His Blessing And Goodness

Note: This one was written back in August but I had to wait to share it because it was published yesterday on a digital magazine that is called, "Just Between Us." So now the timing of how I can share it there is such gratitude to only what the Lord can do..

His Blessing and Goodness

“I will remember the LORD’s works; yes, I will remember your ancient wonders. I will reflect on all you have done and meditate on your actions.” Psalms 77:11

I was recently given a blessing jar. The instructions were simple, “Capture all the sweet moments the Lord has given you.” In the jar was a pen and paper and a couple of reminders written to me. And candy. Some of my favorites that I really don’t partake in much now. I was that girl in my early 20’s that always had a purse full of candy. Not just one kind but all sorts. If you wanted chewy, hard, gummy, or gum chances are I was carrying it around in my purse. That wasn’t the only thing I was carrying around. Headache medicine because I always got headaches from the lifestyle I was leading, cigarettes because I was a pack a day smoker. And probably some rolling papers because that was where I was at the time. But if I could really reflect back on that twenty something girl there would have been something so much heavier I was carrying around. Guilt, shame, and sadness. Because I was in my early twenties before I tasted the Goodness of God. It was there early into my marriage that God took me to a place of understanding that He could provide that relationship I was so desperately seeking.  Because just like that purse full of candy my taste changed. 

That blessing jar came at a time that I have once again forgotten about all those sweet blessings. The ones I can’t see at this time. The ones I really don’t want to deal with. The ones that don’t feel like it can be good. The ones that cause my heart once again to say, “Lord I will trust you and reflect on what you have done and trust that your Goodness remains.” 

Is it worth the wait to SEE His Goodness? 

“I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. I will boast in the LORD; the humble will hear and be glad. Proclaim the LORD’s greatness with me; let us exalt his name together.” Psalm 34:1-3

This Psalm was written from a cave and it was from the lips of David. David is running from his enemies and in his defence pretends to be insane. The Bible says he is pretending to be madness, but as one commentator said he was hiding in a cave but his heart was hiding in the Lord. The men followed him into the cave and he began praising. At all times. His praise is always on my lips. I will boast in the LORD. Let us exalt his name together. And once again God moved. He moves within our praises.

What if we started praising before the outcome?

He wants us to experience His goodness. But the reality is sometimes we can’t see what He is doing. And a lot of those times it really isn’t fun. A lot of those times it is hard. And the enemy loves when we magnify those things that we can see and can’t change. “I will choose to magnify the LORD at all times.”

Father,

Help us to remember. What really matters is that you are Who matters in this world. Looking to Jesus does look very strange. But it is that sweet release is where we can begin to experience your Goodness and Faithfulness. Give us heart postures that boast in you alone. When we become weary, help us to remember to choose to praise you before the outcome. That is how we experience your Goodness. Shepherd our hearts Jesus. It is worth it to see your Goodness. We will wait on you alone.

Amen

    

    

 

Revive My Heart

 

Revive My Heart

“Make your ways known to me, LORD; teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; I wait for you all day long.” Psalm 25:4-5

How many times do my thoughts bound me? 

I have an option to wait upon the Lord. I’m invited daily to come and receive the saving grace that is available but sometimes I just choose myself to be the teacher. The thoughts of not being good enough. The thoughts of striving in myself and not trusting in the Lord. And even knowing dying to my thoughts gives Him permission and invitation to give me His Clarity and Focus I will still choose mine. 

It is a long term mindset. The enemy wants us to think that it is an instantaneous thing to develop the thoughts of Christ but if that were possible I wouldn't need Jesus. It is only when I allow that to happen over time.  The slow process of becoming more like Jesus is stripping off more of myself to clothe myself with the mind of Christ. He is Peace and will surpass all my understanding when I allow him to guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus. 

“We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18

Transformed. Into Jesus. How is that even possible? When I look in the mirror all I see is my flesh, a body that is aging. All my imperfections. At least that is what the enemy wants me to see. He wants me focusing on the outward when the truth is God is concerned on the inward and what is happening within my heart. 

The same glory of the Lord that couldn’t be seen without people falling over dead is the same glory that lives in us. The Bible says, “For if what was set aside was glorious, what endures will even be more glorious.” The unveiling comes whenever a person turns to the Lord for forgiveness and mercy and the veil is permanently removed from their heart and God is able to display His glory in and through us. No matter the aging that is occurring something so much greater is happening we are becoming more like Jesus. One degree at a time. So we get to overflow with His glory. Spilling over into this world.

What would that look like?

 Renewal and restoration. Spiritual awakening. Repentance and change. Creating that space where He desires to work. Making my heart something He can continue to work in and change me more to become more like Jesus. That is his whole goal. Making me more like Him. 

Father,

You crave intimacy with us.  Your love is a love in action working in us cultivating an awareness around us that we cannot dismiss. But that change begins with us. Turning from our ways to allow the leading of your ways is something our flesh will fight against.  But you Jesus tell us that when we surrender those things at your feet and know you as Our Father, Friend, and Savior you become the song of our hearts. Your constant Presence leading us fashions us to become more like you Jesus..

So make us more like you. So others can see you Jesus.

Rooted in God's Love

Rooted in God’s Love

“As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him. For he knows what we are made of, remembering we are dust.  Psalm 103:13

Fear and Reverence. Those words don’t seem to go together but when I talk about God’s love for me it is knowing that His compassion isn’t based on my human knowledge but a deep rooted reverence despite what I feel. 

“Reroot in Christ.” Those were some of the words that were spoken to me in the prayer tent at Woman’s camp this past September. The prayer tent was something I had always heard about but never experienced. Being apart of a community that understands the importance of prayer there are always opportunities to receive that but this was a more unique opportunity I was receiving that day. I sat down in the seat of the barn filled with ladies being prayed over to be greeted by a total stranger. She asked me a little about myself to which I filled her in on what the Lord had been doing this past year.  As I looked up while talking to her I saw the long line of ladies stretched across both ends waiting for prayer as if God was reminding me what He has called me to do as the reminder to keep writing and sharing. Writing wasn’t something I ever saw the Lord doing and now it has become something I can’t not do.  I remember sitting in that writing conference back in February and hearing that. “You know you're a writer when you can’t not write.” Walking away from that conference started something I could have never imagined. As I walked away I was left with feelings of inadequacy, not being good enough, and being the wrong person, yet God in His rich abounding love and compassion has shown me time and time again none of that matters. He is just looking for willing obedient vessels to do His Kingdom work. 

During this time at Woman camp was the realization it was a more difficult time to write dealing with mental fatigue. Before those women prayed over me I knew God was calling me to rest. Not just a couple weeks off something much longer. And I knew as hard as that would be it was necessary. But I feared I wouldn’t be able to start back up again. The routine of writing what the Lord places on my heart has become this release that has no explanation. So not writing?? You have got to be kidding Lord.. but He wasn’t. Those words, “Reroot in Christ” took me back to the very place He wanted. Trusting Jesus was right beside me. Writing to Jesus once again all I was thinking and feeling to see how he could calm my fears. Rerooting back to where it all began right after that diagnosis.  He was taking me back to that place knowing that I could settle in and that He fights the battle within my mind and heart. 

Dependence upon the Lord will never be an easy thing. As much as we want to trust the Lord and believe it will all turn out for His good, it is really difficult to live out daily. We are participants in faith not consumers. Faith is one of those things that will be tested as long as we live on this earth. And the seasons God gives us can be opportunities for it to grow deeper. Sowing seeds of Faith. Growing deeper in our hearts the love of God. Cultivating hearts of gratitude in the middle of things that don’t make sense and things that really frustrate us. 

“For just as the rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return there without saturating the earth and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, so it is with my word that comes from my mouth will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do.” Isaiah 55:10-11

We will always have an invitation to come and trust in God. The invitation to taste and see His goodness. To allow His Living breathing Word to saturate our hearts and minds and prosper us and make us flourish. Despite everything around us. Growing us deeper in our dependence upon the Lord. 

Realizing that God not only desires to work within us but gives us ways to understand and reveal His heart is the path that He has set out for us. And it is SO good. Faith with expectation how He wants to move. 

So how can I strive less and trust more? Ask Him. 

Jesus,

Help us to be still and know you. You came so that we would know the love of the Father. You are our Father, Friend, and Savior. All things were created through you and apart from you nothing matters. We prosper and flourish when learn to trust you more and more each day. You are the Author of our stories. Jesus you are with us in all of it. Sow your promises deep within our hearts and minds..

Amen

 

The One

  The One

“What do you think? If someone has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, won’t he leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go and search for the stray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over that sheep more than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.” Matthew 18: 12-13

What does this mean to you? 

God math is nothing like mine. Because I wouldn’t just leave ninety- nine behind to go after one. Why wouldn’t I just focus on the ninety-nine and forget about the one? It seems logical doesn’t it? But there is something I am missing when I do God math. His Mercy will never add up to me understanding how it continues to chase after one. His Mercy can never be changed. His Mercy will always reach down to the lowest and the one that has thought He has forgotten. He is Mercy. 

Sometimes I like to picture Scripture in my mind. He used sheep because this was something they knew about. I can almost picture them as he is telling them this. “Wait, you mean you are telling us to leave ninety-nine to go after one?” That doesn’t make sense if we are looking at it through our lens. But if I am looking through the lens of Mercy of my Father it explains His pursuit after us when we go astray. I can almost picture the sheep all alone. I was all alone. Sometimes I think about that. Where would I be without the love of God? He chased me down. Mercy was Present even before Jesus. Mercy is actively choosing to keep moving and pursuing those who feel all alone. Maybe you are one of those.

What does it mean to have goodness and mercy following us? 

“For your faithful love guides me, and I live by your truth.” Psalm 26:3

We serve a Living God. He heals, delivers, redeems, and is alive, living and breathing. He desires that we would be the closest person to Him. That is why He chose to bring Jesus down to earth. So we could experience a living and breathing relationship with Him. Jesus lives in us so we can allow him to shepherd and guide us in all our ways. But the choice is ours. I lived the alternative of an empty life that nothing ever satisfied. Jesus offers us to come and abide in us and bring us comfort and this world can’t do that apart from Jesus. 

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” 1 Peter 2:24-25

He sees you. He knows you. He loves you. 

 

Honey in the Rock

 Honey in the Rock

Why does the Lord refer to His Word as being sweet as honey? Maybe that is something you have never heard of. God says, “Taste and See My Goodness.”

“I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own knows me, just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.” John 10:14

Jesus was on the move; he was searching, gathering, rescuing, and dealing with people that thought it required more to enter into the Kingdom of God. The Pharisees were people that got wrapped up in so much more than the Source it came from. Standing before them Jesus would teach in a way that would cause them to remember. Even as they heard words such as these they couldn’t understand. The Living God had been revealing His word to them since the beginning of time. But they couldn’t recognize the voice standing before them.

 “The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He leads me beside quiet water, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake.” Psalm 23: 1-3

 All along we have belonged to Jesus. The Rock has always stood the test of time. Scripture is the reminder of it being sweet and something we taste and see so that we can cling to our Rock.

“We are invited to lean back, look up, and open our mouths so the Living God, by the Spirit of God, and break it down to feed the people of God exactly what He has done for us in this moment.” (Kristi Mclleland)

The Bible is the invitation to see and hear the voice of our Father. It is how we can know the heart of God. The Living God desires to speak to each us and show us what paths to take. 

The Living God spoke to the people through prophets in the Old Testament but when Jesus came on the scene in the flesh He spoke to them in a way they could see. A shepherd was something they saw and sheep was something they knew but Jesus came so that they would know the voice of the Lord. So he could lead them. 

Hear His promise. I am your Shepherd. You lack nothing. Allow that promise to resonate over your heart and mind. We lack nothing because it has already been provided because of Jesus and the Holy Spirit in us is the reason to keep seeking, listening, and following Jesus. That refreshes our soul. That guides us along the right paths. All to Jesus I surrender.

Jesus,

You are our Good Shepherd. You know us. We belong to you alone. You speak to us so that we can know and recognize your voice. “My sheep know my voice, I know them, and they follow me.” Tune our ears to hear you voice. 

Amen

 

Here I Am

 Here I Am

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking: Who should I send: Who will go for us? I said: Here I am. Send me.” Isaiah 6:8

I recently was able to go to the prison and do prison ministry. It took over a year to get the background check and even after it cleared we showed up and were told our names weren’t on the list. That is always discouraging when we are sent out to go back home. What we thought the Lord was doing to be sent back. That would happen when I did jail ministry occasionally. It is always a matter of their timing and their paperwork that has to be all aligned and nothing we could do. So when we were sent back it really wasn’t a surprise. Disappointment but not surprise. This time we went and got in. Our names were at the desk and this time we got to go.

It was a long walk back to the chapel. At the chapel at the end of the gated area we were met by men from all different backgrounds. My instructions were just to shake hands with the residents. I had never done prison ministry with men before but as I entered the area that service was held it was the same thing I used to see doing jail ministry with women. The community that they create as they come together as you can clearly see the love they have for one another. The gathering together to come and hear from the Lord. I will admit being the newby always comes with insecurities and shaking those hands with men is different than being with the women. But once we started the introductions it became easier because we were there for the purpose to extend the love of God. And even as we all came to be that extension of the hands and feet of Jesus it was once again an opportunity for them to show us how they were the hands and feet of Jesus. My husband was allowed “bro hugs” and if you aren’t familiar with this term it is something that allows men to go all in with a hug. I did this on a recent mission trip. Not the bro but the “all in” hug I was able to give those women in that recovery center. Complete strangers and seeing all those women and going in just hugging them like I had known them forever. The love of God moving in to love His chosen ones.

It wasn’t a surprise when my husband started getting those hugs. Knowing his personality, he doesn’t meet strangers. Just ask anyone who knows him. Or ask our girls. When they were little no one was a stranger. It didn’t matter where we went Walmart, anywhere someone was going to be talked to. The greeter or the person in line. He has always had the gift to meet people where they are and just start talking. The prison wasn’t any different for either of us. Because that is what you learn when you go and go where God sends you. We aren’t all sent inside prisons but we are sent all around. We all can’t give those full embrace hugs but we can be that extension of the hands and feet of Jesus. In our words. In our actions. In everything that God calls us to do. Listening and meeting people where they are. Stopping to have that conversation. Inviting the Holy Spirit to do within us what God wants to do in this world.

Those men blessed me. I got to sit in a circle with another male leader and discuss what they had just heard. The sermon was about going out and being sent by God to be a witness wherever He has placed us. Even in prison those men had a heart to be the extension of Jesus. Their circumstances didn’t define them. Sitting with them and seeing the different faces and ages was once again the reminder to my heart no matter what you are working  Lord! And our circumstances can’t hold back what God wants to do. It takes the heart posture of saying to Him daily, “Here I am, send me.”

What would that look like? In our workplaces? In our neighborhoods? In our everyday interactions we have with those around us? 

It would look so different. It would look like us sharing the greatest news we ever could to a world that is dying to know that kind of peace and comfort.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking: Who should I send? Who will go for us? 

I said: Here I am. Send me.