The gifts have been opened, the last of the Christmas cookies eaten and the Christmas music fading in the background. Yet one more gift remains if we’re willing to accept its invitation; the New Year full of endless promise, possibilities and outcomes! Of course with each New Year we’re reminded of those weighty New Year’s resolutions, both of the unmet goals from the previous year and the goals we have for the upcoming year.
If you’re anything like me, it is as if year after year, the same routine ensues: I feel a surge of new excitement and energy, almost dewy-eyed at what my life might look like in the coming year. I long to be disciplined, organized, motivated…and the list goes on and on. And of course, let’s not forget the yearly goal to lose 10 pounds while we’re at it! Sadly, it doesn’t take long before my goals seem far-fetched and my vision blurred. With discouragement crouching at our hearts’ door, let’s be reminded that it was God’s plan to provide newness and fresh beginnings for our lives.
Thankfully, we have a Creator God that knew exactly what our feeble hearts would need when He formed us. He knew we would need daily rest and a brand-new start to each day. Lamentations 3:22-23 offers us hope for the coming year. “Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” What a comfort to know that God designed our world with built in newness. It is by no accident that He created night and day, for He knew how discouraged we would become and remedied our hearts with promised faithfulness and a renewed heart each morning and every New Year.
With promised faithfulness and a fresh start, God also promises victory. Proverbs 2:7-8 says, “He stores up sound wisdom (victory) for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints.” What a promise! God is our Shield and Defender against another year of defeat. His grace and mercy is enough for all of our needs, throughout this year and everyday.
On the brink of a New Year, we have a choice. We can allow our past failures, missed opportunities and unmet goals to pour defeat over our coming year, or we can choose to press on into the New Year holding on to the truth that past failures do not equate future failures. We have the opportunity to yet again set goals, look forward with anticipation, trusting in God’s Word as our guide and compass. Proverbs 4:25-26 says, “Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established.” God is calling us to ponder our steps, set goals for the future, all the while fixing our eyes on Him who is able to bring about success. The truth is this year doesn’t have to look like last year or the year before that just because that has been our life’s pattern.
This year can be different with a heart set on God’s agenda for a fresh beginning. Writing down a goal doesn’t have to equal defeat, not this time, and not this year. Defeat in the past does not equal defeat in the future. Defeat in the past expecting defeat in the future is true defeat. We can allow our unmet goals from the previous year to spur us on to victory as we rely on the Lord to direct us and give us the energy we need to do His will. This year as I thumb through my journal pages overflowing with the lofty ideals of last year’s unmet goals, I choose to forgo the usual solemn heart and defeated spirit and look forward and up with anticipation at all that God can do through a life fully surrendered to HIM! With Proverbs 2: 7-8 as our promise, let’s remember that although our track record might be failure, with God’s help, victory awaits us in 2010!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
A Swollen Heart
There is nothing like a swollen heart. Sounds painful right? Wrong! When it comes to loving Jesus Christ it’s the best kind of heart to have; a swelling, overflowing heart of joy. I cannot even begin to explain or describe with enough adjectives what my heart feels for Jesus Christ. There are no words to give my bulging heart proper description. Sadly, it hasn’t always been this way for me, but lately it’s an ever-increasing reality in my life.
My heart isn’t overflowing with love because I’ve made a new best friend or found a new way to a million dollars. While those things are blessings all their own, they will vanish like a vapor, much like our lives. Lately I have been struck deep with the truth of Psalm 39: 4-6. This reality astounds me when I mediate on these few verses.
4 "O LORD, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!
Selah
6Surely a man goes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
With these verses before my eyes and entrenched in my heart, in terms of earthly gain, I am starting to care less and less. While my heart still desires earthly blessings, I am increasingly seeing that apart from a thriving, intimate relationship with Jesus none of the other “things” matter compared to eternity with Him. While I’ve known this for as long as I’ve called myself a Christ-follower I’ve never felt it so deeply and in such a real way (real in the sense that this truth can be lived out, not merely known). It directly connects to Ecclesiastes 3:10-12 which says: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
It’s as if Christ Himself has begun to more deeply etch the word ETERNITY on my heart over the last few months and the result is astounding. The deeper He impresses the letters, the greater my joy. It’s a word I never want to disappear from my heart's walls, for within this one words stands my future, my Savior and my HOPE.
How’s your heart? Swollen? I pray so.
My heart isn’t overflowing with love because I’ve made a new best friend or found a new way to a million dollars. While those things are blessings all their own, they will vanish like a vapor, much like our lives. Lately I have been struck deep with the truth of Psalm 39: 4-6. This reality astounds me when I mediate on these few verses.
4 "O LORD, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!
Selah
6Surely a man goes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
With these verses before my eyes and entrenched in my heart, in terms of earthly gain, I am starting to care less and less. While my heart still desires earthly blessings, I am increasingly seeing that apart from a thriving, intimate relationship with Jesus none of the other “things” matter compared to eternity with Him. While I’ve known this for as long as I’ve called myself a Christ-follower I’ve never felt it so deeply and in such a real way (real in the sense that this truth can be lived out, not merely known). It directly connects to Ecclesiastes 3:10-12 which says: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
It’s as if Christ Himself has begun to more deeply etch the word ETERNITY on my heart over the last few months and the result is astounding. The deeper He impresses the letters, the greater my joy. It’s a word I never want to disappear from my heart's walls, for within this one words stands my future, my Savior and my HOPE.
How’s your heart? Swollen? I pray so.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
The Reality of My Words
I’m back! Well, I haven’t gone anywhere but after taking some time off from book writing to work on article submissions, I have begun to write for my book again. Finally, this week I sat down in my favorite chair, iced coffee in hand, and I got to it. I worked on my chapter regarding purity. It was so refreshing to be back writing, I couldn’t even stand it! I’ve so missed pouring out my heart on the topics that I feel so passionate about and want to cover in the book. Here is a snapshot of some of the things I am writing about (feel free to offer other suggestions you think would be of interest to singles).
Contentment
Finding Our Greatest Relationship/Treasure in God
Being a Part of a Community
Living in Fullness through Christ
Serving and using Our Spiritual Gifts
Like writing isn’t enough of a blessing in my life, God has been showing me the amazing blessing that is the Holy Spirit, in me, evidenced through writing. Right now in my Bible study, we are studying the ministries of the Holy Spirit. One of the ministries of the Holy Spirit that I have seen this week is God’s Word made alive in my mind. I cannot even count how many times as I write, my thoughts are filled with a verse that I didn’t even know I knew. It’s an amazing miracle when the Holy Spirit fills our minds with God’s Word. I just love when God plays out in my life what I’m studying in the Bible. It’s a reminder to me that His Word is Alive, Active, and Relevant!
As some of you may know, my article on Generosity was published on the Sage Ministry website last week. http://www.sageministries.org/site/3338080/
It was a very exciting and thrilling day as I read the words I pored over for days in preparation for submission. The thought that God can use my words, inspired by the Holy Spirit through me, is thrilling to say the least. It’s funny as I reread words that I previously wrote because so often I think “Who wrote this?,” because either I can’t imagine saying what I’ve written or I don’t remember even penning the words. I have to smile because I know who wrote it, while physically it was me; it is the work of the Holy Spirit through a weak and ordinary lump of clay (Isaiah 64:8). I’m thanking and praising God more each day for the amazing gift of the Holy Spirit, my Comforter, Teacher, Gift Giver, and my Deposit guaranteeing what is to come, (2 Cor. 1:21-22).
Contentment
Finding Our Greatest Relationship/Treasure in God
Being a Part of a Community
Living in Fullness through Christ
Serving and using Our Spiritual Gifts
Like writing isn’t enough of a blessing in my life, God has been showing me the amazing blessing that is the Holy Spirit, in me, evidenced through writing. Right now in my Bible study, we are studying the ministries of the Holy Spirit. One of the ministries of the Holy Spirit that I have seen this week is God’s Word made alive in my mind. I cannot even count how many times as I write, my thoughts are filled with a verse that I didn’t even know I knew. It’s an amazing miracle when the Holy Spirit fills our minds with God’s Word. I just love when God plays out in my life what I’m studying in the Bible. It’s a reminder to me that His Word is Alive, Active, and Relevant!
As some of you may know, my article on Generosity was published on the Sage Ministry website last week. http://www.sageministries.org/site/3338080/
It was a very exciting and thrilling day as I read the words I pored over for days in preparation for submission. The thought that God can use my words, inspired by the Holy Spirit through me, is thrilling to say the least. It’s funny as I reread words that I previously wrote because so often I think “Who wrote this?,” because either I can’t imagine saying what I’ve written or I don’t remember even penning the words. I have to smile because I know who wrote it, while physically it was me; it is the work of the Holy Spirit through a weak and ordinary lump of clay (Isaiah 64:8). I’m thanking and praising God more each day for the amazing gift of the Holy Spirit, my Comforter, Teacher, Gift Giver, and my Deposit guaranteeing what is to come, (2 Cor. 1:21-22).
Friday, September 4, 2009
Fragrant Aroma
Do you ever have one of those days where all you see is yourself? I recently found my heart in a place where my focus was off. My eyes were zoomed in on my feelings of disappointment and I was miserable. Like so many other times in my life, the Holy Spirit gently prompted my heart with truth. It may sound counter-intuitive but I realized the remedy of self-focus is love. Playing a dead-end game of self-focus was not the answer. I needed to draw my eyes upward, off myself, my emotions and ultimately away from my prideful heart. I just love it when God steps in and shows us a better way; His way.
Living in an apartment complex makes it difficult to meet neighbors. Lately, I have sensed God prompting me to initiate contact with those the Bible tells us to know; our neighbors. In the most literal way, I’ve knocked on a few doors around my complex, but on this particular day, I was in no mood to reach out. Like only a sovereign God can work, I read the exact verse I needed to hear. That afternoon, Ephesians 5:1-2 pierced my heart. It commends us to, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice of God.” As I sat there contemplating these verses, I knew I had a choice to make. I could either sit in my apartment and stink it up with thoughts of myself, or go out and be a fragrant offering of love to someone else for the sake of Christ.
What these verses are commending is a large call! To imitate the very God that created me and this entire planet sends my thoughts straight to defeat. But to imitate God is to love others, which is an act of the Holy Spirit through us anyway! I want my life to be a clear picture of verse two. I want my life to be a fragrant offering. Not a mere scent, but a fragrance that can be smelled from a distance. This image reminds me of being in France and smelling the rich lavender fields. Even after they were out of reach, the glorious aroma of lavender stayed with me. I could smell it a country away.
God is calling us to leave a mark on the lives we encounter on a daily basis by smelling like Jesus. How is your fragrance today? Is your life lived out as a scent others smell even after you’re gone or so barely recognizable no one knows you’ve been with Jesus? I urge us to be a fragrance in the lives of others, which leaves their nostrils, but more importantly their hearts, wanting more of Christ.
Thankfully, that afternoon, Ephesians five gripped my heart. I went and knocked on the door of someone new in my complex. Believe me, this is not usually my “thing,” but God has been stretching my heart in new ways and all I want to do is obey. I shared with my neighbor about my church and invited her to check out my Bible study group. It wasn’t anything big, but it was love. I pray my aroma remained, that Jesus was the scent I wore, and that His Name will be glorified through a small, insignificant act of obedience.
What started as a day focused inward, turned out to be an afternoon praising my God. As I lifted my eyes to the hills, I found the help I was in desperate need of (Psalm 121:1-2). If you are dealing with a difficult circumstance, like I was, I urge you to lift your eyes. Your situation may be difficult, burdensome or even scary, but God is bigger than ALL of our circumstances. He wants to show us a better way; living for Him by loving others.
We have a very real, daily choice to make. It’s a choice to live lives focused on ourselves, or lives lived out for Him. The choice is ours, but if we’re after a joy-filled life, eyes up and out is the only way to truly live.
I’ll leave you with a passage that has ministered to me as I’ve committed it to memory. Soak it in, chew on it awhile and allow the Holy Spirit to engrave it on your heart.
“If you devote your heart to him and stretch out your hands to him, if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear. You will surely forget your trouble recalling it only as waters gone by. You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety.” Job 11: 13-16, 18
Living in an apartment complex makes it difficult to meet neighbors. Lately, I have sensed God prompting me to initiate contact with those the Bible tells us to know; our neighbors. In the most literal way, I’ve knocked on a few doors around my complex, but on this particular day, I was in no mood to reach out. Like only a sovereign God can work, I read the exact verse I needed to hear. That afternoon, Ephesians 5:1-2 pierced my heart. It commends us to, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice of God.” As I sat there contemplating these verses, I knew I had a choice to make. I could either sit in my apartment and stink it up with thoughts of myself, or go out and be a fragrant offering of love to someone else for the sake of Christ.
What these verses are commending is a large call! To imitate the very God that created me and this entire planet sends my thoughts straight to defeat. But to imitate God is to love others, which is an act of the Holy Spirit through us anyway! I want my life to be a clear picture of verse two. I want my life to be a fragrant offering. Not a mere scent, but a fragrance that can be smelled from a distance. This image reminds me of being in France and smelling the rich lavender fields. Even after they were out of reach, the glorious aroma of lavender stayed with me. I could smell it a country away.
God is calling us to leave a mark on the lives we encounter on a daily basis by smelling like Jesus. How is your fragrance today? Is your life lived out as a scent others smell even after you’re gone or so barely recognizable no one knows you’ve been with Jesus? I urge us to be a fragrance in the lives of others, which leaves their nostrils, but more importantly their hearts, wanting more of Christ.
Thankfully, that afternoon, Ephesians five gripped my heart. I went and knocked on the door of someone new in my complex. Believe me, this is not usually my “thing,” but God has been stretching my heart in new ways and all I want to do is obey. I shared with my neighbor about my church and invited her to check out my Bible study group. It wasn’t anything big, but it was love. I pray my aroma remained, that Jesus was the scent I wore, and that His Name will be glorified through a small, insignificant act of obedience.
What started as a day focused inward, turned out to be an afternoon praising my God. As I lifted my eyes to the hills, I found the help I was in desperate need of (Psalm 121:1-2). If you are dealing with a difficult circumstance, like I was, I urge you to lift your eyes. Your situation may be difficult, burdensome or even scary, but God is bigger than ALL of our circumstances. He wants to show us a better way; living for Him by loving others.
We have a very real, daily choice to make. It’s a choice to live lives focused on ourselves, or lives lived out for Him. The choice is ours, but if we’re after a joy-filled life, eyes up and out is the only way to truly live.
I’ll leave you with a passage that has ministered to me as I’ve committed it to memory. Soak it in, chew on it awhile and allow the Holy Spirit to engrave it on your heart.
“If you devote your heart to him and stretch out your hands to him, if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear. You will surely forget your trouble recalling it only as waters gone by. You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety.” Job 11: 13-16, 18
Friday, August 21, 2009
Call Me A Dreamer
Two doors opened in one week and I didn’t even have to push a bit. There is no question that God’s hand is moving in and through this writing process. When I returned from the writing conference, She Speaks, in late July, I remember asking God to confirm this dream to write by opening up doors. I committed to waiting upon Him to do the work, instead of pushing forward out of determination. My determination was to let HIM provide opportunities, and while I waited, I wrote.
This week I received two emails with God’s fingerprints splattered all over them! The first was a letter stating an article I wrote about giving out our time generously (my first article ever submitted) will be included on the Sage Ministry newly launched website next month (http://www.sageministries.org/). The second email was from an editor of a small Christian newsletter, called Titus2. She asked if I would be interested in contributing a few articles with a single’s perspective throughout the year. Interested? Yes!
My heart is struck with the words of Psalm 37:23, “If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm." God asks us to listen to His voice, decide to be committed to obedience and then follow through with the plans He places on our hearts. He will do great things with our obedience, whether noticed or unnoticed by those around us, for the sake of His glory, His name, and His renown. I am praising His name this week as I celebrate this confirmation to write!
Have you ever sensed God calling you to something, but you quickly talk yourself out of it? Do you ever secretly long for God to use your life? Have you been holding onto a dream for so long it seems nearly impossible to realize?
I’ve known those feelings and I want to encourage you to open yourself up to what God may want to do with your dreams. So often we think of dreams as mystical but we can step towards our dreams and trust God because He created our hearts. The example of Nehemiah comes to mind as someone who had a dream, asked God to give him an opportunity and prepared himself in advance for action, waiting for God to move. When God opened a door of opportunity, Nehemiah spoke prepared words to King Artaxerxes, and was allowed to return to Judah to rebuild Jerusalem's walls. So often we hide the dreams in our hearts because we’re afraid. What if Nehemiah allowed fear to keep his mouth quiet before the king? I'm learning my dreams and God's will for my life can work together!
Not long ago I read Psalm 37:4 for the first time with deeper understanding. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” I literally used to cling to this verse in regards to my then crush of the moment, thinking that surely if my heart desired my crush, God would grant me a date. I’ve realized this verse promises something so much better than dating a crush. God was saying to me that He would put within my heart desires for the things He had planned for me! I was astounded with the thought that as I sought Him, my heart would begin to desire the things He had for me. Delighting in God is loving Him, and when we love Him, we want to obey Him.
Sadly, we sabotage God’s greatness for our own comfort and end up losing out. What God wants to blossom, we so often bury. God doesn’t need us, but He has chosen to gift us and use those gifts for His purposes. I urge you to seek Him this week regarding your dreams. What if God wants to take us higher than we ever dreamed possible?
If we do have a dream, ultimately we have a choice. We can hide our dream, hoping no one finds out, or we can step out with confidence in God’s power. I don’t know what dreams you have or if it’s God that has placed them in your heart, but isn’t it worth the risk of finding out? In the process of pursuing your dreams, the best reward will not be the outcome, but walking the road with God as your Guide.
All I know at this point in my writing journey, is that God is at work because He has given me a dream, awakened that dream and is now helping me live it out. I will continue writing, waiting and watching in awe, as He opens doors I never imagined I’d get to walk through.
This week I received two emails with God’s fingerprints splattered all over them! The first was a letter stating an article I wrote about giving out our time generously (my first article ever submitted) will be included on the Sage Ministry newly launched website next month (http://www.sageministries.org/). The second email was from an editor of a small Christian newsletter, called Titus2. She asked if I would be interested in contributing a few articles with a single’s perspective throughout the year. Interested? Yes!
My heart is struck with the words of Psalm 37:23, “If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm." God asks us to listen to His voice, decide to be committed to obedience and then follow through with the plans He places on our hearts. He will do great things with our obedience, whether noticed or unnoticed by those around us, for the sake of His glory, His name, and His renown. I am praising His name this week as I celebrate this confirmation to write!
Have you ever sensed God calling you to something, but you quickly talk yourself out of it? Do you ever secretly long for God to use your life? Have you been holding onto a dream for so long it seems nearly impossible to realize?
I’ve known those feelings and I want to encourage you to open yourself up to what God may want to do with your dreams. So often we think of dreams as mystical but we can step towards our dreams and trust God because He created our hearts. The example of Nehemiah comes to mind as someone who had a dream, asked God to give him an opportunity and prepared himself in advance for action, waiting for God to move. When God opened a door of opportunity, Nehemiah spoke prepared words to King Artaxerxes, and was allowed to return to Judah to rebuild Jerusalem's walls. So often we hide the dreams in our hearts because we’re afraid. What if Nehemiah allowed fear to keep his mouth quiet before the king? I'm learning my dreams and God's will for my life can work together!
Not long ago I read Psalm 37:4 for the first time with deeper understanding. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” I literally used to cling to this verse in regards to my then crush of the moment, thinking that surely if my heart desired my crush, God would grant me a date. I’ve realized this verse promises something so much better than dating a crush. God was saying to me that He would put within my heart desires for the things He had planned for me! I was astounded with the thought that as I sought Him, my heart would begin to desire the things He had for me. Delighting in God is loving Him, and when we love Him, we want to obey Him.
Sadly, we sabotage God’s greatness for our own comfort and end up losing out. What God wants to blossom, we so often bury. God doesn’t need us, but He has chosen to gift us and use those gifts for His purposes. I urge you to seek Him this week regarding your dreams. What if God wants to take us higher than we ever dreamed possible?
If we do have a dream, ultimately we have a choice. We can hide our dream, hoping no one finds out, or we can step out with confidence in God’s power. I don’t know what dreams you have or if it’s God that has placed them in your heart, but isn’t it worth the risk of finding out? In the process of pursuing your dreams, the best reward will not be the outcome, but walking the road with God as your Guide.
All I know at this point in my writing journey, is that God is at work because He has given me a dream, awakened that dream and is now helping me live it out. I will continue writing, waiting and watching in awe, as He opens doors I never imagined I’d get to walk through.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Victory Awaits
Every year, right about this same time, I go through the exact same routine. I sit before the Lord, and I write out goals for my year (being a teacher allows for this sense of renewal, newness and fresh beginnings each September--one of the many blessings of teaching). If I were to show you the pages of journal entries from year to year, you would see written on each one: Goal #1: Spend quality time in God’s Word each morning!
With the best intentions, I start the year off with fervor. I think, this year will be different! I will make God’s Word a priority and nothing will stop me! But, like so many zealous New Year’s resolutions, my goal often turns to defeat. I start to throw God 10-15 seconds each morning before I rush out the door, breakfast in hand and my hair still wet, hoping tomorrow morning will look a bit different. Then there are those really bad mornings where I merely glance over at my stack of devotionals and Bible and I say, “Lord, I am soooo sorry! You must really be disappointed in me! I’ll spend extra time with You tonight, I promise.” And then off I rush. Day after day it’s defeat. Ugh. Sigh.
The problem with defeat in this one area is that it essentially allows defeat to follow me throughout the rest of my day. If I throw God 10 seconds in the morning or worse, just a glance in the direction of my Bible, in essence I am telling God I’ve got the day covered, but thanks for the offer. What wickedness, what self-reliance.
So, as I sat to write my goals today for the upcoming year, I wrote down the goal that continues to follow me year after year but this time I meant it. See, God has been slowly, carefully, intricately changing my heart from one that was self-reliant to one that sees my need for Him like never before.
Just as I write these words, my mind immediately goes to Psalm 27:4. It is a well known verse with a fresh new meaning in my heart. “One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.” This is my heart's longing!
Writing down the goal to spend quality time in God’s Word doesn’t have to bring defeat, not this time, and not this year. Defeat in the past does not equal defeat in the future. Defeat in the past expecting defeat in the future is true defeat. I choose to put God first instead of fitting Him in when there’s room. With Psalm 27:4 tacked to my heart, my reward in victory can be gazing, dwelling and seeking Him each and every morning! My track record might be failure but with God’s help, I’m awaiting victory!
With the best intentions, I start the year off with fervor. I think, this year will be different! I will make God’s Word a priority and nothing will stop me! But, like so many zealous New Year’s resolutions, my goal often turns to defeat. I start to throw God 10-15 seconds each morning before I rush out the door, breakfast in hand and my hair still wet, hoping tomorrow morning will look a bit different. Then there are those really bad mornings where I merely glance over at my stack of devotionals and Bible and I say, “Lord, I am soooo sorry! You must really be disappointed in me! I’ll spend extra time with You tonight, I promise.” And then off I rush. Day after day it’s defeat. Ugh. Sigh.
The problem with defeat in this one area is that it essentially allows defeat to follow me throughout the rest of my day. If I throw God 10 seconds in the morning or worse, just a glance in the direction of my Bible, in essence I am telling God I’ve got the day covered, but thanks for the offer. What wickedness, what self-reliance.
So, as I sat to write my goals today for the upcoming year, I wrote down the goal that continues to follow me year after year but this time I meant it. See, God has been slowly, carefully, intricately changing my heart from one that was self-reliant to one that sees my need for Him like never before.
Just as I write these words, my mind immediately goes to Psalm 27:4. It is a well known verse with a fresh new meaning in my heart. “One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.” This is my heart's longing!
Writing down the goal to spend quality time in God’s Word doesn’t have to bring defeat, not this time, and not this year. Defeat in the past does not equal defeat in the future. Defeat in the past expecting defeat in the future is true defeat. I choose to put God first instead of fitting Him in when there’s room. With Psalm 27:4 tacked to my heart, my reward in victory can be gazing, dwelling and seeking Him each and every morning! My track record might be failure but with God’s help, I’m awaiting victory!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Reduced to Love
As I was reading from the book, Total Love, by Frances J. Roberts, she penned a thought that struck my heart. Speaking of joy, she wrote, “It doesn’t come from being popular or rich or powerful; it comes from being reduced to love.”
How can you or I be reduced to love?
The answer is experiencing joy through the avenue of a personal, thriving relationship with Jesus Christ. If I want to reach a fullness of joy, the one and only way there, is to know God. Not just know about Him, but learning and growing in an understanding of His true character and heart, as revealed in His Word. Out of knowing Him, I will grow deeper in love with Him. I am not speaking of a cheap kind of love we so often suffer from, but a true, intimate love that views everything else besides for His glory as filthy rags. In response then to loving Him, I will spend myself for Him, caring about what burdens His heart, and fully obeying whatever He asks of me. And if I have a fullness of joy, then my life will not so much be about me and my thing but about God and His heart. If I want this kind of life, if I desire to be reduced down to love, then I must look at what Jesus exemplified on earth.
Jesus was concerned about people and relationship building. He took the time to talk with the outcast, downhearted and despairing ones of His day. He slowed down to the speed of love, which by contrast to what we might imagine, is a slow, often meticulous pace. Bottom line: He came for us.
This brings me to question my motivation to write. Do I write for myself or am I writing for others? Is my writing about finding my own fame or spreading the fame of His Name? These questions must be fully asked and fully answered each time I sit in front of the blinking cursor. If the words I write have anything to do with me, then the words I write are simply consonants and vowels strung together on the page, void of any real message.
I want nothing more than for the words I write to bring His Name glory and encourage the hearts that read them. Love for Christ, expressed by loving others, through a reduction of me is the key to joy. I pray for a greater desire to touch lives, love others as Jesus modeled, thus experiencing a joy that cannot fully be expressed by any typed or spoken word but lived out in a radical obedient life.
How can you or I be reduced to love?
The answer is experiencing joy through the avenue of a personal, thriving relationship with Jesus Christ. If I want to reach a fullness of joy, the one and only way there, is to know God. Not just know about Him, but learning and growing in an understanding of His true character and heart, as revealed in His Word. Out of knowing Him, I will grow deeper in love with Him. I am not speaking of a cheap kind of love we so often suffer from, but a true, intimate love that views everything else besides for His glory as filthy rags. In response then to loving Him, I will spend myself for Him, caring about what burdens His heart, and fully obeying whatever He asks of me. And if I have a fullness of joy, then my life will not so much be about me and my thing but about God and His heart. If I want this kind of life, if I desire to be reduced down to love, then I must look at what Jesus exemplified on earth.
Jesus was concerned about people and relationship building. He took the time to talk with the outcast, downhearted and despairing ones of His day. He slowed down to the speed of love, which by contrast to what we might imagine, is a slow, often meticulous pace. Bottom line: He came for us.
This brings me to question my motivation to write. Do I write for myself or am I writing for others? Is my writing about finding my own fame or spreading the fame of His Name? These questions must be fully asked and fully answered each time I sit in front of the blinking cursor. If the words I write have anything to do with me, then the words I write are simply consonants and vowels strung together on the page, void of any real message.
I want nothing more than for the words I write to bring His Name glory and encourage the hearts that read them. Love for Christ, expressed by loving others, through a reduction of me is the key to joy. I pray for a greater desire to touch lives, love others as Jesus modeled, thus experiencing a joy that cannot fully be expressed by any typed or spoken word but lived out in a radical obedient life.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
An Unwanted Visitor
It’s not surprising immediately after starting this blog and really getting serious about writing this book, the enemy has paid me a visit. It was a visit I had expected but hadn’t looked forward to.
I sent off an article I had written for a teen ministry to get proofed from a trusted friend. I asked for real feedback and wasn’t looking to hear it sounded great if it didn’t. Thankfully, I received some really great guidance. This person had made suggestions for some of my more lacking sections and had given me brilliant advice in how to “show” rather than just “tell” the reader my message.
As I started to compare my writing against her suggestions, my heart sank. Here is a woman who doesn’t feel the call to write, yet her words and ideas were brimming with imagery, passion and voice. Immediately the enemy saw an opportunity to taunt, and taunt he did—of course, right at my most tender part, the thought that I really don’t have what it takes. I sat in front of my computer almost in tears. God, you've called me to this, yet I can’t do it! What am I thinking, wanting to write a book and be published? Surely I am totally off track.
As I ran (literally) to the source of my Hope, I got on my knees and asked God to renew my mind. What did He have to say about my feelings of inadequacy? As I searched through the Scriptures, I found His heart on the matter in the book of Zechariah. The Lord said, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit” (Zech. 4:6). That’s it! If He’s called me to write, it isn’t dependent upon me! It is the Holy Spirit’s work in my heart that the writing will flow.
I DON’T have what it takes in my own strength, but I believe with all of my heart that as God’s fingers points the way, His hand most surely will clear the path. He will provide each and every word that I pen. This book won’t be written by trying harder or wishing it to be, rather it will be an act of God through a willing daughter of the King.
Right then and there I recommitted to making this process not about me, my fears or inadequacies (because they’re there!) but about being obedient to a call, trusting my LORD to meet my needs, and finding joy in the process, no matter the outcome.
The next time the enemy comes to taunt, I've got Zechariah 4:6 posted right above my computer as a reminder that this battle belongs to the Lord and my strength is found in Him!
I sent off an article I had written for a teen ministry to get proofed from a trusted friend. I asked for real feedback and wasn’t looking to hear it sounded great if it didn’t. Thankfully, I received some really great guidance. This person had made suggestions for some of my more lacking sections and had given me brilliant advice in how to “show” rather than just “tell” the reader my message.
As I started to compare my writing against her suggestions, my heart sank. Here is a woman who doesn’t feel the call to write, yet her words and ideas were brimming with imagery, passion and voice. Immediately the enemy saw an opportunity to taunt, and taunt he did—of course, right at my most tender part, the thought that I really don’t have what it takes. I sat in front of my computer almost in tears. God, you've called me to this, yet I can’t do it! What am I thinking, wanting to write a book and be published? Surely I am totally off track.
As I ran (literally) to the source of my Hope, I got on my knees and asked God to renew my mind. What did He have to say about my feelings of inadequacy? As I searched through the Scriptures, I found His heart on the matter in the book of Zechariah. The Lord said, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit” (Zech. 4:6). That’s it! If He’s called me to write, it isn’t dependent upon me! It is the Holy Spirit’s work in my heart that the writing will flow.
I DON’T have what it takes in my own strength, but I believe with all of my heart that as God’s fingers points the way, His hand most surely will clear the path. He will provide each and every word that I pen. This book won’t be written by trying harder or wishing it to be, rather it will be an act of God through a willing daughter of the King.
Right then and there I recommitted to making this process not about me, my fears or inadequacies (because they’re there!) but about being obedient to a call, trusting my LORD to meet my needs, and finding joy in the process, no matter the outcome.
The next time the enemy comes to taunt, I've got Zechariah 4:6 posted right above my computer as a reminder that this battle belongs to the Lord and my strength is found in Him!
Friday, August 7, 2009
In the beginning...
Well let the ride begin...this is officially my first blog ever! I'm not an avid blog reader, so to be writing one seems a bit mysterious. Bear with me as I muddle through the ins and outs of blogging :)
Right now I am in quite possibly one of the most exciting times in my life. I feel like I'm on the brink of a new chapter (literally and figuratively). I have been living with the dream of writing a book for as long as I can remember. I never knew what to do with the dream until it's as if one day God just said-Go! Pursue this dream, do your part and I will do the rest. I hear the verse, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland," Isaiah 43: 18-19. I just love the freshness of this verse. So...here I am trying to follow through on my part.
I just returned this past weekend from the 'She Speaks' conference for women who feel the call to speak/write. After learning an intense amount of information this is the bottom line: It's NOT about me! Every aspect of wanting to write this book has to do with Him. It's about Him, for Him, and it will be through Him. Whether or not this book ever makes it to publication, is not important. The important thing is being obedient to a call. He's asking me to write, so writing I will do.
I hope you'll come along on this road with me. Only God knows where it will lead in terms of destination. I am learning though, that the end is really but a means to the journey.
Right now I am in quite possibly one of the most exciting times in my life. I feel like I'm on the brink of a new chapter (literally and figuratively). I have been living with the dream of writing a book for as long as I can remember. I never knew what to do with the dream until it's as if one day God just said-Go! Pursue this dream, do your part and I will do the rest. I hear the verse, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland," Isaiah 43: 18-19. I just love the freshness of this verse. So...here I am trying to follow through on my part.
I just returned this past weekend from the 'She Speaks' conference for women who feel the call to speak/write. After learning an intense amount of information this is the bottom line: It's NOT about me! Every aspect of wanting to write this book has to do with Him. It's about Him, for Him, and it will be through Him. Whether or not this book ever makes it to publication, is not important. The important thing is being obedient to a call. He's asking me to write, so writing I will do.
I hope you'll come along on this road with me. Only God knows where it will lead in terms of destination. I am learning though, that the end is really but a means to the journey.
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