The perfect storm.

Have you ever felt you were walking through a storm and didn't see it coming? No weatherman reported on the perfect storm that was about to blow over you... you just found yourself there, trying to hold on, trying to make it to the next day, the next hour, the next minute. 


Romans 8:28-39 tells us this (thank you Pastor Ed for a wonderful service yesterday!), 

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

More Than Conquerors

 ³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:    “For your sake we face death all day long;
   we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
 ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Praise God!!!! 

John 16:33 tells us this, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

In those storms, I know I need these great reminders. God is with me. God is with you! God has overcome the world. He's already done it. So I need to remember to sit tight, dig in deep, and take heart! We are MORE THAN conquerors!  

Storms will come up, count on that. While in those storms, how will you choose to respond?


Take a minute listen to this song by Bethany Dillon.

1 Thessalonians 5:18, (in the Amplified) "Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will]."

Yesterday, I heard my husband trying to put our young daughter down for a nap. She was throwing a huge fit and I chose to give thanks to God. This is a lesson I'm currently learning, not one I'm great at!



What is your attitude? Can we change our attitude from one that is fearful, shameful, angry, regretful, vengeful, and laden with negative emotions to one of gratitude? 


Let's try to have a Gratitude Attitude!


Lord, whatever's in front of me, help me to sing Hallelujah. Whatever's in front of me I'll choose to sing Hallelujah! We are more than conquerors! We can do ALL things through You, Lord, who gives us strength.... even getting through the storms. Help us to have a heart of gratitude. The obstacles and storms in our lives are Your challenges to our faith. Lord, help us to not run from Your challenges, but to realize that they are there to grow us and to make us stronger. I pray these things, in Your name, Amen.

Daughter of the King. Wife. Mother. Friend.

Do you need qualifiers in your life? Do you need something or someone to tell you how important or how loved you are?


As the very type-A, perfectionist, list-making, goal-oriented person, I struggle with that. God is bringing me to my knees and while at the wonderful Symphony House of Prayer at my home church yesterday, God showed me my real qualifiers: Daughter of THE King. Wife. Mother. Friend.


Do we need more than that? 


Psalm 90:14, David calls out to God, "Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing with joy and be glad all our days."


Beth Moore said this in the Bible study I'm doing, "Fewer conditions leave us in worse shape than emptiness."


Psalm 139:23 says this, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts."


Proverbs 13:12 tells is this, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."


God wants us to be filled up with Him and by Him. In our society, we put so much energy, thought, and time into trying to fill that God-shaped hole with external things. God's calling us - me -, to fill it with Him.


There is nothing here on earth that will sustain us. There is nothing that will be there forever; but we are told God and His Word will be there forever. 


1 Peter 1: 24-25 tells us this, "For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you."

Lord, fill our God-shaped holes with You and Your love! Forgive us, O Lord, for failing to come to you first. For failing to fill our hearts with the promises and love you have given us. Lord, walk with us today as we struggle with thoughts of inadequacy and renew in us a heart filled with hope and adequacy in You!

Our View

On one of our last days in France, I sat on my balcony having my quiet time overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The view from my vantage point was breathtaking. 


It made me question our view in life though. Not our political views... not our social views, but our Godly views. God lead me to Esther that morning in my quiet time. In hard and uncomfortable times, in times where God is calling us to do hard things, shouldn't our stance be that of complete surrender and complete trust in God to be there and to do what He's going to do in us and through us?


Esther was called to do something very difficult - to risk her life to save the lives of all her people. God called her there, at that very time in life, "for such a time as this." (Esther 4:14) God might be (and I would actually change that to God IS) calling you and I here on this earth "for such a time as this." God has called us here to tell the world about the saving grace and love of Jesus.


David Platt, in Radical, tells of a young woman, Genessa Wells. Genessa was an intelligent promising young lady fresh out of college. Genessa decided to spend her life, following God's call for her, in the Middle East, sharing the gospel with the people there that had never heard the gospel before. Before she left, Genessa wrote her friends this, "I could give up on going overseas and get married and become a music teacher. All of this is very noble and, to be quite honest, sounds good to me! But in my heart I want to change my world - more that I want a husband and more than I want comfort. I need..... to tell others about Jesus."


She wound up working with the Egyptians, the Palestinians in refugee camps in Jordan, with Muslims in France, and with Bedouins in the desert. 


Following all of that she wrote, "I honestly would not want to be anywhere else but here, where God has put me. He gives me more than I could imagine."

And, in her last letter home she wrote, "It seems everything we do comes down to one thing: His glory. I pray that all our lives reflect that."

In Esther, God spoke through Mordecai, telling Esther that even if she doesn't do what she was called here to do, God will make another way... but he was trying to encourage her to "do hard things" and to do what God had called her here on earth (at this precise moment in time) for - to save the Jews.


After calling on God in prayer and fasting, Esther did just that. She risked her own life by coming before the King uninvited and she petitioned him, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request" Esther 7:3 

You see, God has called us ALL here, on this earth for a purpose. Would we do what Esther or Gennesa did? Would our view be that of knowing we are doing what we are supposed to be doing and trusting God with the rest?


Are we where God wants us? Or.... are we playing it safe? It's safe to stay in the comfort of our nice American homes and our luxuries. It's safe to raise a family and not teach our children to "do hard things" themselves.


What's your view?

CEO

When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. I wanted to run my own domain and create a positive environment for others to work in. I was passionate about this and it's what I went to college for - International Business Affairs and Business Management.


My life is a far cry from running a Fortune 500, and at times I've felt that all my life has amounted to is cooking and cleaning..... cleaning and cooking.Or, running the kids around to all their different practices (soccer, baseball, basketball, gymnastics, ballet, swim, piano, art, guitar.... and the list goes on.)


As I sat thinking about my life the other day, God gave me this beautiful picture. Although my life has not turned out the way I had pictured, it has turned out exactly how God had always planned it. God showed me that I am running my own domain and company, complete with it's own cafeteria, laundromat, school, and "employees." And the beauty of running this empire is that the payoff is so much greater than any Fortune 500 company could ever pay me. 


While laying down with my youngest, she stroked my face and told me, "Mommy, you're my best-friend ever!" Or another time, I overheard my children playing "I Spy" and when one child said, "I spy, my little eye, I see something beautiful", one of the other children said, "Mommy!" There is no compensation greater than that, my friends. 


So what about you? Are you where God wants you to be? If your life isn't exactly what you had pictured, pray and allow God to either show you the beauty of where you are and why He put you there.... or allow Him to talk to you and show you where you need to go to get on track with where He's been wanting you. Sometimes in life, it's difficult to hear God's voice telling us to move if we are comfortable with where we are at. God's not interested in our comfort, He's interested in our salvation, our relationship with Him, and in our ability to be disciples to all nations!

Ps 143:10
  
"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground."

Matthew 28:19


^"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

Jeremiah prayed this prayer in Jeremiah 10:23-24, 

"LORD, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps.
 Discipline me, LORD, but only in due measure - not in your anger, or you will reduce me to nothing." 

Jeremiah knew what we struggle to know sometimes.... our lives are not our own. My life's goals, at this juncture in my life, is to make disciples of my children. God has entrusted me with His children and it's my goal in life to make sure that I am bringing them up in a loving environment filled with God's love, hope, joy, grace and mercy, teaching them to be disciples, so they can in turn go out and make disciples! I thank God for the Fortune 500 company I am running. It's complete with a CEO (my husband), a COO (me!), and 4 little agents. 
 
If you would like help or would like someone to pray with you or for you, please, let contact me. 

Cherish God's Child

If you could but cherish God's child,
Revered Saviour within...
You'd see beyond this world so wild,
Perhaps lost souls to win...

If you could but give extra time,
A golden hour or two...
Perhaps you'd find God's truth sublime,
Give credit where it's due...

If you could but open His door,
God's opportunity...
You'd search God's Word, discover more
And gain God's clemency...

If you could but study and learn,
Absorb faith like a sponge,
What wondrous wisdom you'd discern...
Should you but take the plunge...

If you could but stretch out your hands -
Like Christ upon His cross,
Be humble to the Lord's commands,
You'd count your dreams as dross.

If you could but cherish God's child,
'Our Father who art in Heaven'
Would cleanse you till you're undefiled,
In Christ's Name... loved, forgiven... 


~ Denis Martindale

Are you listening?

I was out and about the other day and  I witnessed a father trying to discipline his (roughly) three year old son. The father instructed his son to "Come here." and his son screamed back, "NO!" This "conversation" continued for several more rounds until the father just gave up and let his child walk away.

I sat quietly as God began speaking to my heart about His children. God was asking me, "Is this any different than when I speak to my children and they, too, decide not to listen and eventually walk away, going about their own business?" I was personally convicted from the times in my life that I have heard the promptings from the Holy Spirit but did not follow through on God's Word to me. This began about an hours worth of praying for all of God's children, for the times where we will hear His voice, and still, choose to not obey.

My heart broke as I felt I got a small glimpse of the heart of God. When I sat there and pictured our Heavenly Father speaking words of instruction, discipline, wisdom, and guidance to those who call Him Father, and then played out in my head the same scene I had just witnessed, I couldn't help but to feel, even if ever so slightly, the small sting of pain and rejection God must feel when we choose not to listen to Him.

Proverbs 1:2-7 says this:

² for gaining wisdom and instruction;
   for understanding words of insight;
³ for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
   doing what is right and just and fair;
⁴ for giving prudence to those who are simple,
   knowledge and discretion to the young—
⁵ let the wise listen and add to their learning,
   and let the discerning get guidance—
⁶ for understanding proverbs and parables,
   the sayings and riddles of the wise.
 ⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
   but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

God wants the best for us. He wants to see us obediently heeding His instruction and His Word.

So, my question to you is: Are you listening? When you feel God speaking to you, instructing you to do something or disciplining you, do you heed that instruction or discipline?

And I have felt...a sense sublime     
Of something far more deeply interfused,    
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,     
And the round ocean and the living air,      
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man;     
A motion and a spirit, that impels      
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,        
And rolls through all things.  William Wordsworth

When God speaks, He does so through His spirit and His Word. Listen for Him - God is not silent. 


"If God had wanted to be a big secret, He would not have created babbling brooks and whispering pines." ~Robert Brault

Who will carry me through?

As I drove home alone late last night, I was overcome with fatigue. I began to think about the busyness of this week, of the upcoming weekend, and the week that had just passed. All I wanted to do was fall asleep - into a deep REM sleep, awaking sometime between 12 and 14 hours later. I knew that would not be the case as my body only allows me about 6-7 hours on a regular basis.... but I was hopeful. 


As I sat in my car, in the darkness of night, I couldn't help but wonder how I was going to make it through the next week, or four for that matter. Suddenly, as if God was in the passenger seat talking aloud to me, I heard Him clearly speak these words to me, "To make it through the next few weeks, you will need to draw in nearer to me, nearer than ever before. You will find your strength in me and me alone. When you are weary, I will give you strength. When you are downcast, I will pick you up. When you need comfort, I will comfort you. Seek me and you will find me there, waiting to carry you along through the coming weeks." Again, God reminded me of this verse that He has etched on my heart, Jeremiah 29:13, "Seek me and you will find me when you seek me with ALL of your heart."


Just as God reminded me to seek Him, I want to encourage you to do the same. No matter what your circumstances are, God is there, waiting for you to bring it all to Him, waiting for you to ask Him to carry you through.

Isaiah 40:28-30 says this, 
²⁸ Do you not know?
   Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
   the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
   and his understanding no one can fathom.
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
   and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
   and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the LORD
   will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
   they will run and not grow weary,
   they will walk and not be faint."

God promises to give those who hope in Him strength, to increase the power of the weak. He cares for us. He cares about the tiny details in our lives.... like being tired and worn out.


So, I'm going to lay this all down at the feet of the Lord. Will you do the same with me? Lay your concerns, your struggles, your battles, addictions, or anything else that is weighing you down, at the foot of the cross. God loves you. He wants you - ALL of you. He's waiting for you to lay it all down.


Father, help us to lay our burdens down at your feet. Help us to trade our ashes in for beauty. Embrace us with the deep love you have for us and help us to understand the price you paid for us. You have won our hearts, Lord. As we trade in our ashes, make your presence known to us. You, Father, have given us all we need, teach us to embrace it. Be patient with us, Lord, as we continue on our journey's with you. Give rest to the weary, Lord, 


Be blessed, my friends, by this song:

At the Foot of the Cross - Kathryn Scott

In the precious, and mighty name of Jesus, AMEN.

SoulFest - a heart of worship

C.S. Lewis -
"It is in the process of being worshipped that God communicates His presence to men." 

SoulFest is a time of year that we look forward to all year. SoulFest is, for those that may not know, an outdoor Christian music festival, held at Gunstock Mountain in New Hampshire annually. 

The reason I love SoulFest so much is because, even through the crowds of 10,000, even through the noise and distractions, there are moments where you catch a glimpse of how amazing God's point of view is. Our family tends to stand mid-mountain, so we are looking down on the main stage and in front of us we are privileged to watch (and be a part of) a sea of believers raising their hands in worship... raising their hands to their Creator.

In unison, you can hear the echos of nearly 10,000 people singing praises to the Father of heaven and earth, the Alpha and Omega, the Great I Am! 

"When we worship together as a community of living Christians, we do not worship alone, we worship 'with all the company of heaven.'" - Marianne H. Micks
 

In Psalms, David wrote of worshiping God many times.

Ps 29:2, "Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness."

Ps 95:6, "Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker."

Ps 99:9, "Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy."

Ps 100 is a song of grateful praise, 

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
 ² Worship the LORD with gladness;
   come before him with joyful songs.
³ Know that the LORD is God.
   It is he who made us, and we are his^[a];
   we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

 ⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
   and his courts with praise;
   give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
   his faithfulness continues through all generations.

David knew what we struggle to understand sometimes - music is one of the richest and deepest ways of communicating with God!

"Worship is first and foremost for His benefit, not ours, though it is marvelous to discover that in giving Him pleasure, we ourselves enter into what can become our richest and most wholesome experience in life."  "A Heart For Worship" by Lamar Boschman 

Take a moment to worship God today. Even if it's a song from your own heart, find some time to lift up your voice to Him and begin communicating to Him through praise and worship or through prayer. God is waiting for you to kneel down before Him and give it all to Him. He said He will take our burdens from us. God wants to hear from you, and I can promise you, there is a Father in heaven longing to be close to you, longing for you to enter into worship with Him. 

"When I worship, I would rather my heart be without words than my words be without heart." - Lamar Boschman

So, even if you're not at SoulFest this week, I encourage you to find Him in some of your free time. Begin to worship the Creator of everything!

If you need help with this, or if you have questions, please, feel free to ask. I will help you the best I can. 

"Surely that which occupies the total time and energies of heaven must be a fitting pattern for earth." - Paul E. Billheimer