strength and direction and I relinquish all control to Him’.

I can also point to times in my life when my definition of surrendering to Christ was exactly as 3 and 4 describe it. Hands raised, ‘amens’ loud and strong, shouting and singing ‘God is God of all’, but when things were not working out as I needed or desired, I took control of the situation and made sure “God’s will was being done”.

Did you hear that last statement?

I’d took control of the situation and made sure

“God’s will was being done”.

In the midst of those moments, if you had asked me if I was surrendering to the authority of God I would have honestly told you YES. But looking back, God shows me that my answer was actually, ‘not really’. I did not have rebellious intentions, but true surrender was not being exhibited. Call it ‘type A’ or a ‘driven personality’…whatever label we give it; the bottom line is that true surrender does not mean we step in to make sure things happen the way God would want them to.

Which takes me to definition #5…I Give it to YOU Lord.

I put it into YOUR custody. Your lawful custody.

I had a heart breaking experience over the weekend in which I had to let go of trying to ‘fix’ my sister who is in a verbally abusive and controlling relationship. Through a series of events that culminated with a hurtful confrontation, I was able to see that I needed to truly surrender this situation to Him. My eyes were opened to see that while I was lifting her up and asking what I was to do for her, I wasn’t giving her into His custody.

When you surrender custody of a child, you are giving all authority of another person to parent, care for and raise that child. According to the law, you are not ‘partnering’ with another person to raise that child. You are giving over ALL authority. You are giving that person the authority to make the decisions for the future of that child and giving up the right to question their decisions.

I know God loves my sister more than I can ever imagine loving her myself. He loves her the same as He loves me. For years I have walked with the attitude that I needed to 'partner' with Him to raise her. This weekend, my partnering got in the way and resulted in painful conflict. I didn’t do anything bad or ill willed. I was actually doing a ‘good’ thing that had the potential to mend past wounds.

But that ‘good’ thing complicated the situation.

So I surrender. I am not giving up on my sister. I am not giving up on a restored family relationship. But I am surrendering custody of her to our Father.

FREEDOM

PEACE

JOY

Since that moment of realization this weekend, I have come to the table with my God and asked Him to show me other areas in my life that I have not truly surrendered custody to Him. He has fed my soul with food from His word:

A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)

~ Oh Lord, my heart seeks to do your will, thank You for reminding me that I can surrender even the planning of my steps to You.

Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass … Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him …” (Psalm 37:4-7)

~ Lord God, thank you for reminding me that I do not need to toil for You but to REST in You and wait patiently for You to work in all things. Your word says “YOU shall bring it to pass”! I surrender it all to you.

Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon His God.” (Isaiah 50:10)

~ God, I trust in the power of Your name and rely on You completely. I realize that while You will call me to do Your will here on earth, You do not need me to come along side and help You out. I surrender it all to You.

I surrender all.

All to Thee my blessed Savior.

I surrender all.

PRAYER:
God of heaven and earth, I come to praise You. Forgive me for the times I have come before You with 'good intentions' to partner with You and discuss how Your will is to be fulfilled. I praise You and thank You for being the Almighty Father that has custody of everything in my life. Give me eyes to see things that my flesh is holding onto so that I may completely surrender custody of it all to You. I rejoice in the peace that overwhelms me. A peace that passes all earthly understanding but consumes me as I embrace the full meaning of complete surrender to You. Thank You Jesus for Your completely surrendered life that I may have a right relationship with my Creator. Amen.

TABLE TALK:
What meals have you shared with God recently? Is there a scripture that fed your soul lately that you could share? Join us at the table and leave a comment of agreement or encouragement!

Do You Really Trust Me?

2010-04-14T13:32:00.001-05:00

Do you trust me?

If you have never met me, then your answer would most likely be 'no' or 'I don't know you so I can't answer that question'. If you have met me or have known me for a period of time, you might be inclined to respond with a 'yes', unless I have not lived up to an expectation you had of me (or an expectation you have of friendships in general) and then the answer might be 'no'.

But even if the answer was 'yes', the next question would be "how much do you trust me". Think of the closest relationships you have in your life and consider how much you trust those people. Do you trust them all in the same way? Do you trust them all with the same things? Are there some people you know you can trust with confidential conversations but not to necessarly be there when you need help? Is there a person you know you could trust to come running the moment you need help, but might not be the first person you confide in with a confidential issue? It's possible that you have a person in your life that you can trust with the big things, but when it comes to the little things on a daily basis, like rememebering to take out the trash...not so much.

I do. My sweet husband for example. I know I can trust him to be there for me when I need somone to hold me up during the hard times or support me when others are tearing me down. But when it comes to remembering the little things on a daily basis...not so much *wink*. After more than 20 years of marriage and living life together, I have developed a level of trust based on experiences with him. One might think that I am able to trust him with the big things and unconditional support because unlike the daily tasks, he has never let me down in these areas. Not so. There have been 2 times in our life together where he made choices that broke my heart. Choices that could give me every reason to never again trust him unconditionally. Some 'trusted' friends actually encouraged me to leave him because he was obviously untrustworthy and would continue to break my heart if I stayed with him.

But it was during those times that I would always remember the times that I let him down and what he did in response. He didn't give up on me, and even stepped up to take on the burden and resolution of my bad choice. It was that experience that I would draw on during those hard years to rebuild the trust that had been compromised. And it was my husband's dedication to rebuilding what had been broken that made the trust stronger than it was before.

So my trust of him today is a result of

what happened along the way, not what didn't happen.

He showed a heart willing to repent and change to be more like the husband God designed for a Christian marriage. As for the daily details...haven't seen much repentance or change in remembering the details of daily to do lists...so the trust in that arena is limited *wink*!

Human trust is a fragile thing. If I were to evaluate my answer to the question, 'do you trust me', for every person I have a relationship with I would have a 'yes and no' answer for each one; purely based on experiences I have had with them over the years.

And then I think of the one relationship I have in my life where I can trust with all my heart. I don't have to worry about guarding any part of my heart from trusting Him.

Psalm 13:6 ~ I sing to the Lord because He has taken care of me.
Isaiah 40:11 ~ He takes care of His people like a shepherd. He gathers them like lambs in the arms and carries them close to Him. He gently leads the mother of the lambs.
Psalm 16:5 ~ No, the Lord is all I need. He takes care of me.
1 Peter 5:7 ~ Give all your worries to Him, because He cares about you.
Ephesians 1:19 ~ God's power is very great for those who believe.

The list of scriptures touting the promise that we can trust God completely is long and these are but a few. But none of them will find good soil and grow strong roots if this one is not first recevied:

God’s Word of Unfailing Love

Psalm 143:8 ~ Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

If we do not understand that God's love cannot fail, we cannot trust Him 100%. The fact that I have boundaries around the trust I have in my husband means I don't trust him 100%. I recognize that he might fail me sometimes. I recognize that every human relationship has the potential to 'fail' me simply because the flesh is weak.

And yet God's love is unfailing. God, by definition, cannot fail. If we cannot believe this 100%, then we cannot trust Him 100%. But the question to answer is 'what is our definition of fail' Does God fail us when He does not answer a prayer in the way we expected? Does God fail us when life is hard? Does God fail us when earthly relationships fall apart?

Unless our trust is grounded in the unfailing love God showed by sending Christ to the cross to cover our sins, then our trust in Him is subject to what He is or isn't doing for us today than in what He did for us once and for all. Our trust must come from receiving what God did in the past, not what we perceive Him doing or not doing for us today.

My trust in God today is a result of

what happened along the way to Calvary,

not what didn't happen today.

So I ask the question again... Do you trust me? Only this time, hear God asking you that question. Hear him asking it when you are frustrated with what seems to be unanswered prayers. Hear him asking it when finances couldn't be worse. Hear him asking it in every situation and circumstance in your life.

If you were to develop the habit of hearing God ask this question about every situation, decision or frustration in your life, how would it change the way your react or respond? How would it change the level of tension, anxiety or stress in your life? Please leave a comment with your thoughts or answers to these questions to encourage others who may be working through some of the same issues of 100% trust. When we think we are alone, we are discouraged. When we see others seeking God in the same way we are, we are encouraged. Use the comment section to be a tool of encouragement for God! (it's easy...just hit the comments link below. If it says 0 comments...be the first to kick things off!)

APPLICATION:
Find a verse, a scripture of promise, that speaks to an area in your life that you need to trust God in 100%. Claim that verse, memorize it and repeat it as the answer to hearing God ask "Do you trust Me?".

CLICK HERE to find a blank Food for the Soul recipe card that you can fill in with your claimed verse as the ingredients and the write the directions as they apply to your personal situation. Ask God to show you an area of less than 100% trust in Him and seek His direction for healing. Write those directions to remind you how God is wanting to work in your life today.

PRAYER:
Almighty God, my heavenly Father who calls me 'friend', I bow before You with praise in my heart. My life is changed because of Your unfailing love. I am no longer bound to finding happiness and peace in the situation of today. I confess that there are times that I lose sight of the true meaning of unfailing love and take for granted what You did on the cross. If You never did another thing 'for me', the cross is all I need and I thank You for reminding me of this when I am prone to forget. Because of this unfailing love, I can trust You 100%. I can trust every promise of every scripture You ever wrote. I can trust You to answer prayers in ways that don't make sense to me but are better than what I can imagine. I can trust You to carry me when I just can't go any further. I can trust You to provide when there seems to be no way to make ends meet. I can trust You even when I have not been trustworthy...for You never turn Your back on me, but welcome me with open arms each time I fall before You with a repentant heart. I trust You Lord with all my heart.
Amen.

At Last...Community of Worship

2010-01-20T22:13:00.000-06:00

Oh come, let us sing to the LORD!

Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our Salvation.

Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;

Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.

~ Psalm 95: 1-2

This is where we left off last time I posted. While my plans were to post the last of the three thoughts in this series right after #2, life got in the way. First it was a crazy travel schedule, during which time my laptop crashed, leaving me without a laptop until today. (confession...I had access to a family computer, but the writer in me was blocked every time I sat down to that foreign keyboard...ya, a little quirky I suppose!) So here we go...picking up where we left off. We started looking at the definition of worship and then explored the call to worship and the warning to worship, where I left us with a promise to explore the concept of community in worship.

Community [noun] - a unified body of individuals.

As followers of Christ, we are, by definition, a community. We are a body of individuals unified by a common love for Christ. And the Psalm we have been studying speaks of community in the call to action by saying "let us". The psalmist could easily have left out the collective call to action and just made it a series of strong statements to sing, shout, come and shout. The fact that "let us" is there tells us it is an important part of the call to worship.

And so we do worship as a 'unified body of individuals' each time we come together to bow down and praise God. This is a strong word to us when we are inclined to discount going to church. In fact, it is a very bold statement of personal pride to say "I don't need to go to church to worship God". I'm reminded of another favorite verse that also directs us to come together as a unified body to worship ...

Hebrews 10:24-25 ~ “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing,

but let us encourage one another…”

Now, as I mentioned in the previous 2 posts on this topic, I am sharing with you my perspective of a message presented by out associate pastor...Ben. I enjoyed how Ben pointed out the salad bowl concept presented in this verse (let us...lettuce...get it? heehee...I thought it was funny). But I was even more excited by another concept he explored with us. The idea of how the Trinity represents the ultimate goal for real community.

Christ submitted (bowed the knee) to God by coming to earth as a sacrifice for our sins.
The Holy Spirit submitted (bowed the knee) to Christ by coming to be our counselor here on earth.

This is the ultimate picture of a worshipping community.  Each part of the Trinity doing the job it was called to do. Each God, but none striving to be most important.  Imagine...Jesus bowed the knee in submission to the plan of God so that we could come join in the community of worship with Him. If Jesus did it, how much more should we!

I couldn't help but think of the conversations I have had with fellow believers about how hard it is to submit sometimes. I am deeply humbled by that thought as I think about how hard it would have been for Christ. I am reminded of the verse in scripture where Pilate tells Jesus "Don't you know I have the power to free / save you..." (John 19:10).  There Christ stood, submitted in heart to the will of God. I am afraid my flesh would have struggled to keep from standing up and saying something like " are you kidding me?! I have come to save you!!! Don't you see what I am doing here for you!!" But Christ submitted to God's will, let Pilate know that he would have no authority if it had not been given to him by God and then walked the path laid out for Him.

What if we all were to follow the example set by the Trinity, to submit to the will of God without concern of our own personal will. I am reminded of how I used to encourage my children when they were younger to look after one another. When they were inclined to be mostly concerned about 'what was in it for them' I'd remind them that God calls us to look out for others above ourselves and would share an example of simple math. If your only concern is for yourself, then you have one person looking after your personal well being. If you focus on your brothers and sister, mom and dad, and each does the same in return, we each have 5 people looking after our personal well being.

What a great encouragement I received from Ben's example of community as shown by the Trinity.  It overwhelms me to think of the difference the community of believers could make if we all were to follow this ultimate example of bowing our knee in submission to the authority of God, lifting up the well being of others above ourselves.

What do you think?

Don't Forget to Remember!

2010-01-05T11:26:00.001-06:00

So, we are on our knees...now what? Yesterday we focused on verses 6-7 of Psalm 95, exploring what the word 'worship' really means. It was a call to come and cause ourselves to bow down. So now that we have come to the table, walking on our knees, let's see what the Psalm tells us to do.

As I mentioned yesterday, this is a study presented from our church pulpit by our associate Pastor, Bro. Ben. This is the continuation of what God laid on my heart from that lesson...

Verses 1-5 of Psalm 95, we find our call to worship. As Ben showed us, this call is for us to REMEMBER. Remember who God is. Remember what He has done. Verses 1-2 tell us that we are to sing and shout joyfully...to come and give thanks. Verses 3-5 tell us what to sing about, shout about and give thanks for.

We are to remember that He is a great God, a King above all gods (v3).
We are to remember that He is the creator of heaven, earth and all creation. (v4-5)
We are to remember that He is our Rock of Salvation (v1)

And then Ben reminded us that as New Testament Christians, we are to remember what God did for us at the cross. I was giving that a loud Amen from the choir loft as I remembered my study of a favorite Psalm this last year... God's Unfailing Love.

Psalm 143:8 ~ Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

If you need a refresher for your memory (or would like to print the newly added recipe card for that featured verse), head back over there and remember how we can lay our heads on the pillow each night and instead of saying:

“I’ll deal with it tomorrow”, at the end of a long and troubling day, we can say "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love"

OR, instead of saying:

“Maybe tomorrow will be better”, at the end of a day in a season where nothing seems to be working out, we can say "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love"

So today, as we COME to the table walking on our knees, let's remember GOD. Let's remember who He is. Let's remember what lengths He went to so that we can come to His table and fellowship with Him.

More than remember.... DON'T FORGET! Ben went on to point out that there is not only a call to remember, there is a warning to remember in Psalm 95 as well. Verses 8-11 reminds the reader of a time when the people of God forgot the way they had saved them as they stepped out to claim the promises He had given them. These verses are telling us 'don't forget what God has done for your salvation'! Again, coming back to remembering God's unfailing love.

So the call and the warning are same...but different.

We are called to remember. It's like a call out for a reunion of old friends and family. "Ya'll come...let's get together and remember when....." It's a call to fellowship and joyful rememberances.

We are warned to not forget. This is like a mother telling her child "now don't forget" (visual of finger wagging acceptable here *wink*) This is more than a friendly call to remember, it is a stern admonishment to remember / don't forget!

So we COME to the table walking on our knees so we can REMEMBERwith praises and NEVER FORGEThow God has been eternally faithful and showing His unfailing love.

Oh come, let us sing to the LORD!

Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our Salvation.

Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;

Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.

~ Psalm 95: 1-2

Tomorrow... community! How appropriate that this series would end with a look at how worship is an act of community since this blog is all about us coming together to encourage one another to gather around God's table and increase our intimacy and fellowship with Him. I can't wait...hope you can come back!

Our recipe today is to Remember.
The ingredients are from Psalm 95: 1-2
The directions are to come into His presence with a heart of praise, remembering all that God has done and to never forget His everlasting expression of unfailing love.

CLICK HERE for a printable version of today's recipe for the soul. Make notes on it of how God is speaking, and carry it with you to feed your soul as needed.

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER? Encourage the community today with a comment of what you bring to God's table as a praise of rememberance.

Walking On Our Knees (Or...Dorf on Worship!)

2010-01-04T13:13:00.000-06:00

Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

For He is our God,

And we are the people of His pasture,

And the sheep of His hand.

Psalm 95: 6-7 (knjv)

I heard a great message from our associate pastor yesterday that has been 'stewing' in my heart all night. In my last post, I shared how the key verse, Philippians 3: 13b-14, encouraged me to forget the past and look forward to the prize of heaven and walking here on earth to the glory of God. And so, I shared how in 2010 I made a resolution to to go from dissonance (conflict of the past ~ whether it be guilt and shame of confessed sin or just feeling of defeat about things I wish I had done better) to consonance (living in harmony with the will of God). (if you missed this one, click here to catch up and then come back to see how this all works together!)

God built on that word for me about my 2010 resolution with a word from the pulpit on Sunday. This is a portion of my take on that message ...

In the Psalm above, we are called to COME...come and worship. First, I love that we are called to come. It implies that we need to GET UP AND DO SOMETHING! It's like ringing the dinner bell... "Ya'll Come" (pardon the southern vernacular *wink*) When you are hungry and you hear that bell, you are on your feet and running to the table.

How perfectly that fits with our comparison to how God calls us to His table daily to share a meal with Him! So are you hungry? Then get up and come to the table.

Are you here with me? Great! What next? Well, the verse goes on to say "come, let us WORSHIP and BOW DOWN".

Here is where Bro. Ben shared a great lesson that I have been so excited about. It started with his explanation of the original Hebrew word for worship (if you are a regular visitor to this blog...you know I sat up straight in my seat and leaned forward when we started digging into the deep meaning of words!) The Hebrew word used here is saha. It's meaning is 'to bow down' or more specifically, 'cause to bow'.

This is another call to action word. The literal translation for the word 'worship' says we are called to 'cause ourselves to bow down' to God. So the verse could be written like this:

Oh come, let us cause ourselves to bow down and bow down (boy...would my 11th grade English teacher be all over me if I had written that in her class!)

Personally, I LOVE that it is so repetative. There is emphasis in repetitive words. (all you mom's out there know exactly what I mean...you have to say it more than once before it gets done [and for all the husbands reading ~ NO..this is not called nagging *grin*])

If God is repeating himself here...then I think we need to listen and obey!

In fact, the message from Bro. Ben pointed out that we are called to worship God (cause ourselves to bow down) at all times. As I pondered this with my husband yesterday, we talked about living a life on our knees, visualizing ourselves walking on our knees at all times. (but then I got this image of Dorf on Golf stuck in my head and it ruined it for me! I grew up with my Dad loving Dorf, but if you are not familiar and curious...google it. But fair warning...the image of walking in your knees will lose the feeling of 'reverance' *wink*)

Dorf aside...can you see yourself living a life walking on your knees. It would be really hard to have self serving motives or self righteous thoughts if we always saw ourselves walking on your knees. However... it is CRUCIAL that we keep in mind that this image of walking on our knees is done in submission to the will of God. We are now bowing a knee to things of the world or priorities of people...we are bowing a knee to the things of God and His priorities. This means we must KNOW THE THINGS OF GOD AND HIS PRIORITIES!

When we know these things and His priorities and walk on our knees in submission to them, then the blessings of God flow out on our life. Now please, don't interpret this sentence to mean that if we walk on our knees in submission to the will of God that our blessings will be worldly blessings. Ugh.... that is a whole other series of scripture studies ~ so let's just remember for todays time in the word, God's blessings come in many ways and are often not what we expect from the wordly point of view.

Therefore, we must know the will of God and His priorities in order to submit to them. And how do we know these things? All together now.... 'by reading His word'!

So now my visual image of bowing down is one of me walking on my knees with AN OPENED BIBLE IN MY HANDS. Like a road map if you will.

Years ago, before digital cameras (or I'd have this in my docs and could share) there was a picture taken of my husband and me dressed as tourists for a costume party (we took first place by the way!) In this picture, in addition to the ridiculous outfits, we were holding a map and looking lost. Typical tourists was what we called ourselves when asked "what are you". Typical tourists are those who are in a land that is not their home and trying to find their way.

This is us! As Christians, we are no longer citizens of this earth, but aliens here for a while, waiting for God to bring us home. While are here, God takes us on a journey that will bring Him glory. And God's word is our 'map' for the journey.

So there you have it... we are typical tourists, walking on our knees, with the map of God in our hands (ridiculous outfits optional...but it makes the Dorf image work!)

There is more! So come back tomorrow and we'll explore more of what God says to us about worship...at least the part that I learned from Ben yesterday. It's good stuff! Remember to come back...DON'T FORGET! (that was a clue...but you won't get it until tomorrow *wink*)

Our recipe today is to Come and Worship

The ingredients are from Psalm 95: 6-7.

The directions are to cause yourself to bow down and worship Him. To walk on your knees in submission to His will and His priorities.

CLICK HERE for a printable version of today's recipe for the soul. Make notes on it of how God is speaking, and carry it with you to feed your soul as needed.

Now it's your turn. Please share what you are thinking. What is God saying to you about causing yourself to bow down? As a community of believers, we are called to encourage one another. Some of the greatest encouragement comes when we share with each other what God is doing in our lives. Who will your comment encourage today?

P.S. Forgot to share with you how God used this message from the pulpit on Sunday to speak to me on the posting about my resolution. It's all about walking on my knees. There can be no dissonance if I walk on my knees. And if I change my stature from the past (forget the past) and MOVE FORWARD ON MY KNEES... my resolution is achieved. This year is all about paying attention to the times I try to get up.

I Resolve to Forget and Move Forward!

2010-01-01T22:57:00.000-06:00

Resolution

On a day like today, one immediately defaults to the definition of this word as 'a formal expression of an intent...'. And being one who enjoys order and planning, I am inclined to go to this definition myself, on a day like today; the first day of a new decade.

But what formal expression should I make?

As I started my list, instead of being exhilarated, I felt deflated.

Read through the entire bible... didn't I resolve to do that last year? What happened? Oh ya, I traveled for 4 weeks straight and got off track, so I gave up. Who am I kidding thinking I can do it this year?
Lose weight... ugh, I started that one this past summer and gained 10 of it back in the last 2 months. Who am I kidding, I've been overweight for over 20 years, what's going to change this year?
Do better with budgeting... hmmmm, I know I resolved to do this in 2009, but how could I have seen the 50% pay cut coming along with all the financial crisis we experienced. The pay isn't increasing in 2010 as far as I can tell and I'm sure we have a lot more financial surprises coming our way. What's the point?!

Time out. Let's go back to the full definition of 'Resolution'. If you complete the sentence it goes on to say "a formal expression of an intent voted by an official body'. My first mistake was sitting at the table by myself to make my list of resolutions. I need to take this to an 'official body'!

So as I sat at the table with God today, asking Him to give me a 'resolution' that fits in His will for my life, I came upon this scripture:

Philippians 3: 13b-14 ~ Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

The Ryrie Study Guide had this to say about "forgetting what is behind" ~ Whether sins that might overwhelm or good things that might cause one to rest on his accomplishments.

The Zondervan Study Bible says this about the same verse ~ Not losing all memory of his sinful past, but leaving it behind hin as done with and settled.

Thank you Lord. Thank you for reminding me that 1) I am not to be shackled by the failures of my past because you have given me a spirit of power and sound mind! and 2) that any accomplishment I have achieved is by Your power and grace.

Now I am exhilarated! I have let go of what is behind and I am looking toward what is ahead. I am reminded that my life here is to be lived out for His glory and the 'prize' of His unfailing love is mine.

And while I'm at it, I'll work on the discipline of daily bible reading, eating healthier and being a better steward!

As you contemplate your resolutuion list,

I'd like to leave you with this:

Another definition of 'resolution' says "the progression of a chord from dissonance to consonance". As a singer, this definition spoke to my soul. A dissonant chord is one that leaves you feeling like the song is unfinished. When the music moves from the dissonant chord to the consonant chord, there is a sense of completion. It feels like the conflict is resolved! A list of 'things I am going to do better this year' feels like that dissonant chord. A list such as this rings with conflict of things not done right in the past, and we are 'working' to make it better. Again, our featured verse today reminds us that we are not to focus on fixing the conflict of our past, but to remember that this was resolved the moment we accepted the gift of salvation! So, move from the dissonant to the consonant this year! Make a list in harmony with God's will and His desire for each of us to draw closer to Him!

I'd love to hear your thoughts of 'resolution' today! Just click on the comment link below and let us hear from you. Maybe you have a verse that God has shared with you for 2010? Encourage us with His word!

WAIT...BEFORE YOU GO...I HAVE A GIFT FOR YOU!
I realize that I disappeared from blogging during the month of December, so I have this desire to give you a gift, even though your tree is probably already taken down (unless you are like me and it is 'supposed' to be done tomorrow...or 2 weeks from now, whatever works out!)

So, since my tree is still up, there are still gifts to be shared! Every devotional I write has a coordinating 'recipe card' to feed your soul throughout the day. Up until now, I haven't had a clue as to how I could attach these cards to my posts. While I may not have been writing much in December, I read a lot and learned how to offer printable attachments. So....I have begun creating a library of recipe cards for you to print and carry with you for daily encouragement! Just click here and you will find I have posted a recipe card for every devotional I linked to in the post above. Each card is also linked directly to the referenced devotional, so you can find specific cards by hitting those links above as well.

Be sure to read the 'instructions' on the right side of the library...it explains how the cards are designed to take you deeper into the featured scriptures each day.

Let me know what you think...either in the comments here or on the recipe card pages!

Boast of His Goodness

2009-11-30T06:00:00.001-06:00

Colossians 1:16 ~ For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him.

As we leave this season of Thanksgiving, we have been reminded that we should thank God for the gift of salvation. A gift that brings us into a full and intimate relationship withGod.

Now we approach the season of recognizing the birth of our Savior and I am reminded how we should rejoice with great boasting!

The more we develop an intimate love for God, the more we desire to boast of His goodness. Just as a new bride cannot help but tell the world how much she loves her groom, boasting of his goodness, we should be filled with such a love for God that we cannot help but tell the world of His goodness and love for us.
Almost every Christian is familiar with the creation story of how God created all things, including man and woman. Genesis tells us that for 6 days, God spoke and things were. From light to land and the separations of the waters, God spoke them into creation. From the far reaching creation of the universe, to the detail of every leaf on every tree, God spoke them into creation.

And then He created man.

This part of creation story speaks loudly to the fact that we are a special creation in God’s kingdom. Instead of speaking us into existence, God took time to mold and shape us out of the dust or clay of the earth. And then, He breathed into man His breath of life.

And so God created human beings in His own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female He created them. ~ Genesis 1:27

We are more than a spoken word, we are a carefully crafted creation. And our key verse today tells us that we are also created FOR HIM.

Consider what it means to create something.

• Pottery created from a lump of clay. The potter carefully considers what he is going to make and then takes the time to shape and mold the clay into that vision. The potter does not approach the clay with the intention of creating trash to be thrown away. He comes to create something of value that can be used by himself and others.

• A meal served to friends and family. The cook carefully considers what she is going to make and then takes the time to gather the perfect ingredients and then combine them with great thought of how they will taste once presented for consumption. The cook does not enter the kitchen with the intention of creating a distasteful meal to be thrown away. She comes to create something of value that can be enjoyed by all who sit at the table.

Use these images of creating something for good to better understand how we have been created through God and FOR God. God took time to shape and mold us, not to be tossed aside and forgotten, but with purpose and to be enjoyed! If you are at the table today with a heart that questions your personal value and worth, then you should come to Him in prayer and ask Him to show you why He took the time to create you. Remember that a creator does not shape and mold things to be tossed away, but to be used. Do not question that God has a purpose for your, but ask instead what that purpose is.

And just as a potter is praised for his work of art or a cook is praised for her meal, God is to be praised for His creation of us. But how can God receive this praise if we do not step out and show others what God has done in us?

We have explored verses in other devotions that remind us to obey God with all of our hearts. So in obedience we must step out and boast of what God has done in our lives as directed in Jeremiah 9: 23-24~

If we are to obey God with a whole heart, we cannot come to the table, spend time with Him, let Him reach in and heal our hearts, give us strength and victory, and then never boast of who He is in our lives. If a potter never shared his creations with others, or a chef never shared a meal, there would be no praise given.

We come to the table today to consider how God desires us to boast of His work in our lives. We were created for His glory.

Our recipe today is to see that we were created for His good pleasure.
The ingredients are from Colossians 1:16
The directions are to embrace that you are created with purpose and value and to step out and show others what God has done in your life.

PRAYER:
My God, my Creator, I am humbled by the thought that You molded me with purpose and vision. I am not here by accident, but because You formed me through You and for You. I rejoice that I am not to be tossed aside as trash, but to be used for Your glory! Oh Lord, my heart so wants to boast of Your kindness, justice and righteousness. I thank You, Lord for taking time to sit at the table with me and remind me of how You formed with such purpose. Remind me daily that You desire that I boast of You for others to hear and understand. Give me a heart that desires to obey You completely in this. I confess that there are times that I am quiet when I should be shouting out to the world “look what God has done!” I confess that this is done from a heart that fears what others will think more than a heart that desires to delight You. And as I confess this fear, Lord, reach in and heal it. I repent of this fleshly response and desire to be more of a reflection of Your Glory. I come to you in the name of my precious Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Do others know of the mighty work God has done in your life? Leave a comment and boast of who He is in your life. Let's delight the Lord with our words of praise today!

Give Thanks with a GRATEFUL Heart

2009-11-20T20:55:00.002-06:00

For the last few days I have been contemplating the theme on everyone's mind as we approach Thanksgiving Day. No, not turkey (although I have contemplated that quite a bit as well!) I'm talking about the theme of giving thanks.

I've wanted to join in the blogging 'carnivals' where everyone links up and shares their thankful thoughts, but my heart could not write. Don't get me wrong...my heart is thankful for so many things

My family
A place to live
A meal on the table
etc...

But because I write from my heart and not my head, I was struggling to get words out. My head had the list, but my heart was seeking something more. What did God want me to know about being thankful?

As I read various blogs touting the Thankful theme, there was one word that popped up on Scribbit's blog for a writing contest that intrigued me. The word used was Grateful and I decided I liked it better than thankful...GRATEFUL. Being one who loves to tear words apart and seek real meaning in them, I was drawn to my friend "Webster" to find out if there's even a difference between 'thankful' and 'grateful'.

I found that though the 2 words are siblings, there is a slight difference between them. While 'thankful is being conscious of benefits received, 'grateful' is being appreciative of benefits received. At least that's how Webster described the 2 in the first definition of each.

And so, as I am inclined to do, I pondered and meditated on the different definitions of the 2, asking God to speak to me a word for this season and show me something new to stir up my soul and bring me closer to Him.

First thoughts were that I could see how I am conscious (aware) of what God has done in my life, but could I be more appreciative of what God has done in my life?

I found myself wandering back to Webster again.

Conscious: perceiving or noticing with a degree of controlled thought
OK...so thankful means to notice, with a degree of controlled thought, the benefits received.

Appreciative: showing appreciation (and appreciation is an expression of admiriation, approval, or gratitude)
And so...grateful means to show appreciation with an expression of admiration and gratitude for the benefits received.

And then my heart was stirred.

God showed me that I have a thankful heart

but not always a grateful heart.

And that's when the words of this song came over me.

Give thanks with a grateful heart,
Give thanks to the Holy One,
Give thanks, because He's given Jesus Christ, our Lord.

The words of this song reminded me that God desires (and deserves!) to be thanked with a grateful heart. And as the definition of grateful had been shown to me as an expression of appreciation, I began to ask God what that should look like. How do I take my thankfulness from a controlled, inward thought to an outward expression of admiration and gratitude for the benefit I received from the blood of Christ?

I was reminded of a dear friend who is going through an intense refining fire right now. She is being asked to endure hardships that could easily cause her heart to give up on God. As we sat chatting one afternoon, she shared that as she lay on the floor in tears one day, weaping and sobbing for God to resolve her situation, He whispered to her heart "If I never do another thing for you, will you still love Me?"

Those words came to the top of my mind as I meditated on this theme of thankfulness and gratefulness. This was why I was unable to make my 'list'. God wanted to chat with me about being grateful for one thing and one thing only...the sacrifice of His Son so that I could have a real and intimate relationship with Him.

And grateful was the key word, not thankful.

(remember, the difference is that a grateful heart appreciates the benefit; it's not just mindful of it)

{wait...take that in for a second. Read those words one more time; slowly. Even if your walk with God is miles and miles further down the road than mine...just stop and consider the idea of a heart that is grateful of the benefit of salvation vs a heart that is thankful of the benefit of salvation.}

We've all heard the expression "you learn to appreciate things when you don't have them anymore". Or, as mom's like to say to our kids "you just don't appreciate how good you have it here".

That was what struck my heart today. In a world where Christianity is accepted without persecution; where Christians are allowed to worship freely, without question; does my heart default to thankfulness when it should leap with gratefulness?

Are my thoughts of thankfulness for Christ's sacrifice controlled within my heart when they should be outward expressions of admiration and gratitude?

I am very expressive when I sing and speak, but in my day to day living, I am very reserved and quiet by nature. Today I was stirred to consider how I might take my expressions of appreciation to a new level.

My husband is a talker. He can and will talk to anyone and everyone. (yes...opposites DO attract!) One thing that I love about him is how he ends conversations (whether face to face or on the phone). Almost every time he says "I appreciate you". Not 'thanks for your help', not 'good talking to you', not 'talk to you later'...but "I appreciate you". And he says it with sincerity that is felt by everyone who receives that heartfelt salutation of gratitude. And what I have observed over the years is the difference that verbalized appreciation makes in the relationships he has built. This is what expressed appreciation (a grateful heart) will do to my relationship with God.

Because God desires an even more intimate relationship with me than what I have today...

I need to verbalize my appreciation for the sacrificial act of Christ more often.

I need to give voice to the appreciation I have for my salvation.

Does God know that I am grateful? God knows my heart without a word spoken. So why has He stirred my heart today with the realization that being grateful means to show appreciation with an expression of admiration and gratitude for the benefits received. It's not for Him, it's for me! I remember the season of my life when God moved me out of my comfort zone and I learned to lift my hands and praise Him with all the joy He had filled me with. I remember how that act of obedience and sacrificial praise drew me closer to Him. I know that as I begin to step out of my comfort zone and be more expressive of my appreciation for His sacrifice, sharing salvation more outwardly with others, beyond the walls of worship, my relationship will grow with even greater intimacy.

And now, let the weak say I am strong,

Let the poor say I am rich

Because of what the Lord has done, for us.

Give Thanks.

What grateful words do you have today? Share what the benefit of salvation has meant to you with a quick comment and let God use that outward expression of appreciation to do a mighty work in you and in those He brings here to read what you have to say. To His Glory...amen.

Other places I encourage you to visit for conversations of giving thanks are:
the Cafe Chat at the Internet Cafe and because I am thankful that the blood of Christ allowed me to give up on being PERFECT...hop over to see Mary's Giving up on a PERFECT Thanksgiving (check out the links for some really funny stories!)

Rejoice! We are Fully Valued and Loved!!

2009-10-29T10:24:00.000-05:00

Instead of posting a devotional today, I wanted to participate in a virtual chat with the readers of the blog "Internet Cafe Devotions". Each week Kim poses a question for us to consider and weigh in on. So while I am going to share my thoughts here, I encourage you to jump into the chat as well! Use the comment section below, or go to the Cafe Chat and comment there or add a link.

The question today comes from the story of Jacob, Leah and Rachel. Kim asks who do you sympathize with more, Leah or Rachel? Who does your heart go out to? Does your answer reflect the fact that you can relate to your choice personally?

So lets read the story and then I'll 'chat'!

(From Genesis 29)

After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month, 15 Laban said to him, "Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be."

16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful. 18 Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, "I'll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel."

19 Laban said, "It's better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me." 20 So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

21 Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to lie with her."

22 So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. 23 But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and Jacob lay with her. 24 And Laban gave his servant girl Zilpah to his daughter as her maidservant.

25 When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn't I? Why have you deceived me?"

26 Laban replied, "It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. 27 Finish this daughter's bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work."

28 And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29 Laban gave his servant girl Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maidservant. 30 Jacob lay with Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.

31 When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. 32 Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, "It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now."

33 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "Because the LORD heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too." So she named him Simeon.

34 Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." So he was named Levi.

35 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "This time I will praise the LORD." So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.

Now, the question was 'who do I sympathize with most', but to be honest, that's not where my heart goes. I was most struck by the series of responses by Leah each time she bore a child. Three times she responded with a desire to be loved by Jacob. The fourth time she simply said "This time I will praise the LORD".

I found myself rejoicing that Leah finally learned to find her worth, value, acceptance and love in God and stopped seeking it from Jacob.

I was reminded of how we as women too often work so hard to win the approval of others that we miss the intimacy of a loving relationship with God. And of course, isn't it just like the enemy to do whatever he can to distract us from the face of God so we miss out on all that He offers us through salvation. If he can get us to look to others for the affirmation, love, acceptance and value we were created to receive from God, then he can torment us for the duration of that search.

The tormenting looks a lot like what we saw in Leah. "Maybe this time Jacob will accept me" "Maybe this time Jacob will love me" How many years was Leah tormented by the feeling of not being accepted or loved?

How many years do we live in the torment of wondering what we can do to be more loved or more accepted?

If I volunteer more at (church, school, community...) people will value me more
If I raise perfect children people will value me more
If I please people more, I will be loved more
If I....
If I...
If I...

There are as many ways to finish that statement as there are women in the church. The point is that while the enemy is working hard to turn our eyes toward works to find love and value, God is standing right before us saying "I love you, value you and accept you just as you are because of the cloak of Christ you accepted at salvation". All we have to do is turn our eyes to Jesus and away from self proving works of the flesh.

This is not to say that we shouldn't volunteer, strive to be godly parents, honor others above ourselves, and so on. The point is to open our eyes to see the motivaton of our hearts. When our heart's desires are from God, we do all these things to bring Him glory, not to glorify ourselves to receive love, acceptance or value. To work with a heart filled with God's desires, we must have that intimate relationship.

So I suppose my answer to the question today is, I rejoice with Leah rather than sympathize with Leah. When you read the rest of the story, you see that the birth of this fourth son is not the end of Leah's refining story, but just one of the refining points along the way. And then there is Rachel's refining story...but that's for another day! We could also spend a day talking about the consequences of this misguided quest for love and acceptance on the family. As you read the rest of the story you see that it plays out with bitterness and stiving to be accepted in the story of Joseph and his brothers (Joseph being Rachel's son).

But enough for now! Today, let's rejoice in the love, acceptance and value we find in the blood of Christ and in the eyes of God. And while we are on our knees, lets ask God to show us any striving in our works to find that love, value and acceptance in personal glory so we can confess, repent and be healed to His glory!

Prayer:
Father God, I rejoice in the gift of life you offered at the cross. This gift of salvation brings me into a full relationship with you. A relationship where I am fully loved, fully valued and fully accepted by YOU, my CREATOR. My heart fills with tears of joy as I embrace the fullness of that reality! And at the same time I am convicted of times that I lose sight of this and fall into striving for that love and acceptance from things of the earth and my personal works. Lord, continue to open my eyes to see when I am looking for what you offer in other places. Give me eyes to see the difference and a heart that is quick to respond; shifting my eyes back to You. I want my heart to desire only that which brings you glory Lord. I come to you in the name of my precious Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

So let's keep chatting! What's on your heart today? Want to hear more? Remember to hop on over to the Internet Cafe!

I Have a GPS, and It's Spelled G.O.D.

2009-10-22T20:02:00.001-05:00

Psalm 27:11 ~ Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path.

Psalm 16:11 ~ You will show me the path of life.

I got off the phone with my daughter the other day and just laughed outloud! She had called me to see if I could help her figure out how to get to my mother's house cause she had taken a wrong turn. She has a GPS on her cell phone, so I asked her if she had put Grandma's address into the navigation system. She said yes, but that the direction it was telling her to take didn't sound right and she could see a bridge that looked familiar. Not being able to see what she could see, I told her to trust the GPS and follow it's directions, even though what she could see seemed to make more sense than what the GPS was telling her to do. "OK", she said as we hung up. I called her a little later to be sure she got where she was going. She got where she was going, and she also told me that after we hung up she ignored my advice, turned off the GPS and went her own way. She was sure it was wrong and she was right!

After I enjoyed a good laugh at the strong willed nature of my daughter, I couldn't help but think of how God must find similar amusement at my strong willed ways. How many times has God shown me the path of life and I have tuned Him out so that I could follow the path I had in my sights.

Before marriage, before children, and before the path of life I am now walking, I was walking a path I was sure was the one that would take me to the end of my days. I was pursuing a career in music and enjoying every moment of it. At one point, I was working as a singer/dancer on a cruise ship. And it was here that I began making decisions about my future career, who I would marry, and so on. However, I wasn’t seeking God in any of this.

I was saved early in my teen years, but with little discipling, I had not developed a relationship with my savior. So, the thought of seeking His will and His direction was foreign to me. I began walking down a path for my life that wasn't anywhere near the one God had planned for me. And the further I went down my path, the further God was from my thoughts.

However, because my Father loves me so much, He reached down one day, picked me up and brought me home so that I could be guided back to His side.

Oh…I can say it like that now…but in all honesty, at the moment it didn’t feel gentle or loving at all. It felt more like being drop kicked across the ocean. And one thing for sure…in the moment I didn’t even see God in it at all. Of course… I wasn’t looking for him in it either!

So how did God intervene to bring me back home to the path of life He had for me? He took away the gift He had given to me to glorify Him but I was using for self fulfilling desires…my voice. It started with a moment on stage that hit me where I needed to be hit…my pride. There I was, on stage by myself, spot light on me and in the middle of the song I lost the ability to sing the correct note. I remember 2 notes coming out at one time, but not the right ones! I was horrified. It was soon after that I was sent home to get the healing I needed.

And while I went home to get the physical healing I needed,

God had brought me home to get the spiritual healing I needed.

While I took action to find a speech therapist to restore the damage to my vocal chords,

God began to direct me to people who could help restore my relationship with Him.

He did this by giving me the gift of a Godly husband. Mind you, I wasn’t looking for a husband ~ at least not this one! I had my sights on another, but God knew better and intervened with perfect timing. He made our courtship swift. We met and were married in 6 short months. I am sure this was God intervening in my strong willed efforts to get myself back onto the career path I had set my sights on.

And you would think that this would have put an end to my personal plans, but I was head strong and sure I knew best. So I had told my husband that the music industry was my career, but I would adjust it so that I only took 3 month tours and come home for 3 months.

Again, God’s grace and guidance prevailed. I found myself expecting our first child within 2 months of marriage. And so…when the call came to invite me on the next tour…God made sure I could say no!

God knew exactly what He had to do to bring me back to a walk with Him. In fact, He knew me so well, and loved me so much that He knew I needed further shepherding and discipline. Even though my voice was returning by this time, God knew I was weak in my faith and that singing was an idol to me. I still did not know what a healthy diet looked like to feed my soul. I certainly didn't realize that singing was an idol I put before God, but God was putting me on a path to show me.

For the next 4 years, God led Darius (husband) to put our family in a church that had no choir, thus no distractions of my idol. At first this was a point of contention for me. But once I decided to be still, stop looking for greener pastures, see God in the moment, and listen to Him I came to I love God more than I loved to sing. I began to understand the birthright I had been given at the point of my salvation and I learned to trust Him more than I trusted the future I could see for myself.

After 4 years with no music in my life, my husband decided it was time to find a church that was closer to home. Long story short, the church home we landed at had a wonderful choir and my heart was ready to sing. Not for my pleasure but for His glory.

I can tell you that it was several years later before I could look back on those years and finally see the full hand of God. And just like my daughter, there are days when I am tempted to turn off my 'GPS' and go the way that looks more familiar. But I am reminded by God's word (my God given GPS) that while my eyes may see one path that seems to be the 'right way to go', I need to trust more in the path of life God will lead me down.

Have you wondered down a path of life only to find yourself being brought home to the path of life God intended? Are you wondering down a path right now, with your GPS in hand (word of God) but turned off?

Our recipe today is for Following God's Lead
The ingredients are from Psalm 27:11, 16:11
The directions are to trust God to lead you on a path that is better than any path you can see right now.

Prayer:
Father, I confess that too many times I head down a path without looking first to You. And yet You never let me wonder too far and always intervene to bring me back to You. At times I find myself suffering the consequences of my self driven journey, but even then You are there to bring me the healing I need. Lord, I cannot find the words to thank You, but can only offer to You my praise today. I come to You today seeking Your path for my life. Give me eyes to see Your navigation and blind me to the ways that are not of You. Protect me from the distraction of paths that look easier or promise earthly glory. I submit my ways to You. I come to you in the name of my precious Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Who Will You Encourage Today?

2009-10-20T06:00:00.005-05:00

Hebrews 10:24-25 ~ “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…”

So let's do it! Encourage one another. Not tomorrow, not later, not when something worth praising happens in your life.

Let's do it RIGHT NOW!

I'm not writing any devotional food for thought today. So take the time that you would normally use to read my post and encourage someone today instead.

How???

Well....

Send a quick email to a friend or loved one to just say "you are loved" or "don't give up" or "you make a difference"
Pick up the phone and talk to that person you've been meaning to call.
Share a hug with the first person you see when you get up from the computer

Post a comment on your favorite blog(s) [yes, I'll take that encouragement today :) ]

So why are you still sitting here looking at this screen? Let's spur one another on!!!!

Print this card, fill it out with words of encouragement and give it to someone today. Print more than one and give more than one...that's even better!

God Bless and Keep You,
Tami

Dancing With God

2009-10-19T06:00:00.002-05:00

Acts 7:51 ~You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are all uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit

In this verse, Stephen is rebuking the Sanhedrin, the supreme council of the Jewish nation, for being blind to the prophecy of Christ and not seeing Jesus for who He is. He calls them stiff-necked with hearts and ears that are uncircumcised; and then he compares them to their ancestors of the Old Testament.

You stiff necked people! I can only imagine Stephen shouting this in complete aggravation at this point. But I want us to understand that this word was not one that Stephen pulled out of the air. No, God used this word often when talking to the ancestors of the Sanhedrin.

Pull out your bible and look at these verses:
· Exodus 32:9
· Exodus 34:9
· Exodus 33:3,5
· Deuteronomy 9:6, 13

In each of these verses, the word stiff-necked is derived from two words in Hebrew. One is to be obstinate and stubborn, implying rebellion, and the other means to be hard, harsh or difficult. One commentary I read compared this stiff-neck to be like unresponsive oxen or horses. As I considered all of this and asked God to show me what I needed to hear from this word, I couldn’t help but think about that unresponsive ox! The yoke is on his neck and his master is pulling the reigns of that yoke to give him direction; direction that will cause the work of the day to be done. If the ox does not respond, the work is not done. And think about the work yoked oxen typically do ~ plowing a field to make it ready for planting and harvesting.

Oh my, what a thought. God is calling us to do His work but how often are we stiff-necked? We are called by God to help prepare, plant and bring in the harvest of His fruits, but if we are stubborn or obstinate we are not responding to his leading. The Hebrew word used for stiff-necked said it also implies rebellion. God shows me here that when I am stubborn and don’t immediately yield to His leading, I am rebelling against Him.

And my rebellion is like an ox who deters the progress

that needs to be made for the harvest of my master.

Stephen may have been addressing a specific group of people about a specific situation in this verse, but there is a word in here for us too. God does not look favorably upon stiff-necked behavior.

Stephen doesn’t stop at calling them stiff necked though! He has a few more harsh words for these stubborn oxen when he says, “Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised.”

Stephen is again referring to a word given to the ancestors. In Deuteronomy 10:16 it says, “Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff necked no longer.” Here the ancestors were told to not be stiff necked, but instead to circumcise the foreskin of their hearts. Circumcising our heart is an act signifying a consecration to the Lord. Consecration means to devote our self irrevocably to the worship of God. That is a powerful thought. To be so devoted to the worship of God that it is not possible to take it back. This means a full commitment to the worship of God; not a commitment of convenience but commitment of a lifetime. This concept is repeated in 2 Chronicles 30:8 ~ “Now do not be stiff necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord…”

Webster says that to yield is ‘to surrender oneself to another; giving up on claims to the physical control of another.’ If I give up my claim to something, I can never take it back.

When I surrender my life to God,

I am saying I am giving it over to Him,

to never take it back;

a lifetime commitment.

What does it mean to make a lifetime commitment? One we are familiar with here on earth is a marriage commitment. In fact, God calls us the Bride of Christ. We are not called His girlfriend but His Bride. Let’s compare the difference.

A girlfriend is a commitment of conveniences.
~As long as this relationship fills my needs and fits in my schedule I have time for partner
A Bride is a commitment of a lifetime.
~This relationship is here to stay and it is no longer just about me. I will need to make time for my Bridegroom to keep the relationship solid

Girlfriend is a life enhancing commitment
~I have a person to share things with and do things with. It feels good to have this person here, but nothing has changed in my life. I am still my own person.
Bride is a life changing commitment
~I have a person to share things with and do thing with and my life will never be the same. I have a new name, I have a new home; everything I used to do alone I now do together.

A life in Christ is a commitment. Just as a bride and groom commit to one another. God is fully committed to our salvation and He asks the same of us in our commitment to Him. And while we are comparing this commitment of a bride and bride groom, consider this. We’ve all experienced those ‘stiff-necked’ moments between a bride and her bridegroom, either personally or in observing others. Typically both are stiff-necked or stubborn about an opinion or decision. Neither has any intentions of yielding to the other on the topic of the moment, but both is sure they will get the other to yield to them. One of 2 things now happens.
1. Eventually someone does yield and the relationship grows to a new level of understanding OR
2. Neither yields and the relationship experiences one more deteriorating blow.

For there to be growth in the relationship, one of the 2 people has to decide it is better to yield than to be stubborn or even right. The difference between our earthly bride and groom relationships and our heavenly relationship is that scripture is very clear on who is to do the yielding. US! We don’t have to wonder who is right. God is right and every time we yield, our relationship grows stronger and deeper.Here is another one. Picture a bride and groom dancing. If the bride yields to the leading of the groom, the dance is smooth and beautiful. However, if the bride cannot let the groom lead and tries to do the leading herself, the movements are stiff and even painful as toes are stepped on over and over.

Why does a bride struggle with letting the groom lead the movements of the dance? Many times the bride does not trust the groom’s ability to lead. Sometimes the bride wants the dance to take a different direction or feels the groom is not keeping up with the pace of the dance.

When we let God lead, the dance is beautiful.

When we get in the way, try to take the lead or quicken the pace;

when we become stiff-necked

and unresponsive to the leading of the Holy Spirit,

the dance is stiff and even painful.

Someone once shared this word picture with me:

God

U and

I DANCE.

When we listen to the GUIDANCE of our Father, we ‘dance’! It’s a beautiful dance when we respond to the Lord’s leading! But it’s hard to dance when you have a stiff neck! Stiff-neck, stubborn, set in my ways; I have been known to be unresponsive to the leading of the Holy Spirit at times in my life. However, just like a couple that wants to dance together but is tired of stepping on each other’s toes, I have been taking dancing lessons! We learn from the consequences of those unresponsive moments. The Holy Spirit is always speaking, but we have to choose to listen and respond. And when we do, the result is a fulfilling relationship.

Our recipe today is for Dancing with God
The ingredients are from Acts 7:51
The directions are to yield to the Holy Spirit and DANCE!

PRAYER:
God of all, I come to praise You. Your encouraging words of scripture are like music that leads my soul to dance in obedience! And what a glorious dance it is! Let me not rebel with a stiff neck, unable to move to the leading of Your Holy Spirit. I confess any stubborn ways to You Lord, so that I may receive Your outpouring of forgiveness and mercy provided at the cross. Lord, I renew my commitment to You; the lifetime, irrevocable commitment made at the point of my salvation. I am humbled as I think that You stay true to Your word even as I have treated our relationship as one of convenience at times. I am reminded that in this relationship I have a new name, a new home and everything I do I do with You. I am never alone. Thank You Lord, for Your unfailing love. I come to you in the name of my precious Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Fearless Living

2009-10-18T06:00:00.006-05:00

Yesterday we explored the concept of being alive in God by breathing in His breath of life. But what if there is a part of our life that is paralyzed? A paralyzed body often needs help to make it take each breath.

So too our new life in Christ can be paralyzed, keeping us from living the full life God calls us to. Paralyzed by fear, we cannot breathe in all the power, love and sound mind God gives us through the Holy Spirit. When this happens, we need help; help that comes from taking in deep breaths of Gods promises.

Notice that Paul refers to fear as a spirit compared to the spirit we are given by God. We must recognize that fear is a tool of the enemy, possessing us with a spirit that is not of God.
Knowing this, it seems logical that we should just expel the bad and breathe in the good. Logical, yes, but reality is that the enemy is not going to give up that easily. Because he knows that upon our physical death, victory belongs to Jesus and he will never be able to torment us again, the enemy is going to take every opportunity to torment us here on earth, with his ultimate goal of robbing us of the intimate relationship that is ours to claim here on earth.

I consider this ‘tormenting’ something like poking me over and over and over to get me to respond in a way that is not in God’s will. You know how kids poke at each other in the back seat of the car, trying to get a reaction out of their sibling. If they do it enough, the sibling yells and the 'poker' has succeeded in his/her goal. As adults, it's comparable to that 'hot button' we all have. Think about that person in your life who knows the things that get you upset and they 'poke' at that hot button until they get the desired response.

This is how I see the enemy 'poking' at me. He likes to take memories of my past mistakes; memories of my fears and insecurities; or memories of my shame I carried before salvation, and then 'poke' me with them. He'll poke and poke and poke, hoping I will give in to the memory of past failures, insecurities, and shame and not step out to be all that God calls me to be. The biggest poking stick the enemy has is the spirit of fear. So what are we afraid of? Many things:
· Failure
· Financial loss
· The future
· Being rejected
· Disapproval
· Being Left out
· Being Unloved
· Being Ignored
· Accidents
· Disease
· Death

Can you think of others? Can you relate to any or some of these fears, either now or in the past?
How do these fears manifest themselves in our lives? Consider the following for a start. Each fear listed can manifest itself in our lives in one or all of the following ways:
· Disobedience
We do things our own way because we are afraid of letting go and doing what we may not understand.

· Denying or running from a calling on our life
We are too afraid to step out and live in faith.

· Lack of success.
Focusing on our personal weaknesses and fears, we cannot step up and succeed at the great things God sets before us if we could focus on His strength instead.

· Pleasing people instead of God.
A fear of being rejected leads us to do things driven by a desire to be liked or popular instead of doing what pleases God.

· Unhealthy relationships.
Again, a fear of never being loved will cause us to cling to people that profess to love us but do not treat us as God desires.

Take some time to consider the list of fears today as well as the list of ways it manifests itself in our lives. It is important to be able to recognize the spirit of fear in our lives so we can reject it and claim the spirit we have been given by God.

The second part of today’s verse goes on to tell us what God has given us in place of fear:

For God HAS given us a spirit of power

For God HAS given us a spirit of love

For God HAS given us a spirit of sound mind.

The enemy wants us to believe that the spirit of fear is stronger than the power granted to us through the Holy Spirit. But we know the truth, and when we step out in the spirit of power, love and sound mind we see:

· Obedience
Doing what God says even when it doesn’t make sense. When you see believers doing things that you would be so afraid to do, stepping out of their comfort zone, this is a Christian who has learned to deny the deceptive lies of the enemy and no longer live in fear but in the full power of the Holy Spirit.
· Success
However success is defined by God in your life, but that success is evident by the fruit of your life. You trust in Him more than you are afraid of your own weaknesses, so you step out and step up to all that God has called you to be.
· Fruitful life
When we walk in the life called us to, it is evidenced by the fruits.
· Spiritual growth
Walking in faith allows us to experience the truths of God and grow in our knowledge of Him.

Once identified, breaking the response of being poked by the enemy with the spirit of fear is like breaking a bad habit. The enemy isn’t going to give up easily and we must practice claiming the spirit of power, love and sound mind over the spirit of fear over and over. I can remember my mother telling me over and over that if I would stop reacting to my sister poking me in the back seat, she would eventually stop doing it. The fun of poking was getting the desired reaction.

We can call on the power of God to change our response to the poking of the enemy and we will soon claim victory over the enemy in this area of our life.

Carry this food for the soul recipe with you to recite each time you are poked, claim the promise of God’s word and watch the change God does in your life.
Our recipe today is for Fearless Living
The ingredients are from 2 Timothy 1:7
The directions are to respond to the prodding of the enemy with the spirit of power, love and
sound mind.

How can you apply this to your daily life? What fears have you identified today? What will you do to change the habitual response of fear in your life? Leave a comment sharing what is impressed upon your heart. CLICK HERE for a printable version of today's recipe for the soul. Make notes on it of how God is speaking, and carry it with you to feed your soul as needed.
PRAYER:
Oh God of my life, thank You for giving me a spirit of power, love and sound mind. Forgive me when I give in to the prodding of the enemy and respond with fear; a fear driven by memories of past failures and thoughts of personal weaknesses. I desire to be all that You created me to be and to achieve Your purpose in my life. I realize that I cannot do this in a spirit of fear. I claim all the power that comes with the gift of salvation and call upon Your name to conquer any fear in my life. Show me the fears I am shackled with so that I may confess them and claim the victory of changed responses. I come to you in the name of my precious Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Breath Of God

2009-10-17T06:00:00.005-05:00

Romans 6:11~
Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin,
but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Genesis 2:7 says “the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

Every other living thing was created by God with just a word and it was instantly a living creature. Only with man did God take time to form him from clay and then ‘breath into his nostrils the breath of life’. God could have spoken man into life and it would have been so, but because we were created in His image and for His purpose, our life began with the very breath of God.

God created us from the very beginning with the need to breath in His breath of life. Today we are given that life breath through the Holy Spirit.

To be alive in the flesh, you must breath, and each breath gives us the fuel and energy we need to walk, talk and function in the flesh. And as long as we are healthy, we don’t have to think about it. Breathing just happens.

As believers, we are alive in Christ and we live by breathing (if you will) the Spirit of God. Each breath gives us the spiritual strength and energy we need to walk, talk and function in a way that glorifies God. A healthy spiritual life is one where we feel the presence of God in everything we do. Every decision we make, every task we do, and every job we perform we do with the guidance and strength of the Holy Spirit. We don’t have to stop and turn on a ‘spiritual oxygen tank’ each time. We breathe in the leading of God like we breath in oxygen.

We don’t have to force ourselves to breath in the word of God, it is something our new body does naturally, as long as we have a healthy relationship with God.

As Christians, we should be desperate for every breath of God. We should feel suffocated if we go without breathing in His word and instruction daily. Have you ever been swimming under water and it took you a little longer to get to the surface than you anticipated? By the time you broke surface of the water and got to take that first breath, you were desperate for it. So desperate you swam with all your strength to get to the surface as fast as you could.This is how desperate we should be to breathe in the word of God every single day. And if we miss that time, we should have such a sense of suffocation that we do all we can to find a moment to breath in His word.

Unfortunately, too many times we begin to learn how to live with a little less ‘oxygen’. Upon our point of salvation, we are eager to read God’s word as much as we can. Then life gets in the way and we start to miss our quiet times in the word or listening in prayer. Eventually we just adjust to this new level of spiritual oxygen and don’t realize how desperate our soul is for this breath of life.

It’s like adjusting to new altitudes. I remember when we went to Tahoe one year and my youngest developed altitude sickness. His little body was desperate for the familiar levels of oxygen. However, after 2 days of breathing at this new altitude, his body adjusted and he seemed just fine. He functioned as he needed to, but with a new level of oxygen.

How long has your body adjusted to the level of spiritual oxygen you have been giving it? Is your new body given to you through Christ desperate for more of God’s word?

I also remember a time as a child when I was visiting my grandparents near Los Angeles, California. Our (my 2 sisters and I) visits revolved around the pool they had in their back yard. We spent hours and hours running, jumping and playing in that pool. Our little lungs would be filled with extra portions of oxygen as we exerted ourselves day after day. One evening, I awoke with a tremendous pain in my chest. A pain that increased with each breath I took. I remember fearing for my life at one point, not sure what was wrong and if I needed emergency care. Turns out, my Texas lungs were overcome with the large amount of pollution in the Los Angeles air. This pollution was causing my body great pain.

I have remembered this pain at times when I have realized that I have filled my soul with all kinds of pollution.

When I am beaten down with defeat, I see the pollution living a life driven by personal desires of accomplishment instead of God’s will for my life.
When I don’t feel valuable, I see the pollution of a life driven by thoughts of what others think instead of how God sees me.
When I make poor choices, I see the pollution of worldly expectations instead of the clear mind of Christ.
When I am overwhelmed with shame or guilt, I see the pollution of the enemy whispering to me the memories of my past sins instead of remembering that they were all covered by the blood of Christ.
When I am paralyzed by fear, I see the pollution of the enemy reminding me of times I have failed instead of focusing on the strength I am given through the power of the Holy Spirit.

What pollution are you breathing in today? Is there a pain in your life that God is using to point out that pollution so He can give you new breath?

As you sit with God today, know that His scripture is pure breath of life. Know that this time of prayer and meditation gives you full levels of much needed pure oxygen to fuel your soul. Stop for a minute and take in a deep breath. Then step into this day strengthened and prepared to continuing walking, working and making decisions with the power of the Holy Spirit. Be alive in Christ and dead to sin!

Our recipe today is Take a Deep Breath.
The ingredients are from Romans 6:11
The directions are to breath in deep as you spend time with God today. Be alive in Christ and
dead to sin.
PRAYER:
God of life, I come to You desperate for every breath. Man was created with Your breath of life and I cannot live without it today. I cannot live a life that glorifies You without daily breathing in the words of scripture. I take a deep breath as I sit with You in prayer and meditation. Strengthen me Lord; prepare my heart to draw even closer to you. If I wander from our time together Lord, give me such a sense of suffocation that I will do whatever it takes to come back to the table and spend time with You. Father, I want to feel the pain of any pollution in my life that keeps me from living a life driven by Your pure breath of life. Lord God, You are my life. I am a new creation through Christ. I come to you in the name of my precious Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

HEART FELT PRAISE AND WORSHIP

2009-10-16T06:00:00.008-05:00

Psalm 9: 1-2~

I will praise You, O Lord, with ALL my heart!

I will tell of all Your marvelous works.

I will be glad and rejoice in You.

I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

Let’s take this day to stop and reflect on His glory and give Him a sacrifice of praise through a personal time of devotion.

Devotion, by definition, is an act of prayer or private worship. A devotional is a short worship service. And that’s what we are going to do today, have a short and private worship service. This act of worship is going to take place at your reserved table for 2. The table God has reserved for you and just for you! It’s just you and God. So take this opportunity to worship Him with all of your heart. No distractions from others around you. No concerns of what others are thinking as they watch you.

I hope you are as excited about this as I am. Even as I write my heart is leaping at the idea of such a time of worship with my Heavenly Father! What an opportunity to return to Him a sacrifice of praise for all that He has promised and provided. Let’s not dismiss this day as something to rush through so we can get on with our busy schedules. Let’s focus on the word ‘sacrifice’ and make this a time of worship and praise that costs us a little personal comfort and time. It would be so easy to go through the motions below and check off this day of devotion as we would with any other ‘to do’ list. But then we would miss out on the joy of drawing even closer to God.

Now, some may be wondering what a personal worship service looks like, and many of us are so accustomed to an Order of Worship given to us as we enter our corporate worship services that doing it on our own may seem intimidating. So let me help with this suggested order of worship as laid out by our featured Psalm!

I will praise You, O Lord, with ALL my heart!

Go to a room where you can have privacy and no distractions.

Play your favorite praise cd.

Take a moment to lift up everything that may be filling your heart to distraction so that you may worship Him with all your heart. This is a time to praise Him for what He has done, not a time to lament the circumstances you may be challenged with.

I will tell of all Your marvelous works.

Ask God to remind you of all that He has done for you and in you.

Review journaling notes you may have and make a list of what God has done for you and in you! It is most important to reflect on what God has done 'in' you. This is the most important work of God in our lives.

Now list them and repeat them out loud.

I will be glad and rejoice in You.

Take time to personally thank God for all that He has done. From the cross, to your sanctification, to provisions and even life lessons, thank Him for loving you so much that He cared to do it all for you.

I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

Sing a song of praise. Sing along with the music you have playing or sing your own song! Rejoice! Be glad!

This is a time to celebrate with loud words of praise and thanksgiving. Lift your hands and praise Him.

As you meditate on this Psalm, know that the words Most High used in this Psalm are ‘elyon’ in the original Hebrew. This is the name of God that designates Him as the sovereign ruler of all the universe. We are called to praise the name of God because He is creator of all things and in control of all things. This is the God that we bow down and worship today!

Our recipe today is for Heart Felt Praise and Worship
The ingredients are from Psalm 9:1-2
The directions are to set aside a time of heartfelt devotion; a private act of worship praising El Elyon for who He is; God Most High.

PRAYER:
El Elyon! God Most High! I praise you with all my heart. I do not praise You because I have a perfect life, or all the provisions I could ever need. I praise You because of who You are; creator of the universe and all that is in it, on it and above it. You reign above all and I submit to Your dominion. I praise You because You call me to Your table so that I may be still, listen and know that You are God. I praise You because of the work You have done in me to make me more of a reflection of Your glory. And I praise You for the work You will continue to do in me. I praise You Lord for the unfailing love You showed on the cross. I rejoice that I was able to choose mercy over justice. I rejoice in the knowledge of who You are in my life and the power I can claim through the gift of Your Holy Spirit. I am glad to walk in the rutted paths You lay before me and find true happiness in Your plans for me. I rejoice that I can trust You in ways that I cannot understand and tell the world of Your marvelous works. You are God Most High and my heart sings praises to Your name, Elyon! I come to You in the name of my precious Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

UPDATE SINCE THIS POSTED THIS MORNING:

Several followers have shared this on their Facebook Wall, and I got so excited thinking about friends, family and followers I've never met all over the country lifting God up in praise together today! So if the Spirit moves you, let's have a PRAISE PARTY today! Use the link on the right to share on FB, Tweet it, or just email it to someone you want to invite to the party!!

Another way to join the Party...leave a comment and share what you are praising God for today!!

What Are You Looking At?

2009-10-15T06:00:00.002-05:00

Proverbs 3:6.~ In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.

I have to feed myself this verse daily to remind me how I am to walk in my relationship with the Lord. God is reminding us here that we are not walking on our own, but in all our ways we are to walk under His authority. This is a tough lesson for someone like me; head strong, determined to do things on my own without the help of others. If I don’t feed my soul with this lesson during regularly scheduled meal times, I struggle with my default nature to make it on my own, to be in control and control everything around me. But when I meditate on this word, the phrase “acknowledge Him” gives me a great visual to keep me looking in the right direction.We all know what it means to acknowledge someone in a crowd. Sometimes it’s with a simple nod of acknowledgement from across the room, catching their eye ever so briefly letting them know you know they are there. Or sometimes it is with a wave or a shout of ‘hello’.

We can also acknowledge someone from stage, giving them credit or special recognition for accomplishments.

Both are simple gestures recognizing the importance of the relationship of that person and yourself. That’s what God is asking for here; for us to recognize the importance of the relationship between Him and us. “In all our ways acknowledge Him and He will direct our path.”

We can do this in very simple ways throughout our days:

Say His name during the day, letting Him know you are aware that He is there.
Look in His direction, catching His eye for approval before making a decision.
Stop and cry out to Him in the midst of a heated moment before words are shared that are not of His leading.
Tell others what He has meant to you, sharing the way for others to see.
When you see beauty in creation, stop and say out loud “Thank You God for this creation that we enjoy”.
When you experience victory, stop and say out loud “Thank You God for working in my life”.
When life is hard, stop and say out loud “Lord, I know You are with me”.

Seems simple enough and upon first consideration, shouldn’t be that hard to do. However, I must confess that it has been easier said than done in my personal walk. Why? Because the enemy spends a lot of time trying to divert our eyes in the wrong direction. You see, for us to acknowledge God, we must see God. The question we must ask ourselves is “what am I looking at?”.

When I am going through my daily life, are my eyes looking for God or am I looking at the circumstances around me? Am I looking at people and wondering what they are thinking more than I am looking at God wondering what He is thinking?

When a decision is to be made, am I looking at what will benefit me most or am I looking at God to see what will benefit His kingdom the most?

When conflict arises, am I looking at ways to prove I am right or am I looking at God to prove He is my ultimate authority?

When I see beauty in creation is my first thought to see God?

When I experience victory, am I looking at what I have done or am I looking at what God has done?

When life is hard, am I looking at myself with pity, worry or frustration, or am I looking at God, acknowledging His unfailing love He showed on the cross and the power He gives through my salvation?

Today is a good day to stop and take a deeper look at where our eyes are focused. Maybe you can relate to one, a few or all of the answers to the question “what am I looking at?”. We can often hide from one another the direction our eyes are looking, feeling secure in ourselves behind a pair of dark glasses. But God sees through any shades you may attempt to wear. He knows where your eyes are at all times. The view is spectacular when we let Him take those dark glasses off so we can see what He wants us to see; about ourselves and about Him.

I want to see God in every minute of every day. I don’t want to miss seeing Him in anything! The enemy is going to work overtime to keep my eyes looking in the wrong direction, but all I have to do is ask God to keep my eyes on Him.

So let’s take time to acknowledge God. If you saw Jesus walking into a crowded room today, what would you say? If you were speaking to an audience and you spotted Him amongst the crowd, what acknowledgement would you offer Him today?

Our recipe today is to ask What Am I Looking At?
The ingredients are from Proverbs 3:6
The directions are to let God know you see Him, acknowledging Him in your daily walk both privately and publicly.

PRAYER:
I see you Lord. I come before You today wanting to see more of You. Let me see more of Your glory. Let me see the detail of how You are working in my life. And Lord, let me see myself through Your eyes. Let me see the parts of me that are looking in the wrong direction so that I may adjust my view. Remove the dark shades I may be wearing in my feeble an attempt to hide what I don’t want You to see. Thank You Lord for loving me so deeply and unconditionally as You remind me that You already know what I am looking at in every area of my life, and that You knew this even as You sent Your Son to the cross for me. Let me see myself as You see me Lord, cleansed by the blood of Christ and walking in His righteousness. Let the eyes of my heart be opened up so that I may draw closer to You in a real and intimate relationship. Lord, I want to see You high and lifted up. Give me eyes to see where I may not be walking in a way that brings You glory and give me a heart ready to change. I come to you in the name of my precious Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Request, Wait and Expect!

2009-10-14T06:00:00.002-05:00

Psalm 5:3 ~In the morning, Oh Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning Lord, I lay my request before you and wait in expectation.

There are times that I pray in spits and sputters, lifting up requests and concerns as I become aware of them. I am on an email prayer list and I lift up the request as I open the emails. I have a sister in Christ that I lift up and pray for every time I drive by her house on my way to work. This is good; God tells us to pray without ceasing. But today I want to explore the soul satisfying meal times that include a daily portion of intimate prayer.

I was convicted by the phrase from our key verse that says “I lay my request before you and wait in expectation.”

What does it mean to ‘expect’? The definition says: to look forward or anticipate the coming or occurrence.

As a child I knew the ‘feeling’ of expectation. It was the feeling I had when I went to bed Christmas Eve expecting exciting things to be under my Christmas tree the next morning. I ‘felt’ the definition of expect, looking forward to or anticipating the coming occurrence. In this case, I knew gifts were coming and I looked forward to it with great excitement (expecting results)!

This scripture tells me that every prayer I lift up to Him should have the same ‘feeling’ of expectation; that I should know that something is coming and should look forward to it with great excitement. My soul was convicted that I could not say this was true with every request I laid before the Lord.

More specifically, my conviction was that I couldn’t say that I often prayed and then waited in expectation. I would pray and leave it for God to handle, but I couldn’t say I often found myself looking to see what would happen; watching in full expectation of seeing God do something. How often did I lay a request before God and then miss the excitement of seeing it occur?!

I want to have that ‘feeling’ of expectation I had as a child. I want to look forward and anticipate the coming or the occurrence of seeing God answer prayers. Just as a child on Christmas morning doesn’t walk by the tree and say “Oh ya, there they are, the gifts I asked for” and then carry on with the day; I want to be waiting with expectation to see and recognize the working of God in my life.

This is not a desire to see God give me everything I want, but a desire to watch and see God work out His will in my life. Not with a grumbling spirit, but with great excitement and anticipation.

When I was a child, there were times that I asked for Christmas gifts my parents chose not to fulfill. I would go to bed expecting them to be under the tree the next morning only to find something else was there instead. Of course, the ‘something else’ was so exciting that I completely forgot about what I was actually expecting. My parents knew what was best and always had my best interest at heart. I may not have gotten what I requested, but my expectation of being thrilled by the gifts given was met completely.

So much so does our Heavenly Father desire great things for us. And while we may lay our requests before Him with great expectation of seeing them fulfilled, He will deliver exactly what we need. And what God gives thrills us more than we could have ever imagined or even asked for.

Oh to pray with such expectation that we finish each prayer with “Lord, I wait with great anticipation and excitement to see what You are going to do!” And then to actually wait with eyes and ears ready to see and hear it when it does; not to miss it as just one more occurrence of the day.

What are you waiting for and expecting God to do in your life?

Our recipe today is to Request, Wait and Expect.
The ingredients are from Psalm 5:3.
The directions are to lay your request before Him and then EXPECT to see God; looking forward to and anticipating the working of God in our lives.

How can you apply this to your daily life? Ask God to give you eyes and ears that are ready to see His working in your life. Ask Him to let you ‘feel’ the anticipation of expecting Him to show up. Write what is impressed upon your heart today.
CLICK HERE for a printable version of today's recipe for the soul. Make notes on it of how God is speaking to you today, and carry it with you to feed your soul as needed.
PRAYER:
This morning Lord, I come before you with a humble and sincere heart. Oh Lord, hear my voice. I come ready to lay my needs and requests before You. Oh Lord, give me a faith that has great expectations of You working in my life, meeting these requests as You see best. Give me a heart that waits with anticipation and feeling of expectation. Give me eyes to see the work You are doing in my life daily. Father, I don’t want to miss what You are doing for me, in me, and thru me. I want to experience every gift you provide with great excitement. I want to be thrilled by all that You do. I confess that I can be so distracted by the work of the day, the distractions of the world and the desires of my flesh that I can miss seeing and recognizing answered prayers. Today Lord, I lay my requests before you and I WAIT in EXPECTATION. I look forward to seeing You come and seeing what will occur. I come to you in the name of my precious Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Receive It, Use It, Be Built Up In It!

2009-10-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

Colossians 2:6-8 ~As you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him.

Have you received Christ? The Greek word used for received is paralambano meaning ‘to take with you , to take charge of, to receive’. I couldn't help but think about how I can receive a gift and then put it away; even a precious gift, like expensive jewelry or such. I receive it and then put it in its place or tuck it away in a safe place, not to be used except on special occasions or when the gift is needed in my daily life. Is this what I do with the gift of salvation?

But this word says to receive it and take it with you…to take charge of it. Salvation is not receiving Christ and then setting that gift aside in ‘its place’. It is receiving and taking it with us.

I find it easy to pull that gift out when things are hard, confusing or I’m at church, but God is telling me to carry that gift with me all the time. And not just holding it in a pocket, but actually taking charge of that gift in my daily life! This thought is expanded by the rest of today’s verse, saying “continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him”. Rooted is the Greek word rhizoo, meaning ‘to be rooted, with the associative meaning that a rooted object is strong and healthy’. I love that image. Not only am I to be rooted in the Word of God, I am told that doing so will make me strong and healthy! Just like good food for our soul! This verse is another visual image given to us by God to drive home our ongoing Food for the Soul concept of being strong and healthy by consuming the word of God.

And the third point is that we are to be built up in Him. Think about a healthy physical body that is built up (or as we say… ‘buff’!). When we fill our body with healthy food and exercise our body, we get built up in physical strength. By the same token, when we fill our soul with healthy food, the word of God, and then work out our life using that knowledge, we are built up (‘spiritually buff’) in Him. I used to think I couldn’t serve God until I was a mighty woman of faith. I thought I had to be spiritually ‘buff’ before I could be of any use. At some point I realized that God wasn’t asking me to become a Christian wonder woman before I could be used by Him. I realized that that the ‘wonder woman’ in me was the power of the Holy Spirit and He was asking me to feed myself on His word to draw more on that power in my day to day life! We need to step out in that power! So we should go out today and every day, ready to draw on the strength of Christ to be a testimony to the awesome power of His working in us. It doesn’t matter where we are, who we are, what we are, or how we are. God’s word says that no matter where, who, what or how, if we receive Him, taking Him with us at all times, we are strong and built up in the power of the Holy Spirit. And with Him, nothing is impossible.

PRAYER:
Lord, You planted a seed in me that took root the day I submitted my life to You. I received the gift of that seed with great joy. Lord, I confess that there have been times when I tucked that gift away into a ‘safe place’, sometimes walking around without even remembering I had it. Forgive me Lord, and help me remember that when I received this gift, Your expectation is that I take it with me and use it in my daily life. Nudge me Lord when I have slipped it into my pocket for a moment. Remind me to pull it out and let it take charge of my life. I acknowledge that in my flesh I am weak, but in You I am strong. Let me use this strength to Your glory. May I increase in wisdom and stature as I work out my salvation with You leading the way. Amen.

A Child is Waiting in Heaven for His Mother

2009-09-18T11:30:00.006-05:00

A few months ago I was asked to sing for a very special memorial service. A service that came at the end of a bible study for women who were seeking healing from a decision to have an abortion in the past. At this memorial service, each participant placed a 'doll' that they had carried with them for the duration of the bible study into an infant sized casket. Then a candle was lit and each was given time to share their story, or a rememberance in honor of their lost child.

One story in particular caught my attention. She had beautifully captured in written word both the 'facts' and the emotion and heartbreak of her moment of decision and then the actual abortion. I prayed with her at the event and then told her that her story needs to be told. Someone is in the same situation she is in and God can use her story to speak into hearts to make a different decision than she made.

Recently she emailed me her story and I wanted to share it with you now. It is longer than my blogs usually run, but it is worth it. As discussed in my last blog,God calls us to be opened up so He can reach in with a healing balm. My prayer is that this will be part of the healing process for Amanda (the author) as well as leading others with similar stories to let Jesus in so their hearts can also be mended.

As you read this, God may put someone on your heart that needs to hear this story. Please respond to the leading of God quickly and share it anyway you desire (link to blog, cut and paste into an email...). This is not just a story to tell, it is a testimony for God to work through.

Here is Amanda's story:

Cars and more cars. They were going by so fast; I don’t even think anyone noticed me. In their defense, it was about ten at night and it was a very narrow street. What if anyone had noticed, though? Would they know what I was thinking? What I was doing out there? Would they know the chaos that had just erupted inside the house a few yards behind me? I doubt it; I couldn’t believe it even now.

“It would only take one” I kept hearing in my mind. One try? One car? One second thought? I know what my mind and my body was telling me…it was my heart I was afraid of. My heart kept telling me I was wrong. What I just heard inside the house was wrong. What my head was telling me was WRONG! I could both ignore my heart, and go against this God I didn’t truly know or decide for myself since I only knew of Him. I could take that one step and it would be done.

I sat huddled in a ball, rocking myself back and forth, crying harder than ever in my life. I kept feeling the nauseas wave over me, reminding me that I had a choice to make. For the first time in my life, I actually thought of killing myself and the child I was carrying. Even now, it seems like an “out of body experience”, watching what I had become. Underestimated, dishonest, selfish, but most hurtful, I saw a woman who had nothing but pain.

I had a beautiful 2 year old that I couldn’t take care of, an estranged husband that loved me more than life (even if I didn’t feel remotely the same way), a mother who didn’t know the first thing about what I wanted or needed (and truly didn’t take the time to care), and an unborn baby whose father didn’t care one bit. I could step in front of one car and it would all be over. Before they even saw me, it would be done. No one would really miss me, right?

My mother was inside telling me to abort my child. Kill a part of me! So what would it matter if she lost me? The father of my unborn baby was very uninterested and from what I knew about him, I didn’t figure he would be the one to step up and take the responsibility. So he wouldn’t care if I took this last step. One more problem he didn’t have to face. So the only one truly miss me would be Miranda. She was my answer. She was the reason, in my heart, for not walking into the headlights of some unsuspecting car. She was my reason for breathing.

Again, if this was the case, then the threat from my mother that I would lose her if I had this child was all too intimidating. The idea of not being able to see my beautiful daughter again was enough to get my mind in gear. Choices. To. Make. Would she really take my husband’s side, in a divorce that was all too obvious, to help him take my only reason for life away? I believed she would. I had no reason not to. She had never stood by me. I just kept thinking what kind of a woman would force her child to make this decision?

Forced into telling my husband, I was short and sweet and to the point with him. I was not honest though.

“I am pregnant. It is not yours, obviously. I am having an abortion, I think. I am so confused and I don’t want to hurt you, but I am not sure what to do.” “Yes, it is someone I have been seeing for a few months…No he is not involved anymore…,” then the most hard and dishonest part..”I want to work this out with you.” I remember sitting in his car later that week, telling him how much I missed him and Miranda (which was partly true). I told him I was sorry and I needed to give our marriage a chance. I would not go out without his permission. I would not have the friends I had if it made him uncomfortable. I would focus all of my energy and time on him and Miranda. And, most important, Cody was out of my life. I wanted nothing to do with him. He said he would take me and we would get through this. After that it is a blur for a few weeks.

I had told no one that I had visited a clinic two times before and was so overwhelmed at what I was doing that I left. I took one of my girlfriends with me and she was all too happy to help me leave, but she would have supported any decision I made. Funny that I cannot remember the names or anything of the first two clinics.

The third clinic I went to was Routh Street Women’s Clinic in Dallas. It was Saturday, June 1, 2002.The first thing I remember is pulling into the gated opening. The fence was so high, no one could see in or out. The only people I did see were the protestors at the fence and the security guard who came out to get me. All the while the protestors telling me the obvious; I was killing my child. I had other options. I didn’t have to do this. What the hell did they know? They didn’t know what I would face back home if I changed my mind. So I kept walking with my head down, pretending not to hear them. Oh, but I did.

Once I was inside, I can remember the pale blue color of the walls. I can remember the young girls sitting on the floor because it was just too full in there for anymore seats. The lady behind the window who asked for my I.D. and made me sign papers that I really wasn’t paying attention to. I knew what they said already. I had to sign them twice before. Routine Procedures. Ha! What a joke. What was routine about this?

They called me in for my sonogram. They told me that the fee went up depending on how far into your pregnancy you were. After the sonogram, the tech left the room. While I was waiting, I saw a chart of women who had had their sonograms before me. I felt like screaming when I saw that one woman’s revealed she was 28 weeks along. Is it possible I could not be a monster? My baby wasn’t even kicking yet. According to my mom, if it could not live when it was born, then it wasn’t a baby yet. I held onto that for my sanity I guess. They wouldn’t let me see my sonogram or hear the heart. They would only tell me I was 10 ½ weeks along. One day further and I would have been charged a higher rate.

The next thing I remember is waiting for the counselor to talk to me. It was so cramped inside that I went out to the patio with TJ and smoked a cigarette. And another. And another. When the phone rang, I told him was a girlfriend of mine. Cody wanted to know what I was doing and could he come get his shoes. He had left them at my mom’s months ago when we were still seeing each other. Since I had recently moved back in with TJ, I told him it wasn’t a good idea. After a few minutes of arguing (and lying by telling him I was with a friend), I agreed to let him come over and get them in a week, when I knew TJ would be working. The counselor called my name and I let him go.

Speaking to the counselor was not difficult. I think Cody gave me the fuel to say what I needed to in a confident tone. I gave straight forward answers and they “approved” me for abortion. That was my turning point. I began to feel as if God was telling me that it was okay and he understood. I had sinned against his commandments and this was the way I could fix it. It took me several years before I knew it was Satan talking to me. Afterwards, they had me sit in a secluded room away from the main waiting room. Then, one by one, women started coming in and sitting in the other chairs around me. One was a heavy set black woman. She was on the phone with someone telling them about her other three kids. She looked to be late twenties. Another was a quiet frail looking blonde girl who could not have been a day over 18. She just kept her hands crossed around her chest and looked down. I didn’t really notice the others, but they talked so much, it kept me quite distracted. I looked around the room and on the walls were letters to the doctor and staff. They all thanked them for a “job well done”. One said that the “procedure” had changed her life so much she could never thank him enough. Would I feel that way? Would I be one of these girls who felt compelled to thank him? Maybe. I actually sat and imagined what I would say to him. Maybe thank him for saving my marriage? Maybe for keeping my baby girl in my life? Maybe.

They let me go out to the waiting room after an impossibly long time. I don’t remember what I was even waiting for. Everything else is a blank until they called my name and I walked back through the door through the narrow hallway to the last door on the right. A surgical room. A cold metal table with stirrups, a large bottle to the left of the stirrups, a metal tray with a covering; no doubt covering the utensils. I thanked God silently for that. I was introduced to the nurse, and she spoke really softly to me. I cannot recall what was said; just that she was very small in stature and had a ponytail. She had a very soft, nurturing voice. After I was on the table with a gown and a drape over my legs, my feet freezing, the doctor came in.

He was very tall and stocky. I remember thinking he was not bad looking, but definitely not someone you would remember. The only thing I do remember was that he introduced himself to me as Dr. Haas. I asked him three times what his name was. Every time it was the same, as was the spelling of it. The significance was obviously only to me. It was the nickname I had in high school. I was the first one to get into a fight, no matter what it was about. It was my screen name on the computer, my email and the name on my powder puff jersey from senior year. I took this as a final sign that God was okay with what I was doing. It was my payment for my sins.

I am glad to be able to say, I don’t remember the noise. I don’t remember any smells at the clinic. I don’t know how long we were there. I vividly remember, however, the nurse holding my hand as I looked at the ceiling. She just kept stroking my left hand and saying “It will be okay. You are almost done.” The pain….Oh! The pain! It was never going to end. It was more horrible than any pain I had ever endured, including labor! It was not going to be okay. I was killing my child. I was killing a part of me! I was not breathing. They had to remind me. They had to tap my legs to get me to open them! I was fighting them and I wanted it to stop, but it was too late. The doctor stood up and told the nurse to give me a pill to help me sleep.
I woke up afterwards in a waiting room separate from all the others. This one had a black leather couch, and two black leather recliners. A nurse walked in, as if on cue, and handed me a glass of orange juice and a pack of saltine crackers. I was lying in the couch in a ball with my clothes on. I did not remember where I was until the same nurse from the surgical room came in. I was told to sleep as long as I felt necessary. So I did. I was there for hours until a security guard came in and told me I had to meet my “ride” outside the doors. He took me out a different door than the entrance and TJ was waiting on me. I was loaded into the car. They had to practically carry me out and haul me into the car. On the trip home, I was silent. I was angry immediately. I was guilty. I had sacrificed one life for another. One child for another. One price too high.

Before we made it all the way home, we had to pull over. I was surprised to find myself on the curb heaving my body in waves of nausea. I couldn’t stop crying and throwing up. In all the time I was there, I only cried during the procedure. And even that was only a silent cry. This was like no other sobbing I had ever seem or experienced! TJ finally got me back into the car, even though he had to stop a few more times for me to “recoup”.

When we got home, I could not make it more than three steps from the door. I did not want to lie in our bed. I wanted to lie on my couch. Even that was too much. I curled into the fetal position on the floor in the living room and fell asleep. I vaguely remembered him saying he was going to get me some food to help me feel better! HA! What a joke. My mother called me and woke me up. Against my better judgment, I answered. Not really wanting to know what she wanted, but hoping she was feeling the guilt too, I answered. All I remember of the conversation was her asking me how I was feeling. No reply. Was I okay? Again, no reply. She quickly told me she was proud of me and the decision I had made. I am sure the sound of dial tone surprised her as much as her comment hurt me. Again, that was a turning point. I had no one to support me. Sure TJ was there. I saw him as support at the time. I guess to his fullest extent he was. But it was wrong. I was wrong. My mother was wrong. Satan was wrong.

I live with the thought of my unborn child everyday. I hear people say that “not a day goes by”…..and now I know. Everyday, I wonder. I think about him or her. I am angry. I am guilty. I am forgiven by God. But not by myself.

I decided to name my son, whom I aborted, Tucker Ross Waton. He is named for the two most supportive people in my life, Martha Tucker Watson and Chester Ross Watson. I have since lost them and I believe they are holding him until Mommy can get there!

Amanda sent me this message as a follow up to her story, and it speaks volumes to the power of God's hand in our lives:

"I was ASKED to attend this bible study. I didn't think I needed it and was the MOST reisitant. But because of God's love and perfect plan, I think I got the most out of it! I have learned to not only forgive myself, but also those who played a part it that time in my life. Especially my mother, who I harbored the most resentment towards. I believe that God used the grief of this event to break me down so he could reconstruct me into His vessel. This is why I share my story. Not proudly but honestly."

If this story has touched your heart, leave a message for Amanda and then share the post with someone God has laid on your heart this very moment.

Tami

Come Closer Lord, I Need to Whisper into Your Ear

2009-09-09T10:17:00.003-05:00

Psalm 31: 1 – 2 ~ In You, Oh Lord, I, put my trust. Let me never be ashamed. Deliver me in YOUR righteousness. Bow down your ear to me, deliver me speedily. Be my rock of refuge; a fortress of defense to save me.

I have learned in my ongoing sanctifying walk with the Lord that vulnerability leads to healing. There is a song I love to sing that says “Here I am again, willing to be opened up and broken, like a flower in the rain. Tell me what I have to do to die and then be raised. To reach beyond the pain; like a flower in the rain.”

It's scary to be open and vulnerable in today’s society. Image is everything…or so we are told from all types of media. And if we are open and vulnerable to the wrong people, we become a source of gossip and finger pointing.

But if open and broken vulnerability is what God calls for, what are we to do?

Psalm 31 tells us exactly what to do. Go to Him! Let me share what God showed me years ago as I was struggling with being vulnerable.

First, look at these words in our verse… ‘Bow down your ear to me’. I can ask God to bow down His ear to me so that I can WHISPER into it my NEEDS and share with Him IN PRIVATE the things that shackle me with shame or burden me with guilt. I can do this WITHOUT FEAR and in complete trust.

The image it gives me is one of a small child who is in trouble, has made a mistake or is in need of help and her father, who towers over he, is by her side. She looks up and motions for him to come down to her so she can whisper in his ear. The father kneels down so his ear is close enough for her TO WHISPER PRIVATELY, WITHOUT FEAR. She can confess anything to him privately without fear of judgement. Why? Because they have a relationship that assures her that he will not judge or condemn her. They have a father / daughter relationship of unconditional love.

After she confesses her heart to him, he reaches out to draw her near, whispers something back, something that makes her smile, and hugs her tightly. The child has found her rock, her refuge, her fortress of defense.

THIS IS OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN.

Our verse tells us that we are never to be ashamed as we ask Him to bow down His ear to us. How can this be? The things I confess into His ear are often heartbreaking for me to think about. From choices I have made before accepting Him, to personal sins I struggle with in my sanctifying walk, how can I not be ashamed? And then there are the consequences of my life being tangled up in the sins of others, like sexual abuse, that can leave deep scars of shame. How can I not be ashamed as I whisper these things into His ear.

The answer is in the part of the verse that says “deliver me in YOUR righteousness”. I must embrace the gift given to me on the cross. For years I walked as one who was saved but never claimed the righteousness of Christ that salvation brought me. My shame was too great and the enemy did all he could to keep me shackled to that shame.

But God speaks to those shackles when He says we are to be DELIVERED in His righteousness. The first definition of deliver in the Webster dictionary is ‘set free’!

WE ARE ‘SET FREE’ IN GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS.

All we have to do is seek Him…
ASK HIM TO BOW DOWN HIS EAR THAT WE MAY CONFESS AND THEN CLAIM HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

This righteousness is secured in the blood of Christ as evidenced in Romans 4: 22 “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” It doesn’t say….to all who have done nothing wrong and believe. It doesn’t say…to all who have never been tangled up in the consequences of their sin or the sins of others. NO….God says His righteousness is given to every single one of us who believe in Him…no strings or baggage attached!

Once claimed, we are like that child standing in the shadow of her father. Not only can she ask him to bow down so she can whisper concerns and confessions into his ear, she knows he is there to protect and take care of her.

And so we come to the end of our featured verse. Be my rock of refuge; a fortress of defense to save me.

When we understand that the definition of a fortress is a strong fort and a fort is a permanent army post, we understand the image of security and protection God offers. GOD IS MY PERMANENT strong post of defense. I can trust Him to always be there. He isn't there sometimes and gone other times. There is nothing I can do to scare Him away! Even when I may stray from His side; even if I have never known Him in a personal way…HE IS THERE.
He is permanent,. He is Faithful in His affection and promises.

So, what are you holding onto…what is between you and the one who desires an intimate relationship with you?

Maybe you have been keeping him at arm’s length…He is here and desires to be close to you.

Maybe you are holding onto THE GUILT OF A PERSONAL SIN or shackled with the shame of the consequences of others sins…He is here and desires to set you free.

Maybe you have never claimed the righteousness given to your through the blood of Christ…He is here and DESIRES TO SEE YOU CLAIM what he came to give.

Prayer:
In You, Oh Lord, I put my trust. Let me never be ashamed. Deliver me (set me free from the shackles of shame and burdens of guilt) set me free…in YOUR righteousness. (a righteousness that I can claim because I believe that the blood of Christ was shed for me to cover my sin). Bow down your ear to me (come close Father…I need to whisper something in your ear without fear of being ridiculed or made to feel ashamed)....deliver me speedily. (set me free just as quickly as I confess or share with you the burden I carry). Be my rock of refuge. A fortress of defense to save me. (Be that permanent place of strength and refuge…that permanent place where I can draw near to you and You draw near to me…) Amen.

p.s.
The rest of the story… as I learned to trust God and ask Him to bow down His ear to me, He also brought people into my life that I could trust to be vulnerable with in a healthy way. Seek God today and ask Him to bring those people into your life so that you can be opened up and broken and the healing can begin.
For more encouraging words on vulnerability, visit Heart Reflections (click here!)

Make Me Lord!

2009-08-24T08:25:00.003-05:00

Psalm 119:35~ Make me walk along the path of Your commands, for that is where my happiness is found.

In a previous devotional, we discussed how the word path in scripture is interpreted from different forms of Hebrew words. In the verses for that devo the Hebrew word used meant 'the rutted path of a cart or wagaon'. The word for 'path' in today's verse comes from a word that refers to ‘lifestyle’. The full definition says: ‘path, way, road; by extension: behavior, lifestyle.’ We have explored how path can mean a rutted path carved out by God that we must purposefully jerk our wheels out of to leave, and now we have a word to remind us that when we stay in this path God commands, we will always find happiness.

Oh ok, so if that is where happiness is then I’m not leaving this path! And since this path means behavior or lifestyle by extension, then I will behave just as God commands. But wait, I can’t help but notice that the Psalmist starts this verse with ‘make me’. “Make me walk along the path of Your commands.” Make me behave according to Your commands. I believe we are given a clue here. Just as in our exploration of the word about the cart in the rutted path, our flesh wants to seek happiness on paths that appear to be more interesting than the one we are looking at sometimes. We can be led to behave in a way that is not in line with His commands. Well, at least my flesh has. You?

If you have children, or if you are an adult with siblings, you recognize the words ‘make me’. They are usually fighting words! "Oh ya? Let's see you MAKE ME!" They are told to a brother or sister when one is telling the other what to do. Sometimes it’s for their own good, but our rebellious nature wants to resist the ‘good instruction’ because they aren’t the boss of us!

And so we come to the twist on those ‘fighting words’. God is the boss of us. Plain and simple. We are reminded over and over that we are to submit to His authority willingly. So I say in agreement with this Psalmist, “God ~ MAKE ME!”

Make me want to walk along the path of Your commands.
Make me feel lost when I am not following the path of Your commands.
Make me seek the path of Your commands when I am not sure where I should go.

Open your bible and see that in the verses leading up to Psalm 119:35. The Psalmist asks the Lord to teach him His ways and give him understanding of His ways and then he says MAKE ME. When we ask to be taught with a desire to understand, the understanding makes us want to actual do what we have been taught.

So today I cry out to God, “MAKE ME”. I want to behave as You command. I want to live a lifestyle that You command. I want to walk the path that You command.

Are they fighting words? You bet! I am fighting with the power of the Holy Spirit against the will of my flesh and the deception of the enemy. To them I say “You can’t make me but God can!”

PRAYER:
God, You have laid a path before me that will bring me happiness and You glory. Your word tells me that this path is the lifestyle I am to live and the behavior I am to exhibit. I cry out to you Lord, MAKE ME walk that path daily. I confess that I need You to be ‘the boss of me’ so that I don’t get lost along the way. Teach me Your ways, give me a mind that understands and make my want to heart obey. Show me if my lifestyle or behavior has taken me down a path that is not of You and make me want to come back to Your commands. If I am lost, make me feel so lost and alone that I seek You with all my heart. And Lord, let me find You quickly. Amen.

Let God Show You Your Whole Heart

2009-08-11T11:21:00.004-05:00

2 Chronicles 25:2 ~ And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart.

I was reading in 2 Chronicles today and this verse jumped out at me. Since Chronicles is all about the succession of kings, what they did when they reigned, how they honored or dishonored God, and so forth; so I’m inclined to read this book quickly…skimming at times if I am completely honest! I have to make myself slow down when I realize what I am doing. At times it is like reading a novel series where the same thing seems to happen over and over; different characters but same story ~ man becomes King, man pledges to follow God’s will, man wins battles and gets a big head, man decides to step out on his own will, man is struck down by God.

I’ve found myself wondering how so many kings who proclaimed to follow God or were raised in a home that proclaimed to follow God could fall into this pattern over and over again. Today I caught a glimpse of what could be the answer…both for the kings of old and us today.

How often do I (we) follow the letter of the law to be the ‘good Christian’ but do it without a whole heart? Obedience with less than a whole heart might look like this:

Grumbling under our breath or out loud to others as we choose to honor God in our actions and choices when we’d rather do it another way or be doing what our friends are doing.
Volunteering at church or in the community because we want people to notice us and see that we are important.
Stepping out in a calling God has put on our lives with visions of notoriety or wealth.

This list could be quite long if we all were deeply honest with ourselves. God calls us to follow Him with a humble heart. Yet, I have learned that doing so with my whole heart has been part of the sanctifying process.

I have found that the enemy can take a verse like today’s and attempt to pour shame and guilt upon us; trying to make us feel like we are a failure in God’s eyes because we struggle with issues listed above (and all the other ‘less than a whole heart’ issues that could be added to that list). And I will confess that for years I would let the enemy win. The truth is that we are all learning how to be more like Christ one day at a time. If I see myself as one who ‘does what is right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart’, then this is God showing me one more thing to confess, repent of and move forward, stronger today than I was yesterday.

God knows our heart. We cannot hide it from Him. It is not a surprise to Him when we bring confessions of pride, anger, greed or bitterness to Him when we realize that our obedience is done with less than a whole heart. In fact, in ourselves we are blind to our own sin. God is the one that reveals to us the true nature of our heart!

So ask Him today to show you what part of your heart is not wholly committed to Him. Let Him show you what you are trying to hide from yourself and then experience the healing touch of the Spirit as you confess and repent. Walking in obedience will be sweeter than ever before!

Prayer:
My patient God, You know the thoughts of my heart better than I do. And yet you continue to love my completely, with Your whole heart. Your unfailing love shown on the cross covers me with mercy and forgiveness. Show me what I need to see Lord. Show me what part of my heart is not completely surrendered to You so that I may repent of it and do what is right in Your eyes with a whole heart. Amen

Feeding my Hungry Soul one meal at a time,

Tami

Keep Your Wheels in the Deeply Rutted Path

2009-08-07T09:50:00.002-05:00

Psalm 23:8 ~ He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. NIV

The Hebrew word used for ‘path’ in this verse literally means a rutted path of a cart or a wagon.Think about a rutted path. It is created because carts and wagons have taken that path over and over and over. The wheels of the carts and wagons have carved out a deep path that others can follow and not get lost. It has been used so much because it has proven to be the best path to take to reach the destination successfully. In fact, a rutted path that is followed over and over for long periods of time can be hard to get out of. The wheels are deep in the path and one would have to intentionally jerk their wagon wheels out of the rut to go in a different direction.So this verse actually says, God leads me in the rutted paths of righteousness... God is telling us that if we will just walk in the path He has carved out for us, we can't get lost and we will live a life pleasing to Him. And by specifically choosing this Hebrew word, I can't help but think God is reminding me that as a believer filled with the Holy Spirit, getting off His path is an intentional act of rebellion. Think about it...a wagon doesn't easily wander out of a deeply rutted path, it has to be forced out.

I know the ways God leads. I know them because I have His Word to tell me. I know them because I have the urging of the Holy Spirit to tell me. But too many times I take the reins and jerk my wagon out of the rutted path and head down a path that I am sure is much better. Am I the only one? Is this familiar to you too?

This word today is reminding us that we don’t need to hold onto the reins. God has His hand on each of us. His word leads us onto the rutted paths that will keep up in His ways.

And so, if I have chosen rebellion, the best thing I can do is to submit those reins back into the hands of the Lord of my life and let Him lead my cart back where it belongs. And as my wheels settle back into the deeply rutted path, I’ll know I’m home again; right where I belong.

Rebellion is done to bring honor to ourselves. If we choose a path that is not directed by God, we are choosing to go against His authority (rebellion) and instead choosing to prove our way is better (pride / or desiring honor for ourselves) When we choose to stay in or return to the rutted path of righteousness, our actions bring honor to God. What do you choose today?

PRAYER:
Lord of my life, I come seeking Your rutted path of righteousness. Show me if my wheels are outside the walls of the deeply rutted path You have set before me. If there is any rebellion in my heart, show it to me now so that I may return to Your path and bring honor to Your name. Father, I realize that too many times I reach for the reins of my cart out of pride; seeking to make my own path in life. I bring this to You today and ask You to make me mindful of my prideful ways so that I may repent and return the reins to Your Almighty Hands. It feels good to be deeply rutted in You Lord. Amen.

God’s Word of Unfailing Love

2009-08-04T09:12:00.003-05:00

Psalm 143:8 ~ Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

Have you ever come to the end of a long day when things you needed to do didn’t get done, or a decision that should have been made is still pressing in on you, and as you laid your head on the pillow you sighed “I’ll deal with it tomorrow”?

Or maybe you have been (or are) in a season where life is hard; I mean really hard and there doesn’t appear to be any light at the end of the tunnel. At the end of each day as you laid your head on the pillow you sighed “maybe tomorrow will be better”.

I have. I have experienced all of these pillow talk moments and have found that the first part of today’s verse is a much better way to end my day with a sigh, saying instead, “Lord, let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love”.

We live in fleshly bodies; bodies that can feel the weariness of a long day or season of life. This is what makes us all the same; believers and unbelievers alike. The difference between one who trusts in God and one who does not is a body that is refreshed each morning with a reminder of God’s unfailing love.

I struggled with this in a season of my life when I just couldn’t find joy in the Lord. I’d say things like: “What unfailing love? Look at my life, it is a mess!” “Lord, don’t you see how unfair this is? Can’t You do something about it? Why are You not changing my situation?”

Finally I stopped looking for God’s unfailing love in my personal situations and looked up. When I did, I saw my Savior on the Cross. God’s unfailing love was shown to me on that cross.

When the challenges of life get me down, I remember that God loves me so much that He gave His only Son so I can bring those burdens to His feet.

When my body is weary from long, hard days, I can remember that God loves me so much that He sacrificed His Son so I can walk with Him and in His strength.

When there does not seem to be an end in sight to a series of what seem to be hopeless days, I can remember that God loves me so much that He let His Son walk in the darkness of death for 3 days so that I could walk in the light of hope found in the promise of eternity with Him.

Yes, that is the word of unfailing love I think of when I lay my head on the pillow and sigh, saying “Lord, let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love”.

How can I not put my trust in a God who would go to such lengths to have fellowship with me? I can trust Him to always show me the way to go.

And so as the Psalmist goes on to say, “To YOU I lift up my soul”.

Do you? Do you lift up your soul to Him? When I first read this verse, after realizing how powerfully God has shown His unfailing love for me through the cross, I considered what it meant to lift up my soul to Him.

I am no theologian, but I will tell you that God has given me a vivid imagination that He often uses to show me what He wants me to glean from His word. So don’t look for this interpretation in any commentary, but imagine if you will your soul as a vessel of some sort. For me it is a large clay bowl. This bowl (representation of my soul) is in my hands and I lift it to the Lord. As I do, He pours the living water of His word into that bowl. My soul (represented by that bowl) receives this word and my body is refreshed by the living water that fills my soul.

Morning, noon and night I lift up my soul to God, seeking the word of His unfailing love. I am reminded that the unfailing love of God is the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. I am reminded that if my God loved me so much that He would do this for me, even before I was born, then His love is greater than anything I could come against. God cannot and will not fail me. And so, I trust Him to show me the way that I should go.

Our recipe today is God's Word of Unfailing Love
The ingredients are Psalm 143:8
The directions are to remember the everlasting love God showed on the cross and cling to that promise no matter the circumstances you are in at the moment.

CLICK HERE for a printable version of today's recipe for the soul. Make notes on it of how God is speaking to you today, and carry it with you to feed your soul as needed.

PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, I am humbled at the thought of what You did to bring me into fellowship with You. You could have given up on me and all mankind and saved Your Son from the torment and torture of that road to Calvary. You could have but You didn’t. You didn’t because You are unfailing love. You aren’t just one who shows unfailing love…you ARE unfailing love. Lord, I am saddened at the thought of the times I have failed you. My love is true, and yet I fail You time after time. I thank You that Your unfailing love shows mercy to me. Forgive me as I stumble along learning to live more like You. Lord, to You I lift up my soul. Fill me with the word of Your unfailing love. Show me the way that I should go Lord. I trust You, the God that went to such lengths to show me a love that cannot and will not fail me. Yes Lord, show me the way that I may go and I will follow. Amen.

Tami

Overwhelming Joy of His Power!

2009-07-31T15:52:00.002-05:00

Ephesians 1: 18-22 ~ I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for those who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realm.

Paul is reminding the Ephesians that they walk with the power of the Holy Spirit. This same verse reminds me that when we pray, we do not pray in our own strength but we pray with all the power and might of the Holy Spirit. Do you believe it? I mean, do you REALLY believe it? Our previous devotion focused on praying with expectation. This verse tells me why I should have such great expectations. It’s because I pray in the name of Jesus, who gave to me the power of the Holy Spirit on the day of my salvation.

This power is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. Do I hear an AMEN! This power is like no other power I can imagine. This power is the same power that created the universe and all that lives in it. This power is the same power that told the ocean how far it could go and the sun when to rise and set. This power is the same power that picked me up and turned me around to walk a path led by Him.

And I claim it every day when I pray, saying “and I pray all these things in the name of Jesus. Amen”.

Oh, if I was there with you, you’d see me jumping up and down, telling of His power with great excitement and joy in my voice! But let me pause here and confess to you that while I believe this with all my heart, my heart loses sight of it sometimes. Does yours?

I can think of many times that I prayed ‘in the name of Jesus’ but without the excitement and energy that pours from me like it did as I wrote the words of this devotional. I confess that there are days that I am so beaten down by the tasks, pressures and challenges of life that when I lift up my prayers, I think more about the daunting work ahead and forget that I am praying in the name of Jesus who gives to me the same power that rose His dead body from a grave and seated Him at the right hand of God.

I have an old friend that used to tell people, “she really is excited about this. She is turning cartwheels on the inside!”. You see, I am very reserved and quiet most of the time. That is my comfort zone as an introvert. However, I am also a singer and one who loves to sing about the power of God more than anything. When I do, you’d never know that I am shy and quiet. Sometimes our church choir is so big we have to add another front row. This row has to stay seated so the row behind them can see the director. When this happens, if I am on that front row, I am like a 2 year old in the last half of an hour long service…I just can’t sit still!

There is one song our choir sings that I just can’t sing sitting down! It’s called Mountain Mover and the chorus goes like this:

My God is a mountain mover
My God’s gonna’ make a way.
Can’t count all the times He’s proven
We can trust Him just have faith
Take a hopeless situation
Watch Him turn it all around
Nothing is impossible
I can’t hold back I’ve gotta’ shout
My God
My God
My God
Is a mountain mover!

My soul is moved to overwhelming excitement just writing these words, tears flowing with the thought of such power given to me through my Savior Jesus Christ. And then I am convicted when I think of those times when I pray with anything less than such overwhelming excitement of seeing Him work in my life and the life of those I pray for. It doesn’t mean I should pray on my feet with my hands in the air, jumping around with the excitement of expectation every time I go to the Lord (although…there are times you might catch me in the prayer closet doing just that!). Many times it is falling on my knees in submission to this mighty power overwhelmed by the realization that I can let go and let God’s power take over! Tears may flow as I am overcome with the joy of knowing He gave me this power through the blood He shed on the cross.

Paul prayed for the Ephesians that the eyes of their hearts may be enlightened in order that they may know His incomparably great power. My prayer for us is the same!

PRAYER:
Mighty God! My God! You are a mountain mover. You have shown me so many times how Your power prevails over all. I thank You for opening my eyes to be reminded of how mighty that power is and for reminding me that this power is the power given to me by the authority of Jesus Christ; given to me the day I submitted my life to You. Thank You for reminding me that there is no such thing as a hopeless situation. I know that You always make a way. I confess that I often stumble through trying to make my own way, and I thank You that when I get tired of stumbling You step in a make the way for me. Lord, as I meditate on this word today, I must shout with joy! I can’t hold back! I praise Your name with song and lifted hands. I praise Your name with a glad heart in a hopeless situation. I praise Your name with excitement and great expectation of seeing what You are going to do. I praise You Lord, with all my heart. Amen.

The Promise, Presence and Power of Jesus

2009-07-29T16:47:00.004-05:00

Last night our church was blessed with a message from the pulpit by Pastor Fred Luter of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, New Orleans. His message was one of personal experience, having lived through hurricane Katrina.

He spoke from this passage:

And the same day, when the evening was come, Jesus saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. 36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. 37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. 38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? 39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
Mark 4:35-41 (KJV)

And so, he shared what he learned as he experienced that great storm of New Orleans and watched his church be destroyed, his flock scattered across the country, (many never to come back), his home and the homes of his flock destroyed as well as seeing the people of New Orleans suffer and die in the wake of the storm. He shared how his faith was shaken but God sent him to this passage. From this passage, God reminded him not to focus on the storm and the affects of the storm, but to focus on this one question:

What to do when the storm comes?

1. Remember the Promises of Jesus.

Upon entering the ship, Jesus told the men "let's go to the other side", and then fell asleep. When the storm came, the men forgot that Jesus promised them they would go to the other side. After He calmed the storm and the sea, he rebuked them for not having faith...for not remember the promises He had made. So too, when the storms overtake our lives, we are not to focus on our fear, but focus on our faith. Focus on the promises God has made to each of us. Promises we can find throughout His word.

2. Remember the Presense of Jesus.

Just as Jesus was in the ship riding out the storm with the men, as a Christian, we too have the presence of Jesus. He is in the storm with us. Whether your storm is one of relationships falling apart, marriages in distress, financial disaster, wayward children, lost jobs, or any other storm you could be caught up in, remember Jesus is there with you.

3. Remember the Power of Jesus.

Just as the men of the ship cried out to Jesus for help, we too must remember to cry out to God in the name of Jesus. In prayer, there is great power. We have chatted about this in a past post that you may want to revisit, but never forget that we have the power of the Holy Spirit, the same power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at the right hand of God.

Pastor Luter reminded us that we are all either in a storm, coming out of a storm or about to go into a storm at any time in our lives. So this is a good word for us all.

What storm are you in, coming out of or about to enter?

Marriage?
Finances?
Family / Children?
Job loss?
Addiction?
Illness?
Sudden Death of a loved one?

Remember that God Promises to be Present and give you His Power!

Tami

To learn more about Pastor Fred Luter and his church, visit their website: http://www.franklinabc.com/html/home.html

Choose Mercy, Not Justice

2009-07-27T22:20:00.003-05:00

So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Choose what you will: 12 either three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” 13 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”~1 CHRONICLES 21:11-13

David realized that there must be a consequence for his poor choice, but had faith that God would hear his pleas for mercy and respond. Mercy implies compassion that forbears punishing even when justice demands it. This is the mercy David was familiar with in the hands of God, but not in the hands of man.

I recall the times people in my life have shown no mercy towards me when I have made poor choices and compare them to the people in my life who have shown great mercy. The difference between the 2 is a relationship of love. The people in my life that have shown me mercy had unconditional love for me. My parents are the first to come to mind, followed by my husband and children. No mercy, or unrelenting punishment for poor choices, has been shown to me by friends with motives that were not pure towards our relationship, but driven by desires of personal edification and pride. When things did not go their way, they sought justice for what they perceived as a sin against them. No mercy also came in the form of employees of businesses that could care less of my circumstances, financial distress, or repentance of a bad choice. They just wanted justice.

God demands justice, but instead offers us mercy. His mercy was given to us in the form of His son. Justice says that we all deserve the wrath of God because of our sinful ways. One might be inclined to consider themselves ‘not that bad’, but consider this: the consequence presented to David was for a simple misstep on his part, ordering the numbering of his army. God had told David in the past to not rely on numbers but on the strength of God. A simple miscalculation on David’s part, but an act against God all the same.

And so it is with us. One bitter thought, one simple lie, the slightest act of rebellion to our parents is cause for God to turn His face from us and pour judgment on our heads that results in eternal condemnation. But just as my parents, husband and children choose to show me mercy over justice because of their love for me, God chose to send His son to the cross because of His unconditional love for me. This love is greater than any love my family could ever have for me. It is greater than I can even fathom. While there may come a day when my spouse, children or parents might give up on me or tire of dealing with my poor choices, scripture assures me that God never will.

When I was yet to be saved by the blood of Christ, God did not stop pursuing me. Too many times I turned a blind eye or a deaf ear to the invitation, but He never stopped sending His message of mercy and grace to me.

He never gave up until one day I realized the justice I deserved

and took the mercy He offered instead.

As a Christian, God still does not give up on me. As I have stumbled to walk the path He directs, He chooses to show mercy by picking me up, dusting me off and letting me try again. Yes, there have been times when the consequences of the choices I made that caused me to stumble resulted in a limp, even that was for a season. And as I limped along, redirecting my steps to follow His lead, the healing came. In His mercy I would be healed and made even stronger.

Just as David was given a choice for the consequences of his action, we too are given a choice. Choose to accept mercy in the sacrifice made on our behalf, or choose justice for the lives we have lived.

Once accepted, His mercy is there time and again, as we learn to walk the life He calls us into.

God Bless and Keep You,
Tami

If you are reading this word today and choosing mercy for the first time, take a minute to bow and submit your life to Christ. A simple prayer confessing yourself to be a sinner in the eyes of God, unable to 'earn' a place in Heaven with Him. Offer up a life submitted to His leadership and ask for eyes to see how He desires us to live in response to this submission. If you are not part of a church family, seek a church home and tell someone of your new found life in Christ. Today the angels are rejoicing and celebrating your new birth as follower of Christ!

We do not submit to defeat but instead we submit to victory!

2009-07-24T10:32:00.001-05:00

As Joab, the head of David’s army, realized that the Ammonite and Syrian armies were in front of and behind his army, he divided the troops to fight separately with the understanding that if one struggled, the other would come to help. And then he said the words of our key verse.

Chronicles 19:13
13 Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to Him.”

God showed me a strong picture of trust and submission in these words today.

TRUST:
Joab was surrounded by enemies. His army was weakened by division of forces. But he was stepping out in the strength of God, in whom he placed his complete trust. So complete was that trust that he said ~ ‘and may the Lord do what seems good to Him’.

I am a person of order and planning. I find great joy in getting my calendar organized down to the minute with to do lists and meeting schedules. It brings me such peace to have an organized closet and drawers. And spring cleaning is like a holiday for me! Organization and planning is my thing. God knows this about me because He made me this way. But at times this can interfere with my ability to let go and follow God’s lead.

Joab reminds us here that even when we have our plans in order, ultimately we must trust that the Lord will do what seems good to Him, even if it doesn’t stay within the plans we have made.

Joab learned this deep trust by seeing God do things in his lifetime that didn’t make sense to the human eye. No plans of man could have resulted in the things God accomplished under King David, and thus Joab learned that even with the plans he made for battle, ultimately God would do what was best.

What has God done in your life to show you that He can be trusted to do what is good for you, even when it doesn’t make sense?

SUBMISSION:
There was Joab, head of the might army of David, about to go into battle, obviously with the intention of winning, but instead of saying “and may the Lord bless us with victory’, he says ~ and may the Lord do what seems good to Him’. What a strong testimony of submission to the authority of God this must have made to his troops.

So many times I have made my plans with specific intentions in mind for the final result, and then asked the Lord to bless them with specific results expected. And so often the results have not been what I desired, even disastrous at times, only for me to learn down the road how God’s hand was in all of it and it was actually all good….very good.

Because Joab trusted God so completely, submission naturally followed. He gives us a good word today, as we approach our Lord with our plans, requests and pleas; we can do so with total submission to His authority, trusting His good intentions for us, His chosen ones.

Joab shows us that submission to God’s authority is not the image of submission society has made it today, an image of weakness and cowardice. No, submission to God’s authority is done from a position of power. We are children of the King who have all the power of God on our side. We submit to the ultimate power and goodness of God.

We do not submit to defeat but instead we submit to victory!

PRAYER:
Lord God, maker of heaven and earth; ruler of all; giver of life; king of kings and lord of lords; I bow before You today acknowledging Your authority over my life. Thank You for showing me both in history and in my personal life that You have good plans me. Forgive me when I doubt and forge ahead in my own plans without seeking Your will. Thank You for the grace You show as I stumble through my life learning to trust You and the plans You have for me. Forgive me Lord for the times that I struggle to submit to your authority and I work in personal pride. Thank You for the grace You show me as I trip over myself learning that submission to You brings victory! Give me eyes to see Your plans today Lord. Give me a heart ready to submit to Your plans and a body ready to do Your will. And Lord, give me a mind that never forgets that it is all done to Your glory!
Amen.

National Day of Expectation!

2009-05-07T09:21:00.004-05:00

Today is national day of prayer, and my heart wells up with joy at the thought of Christians all over the country coming together to confess to God, to seek God, to praise God and to thank God.

As I meditated on prayer today, 2 scriptures came to mind that I wanted to share. First one is Psalm 5:3

In the morning, Oh Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning Lord, I lay my request before you and wait in expectation.

My favorite line in the verse has always been "and wait in expectation".

To expect something means to know that something is going to happen. Waiting means I have confidence that I don't need to interfere to make it happen.

This is why there are 2 verses that come to mind for me on this topic. The second one tells me why I can have that confidence to wait and why I can expect something to happen.

Ephesians 1: 18-22

I pray also that the eyes of my heart may be enlightened in order that I may know the hope to which He has called me, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for me who believes. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

I've bolded the part that gives me this great confidence. I wait and expect God to act because my eyes have been enlightened to know that when I pray, I am calling on the same power that raised Christ from the dead. And it goes on to say that this great power has seated my Saviour, in total authority over all that I may come up against; all that you come up against; all that we as a nation come up against.

By the authority of Jesus Christ, I come to my God, kneel at His feet and submit every thought, concern and request and wait in expectation. Not in expectation that I will have my way, but that God will reign and His will be done.

So on this day of prayer, what request are you laying before Him? Leave your comments here for us all to unite together and pray for in agreement. OR, hop over to our prayer blog and leave your request there.

And we will wait in expectation.

Tami

Come and sit next to me

2009-04-30T10:30:00.003-05:00

“Come and sit next to me”

That’s what I say to my teenaged children when I need them to calm down and just talk through something. When they are so overwhelmed by a situation, or their emotions are reeling out of control. I know that if I can get them to sit still and talk to me for a few minutes, things will be better or decisions won’t be so hard. When I see our featured verse for today, this is exactly what I think of.

James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

I can just see Him watching me as I move further and further from His will, calling for me to ‘come sit with Him for a while’. Or the times when I am so flustered with the pressures of life (or just the day!), I can see Him saying, “come here and sit with me…let’s talk”.

But just like my teenagers, there are times that I rebel and move in the opposite direction. I remember the early years of my walk with Christ. It was after I graduated from High School and had left home to establish my career in the entertainment industry as a singer. While in High School, I was kept close to God by a tight knit youth group at my church, but now I was far from home, working on a cruise ship where there was no church family to bond with. My circle of influence was driven by things of the world and it wasn’t long before I was drawn into their world view.

God became less and less a part of who I was, and while my salvation was secure, my relationship with my savior was not. During this time, I was abusing the gift of singing my Father had given to me. I was singing hard and loud without any vocal coaching or disciplined vocalization on my own. This was causing great wear and tear on my vocal chords, unbeknownst to me. At one point, my gift was so abused that I lost my ability altogether. This forced me to return home where I could get the physical healing I needed to get back on the career path I had chosen for myself.

I came home for a physical healing, but God brought me home for a spiritual healing.

Anyone who has raised a teenager or young adult knows that sometimes they just won’t ‘come and sit next to you’ for that much needed chat. As parents, when that moment arrives, we know it is time for lessons learned the hard way. I call it ‘consequential parenting’. This is how God was working in my life. He used my rebellion that He knew would have ‘consequences’, but would also drive me back home. So while I began pursuing all the physical support I needed to heal my voice, God began surrounding me with all the spiritual support I needed to heal my soul.

My husband, Darius, was part of the support the Lord surrounded me with. During our dating period, Darius got me back into the church. Within 3 months we were engaged and 3 months later we were married. I look back and see God’s hand all over that. You see, while I was drawing closer to God at this time, I was still determined to pursue the career I had chosen for myself. I remember telling my husband that we could make this marriage work with me being gone 3 months at sea and home 3 months. (I’m wondering now why I am so surprised by my teenage daughter’s head strong ways!)

But our key verse today doesn’t say “draw near to God and He’ll be waiting for you when you finally get there.” I praise His name that it is not that way at all! It says “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” My God, the God of the universe draws near to me as I draw near to Him.

As I was being brought back into fellowship with my savior, God was working in my life to make sure the gap between us closed faster than it would if it was all up to me at my pace. Knowing the plans He had for me, God redirected my path with one more little surprise…the conception of our first child! Now I was forced to come and sit down.

Looking back, I see how God used the following years to draw me closer and closer to Him. I’m so glad that as I drew near to God during those rebellious years, He drew near to me.

What about you? Is God asking you to come and sit next to Him? Are you making plans without seeking His will? Maybe you are emotionally distraught and you just need to calm down by sitting next to Him and having a chat.

As we have discussed beginning our day at the table with our Father, so too we should carry this image of stopping often to sit and chat. I like to think of them as little coffee breaks during the day. When I take the time to sit down and enjoy a quick cup of coffee instead of consuming it as I run from place to place, the affect is so much sweeter. Those 5 minutes sitting at the table, enjoying the moment give me the pick me up needed for the rest of the day. It’s like that for me when I stop and sit with my Father. Instead of tossing out a quick plea for help as I run around trying to ‘fix it’ myself, I try to remember to stop and sit with Him just for a minute.

So pull up the chair that is always there for you.
Tell Him your frustrations; ask Him about your plans;
draw near to Him and see how near He draws to you.

Our recipe today is to Come Sit Next to Me.
The ingredients are from James 4:8.
The directions are to learn to listen for God calling you to ‘come and sit with Him’. Pull up a chair during the day and draw near to Him as He draws near to you.

How can you apply this to your daily life? Ask God to show you anything in your life that is taking you away from His plans for you and journal what you hear as you sit and chat with Him today. CLICK HERE for a printable version of today's recipe for the soul. Make notes on it of how God is speaking to you today, and carry it with you to feed your soul as needed.

PRAYER:
Father, hear my cries and rain down Your word on me. I come to You parched and needing a long drink from Your living word. Teach me to recognize the things I turn to when my soul is thirsty; things that fill the place Your word belongs. Give me a desire to turn to You first, Lord. I spread my hands out to You and I find great joy in receiving Your living word into my life today.
Amen

Tami

Printable recipe card for easy reference as you walk with the Lord each day.
Print and cut to recipe card size. Write what God has laid on your heart and refer to frequently as you memorize the word and apply the lesson.