Posted on in 2013 Posts

Lost in His Love…What a Beautiful Place to Be!

Image courtesy of Sujin Jetkasettakorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of Sujin Jetkasettakorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Wow!  What great friends I have!  I love each and every one.  Speaking of my friends, I have been impressed as I have been going through my treatments and recovery for breast cancer just how important we can be in one’s life.  Some of those cheering me on from the sidelines are people I’ve never even met in person.  They might be one of you reading this blog today.  One thing is for sure…God always sends people my way when I need them most.  If He sent you, I am grateful you obeyed the call!

I don’t know about you, but God speaks to me in various ways.  This week I have been singing “Blessed Assurance” in my mind over and over.  It is a very old song written by Frances J. Crosby in 1873.  I don’t find it a coincidence we sang it in church today either!  The lyrics go like this…

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels, descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

One morning last week, I put the first couple of lines out on Facebook and asked who could help me finish the song.  I was blessed as my friends typed in a verse or a few lines.  It was a holy time for me as loved ones were “singing” and “praising” with me online.  I can’t explain it.  I just felt blessed.  For you see, those responding were people I hold as dear friends.  There is something about our friends in Christ that inspire us when we are together…even if it’s just online.  The simple act of focusing on God for a few minutes together brightened the rest of my day.

Do you have good friends who love the Lord like you do?  I have found through this trial in my life that I have some really great prayer warrior friends.  I have some who pray every day for me, I know for a fact.  I have others that send scriptures to me or check in on me when I need it the most. They have sent cards, some even handmade, with well-wishes.  There are others I know would be there for me in a second if I would simply ask. I am blessed with people who care.

God’s lesson this week for me again though is my need to stay focused on Him.   I can focus in many ways through reading His Word and spending time in prayer each morning.  It might even be as simple as what music I choose to listen to that week.  He is also showing me how important having good friends in the faith can be to one’s walk with Christ.  Just a simple, “How are you doing?” to a friend I know is going through a tough time can mean the world to them that day just as it has to me.  This week I embraced the words of this old song that say… Perfect submission, all is at rest, I in my Savior am happy and blest, Watching and waiting, looking above, Filled with His goodness, lost in His love. 

When I am fully trusting, watching and waiting for God to show up in my life, He sends me the Holy Spirit for strength and wisdom.  He speaks to others and prods them to call, text or write me when I need to know I am not alone.   And eventually, somehow, the troubles of this world seem to fade away and I am filled with blessings…I simply find myself lost in His love.  I can’t think of a better place to be in the storm than in the arms of my Loving Father…lost in His love.  Today I am thankful to a loving God that takes care of my every need while guiding me and directing me every step of the way.  So for today…this is my story…this is my song…I’m going to be praising my Savior all the day long!

Thanks for being a friend and a blessing.  If not to me, I am sure you have inspired someone in your life going through a tough time.  If you know someone who needs a lift this week, I encourage you to give them a call.  Maybe it’s even an online friend that you can encourage through a simple message that says you care.  Let me know how others have encouraged you or opportunities that God has recently given you to encourage others.  I would love to hear God’s blessings in your lives.  In the meantime…have a blessed week and don’t forget to get out there and be a blessing!

Hebrews 10:22-25  …let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,  not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Posted on in 2013 Posts

When Life Feels Like It’s Spinning Out of Control…

Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I first posted this in 2011.  I’ve had a rough week and so decided to repost an old blog that perhaps I needed to hear!  Maybe you do too.   The only change I can see is that even though I was optimistic about my knitting skills improving, they never did.  I have found a lady on Etsy that make a mean dishcloth though and sells them at a reasonable price!  Sorry for the lack of originality this week…some weeks are like that!  Enjoy!

We all love being in control, don’t we?  There are times in all of our lives though that it seems like all we do is wander aimlessly and no matter how hard we pray, nothing happens.  When we pray and God doesn’t answer immediately or even for years in some circumstances, we start falling into that “things are definitely out of control” mode and begin to panic.  When in reality, if we are praying and trusting God for answers, things are not out of control at all.  God hears our prayers and honors them–He is in total control once we’ve prayed. Satan would just like for us to think God’s not listening and that things out of control.

Today I was driving down the road following a big white Cadillac.  It was moving rather slowly and my first reaction was to be annoyed with their speed.  I was trying to make it on time for an appointment and they were starting to make it impossible to be on time.  I had an agenda and they were in my way!  However, as I looked closer, it appeared from the back of the car that there was in fact no one driving the vehicle!  There was not one head of a driver or passenger to be seen above the front seat head rests anywhere.  I quickly turned my frustrations of their slowness into laughing. I couldn’t see anyone driving, but I knew since the vehicle was stopping, starting and turning on turn signals 500 feet before they turned, someone was behind the wheel.  I don’t know why it is funny, but it just is because you know there is some little old man or old woman behind that wheel and they’re probably sitting on a pillow!

I realized with this scenario that I could choose to be entertained and laugh or I could be upset.  The one thing I knew was that I was no longer in control of my schedule; rather the person in front of me was.  There was nowhere I could go but just stay in the lane I knew would eventually get me there—the one I thought was going to get me there on time.

How many times are our plans and agendas stopped or slowed down by things we cannot control like slow moving vehicles in our path?  We have all been  in situations where we had a plan for our lives, prayed about it, stepped out in faith, and now things just aren’t working out as we had hoped.  Why is it when we pray about things that God doesn’t just make them happen? He seemed to say, “OK,” when we were making the plans, but now it just seems that He doesn’t care or isn’t listening as nothing seems to be going our way.   Boy this is the time where the enemy arises and puts all kinds of questions and doubts in our minds.  He really wants us to believe that God doesn’t care. If he is allowed, he will turn our focus onto things that really don’t matter in the big scheme of things, while taking our focus off of what God is actually doing in our circumstances.

I have recently been learning how to knit and to say the least, the experience has been interesting.  My goal is to make dishcloths like what my mom used to knit every Christmas for her kids and grandkids to have in their kitchens every year.  As I started following the pattern yesterday to make my first one, it just wasn’t looking right.  It’s supposed to end up square when it’s done but it was beginning to take on the shape of, of, of, I’m not sure what.  I was pretty sure it wasn’t looking like a dishcloth, though!  However, as I continue to work the pattern row by row, slowly but surely, it is starting to take form and I do believe when it is done, I may have a dishcloth!  It might not be perfect, but with a little practice, I bet the next one is wonderful!

Reflecting on today’s happenings, I am reminded that even when I can’t see God behind the wheel of my life, I have to have faith that He is there.  He sends signals here and there with unexpected happenings and/or blessing and we just have to teach ourselves to focus on those signs along the way and trust.  We may look at our dishcloths in life and think it is never going to be right even when we thought we were following the pattern exactly.  The same goes for our lives.  We can read God’s Word and pray for the Holy Spirit to guide us, but we have to have faith that the outcome will be what God perfectly designed for our lives, even when it looks nothing like we imagined.

If we could always see the driver and the final outcome of our life’s dilemmas, why would we need God?  God uses these dry times in our lives to teach us and help us grow closer to Him.  Instead of panic and dismay, my prayer for you today is that even when you have that out of control feeling and think that life has thrown you another lemon, I hope you will find laughter instead of the turmoil that comes when we feel out of control and unloved by God. Have faith, He is still driving. As a matter of fact, the outcome He has planned for your situation is going to be a masterpiece.  Perhaps if it were a washcloth, it would win a blue ribbon at the county fair for workmanship!

Don’t allow the enemy to rob you of your joy.  Stay focused and trust that God has things under control.  Rather, laugh at your enemy that he has once again tried to cause you to stray and once again failed.  For when we are able to give up total control and trust, we can once again find the supernatural peace and joy that only God can give.  Your answers may not come today nor even tomorrow, but rest assured they will come in God’s time. May His peace and joy be yours today while you wait and trust the Creator of the Universe to work it all out!

1 Peter 1:6-9   In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen,you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

Posted on in 2013 Posts

Put on The Full Armor of The Lord…

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What is it about human nature that we think we can get away with doing bad things?  I am growing weary of turning on the TV or radio to hear of yet another senseless tragedy.  It’s always been this way though.  Even the first man and woman in the Garden of Eden thought they could do something they knew was wrong and get away with it.  It’s simply the human condition…we are all sinners.

If the bombers in Boston this week knew there were surveillance cameras everywhere would they have done what they did?  Did they really think they would get away with it?  The fact is, no matter where you are and what you’re doing, God sees it all.  So even if you sin and no one on earth ever knows, God knows.  This should be a huge motivator for at least those of us who know and fear God.  However, if we continue as a nation to fall farther and farther away from God, the motivation to do the right thing gets farther and farther from our thoughts as well.  Rather than lashing out at those doing wrong, I might suggest we get on our knees and keep praying for our nation! 2Chronicles 7:14…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

I know it is easy to get involved emotionally and say things in rage or disgust against people who have done something bad.      However, as Christians, I think we need to be held to a higher standard though, don’t you?  Don’t misunderstand me.  I am thankful that the bombers were caught and will pay the price for their actions.  I am no theologian, but in my mind, I believe Jesus made it very clear.  In John 8, there was a woman who had been caught in adultery.  When the teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought her to Jesus they asked what they should do with her.  They said under the law of Moses, she should be stoned.  However, Jesus calmly answered, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Yes, I know that the things going on around us are horrific.  I am amazed that I personally have known two families victimized by these senseless, random acts of violence.  I knew the parents of a young man killed in the theatre in Colorado and I knew two children who were hiding in closets in Connecticut during the school shooting there.   It’s getting more personal by the day.  But daily I ask, “How should I react to these heinous acts as a Christian and spokesperson for the Lord?”  I feel that even though these situations have hurt dear people that I know, I have a responsibility for my reactions to the chaos.

I hope that all of us will stop and think before we post that next Facebook thought or write our next blog. The Internet is a wonderful tool to win others to Christ if we use it wisely.  So ask yourself before posting, is what I’m saying something that glorifies God?  Am I throwing stones or am I realizing that we are all sinners…some of us fortunately saved by grace?  Am I praying for everyone involved?  If these questions don’t come to mind and we spew hatred to the world; our witness wanes and suddenly we lose ground in winning those in our circles to Christ. Don’t become a victim of the terrorism.

armorEphesians 6:10-20 (NIV)  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. armor And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,  for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

This passage tells me that I am to stand firm under God’s protection that fully protects me from the evil one.  I should also be alert and praying for everyone involved, especially for those who carry God’s message to unbelievers.  However, when it talks about a sword that would be the only item of active offense on our part, He refers to it as the sword of the Spirit.  That tells me the Holy Spirit will take care of the battles, I just need to be suited for battle, standing firm in my faith.

When you think no one is watching think again.  Thank goodness for the cameras who saw it all this week and could identify the perpetrators for the safety of others.  When you’re on Facebook,  be aware that there are many there who are seeking an understanding of God as their Savior.  Are your reactions making them want to be a Christian like you or are you driving seekers away?  I fear that as judgmental as some can be to others in the name of Christianity, those on the sidelines may not want any part of it.  Don’t think for a minute someone isn’t watching your actions on social media.  Most importantly, we will someday have to stand before God on judgment day and account for our actions here on earth.  He, too, is watching and sees it all.

I hope you receive this with the right spirit and ask God to guide you to being the best witness you can be…for all the world to see!  Stand firm and be fearless.  However, be wise, continue in prayer, withholding judgment for the Lord.  Have a great week and go out and be a blessing!