King's Daughter

Girlfriends:   God says... You are amazing and capable of great things.  You are beautiful today, just the way you are, no matter what size the label says.  You are strong and can endure what ever comes your way.  You matter to so many, to more than you may ever know.  You are always more than enough.  You have everything you need to be who God has called you to be.  Those voices inside your mind that contradict the above, are LIES from satan himself.  Remind that loser that he is in fact, a loser.   Go on about your day smiling and standing tall like the daughter of a king.

Step by Step

You go step by step,
He'll show step by step.
We must trust in the Lord even when we don't have all the details of the journey.  The details of the journey are less important to God than our faithful obedience and trust in him day by day.  God wants us to include him every day in every way, because he loves us and desires a relationship with us.  If we knew all the details to what he has in store for us, then we wouldn't  need him and the relationship would be lost, and we would miss out on the blessing of his presence in our life.

You go step by step,
He'll show step by step.

Behavior Modification

Following Jesus is not about trying to behave in a certain way. Modifying our behavior on the outside when we still harbor anger, resentment, negativity (fill in the blank here) on the inside does nothing for us and leaves us empty, robbed of joy. In order for there to be real change towards the joy God wants us to experience, we must let go of the death grip we have on the dark corners of our hearts. Those thoughts and feelings we try to hide away so that no one can see what's slowly destroying us from the inside. Following Jesus means we, in humility, let Him guide us, showing us what real issues in our heart need a run through the wash.

And it seems to me that my heart is a garment that needs to be put through the wash cycle frequently. Sometimes several times a day. I come out clean and stain free every time. God doesn't need Pinterest to figure out how to remove my stains. When I come to Him sincerely wanting to seek Him and the grace He so wants to extend, then I am washed clean.

"Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of Faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water" Hebrews 10:22

Waves Be Still

My daughter Bethany, and I watched the first message in a series called How to Be Brave from Elevation Church today.  The message is entitled Brave the Waves.  If you have never listened to anything from Pastor Steven Furtick, this is a good place to start.  How can we be brave in the waves of life when we are consumed by them?  I'm telling you, this is something that I struggle with everyday and must take captive everyday.  The waves of doubt, fear, and worry.  There is so much going on in and around our lives that we are shaking our fists at God, asking him if he even cares.  Read Mark 4:34-41.  Jesus says to the disciples that he wants to go to the other side of the sea so they all get in a boat.  Jesus decides to takes a nap and meanwhile a storm kicks up.  The disciples get scared when the water begins to overtake the boat, and they wake Jesus asking him if he cares if they drown!  Now, why wouldn't he care?  After all he's on the boat too.  Jesus is teaching the disciples that when he has ordained and started something that he will finish it.  He said at the beginning of the story, “Let us go over to the other side”.... and I'm pretty sure if Jesus says, "lets us go", he intends to get to the other side.  I LOVE what Steven said in the message about when storms come up.  He said, "Why are you surprised when trouble arises?  He told us to put on the full armor of God, which implies a fight". 

The more we speak doubt, fear and worry into our life the more our hearts become saturated by it.  What is the atmosphere of your heart?  Is it storms and waves crashing, or calm and a light breeze?  In the story, Jesus said only this: "Quiet, Be Still." Then the waves died down and it was completely calm.  If we can speak, "be still" to the waves of doubt, fear and worry in our hearts, then we can overcome by his strength, what is going on in and around our lives.  But remember this when you ask him to quiet the storm in your heart:

But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.   James 1:6

Put your faith and trust in a Savior - Jesus Christ.

Assassin

I have been thinking a lot about the lengths, the schemes that the Satan will go to in order to get us confused and off track. I want to start out by saying I am not an expert on this subject or any other for that matter, but what I do know is that there is a real enemy.  If you have been a Christian any length of time you have probably heard the sentiment, "God has a plan for you".  This is very true.  You were created ON purpose, WITH a purpose and FOR a purpose. He does have a plan that he has specifically designed for each of us that will be a great joy in our life.  (Check out my earlier post called "Longing to Calling").  In the last 5 years I have become painfully aware of an undesirable truth and that is that Satan has a plan for us too.  Take a look at these verses: 

The thief comes only to kill, steal and destroy, I have come so that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10   ---  Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

I have always believed that there was an enemy but I never really realized the seriousness of how evil the enemy is and how much he hates me.  All the little sins that I struggled with I just passed off with a "that's life and it doesn't matter that much" attitude.  When really it was Satan at work all along.  When you seek to grow in God, Satan is your adversary.  We need to think of Satan as an assassin and he has his sights set on us.  The worst thing that Satan can do to us is separate us from God because he knows that our life apart from God is death.   He is subtle and leads us off track little bits at a time.  Next thing you know, we are far away from God and going down a road we never thought that we would be on.  Here's what I want to do:  Turn the tables on Satan!  The Bible says that all things work together for my good. (Romans 8:28)  Let's use the tactics he intends for harm, for our good; as a stepping stone that will ultimately bring us closer to God.  This thinking goes way back to Joseph in the book of Genesis.  In fact Joseph said those exact words to his enemies, his own brothers, who conspired against him.  He said, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.."  That's what we can say to Satan.   Every morning, I want the enemy to be like......"not her again, she resists in every way!"  I don't want to assist Satan in leading me astray, I want to resist him.  I want to say to him every time I feel tempted, "you intend to harm me, but God intends good for me....oh and by the way Satan, don't forget you lose."

Some final rambling thoughts:

• Be a student of your Bible -- The word of God is our very best weapon to fight the schemes of Satan.  Learn some verses, it's not that hard.  Satan hates God's word.  Jesus used the word of God when he was tempted and so should we. 
• Know your weaknesses -- Know what your weaknesses are because you can be sure that Satan already knows them are and will use them against you every time. 
• Learn who is speaking to you -- We all have trouble sometimes figuring out if something is from God or Satan.  To begin to know the difference, get to know God by reading the Bible and praying.  Anyone can know about God, but we need to KNOW Him.  You cannot hear from God if you do not know him.  Also, when God is speaking to you, it will always line up with his word and lead you to Him.    

He Gives Beauty for Ashes

Isaiah 61:1-3 

Do you have anything in your life that has went up in flames?  Something that you tried at and failed?  Or your broken heart lies in ruins.  There are so many things that we could fail at and so many things that can break our heart make us feel captive like these verses in Isaiah are saying.  You probably already have a list running in your mind of things that have happened in your life; either by your own choices or something that you feel has been done unfairly to you.  In my own life I struggle to move beyond the ashes to the beauty that God wants to give me.  I kind of sit around in the "self pity pouty party" like Pastor Derek Amsler spoke about on Sept 22 in his message series: Scarecrow In A Melon Patch.  I am so busy dwelling and holding onto my past and where I have been and every thing that I have done wrong that I totally miss this one important truth!!  Here it is: Realize that what God has planned for our future is already better than where we've been.

Philippians 3:13-14 -- Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

We all have been down a rough road or two, but God has something better for you, when in your faith you step out and trust Him to lead you to it.  All of the things that you have been through are things that God can use and wants to use to help the people around you. You (and me) are His greatest tools.

• Be positive!!  It begins with a choice.  Sometimes a choice we have to make several times a day.  Choose to live for God and to be positive. Find people that can encourage you and point you toward God.  Eliminate negativity and the self pity pouty poor me party.
• Take small steps toward God.  Everyday do something to draw closer to Him. 
• Let go of the death grip on the dead things in your life!!  If something in your life is dead (like the past), don't die with it.  Don't continue to let it drag you down.  Take that thought captive and cut it off, move forward believing that God has something better for you. 

If you and I would let go of the ashes.... there is beauty.

Cross references:

1. Philippians 3:13 : Lk 9:62
2. Philippians 3:14 : Heb 6:1
3. Philippians 3:14 : 1Co 9:24
4. Philippians 3:14 : S Ro 8:28

Identity Crisis

A subject that I find so hard to address in my own life is overcoming sin that just seem to linger. The ones that we just can't seem to let go of.  Or we succeed for a time but somehow revert back to it.  First we need to come to a simple truth:  The journey that we are on is not one of merely lifestyle change or omitting sin from our lives.  Our journey is about allowing Jesus to be our saviour, our guide and friend. Our sin is not our identity.  Our behavior is not our identity.  Our identity and hope is Jesus Christ.  I am sure that if you have sin in your life that you have wanted to conquer, you have felt the judgement and guilt that comes when you've failed.  I for one am tired of living this way.  God wants us to be more that conquers. (Romans 8:37-39) 

In 2 Corinthians 5:17 it says that if we are in Christ, we are a new creation.  Well isn't that just peachy!  I have to tell you, sometimes I get really frustrated when people talk about this verse.  Come on, if you have been following God for any length of time, you already know that there is no magic wand that changes all the things we don't like about ourselves.  Now before you think I am trying to disagree with a bible verse let me explain.  We are a new creation, yes!  This is how I think it looks.  We give our lives to Jesus and here we are with all the same messed up crap in our lives, then there is Jesus covering our sin.  God looks at us and we are filtered by Jesus....God sees Jesus not our sin.  Isn't that the reason Jesus died on the cross?  Now this doesn't mean that we should go on with our bad selves and not have a plan to address the sin in our lives.  But come to God because you actually want to be like Jesus.  You should come to God because you want HIM, and you actually want your identity to be in Jesus Christ by having a relationship with him...not just because you want Him to change a behavior in you or a "get out of hell free" card.  And like I said, just because you come to God, that doesn't mean that everything that you don't like about yourself changes with a snap.  It is a process that God reveals over time.  And sometimes it is painful and hard.  At least that is how I have experienced it.  This is so important to grasp because I think so many people live not fully experiencing all that God wants for them because they feel such guilt in their life over sins that they have not overcome. Sometimes we just pretend we have it all together.  After all we can fool most people,  but reality is, noone can fool an all-knowing God.  Come to God just as you are, and stop trying to figure out whether something is right or wrong and just start seeking God on a daily basis.  Be honest with God, he knows you already.  Nothing you do or have done surprises him.  It's not like God is at the water cooler of heaven saying to Saint Peter...."Can you believe what she did, I didn't expect that."  Not at all!  He knows you, he understands you better than anyone!  HE made you.  You do not need to change or "clean up your act" before you come to Jesus.  If you are truely seeking God, He will lead you in his time to what is right.  The question you need to ask yourself is this:

If being/doing _____(fill in the blank)_______ is wrong, do I still want to follow God, and will I let him take me through the process of change? 

As we draw near to a Holy God we will begin to understand through His word and the leading of His Spirit the things that He does not desire.  Our heart and our feelings will begin to change. We have to decide if that is truely what we want.  What is the point of seeking God if you never really plan on allowing Him to change things in your life.  He only desires what is best for you.  It is sad to think that so many are missing out on all the great things God wants to give to us simply because we won't yield and give up what we think is best for us.  It is always our choice.  But it takes everything, no holding back.  Surrendering all of ourselves wholeheartedly to Him.  Seeking him in prayer and reading His word.  He never begs us to give him anything, but to fully experience all of Him, we must give Him all of us.  As God reveals things to us that He wants us to change, then it is up to us to take steps to try and make that change.  It may be small steps at first, but every step towards Him is always right.  How do you know that something is a God desired change?  You will know that you know that you know that you know!   That may seem like a vague answer but it is the truth.  When you are convicted about something from God, you will know!  Don't let Satan try to talk you out of it.  But seriously, I challenge anyone to ask the question above of themselves.  If your answer is yes, then surround yourself with wise people who love you and dilligently seek God through His word, praying and just listening to Him.  He never returns our efforts in seeking Him void.  I just read on another blog reciently, "God watches over His word to perform it.  He responds to His word.  When we begin sowing His word into every facet of our life and we begin to remind God of His word in those areas, He responds!" (Guaranteed Results  by Melissa Leslie)   Wow, I love that!  The idea of God watching over his word to perform it.  That's awesome.  He will perform it in your life if you let Him.  Decide to let Jesus be your identity.