Today is the kind of day that I am FULLY aware that I cannot do it all. I have not sat down or stopped all day and the only thing I have to show for it is a mess in the living room, sink full of dishes, and laundry that looks like someone else has dropped it off at my house. I have little bundles of love and madness (my kids) saying "Mommy" every few seconds and a 1 and 1/2 year old calling me "Shae" instead of "Mommy", which I am assuming is because "Mommy" is apparently not working for her. I have food, but all of the wrong ones because everything that the baby is asking for is nowhere to be found.
It is days like today that I truly see my need for a Savior, and yet, my time with Him is usually the first to go. I fight the thought that I don't have time. I go around putting out fires throughout the day, treading water and going nowhere and carrying around that feeling of desperation; desperate for my soul to be refreshed and my mind to be renewed. A very, very dear and precious friend of mine shared an illustration with me that has stuck in my mind all day today. Imagine a class jar being filled up with little rocks, each one representing what needs to be done in a day. Then you have 2 large balls, which represent time with God in His Word and time in prayer. After the jar is filled with all of the little rocks, the balls will not fit into the jar. However, if you empty the jar, put the 2 large balls in first, then you can still fit in all of the little rocks. AMAZING!!! haha
I say it like that because no matter how much we know the necessity of time with Him, we still choose something different. I have grown leaps and bounds in this area, but it is not a one time commitment. It is a choice that lies before us over and over and over again during the course of the day. It is a difficult thing to decide what we will have to let go of when all of our options seem necessary. However, each time that I feel overwhelmed and think, "I cannot do it all", I hear the voice of God in my heart saying, "Of course you can't"!
"Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." John 15:4-5
That is what I want and need....to bear much fruit instead of putting out fires with nothing really to show for it. And the fruit He is referring to is the fruit of His Spirit...love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galations 5:22-23) I could definitely use a harvest of those in my day! Especially when I can still smell the smoke from my fires; the dishes, laundry, housework, things I would enjoy doing, the demands of babies in the house,the needs of family and friends, and the list goes on. However, with the fruit of the Spirit in my life, the fires will not take me out. Time with God in His word and time in prayer will give me the frame of mind and attitude of heart to just go ahead and grab a stick and roast some marsh-mellows because I am indeed blessed!!
Will my house look the way I want it to this afternoon? Definitely not. Will I have an empty laundry room and empty laundry baskets by the end of the day? Not unless I give all the clothes away. And my kids will probably eat Bagel Bites for the millionth time and I will not get to MANY things I would like to, but one thing I do know... my time with God has restored my soul, renewed my energy, and changed my attitude. I will choose the better thing when I walk out of my bedroom (with the bed still not made) after my time with Him...I will choose my blessings. I will be able to see more clearly the things I will just simply have to let go, and will keep one thing in front of me...my need for a Savior!
God in your Word, You warn us that the cares and anxieties of this world will choke out the Word planted in our souls...the Word that will bear fruit in our lives and produce a harvest. I pray today that we will stop and choose life and blessing. Let us stop and choose YOU. I pray that today we will simply do what we know to do...spend time with you and go to you over and over again in Jesus name.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Easter is a beautiful time. At first glance, it seems to be a very delicate season with pastel colors, spring flowers, baskets,and our Sunday best. Yet, behind it all was something very harsh, brutal and painful: the beating, mocking, and Crucifixion of Jesus. The fact that something so beautiful and precious could come from death is truly how the Spirit of God continues to work in our lives; that same Spirit that rose Jesus from the dead is the same Spirit that works in us. (Romans 8:11)
Jacob, my little guy, and I were talking about the Crucifixion and his question about it truly brought it all into perspective. Jacob asked if Jesus wanted to die on the cross. I thought about it for a split second; the answer was both yes and no. No, he didn't want to go through it all. Even though he had every supernatural quality inside of him, he was still flesh and blood. It was going to be a pain like no other. He was beat beyond human recognition. Isaiah 52:14 says "his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form beyond human likeness". The night that the Roman soldiers would come to arrest him, he cried and prayed until he sweat drops of blood.(Luke 22:44) He even asked God if this "cup", or this part of the process, could be skipped. And yet, Jesus said, "It is not my will, but yours". (Luke 22:42) So comes the "yes" to the question. Yes, he wanted to do the will of God. Yes, he wanted to complete the promise that his death and resurrection would bring to the entire world until the end of time. Yes, he wanted to save us and bring to us EVERYTHING that he knew of the Father.
In John 17, Jesus prays for himself, his disciples, and then for all believers. In this prayer, he prays for our protection, the power of the Holy Spirit, our sanctification and turning to the Word of God. He prays for us to know Him, His love, and the ability to share Him with the world:
I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name-the name you gave me-so that they may be one as we are one...I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them...My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe me through their message that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you...I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me...You have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory....I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them. ~John 17
This prayer is the YES to the cross. When my little girl Carly saw a cross in a book, she said, "There's the power of Jesus". I loved that and I still think of that when I see a cross. She didn't call it a cross, but "the power of Jesus". That is how I want to always see it. We can be become numb to the Truth and power of Christ, the cross, the beating, and the Crucifixion simply by hearing it over and over again. Because we know how it all turns out, we look over the pain and torture of it all. Because it was the will of God, we assume it was okay with Jesus and he was 'okay' so to speak with how it all had to be. But I pray that this Easter, we will have our eyes and hearts opened to the Truth; to the sacrifice and all that was given for us. I pray that it will change the way we see our faith; change the way we live our lives. I pray that it will change the way we enter our churches on Sunday morning and change the way we sing our songs. Thank you for the cross Lord. Thank you for the nail pierced hands.
Jacob, my little guy, and I were talking about the Crucifixion and his question about it truly brought it all into perspective. Jacob asked if Jesus wanted to die on the cross. I thought about it for a split second; the answer was both yes and no. No, he didn't want to go through it all. Even though he had every supernatural quality inside of him, he was still flesh and blood. It was going to be a pain like no other. He was beat beyond human recognition. Isaiah 52:14 says "his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form beyond human likeness". The night that the Roman soldiers would come to arrest him, he cried and prayed until he sweat drops of blood.(Luke 22:44) He even asked God if this "cup", or this part of the process, could be skipped. And yet, Jesus said, "It is not my will, but yours". (Luke 22:42) So comes the "yes" to the question. Yes, he wanted to do the will of God. Yes, he wanted to complete the promise that his death and resurrection would bring to the entire world until the end of time. Yes, he wanted to save us and bring to us EVERYTHING that he knew of the Father.
In John 17, Jesus prays for himself, his disciples, and then for all believers. In this prayer, he prays for our protection, the power of the Holy Spirit, our sanctification and turning to the Word of God. He prays for us to know Him, His love, and the ability to share Him with the world:
I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name-the name you gave me-so that they may be one as we are one...I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them...My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe me through their message that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you...I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me...You have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory....I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them. ~John 17
This prayer is the YES to the cross. When my little girl Carly saw a cross in a book, she said, "There's the power of Jesus". I loved that and I still think of that when I see a cross. She didn't call it a cross, but "the power of Jesus". That is how I want to always see it. We can be become numb to the Truth and power of Christ, the cross, the beating, and the Crucifixion simply by hearing it over and over again. Because we know how it all turns out, we look over the pain and torture of it all. Because it was the will of God, we assume it was okay with Jesus and he was 'okay' so to speak with how it all had to be. But I pray that this Easter, we will have our eyes and hearts opened to the Truth; to the sacrifice and all that was given for us. I pray that it will change the way we see our faith; change the way we live our lives. I pray that it will change the way we enter our churches on Sunday morning and change the way we sing our songs. Thank you for the cross Lord. Thank you for the nail pierced hands.
Friday, March 25, 2011
His Beautiful Word
I feel challenged in my life to stop seeing God's Word as mere suggestions and to see them as Truth and commands to live by. God said that if we love Him, then we will obey Him. He says that He came that we might have life and to the fullest. He says that the blessed man is the one that does not forget what he has heard, but the one who does it.(James 1:25) And this will require us to seek Him, read His Word, become familiar with the Word and His heart towards us. It will also require us to be led by the Word and not our flesh and when the flesh dies, it can be painful! But what we see and feel is temporary; what is unseen is eternal. God does not lead our lives with only the here and now in His view....He leads our lives knowing that we have an eternity ahead of us and He wants that to be spent with Him. "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
(2 Corinthians 4:17,18)
Fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith~ Hebrews 12:2
Over time I have learned the value of this truth and find myself returning to it over and over again. If we do not fix our eyes on Him, we will live lives of compromise, confusion, and double-mindedness. The majority of the time, I truly know what God is speaking to my heart. I know the direction He is taking me in. I know what He is asking of me. But it's when my eyes begin to wonder that I start to question what I know, what I believe, and what I have heard in my heart; those things that I know God has personally called me to do or not to do. It's when my eyes look at those around me and at the standards and ways of the world that I begin to let human reasoning and logic take its toll on me. This is why we have to fix our eyes on Him. Our hearts may know, our minds may know, but what we see may lead us astray. This is because God works in each of our lives in such a personal way. He alone knows the hearts, thoughts and intentions of man. He meets us all where we are and begins to move us to the place He wants us to be. I find so much comfort in His Word that says, I know the plans that I have for you; they are to bless you and prosper you; to do you good and not harm. This is great news when my flesh is screaming!
Let me be clear about something. God's Word and standards are not up for debate; there are no exceptions to His Word and His heart is the same towards ALL He has made. However, we all have different callings, gifts, talents, and areas of influence. This is why we have to filter what God speaks to our hearts through nothing but the Word of God. I think of what John Bevere wrote in one of his books. Basically, he said that we do not have to wonder what God will use to judge us when we face Him, and we all will. We will be judged on the Word of God. We will be held accountable to the Truths that God speaks to us and our lives. We cannot fix our eyes on the 'sinner' or even the 'awesome Christian family that's not doing what we know God has called us to do and they are doing fine'. Only God knows the beginning from the end for us and our families.
I find it disturbing that to follow the commands of God these days seems almost like we are being fanatics, extreme, or even 'holy rollers'! But we have to know that the opinions of man will not stand forever, only the plans of God will stand through ALL generations. (Psalms 33:11) I find great comfort in knowing that His plans for me are for my good and the good of my children. So I must remind myself to fix my eyes on Him... the Author and the Finisher. He will has given me all that I need to live a life that pleases Him. I must choose it everyday.
(2 Corinthians 4:17,18)
Fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith~ Hebrews 12:2
Over time I have learned the value of this truth and find myself returning to it over and over again. If we do not fix our eyes on Him, we will live lives of compromise, confusion, and double-mindedness. The majority of the time, I truly know what God is speaking to my heart. I know the direction He is taking me in. I know what He is asking of me. But it's when my eyes begin to wonder that I start to question what I know, what I believe, and what I have heard in my heart; those things that I know God has personally called me to do or not to do. It's when my eyes look at those around me and at the standards and ways of the world that I begin to let human reasoning and logic take its toll on me. This is why we have to fix our eyes on Him. Our hearts may know, our minds may know, but what we see may lead us astray. This is because God works in each of our lives in such a personal way. He alone knows the hearts, thoughts and intentions of man. He meets us all where we are and begins to move us to the place He wants us to be. I find so much comfort in His Word that says, I know the plans that I have for you; they are to bless you and prosper you; to do you good and not harm. This is great news when my flesh is screaming!
Let me be clear about something. God's Word and standards are not up for debate; there are no exceptions to His Word and His heart is the same towards ALL He has made. However, we all have different callings, gifts, talents, and areas of influence. This is why we have to filter what God speaks to our hearts through nothing but the Word of God. I think of what John Bevere wrote in one of his books. Basically, he said that we do not have to wonder what God will use to judge us when we face Him, and we all will. We will be judged on the Word of God. We will be held accountable to the Truths that God speaks to us and our lives. We cannot fix our eyes on the 'sinner' or even the 'awesome Christian family that's not doing what we know God has called us to do and they are doing fine'. Only God knows the beginning from the end for us and our families.
I find it disturbing that to follow the commands of God these days seems almost like we are being fanatics, extreme, or even 'holy rollers'! But we have to know that the opinions of man will not stand forever, only the plans of God will stand through ALL generations. (Psalms 33:11) I find great comfort in knowing that His plans for me are for my good and the good of my children. So I must remind myself to fix my eyes on Him... the Author and the Finisher. He will has given me all that I need to live a life that pleases Him. I must choose it everyday.
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